United States

United States of America
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "In God We Trust"
Anthem: "The Star-Spangled Banner" March: "The Stars and Stripes Forever"
Great Seal of the United States:
The United States, including its territories
Capital	Washington, D.C. 38°53′N 77°01′W / 38.883°N 77.017°W / 38.883; -77.017
Largest city	New York City 40°43′N 74°00′W / 40.717°N 74.000°W / 40.717; -74.000
Official languages	No official language at federal level[a]
National language	English
Ethnic groups (2021)[3][4][5]	By race: 61.6% White 12.4% Black 6.0% Asian 1.1% Native Americans 0.2% Pacific Islanders 8.4% other By Hispanic or Latino origin: 18.7% Hispanic or Latino
Religion (2022)[6]	70% Christianity 34% Protestantism 23% Catholicism 2% Mormonism 11% other Christian 21% unaffiliated 2% Judaism 6% other religion 1% unanswered
Demonym(s)	American[b][7]
Government	Federal presidential constitutional republic
• President	Joe Biden (D)
• Vice President[c]	Kamala Harris (D)
• House Speaker	Mike Johnson (R)
• Chief Justice	John Roberts
Legislature	Congress
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	House of Representatives
Independence  from Great Britain
• Declaration	July 4, 1776
• Articles of Confederation	March 1, 1781
• Treaty of Paris	September 3, 1783
• Current constitution	June 21, 1788
• Bill of Rights	September 25, 1789
• Last state admitted	August 21, 1959 (Hawaii)
• Last amendment	May 5, 1992
Area
• Total area	3,796,742 sq mi (9,833,520 km2) (3rd/4th)
• Water (%)	6.97
• Total land area	3,531,905 sq mi (9,147,590 km2)
Population
• 2020 estimate	331,002,651[3] (3rd)
• 2010 census	308,745,538 (3rd)
• Density	87/sq mi (33.6/km2) (146th)
GDP (PPP)	2020 estimate
• Total	$22.321 trillion[8] (2nd)
• Per capita	$67,426[8] (11th)
GDP (nominal)	2020 estimate
• Total	$22.321 trillion[8] (1st)
• Per capita	$67,426[8] (7th)
Gini (2017)	39.0[9] medium · 56th
HDI (2018)	0.920[10] very high · 15th
Currency	United States dollar ($) (USD)
Time zone	UTC−4 to −12, +10, +11
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 to −10
Date format	mm/dd/yyyy yyyy-mm-dd
Mains electricity	120 V–60 Hz
Driving side	right
Calling code	+1
ISO 3166 code	US
Internet TLD	Generic top-level domain .com, .org, .net, .edu, .gov, .mil ccTLD (generally not used in the U.S.) .us, .pr, .as, .gu, .mp, .vi, .um

The United States of America, commonly known as the United States or simply America, is a sovereign country mostly in North America. It is divided into 50 states. 48 of these states and the District of Columbia border each other between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. They are bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwestern area of the continent and is separated from the other 48 states by Canada making it an exclave. Alaska is bordered by Canada to its east. The state of Hawaii is a set of islands in the Pacific located within Polynesia and is about 2,200 miles (3,500 kilometers) from the mainland. The country also possesses territories, and insular areas, in the Caribbean and Pacific. The capital city is Washington, D.C and the largest city by population is New York City with a population of 8.8 million people. With a population of 331 million people and an area of 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km²), the United States is the third most populated country in the world and the fourth-largest country in the world by total area.

The land that would one day become the United States was first settled by migrating tribes from Siberia that walked across a land bridge about 20,000 years ago during the Ice Age. These people were the ancestors of the Native Americans. European colonization began in the 16th century with several European nations setting up colonies in North America.

The thirteen colonies of Great Britain along the Atlantic coast declared independence as a nation on July 4, 1776. They issued the Declaration of Independence, which announced their independence from Great Britain and their creation of a cooperative union. The colonies defeated Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War, making it the first successful colonial war of independence in history.^[11] The Philadelphia Convention adopted the current United States Constitution on September 17, 1787; its approval the following year made the states part of a single republic with a strong central government. The Bill of Rights, making up ten constitutional amendments guaranteeing many basic civil rights and freedoms, was approved in 1791.

In the 19th century, the United States had a legal policy of manifest destiny where they believed that it was their god given right to expand across the North American continent. They conquered and took over native lands and bought territory from France, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Russia, and took over the Republic of Texas and later the Republic of Hawaii.

Political arguments between the farming-based South and industrial North over the growth of the institution of slavery and states' rights began the American Civil War. In 1861, the southern states separated from the union and founded their own country called the Confederate States of America after anti-slavery candidate, Abraham Lincoln won the Presidential election. The Union's victory over the Confederacy prevented a permanent split of the country and led to the end of legal slavery in the United States. By the 1870s, the national wealth was the world's largest.^[12] The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the country's status as a military power. In 1945, the United States came out of World War II as a superpower and was the first country with nuclear weapons. After World War II the United States along with its allies founded the United Nations. Today the United States is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. The United States also became engaged in an arms race called the Cold War with the Soviet Union. The United States participated in the Space Race against the Soviet Union that produced rapid advancements in rocket technology. They created the Apollo 11 rocket and it was the first to send people to the moon. It was done by NASA, an American space agency. It went up to space on July 16, 1969, carrying three astronauts: Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. On July 20, 1969, Armstrong and Aldrin became the first humans to land on the moon, while Collins stayed in orbit around the Moon.^[13] In 1991, the Soviet Union broke up, ending the Cold War and leaving the United States as the only superpower.

Today, the United States is one of the world's most ethnically mixed and multicultural nations. It is the product of large-scale immigration from many countries.^[14] The U.S. economy is the largest national economy in the world, with an estimated 2020 gross domestic product (GDP) of US$ 20.9 trillion (about a quarter of worldwide GDP).

1. ↑ Cobarrubias 1983, p. 195. sfn error: no target: CITEREFCobarrubias1983 (help)
2. ↑ García 2011, p. 167. sfn error: no target: CITEREFGarcía2011 (help)
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} "2020 Census Illuminates Racial and Ethnic Composition of the Country". United States Census. Archived from the original on October 21, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
4. ↑ "Race and Ethnicity in the United States: 2010 Census and 2020 Census". United States Census. Archived from the original on August 19, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
5. ↑ "A Breakdown of 2020 Census Demographic Data". NPR. August 13, 2021. Archived from the original on December 2, 2021.
6. ↑ Staff (June 8, 2007). "In Depth: Topics A to Z (Religion)". Gallup, Inc. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
7. ↑ Compton's Pictured Encyclopedia and Fact-index: Ohio. 1963. p. 336. Archived from the original on 2020-06-13. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3} "World Economic Outlook Database, October 2019". IMF.org. International Monetary Fund. Archived from the original on April 6, 2020. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
9. ↑ "Income inequality". data.oecd.org. OECD. Archived from the original on January 12, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
10. ↑ "Human Development Report 2019". United Nations Development Programme. December 10, 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 31, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
11. ↑ Greene, Jack P.; Pole, J.R. (2003). A Companion to the American Revolution. Maiden: Blackwell. pp. 352–361. ISBN 1405116749.
12. ↑ Maddison, Angus (2006). "Historical Statistics for the World Economy". Archived from the original on December 5, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
13. ↑ Cohen, Eliot A. (2004). "History and the Hyperpower". Foreign Affairs. Archived from the original on July 23, 2009. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
14. ↑ Adams, J.Q.; Strother-Adams, Pearlie (2001). Dealing with Diversity. Chicago: Kendall/Hunt. ISBN 078728145X.