BRIEF SURVEY OF THE COUNTRIES OF AMERICA.
The United States of America. Geographical Position and Natural Features.

Map   Questions.

1. Point out the USA on the political map of the world. What
   countries does it border on?
2. Name the mountains, rivers and lakes of the USA that you
   have heard of.

The United States of America is the richest and most highly developed capitalist country in the world. It is at the same time the greatest exploiter of the peoples, the chief stronghold of present-day colonialism, the creator of numerous hotbeds of war in different parts of the world.
Geographical Position. The United States of America covers an area of almost 9,400,000 square kilometres. It is twice as large as all the countries of Europe combined, exclusive of the U.S.S.R. It is two and a half times smaller than the Soviet Union.
The USA is advantageously placed in the middle of the North American continent, in the temperate zone between latitudes 25° and 49° N. It is washed by the Atlantic in the east and the Pacific

Fig. 176. A latitudinal comparison of the geographical locations of the United States of America and Europe.
The contour of the USA has been placed over the parts of Europe and Africa lying in the same latitudes.

in the west-and controls the Panama Canal connecting these two oceans. Thus placed between two oceans it has free access to the trade routes of the world. At the same time, these vast expanses of water have always served as reliable safeguards in time of war. Its land boundaries are on countries who are no danger in case of war. In the course of the last hundred years the USA has fought many a war, but ever on foreign soil. Its own land has always remained untouched. Modern means of warfare, however, have put an end to this advantage of the United States.
Alaska, the adjacent lands and the Aleutian Islands in the north-west (over 1,500,000 square kilometres) and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean also form part of the USA. The United States has possessions in the West Indies and in the Pacific.
Natural Features. Across the eastern part of the United States extend the Appa1achians, a group of low and much denuded mountains. There is iron ore here and rich deposits of coal along the western slopes. Between the Appalachians and the Atlantic lie the
coastal lowlands.

Fig. 178. A Rocky Mountain scene.

The north-eastern coastline is richly indented and contains many convenient bays. The lowlands continue southward into the Peninsula of Florida, which is rich in phospho­rites. The climate of Eastern United States is temperate continental, with a heavy rainfall.lt is colder, however, than that of Europe in the same latitudes. In New York (latitude 41° N) the average Janu­ary temperature is 1°C below zero, the July temperature 23°C above zero, while in Naples the January temperature is 8° C above zero, the July temperature 24° C above zero. The mixed and broad-leaved forests that once covered this part of the country have almost all been cut down. Florida and the neighbouring areas enjoy a wet sub­tropical climate, the average January temperature being 15° C above zero. Here there is an evergreen vegetation, including magnolia, palm, evergreen oak and different kinds of pine. In the central, boggy part of the peninsula there is cypress. In the most beautiful places there are resorts, but these can be afforded only by the rich. The centre of the country is a vast plain (called the Great Cen­tral Plain) that sinks towards the south  and merges into the Mississippi Lowlands. It is drained by the Missis­sippi River and its tributaries, the deep Ohio flowing from the Appalachians and the long but shallow Missouri from the Cordilleras. The climate here is continental, with sharp weather changes. In the south, on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico,  it is subtropical. Westward the climate becomes drier gradually. The forests disappear and in their stead stretch forest-steppes and step­pes (prairies). The soil almost everywhere is ploughed up and under cultivation. This is the so-called   Prairie   Plateau1, or Great Plains.
There are rich deposits of iron ore along the shores of Lake Supe­rior, to the north of the plain. In the central part of the Great Cen­tral Plain, south-west of Lake Michigan, there is coal and poly-metallic ore. The southern part, west of the lower course of the Mississippi, is a rich oil and gas district.
Across the western part of the United States extend the Cor­dilleras, a young mountain system consisting of a number of lofty ranges. Between the Rocky Mountains, on the one hand, and the Cascade Mountains and Sierra N evadas, on the other, there is a series of plateaus — the Great Basin and others. These are crossed by the Colorado and Columbia Rivers. On their way to the Pacific they cut deep canyons through the plateaus; the Grand Canyon on the Colorado River is 1,800 metres deep. These rivers are rich in water-power. The plateaus have a sharp and dry continental climate. There are large variations in the temperature, not only in the course of the year, but in the course of a single day. These are semidesert and desert regions with a poor vegetation (wormwood and goose-foot, and in the south cactus and agave).
A plateau is a low tableland.
Near the coast of the Pacific surrounded by mountains lies the Valley of California with a subtropical climate, very much like that of the Mediterranean region. Evergreen bushes grow here.. On the mountain sides there are giant sequoias. The northern part of the Pacific coast receives much rain and has a mild maritime climate. Coniferous forests of great pine and fir grow here.
In the western mountain regions there is copper, polymetallic and uranium ores and gold. In the Pacific areas there is oil.
In the race for profits the capitalists of the United States greedily plunder the natural resources of the country. The forests are cut and the wild beasts exterminated (bisons, for example). Owing to the increase in the number of ravines and to the frequency of dust-storms much of the land is unfit to cultivate.
Questions and Assignments.

• Mark and name on the outline map the peninsulas, bays, low­
  lands, mountains, plateaus, rivers and lakes of the United States of
  America. Use symbols to show the minerals.
• Using your map of the United States and other maps in the
  Atlas, follow parallel 40" from east to west and describe the natural
  features of these places.