Facts about The United States

Did you know that?

66.7% of the American population is overweight
America is on the third place of the world when it comes to overweight people
Osama Bin Laden used to be an American spy
The Statue of Liberty was shipped to New York in 350 pieces and 214 crates
The name of the Statue of Liberty actually was “Liberty lights up the world”
Every state of The United States has its own laws
The death penalty is still in use in 32 states
About 4% of the people sentenced to death turn out to be innocent
In The United States about 10,000 deaths per year are caused by guns
Of the 300 million Americans about 70% is white and 30% is coloured
A black American has about 20% bigger chance to get arrest for breaking the law than a white American has
The American prisons are filled with 60% with coloured Americans, even though according to statistics, white Americans are more often guilty of committing crimes
The country borders the Pacific, the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico
318,9 million people live in The United States
There is 19,925km coast in The United States.
The total surface of the country is 9,809,000 km2
The life expectancy is estimated at 72 years for men and 80 years for women
56% of the Americans is Protestant Christian, 28% is Roman Catholic and 2% Jewish
The climate is continental along the coasts, tropical in Hawaii and Florida, Mediterranean in the south, and subarctic in Alaska
The highest mountain is the Mount McKinley in Alaska, this mountain is 6194 metres high
The lowest point is in Death Valley, California, and is 86 metres below sea-level
The most important rivers for The United States are the Mississippi (3779km), Missouri (3729km), Arkansas (2348km) and the Colorado (2333km)
The motto of many Americans is: “In god we trust”
The number of stars on the American flag started off with 13 in 1977
The last star that was added was the star for the state Hawaii in 1960
The official recognition of a new star on the flag always happens on Independence Day (4th of July)
There is almost no tax on gas
On an even crossroad without any priority rules the rule “who gets there first gets to go first” counts
People can get their drivers licence at the age of 16
There are almost no biking lanes, and people even bike on the high way
The green IW-94 form was replaced by the ESTA in January 2009
ESTA makes it possible to travel to The United States without a visa
You need to at least be in possession of an ESTA in order to visit The United States
ESTA is short for: Electronic System for Travel Authorization

The American anthem is:

I.
Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Chorus
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
II.
On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream
Chorus
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
III.
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight and the gloom of the grave
Chorus
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
IV.
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Bles't with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when1 our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
Chorus
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.