The difference between
United States of America
and
Flags
Surface
USA
•
The United States of America
(commonly abbreviated to the
United States, the U.S., the USA,
America, and the States) is a federal
constitutional republic comprising
fifty states and a federal district. The
country is situated mostly in central
North America, where its forty-eight
contiguous states.
UK
•
Is a sovereign state located off the
North-western coast of Continental
Europe. The country includes the
island of Great Britain, the
north-eastern part of the island of Ireland
and many smaller islands.
Northern Ireland is the only part of
the UK that shares a land border
with another sovereign state – the
Republic of Ireland. Apart from this
land border the UK is surrounded
by the Atlantic Ocean, the North
Sea, the English Channel and the
Irish Sea.
Culture
USA
•
The culture of the United States is a
Western
culture
originally
influenced by European cultures. It
has been developing since long
before the United States became a
country with its own unique social
and cultural characteristics such as
dialect, music, arts, social habits,
cuisine, and folklore. Today, 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.
UK
•
The culture of the United Kingdom
refers to the patterns of human
activity and symbolism associated
with the United Kingdom and its
people. It is informed by the UK's
history as a developed island
country, major power, and its
composition of four countries—
England,
Northern
Ireland,
Scotland and Wales—each of
which have preserved distinct
customs, cultures and symbolism.
Languages
USA
• Although the United States has no official
language at the federal level, 30 states have passed legislation making English the official language and it is considered to be the de facto
national language.
• According to the CIA, the following is the
percentage of total population's native languages in the United States:
• English (82.1%) • Spanish (10.7%)
• Other Indo-European languages (3.8%) • Other Asian or Pacific Islander languages
(2.7%)
• Other languages (0.7%)
UK
• However, individual countries within
the UK have frameworks for the promotion of their indigenous languages. In Wales, all pupils at state schools must either be taught through the medium of Welsh or study it as an additional language until aged 16, and the Welsh Language Act 1993 and the Government of Wales Act 1998 provide that the Welsh and English languages should be treated equally in the public sector, so far as is reasonable and practicable. Irish and Ulster Scots enjoy limited use alongside English in Northern Ireland, mainly in publicly commissioned translations.
Religion
USA
• Among developed countries, the U.S. is one of the most religious (primarily Christian) in terms of its demographics.
• According to the CIA, the following is the
percentage of followers of different religions in the United States: • Christian: (80.2%) – Protestant (51.3%) – Roman Catholic (23.9%) – Other Christian (1.6%) • Mormon (1.7%) • Jewish (1.7%) • Buddhist (0.7%) • Muslim (0.6%) • Other/Unspecified (2.5%) • Unaffiliated (12.1%) • None (4%)
UK
• The United Kingdom was created as an
Anglican Christian country and Anglican churches remain the largest faith group in each country of the UK.
Education
USA
• Students have the options of having
their education held in public schools, private schools, or home school. In most public and private schools, education is divided into three levels: elementary school, junior high school (also often called middle school), and high school. In almost all schools at these levels, children are divided by age groups into grades. Post-secondary education, better known as "college" or "university" in the United States, is generally governed separately from the elementary and high school system.
UK
•
England has many prominent
private schools, often founded
hundreds of years ago, which are
known as public schools or
independent schools. Eton, Harrow,
Shrewsbury and Rugby are four of
the better known. Most primary
and secondary schools in both the
private and state sectors have
compulsory school uniforms.
Allowances are almost invariably
made, however, to accommodate
religious dress including the
Islamic hijab and Sikh bangle.
Races people
USA
• Today the U.S. Department of
Commerce's Bureau of the Census recognizes four races, Native American or American Indian, African American, Asian and White (European American). According to the U.S. government, Hispanic Americans do not constitute a race, but rather an ethnic group. During the 2000 U.S. Census Whites made up 75.1% of the population with those being Hispanic or Latino constituting the nation's prevalent minority with 12.5% of the population. African Americans made up 12.3% of the total population, 3.6% were Asian American and 0.7% were Native American.
UK
• The UK's population is now more
ethnically mixed than ever before. But until recently, there have not been precise figures for who lives where, and how many of each group there are. Well, now the Office for National Statistics has come up with an experimental set of figures. Their interactive population pyramid is worth checking out too. These figures show the population of England, by sex and ethnic mix. It has every single category you could imagine, and then some more, all divided up by local authority area. It's a huge set of data.
The most important National
Holidays
USA
•
January 1, New Year's Day.
•
January 16, Martin Luther
King Day .
•
February 20, Presidents
Day.
•
November 22,
Thanksgiving Day.
•
December 25, Christmas
Day .
UK
•
January 1, New Year’s Day.
•
March 17, Saint Patric’s
Day.
•
April 6, Good Friday.
•
April 9, Easter Monday.
Cuisine
USA
• The cuisine of the United States is
extremely diverse, owing to the vastness of the continent, the relatively large population (1/3 of a billion people) and the number of native and immigrant
influences. Mainstream American
culinary arts are similar to those in other Western countries. Wheat is the primary cereal grain. Traditional American cuisine uses ingredients such as turkey, white-tailed deer venison, potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, squash, and maple syrup, indigenous foods employed by American Indians and early European settlers. Slow-cooked pork and beef barbecue, crab cakes, potato chips, cotton candy and chocolate chip cookies are distinctively American styles.
