The Countries Whose Language I Am Learning

The United States of America:
The USA is situated in southern part of North America. Its neighbours are Canada on the north, Pacific Ocean on the west, Mexico on south and the Atlantic Ocean on the east. USA has a rich landscape. You can find everything there. From high mountains like the Appalachian Mountains or Rocky Mountains are, there are also deserts, lowlands. There are many lakes (Michigan, Erie, Ontario). The largest rivers are the Mississippi and the Missouri. There are also many national parks like Yellowstone or Grand Canyon are, with beautiful nature. There are big variations of climate. Temperatures change from the arctic cold in northern Alaska to subtropical warmth of Hawaii and Coast States. On western coast temperature change very little between summer and winter, the north central states have different climate in summer and winter.  

The main industrial items are manufacturing steel, car industry, electronics, machinery and clothing. Nearby half of the country is a farmland. The main agriculture products are corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, tobacco, cattle breeding, fruit and vegetable. The USA is rich in the mineral resources as coal, copper, lead, uranium, gold, iron, mercury and oil.

It has a population of about 243 millions inhabitants, mostly of European origin. There are living many ethnic groups, so it is a mixture of races, religions and nationalities. The official language is American English which differs from British English in vocabulary, pronunciation and spelling.

The USA is a federation of 50 states which is lead by a president. The president is also a prime minister. This system is called democracy. The system of American Government is based on the principles of Constitution (1787). The American parliament is called Congress. It consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The capital city is Washington; other big cities are New York, Los Angels, and Chicago.   

Great Britain:
Great Britain is situated on the British Isles lying off the Northwest coast of Europe. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the Northwest, north and Southwest, and is separated from the European continent by the North Sea, and the English Channel. On the west, the Irish Sea and North Channel separate Great Britain from Ireland. The country has a mild and rainy climate. The population of Great Britain is more than 56 million people. The largest cities of Great Britain are London, Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Bristol, Leeds and Edinburgh. Great Britain is an industrialised country. Major industries include iron and steel engineering (including motor vehicles and aircraft), textiles, plastics, cotton, chemicals, electronics, wool, shipbuilding and food products. The chief agricultural products are wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, sugar beet, milk, and meat. Great Britain consists of England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

England occupies the largest, southern part of Great Britain.  In the Southwest and west there are largely plains, hills, and moors. There are also mountains (The Pennines, the Cornish heights in the Southwest, The Cheviot Hills). The east is mainly an open, cultivated plain. England has about 47 million inhabitants. It is highly industrialized country (the development of industry started during the Industrial revolution in 18-th century). Nowadays it has a variety of industries (there are engineering, coal, iron, steel, machine-tool and shipbuilding industries). The United Kingdom and Northern Ireland is a constitutional monarchy which is lead by Queen Elizabeth II. But in fact she has no real political power. The UK is governed by the prime minister and the Cabinet. English parliament consists of the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

From book
bishop    biskup
crew    posádka
dedicate    venovať
defend    brániť
fortificate    opevniť
mainland    pevnina
sovereign    panovník
to advise    radiť
to elect    zvoliť
deputy    zástupca
branch    odvetvie
presidential election    prezidentské voľby
duty    povinnosť
citizen    obyvateľ
bank of the river    breh rieky