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{{Dablink|This article is about the United States of America. For other uses of terms redirecting here, see [[US (disambiguation)]], [[USA (disambiguation)]], and [[United States (disambiguation)]].}}
{{pp-semi|small=yes}}{{pp-move-indef}}
{{Infobox Country
|conventional_long_name = United States of America
|common_name = the United States
|image_flag = Flag of the United States.svg
|image_coat = US-GreatSeal-Obverse.svg
|length = 1776–Present
|symbol_type = Great Seal
|national_motto = <!--Please read the talk page before editing these mottos:-->[[In God We Trust]]{{spaces|2}}<small>(official)</small><br />{{lang|la|''[[E pluribus unum|E Pluribus Unum]]''}}{{spaces|2}}<small>(traditional)</small><br /><small>([[Latin]]: Out of Many, One)</small>
|image_map = United States (orthographic projection).svg
|map_width = 220px
|national_anthem = "[[The Star-Spangled Banner]]"
|official_languages = None at federal level{{Ref label|engoffbox|a|}}
|languages_type = [[National language]]
|languages = [[English language|English]] (''[[de facto]]''){{Ref label|engfactobox|b|}}
|capital = [[Washington, D.C.]]
|largest_city = [[New York City]]
|latd = 38|latm=53|latNS=N|longd=77|longm=01|longEW=W
|government_type = [[Federal republic|Federal]] [[constitutional republic|constitutional]] [[presidential system|presidential]] [[republic]]
|leader_title1 = [[President of the United States|President]]
|leader_name1 = [[Barack Obama]] ([[Democratic Party (United States)|D]])
|leader_title2 = [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]]
|leader_name2 = [[Joe Biden]] ([[Democratic Party (United States)|D]])
|leader_title3 = {{nowrap|[[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]]}}
|leader_name3 = [[Nancy Pelosi]] ([[Democratic Party (United States)|D]])
|leader_title4 = [[Chief Justice of the United States|Chief Justice]]
|leader_name4 = [[John G. Roberts|John Roberts]]
|legislature = [[United States Congress|Congress]]
|upper_house = [[United States Senate|Senate]]
|lower_house = [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]]
|sovereignty_type = [[American Revolutionary War|Independence]] {{nobold|from the [[Kingdom of Great Britain]]}}
|established_event1 = [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declared]]
|established_date1 = July 4, 1776
|established_event2 = [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Recognized]]
|established_date2 = September 3, 1783
|established_event3 = [[United States Constitution|Current constitution]]
|established_date3 = June 21, 1788
|area_footnote = <ref name="WF"/>{{Ref label|areabox|c|}}
|area_sq_mi = 3794101
|area_km2 = 9826675
|area_rank = 3rd/4th
|area_magnitude = 1 E12
|percent_water = 6.76
|population_estimate = {{uspop commas}}<ref name="POP"/>
|population_estimate_year = {{CURRENTYEAR}}
|population_estimate_rank = 3rd{{smallsup|<nowiki>[</nowiki>d<nowiki>]</nowiki>}}
|population_census = 281,421,906<ref>{{cite web|url=http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFPopulation?_submenuId=population_0&_sse=on|title=Population Finder: United States|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|accessdate=2007-12-20|year =2000}}</ref>
|population_census_year = 2000
|population_density_km2 = 32
|population_density_sq_mi = 83
|population_density_rank = 178th
|GDP_PPP_year = 2010
|GDP_PPP = $14.800 trillion<ref name=IMF_GDP>{{cite web|url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2010/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2007&ey=2010&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=111&s=NGDPD%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPPC%2CLP&grp=0&a=&pr.x=40&pr.y=10|title=United States|publisher=International Monetary Fund|accessdate=2010-04-21}}</ref>
|GDP_PPP_rank = 1st
|GDP_PPP_per_capita = $47,701<ref name="IMF_GDP"/>
|GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = 6th
|GDP_nominal = $14.800 trillion<ref name="IMF GDP"/>
|GDP_nominal_rank = 1st
|GDP_nominal_year = 2010
|GDP_nominal_per_capita = $47,701<ref name="IMF_GDP"/>
|GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank = 9th
|HDI_year = 2007
|HDI = {{increase}} 0.956<ref>[http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2009_EN_Complete.pdf Human Development Report 2009]. The United Nations. Retrieved October 5, 2009.</ref>
|HDI_rank = 13th
|HDI_category = <span style="color:#006000;">very high</span>
|Gini = 45.0<ref name="WF"/>
|Gini_rank = 44th
|Gini_year = 2007
|currency = [[United States dollar]] ($)
|currency_code = USD
|country_code = USA
|utc_offset = −5 to −10
|utc_offset_DST = −4 to −10
|cctld = [[.us]] [[.gov]] [[.mil]] [[.edu]]
|calling_code = [[North American Numbering Plan|+1]]
|date_format = m/d/yy ([[Anno Domini|AD]])
|drives_on = right
|demonym = [[Names for U.S. citizens|American]]
|footnotes =
{{note|engoffbox}}a. English is the official language of at least 28 states—some sources give a higher figure, based on differing definitions of "official".<ref name=ILW/> English and [[Hawaiian language|Hawaiian]] are both official languages in the state of Hawaii.

{{note|engfactobox}}b. English is the ''de facto'' language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the [[Spanish in the United States|second most commonly spoken language]].

{{note|areabox}}c. Whether the United States or the [[People's Republic of China]] is larger is [[List of countries and outlying territories by total area|disputed]]. The figure given is from the U.S. [[Central Intelligence Agency]]'s ''[[World Factbook]]''. Other sources give smaller figures. All authoritative calculations of the country's size include only the 50 states and the District of Columbia, not the territories.

{{note|popbox}}d. The population estimate includes people whose usual residence is in the fifty states and the District of Columbia, including noncitizens. It does not include either those living in the territories, amounting to more than 4 million U.S. citizens (most in [[Puerto Rico]]), or U.S. citizens living outside the United States.
}}<!--
The following opening paragraphs on this subject are a topic of great debate. Check the discussion page before editing. In particular, do ''not'' add mention of the territories to the first sentence: they are possessions of the United States, not part of it.
-->

The '''United States of America''' (also referred to as the '''United States''', the '''U.S.''', the '''USA''', or '''[[Americas#Terminology|America]]''') is a [[federalism|federal]] [[constitutional republic]] comprising [[U. S. state|fifty states]] and a [[federal district]]. The country is situated mostly in central [[North America]], where its [[Contiguous United States|forty-eight contiguous states]] and [[Washington, D.C.]], the [[capital districts and territories|capital district]], lie between the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]] and [[Atlantic Ocean]]s, 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 the 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 [[Territories of the United States|several territories]] in the [[Caribbean]] and Pacific.

At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km<sup>2</sup>) and with over 310 million people, the United States is the [[List of countries and outlying territories by total area|third or fourth]] largest country by total area, and the third largest both by [[List of countries and outlying territories by land area|land area]] and [[List of countries by population|population]]. It is one of the world's most [[Multiethnic society|ethnically diverse]] and [[multiculturalism|multicultural]] nations, the product of large-scale [[immigration to the United States|immigration from many countries]].<ref name="DD">Adams, J. Q., and Pearlie Strother-Adams (2001). ''Dealing with Diversity''. Chicago: Kendall/Hunt. ISBN 0-7872-8145-X.</ref> The [[Economy of the United States|U.S. economy]] is the world's largest national economy, with an estimated 2009 [[gross domestic product|GDP]] of $14.3 trillion (a quarter of [[List of countries by GDP (nominal)|nominal global GDP]] and a fifth of global GDP at [[purchasing power parity]]).<ref name="IMF GDP">{{cite web|url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2009/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2006&ey=2009&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=111&s=NGDPD%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPPC%2CLP&grp=0&a=&pr.x=64&pr.y=8|publisher=International Monetary Fund|title=World Economic Outlook Database|month=October|year=2009|accessdate=2010-04-27}}</ref><ref>The [[European Union]] has a larger collective economy, but is not a single nation.</ref>

[[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indigenous peoples]] of [[Models of migration to the New World|Asian origin]] have inhabited what is now the mainland United States for many thousands of years. This [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American population]] was greatly reduced by disease and warfare after [[European colonization of the Americas|European contact]]. The United States was founded by [[Thirteen Colonies|thirteen British colonies]] located along the [[East Coast of the United States|Atlantic seaboard]]. On July 4, 1776, they issued the [[United States Declaration of Independence|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 the [[American Revolutionary War|American Revolution]], the first successful [[History of colonialism|colonial war of independence]].<ref>Dull, Jonathan R. (2003). "Diplomacy of the Revolution, to 1783," p. 352, chap. in ''A Companion to the American Revolution'', ed. Jack P. Greene and J. R. Pole. Maiden, Mass.: Blackwell, pp. 352–361. ISBN 1-4051-1674-9.</ref> 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 central government. The [[United States Bill of Rights|Bill of Rights]], comprising ten [[List of amendments to the United States Constitution|constitutional amendments]] guaranteeing many [[natural rights|fundamental civil rights and freedoms]], was ratified in 1791.

In the 19th century, the United States acquired land from [[Louisiana Purchase|France]], [[Adams-Onís Treaty|Spain]], the [[Oregon Country|United Kingdom]], [[Mexican–American War|Mexico]], and [[Alaska Purchase|Russia]], and [[Annexation|annexed]] the [[Republic of Texas]] and the [[Republic of Hawaii]]. Disputes between the [[Southern United States|agrarian South]] and [[Northern United States|industrial North]] over [[states' rights]] and the expansion of the [[slavery in the United States|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 [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|end of legal slavery]] in the United States. By the 1870s, the national economy was the world's largest.<ref>{{cite web|author=Maddison, Angus|url=http://www.ggdc.net/maddison/Historical_Statistics/horizontal-file_09-2008.xls|title=Historical Statistics for the World Economy|publisher=The Groningen Growth and Development Centre, Economics Department of the University of Groningen|year=2006|accessdate=2008-11-06}}</ref> The [[Spanish–American War]] and [[World War I]] confirmed the country's status as a military power. It emerged from [[World War II]] as the [[Nuclear weapons and the United States|first country with nuclear weapons]] and a permanent member of the [[United Nations Security Council]]. The end of the [[Cold War]] and the [[History of the Soviet Union (1985–1991)|dissolution of the Soviet Union]] left the United States as the sole [[superpower]]. The country accounts for 40% of [[List of countries by military expenditures|global military spending]] and is a leading economic, political, and cultural force in the world.<ref>{{cite web|author=Cohen, Eliot A.|url=http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/59919/eliot-a-cohen/history-and-the-hyperpower|title=History and the Hyperpower|work=Foreign Affairs|date=July/August 2004|accessdate=2006-07-14}} {{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/country_profiles/1217752.stm|title=Country Profile: United States of America|publisher=BBC News|date=2008-04-22|accessdate=2008-05-18}}</ref>

==Etymology==
{{See also|Names for U.S. citizens}}
In 1507, German [[cartography|cartographer]] [[Martin Waldseemüller]] produced a world map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere [[Americas|"America"]] after Italian explorer and cartographer [[Amerigo Vespucci]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-04-24-america-turns-500_N.htm?csp=34|title=Cartographer Put 'America' on the Map 500 years Ago|work=USA Today|date=2007-04-24|accessdate=2008-11-30}}</ref> The former British colonies first used the country's modern name in the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]], the "unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America" adopted by the "Representatives of the united States of America" on July 4, 1776.<!--Do not uppercase "united" here: it is unambiguously lowercased in the Declaration--><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/charters.html|title=The Charters of Freedom|publisher=National Archives|accessdate=2007-06-20}}</ref> On November 15, 1777, the [[Second Continental Congress]] adopted the [[Articles of Confederation]], which states, "The Stile of this Confederacy shall be 'The United States of America.'" The Franco-American treaties of 1778 used "United States of North America", but from July 11, 1778, "United States of America" was used on the country's [[bills of exchange]], and it has been the official name ever since.<ref>{{cite web|author=McClure, James|url=http://www.ydr.com/ci_9569289|title=A Primer: The 'First Capital' Debate|publisher=YDR.com|date=2008-06-12|accessdate=2010-07-26}}</ref>

The short form ''the United States'' is also standard. Other common forms include ''the U.S.'', ''the USA'', and ''America''. Colloquial names include ''the U.S. of A.'' and ''the States''. ''[[Columbia (name)|Columbia]]'', a once popular name for the United States, was derived from [[Christopher Columbus]]; it appears in the name "[[Washington, D.C.|District of Columbia]]".

The standard way to refer to a citizen of the United States is as an ''[[American (word)|American]]''. Though ''United States'' is the formal appositional term, ''American'' and ''U.S.'' are more commonly used to refer to the country adjectivally ("American values," "U.S. forces"). ''American'' is rarely used in English to refer to people not connected to the United States.<ref>Wilson, Kenneth G. (1993). ''The Columbia Guide to Standard American English''. New York: Columbia University Press, pp. 27–28. ISBN 0-231-06989-8.</ref>

The phrase "the United States" was originally treated as plural—e.g., "the United States are"—including in the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]], ratified in 1865. It became common to treat it as singular—e.g., "the United States is"—after the end of the Civil War. The singular form is now standard; the plural form is retained in the idiom "these United States".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002663.html|author=Zimmer, Benjamin|date=2005-11-24|title=Life in These, Uh, This United States|publisher=University of Pennsylvania—Language Log|accessdate=2008-02-22}}</ref>

==Geography, climate, and environment==
{{Main|Geography of the United States|Climate of the United States|Environment of the United States}}
[[File:USATopographicalMap.jpg|left|thumb|Satellite image showing [[topography]] of the [[contiguous United States]]]]
The land area of the [[contiguous United States]] is approximately 1.9 billion acres (770 million hectares). Alaska, separated from the contiguous United States by Canada, is the largest state at 365 million acres (150 million hectares). Hawaii, occupying an archipelago in the central Pacific, southwest of North America, has just over 4 million acres (1.6 million hectares).<ref>{{cite web|author=Lubowski, Ruben, Marlow Vesterby, and Shawn Bucholtz|url=http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/arei/eib16/chapter1/1.1/|title=AREI Chapter 1.1: Land Use|publisher=Economic Research Service|date=2006-07-21|accessdate=2009-03-09}}</ref> The United States is the world's third or fourth [[List of countries and outlying territories by total area|largest nation by total area]] (land and water), ranking behind Russia and Canada and just above or below [[People's Republic of China|China]]. The ranking varies depending on how two territories disputed by China and [[India]] are counted and how the total size of the United States is calculated: the CIA ''World Factbook'' gives 3,794,101 square miles (9,826,675&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>),<ref name="WF">{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html|title=United States|publisher=CIA|work=The World Factbook|date=2009-09-30|accessdate=2010-01-05 (area given in square kilometers)}}</ref> the United Nations Statistics Division gives {{convert|3717813|sqmi|km2|0|abbr=on}},<ref>{{cite web|url=http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/DYB2005/Table03.pdf|title=Population by Sex, Rate of Population Increase, Surface Area and Density|publisher=UN Statistics Division|work=Demographic Yearbook 2005|accessdate=2008-03-25 (area given in square kilometers)}}</ref> and the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' gives {{convert|3676486|sqmi|km2|0|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/616563/United-States|title=United States|publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica|accessdate=2008-03-25 (area given in square miles)}}</ref> Including only land area, the United States is third in size behind Russia and China, just ahead of Canada.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20080208233209rn_1/education.yahoo.com/reference/factbook/countrycompare/area/3d.html|title=World Factbook: Area Country Comparison Table|publisher=Yahoo Education|accessdate=2007-02-28}}</ref>
[[File:Barns grand tetons.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Teton Range]], part of the [[Rocky Mountains]]]]

The coastal plain of the Atlantic seaboard gives way further inland to [[deciduous]] forests and the rolling hills of the [[Piedmont (United States)|Piedmont]]. The [[Appalachian Mountains]] divide the eastern seaboard from the [[Great Lakes]] and the grasslands of the [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]]. The [[Mississippi River|Mississippi]]–[[Missouri River]], the world's [[List of rivers by length|fourth longest river system]], runs mainly north–south through the heart of the country. The flat, fertile [[prairie]] of the [[Great Plains]] stretches to the west, interrupted by [[U.S. Interior Highlands|a highland region]] in the southeast. The [[Rocky Mountains]], at the western edge of the Great Plains, extend north to south across the country, reaching altitudes higher than 14,000&nbsp;feet (4,300&nbsp;m) in [[Colorado]]. Farther west are the rocky [[Great Basin]] and deserts such as the [[Mojave Desert|Mojave]]. The [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]] and [[Cascade Range|Cascade]] mountain ranges run close to the [[West Coast of the United States|Pacific coast]]. At 20,320&nbsp;feet (6,194&nbsp;m), Alaska's [[Mount McKinley]] is the tallest peak in the country and in North America. Active [[volcano]]es are common throughout Alaska's [[Alexander Archipelago|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/supervolcano/under/under.html|title=Supervolcano: What's Under Yellowstone?|author=O'Hanlon, Larry|publisher=Discovery Channel|accessdate=2007-06-13}}</ref>
[[File:Haliaeetus leucocephalus2.jpg|right|thumb|upright|The [[bald eagle]], national bird of the United States since 1782]]
The United States, with its large size and geographic variety, includes most climate types. To the east of the [[100th meridian west|100th meridian]], the climate ranges from [[humid continental climate|humid continental]] in the north to [[humid subtropical climate|humid subtropical]] in the south. The southern tip of [[Florida]] is tropical, as is Hawaii. The Great Plains west of the 100th meridian are semi-arid. Much of the Western mountains are [[alpine climate|alpine]]. The climate is arid in the Great Basin, desert in the Southwest, [[Mediterranean climate|Mediterranean]] in [[coastal California]], and [[oceanic climate|oceanic]] in coastal [[Oregon]] and [[Washington (US state)|Washington]] and southern Alaska. Most of Alaska is subarctic or polar. Extreme weather is not uncommon—the states bordering the [[Gulf of Mexico]] are prone to [[Tropical cyclone|hurricanes]], and most of the world's [[tornado]]es occur within the country, mainly in the Midwest's [[Tornado Alley]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Perkins, Sid|url=http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20020511/bob9.asp|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070701131631/http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20020511/bob9.asp|archivedate=2007-07-01|title=Tornado Alley, USA|accessdate=2006-09-20|date=2002-05-11|work=Science News}}</ref>

The U.S. ecology is considered "[[megadiverse countries|megadiverse]]": about 17,000 species of [[vascular plants]] occur in the contiguous United States and Alaska, and over 1,800 species of [[flowering plant]]s are found in Hawaii, few of which occur on the mainland.<ref>{{cite web|author=Morin, Nancy|url=http://www.fungaljungal.org/papers/National_Biological_Service.pdf|title=Vascular Plants of the United States|publisher=National Biological Service|work=Plants|accessdate=2008-10-27}}</ref> The United States is home to more than 400 mammal, 750 bird, and 500 reptile and amphibian species.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sdi.gov/curtis/TxTab4x1.html|title=Global Significance of Selected U.S. Native Plant and Animal Species|publisher=SDI Group|date=2001-02-09|accessdate=2009-01-20}}</ref> About 91,000 insect species have been described.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/nmnh/buginfo/bugnos.htm|title=Numbers of Insects (Species and Individuals)|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|accessdate=2009-01-20}}</ref> The [[Endangered Species Act]] of 1973 protects threatened and endangered species and their habitats, which are monitored by the [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]]. There are fifty-eight [[List of areas in the United States National Park System|national parks]] and hundreds of other federally managed parks, forests, and [[wilderness area]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://home.nps.gov/applications/release/Detail.cfm?ID=639|title=National Park Service Announces Addition of Two New Units|publisher=National Park Service|date=2006-02-28|accessdate=2006-06-13}}</ref> Altogether, the government owns 28.8% of the country's land area.<ref name=FL>{{cite web|url=http://johnshadegg.house.gov/rsc/Federal%20Land%20Ownership--May%202005.pdf|title=Federal Land and Buildings Ownership|publisher=Republican Study Committee|date=2005-05-19|accessdate=2009-03-09}}</ref> Most of this is [[protected area|protected]], though some is leased for oil and gas drilling, mining, logging, or cattle ranching; 2.4% is used for military purposes.<ref name=FL/>

==History==
{{Main|History of the United States}}

===Native Americans and European settlers===
{{See also|Native Americans in the United States|European colonization of the Americas|Thirteen Colonies}}
The [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|indigenous peoples]] of the U.S. mainland, including [[Alaska Natives]], are believed to have [[Models of migration to the New World|migrated from Asia]], beginning between 12,000 and 40,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://anthropology.si.edu/HumanOrigins/faq/americas.htm|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20071128083459/http://anthropology.si.edu/HumanOrigins/faq/americas.htm|archivedate=2007-11-28|title=Peopling of Americas|publisher=Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History|month=June|year=2004|accessdate=2007-06-19}}</ref> Some, such as the [[pre-Columbian]] [[Mississippian culture]], developed advanced agriculture, grand architecture, and state-level societies. After Europeans began settling the Americas, [[Population history of American indigenous peoples|many millions of indigenous Americans died]] from epidemics of imported diseases such as [[smallpox]].<ref>{{Cite journal|author=Meltzer, D.J.|year=1992|title=How Columbus Sickened the New World: Why Were Native Americans So Vulnerable to the Diseases European Settlers Brought With Them?|journal=New Scientist|page=38|url=http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg13618424.700-how-columbus-sickened-the-new-world-why-were-nativeamericans-so-vulnerable-to-the-diseases-european-settlers-brought-with-them.html}}</ref>

[[File:MayflowerHarbor.jpg|thumb|left|The ''[[Mayflower]]'' transported [[Pilgrim (Plymouth Colony)|Pilgrims]] to the New World in 1620, as depicted in [[William Halsall]]'s ''The Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor'', 1882]]
In 1492, [[Genoa|Genoese]] explorer [[Christopher Columbus]], under contract to the Spanish crown, reached several Caribbean islands, making [[first contact (anthropology)|first contact]] with the indigenous people. On April 2, 1513, Spanish [[conquistador]] [[Juan Ponce de León]] landed on what he called "[[History of Florida|La Florida]]"—the first documented European arrival on what would become the U.S. mainland. Spanish settlements in the region were followed by ones in the present-day [[southwestern United States]] that drew thousands through Mexico. French [[fur trade]]rs established outposts of [[New France]] around the [[Great Lakes]]; France eventually claimed much of the North American interior, down to the Gulf of Mexico. The first successful English settlements were the [[Colony of Virginia|Virginia Colony]] in [[Jamestown, Virginia|Jamestown]] in 1607 and the [[Pilgrim (Plymouth Colony)|Pilgrims]]' [[Plymouth Colony]] in 1620. The 1628 chartering of the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]] resulted in a wave of migration; by 1634, [[New England]] had been settled by some 10,000 [[Puritan]]s. Between the late 1610s and the American Revolution, about 50,000 convicts were shipped to Britain's American colonies.<ref>{{cite web|work=Butler, James Davie|url=http://www.dinsdoc.com/butler-1.htm|title=British Convicts Shipped to American Colonies|publisher=Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History|work=American Historical Review 2|month=October|year=1896|accessdate=2007-06-21}}</ref> Beginning in 1614, the Dutch settled along the lower [[Hudson River]], including [[New Amsterdam]] on [[Manhattan|Manhattan Island]].

In 1674, the Dutch ceded their American territory to England; the province of [[New Netherland]] was renamed New York. Many new immigrants, especially to [[History of the Southern United States|the South]], were [[indentured servant]]s—some two-thirds of all Virginia immigrants between 1630 and 1680.<ref>Russell, David Lee (2005). ''The American Revolution in the Southern Colonies''. Jefferson, N.C., and London: McFarland, p. 12. ISBN 0-7864-0783-2.</ref> By the turn of the 20th century, [[Slavery in the colonial United States|African slaves]] were becoming the primary source of bonded labor. With the 1729 division of [[the Carolinas]] and the 1732 colonization of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], the thirteen British colonies that would become the United States of America were established. All had local governments with elections open to most free men, with a growing devotion to the ancient [[rights of Englishmen]] and a sense of self-government stimulating support for [[republicanism]]. All legalized the [[African slave trade]]. With high birth rates, low death rates, and steady immigration, the colonial population grew rapidly. The [[Christian revival]]ist movement of the 1730s and 1740s known as the [[First Great Awakening|Great Awakening]] fueled interest in both religion and religious liberty. In the [[French and Indian War]], British forces seized Canada from the French, but the [[francophone]] population remained politically isolated from the southern colonies. Excluding the [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] (popularly known as "American Indians"), who were being displaced, those thirteen colonies had a population of 2.6 million in 1770, about one-third that of Britain; nearly one in five Americans were black slaves.<ref>Blackburn, Robin (1998). ''The Making of New World Slavery: From the Baroque to the Modern, 1492–1800''. London and New York: Verso, p. 460. ISBN 1-85984-195-3.</ref> Though [[No taxation without representation|subject to British taxation]], the American colonials had no representation in the [[Parliament of Great Britain]].

===Independence and expansion===
{{See also|American Revolution|American Revolutionary War|Manifest Destiny}}
[[File:Declaration independence.jpg|thumb|''[[Trumbull's Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]]'', by [[John Trumbull]], 1817–18]]
Tensions between American colonials and the British during the [[American Revolution|revolutionary period]] of the 1760s and early 1770s led to the [[American Revolutionary War]], fought from 1775 through 1781. On June 14, 1775, the [[Second Continental Congress|Continental Congress]], convening in [[Philadelphia]], established a [[Continental Army]] under the command of [[George Washington]]. Proclaiming that "[[all men are created equal]]" and endowed with "certain [[Natural and legal rights|unalienable Rights]]," the Congress adopted the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]], drafted largely by [[Thomas Jefferson]], on July 4, 1776. That date is now celebrated annually as America's [[Independence Day (United States)|Independence Day]]. In 1777, the [[Articles of Confederation]] established a weak [[confederal]] government that operated until 1789.

After the [[Siege of Yorktown|British defeat]] by American forces [[France in the American Revolutionary War|assisted by the French]], Great Britain [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|recognized the independence of the United States]] and the states' [[sovereignty]] over American territory west to the [[Mississippi River]]. A [[Philadelphia Convention|constitutional convention]] was organized in 1787 by those wishing to establish a strong national government, with powers of taxation. The [[United States Constitution]] was ratified in 1788, and the new republic's [[1st United States Congress|first Senate, House of Representatives]], and [[President of the United States|president]]—George Washington—took office in 1789. The [[United States Bill of Rights|Bill of Rights]], forbidding federal restriction of [[Natural rights|personal freedoms and guaranteeing a range of legal protections]], was adopted in 1791.

Attitudes toward [[Slavery in the United States|slavery]] were shifting; a [[Article One of the United States Constitution#Section 9: Limits on Congress|clause in the Constitution]] protected the African slave trade only until 1808. The Northern states abolished slavery between 1780 and 1804, leaving the [[slave state]]s of the South as defenders of the "[[peculiar institution]]." The [[Second Great Awakening]], beginning about 1800, made [[evangelicalism]] a force behind various social [[reform movement]]s, including [[abolitionism]].

[[File:U.S. Territorial Acquisitions.png|right|thumb|Territorial acquisitions by date]]
Americans' eagerness to [[Territorial acquisitions of the United States|expand westward]] prompted a long series of [[American Indian Wars|Indian Wars]]. The [[Louisiana Purchase]] of French-claimed territory under President Thomas Jefferson in 1803 almost doubled the nation's size. The [[War of 1812]], declared against Britain over various grievances and fought to a draw, strengthened U.S. [[nationalism]]. A series of U.S. military incursions into Florida led [[Adams-Onís Treaty|Spain to cede]] it and other Gulf Coast territory in 1819. The [[Trail of Tears]] in the 1830s exemplified the [[Indian removal]] policy that stripped the native peoples of their land. The United States annexed the [[Republic of Texas]] in 1845. The concept of [[Manifest Destiny]] was popularized during this time.<ref>Morrison, Michael A. (1999). ''Slavery and the American West: The Eclipse of Manifest Destiny and the Coming of the Civil War''. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, pp. 13–21. ISBN 0-8078-4796-8.</ref> The 1846 [[Oregon Treaty]] with Britain led to U.S. control of the present-day [[Northwestern United States|American Northwest]]. The U.S. victory in the [[Mexican–American War]] resulted in the 1848 [[Mexican Cession|cession]] of [[California]] and much of the present-day [[Southwestern United States|American Southwest]]. The [[California Gold Rush]] of 1848–49 further spurred western migration. [[Rail transport in the United States#History|New railways]] made relocation easier for settlers and increased conflicts with Native Americans. Over a half-century, up to 40 million [[American Bison|American bison]], or buffalo, were slaughtered for skins and meat and to ease the railways' spread. The loss of the buffalo, a primary resource for the [[plains Indians]], was an existential blow to many native cultures.

===Civil War and industrialization===
{{See also|American Civil War|Reconstruction era of the United States|Spanish–American War}}
[[File:Battle of Gettysburg, by Currier and Ives.png|thumb|left|''[[Battle of Gettysburg]]'', lithograph by [[Currier and Ives|Currier & Ives]], ca. 1863]]
[[Origins of the American Civil War|Tensions]] between slave and [[Slave state|free states]] mounted with arguments over the relationship between the [[states' rights|state and federal governments]], as well as [[Bleeding Kansas|violent conflicts]] over the spread of slavery into new states. [[Abraham Lincoln]], candidate of the largely antislavery [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]], was elected president in 1860. Before he took office, seven slave states declared their [[secession]]—which the federal government maintained was illegal—and formed the [[Confederate States of America]]. With the Confederate [[Battle of Fort Sumter|attack upon Fort Sumter]], the [[American Civil War]] began and four more slave states joined the Confederacy. Lincoln's [[Emancipation Proclamation]] in 1863 declared slaves in the Confederacy to be free. Following the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] victory in 1865, three amendments to the U.S. Constitution [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|ensured freedom]] for the nearly four million [[African American]]s who had been slaves,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1860a-02.pdf|title=1860 Census|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|accessdate=2007-06-10}} Page 7 lists a total slave population of 3,953,760.</ref> [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|made them citizens]], and [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|gave them voting rights]]. The war and its resolution led to a substantial increase in [[Federalism in the United States|federal power]].<ref>De Rosa, Marshall L. (1997). ''The Politics of Dissolution: The Quest for a National Identity and the American Civil War''. Edison, NJ: Transaction, p. 266. ISBN 1-56000-349-9.</ref>

[[File:Ellis island 1902.jpg|thumb|Immigrants at [[Ellis Island]], [[New York Harbor]], 1902]]
After the war, the [[Abraham Lincoln assassination|assassination of Lincoln]] [[Radical Republicans|radicalized Republican]] [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]] policies aimed at reintegrating and rebuilding the Southern states while ensuring the rights of the newly freed slaves. The resolution of the disputed [[United States presidential election, 1876|1876 presidential election]] by the [[Compromise of 1877]] ended Reconstruction; [[Jim Crow laws]] soon [[Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era (United States)|disenfranchised many African Americans]]. In the North, urbanization and an unprecedented [[Immigration to the United States#History|influx of immigrants]] from [[Southern Europe|Southern]] and [[Eastern Europe]] hastened the [[United States technological and industrial history#Technological systems and infrastructure|country's industrialization]]. The wave of immigration, lasting until 1929, provided labor and transformed American culture. National infrastructure development spurred economic growth. The 1867 [[Alaska purchase]] from Russia completed the country's mainland expansion. The [[Wounded Knee massacre]] in 1890 was the last major armed conflict of the Indian Wars. In 1893, the [[Ancient Hawaii|indigenous monarchy]] of the Pacific [[Kingdom of Hawaii]] was overthrown in a coup led by American residents; the United States annexed the archipelago in 1898. Victory in the [[Spanish–American War]] the same year demonstrated that the United States was a [[Great power|world power]] and led to the annexation of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the [[Philippines]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Gates, John M.|url=http://www3.wooster.edu/History/jgates/book-ch3.html|title=War-Related Deaths in the Philippines|work=Pacific Historical Review|publisher=College of Wooster|date=August 1984|accessdate=2007-09-27}}</ref> The Philippines gained independence a half-century later; Puerto Rico and Guam remain U.S. territories.

===World War I, Great Depression, and World War II===
{{See also|American Expeditionary Force|Great Depression in the United States|Military history of the United States during World War II}}
[[File:Dust Bowl&nbsp;- Dallas, South Dakota 1936.jpg|thumb|left|An abandoned farm in [[South Dakota]] during the [[Dust Bowl]], 1936]]
At the outbreak of [[World War I]] in 1914, the United States remained neutral. Most Americans sympathized with the British and French, although many opposed intervention.<ref>Foner, Eric, and John A. Garraty (1991). ''The Reader's Companion to American History.'' New York: Houghton Mifflin, p. 576. ISBN 0-395-51372-3.</ref> In 1917, the United States joined the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]], helping to turn the tide against the [[Central Powers]]. After the war, the Senate did not ratify the [[Treaty of Versailles (1919)|Treaty of Versailles]], which established the [[League of Nations]]. The country pursued a policy of [[unilateralism]], verging on [[isolationism]].<ref>McDuffie, Jerome, Gary Wayne Piggrem, and Steven E. Woodworth (2005). ''U.S. History Super Review''. Piscataway, NJ: Research & Education Association, p. 418. ISBN 0-7386-0070-9.</ref> In 1920, the [[women's rights]] movement won passage of a [[Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|constitutional amendment]] granting [[Women's suffrage in the United States|women's suffrage]]. The prosperity of the [[Roaring Twenties]] ended with the [[Wall Street Crash of 1929]] that triggered the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]]. After his election as president in 1932, [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] responded with the [[New Deal]], a range of policies increasing government intervention in the economy. The [[Dust Bowl]] of the mid-1930s impoverished many farming communities and spurred a new wave of western migration.
[[File:1944 NormandyLST.jpg|thumb|Soldiers of the [[U.S. Army]] [[1st Infantry Division (United States)|1st Infantry Division]] [[Invasion of Normandy|landing in Normandy]] on [[Normandy Landings|D-Day]], June 6, 1944]]
The United States, effectively neutral during [[World War II]]'s early stages after [[Nazi Germany]]'s [[Invasion of Poland (1939)|invasion of Poland]] in September 1939, began supplying [[materiel]] to the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] in March 1941 through the [[Lend-Lease]] program. On December 7, 1941, the [[Empire of Japan]] launched a surprise [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], prompting the United States to join the Allies against the [[Axis powers]] as well as the [[internment of Japanese Americans]] by the thousands.<ref>{{cite web|author=Burton, Jeffrey F., et al.|url=http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/anthropology74/ce3.htm|title=A Brief History of Japanese American Relocation During World War II|work=Confinement and Ethnicity: An Overview of World War II Japanese American Relocation Sites|month=October|date=July 2000|accessdate=2010-04-02|publisher=National Park Service}}</ref> Participation in the war spurred capital investment and industrial capacity. Among the major combatants, the United States was the only nation to become richer—indeed, far richer—instead of poorer because of the war.<ref>Kennedy, Paul (1989). ''The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers''. New York: Vintage, p. 358. ISBN 0-679-72019-7.</ref> Allied conferences at [[United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference|Bretton Woods]] and [[Yalta Conference|Yalta]] outlined a new system of international organizations that placed the [[United States and the United Nations|United States]] and [[Soviet Union and the United Nations|Soviet Union]] at the center of world affairs. As [[Victory in Europe Day|victory was won in Europe]], a 1945 [[United Nations Conference on International Organization|international conference]] held in [[San Francisco]] produced the [[United Nations Charter]], which became active after the war.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/pubs/fs/55407.htm|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070612221444/http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/pubs/fs/55407.htm|archivedate=2007-06-12|title=The United States and the Founding of the United Nations, August 1941&nbsp;– October 1945|month=October|year=2005|accessdate=2007-06-11|publisher=U.S. Dept. of State, Bureau of Public Affairs, Office of the Historian}}</ref> The United States, having [[Manhattan Project|developed the first nuclear weapons]], used them on the Japanese cities of [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|Hiroshima and Nagasaki]] in August. [[Surrender of Japan|Japan surrendered]] on September 2, ending the war.<ref>Pacific War Research Society (2006). ''Japan's Longest Day''. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 4-7700-2887-3.</ref>

===Cold War and protest politics===
{{See also|Cold War|African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968)|Vietnam War}}
[[File:Martin Luther King&nbsp;- March on Washington.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Martin Luther King, Jr.]] delivering his "[[I Have a Dream]]" speech, 1963]]
The United States and Soviet Union jockeyed for power after World War II during the [[Cold War]], dominating the military affairs of Europe through [[NATO]] and the [[Warsaw Pact]]. The United States promoted [[liberal democracy]] and capitalism, while the Soviet Union promoted communism and a centrally [[planned economy]]. Both supported dictatorships and engaged in [[proxy war]]s. American troops fought [[People's Republic of China|Communist Chinese]] forces in the [[Korean War]] of 1950–53. The [[House Un-American Activities Committee]] pursued a series of investigations into suspected leftist subversion, while Senator [[Joseph McCarthy]] became the figurehead of anticommunist sentiment.

The 1961 Soviet launch of the [[Vostok 1|first manned spaceflight]] prompted President [[John F. Kennedy]]'s call for the United States to be first to land [[Apollo program|"a man on the moon"]], achieved in 1969. Kennedy also faced a [[Cuban Missile Crisis|tense nuclear showdown]] with Soviet forces in Cuba. Meanwhile, the United States experienced sustained economic expansion. A growing [[African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968)|civil rights movement]], symbolized and led by African Americans such as [[Rosa Parks]], [[Martin Luther King, Jr.]], and [[James Bevel]], used [[nonviolence]] to confront segregation and discrimination. Following [[John F. Kennedy assassination|Kennedy's assassination]] in 1963, the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] and [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]] were passed under President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]. Johnson and his successor, [[Richard Nixon]], expanded a proxy war in Southeast Asia into the unsuccessful [[Vietnam War]]. A widespread [[counterculture of the 1960s|countercultural movement]] grew, fueled by [[Opposition to the Vietnam War|opposition to the war]], [[black nationalism]], and the [[sexual revolution]]. [[Betty Friedan]], [[Gloria Steinem]], and others led a [[Feminist Movement in the United States|new wave of feminism]] that sought political, social, and economic equality for women.

As a result of the [[Watergate scandal]], in 1974 Nixon became the first U.S. president to resign, to avoid being [[impeachment|impeached]] on charges including obstruction of justice and abuse of power; he was [[United States presidential line of succession|succeeded]] by Vice President [[Gerald Ford]]. The [[Jimmy Carter]] administration of the late 1970s was marked by [[stagflation]] and the [[Iran hostage crisis]]. The election of [[Ronald Reagan]] as president in 1980 heralded a [[Conservatism in the United States|rightward shift in American politics]], reflected in major changes in [[Reaganomics|taxation and spending priorities]]. His second term in office brought both the [[Iran–Contra affair|Iran-Contra scandal]] and significant [[Cold War (1985–1991)|diplomatic progress with the Soviet Union]]. The subsequent Soviet collapse ended the Cold War.

===Contemporary era===
{{See also|September 11 attacks|War on Terror|Late-2000s recession}}
[[File:UA Flight 175 hits WTC south tower 9-11 edit.jpeg|thumb|right|The [[World Trade Center]] on the morning of [[September 11 attacks|September 11, 2001]]]]
Under President [[George H. W. Bush]], the United States took a lead role in the UN–sanctioned [[Gulf War]]. The longest economic expansion in modern U.S. history—from March 1991 to March 2001—encompassed the [[Bill Clinton]] administration and the [[dot-com bubble]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Voyce, Bill|url=http://iwin.iwd.state.ia.us/iowa/ArticleReader?itemid=00003700&print=1|title=Why the Expansion of the 1990s Lasted So Long|publisher=Iowa Workforce Information Network|date=2006-08-21|accessdate=2007-08-16}}</ref> A [[Paula Jones|civil lawsuit]] and [[Lewinsky scandal|sex scandal]] led to [[Impeachment of Bill Clinton|Clinton's impeachment]] in 1998, but he remained in office. The [[United States presidential election, 2000|2000 presidential election]], one of the closest in American history, was resolved by a [[Bush v. Gore|U.S. Supreme Court decision]]—[[George W. Bush]], son of George H. W. Bush, became president.

On [[September 11 attacks|September 11, 2001]], [[al-Qaeda]] terrorists struck the [[World Trade Center]] in New York City and [[The Pentagon]] near Washington, D.C., killing nearly three thousand people. In response, the [[Presidency of George W. Bush|Bush administration]] launched the [[War on Terror]]. In late 2001, U.S. forces led an [[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|invasion of Afghanistan]], removing the [[Taliban]] government and al-Qaeda training camps. Taliban insurgents continue to fight a guerrilla war. In 2002, the Bush administration began to press for [[regime change]] in Iraq on [[Rationale for the Iraq War|controversial grounds]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Many Europeans Oppose War in Iraq|work=USA Today|url=http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2003-02-14-eu-survey.htm|date=2003-02-14|accessdate=2008-09-01}}{{cite web|author=Springford, John|title='Old’ and ‘New’ Europeans United: Public Attitudes Towards the Iraq War and US Foreign Policy|publisher=Centre for European Reform|url=http://www.cer.org.uk/pdf/back_brief_springford_dec03.pdf|month=December|year=2003|accessdate=2008-09-01}}</ref> Lacking the support of NATO or an explicit UN mandate for military intervention, Bush organized a [[Coalition of the willing|Coalition of the Willing]]; coalition forces [[preemptive war|preemptively]] [[2003 invasion of Iraq|invaded Iraq]] in 2003, removing dictator [[Saddam Hussein]]. In 2005, [[Hurricane Katrina]] caused severe destruction along much of the [[Gulf Coast of the United States|Gulf Coast]], devastating [[New Orleans]]. On November 4, 2008, amid a global [[Late-2000s recession|economic recession]], [[Barack Obama]] was elected president. He is the first African American to hold the office. In 2010, he oversaw the enactment of major [[Health care reform in the United States|health care]] and [[Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act|financial system]] reform. The [[Deepwater Horizon oil spill|''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill]] in the Gulf of Mexico that began in April 2010 became the largest peacetime oil disaster in history.<ref>{{cite web|author=|title=BP Oil Spill Is Now The Largest Ever In Gulf|publisher=CBS/Associated Press|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/07/01/national/main6636406.shtml|date=2010-07-01|accessdate=2010-07-01}}</ref>

==Government and elections==
{{Main|Federal government of the United States|Elections in the United States}}
[[File:Capitol Building Full View.jpg|thumb|right|The west front of the [[United States Capitol]], which houses the [[United States Congress]].]]
The United States is the world's oldest surviving [[federation]]. It is a [[constitutional republic]] and [[representative democracy]], "in which [[majority rule]] is tempered by [[minority rights]] protected by [[Law of the United States|law]]."<ref>Scheb, John M., and John M. Scheb II (2002). ''An Introduction to the American Legal System''. Florence, KY: Delmar, p. 6. ISBN 0-7668-2759-3.</ref> The government is regulated by a system of [[separation of powers|checks and balances]] defined by the U.S. Constitution, which serves as the country's supreme legal document. In the [[Federalism#United States|American federalist system]], citizens are usually subject to [[Political divisions of the United States|three levels of government]], federal, state, and local; the [[Local government in the United States|local government]]'s duties are commonly split between [[County (United States)|county]] and municipal governments. In almost all cases, executive and legislative officials are elected by a [[plurality voting system|plurality vote]] of citizens by district. There is no [[proportional representation]] at the federal level, and it is very rare at lower levels.

[[File:WhiteHouseSouthFacade.JPG|thumb|left|The south façade of the [[White House]], home and workplace of the [[President of the United States|U.S. president]].]]
The federal government is composed of three branches:
* [[Legislature|Legislative]]: The [[bicameralism|bicameral]] [[United States Congress|Congress]], made up of the [[United States Senate|Senate]] and the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]], makes [[federal law]], [[declaration of war|declares war]], approves treaties, has the [[power of the purse]], and has the power of [[impeachment]], by which it can remove sitting members of the government.
* [[Executive (government)|Executive]]: The [[President of the United States|president]] is the [[commander-in-chief]] of the military, can veto [[bill (proposed law)|legislative bills]] before they become law, and appoints the [[United States Cabinet|members of the Cabinet]] (subject to Senate approval) and other officers, who administer and enforce federal laws and policies.
* [[Judiciary|Judicial]]: The [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] and lower [[United States federal courts|federal courts]], whose judges are appointed by the president with Senate approval, interpret laws and overturn those they find [[constitutionality|unconstitutional]].

[[File:USSupremeCourtWestFacade.JPG|thumb|right|The west front of the [[United States Supreme Court Building]].]]
The House of Representatives has 435 voting members, each representing a [[congressional district]] for a two-year term. House seats are [[United States congressional apportionment|apportioned]] among the states by population every tenth year. As of the [[United States Census, 2000|2000 census]], seven states have the minimum of one representative, while California, the most populous state, has fifty-three. The Senate has 100 members with each state having two senators, elected [[at-large]] to six-year terms; one third of Senate seats are up for election every other year. The president serves a four-year term and may be elected to the office [[Term limits in the United States|no more than twice]]. The president is [[United States presidential election|not elected by direct vote]], but by an indirect [[United States Electoral College|electoral college]] system in which the determining votes are apportioned by state. The Supreme Court, led by the [[Chief Justice of the United States]], has nine members, who serve for life.

The state governments are structured in roughly similar fashion; [[Nebraska]] uniquely has a [[unicameral]] legislature. The [[Governor (U.S.)|governor]] (chief executive) of each state is directly elected. Some state judges and cabinet officers are appointed by the governors of the respective states, while others are elected by popular vote.

All laws and governmental procedures are subject to judicial review, and any law ruled in violation of the Constitution is voided. The original text of the Constitution establishes the structure and responsibilities of the federal government and its relationship with the individual states. [[Article One of the United States Constitution|Article One]] protects the right to the "great writ" of [[Habeas corpus in the United States|habeas corpus]], and [[Article Three of the United States Constitution|Article Three]] guarantees the [[Jury trial#United States|right to a jury trial]] in all criminal cases. [[Article Five of the United States Constitution|Amendments to the Constitution]] require the approval of three-fourths of the states. The Constitution has been amended twenty-seven times; the first ten amendments, which make up the [[United States Bill of Rights|Bill of Rights]], and the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth Amendment]] form the central basis of Americans' individual rights.

===Parties, ideology, and politics===
{{Main|Politics of the United States|Political ideologies in the United States}}
[[File:Barack Obama&nbsp;- ITN.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Barack Obama]] taking the [[Oath of office of the President of the United States|presidential oath of office]] from U.S. Chief Justice [[John G. Roberts]], January 20, 2009]]
The United States has operated under a [[two-party system]] for most of its history. For elective offices at most levels, state-administered [[primary election]]s choose the major party nominees for subsequent [[general election]]s. Since the [[United States presidential election, 1856|general election of 1856]], the major parties have been the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]], [[History of the Democratic Party (United States)|founded in 1824]], and the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]], [[History of the United States Republican Party|founded in 1854]]. Since the Civil War, only one [[Third party (United States)|third-party]] presidential candidate—former president [[Theodore Roosevelt]], running as a [[Progressive Party (United States, 1912)|Progressive]] in [[United States presidential election, 1912|1912]]—has won as much as 20% of the popular vote.

Within American [[political culture]], the Republican Party is considered center-right or "[[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]]" and the Democratic Party is considered center-left or "[[Modern liberalism in the United States|liberal]]". The states of the [[Northeastern United States#Politics|Northeast]] and [[Western United States#Politics|West Coast]] and some of the [[Great Lakes region (North America)|Great Lakes]] states, known as "[[Red states and blue states|blue states]]", are relatively liberal. The "[[Political party strength in U.S. states|red states]]" of the [[Politics of the Southern United States|South]] and parts of the [[Midwestern United States#Political trends|Great Plains]] and [[Western United States#Politics|Rocky Mountains]] are relatively conservative.

The winner of the [[United States presidential election, 2008|2008 presidential election]], Democrat [[Barack Obama]], is the [[List of Presidents of the United States|44th U.S. president]]. All previous presidents were men of solely European descent. The 2008 elections also saw the Democratic Party strengthen its control of both the [[United States House of Representatives elections, 2008|House]] and the [[United States Senate elections, 2008|Senate]]. In the [[111th United States Congress]], the Senate comprises 57 Democrats, two [[independent (politician)|independents]] who caucus with the Democrats, and 41 Republicans; the House comprises 255 Democrats and 178 Republicans (two seats are vacant). There are 26 Democratic and 24 Republican [[List of current United States governors|state governors]].

==Political divisions==
{{Main|U.S. state}}
{{See|Territorial evolution of the United States|Territorial changes of the United States}}
The United States is a [[federation|federal union]] of fifty states. The original thirteen states were the successors of the [[Thirteen Colonies|thirteen colonies]] that rebelled against British rule. Early in the country's history, three new states were organized on territory separated from the claims of the existing states: [[Kentucky]] from [[Virginia]]; [[Tennessee]] from [[North Carolina]]; and [[Maine]] from [[Massachusetts]]. Most of the other states have been carved from territories obtained through war or purchase by the U.S. government. One set of exceptions comprises [[Vermont]], [[Texas]], and [[Hawaii]]: each was an independent republic before joining the union. During the [[American Civil War]], [[West Virginia]] broke away from Virginia. The most recent state—Hawaii—achieved statehood on August 21, 1959. The states [[Texas v. White|do not have the right]] to [[secession|secede]] from the union.

The states compose the vast bulk of the U.S. land mass; the two other areas considered integral parts of the country are the District of Columbia, the [[federal district]] where the capital, Washington, is located; and [[Palmyra Atoll]], an uninhabited but [[territories of the United States|incorporated territory]] in the Pacific Ocean. The United States also possesses five major overseas territories: [[Puerto Rico]] and the [[United States Virgin Islands]] in the Caribbean; and [[American Samoa]], [[Guam]], and the [[Northern Mariana Islands]] in the Pacific. Those born in the major territories (except for American Samoa) possess [[Birthright citizenship in the United States of America|U.S. citizenship]]. American citizens residing in the territories have many of the same rights and responsibilities as citizens residing in the states; however, they are generally exempt from federal income tax, may not vote for president, and have only [[Delegate (United States Congress)|nonvoting representation in the U.S. Congress]].<ref>Raskin, James B. (2003). ''Overruling Democracy: The Supreme Court Vs. the American People''. London and New York: Routledge, pp. 36–38. ISBN 0-415-93439-7.</ref>

{{USA midsize imagemap with state names}}

==Foreign relations and military==
{{Main|Foreign policy of the United States|United States armed forces}}
[[File:Hague Clinton May 14 2010 Crop.jpeg|thumb|right|British Foreign Secretary [[William Hague]] and U.S. Secretary of State [[Hillary Clinton]], May 2010]]

The United States exercises global economic, political, and military influence. It is a permanent member of the [[United Nations Security Council]] and New York City hosts the [[United Nations Headquarters]]. It is a member of the [[G8]], [[G20 major economies|G20]], and [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]]. Almost all countries have [[List of diplomatic missions in the United States|embassies]] in Washington, D.C., and many have [[consul (representative)|consulates]] around the country. Likewise, nearly all nations host [[List of diplomatic missions of the United States|American diplomatic missions]]. However, [[Cuba&nbsp;– United States relations|Cuba]], [[United States-Iran relations|Iran]], [[North Korea&nbsp;– United States relations|North Korea]], [[Bhutan]], [[Sudan]], and the [[Republic of China]] (Taiwan) do not have formal diplomatic relations with the United States.

The United States enjoys strong ties with the [[United Kingdom–United States relations|United Kingdom]], [[Canada&nbsp;– United States relations|Canada]], [[United States-Australia relations|Australia]], [[New Zealand&nbsp;– United States relations|New Zealand]], [[Japan&nbsp;– United States relations|Japan]], [[South Korea&nbsp;– United States relations|South Korea]], and [[Israel&nbsp;– United States relations|Israel]]. It works closely with fellow [[NATO]] members on military and security issues and with its neighbors through the [[Organization of American States]] and [[United States free trade agreements|free trade agreements]] such as the trilateral [[North American Free Trade Agreement]] with Canada and [[United States-Mexico relations|Mexico]]. In 2008, the United States spent a net $25.4 billion on [[official development assistance]], the most in the world. As a share of [[gross national income]] (GNI), however, the U.S. contribution of 0.18% ranked last among twenty-two donor states. In contrast, private overseas giving by Americans is relatively generous.<ref>{{cite web|author=Shah, Anup|title=US and Foreign Aid Assistance|date=2009-04-13|publisher=GlobalIssues.org|url=http://www.globalissues.org/article/35/us-and-foreign-aid-assistance|accessdate=2009-10-11}}</ref>
[[File:USS Abraham Lincoln(CVN 72).jpg|thumb|left|The [[USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72)|USS ''Abraham Lincoln'']] [[aircraft carrier]]]]

The president holds the title of commander-in-chief of the nation's armed forces and appoints its leaders, the [[United States Secretary of Defense|secretary of defense]] and the [[Joint Chiefs of Staff]]. The [[United States Department of Defense]] administers the armed forces, including the [[United States Army|Army]], [[United States Navy|Navy]], [[United States Marine Corps|Marine Corps]], and [[United States Air Force|Air Force]]. The [[United States Coast Guard|Coast Guard]] is run by the [[United States Department of Homeland Security|Department of Homeland Security]] in peacetime and the [[United States Department of the Navy|Department of the Navy]] in time of war. In 2008, the armed forces had 1.4 million personnel on active duty. The [[Reserve component of the Armed Forces of the United States|Reserves]] and [[National Guard of the United States|National Guard]] brought the total number of troops to 2.3 million. The Department of Defense also employed about 700,000 civilians, not including contractors.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Magazine%20Documents/2009/May%202009/0509facts_fig.pdf|title=The Air Force in Facts and Figures (Armed Forces Manpower Trends, End Strength in Thousands)|work=Air Force Magazine|date=May 2009|accessdate=2009-10-09}}</ref>

Military service is voluntary, though [[Conscription in the United States|conscription]] may occur in wartime through the [[Selective Service System]]. American forces can be rapidly deployed by the Air Force's large fleet of transport aircraft, the Navy's eleven active aircraft carriers, and [[Marine Expeditionary Unit]]s at sea with the Navy's [[United States Fleet Forces Command|Atlantic and]] [[United States Pacific Fleet|Pacific fleets]]. The military operates 865 bases and facilities abroad,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.defense.gov/pubs/BSR_2008_Baseline.pdf|title=Base Structure Report, Fiscal Year 2008 Baseline|publisher=Department of Defense|accessdate=2009-10-09}}</ref> and maintains [[Deployments of the United States Military|deployments greater than 100 active duty personnel]] in 25 foreign countries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/MILITARY/history/hst1003.pdf|title=Active Duty Military Personnel Strengths by Regional Area and by Country (309A)|publisher=Department of Defense|date=2010-03-31|accessdate=2010-10-07}}</ref> The extent of this global military presence has prompted some scholars to describe the United States as maintaining an "empire of bases."<ref>{{cite web|author=Ikenberry, G. John|url=http://people.cas.sc.edu/rosati/ttp.ikenberry.empirereviews.fa.march04.htm|title=Illusions of Empire: Defining the New American Order|work=Foreign Affairs|date=March/April 2004}} {{cite web|author=Kreisler, Harry, and Chalmers Johnson|url=http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people4/CJohnson/cjohnson-con3.html|title=Conversations with History|publisher=University of California at Berkeley|date=2004-01-29|accessdate=2007-06-21}}</ref>

Total U.S. military spending in 2008, more than $600 billion, was over 41% of global military spending and greater than the next fourteen largest national military expenditures combined. The per capita spending of $1,967 was about nine times the world average; at 4% of GDP, the rate was the second-highest among the top fifteen military spenders, after [[Saudi Arabia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sipri.org/research/armaments/milex/resultoutput/15majorspenders|title=The Fifteen Major Spender Countries in 2008|publisher=Stockholm International Peace Research Institute|accessdate=2009-10-09}}</ref> The proposed base [[military budget of the United States|Department of Defense budget]] for 2011, $549 billion, is a 3.4% increase over 2010 and 85% higher than in 2001; an additional $159 billion is proposed for the military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://comptroller.defense.gov/defbudget/fy2011/FY2011_Budget_Request_Overview_Book.pdf|title=Fiscal Year 2011 Budget Request Overview |publisher=Department of Defense|date=February 2010|accessdate=2010-08-19}}</ref> As of September 2010, the United States is scheduled to have 96,000 troops deployed to Afghanistan, and 50,000 to Iraq.<ref>{{cite web|author=Hennessey, Kathleen, and Liz Sly|url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2012516655_obama03.html|title=U.S. Combat Forces To Be out of Iraq by Aug. 31|publisher=Seattle Times/Tribune Washington Bureau|date=2010-08-02|accessdate=2010-08-18}}</ref> As of August 18, 2010, the United States had suffered 4,415 military fatalities during the [[Iraq War]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://icasualties.org/Iraq/index.aspx|title=Operation Iraqi Freedom|publisher=Iraq Coalition Casualty Count|date=2010-08-18|accessdate=2010-08-18}}</ref> and 1,229 during the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|War in Afghanistan]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://icasualties.org/OEF/index.aspx|title=Operation Enduring Freedom|publisher=Iraq Coalition Casualty Count|date=2010-08-18|accessdate=2010-08-18}}</ref>

==Economy==
{{Main|Economy of the United States}}

{| class="infobox" style="font-size: 90%; border: 1px solid #999; float: right; margin-left: 1em; width: 270px;"
|- style="background:#f5f5f5;"
! colspan="3" | Economic indicators
|-
| [[Unemployment]] || 9.6% <small>(September 2010)</small> || style="text-align: right;" | <ref name=ESS0910>{{cite web|url=http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm|title=Employment Situation Summary|publisher=U.S. Dept. of Labor|date=2010-10-08|accessdate=2010-10-08}}</ref>
|-
| GDP growth || 1.6% <small>(2Q 2010)</small><br>[-2.6% <small>(2009)</small>] || style="text-align: right;" | <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/gdpnewsrelease.htm|title=Gross Domestic Product|publisher=Bureau of Economic Analysis|date=2010-08-27|accessdate=2010-08-30}} Change is based on [[chained dollars|chained 2005 dollars]]. Quarterly growth is expressed as an annualized rate.</ref>
|-
| [[Consumer price index|CPI]] inflation || 1.1% <small>(September 2009 – September 2010)</small> || style="text-align: right;" | <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm|title=Consumer Price Index: September 2010|publisher=Bureau of Labor Statistics|date=2010-10-15|accessdate=2010-10-16}}</ref>
|-
| [[Poverty in the United States|Poverty]] || 14.3% <small>(2009)</small> || style="text-align: right;" | <ref name=CBPR09>{{cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/prod/2010pubs/p60-238.pdf|title=Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2009|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|date=2010-09-16|accessdate=2010-09-16}}</ref>
|-
| [[United States public debt|Public debt]] || $13.61 trillion <small>(October 8, 2010)</small> || style="text-align: right;" | <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np|title=Debt Statistics|publisher=U.S. Dept. of the Treasury|accessdate=2010-10-13}}</ref>
|-
| [[Wealth in the United States|Household net worth]] || $54.2 trillion <small>(4Q 2009)</small> || style="text-align: right;" | <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/Z1/Current/z1r-1.pdf|title=Flow of Funds Accounts of the United States|publisher=U.S. Federal Reserve|date=2010-03-11|accessdate=2010-05-31}}</ref>
|}

The United States has a [[capitalism|capitalist]] [[mixed economy]], which is fueled by abundant [[natural resource]]s, a well-developed infrastructure, and high productivity.<ref>Wright, Gavin, and Jesse Czelusta, "Resource-Based Growth Past and Present", in ''Natural Resources: Neither Curse Nor Destiny'', ed. Daniel Lederman and William Maloney (World Bank, 2007), p. 185. ISBN 0-8213-6545-2.</ref> According to the [[International Monetary Fund]], the U.S. GDP of $14.4 trillion constitutes 24% of the [[gross world product]] at market exchange rates and almost 21% of the gross world product at [[purchasing power parity]] (PPP).<ref name="IMF GDP"/> It has the largest national GDP in the world, though it is about 5% less than the GDP of the [[European Union]] at PPP in 2008. The country ranks ninth in the world in [[List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita|nominal GDP per capita]] and sixth in [[List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita|GDP per capita at PPP]].<ref name="IMF GDP"/>

The United States is the [[List of countries by imports|largest importer]] of goods and [[List of countries by exports|third largest exporter]], though [[List of countries by exports per capita|exports per capita]] are relatively low. In 2008, the total [[U.S. trade deficit]] was $696 billion.<ref>"[http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/trade/2009-07-10-trade-deficit_N.htm May trade deficit falls to lowest in almost 10 years]". USATODAY.com. July 10, 2009.</ref> Canada, China, Mexico, Japan, and Germany are its top trading partners.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/top/dst/current/balance.html|title=Top Ten Countries with which the U.S. Trades|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|date=August 2009|accessdate=2009-10-12}}</ref> In 2007, vehicles constituted both the leading import and leading export commodity.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009/tables/09s1267.xls|title=Table 1267—U.S. Exports and General Imports by Selected SITC Commodity Groups|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|accessdate=2009-10-12}}</ref> Japan is the largest foreign holder of U.S. public debt, having surpassed China in early 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/business/2010-02/16/c_13177277.htm|title=Japan surpasses China as largest holder of U.S. Treasury securities|publisher=Xinhua|date=2010-02-16|accessdate=2010-04-04}}</ref> The United States ranks second in the [[Global Competitiveness Report]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.weforum.org/pdf/GCR09/GCR20092010fullrankings.pdf|title=Table 4: The Global Competitiveness Index 2009–2010 Rankings and 2008–2009 Comparisons|author=World Economic Forum|accessdate=2009-09-09}}</ref>
[[File:NYC NYSE.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[New York Stock Exchange]], on [[Wall Street]]]]
In 2009, the [[private sector]] was estimated to constitute 55.3% of the economy, with federal government activity accounting for 24.1% and state and local government activity (including federal transfers) the remaining 20.6%.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/index.php|title=Government Spending Overview|publisher=usgovernmentspending.com|accessdate=2009-05-09}}</ref> The economy is [[post-industrial society|postindustrial]], with the [[Tertiary sector of economic activity|service sector]] contributing 67.8% of GDP, though the United States remains an industrial power.<ref name=Econ>{{cite web|url=http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/economy-in-brief/page3.html|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080312123609/http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/economy-in-brief/page3.html|archivedate=2008-03-12|accessdate=2008-03-12|title=USA Economy in Brief|publisher=U.S. Dept. of State, International Information Programs}}</ref> The leading business field by gross business receipts is wholesale and retail trade; by net income it is manufacturing.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009/tables/09s0724.xls|title=Table 724—Number of Tax Returns, Receipts, and Net Income by Type of Business and Industry: 2005|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|accessdate=2009-10-12}}</ref> Chemical products are the leading manufacturing field.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009/tables/09s0964.xls|title=Table 964—Gross Domestic Product in Current and Real (2000) Dollars by Industry: 2006|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|date=May 2008|accessdate=2009-10-12}}</ref> The United States is the third largest producer of oil in the world, as well as its largest importer.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2173rank.html|title=Rank Order—Oil (Production)|publisher=CIA|work=The World Factbook|accessdate=2009-10-12}}{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2174rank.html|title=Rank Order—Oil (Consumption)|publisher=CIA|work=The World Factbook|accessdate=2009-10-12}}{{cite web|url=http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/company_level_imports/current/import.html|title=Crude Oil and Total Petroleum Imports Top 15 Countries|publisher=U.S. Energy Information Administration|date=2009-09-29|accessdate=2009-10-12}}</ref> It is the world's number one producer of electrical and nuclear energy, as well as liquid natural gas, sulfur, phosphates, and salt. While [[Agriculture in the United States|agriculture]] accounts for just under 1% of GDP,<ref name=Econ/> the United States is the world's top producer of corn<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.grains.org/page.ww?section=Barley,+Corn+%26+Sorghum&name=Corn|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080112182404/http://www.grains.org/page.ww?section=Barley,+Corn+%26+Sorghum&name=Corn|archivedate=2008-01-12|title=Corn|publisher=U.S. Grains Council|accessdate=2008-03-13}}</ref> and soybeans.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5442|title=Soybean Demand Continues to Drive Production|publisher=Worldwatch Institute|date=2007-11-06|accessdate=2008-03-13}}</ref> The [[New York Stock Exchange]] is the world's largest by dollar volume.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ir.nyse.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=129145&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1036503&highlight=|title=New Release/Ultra Petroleum Corp.,|publisher=NYSE Euronext|date=2007-07-03|accessdate=2007-08-03}}</ref> [[Coca-Cola]] and [[McDonald's]] are the two most recognized brands in the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cheskin.com/view_news.php?id=2|title=Sony, LG, Wal-Mart among Most Extendible Brands|publisher=Cheskin|date=2005-06-06|accessdate=2007-06-19}}</ref>

In August 2010, the American labor force comprised 154.1 million people. With 21.2 million people, government is the leading field of employment. The largest private employment sector is health care and social assistance, with 16.4 million people.<ref name=ESS0910/> About 12% of workers are [[Labor unions in the United States|unionized]], compared to 30% in Western Europe.<ref>{{cite web|author=Fuller, Thomas|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/06/14/news/europe.php|title=In the East, Many EU Work Rules Don't Apply|date=2005-06-15|work=International Herald Tribune|accessdate=2007-06-28}}</ref> The World Bank ranks the United States first in the ease of hiring and firing workers.<ref name="EDBI">{{cite web|url=http://www.doingbusiness.org/ExploreEconomies/?economyid=197|accessdate=2007-06-28|title=Doing Business in the United States (2006)|publisher=World Bank}}</ref> In 2009, the United States had the third highest labor productivity per person in the world, behind Luxembourg and Norway. It was fourth in productivity per hour, behind those two countries and the Netherlands.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.conference-board.org/data/economydatabase/|title=Total Economy Database, Summary Statistics, 1995–2010|publisher=The Conference Board|work=The Conference Board Total Economy Database|date=September 2010|accessdate=2009-09-20}}</ref> Compared to Europe, U.S. property and corporate [[Taxation in the United States|income tax rates]] are generally higher, while labor and, particularly, [[consumption tax]] rates are lower.<ref>{{cite news|author=Gumbel, Peter|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,662737-2,00.html|title=Escape from Tax Hell|date=2004-07-11|work=Time|accessdate=2007-06-28}}</ref>

===Income and human development===
{{Main|Income in the United States}}
{{See also|Income inequality in the United States|Poverty in the United States|Affluence in the United States}}

[[File:Income gains.jpg|thumb|300px|Inflation adjusted percentage increase in after-tax household income for the top 1% and four quintiles, between 1979 and 2005 (gains by top 1% are reflected by bottom bar; bottom quintile by top bar)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=957|author=Sherman, Arloc, and Aviva Aron-Dine|title=New CBO Data Show Income Inequality Continues to Widen|publisher=Center on Budget and Policy Priorities|date=2007-01-23|accessdate=2007-11-24}}</ref>]]

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the pretax [[median household income]] in 2007 was $49,777. The median ranged from $65,469 among Asian American households to $32,584 among African American households.<ref name=CBPR09/> Using [[purchasing power parity]] exchange rates, the overall median is similar to the most affluent cluster of [[Household income in the United States#International comparison|developed nations]]. After declining sharply during the middle of the 20th century, [[Poverty in the United States|poverty rates]] have plateaued since the early 1970s, with 11–15% of Americans below the [[poverty threshold|poverty line]] every year, and 58.5% spending at least one year in poverty between the ages of 25 and 75.<ref name="USCB IP&HIC 2007">{{cite web|author=DeNavas-Walt, Carmen, Bernadette D. Proctor, and Jessica Smith|url=http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/p60-235.pdf|format=PDF|title=Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2007|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|month=August|year=2008|accessdate=2008-11-13}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Hacker|first=Jacob S.|year=2006|title=The Great Risk Shift: The New Economic Insecurity and the Decline of the American Dream|location=New York|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0195335341}}</ref> In 2009, 43.6 million Americans lived in poverty.<ref name=CBPR09/>

The U.S. welfare state is among the most austere in the developed world, reducing both [[Economic inequality|relative poverty]] and [[poverty threshold|absolute poverty]] by considerably less than the mean for rich nations,<ref name="Sme">Smeeding, T. M. (2005). "Public Policy: Economic Inequality and Poverty: The United States in Comparative Perspective." ''Social Science Quarterly'' 86, 955–983.</ref><ref>Kenworthy, L. (1999). "Do Social-Welfare Policies Reduce Poverty? A Cross-National Assessment" ''Social Forces'' 77(3), 1119–1139. Bradley, D., E. Huber, S. Moller, F. Nielsen, and J. D. Stephens (2003). "Determinants of Relative Poverty in Advanced Capitalist Democracies" ''American Sociological Review'' 68(1), 22–51.</ref> though combined private and public social expenditures per capita are higher than in any of the [[Nordic countries]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Fishback|first=Price V.|date=May 2010|title=Social Welfare Expenditures in the United States and the Nordic Countries: 1900–2003|journal=NBER Working Paper series|volume=15982|url=http://papers.nber.org/papers/w15982}}</ref> While the American welfare state does well in reducing poverty among the elderly,<ref>Orr, D. (November–December, 2004). "Social Security Isn't Broken: So Why the Rush to 'Fix' It?" In C. Sturr and R. Vasudevan, eds. (2007). ''Current Economic Issues''. Boston: Economic Affairs Bureau.</ref> the young receive relatively little assistance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=a_new_deal_of_their_own|author=Starr, Paul|date=2008-02-25|title=A New Deal of Their Own|work=American Prospect|accessdate=2008-07-24}}</ref> A 2007 [[United Nations Children's Fund|UNICEF]] study of children's well-being in twenty-one industrialized nations ranked the United States next to last.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/13_02_07_nn_unicef.pdf|title=Child Poverty in Perspective: An Overview of Child Well-Being in Rich Countries|author=UNICEF|work=BBC|year=2007|accessdate=2007-09-10}}</ref>

Despite strong increases in productivity, low unemployment, and low inflation, income gains since 1980 have been slower than in previous decades, less widely shared, and accompanied by increased economic insecurity. Between 1947 and 1979, [[real income|real median income]] rose by over 80% for all classes, with the incomes of poor Americans rising faster than those of the rich.<ref name="Bar">Bartels, L. M. (2008). ''Unequal Democracy: The Political Economy of the New Gilded Age''. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.demos.org/inequality/numbers.cfm#1|author=Hartman, C.|year=2008|title=By the Numbers: Income|accessdate=2008-07-24}}</ref> Median household income has increased for all classes since 1980,<ref>{{cite web|author=Henderson, David R.|url=http://www.hoover.org/publications/digest/3522596.html|title=The Rich—and Poor—Are Getting Richer|work=Hoover Digest|year=1998|accessdate=2007-06-19}}</ref> largely owing to more dual-earner households, the closing of the [[Income gender gap|gender gap]], and longer work hours, but growth has been slower and strongly tilted toward the very top (see graph).<ref name="Sme"/><ref name="Bar"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.frbsf.org/news/speeches/2006/1106.html|author=Yellen, J.|year=2006|title=Speech to the Center for the Study of Democracy 2006–2007 Economics of Governance Lecture University of California, Irvine|publisher=Federal Reserve Board|location=San Francisco|accessdate=2008-07-24}}{{cite web|author=Shapiro, Isaac|url=http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=746|title=New IRS Data Show Income Inequality Is Again on the Rise|date=2005-10-17|publisher=Center on Budget and Policy Priorities|accessdate=2007-05-16}} Gilbert, D. (1998). ''The American Class Structure''. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. ISBN 0-534-50520-1.</ref> Consequently, the share of income of the top 1%—21.8% of total reported income in 2005—has more than doubled since 1980,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/29/business/29tax.html?ex=1332820800&en=fb472e72466c34c8&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss|title=Income Gap Is Widening, Data Shows|author=Johnston, David Cay|work=New York Times|date=2007-03-29|accessdate=2007-05-16}}</ref> leaving the United States with the greatest income inequality among developed nations.<ref name="Sme"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://elsa.berkeley.edu/~saez/TabFig2005prel.xls|author=Saez, E.|title=Table A1: Top Fractiles Income Shares (Excluding Capital Gains) in the U.S., 1913–2005|publisher=UC Berkeley|month=October|year=2007|accessdate=2008-07-24}}{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2172.html|title=Field Listing—Distribution of Family Income—Gini Index|publisher=CIA|work=The World Factbook|date=2007-06-14|accessdate=2007-06-17}}</ref> The top 1% pays 27.6% of all federal taxes; the top 10% pays 54.7%.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/88xx/doc8885/EffectiveTaxRates.shtml|title=Shares of Federal Tax Liabilities, 2004 and 2005|publisher=Congressional Budget Office|accessdate=2008-11-02}}</ref> Wealth, like income, is highly concentrated: The richest 10% of the adult population possesses 69.8% of the country's household wealth, the second-highest share among developed nations.<ref>{{cite web|author=Domhoff, G. William|url=http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html|title=Table 4: Percentage of Wealth Held by the Top 10% of the Adult Population in Various Western Countries|publisher=University of California at Santa Cruz, Sociology Dept.|work=Power in America|month=December|year=2006|accessdate=2006-08-21}}</ref> The top 1% possesses 33.4% of net wealth.<ref>{{cite web|author=Kennickell, Arthur B.|url=http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/oss/oss2/papers/concentration.2004.5.pdf|title=Table11a: Amounts (Billions of 2004 Dollars) and Shares of Net Worth and Components Distributed by Net Worth Groups, 2004|publisher=Federal Reserve Board|work=Currents and Undercurrents: Changes in the Distribution of Wealth, 1989–2004|date=2006-08-02|accessdate=2007-06-24}}</ref>

===Science and technology===
{{Main|Science and technology in the United States}}
{{See also|Technological and industrial history of the United States}}

[[File:Buzz salutes the U.S. Flag.jpg|right|thumb|Astronaut [[Buzz Aldrin]] during the first human [[moon landing|landing on the Moon]], 1969]]

The United States has been a leader in scientific research and technological innovation since the late 19th century. In 1876, [[Alexander Graham Bell]] was awarded the first U.S. [[Invention of the telephone|patent for the telephone]]. [[Thomas Edison]]'s laboratory developed the [[phonograph]], the first [[Incandescent light bulb|long-lasting light bulb]], and the first viable [[Kinetoscope|movie camera]]. [[Nikola Tesla]] pioneered [[alternating current]], the [[AC motor]], and [[radio]]. In the early 20th century, the automobile companies of [[Ransom E. Olds]] and [[Henry Ford]] promoted the [[assembly line]]. The [[Wright brothers]], in 1903, made the [[first flying machine|first sustained and controlled heavier-than-air powered flight]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Benedetti, François| url =http://www.fai.org/news_archives/fai/000295.asp| title =100 Years Ago, the Dream of Icarus Became Reality| publisher =Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI)|date=2003-12-17|accessdate=2007-08-15}}</ref>

The rise of [[Nazism]] in the 1930s led many European scientists, including [[Albert Einstein]] and [[Enrico Fermi]], to immigrate to the United States. During World War II, the [[Manhattan Project]] developed nuclear weapons, ushering in the [[Atomic Age]]. The [[Space Race]] produced rapid advances in rocketry, [[materials science]], and computers. The United States largely developed the [[ARPANET]] and its successor, the [[Internet]]. Today, the bulk of research and development funding, 64%, comes from the private sector.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2008/tables/08s0775.xls | title = Research and Development (R&D) Expenditures by Source and Objective: 1970 to 2004 | publisher = U.S. Census Bureau | accessdate = 2007-06-19 }}</ref> The United States leads the world in scientific research papers and [[impact factor]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2006/mar/21/highereducation.uk4 |author=MacLeod, Donald| title = Britain Second in World Research Rankings | date=2006-03-21 | work = Guardian | accessdate = 2006-05-14 }}</ref> Americans possess high levels of technological consumer goods,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/med_tel_percap-media-televisions-per-capita | title = Media Statistics: Televisions (per capita) by Country | publisher = NationMaster |month=December | year=2003}} {{cite web | url = http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/med_per_com_percap-media-personal-computers-per-capita | title = Media Statistics > Personal Computers (per capita) by Country | publisher = NationMaster |month=December | year=2003}} {{cite web | url = http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/med_rad_percap-media-radios-per-capita | title = Media Statistics > Radios (per capita) by Country | publisher = NationMaster | month = December | year = 2003 | accessdate = 2007-06-03 }}</ref> and almost half of U.S. households have [[broadband Internet access]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=116136 | title = Download 2007 Digital Fact Pack | date=2007-04-23| work = Advertising Age | accessdate = 2007-06-10 }}</ref> The country is the primary developer and grower of [[genetically modified food]], representing half of the world's biotech crops.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/39/download/isaaa-brief-39-2008.pdf | title = ISAAA Brief 39-2008: Executive Summary—Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2008 | publisher = International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications |page=15| accessdate = 2010-07-16 }}</ref>

===Transportation===
{{Main|Transportation in the United States}}
[[File:Map of current Interstates.svg|thumb|The [[Interstate Highway System]], which extends {{convert|46876|mi|km}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Interstate FAQ (Question #3) |publisher=Federal Highway Administration |year=2006 |url=http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/faq.htm#question3 |accessdate=2009-03-04}}</ref>]]

Everyday personal transportation in America is dominated by the automobile. As of 2003, there were 759 automobiles per 1,000 Americans, compared to 472 per 1,000 inhabitants of the European Union the following year.<ref>{{cite web | url =http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=STAT/06/125| title =Car Free Day 2006: Nearly One Car per Two Inhabitants in the EU25 in 2004| date=2006-09-19|publisher =Europa, Eurostat Press Office| accessdate = 2007-08-15 }}</ref> About 40% of [[Passenger vehicles in the United States|personal vehicles]] are vans, [[Sport utility vehicle|SUVs]], or light trucks.<ref>{{cite web|url =http://www.bts.gov/publications/highlights_of_the_2001_national_household_travel_survey/html/section_01.html| title =Household, Individual, and Vehicle Characteristics|publisher =U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics|work =2001 National Household Travel Survey|accessdate = 2007-08-15}}</ref> The average American adult (accounting for all drivers and nondrivers) spends 55 minutes driving every day, traveling {{convert|29|mi|km|0}}.<ref>{{cite web|url =http://www.bts.gov/publications/highlights_of_the_2001_national_household_travel_survey/html/section_02.html| title =Daily Passenger Travel|publisher =U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics|work =2001 National Household Travel Survey|accessdate = 2007-08-15}}</ref>

The civil airline industry is entirely privately owned, while most major airports are publicly owned. The four largest airlines in the world by passengers carried are American; [[Southwest Airlines]] is number one.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iata.org/ps/publications/wats-passenger-carried.htm| title =Scheduled Passengers Carried (2008 data)|publisher=International Air Transport Association (IATA)|accessdate=2009-06-27}}</ref> Of the world's thirty busiest passenger airports, sixteen are in the United States, including the busiest, [[Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.airports.org/cda/aci_common/display/main/aci_content07_c.jsp?zn=aci&cp=1-5-54-55_666_2__|title=Passenger Traffic 2006 Final|publisher=Airports Council International|date=2007-07-18|accessdate=2007-08-15}}</ref> While transport of goods by rail is extensive, relatively few people use rail to travel, within or between cities.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-07-15 | title = Intercity Passenger Rail: National Policy and Strategies Needed to Maximize Public Benefits from Federal Expenditures| date=2006-11-13| publisher = U.S. Government Accountability Office| accessdate = 2007-06-20 }}</ref> [[Public transport|Mass transit]] accounts for 9% of total U.S. work trips, compared to 38.8% in Europe.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.policy.rutgers.edu/vtc/documents/TOD.Euro-Style_Planning-Renne-Wells.pdf |format=PDF|author=Renne, John L., and Jan S. Wells| title = Emerging European-Style Planning in the United States: Transit-Oriented Development (p. 2) | year=2003 | publisher = Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey | accessdate = 2007-06-11}}</ref> Bicycle usage is minimal, well below European levels.<ref>{{cite web | url =http://www.transalt.org/files/resources/other/010901TQpdf021.pdf|author=Pucher, John, and Lewis Dijkstra| title = Making Walking and Cycling Safer: Lessons from Europe | month=February | year=2000| publisher = Transportation Alternatives |work=Transportation Quarterly | accessdate = 2007-08-15}}</ref>

===Energy===

[[File:Coal mine Wyoming.jpg|thumb|right|A coal mine in [[Wyoming]]. The United States has 27% of global coal reserves.<ref name="BPReview">{{cite web | url = http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/reports_and_publications/statistical_energy_review_2007/STAGING/local_assets/downloads/spreadsheets/statistical_review_full_report_workbook_2007.xls | title = BP Statistical Review of World Energy| publisher = British Petroleum | format = XLS |month=June | year=June 2007 | accessdate = 2010-02-22}}</ref>]]

{{Main|Energy in the United States}}
{{See also|Energy policy of the United States}}

The United States energy market is 29,000 [[Watt-hour|terawatt hours]] per year. [[List of countries by energy consumption per capita|Energy consumption per capita]] is 7.8&nbsp;tons of oil equivalent per year, compared to Germany's 4.2&nbsp;tons and Canada's 8.3&nbsp;tons. In 2005, 40% of this energy came from petroleum, 23% from coal, and 22% from natural gas. The remainder was supplied by nuclear power and [[renewable energy]] sources.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/pdf/pages/sec1_3.pdf|title= Diagram 1: Energy Flow, 2007|work=EIA Annual Energy Review 2007 |publisher=U.S. Dept. of Energy, Energy Information Administration|accessdate=2008-06-25}}</ref> The United States is the world's largest consumer of petroleum.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2174rank.html|title= Rank Order—Oil (Consumption)|publisher=CIA|work=The World Factbook|date=2007-09-06|accessdate=2007-09-14}}</ref> For decades, [[Nuclear power in the United States|nuclear power]] has played a limited role relative to many other developed countries, in part due to public perception in the wake of the 1979 [[Three Mile Island accident]]. In 2007, several applications for new nuclear plants were filed.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9762843|title= Atomic Renaissance|work=Economist|accessdate=2007-09-06}}</ref>

==Demographics==
{{Main|Demographics of the United States}}
{{See also|Immigration to the United States}}
[[File:Census-2000-Data-Top-US-Ancestries-by-County-1396x955.png|thumb|right|350px|Largest ancestry groups by county, 2000.]]
The U.S. Census Bureau projects the country's population to be {{uspop commas}},<ref name="POP">{{cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|title=U.S. POPClock Projection}} Figure updated automatically.</ref> including an estimated 11.2 million [[Illegal immigration to the United States|illegal immigrants]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.cis.org/articles/2008/back808.pdf| author =Camarota, Steven A., and Karen Jensenius | title = Homeward Bound: Recent Immigration Enforcement and the Decline in the Illegal Alien Population | month =July | year =2008| publisher = Center for Immigration Studies | accessdate = 2008-08-06}}</ref> The third most populous nation in the world, after [[People's Republic of China|China]] and [[India]], the United States is the only industrialized nation in which large population increases are projected.<ref name="PRC">{{cite web|url=http://www.prcdc.org/summaries/uspopperspec/uspopperspec.html|title=Executive Summary: A Population Perspective of the United States|publisher=Population Resource Center|month=May|year=2000|accessdate=2007-12-20|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070604165856/http://www.prcdc.org/summaries/uspopperspec/uspopperspec.html|archivedate=2007-06-04}}</ref> With a [[birth rate]] of 13.82 per 1,000, 30% below the world average, its [[population growth rate]] is 0.98%, significantly higher than those of Western Europe, Japan, and South Korea.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2054rank.html|title=Rank Order—Birth Rate|publisher=CIA|work=The World Factbook|year=2009|accessdate=2009-10-11}}</ref> In fiscal year 2009, 1.1 million immigrants were granted [[United States Permanent Resident Card|legal residence]].<ref>[http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/publications/lpr_fr_2009.pdf “U.S. Legal Permanent Residents: 2009”]. [[Office of Immigration Statistics]] ''Annual Flow Report.''</ref> Mexico has been the leading source of new residents for over two decades; since 1998, China, India, and the Philippines have been in the top four sending countries every year.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.dhs.gov/files/statistics/publications/LPR07.shtm|title=Persons Obtaining Legal Permanent Resident Status by Region and Country of Birth: Fiscal Years 1998 to 2007 (Table 3)|publisher=U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security|accessdate=2008-09-06}}</ref>

The United States has a very [[multiethnic society|diverse population]]—thirty-one [[maps of American ancestries|ancestry groups]] have more than one million members.<ref name="An2000">{{cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/c2kbr-35.pdf|title=Ancestry 2000|publisher=U.S.Census Bureau|month=June|year=2004|accessdate=2007-06-13}}</ref> [[White American]]s are the largest [[race (classification of human beings)|racial group]]; [[German American]]s, [[Irish American]]s, and [[English American]]s constitute three of the country's four largest ancestry groups.<ref name="An2000"/> [[African American]]s are the nation's largest [[minority group|racial minority]] and third largest ancestry group.<ref name="An2000"/><ref name="Cen2008">{{cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/popest/national/asrh/NC-EST2008-srh.html|title=Annual Estimates of the Population by Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin for the United States: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2008 (NC-EST2008-03)| publisher = U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division | date = 2009-05-01| accessdate = 2009-07-23}}</ref> [[Asian American]]s are the country's second largest racial minority; the two largest Asian American ethnic groups are [[Chinese American]]s and [[Filipino American]]s.<ref name="An2000"/> In 2008, the U.S. population included an estimated 4.9 million people with some [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indian]] or [[Alaska Natives|Alaskan native]] ancestry (3.1 million exclusively of such ancestry) and 1.1 million with some [[Native Hawaiians|native Hawaiian]] or [[Pacific Islander|Pacific island]] ancestry (0.6 million exclusively).<ref name="Cen2008"/>

{|class="infobox" style="font-size: 90%; border: 1px solid #999; float: right; margin-left: 1em; width: 240px;"
|- style="background:#f5f5f5;"
! colspan="2" | Race/Ethnicity (2008)<ref name="Cen2008"/>
|-
| [[White American|White]] || style="text-align: center;" |79.8%
|-
| [[Black American|Black]] || style="text-align: center;" |12.8%
|-
| [[Asian American|Asian]] || style="text-align: center;" |4.5%
|-
| [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indian]] and [[Alaska Natives|Alaska Native]] || style="text-align: center;" |1.0%
|-
| [[Native Hawaiians|Native Hawaiian]] and [[Pacific Islander American|Pacific Islander]] || style="text-align: center;" |0.2%
|-
| [[Multiracial American|Two or more races]] || style="text-align: center;" | 1.7%
|-
| [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic]] (''of any race'') || style="text-align: center;" |15.4%
|}

The population growth of [[Hispanic and Latino Americans]] (the terms are officially interchangeable) is a major [[demographic transition|demographic trend]]. The 46.9 million Americans of Hispanic descent<ref name="Cen2008"/> are identified as sharing a distinct "[[Race and ethnicity in the United States Census|ethnicity]]" by the Census Bureau; 64% of Hispanic Americans are of [[Mexican American|Mexican descent]].<ref name=CB2007>{{cite web | url = http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-ds_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G00_&-CONTEXT=dt&-mt_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G2000_B03001&-redoLog=true&-geo_id=01000US&-geo_id=04000US48&-format=&-_lang=en&-SubjectID=15233304 | title = B03001. Hispanic or Latino Origin by Specific Origin | work = 2007 American Community Survey | publisher = U.S. Census Bureau | accessdate = 2008-09-26}}</ref> Between 2000 and 2008, the country's Hispanic population increased 32% while the non-Hispanic population rose just 4.3%.<ref name="Cen2008"/> Much of this growth is from immigration; as of 2007, 12.6% of the U.S. population was foreign-born, with 54% of that figure born in [[Latin America]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/09statab/pop.pdf|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|work=Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009| title=Tables 41 and 42—Native and Foreign-Born Populations|accessdate = 2009-10-11}}</ref> Fertility is also a factor; the average Hispanic woman gives birth to 3.0 children in her lifetime, compared to 2.2 for non-Hispanic black women and 1.8 for non-Hispanic white women (below the [[replacement rate]] of 2.1).<ref name="PRC"/> [[Minority group|Minorities]] (as defined by the Census Bureau, all those beside non-Hispanic, non-multiracial whites) constitute 34% of the population; they are projected to be the majority by 2042.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/012496.html|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080822044429/http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/012496.html|archivedate=2008-08-22|title=An Older and More Diverse Nation by Midcentury|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|date=2008-08-14|accessdate=2008-09-06}}</ref>

About 82% of Americans live in [[United States urban area|urban areas]] (as defined by the Census Bureau, such areas include the [[suburb]]s);<ref name="WF"/> about half of those reside in cities with populations over 50,000.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GCTTable?_bm=y&-state=gct&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U&-_box_head_nbr=GCT-P1&-mt_name=&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=&-format=US-1&-_lang=en| title = United States—Urban/Rural and Inside/Outside Metropolitan Area (GCT-P1. Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2000)| publisher = U.S. Census Bureau | date =2000-04-01| accessdate = 2008-09-23 }}</ref> In 2008, 273 [[List of United States cities by population|incorporated places]] had populations over 100,000, nine cities had more than 1 million residents, and four [[global city|global cities]] had over 2 million ([[New York City]], [[Los Angeles]], [[Chicago]], and [[Houston]]).<ref name=PopEstBigCities>{{cite web | url = http://hawaii.gov/dbedt/info/census/popestimate/copy_of_2008-subcounty-population-hawaii/SUB_EST2008_01.pdf|format=PDF| title =Table 1: Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places Over 100,000, Ranked by July 1, 2008 Population: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2008 | work = 2008 Population Estimates | publisher = U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division | date =2009-07-01| accessdate = 2009-10-11}}{{dead link|date=July 2010}}</ref> There are fifty-two [[Table of United States Metropolitan Statistical Areas|metropolitan areas]] with populations greater than 1 million.<ref name=PopEstMSA>{{cite web | url = http://hawaii.gov/dbedt/info/census/popestimate/2008_MSA_Hawaii/CBSA_EST2008_05.pdf |format=PDF| title = Table 5. Estimates of Population Change for Metropolitan Statistical Areas and Rankings: July 1, 2007 to July 1, 2008 | work = 2008 Population Estimates | publisher = U.S. Census Bureau| date =2009-03-19| accessdate = 2009-10-11}}{{dead link|date=July 2010}}</ref> Of the fifty fastest-growing metro areas, forty-seven are in the West or South.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/013426.html|title=Raleigh and Austin are Fastest-Growing Metro Areas|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|date=2009-03-19|accessdate=2009-10-11}}{{dead link|date=July 2010}}</ref> The metro areas of [[Dallas]], Houston, [[Atlanta]], and [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]] all grew by more than a million people between 2000 and 2008.<ref name=PopEstMSA/>
{{Largest Metropolitan Areas of the United States}}
{{-}}

===Language===
{{Main|Languages of the United States}}
{{See also|Language Spoken at Home (U.S. Census)}}

{|class="infobox" style="font-size: 90%; border: 1px solid #999; float: right; margin-left: 1em; width: 200px;"
|- style="background:#f5f5f5;"
!colspan="2"|Languages (2007)<ref name="USCB Lang">{{cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2010/tables/10s0053.pdf|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|work=Statistical Abstract of the United States 2010|title=Table 53—Languages Spoken at Home by Language: 2007|accessdate=2009-09-21}}</ref>
|-
|[[English language|English]] (''only'')||style="text-align: center;"|225.5 million
|-
|[[Spanish language|Spanish]], incl. [[Spanish-based creole languages|Creole]]||style="text-align: center;"|34.5 million
|-
|[[Chinese language|Chinese]]||style="text-align: center;"|2.5 million
|-
|[[French language|French]], incl. [[French-based creole languages|Creole]]||style="text-align: center;"|2.0 million
|-
|[[Tagalog language|Tagalog]]||style="text-align: center;"|1.5 million
|-
|[[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]]||style="text-align: center;"|1.2 million
|-
|[[German language|German]]||style="text-align: center;"|1.1 million
|-
|[[Korean language|Korean]]||style="text-align: center;"|1.1 million
|}

[[American English|English]] is the de facto [[national language]]. Although there is no [[official language]] at the federal level, some laws—such as [[United States nationality law#Naturalization|U.S. naturalization requirements]]—standardize English. In 2007, about 226 million, or 80% of the population aged five years and older, spoke only English at home. [[Spanish in the United States|Spanish]], spoken by 12% of the population at home, is the second most common language and the most widely taught second language.<ref name="USCB Lang"/><ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.adfl.org/resources/enrollments.pdf| title = Foreign Language Enrollments in United States Institutions of Higher Learning|date=fall 2002| publisher = MLA| accessdate = 2006-10-16}}</ref> Some Americans advocate making English the country's official language, as it is in at least twenty-eight states.<ref name=ILW>{{cite web|author=Feder, Jody| url = http://www.ilw.com/immigrationdaily/news/2007,0515-crs.pdf| title = English as the Official Language of the United States—Legal Background and Analysis of Legislation in the 110th Congress|date=2007-01-25| publisher = Ilw.com (Congressional Research Service)| accessdate = 2007-06-19}}</ref> Both [[Hawaiian language|Hawaiian]] and English are official languages in Hawaii by state law.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hawaii.gov/lrb/con/conart15.html|title=The Constitution of the State of Hawaii, Article XV, Section 4| publisher=Hawaii Legislative Reference Bureau|date=1978-11-07|accessdate=2007-06-19}}</ref>

While neither has an official language, [[New Mexico]] has laws providing for the use of both English and Spanish, as [[Louisiana]] does for English and French.<ref>{{cite book| author =Dicker, Susan J. | title = Languages in America: A Pluralist View |year=2003|pages=216, 220–25 | location =Clevedon, UK| publisher = Multilingual Matters|isbn=1853596515}}</ref> Other states, such as [[California]], mandate the publication of Spanish versions of certain government documents including court forms.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=ccp&group=00001-01000&file=412.10-412.30|title=California Code of Civil Procedure, Section 412.20(6)| publisher=Legislative Counsel, State of California|accessdate=2007-12-17}} {{cite web|url=http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/forms/allforms.htm|title=California Judicial Council Forms| publisher=Judicial Council, State of California|accessdate=2007-12-17}}</ref> Several insular territories grant official recognition to their native languages, along with English: [[Samoan language|Samoan]] and [[Chamorro language|Chamorro]] are recognized by American Samoa and Guam, respectively; [[Carolinian language|Carolinian]] and Chamorro are recognized by the Northern Mariana Islands; Spanish is an official language of Puerto Rico.

===Religion===
{{Main|Religion in the United States}}
{{See also|History of religion in the United States|Freedom of religion in the United States|Separation of church and state in the United States|List of religious movements that began in the United States}}

[[File:BrunswickWhiteChurch.jpg|thumb|right|A [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]] church; most Americans identify as Christian.]]

The United States is officially a [[secular state|secular nation]]; the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]] of the U.S. Constitution guarantees the free exercise of religion and forbids the establishment of any [[Established church|religious governance]]. In a 2002 study, 59% of Americans said that religion played a "very important role in their lives," a far higher figure than that of any other wealthy nation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID=167|title=Among Wealthy Nations...U.S. Stands Alone in its Embrace of Religion| publisher=Pew Research Center|work=Pew Global Attitudes Project|date=2002-12-19|accessdate=2008-10-23}}</ref> According to a 2007 survey, 78.4% of adults identified themselves as [[Christianity in the United States|Christian]],<ref name="Pew">{{cite web|url=http://religions.pewforum.org/pdf/affiliations-all-traditions.pdf|title=Religious Composition of the U.S.| publisher=Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life|work=U.S. Religious Landscape Survey|year=2007|accessdate=2008-10-23}}</ref> down from 86.4% in 1990.<ref name="ARIS">{{cite web|url=http://www.gc.cuny.edu/faculty/research_briefs/aris/key_findings.htm|title=American Religious Identification Survey| publisher=CUNY Graduate Center|year=2001|accessdate=2007-06-17}}</ref> [[Protestantism|Protestant]] denominations accounted for 51.3%, while [[Roman Catholicism in the United States|Roman Catholicism]], at 23.9%, was the largest individual denomination. The study categorizes white [[evangelicalism|evangelicals]], 26.3% of the population, as the country's largest religious cohort;<ref name="Pew"/> another study estimates evangelicals of all races at 30–35%.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uakron.edu/bliss/docs/Religious_Landscape_2004.pdf|author=Green, John C|title=The American Religious Landscape and Political Attitudes: A Baseline for 2004| publisher=University of Akron Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics|accessdate=2007-06-18}}</ref> The total reporting non-Christian religions in 2007 was 4.7%, up from 3.3% in 1990.<ref name="ARIS"/> The leading non-Christian faiths were [[American Jews|Judaism]] (1.7%), [[Buddhism in the United States|Buddhism]] (0.7%), [[Islam in the United States|Islam]] (0.6%), [[Hinduism in the United States|Hinduism]] (0.4%), and [[Unitarian Universalism]] (0.3%).<ref name="Pew"/> The survey also reported that 16.1% of Americans described themselves as [[agnosticism|agnostic]], [[atheism|atheist]], or simply having [[irreligion|no religion]], up from 8.2% in 1990.<ref name="Pew"/><ref name="ARIS"/>

===Education===
{{Main|Education in the United States}}
{{See also|Educational attainment in the United States|Higher education in the United States}}

[[File:University-of-Virginia-Rotunda.jpg|thumb|right|Some 80% of U.S. college students attend [[public university|public universities]] such as the [[University of Virginia]], a [[World Heritage Site]] founded by [[Thomas Jefferson]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Public Education for the Common Good |author=Rosenstone, Steven J. |publisher=University of Minnesota |url=http://cla.umn.edu/news/clatoday/summer2002/dean.php |date=2009-12-17 |accessdate=2009-03-06}}</ref>]]

American [[public education]] is operated by state and local governments, regulated by the [[United States Department of Education]] through restrictions on federal grants. Children are required in most states to attend school from the age of six or seven (generally, [[kindergarten]] or [[first grade]]) until they turn eighteen (generally bringing them through [[twelfth grade]], the end of [[high school]]); some states allow students to leave school at sixteen or seventeen.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d02/dt150.asp |title=Ages for Compulsory School Attendance... |accessdate = 2007-06-10 |publisher=U.S. Dept. of Education, National Center for Education Statistics}}</ref> About 12% of children are enrolled in [[parochial school|parochial]] or [[nonsectarian]] [[private school]]s. Just over 2% of children are [[homeschooling|homeschooled]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oii/nonpublic/statistics.html |title=Statistics About Non-Public Education in the United States |accessdate = 2007-06-05 |publisher=U.S. Dept. of Education, Office of Non-Public Education}}</ref>

The United States has many competitive private and public [[List of American institutions of higher education|institutions of higher education]], as well as local [[community college]]s with open admission policies. Of Americans twenty-five and older, 84.6% graduated from high school, 52.6% attended some college, 27.2% earned a [[bachelor's degree]], and 9.6% earned graduate degrees.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/p20-550.pdf|title=Educational Attainment in the United States: 2003|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|accessdate = 2006-08-01}}</ref> The basic [[literacy|literacy rate]] is approximately 99%.<ref name="WF" /><ref>For more detail on U.S. literacy, see [http://nces.ed.gov/NAAL/PDF/2006470.PDF A First Look at the Literacy of America’s Adults in the 21st century], U.S. Department of Education (2003).</ref> The United Nations assigns the United States an Education Index of 0.97, tying it for 12th in the world.<ref>{{cite web|title=Human Development Indicators|year=2005|publisher=United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Reports|accessdate = 2008-01-14|url=http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2005/pdf/HDR05_HDI.pdf|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070620235428/http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2005/pdf/HDR05_HDI.pdf|archivedate=2007-06-20}}</ref>

===Health===
{{See also|Health care in the United States|Health care reform in the United States|Health insurance in the United States}}
The United States life expectancy of 77.8 years at birth<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus06.pdf#027|title=Health, United States, 2006|month=November | year=2006|publisher=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics|accessdate = 2007-08-15}}</ref> is a year shorter than the overall figure in Western Europe, and three to four years lower than that of Norway, Switzerland, and Canada.<ref>{{cite web |author=Eberstadt, Nicholas, and Hans Groth|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/19/opinion/edeber.php |title=Healthy Old Europe|date=2007-04-19|work=International Herald Tribune|accessdate = 2007-06-19 }}</ref> Over the past two decades, the country's rank in life expectancy has dropped from 11th to 42nd in the world.<ref>{{cite web|author=MacAskill, Ewen|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/aug/13/usa.ewenmacaskill |title=US Tumbles Down the World Ratings List for Life Expectancy|date=2007-08-13 |work= Guardian|accessdate = 2007-08-15}}</ref> The infant mortality rate of 6.37 per thousand likewise places the United States 42nd out of 221 countries, behind all of Western Europe.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2091rank.html |title=Rank Order—Infant Mortality Rate|date=2007-06-14|publisher =CIA|work=The World Factbook|accessdate = 2007-06-19}}</ref> Approximately [[Obesity in the United States|one-third of the adult population is obese]] and an additional third is overweight;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/overweight/overwght_adult_03.htm |title=Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity Among Adults: United States, 2003–2004 |accessdate = 2007-06-05 |publisher=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics}}</ref> the obesity rate, the highest in the industrialized world, has more than doubled in the last quarter-century.<ref>{{cite book | author= Schlosser, Eric | year = 2002 | title = Fast Food Nation | publisher = Perennial | location = New York| isbn = 0060938455 |page = 240 }}</ref> Obesity-related [[diabetes mellitus type 2|type 2 diabetes]] is considered epidemic by health care professionals.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://atvb.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/25/12/2451#R3-101329 |title=Fast Food, Central Nervous System Insulin Resistance, and Obesity|year=2005 |accessdate = 2007-06-17|work= [[Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology]]|publisher=American Heart Association}}</ref>

The U.S. adolescent pregnancy rate, 79.8 per 1,000 women, is nearly four times that of France and five times that of Germany.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/PUBLICATIONS/factsheet/fsest.htm |title=Adolescent Sexual Health in Europe and the U.S.—Why the Difference?|month=October | year=2001 |accessdate = 2007-06-17 |publisher=Advocates for Youth}}</ref> [[Abortion in the United States|Abortion, legal on demand]], is highly controversial. [[Abortion in the US by state|Many states]] ban public funding of the procedure and restrict late-term abortions, require parental notification for minors, and mandate a waiting period. While the abortion rate is falling, the abortion ratio of 241 per 1,000 live births and abortion rate of 15 per 1,000 women aged 15–44 remain higher than those of most Western nations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5511a1.htm|author=Strauss, Lilo T., et al.|title=Abortion Surveillance—United States, 2003|accessdate = 2007-06-17 |publisher=Centers for Disease Control, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Reproductive Health|work=MMWR|date=2006-11-24}}</ref>

[[File:FlightHoustontoDallas086.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Texas Medical Center]] in [[Houston]], the world's largest medical center<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.texmedctr.tmc.edu/root/en/GetToKnow/FactsandFigures/Facts+and+Figures.htm|title=2007 Facts & Figures|accessdate = 2008-11-07|publisher=Texas Medical Center}}</ref>]]

The U.S. health care system far [[List of countries by total health expenditure (PPP) per capita|outspends]] any other nation's, measured in both per capita spending and percentage of GDP.<ref>''OECD Health Data 2000: A Comparative Analysis of 29 Countries'' [CD-ROM] (OECD: Paris, 2000). See also {{cite web |url=http://dll.umaine.edu/ble/U.S.%20HCweb.pdf|title=The U.S. Healthcare System: The Best in the World or Just the Most Expensive?|year=2001|accessdate = 2006-11-29 |publisher=University of Maine}}</ref> The [[World Health Organization]] ranked the U.S. health care system in 2000 as first in responsiveness, but 37th in overall performance. The United States is a leader in medical innovation. In 2004, the nonindustrial sector spent three times as much as Europe per capita on biomedical research.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Groves, Trish| year=2008|month=February |title=Stronger European Medical Research |journal=British Medical Journal |volume=336 |pages=341–342| doi=10.1136/bmj.39489.505208.80 |pmc=2244738 |pmid=18276671 |first1=T |issue=7640 |issn=0959-8138}}</ref>

Unlike in all other developed countries, health care coverage in the United States is not [[universal health care|universal]]. In 2004, private insurance paid for 36% of personal health expenditures, private out-of-pocket payments covered 15%, and federal, state, and local governments paid for 44%.<ref name="CDC H">{{cite web |url=http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus06.pdf|title=Health, United States, 2006|accessdate = 2006-11-24 |publisher=Centers for Disease Control, National Center for Health Statistics}}</ref> In 2005, 46.6 million Americans, 15.9% of the population, were uninsured, 5.4 million more than in 2001. The main cause of this rise is the drop in the number of Americans with employer-sponsored health insurance.<ref name="CBPP">{{cite web|url=http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=629|title=Poverty Remains Higher, and Median Income for Non-Elderly Is Lower, Than When Recession Hit Bottom: Poor Performance Unprecedented for Four-Year Recovery Period|publisher=Center for Budget and Policy Priorities|date =2006-09-01|accessdate = 2007-06-24}}</ref> The subject of uninsured and underinsured Americans is a major political issue.<ref>{{cite news|author=Abelson, Reed|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/10/health/policy/10health.html|title=Ranks of Underinsured Are Rising, Study Finds|date= 2008-06-10|work=New York Times|accessdate=2008-10-25}} {{cite journal|author=Blewett, Lynn A. et al.|title=How Much Health Insurance Is Enough? Revisiting the Concept of Underinsurance|year= 2006|work=Medical Care Research and Review|volume=63|issue=6|pages=663–700|doi=10.1177/1077558706293634|journal=Medical Care Research and Review|pmid=17099121|month=Dec|first1=LA|first2=A|first3=TJ|issn=1077-5587}}</ref> A 2009 study estimated that lack of insurance is associated with nearly 45,000 deaths a year.<ref>{{cite news|author=Park, Madison |url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/09/18/deaths.health.insurance/index.html?eref=rss_latest|title=45,000 American Deaths Associated with Lack of Insurance |publisher=CNN|date=2009-09-18|accessdate = 2009-10-01}}</ref> In 2006, [[Massachusetts]] became the first state to mandate universal health insurance.<ref>{{cite web|author=Fahrenthold, David A.|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/04/AR2006040401937.html|title= Mass. Bill Requires Health Coverage|date= 2006-04-05|work=Washington Post|accessdate=2007-06-19}}</ref> [[Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act|Federal legislation]] passed in early 2010 will create a near-universal health insurance system around the country by 2014.

===Crime and law enforcement===
{{Main|Policing in the United States|Crime in the United States}}
{{See also|Law of the United States|Incarceration in the United States|Capital punishment in the United States}}

[[File:Homicide rate2004.svg|right|400px]]
Law enforcement in the United States is primarily the responsibility of local police and [[sheriff]]'s departments, with [[state police]] providing broader services. Federal agencies such as the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) and the [[United States Marshals Service|U.S. Marshals Service]] have specialized duties. At the federal level and in almost every state, jurisprudence operates on a [[common law]] system. State courts conduct most criminal trials; [[United States federal courts|federal courts]] handle certain designated crimes as well as certain [[appeal]]s from the state systems.

Among [[developed country|developed nations]], the United States has above-average levels of violent crime and particularly high levels of [[Gun violence in the United States|gun violence]] and [[homicide]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unodc.org/pdf/crime/eighthsurvey/8sv.pdf|title=Eighth United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems (2001–2002) |publisher=United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) |date = 2005-03-31|accessdate=2008-05-18}} {{cite journal |author=Krug, E.G, K.E. Powell, and L.L. Dahlberg |year=1998 |title=Firearm-Related Deaths in the United States and 35 Other High- and Upper-Middle Income Countries |journal=International Journal of Epidemiology |volume=7|issue=2 |pages=214–221 |url=http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/27/2/214 |doi=10.1093/ije/27.2.214 |pmid=9602401 |month=Apr |first1=EG |first2=KE |first3=LL |issn=0300-5771}}</ref> In 2007, there were 5.6 murders per 100,000 persons,<ref name="Crime 2007">{{cite web|url=http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2007/data/table_01.html|title=Crime in the United States by Volume and Rate per 100,000 Inhabitants, 1988–2007|work=Crime in the United States 2007|publisher=FBI|month=September | year=2008|accessdate=2008-10-26}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> three times the rate in neighboring Canada.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/legal02.htm?sdi=crimes|title=Crimes by Type of Offence|publisher=Statistics Canada|date=2008-07-17|accessdate=2008-10-26}}{{dead link|date=March 2010}}</ref> The U.S. homicide rate, which decreased by 42% between 1991 and 1999, has been roughly steady since.<ref name="Crime 2007"/> [[Second Amendment to the United States Constitution|Gun ownership rights]] are the subject of [[Gun politics in the United States|contentious political debate]].

The United States has the highest documented [[incarceration]] rate<ref name="SP">{{cite web |url=http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/inc_newfigures.pdf|title=New Incarceration Figures: Thirty-Three Consecutive Years of Growth |month=December | year=2006 |accessdate = 2007-06-10 |publisher=Sentencing Project}}</ref> and total prison population<ref>{{cite web| author=Walmsley, Roy |url=http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/rel/icps/world-prison-population-list-2005.pdf |format=PDF|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070628215935/http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/rel/icps/world-prison-population-list-2005.pdf |archivedate=2007-06-28|title=World Prison Population List |year=2005|accessdate = 2007-10-19|publisher=King's College London, International Centre for Prison Studies}} For the latest data, see {{cite web|url=http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/rel/icps/worldbrief/north_america_records.php?code=190|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070804061423/http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/rel/icps/worldbrief/north_america_records.php?code=190|archivedate=2007-08-04|title=Prison Brief for United States of America|date=2006-06-21|accessdate = 2007-10-19|publisher=King's College London, International Centre for Prison Studies}} For other estimates of the incarceration rate in China and North Korea see {{cite web|author=Adams, Cecil|url=http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2494/does-the-united-states-lead-the-world-in-prison-population |title=Does the United States Lead the World in Prison Population? |date=2004-02-06|accessdate = 2007-10-11 |publisher=The Straight Dope}}</ref> in the world. At the start of 2008, more than 2.3 million people were incarcerated, more than one in every 100 adults.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/news_room_detail.aspx?id=35912 |title=Pew Report Finds More than One in 100 Adults are Behind Bars|date=2008-02-28|accessdate = 2008-03-02|publisher=Pew Center on the States}}</ref> The current rate is about seven times the 1980 figure.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/tables/incrttab.htm |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070611192107/http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/tables/incrttab.htm |archivedate=2007-06-11 |title=Incarceration Rate, 1980–2005 |year=2006|accessdate = 2007-06-10 |publisher=U.S. Dept. of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics}}</ref> African American males are jailed at about six times the rate of white males and three times the rate of Hispanic males.<ref name="SP"/> In 2006, the U.S. incarceration rate was over three times the figure in Poland, the [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]] (OECD) country with the next highest rate.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/rel/icps/worldbrief/highest_to_lowest_rates.php|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070824173340/http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/rel/icps/worldbrief/highest_to_lowest_rates.php|archivedate=2007-08-24|title=Entire World—Prison Population Rates per 100,000 of the National Population|year=2007|accessdate = 2007-10-19|publisher=King's College London, International Centre for Prison Studies}}</ref> The country's high rate of incarceration is largely due to [[United States Federal Sentencing Guidelines|sentencing]] and [[Drug policy of the United States|drug policies]].<ref name="SP"/><ref name="HRW">{{cite web |url=http://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/2000/usa/Rcedrg00-05.htm |title=The Impact of the War on Drugs on U.S. Incarceration |month=May | year=2000 |accessdate = 2007-06-10 |publisher=Human Rights Watch}}</ref>

Though it has been abolished in most Western nations, [[capital punishment]] is sanctioned in the United States for certain federal and military crimes, and in thirty-six states. Since 1976, when the U.S. Supreme Court [[Gregg v. Georgia|reinstated the death penalty]] after a four-year moratorium, there have been more than 1,000 executions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/executions-united-states-2007 |title=Executions in the United States in 2007|accessdate = 2007-06-15 |publisher=Death Penalty Information Center}}</ref> In 2006, the country had the sixth highest number of executions in the world, following China, Iran, [[Pakistan]], Iraq, and [[Sudan]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/death-penalty-international-perspective |title=Executions Around the World|accessdate = 2007-06-15|year=2007 |publisher=Death Penalty Information Center}}</ref> In 2007, [[New Jersey]] became the first state to legislatively abolish the death penalty since the 1976 Supreme Court decision, followed by [[New Mexico]] in 2009.

==Culture==
{{Main|Culture of the United States|Society of the United States}}
{{See also|Social class in the United States}}
[[File:Motherhood and apple pie.jpg|thumb|American cultural icons: [[apple pie]], [[baseball]], and the [[Flag of the United States|American flag]]]]

The United States is a [[multiculturalism|multicultural]] nation, home to a wide variety of ethnic groups, traditions, and values.<ref name="DD"/><ref name="Society in Focus">Thompson, William, and Joseph Hickey (2005). ''Society in Focus''. Boston: Pearson. ISBN 0-205-41365-X.</ref> Aside from the now small [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] and [[Native Hawaiians|Native Hawaiian]] populations, nearly all Americans or their ancestors immigrated within the past five centuries.<ref>Fiorina, Morris P., and Paul E. Peterson (2000). ''The New American Democracy''. London: Longman, p. 97. ISBN 0-321-07058-5.</ref> The culture held in common by most Americans—mainstream American culture—is a [[Western culture]] largely derived from the [[European American|traditions of European immigrants]] with influences from many other sources, such as [[African American culture|traditions brought by slaves from Africa]].<ref name="DD"/><ref>Holloway, Joseph E. (2005). ''Africanisms in American Culture'', 2d ed. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, pp. 18–38. ISBN 0-253-34479-4. Johnson, Fern L. (1999). ''Speaking Culturally: Language Diversity in the United States''. Thousand Oaks, Calif., London, and New Delhi: Sage, p. 116. ISBN 0-8039-5912-5.</ref> More recent immigration from [[Asian American|Asia]] and especially [[Latin American culture|Latin America]] has added to a cultural mix that has been described as both a homogenizing [[melting pot]] and a heterogeneous [[salad bowl (cultural idea)|salad bowl]] in which immigrants and their descendants retain distinctive cultural characteristics.<ref name="DD"/>

According to [[Geert Hofstede]]'s cultural dimensions analysis, the United States has the highest [[individualism]] score of any country studied.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.clearlycultural.com/geert-hofstede-cultural-dimensions/individualism/|title=Individualism| publisher = Clearly Cultural|accessdate=2009-02-28}}</ref> While the mainstream culture holds that the United States is a [[classless society]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Gutfield |first=Amon |year=2002 |title=American Exceptionalism: The Effects of Plenty on the American Experience |publisher=Sussex Academic Press |location=Brighton and Portland |page=65 |isbn=1903900085}}</ref> scholars identify significant differences between the country's social classes, affecting [[socialization]], language, and values.<ref>{{cite book |last=Zweig |first=Michael |year=2004 |title=What's Class Got To Do With It, American Society in the Twenty-First Century |publisher=Cornell University Press |location=Ithaca, NY |isbn=0801488990}} {{cite web |url=http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/Home.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=RecordDetails&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED309843&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=eric_accno&objectId=0900000b800472a5 |title=Effects of Social Class and Interactive Setting on Maternal Speech |publisher=Education Resource Information Center |accessdate=2007-01-27}}</ref> The [[American middle class|American middle and professional class]] has initiated many contemporary social trends such as [[History of women in the United States|modern feminism]], [[Environmental movement in the United States|environmentalism]], and multiculturalism.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ehrenreich |first=Barbara |year=1989 |title=Fear of Falling, The Inner Life of the Middle Class |publisher=HarperCollins |location=New York |isbn=0060973331}}</ref> Americans' self-images, social viewpoints, and cultural expectations are associated with their occupations to an unusually close degree.<ref>{{cite book |last=Eichar |first=Douglas |year=1989 |title=Occupation and Class Consciousness in America |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=Westport, CT |isbn=0313261113}}</ref> While Americans tend greatly to value socioeconomic achievement, being [[Average Joe|ordinary or average]] is generally seen as a positive attribute.<ref>{{cite book |last=O'Keefe |first=Kevin |year=2005 |title=The Average American |publisher=PublicAffairs |location=New York |isbn=158648270X}}</ref> Though the [[American Dream]], or the perception that Americans enjoy high [[social mobility]], plays a key role in attracting immigrants, various studies indicate that the United States has less social mobility than Canada and the Nordic countries.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/2/7/45002641.pdf|title=A Family Affair: Intergenerational Social Mobility across OECD Countries|publisher=OECD| work = Economic Policy Reforms: Going for Growth|year=2010 |accessdate=2010-09-20}} {{cite web|url=http://www.suttontrust.com/reports/IntergenerationalMobility.pdf|title=Intergenerational Mobility in Europe and North America|author=Blanden, Jo, Paul Gregg, and Stephen Malchin| publisher = Centre for Economic Performance|month=April | year=2005 |accessdate=2006-08-21 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20060623094610/http://www.suttontrust.com/reports/IntergenerationalMobility.pdf |archivedate = June 23, 2006}}</ref>

Women now mostly work outside the home and receive a majority of [[Educational attainment in the United States|bachelor's degrees]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iserp.columbia.edu/news/articles/female_college.html |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070609151527/http://www.iserp.columbia.edu/news/articles/female_college.html |archivedate=2007-06-09 |title=Women's Advances in Education |publisher=Columbia University, Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy |year=2006 |accessdate=2007-06-06}}</ref> In 2007, 58% of Americans age 18 and over were married, 6% were widowed, 10% were divorced, and 25% had never been married.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/09statab/pop.pdf|publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|work=Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009| title=Table 55—Marital Status of the Population by Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 1990 to 2007|accessdate = 2009-10-11}}</ref> [[Same-sex marriage in the United States|Same-sex marriage]] is contentious. Some states permit [[Civil union in the United States|civil unions]] in lieu of marriage. Since 2003, [[Same-sex marriage law in the United States by state|several states]] have permitted gay marriage as the result of judicial or legislative action, while voters in more than a dozen states have barred the practice via [[Initiatives and referendums in the United States|referendum]].

===Popular media===
{{Main|Cinema of the United States|Television in the United States|Music of the United States}}
[[File:PB050006.JPG|thumb|The [[Hollywood Sign]]]]
The world's first commercial motion picture exhibition was given in New York City in 1894, using [[Thomas Edison]]'s [[Kinetoscope]]. The next year saw the first commercial screening of a projected film, also in New York, and the United States was in the forefront of [[sound film]]'s development in the following decades. Since the early 20th century, the U.S. film industry has largely been based in and around [[Hollywood, Los Angeles, California|Hollywood, California]]. Director [[D. W. Griffith]] was central to the development of [[film grammar]] and [[Orson Welles]]'s ''[[Citizen Kane]]'' (1941) is frequently cited as the greatest film of all time.<ref>[http://www.filmsite.org/villvoice.html ''Village Voice'': 100 Best Films of the 20th century (2001)]. Filmsite.org; [http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/topten/poll/critics-long.html ''Sight and Sound'' Top Ten Poll 2002]. BFI. Retrieved on 2007-06-19.</ref> American screen actors like [[John Wayne]] and [[Marilyn Monroe]] have become iconic figures, while producer/entrepreneur [[Walt Disney]] was a leader in both [[animation|animated film]] and movie [[merchandising]]. The [[major film studio]]s of Hollywood have produced the most commercially successful movies in history, such as ''[[Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope|Star Wars]]'' (1977) and ''[[Titanic (1997 film)|Titanic]]'' (1997), and the products of Hollywood today dominate the global film industry.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unesco.org/bpi/eng/unescopress/2000/00-120e.shtml |title=World Culture Report 2000 Calls for Preservation of Intangible Cultural Heritage |date=2000-11-17 |publisher=UNESCO |accessdate=2007-09-14}} {{cite web |url=http://www1.worldbank.org/economicpolicy/globalization/thwart.html |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20071017111347/http://worldbank.org/economicpolicy/globalization/thwart.html |archivedate=2007-10-17 |title=Summary: Does Globalization Thwart Cultural Diversity? |publisher=World Bank Group |accessdate=2007-09-14}}</ref>

Americans are the heaviest television viewers in the world,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/med_tel_vie-media-television-viewing |title=Media Statistics > Television Viewing by Country |publisher=NationMaster |accessdate=2007-06-03}}</ref> and the average viewing time continues to rise, reaching five hours a day in 2006.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1005003 |title=Broadband and Media Consumption |date=2007-06-07|publisher=eMarketer |accessdate=2007-06-10}}</ref> The four major broadcast networks are all commercial entities. Americans listen to radio programming, also largely commercialized, on average just over two-and-a-half hours a day.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1004830 |title=TV Fans Spill into Web Sites |date=2007-06-07|publisher=eMarketer |accessdate = 2007-06-10}}</ref> Aside from [[web portal]]s and [[web search engine|search engines]], the most popular websites are [[Facebook]], [[YouTube]], [[Wikipedia]], [[Blogger (service)|Blogger]], [[eBay]], and [[Craigslist]].<ref name="alexa-topsitesus">{{cite web |url=http://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries/US |title=Top Sites in United States |year=2010 |publisher=Alexa |accessdate=2010-03-27}}</ref>

The rhythmic and lyrical styles of [[African American music]] have deeply influenced [[Music of the United States|American music]] at large, distinguishing it from European traditions. Elements from [[folk music|folk]] idioms such as the [[blues]] and what is now known as [[old-time music]] were adopted and transformed into [[popular music|popular genres]] with global audiences. [[Jazz]] was developed by innovators such as [[Louis Armstrong]] and [[Duke Ellington]] early in the 20th century. [[Country music]] developed in the 1920s, and [[rhythm and blues]] in the 1940s. [[Elvis Presley]] and [[Chuck Berry]] were among the mid-1950s pioneers of [[rock and roll]]. In the 1960s, [[Bob Dylan]] emerged from the [[American folk music revival|folk revival]] to become one of America's most celebrated songwriters and [[James Brown]] led the development of [[funk]]. More recent American creations include [[hip hop music|hip hop]] and [[house music]]. American pop stars such as Presley, [[Michael Jackson]], and [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]] have become global celebrities.<ref>Biddle, Julian (2001). ''What Was Hot!: Five Decades of Pop Culture in America''. New York: Citadel, p. ix. ISBN 0-8065-2311-5.</ref>

===Literature, philosophy, and the arts===
{{Main|American literature|American philosophy|Visual arts of the United States|Theater in the United States|American classical music}}

[[File:Kerouac by Palumbo.jpg|thumb|[[Jack Kerouac]], one of the best-known figures of the [[Beat Generation]], a group of writers that came to prominence in the 1950s]]
In the 18th century and early 19th century, American art and literature took most of its cues from Europe. Writers such as [[Nathaniel Hawthorne]], [[Edgar Allan Poe]], and [[Henry David Thoreau]] established a distinctive American literary voice by the middle of the 19th century. [[Mark Twain]] and poet [[Walt Whitman]] were major figures in the century's second half; [[Emily Dickinson]], virtually unknown during her lifetime, is now recognized as an essential American poet.<ref>[[Harold Bloom|Bloom, Harold]]. 1999. ''Emily Dickinson''. Broomall, PA: Chelsea House Publishers. p. 9. ISBN 0-7910-5106-4.</ref> A work seen as capturing fundamental aspects of the national experience and character—such as [[Herman Melville]]'s ''[[Moby-Dick]]'' (1851), Twain's ''[[Adventures of Huckleberry Finn|The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn]]'' (1885), and [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]]'s ''[[The Great Gatsby]]'' (1925)—may be dubbed the "[[Great American Novel]]."

Eleven U.S. citizens have won the [[Nobel Prize in Literature]], most recently [[Toni Morrison]] in 1993. [[Ernest Hemingway]], the 1954 Nobel laureate, is often named as one of the most influential writers of the 20th century.<ref>Meyers, Jeffrey (1999). ''Hemingway: A Biography''. New York: Da Capo, p. 139. ISBN 0-306-80890-0.</ref> Popular literary genres such as the [[Western fiction|Western]] and [[hardboiled|hardboiled crime fiction]] developed in the United States. The [[Beat Generation]] writers opened up new literary approaches, as have [[postmodern literature|postmodernist]] authors such as [[John Barth]], [[Thomas Pynchon]], and [[Don DeLillo]].

The [[transcendentalism|transcendentalists]], led by Thoreau and [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]], established the first major American [[philosophical movement]]. After the Civil War, [[Charles Sanders Peirce]] and then [[William James]] and [[John Dewey]] were leaders in the development of [[pragmatism]]. In the 20th century, the work of [[Willard Van Orman Quine|W. V. O. Quine]] and [[Richard Rorty]], built upon by [[Noam Chomsky]], brought [[analytic philosophy]] to the fore of U.S. academics. [[John Rawls]] and [[Robert Nozick]] led a revival of [[political philosophy]].

In the visual arts, the [[Hudson River School]] was a mid-19th-century movement in the tradition of European [[naturalism (arts)|naturalism]]. The [[Realist visual arts|realist]] paintings of [[Thomas Eakins]] are now widely celebrated. The 1913 [[Armory Show]] in New York City, an exhibition of European [[modern art|modernist art]], shocked the public and transformed the U.S. art scene.<ref>Brown, Milton W. (1988 1963). ''The Story of the Armory Show''. New York: Abbeville. ISBN 0-89659-795-4.</ref> [[Georgia O'Keeffe]], [[Marsden Hartley]], and others experimented with new styles, displaying a highly individualistic sensibility. 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. The tide of modernism and then [[postmodernism]] has brought fame to American architects such as [[Frank Lloyd Wright]], [[Philip Johnson]], and [[Frank Gehry]].
[[File:Times Square 1-2.JPG|thumb|right|[[Times Square]] in [[New York City]], part of the [[Broadway theatre|Broadway theater district]]]]

One of the first major promoters of American theater was impresario [[P. T. Barnum]], who began operating a lower [[Manhattan]] entertainment complex in 1841. The team of [[Edward Harrigan|Harrigan and Hart]] produced a series of popular [[musical theatre|musical]] comedies in New York starting in the late 1870s. In the 20th century, the modern musical form emerged on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]]; the songs of musical theater composers such as [[Irving Berlin]], [[Cole Porter]], and [[Stephen Sondheim]] have become [[Traditional pop music|pop standards]]. Playwright [[Eugene O'Neill]] won the Nobel literature prize in 1936; other acclaimed U.S. dramatists include multiple [[Pulitzer Prize for Drama|Pulitzer Prize]] winners [[Tennessee Williams]], [[Edward Albee]], and [[August Wilson]].

Though largely overlooked at the time, [[Charles Ives]]'s work of the 1910s established him as the first major U.S. composer in the classical tradition; other experimentalists such as [[Henry Cowell]] and [[John Cage]] created a distinctive American approach to classical composition. [[Aaron Copland]] and [[George Gershwin]] developed a new synthesis of popular and classical music. [[Choreography|Choreographers]] [[Isadora Duncan]] and [[Martha Graham]] helped create [[modern dance]], while [[George Balanchine]] and [[Jerome Robbins]] were leaders in 20th century ballet. Americans have long been important in the modern artistic medium of [[photography]], with major photographers including [[Alfred Stieglitz]], [[Edward Steichen]], and [[Ansel Adams]]. The newspaper [[comic strip]] and the [[American comic book|comic book]] are both U.S. innovations. [[Superman]], the quintessential comic book [[superhero]], has become an American icon.<ref>{{cite book | last=Daniels | first=Les | authorlink=Les Daniels | year=1998 | title=Superman: The Complete History | page=11 | edition=1st | publisher=[[Titan Books]] | isbn=1-85286-988-7 }}</ref>

===Food===
{{Main|Cuisine of the United States}}
[[File:Strip Mall Troy.jpg|thumb|right|A [[strip mall]], with restaurants featuring Italian-, American-, and Chinese/Japanese-based cuisine]]
Mainstream American [[culinary art]]s are similar to those in other Western countries. [[Wheat]] is the primary [[cereal]] grain. Traditional American cuisine uses ingredients such as [[turkey (bird)|turkey]], [[white-tailed deer]] [[venison]], [[potato]]es, [[sweet potato]]es, [[maize|corn]], [[squash (plant)|squash]], and [[maple syrup]], indigenous foods employed by Native Americans and early European settlers. Slow-cooked pork and beef [[barbecue]], [[crab cake]]s, [[potato chip]]s, and [[chocolate chip cookie]]s are distinctively American styles. [[Soul food]], developed by African slaves, is popular around the South and among many African Americans elsewhere. [[Syncretism|Syncretic]] cuisines such as [[Louisiana Creole cuisine|Louisiana creole]], [[Cajun cuisine|Cajun]], and [[Tex-Mex]] are regionally important.

Characteristic dishes such as [[apple pie]], [[fried chicken]], [[pizza]], [[hamburger]]s, and [[hot dog]]s derive from the recipes of various immigrants. [[French fries]], Mexican dishes such as [[burrito]]s and [[taco]]s, and [[pasta]] dishes freely adapted from Italian sources are widely consumed.<ref name="IFT">{{cite web |url=http://www.ift.org/cms/?pid=1000496 |author=Klapthor, James N. |title=What, When, and Where Americans Eat in 2003 |publisher=Institute of Food Technologists |date=2003-08-23|accessdate=2007-06-19}}</ref> Americans generally prefer coffee to tea. Marketing by U.S. industries is largely responsible for making [[orange juice]] and [[milk]] ubiquitous breakfast beverages.<ref>Smith, Andrew F. (2004). ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America''. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 131–32. ISBN 0-19-515437-1. Levenstein, Harvey (2003). ''Revolution at the Table: The Transformation of the American Diet''. Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press, pp. 154–55. ISBN 0-520-23439-1.</ref> During the 1980s and 1990s, Americans' caloric intake rose 24%;<ref name="IFT" /> frequent dining at [[fast food]] outlets is associated with what health officials call the American "obesity epidemic." Highly sweetened [[soft drink]]s are widely popular; sugared beverages account for 9% of the average American's caloric intake.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fast Food, Central Nervous System Insulin Resistance, and Obesity |publisher=American Heart Association |year=2005 |work=[[Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology]] |url=http://atvb.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/25/12/2451#R3-101329 |accessdate=2007-06-09}} {{cite web |title=Let's Eat Out: Americans Weigh Taste, Convenience, and Nutrition |publisher=U.S. Dept. of Agriculture |url=http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/eib19/eib19_reportsummary.pdf|accessdate=2007-06-09}}</ref>

===Sports===
{{Main|Sports in the United States}}
[[File:Shea Smith-edit1.jpg|thumb|A [[college football]] [[quarterback]] looking to [[forward pass|pass]] the ball]]
Since the late 19th century, [[baseball]] has been regarded as the [[national sport]]; [[American football]], [[basketball]], and [[ice hockey]] are the country's three other leading professional team sports. [[College football]] and [[College basketball|basketball]] attract large audiences. Football is now by several measures the most popular [[spectator sport]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Krane, David K. |title=Professional Football Widens Its Lead Over Baseball as Nation's Favorite Sport |url=http://www.harrisinteractive.com/Insights/HarrisVault8482.aspx?PID=337 |publisher=Harris Interactive |date=2002-10-30|accessdate=2007-09-14}} Maccambridge, Michael (2004). ''America's Game: The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured a Nation''. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-375-50454-0.</ref> [[Boxing]] and [[horse racing]] were once the most watched individual sports, but they have been eclipsed by [[golf]] and [[auto racing]], particularly [[NASCAR]]. [[Association football|Soccer]] is played widely at the youth and amateur levels. [[Tennis]] and many outdoor sports are popular as well.

While most major U.S. sports have evolved out of European practices, basketball, [[volleyball]], [[skateboarding]], [[snowboarding]], and [[cheerleading]] are American inventions. [[Lacrosse]] and [[surfing]] arose from Native American and Native Hawaiian activities that predate Western contact. Eight [[Olympic Games]] have [[United States at the Olympics|taken place in the United States.]] The United States has won 2,301 medals at the [[Summer Olympic Games]], more than any other country,<ref>{{cite web|title=All-Time Medal Standings, 1896–2004 | publisher = Information Please|url=http://www.infoplease.com/ipsa/A0115108.html | accessdate=2007-06-14}} {{cite web|title=Distribution of Medals—2008 Summer Games| publisher = Fact Monster|url=http://www.factmonster.com/sports/olympics/2008/distribution-medals-summer-games.html| accessdate=2008-09-02}}</ref> and 253 in the [[Winter Olympic Games]], the second most.<ref>{{cite web|title=All-Time Medal Standings, 1924–2006|publisher=Information Please|url=http://www.infoplease.com/ipsa/A0115207.html|accessdate=2007-06-14}} {{cite web|title=Olympic Medals|publisher=Vancouver Organizing Committee|url=http://www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-medals/|accessdate=2010-03-02}} Norway is first.</ref>{{clear}}

===Measurement systems===
{{main|United States customary units|Metrication in the United States}}

The country retains [[United States customary units]], constituted largely by British [[imperial units]] such as [[yard]]s, [[mile]]s, and [[Fahrenheit|degrees Fahrenheit]]. Distinct units include the U.S. [[gallon]] and [[pint]] volume measurements. The United States is one of three countries, along with [[Burma]] and [[Liberia]], that has not officially adopted the [[metric system]]. However, [[International System of Units|metric units]] are increasingly used in science, medicine, and many industrial fields.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/appendix/appendix-g.html|title=Appendix G: Weights and Measures|publisher=CIA|work=The World Factbook|date=|accessdate=2010-04-01}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Wikipedia-Books}}
{{Portal box|Geography|North America|United States}}
{{Main|Outline of the United States|Index of United States–related articles}}
{{clear}}

==References==
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{{Reflist|3}}

==External links==
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[[nl:Verenigde Staten]]
[[nds-nl:Verienigde Staoten van Amerika]]
[[ne:संयुक्त राज्य अमेरिका]]
[[new:अमेरिका]]
[[ja:アメリカ合衆国]]
[[nap:State Aunite d'Amereca]]
[[ce:Iамерка пачхьалк]]
[[pih:Yunitid Staits]]
[[no:Amerikas forente stater]]
[[nn:USA]]
[[nrm:Êtats Unnis d'Améthique]]
[[nov:Unionati States de Amerika]]
[[oc:Estats Units d'America]]
[[mhr:АУШ]]
[[om:USA]]
[[uz:Amerika Qoʻshma Shtatlari]]
[[pa:ਸੰਯੁਕਤ ਰਾਜ ਅਮਰੀਕਾ]]
[[pag:United States]]
[[pnb:امریکہ]]
[[pap:Estadonan Uni di Merka]]
[[ps:د امريکا متحده ايالات]]
[[km:សហរដ្ឋអាមេរិក]]
[[pcd:Étots-Unis]]
[[pms:Stat Unì d'América]]
[[tpi:Ol Yunaitet Stet]]
[[nds:USA]]
[[pl:Stany Zjednoczone]]
[[pt:Estados Unidos]]
[[crh:Amerika Qoşma Ştatları]]
[[ty:Fenua Marite]]
[[ksh:Ammilandt]]
[[ro:Statele Unite ale Americii]]
[[rm:Stadis Unids]]
[[qu:Hukllachasqa Amirika Suyukuna]]
[[ru:Соединённые Штаты Америки]]
[[sah:Америка Холбоһуктаах Штаттара]]
[[se:Amerihká ovttastuvvan stáhtat]]
[[sm:Iunaite Sitete o Amerika]]
[[sc:Istados Unidos de America]]
[[sco:Unitit States]]
[[stq:Fereende Stoaten fon Amerikoa]]
[[sq:Shtetet e Bashkuara]]
[[scn:Stati Uniti]]
[[si:අ'මෙරිකා‍වේ එක්සත් රාජ්‍යයන්]]
[[simple:United States]]
[[sk:Spojené štáty]]
[[cu:Ѥдьнѥ́нꙑ Амєрїка́ньскꙑ Дрьжа́вꙑ]]
[[sl:Združene države Amerike]]
[[szl:Zjednoczůne Sztaty]]
[[so:Mareykanka]]
[[ckb:وڵاتە یەکگرتووەکان]]
[[srn:Kondre Makandrameki]]
[[sr:Сједињене Америчке Државе]]
[[sh:Sjedinjene Američke Države]]
[[su:Amérika Sarikat]]
[[fi:Yhdysvallat]]
[[sv:USA]]
[[tl:Estados Unidos]]
[[ta:அமெரிக்க ஐக்கிய நாடு]]
[[tt:Amerika Quşma Ştatları]]
[[te:అమెరికా సంయుక్త రాష్ట్రాలు]]
[[tet:Estadu Naklibur Sira Amérika Nian]]
[[th:สหรัฐอเมริกา]]
[[tg:Иёлоти Муттаҳидаи Амрико]]
[[to:Puleʻanga Fakataha ʻo ʻAmelika]]
[[chr:ᎠᎹᏰᏟ]]
[[tr:Amerika Birleşik Devletleri]]
[[tk:Amerikanyň Birleşen Ştatlary]]
[[uk:Сполучені Штати Америки]]
[[ur:ریاستہائے متحدہ امریکہ]]
[[ug:ئامېرىكا قوشما شىتاتلىرى]]
[[za:Meigoz]]
[[vec:Stati Unìi de la Mèrica]]
[[vi:Hoa Kỳ]]
[[vo:Lamerikän]]
[[fiu-vro:Ameeriga Ütisriigiq]]
[[wa:Estats Unis]]
[[zh-classical:美國]]
[[vls:Verênigde Stoaten van Amerika]]
[[war:Estados Unidos]]
[[wo:Diiwaan yu Bennoo]]
[[wuu:美利坚合众国]]
[[ts:United States]]
[[yi:פאראייניקטע שטאטן פון אמעריקע]]
[[yo:Àwọn Ìpínlẹ̀ Aparapọ̀ ilẹ̀ Amẹ́ríkà]]
[[zh-yue:美國]]
[[diq:Dewletê Amerikayê Yewbiyayey]]
[[zea:Vereênigde Staeten]]
[[bat-smg:JAV]]
[[zh:美國]]

Revision as of 18:02, 24 October 2010

HELLO STUPID USERS I HAVE HACKED WIKIPEDIA, JUST A JOKE.

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