A map and a brief history of the United States of America

In 1492, Christopher Columbus, who was in search of a new route to India, landed on the shore of a Caribbean island (that is now San Salvador) and discovered the "New World". In 1507, the new continent was given the name America (it was named after Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian sailor).

In 1620, The Mayflower, a boat filled with more than a hundred people (the pilgrim fathers) sailed across the Atlantic and settled in the New World, in what is now Massachusetts. Just before landing, they all wrote and signed the Mayflower Compact, a document which is considered to be the basis for the American Constitution that was drafted in 1787.

The United States of America were actually born on the 4^th of July 1776, when the thirteen colonies (Virginia, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maryland, Connecticut, Rhode Island, North/South Carolina, New York, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Georgia) decided to secede from Great Britain and proclaim their independence.

Today, the USA is made of fifty states (including Alaska and Hawaii). It is more than seventeen times bigger than France (9.364.000 square meters). There are about 270 million inhabitants.

The American flag is called the "Stars and Stripes" or "Old Glory". It has thirteen red stripes which represent the thirteen original colonies, and fifty stars that represent the fifty states of America. The national anthem, which is very often sung at school, on TV, etc., is entitled the Star-Spangled Banner.