UNITED STATES TERRITORY: The territory of the Unites States is about
9629 sq km. It consists of fifty states.
US POPULATION: The population of the USA is about 289 million people. US LOCATION: The United States is situated in north-America. US BORDERS: The US has land borders with Canada and Mexico and sea borders with Cuba and Russia. UNITED STATES: GOVERNMENT: The United States is a federal presidential republic. The executive power lies in the hands of the president and the cabinet. Legislative power is allocated to the House of Representatives, usually called the Congress, and the Senate, both of which may veto each other's bills. Judicial power belongs to the Supreme Court and other federal courts. US CURRENCY: The official currency of United States is the U.S. dollar. US CAPITALS AND POPULATION: The capital of the United States is Washington DC. It has the same boundaries as the District of Columbia, a federal territory which was established in 1790 as the site of the permanent capital. It has a population of more than half a million. New York City is a major port in south-eastern New York State. With its population of about 7.5 million people, it is the most popular city in the US. It consists of Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island boroughs. The second most populous city is Los Angeles with its 3.5 million inhabitants. You can find Hollywood, the centre of US film and television industry, here. The third largest town is Chicago, an industrial city on Lake Michigan with about 2.7 million inhabitants. RELIGION: The largest religions in the United States are Protestant, followed by Roman Catholic, and Jews. US LANGUAGES: In the United States English, Spanish and Native Indian Languages are spoken. THE MAIN REGIONS: The main regions of the United States are the Northeast, the Central Basin, the Southeast, the Great Plains, the Mountains and Deserts, the West Coast Valleys and the Newest States. US URBANIZATION, ENVIRONMENT AND FAMOUS CITIES: - The East Coast is the oldest and most urban part of the country. This is the melting pot of many nations. Millions of Europeans moved to this industrial area bringing with them the European culture and traditions. The West Coast is famous for big cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles. You can also find Hollywood here. - The Mojave Desert in the Great Basin region is the biggest desert in the United States with its area of 39,000 sq km. There is about 170,000 square km of desert in the 960 km between Salt Lake City and Reno. There is nothing but dead lakes, dry rivers and small animal life. - Las Vegas is famous for its casinos and bars, its neon-lighted resort hotels, quick marriages and cheap prices.
The European Union (abbreviation: EU)
- Thereis a confederation of 28 member countries in Europe, started in 1957 as the European Economic Community (EEC). It has created a common economic area with Europe-wide laws allowing people to move and trade in other EU countries almost the same as they do in their own. - Seventeen of these countries also share the same type of money, the euro. Its the official currency of European Union. - The Treaty of Lisbon is the most recent treaty that says how the Union is run. Every member state signed to say that they each agreed with what it says. - The members decide how the Union should act by voting for or against proposals. - The objective of the EU is to bring its member states closer together with respect of human rights and democracy. It does this with a common style of passport, common rules about fair trading with each other, common agreements about law enforcement, and other agreements. Most members share a common currency (the euro) and most allow people to travel from one country to another without having to show a passport. The history of European Union*: - After World War II, the countries in Europe wanted to live peacefully together and help one another's economies. Instead of fighting for coal and steel, the first member countries (West) Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg created one European Coal and Steel Community in 1952. - In 1957 in the Italian city of Rome, the member countries signed another treaty and made the European Economic Community. Now it was a community for coal, steel and for trade. Later it changed the name to the European Community. - In 1993, with the Treaty of Maastricht it changed its name to the European Union. Now the member countries work together not only in politics and economy (coal, steel and trade), but also in money, justice (laws), and foreign affairs. With the Schengen Agreement, 22 member countries of the EU opened their borders to each other, so people can now travel from one country to the other without a passport or identity card. Now already 16 member countries have replaced their national currencies with the euro. 10 new countries became members of the EU in 2004, 2 more became members in 2007, and 1 more in 2013. Today there are 28 member countries altogether.
The free movement of European Union:
- A person who is a citizen of a European Union country can live and work in any of the other 28 member countries without needing a work permit or visa. For example, a British person can move to Germany to work there, or just to live there, and he or she does not need permission from an authority in Germany. - In the same way, products made in one member country can be sold in any other member country without any special permissions or extra taxes. For this reason, the members agree rules on product safety - they want to know that a product made in another country will be as safe as it would be if it had been made in their own country. The European Parliament: The Parliament has a total of 785 members (called Members of the European Parliament, or MEP). They are elected in their countries every five years by the citizens of the European Union member countries. The Parliament can approve, reject or change proposed laws. It can also sack the European Commission. In that case, the entire commission would have to give up their jobs. - Hungary was invited to join both the NATO and the European Union in 1997. It became a member of NATO in 1999, and a member of the EU in 2004. Hungary took on the presidency of the Council of the European Union for half a year in 2011.