The United States of America

Moscow

II.

I.

Russia

The word "Motherland" comes from two words "mother" and "land". It is the dearest place to all of us, the place where we were born and live.

The official name of our Motherland is the Russian Federation. It is the largest country in the world. No other country equals it in size. Our country is situated both in Europe and Asia. It occupies the eastern part of Europe, the northern and central parts of Asia. Its total area is over 17 million square kilometers.

Our land is washed by 12 seas, most of which are the seas of the Arctic, the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. In the south and in the west our country borders on 14 states. It also has sea borders with the USA and Japan.

The country has a great variety of flora and fauna. There are numerous forests, endless plains and steppes, taiga and tundra, highlands and deserts on the Russian territory. The country's highest mountains are the Caucasus, the Altai and the Urals.

In the Russian Federation there are over 2 million rivers. The longest of them are the Volga, the Lena, the Yenisei, the Ob, the Amur and some others. Our land is also rich in lakes (over 200 000 lakes), with the deepest, oldest and unique lake of sweet (fresh) water in the world, the Baikal, included.

On the Russian territory there are 11 time zones. Due to the vast territory, the climate conditions are rather different: from arctic and mild to continental and subtropical.

Russia is one of the richest in the natural resources countries in the world: oil, gas, coal, different ores, ferrous and non-ferrous metals and other minerals. It is also one of the highly developed agro-industrial powers in the world. The main industrial branches comprise aerospace, aircraft, atomic, machine building, ship building, automobile, chemical, coal-mining, metallurgical, electrical-engineering, textile, food and some others.

The Russian Federation is a constitutional state headed by the President. It comprises over 80 subjects: two cities of the federal status (Moscow and St. Petersburg), several autonomous republics, provinces (krais), regions (oblasts) and some autonomous districts (okrugs), each having equal rights.

The state powers are divided among the legislative, executive and judicial branches which are independent of one another.

The legislative power belongs to the Russian Parliament, called the Federal Assembly, consisting of two Chambers: the Council of the Federation (the Upper Chamber) and the State Duma (the Lower Chamber). Each Chamber is headed by the Speaker.

The executive power belongs to the President and our country Government (the Cabinet of Ministers) headed by the Prime Minister. The country Prime Minister is appointed by the President and approved by the State Duma.

The judicial power belongs to the system of courts: the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court, as well as federal and regional courts.

The state language of the Russian Federation is Russian. The national symbols of our country are the white-blue-red Flag (Tricolour) and the Golden Two-Headed (or Bicephalous) Eagle.

Russia is a multinational state. It is a unique country hosting a great variety (over 150) of nationalities, nations, ethnic groups, cultures and epochs. It ranks sixth in the world in population after China, India, the USA, Indonesia and Brazil. According to the last census, our country population is about 150 million. There are also more than 10-15 million immigrants in our country.

Moscow is the capital of our Motherland. It is our country largest political, cultural, scientific and industrial center and one of the most beautiful cities on the Globe.

Our country has a multiparty system. The most influential and largest political parties are the United Russia, the Liberal Democratic, the Communist and some others.

The foreign policy of the Russian Federation is that of international cooperation, peace and friendship with all the nations of the Globe, irrespective of their political and social systems.

The role of the Russian Federation in the today's world is great and extremely significant. Being the major source of raw materials for many countries of the Globe, Russia is also an important mechanism of developing these countries' economies.

In addition, due to its immense territory, our unique country is a bridge connecting Europe and Asia. It is able to provide more than 7% of the world's transport corridor to transit various cargoes from Europe to Asia and backwards.

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The Golden Two-Headed (or Bicephalous) Eagle has been as the Russian Royal Imperial Coat of Arms since the XV century when it was borrowed by the Russian Tsar Ivan III from Bysanthy. In 1917 after the October Revolution the Russian Coat of Arms was abandoned.

When Russia restored its independence and sovereignty, the State Duma approved in 1994 the Russian Coat of Arms (the Golden Two-Headed Eagle) as the official symbol of our country.

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Millions of Russian migrants live nowadays in various countries of the EC (over 6 million), in the UK (about 500 000) and in many other states of the Globe (over 25 million).

Immigration has become an important factor today that greatly affects the demographic situation in Russia, compensating our country population loss due to the low birth rates and high death rates.

Over 1 million immigrants (mostly from the CIS countries) come to our country annually. More than 10 million legal foreigners and over 15 million illegals live now in the Russian Federation.

The capital of the Russian Federation is Moscow. It is the main city of our Motherland, its political, cultural and economic center. And it is also one of the largest and most beautiful cities on the Globe.

Moscow is over 850 years old. It was founded in 1147 by the Russian Prince Yuri Dolgoruky and in the XVI century it became the capital of our state.

In 1712 Peter the Great moved the capital of our Fatherland to St. Petersburg. However after the October Revolution Moscow was returned its status as the state capital. In fact, it has always been the heart of our land.

At present Moscow is a large modern city. It is situated on the banks of the river Moskva. More than 12 million people live in it now. Moscow is the seat of the Russian Federation Government and the center of our country political life. The President of our state lives and works here.

Moscow is the largest industrial center of Russia. Its major industries are automobile, engineering, textile, light, chemical and some others.

The city is also the largest scientific and educational center. There are many scientific research institutions, a lot of schools, lyceums, colleges and gymnasiums, the Academy of Sciences, numerous libraries, in it. Having got over 100 higher educational establishments, Moscow is known as the city of students. It is also one of the biggest publishing centers in the world.

Moscow is famous for its wonderful theatres, with the Bolshoi, the Maly and the Arts theatres included. Its numerous museums and galleries are remarkable for the greatest variety of styles, historic epochs and national art schools: the Museum of Moscow History, the Tretyakov Gallery, Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Andrey Rublev Museum of Early Russian Arts and many others, over 80 museums all together.

The city is also known as one of the biggest centers of the world cinema industry due to its famous Film Studios and International Film festivals.

Every day Moscow attracts millions of tourists from all over the world. They are eager to visit the capital's places of interest: the Red Square and St. Basil's Cathedral, the ancient Kremlin with marvellous Cathedrals, unique Tsar-Cannon and Tsar-Bell, unforgettable Russian churches, museums and galleries, the Exhibition of Achievements and numerous monuments.

The United States of America is the fourth largest country in the world after Russia, Canada and China. It was formed in 1776.

The country consists of three parts: the continental part — in the center of the North American continent, the Hawaii and Alaska.

Its total area is over 9million sq. km. The US borders on Canada in the north and on Mexico in the south. It also has a sea border with Russia_;

The USA is washed by 3 oceans — the Arctic, the Pacific and the Atlantic. There are many rivers in this country. The longest of them are the Mississippi, the Missouri, the Columbia and some others. The US also has many lakes, with the Great Lakes included.

The highest mountains are the Rocky Mountains, the Cordillera, the Appalachians and the Sierra Nevada. The highest pick, Mount McKinlcy, is in Alaska. Due to the large territory, the climate conditions are rather different.

The USA is rich in various mineral resources: oil, gas, coal, and different metals. It is one of the most highly developed industrial powers in the world. TheTJS main industrial branches comprise aircraft, rocket, automobile, radio-engineering, textile, electronics, chemical and others. The country agriculture is highly mechanized.

Americans are made up from nearly all nations and races of the world. Due to immigrants the USA population is now over 300 million. The majority of the country population lives in cities and towns.

The official language of the state is English. The main national symbols of the country are its national flag "Stars and Stripes", having 50 white stars on the dark blue field and 13 white and red stripes, and the Bald Eagle.

Officially the country comprises 50 states and one District Columbia. Of course, the states differ in size, population and economic development. Each state has its own capital. The capital of the USA is Washington. It is situated in the Federal District of Columbia.

There are many large cities in the country: New York (the country's largest city called "A Big Apple"), Chicago, San-Francisco Los-Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit and some others.

The USA is a federal state headed by the President. According to the US Constitution, the powers of the Government are divided into three branches: legislative, executive and judicial.

The legislative power belongs to the Congress consisting of two chambers: the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate represents the states and the House of Representatives — the population. The executive power belongs to the President and his Administration — the Vice President and the Cabinet of Ministers. The judicial power belongs to the Supreme Court and the system of the Federal courts.

There are several political parties in the USA. The largest and most influential of them are the Republican Party, symbolized by a donkey, and the Democratic Party, symbolized by an elephant.

Nowadays the USA is one of the leading powers in the world due to its great economic, political and military influence in the world.

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Дата добавления: 2014-12-29