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 North America. It is a
federation of 50 states, which also includes a federal capital district
(Washington, D.C.) and 326 Indian reservations.[j] Outside the union of states, it
also asserts sovereignty over five major unincorporated island territories and
various uninhabited islands.[k] Its 48 contiguous states border Canada to the north
and Mexico to the south. The country has the world's third-largest land area,[d]
second-largest exclusive economic zone, and third-largest population, exceeding 334
million.[l]

Paleo-Indians migrated across the Bering land bridge more than 12,000 years ago,
and went on to form various civilizations and societies. British colonization led
to the first settlement of the Thirteen Colonies in Virginia in 1607. Clashes with
the British Crown over taxation and political representation sparked the American
Revolution, with the Second Continental Congress formally declaring independence on
July 4, 1776. Following its victory in the Revolutionary War (1775–1783), the
country continued to expand across North America. As more states were admitted,
sectional division over slavery led to the secession of the Confederate States of
America, which fought the remaining states of the Union during the 1861–1865
American Civil War. With the Union's victory and preservation, slavery was
abolished nationally. By 1890, the United States had established itself as a great
power. After Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the U.S. entered
World War II. The aftermath of the war left the U.S. and the Soviet Union as the
world's two superpowers and led to the Cold War, during which both countries
engaged in a struggle for ideological dominance and international influence.
Following the Soviet Union's collapse and the end of the Cold War in 1991, the U.S.
emerged as the world's sole superpower.

The U.S. national government is a presidential constitutional republic and liberal

democracy with three separate branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. It
has a bicameral national legislature composed of the House of Representatives, a
lower house based on population; and the Senate, an upper house based on equal
representation for each state. Substantial autonomy is given to states and several
territories, with a political culture promoting liberty, equality, individualism,
personal autonomy, and limited government.

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 human rights, economic competitiveness, productivity,
innovation, 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.

Etymology
Further information: Names of the United States and Demonyms for the United States
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][25] By June 1776, the "United States of America" appeared
in the Articles of Confederation[26][27] and the Declaration of Independence.[26]
The Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4,
1776.[28]
History
Main article: History of the United States
For a topical guide, see Outline of the history of the United States.
Indigenous peoples
Further information: Native Americans in the United States and Pre-Columbian era

Cliff Palace, built by Ancestral Puebloans in present-day Montezuma County,

Colorado, between c. 1200 and 1275[29]
The first inhabitants of North America migrated from Siberia across the Bering land
bridge at least 12,000 years ago;[30][31] the Clovis culture, which appeared around
11,000 BC, is believed to be the first widespread culture in the Americas.[32][33]
Over time, indigenous North American cultures grew increasingly sophisticated, and
some, such as the Mississippian culture, developed agriculture, architecture, and
complex societies.[34] In the post-archaic period, the Mississippian cultures were
located in the midwestern, eastern, and southern regions, and the Iroquois in the
Great Lakes region, while the Hohokam culture and Ancestral Puebloans inhabited the
southwest.[35] Native population estimates of what is now the United States before
the arrival of European immigrants range from around 500,000[36][37] to nearly 10
million.[37][38]

European settlement (from 1492) and the Thirteen Colonies (1607–1776)

Main article: Colonial history of the United States
See also: European colonization of the Americas

The 1750 colonial possessions of Britain (in pink and purple), France (in blue),
and Spain (in orange) in present-day Canada and the United States
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.[39][40][41] France established its own settlements along the
Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico.[42] British colonization of the East Coast
began with the Virginia Colony (1607) and Plymouth Colony (1620).[43][44] The
Mayflower Compact and the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut established precedents
for representative self-governance and constitutionalism that would develop
throughout the American colonies.[45][46] 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.[47][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.[51][52] Along the eastern seaboard, settlers
trafficked African slaves through the Atlantic slave trade.[53]

The original Thirteen Colonies[p] that would later found the United States were
administered by Great Britain,[54] and had local governments with elections open to
most white male property owners.[55][56] The colonial population grew rapidly,
eclipsing Native American populations;[57] by the 1770s, the natural increase of
the population was such that only a small minority of Americans had been born
overseas.[58] The colonies' distance from Britain allowed for the development of
self-governance,[59] and the First Great Awakening, a series of Christian revivals,
fueled colonial interest in religious liberty.[60]

American Revolution, Revolutionary War and the early republic (1776–1820)

Main articles: American Revolution and American Revolutionary War
Further information: History of the United States (1776–1789) and History of the
United States (1789–1815)
See caption
Declaration of Independence, a portrait by John Trumbull depicting the Committee of
Five presenting the draft of the Declaration to the Continental Congress on June
28, 1776, in Philadelphia
After winning the French and Indian War, Britain began to assert greater control
over local colonial affairs, creating 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 write
the Declaration of Independence, which was adopted on July 4, 1776, two days after
passing the Lee Resolution to create an independent nation.[61] The political
values of the American Revolution included liberty, inalienable individual rights;
and the sovereignty of the people;[62] supporting republicanism and rejecting
monarchy, aristocracy, and hereditary political power; virtue and faithfulness in
the performance of civic duties; and vilification of corruption.[63] 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.[64][65]

After the British surrender at the siege of Yorktown in 1781 American sovereignty
was internationally recognized by the Treaty of Paris (1783), through which the
U.S. gained territory stretching west to the Mississippi River, north to present-
day Canada, and south to Spanish Florida.[66] The Articles of Confederation were
ratified in 1781 and established a decentralized government that operated until
1789.[61] The Northwest Ordinance (1787) established the precedent by which the
country's territory would expand with the admission of new states, rather than the
expansion of existing states.[67] The U.S. Constitution was drafted at the 1787
Constitutional Convention to overcome the limitations of the Articles. It went into
effect in 1789, creating a federation governed by three separate branches that
together ensured a system of checks and balances.[68] George Washington was elected
the country's first president under the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights was
adopted in 1791 to allay skeptics' concerns about the power of the more centralized
government.[69][70] His resignation as commander-in-chief after the Revolution and
later refusal to run for a third term, established the precedent of peaceful
transfer of power and supremacy of civil authority.[71][72]

Westward expansion and the sectional crisis (1820–1861)

Further information: History of the United States (1815–1849) and Territorial
evolution of the United States

Animation showing the free/slave status of U.S. states and territories expansion,
1789–1861
The Louisiana Purchase (1803) from France nearly doubled the territory of the
United States.[73][74] Lingering issues with Britain remained, leading to the War
of 1812, which was fought to a draw.[75][76] Spain ceded Florida and its Gulf Coast
territory in 1819.[77] In the late 18th century, American settlers began to expand
westward, many with a sense of manifest destiny.[78][79] 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.[80] As
Americans expanded further into land inhabited by Native Americans, the federal
government often applied policies of Indian removal or assimilation.[81][82]
Organized displacements prompted a long series of American Indian Wars west of the
Mississippi.[83][84] The Republic of Texas was annexed in 1845,[85] and the 1846
Oregon Treaty led to U.S. control of the present-day American Northwest.[86]
Victory in the Mexican–American War resulted in the 1848 Mexican Cession of
California and much of the present-day American Southwest.[78][87] Issues of
slavery in the new territories acquired were temporarily resolved by the Compromise
of 1850.[88][89]

Civil War (1861–1865)

Main articles: History of the United States (1849–1865) and American Civil War

Division of the states during the American Civil War:

Union states
Border states
Confederate states
Territories
During the colonial period, slavery had been legal in the American colonies, though
the practice began to be significantly questioned during the American Revolution.
[90] States in The North enacted abolition laws,[91] though support for slavery
strengthened in Southern states, as inventions such as the cotton gin made the
institution increasingly profitable for Southern elites.[92][93][94] This sectional
conflict regarding slavery culminated in the American Civil War (1861–1865).[95]
[96] Eleven slave states seceded and formed the Confederate States of America,
while the other states remained in the Union.[97][98] War broke out in April 1861
after the Confederates bombarded Fort Sumter.[99][100] After the January 1863
Emancipation Proclamation, many freed slaves joined the Union Army.[101] The war
began to turn in the Union's favor following the 1863 Siege of Vicksburg and Battle
of Gettysburg, and the Confederacy surrendered in 1865 after the Union's victory in
the Battle of Appomattox Court House.[102] The Reconstruction era followed the war.
After the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, Reconstruction Amendments
were passed to protect the rights of African Americans. National infrastructure,
including transcontinental telegraph and railroads, spurred growth in the American
frontier.[103]

Post–Civil War era (1865–1917)

Main article: History of the United States (1865–1917)
Duration: 2 minutes and 27 seconds.2:27
An Edison Studios film showing immigrants arriving at Ellis Island in New York
Harbor, a major point of entry for European immigrants in the late 19th and early
20th centuries[104][105]
From 1865 through 1917 an unprecedented stream of immigrants arrived in the United
States, including 24.4 million from Europe.[106] 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.[107] During the Great Migration,
millions of African Americans left the rural South for urban areas in the North.
[108] Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867.[109]

The Compromise of 1877 effectively ended Reconstruction and white supremacists took
local control of Southern politics.[110][111] African Americans endured a period of
heightened, overt racism following Reconstruction, a time often called the nadir of
American race relations.[112][113] 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 cities across the country, which would be reinforced by
the policy of redlining later adopted by the federal Home Owners' Loan Corporation.
[114]

An explosion of technological advancement accompanied by the exploitation of cheap

immigrant labor[115] led to rapid economic development during the late 19th and
early 20th centuries, allowing the United States to outpace England, France, and
Germany combined.[116][117] This fostered the amassing of power by a few prominent
industrialists, largely by their formation of trusts and monopolies to prevent
competition.[118] Tycoons led the nation's expansion in the railroad, petroleum,
and steel industries. The United States emerged as a pioneer of the automotive
industry.[119] These changes were accompanied by significant increases in economic
inequality, slum conditions, and social unrest, creating the environment for labor
unions to begin to flourish.[120][121][122] This period eventually ended with the
advent of the Progressive Era, which was characterized by significant reforms.[123]
[124]

Rise as a superpower (1917–1945)

Main article: History of the United States (1917–1945)

The Trinity nuclear test in 1945, part of the Manhattan Project and the first
detonation of a nuclear weapon. The World Wars permanently ended the country's
policy of isolationism and left it as a world superpower.
Pro-American elements in Hawaii overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy; the islands were
annexed in 1898. Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines were ceded by Spain
following the Spanish–American War.[125] American Samoa was acquired by the United
States in 1900 after the Second Samoan Civil War.[126] The U.S. Virgin Islands were
purchased from Denmark in 1917.[127] The United States entered World War I
alongside the Allies of World War I, helping to turn the tide against the Central
Powers.[128] In 1920, a constitutional amendment granted nationwide women's
suffrage.[129] During the 1920s and 30s, radio for mass communication and the
invention of early television transformed communications nationwide.[130] The Wall
Street Crash of 1929 triggered the Great Depression, which President Franklin D.
Roosevelt responded to with New Deal social and economic policies.[131][132]

Initially neutral during World War II, the U.S. began supplying war materiel to the
Allies of World War II in March 1941 and entered the war in December after the
Empire of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor.[133][134] The U.S. developed the first
nuclear weapons and used them against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
in August 1945, ending the war.[135][136] The United States was one of the "Four
Policemen" who met to plan the post-war world, alongside the United Kingdom, Soviet
Union, and China.[137][138] The U.S. emerged relatively unscathed from the war,
with even greater economic power and international political influence.[139]

Cold War (1945–1991)

Main article: Cold War
Further information: History of the United States (1945–1964), History of the
United States (1964–1980), and History of the United States (1980–1991)

Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan sign the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces
Treaty at the White House in 1987.
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 dominate
world affairs.[140] The U.S. engaged in regime change against governments perceived
to be aligned with the Soviet Union, and competed in the Space Race, culminating in
the first crewed Moon landing in 1969.[141][142][143][144] Domestically, the U.S.
experienced economic growth, urbanization, and population growth following World
War II.[145] The civil rights movement emerged, with Martin Luther King Jr.
becoming a prominent leader in the early 1960s.[146] The Great Society plan of
President Lyndon Johnson's administration resulted in groundbreaking and broad-
reaching laws, policies and a constitutional amendment to counteract some of the
worst effects of lingering institutional racism.[147] The counterculture movement
in the U.S. brought significant social changes, including the liberalization of
attitudes toward recreational drug use and sexuality. It also encouraged open
defiance of the military draft (leading to the end of conscription in 1973) and
wide opposition to U.S. intervention in Vietnam (with the U.S. totally withdrawing
in 1975).[148][149][150] The societal shift in the roles of women partly resulted
in large increases in female labor participation in the 1970s, and by 1985 the
majority of women aged 16 and older were employed.[151] The late 1980s and early
1990s saw the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the dissolution of the Soviet Union,
which marked the end of the Cold War and solidified the U.S. as the world's sole
superpower.[152][153][154][155]

Contemporary (1991–present)
Main articles: History of the United States (1991–2008) and History of the United
States (2008–present)
President Bush on the telephone gathering information
President George W. Bush gathers information about the September 11 attacks.
Explosion at the WTC
The Twin Towers in New York City during the September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks in 2001, which targeted the World Trade Center in New York
City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
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 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.[156] In 1991, an American-led international
coalition of states expelled an Iraqi invasion force from Kuwait in the Gulf War.
[157]

The September 11 attacks in 2001 by the pan-Islamist militant organization al-Qaeda

led to the war on terror and subsequent military interventions in Afghanistan and
Iraq.[158][159] 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.[160] Coming to a head in the
2010s, political polarization increased as sociopolitical debates on cultural
issues dominated politics.[161][162][163] This polarization was capitalized upon in
the January 2021 Capitol attack, when a mob of insurrectionists entered the U.S.
Capitol and attempted to prevent the peaceful transfer of power.[164]

Geography
Main article: Geography of the United States
See also: Borders of the United States

A topographic map of the United States

The United States is the world's third-largest country by total area behind Russia
and Canada.[d][165][166] The 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia
occupy a combined area of 3,119,885 square miles (8,080,470 km2).[167][168] The
coastal plain of the Atlantic seaboard gives way to inland forests and rolling
hills in the Piedmont plateau region.[169]

The Appalachian Mountains and the Adirondack massif separate the East Coast from
the Great Lakes and the grasslands of the Midwest.[170] The Mississippi River
System, the world's fourth-longest river system, runs predominantly north–south
through the heart of the country. The flat and fertile prairie of the Great Plains
stretches to the west, interrupted by a highland region in the southeast.[170]

The Grand Canyon in Arizona

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.[171] Farther west are
the rocky Great Basin and Chihuahua, Sonoran, and Mojave deserts.[172] 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 Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges run close to the Pacific coast. The
lowest and highest points in the contiguous United States are in the state of
California,[173] about 84 miles (135 km) apart.[174] At an elevation of 20,310 feet
(6,190.5 m), Alaska's Denali is the highest peak in the country and continent.[175]
Active volcanoes are common throughout Alaska's Alexander and Aleutian Islands, and
Hawaii consists of volcanic islands. The supervolcano underlying Yellowstone
National Park in the Rockies is the continent's largest volcanic feature.[176] In
2021, the United States had 8% of global permanent meadows and pastures and 10% of
cropland.[177]

Climate
Main article: Climate of the United States
See also: Climate change in the United States

The Köppen climate types of the United States

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.[178] 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.[179]

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.[180] Overall, the
United States receives more high-impact extreme weather incidents than any other
country.[181][182] Extreme weather became more frequent in the U.S. in the 21st
century, with three times the number of reported heat waves as in the 1960s. In the
American Southwest, droughts became more persistent and more severe.[183]

Biodiversity and conservation

Main articles: Fauna of the United States and Flora of the United States

A bald eagle
The bald eagle, the national bird of the United States since 1782[184]
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.[185] The United States is home to 428 mammal
species, 784 birds, 311 reptiles, 295 amphibians,[186] and 91,000 insect species.
[187]

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.[188] About 28% of the country's land is publicly owned and federally
managed,[189] primarily in the western states.[190] Most of this land is protected,
though some is leased for commercial use, and less than one percent is used for
military purposes.[191][192]

Environmental issues in the United States include debates on non-renewable

resources and nuclear energy, air and water pollution, biodiversity, logging and
deforestation,[193][194] and climate change.[195][196] The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) is the federal agency charged with addressing most
environmental-related issues.[197] The idea of wilderness has shaped the management
of public lands since 1964, with the Wilderness Act.[198] 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.[199] As of 2022, the U.S. ranked 43rd among 180 countries in the Environmental
Performance Index.[200] The country joined the Paris Agreement on climate change in
2016 and has many other environmental commitments.[201]

Government and politics

Main article: Politics of the United States
Further information: Elections in the United States, Political ideologies in the
United States, Americanism (ideology), and American civil religion

The Capitol and its two legislative chambers, the Senate (left) and the House of
Representatives (right)

The White House, the residence and workplace of the U.S. president and the offices
of the presidential staff

The Supreme Court Building, which houses the nation's highest court
The United States is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal district,
Washington, D.C. It also asserts sovereignty over five unincorporated territories
and several uninhabited island possessions.[202][203] The world's oldest surviving
federation,[204] the U.S. has the world's oldest national constitution still in
effect (from March 4, 1789). Its presidential system of government has been
adopted, in whole or in part, by many newly independent nations following
decolonization.[205] It is a liberal representative democracy "in which majority
rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law."[206] The Constitution of the
United States serves as the country's supreme legal document, also establishing the
structure and responsibilities of the national federal government and its
relationship with the individual states.[207]

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

National government
Main article: Federal government of the United States
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 checks and balances.[209]

The U.S. Congress, a bicameral legislature, made up of the Senate and the House of
Representatives, makes federal law, declares war, approves treaties, has the power
of the purse,[210] and has the power of impeachment.[211] The Senate has 100
members (2 from each state), elected for a six-year term. The House of
Representatives has 435 members, each elected for a two-year term; all
representatives serve one congressional district of equivalent population.[212]
The U.S. president is the commander-in-chief of the military, can veto legislative
bills before they become law (subject to congressional override), and appoints the
members of the Cabinet (subject to Senate approval) and other officials, who
administer and enforce federal laws and policies through their respective agencies.
[213] 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. In
practice, however, all 50 states choose a group of presidential electors who must
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.)[q] Both president
and vice president serve a four-year term and may be reelected to the office only
once, for one additional four-year term.[214]
The U.S. federal judiciary, whose judges are all appointed for life by the
President with Senate approval, consists primarily of the U.S. Supreme Court, the
U.S. courts of appeals, and the U.S. district courts. The U.S. Supreme Court
interprets laws and overturn those they find unconstitutional.[215] The Supreme
Court is led by the Chief Justice of the United States. It has nine members who
serve for life. The members are appointed by the sitting president when a vacancy
becomes available.[216]
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 copied this aspect of the 1789 Constitution of the
United States, especially in the Americas.[217]

Political parties
Main articles: Political parties in the United States and List of political parties
in the United States
See also: Political party strength in U.S. states

U.S. state governments (governor and legislature) by party control:

Democratic control
Republican control
Split control
The Constitution is silent on political parties. However, they developed
independently in the 18th century with the Federalist and Anti-Federalist parties.
[218] Since then, the United States has operated as a de facto two-party system,
though the parties in that system have been different at different times.[219] The
two main national parties are presently the Democratic and the Republican. The
former is perceived as relatively liberal in its political platform while the
latter is perceived as relatively conservative.[220]

Subdivisions
Main article: U.S. state
See also: State governments of the United States
Further information: List of states and territories of the United States, Indian
reservation, Territories of the United States, and Territorial evolution of the
United States
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.
[221] 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.[222] The
territories and the District of Columbia are administrative divisions of the
federal government.[223] Federally recognized tribes govern 326 Indian
reservations.[224]