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.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with united states
Study: Learning Science Facts Doesn't Boost Science Reasoning
Jan 29, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A study of college freshmen in the United States and in China found that Chinese students know more science facts than their American counterparts -- but both groups are nearly identical when it comes to ...
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.
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.
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 ...
Lack of insurance may have figured in nearly 17,000 childhood deaths, study shows
Oct 29, 2009 |
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Lack of health insurance might have led or contributed to nearly 17,000 deaths among hospitalized children in the United States in the span of less than two decades, according to research led by the Johns Hopkins Children's ...
Google unveils free GPS navigation for mobile phones
Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets
Oct 28, 2009 |
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Google unveiled a free navigation system for mobile phones on Wednesday in a move seen as a potential challenge to the makers of GPS navigation devices.
Report documents the risks of giant invasive snakes in the US
Oct 13, 2009 |
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Five giant non-native snake species would pose high risks to the health of ecosystems in the United States should they become established here, according to a U.S. Geological Survey report released today.
US to share Internet review amid worldwide growth
Sep 30, 2009 |
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(AP) -- As Internet use expands worldwide, the United States said Wednesday it will give other governments and the private sector a greater oversight role in an organization whose decisions affect how computers relay traffic ...
Changes loom for ICANN
Sep 27, 2009 |
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Changes appear to be in store this week for the low profile but powerful body that administers the Web.
Researchers develop tool to rank death rates
Aug 26, 2009 |
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Have you ever wondered what the chances are that you may die in the next year? Would it be from illness or an accident? Is it something you can control? Or is it completely out of your hands?
US ranks 28th in Internet connection speed: report
Aug 25, 2009 |
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The United States ranks 28th in the world in average Internet connection speed and is not making significant progress in building a faster network, according to a report released on Tuesday.
Culture, not biology, underpins math gender gap
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Jun 01, 2009 |
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For more than a century, the notion that females are innately less capable than males at doing mathematics, especially at the highest levels, has persisted in even the loftiest circles.
NYC woman in 50s becomes US' 11th swine flu death
May 25, 2009 |
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(AP) -- A woman died over the weekend of swine flu, becoming the city's second victim and the nation's 11th.
US confirms first swine flu death (Update + Latest snapshot of swine flu crisis)
May 05, 2009 |
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US health officials confirmed the first death of a US citizen from swine flu Tuesday and announced a spike in the number of confirmed cases, but assured there was no cause for alarm.
