Short applied geography of the USA

The United States of America

Each of the fifty white stars on the flag of the United States of America stand for one of the federal states. If you see them in a relation to their area, the star of Alaska would be five hundred times larger than the one for Rhode Island, the smallest federal state. On the other hand, if they stand for the number of inhabitants, Alaska's star would be the smallest and the star of California, the state with the highest population, would be sixty times larger.

The countryside of the USA is extraordinary multiform. In the west the Rocky Mountains, the North American Cordilleras, tower until over 4300 metres height, and in the middle of the USA, plains extend over hundreds of miles. The climate is very different, too: In Barrow (Alaska), the most northern city, the average temperature is about -13°C, on the contrary in Arizona even 57°C were measured. Comprised, all federal states build with area and number of inhabitants the fourth largest political system of the earth. The USA are also the biggest economy power. Their raw material occurrences, for example mineral oil, coal, iron and copper, are enormous. Because of their economic and military strength they became a superpower, which's influence alter every country.

The Middle West

The USA are the worlds biggest exporter of wheat and produce more than half of the world production of corn. Most of these mighty quantities are grown in the wide plains of the Middle West between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains. The agriculture there is specialised on a few goods. Gigantic machines cultivate fields of hundred acres. The cultivating of citrus fruits and nuts has also a big importance; the cultivation of soya beans matters about two third of the world's production.

Central government and the federal states

The United States have a democratic constitution. Each of the states has an own legislation and administration and sends its representatives to the senate, the second chamber of the congress (parliament) apart from the House of Representatives. The congress decides in matters that concern the whole country.

The population

The native Indians of North America are only a very little part of the 247 million people who live there. During the colonisation of the continent, they were pushed back in cruel battles and a few tribes were exterminated. Most of the North Americans are descendants of white settlers from Great Britain, Ireland, Italy and Germany; about 14 % are black. Although the cultures are mostly mixed, many members of the different races live together in their own quarters. The vernacular language is American English.

The history of the United States

The United States are a young nation, they reached their independence a bit more than two hundred years ago. At that time they consisted of thirteen federal states, which lied huddled at the East coast, their lived about four million people. Beyond the Western frontier were gigantic, unexplored areas. During the 19. century this frontier was shifted more and more by the settlers. This happened against the embittered resistance of the Indians, who had only a few weapons. At the same time, millions of immigrants from Europe reached the East coast. Until the beginning of the 20. century, farms and factories produced more than every other nation. Their economy powers and their military strength gave the United States their international influence. They took part in both World Wars. After 1945, the severe market- economy orientated system caused a further increase. Large-scale enterprises and combines got more influence. The USA have also enormous raw material occurrences, bearable grounds and a very mechanized agriculture. With these suppositions, they became the most important economy power.

Stars and Stripes

Since 1777, "Stars and Stripes" is the flag of the USA. Each of the first thirteen federal states, which broke away from Great Britain, had its own star and its own stripe. Since 1818, a star was added for each new federal state.

A history shortcut

1783 the thirteen British colonies reached their independence from Great Britain

1789 George Washington became the first president of the USA

1803 the buying of Louisiana doubled the states area

1848 the USA defeated Mexico and they became California

1861-65 Civil War between the north and the south states

1869 completion of the first transcontinental railroad line

1917-18 participation of the USA in World War I

1929 New Yorker crisis of the Stock Exchange and the world-wide economic crisis

1941 participation of the USA in World War II

1969 Neil Armstrong - the first man on the moon

1987 the presidents Reagan and Gorbatschow signed an agreement about the removal of the land-based intermediate-range missiles

1991 disarmament talks between the presidents Bush and Gorbatschow

The animal world

The fauna and flora of North America is marked by an extraordinary diversity, because the living spaces of this continent reach from the arctic areas in the north to the tropics in the south. The mainland south to the ice-covered polar islands is bordered by the treeless tundra with its moss. There caribous, a kind of reindeers, search moss and lichens under the snow. South to the tundra there is a wide conifer wood zone. Although wide areas were cut down, you can find wolves, bears and lynxes, which are all very rare. The Middle West is build of open plains with prairies (grass and arid steppes). In the east are broad maple forests and great hickory woods, in the west are enormous chains of mountains and wide mammoth forests. The landscape of the southwest of the USA is build of half and arid deserts like Death Valley. Wide humid areas with swamps extend in the southeast, evergreen forests at the Gulf of Mexico.

Deserts

Desert areas extend mostly in the southwest of North America. Cacti are adapted very well to this arid climate, and in Mexico, for example, are over hundred kinds of cacti. Because of the stores of water in the main plant, they can resist long dry periods. You can also see many kinds of scorpions and snakes.

Humid areas

The lakes, swamps and marshes of the southwest build wide humid areas, where you can find a lot of animals and plants. Those are for example the water hyacinth, or the Mississippi alligator, which can reach a length of six meters, further frogs and toads.

Prairies

Wide areas of the central lowland of North America and the Middle West were build of endless prairies, the natural grassland of this zone. They were the native place for enormous bison herds. Today those areas are used agricultural. A few kinds of animals survived those changes, most of them are burrowing rodents like the prairie dog.

Conifer woods

In the north are the summers short and the cold winters very long. In fall, the bears go into the wide conifer woods to hibernate. The fir rough foot chicken eats pine needles and twigs in winter. Migratory birds like the geese fly to the south. Elks and caribous go to the protective woods, looking for dangerous wolves every time. In spring, the migratory birds come back, and the deer eat leaves and aquatic plants again.

The mountains

The Rocky Mountains have the most various living spaces. Above one thousand three hundred meters, the steppes change into shrubs and juniper forests. Above two thousand meters, pine and fir forests are the main vegetation. Above three thousand two hundred meters height only grasses and low flowers grow in the short summers. The cleft mountainous region is a place of refuge for bears, wolverines, thick horn sheep and goats, which are a famous booty for lynxes.

New York, abbreviation N.Y, is the largest city of the USA, it lies in the Federal State New York, and N.Y.C. is also one of the largest cities of the earth with 7.38 millions inhabitants. All races and all ethnical and religious groups are represented, among them approximately 1.8 million blacks (particularly in Harlem in the northeast of N.Y.C.), about 1.4 million Hispanics and approximately 1.2 million Jews.

New York lies at the bay-rich delta of the Hudson River into the Atlantic on several islands and on the mainland. The city (800 km²) is divided into five boroughs, of which everyone corresponds to a County of the Federal State New York:

Manhattan (New York County), Bronx (Bronx County), Brooklyn (Kings County), Queens (Queens County), and Staten Island (in former times Richmond, Richmond County). New York is a catholic and orthodox archbishop seat and the seat of many other church organizations. At educational facilities, New York possesses several universities, of which the most important are the Columbia University (founded 1754) and the City University of New York (founded 1847), numerous libraries (New York Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library), scientific societies, the largest museums are the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim-Museum and the American Museum of Natural History. In 1997, they opened the Holocaust Museum. The most important theatre is the Metropolitan Opera. A cultural focal point is the Lincoln Centre for Performing Arts a further one the Carnegie Hall. In the economic life of America and of the world has N.Y. an industrial, trading and financial focal point (Wall Street in Manhattan, N.Y. Stock Exchange) a prominent position (Global City). Most important industries are clothing trade, printing-, electro technical and chemical industry, construction of vehicles and high technologies. The navigation, once one of the most important industries, decreases in the city for years; many of the harbor facilities at New York's "Waterfront" (930 km) expired, since the once meaning passenger liner travel was stopped almost completely; and since a large part of the freight traffic had been taken over by the modern container loading plants of the "Port of New York", which was situated in New Jersey. The subway masters the enormous traffic in the city (except of Staten Island) to more than 40 %. The large airports La Guardia and Newark particularly serve inland traffic, over the J.F. Kennedy International Airport in the south of Queens goes almost half of the journeys overseas traffic and more than half of the foreign trade air freight of the USA.

Townscape:

The core is Manhattan (on the island with the same name) with its world wide to the landmark of the city become skyline; in the south of Manhattan the main business quarter with the bank and stock exchange center Wallstreet, UNO building, many business skyscrapers, the World Trade Center with four hundred and twelve meter high double towers, the Empire State Building and the Rockefeller Center.

In the north a right-angled created street system with avenues, which run from north to south, and streets, which go from east to west, and the Central Park, which has an area from about 350 hectares. The Fifth Avenue runs through whole Manhattan, and it divides it into an east and a west part. Numerous large bridges connect Manhattan with the neighbour boroughs Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn, the Brooklyn Bridge (1800 meters) and the Manhattan Bridge (2060 meters) go across the East River. In the north, the George Washington Bridge (1068 meters) runs across the Hudson River. Several tunnels drive through under the East River and the Hudson River. There are also many islands in front of the coast.

History

The city was founded 1626 as Netherlands trading station New Amsterdam at the point of the granite island Manhattan and raised to the capital of the colony New Netherland; 1664 conquered of Englishmen and renamed into New York. In the movement of independence very actively, the city was headquarters of G.Washington for a short time, however filled from British troops and loyalists (until 1783).

1789/90 seat of the Federal Government and until 1797 capital of the State New York; developed in the 19. century for the prominent metropolis of the USA, and 1898 Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Richmond (Staten Island) were united to "Greater New York". Ethnical variety and extreme social downward gradient shaped the picture of the city for a long time. The drift of the central layer into adjacent areas, the increasing functions of the city (for example social welfare, police, traffic and the fiscal problems caused by administrative inadequacies led 1975 to a heavy financial crisis, which required an intervention of the Federal State and the Federal Government. 1990/94 N.Y.C. had a black mayor, D. Dinkins, for the first time; Dinkins successor in office R. Giuliani proceeded strictly against the criminality to the protection of "Law and Order".