The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to its east and Russia to the west across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories, or insular areas, scattered around the Caribbean and Pacific.
At 3.79 million square miles and with about 305 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and third largest by land area and by population. The United States is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The U.S. economy is the largest national economy in the world, with an estimated 2008 gross domestic product of US$14.3 trillion.
The nation was founded by thirteen colonies of Great Britain located along the Atlantic seaboard. On July 4, 1776, they issued the Declaration of Independence, which proclaimed their independence from Great Britain and their formation of a cooperative union. The rebellious states defeated Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War, the first successful colonial war of independence. A federal convention adopted the current United States Constitution on September 17, 1787; its ratification the following year made the states part of a single republic with a strong central government. The Bill of Rights, comprising ten constitutional amendments guaranteeing many fundamental civil rights and freedoms, was ratified in 1791.
In the 19th century, the United States acquired land from France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Russia, and annexed the Republic of Texas and the Republic of Hawaii. Disputes between the agrarian South and industrial North over states' rights and the expansion of the institution of slavery provoked the American Civil War of the 1860s. The North's victory prevented a permanent split of the country and led to the end of legal slavery in the United States. By the 1870s, the national economy was the world's largest. The SpanishAmerican War and World War I confirmed the country's status as a military power. In 1945, the United States emerged from World War II as the first country with nuclear weapons, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and a founding member of NATO. The end of the Cold War left the United States as the sole superpower. The country accounts for approximately 50% of global military spending and is a leading economic, political, and cultural force in the world.
| 1. Arkansas 2. Washington, D.C. 3. Delaware 4. Florida 5. Georgia 6. Kansas 7. Louisiana 8. Maryland 9. Missouri 10. Mississippi 11. North Carolina 12. Oklahoma 13. South Carolina 14. Tennessee 15. Texas 16. West Virginia 17. Alabama | 18. Connecticut 19. Iowa 20. Illinois 21. Indiana 22. Maine 23. Michigan 24. Minnesota 25. Nebraska 26. New Hampshire 27. New Jersey 28. New York 29. Ohio 30. Rhode Island 31. Vermont 32. Wisconsin 33. California 34. Colorado | 35. New Mexico 36. Nevada 37. Utah 38. Arizona 39. Idaho 40. Montana 41. North Dakota 42. Oregon 43. South Dakota 44. Washington 45. Wyoming 46. Hawaii 47. Alaska 48. Kentucky 49. Massachusetts 50. Pennsylvania 51. Virginia |
| 1. New York 8,175,133 2. Los Angeles 3,792,621 3. Chicago 2,695,598 4. Brooklyn 2,300,664 5. Houston 2,099,451 6. Philadelphia 1,526,006 7. Manhattan 1,487,536 8. Phoenix 1,445,632 9. San Antonio 1,327,407 10. San Diego 1,307,402 11. Dallas 1,197,816 12. San Jose 945,942 13. Indianapolis 829,718 14. Jacksonville 821,784 15. San Francisco 805,235 16. Austin 790,390 17. Columbus 787,033 18. Fort Worth 741,206 19. Charlotte 731,424 20. Detroit 713,777 21. El Paso 649,121 22. Memphis 646,889 23. New South Memphis 641,608 24. Baltimore 620,961 25. Boston 617,594 26. Seattle 608,660 27. Washington, D. C. 601,723 28. Denver 600,158 29. Milwaukee 594,833 30. Portland 583,776 31. Las Vegas 583,756 32. Oklahoma City 579,999 33. South Boston 571,281 | 34. Albuquerque 545,852 35. Nashville 530,852 36. Tucson 520,116 37. Fresno 494,665 38. Sacramento 466,488 39. Long Beach 462,257 40. Kansas City 459,787 41. Mesa 439,041 42. Virginia Beach 437,994 43. Atlanta 420,003 44. Colorado Springs 416,427 45. Omaha 408,958 46. Raleigh 403,892 47. Miami 399,457 48. Cleveland 396,815 49. Tulsa 391,906 50. Oakland 390,724 51. Minneapolis 382,578 52. Wichita 382,368 53. Honolulu 371,657 54. Arlington 365,438 55. Bakersfield 347,483 56. New Orleans 343,829 57. West Raleigh 338,759 58. Anaheim 336,265 59. Tampa 335,709 60. Aurora 325,078 61. Santa Ana 324,528 62. Saint Louis 319,294 63. Pittsburgh 305,704 64. Corpus Christi 305,215 65. Riverside 303,871 66. Cincinnati 296,943 | 67. Lexington-Fayette 295,803 68. Anchorage 291,826 69. Stockton 291,707 70. Toledo 287,208 71. Saint Paul 285,068 72. Newark 277,140 73. Greensboro 269,666 74. Buffalo 261,310 75. Plano 259,841 76. Lincoln 258,379 77. Henderson 257,729 78. Fort Wayne 253,691 79. Jersey City 247,597 80. Saint Petersburg 244,769 81. Chula Vista 243,916 82. Louisville 243,639 83. Norfolk 242,803 84. Orlando 238,300 85. Chandler 236,123 86. Laredo 236,091 87. Madison 233,209 88. Winston-Salem 229,617 89. Lubbock 229,573 90. Baton Rouge 229,493 91. Durham 228,330 92. Garland 226,876 93. Glendale 226,721 94. Lexington 225,366 95. Reno 225,221 96. Hialeah 224,669 97. Paradise 223,167 98. Chesapeake 222,209 99. Scottsdale 217,385 100. North Las Vegas 216,961 |
