21.2. Sightseeing in the usa.

21.2.1. Tourist attractions in the USA draw millions each year with their beauty and grandeur. They mesmerize people of all ages and cultures.

One of the USA top tourist attractions, the majestic Grand Canyon (1,218,376 acres) was first mapped out in 1869 by Major John Wesley Powell, a one-armed geologist who ventured down the capricious Colorado River he and eight other men were exploring in wooden rowboats. Today only Mexico’s Barranca de Cabre and Idaho's Hell’s Canyon are deeper than this National Monument. Though its depth drops to 6,000 feet, the floor heats to over 100 degrees. The summers in the area are sizzling and the winters are freezing cold. Even for those who come at the right time of the year, hiking to the bottom of the Canyon will only take 2 days.

21.2.2. Mount Rushmore is an iconic national memorial (1,829 m) in the Black Hills of southwestern South Dakota, U.S. Huge sculptures of the heads of presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt are carved in granite on the northeast side of the mount mass. The four heads, each about 60 ft high, represent, respectively, the nation's founding political philosophy, preservation, expansion and conservation. The memorial, first suggested by Jonah Robinson of the South Dakota State Historical Society, was dedicated in 1925. Work began in 1927 under Gutzon Borglum and was finished in 1941, after six and a half years of actual work. The federal government paid most of the costs. This world-famous attraction is visited by almost 2,000,000 tourists annually.

21.2.3. The Walt Disney World Resort attracts more travelers than any other resort on Earth. Six different theme parks and a wilderness preserve cover well over 20,000 acres - about the size of a city like San Francisco. Visitors can make memories at the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, the Animal Kingdom, and two massive water parks. The big WDW just might be the most family-friendly resort in history. To top it all off, trips to the Walt Disney World Resort are often touted as the highlight of childhood. Perhaps that’s why families around the world can’t stop coming back.

21.2.4. National Mall and Memorial Parks (est. 1965) in Washington, D.C. attract over 25 million annual visitors, making this the second most visited tourist attraction in the world. People flock to see iconic landmarks for themselves - everything from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument, an obelisk rising over 550 feet. The historic structures, famous museums, and charming gardens are what make visitors eager to return. The autumn season especially brings colorful flair and fair weather to National Mall and Memorial Parks.

21.3. The Republic of Ireland and Canada.

21.3.1. The Republic of Ireland occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921. The country is a parliamentary democracy which left the British Commonwealth and became a republic in 1949. Ireland is today a member of the EU, the OECD, and the UN. It is bordered by Northern Ireland to the north east, the Irish Sea to the east, St George’s Channel to the south-east, the Celtic Sea to the south and by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and north. The climate of Ireland is temperate maritime: mild winters and cool summers. Ireland is a small, modern, trade-dependent economy. Agriculture, once the most important sector, is now dwarfed by industry.

21.3.2. Over 40% of the population of the republic resides within 100 km of Dublin, the country’s capital. What is now four provinces was probably in ancient times five. These are Ulster, Connacht, Munster, Leinster and Meath. Ireland’s population is approximately 4 million people which is still less than it was before the famine, when by 1851 over a million people had died. For over a two thousand years, Ireland has been a host to a surprising variety of languages and cultures: Irish Gaelic, English, French, German, Ulster Scots, Ancient Greek and Latin. Nowadays most people speak Irish English, or like some claim, English with an Irish accent. A minority still speaks Irish Gaelic, one of the six Gaelic left forms of language. About 30% of the population is able to speak Irish Gaelic. Today the country ranks one of the first in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Quality-of-life index. Ireland also has high rankings for its education system, political freedom and civil rights, press freedom and economic freedom. The famous representatives of the nation include  Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington, Robert Boyle (sometimes called “The Father of Chemistry”), John Tyndall, one of greatest scientists of 19th century, etc.

21.3.3. Canada is the world’s second-largest country (9,976,140 km²), surpassed only by the Russian Federation. It is a constitutional monarchy and a federal state with a democratic parliament housing in Ottawa.

The country is very diverse in its people, its landscape, its climate, and its way of life. Canada’s climate is as varied as its topography, and this great expansive country includes a collection of extremes. Much of the north, which is virtually uninhabited, has an arctic climate. Canada's most populous regions, which lie in the country's south along the U.S. border, enjoy four distinct seasons. Canada is made up of ten provinces and three territories and has six time zones. Canada shares four of the five Great Lakes, the largest sources of fresh water in the world, with the United States. The largest lake situated entirely in Canada is Great Bear Lake (31,326 km²) in the Northwest Territories. Canada’s economy is made up of three main types of industries: natural resources, manufacturing and services.

21.3.4. Despite the enormous size of this country, approximately 80 percent of all the people in Canada live in a concentrated area of cities and towns within 100 km of the U.S. border. Canada’s population is over 30 million with the vast majority (77%) living in cities and towns. The largest cities in Canada are Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa-Hull and the National Capital Region. The country’s population is a patchwork of ethnical minorities. China and India are Canada’s two largest sources of immigrants, but others include Korea, the Middle East and Western Asia. Canada’s diversity is encouraged by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and the Canadian Multiculturalism Act. These laws say that all Canadians are free to promote and share our multicultural heritage.

Another major component of Canada’s multicultural heritage is the existence of aboriginal people in Canada. According to a recent census, more than four-fifths of Canadians are Christian, with Catholics accounting for about 45% of the population and Protestants about 35%. Other religions include Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism. 

Canada has two official languages: English, the mother tongue of about 59% of Canadians; and French, the first language of 23% of the population.

A full 18% have either more than one mother tongue or a mother tongue other than English or French, such as Chinese, Italian, German, Polish, Spanish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Ukrainian, Arabic, Dutch, Tagalog, Greek, Vietnamese, Cree, Inuktitut, or other languages. Among the famous Canadians are Nelly Furtado, Keanu Reeves, Bryan Adams, Jim Carrey, Avril Lavigne, etc.