The USA is arguably the most diverse looking country in the world. Mountains are fairly scarce in the USA with a few exceptions. If you notice an amalgamation of desert and mountains then you may be in the Utah-Colorado region. The Appalachian Mountains are typically green, tree covered and comprise of rolling hills. Contrastingly, the Rocky Mountains are true to their name and resemble the 1976 boxing movie that I’m reliably informed they are named after. Also they look rocky. Sometimes there will be sand alongside the road in the South-East corner of the USA such as Florida and surrounding states. The South-East corner is also recognisable as it is generally swampy. The prairies in the US run through the central corridor of the US and continue up into the southern part of Canada. These areas lack trees and mainly consists of grass. A frequent occurrence within the US is to be landed adjacent to a corn field, there is a concentration of corn fields in: Iowa, Illinois and southern Minnesota. An easy way to distinguish the USA from Canada is via their speed limit signs. Signs from the USA explicitly say ‘SPEED LIMIT’ whilst Canadian signs say ‘MAXIMUM’. There are US flags scattered across the entire USA in front gardens and on buildings which direct you to a USA location. The USA tends to use metal signs posts, often with small holes in them, to hold up road signs. In contrast, Canada mainly uses wooden sign posts, often painted white. The US uses wooden, cylindrical utility poles. The Rocky Mountains running down the western part of the USA tend to be true to their name and rocky. They also tend to be higher and drier than the Appalachians. The Appalachians running down the eastern side of the country tend to be greener, smaller is size and more akin to rolling hills than the Rocky Mountains. Many roads in the south-eastern US states contain sand along their sides. North-western USA largely consists of thick forests with tall trees. In parts of Arizona and other sections of the south-west you may see large rock formations amongst the dry desert. The southern and south-western US states are generally dry with large parts of these areas lacking vegetation and comprising desert. US cities often have a horizontal bar stemming from utility poles or traffic lights at intersections. A number of US states tend to have a larger gap between the two central, continuous road lines. The states with the wider gap include: Oregon, Washington, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas. Texan roads tend to be fairly grainy and speckled with black dots sprinkled on a light coloured road. Oregon is the only US state that doesn’t have ‘speed limit’ on its signs, instead Oregon just uses the word ‘speed’. It’s common for signposts in Texas to have a yellow white band around them. The north-east part of the US tends to have this style of white-coloured, two-storey house that have fairly steep roofs. In California, yellow horizontal reflectors are particularly common on utility poles. They mainly appear in groups of three and are seldom seen in other states. Almost every pole in Northern Wisconsin and the peninsula of Michigan (this is north-east of Wisconsin) have these white stickers with orange sections. Cars lacking a front license plate are fairly rare in the world outside parts of the USA and Canada. By looking at street/avenue signs in the USA, you may be able to narrow down your location. The word ‘street’ to indicate the suffix for a road name is largely used in Iowa, southern Minnesota, eastern South Dakota, eastern Nebraska and Kansas. On rural freeways, the maximum speed limit in the western half of the country (not Oregon or California) is 75 or 80. The maximum speed limit in the eastern half of the country is normally 65 or 70. If you spot a speed limit sign in the USA, especially on a rural freeway, the number written on it can help you determine in which state you are in.  If you notice more sedans than pickup trucks in an American city, there is an 88% likelihood that you are in a Democrat area. If you notice more pickup trucks than sedans, there is an 82% likelihood that you are in a Republican area. Whilst many states have multiple area codes and there is no clear pattern to their numbering.

US-specific

The US uses American English spelling (e.g. center, color) in their text.

In addition, the US primarily uses the imperial system for measurements. For example, speed and distance are measured in miles. You will also often see feet and inches on signs, indicating the height of bridges.


Road signs in the US tend to use more words compared to their Canadian counterparts. A good example are railway crossing signs, which feature the literal words ‘railway crossing’ on them (In Canada, these signs are typically blank).

This tendency is also noticeable on yellow diamond warning signs. In Canada, the words will usually be on a rectangular sign below the yellow diamond, which would have a diagram on it instead.


The numbers on American speed signs are usually lower than that of Canada’s, since they use miles instead of kilometres. In addition, speed limits ending in 5 are more common in the US.


Triangular yellow signs with the phrase ‘No Passing Zone’ are exclusive to the US.

American yield signs are shaped like an upside down triangle with a red border, with a white field with the word ‘YIELD’.

Canadian yield signs look similar, but lack the ‘YIELD’ text.

American one-way signs are usually a horizontal black rectangle with a white arrow inside of it. These signs will also always have the words ‘ONE WAY’ printed on them. In cities, they are a white vertical rectangle with the words ‘ONE WAY’ on them and an arrow underneath.


Parking indicator signs in the US are typically white metal signs with red, green, or black text. They may include specific information about when you can park on said road, and arrows indicating where parking is (or is not) allowed.

Canadian parking signs use similar styles and colours, but typically are less ‘wordy,’ instead using more symbols when applicable.

Large highways in the US use large, rectangular, green metal signs with curved edges and white text to mark highway exits, distances to nearby towns, and the names of upcoming roads (mainly in cities). 

Canadian highway signs have a similar appearance, but will typically have squared edges, instead of curved edges.

Leading up to exits on large highways you commonly see large, blue rectangular signs with white text, highlighting services, such as food, lodging and petrol, that are available at the upcoming highway exit.



White and orange fibre optic cable markers are almost unique to the US.


The most common type of orange construction barrel in the United States is made out of orange plastic with horizontal white stripes and a black rubber base. They are usually used to block off lanes to traffic during times of road construction.


Interstate highways, US highways, and some state roads have rumble strips in each edge of the road; which are small indentations in the pavement perpendicular to the road.

Small, rectangular manufactured homes, also known as mobile or ‘trailer’ homes, are popular in rural areas of the US. In general, mobile homes are more common in the Southeast but they can be seen anywhere in the country.


Baptist churches are very common in the United States.



In the US and Canada, especially at large intersections, long metal bars with stop lights attached to them hang over the street. These bars also commonly have street signs, highway signs, or other signs attached to them.


North America primarily uses wooden utility poles.

Several European countries also primarily use wooden utility poles. However, a concrete pole in particular is mostly associated with Europe.

Insulators, that are raised slightly on top of the utility pole, can be a good clue for the US and Canada. It is not typically found in Europe.

Mailboxes, that are resting on top of a post and with a small flag on the side, are mostly associated with North America.

North American semi-trucks have a longer nose, since the engine is in front of the driver’s cab. In contrast, European and Asian semi-trucks are cabovers, meaning the driver sits on top of the engine, giving the truck an L shape. Australian and New Zealand trucks are typically a mix of the two.



The USA doesn’t have a generic bollard, however there are countless examples of a reflector on guard rails across major highways.



The USA uses a yellow divider line and a white shoulder line on roads. This yellow center will nearly always be a double yellow (Unlike Canada).


There are hundreds of different signs in the USA, the most important one being the speed limit sign.

You can also see countless other examples of signs, with some of them being a yellow base sign with black text / imagery, others being a neon yellow, or even a white and black sign. The color seems to matter as to what will appear on the sign. You won't see a white and black pedestrian crossing for example. There is also nothing important about the back of the signs.

Green highway signs will point to towns and destinations, while the blue sign will point to gas stations, hotels or places to eat.

Highways:

The USA uses multiple highway roads, e.g., Interstates which travels between states. Odd numbered interstates generally travel from North to South, while Even numbers go East to West.

There are also signs with USA Route numbers which look like a Shield.



There are then County Highways. Counties are small districts, not to be mistaken with the word Country.


There are more than 50 unique license plates, some states even have multiple varieties.


In terms of website domains, in the USA you're likely to see .com, .org, .net or .gov.

Architecture:

The USA has massive cities with large skyscrapers. These are pretty important as you usually won't find tall skyscrapers in Europe.

“Row Houses” are found in Suburbs outside of large cities.

Unique Vehicle:

The USA uses a yellow school bus, you can find them often around town.

There are different varieties of postal trucks, but they all contain the same logo on the side / back. All post offices will also tell you the name of the town and give you a zip code.
