2 Basic Facts about USA.docx

2 Basic Facts about USA.docx

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2BasicFactsaboutUSA

Lecture2

BasicFactsaboutUSA–

ItsLandandPeople

Outline

Position&geographicdivision;

Climateandweather;

Landresources;

Riversandlakes;

Naturalresources;

Territories&otherareas;

Americanpeople

AbriefintroductiontoU.S.A.

The UnitedStatesofAmerica （alsocalledthe UnitedStates,the U.S.,the USA, America,andtheStates）isa federalconstitutionalrepubliccomprising 50states anda federaldistrict.Thecountryissituatedmostlyincentral NorthAmerica,whereits48contiguousstates andWashingtonD.D.,the capitaldistrict,liebetweenthePacificandAtlanticOceans,borderedby Canadatothenorthand Mexico tothesouth.Thestateof Alaskaisinthenorthwestofthecontinent,withCanadatotheeastand Russia tothewest,acrossthe Bering.Thestateof Hawaii isanarchipelago inthemid-Pacific.Thecountryalsopossesses severalterritories inthePacificandCaribbean.

AbriefintroductiontoU.S.A.

Totalarea:

3.79 millionsquaremiles（9.83 millionskm）,thefourthlargest

Population:

around315million,thethirdlargest

Itisoneoftheworld‘smost ethnicallydiverseand multiculturalnations,theproductoflarge-scale immigrationfrommanycountries. The U.S.economy istheworld’slargestnationaleconomy,withanestimated2011 GDP of$15.1 trillion（万亿）.Percapitaincomeistheworld's seventh-highest.

Position&Geographicdivision

50states:

2statesseparatedfromcontinentalU.S.

1）Alaska（1.5millionskm）

separatedfrommainlandAmericabyCanada,AlaskaisthelargeststateintheUnitedStatesinlandareaat586,412squaremiles（1,518,800skm）,overtwicethesizeofTexas,thenextlargeststate. 

2）Hawaii（17,000skm）

Liesabout3,200kmawaytothewestandinthePacificOcean.

Overseasterritories

a）Guan（Island）关岛;

b）PuertoRico（波多黎各）;

c）theVirginIslands

Territories&otherareas

PuertoRico

about9,000squarekmsintheCaribbeanSea,linkedtoU.S.asacommonwealth,2,712,000people,electtheirowngovernorandlegislature.

SomePacificislands

Guan（Island）:

largest

549squarekms;85,000people;thecongressiselectedbythelocalpeople;thegovernmentisundertheadministrationoftheU.S.DepartmentofInterior.

AmericanSamoa（197kms,population27,000）

Territories&otherareas

WakeIsland（administeredbyU.S.AirForce）

TheMidwayIsland（theNavyDepartment）

IslandgroupoftheCarolines,Marianas,andMarshalls,inthePacific.

50statesofUSA

Alabama亚拉巴马州

Alaska阿拉斯加州

Arizona亚利桑那州

Arkansas阿肯色州

California加利福尼亚州

Colorado科罗拉多州

Connecticut康涅狄格州

Delaware特拉华州

Florida佛罗里达州

Georgia佐治亚州

Hawaii夏威夷

Idaho爱达荷州

Illinois伊利诺伊州

Indiana印第安纳州

Iowa艾奥瓦（衣阿华）州

Kansas堪萨斯州

Kentucky肯塔基州

Louisiana路易斯安那州

Maine缅因州

Maryland马里兰州

Massachusetts马塞诸塞（麻省）

Michigan密歇根（密执安）州

Minnesota明尼苏达州

Mississippi密西西比州

Missouri密苏里州

Montana蒙大拿州

Nebraska内布拉斯加州

Nevada内华达州

NewHampshire新罕布什尔

NewJersey新泽西州

NewMexico新墨西哥州

NewYork纽约州

NorthCarolina北卡罗来州

NorthDakota北达科他州

Ohio俄亥俄州

Oklahoma俄克拉何马州

Oregon俄勒冈州

Pennsylvania宾夕法尼亚州

RhodeIsland罗得岛

SouthCarolina南卡罗来州

SouthDakota南达科他州

Tennessee田纳西州

Texas得克萨斯州

Utah犹他州

Vermont佛蒙特州

Virginia弗吉尼亚州

Washington华盛顿州

WestVirginia西弗吉尼亚州

Wisconsin威斯康星州

Wyoming怀俄明州

Position&Geographicdivision

3basicareas:

TheAtlanticSeacoasttotheAppalachianMountains;

ThegreatMississippiRiverBasin（betweentheAppalachianandtheRockyMountains）;

TheRockieswesttothePacificOcean.

Position&Geographicdivision

3basicareas:

TheAtlanticSeacoasttotheAppalachianMountains;

BasicallyanarrowplainalongtheAtlanticSeacoast:

1）Inthenortheast,thelandishilly,rockyandmostlyinfertile;

2）TheMiddleAtlanticSeacoastisaflat&fertileregion,whichisthemostdenselypopulatedregionintheU.S.;

3）Inthedeepsouththecoastplainisverylow&wide.

Position&Geographicdivision

3basicareas:

2.ThegreatMississippiRiverBasin:

Oneofthelargestflatlandintheworld（abouthalfofthecontinentalU.S.,about2000kminwidth）

a）theMiddleWest（thenortheasternpart）,includingOhio,Michigan,Indiana,Illinois,Wisconsin,Missouri,Iowa,Minnesota;

b）TheGreatPlains（largeareatothewestofMississippi）:

NorthDakota,SouthDakota,Nebraska,Kansas,Oklahoma

Position&Geographicdivision

3basicareas:

3.TheRockieswesttothePacificOcean

TheRockyMountains（towestoftheGPs）

“thebackboneofthecontinent”;（Great）David（themostimportantwatershedonthecontinent）

Thesceneryisstrikingandvaried

theYellowstoneNationalPark

（3000geysers&springs,OldFaithful）

TheGreatBasin（alargeareaofhighlandbetweentheSierraNevadaMountainsandtheRockyMountains）

Climate&weather

Mainlysituatedinthenortherntemperatezone（温带）;hasdifferenttypesofclimateindifferentareas.

NewEngland:

relativelycold

winters:

long&hard

summers:

short&warm

fall:

beautifulduetothedifferentcolorsoftheleaves

onthetrees

TheMiddleAtlanticStates:

generallypleasant

4definiteseasons:

winters–cold&snowy;springs–warm,withplentyofrain;summers–hot&shortbutpleasant;falls–cool.

Climate&weather

TheSouth（alongtheAtlanticcoast）

enjoysawarmclimateandabundantrainfall.ManyofitsstatesliewithintheSunBelt.Theclimatevarieswiththegeographicalpositionofeachstate:

Virginia&NorthCarolina:

temperate;

southernFlorida:

almosttropical

Georgia,Alabama,Mississippi,andLouisiana:

warmwithalmostnocoldorwinterweather;

Somestatesaresometimesharassedbyhurricanes

Climate&weather

ClimateintheGreatPlainsvarieswidely:

NorthDakota:

extremetemperatures,strongwinds&lowprecipitation;

Oklahoma:

moretemperate,inwinter6-meterhighsnow;insummerplants&animalsmaydiefromtheextremeheat;

duststorms

ClimateintheMidwest:

temperate

sudden&extremechangesintemperature;summer–veryshort,winter–extremelycold

Climate&weather

ThestateswestofRockyMountains

sharplydifferentclimaticcondition:

thewesternslopesoftheCoastalMountains–cool,rainy&cloudy;

theeasternslopes–verylittlerainfalls&deserts

LandResources

80milliontonsofironayear

3-quartersoftheorecomesfromtheLakeSuperiorregionoftheGreatLakes;alsominedinMissouri,NewYork,UtahandWyoming

Coal–2ndmajornaturalresourcefoundinlargequantitiesinU.S.

（enoughtolasthundredsofyears;mainlyusedbysteamplantstoproduceelectricityorbychemicalindustriesforproducingplastics&othersynthetics）

coalreserves:

mainlyfoundintheAppalachians,theCentralPlain,andtheRockies

Otherbasicmetals&mineralsminedonalargescale:

zinc,copper,silver,phosphaterock（usedforfertilizers）.

Richinoil

3,200millionbarrelsofpetroleumayear;mostdomesticproductionofoilandnaturalgascomesfromoffshoreareasofLouisiana&Texas,andfromonshoreareasofTexas,Oklahoma&California;

bigconsumption–insufficientoilsupply

RiversandLakes

Comparativelyrichinwaterresources.

IntheEast:

anenormousmileageofcheapinlandtransportation;

IntheWest:

mostlyunnavigable,butheavilyusedforirrigation&powergeneration

MississippiRiver（mostimportant&longestinU.S.）

flowsabout6,400kmsfromitsnorthwesternsourceintheRockiestotheGulfofMexico.

（withitsgreattributaries,theOhioandtheMissouri）drainsmostofthemid-continent

RiversandLakes

TheMissouriRiver

3,725kmslong,maintributaryoftheMississippi;risesinsouthwestMontanaandjoinstheMississippiatSt.Louis;nicknamed“BigMuddy”（abroad,silt-ladenriver）;1,372squarekms（drainagebasinoftheMissouri&itstributaries）

TheOhioRiver

1,500kmslong,majoreasterntributaryoftheMississippi,runsfromtherainyeastandjoinstheMississippiatCario,Illinois;327,000squarekms（drainagebasinoftheOhio&itstributaries）

RiversandLakes

TheGreatLakes（largestfreshwaterlakegroupintheworld）–St.Lawrencesystem,theotherhalfofthemid-continent,connectedtotheMississippi-OhioviaChicagobycanalsandtheIllinoisRiver.

NaturalResources

Richinwaterresources

TheMississippi,theOhio,theHudson,theColoradoirrigatehundredsofmilesoffertilevalleys

63%（watersupplyforcities,towns&farmlands）

93%（thewaterusedbyindustry）

almostallofthewaterusedtocreateelectricpower

Forests

about1/3ofthelandareaofU.S.iscoveredbyforests;

morethan600millionacresiscommercialforestland;wood,resins&otherforestproducts

NaturalResources

About225millionacresofforestlandisreservedbylawas“NationalForest”,serveaslargerecreationareas&essentialwatershedsandsafehabitatsforwildlife.

Americanpeople–the“meltingpot”

U.S.–a“meltingpot”

becausemanyofitspeoplearedescendedfromsettlerswhocamefromallovertheworld

ThefirstimmigrantsinAmericanhistory（fromEngland&theNetherlands）;

thegreatestnumberscamefromEurope

ManypeoplecamefromLatinAmerica,Asia,Africa,Australia,andCanada

AmericanIndian（825,000）,mainlyintheWest,inthesouth&northcentralareas;Navajo（thelargesttribe）[纳瓦霍印第安人]

Americanpeople–the“meltingpot”

BlackpeoplebroughttoU.S.asslaves,theirdescendantsaccountingfor＞12%ofthepopulation;NewYorkState–thelargestblackpopulation（2,169,000）

InHawaii,＞1/3oftheresid