| 4.Climate |
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Thae vastness of the USA means that the climate is extremely varied. Florida and Louisiana are almost tropical, while parts of Alaska are actic. Generally speaking, the cities situated in the northen parts of the country, such as Boston and Milwaukee, anjoy a fairly cold climate, with cool summers and very cold winters. Cities like New York and Philadelphia enjoi a climate similar to central Europe, with hot summers but cold winters. The temperature in Chicago rangers, for example, from 38 degrees centigrade in the summer to -20 degrees centigrade in the winter. Other areasm like Dallas, New Orleans and Atlanta, enjoy good weather all year round, with warm summers and mild winters. The rainfall patterns very greatly. The heaviest rainfall is in parts of Hawaii (more than 12,000 mm), followed by Alaska (,1500-5,000 mm) and then east coast (1,000 mm). THe interior plains and the west coast tend to be drier.
5.Population
The Us population currently stands around 289 milion people living on roughly 9,800 sq km of land. This means that the average population density is around 33 people per sq km. The population density varies greatly from state to state. California, for example, has the greatest density with around 200 people per sq km. This is followed by Texas and then New York. |
| Some cities have spread to become huge densely populated areas known as 'megalopolis'. |
| There are three megalopolises in the USA: |
- Boswash, which stretch from Boston to Washington, and includes New York. Although the area covers only 2 percent of the USA, a fifth of Americans live there.
- Chipittis, which includes Chicago in the west and Pittsburgh in the east. Traditionally this has been the major industrial area of the USA.
- Sansan, which extendes around 1,000 km form San Francisco in the north through Los Angeles to San Diego on the south.
It is estimated that around 80 percent of Amrricans live in urban areas, but again, this varies form state to state. |
| America has long welcomed newcomers from foreign lands - Middle Eastern refugees, Latin American job seekers, Canadian shoppers, Asian students or European tourists. They come to take advantage of the country's generosity - its political, financial and social opportunities - and they come in large numbers. |
| In 2000 the United States issued 7 milion visas for foreigners, but that's only a fraction of the estimated 500 milion people who enter and leave the United States every year. |
| Since the terrorist attack have applied stricter rules on entry into the country. |
6.Transportation
| The regions of the United States are linked by an immense system of airlines, railroads, roads, highways waterways. Modern industrial America grew up along the routes of the railroads. Then automobiles and trucks, travelling on all-weather highways, spread the settlement of America more evenly throughout the country. Finnally, the airplane brought almost every community in the USA within a few hours' travel time of every other community. A direct flight form New York City on the east coast to Los Angeles on the west coast takes about six hours. |
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