United States

United States of America
Flag Great Seal
Motto:  "In God We Trust" (official) "E pluribus unum" (Latin) (traditional) "Out of many, one"
Anthem: "The Star-Spangled Banner"
Capital		Washington D.C. 38°53′N 77°01′W
Largest city		New York City 40°40′N 73°56′W
Official languages		None at federal level
National language		English
Demonym		American
Government		Federal presidential constitutional republic
-	President	Barack Obama (D)
-	Vice President	Joe Biden (D)
-	Speaker of the House	John Boehner (R)
-	Chief Justice	John Roberts
Legislature		Congress
-	Upper house	Senate
-	Lower house	House of Representatives
Independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain
-	Declared	July 4, 1776
-	Recognized	September 3, 1783
-	Current constitution	June 21, 1788
Area
-	Total	9,826,675 km2 (3rd/4th) 3,794,101 sq mi
-	Water (%)	6.76
Population
-	2013 estimate	320,214,000 (3rd)
-	Density	34.2/km2 (179th) 88.6/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2012 estimate
-	Total	$15.685 trillion (1st)
-	Per capita	$49,922 (6th)
GDP (nominal)		2012 estimate
-	Total	$15.685 trillion (1st)
-	Per capita	$49,922 (12th)
Gini (2011)		47.7 high · 39th (2009)
HDI (2013)		0.937 very high · 3rd
Currency		United States dollar ($) (USD)
Time zone		(UTC−5 to −10)
-	Summer (DST)	(UTC−4 to −10)
Drives on the		right
Calling code		+1
ISO 3166 code		US
Internet TLD		.us   .gov   .mil   .edu
a.	^  English is the official language of at least 28 states; some sources give higher figures, based on differing definitions of "official". English and Hawaiian are both official languages in the state of Hawaii.
b.	^  English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80 percent of Americans aged five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language.
c.	^  Whether the United States or China is larger is disputed. The figure given is from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's The World Factbook. Other sources give smaller figures. All authoritative calculations of the country's size include only the 50 states and the District of Columbia, not the territories.
d.	^  The population estimate is of people whose usual residence is within the 50 states and the District of Columbia, regardless of nationality. It does not include those living in the territories (over 4 million people, mostly in Puerto Rico).
e.	^  See Time in the United States for details about laws governing time zones in the United States.
f.	^  Does not include insular areas and United States Minor Outlying Islands, which have their own ISO 3166 codes.
g.	^  Except US Virgin Islands.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden, the United States of America's current President and Vice President.

The United States of America (USA), commonly referred to as the United States (US), or America is a country in North America. It is made up of 50 states, a federal district, and five territories. It is one of the world's superpowers. It is famous for its influence over finance, trade, culture, military, politics, and technology.

History

Main page: History of the United States

Government

The United States is a federal republic. The federal government of the United States is set up by the Constitution. There are three branches of government. They are the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch. State governments work much like the federal government.

Executive branch

The executive branch is the part of the government that enforces the law. Members of the U.S. Electoral College elect a president who is the leader of the executive branch, as well as the leader of the armed forces. The president may veto a bill that the Congress has passed, so it doesn't become a law. The President may also make "executive orders" to ensure that people follow the law.

The president is in charge of many departments that control much of the day-to-day business of government. For example, Department of Commerce makes rules about trade and business. The president chooses the heads of these departments, and also nominates federal judges. However, the Senate, part of the legislative branch, must agree with all of the people the president chooses. The president may serve two 4-year terms.

Legislative branch

The west side of the United States Capitol, which is home to the United States Congress

The legislative branch makes laws. The legislative branch is called the United States Congress. Congress is divided into two "houses".

One house is the House of Representatives. The Representatives are each elected by voters from a set area within a state. The number of Representatives a state has is based on how many people live there. Representatives serve two-year terms. The total number of representatives today is 435. The leader of the House of Representatives is the Speaker of the House, who would become president if the president and vice president were unable to serve.

The other house is the Senate. In the Senate, each state is represented equally, by two senators. Because there are 50 states, there are 100 senators. Before the President makes treaties or appoints officials, the Senate must approve them. Senators serve six-year terms. The Vice President of the United States serves as president of the Senate. In practice, the vice president is usually absent from the Senate, and a senator is selected to serve as president pro tempore, or temporary president, of the Senate.

Representatives and senators propose laws, called "bills", in their respective houses. A bill may be voted upon by the entire house right away or may first go to a small group of members of that house, known as a committee, which may recommend a bill for a vote by the whole house. If one house votes to pass a bill, the bill then gets sent to the other house; if both houses vote for it, it is then sent to the president, who may sign the bill into law or veto it. If the president vetoes the bill, it is sent back to Congress. If Congress votes again and passes the bill with at least a two-thirds majority, the bill becomes law and cannot be vetoed by the president.

Under the American system of federalism, Congress may not make laws that directly control the states; instead, Congress may use the promise of federal funds, or special circumstances such as national emergencies, to encourage the states to follow federal law. This system is both complex and unique.

Judicial branch

The Judicial Branch is the part of government that interprets what the law means. The Judicial Branch is made up of the Supreme Court and many lower courts. If the Supreme Court decides that a law is not allowed by the Constitution, the law is said to be "struck down" and is no longer a valid law.

The Supreme Court is made up of nine judges, called justices, who are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. One of these justices, called the chief justice, heads the court. A Supreme Court justice serves until he or she dies or resigns (quits in the middle of his or her term). When that happens, the president nominates someone new to replace the justice who left. If the Senate agrees with that choice, the person becomes a justice. If the Senate does not agree with the president's choice, then the president must nominate someone else.

Famous court cases such as Marbury v. Madison (which was decided in 1803) have firmly established that the Supreme Court is the ultimate interpreter of the United States Constitution and has the power to strike down any law that conflicts with it.

Politics

See also: States of the United States and Politics of the United States

The political system of the United States

The United States of America consists of 50 states, 5 territories and 1 district (Washington D.C.). States can make laws about things inside the state, but federal law is usually about things dealing with more than one state or dealing with other countries. In some areas, if the federal government makes laws that say different things from the state laws, people must follow the federal law because the state law is not a law any more. Each state has a constitution of its own, different from the federal (national) Constitution. Each of these is like the federal Constitution because they say how each state's government is set up, but some also talk about specific laws.

The federal and most state governments are dominated by two political parties: the Republicans and the Democrats. There are also many smaller parties; the largest of these are the Libertarian Party and the Green Party. People give money to political campaigns that they like, and try to persuade politicians to help them. This is called lobbying. All Americans are allowed to lobby the government, but some have and spend more money than others, or in other ways do more in politics. Some people think this is a problem, and want rules to be made to change it.

Since 2009, the president is a Democrat, so Democrats have slightly more power in the federal government. However, there are still many powerful Republicans who can try to stop the Democrats from doing things that they believe will be bad for the country. Also, the Democrats do not always agree with each other on what to do. And if enough people decide to vote against Democrats in the next election, then they will lose power. In a republic like the United States, no party can do whatever they want. All politicians have to argue, compromise, and make deals with each other to get things done. They have to answer to the people and take responsibility for their mistakes.

The USA's large cultural, economic, and military influence has made the foreign policy of the United States, or relations with other countries, an especially important topic in American politics, and the politics of many other countries.

George Washington, first President.

Land

The country grew from East to West. It conquered and bought lands.

The states are divided into counties. Two states do not use the word "county". Louisiana uses the word "parish". Alaska uses the word "borough".

The United States also consists of several other lands that are not states. Most of these are colonial territories, and are not a part of the Mainland U.S. Some examples are:

• Puerto Rico
• American Samoa
• Guam
• U.S. Virgin Islands
• Northern Mariana Islands

The United States also includes one federal district that was split from a state:

• Washington, D.C., the capital.

The largest city is New York. Other major US cities include Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, Miami, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Houston, Philadelphia, Boston, Denver, St. Louis, Dallas, and Pittsburgh.

The Philippines (islands) was once a possession of the United States. Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and other Pacific island nations were once governed by the United States as a United Nations "Trust Territory", but are now independent.

The U.S. military has bases in many countries. The U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay was rented from Cuba, even after that country had a Communist revolution.

Geography

Main page: Geography of the United States

The United States is the third biggest country in the world. Only Russia and Canada are bigger. Its geography varies a lot and includes:

• forests and grass fields on the east coast
• the Appalachian Mountains in the east
• the Great Plains in the middle of the country
• the Mississippi-Missouri river in the middle of the country
• the Rocky Mountains west of the plains
• deserts and coastal areas west of the Rocky Mountains
• forests in the Pacific Northwest
• Arctic regions of Alaska
• volcanic islands in Hawaii
• a long coastline with many beaches
• the everglades in Florida

The climate varies along with the geography, from tropical (hot and wet in summer, warm and dry in winter) in Florida to tundra (cold all year) in Alaska. Large parts of the country have warm summers and cold winters. Some parts of the United States, like parts of California, have a Mediterranean climate.

Economy

The United States has a capitalist economy. The country has rich mineral resources, with many gold, coal and uranium deposits. Farming makes the country among the top producers of, among others, corn (maize), wheat, sugar and tobacco. American produces cars, airplanes and electronics. About 3/4 of Americans work in the service industry.

The top 15 trading partners in terms of total trade are:

Country
Canada
China
Mexico
Japan
Germany
UK
South Korea
France
Taiwan
Netherlands
Brazil
Malaysia
Italy
Singapore
Ireland

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1790	3,929,000		—
1800	5,308,000		35.1%
1810	7,240,000		36.4%
1820	9,638,000		33.1%
1830	12,866,000		33.5%
1840	17,063,000		32.6%
1850	23,192,000		35.9%
1860	31,443,321		35.6%
1870	38,558,371		22.6%
1880	50,189,209		30.2%
1890	62,979,766		25.5%
1900	76,212,168		21.0%
1910	92,228,531		21.0%
1920	106,021,568		15.0%
1930	123,202,660		16.2%
1940	132,164,569		7.3%
1950	151,325,798		14.5%
1960	179,323,175		18.5%
1970	203,211,926		13.3%
1980	226,545,805		11.5%
1990	248,709,873		9.8%
2000	281,421,906		13.2%
2010	308,745,538		9.7%

The United States of America has people of many different race and ethnic backgrounds. 80% of the people in the United States descend from European immigrants. Many people are descended from Germany, England, Scotland, Ireland, Africa, and Italy. 13% of the people in the United States are African-American. Most of them descend from the African slaves that were brought to America. Asian-Americans make up only 5% of the population in America but make up a bigger portion in the west coast. For example in California, Asian-Americans make up 13% of the population of that state. Hispanic-Americans or people of Latin origins make up 15% of the nation. The original peoples, called Native American or American Indians and Inuit (Eskimos) are a very small group.

11% of the people in the United States are foreign born. 18% speak a language other than English at home. For people 25 and older, 80% are high school graduates while 25% have a bachelor's degree or higher.

The 2000 Census counted self-reported ancestry. It identified 43 million German-Americans, 30.5 million Irish-Americans, 24.9 million African-Americans, 24.5 million English-Americans, and 18.4 million Mexican-Americans.

Money

The social structure of the United States has a big range. This means that some Americans are much, much richer than others. The average (median) income for an American was $37,000 a year in 2002. However, the richest 1% of Americans have as much money as the poorest 90%. 51% of all households have access to a computer and 41% had access to the Internet in 2000, a figure which had grown to 75% in 2004. Also, 67.9% of American families owned their homes in 2002. There are 200 million cars in the United States, two for every three Americans. The debt has grown to over $16,000,000,000,000.

Religion

Native American religions included various animistic practices, including reverence for nature and spirits. There are many different religions in the U.S. Statistically, the largest religion is Christianity, including groups such as Catholicism, Protestantism and Mormonism. Other religions include Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Unitarian Universalism, Wicca, Druidry, Baha'i, Raelism, Zoroastrianism, Taoism and Jainism. Religions which were founded within the United States include Eckankar, Satanism and Scientology.

The United States is one of the most religious countries in the Western World, and most Americans believe in God. The number of Christians in the U.S. has gone down. 86.2% called themselves Christian in 1990 and 78.4% said this in 2007. The others include Judaism (1.7%), Islam (0.8%), Buddhism (0.7%), Hinduism (0.4%), and Unitarian Universalism (0.3%). Those who have no religion are at 16.1%. There is a large difference between those who say that they belong to a religion and those who are members of a religious body of that religion.

Doubts about the existence of a God, gods or goddesses are higher among young people. Among the non-religious population of the U.S., there are deists, humanists, ignotic, atheists, and agnostics.

Languages

Languages (2007)
English	225.5 million
Spanish, incl. Creole	34.5 million
Chinese	2.5 million
French, incl. Creole	2.0 million
Tagalog	1.5 million
Vietnamese	1.2 million
German	1.1 million
Korean	1.1 million
Arabic	0.3 million

The United States does not currently have an official language, although the United States Congress has considered officially designating English as such for many years, since it is the most used language, and the language in which the United States Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution are written. Spanish has increased in usage in certain sectors of society, due to a flow of immigrants—especially from Mexico and Cuba. French is also a main language in parts of Louisiana because France once owned the area as a colony.

Culture

American popular culture goes out to many places in the world. It has a large influence on most of the world, especially the Western world. American music is heard all over the world, and American movies and television shows can be seen in most countries.

Federal holidays (For 2014)

Date	Name	Description
January 1	New Year's Day	Celebrates the beginning of the year
January 20 (3rd Monday in January)	Martin Luther King, Jr. Day	Honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., an African-American civil rights leader
February 17 (3rd Monday in February)	Washington's Birthday	Honors all of the American presidents, but specifically George Washington (b. February 22) and Abraham Lincoln (b. February 12)
May 26 (Last Monday in May)	Memorial Day	Honors military servicemen, who gave their lives, also marks the traditional start of summer
July 4	Independence Day	Celebrates the Declaration of Independence; otherwise known as "The Fourth of July"
September 1 (1st Monday in September)	Labor Day	Celebrates the achievements of workers, and marks the traditional end of summer
October 13 (2nd Monday in October)	Columbus Day	Honors Christopher Columbus, the man who discovered the Americas for Europe (not celebrated in some states, like Montana)
November 11	Veterans Day	Honors all military servicemen (past and present)
November 27 (4th Thursday in November)	Thanksgiving	Gives thanks for God's blessings, and the autumn harvest, and marks the traditional beginning of the "holiday season"
December 25	Christmas	Celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ (non-Christians celebrate it as a winter holiday)

Flag

The American flag is made up of 50 stars on a blue background, and has 13 stripes, seven red and six white. It is one of many symbols of the United States like the Bald Eagle. The 50 stars represent the 50 states. The red stands for courage. The blue stands for justice. The white represents peace and cleanness. The 13 stripes represent the 13 original colonies.

The US Flag

Music

American music is deeply influenced by African-American music, making it different from European music. Elements from folk such as the blues were changed into popular genres with big audiences. Jazz was invented by people like Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington in the early 20th century. Country music started in the 1920s, and rhythm and blues in the 1940s.

Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry were among the 1950s stars of rock and roll, and James Brown led the development of funk. More recent American music includes hip hop and house music. American pop stars such as Presley, Michael Jackson, Britney Spears and Madonna have become world-wide celebrities, as have artists like Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Rihanna, and Beyoncé.

Other websites

Government

• US Constitution in basic English
• Official website of the United States government - Gateway to governmental sites
• The White House - Official site of the Presidential residence
• Senate.gov - Official site of the United States Senate
• House.gov - Official site of the United States House of Representatives
• SCOTUS - Official site of the Supreme Court of the United States
• Portrait of the USA - Published by the United States Information Agency, September 1997.
• US Census Housing and Economic Statistics Updated regularly by US Bureau of the Census.
• CIA world factbook

Other

• National Motto: History and Constitutionality
• Historical Documents
• Reference: US specific web resources sorted by state
• Geography Trainer US States 1.1 game