United States

The United States of America (U.S.A.) (also referred to as the United States, the U.S., America, or (outside its borders) the States), is a federal republic in North America with a strong democratic tradition. The US shares land borders with Canada in the north and Mexico in the south and shares a marine border with Russia in the west. Established in 1776 as a collection of break-away British colonies, the United States has since eclipsed its mother nation and most other nations in terms of relative economic, political and military power and, arguably, cultural importance, to the point that it is being accused of economic, political, military and cultural imperialism as England was before it.

History Main article: History of the United States

Following the European colonization of the Americas, the United States became a federal republic and the world's first modern democracy after its break with Great Britain (1776) and the adoption of a constitution (1789). During the 19th century, many new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the North American continent and acquired a number of overseas possessions. Two of the major traumatic experiences in the nation's history were the American Civil War (1861-65) and the Great Depression of the 1930s. Buoyed by victories in World War I and World War II and the end of the Cold War in 1991, the US remains the world's most powerful nation-state and only superpower.

Politics Main article: Politics of the United States

The United States of America consists of 50 states with limited autonomy in which federal law takes precedence over state law. In general, matters that lie entirely within state borders are the exclusive concern of state governments. These include internal communications; regulations relating to property, industry, business, and public utilities; the state criminal code; and working conditions within the state. Many state laws are quite similar from state to state. Finally, there are many areas of overlap between state and federal jurisdictions.

In recent years, the federal government has assumed broader responsibility in such matters as health, education, welfare, transportation, and housing and urban development. The constitutions of the various states differ in some details but generally follow a pattern similar to that of the federal Constitution, including a statement of the rights of the people and a plan for organizing the government. On such matters as the operation of businesses, banks, public utilities, and charitable institutions, state constitutions are often more detailed and explicit than the federal constitution.

The federal government itself consists of three branches: the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch. The head of the executive branch is the President of the United States of America. The legislative branch consists of the United States Congress, while the Supreme Court of the United States is the head of the judicial branch.

The federal and state government is dominated by two political parties, the Republicans (center-right) and the Democrats (center-left), although minor party candidates and independents are occasionally elected especially to local or state office. Both major parties draw some support from all the diverse socio-economic classes which compose the mature multi-ethnic capitalist society which makes up the United States. Business interests provide the major funding and support to the Republican Party while labor unions and minority ethnic groups provide major support to the Democrats. Access to funds is vital in the political system due to the financial costs of mounting policial campaigns. Thus, the political interests of corporations and other organized segments of the society in a position to provide funds and other political support play a major role in determining the political agenda of political parties, and ultimately, government decision making.

States Main article: States of the United States

At the Declaration of Independence, the United States consisted of 13 states. In the following years, this number has grown steadily due to expansion to the west, conquest and purchase of lands by the American government, and division of existing states to the current number of 50 :

A separate federal district under the direct authority of congress, the District of Columbia, was formed independent of any state. It is there that the nation's capital city resides.

The contiguous part of the US (i.e. without Hawaii and Alaska) is called continental United States.

The states are divided into smaller administrative regions, called counties in most states - exceptions being Alaska (boroughs) and Louisiana (parishes). Counties can include a number of cities and towns, or sometimes just a part of a city.

Several islands in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea are dependent territories of the United States:

Geography Main article: Geography of the United States

As the world's third largest nation (land area), the United States landscape varies greatly: temperate forestland on the East coast, mangrove forests in Florida, the Great Plains in the centre of the country, the Mississippi-Missouri river system, the Rocky Mountains west of the plains, deserts and temperate coastal zones west of the Rocky Mountains. Including the arctic regions of Alaska and the volcanic islands of Hawaii only increases the diversity.

The climate varies along with the landscape from sub-tropic in Florida to tundra in Alaska. Large parts of the country have a continental climate, with warm summers and cold winters.

Economy Main article: Economy of the United States

The economy is organized on the capitalist model and is marked by steady growth, low unemployment and inflation, a large trade deficit, and rapid advances in technology. The American economy can be regarded as the most important in the world. Several countries have coupled their currency with the dollar, or even use it as a currency, and the American stock markets are globally seen as an indicator of world economy.

The country has rich mineral resources, with extensive gold, oil, coal and uranium deposits. Agriculture brings the country among the top producers of, among others, maize, wheat, sugar and tobacco. American industry produces cars, airplanes and electronics. The biggest sector is however service industries; about three-quarters of Americans are employed in that sector.

By far, the largest trading partner of the USA is its neighboring country Canada with the next a distant second. Other partners are Mexico, the European Union and the industrialized nations in the Far East, such as Japan and South Korea. Trade with China is important.

See also: List of American companies

Demographics Main article: Demographics of the United States

Most of the 280 million people currently living in the United States descend from European immigrants that have arrived since the establishment of the first colonies. Major components of the European segment of the United States population are decended from immigrants from Germany, England, Scotland, Ireland and Italy with many immigrants also from Scandanavian countries and the Slavic and other populations of eastern and southern Europe and French Canada; few immigrants came directly from France. Likewise, while there were few immigrants directly from Spain. Hispanics from Mexico and South and Central America are considered the largest minority group in the country, comprising 13.4% of the population (38.6 million people) in 2002, which has also brought increasing the use of the Spanish language in the United States (see Languages in the United States). About 12% (2000 census) of the people are Blacks - preferably called African-Americans - who largely descend from the African slaves that were brought to America. A third significant minority is the Asian population (3.6%), which is especially present at the West Coast. The native population of Native Americans, such as American Indians and Inuit make up less than 1% of the population.

A majority of Americans are Christians, with relatively small but politically significant Jewish and Muslim minorities. Although most American Christians are Protestant, the Catholic church is the group with the greatest number of members; Protestants are divided into a great number of smaller and bigger churches.

The social structure of the United States, a capitalist country, is highly stratified[?] with a large proportion of the wealth of the country controlled by a small fraction of the population which exerts disproportionate cultural and political influence.

Culture and society Main article: Culture of the United States

American culture has a large influence on the rest of the world, especially the Western world. American music is heard all over the world, and American movies and television shows can be seen almost anywhere.

In American literature, authors such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allen Poe, and more recently, Ernest Hemingway, J. D. Salinger and Flannery O'Connor, mastered the "short story." Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler pioneered gritty detective fiction that has had great influence on other genres and in other countries. After World War I, authors like Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald developed new techniques for novels. Other noted American writers include John Steinbeck, William Faulkner, Sinclair Lewis, Zora Neale Hurston, Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Willa Cather, and Toni Morrison.

U.S. poets with international notoriety include: T. S. Eliot, Allen Ginsberg, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Ezra Pound, Charles Bukowski, William S. Burroughs, E. E. Cummings, Robert Frost.

American music has a long and diverse history and has been an important influence on popular music worldwide. Some of the U.S.A.'s more famous and important musicians and singers include Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, Chuck Berry, Mariah Carey, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Kurt Cobain, Bing Crosby, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Benny Goodman, Jimi Hendrix, Billie Holliday, Buddy Holly, Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, Robert Johnson, Janis Joplin, B. B. King, Carole King, Madonna, Willie Nelson, Thelonius Monk, Stevie Nicks, Charlie Parker, Elvis Presley, Diana Ross, Paul Simon, Frank Sinatra, Tina Turner, and Hank Williams.

American inventor Thomas Alva Edison played an important role in the invention of motion pictures, and David Wark Griffith pioneered a filmic vocabulary that still dominates. Other famous American film directors include Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Stanley Kubrick, Robert Altman, John Ford, Spike Lee, Woody Allen, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.

Iconic American actors include Humphrey Bogart, Marlon Brando, Charlie Chaplin, Bette Davis, James Dean, Harrison Ford, Robert De Niro, Clark Gable, Katharine Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Julia Roberts, Jimmy Stewart, Meryl Streep, Shirley Temple, and John Wayne.

Miscellaneous topics

• History
  • Timeline of United States history
  • Military History of the United States
• Government of the United States
  • Executive Branch
    • President of the United States
    • Vice President of the United States
    • Executive Office of the President
      • White House Chief of Staff
      • National Security Council
      • Office of Management and Budget
      • United States Trade Representative[?]
      • Office of Homeland Security
    • United States Cabinet
      • United States Department of Agriculture
      • United States Department of Commerce
      • United States Department of Defense
        • United States Secretary of Defense
      • United States Department of Education
      • United States Department of Energy
      • United States Department of Health and Human Services
      • United States Department of Homeland Security
        • United States Coast Guard
      • United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
      • United States Department of the Interior
      • United States Department of Justice
        • United States Attorney General
      • United States Department of Labor
      • United States Department of State
        • United States Secretary of State
      • United States Department of Transportation
      • United States Department of the Treasury
      • United States Department of Veterans Affairs
  • Legislative Branch - United States Congress
    • United States Senate
    • United States House of Representatives
      • Speaker of the House
  • Judicial Branch
    • United States Supreme Court
      • List of United States Supreme Court cases
  • Foreign relations of the United States
  • Federal Agencies. List of U.S. federal agencies contains the complete list.
    • Amtrak
    • Central Intelligence Agency
    • Environmental Protection Agency
    • Federal Reserve System
    • National Aeronautics and Space Administration
    • Peace Corps
    • Securities and Exchange Commission
    • Social Security Administration
    • United States Postal Service
    • Voice of America
• Military of the United States
  • United States Army
  • United States Navy
  • United States Air Force
  • United States Marine Corps
• Law of the United States
  • United States Constitution
    • United States Bill of Rights
  • United States Declaration of Independence
• Communications in the United States
• Transportation in the United States
• List of cities in the United States
• Financial
  • United States dollar
• Culture
  • Media in the United States
  • Music of the United States
  • Dance of the United States
  • Architecture of the United States
  • Visual arts of the United States
  • Literature of the United States
  • Movies of the United States
  • Cuisine of the United States
• People
  • List of Americans
  • List of famous African-Americans
  • List of famous Italian-Americans
• Social issues
  • Standard of living in the United States
  • United States prison population
  • Social problems of the United States
  • Human rights issues in the United States

External links

• Official website of the United States government (http://www.firstgov.gov) - Gateway to governmental sites
• The White House (http://www.whitehouse.gov) - Official site of the Presidential residence
• Senate.gov (http://www.senate.gov) - Official site of the United States Senate
• House.gov (http://www.house.gov) - Official site of the United States House of Representatives
• SCOTUS (http://www.supremecourtus.gov) - Official site of the Supreme Court of the United States
• Portrait of the USA (http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/factover/homepage.htm) - Published by the United States Information Agency, September 1997.
• National Motto: History and Constitutionality (http://www.religioustolerance.org/nat_mott.htm)