The World Factbook The US has the most technologically powerful economy in the world, with a per capita GDP of $59,500. US firms are at or near the forefront in technological advances, especially in computers, pharmaceuticals, and medical, aerospace, and military equipment; however, their advantage has narrowed since the end of World War II. Based on a comparison of GDP measured at purchasing power parity conversion rates, the US economy in 2014, having stood as the largest in the world for more than a century, slipped into second place behind China, which has more than tripled the US growth rate for each year of the past four decades. In the US, private individuals and business firms make most of the decisions, and the federal and state governments buy needed goods and services predominantly in the private marketplace. Imported oil accounts for more than 50% of US consumption and oil has a major impact on the overall health of the economy.
Africa Map of Africa Africa's population is the youngest among all the continents; 50% of Africans are 19 years old or younger.[5] Algeria is Africa's largest country by area, and Nigeria is the largest by population. Africa, particularly central Eastern Africa, is widely accepted as the place of origin of humans and the Hominidae clade (great apes), as evidenced by the discovery of the earliest hominids and their ancestors, as well as later ones that have been dated to around seven million years ago, including Sahelanthropus tchadensis, Australopithecus africanus, A. afarensis, Homo erectus, H. habilis and H. ergaster – with the earliest Homo sapiens (modern human) found in Ethiopia being dated to circa 200,000 years ago.[6] Africa straddles the equator and encompasses numerous climate areas; it is the only continent to stretch from the northern temperate to southern temperate zones.[7] Etymology Other etymological hypotheses have been postulated for the ancient name "Africa": History Prehistory
Culture of United States of America Orientation Identification. The name "America" is often used to refer to the United States, but until the political formation of the United States after the Revolutionary War, this designation referred to South America only. The United States has an Anglo majority that is politically and economically dominant. U.S. culture has significant regional inflections. The Northeast is densely populated. The Midwest is both rural and industrial. The South was shaped by its secession from the Union before the Civil War and is associated with slavery and with subsequent battles over civil rights for African-Americans. The West, the last national frontier, is associated with national dreams and myths of unlimited opportunity and individualism. California, along with the southwestern states were ceded to the United States by Mexico in 1848 after the Mexican-American War. Location and Geography. Alaska and Hawaii are not joined to the other forty-eight states. United States Demography. U.S.
Far East The Far East is an English term (with equivalents in various other languages of Europe and Asia; Chinese: 遠東; pinyin: yuǎn dōng; literally "far east") mostly describing East Asia (including Northeast Asia), Southeast Asia, and the Russian Far East (part of North Asia, aka Siberia)[1] with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.[2] The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 12th century, denoting the Far East as the "farthest" of the three "easts", beyond the Near East and the Middle East. For the same reason, Chinese people in the 19th and early 20th centuries called Western countries "Tàixī (泰西)"—i.e. anything further west than the Arab world. Popularization[edit] Prior to the colonial era, "Far East" referred to anything further east than the Middle East. Cultural as well as geographic meaning[edit] "The problems of the Pacific are different. Concerning the term, John K. Cities[edit] See also[edit] Notes[edit] References[edit]
Fast Food and American Culture The American way of life is built around speed and efficiency. Every new advance in technology is built around being just a little faster and a little more connected. A mother can drop her kids off at school, pay her bills online, contribute to her retirement account, schedule a meeting at work, respond to e-mails through her Blackberry, call in a coffee order at Starbucks, return her Netflix movies, and squeeze in a yoga workout all before she actually gets to work. Perhaps the first impetus for this change was the invention of the television. Let's return to the woman mentioned in the first paragraph. Simply looking at an example like this one makes it easy to see why the traditional meal has given way to fast food. America's need for speed has changed not only what we eat and how we eat it, but also the way in which we view food.
Western Europe Video taken by the crew of Expedition 29 on board the ISS on a pass over Western Europe European sub-regions according to EuroVoc (the thesaurus of the European Union). Western Europe is marked green on this map. Western Europe is the region comprising the westerly countries of Europe. While the term has a geographic context, another main definition developed during the Cold War (approx. 1945-1991) to describe the countries associated with the Western European Union (1954–2011; now part of the European Union (EU)), a defensive alliance drafted in 1948 among non-communist European nations during the Cold War, as opposed to the countries of the Eastern Bloc (or Warsaw Pact). Countries culturally and geographically associated with other European regions that avoided Soviet influence during the Cold War are usually included, while western members of the former Eastern Bloc (with the exception of Eastern Germany) are excluded. Historical divisions[edit] Cold War[edit] Intermediate Region[edit]
Beirut Coordinates: Beirut (Arabic: بيروت Bayrūt, French: Beyrouth) is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. No recent population census has been done but in 2007 estimates ranged from slightly more than 1 million to slightly less than 2 million as part of Greater Beirut. It is one of the oldest cities in the world, inhabited more than 5,000 years ago. Beirut is Lebanon's seat of government and plays a central role in the Lebanese economy, with many banks and corporations based in its Central District, Badaro, Rue Verdun, Hamra and Ashrafieh. In May 2015, Beirut was officially recognized as one of the New7Wonders Cities together with Vigan, Doha, Durban, Havana, Kuala Lumpur, and La Paz.[7] Archaeology and prehistory[edit] Several prehistoric archaeological sites were discovered within the urban area of Beirut, revealing flint tools of sequential periods dating from the Middle Paleolithic and Upper Paleolithic through the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. History[edit] Middle Ages[edit] Media[edit]
Jordan Jordan (/ˈdʒɔrdən/; Arabic: الأردن al-Urdun), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (Arabic: المملكة الأردنية الهاشمية al-Mamlakah al-Urdunīyah al-Hāshimīyah), is an Arab kingdom in Western Asia, on the East Bank of the Jordan River, and extending into the historic region of Palestine. Jordan borders Saudi Arabia to the south and east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north, and Palestine, the Dead Sea and Israel to the west. The kingdom emerged from the post-World War I division of West Asia by Britain and France. In 1946, Jordan became an independent sovereign state officially known as the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan. History[edit] Classical Transjordan[edit] Jordan and its neighbors with a rare dusting of snow in several regions.[15] The Aramaic speaking Nabatean kingdom was one of the most prominent states in the region through the middle classic period, since the decline of the Seleucid control of the region in 168 BC. Middle Ages to World War I[edit] Independence[edit]