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
US-China showdown still looms over climate talks
3 hours ago |
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(AP) -- In a showdown between the world's two largest polluters, China accused the United States and other rich nations Tuesday of backsliding on fighting global warming and the top U.S. envoy said Chinese ...
US, Russia begin talks on cyberspace security: report
Dec 13, 2009 |
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The United States has begun talks with Russia and a UN arms control committee about strengthening Internet security and limiting military use of cyberspace, The New York Times reported.
The impact of the diffusion of maize to the Southwestern United States
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Dec 08, 2009 |
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An international group of anthropologists offers a new theory about the diffusion of maize to the Southwestern United States and the impact it had.
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Engineers help secure California highways and roads
1hour ago |
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Sprays of dirt flew out of a soil box that held a retaining wall as it violently shook from a simulated 7.4 magnitude earthquake. The wall was put to test recently by engineers at the UC San Diego Englekirk ...
Drug for Alzheimer's disease does not appear to slow cognitive decline
Medicine & Health / Medications
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Although there were promising results in a phase 2 trial, patients with mild Alzheimer disease who received the drug tarenflurbil as part of a phase 3 trial did not have better outcomes on measures of cognitive decline or ...
Foodborne Staph Toxin Pinpointed by New Assay
4 hours ago |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Most people need about two days to recover from being sickened by foods contaminated with what's known as staphylococcal enterotoxin A, or "SEA." Produced by Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, ...
Kids' Swine flu shots recalled; not strong enough
Medicine & Health / Medications
5 hours ago |
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(AP) -- Hundreds of thousands of swine flu shots for children have been recalled because tests indicate the vaccine doses lost some strength, government health officials said Tuesday.
Immune cell activity linked to worsening COPD
5 hours ago |
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A new study links chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, with increased activity of cells that act as sentinels to activate the body's immune system.
Irrigation decreases, urbanization increases monsoon rains
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
5 hours ago |
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A Purdue University scientist has shown man-made changes to the landscape have affected Indian monsoon rains, suggesting that land-use decisions play an important role in climate change.
Hypoxia increases as climate warms
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
7 hours ago |
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A new study of Pacific Ocean sediments off the coast of Chile has found that offshore waters experienced systematic oxygen depletion during the rapid warming of the Antarctic following the last "glacial maximum" period 20,000 ...
FDA researchers identify new MRI safety risk for patients with pacemakers
9 hours ago |
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FDA researchers have found that certain cardiac pacemakers may inadequately stimulate a patient's heart while undergoing a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan due to the magnetic pulses mixing with the electronic pulses ...
Studies quantify radiation doses, cancer risks from CT scans
10 hours ago |
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Doses of radiation from commonly performed computed tomography (CT) scans vary widely, appear higher than generally believed and may contribute to an estimated tens of thousands of future cancer cases, according to two reports ...
Australian government to introduce Internet filter
11 hours ago |
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(AP) -- Australia plans to introduce an Internet filtering system to block obscene and crime-linked Web sites despite concerns it will curtail freedoms and won't completely work.
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