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U.S. featured Article
For other uses of this term , see United States ( disambiguation ) .
" U.S. ", " USA " and " USA " redirect here . For other uses, see Us ( disambiguation
), USA (disambiguation) and U.S. ( disambiguation )
" United States " redirects here . For ships with this name, see USS United States .
United States of America USA
Flag of the United States.svg Flag Great Seal of the United States ( obverse
Motto: In God We Trust ( English: " In God We Trust
"; Official ) E Pluribus Unum ( Latin: ' Out of many, one
" ; Traditional) Anthem : The Star- Spangled Banner
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United States ( orthographic projection) . Svg Capital Washington D. C. Seal- DC.png
38 ° 53 ' N 77 ° 02 ' W Largest city New York
Official languages English ( de facto) • Co-official Spanish , French Cajun and
Hawaiian American Gentile , estadunidense1
Form of government Constitutional Federal Republic
president Vice Barack Obama
Joe Biden independence
• Declared • Recognized the UK
July 4, 1776 September 3, 1783
Surface Position 3 . º • Total 9,826,675 km ²
• % 2.198 % water Borders 12,219 km
Total population Position 3 . º • Census 316 017 000 ( 2013 ) 2 bed .
• Density 34.23 inhab. / Km ² GDP (PPP ) Rank 1. º
• Total ( 2012 ) USD 15,684,750 million4 GDP (nominal ) Rank 1. º
• Total ( 2012 ) USD 15,684,750 million4 • USD49 per capita GDP 9224
HDI (2012 ) Growth 0.9375 ( 3 . º) - Very High
Currency U.S. Dollar ( $, USD ) Time zone ( UTC -5 to UTC -10 )
• Summer ( UTC- 4 to UTC -10 ) ISO Code 840 / USA / US2
Internet Domain . Us Telephone +1
WAA - WZZ radio Prefix N stands for airplanes country
USA acronym country car Member of: OAS , UN, NATO, APEC , OECD, OSCE
, NAFTA , G -8 , G -20 ↑ English is the official language in 28
states , but not recognized official language at the federal level . The Spanish , French
, U.S. or U.S. ) in shorthand United States , USA or EE . UU . , June 1 is a constitutional
federal republic composed of 50 states and a federal district . Most of the country is
located 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 the east and Russia to the west across the Bering Strait . The state
of Hawaii is an archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean , and is the only U.S.
state that is not in America. The country also possesses several territories in the
Caribbean and Pacific . With 9.83 million square kilometers and with
over 316 million inhabitants , the country is the fourth-largest in total area , the
fifth largest in contiguous area and third in population. It is one of the nations of
the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations , the product of large- scale.7 immigration
is , on the other hand, the largest national economy in the world, with a GDP estimated
at 15.7 trillion ( a quarter part of nominal global GDP ) and a fifth of global GDP at
what is now the mainland United States for thousands of years . This Native American
population was reduced by disease and warfare after the first contact with Europeans. United
States was founded by thirteen British colonies located along the Atlantic coast. On July
and the establishment of a cooperative union. The rebellious states defeated the British
Empire in the War of Independence , the first colonial war of independence exitosa.9 The
current United States Constitution was adopted 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 nineteenth century , the United States acquired territories of France , Spain , UK,
Mexico and Russia, and annexed the Republic of Texas and the Republic of Hawaii . In the
1860s , disputes between the agrarian South and industrial North over states ' rights
and the abolition of slavery led to the Civil War . The North's victory prevented a permanent
split of the country and led to the end of legal slavery . For the 1870s , the econonomia
Native American and European settlement See also : Native Americans , Colonization
of the United States and Thirteen Colonies .
Commonly thought that the indigenous peoples of the U.S. mainland , including Alaska Natives
, migrated from Asia between 12,000 and 40,000 years atrás.16 Some , such as the Mississippian
culture , developed advanced agriculture , great architectural works and partnerships with
a hierarchical order . After Europeans began settling in America, millions of indigenous
Colony Pilgrims in 1620. In 1628 , the establishment of the province of Massachusetts Bay resulted
Between the 1610s and the war of independence , about 50,000 convicts were shipped from
the Old World to the colonias.18 Since 1614 , the Dutch settled along the lower Hudson
In 1674 , the Netherlands ceded their territory to England and the province of New Netherland
was renamed New York. Many new immigrants , especially in the south , were hired as
servants, so that about two -thirds of all Virginia immigrants who arrived between 1630
source of labor in bondage . With the division of the Carolinas in 1729 and the colonization
of Georgia in 1732 , settled the thirteen British colonies that would eventually become
the United States of America. All had an elected local government , attached to republicanism
, plus it was legalized slave trade. With high birth rates , low death rates , and steady
of the 1730s and 1740s , known as "the Great Awakening " fueled interest in topics such
as religion and freedom of worship. In the French and Indian War , British forces wrested
Canada to France , but the francophone population remained politically isolated from the southern
displaced against their will, in 1770 the thirteen colonies had a population of 2.6
million people , about a third of the United Kingdom , although nearly one in five Americans
of the United Kingdom. Independence and expansion
See also : War of Independence of the United States and Manifest Destiny.
Tensions between the colonists and the British during the 1760s and 1770s led to the American
Revolutionary War, which lasted from 1775-1781 . The June 14, 1775 , the Continental Congress
Washington. Proclaiming that "all men are created equal " and endowed with " certain
unalienable Rights ", the Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence , drafted
of the United States. In 1777 , the Articles of Confederation established a weak confederal
government that operated until 1789. After the British defeat by American forces
assisted by the French, the United Kingdom recognized the independence and sovereignty
in 1787 by those who wished to establish a strong national government . The U.S. Constitution
was ratified in 1788 and a year later, George Washington became the first president . The
Bill of Rights , forbidding federal restriction of human rights and guaranteeing a range of
With the new autonomy , attitudes toward slavery were shifting , a clause in the Constitution
protected the slave trade until 1808 . Northern states abolished slavery between 1780 and
" . The " Second Great Awakening " , which began around 1800 , converted to evangelical
churches in one of the main forces behind several of the reform movements of the era,
The desire to expand the country westward brought a long series of wars . In 1803 , the
Louisiana Purchase to France during the term of President Thomas Jefferson , nearly doubled
the size of the nation , 24 while Anglo-American war of 1812 further strengthened nationalism
to cede it and other territories golfo.24 Coast Trail of Tears in the 1830s exemplified
the Indian removal policy that stripped several indigenous peoples from their lands . The
United States annexed the Republic of Texas in 1845 , a period during which the concept
Kingdom , gave the country the present territories of noroeste.24 Two years later , the victory
in the war against Mexico resulted in the cession of California and much of the southwest
actual.24 the gold rush of 1848 and 1849 further encouraged westward migration and the new
railroads facilitated the relocation settlers and increased conflicts with Native Americans
meat to facilitate the spread of the railways. The loss of the buffalo , a primary source
of food for the plains Indians , was a mortal blow to many cultures nativas.26
Civil War and industrialization See also : Civil War, Reconstruction (United
Tensions between pro-slavery states and abolitionists , along with the increase of the disagreements
in the relationship between the state and federal government , provoked violent conflicts
of the Republican Party and a great abolitionist, was elected president in 1860 . Before you
take possession of his office , seven slave states declared their secession from the Union
to form the Confederate States of America. The federal government declared that secession
the civil war estadounidense.27 Following the Union victory in 1865 , three
amendments were added to the constitution to ensure freedom of the nearly four million
African Americans who had been slaves , making and giving citizens the right to voto.28 The
Immigrants at Ellis Island , New York Harbor , 1902 .
After the assassination of Abraham Lincoln , there was the time known as the Reconstruction,
the rights of freed slaves new . The disputed presidential election in 1876 were resolved
by the Compromise of 1877 , by which Southern Democrats recognized as president Rutherford
B. Hayes in exchange for the withdrawal of the troops were still deployed in Louisiana
, South Carolina and Florida. From 1876 start to apply the so-called laws of Jim Crow, apartheid
influx of immigrants hastened the country's industrialization. The wave of immigration
high tariff protection , national infrastructure building , and new banking regulations encouraged
industrial growth. In 1867 occurs purchase of Alaska from Russia , completing the continental
expansion of the country.24 The Slaughter of Wounded Knee in 1890 was the last major
of the Kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown in a coup led by American citizens , the archipelago
was annexed the country in 1898.24 Victory in the Spanish-American War the same year
demonstrated that the United States was a world power and led to the annexation of Puerto
Rico and the Philippines Filipinas.31 gained independence in 1946 , while Puerto Rico remains
An abandoned farm in South Dakota during the Dust Bowl , in 1936.
At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the United States declared its neutrality . Later
those from Ireland and Germany , opposed the intervención.32 In 1917 he joined the Allies
, contributing to the defeat of the Powers Central . Unwilling to participate in European
affairs , the Senate did not ratify the Treaty of Versailles ( 1919 ) , which established
, the movement of women's rights won passage of a constitutional amendment to give women
the sufragio.22 During most of the 1920s , the country enjoyed
This period, known as the Roaring Twenties , culminating in the crisis of 1929 that triggered
the Great Depression. After his election as president in 1932 , Franklin D. Roosevelt
responded with the New Deal ( New Deal ) , a series of policies that increased government
The prohibición.35 The Dust Bowl ( basin powder) mid 1930s left many impoverished farming
communities and spurred a new wave of migration to the coast occidental.36
Soldiers of the U.S. Army during the Battle of Normandy on June 6, 1944 .
supplies to the Allies in March 1941 through the Lend-Lease program . On December 7, 1941
, the country joined the struggle of the Allies against the Axis powers , after the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor. World War II boosted the economy by providing investment capital
and jobs, causing many women to enter the labor market. Of the major combatants , the
Woods and Yalta created a new system of international organizations that placed the country and
the Soviet Union at the center of world affairs . In 1945 , when he reached the end of the
Second World War in Europe , an international conference held in San Francisco drafted the
United Nations Charter , which came into force after the guerra.38 After having developed
the first nuclear weapon , the government decided to use it on the Japanese cities of
the guerra.39 Cold War and political protests
Martin Luther King, Jr. delivering the speech " I have a dream " in 1963
During the " Cold War " , the U.S. and the Soviet Union fought for power after the end
of the Second World War , dominating the military affairs of Europe through NATO and the Warsaw
Pact . The first promoted liberal democracy and capitalism , while the second extended
in several wars subsidiaries. Between 1950 and 1953 , American troops fought Communist
Chinese forces in the war of Corea.40 In 1961, the Soviet launch of the first manned
spacecraft prompted President John F. Kennedy proposed the country to be the first to send
" a man on the moon " , achieved in 1969.41 Indeed Kennedy also faced a tense nuclear
growing civil rights movement , represented and led by African Americans such as Rosa
Parks , Martin Luther King and James Bevel , used nonviolence to confront segregation
and Voting Rights Act of 1965 were passed during the administration of President Lyndon
B. Johnson . Johnson and his successor , Richard Nixon , subsidiary led a civil war in Southeast
Asia into the unsuccessful war Vietnam.40 A widespread countercultural movement grew
also came a new wave of feminist movements , led by Betty Friedan , Gloria Steinem and
other women seeking political equality , social and economic .
In 1974 , as a result of the Watergate scandal , Nixon became the first president to resign,
, was succeeded by Vice President Gerald Ford.43 The Jimmy Carter administration the 1970s
was marked by stagflation and the hostage crisis in Iran. The election of Ronald Reagan
as president in 1980 heralded a change in American politics , reflected in major reforms
diplomatic progress with the Soviet Union . The subsequent Soviet collapse ended the
See also : September 11 Attacks , War in Afghanistan ( 2001-present ) Iraq War and the 2008-2010
The World Trade Center on the morning of September 11, 2001 .
Under President George H. W. Bush , the country took a leading role in the controversial Gulf
, encompassed the Bill Clinton administration and the dot com.44 A civil lawsuit and sex
scandal led to Clinton's impeachment in 1998 , but managed to finish his term . The 2000
presidential election , one of the most competitive in American history , was resolved by a decision
of the Supreme Court : George W. Bush , son of George H. W. Bush became the new presidente.45
The September 11, 2001 , the terrorist group Al- Qaeda attacked the World Trade Center
in New York City and The Pentagon near Washington D. C. , in a series of attacks that killed
against terrorism " . In late 2001 , U.S. forces invaded Afghanistan , overthrew the
Taliban government and destroyed the training camps of Al- Qaeda. Taliban insurgents continue
to press for carry out a regime change in Irak.46 47 With the lack of support from NATO
and without an explicit UN mandate for intervention military , Bush organized the coalition of
the willing , coalition forces quickly invaded Iraq in 2003 and overthrew dictator Saddam
Hussein. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina , would end up being the most expensive natural disaster
was devastada.48 On November 4, 2008 , in midst of a global economic recession , Barack
Obama was elected president, the first African American to hold the office .
Main articles : Federal government of the United States , U.S. Politics and Elections
U.S. Capitol , where Congress meets . United States is the world's oldest federation
by minority rights protected by law " .49 The government is regulated by a system of
checks and balances defined by the Constitution , which serves as the supreme legal document
country.50 the American federalist system , citizens are usually subject to three levels
county governments and municipalities. In almost all cases , officials of the executive
and legislative branches are directly elected by citizens of the district.
States. The federal government is divided into three
, made up of the Senate and House of Representatives. Their role is to federal
laws , make declarations of war , approve treaties , administer public funds and has
Executive: The president is the commander in chief of the military, can veto bills before
they become law , and appoints official cabinet members (subject to Senate approval ) and
Judiciary: The Supreme Court and lower federal courts , whose judges are appointed by the
president with Senate approval , interpret laws and suppress those deemed unconstitutional.
district for a term of two years.50 The places within the chamber are distributed among the
states according to population every ten years. According to the 2000 census , seven states
have the minimum of one representative , while California , the most populous state , has
fifty-three. The Senate has 100 members , because each state has two senators , elected for
a term of six years, one third of the seats in the Senate are elected every two years.50
Building of the Supreme Court of the United States, seen from the west .
The president serves for a term of four years and may be re-elected to the office no more
than twice. The president is not elected by direct vote , but by an indirect electoral
colleges system , in which the determining votes are apportioned by estado.50 A state
have : senators ( two per state ) and representatives (which varies depending on the population
of each state) , giving a total of 538 members . The country's two-party system allows a
candidate for president , whether Republican or Democrat, just need 270 votes to ensure
similar fashion ; Nebraska is the only one with a legislature unicameral.52 The governor
( chief executive ) of each state is directly elected . Some state judges and cabinet officers
vote. All laws and governmental procedures are subject
to judicial review, and any law that is void against the Constitution. The original text
and its relationship with governments estados.50 Article I protects the right to the " great
resource " of habeas corpus22 and Article III guarantees the right to a jury trial in
all cases penales.22 amendments to the Constitution require the approval of three-fourths of the
, which make up the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment form the central basis
of guarantees individuales.22 Foreign relations and military
Building of the Embassy of Mexico to the United States in the country's capital .
United States exercises global influence economic , political and military . It is a permanent
member of the Security Council of United Nations , as well as the headquarters of the United
Nations is located in New York City . He is a member of the G8, G20 and the Organization
or consulate in Washington D. C. or another major city in the country. In turn , almost
all the world's countries have a diplomatic mission estadounidense.53 However, Cuba , Iran
, North Korea , Bhutan , Sudan and the Republic of China (Taiwan ) do not have formal diplomatic
Kingdom , Canada, Australia , New Zealand , Japan , South Korea and Israel. He works
closely with his colleagues of the Organization North Atlantic Treaty on military and security
issues and with its neighbors through the Organization of American States and international
Mexico . In 2009, the United States spent a net $ 28 665 million in official development
assistance , the most in the world , although in terms of percentage of gross domestic product
(GDP ) , the contribution of 0.20 % ranked one of the last places among the twenty donor
Groups of attack of the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk, Ronald Reagan and Abraham Lincoln , with
aircraft the Marine Corps , Navy and Air Force .
The president holds the title of commander in chief of the nation's armed forces and
of Defense administers the armed forces , including the Army , Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force
. The Coast Guard is run by the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime and the
Department of the Navy in time of war . In 2008 , the armed forces had 1.4 million active
members. Reserves and National Guard bring the total number of troops to 2.3 million.
The gradual establishment of the U.S. armed forces on a large scale began with the division
and occupation of Germany in 1945 , was expanded with the Cold War influence in their countries
, and continues. Military service is voluntary , though conscription may apply in wartime
in the garrisons extranjero57 and maintains over 100 military assets in 28 countries distintos.58
The extent of this global military presence has prompted some authors to describe the
country as if it held an "empire of bases" 59 60
and higher than the expenses together of the following fourteen countries with the largest
armies . The expenditure per capita was U.S. $ 1,967 , about nine times the world average
; occupying 4% of PIB.61 The base budget of the Department of Defense in 2010- set at
533.8 billion dollars, increased by 4% in 2009 and 80 % more than in 2001 , will be
in May 2010 there were 94,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan and 92,000 in June Irak.63
to 2010 , the U.S. military had suffered 4,400 casualties during the war in Irak64 and 1,087
during the War in Afganistán.65 human rights
On human rights , respect of members in the seven bodies of the International Bill of
Human Rights , including the Human Rights Committee (HRC ), United States of America
has signed or ratified : A blue.svg emblem Status of major international
United States International Treaties CEDAW71 CED70 CESCR67 CAT72 CCPR68 CRC73 CERD69
-DP -OP CEDAW CEDAW -OP CAT CAT CRC CRC -OP -AC CRC -OP- SC CRPD -OP CRPD
Membership Signed but not ratified . Neither signed nor ratified . Signed and ratified.
signed nor ratified . Signed but not ratified . Neither signed nor ratified . Yes check.svgEstados
States has recognized the competence of individual communications received and processed by the
competent bodies . Neither signed nor ratified . Signed but not ratified . Signed and ratified.
nor ratified . Signed and ratified check.svg Yes , check.svg
without information , Zeichen 101.svg has agreed to sign and ratify the organ in question
, but also recognizes the competence of individual communications received and processed by the
* Northern Mariana Islands * U.S. *** Islands
* Jarvis Island * Baker Island
See also : Territorial evolution of the United States.
United States is a federal union of fifty states. The original thirteen states were
independence , the creation of three new states from existing ones : Kentucky from Virginia
; Tennessee North Carolina and Maine from Massachusetts. Most of the other states were
Texas and Hawaii are the exception : each was an independent republic before joining
the Union. During the Civil War , West Virginia broke away from Virginia. The latest state
is Hawaii , which gained recognition as a state on August 21, 1959 . The states do not
have the right to secede from the Union . The states compose much of the U.S. territory
, the federal district where the capital is Washington D. C. , and Palmyra Atoll, an uninhabited
but incorporated territory located in the Pacific Ocean. The United States also possesses
five major overseas territories : Puerto Rico and the *** Islands of the United States
in the Caribbean and American Samoa , Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific.
American citizens residing in the territories have many of the rights and responsibilities
of citizens residing in the states , however , are generally exempt from federal income
tax , may not vote in the presidential elections and are represented only as observers in the
Main article: Geography of the United States.
The Grand Canyon, a landform carved by the Colorado River.
which is separated from the contiguous United States by Canada, is the largest state of
the country, with 1.5 million km ² . Hawaii occupies an archipelago located in the central
Pacific , southwest of North America , covering just over 16 000 km ² .77 After Russia and
Canada , is the third or fourth largest country in the world by total area (land and water
) falling just above or below China. The list varies depending on whether one considers
of the United States : The World Factbook of the CIA believes 9,826,675 km ² , 78 Division
Nations Statistics UN estimates 9,629,091 km ² , 79 and the Encyclopedia Britannica
states 9,522,055 km ² .80 Including only land area , the United States is third in
The country has many landforms and landforms. As one moves inland, the coastal plain of
the Atlantic seaboard gives rise to deciduous forest and the Piedmont Plateau . The Appalachians
separate the eastern coast of the Great Lakes to the prairies of the Midwest. The Mississippi
the center of the country . The flat, fertile prairie of the Great Plains stretches to the
west, until it is interrupted by a highland region in the southeast. The Rocky Mountains
, at the western edge of the Great Plains , crossing from north to south across the
country , reaching altitudes higher than 4300 m in Colorado. Further west lies the Great
Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountains are located near the Pacific coast . With its 6194 meters
, Mount McKinley in Alaska is the highest point in the country and across the continent.
Active volcanoes are common throughout Alaska and the Aleutian Islands , in addition to
Hawaii consists of volcanic islands only . The supervolcano located under Yellowstone National
Hurricane Katrina impacting on the southern coast of the United States in 2005.
, the country has the most types of weather. To the east of the 100th meridian , the climate
ranges from humid continental in the north to humid subtropical in the south. The southern
tip of Florida and the Hawaiian Islands have a tropical climate . The Great Plains west
of the 100th meridian are semi-arid , while much of the western mountains have an alpine
climate . The climate is arid in the Great Basin and deserts of the Southwest, is Mediterranean
in coastal California , and oceanic in the southern coast of Alaska, Oregon and Washington.
A95 Exports Imports DE96 Country Percentage Country Percentage
Flag of 37.7 % Canada.svg Canada Flag of the Republic of China China 18.4 %
Flag of the Republic of China China Flag of Mexico.svg 7% Mexico 11.7 %
Flag of Germany.svg Germany 4.4 % While agriculture accounts for less than 1%
of GDP , 98 the country is the largest producer and soya.105 maíz104 All this production
contributes to the New York Stock Exchange is the largest in the mundo.106 In turn , companies
American Coca- Cola , McDonalds and Microsoft are the most recognized brands in the mundo.107
In the third quarter of 2009 , the American labor force was 154.4 million. Of these employees
, 81 % have a job in the service sector . infrastructure
demography
Official language of states and territories. English is official.
English de facto .
Multiple languages in fact. Main article: Languages in the United
States.
Although there is no official language at the federal level , some laws - such as Naturalization
Requirements - placed English as compulsory language .
Washington National Cathedral D. C. , belonging to the Episcopal Church , though with different
daily services from other congregations .
health
Los Angeles Los Angeles
Chicago Chicago
Phoenix Phoenix
6 Philadelphia Pennsylvania 1,445,993 16 768 662 Columbus Ohio
7 San Antonio Texas 1,402,013 17 751 149 Fort Worth Texas
art