United States

United States of America
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "In God We Trust"[1] Other traditional mottos:[2] " Latin ) "Out of many, one" " Latin ) "Providence favors our undertakings" " Latin ) "New order of the ages"
Anthem: " Ethnic groups (2020)[4][5][6]		By race: 61.6% White 12.4% Black 6% Asian 1.1% Native American 0.2% Pacific Islander 10.2% two or more races 8.4% other By origin: 81.3% non-Hispanic or Latino 18.7% Hispanic or Latino
Religion (2023)[7]	67% Christianity 33% Protestantism 22% Catholicism 1% Mormonism 11% other Christian 22% Government	Federal presidential republic
• President	Joe Biden
• Vice President	Kamala Harris
• House Speaker	Mike Johnson
• Chief Justice	John Roberts
Legislature	Congress
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	House of Representatives
Independence  from Great Britain
• Declaration	July 4, 1776 (1776-07-04)
• Confederation	March 1, 1781 (1781-03-01)
• Recognized	September 3, 1783 (1783-09-03)
• Constitution	June 21, 1788 (1788-06-21)
$) (USD)
Time zone	UTC−4 to −12, +10, +11
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 to −10[g]
Date format	mm/dd/yyyy[h]
Drives on	right[i]
Calling code	+1
ISO 3166 code	US
Internet TLD	.us[16]

The United States of America (USA or U.S.A.), commonly known as the United States (US or U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in

One of the world's most developed countries, the United States has had the largest nominal GDP since about 1890 and accounted for 15% of the global economy in 2023.^[m] It possesses by far the largest amount of wealth of any country and has the highest disposable household income per capita among OECD countries. The U.S. ranks among the world's highest in economic competitiveness, productivity, innovation, human rights, and higher education. Its hard power and cultural influence have a global reach. The U.S. is a founding member of the World Bank, Organization of American States, NATO, and United Nations,^[n] as well as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

The first documented use of the phrase "United States of America" is a letter from January 2, 1776. Stephen Moylan, a Continental Army aide to General George Washington, wrote to Joseph Reed, Washington's aide-de-camp, seeking to go "with full and ample powers from the United States of America to Spain" to seek assistance in the Revolutionary War effort.^[21][22] The first known public usage is an anonymous essay published in the Williamsburg newspaper, The Virginia Gazette, on April 6, 1776.^[23][24][21] By June 1776, the "United States of America" appeared in the Articles of Confederation^[25][26] and the Declaration of Independence.^[25] The Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.^[27]

Christopher Columbus began exploring the Caribbean for Spain in 1492, leading to Spanish-speaking settlements and missions from Puerto Rico and Florida to New Mexico and California.^[38][39][40] France established its own settlements along the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico.^[41] British colonization of the East Coast began with the Virginia Colony (1607) and Plymouth Colony (1620).^[42][43] The Mayflower Compact and the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut established precedents for representative self-governance and constitutionalism that would develop throughout the American colonies.^[44][45] While European settlers in what is now the United States experienced conflicts with Native Americans, they also engaged in trade, exchanging European tools for food and animal pelts.^[46][o] Relations ranged from close cooperation to warfare and massacres. The colonial authorities often pursued policies that forced Native Americans to adopt European lifestyles, including conversion to Christianity.^[50][51] Along the eastern seaboard, settlers trafficked African slaves through the Atlantic slave trade.^[52]

The original Thirteen Colonies^[p] that would later found the United States were administered by Great Britain,^[53] and had local governments with elections open to most white male property owners.^[54][55] The colonial population grew rapidly, eclipsing Native American populations;^[56] by the 1770s, the natural increase of the population was such that only a small minority of Americans had been born overseas.^[57] The colonies' distance from Britain allowed for the development of self-governance,^[58] and the First Great Awakening, a series of Christian revivals, fueled colonial interest in religious liberty.^[59]

After winning the French and Indian War, Britain began to assert greater control over local colonial affairs, resulting in colonial political resistance; one of the primary colonial grievances was a denial of their rights as Englishmen, particularly the right to representation in the British government that taxed them. In 1774, the First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia, and passed the Continental Association, a colonial boycott of British goods that proved effective. The British attempt to then disarm the colonists resulted in the 1775 Battles of Lexington and Concord, igniting the American Revolutionary War. At the Second Continental Congress, the colonies appointed George Washington commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, and created a committee led by Thomas Jefferson to draft the Declaration of Independence, which was adopted on July 4, 1776, two days after passing the Lee Resolution to create an independent nation.^[60] The political values of the American Revolution included liberty, inalienable individual rights; and the sovereignty of the people;^[61] supporting republicanism and rejecting monarchy, aristocracy, and all hereditary political power; civic virtue; and vilification of political corruption.^[62] The Founding Fathers of the United States, who included George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, John Jay, James Madison, Thomas Paine, John Adams and many others, were inspired by Greco-Roman, Renaissance, and Enlightenment philosophies and ideas.^[63][64]

After the British surrender at the

The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 from France nearly doubled the territory of the United States.^[72][73] Lingering issues with Britain remained, leading to the War of 1812, which was fought to a draw.^[74][75] Spain ceded Florida and its Gulf Coast territory in 1819.^[76] In the late 18th century, American settlers began to expand westward, many with a sense of manifest destiny.^[77][78] The Missouri Compromise attempted to balance desires of northern states to prevent expansion of slavery in the country with those of southern states to expand it, admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state and declared a policy of prohibiting slavery in the remaining Louisiana Purchase lands north of the 36°30′ parallel.^[79] As Americans expanded further into land inhabited by Native Americans, the federal government often applied policies of Indian removal or assimilation.^[80][81] Organized displacements prompted a long series of American Indian Wars west of the Mississippi.^[82][83] The Republic of Texas was annexed in 1845,^[84] and the 1846 Oregon Treaty led to U.S. control of the present-day American Northwest.^[85] Victory in the Mexican–American War resulted in the 1848 Mexican Cession of California, Nevada, Utah, and much of present-day Colorado and the American Southwest.^[77][86] Political tension over the possible introduction of slavery in these newly acquired territories was temporarily reduced by the Compromise of 1850.^[87][88]

During the colonial period,

From 1865 through 1917 an unprecedented stream of immigrants arrived in the United States, including 24.4 million from Europe.^[105] Most came through the port of New York City, and New York City and other large cities on the East Coast became home to large Jewish, Irish, and Italian populations, while many Germans and Central Europeans moved to the Midwest. At the same time, about one million French Canadians migrated from Quebec to New England.^[106] During the Great Migration, millions of African Americans left the rural South for urban areas in the North.^[107] Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867.^[108]

The Compromise of 1877 effectively ended Reconstruction and white supremacists took local control of Southern politics.^[109][110] African Americans endured a period of heightened, overt racism following Reconstruction, a time often called the nadir of American race relations.^[111][112] A series of Supreme Court decisions, including Plessy v. Ferguson, emptied the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments of their force, allowing Jim Crow laws in the South to remain unchecked, sundown towns in the Midwest, and segregation in communities across the country, which would be reinforced by the policy of redlining later adopted by the federal Home Owners' Loan Corporation.^[113]

The United States entered World War I alongside the Allies of World War I, helping to turn the tide against the Central Powers.^[127] In 1920, a constitutional amendment granted nationwide women's suffrage.^[128] During the 1920s and '30s, radio for mass communication and the invention of early television transformed communications nationwide.^[129] The Wall Street Crash of 1929 triggered the Great Depression, which President Franklin D. Roosevelt responded to with the New Deal, a series of sweeping programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations.^[130][131]

After World War II, the United States entered the Cold War, where geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union led the two countries to

The 1990s saw the longest recorded economic expansion in American history, a dramatic decline in crime, and advances in technology, with the World Wide Web, the evolution of the Pentium microprocessor in accordance with Moore's law, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, the first gene therapy trial, and cloning all emerging and being improved upon throughout the decade. The Human Genome Project was formally launched in 1990, while Nasdaq became the first stock market in the United States to trade online in 1998.^[155]

In the Gulf War of 1991, an American-led international coalition of states expelled an Iraqi invasion force that had occupied neighboring Kuwait.^[156] The September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001 by the pan-Islamist militant organization al-Qaeda led to the war on terror, and subsequent military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq.^[157][158] The cultural impact of the attacks was profound and long-lasting.

The U.S. housing bubble culminated in 2007 with the Great Recession, the largest economic contraction since the Great Depression.^[159] Coming to a head in the 2010s, political polarization increased between the left-wing Democrats and the right-wing Republicans.^{[160][161][162]} This polarization was capitalized upon^{[citation needed]} in the January 2021 Capitol attack, when a mob of insurrectionists^[163] entered the U.S. Capitol and attempted to prevent the peaceful transfer of power^[164] in an attempted self-coup d'état.^[165]

The United States is the world's

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.^[172] Farther west are the rocky Great Basin and Chihuahua, Sonoran, and Mojave deserts.^[173] In the northwest corner of Arizona, carved by the Colorado River over millions of years, is the Grand Canyon, a steep-sided canyon and popular tourist destination known for its overwhelming visual size and intricate, colorful landscape.

The

With its large size and geographic variety, the United States includes most climate types. East of the 100th meridian, the climate ranges from humid continental in the north to humid subtropical in the south.^[179] The western Great Plains are semi-arid. Many mountainous areas of the American West have an alpine climate. The climate is arid in the Southwest, Mediterranean in coastal California, and oceanic in coastal Oregon, Washington, and southern Alaska. Most of Alaska is subarctic or polar. Hawaii, the southern tip of Florida and U.S. territories in the Caribbean and Pacific are tropical.^[180]

States bordering the

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 over 1,800 species of flowering plants are found in Hawaii, few of which occur on the mainland.^[186] The United States is home to 428 mammal species, 784 birds, 311 reptiles, 295 amphibians,^[187] and around 91,000 insect species.^[188]

There are 63 national parks, and hundreds of other federally managed parks, forests, and wilderness areas, managed by the National Park Service and other agencies.^[189] About 28% of the country's land is publicly owned and federally managed,^[190] primarily in the western states.^[191] Most of this land is protected, though some is leased for commercial use, and less than one percent is used for military purposes.^[192][193]

Environmental issues in the United States include debates on non-renewable resources and nuclear energy, air and water pollution, biodiversity, logging and deforestation,^[194][195] and climate change.^[196][197] The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the federal agency charged with addressing most environmental-related issues.^[198] The idea of wilderness has shaped the management of public lands since 1964, with the Wilderness Act.^[199] The Endangered Species Act of 1973 provides a way to protect threatened and endangered species and their habitats. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service implements and enforces the Act.^[200] In 2024, the U.S. ranked 34th among 180 countries in the Environmental Performance Index.^[201] The country joined the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2016 and has many other environmental commitments.^[202]

The United States is a

According to V-Dem Institute's 2023 Human Rights Index, the United States ranks among the highest in the world for human rights.^[208]

Composed of three branches, all headquartered in Washington, D.C., the federal government is the national government of the United States. It is regulated by a strong system of

• The
  investigate and oversee the executive branch.^[213] Congressional oversight is usually delegated to committees and is facilitated by Congress's subpoena power.^[214]
  Appointment to a committee enables a member to develop specialized knowledge of the matters under its purview. The various committees monitor ongoing governmental operations, identify issues suitable for legislative review, gather and evaluate information, and recommend courses of action to the U.S. Congress, including but not limited to new legislation. The two major political parties have appointment power in deciding each committee's membership. Committee chairs are assigned to a member of the majority party.
• The U.S. president is the
  executive orders", subject to judicial review, in a number of policy areas. Candidates for president campaign with a vice-presidential running mate. Both candidates are elected together, or defeated together, in a presidential election. Unlike other votes in American politics, this is technically an indirect election in which the winner will be determined by the U.S. Electoral College. There, votes are officially cast by individual electors selected by their state legislature.^[216] In practice, however, each of the 50 states chooses a group of presidential electors who are required to confirm the winner of their state's popular vote. This group of electors equals their state's number of U.S. representatives, plus two more electors for the two U.S. senators the state sends to Congress. (The District of Columbia, with no representatives or senators, is allocated three electoral votes.) Both the president and the vice president serve a four-year term, and the president may be reelected to the office only once, for one additional four-year term.^[q]
• The
  briefs and conduct oral arguments
  . If it is not granted, the opinion of the lower court stands. Certiorari is not often granted, and less than 1% of appeals to the Supreme Court are actually heard by it. Usually, the Court only hears cases when there are conflicting decisions across the nation on a particular issue, or when there is an obvious error in a case.

The three-branch system is known as the presidential system, in contrast to the parliamentary system, where the executive is part of the legislative body. Many countries around the world imitated this aspect of the 1789 Constitution of the United States, especially in the Americas.^[219]

The Constitution is silent on political parties. However, they developed independently in the 18th century with the

In the American federal system, sovereign powers are shared between two levels of elected government: national and state. People in the states are also represented by local elected governments, which are administrative divisions of the states.^[223] States 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.^[224] The territories and the District of Columbia are administrative divisions of the federal government.^[225] Federally recognized tribes govern 326 Indian reservations.^[226]

The United States has an established structure of foreign relations, and it has the world's second-largest diplomatic corps as of 2024^[update]. It is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council,^[227] and home to the United Nations headquarters.^[228] The United States is a member of the G7,^[229] G20,^[230] and OECD intergovernmental organizations.^[231] Almost all countries have embassies and many have consulates (official representatives) in the country. Likewise, nearly all countries host formal diplomatic missions with the United States, except Iran,^[232] North Korea,^[233] and Bhutan.^[234] Though Taiwan does not have formal diplomatic relations with the U.S., it maintains close unofficial relations.^[235] The United States regularly supplies Taiwan with military equipment to deter potential Chinese aggression.^[236] Its geopolitical attention also turned to the Indo-Pacific when the United States joined the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue with Australia, India, and Japan.^[237]

The United States has a "Special Relationship" with the United Kingdom^[238] and strong ties with Canada,^[239] Australia,^[240] New Zealand,^[241] the Philippines,^[242] Japan,^[243] South Korea,^[244] Israel,^[245] and several European Union countries (France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Poland).^[246] The U.S. works closely with its NATO allies on military and national security issues, and with countries 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.^[247] The U.S. exercises full international defense authority and responsibility for Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau through the Compact of Free Association.^[248] It has increasingly conducted strategic cooperation with India,^[249] but its ties with China have steadily deteriorated.^[250][251] Since 2014, the U.S. has become a key ally of Ukraine;^[252] it has also provided the country with significant military equipment and other support in response to Russia's 2022 invasion.^[253]

The president is the

The United States spent $916 billion on its military in 2023, which is by far the largest amount of any country, making up 37% of global military spending and accounting for 3.4% of the country's GDP.^[256][257] The U.S. has 42% of the world's nuclear weapons—the second-largest share after Russia.^[258]

The United States has the third-largest combined armed forces in the world, behind the Chinese People's Liberation Army and Indian Armed Forces.^[259] The military operates about 800 bases and facilities abroad,^[260] and maintains deployments greater than 100 active duty personnel in 25 foreign countries.^[261]

There are about 18,000 U.S. police agencies from local to national level in the United States.

The U.S. has been the world's largest economy nominally since about 1890.^[273] The 2023 nominal U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) of more than $27 trillion was the highest in the world, constituting over 25% of the global economy or 15% at purchasing power parity (PPP).^[274][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 Group of Seven.^[275] The country ranks first in the world by nominal GDP,^[276] second when adjusted for purchasing power parities (PPP),^[13] and ninth by PPP-adjusted GDP per capita.^[13] It possesses the highest disposable household income per capita among OECD countries.^[277] As of February 2024, the total federal government debt was $34.4 trillion.^[278]

Of the world's

The United States has been a leader in technological innovation since the late 19th century and scientific research since the mid-20th century.^[322] Methods for producing interchangeable parts and the establishment of a machine tool industry enabled the large-scale manufacturing of U.S. consumer products in the late 19th century.^[323] By the early 20th century, factory electrification, the introduction of the assembly line, and other labor-saving techniques created the system of mass production.^[324] The United States is widely considered to be the leading country in the development of artificial intelligence technology.^{[325][326][327]} In 2022, the United States was the country with the second-highest number of published scientific papers.^[328] As of 2021, the U.S. ranked second by the number of patent applications, and third by trademark and industrial design applications.^[329] In 2023, the United States ranked third in the Global Innovation Index.^[330] The U.S. has the highest total research and development expenditure of any country^[331] and ranks ninth as a percentage of GDP.^[332] In 2023, the United States was ranked as the second most technologically advanced country in the world by Global Finance.^[333]

The United States has maintained a space program since the late 1950s, beginning with the establishment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1958.^[334][335] NASA's Apollo program (1961–1972) achieved the first crewed Moon landing with the 1969 Apollo 11 mission; it remains one of the agency's most significant milestones.^[336][337] Other major endeavors by NASA include the Space Shuttle program (1981–2011),^[338] the Voyager program (1972–present), the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes (launched in 1990 and 2021, respectively),^[339][340] and the multi-mission Mars Exploration Program (Spirit and Opportunity, Curiosity, and Perseverance).^[341] NASA is one of five agencies collaborating on the International Space Station (ISS);^[342] U.S. contributions to the ISS include several modules, including Destiny (2001), Harmony (2007), and Tranquility (2010), as well as ongoing logistical and operational support.^[343] The United States private sector dominates the global commercial spaceflight industry.^[344] Prominent American spaceflight contractors include Blue Origin, Boeing, Sierra Space, and SpaceX. NASA programs such as the Commerical Crew Program, Commercial Resupply Services, Commercial Lunar Payload Services, and NextSTEP have facilitated growing private-sector involvement in American spaceflight.^[345]

As of 2023^[update], the United States receives approximately 84% of its energy from fossil fuel and the largest source of the country's energy came from

Passenger and freight rail systems, bus systems, water ferries, and dams may be under either public or private ownership and operation. U.S. civilian airlines are all privately owned. Most U.S. airports are owned and operated by local government authorities, and there are also some private airports. The Transportation Security Administration has provided security at most major airports since 2001.

The

Aviation law is almost entirely the jurisdiction of the federal government; the Federal Aviation Administration regulates all aspects of civil aviation, air traffic management, certification and compliance, and aviation safety. Vehicle traffic laws, however, are enacted and enforced by state and local authorities, with the exception of roads located on federal property (national parks, military bases) or in the unorganized U.S. territories. The United States Coast Guard is the primary enforcer of law and security on U.S. waterways, inland as well as coastal, but economic jurisdiction over coastal tidelands is shared between state and federal governments. The country's inland waterways are the world's fifth-longest, totaling 41,009 km (25,482 mi).^[351]

Of the world's 50 busiest container ports, four are located in the United States. The busiest in the U.S. is the Port of Los Angeles.^[352]

Personal transportation in the United States is

The American civil airline industry is entirely privately owned and has been largely deregulated since 1978, while most major airports are publicly owned.^[369] 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.^[370] Of the world's 50 busiest passenger airports, 16 are in the United States, including the top five and the busiest, Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport.^[371][372] As of 2022^[update], there are 19,969 airports in the U.S., of which 5,193 are designated as "public use", including for general aviation and other activities.^[373]

The

While many languages are spoken in the United States,

America's immigrant population of nearly 51 million is by far the world's

The First Amendment guarantees the free exercise of religion in the country and forbids Congress from passing laws respecting its establishment.^[401][402] Religious practice is widespread, among the most diverse in the world,^[403] and profoundly vibrant.^[404] The country has the world's largest Christian population.^[405] Other notable faiths include Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, many New Age movements, and Native American religions.^[406] Religious practice varies significantly by region.^[407] "Ceremonial deism" is common in American culture.^[408]

The overwhelming majority of Americans believe in a higher power or spiritual force, engage in spiritual practices such as prayer, and consider themselves religious or spiritual.^[409][410] In the "Bible Belt", located within the Southern United States, evangelical Protestantism plays a significant role culturally, whereas New England and the Western United States tend to be more secular.^[407] Mormonism—a Restorationist movement, whose members migrated westward from Missouri and Illinois under the leadership of Brigham Young in 1847 after the assassination of Joseph Smith^[411]—remains the predominant religion in Utah to this day.^[412]

About 82% of Americans live in

U.S. Census Bureau[416]
	Rank	Name	Region	Pop.	Rank	Name	Region	Pop.
Los Angeles	1	New York	Northeast	19,498,249	11	Boston	Northeast	4,919,179	Chicago Dallas–Fort Worth
	2	Los Angeles	West	12,799,100	12	Riverside–San Bernardino	West	4,688,053
	3	Chicago	Midwest	9,262,825	13	San Francisco	West	4,566,961
	4	Dallas–Fort Worth	South	8,100,037	14	Detroit	Midwest	4,342,304
	5	Houston	South	7,510,253	15	Seattle	West	4,044,837
	6	Atlanta	South	6,307,261	16	Minneapolis–Saint Paul	Midwest	3,712,020
	7	Washington, D.C.	South	6,304,975	17	Tampa–St. Petersburg	South	3,342,963
	8	Philadelphia	Northeast	6,246,160	18	San Diego	West	3,269,973
	9	Miami	South	6,183,199	19	Denver	West	3,005,131
	10	Phoenix	West	5,070,110	20	Baltimore	South	2,834,316

Health

According to the

American primary and secondary education (known in the U.S. as K-12, "kindergarten through 12th grade") is decentralized. It is operated by state, territorial, and sometimes municipal governments and regulated by the U.S. Department of Education. In general, children are required to attend school or an approved homeschool from the age of five or six (kindergarten or first grade) until they are 18 years old. This often brings students through the 12th grade, the final year of a U.S. high school, but some states and territories allow them to leave school earlier, at age 16 or 17.^[429] The U.S. spends more on education per student than any country in the world,^[430] an average of $18,614 per year per public elementary and secondary school student in 2020–2021.^[431] Among Americans age 25 and older, 92.2% graduated from high school, 62.7% attended some college, 37.7% earned a bachelor's degree, and 14.2% earned a graduate degree.^[432] The U.S. literacy rate is near-universal.^[166][433] The country has the most Nobel Prize winners of any country, with 411 (having won 413 awards).^[434][435]

Americans have traditionally

Colonial American authors were influenced by

While modernism generally took on an international character, modernist authors working within the United States more often rooted their work in specific regions, peoples, and cultures.^[493] Following the Great Migration to northern cities, African-American and black West Indian authors of the Harlem Renaissance developed an independent tradition of literature that rebuked a history of inequality and celebrated black culture. An important cultural export during the Jazz Age, these writings were a key influence on Négritude, a philosophy emerging in the 1930s among francophone writers of the African diaspora.^[494][495] In the 1950s, an ideal of homogeneity led many authors to attempt to write the Great American Novel,^[496] while the Beat Generation rejected this conformity, using styles that elevated the impact of the spoken word over mechanics to describe drug use, sexuality, and the failings of society.^[497][498] Contemporary literature is more pluralistic than in previous eras, with the closest thing to a unifying feature being a trend toward self-conscious experiments with language.^[499] As of 2024 there have been 12 American laureates for the Nobel Prize in literature.^[500]

Media is

As of 2022[update], the video game market of the United States is the world's

largest by revenue.^[509] There are 444 publishers, developers, and hardware companies in California alone.^[510]

Theater

Main article: Theater in the United States

Broadway theaters in Theater District, Manhattan

The United States is well known for its theater. Mainstream theater in the United States derives from the old European theatrical tradition and has been heavily influenced by the

Tom Shows, the showboat theater and the minstrel show.^[512] The central hub of the American theater scene is Manhattan, with its divisions of Broadway, off-Broadway, and off-off-Broadway.^[513]

Many movie and television

community theater culture.^[514]

The

regional theater. Several discretionary non-competitive awards are given as well, including a Special Tony Award, the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre, and the Isabelle Stevenson Award.^[515]

Visual arts

Main articles:

Architecture of the United States

colonial America grew out of artisanal craftsmanship in communities that allowed commonly trained people to individually express themselves. It was distinct from Europe's tradition of high art, which was less accessible and generally less relevant to early American settlers.^[517] Cultural movements in art and craftsmanship in colonial America generally lagged behind those of Western Europe. For example, the prevailing medieval style of woodworking and primitive sculpture became integral to early American folk art, despite the emergence of Renaissance styles in England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. The new English styles would have been early enough to make a considerable impact on American folk art, but American styles and forms had already been firmly adopted. Not only did styles change slowly in early America, but there was a tendency for rural artisans there to continue their traditional forms longer than their urban counterparts did—and far longer than those in Western Europe.^[469]

The Hudson River School was a mid-19th-century movement in the visual arts 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.^[518]

Georgia O'Keeffe, Marsden Hartley, and others experimented with new and individualistic styles, which would become known as American modernism. 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. Major photographers include Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen, Dorothea Lange, Edward Weston, James Van Der Zee, Ansel Adams, and Gordon Parks.^[519]

The tide of modernism and then postmodernism has brought global fame to American architects, including Frank Lloyd Wright, Philip Johnson, and Frank Gehry.^[520] The Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan is the largest art museum in the United States.^[521]

Music

Main article: Music of the United States

mainland Europe, or Africa.^[522] The rhythmic and lyrical styles of African-American music in particular have influenced American music.^[523] Banjos were brought to America through the slave trade. Minstrel shows incorporating the instrument into their acts led to its increased popularity and widespread production in the 19th century.^[524][525] The electric guitar, first invented in the 1930s, and mass-produced by the 1940s, had an enormous influence on popular music, in particular due to the development of rock and roll.^[526]

Elements from folk idioms such as the

hip hop both originated in the United States in the 1970s.^[532]

The United States has the world's largest music market with a total retail value of $15.9 billion in 2022.^[533] Most of the world's major record companies are based in the U.S.; they are represented by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).^[534] Mid-20th-century American pop stars, such as Frank Sinatra^[535] and Elvis Presley,^[536] became global celebrities and best-selling music artists,^[527] as have artists of the late 20th century, such as Michael Jackson,^[537] Madonna,^[538] Whitney Houston,^[539] and Prince,^[540] and the early 21st century, such as Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.^[541]

Fashion

Main article: Fashion in the United States

catwalk during New York Fashion Week

The United States is the world's largest

sneakers, jeans, T-shirts, and baseball caps are emblematic of American styles.^[543] New York, with its fashion week, is considered to be one of the "Big Four" global fashion capitals, along with Paris, Milan, and London. A study demonstrated that general proximity to Manhattan's Garment District has been synonymous with American fashion since its inception in the early 20th century.^[544]

The headquarters of many

sustainable clothing.^[545] New York Fashion Week is one of the most influential fashion weeks in the world, and occurs twice a year;^[546] while the annual Met Gala in Manhattan is commonly known as the fashion world's "biggest night".^[547][548]

Cinema

Main article: Cinema of the United States

American film industry

The U.S. film industry has

Golden Globe Awards have been held annually since January 1944.^[556]

The industry peaked in what is commonly referred to as the "Golden Age of Hollywood", from the early sound period until the early 1960s,^[557] with screen actors such as John Wayne and Marilyn Monroe becoming iconic figures.^[558][559] In the 1970s, "New Hollywood", or the "Hollywood Renaissance",^[560] was defined by grittier films influenced by French and Italian realist pictures of the post-war period.^[561] The 21st century was marked by the rise of American streaming platforms, which came to rival traditional cinema.^[562][563]

Cuisine

Main article: American cuisine

Further information: List of American regional and fusion cuisines

green salad, and apple sauce

Early settlers were introduced by Native Americans to foods such as

potatoes, and turkey as the main course are part of a shared national menu on Thanksgiving, when many Americans prepare or purchase traditional dishes to celebrate the occasion.^[567]

Characteristic American dishes such as

Culinary Institute of America was founded by Katharine Angell 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.^[573][574]

The

fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.^[583][584]

The American

Kentucky Fried Chicken, and many others, have numerous outlets around the world.^[590]

Sports

Main article: Sports in the United States

See also: Professional sports leagues in the United States, National Collegiate Athletic Association, and United States at the Olympics

FedExField

.

The most popular spectator sports in the U.S. are American football, basketball, baseball, soccer, and ice hockey.^[591] 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, many of which have become popular worldwide.^[592] Lacrosse and surfing arose from Native American and Native Hawaiian activities that predate European contact.^[593] The market for professional sports in the United States was approximately $69 billion in July 2013, roughly 50% larger than that of all of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa combined.^[594]

American football is by several measures the most popular spectator sport in the United States;^[595] the National Football League has the highest average attendance of any sports league in the world, and the Super Bowl is watched by tens of millions globally.^[596] However, baseball has been regarded as the U.S. "national sport" since the late 19th century. After American football, the next four most popular professional team sports are basketball, baseball, soccer, and ice hockey. Their premier leagues are, respectively, the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, and the National Hockey League. The most-watched individual sports in the U.S. are golf and auto racing, particularly NASCAR and IndyCar.^[597][598]

On the collegiate level, earnings for the member institutions exceed $1 billion annually,^[599] and college football and basketball attract large audiences, as the NCAA March Madness tournament and the College Football Playoff are some of the most watched national sporting events.^[600] In the U.S., the intercollegiate sports level serves as a feeder system for professional sports. This differs greatly from practices in nearly all other countries, where publicly and privately funded sports organizations serve this function.^[601]

Eight

St. Louis, Missouri, were the first-ever Olympic Games held outside of Europe.^[602] The Olympic Games will be held in the U.S. for a ninth time when Los Angeles hosts the 2028 Summer Olympics. U.S. athletes have won a total of 2,968 medals (1,179 gold) at the Olympic Games, the most of any country.^{[603][604][605]}

In international professional competition, the U.S. men's national soccer team has qualified for eleven World Cups, while the women's national team has won the FIFA Women's World Cup and Olympic soccer tournament four times each.^[606] The United States hosted the 1994 FIFA World Cup and will co-host, along with Canada and Mexico, the 2026 FIFA World Cup.^[607] The 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup was also hosted by the United States. Its final match was watched by 90,185, setting the world record for most-attended women's sporting event at the time.^[608]

See also

• Lists of U.S. state topics
• Outline of the United States

Notes

1. State of South Dakota recognizes English and all Sioux dialects
   as official languages. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have no official language.
2. ^ English is the de facto language. For more information, see Languages of the United States.
3. ^ The historical and informal demonym Yankee has been applied to Americans, New Englanders, or northeasterners since the 18th century.
4. ^ ^{a b c} 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 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)^[19]
   Only internal waters included: 3,696,100 sq mi (9,572,900 km²)^[20]
5. U.S. census
   statistics
6. ^ After adjustment for taxes and transfers
7. ^ See Time in the United States for details about laws governing time zones in the United States.
8. ^ See Date and time notation in the United States.
9. U.S. Virgin Islands
   use left-hand traffic.
10. ^ Federally recognized Native American tribes are treated as "domestic dependent nations" with tribal sovereignty rights.^[17]
11. ^ The five major territories outside the union of states are American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The seven undisputed island areas without permanent populations are Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Atoll, and Palmyra Atoll. U.S. sovereignty over the unpopulated Bajo Nuevo Bank, Navassa Island, Serranilla Bank, and Wake Island is disputed.^[18]
12. ^ The U.S. Census Bureau's 2023 estimate was 334,914,895 residents. All official population figures are for the 50 states and the District of Columbia; they exclude the five major U.S. territories and outlying islands. The Census Bureau also provides a continuously updated but unofficial population clock in addition to its decennial census and annual population estimates: www.census.gov/popclock
13. ^ Based on purchasing power
14. ^ Including agencies such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Health Organization
15. ^ From the late 15th century, the Columbian exchange had been catastrophic for native populations throughout the Americas. It is estimated that up to 95 percent of the indigenous populations, especially in the Caribbean, perished from infectious diseases during the years following European colonization;^[47] remaining populations were often displaced by European expansion.^[48][49]
16. ^ New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia
17. ^ Per the U.S. Constitution, Amendment Twenty-three, proposed by the U.S. Congress on June 16, 1960, and ratified by the States on March 29, 1961
18. ^ A country's total exports are usually understood to be goods and services. Based on this, the U.S. is the world's second-largest exporter, after China.^[299] However, if primary income is included, the U.S. is the world's largest exporter.^[300]
19. U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands
    ) and minor island possessions.
20. 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
21. ^ Also known less formally as Obamacare

References