USA – 50 States of America 12:43 min

The 50 states of the USA. Hello! How is your day? Have you ever been to the USA? The USA is a country which consists of 50 states. For example, one state of the USA is Oregon, another one is Georgia or Florida. Of course you don’t need to remember all 50 states. But a few will be enough. Today we are going to start with having a look at groups of states. For example those that you can find on the East Coast or West Coast. We will talk about important cities. And about some interesting geographical facts. And at the end, I have a little quiz ready for you. Are you ready? Let’s start. Do you know what states are on the west coast of the United States? It’s this state, this and this. This one state starts with W. This with O. And this with C. It’s the state of Washington, Oregon and California. These three states lie directly on the west coast. And here is the Pacific Ocean. And here are some important cities from the West Coast area. Can you guess the complete names? It’s Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. These are not the capital cities but they are the most famous ones and popular with tourists. Especially San Francisco and LA. A lot of film stars live here too. Can you match the cities with the states? Los Angeles and San Francisco are cities in the state of California. And Seattle lies in the state of Washington. In this area 17% of the US population lives. Around 49 million people. You can find so many differences here. In the north winters can be very cold. Especially in the area close to Canada. And in the south, close to Mexico, it is often really hot. Next we are going to talk about the area called Mid-West. This is quite a huge area. I am going to color all the states that are parts of it. Let’s see if you know some of them already. I am going to help you a little. K …(mumbling) S. …(mumbling) lli … (mumbling) ois. W … (mumbling) N. And O … (mumbling) O. It is Kansas, Illinois, Wisconsin and Ohio. And here it is already Canada. So as you can see, Mid-West also consists of a few northern states. In the past people moved into this area because it had good land and so they could build farms there. Most of the Mid-West area is flat. And you can find the Mississippi river here. This river inspired the famous American writer Mark Twain to write the book called “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”. Maybe you know this book. One of the most important cities of this area is Chicago in the state of Illinois. You may also know that the story “Wizard of Oz” is set in Kansas. And let us not forget about the Great Lakes Area. The Great Lakes Area is a border area with Canada. You can find here for example the following lakes: Lake Superior, Lake Michigan or Lake Ontario. Okay let’s move on to the southern states. The southern united states have a nickname: Dixie. It is this whole area. As you can see it is not just the south but also the states in the south east. The history of the southern states is closely connected with one of the darkest chapters of American history, namely slavery. Slavery was officially abolished with the adaptation of the Thirteenth Amendment to the American Constitution in 1865. However discrimination played a huge role in the daily lives of many Afro-Americans until the Civil Rights Act and their Voting Rights Act were implemented in the American Constitution. Let us look at a few states here. Do you know the names? It is Texas, Florida, Alabama and Georgia. Of course there are also other states. Historically the South was an agricultural area. Today, however, it has become a bit more industrial. The south has many characteristics. Most of the states are poorer than the rest of the US. Fewer people graduate from high schools, they have less money and it is cheaper to live here than for example in New York. In this area there is also the so called “Bible Belt” which is an area where people go to church much more often than anywhere else. Before we finish let us talk about one more area. The East Coast. Here you can find for example the famous city of New York or the country’s capital Washington D.C. East Coast states lay on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Also some of the southern states are part of the East Coast. East Coast is this whole area. For example it is the state of New York, Maine or Virginia. Unfortunately this area is often hit by hurricanes. A hurricane is a very strong storm which destroys houses. East Coast is also historically important because the first settlers from Europe lived along this coast. These were the original 13 colonies. Later in the 19th and 20th century a lot of immigrants came here and lived in New York. In the US there are two major mountain areas. The Rocky Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains. And the last thing you are going to learn from me today is the fact that out of the 50 states two are a little further away from the rest: Hawaii, which lies far in the Pacific, and Alaska, which lies in the north between Canada and Russia. (4 seconds) Well I think that for now you have heard enough. I have a little quiz for you to find out what you can remember from today’s lesson. It has five questions. Question one: What are the names of these four states? It is California, Texas, Florida and Kansas. Question two: Is the capital city (Washington D.C) in the state of Washington? No! It isn’t. The state of Washington is on the West Coast. And Washington D.C. is on the East Coast. Question three: Can you name at least one lake from the Great Lake Area? For example Lake Superior or Lake Ontario. And can you name one mountain area? It is, for example, the Rocky Mountains. And last question: Which state is NOT a southern state? Georgia, Illinois, Alabama? It’s Illinois. This is a state in the Mid-West. Good, now you know a bit more about the United States of America. Thank you for listening. Bye bye.