United States From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"United States of America", "America", "U.S.", and "USA" redirect here. For the landmass comprising North and South America, see the Americas. For other uses, see America (disambiguation), US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation) and United States (disambiguation).
Coordinates: 40°N 100°W

United States of America
Flag Great Seal
Motto:  "In God we trust"^[1][2] Other traditional mottos "E pluribus unum" (Latin) (de facto) "Out of many, one" "Annuit cœptis" (Latin) "He has favored our undertakings" "Novus ordo seclorum" (Latin) "New order of the ages"
Anthem: "The Star-Spangled Banner" March: "The Stars and Stripes Forever"^[3]
The contiguous United States plus Alaska and Hawaii
The United States and its territories
Capital		Washington, D.C. 38°53′N 77°01′W
Largest city		New York City 40°43′N 74°00′W
Official languages		None at federal level^[a]
National language		English^[b]
Ethnic groups		72.41% White 12.61% Black 9.11% Other/Multiracial 4.75% Asian 1.12% Native^[4]
Demonym		American
Government		Federal presidentialconstitutional republic
•	President	Barack Obama
•	Vice President	Joe Biden
•	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	9,857,306 km^2^[5][c](3rd/4th) 3,805,927 sq mi
•	Water (%)	7.1
•	Total Land Area	9,158,022 km^2 3,535,932 sq mi
Population
•	2016 estimate	322,369,319^[6] (3rd)
•	2010 census	309,349,689^[7] (3rd)
•	Density	35/km^2 (180th) 90.6/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2015 estimate
•	Total	$18.124 trillion^[8] (2nd)
•	Per capita	$56,421^[8] (10th)
GDP (nominal)		2015 estimate
•	Total	$18.124 trillion^[8] (1st)
•	Per capita	$56,421^[8] (5th)
Gini (2013)		40.8^[9][10][11] medium
HDI (2014)		0.915^[12] very high · 8th
Currency		United States dollar ($) (USD)
Time zone		(UTC−4 to −12, +10, +11)
•	Summer (DST)	(UTC−4 to −10^[d])
Date format		MM/DD/YYYY
Drives on the		right^[e]
Calling code		+1
ISO 3166 code		US
Internet TLD		.us .gov .mil .edu
^a.	^ English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans aged five and older. It is the official language of at least 28 states; some sources give higher figures, based on differing definitions of "official."^[13]English and Hawaiian are both official languages inHawaii, and English and 20 Native American languagesare official in Alaska. Cherokee is an official language in some Native-controlled lands in Oklahoma. French is a de facto, but unofficial, language in Maine and Louisiana, while New Mexico law grants Spanish a special status.^[14][15][16][17]
^b.	^ In five territories, English as well as one or more indigenous languages are official: Spanish in Puerto Rico, Samoan in American Samoa, Chamorro in both Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Carolinian is also an official language in the Northern Mariana Islands.
^c.	^ Whether the United States or China is larger has beendisputed. The figure given is from the U.S. Census.^[18]
^d.	^ See Time in the United States for details about laws governing time zones in the United States.
^e.	^ Except the Virgin Islands.

The United States of America (commonly referred to as the United States, U.S., USA, or America), is a federal republic composed of 50 states, a federal district of Washington, D.C., five major territories, and variouspossessions.^{[fn 1]} The 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., are in central North America between Canadaand Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwestern part of North America and the state of Hawaii is anarchipelago in the mid-Pacific. The territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. At 3.8 million square miles (9.9 million km²)^[18] and with over 320 million people, the country is the world's third largest by total area (fourth largest by land area)^{[fn 2]} and the third most populous. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries.^[24] The geographyand climate of the United States are also extremely diverse, and the country is home to a wide variety of wildlife.^[25]
Paleo-Indians migrated from Eurasia to what is now the U.S. mainland at least 15,000 years ago,^[26] with European colonization beginning in the 16th century. The United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Disputes between Great Britain and the 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 adopted the Declaration of Independence. The war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by the Kingdom of Great Britain, and was the first successful war of independence against a European colonial empire.^[27] The country's constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787, and ratified by the states in 1788. The first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties.
Driven by the doctrine of Manifest Destiny, the United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century.^[28] This involved displacing American Indian tribes, acquiring new territories, and gradually admitting new states, until by 1848 the nation spanned the continent.^[28] During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War ended legal slavery in the country.^[29][30] By the end of that century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean,^[31] and its economy, driven in large part by the Industrial Revolution, began to soar.^[32] The Spanish–American 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.^[33]
The United States is a developed country and has the world's largest national economy by nominal and real GDP, benefiting from an abundance of natural resources and high worker productivity.^[34] While the U.S. economy is considered post-industrial, the country continues to be one of the world's largest manufacturers.^[35] Accounting for 34% of global military spending^[36] and 23% of world GDP,^[37] it is the world's foremost military and economic power, a prominent political and cultural force, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations.^[38]