United States country profile

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Area 9.8 million sq km (3.8 million sq miles)

Capital Washington, D.C.
Major language English
Major religion Christianity
Life expectancy 76 years (men), 81 years (women) Currency US dollar
Population 331,449,281; (2022 est.) 336,958,0002
Form of Government federal republic with two legislative houses (Senate [100]; House of
Representatives [4351])

LEADERS
President: Joe Biden
Democrat candidate Joe Biden defeated
Republican President Donald Trump to
win the presidency in the 2020 election.
A former vice-president with decades of
experience in Congress, Mr Biden
campaigned on a platform of promoting
national unity after the divisive
presidency of Mr Trump, a right-wing
businessman, and re-engaging with
international diplomacy.
United States, officially United States of America, abbreviated U.S. or U.S.A.,
byname America, country in North America, a federal republic of 50 states. Besides
the 48 conterminous states that occupy the middle latitudes of the continent, the
United States includes the state of Alaska, at the northwestern extreme of North
America, and the island state of Hawaii, in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The conterminous
states are bounded on the north by Canada, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the
south by the Gulf of Mexico and Mexico, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. The
United States is the fourth largest country in the world in area (after Russia, Canada,
and China). The national capital is Washington, which is coextensive with
the District of Columbia, the federal capital region created in 1790.
The major characteristic of the United States is probably its great variety. Its
physical environment ranges from the Arctic to the subtropical, from the moist rain
forest to the arid desert, from the rugged mountain peak to the flat prairie. Although
the total population of the United States is large by world standards, its overall
population density is relatively low. The country embraces some of the world’s largest
urban concentrations as well as some of the most extensive areas that are almost
devoid of habitation.
The United States contains a highly diverse population. Unlike a country such as
China that largely incorporated indigenous peoples, the United States has
a diversity that to a great degree has come from an immense and sustained global
immigration. Probably no other country has a wider range of racial, ethnic, and
cultural types than does the United States. In addition to the presence of
surviving Native Americans (including American Indians, Aleuts, and Eskimos) and
the descendants of Africans taken as enslaved persons to the New World, the national
character has been enriched, tested, and constantly redefined by the tens of millions
of immigrants who by and large have come to America hoping for greater social,
political, and economic opportunities than they had in the places they left. (It should
be noted that although the terms “America” and “Americans” are often used
as synonyms for the United States and its citizens, respectively, they are also used in a
broader sense for North, South, and Central America collectively and their citizens.)
The United States is the world’s greatest economic power, measured in terms of gross
domestic product (GDP). The nation’s wealth is partly a reflection of its rich natural
resources and its enormous agricultural output, but it owes more to the country’s
highly developed industry. Despite its relative economic self-sufficiency in many
areas, the United States is the most important single factor in world trade by virtue of
the sheer size of its economy. Its exports and imports represent major proportions of
the world total. The United States also impinges on the global economy as a source of
and as a destination for investment capital. The country continues to sustain an
economic life that is more diversified than any other on Earth, providing the majority
of its people with one of the world’s highest standards of living.
The United States is relatively young by world standards, being less than 250 years
old; it achieved its current size only in the mid-20th century. America was the first of
the European colonies to separate successfully from its motherland, and it was the
first nation to be established on the premise that sovereignty rests with its citizens
and not with the government. In its first century and a half, the country was mainly
preoccupied with its own territorial expansion and economic growth and with social
debates that ultimately led to civil war and a healing period that is still not complete.
In the 20th century the United States emerged as a world power, and since World
War II it has been one of the preeminent powers. It has not accepted this mantle
easily nor always carried it willingly; the principles and ideals of its founders have
been tested by the pressures and exigencies of its dominant status. The United States
still offers its residents opportunities for unparalleled personal advancement and
wealth. However, the depletion of its resources, the contamination of its environment,
and the continuing social and economic inequality that perpetuates areas of poverty
and blight all threaten the fabric of the country.
TIMELINE

1565 - First permanent European settlement in North America.

17th-18th centuries - Hundreds of thousands of Africans brought over and sold into
slavery to work on cotton and tobacco plantations.
1775 - American Revolution: George Washington leads colonist Continental Army to
fight against British rule.
1787 - Founding Fathers draw up new constitution for United States of America.
19th century - Residual resistance by indigenous peoples crushed as immigration
from Europe assumes mass proportions, with settlers moving westwards.
1861-1865 - US Civil War: Federal forces defeat the Confederate pro-slavery states
in the South. Slavery is abolished.
1929-33 - Some 13 million people become unemployed after the Wall Street stock
market crash triggers what becomes known as the Great Depression.
1941 - Japan attacks the US fleet at Pearl Harbour in Hawaii, precipitating the US
entry into World War Two.
1954 - Racial segregation in schools becomes unconstitutional; start of campaign of
civil disobedience to secure civil rights for Americans of African descent.
2001 - Co-ordinated suicide attacks on various high-profile targets by the al-Qaeda
jihadist group, prompting the US to embark on a ''war on terror'' that includes the
invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq.
2008 - Barack Obama is elected the first black president of the United States.
2016 - Reality TV host and property tycoon Donald Trump regains the presidency for
the Republicans on a populist platform.