The United States of America PDF
Preview The United States of America
AfghAnistAn isrAel ArgentinA itAly AustrAliA JAmAiCA AustriA JAPAn BAhrAin KAzAKhstAn BAnglAdesh KenyA BermudA KuwAit BoliviA mexiCo BosniA And herzegovinA the netherlAnds BrAzil new zeAlAnd CAnAdA nigeriA Chile north KoreA ChinA norwAy ColomBiA PAKistAn CostA riCA Peru CroAtiA the PhiliPPines CuBA PortugAl demoCrAtiC rePuBliC of Puerto riCo the Congo russiA egyPt sAudi ArABiA englAnd sCotlAnd ethioPiA senegAl frAnCe south AfriCA rePuBliC of georgiA germAny south KoreA ghAnA sPAin greeCe sweden guAtemAlA tAiwAn hondurAs thAilAnd iCelAnd turKey indiA uKrAine indonesiA the united stAtes of AmeriCA irAn uzBeKistAn irAq venezuelA irelAnd vietnAm The United States of America Charles F. Gritzner South Dakota State University For my grandchildren, Bradley and Jaime Minor and Lucas Swafford Frontispiece: Flag of the United States of America Cover: An aerial view of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. The United States of America Copyright © 2008 by Infobase Publishing All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information contact: Chelsea House An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gritzner, Charles F. The United States / Charles F. Gritzner. p. cm.—(Modern world nations) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978–0-7910–9511–9 (hardcover) ISBN-10: 0–7910–9511–8 (hardcover) 1. United States—Juvenile literature. I. Title. II. Series. E156.G75 2007 973—dc22 2007021722 Chelsea House books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk quantities for businesses, associations, institutions, or sales promotions. Please call our Special Sales Department in New York at (212) 967–8800 or (800) 322–8755. You can find Chelsea House on the World Wide Web at http://www.chelseahouse.com Series design by Takeshi Takahashi Cover design by Jooyoung An Printed in the United States of America Bang NMSG 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 This book is printed on acid-free paper. All links and Web addresses were checked and verified to be correct at the time of publication. Because of the dynamic nature of the Web, some addresses and links may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. Table of Contents 1 Introducing the United States 8 2 Physical Geography 16 3 The United States Through Time 47 4 People and Culture 62 5 Government and Politics 75 6 The United States’ Economy 89 7 Living in the United States Today 103 8 The United States Looks Ahead 119 Facts at a Glance 127 History at a Glance 131 Bibliography 133 Further Reading 134 Index 137 The United States of America 1 Introducing the United States “America the Beautiful . . . From sea to shining sea.” T hese well-known lyrics, written by Katharine Lee Bates, hold as true today as they did in 1893, when the original verses were penned. On a trip from her Massachusetts home to Col- orado Springs, Colorado, Bates was awed by the magnificent view of the Great Plains from atop majestic Pikes Peak. The United States of America truly is a beautiful and bountiful land that has been blessed in countless ways by nature, culture, and history. It is also a country of vast natural and cultural extremes. Through time, the United States has experienced and survived a number of hardships. This brief book attempts to paint a geographical portrait of the land that is home to most readers. The United States is a land for which superlatives come easily. Its nearly 3.8 million square miles (9,826,630 square kilometers) in Introducing the United States At 3,74,03 square miles (,26,630 square kilometers), the United States is the world’s third-largest country (in terms of land area). It is bordered by Canada to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Mexico to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west.
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