CHAPTER ONE: THE COUNTRY

I - Key elements

- The USA is the world’s 4th largest country in the world after(Russia > Canada > China). It is
separated from Europe by the Atlantic Ocean: 3 000 km, same distance between New York
and San Francisco.
- It is huge country: 3 718 711 miles˛ or 9 631 418 square km˛ = 14.3 times the size of France and
2.5 times the size of Western Europe.
- the population is over 280 million inhabitants
- country formed by 48 continual states = contiguous states = contiguous 48 and 2 other states
(Alaska, at North West end of North America, and Hawaii, archipelago in the Pacific Ocean)= 50
states.
48 of the states are in the single region between Canada and Mexico, and this group in referred to
as the continental US or contiguous US. It is called the lower 48.Alaska is not included because it
is separated from North America by Canada, and the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the Pacific
Ocean.

II - Geographic presentation
The US stretch between Canada in the North and Mexico in the South
from Canada in the North to Mexico in the South: 4 517 km.
from Canada to Texas: 2 572 km (length)

highest point: Denaly on Mount Mc Kinley in Alaska (6194m) and in the contiguous 48, the Sierra
Nevada with Mount Whitney (4421 m)
lowest point: Death valley (-86 m, below sea level) kalifornia

The US is divided into a mountainous half in the West composed of the Rockies , the Sierra
Nevada and the plains in the East.
The Atlantic coastal plain is banded by the Appalachian range on the East separated from New
England.

III - Major areas

A) - The Atlantic coastal plain

New England:
collective term used for 6 for the most tensioned states = Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire,
Rhode Island, Vermont and Connecticut.
This oldest civilize place and it has retained the tradition of Pilgrim Fathers, the tradition
architectural and cultural.
The name given to the New Englanders by the South during the Civil War (1860) is Yankees. Now
for all the Americans.
The southern part of New England is an industrial region , the most density populated area in the
continent. It includes: the states of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania are the most populated,
financial, industrial and artistic and literary areas of the US with the New York City (the Big Apple
or Gotham City) is the most dynamic city in the world.
The southern East states are different: different climate, luxuriant vegetation allowing big trees to
grow, agriculture (cotton fields and tobacco plantations) and vast domains where the slaves used to
work. A rural area is sparsely populated and relatively poor.

B) The middle West or mod West

On the West of the Appalachians, the middle west represents half the surface of the USA.
It is composed of rich prairies with the Mississippi River, providing the necessary means
of communication and transport for the Pennies.
In the North Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota. It comes after the North
East in industrial production due to big car factories built near the Great Lakes. Big Plains which
are important for industry, 90% of car manufacturing is based around the Great Lakes (Ford in
Detroit)
The West is the greatest agricultural region.

C) The Mississippi valley( cancer valley/ la vallee de la mort)

The development of the Mississippi valley was helped by the application of steam power to river
boat( Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer of Mark Twain) In 1819, the first in boats were built to reach
Pittsburg to New Orleans.
Today, along the Mississippi River, there are chemical and oil industries which have been set up.
Nickname: Cancer Valley.
80% of the inhabitants are black. During the last flood Katrina (2005), there was a scandal about the
help reluctantly given to them by the government.

D) High plains
Huge plain which is a treeless : arid country. Not really populated until the end of the 19ct.
States you find there : Nebraska, Kansas, North Dakota, South Dakota (Mount Rush lire: George
Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt) these countries are flat
(agriculture) and they are subject to dust storm, dust bowl)

E) Cordilleran region
Between the Rockies and the Pacific Ocean. It's the newest region of the USA.
On top north east you find : States of Washington, Oregon (famous for apple and woods) and
California (million of fruits and vegetables... famous for film industry : Hollywood and the aircraft
industry too and high tech firms in Silicon Valley)
South West is quite apart from the rest with : States of New Mexico and Arizona. Specific
vegetation, Spanish architecture and “cactus”. West and original Spanish architecture and a specific
vegetation (cactus)

IV - Climate

We can find every type of climate in the USA:

- In most areas, it's temperate.
- In South Florida, Tropical. (Hawaii)
- In Alaska, polar.
- In the Great Plains, semi-arid.
- In coastal California, Mediterranean.
- in the great Basin, arid.
Low pressure from the northern pacific areas.
A tropical climate with tropical vegetation, and a lot beaches. The extreme is Alaska with tundra
and arctic condition.
The state of Hawaii has a year round tropical climate whereas California has a Mediterranean
climate with rain falls from October to April, and nothing after.

Northern Alaska: Tundra and arctic (-62°C)

Death Valley: 56.7°C (second highest temperature on earth)
In the Center: tornadoes (more in Spring)
Along the Atlantic sea board and golf of Mexico: deadly hurricanes, almost every year
The Appalachian and Midway: you find huge floods (une innondation)
South West: droughts (wind tornadoes)(période de secheresse)
West: wildfires

V - Political picture

Federation of 50 states : united under a common federal gvt.

Capital: Washington since 1800's
American flag: 50 stars for 50 states and 13 stripes for the 13 original colonies (7 are red and 6 are
white)

New England composed of Massachusetts, New Amphire, Road Island and Connecticut.
North east :New York state, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland. Then come the southern state
: Virginia, North and South Louisiana and Georgia plus louisiana which was … by napoleon.
The first capital was Philadelphia but then jealousy between the state oblige the gvt to create a new
capital in the district of Columbia : Washington. To difference with Washington
the biggest states are Alaska, Texas, California, Montana, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada.
14 original states represented by the stripes on the flat :
North Carolina: Raleigh
South Carolina: Columbia
Connecticut: Hartford
Delaware: Dover
Georgia: Atlanta
Maryland: Annapolis
Massachusetts. Boston
New Hampshire: Concord
New Jersey: Trenton
New York: Albany
Pennsylvania: Harrisburg
Rhode Island: Providence
Virginia: Richmond

VI - Ressources and Environment

The USA is a pblm for the rest of the world because the country consumes
50% of the Earth resources. It is a rich country in the national resources, thanks to the climate good
for the crops.
Rich in minerals, more than 1/6 of the coal is in the USA. If you take the corn belt, this belt
stretches to Nebraska, its the largest expense of … farming of the world.
They need mineral → they import
65% of its needs in petroleum. They have enormous resource of oil and petroleum. They export
huge volume of oil. The agriculture exports tend to compensate the mineral imports.
19% are arable lands, 25% are permanent pasturages, over 30% are forests and woodlands
and 26% are roads, cities