The United States of America (U.S.A.

or USA), commonly known as the United States

(U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It
consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territories,
nine Minor Outlying Islands,[g] and 326 Indian reservations. The United States is
also in free association with three Pacific Island sovereign states: the Federated
States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. It is the
world's third-largest country by both land and total area.[b] It shares land
borders with Canada to its north and with Mexico to its south. It has maritime
borders with the Bahamas, Cuba, Russia, and other nations.[h] With a population of
over 333 million,[i] it is the most populous country in the Americas and the third
most populous in the world. The national capital is Washington, D.C. and the most
populous city and financial center is New York City.

Paleo-Americans migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland at least

12,000 years ago, and advanced cultures began to appear later on. These advanced
cultures had almost completely declined by the time Europeans arrived in North
America and began to colonize the continent. The United States emerged from the
Thirteen British Colonies when disputes with the British Crown over taxation and
political representation led to the American Revolution (1765–1791), which
established independence and the United States as the first nation-state founded on
Enlightenment principles of liberal democracy.

In the late 18th century, the U.S. began expanding across North America, gradually
obtaining new territories, sometimes through war, frequently displacing Native
Americans, and admitting new states. By 1848, the United States spanned the
continent from east to west. The controversy surrounding the practice of slavery
culminated in the secession of the Confederate States of America, which fought the
remaining states of the Union during the American Civil War (1861–1865). With the
Union's victory and preservation, slavery was abolished by the Thirteenth
Amendment.

By 1900, the United States had become the world's largest economy, and the Spanish–
American War and World War I established the country as a world power. After
Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the U.S. entered World War II on
the Allied side. The aftermath of the war left the United States and the Soviet
Union as the world's two superpowers. During the Cold War, both countries engaged
in a struggle for ideological dominance but avoided direct military conflict. They
also competed in the Space Race, which culminated in the 1969 American spaceflight
that first landed humans on the Moon. Simultaneously, the civil rights movement
(1954–1968) led to legislation abolishing state and local Jim Crow laws and other
codified racial discrimination against African Americans. The Soviet Union's
dissolution in 1991 ended the Cold War, leaving the United States as the world's
sole superpower. In 2001, following the September 11 attacks, the United States
became a lead member of the Global War on Terrorism, which included the War in
Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the Iraq War (2003–2011).

The United States is a federal republic with three separate branches of government,
including a bicameral legislature. It is a liberal democracy and has a market
economy. It ranks very high in international measures of quality of life, income
and wealth, economic competitiveness, human rights, innovation, and education; it
has low levels of perceived corruption. The United States has the highest median
income per person of any polity in the world. It has high levels of incarceration
and inequality and lacks universal health care. As a melting pot of cultures and
ethnicities, the U.S. has been shaped by centuries of immigration.

The United States is a highly developed country, and its economy accounts for
approximately a quarter of global GDP and is the world's largest by GDP at market
exchange rates. By value, the United States is the world's largest importer and
second-largest exporter. Although it accounts for just over 4.2% of the world's
total population, the U.S. holds over 30% of the total wealth in the world, the
largest share held by any country. The United States is a founding member of the
United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American
States, NATO, the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, and is a permanent member of the
United Nations Security Council. The United States is the world's foremost
political, scientific, and military power, and a leading cultural force.

Etymology
Further information: Names of the United States, Names for United States citizens,
Naming of the Americas, Americas § Terminology, and American (word)
The first known use of the name "America" dates to 1507, when it appeared on a
world map produced by the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller in Saint Dié,
Lorraine (now northeastern France). On his map, the name is shown in large letters
on what would now be considered South America, honoring Amerigo Vespucci. The
Italian explorer was the first to postulate that the West Indies did not represent
Asia's eastern limit but were part of a previously unknown landmass.[25][26] In
1538, the Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator used the name "America" to refer
to the entire Western Hemisphere.[27]

The first documentary evidence of the phrase "United States of America" dates back
to a letter from January 2, 1776, written by Stephen Moylan to Joseph Reed, George
Washington's aide-de-camp. Moylan expressed his wish to go "with full and ample
powers from the United States of America to Spain" to seek assistance in the
revolutionary war effort.[28][29][30] The first known publication of the phrase
"United States of America" was in an anonymous essay in The Virginia Gazette
newspaper in Williamsburg, on April 6, 1776.[31]

The second draft of the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, prepared by
John Dickinson and completed no later than June 17, 1776, declared "The name of
this Confederation shall be the 'United States of America'."[32] The final version
of the Articles, sent to the states for ratification in late 1777, stated that "The
Stile of this Confederacy shall be 'The United States of America'."[33] In June
1776, Thomas Jefferson wrote the phrase "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" in all
capitalized letters in the headline of his "original Rough draught" of the
Declaration of Independence.[32] This draft of the document did not surface until
June 21, 1776, and it is unclear whether it was written before or after Dickinson
used the term in his June 17 draft of the Articles of Confederation.[32]

The phrase "United States" was originally plural in American usage. It described a
collection of states—e.g., "the United States are..." The singular form became
popular after the end of the Civil War and is now standard usage. A citizen of the
United States is called an "American". "United States", "American", and "U.S."
refer to the country adjectivally ("American values", "U.S. forces"). In English,
the word "American" rarely refers to topics or subjects not directly connected with
the United States.[34]

History
Main article: History of the United States
For a topical guide, see Outline of United States history.
Early history
Further information: Native Americans in the United States, Prehistory of the
United States, and Pre-Columbian era
Aerial view of the Cliff Palace
Cliff Palace, located in present-day Colorado, was built by the Ancestral Puebloans
between AD 1190 and 1260.
It is generally accepted that the first inhabitants of North America migrated from
Siberia by way of the Bering land bridge and arrived at least 12,000 years ago;
however, some evidence suggests an even earlier date of arrival.[35][36][37] The
Clovis culture, which appeared around 11,000 BC, is believed to represent the first
wave of human settlement of the Americas.[38][39] This was likely the first of
three major waves of migration into North America; later waves brought the
ancestors of present-day Athabaskans, Aleuts, and Eskimos.[40]

Over time, indigenous cultures in North America grew increasingly sophisticated,

and some, such as the pre-Columbian Mississippian culture in the southeast,
developed advanced agriculture, architecture, and complex societies.[41] The city-
state of Cahokia is the largest, most complex pre-Columbian archaeological site in
the modern-day United States.[42] In the Four Corners region, Ancestral Puebloan
culture developed from centuries of agricultural experimentation.[43] The
Algonquian are one of the most populous and widespread North American native
language groups. Historically, the peoples were prominent along the Atlantic Coast
and into the interior along the Saint Lawrence River and around the Great Lakes.
This grouping consists of the peoples who speak Algonquian languages.[44] Before
Europeans came into contact, most Algonquian settlements lived by hunting and
fishing, although quite a few supplemented their diet by cultivating corn, beans
and squash (the "Three Sisters"). The Ojibwe cultivated wild rice.[45] The
Haudenosaunee of the Iroquois, located in the southern Great Lakes region, was
established at some point between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries.[46]

Estimating the native population of North America during European contact is

difficult.[47][48] Douglas H. Ubelaker of the Smithsonian Institution estimated a
population of 93,000 in the South Atlantic states and a population of 473,000 in
the Gulf states,[49] but most academics regard this figure as too low.[47]
Anthropologist Henry F. Dobyns believed the populations were much higher,
suggesting around 1.1 million along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, 2.2 million
people living between Florida and Massachusetts, 5.2 million in the Mississippi
Valley and tributaries, and around 700,000 people in the Florida peninsula.[47][48]

Colonial America

The Mayflower Compact signed on the Mayflower in 1620 set an early precedent for
self-government and constitutionalism.
Claims of very early colonization of coastal New England by the Norse are disputed
and controversial.[50][51] The first documented arrival of Europeans in the
continental United States is that of Spanish conquistadors such as Juan Ponce de
León, who made his first expedition to Florida in 1513.[52] The Italian explorer
Giovanni da Verrazzano, sent by France to the New World in 1525, encountered native
inhabitants of what is now New York Bay.[53] Even earlier, Christopher Columbus had
landed in Puerto Rico on his 1493 voyage, and San Juan was settled by the Spanish a
decade later.[54] The Spanish set up the first settlements in Florida and New
Mexico, such as Saint Augustine, often considered the nation's oldest city,[55] and
Santa Fe. The French established their own settlements along the Mississippi River
and Gulf of Mexico, notably New Orleans and Mobile.[56]

Successful English settlement of the eastern coast of North America began with the
Virginia Colony in 1607 at Jamestown and with the Pilgrims' colony at Plymouth in
1620.[57][58] The continent's first elected legislative assembly, Virginia's House
of Burgesses, was founded in 1619. Harvard College was established in the
Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1636 as the first institution of higher education. The
Mayflower Compact and the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut established precedents
for representative self-government and constitutionalism that would develop
throughout the American colonies.[59][60] Many English settlers were dissenting
Christians who came seeking religious freedom. The native population of America
declined after European arrival for various reasons,[61][62][63] primarily from
diseases such as smallpox and measles.[64][65]

Map of the U.S. showing the original Thirteen Colonies along the eastern seaboard
The original Thirteen Colonies (shown in red) in 1775
In the early days of colonization, many European settlers experienced food
shortages, disease, and conflicts with Native Americans, such as in King Philip's
War. Native Americans were also often fighting neighboring tribes and European
settlers. In many cases, however, the natives and settlers came to depend on each
other. Settlers traded for food and animal pelts; natives for guns, tools and other
European goods.[66] Natives taught many settlers to cultivate corn, beans, and
other foodstuffs. European missionaries and others felt it was important to
"civilize" the Native Americans and urged them to adopt European agricultural
practices and lifestyles.[67][68] However, with the increased European colonization
of North America, Native Americans were displaced and often killed during
conflicts.[69]

European settlers also began trafficking African slaves into Colonial America via
the transatlantic slave trade.[70] Because of a lower prevalence of tropical
diseases and relatively better treatment, slaves had a much higher life expectancy
in North America than in South America, leading to a rapid increase in their
numbers.[71][72] Colonial society was largely divided over the religious and moral
implications of slavery, and several colonies passed acts for or against the
practice.[73][74] However, by the turn of the 18th century, African slaves had
supplanted European indentured servants as cash crop labor, especially in the
American South.[75]

The Thirteen Colonies[j] that would become the United States of America were
administered by the British as overseas dependencies.[76] All nonetheless had local
governments with elections open to most free men.[77] With very high birth rates,
low death rates, and steady settlement, the colonial population grew rapidly,
eclipsing Native American populations.[78] The Christian revivalist movement of the
1730s and 1740s known as the Great Awakening fueled interest both in religion and
in religious liberty.[79]

During the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), known in the U.S. as the French and Indian
War, British forces captured Canada from the French. With the creation of the
Province of Quebec, Canada's francophone population would remain isolated from the
English-speaking colonial dependencies of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and the
Thirteen Colonies. Excluding the Native Americans who lived there, the Thirteen
Colonies had a population of over 2.1 million in 1770, about a third that of
Britain. Despite continuing new arrivals, the rate of natural increase was such
that by the 1770s only a small minority of Americans had been born overseas.[80]
The colonies' distance from Britain had allowed the development of self-government,
but their unprecedented success motivated British monarchs to periodically seek to
reassert royal authority.[81]

American Revolution and the early federal republic

Main articles: History of the United States (1776–1789) and 1789–1849
Further information: American Revolution, American Revolutionary War, Territorial
evolution of the United States, and Slave states and free states
See caption
Declaration of Independence, a painting by John Trumbull, depicts the Committee of
Five[k] presenting the draft of the Declaration to the Continental Congress, June
28, 1776, in Philadelphia.
The American Revolution separated the Thirteen Colonies from the British Empire,
and was the first successful war of independence by a non-European entity against a
European power in modern history. By the 18th century the American Enlightenment
and the political philosophies of liberalism were pervasive among leaders.
Americans began to develop an ideology of "republicanism", asserting that
government rested on the consent of the governed. They demanded their "rights as
Englishmen" and "no taxation without representation".[82][83] The British insisted
on administering the colonies through a Parliament that did not have a single
representative responsible for any American constituency, and the conflict
escalated into war.[84]

In 1774, the First Continental Congress passed the Continental Association, which
mandated a colonies-wide boycott of British goods. The American Revolutionary War
began the following year, catalyzed by events like the Stamp Act and the Boston Tea
Party that were rooted in colonial disagreement with British governance.[85][86]
The Second Continental Congress, an assembly representing the United Colonies,
unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 (annually
celebrated as Independence Day).[87] In 1781, the Articles of Confederation and
Perpetual Union established a decentralized government that operated until 1789.
[87] A celebrated early turn in the war for the Americans was George Washington
leading the Americans to cross the frozen Delaware River in a surprise attack the
night of December 25–26, 1776. Another victory, in 1777, at the Battle of Saratoga
resulted in the capture of a British army, and led to France and Spain joining in
the war against them. After the surrender of a second British army at the siege of
Yorktown in 1781, Britain signed a peace treaty. American sovereignty became
internationally recognized, and the new nation took possession of substantial
territory east of the Mississippi River, from what is today Canada in the north and
Florida in the south.[88]

As it became increasingly apparent that the Confederation was insufficient to

govern the new country, nationalists advocated for and led the Philadelphia
Convention of 1787 in writing the United States Constitution to replace it,
ratified in state conventions in 1788. Going into force in 1789, this constitution
reorganized the government into a federation administered by three equal branches
(executive, judicial and legislative), on the principle of creating salutary checks
and balances. George Washington, who had led the Continental Army to victory and
then willingly relinquished power, was the first president elected under the new
constitution. The Bill of Rights, forbidding federal restriction of personal
freedoms and guaranteeing a range of legal protections, was adopted in 1791.[89]
Tensions with Britain remained, however, leading to the War of 1812, which was
fought to a draw.[90]

Although the federal government outlawed American participation in the Atlantic

slave trade in 1807, after 1820, cultivation of the highly profitable cotton crop
exploded in the Deep South, and along with it, the use of slave labor.[91][92][93]
The Second Great Awakening, especially in the period 1800–1840, converted millions
to evangelical Protestantism. In the North, it energized multiple social reform
movements, including abolitionism;[94] in the South, Methodists and Baptists
proselytized among slave populations.[95]

Map of the U.S. depicting its westward expansion

Territorial acquisitions of the United States between 1783 and 1917
In the late 18th century, American settlers began to expand further westward, some
of them with a sense of manifest destiny.[96][97] The 1803 Louisiana Purchase
almost doubled the nation's area,[98] Spain ceded Florida and other Gulf Coast
territory in 1819,[99] the Republic of Texas was annexed in 1845 during a period of
expansionism,[97] and the 1846 Oregon Treaty with Britain led to U.S. control of
the present-day American Northwest.[100] Additionally, the Trail of Tears in the
1830s exemplified the Indian removal policy that forcibly resettled Indians. This
further expanded acreage under mechanical cultivation, increasing surpluses for
international markets. This prompted a long series of American Indian Wars west of
the Mississippi River from 1810 to at least 1890.[101] and eventually, conflict
with Mexico.[102] Most of these conflicts ended with the cession of Native American
territory and their confinement to Indian reservations. Victory in the Mexican–
American War resulted in the 1848 Mexican Cession of California and much of the
present-day American Southwest, and the U.S. spanned the continent.[96][103] The
California Gold Rush of 1848–1849 spurred migration to the Pacific coast, which led
to the California Genocide[104] and the creation of additional western states.[105]
Economic development was spurred by giving vast quantities of land, nearly 10% of
the total area of the United States, to white European settlers as part of the
Homestead Acts, as well as making land grants to private railroad companies and
colleges.[106] Prior to the Civil War, the prohibition or expansion of slavery into
these territories exacerbated tensions over the debate around abolitionism.

The Civil War and Reconstruction

Main article: History of the United States (1849–1865)
Further information: American Civil War and Reconstruction era
See also: Lost Cause of the Confederacy
Map of U.S. showing two kinds of Union states, two phases of secession and
territories
Status of the states, 1861
Slave states that seceded before April 15, 1861
Slave states that seceded after April 15, 1861
Union states that permitted slavery (border states)
Union states that banned slavery
Territories
Irreconcilable sectional conflict regarding the enslavement of Africans and African
Americans ultimately led to the American Civil War.[107] With the 1860 election of
Republican Abraham Lincoln, conventions in eleven slave states declared secession
and formed the Confederate States of America, while the federal government (the
"Union") maintained that secession was unconstitutional and illegal.[108] On April
12, 1861, the Confederacy initiated military conflict by bombarding Fort Sumter, a
federal garrison in Charleston harbor, South Carolina. This would be the spark of
the Civil War, which lasted for four years (1861–1865) and became the deadliest
military conflict in American history. The war would result in the deaths of
approximately 620,000 soldiers from both sides and upwards of 50,000 civilians,
almost all of them in the South.[109]

Reconstruction began in earnest following the war. While President Lincoln

attempted to foster friendship and forgiveness between the Union and the former
Confederacy, his assassination on April 14, 1865 drove a wedge between North and
South again. Republicans in the federal government made it their goal to oversee
the rebuilding of the South and to ensure the rights of African Americans. They
persisted until the Compromise of 1877, when the Republicans agreed to cease
protecting the rights of African Americans in the South in order for Democrats to
concede the presidential election of 1876. Southern white Democrats, calling
themselves "Redeemers", took control of the South after the end of Reconstruction,
beginning the nadir of American race relations. From 1890 to 1910, the Redeemers
established so-called Jim Crow laws, disenfranchising most blacks and some
impoverished whites throughout the region. Blacks would face racial segregation
nationwide, especially in the South.[110] They also lived under constant threat of
vigilante violence, including lynching.[111]

Industrial Age and the Progressive Era

Main article: History of the United States (1865–1918)
Further information: Economic history of the United States, Immigration to the
United States, and Technological and industrial history of the United States
2:43
Film by Edison Studios showing immigrants at Ellis Island in New York Harbor, that
was a major entry point for European immigration into the U.S.[112]
In the North, urbanization and an unprecedented influx of immigrants from Southern
and Eastern Europe supplied a surplus of labor for the country's industrialization
and transformed its culture.[113]

National infrastructure, including telegraph and transcontinental railroads,

spurred economic growth and greater settlement and development of the American Old
West. After the American Civil War, new transcontinental railways made relocation
easier for settlers, expanded internal trade, and increased conflicts with Native
Americans.[114] The later inventions of electric light and the telephone would also
affect communication and urban life.[115]

Mainland expansion also included the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867.[116]
In 1893, pro-American elements in Hawaii overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy and formed
the Republic of Hawaii, which the U.S. annexed in 1898. Puerto Rico, Guam, and the
Philippines were ceded by Spain in the same year, following the Spanish–American
War.[117] American Samoa was acquired by the United States in 1900 after the end of
the Second Samoan Civil War.[118] The U.S. Virgin Islands were purchased from
Denmark in 1917.[119]

Rapid economic development during the late 19th and early 20th centuries fostered
the rise of many prominent industrialists. Tycoons like Cornelius Vanderbilt, John
D. Rockefeller, and Andrew Carnegie led the nation's progress in the railroad,
petroleum, and steel industries. Banking became a major part of the economy, with
J. P. Morgan playing a notable role. The American economy boomed, becoming the
world's largest.[120]

These dramatic changes were accompanied by growing inequality and social unrest,
which prompted the rise of organized labor along with populist, socialist, and
anarchist movements.[121] This period eventually ended with the advent of the
Progressive Era, which saw significant reforms including health and safety
regulation of consumer goods, the rise of labor unions, and greater antitrust
measures to ensure competition among businesses and attention to worker conditions.

The rise to world power, The New Deal, and World War II
Main article: History of the United States (1918–1945)
Further information: United States in World War I, Great Depression in the United
States, and Military history of the United States during World War II

Worker during construction of the Empire State Building in New York City in 1930

Mushroom cloud formed by the Trinity Experiment in July 1945, part of the Manhattan
Project, the first detonation of a nuclear weapon in history
The United States remained neutral from the outbreak of World War I in 1914 until
1917 when it joined the war as an "associated power" alongside the Allies of World
War I, helping to turn the tide against the Central Powers. In 1919, President
Woodrow Wilson took a leading diplomatic role at the Paris Peace Conference and
advocated strongly for the U.S. to join the League of Nations. However, the Senate
refused to approve this and did not ratify the Treaty of Versailles that
established the League of Nations.[122]

Around this time, millions of rural African Americans began a mass migration from
the South to northern urban centers; it would continue until about 1970.[123] The
last vestiges of the Progressive Era resulted in women's suffrage and alcohol
prohibition.[124][125][126] In 1920, the women's rights movement won passage of a
constitutional amendment granting women's suffrage.[127] The 1920s and 1930s saw
the rise of radio for mass communication and the invention of early television.
[128] The prosperity of the Roaring Twenties ended with the Wall Street Crash of
1929 and the onset of the Great Depression. After his election as president in
1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt responded with the New Deal.[129] The Dust Bowl of the
mid-1930s impoverished many farming communities and spurred a new wave of western
migration.[130]

At first neutral during World War II, the United States in March 1941 began
supplying materiel to the Allies. On December 7, 1941, the Empire of Japan launched
a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, prompting the United States to join the Allies
against the Axis powers, and in the following year, to intern about 120,000
Japanese and Japanese Americans.[131][132] The U.S. pursued a "Europe first"
defense policy,[133] leaving the Philippines, an American colony, isolated and
alone to fight Japan's invasion and occupation until the U.S.-led Philippines
campaign (1944–1945). During the war, the United States was one of the "Four
Powers"[134] who met to plan the postwar world, along with Britain, the Soviet
Union, and China.[135][136] The United States emerged relatively unscathed from the
war, and with even greater economic and military influence.[137]

The United States played a leading role in the Bretton Woods and Yalta conferences,
which signed agreements on new international financial institutions and Europe's
postwar reorganization. As an Allied victory was won in Europe, a 1945
international conference held in San Francisco produced the United Nations Charter,
which became active after the war.[138] The United States and Japan then fought
each other in the largest naval battle in history, the Battle of Leyte Gulf.[139]
[140] The United States developed the first nuclear weapons and used them on Japan
in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945; the Japanese surrendered on
September 2, ending World War II.[141][142]

Cold War and late 20th century

Main articles: History of the United States (1945–1964), 1964–1980, 1980–1991, and
1991–2008

In the United States, the post–World War II economic expansion was manifested in
suburban development and urban sprawl, like in Levittown, Pennsylvania, circa 1959.
After World War II, the United States financed and implemented the Marshall Plan to
help rebuild western Europe; disbursements paid between 1948 and 1952 would total
$13 billion ($115 billion in 2021).[143] Also at this time, geopolitical tensions
between the United States and Russia led to the Cold War, driven by an ideological
divide between capitalism and communism.[144] They dominated the military affairs
of Europe, with the U.S. and its NATO allies on one side and the Soviet Union and
its Warsaw Pact allies on the other.[145] The U.S. often opposed Third World
movements that it viewed as Soviet-sponsored, sometimes pursuing direct action for
regime change against left-wing governments.[146] American troops fought the
communist forces in the Korean War of 1950–1953,[147] and the U.S. became
increasingly involved in the Vietnam War (1955–1975), introducing combat forces in
1965.[148] Their competition to achieve superior spaceflight capability led to the
Space Race, which culminated in the U.S. becoming the first nation to land people
on the Moon in 1969.[147] While both countries engaged in proxy wars and developed
powerful nuclear weapons, they avoided direct military conflict.[145]

At home, the United States experienced sustained economic expansion, urbanization,

and a rapid growth of its population and middle class following World War II.
Construction of an Interstate Highway System transformed the nation's
transportation infrastructure in decades to come.[149][150] In 1959, the United
States admitted Alaska and Hawaii to become the 49th and 50th states, formally
expanding beyond the contiguous United States.[151]

See caption
Martin Luther King Jr. gives his famous "I Have a Dream" speech at the Lincoln
Memorial during the March on Washington, 1963.
The growing civil rights movement used nonviolence to confront racism, with Martin
Luther King Jr. becoming a prominent leader and figurehead.[152] President Lyndon
B. Johnson initiated legislation that led to a series of policies addressing
poverty and racial inequalities, in what he termed the "Great Society". The launch
of a "War on Poverty" expanded entitlements and welfare spending, leading to the
creation of the Food Stamp Program, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, along
with national health insurance programs Medicare and Medicaid.[153] A combination
of court decisions and legislation, culminating in the Civil Rights Act of 1968,
made significant improvements.[154][155][156] Meanwhile, a counterculture movement
grew, which was fueled by opposition to the Vietnam War, the Black Power movement,
and the sexual revolution.[157] The women's movement in the U.S. broadened the
debate on women's rights and made gender equality a major social goal. The 1969
Stonewall riots in New York City marked the beginning of the fledgling gay rights
movement.[158][159]

The United States supported Israel during the Yom Kippur War; in response, the
country faced an oil embargo from OPEC nations, sparking the 1973 oil crisis. After
a surge in female labor participation around the 1970s, by 1985, the majority of
women aged 16 and over were employed.[160] The 1970s and early 1980s also saw the
onset of stagflation. The presidency of Richard Nixon saw the American withdrawal
from Vietnam but also the Watergate scandal which led to a decline in public trust
of government.[161]

U.S. president Ronald Reagan (left) and Soviet general secretary Mikhail Gorbachev
at the Geneva Summit in 1985
After his election in 1980 President Ronald Reagan responded to economic stagnation
with neoliberal reforms and initiated the more aggressive rollback strategy towards
the Soviet Union.[162][163][164] During Reagan's presidency, the federal debt held
by the public nearly tripled in nominal terms, from $738 billion to $2.1 trillion.
[165] This led to the United States moving from the world's largest international
creditor to the world's largest debtor nation.[166] The dissolution of the Soviet
Union in 1991 ended the Cold War,[167][168][169] ensuring a global unipolarity[170]
in which the U.S. was unchallenged as the world's dominant superpower.[171]

Fearing the spread of regional international instability from the Iraqi invasion of
Kuwait, in August 1991, President George H. W. Bush launched and led the Gulf War
against Iraq, expelling Iraqi forces and restoring the Kuwaiti monarchy.[172]
Beginning in 1994, the U.S. signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA),
causing trade among the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to soar.[173] Due to the dot-com
boom, stable monetary policy, and reduced social welfare spending, the 1990s saw
the longest economic expansion in modern U.S. history.[174]

21st century
Main articles: History of the United States (1991–2008) and 2008–present
Dark smoke billows from the Twin Towers over Manhattan
The World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan during the September 11 attacks by the
Islamic terrorist group Al-Qaeda in 2001
On September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda terrorist hijackers flew passenger planes into the
World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., killing
nearly 3,000 people.[175] In response, President George W. Bush launched the War on
Terror, which included a nearly 20-year war in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2021 and
the 2003–2011 Iraq War.[176][177] Government policy designed to promote affordable
housing,[178] widespread failures in corporate and regulatory governance,[179] and
historically low interest rates set by the Federal Reserve[180] led to a housing
bubble in 2006. This culminated in the financial crisis of 2007–2008 and the Great
Recession, the nation's largest economic contraction since the Great Depression.
[181]

Barack Obama, the first multiracial[182] president with African-American ancestry,

was elected in 2008 amid the financial crisis.[183] By the end of his second term,
the stock market, median household income and net worth, and the number of persons
with jobs were all at record levels, while the unemployment rate was well below the
historical average.[184][185][186][187][188] His signature legislative
accomplishment was the Affordable Care Act (ACA), popularly known as "Obamacare".
It represented the U.S. healthcare system's most significant regulatory overhaul
and expansion of coverage since Medicare in 1965. As a result, the uninsured share
of the population was cut in half, while the number of newly insured Americans was
estimated to be between 20 and 24 million.[189] After Obama served two terms,
Republican Donald Trump was elected as the 45th president in 2016. His election is
viewed as one of the biggest political upsets in American history.[190] Trump held
office through the first waves of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting COVID-19
recession starting in 2020 that exceeded even the Great Recession earlier in the
century.[191]

The early 2020s saw the country become more divided, with various social issues
sparking debate and protest. The murder of George Floyd in 2020 led to widespread
civil unrest in urban centers and a national debate about police brutality and
lingering institutional racism.[192] The nationwide increase in the frequency of
instances and number of deaths related to mass shootings added to the societal
tensions.[193] On January 6, 2021, supporters of the outgoing president, Trump,
stormed the U.S. Capitol in an unsuccessful effort to disrupt the Electoral College
vote count that would confirm Democrat Joe Biden as the 46th president.[194] In
2022, the Supreme Court ruled that there is no constitutional right to an abortion,
causing another wave of protests across the country and stoking international
reactions as well.[195] Despite these divisions, the country has remained unified
against Russia after Vladimir Putin's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with politicians
and individuals across the political spectrum supporting arms shipments to Ukraine
and many large American corporations pulling out of Russia and Belarus altogether.
[196]

Geography
Main article: Geography of the United States

Topographic map of the United States

Denali, or Mount McKinley, in Alaska, the highest mountain peak in North America
The 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia occupy a combined area of
3,119,885 square miles (8,080,470 km2). Of this area, 2,959,064 square miles
(7,663,940 km2) is contiguous land, composing 83.65% of total U.S. land area.[197]
[198] About 15% is occupied by Alaska, a state in northwestern North America, with
the remainder in Hawaii, a state and archipelago in the central Pacific, and the
five populated but unincorporated insular territories of Puerto Rico, American
Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.[199]
Measured by only land area, the United States is third in size behind Russia and
China, and just ahead of Canada.[200]

The United States is the world's third- or fourth-largest nation by total area
(land and water), ranking behind Russia and Canada and nearly equal to China. The
ranking varies depending on how two territories disputed by China and India are
counted, and how the total size of the United States is measured.[b][201]

The coastal plain of the Atlantic seaboard gives way further inland to deciduous
forests and the rolling hills of the Piedmont.[202] The Appalachian Mountains and
the Adirondack massif divide the eastern seaboard from the Great Lakes and the
grasslands of the Midwest.[203] The Mississippi–Missouri River, the world's fourth
longest river system, runs mainly north–south through the heart of the country. The
flat, fertile prairie of the Great Plains stretches to the west, interrupted by a
highland region in the southeast.[203]

The Rocky Mountains, west of the Great Plains, extend north to south across the
country, peaking at over 14,000 feet (4,300 m) in Colorado.[204] Farther west are
the rocky Great Basin and deserts such as the Chihuahua, Sonoran, and Mojave.[205]
The Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges run close to the Pacific coast, both
ranges also reaching altitudes higher than 14,000 feet (4,300 m). The lowest and
highest points in the contiguous United States are in the state of California,[206]
and only about 84 miles (135 km) apart.[207] At an elevation of 20,310 feet
(6,190.5 m), Alaska's Denali is the highest peak in the country and in North
America.[208] Active volcanoes are common throughout Alaska's Alexander and
Aleutian Islands, and Hawaii consists of volcanic islands. The supervolcano
underlying Yellowstone National Park in the Rockies is the continent's largest
volcanic feature.[209]

Climate
Main articles: Climate of the United States and Climate change in the United States

Köppen climate types of the U.S.

The United States, with its large size and geographic variety, includes most
climate types. To the east of the 100th meridian, the climate ranges from humid
continental in the north to humid subtropical in the south.[210]

The Great Plains west of the 100th meridian are semi-arid. Many mountainous areas
of the American West have an alpine climate. The climate is arid in the Great
Basin, desert in the Southwest, Mediterranean in coastal California, and oceanic in
coastal Oregon and Washington and southern Alaska. Most of Alaska is subarctic or
polar. Hawaii and the southern tip of Florida are tropical, as well as its
territories in the Caribbean and the Pacific.[211]

States bordering the Gulf of Mexico are prone to hurricanes, and most of the
world's tornadoes occur in the country, mainly in Tornado Alley areas in the
Midwest and South.[212] Overall, the United States receives more high-impact
extreme weather incidents than any other country in the world.[213]

Extreme weather has become more frequent in the U.S., with three times the number
of reported heat waves as in the 1960s. Of the ten warmest years ever recorded in
the 48 contiguous states, eight have occurred since 1998. In the American
Southwest, droughts have become more persistent and more severe.[214]

Biodiversity and conservation

Main articles: Fauna of the United States and Flora of the United States
A bald eagle
The bald eagle has been the national bird of the United States since 1782.[215]
The U.S. is one of 17 megadiverse countries containing large numbers of endemic
species: about 17,000 species of vascular plants occur in the contiguous United
States and Alaska, and more than 1,800 species of flowering plants are found in
Hawaii, few of which occur on the mainland.[216] The United States is home to 428
mammal species, 784 birds, 311 reptiles, and 295 amphibians,[217] and 91,000 insect
species.[218]

There are 63 national parks and hundreds of other federally managed parks, forests,
and wilderness areas, which are managed by the National Park Service.[219]
Altogether, the government owns about 28% of the country's land area,[220] mostly
in the western states.[221] Most of this land is protected, though some is leased
for oil and gas drilling, mining, logging, or cattle ranching, and about .86% is
used for military purposes.[222][223]

Environmental issues include debates on oil and nuclear energy, dealing with air
and water pollution, the economic costs of protecting wildlife, logging and
deforestation,[224][225] and climate change.[226][227] The most prominent
environmental agency is the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), created by
presidential order in 1970.[228] The idea of wilderness has shaped the management
of public lands since 1964, with the Wilderness Act.[229] The Endangered Species
Act of 1973 is intended to protect threatened and endangered species and their
habitats, which are monitored by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.[230]
As of 2020, the U.S. ranked 24th among nations in the Environmental Performance
Index.[231] The country joined the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2016, and
has many other environmental commitments.[232] It withdrew from the Paris Agreement
in 2020[233] but rejoined it in 2021.[234]

Government and politics

Main articles: Politics of the United States, Federal government of the United
States, State governments of the United States, and Local government in the United
States
Further information: Political parties in the United States, Elections in the
United States, Political ideologies in the United States, American nationalism, and
American civil religion

The United States Capitol, where Congress meets: the Senate, left; the House, right

The White House, residence and workplace of the U.S. President

The Supreme Court Building, where the nation's highest court sits
The United States is a federal republic of 50 states, a federal district, five
territories and several uninhabited island possessions.[235][236][237] It is the
world's oldest surviving federation. It is a federal republic and a representative
democracy "in which majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by
law."[238] In the American federal system, sovereignty is shared between two levels
of government: federal and state. Citizens of the states are also governed by local
governments, which are administrative divisions of the states. The territories are
administrative divisions of the federal government.

The U.S. Constitution serves as the country's supreme legal document. The
Constitution establishes the structure and responsibilities of the federal
government and its relationship with the individual states. The Constitution has
been amended 27 times;[239] the first ten amendments (Bill of Rights) and the
Fourteenth Amendment form the central basis of Americans' individual rights. All
laws and governmental procedures are subject to judicial review, and any law can be
voided if the courts determine that it violates the Constitution. The principle of
judicial review, not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution, was established by
the Supreme Court in Marbury v. Madison (1803).[240]

The United States has operated under a two-party system for most of its history.
[241] In American political culture, the center-right Republican Party is
considered "conservative" and the center-left Democratic Party is considered
"liberal".[242][243] On Transparency International's 2019 Corruption Perceptions
Index, its public sector position deteriorated from a score of 76 in 2015 to 69 in
2019.[244] In 2021, the U.S. ranked 26th on the Democracy Index, and is described
as a "flawed democracy".[245]

Federal government
Main article: History of the United States government
The federal government comprises three branches, which are headquartered in
Washington, D.C. and regulated by a system of checks and balances defined by the
Constitution.[246]

Legislative: The bicameral Congress, made up of the Senate and the House of
Representatives, makes federal law, declares war, approves treaties, has the power
of the purse,[247] and has the power of impeachment, by which it can remove sitting
members of the federal government.[248]
Executive: The president is the commander-in-chief of the military, can veto
legislative bills before they become law (subject to congressional override), and
appoints the members of the Cabinet (subject to Senate approval) and other
officers, who administer and enforce federal laws and policies.[249]
Judicial: The Supreme Court and lower federal courts, whose judges are appointed by
the president with Senate approval, interpret laws and overturn those they find
unconstitutional.[250]
The lower house, the House of Representatives, has 435 voting members, each
representing a congressional district for a two-year term. House seats are
apportioned among the states by population. Each state then draws single-member
districts to conform with the census apportionment. The District of Columbia and
the five major U.S. territories each have one member of Congress—these members are
not allowed to vote.[251]

The upper house, the Senate, has 100 members with each state having two senators,
elected at large to six-year terms; one-third of Senate seats are up for election
every two years. The District of Columbia and the five major U.S. territories do
not have senators.[251] The Senate is unique among upper houses in being the most
prestigious and powerful portion of the country's bicameral system; political
scientists have frequently labeled it the "most powerful upper house" of any
government.[252]

The president serves a four-year term and may be elected to the office no more than
twice. The president is not elected by direct vote, but by an indirect electoral
college system in which the determining votes are apportioned to the states and the
District of Columbia.[253] The Supreme Court, led by the chief justice of the
United States, has nine members, who serve for life.[254]

Political divisions
Main articles: Political divisions of the United States, U.S. state, and
Territories of the United States
Further information: Territorial evolution of the United States, List of states and
territories of the United States, and Indian reservation
Each of the 50 states holds jurisdiction over a geographic territory, where it
shares sovereignty with the federal government. They are subdivided into counties
or county equivalents, and further divided into municipalities. The District of
Columbia is a federal district that contains the capital of the United States, the
city of Washington.[255] Each state has the amount presidential electors equal to
the number of their representatives plus senators in Congress, and the District of
Columbia has three electors.[256] Territories of the United States do not have
presidential electors, therefore people there cannot vote for the president.[251]

Citizenship is granted at birth in all states, the District of Columbia, and all
major U.S. territories except American Samoa.[l][260][257] The United States
observes limited tribal sovereignty of the American Indian nations, like states'
sovereignty. American Indians are U.S. citizens and tribal lands are subject to the
jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress and the federal courts. Like the states, tribes
have some autonomy restrictions. They are prohibited from making war, engaging in
their own foreign relations, and printing or issuing independent currency.[261]
Indian reservations are usually contained within one state, but there are 12
reservations that cross state boundaries.[262]

Map of USA with state names 2.svg

About this image
Foreign relations
Main articles: Foreign relations of the United States and Foreign policy of the
United States
see caption
The United Nations headquarters has been situated along the East River in Midtown
Manhattan since 1952. The United States is a founding member of the UN.
The United States has an established structure of foreign relations, and it had the
world's second-largest diplomatic corps in 2019.[263] It is a permanent member of
the United Nations Security Council,[264] and home to the United Nations
headquarters.[265] The United States is also a member of the G7,[266] G20,[267] and
OECD intergovernmental organizations.[268] Almost all countries have embassies and
many have consulates (official representatives) in the country. Likewise, nearly
all nations host formal diplomatic missions with United States, except Iran,[269]
North Korea,[270] and Bhutan.[271] Though Taiwan does not have formal diplomatic
relations with the U.S., it maintains close, if unofficial, relations. The United
States also regularly supplies Taiwan with military equipment.[272]

The United States has a "Special Relationship" with the United Kingdom[273] and
strong ties with Canada,[274] Australia,[275] New Zealand,[276] the Philippines,
[277] Japan,[278] South Korea,[279] Israel,[280] and several European Union
countries (France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Poland).[281] The U.S. works closely
with its NATO allies on military and national security issues, and with nations in
the Americas through the Organization of American States and the United States–
Mexico–Canada Free Trade Agreement. In South America, Colombia is traditionally
considered to be the closest ally of the United States.[282][283] The U.S.
exercises full international defense authority and responsibility for Micronesia,
the Marshall Islands and Palau through the Compact of Free Association.[284] Since
the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. has become a key ally of Ukraine
since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and began an invasion of Ukraine in 2022,
significantly deteriorating relations with Russia in the process.[285] The U.S. has
also experienced a deterioration of relations with China and grown closer to
Taiwan.[286][287][288]

Military
Main article: United States Armed Forces

The Pentagon, near Washington, D.C., is home to the U.S. Department of Defense.

B-2 Spirit, the stealth heavy strategic bomber of the USAF

The president is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces and
appoints its leaders, the secretary of defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The
Department of Defense, which is headquartered at the Pentagon near Washington,
D.C., administers five of the six service branches, which are made up of the Army,
Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Space Force. The Coast Guard is administered by
the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime and can be transferred to the
Department of the Navy in wartime.[289] The United States spent $649 billion on its
military in 2019, 36% of global military spending. At 4.7% of GDP, the percentage
was the second-highest among all countries, after Saudi Arabia.[290] It also has
more than 40% of the world's nuclear weapons, the second-largest after Russia.[291]

In 2019, all six branches of the U.S. Armed Forces reported 1.4 million personnel
on active duty.[292] The Reserves and National Guard brought the total number of
troops to 2.3 million.[292] The Department of Defense also employed about 700,000
civilians, not including contractors.[293] Military service in the United States is
voluntary, although conscription may occur in wartime through the Selective Service
System.[294] The United States has the third-largest combined armed forces in the
world, behind the Chinese People's Liberation Army and Indian Armed Forces.[295]

Today, American forces can be rapidly deployed by the Air Force's large fleet of
transport aircraft, the Navy's 11 active aircraft carriers, and Marine
expeditionary units at sea with the Navy, and Army's XVIII Airborne Corps and 75th
Ranger Regiment deployed by Air Force transport aircraft. The Air Force can strike
targets across the globe through its fleet of strategic bombers, maintains the air
defense across the United States, and provides close air support to Army and Marine
Corps ground forces.[296][297]

The Space Force operates the Global Positioning System, operates the Eastern and
Western Ranges for all space launches, and operates the United States's Space
Surveillance and Missile Warning networks.[298][299][300] The military operates
about 800 bases and facilities abroad,[301] and maintains deployments greater than
100 active duty personnel in 25 foreign countries.[302]

Law enforcement and crime

Main articles: Law enforcement in the United States and Crime in the United States
Chart depicting a steep increase in the number of incarcerated Americans from the
1980s to the 2000s
Total incarceration in the United States by year (1920–2014)
There are about 18,000 U.S. police agencies from local to federal level in the
United States.[303] Law in the United States is mainly enforced by local police
departments and sheriff's offices. The state police provides broader services, and
federal agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S.
Marshals Service have specialized duties, such as protecting civil rights, national
security and enforcing U.S. federal courts' rulings and federal laws.[304] State
courts conduct most civil and criminal trials,[305] and federal courts handle
designated crimes and appeals from the state criminal courts.[306]

As of 2020, the United States has an intentional homicide rate of 7 per 100,000
people.[307] A cross-sectional analysis of the World Health Organization Mortality
Database from 2010 showed that United States homicide rates "were 7.0 times higher
than in other high-income countries, driven by a gun homicide rate that was 25.2
times higher."[308]

The United States has the highest documented incarceration rate and largest prison
population in the world.[309] In 2019, the total prison population for those
sentenced to more than a year is 1,430,800, corresponding to a ratio of 419 per
100,000 residents and the lowest since 1995.[310] Some estimates place that number
higher, such Prison Policy Initiative's 2.3 million.[311] Various states have
attempted to reduce their prison populations via government policies and grassroots
initiatives.[312]

Although most nations have abolished capital punishment,[313] it is sanctioned in

the United States for certain federal and military crimes, and in 27 states out of
50 and in one territory.[314] Several of these states have moratoriums on carrying
out the penalty, each imposed by the state's governor.[315][316][317] Since 1977,
there have been more than 1,500 executions,[318] giving the U.S. the sixth-highest
number of executions in the world, following China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and
Egypt.[319] However, the number is trended down nationally, with several states
recently abolishing the penalty.[320]

Economy
Main article: Economy of the United States
Further information: Economic history of the United States, Taxation in the United
States, and United States federal budget
see caption
The U.S. dollar (featuring George Washington) is the currency most used in
international transactions and is the world's foremost reserve currency.[321]

The New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street, the world's largest stock exchange by
market capitalization of its listed companies[322]
According to the International Monetary Fund, the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP)
of $22.7 trillion constitutes 24% of the gross world product at market exchange
rates and over 16% of the gross world product at purchasing power parity (PPP).
[323][13] From 1983 to 2008, U.S. real compounded annual GDP growth was 3.3%,
compared to a 2.3% weighted average for the rest of the G7.[324] The country ranks
fifth in the world in nominal GDP per capita[325] and seventh in GDP per capita at
PPP.[13] The country has been the world's largest economy since at least 1900.[326]
The United States is the most technologically powerful and innovative nation,
especially in artificial intelligence, computers, pharmaceuticals, and medical,
aerospace, and military equipment.[327] The nation's economy is fueled by abundant
natural resources, a well-developed infrastructure, and high productivity.[328] It
has the second-highest total-estimated value of natural resources, valued at US$
44.98 trillion in 2019, although sources differ on their estimates.[329] Americans
have the highest average household and employee income among OECD member states.
[330] In 2013, they had the sixth-highest median household income, down from
fourth-highest in 2010.[331][332]

The U.S. dollar is the currency most used in international transactions and is the
world's foremost reserve currency, backed by its economy, its military, the
petrodollar system and its linked eurodollar and large U.S. treasuries market.[321]
[333] Several countries use it as their official currency and in others it is the
de facto currency.[334][335] The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq are the world's
largest stock exchanges by market capitalization and trade volume.[336][337]

The largest U.S. trading partners are China, the European Union, Canada, Mexico,
India, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and Taiwan.[338] The U.S. is the
world's largest importer and the second-largest exporter.[339] It has free trade
agreements with several countries, including the USMCA.[340] The U.S. ranked second
in the Global Competitiveness Report in 2019, after Singapore.[341] Of the world's
500 largest companies, 124 are headquartered in the U.S.[342]

While its economy has reached a post-industrial level of development, the United
States remains an industrial power.[343] It has a smaller welfare state and
redistributes less income through government action than most other high-income
countries.[344] The United States ranked the 41st highest in income inequality
among 156 countries in 2017,[345] and the highest compared to the rest of the
developed world.[346] As of January 1, 2023, the United States had a national debt
of $31.4 trillion.[347]

Income and poverty

CBO chart featuring U.S. family wealth between 1989 and 2013. The top 10% of
families held 76% of the wealth in 2013 while the bottom 50% of families held 1%.
Inequality increased from 1989 to 2013.[348]
Main articles: Income in the United States and Poverty in the United States
Further information: Affluence in the United States and Income inequality in the
United States
At $46,625 USD in 2021, American citizens have the highest median income in the
world.[349] Despite the fact that they only account for 4.24% of the global
population, they collectively possess 30.2% of the world's total wealth as of 2021,
the largest percentage of any country.[350] The U.S. also ranks first in the number
of dollar billionaires and millionaires in the world, with 724 billionaires (as of
2021)[351] and nearly 22 million millionaires (2021).[352]

Wealth in the United States is highly concentrated; the richest 10% of the adult
population own 72% of the country's household wealth, while the bottom 50% own just
2%.[353] Income inequality in the U.S. remains at record highs,[354] with the top
fifth of earners taking home more than half of all income[355] and giving the U.S.
one of the widest income distributions among OECD members.[356] The United States
is the only advanced economy that does not guarantee its workers paid vacation[357]
and is one of a few countries in the world without paid family leave as a legal
right.[358] The United States also has a higher percentage of low-income workers
than almost any other developed nation, largely because of a weak collective
bargaining system and lack of government support for at-risk workers.[359]

There were about 567,715 sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons in the U.S. in
January 2019, with almost two-thirds staying in an emergency shelter or
transitional housing program.[360] Attempts to combat homelessness include the
Section 8 housing voucher program and implementation of the Housing First strategy
across all levels of government.[361]

In 2011, 16.7 million children lived in food-insecure households, about 35% more
than 2007 levels, though only 845,000 U.S. children (1.1%) saw reduced food intake
or disrupted eating patterns at some point during the year, and most cases were not
chronic.[362] As of June 2018, 40 million people, roughly 12.7% of the U.S.
population, were living in poverty, including 13.3 million children. Of those
impoverished, 18.5 million live in "deep poverty", family income below one-half of
the federal government's poverty threshold.[363]

Science, technology, and energy

Main articles: Science and technology in the United States, Science policy of the
United States, and Energy in the United States

U.S. astronaut Buzz Aldrin saluting the flag on the Moon during the Apollo 11,
1969. The United States is the only country that has sent manned missions to the
lunar surface.
The United States has been a leader in technological innovation since the late 19th
century and scientific research since the mid-20th century. Methods for producing
interchangeable parts and the establishment of a machine tool industry enabled the
U.S. to have large-scale manufacturing of sewing machines, bicycles, and other
items in the late 19th century. In the early 20th century, factory electrification,
the introduction of the assembly line, and other labor-saving techniques created
the system of mass production.[364] In the 21st century, approximately two-thirds
of research and development funding comes from the private sector.[365] In 2020,
the United States was the country with the second-highest number of published
scientific papers[366] and second most patents granted,[367] both after China. In
2021, the United States launched a total of 51 spaceflights. (China reported 55.)
[368] The U.S. had 2,944 active satellites in space in December 2021, the highest
number of any country.[369]

In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell was awarded the first U.S. patent for the telephone.
Thomas Edison's research laboratory developed the phonograph, the first long-
lasting light bulb, and the first viable movie camera.[370] The Wright brothers in
1903 made the first sustained and controlled heavier-than-air powered flight, and
the automobile companies of Ransom E. Olds and Henry Ford popularized the assembly
line in the early 20th century.[371] The rise of fascism and Nazism in the 1920s
and 30s led many European scientists, such as Albert Einstein, Enrico Fermi, and
John von Neumann, to immigrate to the United States.[372] During World War II, the
Manhattan Project developed nuclear weapons, ushering in the Atomic Age. During the
Cold War, competition for superior missile capability ushered in the Space Race
between the U.S. and Soviet Union.[373][374] The invention of the transistor in the
1950s, a key component in almost all modern electronics, led to the development of
microprocessors, software, personal computers and the Internet.[375] In 2022, the
United States ranked 2nd in the Global Innovation Index.[376]

As of 2019, the United States receives approximately 80% of its energy from fossil
fuels.[377] In 2019, the largest source of the country's energy came from petroleum
(36.6%), followed by natural gas (32%), coal (11.4%), renewable sources (11.4%) and
nuclear power (8.4%).[377] Americans constitute less than 5% of the world's
population, but consume 17% of the world's energy.[378] They account for about 25%
of the world's petroleum consumption, while producing only 6% of the world's annual
petroleum supply.[379] The U.S. ranks as second-highest emitter of greenhouse
gases, exceeded only by China.[380]

Transportation
Main article: Transportation in the United States

The Downtown Connector in Atlanta, Georgia, part of the Interstate Highway System
The United States's rail network, nearly all standard gauge, is the longest in the
world, and exceeds 293,564 km (182,400 mi).[381] It handles mostly freight, with
intercity passenger service provided by Amtrak to all but four states.[382] The
country's inland waterways are the world's fifth-longest, and total 41,009 km
(25,482 mi).[383]

Personal transportation is dominated by automobiles, which operate on a network of

4 million miles (6.4 million kilometers) of public roads.[384] The United States
has the world's second-largest automobile market,[385] and has the highest vehicle
ownership per capita in the world, with 816.4 vehicles per 1,000 Americans (2014).
[386] In 2017, there were 255 million non-two wheel motor vehicles, or about 910
vehicles per 1,000 people.[387]

The civil airline industry is entirely privately owned and has been largely
deregulated since 1978, while most major airports are publicly owned.[388] The
three largest airlines in the world by passengers carried are U.S.-based; American
Airlines is number one after its 2013 acquisition by US Airways.[389] Of the
world's 50 busiest passenger airports, 16 are in the United States, including the
busiest, Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport.[390] Of the fifty
busiest container ports, four are located in the United States, of which the
busiest is the Port of Los Angeles.[391]

Demographics
Main articles: Americans, Demographics of the United States, Race and ethnicity in
the United States, and Family structure in the United States
Population
See also: List of U.S. states by population
Racial and ethnic groups in the United States (2020 Census)[392]

White Americans (NHL) (57.8%)

Latino Americans (OAR) (18.7%)
Black Americans (NHL) (12.1%)
Asian Americans (NHL) (5.9%)
Two or more races (NHL) (4.1%)
Native Americans (NHL) (0.7%)
Some other race (NHL) (0.5%)
Pacific Islander Americans (NHL) (0.2%)
The U.S. Census Bureau reported 331,449,281 residents as of April 1, 2020,[m][393]
making the United States the third most populous nation in the world, after China
and India.[394] According to the Bureau's U.S. Population Clock, on January 28,
2021, the U.S. population had a net gain of one person every 100 seconds, or about
864 people per day.[395] In 2018, 52% of Americans age 15 and over were married, 6%
were widowed, 10% were divorced, and 32% had never been married.[396] In 2020, the
U.S. had a total fertility rate stood at 1.64 children per woman[397] and the
world's highest rate (23%) of children living in single-parent households.[398]

The United States of America has a diverse population; 37 ancestry groups have more
than one million members.[399] White Americans with ancestry from Europe, the
Middle East or North Africa, form the largest racial and ethnic group at 57.8% of
the United States population.[400][401] Hispanic and Latino Americans form the
second-largest group and are 18.7% of the United States population. African
Americans constitute the nation's third-largest ancestry group and are 12.1% of the
total United States population.[399] Asian Americans are the country's fourth-
largest group, composing 5.9% of the United States population, while the country's
3.7 million Native Americans account for about 1%.[399] In 2020, the median age of
the United States population was 38.5 years.[394]
In 2018, there were almost 90 million immigrants and U.S.-born children of
immigrants in the United States, accounting for 28% of the overall U.S. population.
[402] In 2017, out of the U.S. foreign-born population, some 45% (20.7 million)
were naturalized citizens, 27% (12.3 million) were lawful permanent residents, 6%
(2.2 million) were temporary lawful residents, and 23% (10.5 million) were
unauthorized immigrants.[403] The United States led the world in refugee
resettlement for decades, admitting more refugees than the rest of the world
combined.[404]

Language
Main article: Languages of the United States
English (specifically, American English) is the de facto national language of the
United States. Although there is no official language at the federal level, some
laws—such as U.S. naturalization requirements—standardize English, and most states
have declared English as the official language.[405] Three states and four U.S.
territories have recognized local or indigenous languages in addition to English,
including Hawaii (Hawaiian),[406] Alaska (twenty Native languages),[n][407] South
Dakota (Sioux),[408] American Samoa (Samoan), Puerto Rico (Spanish), Guam
(Chamorro), and the Northern Mariana Islands (Carolinian and Chamorro). In Puerto
Rico, Spanish is more widely spoken than English.[409]

According to the American Community Survey, in 2010 some 229 million people (out of
the total U.S. population of 308 million) spoke only English at home. More than 37
million spoke Spanish at home, making it the second most commonly used language in
the United States. Other languages spoken at home by one million people or more
include Chinese (2.8 million), Tagalog (1.6 million), Vietnamese (1.4 million),
French (1.3 million), Korean (1.1 million), and German (1 million).[410]

The most widely taught foreign languages in the United States, in terms of
enrollment numbers from kindergarten through university undergraduate education,
are Spanish (around 7.2 million students), French (1.5 million), and German
(500,000). Other commonly taught languages include Latin, Japanese, American Sign
Language, Italian, and Chinese.[411][412]

Religion
Main article: Religion in the United States
See also: List of religious movements that began in the United States
Religion in the United States (2022 Pew Research Center)[413]

Protestant (40%)
Catholic (21%)
Mormonism (2%)
Orthodox (1%)
Unaffiliated (29%)
Jewish (2%)
Muslim (1%)
Hindu (1%)
Buddhist (1%)
Unknown/Refused/Other (3%)
A large variety of faiths have historically flourished within the country.
According to the World Values Survey in 2017, the United States is more secular
than the median country; they ranked the United States the 32nd least religious
country in the world.[414] Until the 1990s, the country was a substantial outlier
among other highly developed countries: uniquely combining a high level of
religiosity and wealth, although this has lessened significantly since then.[414]
[415][416][417] Studies during the early 2020s found that about 81% of Americans
believe in some conception of God, 45% report praying on a daily basis, 41% report
that religion plays a very important role in their lives, and 31% report attending
religious services weekly or near weekly.[418][419][420] 58% of Americans report
"seldom" or "never" attending religious services.[420]

In a 2020 survey, about 64% of adults in the United States identified themselves as
Christians making it the country with the largest Christian population.[421]
Protestantism is the largest Christian religious grouping in the United States,
accounting for around a third of all Americans. In the so-called Bible Belt,
located primarily within the Southern United States, socially conservative
evangelical Protestantism plays a significant role culturally. By contrast,
religion plays the least important role in New England and the Western United
States.[422]

Another 6% claimed a non-Christian faith;[415] the largest of which are Judaism,

Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism.[423]

Around 30% of Americans describe themselves as having no religion.[415] Membership

in a house of worship fell from 70% in 1999 to 47% in 2020, much of the decline
related to the number of Americans expressing no religious preference. Membership
also fell among those who identified with a specific religious group.[424][425]
According to Gallup, trust in "the church or organized religion" has declined
significantly since the 1970s.[426]

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees the free exercise of
religion and forbids Congress from passing laws respecting its establishment.[427]

Urbanization
Main articles: Urbanization in the United States and List of United States cities
by population
About 82% of Americans live in urban areas, including suburbs;[201] about half of
those reside in cities with populations over 50,000.[428] In 2008, 273 incorporated
municipalities had populations over 100,000, nine cities had more than one million
residents, and four cities (New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston) had
populations exceeding two million.[429] Many U.S. metropolitan populations are
growing rapidly, particularly in the South and West.[430]

vte
Largest metropolitan areas in United States
2021 MSA population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau
Rank Region Pop. Rank Region Pop.
New York
New York
Los Angeles
Los Angeles 1 New York Northeast 19,768,458 11 Boston Northeast
4,899,932
2 Los Angeles West 12,997,353 12 Riverside–San Bernardino West
4,653,105
3 Chicago Midwest 9,509,934 13 San Francisco West 4,623,264
4 Dallas–Fort Worth South 7,759,615 14 Detroit Midwest 4,365,205
5 Houston South 7,206,841 15 Seattle West 4,011,553
6 Washington, D.C. South 6,356,434 16 Minneapolis–Saint Paul Midwest
3,690,512
7 Philadelphia Northeast 6,228,601 17 San Diego West 3,286,069
8 Atlanta South 6,144,050 18 Tampa–St. Petersburg South 3,219,514
9 Miami South 6,091,747 19 Denver West 2,972,566
10 Phoenix West 4,946,145 20 Baltimore South 2,838,327
Education
Main articles: Education in the United States and Higher education in the United
States
Photograph of the University of Virginia
The University of Virginia, founded by Thomas Jefferson, is one of the many public
colleges and universities in the United States.
American public education is operated by state and local governments and regulated
by the United States Department of Education through restrictions on federal
grants. In most states, children are required to attend school from the age of five
or six (beginning with kindergarten or first grade) until they turn 18 (generally
bringing them through twelfth grade, the end of high school); some states allow
students to leave school at 16 or 17.[431] Of Americans 25 and older, 84.6%
graduated from high school, 52.6% attended some college, 27.2% earned a bachelor's
degree, and 9.6% earned graduate degrees.[432] The basic literacy rate is
approximately 99%.[201][433]

The United States has many private and public institutions of higher education. The
majority of the world's top public and private universities, as listed by various
ranking organizations, are in the United States.[434] There are also local
community colleges with generally more open admission policies, shorter academic
programs, and lower tuition.[435] The U.S. spends more on education per student
than any nation in the world,[436] spending an average of $12,794 per year on
public elementary and secondary school students in the 2016–2017 school year.[437]
As for public expenditures on higher education, the U.S. spends more per student
than the OECD average, and more than all nations in combined public and private
spending.[438] Despite some student loan forgiveness programs in place,[439]
student loan debt has increased by 102% in the last decade,[440] and exceeded 1.7
trillion dollars as of 2022.[441]

Health
See also: Health care in the United States, Health care reform in the United
States, and Health insurance in the United States
The Texas Medical Center, a cluster of contemporary skyscrapers, at night
The Texas Medical Center in downtown Houston is the largest medical complex in the
world.[442]
In a preliminary report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
announced that U.S. life expectancy at birth had dropped to 76.4 years in 2021
(73.2 years for men and 79.1 years for women), down 0.9 years from 2020. This was
the second year of overall decline, and the chief causes listed were the COVID-19
pandemic, accidents, drug overdoses, heart and liver disease, and suicides.[443]
[444] Life expectancy was highest among Asians and Hispanics and lowest among
Blacks and American Indian–Alaskan Native (AIAN) peoples.[445][446] Starting in
1998, the average life expectancy in the U.S. fell behind that of other wealthy
industrialized countries, and Americans' "health disadvantage" gap has been
increasing ever since.[447] The U.S. also has one of the highest suicide rates
among high-income countries,[448] and approximately one-third of the U.S. adult
population is obese and another third is overweight.[449]

In 2010, coronary artery disease, lung cancer, stroke, chronic obstructive

pulmonary diseases, and traffic collisions caused the most years of life lost in
the U.S. Low back pain, depression, musculoskeletal disorders, neck pain, and
anxiety caused the most years lost to disability. The most harmful risk factors
were poor diet, tobacco smoking, obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar,
physical inactivity, and alcohol consumption. Alzheimer's disease, substance use
disorders, kidney disease, cancer, and falls caused the most additional years of
life lost over their age-adjusted 1990 per-capita rates.[450] Teenage pregnancy and
abortion rates in the U.S. are substantially higher than in other Western nations,
especially among blacks and Hispanics.[451]

The U.S. health care system far outspends that of any other nation, measured both
in per capita spending and as a percentage of GDP but attains worse healthcare
outcomes when compared to peer nations.[452] The United States is the only
developed nation without a system of universal health care, and a significant
proportion of the population that does not carry health insurance.[453] The U.S.,
however, is a global leader in medical innovation, measured either in terms of
revenue or the number of new drugs and devices introduced.[454][455]

Government-funded health care coverage for the poor (Medicaid, established in 1965)
and for those age 65 and older (Medicare, begun in 1966) is available to Americans
who meet the programs' income or age qualifications. In 2010, former President
Obama passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or ACA,[o][456] which
the CDC said that the law roughly halved the uninsured share of the population[457]
and multiple studies have concluded that ACA had reduced the mortality of
enrollees.[458][459][460] However, its legacy remains controversial.[461]

Culture and society

Main articles: Culture of the United States and Society of the United States
See also: American nationalism and American civil religion
The Statue of Liberty, a large teal bronze sculpture on a stone pedestal
The Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World), a gift from France, has
become an iconic symbol of the American Dream.[462]
The United States is home to a wide variety of ethnic groups, traditions, and
values,[463][464] and exerts major cultural influence on a global scale.[465][466]
Aside from the Native American, Native Hawaiian, and Native Alaskan populations,
nearly all Americans or their ancestors immigrated or were imported as slaves
within the past five centuries.[467] Mainstream American culture is a Western
culture largely derived from the traditions of European immigrants with influences
from many other sources, such as traditions brought by slaves from Africa.[463]
[468]

More recent immigration from Asia and especially Latin America has added to a
cultural mix that has been described as a homogenizing melting pot, and a
heterogeneous salad bowl, with immigrants contributing to, and often assimilating
into, mainstream American culture.[463] Nevertheless, there is a high degree of
social inequality related to race[469] and wealth.[470]

Americans have traditionally been characterized by a strong work ethic,[471]

competitiveness,[472] and individualism,[473] as well as a unifying belief in an
"American creed" emphasizing liberty, social equality, property rights, democracy,
equality under the law, and a preference for limited government.[474] Americans are
extremely charitable by global standards: according to a 2016 study by the
Charities Aid Foundation, Americans donated 1.44% of total GDP to charity, the
highest in the world by a large margin.[475]

The American Dream, or the perception that Americans enjoy high social mobility,
plays a key role in attracting immigrants.[476] Whether this perception is accurate
has been a topic of debate.[477][478][479] While mainstream culture holds that the
United States is a classless society,[480] scholars identify significant
differences between the country's social classes, affecting socialization,
language, and values.[481] Americans tend to greatly value socioeconomic
achievement, but being ordinary or average is promoted by some as a noble
condition.[482]

Literature and visual arts

Main articles: American literature, American philosophy, Architecture of the United
States, and Visual art of the United States
Photograph of Mark Twain
Mark Twain, American author and humorist
In the 18th and early 19th centuries, American art and literature took most of
their cues from Europe, contributing to Western culture. Writers such as Washington
Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, and Henry David Thoreau established a
distinctive American literary voice by the middle of the 19th century. Mark Twain
and poet Walt Whitman were major figures in the century's second half; Emily
Dickinson, virtually unknown during her lifetime, is recognized as an essential
American poet.[483]

A work seen as capturing fundamental aspects of the national experience and

character—such as Herman Melville's Moby-Dick (1851), Twain's The Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn (1885), F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby (1925) and Harper
Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird (1960)—may be dubbed the "Great American Novel."[484]

Thirteen U.S. citizens have won the Nobel Prize in Literature. William Faulkner,
Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck are often named among the most influential
writers of the 20th century.[485] The Beat Generation writers opened up new
literary approaches, as have postmodernist authors such as John Barth, Thomas
Pynchon, and Don DeLillo.[486]

In the visual arts, the Hudson River School was a mid-19th-century movement in the
tradition of European naturalism. The 1913 Armory Show in New York City, an
exhibition of European modernist art, shocked the public and transformed the U.S.
art scene.[487] Georgia O'Keeffe, Marsden Hartley, and others experimented with
new, individualistic styles.

Major artistic movements such as the abstract expressionism of Jackson Pollock and
Willem de Kooning and the pop art of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein developed
largely in the United States. The tide of modernism and then postmodernism has
brought fame to American architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Philip Johnson, and
Frank Gehry.[488] Americans have long been important in the modern artistic medium
of photography, with major photographers including Alfred Stieglitz, Edward
Steichen, Edward Weston, and Ansel Adams.[489]

Cinema and theater

Main articles: Cinema of the United States and Theater in the United States
The Hollywood Sign, large white block letters on a hillside
The Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles, California
Hollywood, a northern district of Los Angeles, California, is the leader in motion
picture production and the most recognizable movie industry in the world.[490][491]
[492] The major film studios of the United States are the primary source of the
most commercially successful and most ticket selling movies in the world.[493][494]

The world's first commercial motion picture exhibition was given in New York City
in 1894, using the Kinetoscope.[495] Since the early 20th century, the U.S. film
industry has largely been based in and around Hollywood, although in the 21st
century an increasing number of films are not made there, and film companies have
been subject to the forces of globalization.[496] The Academy Awards, popularly
known as the Oscars, have been held annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences since 1929,[497] and the Golden Globe Awards have been held annually
since January 1944.[498]

Director D. W. Griffith, an American filmmaker during the silent film period, was
central to the development of film grammar, and producer/entrepreneur Walt Disney
was a leader in both animated film and movie merchandising.[499] Directors such as
John Ford redefined the image of the American Old West, and, like others such as
John Huston, broadened the possibilities of cinema with location shooting. The
industry enjoyed its golden years, in what is commonly referred to as the "Golden
Age of Hollywood", from the early sound period until the early 1960s,[500] with
screen actors such as John Wayne and Marilyn Monroe becoming iconic figures.[501]
[502] In the 1970s, "New Hollywood" or the "Hollywood Renaissance"[503] was defined
by grittier films influenced by French and Italian realist pictures of the post-war
period.[504]
Theater in the United States derives from the old European theatrical tradition and
has been heavily influenced by the British theater.[505] The central hub of the
American theater scene has been Manhattan, with its divisions of Broadway, off-
Broadway, and off-off-Broadway.[506] Many movie and television stars have gotten
their big break working in New York productions. Outside New York City, many cities
have professional regional or resident theater companies that produce their own
seasons, with some works being produced regionally with hopes of eventually moving
to New York. The biggest-budget theatrical productions are musicals. U.S. theater
also has an active community theater culture, which relies mainly on local
volunteers who may not be actively pursuing a theatrical career.[507]

Music
Main article: Music of the United States

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee

American folk music encompasses numerous music genres, variously known as
traditional music, traditional folk music, contemporary folk music, or roots music.
Many traditional songs have been sung within the same family or folk group for
generations, and sometimes trace back to such origins as the British Isles,
Mainland Europe, or Africa.[508]

Among America's earliest composers was a man named William Billings who, born in
Boston, composed patriotic hymns in the 1770s;[509] Billings was a part of the
First New England School, who dominated American music during its earliest stages.
Anthony Heinrich was the most prominent composer before the Civil War. From the
mid- to late 1800s, John Philip Sousa of the late Romantic era composed numerous
military songs—particularly marches—and is regarded as one of America's greatest
composers.[510]

The rhythmic and lyrical styles of African-American music have significantly

influenced American music at large, distinguishing it from European and African
traditions. Elements from folk idioms such as the blues and what is known as old-
time music were adopted and transformed into popular genres with global audiences.
Jazz was developed by innovators such as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington early
in the 20th century. Country music developed in the 1920s, and rhythm and blues in
the 1940s.[511]

Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry were among the pioneers of rock and roll in the mid-
1950s. Rock bands such as Metallica, the Eagles, and Aerosmith are among the
highest grossing in worldwide sales.[512][513][514] In the 1960s, Bob Dylan emerged
from the folk revival to become one of America's most celebrated songwriters.[515]
Mid-20th-century American pop stars such as Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra,[516] and
Elvis Presley became global celebrities,[511] as have artists of the late 20th
century such as Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna, Whitney Houston, and Mariah
Carey.[517][518]

Mass media
Further information: Mass media in the United States
See also: Newspapers in the United States, Television in the United States,
Internet in the United States, Radio in the United States, and Video games in the
United States

The Comcast Center in Philadelphia, headquarters of the nation's largest

multinational telecommunications conglomerate[519]
The four major broadcasters in the U.S. are the National Broadcasting Company
(NBC), Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), American Broadcasting Company (ABC), and
Fox Broadcasting Company (FOX). The four major broadcast television networks are
all commercial entities. Cable television offers hundreds of channels catering to a
variety of niches.[520] As of 2021, about 83% of Americans over age 12 listen to
broadcast radio, while about 41% listen to podcasts.[521] As of September 30, 2014,
there are 15,433 licensed full-power radio stations in the U.S. according to the
U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC).[522] Much of the public radio
broadcasting is supplied by NPR, incorporated in February 1970 under the Public
Broadcasting Act of 1967.[523]

Well-known U.S. newspapers include The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and
USA Today.[524] More than 800 publications are produced in Spanish, the second most
commonly used language in the United States behind English.[525][526] With very few
exceptions, all the newspapers in the U.S. are privately owned, either by large
chains such as Gannett or McClatchy, which own dozens or even hundreds of
newspapers; by small chains that own a handful of papers; or, in a situation that
is increasingly rare, by individuals or families. Major cities often have
alternative newspapers to complement the mainstream daily papers, such as New York
City's The Village Voice or Los Angeles' LA Weekly. The five most popular websites
used in the U.S. are Google, YouTube, Amazon, Yahoo, and Facebook.[527]

The American video game industry is the world's 2nd largest by revenue.[528] It
generated $90 billion in annual economic output in 2020. Furthermore, the video
game industry contributed $12.6 billion in federal, state, and municipal taxes
annually.[529] Some of the largest video game companies like Activision Blizzard,
Xbox, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Rockstar Games, and Electronic Arts are based
in the United States.[530] Some of the most popular and best selling video games
like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Diablo III are
made by American developers.[531] The American video gaming business is still a
significant employer. More than 143,000 individuals are employed directly and
indirectly by video game companies throughout 50 states. The national compensation
for direct workers is US$2.9 billion, or an average wage of US$121,000.[532]

Food
Main article: Cuisine of the United States
A roasted turkey
Roasted turkey is a traditional Thanksgiving dinner dish and is usually the main
entree.[533]
Early settlers were introduced by Native Americans to such indigenous, non-European
foods as turkey, sweet potatoes, corn, squash, and maple syrup. They and later
immigrants combined these with foods they had known, such as wheat flour,[534]
beef, and milk to create a distinctive American cuisine.[535][536] Homegrown foods
are part of a shared national menu on one of America's most popular holidays,
Thanksgiving, when many Americans make or purchase traditional foods to celebrate
the occasion.[537]

The American fast food industry, the world's largest,[538] pioneered the drive-
through format in the 1940s.[539] Characteristic American dishes such as apple pie,
fried chicken, doughnuts, french fries, macaroni and cheese, ice cream, pizza,
hamburgers, and hot dogs derive from the recipes of various immigrants.[540][541]
Mexican dishes such as burritos and tacos and pasta dishes freely adapted from
Italian sources are widely consumed.[542]

Americans drink three times as much coffee as tea.[543] Marketing by U.S.

industries is largely responsible for making orange juice and milk standard
breakfast beverages.[544][545]

Sports
Main article: Sports in the United States
See also: Professional sports leagues in the United States and National Collegiate
Athletic Association

American Football is the most popular sport in the United States.

The most popular sports in the U.S. are American football, basketball, baseball and
ice hockey.[546]

While most major U.S. sports such as baseball and American football have evolved
out of European practices, basketball, volleyball, skateboarding, and snowboarding
are American inventions, some of which have become popular worldwide.[547] Lacrosse
and surfing arose from Native American and Native Hawaiian activities that predate
Western contact.[548] The market for professional sports in the United States is
roughly $69 billion, roughly 50% larger than that of all of Europe, the Middle
East, and Africa combined.[549]

American football is by several measures the most popular spectator sport in the
United States;[550] the National Football League (NFL) has the highest average
attendance of any sports league in the world, and the Super Bowl is watched by tens
of millions globally.[551] Baseball has been regarded as the U.S. national sport
since the late 19th century, with Major League Baseball being the top league.
Basketball and ice hockey are the country's next two most popular professional team
sports, with the top leagues being the National Basketball Association and the
National Hockey League. The most-watched individual sports in the U.S. are golf and
auto racing, particularly NASCAR and IndyCar.[552][553]

Eight Olympic Games have taken place in the United States. The 1904 Summer Olympics
in St. Louis, Missouri, were the first-ever Olympic Games held outside of Europe.
[554] The Olympic Games will be held in the U.S. for a ninth time when Los Angeles
hosts the 2028 Summer Olympics. As of 2021, the United States has won 2,629 medals
at the Summer Olympic Games, more than any other country, and 330 in the Winter
Olympic Games, the second most behind Norway.[555] In soccer, the men's national
soccer team qualified for eleven World Cups and the women's team has won the FIFA
Women's World Cup four times.[556] The United States hosted the 1994 FIFA World Cup
and will host the 2026 FIFA World Cup along with Canada and Mexico. On the
collegiate level, earnings for the member institutions exceed $1 billion annually,
[557] and college football and basketball attract large audiences, as the NCAA
Final Four is one of the most watched sporting events.[558]

See also
Index of United States–related articles
Lists of U.S. state topics
Outline of the United States
Notes
The historical and informal demonym Yankee has been applied to Americans, New
Englanders, or northeasterners since the 18th century.
At 3,531,900 sq mi (9,147,590 km2), the United States is the third-largest country
in the world by land area, behind Russia and China. By total area (land and water),
it is also the third-largest, behind Russia and Canada, if its coastal and
territorial water areas are included. However, if only its internal waters are
included (bays, sounds, rivers, lakes, and the Great Lakes), the U.S. is the
fourth-largest, after Russia, Canada, and China.

Coastal/territorial waters included: 3,796,742 sq mi (9,833,517 km2)[17]

Only internal waters included: 3,696,100 sq mi (9,572,900 km2)[18]
Excludes Puerto Rico and the other unincorporated islands because they are counted
separately in U.S. census statistics.
See Time in the United States for details about laws governing time zones in the
United States.
See Date and time notation in the United States.
A single jurisdiction, the U.S. Virgin Islands, uses left-hand traffic.
The five major territories are American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands,
Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. There are eleven smaller island
areas without permanent populations: Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island,
Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Atoll, and Palmyra Atoll. U.S. sovereignty
over Bajo Nuevo Bank, Navassa Island, Serranilla Bank, and Wake Island is disputed.
[16]
The United States has a maritime border with the British Virgin Islands, a British
territory, since the BVI borders the U.S. Virgin Islands.[19] BVI is a British
Overseas Territory but itself is not a part of the United Kingdom.[20] Puerto Rico
has a maritime border with the Dominican Republic.[21] American Samoa has a
maritime border with the Cook Islands (see Cook Islands–United States Maritime
Boundary Treaty).[22][23] American Samoa also has maritime borders with independent
Samoa and Niue.[24]
The U.S. Census Bureau provides a continuously updated but unofficial population
clock in addition to its decennial census and annual population estimates: [1]
New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and
Georgia
John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R.
Livingston
People born in American Samoa are non-citizen U.S. nationals unless one of their
parents is a U.S. citizen.[257] In 2019, a court ruled that American Samoans are
U.S. citizens, but the litigation is ongoing.[258][259]
This figure, like most official data for the United States as a whole, excludes
the five unincorporated territories (Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands,
American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands) and minor island possessions.
Inupiaq, Siberian Yupik, Central Alaskan Yup'ik, Alutiiq, Unanga (Aleut),
Denaʼina, Deg Xinag, Holikachuk, Koyukon, Upper Kuskokwim, Gwichʼin, Tanana, Upper
Tanana, Tanacross, Hän, Ahtna, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian.
Also known less formally as Obamacare
References
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"The Great Seal of the United States" (PDF). U.S. Department of State, Bureau of
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