United States

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(Redirected from United States of America)
United States of America, America, US, and USA redirect here. For the landmass
comprising North and South America, see Americas. For other uses, see America
(disambiguation), US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States
(disambiguation).
Coordinates 40N 100W

United States of America

Flag of the United States
Flag
Great Seal of the United States
Great Seal
Motto
In God We Trust[1][fn 1]
Other traditional mottos [show]
Anthem The Star-Spangled Banner

MENU000

March The Stars and Stripes Forever[2][3]

MENU000
Projection of North America with the United States in green
The contiguous United States plus Alaska and Hawaii
The United States and its territories
The United States including its territories
Capital Washington, D.C.
3853'N 7701'W
Largest city New York City
4043'N 7400'W
Official languages None at federal level[fn 2]
National language English[fn 3]
Ethnic groups (2016[6]) By race
77.1% White
13.3% Black
5.6% Asian
2.6% Othermultiracial
1.2% Native
0.2% Pacific Islander
Ethnicity
17.6% Hispanic or Latino
82.4% non-Hispanic or Latino
Religion (2015[7]) 70.6% Christian
22.8% Unaffiliated
1.9% Jewish
0.9% Muslim
0.7% Buddhist
0.7% Hindu
1.8% Other faiths
Demonym American
Government Federal presidential constitutional republic
President
Donald Trump
Vice President
Mike Pence
Speaker of the House
Paul Ryan
 Chief Justice
John Roberts
Legislature Congress
Upper house
Senate
Lower house
House of Representatives
Independence from Great Britain
Declaration
July 4, 1776
Confederation
March 1, 1781
Treaty of Paris
September 3, 1783
Constitution
June 21, 1788
Last polity admitted
March 24, 1976
Area
Total area
3,796,742 sq mi (9,833,520 km2) (3rd4th)
Water (%)
6.97
Total land area
3,531,905 sq mi (9,147,590 km2)
Population
2017 estimate
325,365,189[8] (3rd)
2010 census
308,745,538[9] (3rd)
Density
90.6sq mi (35.0km2) (180th)
GDP (PPP) 2016 estimate
Total
$18.558 trillion[10] (2nd)
Per capita
$57,220[10] (14th)
GDP (nominal) 2016 estimate
Total
$18.558 trillion[10] (1st)
Per capita
$57,467[11] (7th)
Gini (2013) Negative increase 41.1[12]
medium
HDI (2015) Increase 0.920[13]
very high 10th
Currency United States dollar ($) (USD)
Time zone (UTC-4 to -12, +10, +11)
Summer (DST)
(UTC-4 to -10[fn 4])
Date format mmddyyyy (AD)
Drives on the right[fn 5]
Calling code +1
ISO 3166 code US
Internet TLD .us
Website
usa.gov
The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S.) or
America (?'m?r?k?), is a federal republic[14][15] composed of 50 states, a federal
district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions.[fn 6]
Forty-eight states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North
America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner
of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from
Russia to the west. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean.
The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea,
stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography,
climate and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse
countries.[17]

At 3.8 million square miles (9.8 million km2)[18] and with over 324 million people,
the United States is the world's third- or fourth-largest country by total area[fn
7] and the third-most populous. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest
city is New York City; twelve other major metropolitan areaseach with at least 4.5
million inhabitantsare Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Washington, D.C.,
Philadelphia, Miami, Atlanta, Boston, San Francisco, Phoenix, and RiversideSan
Bernardino.

Paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000
years ago.[23] European colonization began in the 16th century. The United States
emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between
Great Britain and the colonies following the Seven Years' War led to the American
Revolution, which began in 1775, and the subsequent Declaration of Independence in
1776. The war ended in 1783 with the United States becoming the first country to
gain independence from a European power.[24] The current constitution was adopted
in 1788, with the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights,
being ratified in 1791 to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. The United
States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th
century, acquiring new territories,[25] displacing Native American tribes, and
gradually admitting new states until it spanned the continent by 1848.[25] During
the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of legal
slavery in the country.[26][27] By the end of that century, the United States
extended into the Pacific Ocean,[28] and its economy, driven in large part by the
Industrial Revolution, began to soar.[29] The SpanishAmerican War and World War I
confirmed the country's status as a global military power. The United States
emerged from World War II as a global superpower, the first country to develop
nuclear weapons, the only country to use them in warfare, and a permanent member of
the United Nations Security Council. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of
the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the world's sole superpower.[30]

The U.S. is a founding member of the United Nations, World Bank, International
Monetary Fund, Organization of American States (OAS), and other international
organizations. The United States is a highly developed country, with the world's
largest economy by nominal GDP and second-largest economy by PPP, accounting for
approximately a quarter of global GDP.[31] The U.S. economy is the fastest-growing
in the Americas[32][33] and is largely post-industrial, characterized by the
dominance of services and knowledge-based activities, although the manufacturing
sector remains the second-largest in the world.[34] Though its population is only
4.3% of the world total,[35] Americans hold 33.2% of the total wealth in the world,
the largest share of global wealth concentrated in a single country.[36] The United
States ranks among the highest nations in several measures of socioeconomic
performance, including average wage,[37] human development, per capita GDP, and
productivity per person.[38] The U.S. is the foremost military power in the world,
making up a third of global military spending.[39] It is also a global leader in
science and technology.

Contents [hide]
1 Etymology
2 History
2.1 Indigenous peoples and pre-Columbian history
2.2 European settlements
2.2.1 Effects on and interaction with native populations
2.3 Independence and expansion (17761865)
2.4 Civil War and Reconstruction Era
2.5 Further immigration, expansion and industrialization
2.6 World War I, Great Depression, and World War II
2.7 Cold War and civil rights era
2.8 Contemporary history
3 Geography, climate, and environment
3.1 Wildlife
4 Demographics
4.1 Population
4.2 Language
4.3 Religion
4.4 Family structure
5 Government and politics
5.1 Political divisions
5.2 Parties and elections
5.3 Foreign relations
5.4 Government finance
5.5 Military
6 Law enforcement and crime
7 Economy
7.1 Income, poverty and wealth
8 Infrastructure
8.1 Transportation
8.2 Energy
8.3 Water supply and sanitation
9 Education
10 Culture
10.1 Food
10.2 Literature, philosophy, and the arts
10.3 Music
10.4 Cinema
10.5 Sports
10.6 Media
11 Science and technology
12 Health
13 See also
14 Notes
15 References
16 Bibliography
16.1 Internet sources
17 External links
Etymology
See also Naming of America, Names for United States citizens, and American (word)

The Americas are named after Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci.[40]

In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemller produced a world map on which
he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere the Americas in honor of the Italian
explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci (Latin Americus Vespucius).[41] 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-
de-camp and 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.[42]
[43][44] The first known publication of the phrase United States of America was in
an anonymous essay in The Virginia Gazette newspaper in Williamsburg, Virginia, on
April 6, 1776.[45]

The second draft of the Articles of Confederation, prepared by John Dickinson and
completed by June 17, 1776, at the latest, declared The name of this Confederation
shall be the 'United States of America'.[46] The final version of the Articles sent
to the states for ratification in late 1777 contains the sentence The Stile of this
Confederacy shall be 'The United States of America'.[47] In June 1776, Thomas
Jefferson wrote the phrase UNITED STATES OF AMERICA in all capitalized letters in
the headline of his original Rough draught of the Declaration of Independence.[46]
This draft of the document did not surface until June 21, 1776, and it is unclear
whether it was written before or after Dickinson used the term in his June 17 draft
of the Articles of Confederation.[46]

The short form United States is also standard. Other common forms are the U.S., the
USA, and America. Colloquial names are the U.S. of A. and, internationally, the
States. Columbia, a name popular in poetry and songs of the late 18th century,
derives its origin from Christopher Columbus; it appears in the name District of
Columbia.[48]

The phrase United States was originally plural, a description of a collection of

independent statese.g., the United States areincluding in the Thirteenth
Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1865.[49] The singular
forme.g., the United States isbecame popular after the end of the American Civil
War. The singular form is now standard; the plural form is retained in the idiom
these United States. The difference is more significant than usage; it is a
difference between a collection of states and a unit.[50]

A citizen of the United States is an American. United States, American and U.S.
refer to the country adjectivally (American values, U.S. forces). In English, the
word American rarely refers to topics or subjects not connected with the United
States.[51]