This is the USA. Колотыгина Т.Л - 9 стр.

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11
Supplementary reading
The American People
The United States has the third-largest population in the world (after
China and India). In 1990, population in the United States passed the
250,000,000 mark. Who are the American people?
The most distinctive characteristic of the United States is its people. As
nineteenth-century poet Walt Whitman said, the United States "is not merely a
nation but a nation of nations." People from around the world have come to the
United States and influenced its history and culture.
The Native Americans
The first people on the American continent came from Asia. They came
across the Bering Strait from Siberia to Alaska at various times when the sea
level dropped. The first migration might have been as early as 40,000 years ago.
Once in America, these people migrated east across North America and south
through Central and South America. When Columbus arrived in the fifteenth
century, there were perhaps 10 million people in North America alone.
They had developed many different kinds of societies. These were the peo-
ple that Columbus called "Indians," in the mistaken belief that he had reached
the East Indies.
The story of the westward growth of the United States was also the story of
the destruction of the Native Americans, or Indians. Today there are about 1.5
million Indians in the United States. Western states—especially California,
Oklahoma, Arizona, and New Mexico—have the largest Indian populations.
About one-third of the Native Americans live on reservations, land that was set
aside for them. Most of the others live in cities. Poverty and unemployment are
major problems, especially on the reservations.
The British
Beginning in the 1600s, the British settled the eastern part of North America. By
the time of the American Revolution (1776), the culture of the American colo-
nists (their religion, language, government, etc.) was thoroughly British— with an
American "twist." In a sense, then the British culture was the foundation on which
America was built. Also, over the years, many immigrants to the United States have
come from the United Kingdom and Ireland.

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