The United States of America. 1. The United States of America is situated in the central part of the North America continent

1. The United States of America is situated in the central part of the North America continent. It has an area of over 9 million square kilometres. It borders on Canada in the North and on Mexico in the South. It is washed by the Pacific Ocean in the West, the Atlantic Ocean in the East, and the Gulf of Mexico in the South-East;

2. There are high mountains, great forests, powerful rivers, dry empty deserts, wide plains, lakes of all sizes, rocky coasts and sunny beaches in the country.

3. The longest river in the United States is the Mississippi. It begins in the North of the country and ends in the Gulf of Mexico, nearly 4.000 miles (6400 km) away. Among other big rivers are the Colorado, the Missouri, the Hudson River and many others.

4. The population of the USA is the third largest in the world (after India and China). Today there are over 250 million people of many nationalities. Some of the biggest cities are New York, Chicago, Phila­delphia, San Francisco and others. Washington is the capital of the USA.

5. The USA is a federal republic, consisting of 50 states. Within the national government, power is divided among 3 branches: legislative, executive and judicial. Congress consists of two parts - the House of Representatives and the Senate. The President is the head of the country. The judicial branch is represented by several levels of federal courts.

6. The flag of the USA has 13 red and white stripes representing the original 13 states and 50 stars - for each of the 50 states of the country in our days.

7. The United State is a country of highly developed economy. It leads the world in industrial and agricultural production and has left the other countries far behind. Heavy industry includes such branches as mining, metallurgical, engineering and chemical industries. Textile industry is also well-developed, especially in the South near large cotton plantations.

8. Agriculture is very wide-spread, above all in the prairie regions. Cotton is grown in the Mississippi Valley, tobacco in Maryland and Virginia. California is famous for its fruit plantations, and the West - for its cattle-farming.