General Information

In the beginning there was Columbus. Christopher Columbus to more exact... He opened the way to the "New World", become the nowadays America . For 5 centuries, people from all over the world have come here in the quest of the "American Dream". Some have managed to reach it, others managed to go even further....

Long story short, USA . More precisely, the United States of America, that cover the central part of the North America, developed from the British colonies, established in North America in the first half of the 18th century. The United States represent a great mixture of cultures and traditions. The USA presently mean 50 states, plus Columbia District.

Location:
North America, bordered by the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico.

Surface:
total: 9.629.091 square km
land: 9.158.960 square km
water: 470.131 square km
note: the total surface include only the 50 states and the Columbia District.

Climate:
Temperate, in most of the parts, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida, arctic in Alaska, semi-arid in the great plains on the west side of the Mississippi River, and arid in the Great Basin in South-East. Low temperatures during winter in North-East, occasionally soften in January and February by the warm winds "Chinook", from the Eastern Side of the Rocky Mountains.

Extremities:
The deepest point: Death Valley - 86 meters
The highest point: McKinley Mountains - 6.194 meters

Capital:
Washington DC

National devise:
E Pluribus Unum (1776 - up to present) - Latin: Out of Many, One
In God We Trust (1956 - up to present)

National hymn:
The Star - Spangled Banner

Electricity:
110/120 volts CA, 60Hz

Telephonic prefix:
+1

Local hour

The time zones are areas on Earth that adopted the same standard time, usually named the local hour. All time zones are defined according to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The reference point for these is the First Meridian (0 longitude), which goes through Royal Greenwich Observatory from Greenwich, England. For this reason, the term Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is frequently used to name "the basic time", to which all the other time zones are related. UTC is the official term for the atomic time of nowadays, different from the time determined by the astronomic observations realized at Greenwich.

• GMT -5 hours / -4 hours (summertime)Eastern Zone:
• GMT -5 hours Indian Zone:
• GMT -6 hours / -5 hours (summertime)Central Zone:
• GMT -7 hours / -6 hours (summertime)Mountain Zone:
• GMT -7 hoursArizona:
• GMT -8 hours / -7 hours (summertime)Pacific Zone:
• GMT -9 hours / -8 hours (summertime)Alaska Zone:
• GMT -10 hoursAleutian Zone:
• GMT -10 hoursHawaii Zone:

American Holidays

Flag Day June 14

Fathers' Day the third Sunday of June

Parents' Day the fourth Sunday of June

Labor Day the first Monday of September

Grandparents' Day the first Sunday after "Labor Day"

Columbus Day the second Monday of October

United Nations Day October 24th

Halloween October 31st

Election Day the Tuesday before/after November 2nd

Veterans Day November 11th

Thanksgiving Day the fourth Thursday of November

Independence day: July 4th

Birthday of Martin Luther King the third Monday of January

Inauguration Day once every 4 years, January 20th

Groundhog Day February 2nd

Valentine's Day February 14th

Washington's Birthday the third Monday of February  
St Patrick's Day March 17th

April Fool's Day April 1st

Mothers' Day the second Sunday of May

Armed Forces' Day the third Saturday of May

Memorial Day the last day of May