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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
The United States of America is a large country in
North America, often referred to as the "USA", the "US",
the "United States", "America", or simply "the
States". It is home to the world's third-largest population, with over 310
million people. It includes both densely populated cities with sprawling
suburbs, and vast, uninhabited and naturally beautiful areas.
With its history of mass immigration dating from
the 17th century, it is a "melting pot" of cultures from around the
world and plays a dominant role in the world's cultural landscape. It is famous
for its wide array of popular tourist destinations, ranging from the
skyscrapers of Manhattan and Chicago, to the natural wonders of Yellowstone and
Alaska, to the warm, sunny beaches of Florida, Hawaii and Southern California.
GEOGRAPHY:
The contiguous United States (called CONUS by US
military personnel) or the "Lower 48" (the 48 states other than
Alaska and Hawaii) is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Pacific
Ocean to the west, with much of the population living on the two coasts. Its
land borders are shared with Canada to the north, and Mexico to the south. The
US also shares maritime borders with Russia, Cuba, and the Bahamas.
The country has three major mountain ranges. The
Appalachians extend from Canada to the state of Alabama, a few hundred miles
west of the Atlantic Ocean. They are the oldest of the three mountain ranges
and offer spectacular sightseeing and excellent camping spots. The Rockies are,
on average, the highest in North America, extending from Alaska to New Mexico,
with many areas protected as national parks. They offer hiking, camping,
skiing, and sightseeing opportunities. The combined Sierra Nevada and Cascade
ranges are the youngest. The Sierras extend across the "backbone" of
California, with sites such as Lake Tahoe and Yosemite National Park; the
Sierras transition at their northern end into the even younger volcanic Cascade
range, with some of the highest points in the country.
The Great Lakes define much of the border between
the eastern United States and Canada. More inland seas than lakes, they were
formed by the pressure of glaciers retreating north at the end of the last Ice
Age. The five lakes span hundreds of miles, bordering the states of Minnesota,
Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, and
their shores vary from pristine wilderness areas to industrial "rust
belt" cities. They are the second-largest bodies of freshwater in the
world, after the polar ice caps.
CLIMATE:
The overall climate is temperate, with notable
exceptions. Alaska is cold and dominated by Arctic tundra, while Hawaii and
South Florida are tropical. The Great Plains are dry, flat and grassy, turning
into arid desert in the far West and Mediterranean along the California coast.
In the winter, the northern and mid-western major
cities can see as much as 2 feet (61 cm) of snowfall in one day, with cold
temperatures. Summers are humid, but mild. Temperatures over 100°F (38°C)
sometimes invade the Midwest and Great Plains. Some areas in the northern
plains can experience cold temperatures of -30°F (-34°C) during the winter.
Temperatures below 0°F (-18°C) sometimes reach as far south as Oklahoma.
The climate of the South also varies. In the
summer, it is hot and humid, but from October through April the weather can
range from 60°F (15°C) to short cold spells of 20°F (-7°C) or so.
The Great Plains and Midwestern states also
experience tornadoes from the late spring to early fall, earlier in the south
and later in the north. States along the Atlantic coast and the Gulf of Mexico,
may experience hurricanes between June and November. These intense and
dangerous storms frequently miss the US mainland, but evacuations are often
ordered and should be heeded.
The Rockies are cold and snowy. Some parts of the
Rockies see over 500 inches (12 m) of snow in a season. Even during the summer,
temperatures are cool in the mountains, and snow can fall nearly year-round. It
is dangerous to go up in the mountains unprepared in the winter and the roads
through them can get very icy.
The deserts of the Southwest are hot and dry
during the summer, with temperatures often exceeding 100°F (38°C).
Thunderstorms can be expected in the southwest frequently from July through
September. Winters are mild, and snow is unusual. Average annual precipitation
is low, usually less than 10 inches (25 cm).
Cool and damp weather is common in the coastal
northwest (Oregon and Washington west of the Cascade Range, and the northern
part of California west of the Coast Ranges/Cascades). Rain is most frequent in
winter, snow is rare, especially along the coast, and extreme temperatures are
uncommon. Rain falls almost exclusively from late fall through early spring
along the coast. East of the Cascades, the northwest is considerably drier.
Much of the inland northwest is either semi-arid or desert, though altitude and
weather patterns may result in wetter climates in some areas.
Northeastern and cities of the Upper South are
known for summers with temperatures reaching into the 90's (32°C) or more, with
extremely high humidity, usually over 80%. This can be a drastic change from
the Southwest. High humidity means that the temperature can feel hotter than
actual readings. The Northeast also experiences snow, and at least once every
few years there will be a dumping of the white stuff in enormous quantities.
History:
What is now the United States was initially populated
by indigenous peoples who migrated from northeast Asia. Today, their
descendants are known as Native Americans, or American Indians. Although Native
Americans are often portrayed as having lived a singular, usually primitive
lifestyle, the truth is that prior to European contact, the continent was
densely populated by many sophisticated societies. The Cherokee, for example,
are descended from the overarching Mississippian culture which built huge
mounds and large towns that covered the landscape, while the Anasazi built elaborate
cliff-side towns in the Southwest. As was the case in other nations in the
Americas, the primitive existence attributed to Native Americans was generally
the result of mass die-offs triggered by Old World diseases such as smallpox
which spread like wildfire ahead of the early European explorers. That is, by
the time most Native American tribes directly encountered Europeans, they were
a post-apocalyptic people.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, multiple European
nations began colonizing the North American continent. Spain, France, Great
Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Russia established colonies in various
parts of what would become the USA. Of those early settlements, it was the
original British colonies in Virginia and Massachusetts that formed the
cultural, political, legal and economic core of what is now known as the United
States of America.
Massachusetts was first settled by religious
immigrants—Puritans—who later spread and founded most of the other New England
colonies, creating a highly religious and idealistic region. Its neighbor to
the southwest, Rhode Island, was founded by refugees from the religious
fanatics of Massachusetts. Other religious groups also founded colonies,
including the Quakers in Pennsylvania and Roman Catholics in Maryland.
Virginia, on the other hand, became the most dominant
of the southern colonies. Because of a longer growing season, these colonies
had richer agricultural prospects, especially for cotton and tobacco. As in
Central and South America, African slaves were imported and forced to cultivate
large plantations. Slavery became an important part of the economy in the
South, a fact that would cause tremendous upheaval in the years to come.
By the early 18th century, the United Kingdom had
established a number of colonies along the Atlantic coast from Georgia north
into what is now Canada. On 4 July 1776, colonists from the Thirteen Colonies,
frustrated with excessive taxation and micromanagement by London and encouraged
by the ideals of Enlightenment philosophy, declared independence from the U.K.
and established a new sovereign nation, the United States of America. The
resulting American Revolutionary Warculminated in the surrender of 7,000
British troops at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781. This forced the British
government to initiate peace negotiations that led to the Treaty of Paris of
1783, by which the victorious Americans assumed control of all British land
south of the Great Lakes between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mississippi River.
British loyalists, known as Tories, fled north of the Great Lakes into Canada,
which remained stubbornly loyal to the British crown and would not become fully
independent until 1982.
Although the Thirteen Colonies had united during the
war in support of the common objective of getting rid of British tyranny, most
colonists' loyalties at the end of the war lay with their respective colonial
governments. In turn, the young country's first attempt at establishing a
national government under the Articles of Confederation was a disastrous
failure. The Articles tried too hard to protect the colonies from each other by
making the national government so weak it could not do anything.
In 1787, a convention of major political leaders (the
Founding Fathers of the United States) drafted a new national Constitution in
Philadelphia. After ratification by a supermajority of the states, the new
Constitution went into effect in 1791 and enabled the establishment of the
strong federal government that has governed the United States ever since.
George Washington, the commanding general of American forces during the
Revolutionary War, was elected as the first President of the United States
under the new Constitution. By the turn of the 19th century, a national capital
had been established in Washington, D.C..
As American and European settlers pushed farther west,
past the Appalachians, the federal government began organizing new territories
and then admitting them as new states. This was enabled by the displacement and
decimation of the Native American populations through warfare and disease. In
what became known as the Trail of Tears, many Native American tribes in what is
now the southeastern United States were forcibly relocated to lands in
present-day Oklahoma, which was known as "Indian Territory" until the
early 20th century. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 brought French-owned
territory extending from the Mississippi River to parts of the present-day
American West under American control, effectively doubling the country's land
area.
The United States fought the War of 1812 with Britain
in an attempt to reassert its authority and to capture Canada. Though dramatic
battles were fought, including one that ended with the British Army burning the
White House, Capitol, and other public buildings in Washington, D.C., the war
ended in a virtual stalemate. Territorial boundaries between the two nations
remained nearly the same. Nevertheless, the war had disastrous consequences for
the western Native American tribes that had allied with the British, with the
United States acquiring more and more of their territory for white settlers.
Florida was purchased in 1813 from Spain after the
American military had effectively subjugated the region. The next major
territorial acquisition came after American settlers in Texas rebelled against
the Mexican government, setting up a short-lived independent republic that was
absorbed into the union. The Mexican-American Warof 1848 resulted in
acquisition of the northern territories of Mexico, including the future states
of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. After 1850, the borders of
the continental United States reached the rough outlines it still has today.
Many Native Americans were relegated to reservations by treaty, military force,
and by the inadvertent spread of European diseases transmitted by large numbers
of settlers moving west along the Oregon Trail and other routes.
Tensions between the US and the British government
administering Canada continued to persist because the border west of the Great
Lakes was ill-defined. The Oregon Treaty of 1846 failed to adequately address
the complex geography of the region; the boundary dispute remained unsettled
until 1871.
Meanwhile, by the late 1850s, many Americans were
calling for the abolition of slavery. The rapidly industrializing North, where
slavery had been outlawed several decades before, favored national abolition.
Southern states, on the other hand, believed that individual states had the
right to decide whether or not slavery should be legal. In 1861, the Southern
states, fearing domination by the North and the avowedly anti-slavery President
Abraham Lincoln, seceded from the Union and formed the breakaway Confederate
States of America. These events sparked the American Civil War. To date, it is
the bloodiest conflict on American soil, with over 200,000 killed in combat and
a overall death toll exceeding 600,000. In 1865, Union forces prevailed,
thereby cementing the federal government's authority over the states. The
federal government then launched a complex process of rehabilitation and
reassimilation of the Confederacy, a period known as Reconstruction. Slavery
was abolished by constitutional amendment, but the former slaves and their
descendants were to remain an economic and social underclass, particularly in
the South.
The United States purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867,
and the previously independent Hawaii was annexed in 1898 after a brief
revolution fomented by American settlers. After decisively defeating Spain in
the Spanish-American War, the United States gained its first
"colonial" territories: Cuba (granted independence a few years
later), the Philippines (granted independence shortly after World War II),
Puerto Rico and Guam (which remain American dependencies today). During this
"imperialist" phase of US history, the US also assisted Panama in
obtaining independence from Colombia, as the need for a Panama Canal had become
palpably clear to the US during the Spanish-American War. In 1903, the new
country of Panama promptly granted the United States control over a swath of
territory known as the Canal Zone. The US constructed the Panama Canal in 1914
and retained control over the Canal Zone until 1979.
In the eastern cities of the United States, Southern
and Eastern Europeans, and Russian Jews joined Irish refugees to become a cheap
labor force for the country's growing industrialization. Many African-Americans
fled rural poverty in the South for industrial jobs in the North, in what is
now known as the Great Migration. Other immigrants, including many
Scandinavians and Germans, moved to the now-opened territories in the West and
Midwest, where land was available for free to anyone who would develop it. A
network of railroads was laid across the country, accelerating development.
With its entrance into World War I in 1917, the United
States established itself as a world power by helping to defeat Germany and the
Central Powers. However after the war, despite strong support from President
Woodrow Wilson, the United States refused to join the newly-formed League of
Nations, which substantially hindered that body's effectiveness in preventing
future conflicts.
Real wealth grew rapidly in the postwar period. During
the Roaring Twenties, stock speculation created an immense "bubble"
which, when it burst in October 1929, contributed to a period of economic havoc
in the 1930s known as the Great Depression. The Depression was brutal and
devastating, with unemployment rising to 25%. On the other hand, it helped
forge a culture of sacrifice and hard work that would serve the country well in
its next conflict. President Herbert Hoover lost his re-election bid in 1932 as
a result of his ineffective response to the Depression. The victor, President
Franklin D. Roosevelt ("FDR") pledged himself to a "New
Deal" for the American people, which came in the form of a variety of
aggressive economic recovery programs. While historians still debate the
effectiveness of the various New Deal programs in terms of whether they
fulfilled their stated objectives, it is generally undisputed that the New Deal
greatly expanded the size and role of the US federal government.
In December 1941, the Empire of Japan attacked Pearl
Harbor, a American military base in Hawaii, thus plunging the United States
into World War II, which had already been raging in Europe for two years and in
Asia since 1937. In alliance with the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, the
United States helped to defeat the Axis powers of Italy, Germany, and Japan. By
the end of World War II, with much of Europe and Asia in ruins, the United
States had firmly established itself as the dominant economic power in the
world; it was then responsible for nearly half of the world's industrial
production. The newly developed atomic bomb, whose power was demonstrated in
two bombings of Japan in 1945, made the United States the only force capable of
challenging the Communist Soviet Union, giving rise to what is now known as the
Cold War.
After World War II, America experienced an economic
resurgence and growing affluence on a scale not seen since the 1920s.
Meanwhile, the racism traditionally espoused in various explicit and implicit
forms by the European-American majority against the country's African-American,
Asian-American, Hispanic-American, Native American and other minority
populations had become impossible to ignore. While the US was attempting to
spread democracy and the rule of law abroad to counter the Soviet Union's
support of authoritarian Communist governments, it found itself having to
confront its own abysmal failure to provide the benefits of democracy and the
rule of law to all its citizens. Thus, in the 1960s a civil rights movement
emerged which ultimately eliminated most of the institutional discrimination
against African-Americans and other ethnic minorities, particularly in the
Southern states. A revived women's movement in the 1970s also led to
wide-ranging changes in gender roles and perceptions in US society, including
to a limited extent views on homosexuality and bisexuality. The more organized
present-era US 'gay rights' movement first emerged in the late 1960s and early
70s.
During the same period, in the final quarter of the
20th century, the United States underwent a slow but inexorable transition from
an economy based on a mixture of heavy industry and labor-intensive
agriculture, to an economy primarily based on advanced technology (the
"high-tech" industry), retail, professional services, and other
service industries, as well as a highly mechanized, automated agricultural
industry.
In the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, millions of US
manufacturing jobs fell victim to outsourcing. In a phenomenon since labeled
"global labor arbitrage," revolutionary improvements in
transportation, communications, and logistics technologies made it possible to
move manufacturing of most goods to Asian factories which did not have to pay
US minimum wages, observe US occupational safety standards, or allow the
formation of unions. Prior to 1960, it was necessary for US executives to take
months off work to tour overseas operations by steamship or propeller aircraft,
they had only minimal visibility into such operations through expensive international
long-distance telephone calls, telegraphs, or telex transmissions, and goods
were shipped in "break bulk" form on individual pallets or in crates.
By the 1980s, US executives could race overseas and back in a handful of days
via jetliners, closely monitor overseas factories via fax, cheap long-distance
calls, and early online services, and ship goods in bulk on huge container
ships. The outsourcing revolution was devastating to many cities, particularly
in the Midwest and Northeast, whose economies were overly dependent upon
manufacturing, and resulted in a group of hollowed-out, depressed cities now
known as the Rust Belt.
The United States also assumed and continues to
maintain a position of global leadership in military and aerospace technology
through the development of a powerful "defense-industrial complex",
although as of the turn of the 21st century, its leadership is increasingly
being challenged by the European Union and China. US federal investments in
military technology also paid off handsomely in the form of the most advanced
information technology sector in the world, which is primarily centered on the
area of Northern California known as Silicon Valley. US energy firms,
especially those based in petroleum and natural gas, have also become global
giants, as they expanded worldwide to feed the country's thirst for cheap
energy.
The 1950s saw the beginnings of a major shift of
population from rural towns and urban cores to the suburbs. The postwar rise of
a prosperous middle class able to afford cheap automobiles and cheap gasoline
in turn led to the rise of the American car culture and the convenience of fast
food restaurants. The Interstate Highway System, constructed primarily from the
1960s to the 1980s, became the most comprehensive freeway system in the world,
at over 47,000 mi in length. It was surpassed by China only in 2011, although
the US is believed to still have a larger freeway system when non-federal-aid
highways are also included.
In the late 20th century, the US was also a leader in
the development and deployment of jetliners. Cheap air transportation together
with cheap cars in turn wrecked US passenger rail, although freight rail
remained financially viable. In 1970, Congress authorized the formation of
Amtrak to enable the railroads to shed themselves of their remaining passenger
routes (which would now be operated by Amtrak over the railroads' tracks).
During the 20th century, the US retail sector became
the strongest in the world. US retailers pioneered many innovative concepts
that later spread around the world, including inventory bar codes to ease the
tedium of accurately tallying purchases, "big box" chain stores,
factory outlet stores, warehouse club stores, and modern shopping centers.
American consumer culture, as well as Hollywood movies and many forms of
popular music, books, and art, all established the United States as the
cultural center of the world. With the aid of generous federal funding as part
of the defense-industrial complex and later, under the Higher Education Act,
American universities established themselves as the most prestigious academic
institutions in the world. Today, they are rivaled only by a handful of
universities in the UK,
Culture:
The South's famous Bourbon Street, New Orleans, Louisiana The United States is made up of many diverse ethnic groups and its culture varies greatly across the vast area of the country and even within cities - a city like New York will have dozens, if not hundreds, of different ethnicities represented within a neighborhood. Despite this difference, there exists a strong sense of national identity and certain predominant cultural traits. Generally, Americans tend to believe strongly in personal responsibility and that an individual determines his or her own success or failure, but it is important to note that there are many exceptions and that a nation as diverse as the United States has literally thousands of distinct cultural traditions. One will find Mississippi in the South to be very different culturally from Massachusetts in the North.Regions:
The United States is composed of 50 states,
as well as the city of Washington, D.C., a federal district and the
nation's capital. Below is a rough grouping of these states into regions, from
the Atlantic to the Pacific:
New England (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont)
Home to gabled churches, rustic antiques, and steeped in American history, New England offers beaches, spectacular seafood, rugged mountains, frequent winter snows, and some of the nation's oldest cities, in a territory small enough to tour (hastily) in a week. The small town environments have managed to maintain a large degree of autonomy for centuries. |
Mid-Atlantic (Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania)
Ranging from New York in the north to Washington, D.C., the Mid-Atlantic is home to some of the nation's most densely populated cities, as well as historic sites, rolling mountains, the New Jersey Pine Barrens, the Lehigh Valley, and seaside resorts like the Long Island beaches and the Jersey Shore. Bridging New England and the South, the Mid-Atlantic includes some of the most cosmopolitan areas in the world as well as small enclaves of American history. |
South (Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina,Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia)
The South is celebrated for its hospitality, down-home cooking and its blues, jazz, rock 'n' roll, and country music traditions. A distinct literature, accents, and religiosity help distinguish Southerners as well. This lush, largely subtropical region includes cool, verdant mountains, agricultural plantations, and vast cypress swamps. |
Florida
Northern Florida is similar to the rest of the South, but is not so in the resorts of Orlando, retirement communities, tropical Caribbean-influenced Miami, the Everglades, and 1,200 miles of sandy beaches. An extremely popular tourist attraction, Florida includes some of the nicest attractions that the United States has to offer and is conveniently located in the Caribbean, facilitating travel to exotic islands. |
Midwest (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin)
The Midwest is home to farmland, forests, picturesque towns, industrial cities, and the Great Lakes, the largest system of freshwater lakes in the world, forming the North Coast of the US. Midwesterners are known for their simplicity and hospitality. |
Texas
The second biggest state in the nation is like a separate country (and in fact, once was), with strong cultural influences from its Spanish and Mexican past. The state is also a nexus of Southwestern and Southern cultures. The terrain ranges from southeastern swamplands to the cattle-ranching South Plains to the sandy beaches of South Texas to the mountains and deserts of West Texas. |
Great
Plains (North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma)
Travel westward through these supposedly flat states, from the edge of the eastern forests through the prairies and onto the High Plains, an enormous expanse of steppes (shortgrass prairies) nearly as desolate as in the frontier days. You can enjoy serenity and a beautiful expanse that's impossible on the coasts. |
Rocky Mountains (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming)
The spectacular snow-covered Rockies offer hiking, rafting, and excellent snow skiing as well as deserts, and some large cities. Tourist cities include some of the nicest amenities for hundreds of miles and some parts of the Rockies are virtually untouched by man. |
Southwest (Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah)
Heavily influenced by Spanish and Mexican culture, this area is home to some of the nation's most spectacular natural attractions and some flourishing artistic communities. Although mostly empty, the region's deserts have some of the nation's largest cities. Additionally, a strong Native American influence can be felt throughout as this region includes many large reservations and sovereign territorial lands. |
California
Like the Southwest, California has a history under Spanish and Mexican rule and is heavily influenced by Spanish and Mexican culture in addition to massive immigration from around the world. California offers world-class cities, deserts, rainforests, snowy mountains, and beautiful beaches. Northern California (around the San Francisco Bay Area) and Southern California (around Los Angeles) are culturally distinct. |
Pacific
Northwest (Washington, Oregon)
The pleasantly mild Pacific Northwest offers outdoor pursuits as well as cosmopolitan cities. The terrain ranges from spectacular rain forests to scenic mountains and volcanoes to beautiful coastlines to sage-covered steppes and deserts. In minutes, you can travel from a high-tech metropolis to a thick forest or a mountaintop. |
Alaska
One-fifth as large as the rest of the United States, Alaska reaches well into the Arctic, and features mountainous wilderness. Some areas have preserved a unique Inuit culture as well. |
Hawaii
A volcanic archipelago in the tropical Pacific, 2,300 miles south west of California (the nearest state), laid-back Hawaii is a vacation paradise. The indigenous Polynesian population are known for being accommodating and fun-loving. |
Politically, the US is a federation of states,
each with its own rights and powers (hence the name). The US also administers a
motley collection of non-state territoriesaround the world, the
largest of which are Puerto Rico (which has the special status
of a "commonwealth") and the US Virgin
Islands in the Caribbean plus American
Samoa, Guam and
the Northern Mariana Islands in Oceania.
Cities:
The United States has over 10,000 cities, towns, and villages. The following is a list of ten of the most notable. Other cities can be found in their corresponding regions.
§ Washington, D.C. - the national capital, filled with
major museums and monuments, along with multi-cultural communities
§ Boston - best known for its colonial history,
its passion for sports, and its university students
§ Chicago -
heart of the Midwest and transportation hub of the nation, with massive
skyscrapers and other architectural gems
§ Los Angeles - home of the film industry,
musicians, artists, and surfers, with beautiful mild weather, great natural
beauty from mountains to beaches, and endless stretches of freeways and smog
§ Miami - attracts sun-seeking northerners and
home to a rich, vibrant, Latin-influenced, Caribbean culture
§ New Orleans - "The Big Easy" is the
birthplace of Jazz, and is known for its quaint French Quarter and annual Mardi
Gras celebration
§ New York City - the country's largest city, home of
the financial services and media industries, with world-class cuisine, arts,
architecture, and shopping
§ Phoenix -
this striking oasis in the desert with peaks rising up in the middle of
downtown has some great hiking and natural beauty and is the home of the famed
Saguaro cactus
§ San Francisco - the City by the Bay, featuring the
Golden Gate Bridge, vibrant urban neighborhoods, and dramatic fog
§ Seattle -
rich museums, monuments, and recreational opportunities, and five distinct
climates within 200 miles (321 km)
§ Las Vegas -
gambling city in the Nevada desert, home to over half of the top 20 biggest
hotels in the world. Popular for its casinos, shows and endless nightlife.
Within driving distance of the Grand Canyon.
Other
Destinations:
These are some of the largest and most famous
destinations outside of major cities.
§ Denali National Park — a remote
national park featuring North America's highest peak
§ Grand Canyon —
the world's longest and most visited canyon
§ Mesa Verde National Park —
well-preserved Pueblo cliff dwellings
§ Mount Rushmore — the
iconic memorial of 4 former presidents carved into a cliff face
§ Niagara Falls — massive waterfalls
straddling the border with Canada
§ Great Smoky Mountains National Park —
national park in the southern Appalachians
§ Walt Disney
World — the most popular vacation resort destination in the
world
§ Yellowstone National Park — the first
national park in the US and home of the Old Faithful geyser
§ Yosemite National Park — home of El
Capitan and the famous Giant Sequoia trees
Thanks for Spending Your Precious Time on Visit USA
