The USA is the fourth largest country in the world, in terms of area, and the third largest country, in terms of population. There are 50 states covering an area of 4 million square miles with a population of more than 281 million. The density of population greatly varies, depending on where you are in the country.

The country has three major mountain ranges:

• The Appalachians in the east,
• The Rocky Mountains in the center, and
  
• The Sierra Nevada along the border of Nevada and California

The country has abundant natural resources and vast areas of fertile soil, mostly in the mid-western states (e.g., from Indiana to Nebraska)

The Atlantic Coast is the most heavily populated area, and retains strong traces of its European heritage. This is where the oldest American cities like Boston, New York, Washington DC and Philadelphia are located, and where most of the major events in early American history took place.

The central northeast is marked by a large system of lakes known as the Great Lakes (Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario), which occupy an area larger than most European countries. The rivers and canals linking these lakes to the Atlantic Ocean make virtual seaports out of midwestern cities like Chicago and Detroit.

The central area drained by the Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio Rivers is the grain basket of the country. Further west, on the Great Plains, are the country's chief grazing areas.

Desert areas, with very low amounts of rain, predominates in the southwest, where the climate and degraded soils keep population density to a minimum, and where you really don't need much of a wind to cause tumbleweed to bounce across the highway.

If you go across the Sierra Nevada mountain range, you're in what is called "the West Coast", which was settled by Americans only 150 years ago, but has been on a headlong rush into the future ever since. California is the state with the largest population of over 30 million.

Languages

English is spoken in different ways depending on the area of the country. Accents can vary from the sharp fast-paced speech of New York to the slow-paced drawl of Mississippi. Americans are eager to help you learn the language, so you need not hesitate in asking them to correct your speech and answer your questions. Apart from this, cassettes are available to understand and learn the language. Watching television will also help a lot in learning the US English.

Lifestyles

Lifestyles vary greatly. It is very formal in the west when compared to the east, while in the north it is more casual than in the south. In the south the lifestyle is more religious and traditional, mainly focusing on the family. In the east and west coast it is new, varying and trendy.

Food

Food styles and menu offerings vary greatly from place to place, largely depending on the culture of the original settlers in that area. For example, while food in Texas has a strong Mexican flavor, food in Louisiana has a Cajun or French Flavor. The recipes of the Scandinavian settlers are still maintained in far northern States, while in Northern California the cuisine has an Asian flavor.

Time zones and daylight savings time

Weather observations are taken with respect to time. By Convention, weather scientists use the twenty-four hour clock, and use one time zone, Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). This time is also known as Universal Time (UTC). To convert to local time, you must know the time difference between GMT and local time for both standard time and summertime (daylight savings time). Not all states use daylight savings time in the summer.

Daylight Saving Time begins for most of the United States at 2 A.M. on the first Sunday of April. Time reverts to standard time at 2 A.M. on the last Sunday of October.

Daylight Saving Time, for the US and its territories, is not observed in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Eastern Time Zone portion of the State of Indiana, and the state of Arizona. Navajo Nation participates in the Daylight Saving Time policy, due to its large size and location in three states.