REGIONS STATES RELIEF CLIMATE ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES MAJOR CITIES IMPORTANT PLACES MISCELLANEOUS

1. Maine  Mountainous (Green  Very cold and  Farming  Boston (Capital  Baxter State Park (Hiking and Camping)  Paul Revere (Important silversmith and hero
2. New Hampshire Mountains of Vermont) snowy in  Lumber Industry and largest city in  Maine’s woods of the Revolution)
3. Vermont  Natural harbours winter  Fishing and Canning Massachusetts,  Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket  Puritans (First settlers) Pilgrims (important
4. Massachusetts  Thousands of islands  Summers are (Oysters, Lobsters) oldest (Massachusetts summer resorts) Puritan group)
NORTH EAST 5. Rhode Island (Coast of Maine) very short  Centre of American underground  The Old State House (The Declaration of the  North East is the Place where the American
(New England) 6. Connecticut  The Appalachian Trail Insurance Industry railway in the US) Independence) Revolution began
(From Maine to Georgia) (Hartford,  Cambridge  Faneuil Hall (The Cradle of Liberty)  Thanksgiving is associated with Pilgrims being
CAPITAL CITIES Connecticut) (Harvard Harvard University (Cambridge) fed by native people
1. Augusta  Marble and granite University)  Hartford, Connecticut is the Centre of  New Englanders are known as Yankees due to
2. Concord quarrying (Vermont) America’s insurance Industry Yankee Doddle
3. Montpellier  Newbury St  Ivy League (Elite Universities)
4. Boston  Stata Centre (Computer Science and Artificial
5. Providence Intelligence laboratory)
6. Hartford  MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
1. New York  Appalachian region  Cold winters  Coal Mining (West  New York City  Capitol Building  Pittsburgh (Known as the centre of American’s
2. Pennsylvania  Mountains ranges:  Temperate (the Virginia)  Washington D.C.  New York Boroughs steel industry and Harley Davidson Motorcycle
3. New Jersey -Catskill and Adirondack four seasons  Quilting (Appalachian  Philadelphia -Manhattan (Centre of American finance, plant)
4. Delaware (New York) are clearly Handicraft) (Major city of advertising, theatre, fashion), Brooklyn,  Irish and Jews (First Settlers)
5. Maryland -Allegheny and Pocono marked)  Dairy farming Pennsylvania) Queens, Bronx  Quakers (First Settlers in Philadelphia)
6. Washington D.C. (Pennsylvania)  Winemaking  Manhattan (NYC)  Lake Placid (1932, 1980 Winter Olympics)  Immigrant towns (Little Italy and Chinatown)
 Important rivers:  Coal and Iron mining  Brooklyn Bridge (connect Manhattan with  Important Buildings of Manhattan: Chrysler
CAPITAL CITIES Hudson and Delaware  Steel making Brooklyn) Building, Empire State Building, Rockefeller
 Tourism  The Statue of Liberty (Liberty Island) Centre, RCA Building, United Nations Building
NORTH EAST 1. Albany  
 High-Tech Industry Chesapeake Bay, Maryland (famous for its Philadelphia (The home of the first democratic
(The Mid-Atlantic) 2. Harrisburg
 Maple Syrup Making crabs) societies, the place where the Constitution
3. Trenton 
 Handicrafts Niagara Falls was written and the Independence was
4. Dover
(Appalachians)  Erie Canal declared)
5. Annapolis 
 Wall Street Area (NYC) Benjamin Franklyn (helped write the
 Fulton Fish Market declaration of Independence)
 Fifth Avenue (Gucci, Tiffany’s, Macy’s)  The Fifth Avenue divides Manhattan into
 The Theatre District (Times square, Broadway Lower and Upper Manhattan
plays, Central Park, Theatres)  The Dutch bought Manhattan from the Indians
 Museum Mile (The Metropolitan Museum  The Financial Districts Wall St is in Manhattan
among others, American Museum of Natural  Macy’s is the world largest store
History, Museum of Modern Art aka the giant  D.C. means District of Columbia
snail)  Amish (Important Christian group and mostly
 Harlem (Largely black neighbourhood, top farmers)
jazz musicians like Duke Ellington or Art  The Founding Fathers (The Americans who
Tatum, gospel music, soul) established the form of the US government at
 Washington D.C. (White House, Supreme the Federal Constitutional Convention in
Court, Senate, House of Representatives, The Philadelphia)
Washington Monument, The Lincoln
Memorial)
 Wall St Bull
 Greenwich Village & The East Village
(Residential area, New York’s punk scene,
hippies)
 REGIONS STATES RELIEF CLIMATE ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES MAJOR CITIES IMPORTANT PLACES MISCELLANEOUS
1. West Virginia  Sub-regions: Lowland  Hot & Humid  Lumber Industry  New Orleans  Disneyworld, Magic Kingdom (Orlando,  Largest geographical Region in the US
2. Kentucky South, Upland South with Long  Fine Furniture  Miami (Florida) Florida)  North Carolina (Centre of American’s Tobacco
3. Tennessee  Mississippi Valley Summers and Making  Atlanta (Georgia)  Little Havana (Miami) Industry)
4. North Carolina  Mountains Areas Short Mild  Cotton growing  Orlando (famous  Graceland (Elvis’ Mansion in Memphis)  Nashville, Tennessee (Centre of country music
5. South Carolina (Appalachians and Ozark Winters  Tobacco growing for its amusement  Jazz Clubs (New Orleans) and home to many country music stars)
6. Mississippi Mountains)  Coasts hit by  Textile Industry parks)  Cape Canaveral, Kennedy Space Centre  Important Hispanic and Afro-American
7. Alabama  Gulf of Mexico hurricanes  Fruit Growing (Florida) population
8. Georgia  Important rivers:  Hurricane Area  Manufacturing  Palm Beach (Wealthy people, polo)  Slavery was the basis of South’s Economy
9. Florida Savannah, Alabama, The Industries  St. Augustine (Founded by Spaniards, oldest  Civil War in 1861 (Between The North and The
10. Louisiana Tennessee and the  Furniture making and city in the US) South)
11. Arkansas Mississippi Paper Industry  Fort Lauderdale and Daytona Beach (place for  Abraham Lincoln (abolish slavery after the
(Alabama) college students to go on vacation) War)
CAPITAL CITIES  Agriculture  The Florida Keys (Coral and Limestone Islands  Elvis Presley (Born in Tupelo, Mississippi)
 Chemical Industry with a underwater park)  Atlanta (Invention of air-conditioning, world’s
1. Charleston
 High Tech Industry  Miami, Florida (Hispanic influence) second largest airport)
2. Frankfort
 Everglades National Park (swamp land in  Festivals (New Orleans Jazz and Heritage
3. Nashville
Florida) Festival, Mardi Gras is the most important and
4. Raleigh
5. Columbia  Key West (The most southern US town, closer equates to Pancake day in Britain)
to Havana than to Miami, Ernest Hemingway  Mississippi River was known as “Father of
THE SOUTHEAST 6. Jackson
lived here) Waters by Native Americans”
7. Montgomery
8. Atlanta  Steamboat (successful means of transport,
9. Tallahassee uses steam for power and it sails along the
10. Baton Rouge Southwest river)
11. Little Rock  Mississippi Queen (Touristic attraction,
famous steamboat)
 Tobacco and Cotton were the main crops
during slavery
 Hillbillies (disapproving, rural people)
 Black slaves were brought by the Dutch
 Acadians(moved from Acadia, Canada to
Louisiana forced by the British, they speak
French)
 The Cajuns (French cooking, famous for their
fine cuisine)
 New Orleans has the largest port in the US
 Louisiana Purchase (The French bought
Louisiana for a very cheap price and expanded
US territory)
 Atlanta is where Martin Luther King,
important activist who improved relationships
between black and whites
 Coca-Cola and CNN centres are in Atlanta
 Segregation and Ku-Klux-Klan movement
 Famous writers (Toni Morrison, Maya
Angelou)
 REGIONS STATES RELIEF CLIMATE ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES MAJOR CITIES IMPORTANT PLACES MISCELLANEOUS
1. Ohio  Allegheny Mountains  Icy winters  Agriculture (wheat,  Chicago (major  Big Bay State Park  The Bread Basket (name given to the Midwest
2. Michigan  Rolling Hills  Hot humid soybeans, oats, rye, city of Illinois)  St. Lawrence Seaway (Inland waterway due to its nature-favoured land and wealth)
3. Indiana  The Black Hills summers barley)  Detroit (Michigan) between Canada and the US, used by large  Scandinavian Immigrants settled in the North
4. Illinois  Three smaller regions:  Windy  Corn farming  St Louis (Missouri) ships to transport goods) of The Midwest
5. Wisconsin Great lakes Area, Great  Meat Packing  Indianapolis  National Parks due to the lakes  The Midwest is known as the centre of
6. Missouri plain Area, Interior (Chicago) (Capital of  The Loop (Chicago’s downtown area) American agriculture and industry
7. Iowa Lowlands  Stock exchange Indiana)  Chicago’s important buildings (John Hancock  Corn Belt (the most important crop of US)
8. Minnesota  Great Lakes Area: (Chicago)  Columbus (Capital Tower, Big John, Standard Oil Building and  Minnesota is known as the city of ten thou.
9. Kansas Superior, Michigan, Huron,  Grain storage of Ohio) The Sears Tower which is the world’s tallest lakes
THE MIDWEST 10. Nebraska Ontario (The largest  Manufacturing  Milwaukee building)  Chicago is known as the most-American city
11. South Dakota concentration of Fresh Industry (largest city in  University of Michigan  Detroit (home to the American automobile
12. North Dakota Water in the World)  Iron ore mining Wisconsin)  Ohio State University industry)
1. Columbus  Important rivers:  Steel making  Kansas City  Mount Rushmore National Monument (South  Mark Twain was born in St Louis, (author of
2. Lansing The Missouri, The Ohio,  Service Industries  Omaha (largest Dakota) shows the faces of four important “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn)
3. Indianapolis The Illinois, The Wisconsin (Insurance, banking, city in Nebraska) America Presidents  St Louis is known as the “Gateway to the East”
4. Springfield and The Wabash) communications)  Minneapolis  Crazy Horse Monument (South Dakota) is the because of its positions between the
5. Madison  Tourism (largest city in Sioux Indian leader on horseback Mississippi and the Missouri
6. Jefferson City  Automobile Industry Minnesota)  Smith Centre, Kansas (US geographic centre)  Great Plains (place of the struggle between
7. Des Moines (Ford, General the Indian tribes and the US army)
8. St Paul Motors, Chrysler)  Buffalo (The most useful hunting animal for
9. Topeka the Indians)
10. Lincoln  Assembly line (perfected by Henry Ford)
11. Pierre
12. Bismarck
1. Texas  Rocky Mountains  Low humidity  Mineral Industry  Houston (the most  Houston is home of one of the NASA space  Wild Wild West (name given to the Southwest
2. Oklahoma  Southern part of the Great  High  Livestock populated city in centres in the past due to the Cowboys’ gunfights)
3. New Mexico Plains Temperatures  Cotton growing Texas)  San Antonio ( Christian missions by Spanish  Huge Dams (Hoover Dam)
4. Arizona  Colorado Plateau (in the  Drier areas  Wheat growing  Dallas (Texas) who try to convert Indians to Catholicism)  Population of Indians, Hispanics and Anglos
5. Nevada west of the Rocky  Plenty of  Sheep raising  Austin (Texas  Las Vegas, aka “the Sin City” and the centre  Native Americans (Comanches, Apaches,
1. Austin Mountains) rainfall  Cattle raising capital City) of gambling in America Navajos, Cherokees)
2. Oklahoma City  The Grand Canyon (Carved  Oil drilling and  Santa Fe (New  Saguaro National Monument (desert trails)  Texas and the gulf (oil off shore platforms)
3. Santa Fe by the Colorado River) refining Mexico Capital  Valley Navajo Tribal Park  Texas is the birthplace of the hamburger
4. Phoenix  Important Rivers: City)  White Sands National Monument  Dallas is known as “the city of hate”,
5. Carson City  Rio Grande, Colorado  Phoenix (Arizona  The Carlsbad Caverns JFKennedy was killed in Dallas
THE SOUTHWEST River Capital City)  The Painted Desert  The first cowboys were from Mexico
 San Antonio  The Grand Canyon, Arizona  Texas is the largest state of the unified
(Texas)  Lake Havasu territory
 Las Vegas  Arizona and New Mexico (Indian  The original London Bridge is in Arizona
(Nevada) reservations)  Wetback (immigrants who came to the
 Arizona (major producer of cooper) Southwest by swimming)
 Sandra Cisneros wrote about immigrants
coming to the Southwest
 REGIONS STATES RELIEF CLIMATE ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES MAJOR CITIES IMPORTANT PLACES MISCELLANEOUS

1. Idaho  Flat level land (plateau  Wet Area  Farming  Denver (Colorado)  Yellowstone Park, Wyoming (famous for its  Least populated states in the nation
2. Wyoming area)  Humid  Potato growing  Salt Lake City animal species, forests and geysers in  Denver refused to be the host city of 1970
3. Montana  Plains  Cold in the  Cattle raising (Utah) constant activity) Olympic Games due to environment
4. Colorado  Deserts west  Mineral industry  Aspen (popular ski resort and wealthy town) preservation
5. Utah  The Rocky Mountains  Mild in the  Sheep raising  Jackson Hole Valley  Denver is known as the “Mile High City” for its
(earth’s youngest summer  Fishing  The Great Salt Lake (Utah) contains and level above the sea
THE ROCKY CAPITAL CITIES 
mountains)  Hunting estimated 6 million tons of salt) Wyoming and Colorado (important oil-
MOUNTAIN 1. Boise  High valleys  Skiing (sky resorts)  Utah is nicknamed “The Mormon State” producing states)
REGION 2. Cheyenne  Glaciers  Outdoor activities  Idaho is famous for its potatoes
3. Helena  Icy lakes  Colorado is called the “Ski Country”
4. Denver  Shallow lakes  The Wyoming Basin divides The Rocky
5. Salt Lake City Mountains
 Famous for gold seeking
 Area for hiking, climbing, camping
 Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich is a famous
novel about people living in the region
 Important native tribes (Sioux and Chippewa)
1. California  Mountainous, ranges  Mild climate  Media and movie  San Francisco  San Francisco Bridges (Golden Gate and Bay  There are isolated volcanoes in the Cascade
2. Oregon (Cascade Range, Sierra  Very dry to the industry (California) Bridge which is known as “The Statue of mountains
3. Washington Nevada, Costal Range) east  Oil Industry  Los Angeles Liberty of the West)  The Pacific Region is part of the Ring of Fire
4. Alaska  Fertile valleys  Rainy in  Paper Industry (California)  Olympic Rain Forest (rainfall forest in  Alaska is nicknamed “the Last Frontier”
5. Hawaii  Highest peak: Mount Washington  Winemaking  Hollywood Washington)  Alaska is the biggest state of the US
McKinley (Alaska) and Oregon (California) (California)  Mount Mazama (Oregon famous volcano)  Native people from Alaska are known as
CAPITAL CITIES  Second highest peak:  Mining  Seattle (major city  Mount Rainier, Washington (active volcano Eskimos
1. Sacramento Mount Whitney (Sierra  Fur trade of Washington) and highest peak of the cascade range)  First non-native people from Alaska came
2. Salem Nevada)  Whaling  Mount Mauna Loa, Hawaii (famous active from Russia
3. Olimpia  Rugged coastlines  Sealing volcano)  Alaska contains the Aleutian Islands
4. Juneau  Glaciers  Tropical fruit growing  Pantages Theatre (Hollywood)  Hawaii is known as the “Aloha state”
5. Honolulu  Important Rivers:  Sugar making  Mann’s Chinese (cement courtyard with  Pidgin is spoken in Hawaii (a combinations of
The Sacramento, the San  Fishing Industry footprint and handprint of stars) languages)
Joaquin, the Columbia and (Salmon and seafood  Asian-American Museum  The St Andreas fault is located in San Francisco
THE PACIFIC the Willamette (Yukon in  Los Angeles is the second largest city in the
in the Puget Sound) and originates many earthquakes
REGION Alaska) US  Seattle is nicknamed “the Esmerald City” or
 Los Angeles is famous for TV industry and “the Jewel of the Pacific Northwest”
stars (Hollywood, Beverly Hills)  Many people from Seattle are Asians
 Silicon Valley in the east of San Francisco is  Seattle is known as the “most liveable city”
known as the computer centre industry  The Pacific Regions contains the lowest point
 Alcatraz in San Francisco in the continent and is called the Death Valley
 Space Needle in Seattle (building with a which is a desert in the south of California
rotating restaurant at the top)  Redwood trees (Sequoias)grow in northern
 The Yukon River in Alaska became famous as California (2000 years old)
a source of gold  Italians, Mexicans and Asians are the major
 Juneau is the Capital city of Alaska but the ethnic groups
most populated and important is Anchorage  California is the most populated state of the
 Hawaii has the Pearl Harbour naval base  The Lewis and Clark Expedition (first to cross
(attacked by the Japanese during WWII) the western portion of the US)
 SYSTEM OF THE INSTITUTIONS EDUCATION HOLIDAYS & FESTIVALS MISCELLANEOUS
GOVERNMENT
 Form of Government:  Congress (it is the legislative branch  School Boards: have control over a  New Year’s Day  Democratic and Republicans are the main
Representative and it’s made up by the House of school district  King, Jr Day (Martin Luther King birth in political parties
THE Democracy Representatives and the Senate)  Superintendent: the person in January)  50 states (48 in the unified territory)
   
UNITED Branches of power:
-Legislative
The White House (it is the executive
branch ruled by the President, it
charge of all the schools in a district
(they have the role of hiring
Presidents’ Day (George Washington and
Abraham Lincoln birthdays celebrated 
Population: 320 million
Historically there were only 13 states when
STATES -Executive contains several departments such principals and teachers for each together) The Independence was declared
-Judicial as: Defence, Justice, Agriculture, school)  Memorial Day (Americans soldiers killed in  Flag: 13 stripes symbolizing the 13 British
OF  Federalism, Principle Commerce, Labour, Health, among  PTA (Parent-Teacher Association) the war) Colonies and 50 stars for the 50 states
of limited others) parents take part in making decision  Independence Day (July 4th)
AMERICA Government: Each  The Supreme Court (it is the judicial about how the school is run  Labour Day (honours the American
state possess its own branch and it is divided between the worker)
power state and the federal court)  Columbus Day (Columbus’ Arrival in the
Americas)
 Halloween (October 31th)
 Thanksgiving
 Christmas