Here's some basic information for you when it comes to travel to United States...
OFFICIAL NAME
United States of America
CAPITAL
Washington DC
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE
The official language in United States is English.
FLAG
The flag of the United States consists of 13 equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white; there is a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing 50 small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars (top and bottom) alternating with rows of five stars. The 50 stars on the flag represent the 50 states and the 13 stripes represent the 13 original colonies.
MONEY
The currency used in USA is the US Dollar (US$) which is divided into 100 cents (). Notes come in denominations of $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100. There are larger denominations but they are rarely used. Coins used are 1 (penny), 5 (nickel), 10 (dime), 25 (quarter), 50 and $1, although the final two arent seen regularly.
TIME
The US is divided into four time zones - eastern standard time (EST), central standard time (CST), mountain standard time (MST) and Pacific standard time (PST) but Alaska and Hawaii also have their own time zones. EST is five hours behind Greenwich Mean Time, CST is six hours behind, MST is seven behind PST is eight hours behind and Alaska and Hawaii are nine and ten hours respectively. Daylight saving time, when the clock moves one hour ahead of standard time, takes place from 1.00am on the first Sunday in April until 1.00am on the last Sunday in October. It does not apply in Arizona, Hawaii, parts of Indiana and Puerto Rico.
BUSINESS HOURS
Opening hours for shops, offices and banks vary from city to city and from state to state. In general, stores and shopping malls are usually open from between 10.00am and 9.00pm from Monday to Saturday and on Sundays from midday until 5.00pm. Offices open between 9.00am to 5.00pm from Monday to Friday. Finally, banks are normally open from 9.00am to 3.00pm on weekdays and some open until lunch-time on Saturdays.
ELECTRICITY
The US uses 110 to 120 volts AC, 60 cycles. If you are using a European or an Australian appliance, you will need a 110-volt transformer and a plug adapter with two flat parallel pins. These adapters are difficult to find in the States so you are recommended to bring one with you.
TAX
There is no VAT in the US but every state, county and city reserves the right to levy its own local tax on all purchases, including hotel and restaurant bills, airline tickets etc. This sales tax ranges from four to eight percent and to avoid embarrassment when it comes to paying the bill, you should always check that a stated price includes tax.
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