Canada and USA

• the second largest state in the world
• to the north of the USA, in the north of America
• borders on USA in the south and north
• surrounded by the Atlantic , the Pacific and the Arctic ocean
• no borders between Canada and USA, very similar countries
• capital – Ottawa

History

• the original inhabitants came to C. some 2 thousand years ago across the Bering Strait from Asia
• the first Europeans here were the Vikings (more than thousand year ago)
• during the Age of Discoveries (15^th, 16^th century) Jacque Cartier discovered the Gulf of St. Lawrence
• discovered in 17^th century by Govan Cabot (Italian) – French colony
• settlements were in the south east part in the valley St. Lawrence

needed fresh water, connection with Europe – they needed a lot of imported and exported fur (fur trade – very important )

English settlers  – Hudson – in 18^th century was Canada British colony

• original inhabitants : they help them now, no racism, museums- people can learn their life

 – Indians – came from Asia

– Inuit – had to stay and live in the north because of Indians

• 10 provinces, 2 territories ( Ottawa, Northwest Territory )
• in 1999 there will be a new state with a new capital, new state of Inuit ( a lot of names Amos – because of the religion of the firs settlers)

Relief

• The Rocky Mountains – Mt. Logan (6050m)
• The Mackenzie Mountains, Melville Hils
• middle part – forms by prairie
• east – highlands, lowlands
• rivers- the St. Lawrence (the biggest), the Mackenzie, the Yukon – connected with gold ( writer Jack London
• lakes – the Great Bear, the Great Slave lake , 5 big lakes -the biggest deposit of fresh water ( Michigan, Huron, Erie, Ontario, Superior )
• Niagara Falls (between the lakes Erie and Ontario)
• Islands: Baffin I, Newfoundland, Vancouver, Prince Edward Island etc.)

Climate

• in the north – arctic climate – short summer, cold winter ( -50C )
• in the south – continental climate – winters snow ( the same as our country )

Industry

• rich of all metals – gold, led , bauxite, zinc, copper
• oil, coal, natural gas, uranium (40 percent of the world production)
• industry – mining industry, food, fishing, forestry – wood and paper industry, trapping ( hunting animals without guns)

Agriculture

• only 7 percent of land suitable for farming
• is second largest wheat exporter in the world (Manitoba Saskatchewan)
• very fertile soil, wheat, fish

Population

• in the south warmer, big lakes, north- almost without people
• bilingual country- English and French; many minorities (Russian, German Ukranien, Chinese)
• Inuit – in the north, travel by dog-sledge, skiing, kayak, showboats
• live in the igloos, trapping, fishing
• eat fish, fruit and vegetable are very expensive – transport by planes
• parka – special warm cloth
• Indians – they call themselves first nation, they live in the reservations, in normal houses, they use cars … – in the middle
• still live their traditional life connected with hunting,
• not enough education – poor living conditions, taking drugs, drug addict, unemployment…
• they have a lot of advantages- free education, government gives then a lot of land they can hunt, live their traditional life but their children have to attend schools

they are very proud of their history, many museums (Museum of  clothes, Museum of First settlements)

Flag

red and white = blood and snow

Symbol – maple leaf

Animals: loon, polar bear, polar fox 

Political system: Canada has independent parliamentary system with Queen Elisabet II. As a head of the state. The federal parliament consist of the House of Commons and the Senate. The leading figure in political life is prime minister. C. is a member of the UN, UNESCO, NATO etc.

Famous figures

James Fenimoor Cooper – The last of the Mohicans- about Indians near lake Huron

Ernest Thompson Seton – Two little Savages

CANADIAN CITIES

Montreal

Montreal lies in Quebec and it is the second largest French speaking city. It is situated on an island n the middle of the St. Lawrence River. Montreal was chosen as the site of the Universal Exhibition (Expo 67) and the (21^st) Summer Olympic games took place there in 1976. It is a great industrial, commercial, and financial and tourist centre.

Winnipeg

Winnipeg is the capital of Manitoba. It is located in the prairie, at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. It is a cultural, commercial and historical centre. People in Winnipeg are very proud of their culture and history. They built a lot of museums, galleries, churches, theatres and so on.

Museums: Children’s museum, Living prairie Museum and Canada’s first costume museum Dugald costume museum.

There are a lot of parks in W. as well. For example, Sargent Park or Assiniboine Park which is Winnipeg’s oldest and largest park. In this park there are the English Gardens, the zoo, picnic sites, a lot of special areas for different kinds of sports.

A lot of festivals take place there e.g. Winnipeg Folk Festival, W. Fringe Festival… The world’s largest celebration takes place in Winnipeg. This celebration is called Folklorama and it lasts two weeks in August.

Winnipeg’s “French Quarter” is a historical and cultural cornerstone of the city. It is the largest French–Canadian community in Canada, west of Quebec.

In Manitoba there is the provincial park called Whiteshell. In this park there are the stones called Petroforms. They are arranged in the shapes of snakes, turtles, humans…It was made by Native people for religious purposes.

Toronto

Toronto is the biggest city in Canada. It is the capital of the province of Ontario. It is situated on the bank of Lake Ontario. There is a very famous the City Hall in T.

Vancouver

Vancouver is situated in British Columbia it is one of the important ports in Canada. The Universal Exhibition (Expo 86) took place there.

Canada has its own national flag since 1964. It is red and in the centre there is a white square with a simple red maple leaf.

The USA 

The United States of America has 50 states. 48 states are situated in the southern part of North America. Alaska is situated in the North and Hawaii in the Mid-Pacific. Its neighbours are Canada in the north, Mexico in the south.

Central plains are bounded by the Rocky Mountains and the Coastal Mountains in the west, the Appalachian Mountains in the east and alluvial plains around the Gulf of Mexico. The highest mountain in the USA is Mount McKinley in the Alaska Range, which is 6 194 m high..

The largest rivers are the Mississippi and the Missouri. The border with Canada is in its central part made by the Great Lakes Region. The Great Lakes are: Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario. Between Erie and Ontario are all over the World known Niagara falls. There are many national parks in the USA, e. g. Yellowstone NP, Rocky Mountains NP, Grand Canyon NP, etc.

The USA population is about 250.000.000. Around 79 per cent of inhabitants live in urban areas. Now there are 79 per cent of white people, 12 per cent of black people and about and the rest are Asian and Pacific islanders, Indians and Eskimos. The main language spoken here is American English but various ethnic minorities speak their original languages (Chinese, Spanish) American English differs from British English in vocabulary (for example: In British English flat, in American apartment, or lift x elevator or post x mail or cinema x the movies), pronunciation and spelling (colour X color, catalogue x catalog )

Now I would like tell you something about the history of the USA. I will start with:

First settlements – Till 1400 native Indians were the only inhabitants in the USA. In 1492 Christopher Columbus discovered America. The first English colony was founded in Virginia at Jamestown in 1607. In 1620 the ship named Mayflower brought 102 English men, women and children to the north-east coast where they founded the colony called Plymouth. They were members of a religion sect called Pilgrim Fathers, but in winter about one half of them died. The next year in October 1621 they celebrated good harvest and the day of celebrations they called Thanksgiving day. During the 17th century many colonists settled in the country. From these settlements became the 13 colonies under British rule.

The War of Independence – British government started to charge new taxes on the imported goods (for example: sugar, coffee, textiles etc.) to cover the costs of the war against France. The colonists refused to pay taxes, so British soldiers were sent to Boston. In 1773 a group of patriots, dressed as Indians, threw the cargo of British tea into the Boston Harbour. This event is known as Boston Tea Party. Americans began boycotting British trade. In 1775 at Lexington the War began. Later George Washington took over the command of a Continental Army. The Continental Congress began to work as a national government and on July 4th, 1776 they agreed on th Declaration of Independence written mainly by Thomas Jefferson. This is the day, when the USA was founded. The War of independence lasted till 1783. The new constitution was adopted in 1787.

Civil War– About 60 years of never ending discuses about slaves freedom led to the Civil War between the North and the South. It started in 1861 after Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860. Southern states protested against Lincoln being president and wanted to separate from the Union. Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 which granted freedom to all slavers. In April 1865 the Union Forces won the War. Only shortly after that Lincoln was assassinated in the theatre.

The American flag has 13 red and white stripes and on the blue field in the top corner there are 50 white stars. Each star represents one of the 50 states and each strip represents one of original state.

The USA can be divided into four parts:

The 1st area The North and the North East with centres of heavy and light industry.

The biggest cities here are New York – the biggest port and Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence was adopted on 4th July 1776.

The 2nd The Middle west, the area of Great Lakes. Here agriculture is closely connected with industry. The biggest city here is Chicago. There is situated the highest skyscraper in the USA. It is named Sears Tower.

The 3rd area is the agricultural South with the mainly black population. There is also situated the capital – Washington, D. C. in this area. Other big city here is New Orleans, the home of jazz.

The 4th area is the Far West, which is the largest area, but has the smallest number of population. San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego are the largest cities here. There is also situated Las Vegas where you can win much money.