The USA: the travel guide.

The United States of America is a large country in North America, often referred to as the "USA," the "U.S.," the "United States," "America," or simply "the States". It has a land area of about 9.6 million sq. km. (about half the size of Russia and about the same size as China). It also boasts the world's third largest population, with over 310 million people. It includes both densely-populated cities with sprawling suburbs, and vast, uninhabited and naturally beautiful areas. With its history of mass immigration dating from the 17th century, it is a "melting pot" of cultures from around the world. The country plays a dominant role in the world's cultural landscape, and is famous for its wide array of popular tourist destinations, ranging from the skyscrapers of Manhattanand Chicago, to the natural wonders of Yellowstone and Alaska, to the warm, sunny beaches of Florida, Hawaii and Southern California. The United States is not the America of television and movies. It is large, complex, and diverse, with several distinct regional identities. Due to the vast distances involved, traveling between regions can be time-consuming and expensive. Holidays The United States has a number of holidays — official and/or cultural — of which the traveler should be aware. Note that holidays observed on Mondays or Fridays are usually treated as weekend-long events. (A weekend consists of a Saturday and a Sunday.) Federal holidays — i.e., holidays observed by the federal government — are indicated in bold italics. If a federal holiday with a fixed calendar date (such as Independence Day) falls on a weekend, federal and most state offices will be closed on the nearest non-weekend day. Since the early 1970s several federal holidays, including Memorial Day and Labor Day, have been observed on a certain Monday rather than on a fixed date for the express purpose of giving federal employees three-day weekends. Due to the number of major holidays in close proximity to each other, many Americans refer to the period between Thanksgiving in late November and New Year's Day as simply "the holidays." School and work vacations are commonly taken during this period. § New Year's Day (1 January) — most non-retail businesses closed; parades; brunches and football parties. § Martin Luther King Day (third Monday in January) — many government offices and banks closed; speeches, especially on African-American history and culture. § Chinese New Year (January/February — varies based on the Chinese lunar calendar) — Chinese cultural celebration. § Super Bowl Sunday (usu. first Sunday in February) — The Super Bowl is the annual championship game of the NFL American football league and the most-watched sporting event of the year; supermarkets, bars, and electronics stores busy; big football-watching parties. § (St.) Valentine's Day (14 February) — private celebration of romance and love. Most restaurants are crowded; finer restaurants may require reservations made well in advance. § Presidents Day (third Monday in February; officially Washington's Birthday) — many government offices and banks closed; many stores have sales. § St. Patrick's Day (17 March) — Irish-themed parades and parties. Expect bars to be crowded. They will often feature themed drink specials. The wearing of green or a green accessory is common. § Easter (a Sunday in March or April) — Christian religious observances. Depending on location, many restaurants, including franchised outlets of major national chains, may close. Major retailers generally open; smaller shops may or may not close. § Passover (varies based on the Jewish calendar, eight days around Easter) — Jewish religious observance. § Cinco de Mayo (5 May) — A minor holiday in most of Mexico often incorrectly assumed to be Mexican independence day, but nevertheless a major cultural celebration for Mexican-Americans. As with St. Patrick's Day, expect bars to be crowded, frequently with themed drink specials. § Memorial Day (last Monday in May) — most non-retail businesses closed; some patriotic observances; trips to beaches and parks; traditional beginning of summer tourism season. § Independence Day / Fourth of July (4 July) — most non-retail businesses closed; patriotic parades and concerts, cookouts and trips to beaches and parks, fireworks at dusk. § Labor Day (first Monday in September) — most non-retail businesses closed; cookouts and trips to beaches and parks; many stores have sales; traditional ending of summer tourism season. § Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (varies based on the Jewish calendar, September or early October) — Jewish religious observances. § Columbus Day (second Monday in October) — many government offices and banks closed; some stores have sales. Columbus Day can be controversial, especially among Native Americans, and is not as widely observed as it was in the past. § Halloween (31 October) — trick-or-treating, parades, and costume parties. § Veterans Day (11 November) — government offices and banks closed; some patriotic observances. § Thanksgiving Day (fourth Thursday in November) — almost all businesses closed, including grocery stores and many restaurants; family dinners. The next day, known as "Black Friday," major Christmas shopping traditionally begins. Many non-retail employees are given Friday off or take it as a holiday. § Hanukkah / Chanukah (varies based on the Jewish calendar, eight days usually in December) — Jewish religious observance, often culturally associated with Christmas. § Christmas (25 December) — almost all businesses, grocery stores, and many restaurants closed the evening before and all day. Families and close friends exchange gifts; Christian religious observances. § Kwanzaa (26 December-1 January) — African-American cultural observance. § New Year's Eve (31 December) — many restaurants and bars open late; lots of parties, especially in big cities. If you are a foreigner who needs to apply for a U.S. visa, it is important to note the federal holidays marked in bold italics as all U.S. embassies worldwide will close on those days and will be unable to process applications on those days in addition to the holidays in your homecountry. Some state governments also have a few of their own official holidays not observed in other states. Units of measure The United States is the only industrialized country that still uses solely customary units of measures (except for scientific and military applications). All road signs and speed limits are posted in miles and miles per hour respectively. Gas prices and the capacity of liquid products are quoted and sold per gallon, quart, or ounce. Temperatures are reported in Fahrenheit only; 32 degrees (with units unspecified) is freezing and not at all warm! The good news is that most cars on the road in the U.S. have both miles and kilometers indicated by their speedometers (good for trips to Canada and Mexico), and almost all groceries and household items sold in stores are labeled in both systems. The vast majority of Americans, though, have little day-to-day exposure to the metric system (apart from having studied it a little in school) and will assume some understanding of customary measures. In addition, the U.S. government does not regulate apparel or shoe sizes. Although there are informal standard sizes, they are not strictly enforced. The only thing you can count on is that sizes tend to be consistent within the same brand. If you plan to shop for apparel or shoes, you will have to do some trial-and-error for each brand to determine what fits, because you cannot rely on any brand's sizes as equivalent to another's. For more information. The federal government of the U.S. sets foreign policy, while the states deal with tourism. As such, the federal government provides the best information about legal requirements for entry, while information about places to visit and see is best provided by state and local tourism bureaus. Contact information is available in the individual state articles. At state borders, highway rest stops sometimes feature visitor centers and often offer travel and tourism information and materials, almost all of which is also available online or can be requested in advance by mail. Nearly every rest stop has a posted road map with a clearly indicated "You Are Here" marker. Some also offer free paper roadmaps to take with you. Regions. The United States is composed of 50 states, as well as the city of Washington, D.C., a federal district and the nation's capital. Below is a rough grouping of these states into regions, from the Atlantic to the Pacific:     Mid-Atlantic(Delaware, Maryland,New Jersey, New York,Pennsylvania) Ranging from New York in the north toWashington, D.C., the Mid-Atlantic is home to some of the nation's most densely populated cities, as well as historic sites, rolling mountains, the New Jersey Pine Barrens, the Lehigh Valley, and seaside resorts like the Long Island beaches and theJersey Shore.     South (Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina,Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia) The South is celebrated for its hospitality, down-home cooking and its blues, jazz, rock 'n' roll, and country music traditions. This lush, largely subtropical region includes cool, verdant mountains, agricultural plantations, and vast cypress swamps.     Florida Northern Florida is similar to the rest of the South, but is not so in the resorts of Orlando, retirement communities, tropical Caribbean-influenced Miami, the Everglades, and 1,200 miles of sandy beaches.     Midwest (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin) The Midwest is home to farmland, forests, picturesque towns, industrial cities, and the Great Lakes, the largest system of freshwater lakes in the world, forming the North Coast of the U.S.     Texas The second biggest state in the nation is like a separate country (and in fact, once was), with strong cultural influences from its Spanish and Mexican past. The terrain ranges from southeastern swamplands to the cattle-ranching South Plains to the sandy beaches of South Texas to the mountains and deserts of West Texas.     Great Plains (North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma) Travel westward through these supposedly flat states, from the edge of the eastern forests through the prairies and onto the High Plains, an enormous expanse of steppes (shortgrass prairies) nearly as desolate as in the frontier days.     Rocky Mountains (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming) The spectacular snow-covered Rockies offer hiking, rafting, and excellent snow skiing as well as deserts, and some large cities.     Southwest (Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah) Heavily influenced by Spanish and Mexican culture, this area is home to some of the nation's most spectacular natural attractions and some flourishing artistic communities. Although mostly empty, the region's deserts have some of the nation's largest cities.     California Like the Southwest, California has a history under Spanish and Mexican rule and is heavily influenced by Spanish and Mexican culture. California offers world-class cities, deserts, rainforests, snowy mountains, and beautiful beaches. Northern California (around the San Francisco Bay Area) and Southern California (around Los Angeles) are culturally distinct.     Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon) The pleasantly mild Pacific Northwest offers outdoor pursuits as well as cosmopolitan cities. The terrain ranges from spectacular rain forests to scenic mountains and volcanoes to beautiful coastlines to sage-covered steppes and deserts.     Alaska One fifth as large as the rest of the United States, Alaska reaches well into the Arctic, and features mountainous wilderness.     Hawaii A volcanic archipelago in the tropical Pacific, 2,300 miles south west of California (the nearest state), laid-back Hawaii is a vacation paradise. Politically, the U.S. is a federation of states, each with its own rights and powers (hence the name). The U.S. also administers a motley collection of non-state territories around the world, the largest of which are Puerto Rico (which has the special status of a "commonwealth") and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the Caribbean plus American Samoa,Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands in Oceania.

Cities.

The United States has over 10,000 cities, towns, and villages. The following is a list of nine of the most notable. Other cities can be found in their corresponding regions.

§ Washington, D.C. — the national capital, filled with major museums and monuments, along with multi-cultural communities

§ Boston — best known for its colonial history, its passion for sports, and its university students

§ Chicago — heart of the Midwest and transportation hub of the nation, with massive skyscrapers and other architectural gems

§ Los Angeles — home of the film industry, musical artists, and surfers, with beautiful mild weather, great natural beauty from mountains to beaches, and endless stretches of freeways and smog

§ Miami — attracts sun-seeking northerners and home to a rich, vibrant, Latin-influenced, Caribbean culture

§ New Orleans — "The Big Easy" is the birthplace of Jazz, and is known for its quaint French Quarter and annual Mardi Gras celebration

§ New York City — the country's largest city, home of the financial services and media industries, with world-class cuisine, arts, architecture, and shopping

§ San Francisco — the City by the Bay, featuring the Golden Gate Bridge, vibrant urban neighborhoods, and dramatic fog

§ Seattle — rich museums, monuments, and recreational opportunities, and five distinct climates within 200 miles (321 km)

Other destinations

These are some of the largest and most famous destinations outside of major cities.

§ Denali National Park — a remote national park featuring North America's highest peak

§ Grand Canyon — the world's longest and most visited canyon

§ Mesa Verde National Park — well-preserved Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings

§ Mount Rushmore — the iconic memorial of 4 former presidents carved into a cliff face

§ Niagara Falls — the massive waterfalls straddling the border with Canada

§ Great Smoky Mountains National Park — national park in the southern Appalachians

§ Walt Disney World — the most popular vacation resort destination in the world

§ Yellowstone National Park — the first national park in the U.S., and home of the Old Faithful geyser

§ Yosemite National Park — home of El Capitan and the famous Giant Sequoia trees