The United States stretches 4500 km from east to west and covers no less than 9 million square kilometers. When traveling through the United States, you meet climate of all kinds and all kinds of people. Since 1620, people from all parts of the world have come to America to settle there. Some have come from Europe, Canada and Africa, others from South America, Australia and Asia. Every one of them has come in hopes of being rich and happy in America. It's a big question, whether America has ever become the "melting pot" America has long been called. In a melting pot, all the ingredients melt together a substance. Today, you are talking about America as a "salad bowl", where all the ingredients each retain their own identity. It is certainly certain that the 232 million living in the United States are of varied origin, and certainly is it also that they live under very different conditions. About a quarter live in rural areas, while three quarters live in big cities. It causes many problems in the cities. There are 50 states, each with its own laws, so what is lawfully in a state may well be illegal in another. You must not show passports to get from one state into another, but you can be stopped at the border with California by someone who asks if you have vegetables with.