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.
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.
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).
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.
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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