THE UNITED STATES

 The United States is a country which became independent from England after the Independence War in 1783, the nation endured the Civil War in 1861-65 and assassination of many presidents such as Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, John F. Kennedy though Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump are the only two presidents who survived their murder attempt. It is a confederation of 50 states that appear in the American flag as stars, though there were only thirteen states at the beginning. The republic is made up of the House of Representatives and Senate as lower and upper bodies and the Congress which is the legal branch of the federal government. The USA participated in the two world wars and has military bases throughout the planet, it is a big country which was enlarged after the purchase of Luisiana to France and Alaska to Russian, the conquest of the west till California and Texas taking them during the Mexican-American war till 1848 and it was received many European immigrants sometimes as indented slaves from Ireland or religious groups from Scotland, Germany, Holland, also African slaves through centuries or workers from China, Italy, the Phillippines or Latin America. The USA has more than five hundred Native Americans though there has been many genocides against the American tribes like the California genocide or the harsh Trail of Tears where thousand of tribes were forced to walk on foot thousand of miles to another farther smaller reserve withouth food or water which made thousand of deaths among elderly, women and children mostly. After the Civil War came a period of progressive advances and wealth especially of entrepreneur families, this period was called the Gilded Age and it is similar to the Roaring Twenties in between both war worlds that ended with the Stock Market Crash in 1929. The USA is a country with massive lands in the north American hemisphere with varied climates like Mediterranean in California, tropical in Florida and Atlantic in the Northeast coast states like Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, the District of Columbia, there are located the capital city of Washington D.C. and the largest city which is New York. The USA agriculture is important (wineries and fruits in California, maize in central states, fisheries in Hawaii and other coastal cities. 

The most famous natural landmarks are the Grand Canyon in Arizona, the Death Valley in California, the Denali National Park in Alaska, the Badlands or multi-layered rocks in South Dakota, the Ashfall Fossil Beds in Nebraska, the Petrified Forest in Arizona, the Craters of the Moon in Idaho, the Niagara Falls, the Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks, the Monument Valley in Utah, the Pensacola and Gulf Island, Kissimmee Prairie and Everglades National Park and  the Gulf Reef all in Florida. There are iconic animals in many of these national parks such as the bald eagle and bison (emblems of USA), the buffaloes, grizzlies or grizzle bears, wild turkeys, black-tailed prairie dogs, cougars or mountain lions, American alligators and flamingos. Also Americans have built famous monuments such as the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn bridge, Central Park, Times Square and the Empire State Building in New York , the effigies of USA presidents in Mount Rushmore (from left to right George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln), the Golden Gate Bridge and trams in San Francisco, the Hollywood sign and the Walk of Fame or Venice Beach Boardwalk and Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles, road Route 66 in Oklahoma, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, the Space Needle in Seattle, The Alamo and St. Ausgustine in Florida, the National Mall in Washington D.C. and the Cloud Gate in Chicago. Gastronomy is varied because it receives influences of Mexican like tacos, burritos, fajitas, enchiladas, quesadillas, mole and chili con carne in Texas and other southern states or French in former colonies of France such as the dip sandwich étouffées, jambalaya, grits, quiches and other Creole dishes, Caribbean or African such as gumbo, collard greens and fried chicken cajun or tropical in Hawaii islands and English influenced in the New England colonies such as the pot roast, Shepherd´s pie or from Italian immigrants in pizzas, chichen parmesan and pasta dishes. Also Americans are very fond of fast-food meals such as burgers and hot dogs (German influenced) and barbecues are a must if you live in the USA with BBQ brisket, Buffalo wings, cornbread, lobsters, etc. There are celebrations such as Thanksgiving dinner with traditional meals such as stuffed roasted turkey with gravy, apple and pecan pies, cranberry sauces, sweet potato casserole, green beans, mac&cheese, frybread, three sisters stew, nut pudding, maple glazed sweet potatoes. Also there is influence from the Chinese and Oriental communities such as sushi rolls, chop suey soups, Thai noodles, Banh Mi sandwich, Ramen soups, adobo meat a Filipino dish and Tikka Masala from India. The most famous sports are American football similar to rugby, basketball, baseball, soccer (football), ice hockey, volleyball, boxing, mixed martial arts, golf, car races, tennis and lacrosse, all these sports vary in popularity depending on the culture and climate of the states in the USA. The most populated cities are New York. L.Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, Philadephia, San Antonio, Dallas, San José, Austin, Miami, Jacksonville, Columbus, San Francisco, Charlotte, Indianapolis, Seattle, Denver, San Diego and Washington. The culture from the USA is ubiquitous in the world due to their economic, military and political strength and the massive film & music industry that have shaped the rest of the world such as jazz, rhythm and blues, Negro spirituals, ragtime, Appalachian folk music with hillbillies, pop, rock & roll, indie, hip hop, rockabilly, metal and punk, folk and country music with influences from former African slaves, Christian choirs, Spain, France in cajuns and creole songs, Mexico, Eastern Europe, Irish and Scottish music in instruments (banjo, guitars, fiddling, drums, trumpets, harmonicas...). Famous singers from the USA are Aretha Franklin, James Brown,Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Bruce Springsteen, Janis Joplin, Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, Whitney Houston, Eminem, Janet Jackson, Prince, Ice Cube, Guns & Roses, Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, The Beach Boys, Tina Turner, Cher, Louis Armstrong, David Bowie, The Supremes, Nat King Cole, Mariah Carey, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé Knowles, Madonna, Snoop Dogg, Kanye West,  Tupac Shakur, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spearsand many more some of them are also actors too like Barbara Streissand, Ariana Grande, Jennifer López, Miley Cyrus, Justin Timberlake, Paris Hilton and Selena Gómez.