UNITED+STATES

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UNITED STATES = =

= INDEX = 1.NAME 2.FLAG 3.SHIELD 4.ANTHEM 5.MSPS 5.1 PHYSICALS 5.2 POLITICAN 6.GEOGRAPHY 7.AREA 8.CLIMATE 9.HISTORY 1O.CULTURE 11.TOURISM 11.1 LINKS OF TOURISM 12.GOVERNMENT 13.ECONOMY 14.SPORTS 15.FAUNA 16.MONUMENTS 17.IMAGES OF FUUD

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** SHIELD ** ANTHEM media type="youtube" key="pYWvnVgy3Hg" height="315" width="420" = MAPS  =





GEOGRAPHY The United States is a country in the Western Hemisphere. It consists of forty-eight contiguous states in North America, Alaska, a peninsula which forms the northwestern most part of North America, and Hawaii, an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. There are several United States territories in the Pacific and Caribbean. The term "United States", when used in the geographical sense, means the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands of the United States. The country shares land borders with Canada and Mexico and maritime (water) borders withRussia, Cuba, and The Bahamas in addition to Canada and Mexico.

AREA By total area (water as well as land), the United States is either slightly larger or smaller than the People's Republic of China, making it the world's third or fourth largest country. China and the United States are smaller than Russia and Canada in total area, but are larger than Brazil. By land area only (exclusive of waters), the United States is the world's third largest country, after Russia and Canada, with Canada second and China fourth. Whether the US or China is the third largest country depends on two factors: (1) The validity of China's claim on Aksai Chin and Trans-Karakoram Tract. Both these territories are also claimed by India, so are not counted; and (2) How US calculates its own surface area. Since the initial publishing of the World Factbook, the CIA has updated the total area of United States a number of times. From 1989 through 1996, the total area of the US was listed as 9,372,610 km2 (3,618,780 sq mi) (land + inland water only). The listed total area changed to 9,629,091 km2 (3,717,813 sq mi) in 1997 (Great Lakes area and coastal waters added), to 9,631,418 km2 (3,718,711 sq mi) in 2004, to 9,631,420 km2 (3,718,710 sq mi) in 2006, and to 9,826,630 km2(3,794,080 sq mi) in 2007 (territorial waters added). Currently, the CIA World Factbook gives 9,826,675 km2 (3,794,100 sq mi),[5] the United Nations Statistics Division gives 9,629,091 km2(3,717,813 sq mi),[6and the Encyclopædia Britannica gives 9,522,055 km2 (3,676,486 sq mi).

CLIMATE

Due to its large size and wide range of geographic features, the United States contains examples of nearly every global climate. The climate is temperate in most areas, subtropical in the Deep South, tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida, polar in Alaska, semiarid in the Great Plains west of the 100th meridian, Mediterranean in coastal California and arid in the Great Basin. Its comparatively favorable agricultural climate contributed (in part) to the country's rise as a world power, with infrequent severe drought in the major agricultural regions, a general lack of widespread flooding, and a mainly temperate climate that receives adequate precipitation.





The Great Basin and Columbia Plateau (the Intermontane Plateaus) are arid or semiarid regions that lie in the rain shadow of the Cascades and Sierra Nevada. Precipitation averages less than 15 inches (38 cm). The Southwest is a hot desert, with temperatures exceeding 100 °F (37.8 °C) for several weeks at a time in summer. The Southwest and the Great Basin are also affected by the monsoon from theGulf of California from July–September, which brings localized but often severe thunderstorms to the region. Much of California consists of a Mediterranean climate, with sometimes excessive rainfall from October–April and nearly no rain the rest of the year. In the Pacific Northwest rain falls year-round, but is much heavier during winter and spring. The mountains of the west receive abundant precipitation and very heavy snowfall. The Cascades are one of the snowiest places in the world, with some places averaging over 600 inches (1,524 cm) of snow annually, but the lower elevations closer to the coast receive very little snow. Another significant (but localized) weather effect is lake-effect snow that falls south and east of theGreat Lakes, especially in the hilly portions of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and on the Tug Hill Plateau in New York. The lake effect dumped well over 5 feet (1.52 m) of snow in the area of Buffalo, New York throughout the 2006-2007 winter. The Wasatch Front and Wasatch Range in Utah can also receive significant lake effect accumulations from the Great Salt Lake.

HISTORY

The history of the United States as covered in American schools and universities typically begins with either Christopher Columbus's 1492 voyage to the Americas for with the prehistory of the Native peoples, with the latter approach having become increasingly common in recent decades. Indigenous populations lived in what is now the United States before European colonists began to arrive starting in the 16th and 17th centuries. By the 1770s, thirteen British colonies had been established along the Atlantic coast. The British Parliament asserted its authority over these colonies by imposing new taxes, which the Americans insisted were unconstitutional because they were not represented in Parliament. Growing conflicts turned into full-fledged war beginning in April 1775. On July 4, 1776, the colonies declared independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain and became the United States of America. With major military and financial support from France and military leadership by General George Washington the Patriots won the Revolutionary War and peace came in 1783. During and after the war, the 13 states were united under a weak federal government established by the Articles of Confederation. When these proved unworkable, a new Constitution was adopted in 1789; it remains the basis of theUnited States federal government, and later included a Bill of Rights. With Washington as the nation's first president and Alexander Hamilton his chief advisor, a strong national government was created. When Thomas Jefferson became president he purchased the Louisiana Territory from France, expanding American territorial holdings. A second war with Britain was fought in 1812. U.S. territory expanded westward across the continent, displacing Native American populations along the way. Slavery of Africans was abolished in all the Northern states at the turn of the 19th century, but it flourished in the Southern states because of heavy European demand for cotton. Mounting tensions between the Northern and Southern states over the issue of slavery and states' rights finally erupted into civil war from 1861-1865. Eleven slave states seceded and formed the Confederacy in response to the election of Abraham Lincoln, who opposed the expansion of slavery. The Civil War would have a lasting impact on American social and political history. The South eventually lost, and black slaves were freed but would remain politically and socially oppressed for decades to come. The United States became the leading industrial power at the turn of the 20th century due to an outburst of entrepreneurship in the North and the arrival of millions of immigrant workers and farmers from Europe. Dissatisfaction with corruption and traditional politics stimulated the Progressive movement from the 1890s to 1920s, which pushed for reforms and allowed for women's suffrage and the prohibitionof alcohol (the latter repealed in 1933). Initially neutral in World War I, the U.S. declared war on Germany in 1917, and funded the Allied victory the following year. After a prosperous decade in the 1920s, the Wall Street Crash of 1929 marked the onset of the decade-long world-wide Great Depression. Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt became president and implemented his New Deal programs for relief, recovery, and reform, defining modern American liberalism. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the United States entered World War II alongside the Allies and helped defeatNazi Germany in Europe and, with the detonation of newly-invented atomic bombs, Japan in the Far East. The United States and the Soviet Union emerged as opposing superpowers after World War II and began the Cold War, confronting one another indirectly in the arms race and Space Race. U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War was built around the containment of Communism, and the country participated in the wars in Korea and Vietnam to achieve this goal. Liberalism won numerous victories in the days of the New Deal and again in the mid-1960s, especially in the success of the civil rights movement, but conservatism made its comeback in the 1980s under Ronald Reagan. The Cold War ended when the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, leaving the United States the only superpower. International conflict in the 21st century mostly centers around the Middle East following the September 11 attacksand the United States entered a period of economic stagnation beginning in the late 2000s.

CULTURE

The of the United States is primarily a Western culture, but is also influenced by Native American, African, Asian, Polynesian, and Latin American cultures. American culture started its formation over 10,000 years ago with the migration of Paleo-Indians from Asia into the region that is today the continental United States. It has its own unique social and cultural characteristics such as dialect, music, arts, social habits, cuisine, and folklore. The United States of America is an ethnically and racially diverse country as a result of large-scale immigration from many different countries throughout its history.

Its chief early European influences came from English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish settlers of colonial America during British rule. British culture, due to colonial ties with Britain that spread the English language, legal system and other cultural inheritances, had a formative influence. Other important influences came from other parts of western Europe, especially Germany,France, and Italy.

Original elements also play a strong role, such as the invention of Jeffersonian democracy.Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia was perhaps the first influential domestic cultural critique by an American and a reactionary piece to the prevailing European consensus that America's domestic originality was degenerate. Prevalent ideas and ideals that evolved domestically, such as national holidays, uniquely American sports, military tradition, and innovations in the arts and entertainment give a strong sense of national pride among the population as a whole.

American culture includes both conservative and liberal elements, scientific and religious competitiveness, political structures, risk taking and free expression, materialist and moral elements. Despite certain consistent ideological principles (e.g. individualism, egalitarianism, and faith in freedom and democracy), American culture has a variety of expressions due to its geographical scale and demographic diversity. The flexibility of U.S. culture and its highly symbolic nature lead some researchers to categorize American culture as a mythic identity; others see it as American exceptionalism. It also includes elements that evolved from Indigenous Americans, and other ethnic cultures—most prominently the culture of African Americans, cultures from Latin America, and Asian American cultures. Many American cultural elements, especially from popular culture, have spread across the globe through modern mass media. The United States has often been thought of as a melting pot, but beginning in the late 1990s and early 2000s, it trends towards cultural diversity, pluralism and the image of a salad bowl instead. Due to the extent of American culture, there are many integrated but unique social subcultures within the United States. The cultural affiliations an individual in the United States may have commonly depend on social class, political orientation and a multitude of demographic characteristics such as religious background, occupation and ethnic group membership.

TOURISM

Tourism in the United States grew rapidly in the form of urban tourism during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. By the 1850s, tourism in the United States was well established both as a cultural activity and as an industry. New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, all major US cities, attracted a large number of tourists by the 1890s. By 1915, city touring had marked significant shifts in the way Americans perceived, organized and moved around in urban environments.

Democratization of travel occurred during the early twentieth century when the automobile revolutionized travel. Similarly air travel revolutionized travel during 1945–1969, contributing greatly to tourism in the United States. By 2007 the number of international tourists had climbed to over 56 million people who spent $122.7 billion dollars, setting an all time record.

The travel and tourism industry in the United States was among the first commercial casualties of the September 11, 2001 attacks, a series of terrorist attacks on the US. Terrorists used four commercial airliners as weapons of destruction, all of which were destroyed in the attacks with 3,000 casualties.

In the US, tourism is either the first, second or third largest employer in 29 states, employing 7.3 million in 2004, to take care of 1.19 billion trips tourists took in the US in 2005. As of 2007, there are 2,462 registered National Historic Landmarks (NHL) recognized by the United States government. As of 2008, the most visited tourist attraction in the US is Times Square in Manhattan, New York City which attracts approximately 35 million visitors yearly.

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GOVERNMENT ======

The government of the United States of America is the federal government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that constitute the United States, as well as one capitol district, and several other territories. The federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, executive and judicial, which powers are vested by the U.S. Constitution in the Congress, the President, and the federal courts, including the Supreme Court, respectively; the powers and duties of these branches are further defined by acts of Congress, including the creation of executive departments and courts inferior to the Supreme Court. The full name of the republic is "The United States of America". No other name appears in the Constitution, and this is the name that appears on money, in treaties, and in legal cases to which it is a party (e.g., Charles T. Schenck v. United States). The terms "Government of the United States of America" or "United States Government" are often used in official documents to represent the federal government as distinct from the states collectively. In casual conversation or writing, the term "Federal Government" is often used, and the term "National Government" is sometimes used. The terms "Federal" and "National" in government agency or program names generally indicates affiliation with the federal government (e.g., Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, etc.). Because the seat of government is in Washington, D.C., "Washington" is commonly used as a metonym for the federal government.



ECONOMY

The economy of the United States is the world's largest national economy and the world's second largest overall economy, the GDP of the EU being approximately $2 trillion larger. Its nominal GDP was estimated to be over $15 trillion in 2011, approximately a quarter of nominal global GDP. Its GDP at purchasing power parity is the largest in the world, approximately a fifth of global GDP at purchasing power parity. The U.S. is one of the world's wealthiest nations, with abundant natural resources, a well-developed infrastructure, and high productivity.[19] It has the world's sixth-highest per capita GDP (PPP). The U.S. is the world's third-largest producer of oil and second-largest producer of natural gas. It is the largest trading nation in the world. Its four largest export trading partners are as of 2011: Canada, China, Mexico and Japan.The United States has a mixed economy and has maintained a stable overall GDP growth rate, a moderate unemployment rate, and high levels of research and capital investment. It has been the world's largest national economy (not including colonial empires) since at least the 1890s. As of 2012, the country remains the world's largest manufacturer, representing a fifth of the global manufacturing output. Of the world's 500 largest companies, 133 are headquartered in the United States. This is twice the total of any other country. The labor market in the United States has attracted immigrants from all over the world and its net migration rate is among the highest in the world. The U.S. is one of the top-performing economies in studies such as the Ease of Doing Business Index, the Global Competitiveness Report, and others. The United States is ranked first globally in the IT industry competitiveness index.About 60% of the global currency reserves have been invested in the United States dollar, while 24% have been invested in the euro. The country is one of the world's largest and most influential financial markets. The New York Stock Exchange (formally known as NYSE Euronext) is the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization. Foreign investments made in the United States total almost $2.4 trillion, which is more than twice that of any other country. American investments in foreign countries total over $3.3 trillion, which is almost twice that of any other country. Total public and private debt was $50.2 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2010, or 3.5 times GDP. In October 2012, the proportion of public debt was about 1.0043 times the GDP. Domestic financial assets totaled $131 trillion and domestic financial liabilities totaled $106 trillion. As of 2010, the European Union as a whole was the largest trading partner of the U.S., whereas Canada, China, and Mexico were the largest individual trading nations.The US economy is orderly reviewed with comprehensive economic data analysis by the Beige Book of the Federal Reserve System, the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the Department of Commerce, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor and economic indicators of the United States Census.In comparison with the era of budget surplus during Clinton Administration, the US now faces the United States fiscal cliff. The US Dollar's purchasing power has been weakened at home and unemployment has been higher than normal. As a result of the recent weak US economic condition, the US Triple A bond rating was removed..



SPORTS

Sports are an important part of the culture of the United States. The four most popular team sports all developed in North America: American football, baseball, basketball and ice hockey. The four Major leagues in the United States are the National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Hockey League (NHL); all enjoy massive media exposure and are considered the preeminent competitions in their respective sports in the world. Three of those leagues have teams that represent Canadian cities, and all four are among the most lucrative sports leagues in the world. Soccer (association football) is less popular as a spectator sport in the United States than it is in many other countries, though it has wide participation in amateur and semi-professional levels, particularly among youths and people of Latin American descent, who constitute people from Mexico all the way down to South America. The top league, Major League Soccer, continues to grow and is starting to approach the level of the NBA and the NHL in terms of attendance, although it lags far behind in average salary and TV interest, and many American soccer fans are still more likely to follow national competitions and European leagues more than Major League Soccer. Professional teams in all major sports operate as franchises within a league. All major sports leagues use the same type of schedule with a playoff tournament after the regular season ends. In addition to the major league-level organizations, several sports also have professional minor leagues. Sports are particularly associated with education in the United States, with most high schools and universities having organized sports. College sports competitions play an important role in the American sporting culture. In many cases college athletics are more popular than professional sports, with the major sanctioning body being the NCAA.





FAUNA At least 7,000 species and subspecies of indigenous US flora have been categorized. The eastern forests contain a mixture of softwoods and hardwoods that includes pine, oak, maple, spruce, beech, birch, hemlock, walnut, gum, and hickory. The central hardwood forest, which originally stretched unbroken from Cape Cod to Texas and northwest to Minnesota—still an important timber source—supports oak, hickory, ash, maple, and walnut. Pine, hickory, tupelo, pecan, gum, birch, and sycamore are found in the southern forest that stretches along the Gulf coast into the eastern half of Texas. The Pacific forest is the most spectacular of all because of its enormous redwoods and Douglas firs. In the southwest are saguaro (giant cactus), yucca, candlewood, and the Joshua tree. The central grasslands lie in the interior of the continent, where the moisture is not sufficient to support the growth of large forests. The tall grassland or prairie (now almost entirely under cultivation) lies to the east of the 100th meridian. To the west of this line, where rainfall is frequently less than 50 cm (20 in) per year, is the short grassland. Mesquite grass covers parts of west Texas, southern New Mexico, and Arizona. Short grass may be found in the highlands of the latter two states, while tall grass covers large portions of the coastal regions of Texas and Louisiana and occurs in some parts of Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. The Pacific grassland includes northern Idaho, the higher plateaus of eastern Washington and Oregon, and the mountain valleys of California. The intermontane region of the Western Cordillera is for the most part covered with desert shrubs. Sagebrush predominates in the northern part of this area, creosote in the southern, with saltbrush near the Great Salt Lake and in Death Valley. The lower slopes of the mountains running up to the coastline of Alaska are covered with coniferous forests as far north as the Seward Peninsula. The central part of the Yukon Basin is also a region of softwood forests. The rest of Alaska is heath or tundra. Hawaii has extensive forests of bamboo and ferns. Sugarcane and pineapple, although not native to the islands, now cover a large portion of the cultivated land. Small trees and shrubs common to most of the United States include hackberry, hawthorn, serviceberry, blackberry, wild cherry, dogwood, and snowberry. Wildflowers bloom in all areas, from the seldom-seen blossoms of rare desert cacti to the hardiest alpine species. Wildflowers include forget-me-not, fringed and closed gentians, jack-in-the-pulpit, black-eyed Susan, columbine, and common dandelion, along with numerous varieties of aster, orchid, lady's slipper, and wild rose. An estimated 432 species of mammals characterize the animal life of the continental United States. Among the larger game animals are the white-tailed deer, moose, pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, mountain goat, black bear, and grizzly bear. The Alaskan brown bear often reaches a weight of 1,200–1,400 lbs. Some 25 important furbearers are common, including the muskrat, red and gray foxes, mink, raccoon, beaver, opossum, striped skunk, woodchuck, common cottontail, snowshoe hare, and various squirrels. Human encroachment has transformed the mammalian habitat over the last two centuries. The American buffalo (bison), millions of which once roamed the plains, is now found only on select reserves. Other mammals, such as the elk and gray wolf, have been restricted to much smaller ranges. Year-round and migratory birds abound. Loons, wild ducks, and wild geese are found in lake country; terns, gulls, sandpipers, herons, and other seabirds live along the coasts. Wrens, thrushes, owls, hummingbirds, sparrows, woodpeckers, swallows, chickadees, vireos, warblers, and finches appear in profusion, along with the robin, common crow, cardinal, Baltimore oriole, eastern and western meadowlarks, and various blackbirds. Wild turkey, ruffed grouse, and ring-necked pheasant (introduced from Europe) are popular game birds. Lakes, rivers, and streams teem with trout, bass, perch, muskellunge, carp, catfish, and pike; sea bass, cod, snapper, and flounder are abundant along the coasts, along with such shellfish as lobster, shrimp, clams, oysters, and mussels. Garter, pine, and milk snakes are found in most regions. Four poisonous snakes survive, of which the rattlesnake is the most common. Alligators appear in southern waterways and the Gila monster makes its home in the Southwest. Laws and lists designed to protect threatened and endangered flora and fauna have been adopted throughout the United States. Generally, each species listed as protected by the federal government is also protected by the states, but some states may list species not included on federal lists or on the lists of neighboring states. (Conversely, a species threatened throughout most of the United States may be abundant in one or two states.) As of August 2003, the US Fish and Wildlife Service listed 987 endangered US species (up from 751 listed in 1996), including 65 mammals (64 in 1996), 78 birds (77 in 1996), 71 fish (69 in 1996), and 599 plants (432 in 1996); and 276 threatened species (209 in 1996), including 147 plants (94 in 1996). The agency listed another 517 endangered and 41 threatened foreign species by international agreement. Threatened species, likely to become endangered if recent trends continue, include such plants as Lee pincushion cactus. Among the endangered floral species (in imminent danger of extinction in the wild) are the Virginia round-leaf birch, San Clemente Island broom, Texas wild-rice, Furbish lousewort, Truckee barberry, Sneed pincushion cactus, spineless hedgehog



MONUMENTS


 * Mount Rushmore National Memorial, South Dakota**Mount Rushmore is a sculpture of U.S. Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln, carved into granite on the southeast side of Mount Rushmore. The 60-foot-tall (18-meter-tall) heads represent the first 150 years of the United States, symbolizing the nation's independence, democratic process, leadership in world affairs, and equality. Mount Rushmore is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the United States. The stone sculpture took six and a half years to complete and was carved with the help of hundreds of workers using dynamite, jackhammers, chisels, and drills.
 * World War II Memorial, Washington, D.C.**This memorial honors the 16 million who served in the U.S. armed forces, including the more than 400,000 who died and all who supported the war effort from home during World War II (1941–45). The memorial, which opened to the public in 2004, consists of 56 pillars and two arches surrounding a plaza and a fountain. The World War II Memorial houses the Freedom Wall, which is comprised of 4,048 gold stars. Each gold star represents one hundred American service personnel who died in World War II or remain missing.
 * Washington Monument, Washington, D.C. **This monument honors George Washington, the first President of the United States. The structure is 555 feet and 5 inches (169.3 meters) high and weighs an estimated 91,000 tons. The color of the upper two-thirds of the monument is noticeably different from the lower third as a result of a delay in construction due to the Civil War. Construction began in 1848 and was completed over 30 years later. For five years, it was the world's tallest structure, until the Eiffel Tower took the title in 1889.
 * Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.**The Vietnam Veterans Memorial honors members of the U.S. armed forces who served and died in the Vietnam War (1954-75). The memorial is a black granite V-shaped wall inscribed with the names of the approximately 58,000 men and women who were killed or missing in action. In 1993, the Vietnam Women's Memorial was unveiled a short distance from the wall. The bronze sculpture, depicting three women caring for an injured soldier, recognized the work of the more than 10,000 women who served in Vietnam.
 * Liberty Enlightening the World, Liberty Island, New York City**The Statue of Liberty, officially titled Liberty Enlightening the World, was a gift of friendship from France to the United States. It’s a universal symbol of freedom and democracy. The statue of a robed woman holding a torch has welcomed visitors, immigrants, and returning Americans traveling by ship for more than a century. The Statue of Liberty was dedicated on October 28, 1886, and was designated as a National Monument in 1924.
 * Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.**The Lincoln Memorial honors Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States. The monument's design was modeled after the Parthenon in Athens. The interior features a 19-foot (5.8-meter) seated statue of Lincoln, with the Gettysburg Address, as well as his Second Inaugural Address, inscribed on the south and north walls. It has 36 columns, each 44 feet (13.4 meters) high, one for each state in the Union in 1860, the year in which Lincoln was elected. In 1963, on the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in front of more than 200,000 people.
 * Jefferson Memorial, Washington, D.C.**The Jefferson Memorial, built to honor Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, was inspired by the Pantheon in Rome as well as the Rotunda at the University of Virginia, which Jefferson designed. It stands as a symbol of liberty and a site for reflection. Construction began in 1938 and continued despite the country’s entrance into World War II in 1941. The memorial was dedicated on April 13, 1943, the 200th anniversary of Jefferson's birth.
 * Marine Corps War Memorial, Arlington, Virginia**The Marine Corps War Memorial, also known as Iwo Jima, is a symbol of the nation's respect for the honored dead of the U.S. Marine Corps. The statue depicts six figures raising the flag on Mount Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima, site of one of the most important battles of World War II, but the memorial is dedicated to all Marines who have given their lives in the defense of the United States since 1775.
 * Gateway Arch, St. Louis, Missouri**The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, is part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. The stainless steel arch represents St. Louis's role in the Westward Expansion of the United States during the 19th century. Construction lasted from 1963 to October 28, 1965. It was built to withstand earthquakes and high winds and can sway up to 18 inches (46 centimeters).

IMAGES OF FOOD