United States, officially United States of America,
abbreviated U.S. or U.S.A., byname America, country in North America, a federal republic of 50 states. Besides the 48 conterminous states that occupy the middle latitudes of the continent, the United States includes the state of Alaska, at the northwestern extreme of North America, and the island state of Hawaii, in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The conterminous states are bounded on the north by Canada, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Gulf of Mexico and Mexico, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. The United States is the fourth largest country in the world in area (after Russia, Canada, and China). The national capital is Washington, which is coextensive with the District of Columbia, the federal capital region created in 1790.
The major characteristic of the United States
is probably its big variety. Its physical environment ranges from the Arctic to the
subtropical, from the moist rain forest to the arid desert, from the rugged
mountain peak to the flat prairie. Although the total population of the United
States is large by world standards, its overall population density is
relatively low. The country embraces some of the world’s largest urban
concentrations as well as some of the most extensive areas that are almost
devoid of habitation
The United States contains a highly diverse population.
Unlike a country such as China that largely incorporated indigenous peoples,
the United States has a diversity that to a great degree has come
from an immense and sustained global immigration. Probably no other country has
a wider range of racial, ethnic, and cultural types than does the United
States. In addition to the presence of surviving Native Americans (including
American Indians, Aleuts, and Eskimos) and the descendants of
Africans taken as enslaved persons to the New World, the national character has
been enriched, tested, and constantly redefined by the tens of millions of
immigrants who by and large have come to America hoping for greater social, political,
and economic opportunities than they had in the places they left. (It should be
noted that although the terms “America” and “Americans” are often used as
synonyms for the United States and its citizens, respectively, they are also
used in a broader sense for North, South, and Central America collectively
and their citizens.)
The United States is the world’s greatest economic power, measured in
terms of gross domestic
product (GDP). The nation’s wealth is partly a reflection of
its rich natural resources and its enormous agricultural output, but it owes
more to the country’s highly developed industry. Despite its relative economic
self-sufficiency in many areas, the United States is the most important single
factor in world trade by virtue of the sheer size of its economy. Its exports
and imports represent major proportions of the world total. The United States also
impinges on the global economy as a source of and as a destination for
investment capital. The country continues to sustain an economic life that is
more diversified than any other on Earth, providing the majority of its people
with one of the world’s highest standards of living.
The United States is relatively young by world standards, being less than
250 years old; it achieved its current size only in the mid-20th century.
America was the first of the European colonies to separate successfully from
its motherland, and it was the first nation to be established on the premise that sovereignty rests
with its citizens and not with the government. In its first century and a half,
the country was mainly preoccupied with its own territorial expansion and economic
growth and with social debates that ultimately led to civil war and a
healing period that is still not complete. In the 20th century the United
States emerged as a world power, and since World War II it has been one of the
preeminent powers. It has not accepted this mantle easily nor always carried it
willingly; the principles and ideals of its founders have been tested by the
pressures and exigencies of its dominant status. The United States
still offers its residents opportunities for unparalleled personal advancement
and wealth. However, the depletion of its resources, the contamination of its
environment, and the continuing social and economic inequality that
perpetuates areas of poverty and blight all threaten the fabric of
the country.
The District of Columbia is discussed in the article Washington. For
discussion of other major U.S. cities, see the
articles Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New
York City, Philadelphia, and San Francisco.
Political units in association with the United States include Puerto Rico,
discussed in the article Puerto Rico, and several Pacific islands,
discussed in Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa.
