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SAN FRANCISCO

San Francisco is one of the biggest cities and ports in the west of the USA. It is an important military base of the US which lies near the Pacific Ocean. It is a shipbuilding centre.

San Francisco is a city of culture and beauty, of style and grace and colour, of wind and water and hills. San Francisco is situated on the seven hills. That’s why the famous cable cars are so popular there. This little vehicle (транспортное средство) was invented by Andrew S. Hallidie. He first tried it in operation in 1873. And the cable cars of the 19th century continue to climb hills today.

There are two Bay (бухта, залив) Bridges which were begun to build in 1930-1931 and took six years: the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (1936) which is over eight miles long and connects Oakland with San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge (1937), shorter but always somehow more impressive. Ships from all ports of the world continue to come in and out of the Golden Gate.

The Golden Gate Bridge was opened for business in the spring of 1937. Its length is 4 600 feet and height — 246 feet. The steel towers on each side are 820 feet and are considered to be the highest of their kind in the world.

San Francisco’s Civil Centre complex (which includes such other structures as Exposition Auditorium, the Public Library, the War Manorial Opera House and the Veterans Memorial Building) is the City Hall, a great budding that occupies an area covering two city Modes.

The Union Square is a wide green space in the centre of San Francisco. It is the commercial heart of the city. In old days the Union Square was used for different gatherings and has remained a place for all kinds of meetings.

The population of San Francisco is only about 716 000, but it is the biggest business centre in the west of the USA. It is also America’s most international city, with newspapers in thirty different languages. The city is often called “the Paris of the West”, “Baghdad by the Bay”, and “Gateway to the Orient (Восток)”.

There are at least three small cities in San Francisco: “little Italy”, with its pizzerias and restaurants, “Chinatown”, with exotic food and wonderful Oriental shops, and “Japantown”.

In 1812 the first Russian settlements appeared on the American continent (about 80 kilometers from San Francisco). The founder of Fort Rus was Ivan Kuskov (from near Vologda). He lived in California for 9 years and then returned to his motherland. Now Fort Rus is a museum.

San Francisco is the birthplace of the famous American writer Jack London (1876—1916).