美国国家概况---地理

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1.1 Geographical Feature

The full and official name of this country is the United States of America(abbreviated to the USA), often be called as the United States (abbreviated to the US). the USA is a country comprising fifty states and a federal district--- the District of Columbia, in which the capital, Washington D.C. is located, in North America between the Pacific bordering the west and Atlantic the east plus Alaska in northwest North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean.

The USA has a vast and varied expanse from the heavily industrialized Atlantic seaboard to the densely populated West Coast. It can be divided into three parts according to its geographical features: the eastern part, the western part and the Central Plain in between.

The eastern part is made up of the highlands formed by the Appalachian Range. It holds one sixth of national territory on the continent. These highlands are relatively low.

The western part consists of high plateaus and mountains formed by the Great Cordillera Range, extending from Canada through the western part of the United States to Mexico and further south. From west to east, this mountain system is composed of the Coast Range, the Cascades and the Rocky Mountains.

Between the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachians lies the Central Plain which occupies one second of America’s landmass on the continent. It stretches from the Great Lakes in the north to the Gulf of Mexico in the south. The Mississippi River, the largest river in America, also lies between the Appalachian Mountains and the Rocky Mountains. The Mississippi has been called “father of waters” or “old man river”.

The most important lakes in the United States are the Great Lakes, Lake Superior, Lake Michigan,Lake Huron, Lake Eire and Lake Ontario. They are located between Canada and the United States except Lake Michigan, the only lake entirely in the USA. Lake Superior is the largest fresh water lake in the world.

1.2 Climate

The climate in the USA varies greatly from the north to the south and from the east to the west. It is extremely cold in northern Alaska but quiet mild and humid in southern Florida and Hawaii. The coasts of Oregon and Washington are among the rainiest places in the world, while the Mojave Desert in Arizona and California is one of the driest.