General facts about the United States

Hey guys!

While I would love to have a decent apology, I don’t have one. My only excuse is that I’m having fun and I’m also quite busy. Moreover, while I don’t want to give everything right away, I do want to give you guys at home some facts about USA. Since I have so much to tell you, I will not be giving a long paragraph about boring stuff.

The U.S. flag is quite famous and it has undergone several changes since the first official flags of 1777. And on June 14. 1777, it was said by the Continental Congress  that the flag would be made up of 13 alternating white and red stripes and 1 white stars on a blue field, but they pass the first Flag Act. And now many stars have been added to the flag as new states join the union. As of now, the flag contains 50 stars. I, myself, have wondered why the flags is blue, white and red. In addition, while the flag’s colors did not have a specific meaning at the times, the colours were actually significant for the Great Seal of 1782. The white (I couldn’t really use the colour white as the page was white) signifies purity and innocence. The red signifies valor and bravery. And the blue signifies vigilance, perseverance and justice. I don’t really like the flag myself, but the story behind the flag is interesting. 

The USA is not a monarchy, but a democracy. That means that all eligible citizens are meant to participate equally. The country is regarded by many to be the best example we have of a working democracy in the world. It’s current president is Barack Obama. He is the first black president in USA, which is quite cool, given the racism going on there. It wasn’t until the third president Thomas Jefferson that inaugurations took place in Washington DC where the capital and government is. The U.S. Constitution in the Congress is composed in three branches: executive, judicial and legislative. The U.S. has two major political parties (and I actually knew this from before) Democrats and Republicans. And it’s very few people who ever get elected who aren’t part of one of these two parties.

The capital of the USA is of course Washington D.C. (district of Colombia). It was founded in 1791 to serve as a new national capital and the name “Washington” was named in honour of George Washington, formerly president of the United States. The population is roughly around 646,449 and the federal district is the 23rd largest city in the U.S. Tourism is an extremely important part and around 20 million tourist come to visit every year. And while many people know that the capital is Washington D.C, they don’t actually know that it’s in the district of Colombia. I didn’t know either until my teacher informed me.

The U.S. Dollar (USD) is the currency of United States. The currency rankings show that the most popular U.S. exchange rate is the USD to EUR rate. The currency symbol is $ and the currency code for Dollars is USD. The symbol of cent is ¢. The Central Bank rate is at 0, 25 and the Minor Unit is 1/100 = Cent. Some coins frequently used are 1¢, 5¢, 10¢, 25¢ and rarely used are 1$ and 50$. Some of the countries that use this currency are United States, American Samoa, Ecuador, Haiti and more. Some nicknames for the money: bucks, greenback, dead presidents, smacker, scrillas and more.

The Americans celebrate the anniversary of publication of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain in 1776 on the Independence Day( 4th of July). The day is annually celebrated on July 4th and it often known by the name “the Fourth of July”. Family events and patriotic displays are organized throughout the United States. They celebrate it with barbecues and picnics, and show a great deal of emphasis on the American tradition of political freedom. The Independence Day is a patriotic holiday for celebrating positive aspects of the United States. The nation anthem “God Bless America” and other patriotic songs are often played during the fireworks that appear.

I have always wanted to see famous and/or historical buildings, and in the U.S. there are so many! I want to go to the Washington National Cathedral, the White House, Jefferson Memorial, Golden Gate Bridge, Statue of Liberty and more. The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge that’s spans the bay between Marin County and San Francisco. The bridge if often considered one of the VERY FEW human structures that actually enhance the physical beauty of nature. The Bridge’s 75th anniversary occurred on Memorial Day weekend in 2012. Model after the Pantheon of Rome is the Thomas Jefferson memorial. It’s America’s foremost memorial of the third president. Not many major changes have been made to the Memorial since its dedication in 1943, but there most important change to note is the replacement of the plaster model statue of Jefferson. The Memorial is located on the south bank of the Tidal Basin near downtown Washington D.C.

That was quite some facts though! I hope to see all of them one day, and I’ll see you readers next time.

♥Hana

Sources: usconsulate.org.hk, usa-facts.com, wikipedia.org, xe.com, timeanddate.com, nps.gov.