ECONOMY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA



The United States is the leading economic power in the world. It is a fully-developed industrial country with a very solid agricultural basis. Its people enjoy a high standard of living though there remain many important social problems which are to be solved. Highly-advanced technology provides a system of communications and transportations to tie the country and its people together.

The US can be grouped into regions that have common historical, economic and physical characteristics. From this point of view we can single out six major regions. They are the Northeast, the Great Lakes, the South, the Plains, the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific states.

The heavy industries are for the most part in the Middle West, in the region of the Great Lakes, around Detroit and Chicago, in the Northeast and near Birmingham. The automobile industry and all kinds of machine-building are highly-developed in Detroit, in California and in the areas of heavy industry. Ship-building is developed along the Atlantic coast and in San Francisco and Seattle on the Pacific coast. The textile industry is concentrated in the Northeast; but it is especially well-developed in the South, where much cotton is grown, in the Mississippi Valley. In the Middle West much grain is grown. Fresh fruit and vegetables come all over the year round from the South (Florida), from California and south-western states. The highlands in the west are famous for their cattle and poultry farming.     

The Mineral Wealth

The United States is noted for a great number and a great variety of mineral resources. Its territory possesses over 100 kinds of various minerals. In resources of coal and natural gas, tungsten and molybdenum, lead and phosphorus the United States holds the first place. In resources of copper, zinc and sulphur — the second. In resources of gold, silver, uranium, mercury and as­bestos — the third. The United States is rich in oil, iron ore, va­rious metallic ores. At the same time the country lacks a suffi­cient supply of some of the minerals required for modern indus­tries. These must be imported into the United States. They include tin, nickel, manganese, chrome, cobalt, industrial diamonds.

Modern industry demands more and more of the nation's mi­neral wealth. Each new electric plant needs many kilometers of copper wire. Machines require iron, lead and other metals. Coal, oil and natural gas must drive the machines.

The total resources of coal of the United States are equal to 1.5 trillion tones. The principal deposits of high-grade coals are concentrated in the eastern part of the country. The main pro­ducing areas are in the Appalachian region. Some other less im­portant coal basins are to be found in the middle reaches of the Mississippi, in the north of the Great Plains and in the Rocky Mountains.

The total reserves of oil are estima­ted to 5 thousand million tones. The chief oil-bearing area is in the southern part of the Interior Plains and the Gulf Coast Plain. Other important oil fields are situated in the Pacific southwest (California) and the Rocky Mountains (Wyoming). Extensive oil-bearing areas have been discovered in the northern part of the Great Plains. Less important oil-fields are in the western Appala­chians. Closely connected with oil­fields are the vast deposits of natural gas (8 trillion cubic meters).

It is believed that the greatest part of America's heavy industry depends upon three resources: iron ore from the Lake Superior area, coal from the Appalachians of western Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and transportation across the Great Lakes. In the total resources of iron ore (11 thousand mil­lion tones) the United States is third only to India and Brazil. The chief deposits of iron ore, as has been men­tioned above, are concentrated in the region of Lake Superior. The iron content of the ores of this area is 50 to 58 per cent, though these ores have been partly worked out. There are some deposits of iron ore in the south of the Appalachians, Birmingham, but the ores of this region are of a poorer quali­ty, having lower iron content. The proximity of the deposits of high-grade coal anthracite contributed favorably to the development of ferrous metal­lurgy in the region.

Pittsburg, in the heart of coal-fields, was the first of the great steel cities, because it was cheaper to bring the ore to the coal than the coal to the ore. Today, the Pittsburgh area still pro­duces about one-fifth of the nation's steel, and also supplies coal to the other great steelmaking centers — Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo.

Large deposits of non-ferrous metals are to be found mostly on the territory to the west of the Mississippi River — zinc, copper, lead and others. Principal resources of such metals as gold, silver and rare elements are in the Cordilleras. The main deposits of uranium are in New Mexico. In the total resources of uranium the United States is after the South African Republic and Ca­nada.

Today the nation's largest open-pit copper mining centre is Bingham, Utah, in the Great Basin. This method is so efficient that the mining of ore costs only a few cents per tone and the great supply will last for many years.

The Cordilleras and Florida contain huge deposits of phosphorus, while the Gulf coastal plain possesses the world's largest reserves of sul­phur.

With the discovery of gold in Cali­fornia in 1848 there were the greatest mass movements of modern history. Thousands of people came to California from all over the world in search of their fortunes in the rocks. Largely because of the gold rush, the whole continent was settled within the cen­tury, although it had once been estima­ted that this process would require 2,000 years. Now some old mining districts contain ghost towns which once were rich, wild cities whose mines produced unbelievable amounts of wealth and then were suddenly exha­usted. With no further reason for existing, the towns were abandoned. One such town is Rhyolite near Death Valley. Rhyolite was born, became rich and died — all during a period of four years.

As a whole, the United States has considerable resources of minerals for the development of in­dustry.

 

WASHINGTON

 

Washington, D.C. (District of Columbia) is the capital of the United States of America. It is situated on the banks of the Potomac River. It became the capital on December 1, 1800. It was named after George Washington, the first president, and Christopher Columbus (America was discovered by Columbus in 1492). The District of Columbia is a small piece of land that does not belong to any state.

There are many beautiful parks and gardens in Washington. It is interesting to see the famous cherry trees. These trees were a gift of friendship from Japan. They were brought there in 1912.

There are many libraries, museums and art galleries in the city, for example, you can see the National Gallery of Art. It was opened in 1941. It has a lot of art collections by the great masters from the 14th to the 19th centuries. It is one of the finest picture galleries in America; it contains one of the world’s best collections of European and American painting and sculpture. The newest building, the East Building, is made of pink marble and glass. It was designed by I.M.Pei, and it was opened in 1978. The NASA Museum is devoted to the US achievements in the exploration of space.

The Capitol is the centre of the city. The Capitol was built according to the plans of William Thornton. He was an amateur architect. It was made of stone and marble and contains 540 rooms. It is situated Capitol Hill. Capitol Hill is the highest place in the city. Topping the dome is the 19-foot bronze statue of Freedom. There is a law that forbids the building of houses higher than the Capitol. So the Capitol is the tallest building in Washington. The Capitol is the place where laws are made. It is the seat of Congress. Congress consists of two Chambers: the Senate and the House of Representatives. From the Capitol to the White House runs Pennsylvania Avenue which is used for all processions and parades.

 

The White House is the place where the President of the USA lives and works. It is the official residence of the USA presidents. This house was first occupied in 1800. George Washington died in 1799 and he did not live there. John Adams was the first President who lived in that House. The White House has 132 rooms. It was designed by James Hoban. The first building was burned by the British in the War of 1812, but it was rebuilt in 1818. It was also first painted white at that time.

The Metro rail system is an up-to-date one in Washington. If you want to go by metro, you have to find the letter “M”. The fare in the metro is connected with the time of day and the distance of your journey.

There are a lot of sights in Washington. It is difficult to find a park or a square without a monument or a memorial. Some of the most important and most interesting sights are:

The Jefferson Memorial. This monument is dedicated to the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. It was designed by John Russel, and it was dedicated in 1943. Inside there is a statue of Jefferson by sculptor Rudolf Evans.

The Lincoln Memorial. This beautiful monument is dedicated to Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the USA. It is made of marble. In the great hall there is a huge statue by Daniel Chester French. The Lincoln Memorial was dedicated to Memorial Day – May 30, 1922. It was built in the style of a classic Greek temple. It has 36 columns. Each column represents a state in the Union at the time of Lincoln’s death. The dominant feature of the building is the realistic figure of Lincoln.

The Washington Monument. The Washington Monument was completed in 1884. It is dedicated to the first president of the United States, George Washington. This monument is one of the city’s most impressive sights. It is situated in the park near the White House. It is called “The Pencil”, because it is one of the tallest stone constructions in the world and the tallest stone structure in the USA. The Washington Monument is over 555 feet high. You can take an elevator to the top or you can climb the 898 steps!

There is the Pentagon in Washington. This is a building which was built between 1941 and 1943. Now it is the US military centre. A lot of people work there.

Washington is a city almost without industry.


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