THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

N
orth America was inhabited for as many as 15,000
years before Europeans arrived.The first
permanent European settlement
was established in Florida in 1565.
211 years of colonization followed, until the United
WASHINGTON
States was established in 1776. Since then, the nation
has grown from 13 states to 50 and spread across the
continent.The United States came to symbolize
political, economic, and religious freedom for
OREGON
immigrants who arrived from every corner of
IDAHO
the world.Today, with a population exceeding
288 million, the U.S. is an international power,
leading the world in food production,
technological innovation, and more.

MONTANA

WYOMING

NEVADA
UTAH
CALIFORNIA

ALASKA

COLORADO

HAWAII

CI
PA

ARIZONA
NEW
MEXICO

FI
C

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

From waterfalls to groves of giant sequoia trees to the flower-filled
fields of the Tuolumne meadows, the 761,236 acres (308,072
hectares) of this national park were saved from development
primarily through the efforts of environmentalist John Muir, the
founder of the Sierra Club.The landscape was formed
millions of years ago when glaciers created the
path in which the Merced River flows.

EA

SOUTHWEST STYLE
The Spanish, and later
the Mexicans, once
held the southwestern
regions of what would
become the United
States.Today the flavor of
Latin culture is still
present in open-air
markets such as this one in
San Antonio. Many of the
place names in this region
can trace their names to
Spanish roots, as can many
of the people.Thirty-two
percent of Texass
population, for example,
claims Latino heritage.

6
(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.

GOLDEN CORN
Corn is among the United
States top crops, generating
millions of dollars in revenue
each year. Much of that corn
is grown in the countrys
center, with Iowa leading in
corn production. Corn is
used as feed for livestock, but
it is also processed into meal,
oil, and other products that
are shipped throughout the
country, and the world.

Lake Superior
NORTH
DAKOTA

NEW ENGLAND REGATTA

The Head of the Charles regatta, held in Boston,
Massachusetts each year, is just one of New
Englands events that link the bustling present
to the historic past. Boston is a city loaded
with colonial history; it was central
NEW
to the nations birth during the
HAMPSHIRE
American Revolution.

MAINE

VERMONT
MINNESOTA
Lake Huron

o
tari
On
e
k
La
NEW YORK

WISCONSIN
Lake Michigan

SOUTH
DAKOTA

MICHIGAN
ke
La

e
Eri

RHODE
ISLAND
PENNSYLVANIA

IOWA

CONNECTICUT

NEBRASKA

NEW JERSEY

OHIO
ILLINOIS

DELAWARE
INDIANA
WEST
VIRGINIA

KANSAS

MASSACHUSETTS

MISSOURI

MARYLAND

BIG APPLES
New York City is called
the Big Apple, but not because
New York state is a top apple producer
although it is. In the 1920s and 1930s,
apple was jazz musicians slang for city
and the biggest apple was NYC.

WASHINGTON,
D.C.

VIRGINIA

KENTUCKY
NORTH
CAROLINA

TENNESSEE
OKLAHOMA

EA

OC

ALABAMA

AT L A N

TIC

GEORGIA

MISSISSIPPI

SOUTH
CAROLINA

ARKANSAS

TEXAS
LOUISIANA

Gul f

of M e xi c o
FLORIDA

LIBERTY BELL
Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, was
also central to the United States birth in
1776. Among the important historic sites are
Benjamin Franklins home; Independence
Hall, where the Declaration of Independence
was signed; and, of course, the Liberty Bell.
THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA
The Mississippi River takes a roughly 2,300-mile (3,701km) journey from its source in Minnesota to the
Mississippi Delta in Louisiana.Today, as when RenRobert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle journeyed up the river
in 1682, the mighty waterway is a river road that
reaches from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico.

7
(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.