USA

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Geography:
The United States of America is seated between the Atlantic Ocean in the east and the Pacific Ocean in the west. About 230 million people lives in the country at the moment.Almost 75% of the population lives in the cities and surrounding small towns.There are 50 states in the US.
Alaska lies above Mexico, and Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. They became the last states to join the US.The capital is Washington DC, and the longest river is Missouri, 6800 km long.The USA got the same size as Europe without the nordic countries.America has got a very shifting climate. Inside of the Altantic Ocean it´s large forests and mountanious parts. West of that is the flat part of the counrty, where the soil is very good for farming

History:
The first people to live in North America were the Indians. When Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492, it already lived many tribes there. Columbus thought he had come to India, so he called the people “Indians”. Now, they are known as “Native Americans” or “Amerindians”. The Indians were sad that the Europeans came, beacsue many of the Indians died as slaves, in battle or by the diseases the Europeans brought. The “cowboys and Indian” time we see in movies lasted between 1860 and 1890, when the railways were built. Now there are about 2.5 million Indians left in the USA.

In the beginning of the 1600s, the first immigrants came to North America. Most of them were settlers, but between 1670 and 1860 half a million people came as slaves from Africa. The were needed for work on plantations.

In the middle of the 19th century there where two “Americas” in the United States.
In the south, slaves were very common. In the north, people thought that slavery should be forbidden. Abraham Lincoln became president in 1861. People in the south were not happy, since they knew he was against slavery. Eleven states declared that they no longer belonged to the United States. They called themselves the Confederate states of America. The Civil war started in April 1861. The Confederate army of the south shot against the Union army of the north. They fought until 1863 when president Lincoln freed all slaves in America. The Confederates gave up in April that year. When the president went to the theater on night, he was shot by an actor who was crazy with disappointment beacause the south had lost the war.

Tourism:
USA is a country with very many different things to do, and places to visit.
Mt.Rushmore is a huge sculpture of the four american presidents, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. You can see the 60-foot high faces it in South Dakota.

Las Vegas is the paradise for gambling, with amazing casinos and impressive hotels. Washington, the capital of USA is also very popular to visit, with many museums and the White House.Chicago is famous for the culture, with one of the worlds best collections of modern architecture.

In New York, there are plenty things to see, such as the Statue pf Liberty, Rockfeller Center, Trump Towers, the Time Square and the Atlantic City.
On the other side of the coast, California is a very popular tourist attraction. The largest city in the state is Los Angeles, which is known as the home to many famous artists and actors. With places like Disneyland, Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Malibu people always come to Los Angels in hope to get a glimpse of celeberties.

The Iraq issue:
President Bush wants to start a war againt Iraq to bring Saddam Hussein down, create a democracy and disarm the country.
Right now, it says that Iraq will be invaded already march 17th. But even sooner, march 13th the brittish forces will start an air-combat.The meaning is that the air-combat will destroy Iraq´s defence and make them understand that the only choice is to leave.Right after, forces on the ground will be put in. In that way, the war shall go fast and not many people will die. President Bush will soon give Saddam Hussein an ultimatum: If he dosn´t disarm within three days, USA will start the worse bombing over Iraq in the history!
And for my own opinion, I think as sooner, the better.
The goal in this issue is peace and safety, which can only be done when Iraq´s possible, but most likely, weapons are destroyed.
If violence could not be used, it would be Saddam that decided if the weapons should be destroyed or not. And that would be a huge step back in the struggle for human rights if UN makes decisions but can´t go through with them. Iraq has to be put under maximal pressure so that they will cooperate with USA.

School:
Compared to Sweden, USA has got Private Schools, which cost money to go in.
About 12 per cent of the students in America pay to go to Private School. The rest goes to Public Schools, which gives free education to all students. The children start at the age of 5, in kindergarten. At 6 they begin elementary school, which is one year earlier than in Sweden. Between 12-15 they go to Junior High School. They change to Senior Hight School at 15, and graduate at 18.

Woodstock:
Ten miles northwest of Kingston lies the town called Woodstock. About 6200 people lives there.Woodstock symbolizes the 1960s, when youths got interested in freedom and experimented with culture.

It was hippes, painted busses, drugs and party.
The 1969 music festival was accually held in Bethel, about 50 miles from Woodstock. Bethel forever changed US rock and roll. Thousands of people gatherd on Max Yasgur´s farm to open their minds and simply have fun.It was called “The three days of peace and music” and in August 1969 the Woodstock festival included performances by Jimi Hendrix, Santana, The Who and many others. The tickets costed only $18 for the whole concert, but only 125.000 of the 500.000 who came paid.The festival was almost scandalfree, although The Who´s Pete Townsend did smash a guitar on Abbie Hoffmans head.Two people died during the festival, but it was also births! Exept that, there were some broken toilets, and a lot of rain, which created a huge mud problem.The festi...