By 1900, the United States had grown to become the world's largest economy, and the
Soviet Union's dissolution. 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 in which the U.S. was the first nation to land 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. With the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991 and the end of the Cold War, the United States emerged 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 saw its involvement in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the Iraq War
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 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]
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
Haudenosaunee confederation of the Iroquois, located in the southern Great Lakes region, was established at some point between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries.[46]
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 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] American Indians 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
African slaves into Colonial America via the transatlantic slave trade.[70] By the turn of the 18th century, slavery had supplanted indentured servitude as the main source of agricultural labor for the cash crops in the American South.[71] Colonial society was divided over the religious and moral implications of slavery, and several colonies passed acts for or against the practice.[72][73]
The Thirteen Colonies[k] that would become the United States of America were administered by the British as overseas dependencies.[74]All nonetheless had local governments with elections open to white male property owners, except Jews and Catholics in some areas.[75][76][77][78][79] With very high birth rates, low death rates, and steady settlement, the colonial population grew rapidly, eclipsing Native American populations.[80] The Christian revivalist movement of the 1730s and 1740s known as the Great Awakening fueled interest both in religion and in religious liberty.[81]
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.[82] 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.[83]
American Revolution and the early federal republic
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.[90]
As it became increasingly apparent that the Confederation was insufficient to govern the new country,
disenfranchising almost all blacks and some impoverished whites throughout the region. Blacks would face racial segregation nationwide, especially in the South.[113] They also lived under constant threat of vigilante violence, including lynching.[114]
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.[117] The later inventions of electric light and the telephone would also affect communication and urban life.[118]
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.[123] The unequal distribution of wealth remained high during this period. From 1860 to 1900, the wealthiest 2% of American households owned more than a third of the nation's wealth, while the top 10% owned roughly three-quarters of it.[124] The bottom 40% had no wealth at all.[125] In terms of property, the wealthiest 1% owned 51%, while the bottom 44% claimed 1.1%.[125]
The United States remained neutral from the outbreak of
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.[127]
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).[146] Also at this time, geopolitical tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union led to the Cold War, driven by an ideological divide between capitalism and communism.[147] 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.[148] 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.[149] American troops fought the communist forces in the Korean War of 1950–1953,[150] and the U.S. became increasingly involved in the Vietnam War (1955–1975), introducing combat forces in 1965.[151] 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.[150] While both countries engaged in proxy wars and developed powerful nuclear weapons, they avoided direct military conflict.[148]
At home, the United States experienced
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.[152][153] In 1959, the United States admitted Alaska and Hawaii to become the 49th and 50th states, formally expanding beyond the contiguous United States.[154]
his resignation in disgrace and a decline in public trust of government that expanded for decades.[164] After a surge in female labor participation around the 1970s, by 1985, the majority of women aged 16 and over were employed.[165] The 1970s and early 1980s also saw the onset of stagflation
financial crisis of 2007–2008 and the Great Recession, the nation's largest economic contraction since the Great Depression.[185]
45th president in 2016. His election is viewed as one of the biggest political upsets in American history.[194] 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.[195]
The early 2020s saw the country become more divided, with various social issues sparking debate and protest. The
2022 invasion of Ukraine, with the country applying harsh sanctions on Russia and sending billions of dollars of aid to Ukraine.[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][205]
The
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.[207]
The
Rockies is the continent's largest volcanic feature.[213]
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.[214]
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.[216] Overall, the United States receives more high-impact extreme weather incidents than any other country in the world.[217]
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.[218]
national bird of the United States since 1782.[219]
The U.S. is one of 17
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.[220] The United States is home to 428 mammal species, 784 birds, 311 reptiles, and 295 amphibians,[221] and 91,000 insect species.[222]
There are 63 national parks and hundreds of other federally managed parks, forests, and wilderness areas, which are managed by the National Park Service.[223] Altogether, the government owns about 28% of the country's land area,[224] mostly in the western states.[225] 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.[226][227]
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.[234]
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;[249] 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).[250]
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.[253]
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.[258]
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.[258] 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.[259]
The president serves a four-year term and may be elected to the office
electoral college system in which the determining votes are apportioned to the states and the District of Columbia.[260] The Supreme Court, led by the chief justice of the United States, has nine members, who serve for life. They are appointed by the sitting president when a vacancy becomes available.[261]
Each of the 50 states holds jurisdiction over a geographic territory, where it shares
presidential electors equal to the number of their representatives plus senators in Congress, and the District of Columbia has three electors.[263] Territories of the United States do not have presidential electors, therefore people there cannot vote for the president.[258]
Citizenship is granted at birth in all states, the District of Columbia, and all major U.S. territories except American Samoa.[m][267][264] 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.[268]Indian reservations are usually contained within one state, but there are 12 reservations that cross state boundaries.[269]
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.
G20,[274] and OECD intergovernmental organizations.[275] 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,[276]North Korea,[277] and Bhutan.[278] 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.[279]
The United States has a "
invasion of Ukraine in 2022, significantly deteriorating relations with Russia in the process.[292] The U.S. has also experienced a deterioration of relations with China and grown closer to Taiwan.[293][294][295]
There are about 18,000 U.S. police agencies from local to federal level in the United States.
U.S. federal courts' rulings and federal laws.[311]State courts conduct most civil and criminal trials,[312] and federal courts handle designated crimes and appeals from the state criminal courts.[313]
As of 2020[update], the United States has an intentional homicide rate of 7 per 100,000 people.[314] 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."[315]
Although most nations have abolished capital punishment,[320] it is sanctioned in the United States for certain federal and military crimes, and in 27 states out of 50 and in one territory.[321] Several of these states have moratoriums on carrying out the penalty, each imposed by the state's governor.[322][323][324] Since 1977, there have been more than 1,500 executions,[325] giving the U.S. the sixth-highest number of executions in the world, following China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Egypt.[326] However, the number is trended down nationally, with several states recently abolishing the penalty.[327]
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.[355]
At $46,625 USD in 2021, American citizens have the highest median income in the world.[356] 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.[357] The U.S. also ranks first in the number of dollar billionaires and millionaires in the world, with 724 billionaires (as of 2021)[358] and nearly 22 million millionaires (2021).[359]
paid family leave as a legal right.[365] 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.[366]
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.[367] Attempts to combat homelessness include the Section 8 housing voucher program and implementation of the Housing First strategy across all levels of government.[368]
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.[369] As of June 2018,[update] 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.[353]
As of 2019[update], the United States receives approximately 80% of its energy from fossil fuels.
petroleum consumption, while producing only 6% of the world's annual petroleum supply.[385] The U.S. ranks as second-highest emitter of greenhouse gases, exceeded only by China.[386]
Personal transportation is dominated by automobiles, which operate on a network of 4 million miles (6.4 million kilometers) of public roads.[390] The United States has the world's second-largest automobile market,[391] and has the highest vehicle ownership per capita in the world, with 816.4 vehicles per 1,000 Americans (2014).[392] In 2017, there were 255 million non-two wheel motor vehicles, or about 910 vehicles per 1,000 people.[393]
The U.S. Census Bureau reported 331,449,281 residents as of April 1, 2020,[n][399] making the United States the third most populous nation in the world, after China and India.[400] 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.[401] In 2018, 52% of Americans age 15 and over were married, 6% were widowed, 10% were divorced, and 32% had never been married.[402] In 2020, the U.S. had a total fertility rate stood at 1.64 children per woman[403] and the world's highest rate (23%) of children living in single-parent households.[404]
The United States of America has a diverse population; 37
median age of the United States population was 38.5 years.[400]
In 2018, there were almost 90 million immigrants and
refugee resettlement for decades, admitting more refugees than the rest of the world combined.[410]
U.S. naturalization requirements—standardize English, and most states have declared English as the official language.[411] Three states and four U.S. territories have recognized local or indigenous languages in addition to English, including Hawaii (Hawaiian),[412] Alaska (twenty Native languages),[o][413] South Dakota (Sioux),[414] 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.[415]
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).[416]
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.[420] 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.[420][421][422][423]Gallup polls 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.[424][425][426] According to Gallup in December 2022, 58% of Americans report "seldom" or "never" attending religious services.[426] According to the Institute for Family Studies in 2022, around 28% of Americans attended at least once or twice a month.[427]
In a 2020 survey, about 64% of adults in the United States identified themselves as
evangelical Protestantism plays a significant role culturally. By contrast, religion plays the least important role in New England and the Western United States.[429]
Around 30% of Americans describe themselves as having no religion.[421] 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.[431][432] According to Gallup, trust in "the church or organized religion" has declined significantly since the 1970s.[433]
urban areas, including suburbs;[205] about half of those reside in cities with populations over 50,000.[435] 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.[436] Many U.S. metropolitan populations are growing rapidly, particularly in the South and West.[437]
, is one of the many public colleges and universities in the United States.
American
high school); some states allow students to leave school at 16 or 17.[438] 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.[439] The basic literacy rate is approximately 99%.[205][440]
The United States has many private and public
loan forgiveness programs in place,[446]student loan debt has increased by 102% in the last decade,[447] and exceeded 1.7 trillion dollars as of 2022.[448]
The Declaration of Independence has become a well-known statement on human rights, particularly its second sentence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Stephen Lucas called it "one of the best-known sentences in the English language",[482] with historian Joseph Ellis writing that the document contains "the most potent and consequential words in American history".[483] The passage has since came to represent a moral standard to which the United States should strive. This view was notably promoted by Lincoln, who considered it to be the foundation of his political philosophy and argued that it is a statement of principles through which the Constitution should be interpreted.[484]: 126
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.[511]
most commercially successful and most ticket selling movies in the world.[521][522]
The world's first commercial motion picture exhibition was given in New York City in 1894, using the
Golden Globe Awards have been held annually since January 1944.[526]
Director
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.[527] 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,[528] with screen actors such as John Wayne and Marilyn Monroe becoming iconic figures.[529][530] In the 1970s, "New Hollywood" or the "Hollywood Renaissance"[531] was defined by grittier films influenced by French and Italian realist pictures of the post-war period.[532]
Theater in the United States derives from the old European theatrical tradition and has been heavily influenced by the
community theater culture, which relies mainly on local volunteers who may not be actively pursuing a theatrical career.[535]
Among America's earliest composers was a man named William Billings who, born in Boston, composed patriotic hymns in the 1770s;[537] 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.[538]
The American video game industry is the world's 2nd largest by revenue.[556] 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.[557] 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.[558] 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.[559] 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 $2.9 billion, or an average wage of $121,000.[560]
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,[562] beef, and milk to create a distinctive American cuisine.[563][564] 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.[565]
The American
tacos and pasta dishes freely adapted from Italian sources are widely consumed.[570]
Americans drink three times as much coffee as tea.[571] Marketing by U.S. industries is largely responsible for making orange juice and milk standard breakfast beverages.[572][573]
American
Culinary Institute of America was founded by Katharine Angel and Frances Roth. This would become the United States' most prestigious culinary school, where many of the most talented American chefs would study prior to successful careers.[575]
The American Culinary community has grown due to both restaurants and media, through the work of many talented chefs.
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.[577]Lacrosse and surfing arose from Native American and Native Hawaiian activities that predate European contact.[578] 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.[579]
collegiate level, earnings for the member institutions exceed $1 billion annually,[587] and college football and basketball attract large audiences, as the NCAA Final Four is one of the most watched sporting events.[588]
^The historical and informal demonym Yankee has been applied to Americans, New Englanders, or northeasterners since the 18th century.
^ abcAt 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 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]
^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.[264] In 2019, a court ruled that American Samoans are U.S. citizens, but the litigation is ongoing.[265][266]
^"United States Virgin Islands". Encyclopædia Britannica (Online ed.). Archived from the original on April 29, 2020. Retrieved July 3, 2020. [...]which also contains its near neighbour, the British Virgin Islands.
^DeLear, Byron (July 4, 2013) Who coined 'United States of America'? Mystery might have intriguing answer. "Historians have long tried to pinpoint exactly when the name 'United States of America' was first used and by whom ... This latest find comes in a letter that Stephen Moylan, Esq., wrote to Col. Joseph Reed from the Continental Army Headquarters in Cambridge, Mass., during the siege of Boston. The two men lived with Washington in Cambridge, with Reed serving as Washington's favorite military secretary and Moylan fulfilling the role during Reed's absence." Christian Science Monitor (Boston, MA).
^Touba, Mariam (November 5, 2014) Who Coined the Phrase 'United States of America'? You May Never Guess "Here, on January 2, 1776, seven months before the Declaration of Independence and a week before the publication of Paine's Common Sense, Stephen Moylan, an acting secretary to General George Washington, spells it out, 'I should like vastly to go with full and ample powers from the United States of America to Spain' to seek foreign assistance for the cause." New-York Historical Society Museum & Library
^Fay, John (July 15, 2016) The forgotten Irishman who named the 'United States of America' "According to the NY Historical Society, Stephen Moylan was the man responsible for the earliest documented use of the phrase 'United States of America'. But who was Stephen Moylan?" IrishCentral.com
^Paige Meltzer, "The Pulse and Conscience of America" The General Federation and Women's Citizenship, 1945–1960," Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies (2009), Vol. 30 Issue 3, pp. 52–76.
^James Timberlake, Prohibition and the Progressive Movement, 1900–1920 (Harvard UP, 1963)
^George B. Tindall, "Business Progressivism: Southern Politics in the Twenties," South Atlantic Quarterly 62 (Winter 1963): 92–106.
. Carrie Chapmann Catt led an army of voteless women in 1919 to pressure Congress to pass the constitutional amendment giving them the right to vote and convinced state legislatures to ratify it in 1920. ... Catt was one of the best-known women in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century and was on all lists of famous American women.
^The official WRA record from 1946 state it was 120,000 people. See War Relocation Authority (1946). The Evacuated People: A Quantitative Study. p. 8.. This number does not include people held in other camps such as those run by the DoJ or U.S. Army. Other sources may give numbers slightly more or less than 120,000.
. Retrieved February 2, 2023. ...the so-called sexual revolution in the United States in the 1960s, marked by greatly more permissive attitudes toward sexual interest and activity than had been prevalent in earlier generations.
^ abLew, Alan. "PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE US". GSP 220—Geography of the United States. North Arizona University. Archived from the original on April 9, 2016. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
^Vincent, Carol H.; Hanson, Laura A.; Argueta, Carla N. (March 3, 2017). Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data (Report). Congressional Research Service. p. 2. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
^Gorte, Ross W.; Vincent, Carol Hardy.; Hanson, Laura A.; Marc R., Rosenblum. "Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data"(PDF). fas.org. Congressional Research Service. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
^Etheridge, Eric; Deleith, Asger (August 19, 2009). "A Republic or a Democracy?". The New York Times blogs. Retrieved November 7, 2010. The US system seems essentially a two-party system. ...
^Ferraro, Matthew F. (December 22, 2014). "The Case for Stronger Bhutanese-American Ties". The Diplomat. Retrieved July 15, 2022. While Bhutan joined the United Nations in 1971, it does not have diplomatic relations with any of the permanent members of the UN Security Council, including the United States and China.
^Lindsay, James M. (August 4, 2021). "Happy 231st Birthday to the United States Coast Guard!". New York City: Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved July 16, 2022. During peacetime it is part of the Department of Homeland Security. During wartime, or when the president or Congress so direct, it becomes part of the Department of Defense and is included in the Department of the Navy.
^Hagopian, Kip; Ohanian, Lee (August 1, 2012). "The Mismeasure of Inequality". Policy Review (174). Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
^"Income". Better Life Index. OECD. Retrieved September 28, 2019. In the United States, the average household net adjusted disposable income per capita is USD 45 284 a year, much higher than the OECD average of USD 33 604 and the highest figure in the OECD.
^"Global 500 2016". Fortune. Archived from the original on September 21, 2018. Retrieved January 30, 2023. Number of companies data taken from the "Country" filter.
. Historically, after two World Wars, which delegitimated aggressive nation-statehood and which saw the rise of a culturally liberal United States as a dominant global power, the nascent world society was built on a universalistic cultural frame rooted in the natural laws of science and human rights.
^Lucas, Stephen E. (1989). "Justifying America: The Declaration of Independence as a Rhetorical Document". In Benson, Thomas W. (ed.). American Rhetoric: Context and Criticism. Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press. p. 85.
. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a dramatic wave began to form in the waters of public opinion: American attitudes involving homosexuality began to change... The transformation of America's response to homosexuality has been — and continues to be — one of the most rapid and sustained shifts in mass attitudes since the start of public polling.
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Bianchine, Peter J.; Russo, Thomas A. (1992). "The Role of Epidemic Infectious Diseases in the Discovery of America". Allergy and Asthma Proceedings. 13 (5): 225–232.
Lemon, James T. (1987). "Colonial America in the 18th Century"(PDF). In Mitchell, Robert D.; Groves, Paul A. (eds.). North America: the historical geography of a changing continent. Rowman & Littlefield. Archived from the original(PDF) on January 23, 2013.
333,287,557[11]
$25.035 trillion[13] (2nd)
39.4[d][14]
between AD 1190 and 1260.
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