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United States

The United States is a federal constitutional republic comprising 50 states and Washington D.C. between Canada and Mexico. It has the world's largest economy and is one of the most ethnically diverse nations due to large-scale immigration. Indigenous peoples inhabited North America for thousands of years before European contact in the 15th century. The U.S. declared independence from Britain in 1776 and the Constitution established a strong federal government in 1787. The country expanded westward over the 19th century and fought the Civil War over slavery, emerging as a world power after World War I and World War II.

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76 views1 page

United States

The United States is a federal constitutional republic comprising 50 states and Washington D.C. between Canada and Mexico. It has the world's largest economy and is one of the most ethnically diverse nations due to large-scale immigration. Indigenous peoples inhabited North America for thousands of years before European contact in the 15th century. The U.S. declared independence from Britain in 1776 and the Constitution established a strong federal government in 1787. The country expanded westward over the 19th century and fought the Civil War over slavery, emerging as a world power after World War I and World War II.

Uploaded by

Valeria Craciun
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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United States

The United States of America (also referred to as the United States, the U.S., the USA, the States,
or America) is a federalconstitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is
situated mostly in central North America, where itsforty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C.,
the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered byCanada to the north and Mexico to
the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east andRussia to the
west across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also
possessesseveral territories in the Caribbean and Pacific.

At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km2) and with over 308 million people, the United States is the third or
fourth largest country by total area, and the third largest both by land area and population. It is one of the
world's most ethnically diverse and multiculturalnations, the product of large-scale immigration from many
countries.[6] The U.S. economy is the world's largest national economy, with an estimated 2010 GDP of $14.7
trillion (23% of nominal global GDP and 20% of global GDP at purchasing power parity).[3][7]

Indigenous peoples of Asian origin have inhabited what is now the mainland United States for many thousands
of years. This Native American population was greatly reduced by disease and warfare after European contact.
The United States was founded by thirteen British colonies located along the Atlantic seaboard. On July 4,
1776, they issued the Declaration of Independence, which proclaimed their right to self-determination and their
establishment of a cooperative union. The rebellious states defeated the British Empire in theAmerican
Revolution, the first successful colonial war of independence.[8] The current United States Constitution was
adopted on September 17, 1787; its ratification the following year made the states part of a single republic with
a strong federal 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 theRepublic 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.
[9]
TheSpanish–American War and World War I confirmed the country's status as a military power. It emerged
from World War II as the first country with nuclear weapons and a permanent member of the United Nations
Security Council. The end of the Cold War and thedissolution of the Soviet Union left the United States as the
sole superpower. The country accounts for 43% of global military spendingand is a leading economic, political,
and cultural force in the world.[10]

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