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Geografia Spojených štátov amerických je tiež jedna z tých tém, ktoré určite bude potrebné naštudovať počas prípravy na maturitu alebo štátnicu z angličtiny. V tomto článku sú rozobraté základné fakty o Amerike a jej štátoch, významných mestách, prírodnej diverzite a o demografii.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE UNITED STATES

The United States of America cover approximately 3,794,000 square miles, which is about 9,826,000 square kilometers. Based on its area, USA is the third largest country in the world after Russia and Canada. America consists of 50 states. Except Hawaii, which is located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, all states are located at the continent of North America.

Alaska is by far the largest state and is separated from the “lower 48 states” by Canada. Alaska encompasses a land area of about 600,000 square miles. Alaska is more than 500 times the size of Rhode Island – America’s smallest state. The United States have a land border only with two other countries: Canada to the north and Mexico to the south.

The area of USA can be divided into 7 geographical regions. States within each region share some geographical similarities.

Regions
1. New England (e.g. Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire)
2. Middle Atlantic (e.g. Washington D.C., Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania)
3. South East (e.g. Florida, Alabama, North Carolina, Georgia)
4. Midwest (e.g. Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin)
5. Mountains (e.g. Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada)
6. Southwest (e.g. Texas, Oklahoma)
7. Pacific (e.g. California, Oregon, Washington)

CLIMATE AND GEOGRAPHY
Geography of the United States is very diverse. There are glaciers, high mountains, active volcanoes, dry deserts, tropical areas, wetlands and vast plains. Due to its large size, climate in America is also very diverse, ranging from Arctic climate in Alaska to tropical climate in Hawaii and southern Florida.

Monument Valley in Utah

Rocky Mountains in Colorado

Beaches in Hawaii

RIVERS AND LAKES
There are five Great Lakes in North American territory: Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, Lake Ontario and Lake Eire. Four of them are shared between United States and Canada. The only one of the Great Lakes that lies entirely in America is Lake Michigan. These five lakes form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth.

DEMOGRAPHY
USA is a home of approximately 300 million people and most of them live in big cities, such as New York, Boston and Philadelphia, which are the largest cities on the East coast and Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco that are major metropolitan areas on the Pacific coast. America is the third most populous country in world. Only China and India have larger populations than the US.

America is also famous for its ethnic diversity with substantial Afro-American and Hispanic minorities. Another major ethnic groups are Chinese, Hindu (from India) and Pacific Islanders.

MAJOR CITIES
Everybody know at least several American cities, because many of them have been shown in famous Hollywood movies or TV shows, or have a world-famous sports club, such as Pittsburg Penguins, Chicago Bulls or New York Yankees. Thanks to typical American architecture that features city downtowns with skyscrapers, many people can easily recognize the skyline of New York, Chicago or Los Angeles. Let’s take a quick look at some of the most famous American cities:

New York

New York (or New York City) is the largest city in America and also the most densely populated major city in the USA. New York is an important center for international diplomacy (United Nations headquarter is located in New York) and is considered as the cultural and financial capital of the world. New York has a huge number of iconic landmarks and in 2015 the city had a record of nearly 60 million tourists. Visitors coming to New York usually want to see the following places of interest: Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, Emipre State Building, Times Square, Ellis Island, Broadway, Central Park and many others.

Los Angeles

Los Angeles (also called L.A.) is another major American city. L.A. is located on the west coast of the United States. Situated in Southern California, Los Angeles is known for its mediterranean climate, famous beaches, surfing and as a center of the American entertainment industry. Los Angeles lies in a large coastal basin surrounded by mountains reaching up to and over 3,000 meters. In Los Angeles tourist can also see many world-famous attractions and landmarks, such Hollywood Sign, Hollywood Walk of Fame, where actors, actresses, musicians and other have their stars embedded in the sidewalks, Universal Studios Theme Park full of attractions based on Hollywood movies, and much more.

STATES
The population of the individual states are significantly different. California has the largest population, with about 36 million people, while Wyoming is the least populous state with about 600,000 people. In the United States, only 1.5 percent of all people are native Americans (so called Indians). All other are either recent immigrants or descendants of people who came to America as immigrants in the past.

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