8 Fascinating Facts about the United States

Cultural exchange is a way to deeply understand a totally new culture different from your own, and the United States is the perfect place to start! It is a diverse and unique country with some fascinating facts I bet you didn’t know. Don’t believe me? Check out these eight facts about the United States and see just how odd it really is:

1. There is enough fresh water in Lake Superior to cover the entire landmass of North and South America in one foot, 1/3 of a meter, of water. This makes Lake Superior the world’s largest freshwater lake, holding roughing 10% of the world’s surface fresh water. Seems pretty crazy, right? Look at what Lake Superior Magazine has to say!
2. Alaska is the biggest state in the United States. The massive state is larger than Texas, California, and Montana combined! It also has a longer coastline than all of the other 49 U.S. states put together. Are you curious how your state sizes up to Alaska? Check it out here!
3. Montana has three times as many cows as it does people with almost 2.5 million cows!
4. Although the grizzly bear is the official state animal of California, NO grizzly bears have been seen there since 1924. The last grizzly bear was spotted in the Sequoia National Park in 1924. The Los Angeles Times thinks this is crazy too; read about it here!
5. Though the majority of Americans speak English, there is no official national language in the United States. Other major languages spoken by Americans include Spanish, Chinese, French, and Vietnamese.
6. More United States presidents were born in Virginia than any other state! This includes presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. Check out how proud Virginians are about this fact here!
7. The current United States national flag was designed by a 17-year-old named Bob Heft as a high school project in 1958. Bob originally got a B- on the project, but made a deal with his teacher that if the United States government officially adopted his design, his teacher would give him an A. On July 4, 1960, the flag was officially raised in Fort McHenry, Maryland and Bob’s teacher gave him that hard-earned A!
8. The largest tree in the world is the General Sherman Tree located in the Sequoia National Park, California. The tree is approximately 275 feet (84 meters) tall, 36 feet wide (11 meters) and weighs over 1,900 metric tons!

Want to get know the United States even better? Check out Greenheart Exchange’s Work and Travel program!