USA

The United States is made up of fifty states. Each state has its own government and makes its own laws although they are still bound by federal law. States also have their own personalities as do the people living in those states.

Although Americans are united in many ways, they have some lifestyle differences related to geography and climate. For instance, Hawaii is a group of islands with a tropical climate. On the other hand, Alaska is a state near the Arctic Circle with a very cold climate. In the continental U.S. the climate ranges from tropical in Florida to very cold and snowy in many of the northern states. The geographical features vary widely as well. For example, there are mountains, flat plains, desert, wetlands, lakes, and forests. The people living in or near these places may live and work in rural areas or in big cities.  Due to all these differences, people in one part of the country may live very different lives from people in other parts of the country.

Here are some facts about the states.

Regions

There are many geographic regions in the U.S. and people may define the regions differently. The U.S. Census Bureau defines four major regions along with several smaller sub-regions.

The four major geographic regions as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau are

• West: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming
• Midwest: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio, Wisconsin
• Northeast: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont
• South: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia
• Subregions: Pacific, Mountain, West North Central, West South Central, East North Central, East South Central, New England, Middle Atlantic, South Atlantic

Time Zones

There are six different standard time zones in the United States: Eastern Time, Central Time, Mountain Time, Pacific Time, Alaska Time, and Hawaii-Aleutian Time. In addition, all states except Arizona and Hawaii observe daylight saving time. This means they set their clocks forward one hour in the spring and back one hour in the fall.  Daylight saving time begins on the second Sunday of March at 2:00 a.m. and ends on the first Sunday of November at 2:00 a.m.