The face of every city is different. Washington D.C.

The face of everycity is different. Washington D.C. The UnitedStates of America is the fourth largest country in the world, after Russia,Canada and China. It occupies the southern part of North America, and includesAlaska.TheUSA is made up of 50 states, and the District of Columbia, a special federalarea where the capitol of the country is situated. If we look at the mapof the USA, we can see lowlands and mountains. The highest mountains are theRocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada.The highest peak is Mount McKinley whichis located in Alaska.

The United States is a land of rivers and lakes. Thelargest and deepest lakes in the USA are the five Great Lakes on the border withCanada. America s largest rivers are the Mississippi, the Missouri, the RioGrande and the Columbia. The Mississippi is the word s third longest riverafter the Nile and the Amazon. The climate of the country varies greatly. Theclimate of Alaska is arctic. The climate of the central part is continental.The south has subtropical climate.

Thehistory of the country is rather long. Christopher Columbus sailed from Spainacross the Atlantic Ocean. Instead of reaching India as he had expected helanded on an island off a continent unknown to Europeans, but he thought thathe was in India.Inthe southern states white farmers used black slaves to work on their hugeplantations. When slavery was stopped in the North the southern states left theUnion and formed the Confederacy.Civil war between the North and the Southstarted.

The Union won and the slavery was abolished all over the USA. Nowadays,the USA is highly developed industrial country. Thereare many important cities in the USA, for example New York, one of the largestcities in the world, a great seaport and financial center, Chicago near theGreat Lakes, one of the biggest industrial cities in the USA, and the secondlargest after New York. Boston is one of the first cities which were built onthe Atlantic coast of America.Now it is a big cultural centre with threeuniversities.

Los Angeles is a centre of modern industries and show business. Other big and important cities of the USA are Philadelphia, Dallas, SanFrancisco, Detroit, Washington and so on.Washington D.C. is the capitol ofUS. It is situated in the District of Columbia and is like no other city inAmerica. it s the world s largest one-industry city. And that industry isgovernment.The White House, where the US president lives and works, theCapitol, the home of the US congress, and the Supreme Court, are all inWashington.

The city was so named inmemory of George Washington, the first president of the USA, known for theactive participation in the war with Britain. A special district was createdfor the city the District of Columbia. The city was laid out according to bea capitol.Washington is one of the most magnificent and unusual cities in theUSA. In the centre of it rises the huge dome of the Capitol a bigwhite dome standing in a circle of pillars.

It s rather easy to get lost inthis huge building, full of paintings and statues. Not far from theCapitol is the library of Congress, the largest in US. It contains morethan 13 million books, more than 19 million manuscripts, including the personalpapers of the American presidents. Theofficial residence of the USA president is White House. It has 132 rooms, amongthem the Oval Office where the president works.The White House used to be apresident residence since it first occupied by President John Adams in 1800. One can hardly finda park, a square or an open area in Washington without a monument or amemorial, the Jefferson Memorial was built in honor of Thomas Jefferson,the author of the Declaration of Independence and the third president of theUSA. Inside his statue, and his writings are inscribed on the walls.

The LincolnMemorial reminds everybody of Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth Americanpresident who s noted for the slavery destruction.There s a statue of AbrahamLincoln inside the memorial.

At the National Air and Space Museum visitors can see the history of flight fromthe first airplane to the Apollo spaceship. The National Gallery of Art,a large museum of painting, sculpture and other arts is also situated in thecapitol. Fromthe beginning of the twentieth century the USA became the world s leadingcountry.Thousands of tourists visit Washington every day. People from allparts of the US come to see their capitol, and also people all over the world.Washington greets tourists with the Cherry Blossom festival every spring.

Thepink and white blossoms of the Japanese cherry these near the WashingtonMonument create a magnificent delicate picture, and you are to visit Washingtonjust to see it, and then all beauties of other cities will seem to you gloomy. TsivunN. 9B.