INTRODUCTION , PEOPLE, LANGUAGES, RELIGIONS, TIMEZONES

The United States of America is too well known to really need any detailed description. However we've tried to get some information that could be of practical use for our members from South Asia who might be thinking of a stint in the USA, the sort of little details which you probably wouldn't get easily off the web. The United States of America is the world's fourth largest country stretching right across the North American continent, with the states of Alaska in the northwest extremity and Hawaii midway across the pacific. It is also a very young country, the worlds only superpower and the most industrially advanced country in the world. The people of the USA come from diverse backgrounds and share a passion for personal liberty. Corporates based in the USA today control most of the world's business, thus the US plays a very prominent role in world affairs and in global organizations as the United Nations (Headquarters in New York City) and the World Bank (Headquarters in Washington D.C.) .

The vast landmass of USA is varied in climate and geographical features. Its 50 states are diversified . The United States can be divided into 12 regions .

The US. Government: The federal government looks after the union of states as a whole. The states have their own governments and laws.

The US. Federal Govt. has 3 branches :- The Executive branch- headed by the President and Vice President (elected for four years). It heads many federal agencies, under the jurisdiction of 13 departments whose heads, known as The Cabinet aid the President in policy decisions. The Legislative branch: The House of Representatives - each state is allocated seats proportional to its population. The Senate - each state has two representatives. Both are directly elected by the people. Budget appropriations originate in the House of Representatives but the Senate must concur. The Senate approves presidential appointees and treaties with foreign governments. The Judicial branch- consists of the Supreme Court (9 Justices - life term appointment by the President), 12 appellate courts and 90 district courts. The present President Mr.Bill Clinton will retire shortly and fresh elections are to be held. Usually only two parties have any real significance in the USA, the Republicans and Democrats. However since the citizens have the right to bear arms, and greatly cherish the ideals of democracy there are actually several smaller parties representing the entire political spectrum from rightwing neo-nazi hate groups to extreme leftwing parties. The bulk of the citizens vote for either of the two large parties.

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PEOPLE

The government does not officially discriminate in any way among citizens. The majority of US citizens are derived from regions of North Europe, colloquially called 'white". Africans were also accorded the privilege of immigrating to the united States (without ascertaining their views on the matter) and they were put to work on southern plantations as slaves. Only after the civil war they gained a degree of civil rights. Progressive legislation and social awareness has changed conditions since but there's still prejudice. Other immigrants include Hispanics, Chinese, East Asians, Arabs, Jews from various places, and South Asians. All add to the 'melting pot' while retaining some distinct 'flavour'. It is an open society, a constantly changing one and always on the move.

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LANGUAGES

English - The American spoken English is slightly different from "English" english. It has different accents in different regions. Spanish is spoken by a sizable number of people in the USA. Indians manage to pick up the accent soon. (In recent times according to visitors the unofficial second language in areas where software professionals live is often an Indian language, Telugu or Hindi.) Small stores and motels are often run by Gujarati people. ( at one time many Americans really thought 'Patel' was the Indian word for motel).

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RELIGIONS

The state is secular and does not have any official religion. People are free to follow anything they like so long as it does not infringe on other's fundamental rights. The major religion of the Americans is Christianity, in various denominations. For the sake of comparison, here are some figures: Protestant 56% Roman Catholic 28% Jewish 2.0% Others 4.0% None 1.0% Except for the native Amerindians, (unfortunately,who were systematically killed off until their population shrank to a tiny fraction of the original), everyone else is the USA is an immigrant or descended from immigrants. The first wave were refugees from oppression in the old world and this has been the case for most of the waves since. Starting off from a clean slate and developing on principles of capitalism and democracy, with the vigour of enterprising immigrants, the USA has risen to be the top industrial nation in the world and is currently the only superpower.

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TIME ZONES

North Americans tell time on a 12 hour clock cycle. Hours before noon are am (ante-meridian), hours after noon pm (post meridian). Due to the vastness of the North American continent, the U.S.A. is divided into four time zones, going from East to West.
Eastern Time Zone
Central Time Zone
Mountain Time Zone
Pacific Time Zone Alaska, Hawaii and the Aleutian Islands have their own time zones.
As we move west wards from noon time at GMT (00 Longitude) towards U.S.A., after every change of 150 Longitude 1 hr. is subtracted from the GMT noon time (12 O clock) and if we move east ward from GMT for every 150 Longitude, 1 hr. is added. Most of the US and all of Canada observe Daylight Savings Time from the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October by advancing clocks ahead by one hour.

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