yclopedia

For other uses, see US

(disambiguation), USA (disambiguation),
and United States (disambiguation).
United States of America

Flag

Great Seal

Motto:
"In God We Trust" (official)[1][2][3]
Other traditional mottos [show]
Anthem: "The Star-Spangled Banner"

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The contiguous United

States plus Alaska and Hawaii in green

The United States and its territories

Capital
Largest city

Washington, D.C.
3853N 7701W
New York City
4043N 7400W

None at federal level

Official
languages
Recognised
regional languag List[show]
es

National
language

English[b]

Demonym

American

-President

Federal presidentialconst
itutional republic
Barack Obama

-Vice President

Joe Biden

-Speaker of the
House
-Chief Justice

John Boehner

Legislature
-Upper house

Congress
Senate

-Lower house

House of
Representatives

Government

John Roberts

Independence from Great Britain

-Declared
July 4, 1776

-Recognized

September 3, 1783

-Constitution

June 21, 1788

-Current
Statehood

August 21, 1959

-Total
-Water (%)

Area
9,857,306[4] km2(3rd)
3,805,927[4] sq mi
2.23

Population
-2014 estimate 319,309,000[5](3rd)
-Density

34.2/km2 (180th)
88.6/sq mi

GDP (PPP)
-Total

2013 estimate
$16.768 trillion[6](1st)

-Per capita

$53,001[6] (9th)

GDP (nominal)
-Total

2013 estimate
$16.768 trillion[6](1st)

-Per capita

$53,001[6] (9th)

Gini (2012)

36.9[7]
medium 39th (2009)

HDI (2013)

0.914[8]
very high 5th

Currency

United States dollar($)

(USD)

(UTC5 to 10)
Time zone
-Summer (DST) (UTC4 to 10[d])
Drives on the

right[e]

Calling code

+1

ISO 3166 code

US

Internet TLD

.us .gov .mil .edu

^ English is the official language of at

.
least 28 states; some sources give higher
figures, based on differing definitions of
"official".[9] English and Hawaiian are
both official languages in the state
of Hawaii. French is ade facto language in
the states of Maine and Louisiana,
while New Mexico state law
grants Spanish a special
status.[10][11][12][13] Cherokee is an official
language in the Cherokee Nation tribal
jurisdiction area and in theUnited
Keetoowah Band of Cherokee
Indians based in east and
northeast Oklahoma.[14][15][16]
b
^ English is the de facto language of
.
American government and the sole
language spoken at home by 80 percent of
Americans aged five and older. 28 states
and five territories have made English an
official language. Other official languages
include Hawaiian, Samoan,Chamorro, Car
olinian, Spanish and Cherokee.

^ Whether the United States or China is

.
larger has beendisputed. The figure given
is from the U.S. Central Intelligence
Agency's The World Factbook. Other
sources give smaller figures. All
authoritative calculations of the country's
size include only the 50 states and the
District of Columbia, not the territories.
d
^ See Time in the United States for details
.
about laws governing time zones in the
United States.
e
^ Except U.S. Virgin Islands.
.

The United States of

America (USAor U.S.A.), commonly
referred to as theUnited
States (US or U.S.), America, and
sometimes the States, is a federal
republic[17][18] consisting of 50 statesand
a federal district. The 48 contiguous
states and Washington, D.C., are in
central North

America between Canadaand Mexico.

The state of Alaska is the northwestern
part of North America and the state
of Hawaii is an archipelago in the midPacific. The country also has five
populated and nine
unpopulatedterritories in the Pacific and
theCaribbean. At 3.80 million square
miles (9.85 million km2)[4] and with
around 318 million people, the United
States is the world's third- or fourthlargest country by total area and thirdlargest by population. It is one of the
world's mostethnically
diverse and multiculturalnations, the
product of large-scaleimmigration from
many
countries.[19]The geography and climate
of the United States is also extremely
diverse, and it is home to a wide variety
of wildlife.
Paleo-Indians migrated from Eurasia to
what is now the U.S. mainland around

15,000 years ago,[20] with European

colonization beginning in the 16th
century. The United States emerged
from13 British colonies located along
theAtlantic seaboard. Disputes
betweenGreat Britain and these colonies
led to the American Revolution. On July
4, 1776, as the colonies were fighting
Great Britain in the American
Revolutionary War, delegates from the
13 colonies unanimously issued
the Declaration of Independence. The
war ended in 1783 with the recognition of
independence of the United States from
the Kingdom of Great Britain, and was
the first successful war of independence
against a Europeancolonial
empire.[21][22] The currentConstitution was
adopted on September 17, 1787. The
first ten amendments, collectively named
the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791
and designed to guarantee

many fundamental civil rights and

freedoms.
Driven by the doctrine of manifest
destiny, the United States embarked on a
vigorous expansion across North
America throughout the 19th
century.[23]This involved displacing native
tribes,acquiring new territories, and
graduallyadmitting new states.[23] During
the second half of the 19th century,
theAmerican Civil War ended
legal slavery in the country.[24] By the end
of that century, the United States
extended into the Pacific Ocean,[25] and
its economy began to
soar.[26] The SpanishAmerican
War and World War Iconfirmed the
country's status as a global military
power. The United States emerged
from World War II as a
globalsuperpower, the first country to
develop nuclear weapons, the only
country to use them in warfare, and as

a permanent member of the United

Nations Security Council. The end of
the Cold War and thedissolution of
the Soviet Union left the United States as
the sole superpower.[27]
The United States is a developed
countryand has the world's largest
national economy.[6] The economy is
fueled by an abundance of natural
resources and high worker
productivity.[28] While the U.S.
economy is considered post-industrial, it
continues to be one of the world's largest
manufacturers.[29] The country accounts
for 37% of global military
spending,[30]being the world's foremost
economic andmilitary power, a prominent
political andcultural force, and a leader in
scientific research and technological
innovations.[31]
Contents
[hide]

1 Etymology
2 History
o 2.1 Native American and European
contact
o 2.2 Settlements
o 2.3 Independence and expansion
o 2.4 Civil War and Reconstruction Era
o 2.5 Industrialization
o 2.6 World War I, Great Depression,
and World War II
o 2.7 Cold War and civil rights era
o 2.8 Contemporary history
3 Geography, climate, and environment
4 Demographics
o 4.1 Population
o 4.2 Language
o 4.3 Religion
o 4.4 Family structure
5 Government and politics
o 5.1 Political divisions
o 5.2 Parties and elections
o 5.3 Foreign relations

5.4 Government finance

5.4.1 National debt
6 Military
7 Crime and law enforcement
8 Economy
o 8.1 Income, poverty and wealth
9 Infrastructure
o 9.1 Transportation
o 9.2 Energy
10 Science and technology
11 Education
12 Health
13 Culture
o 13.1 Mass media
o 13.2 Cinema
o 13.3 Music
o 13.4 Literature, philosophy, and the
arts
o 13.5 Food
o 13.6 Sports
14 See also
15 Notes
o

16 References
17 Bibliography
o 17.1 Website sources
18 External links
Etymology
See also: Names for United States
citizens
In 1507, the German cartographer Martin
Waldseemller produced a world map on
which he named the lands of the Western
Hemisphere "America" after the Italian
explorer and cartographer Amerigo
Vespucci (Latin: Americus
Vespucius).[32] The first documentary
evidence of the phrase "United States of
America" is from a letter dated January 2,
1776, written by Stephen Moylan,
Esq., George Washington's aide-decampand Muster-Master General of
the Continental Army. Addressed to Lt.
Col. Joseph Reed, Moylan expressed his
wish to carry the "full and ample powers

of the United States of America" to Spain

to assist in the revolutionary war effort.[33]
The first publicly published evidence of
the phrase "United States of America"
was in an anonymously written essay
in The Virginia Gazette newspaper in
Williamsburg, Virginia, on April 6,
1776.[34][35] In June 1776, Thomas
Jefferson included the phrase "UNITED
STATES OF AMERICA" in all capitalized
letters in the headline of his "original
Rough draught" of the Declaration of
Independence.[36][37] In the final Fourth of
July version of the Declaration, the
pertinent section of the title was changed
to read, "The unanimous Declaration of
the thirteen united States of
America".[38] In 1777 theArticles of
Confederation announced, "The Stile of
this Confederacy shall be 'The United
States of America'".[39]
The short form "United States" is also
standard. Other common forms include

the "U.S.", the "U.S.A.", and "America".

Colloquial names include the "U.S. of A."
and, internationally, the "States".
"Columbia", a name popular in poetry
and songs of the late 1700s,[40] derives
its origin from Christopher Columbus; it
appears in the name "District of
Columbia". In non-English languages, the
name is frequently the translation of
either the "United States" or "United
States of America", and colloquially as
"America". In addition, an abbreviation
(e.g. USA) is sometimes used.[41]
The phrase "United States" was originally
treated as plural, a description of a
collection of independent statese.g.,
"the United States are"including in
the Thirteenth Amendment to the United
States Constitution, ratified in 1865. It
became common to treat it as singular, a
single unite.g., "the United States is"
after the end of the Civil War. The
singular form is now standard; the plural

form is retained in the idiom "these

United States".[42] The difference has
been described as more significant than
one of usage, but reflecting the difference
between a collection of states and a
unit.[43]
The standard way to refer to a citizen of
the United States is as an "American".
"United States", "American" and "U.S."
are used to refer to the country
adjectivally ("American values",
"U.S. forces"). "American" is rarely used
in English to refer to subjects not
connected with the United States.[44]
History
Main articles: History of the United
States and Timeline of United States
history

Native Americans meeting with

Europeans, 1764
Native American and European
contact
Further information: Pre-Columbian
era andColonial history of the United
States
The first North American
settlers migrated fromSiberia by way of
the Bering land bridgeapproximately
15,000 or more years ago.[20][45][46]Some,
such as the pre-Columbian Mississippian
culture, developed advanced agriculture,
grand architecture, and state-level

societies. After European explorers and

traders made the first contacts, thenative
population declined due to various
reasons, including diseases such
as smallpox andmeasles,[47][48] intermarri
age,[49] andviolence.[50][51][52]
In the early days of colonization many
settlers were subject to shortages of
food, disease and attacks from Native
Americans. Native Americans were also
often at war with neighboring tribes and
allied with Europeans in their colonial
wars.[53] At the same time however many
natives and settlers came to depend on
each other. Settlers traded for food and
animal pelts, natives for guns,
ammunition and other European
wares.[54] Natives taught many settlers
where, when and how to cultivate corn,
beans and squash in the frontier.
European missionaries and others felt it
was important to "civilize" the Indians and
urged them to concentrate on farming

and ranching without depending on

hunting and gathering.[55][56]
Settlements
Further information: European
colonization of the Americas and 13
colonies

Signing of the Mayflower Compact, 1620

After Columbus' first voyage to the New
World in 1492 other explorers and
settlement followed into the Floridas and
the American Southwest.[57][58] There
were also some French attempts to
colonize the east coast, and later more
successful settlements along
theMississippi River. Successful English
settlement on the eastern coast of North
America began with the Virginia Colony

in 1607 at Jamestownand
the Pilgrims' Plymouth Colony in 1620.
Early experiments in communal living
failed until the introduction of private farm
holdings.[59] Many settlers
were dissenting Christian groups who
came seekingreligious freedom. The
continent's first elected legislative
assembly, Virginia's House of
Burgesses created in 1619, and
the Mayflower Compact, signed by the
Pilgrims before disembarking,
established precedents for the pattern of
representative self-government and
constitutionalism that would develop
throughout the American colonies.[60][61]
Most settlers in every colony were small
farmers, but other industries developed.
Cash crops included tobacco, rice and
wheat. Extraction industries grew up in
furs, fishing and lumber. Manufacturers
produced rum and ships, and by the late
colonial period Americans were

producing one-seventh of the world's iron

supply.[62] Cities eventually dotted the
coast to support local economies and
serve as trade hubs. English colonists
were supplemented by waves of ScotchIrish and other groups. As coastal land
grew more expensive freed indentured
servants pushed further west.[63] Slave
cultivation of cash crops began with the
Spanish in the 1500s, and was adopted
by the English, but life expectancy was
much higher in North America because of
less disease and better food and
treatment, so the numbers of slaves grew
rapidly.[64][65][66] Colonial society was
largely divided over the religious and
moral implications of slavery and
colonies passed acts for and against the
practice.[67][68] But by the turn of the 18th
century, African slaves were replacing
indentured servants for cash crop labor,
especially in southern regions.[69]