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Dynamic, exciting, fast-paced, wealthy, paradoxical and diverse, the United States of America with its bustling mega-cities and wide-open spaces, magnificent natural attractions and amazing man-made attractions is a traveler’s delight. From the sheer beauty of a New England fall to the great expanse of the prairies, from the rugged grandeur of the Rockies to the majestic Redwood Forests of California - America is guaranteed to leave you breathless.

You can chose any kind of holiday for yourself in this country which is forever reinventing itself -- get high on culture touring the world's best museums and art galleries located in America's impressive cities. Get close to Nature in the Rockies or at any of the well-managed National Parks. Set the night on fire at the nightclubs across America or get on to winning spree at the casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Tour the Native American reservations and take a peek into a different culture, a different world-view. No other country offers such a vivid potpourri of people, cultures, places, religions, cuisine, art or history as America does -you may tire of the smorgasbord of experiences but you will never be bored!

Time Zones: The country being as vast as it is, is divided into four main time zones – eastern, central, mountain and pacific. The Eastern Time zone stretches from the east coast to the Great Lakes and the Appalachian Mountains and is five hours behind Greenwich Mean Time.

The Central time zone starts in Chicago and covers Texas and the Great Plains. This zone is one hour behind Eastern Time. Mountain Time encompasses the Rockies and the southwest states; this time zone is two hours behind Eastern Time, making it seven hours behind GMT. The west coast of the US, including Nevada follow Pacific Time which is three hours behind Eastern Time. Alaska and Hawaii are another two hours behind the Pacific Time zone.

Historically Speaking

During the last Ice Age, a band of hunters crossed over the Bering Sea, becoming the first humans on America. By 9000 BC, hunter-gatherers, including some of the Native American tribes of today had established themselves all over the continent. Though many earlier sailors and explorers briefly came to America, it is believed that Christopher Columbus "discovered" America in 1492. This opened up the way for European colonisation -the French, Dutch, Spanish and the English carved up the country, with the English gaining more ground. During the latter half of the 18th century, the French and English clashed extensively for territorial sovereignty -the British were victorious and in 1763, French Canada was ceded to the British.

In order to raise money for war expenses, the colonial British government decided to levy a number of taxes in their American colonies. This move was met by fierce resistance: the 1770 Boston Massacre and the 1774 Boston Tea party setting the tone for rebellion against colonial forces! In 1776, the Continental Congress in their public Declaration of Independence, asked for freedom from British rule for all 13 colonies. Starting out as a small band of fighters, the Continental army under George Washington became a formidable force and the Revolutionary War was decided in favor of America with the defeat of the British general, Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781.

Post-Revolutionary War was a time for growth and consolidation of the white American settlers. Under the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, President Thomas Jefferson bought up land beyond the Mississippi River, accounting for 1/4th for the country's area for 3 cents an acre from Napoleon. Westward expansion became the new buzzword and explorers like Lewis and Clarke opened the route for trappers and hunters to move towards the Pacific coastline. The War of 1812, when the British succeeded in razing Washington DC but were subsequently defeated opened the floodgates of an extermination drive against the Native American tribes. Manifest Destiny, the quasi-religious belief that it was the white settlers duty to establish themselves across the country further fuelled the diaspora and hastened the annihilation of the Native Americans.

During the early part of the 19th century, the divided North and South of the country coexisted unhappily --the North, more prosperous and urbanised and anti-slavery while the rural South remained less developed and totally dependent on slave labor to run the plantation based economy. In 1860, the election of President Lincoln, an anti-slavery advocate saw the Union splitting up - the bitter, bloody Civil war that followed continued for four long years before the North could overcome the South.

The period following the Civil War in the latter half of the 19th century was a major transition phase -Industrial Revolution in the North, Reconstruction in the South and tremendous waves of immigrants from Europe and Asia descended on this nascent country. This was also the time Alaska and Hawaii became part of the U.S, the former purchased from the Russian and the latter, brazenly annexed by White American businessmen. "Robber Barons", the rich, powerful, manipulative and unscrupulous businessmen, financiers and industrialists established their personal empires during this period, using ill-paid workers. However, the success of the Industrial Revolution prompted USA to acquire colonies in the Philippines, Cuba and Puerto Rico and to take part in World War I.

By the 1920s, a lot had transpired in USA - workers and women's rights, powered flight and motorcars and Prohibition were the raging issues and events of the day. The US had become the world's major producer of manufactured goods -however, the Wall Street Crash on October 24, 1929, heralded the Great Depression, which saw massive unemployment and decay in cities across the country. In 1932, President Roosevelt's New Deal began the process of revitalising the economy and by World War II, the US was back on its feet. Initially America stayed out of the War but after Japan's strike at Pearl Harbor in 1941, America became actively involved, dropping two atomic bombs in Japan, which established forever America's position as a nuclear power. The 1950s also heralded a glorious period for USA economically - not ravaged by war as Europe and East Asia, industrialisation carried on full steam in the country.

However, over the next few decades, the Cold War between the two ideologically opposed nuclear powers USA and Soviet Union heightened anti-communist feelings spurring McCarthy's communist witch-hunt in the country and disastrous involvement in the Korean War (1950-53) and the Vietnam War against communist forces. Around the same time, the civil rights and the suffragette movement gained momentum, the former leading to several violent race riots and the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

From the 1970s to 1990s, under presidents Carter, Reagan, Bush and Clinton, the US further consolidated its supremacy as the premier world power, taking in her stride the oil crisis in the early 70s, the Iran hostage crisis, Iran-Contra affair, the war in Kuwait with Iran, and the breakup of the Soviet bloc. With Bill Clinton's election, 12 years of Republican rule ended and the Democrats were in the hot seat -- literally too hot at times like the Whitewater real estate scam and the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Today we have Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States at the helm.

Habitat

Spanning the continent of North America, the United States of America stretches from the Tropic of Cancer to beyond the Arctic Circle. It is therefore not surprising that USA encompasses within itself several geo-climatic zones and diverse geographical features! Magnificent mountains, vast deserts, rolling plains, lush forest, mighty rivers, immense ice fields, gentle meadows, clean curving beaches -- the USA has all this and more.

Nature wise this country is God’s gift to mankind. From the jagged coastline and verdant forests of Maine and Vermont, to the techni-coloured foliage of the Shenandoah Mountains; the expanse of the Great Plains to the natural wonder of the Grand Canyon; the towering Redwood forests of California; the thermal landscape in Yellowstone, the glaciers and forests of Alaska, the Everglades in Florida -the list is endless As a country, USA has built upon its geographical treasures and has turned them into major tourist attractions which people from all over the world come to see and experience. The many National Parks in the country serve as tourist destinations in themselves, allowing visitors to get close to nature, to go hiking, back-packing, fishing, boating, cycling and river-rafting!

America boasts of pockets of wilderness where bears, moose, deer, mountain lions, rattlesnakes, wolves and various bird species flourish. Most of the National Parks are sanctuaries where these animals find a safe and secure home.