United States
hideThe United States of America (commonly referred to as the United States, the U.S., the USA, or America) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to its east and Russia to the west across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories, or insular areas, in the Caribbean and Pacific.
At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km2) and with about 306 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and third largest by land area and by population. The United States is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The U.S. economy is the largest national economy in the world, with an estimated 2008 gross domestic product (GDP) of US $14.3 trillion (23% of the world total based on nominal GDP and almost 21% at purchasing power parity).
The nation was founded by thirteen colonies of Great Britain located along the Atlantic seaboard. On July 4, 1776, they issued the Declaration of Independence, which proclaimed their independence from Great Britain and their formation of a cooperative union. The rebellious states defeated Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War, the first successful colonial war of independence. The Philadelphia Convention adopted the current United States Constitution on September 17, 1787; its ratification the following year made the states part of a single republic with a strong central government. The Bill of Rights, comprising ten constitutional amendments guaranteeing many fundamental civil rights and freedoms, was ratified in 1791.
In the 19th century, the United States acquired land from France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Russia, and annexed the Republic of Texas and the Republic of Hawaii. Disputes between the agrarian South and industrial North over states' rights and the expansion of the institution of slavery provoked the American Civil War of the 1860s. The North's victory prevented a permanent split of the country and led to the end of legal slavery in the United States. By the 1870s, the national economy was the world's largest. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the country's status as a military power. In 1945, the United States emerged from World War II as the first country with nuclear weapons, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and a founding member of NATO. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union left the United States as the sole superpower. The country accounts for approximately 50% of global military spending and is a leading economic, political, and cultural force in the world.
For more information about United States, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
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News tagged with united states
UFO-obsessed Briton loses bid to block US extradition
Nov 26, 2009 |
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A Briton accused of hacking into US military and NASA computers faces extradition to the United States after the British government Thursday rejected last-ditch requests to block the move.
WHO says Tamiflu still works against swine flu
Medicine & Health / Medications
Nov 26, 2009 |
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(AP) -- The World Health Organization says isolated cases of drug-resistant swine flu in Britain and the United States have not changed the agency's assessment of the disease.
U.S. losing its lead in space, experts warn Congress
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 24, 2009 |
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America's once clear dominance in space is eroding as other nations, including China, Iran and North Korea, step up their activities, a panel of experts told the House subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics Thursday.
Do kids benefit from homework?
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
Nov 23, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Homework is as old as school itself. Yet the practice is controversial as people debate the benefits or consider the shortcomings and hassles. Research into the topic is often contradictory ...
Competitive, trade-friendly nations weather volatile crop yields best
Nov 23, 2009 |
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Richer nations with competitive crop production and few trade barriers would fare the best if climate change, weather events or other factors cause yields of grain and oilseed crops to become more volatile, a new study has ...
Swine flu vaccine effective despite mutations: experts
Nov 21, 2009 |
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Swine flu vaccines are still effective despite reported cases of mutations in the A(H1N1) virus, health experts in Europe and North America said Saturday.
Internet still under US grip: forum delegates
Nov 18, 2009 |
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The Internet is still under the control of the United States, participants at a governance forum said, despite a move by America to loosen its grip over the private corporation that administers the net.
Europe and America couldn't be more different, right? Not so fast, says historian
Nov 13, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Marshalling data on everything from colon cancer to the accuracy of public clocks, Peter Baldwin illustrates how differences between the U.S. and Western Europe are much smaller than commonly supposed.
Youths see all parental control negatively when there's a lot of it
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Nov 13, 2009 |
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A new study has found that young people feel differently about two types of parental control, generally viewing a type of control that's thought to be better for their development more positively. However, when parents are ...
Record high temperatures far outpace record lows across US (w/ Video)
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 12, 2009 |
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Spurred by a warming climate, daily record high temperatures occurred twice as often as record lows over the last decade across the continental United States, new research shows. The ratio of record highs ...
Good food nation: Researchers think America's obesity epidemic can be reversed via 'foodsheds'
Nov 10, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In the last three decades, childhood obesity in the United States has become a massive public-health problem. According to the Centers for Disease Control, between 1980 and 2006 the percentage ...
Path to good health, less pollution is the sidewalk: report
Nov 09, 2009 |
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US pressure groups joined forces Monday to urge authorities to spend more to improve Americans' health and cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Germany, Mexico, US top smart energy list
Nov 05, 2009 |
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Germany, Mexico and the United States have crafted some of the world's smartest policies for improving energy use, according to a study released on Thursday on the sidelines of the UN climate talks here.
Father of China's space tech program dies at 98
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Oct 31, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Qian Xuesen, a rocket scientist known as the father of China's space technology program, died Saturday in Beijing, the official Xinhua News Agency said. He was 98.
Hard Winter Wheat Varieties Released
Oct 30, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The first hard winter wheat varieties bred and developed for production in the eastern United States have been released by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS).
