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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by King of Hearts (talk | contribs) at 00:40, 15 June 2006 (rv; "E plurus unum" is still a motto, as well as "In God we trust"). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

This page is about the country United States of America. For other uses, see the disambiguation pages for US, USA and United States.
United States of America
Motto: 
[E pluribus unum] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (1789 to present)
(Latin for "Out of many, one")
In God We Trust (1956 to present)
Anthem: "The Star-Spangled Banner"
Location of the United States
CapitalWashington, D.C.
Largest cityNew York City
Official languagesNone at federal level;
English (de facto)
GovernmentFederal Republic
• President
George W. Bush (R)
Dick Cheney (R)
Independence
• Water (%)
4.87
Population
• 2006 estimate
298,217,215 (3rd)
• 2000 census
281,421,906
GDP (PPP)2006 estimate
• Total
$13,049 billion (1st)
• Per capita
$43,555 (3rd)
HDI (2003)0.944
very high (10th)
CurrencyDollar ($) (USD)
Time zoneUTC-5 to -10
• Summer (DST)
UTC-4 to -10
Calling code1
ISO 3166 codeUS
Internet TLD.us .gov .edu .mil .um
1.) Area rank is disputed with China and sometimes is ranked 3rd or 4th.

The United States, officially the United States of America and also known as the U.S., the U.S.A., or America, is a country in North America, bounded by Canada to the north, Mexico to the south, and the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to the east and west. Other neighboring countries include Russia, The Bahamas, and Cuba.

The present-day United States has been inhabited for at least 15,000 years by Native Americans. After sporadic visits by Vikings from Greenland and Spanish explorers, territories in the eastern half of the continent were claimed by the British during the 17th century. As the population grew and new areas were settled, 13 largely self-governing colonies were established over the course of the 17th and early 18th centuries.

On 4 July 1776, the thirteen colonies declared independence. After a war of independence, the British recognized the new country on 3 September 1783. Since then, the United States has tripled in size through territorial acquisitions and expanded to 50 states and a number of overseas territories. The United States has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system since the establishment of its constitution on September 17, 1787. The capital city is Washington, D.C. and the population of the country is nearly 300 million.

The U.S.'s military and economic stature increased throughout the 20th century; the nation emerged as the world's sole superpower following the collapse of the Soviet Union after the Cold War. [1]

Origin and history of name

The earliest known use of the name America dates from 1507 for entire North and South American continent. It appears on a globe and a large map created by the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller in Saint-Dié-des-Vosges. An accompanying book, Cosmographiae Introductio, explains that the name was derived from the Latinized version of the explorer Amerigo Vespucci's name, Americus Vespucius, in its feminine form, America, as the other continents all have Latin feminine names.

File:America 3.jpg
SS America cruise ship named for the United States of America.

The term "America" to designate the United States has been used by Americans since the foundation of the country as well as by other nations to describe the United States. Several patriotic songs and poems have also used this term throughout American history, including the songs "God Bless America" and "America the Beautiful".

The term "united States" was first used officially in the Declaration of Independence, signed on July 4th 1776 and reiterated as the "United States of America" on September 17, 1787 when the United States Constitution was signed.

The term "American" to denote a citizen of the United States has been regularly used througout the country's history. However, some citizens of Latin American countries object to this usage claiming that the United States is only one of the countries in the Americas and therefore citizens of the U.S. should not be called "americanos".

History

Main article: History of the United States
The Mayflower, which transported Pilgrims to the New World, arrived in 1620.

Before the European colonization of the Americas, a process that began at the end of the 15th century, the present-day U.S. was inhabited exclusively by Native Americans, who arrived on the continent between 50,000 and 11,000 years ago.[2] The first successful English settlement was at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607, followed by the Pilgrims' landing at Plymouth, Massachusetts. Within the following two decades, several Dutch settlements, including New Amsterdam (later New York City), were established; New Sweden was founded by the Swedes in Delaware, and extensive British settlement of the east coast continued making up the original thirteen colonies that would form the United States of America in 1783.

The signing of the Declaration of Independence

Tensions between American colonials and the British during the revolutionary period of the 1760s and 1770s led to open military conflict by 1775. George Washington commanded the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) as the First Continental Congress signed the United States Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The Second Continental Congress was formed to found the Continental Army, but did not have the authority to levy taxes or make federal laws. In 1787, the United States Constitution was ratified by the Constitutional Convention to establish a federal union of sovereign states and the federal government to operate it.[3]

National Atlas map (circa 2005) depicting dates of territorial acquisitions.

From 1803 to 1848, the size of the new nation nearly tripled as settlers (many entrenched with the concept of Manifest Destiny as an inevitable consequence of American exceptionalism) pushed beyond national boundaries even before the Louisiana Purchase.[4] The expansion was tempered somewhat by the stalemate in the War of 1812, but was subsequently reinvigorated by victory in the Mexican-American War in 1848.

The Battle of Gettysburg, the bloodiest battle and turning point of the American Civil War. The victory of the Union kept the country unified.

As new territories were being incorporated, the nation was divided over the issue of states' rights, the role of the federal government, and, by the 1820s, the expansion of slavery. The Northern states were opposed to the expansion of slavery whereas the Southern states saw the opposition as an attack on their way of life, since their economy was dependent on slave labor. The failure to resolve these issues led to the American Civil War, following the secession of many slave states in the South to form the Confederate States of America after the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln.[5] The 1865 Union victory in the Civil War effectively ended slavery, as well as settling the question of whether a state had the right to secede. The event was a major turning point in American history, with an increase in federal power.[6]

After the Civil War, an unprecedented influx of immigrants, who helped to provide labor for American industry and create diverse communities in undeveloped areas together with high tariff protections, national infrastructure building, and national banking regulations, hastened the country's rise to international power. The United States subsequently gained new territories as a result of its growing power status, including the annexation of Puerto Rico after a victory in the Spanish-American War,[7] which marked the beginning of the U.S. as a major world power.

Landing at Ellis Island, 1902. Immigration helped spur the American economy.

At the start of the First World War in 1914, the U.S. initially decided to maintain its neutrality, but eventually helped the Allied Powers turn the tide against the Central Powers. For historical reasons, American sympathies were very much in favor of the British and French, even though a sizable number of citizens, mostly Irish and German, were opposed to intervention.[8] After the war, the Senate did not ratify the Treaty of Versailles, because of a fear that it would pull the U.S. into European affairs which President Washington had warned against. Instead, the country chose to pursue a policy of unilateralism that bordered at times on being isolationist.[9]

An abandoned farm in South Dakota during the Great Depression, 1936.

The Great Depression ruined the lives of many people in the United States, and led to the rise of greater government intervention in the economy beyond that advocated by Hamilton, considered then a patron saint of American capitalism.

During most of the 1920s, the U.S. enjoyed a period of unbalanced prosperity as farm prices fell and industrial profits grew. A rise in debt and an inflated stock market culminated in a crash in 1929, triggering the Great Depression. The nation did not fully recover until 1941, when the U.S. was driven to join the Allies against the Axis after a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. World War II was the costliest war in American history, but helped to pull the economy out of depression as the required production of military materiel provided much-needed jobs and woman entered the workforce in large numbers for the first time.[10]

American Marines Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, by Joe Rosenthal / The Associated Press

After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union became rival superpowers in an era of ideological rivalry dubbed the Cold War (to denote the lack of open, direct military conflict). The U.S. represented liberal democracy and capitalism, while the USSR represented communism and a centrally planned economy. The result was a series of proxy wars, including the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the tense nuclear showdown of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

File:Buzz Aldrin with U.S. flag.jpg
U.S. first to reach the Moon in 1969, as President Kennedy challenged them to do.

The perception that the U.S. was losing the space race increased government efforts to encourage greater math and science skills in the education system[11] and lead to President Kennedy calling for the United States to put a "man on the moon" by the end of the 1960's which the country did in 1969. [12]

Meanwhile, American society experienced a period of sustained economic expansion. At the same time, discrimination across the U.S., especially in the South, was increasingly challenged by a growing civil-rights movement headed by prominent African Americans such as Martin Luther King, Jr., which led to the abolition of the racist Jim Crow laws in the South.[13]

After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the United States continued to involve itself in military action overseas, such as the Gulf War.

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, U.S. foreign policy focused on the threat of terrorist attacks. In response, the government under George W. Bush began a series of military and legal operations termed the War on Terror, beginning with the overthrow of Afghanistan's Taliban government in October 2001. Soon after, the "War on Terror" continued with the controversial 2003 invasion of Iraq, with support from 30 governments known as 'the coalition of the willing. This invasion resulted in a wave of anti-American sentiment and large homegrown anti-war movement that increased with the duration of the war. [14]

Government and politics

Main article: [[:Government of the United States and Politics of the United States]]
The United States Capitol

The United States is the longest surviving constitutional republic with the oldest written constitution in the world. Its government operates as a representative democracy through a congressional system under a set of powers specified by its Constitution. There are three levels of government: federal, state, and local. Officials at all three levels are either elected by voters in a secret ballot or are appointed by other elected officials. Almost all executive and legislative offices are decided by a plurality voting system with judicial and cabinet level offices appointmented by the governing party in all but a few cases.

The federal government of the United States is comprised of three branches designed to apply checks and balances on each other:

The United States Congress is a bicameral legislature. The House of Representatives consists of 435 members, each of whom represents a congressional district and serves for a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the states by population every tenth year. Each state has two Senators for a total of 100 overall, regardless of population, elected to six year terms, 1/3 of which are elected every second year.

The relationship between the state and national governments is complex due to the country's federal system; under U.S. law, states are considered sovereign entities. However, the American Civil War and Texas v. White established that states do not have the right to secede, and under the Constitution of the United States, they are not allowed to conduct foreign policy. Federal law overrides state law in the areas that the federal government is empowered to act, but the powers of the federal government are subject to limits outlined in the Constitution of the United States. All powers not granted to the federal government in the Constitution are duly appropriated to the states or the people themselves. However, the "Necessary and Proper" and "Commerce" clauses of the Constitution legally allows the extension of federal powers into other affairs.

The Constitution of the United States contains a dedication to "preserve liberty" with a "Bill of Rights" and other amendments that guarantee freedom of speech, religion, the press, the right to a fair trial, the right to keep and bear arms, universal suffrage, and property rights. However, although the United States is committed to the Western ideology to pursue human rights, the extent to which these rights are available in practice is debated as various forms of ethnic discrimination were not legally prohibited until the 1964 Civil Rights Act. However, discrimination is fading with a more tolerant culture and the passage of numerous anti-discrimination laws, embraced by the majority of Americans.

There are two major political parties: the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. The Republicans are generally socially conservative and economically classical-liberals with some right-center centrists. The Democrats are generally socially liberal and economically progressive with some left-center centrists. A growing number of Americans identify with neither party - with some claiming the title Independent, while others joining the emerging Green or Reform Party. Since the 1994 congressional elections, the Republican Party has been in control of the United States Congress and since the Presidential election of 2000, President George W. Bush, has been in power in Washington, DC.

Foreign relations and military

Main article: [[:Foreign relations of the United States and Military of the United States]]
File:Bush and Blair at Camp David a better one.jpg
President of the United States, George W. Bush (right) at Camp David in March 2003, hosting the British Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom. Both countries have dominated world politics.

The United States has large economic, political and military influence on a global scale, which makes its foreign policy a subject of great interest and discussion around the world. Almost all countries have embassies in Washington, D.C. and consulates around the country. However, a few do not have formal diplomatic relations with the United States, which include Cuba, North Korea, Iran, and Sudan.[15] The U.S. is a founding member of the United Nations (with a permanent seat on the Security Council), among many other international organizations.

In the effort to contain the Soviets during the Cold War, the U.S. founded NATO, which compels the country to defend against a foreign invasion of any NATO state in North America and Europe. In an example of realpolitik, the U.S. also established diplomatic relations with Communist countries that were antagonistic to the Soviet Union, like the People's Republic of China during the Sino-Soviet split. In recent times, the United States has not only fought against terrorism but the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Calls by an overwhelming majority of American citizens continue for increased border security against illegal immigration and the shipment of illegal narcotics, with their primary goal of protecting American interests and the safety of its citizens at home and abroad, including terrorists coming across the Mexican-United States border.[16]

There are several territorial disputes, such as the Dixon Entrance, Beaufort Sea, Strait of Juan de Fuca, and areas around Machias Seal Island and North Rock with Canada, and Wake Island, which is claimed by Marshall Islands. There is also a maritime boundary dispute with the Bahamas.[16]

Supercarriers like the USS Nimitz are a major component of the U.S.'s system of force projection.

The United States has a long standing tradition of civilian control over military affairs. The Armed Forces of the United States are highly respected across the country and are honored with monuments in almost every community to the heroic deeds of past generations.

The Department of Defense administers the United States armed forces (consisting of the Army, the Air Force, and the Navy, which includes the Marine Corps). The Coast Guard falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime, but is placed under the Department of the Navy in times of war.

The military of the United States comprises 1.4 million personnel on active duty,[17] along with several hundred thousand each in the Reserves and the National Guard. Service in the military is voluntary, though conscription may occur in times of war. The U.S. is considered to have the most powerful high-tech military in the world because it spends a significant amount on traditional-warfare power projection capabilities, and American defense expenditures are estimated to be greater than the next twenty largest national military budgets combined. However, this budget is only about 4% of the country's GDP,[18] which is historically fairly low.[19] As of September 2004, the U.S. maintains 737 military bases and facilities worldwide on every continent besides Antarctica.[20]

States and territories

Main article: Political divisions of the United States
Map of United States, showing state names.[21]

The contiguous part of the U.S. (i.e. without Hawaii and Alaska) is called the continental United States and consists of forty-eight states. Alaska exists apart from the mainland with Canada in-between whereas Hawaii exists as an Island state in the Pacific making in total fifty states that have grown from the original thirteen states.

The United States also holds several other territories, districts, and possessions, notably the federal district of the District of Columbia, which contains the nation's capital city of Washington, and several overseas insular areas, the most significant of which are American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. Palmyra Atoll is the United States' only incorporated territory, however it is currently unorganized and uninhabited. In addition, the United States Navy possesses a lease to an extensive naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba since 1898.

Geography and climate

Main article: Geography of the United States
A satellite composite image of the contiguous U.S. Deciduous vegetation and grasslands prevail in the east, transitioning to prairies, boreal forests, and the Rockies in the west, and deserts in the southwest. In the northeast, the coasts of the Great Lakes and Atlantic seaboard host much of the country's population.
Monument Valley, near the Grand Canyon in the southwest.
Mount Hood, an active volcano in the northwest.

The United States is the world's third largest country by land area after Russia and Canada.[22] It is bounded by the North Atlantic Ocean to the east, the North Pacific Ocean to the west, Mexico to the south, and Canada to the north. Alaska also borders Canada, with the Pacific Ocean to its south and the Arctic Ocean to its north. The island state of Hawaii is situated in the Pacific, southwest of the North American mainland.

The U.S. has an extremely varied geography. The eastern seaboard has a coastal plain which is widest in the south and almost nonexistent in the north. Beyond the coastal plain, the rolling hills of the piedmont region end at the Appalachian Mountains which rise above 6,000 feet (1,830 m) in North Carolina and New Hampshire. From the west slope of the Appalachians, the Midwestern prairie is relatively flat and is the location of the Great Lakes as well as the Mississippi-Missouri River, the world's fourth longest river system.[23] West of the Mississippi River, the prairie slopes uphill and blends into the relatively flat and featureless Great Plains. The abrupt rise of the Rocky Mountains at the western edge of the great plains, extends the entire width of the continental U.S., reaching altitudes over 14,000 feet (4,270 m) in Colorado.[24] Dozens of mountain ranges and valleys are found in the Great Basin region which also has deep chasms including the Snake River and Grand Canyon. At the western end of the great basin, Death Valley lies below sea level and is the lowest point in the western hemisphere. Immediately to the west, the Sierra Nevada mountain range has Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the continental U.S. Along the Pacific coast, the Coast Ranges and the volcanic Cascade Range extend across the width of the country. Alaska has numerous mountain ranges, including Mount McKinley (Denali), the highest peak in North America. Numerous volcanoes can be found throughout the Alexander and Aleutian Islands extending south and west of the Alaskan mainland. The Hawaiian islands are tropical, volcanic islands extending over 1,500 miles (2400 km), and consisting of six larger islands and another dozen smaller ones that are inhabited.

The climate of the U.S. is as varied as its landscape. In northern Alaska, tundra and arctic conditions predominate, and the temperature has fallen as low as minus 80 °F (−62 °C).[25] On the other end of the spectrum, Death Valley, California once reached 134 °F (56.7 °C), the second-hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth,[26] T

The northern states near the Canadian border receive the most snowfall, with the highest snowfall levels in the Cascade Range in Washington and on the highest peaks of the northern Rocky Mountains. Along the northwestern Pacific coast, rainfall is greater than anywhere else in the continental U.S. [citation needed], but Hawaii receives even more, with 250 inches (635 cm) measured annually on some islands. Some areas in the southwestern deserts receive less than 10 inches (25 cm) of rain annually.[27]

In central portions of the U.S., tornadoes are more common than anywhere else on Earth[citation needed], and touch down most commonly in the spring and summer. Deadly and destructive hurricanes occur almost every year along the Atlantic seaboard and the Gulf of Mexico. The Appalachian region and the Midwest experience the worst floods, though virtually no area in the U.S. is immune to flooding.[28]

Flora and fauna

The U.S. has over 17,000 native plant and tree species that have been identified, including 5,000 just in the state of California.[29] With habitats ranging from tropical to arctic, the flora of the U.S. is the most diverse of any country, yet thousands of non-native exotic species sometimes adversely affect indigenous plant and animal communities. Over 400 species of mammals, 700 species of birds, 500 species of reptiles and amphibians and 90,000 species of insects have been documented. Many plants and animals are very localized in their distribution and some are in danger of extinction.[30] The U.S. enacted the Endangered Species Act in 1973, to protect native plant and animal species and the habitats they reside in.

Conservation has a long history in the U.S., and in 1872 the world's first National Park was established at Yellowstone. Over 50 more national parks and hundreds of other federally managed parks and forests have been created since.[31] In some sections of the country, wilderness areas have been established to ensure long term protection for pristine habitats. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service monitors endangered and threatened species and has set aside numerous areas for species and habitat preservation. Altogether, the U.S. government owns 653,299,090 acres (2,643,807 km²) which is 28.8% of the total land area of the U.S.[32] The bulk of this land is protected park and forestland, but some is leased for oil and gas exploration, mining and to cattle ranchers.

Economy

Main article: [[:Economy of the United States, Science and technology in the United States, and Transportation in the United States]]
Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York City, represents the status of the US as a major global financial power.
A farm near Klingerstown, Pennsylvania. Farming is a major contributor to the American economy.

The economic history of the United States has its roots in the marginally successful colonial economies that progressed to largest industrial nation in the world by the turn of the 20th Century.

The economic system of the United States can be described as a capitalist-mixed economy, in which corporations and other private firms make the majority of microeconomic decisions, and governments prefer to take a smaller role in the domestic economy, although the combined role of all levels of government is relatively large, at 36% of the GDP. The U.S. has a small social safety net, and regulation faced by business firms in the U.S. is slightly below the average of developed countries.[33]

Economic activity varies greatly across the country. For example, New York City is the center for financial, publishing, broadcasting, and advertising industries, while Los Angeles is the most important center for film and television production. The San Francisco Bay Area is a major center for technology. The Midwest is known for its reliance on manufacturing and heavy industry, with Detroit serving as the center of the American automotive industry. The Southeast is a major area for medical research, tourism, and the lumber industry.

The largest sector in the United States economy is service, which employs roughly three quarters of the work force.[34] The economy is fueled by an abundance in natural resources such as coal, petroleum, and precious metals. However, the country still depends much of its energy source on foreign countries. In agriculture, the country is a top producer of corn, soy beans, rice, and wheat, with the Great Plains labeled as the "breadbasket of the world" for their tremendous agricultural output.[35] The U.S. has a large tourist industry, ranking third in the world,[36] and is also a major exporter in goods such as automobiles, airplanes, steel, and electronics. The largest trading partner of the United States is Canada (19%), followed by the People's Republic of China, Mexico, and Japan.

While the per-capita income of the United States is among the highest in the world, the wealth is comparatively concentrated, with approximately 40% of the population being worse off than most of western Europe and the top 20% being substantially richer.[37] The social mobility of the U.S. is relatively low and has been characterized since 1975 as a "two-tier labor market," in which practically all the income gains have gone to the top 20% of households.

The Space Shuttle takes off on a manned mission to space.

The United States is an influential country in scientific and technological research and the production of innovative technological products. During World War II, the U.S. was the first to develop the atomic bomb, ushering in the atomic age. Since the country was relatively undamaged by the war, it was able to revive scientific and technological progress in a short period of time. During the beginnings of the Cold War, the U.S. began successes in space science and technology, leading to a space race, which led to rapid advances in rocketry, weaponry, material science, computers, and many other areas, culminating the first visit of a man to the moon, when Neil Armstrong stepped off of Apollo 11 in July 1969.[38]

In the sciences, the United States has a large share of Nobel Prizes, especially in the fields of physiology and medicine. The National Institutes of Health, a focal point for biomedical research in the United States, has contributed to the completion of the Human Genome Project.[39] The main governmental organization for aviation and space research is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Many corporations also play an important role, such as Boeing or Lockheed Martin.

The automobile industry took off very early in the United States in comparison with other countries; so much of the transportation development in the country has been centered around the construction of a network of high-capacity highways. From data taken in 2004, there are about 3,981,521 miles (6,407,637 km) of roadways in the U.S., the most in the world.[40]

Despite the popularity of cars, mass transit systems are also available in large cities, such as New York, which operates one of the busiest subway systems in the world. However, in comparison to Japan and Europe, the United States has an underdeveloped rail network, lacking high-speed rail links connecting major cities.

Air travel is the preferred means of travel for long distances, the busiest airport being Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport followed closely by O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. There are also several major seaports in the United States, with the three busiest being the Port of Los Angeles, the Port of Long Beach, and the Port of New York and New Jersey.

Demographics

Main article: [[:Demographics of the United States, Languages in the United States, Religion in the United States, Health care in the United States, and Education in the United States]]
2000 Population Density Map

As of June 2006, there are an estimated 298,967,801 people in the United States, with a population growth rate of about 0.59%.[41] According to Census 2000, about 79 percent of the population lives in urban areas,[42] and the country has 31 ethnic groups with at least one million members each, with numerous others represented in smaller amounts.[43]

The majority of Americans descend from European immigrants; this majority, which has been declining since 1965, is expected to be reduced to a plurality by 2050 if current immigration trends continue. The largest ethnic group of European ancestry is German at 15.2 percent, followed by Irish (10.8%), English (8.7%), Italian (5.6%) and Scandinavian (3.7%). Many immigrants also hail from Slavic countries, such as Poland and Russia, as well as from French Canada.[44] African Americans, or Blacks, first arrived as slaves from Africa, particularly between 1690 and 1808. Indigenous peoples in the United States, such as Native Americans and Inuit, make up only a very small percentage of the total population, with about 35 percent of them living on reservations.[45]

Current demographic trends include the immigration of Hispanics from Latin America into the Southwest, a region that is home to about 60 percent of the 35 million Hispanics in the U.S. Immigrants from Mexico make up about 66 percent of the Hispanic community,[46] are second only to the German-descent population in the single-ethnic category. The Hispanic population, which has been growing at an annual rate of about 58 percent since the 1990s, is expected to increase significantly in the coming decades, due largely to illegal migration .[47] According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the population of the United States will reach 300 million people in October 2006.[48]

Although the U.S. has no official language, it is largely monolingual with English being the national language,[49] which is spoken by about 82 percent of the population as a native language and nearly everyone as a daily language. Even though English is not the official language, knowledge of it is required to become a naturalized citizen. There have been moves by citizens recently to make English the official language, which is the present case for many states. Twenty-seven states recognize English as an official language, and three states recognize other languages along with English - French in Louisiana, Hawaiian in Hawaii, and Spanish in New Mexico.[50]

Pisgah Baptist Church in Four Oaks, North Carolina. The Bible Belt is well-known for its large Christian population.

The United States is overwhelmingly Christian with Protestant denominations making up the majority at 52 percent, followed by Roman Catholics (24%), Mormon (1%), Jewish (1-3%), Muslim (1%), other (10%), and none (variously estimated at 10% to 15%).[41] The country is also noteworthy for its relatively high level of religiosity among developed nations. About 46 percent of American adults attend church at least once a week (not counting weddings, funerals and christenings), compared with 14 percent of adults in Great Britain, 8 percent in France, and 7 percent in Sweden. Moreover, 58 percent of Americans say they often think about the meaning and purpose of life, compared with 25 percent of the British, 26 percent of the Japanese, and 31 percent of West Germans.[51] However, this rate is not uniform across the country as regular attendance is more common in the Bible Belt, composed largely of Southern and Midwestern states, than in the Northeast or the West Coast.[52] Examples of the prevalence of religious conviction in the U.S. are local laws forbidding the selling of alcoholic beverages on Sunday.

Education in the United States, has been a state or local, not federal, responsibility. However, the Department of Education of the federal government exerts some influence through its ability to control funding. Students are generally obliged to attend mandatory schooling in public schools starting with kindergarten, and ending with the 12th grade, which is normally completed at age 18, but many states may allow students to drop out at the age of 16. Besides public schools, parents may also choose to educate their own children at home or to send their children to parochial or private schools. After high school, students may choose to attend universities, either public or private. Public universities receive funding from the federal and state governments, as well as other sources, but students still have to pay student loans after graduation. Tuition at private universities is generally much higher than at public universities.

America's 19 World Heritage Sites include the University of Virginia, one of many highly regarded public universities supported by taxpayers at the state level of government.

There are many competitive institutions of higher education in the United States, both private and public. The United States has 168 universities in the world's top 500, 17 of which are in the top 20.[53] There are also many smaller universities and liberal arts colleges, and local community colleges of varying quality across the country with open admission policies.

The United States has a low literacy rate as compared to other developed countries, with a reading literacy rate at 86-98% of the population over age 15,[54] while ranking below average in science and mathematics.[55]

Compared to other developed countries, health level in the United States is ranked low (72nd) by WHO and infant mortality rate is high (5 per 1,000); only Latvia's is higher at 6 per 1,000.[56] [57] Obesity is also a public health problem, which is estimated to cost tens of billions of dollars every year.[58]

Unlike most Western governments, the U.S. government does not guarantee publicly-funded health care to its citizens, leading to a notably high number of people suffering from lack of proper healthcare. Private charities and insurance play a huge role in covering health care costs. Health insurance in the United States is traditionally a benefit of employment, which is mandated by law in many cases. Also, emergency care facilities are required to provide service regardless of the patient's ability to pay. Medical bills are overwhelmingly the most common reason for personal bankruptcy in the United States.[59] However, the country spends a notable amount on research through such federal agencies as the National Institutes of Health.[60]

Culture

Main article: Culture of the United States
American cultural icons, such as apple pie, baseball, and the American flag.

American culture has been a melting pot of different cultures around the world which have formed a unified culture centered on the American Dream, which is a faith held by many in the United States that through: hard work, courage, and self-determination - without regard to one's social class a person can achieve a better life.[61] This belief is rooted in the belief that the country is a "city upon a hill, a light unto the nations,"[62] which were values held by many early European settlers that have been passed on to subsequent generations.

American cuisine, embraces Native American ingredients like turkey, potatoes, corn, and squash which have become integral parts of American culture. Such popular icons as apple pies, pizza, and hamburgers are all derived from European dishes. Burritos and tacos similarly have their origins in Mexico. However, many of the food items now enjoyed worldwide either originated in the United States or were substantially altered by American chefs.

Music in the United States also traces to the country's melting pot population through a diverse array of styles. Rock and roll, hip hop, country, blues, and jazz are among the country's most internationally renowned genres. Since the beginning of the 20th century, popular recorded music from the United States has become increasingly known across the world, to the point where some forms of American popular music are listened to almost everywhere.[63]

File:Mickey-06.gif
Mickey Mouse has become an American icon.

However, not all American culture is derived from some other form found elsewhere in the world. For example, the birth of cinema, as well as its radical development, can largely be traced back to the United States. In the early 20th century, the first recorded instance of photographs capturing and reproducing motion was Eadweard Muybridge's series of photographs of a running horse, which he captured in Palo Alto, California using a set of still cameras placed in a row. Since then, the American film industry, centered in Hollywood, California, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world. Other areas of development include the comic book and Disney's animated cartoons, which saw widespread popularity and influence, especially in Japanese anime and manga, and Chinese animation and manhua.

Pro Bowl, 2006. American football is the most popular spectator sport in the United States.[64]

Watching sports is a national pastime, and playing sports, especially, football, baseball, and basketball is very popular on the high school level. Professional sports in the U.S. is big business and its athletes are well compensated. The majority of the world's highest paid athletes play team sports in the United States.[65] The "Big Four" sports include baseball, football, ice hockey, and basketball. Other popular sports include auto racing especially NASCAR. Lacrosse, originally played by some of the indigenous tribes, is a visible sport and growing. Soccer (football elsewhere) is a popular participatory sport, especially among children, but it does not yet have a large following as a spectator sport in contrast to its extreme popularity in other countries. The United States is among the most influential regions in shaping three popular board-based recreational sports—surfboarding, skateboarding, and snowboarding—which have many competitions and a large dedicated subculture. Eight Olympic Games have been hosted in the United States. The U.S. generally fares very well in them, especially the Summer Olympics—for instance, in the 2004 Olympics, the country topped the medals table with a record 103 medals (35 gold, 39 silver and 29 bronze).[66]

See also: Arts and entertainment in the United States, Media of the United States, Dance of the United States, Architecture of the United States, Holidays of the United States, and Lists of Americans

See also

Main article: List of United States-related topics

Further reading

  • Johnson, Paul M. A History of the American People. 1104 pages. Harper Perennial: March 1, 1999. ISBN 0060930349.
  • Litwak, Robert S. Rogue States and U.S. Foreign Policy : Containment after the Cold War. 300 pages. Woodrow Wilson Center Press: February 1, 2000. ISBN 0943875978.
  • Nye, Joseph S. The Paradox of American Power : Why the World's Only Superpower Can't Go It Alone. 240 pages. Oxford University Press, USA; New Ed edition: May 1, 2003. ISBN 0195161106.
  • Susser, Ida (Editor), and Patterson, Thomas C. (Editor). Cultural Diversity in the United States: A Critical Reader. 476 pages. Blackwell Publishers: December 2000. ISBN 0631222138.
  • Whalen, Edward. The United States Of Europe: The New Superpower and the End of American Supremacy. 320 pages. The Penguin Press HC: November 4, 2004. ISBN 1594200335.
  • Pierson, Paul. Politics in Time : History, Institutions, and Social Analysis. 208 pages. Princeton University Press: August 9, 2004. ISBN 0691117152.

External links

Government

Overviews

History

Maps

Immigration

Template:US topics  United States

Notes

  1. ^ History and the Hyperpower by Eliot A. Cohen. July/August 2004. Council on Foreign Relations. URL accessed May 3, 2006.
  2. ^ "Paleoamerican Origins". 1999. Smithsonian Institution. Accessed May 2, 2006.
  3. ^ Yanak, Ted and Cornelison, Pam. The Great American History Fact-finder: The Who, What, Where, When, and Why of American History. Page 114. Houghton Mifflin; 2nd Updated edition: August 27, 2004. ISBN 0618439412
  4. ^ Manifest Destiny- An interpretation of How the West was Won. Crossroads of Earth Resources and Society. URL accessed on May 4, 2006.
  5. ^ Morrison, Michael A Slavery and the American West: The Eclipse of Manifest Destiny and the Coming of the Civil War. Page 176. University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0807847968.
  6. ^ De Rosa, Marshall L. The Politics of Dissolution: The Quest for a National Identity and the American Civil War. Page 266. Transaction Publishers: January 1, 1997. ISBN 1560003499
  7. ^ Spielvogel, Jackson J. Western Civilization: Volume II: Since 1500. Page 708. Wadsworth Publishing: January 10, 2005. ISBN 0534646042
  8. ^ Eric Foner and John A. Garraty, The Reader's Companion to American History. Page 576. October 21, 1991. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0395513723.
  9. ^ McDuffie, Jerome, Piggrem, Gary Wayne, and Woodworth, Steven E. U.S. History Super Review. Page 418. Research & Education Association: June 21, 2005. ISBN 0738600709
  10. ^ Walker, John F, and Vatter, Harold G The Rise of Big Government in the United States. Page 63. M.E. Sharpe: May 1997. ISBN 0765600676.
  11. ^ Rudolph, John L. Scientists in the Classroom: The Cold War Reconstruction of American Science Education. Page 1. Palgrave Macmillan: May 3, 2002. ISBN 0312295715.
  12. ^ Rudolph, John L. Scientists in the Classroom: The Cold War Reconstruction of American Science Education. Page 1. Palgrave Macmillan: May 3, 2002. ISBN 0312295715.
  13. ^ Klarman, Michael J. From Jim Crow to Civil Rights: The Supreme Court and the Struggle for Racial Equality. Page 552. Oxford University Press, USA: May 4, 2006. ISBN 0195310187.
  14. ^ "US names 'coalition of the willing'" Steve Schifferes. BBC News. March 18,, 2003. Accessed April 17,, 2006.
  15. ^ "Table 2 Aliens From Countries That Sponsor Terrorism Who Were Ordered Removed - October 1, 2000 through December 31, 2001". February 2003. U.S. Department of Justice. URL accessed May 30, 2006.
  16. ^ a b "Transnational Issues". April 20, 2006. CIA World factbook. Accessed April 30, 2006.
  17. ^ "Active Duty Military Personnel Strength Levels". 2002. Accessed May 2, 2006.
  18. ^ Military. June 1, 2006. CIA Factbook. URL accessed June 3, 2006.
  19. ^ Truth and Politics. "Relative Size of US Military Spending from 1940 to 2003". Retrieved May 26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ U.S. Department of Defense Base Structure Report, Fiscal Year 2005 Baseline. Accessed June 1 2006.
  21. ^ Note that Alaska and Hawaii are shown at different scales, and that the Aleutian Islands and the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are omitted from this map.
  22. ^ Rank Order- Area. April 20, 2006. CIA World Factbook. URL accessed May 3, 2006.
  23. ^ Mississippi River. 2004. Visit Bemidji- First City on the Mississippi. URL accessed May 3, 2006.
  24. ^ Peakbagger.com, Colorado 14,000-foot Peaks, URL accessed May 3, 2006.
  25. ^ Williams, Jack Each state's low temperature record, USA today, URL accessed June 13, 2006.
  26. ^ Death-Valley.us, Weather Landmarks, Death Valley Weather Facts, URL accessed June 13, 2006.
  27. ^ Hereford, Richard, et al, Precipitation History of the Mojave Desert Region, 1893–2001, U.S. Geological Survey, Fact Sheet 117-03, URL accessed June 13, 2006.
  28. ^ O'Connor, Jim E. and John E. Costa, Large Floods in the United States: Where They Happen and Why, U.S. Geological Survey Circular 1245, URL accessed June 13, 2006.
  29. ^ Morse, Larry E., et al, Native Vascular Plants, Our Living Resources, U.S. Department of the Interior, URL accessed June 14, 2006.
  30. ^ National Biological Service, Our Living Resources, URL accessed June 14, 2006.
  31. ^ National Park Service, National Park Service Announces Addition of Two New Units, National Park Service News release (February 28, 2006), URL accessed June 13, 2006.
  32. ^ Republican Study Committee, Federal Land and Buildings Ownership, (May 19, 2005), URL accessed June 13, 2006.
  33. ^ Index of Economic Freedom 2006 by Heritage Foundation. URL accessed May 13, 2006.
  34. ^ "Toward a Learning Economy" by Stephen A. Herzenberg, John A. Alic, and Howard Wial. 2006. Toward a Learning Economy. URL accessed May 3, 2006.
  35. ^ Frazier, Ian. Great Plains. Page 9. May 4, 2001. Picador; 1st Picado edition. ISBN 0312278500
  36. ^ The United States International Travel Industry- Key Facts About Inbound Tourism. May 8, 2000. ITA Office of Travel & Tourism Industries. URL accessed May 3, 2006.
  37. ^ Income Distribution in Europe and the United States by A B Atkinson. September 1995. Nuffield College in Oxford. URL accessed June 3, 2006.
  38. ^ Apollo 30th Anniversary. September 20, 2002. NASA. Accessed May 2, 2006.
  39. ^ The National Human Genome Research Institute. 2006. National Human Genome Research Institute- National Institutes of health. Accessed May 2, 2006.
  40. ^ Rank Order- Roadways. April 20, 2006. CIA World Factbook. Accessed April 30, 2006.
  41. ^ a b People. June 12, 2006. American Fact Finder. Accessed June 13th, 2006. Cite error: The named reference "POP" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  42. ^ "United States -- Urban/Rural and Inside/Outside Metropolitan Area". United States Census 2000. URL accessed May 29, 2006.
  43. ^ Table 2. Ancestries With 100,000 or More People in 2000: 1990 and 2000. Ancestry: 2000 - Census 2000 Brief. URL accessed May 29, 2006.
  44. ^ Figure 2 - Fifteen Largest Ancestries: 2000. 2000. U.S. Census Bureau. URL accessed May 30, 2006.
  45. ^ "Tribal trends" by Douglas Clement. March 2006. fedgazette. URL accessed May 3, 2006.
  46. ^ Population & Economic Strength. United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Accessed May 2, 2006.
  47. ^ "Latino Religion in the U.S.: Demographic Shifts and Trends" by Bruce Murray. January 5, 2006. FacsNet. Accessed May 2, 2006.
  48. ^ America Approaches 300 Million Population. January 13 2006. ABC News. Accessed May 21, 2006.
  49. ^ "Gonzales: Language Bill Purely Symbolic". May 21, 2006. The Associated Press. URL accessed May 21, 2006.
  50. ^ 27 States Have Made English Official (25 State Laws Still in Effect). Englishfirst.org. URL accessed May 21, 2006.
  51. ^ "U-M study: U.S. among the most religious nations in the world". November 17, 2003. University of Michigan News Service. URL accessed May 29, 2006.
  52. ^ "Who Goes to Church?". 2004. ABC News. Accessed May 2, 2006.
  53. ^ ARWU2005 Statistics by Shanghai Jiao Tong university. URL accessed on May 16, 2006.
  54. ^ A First Look at the Literacy of America’s Adults in the 21st Century, U.S. Department of Education, 2003. Accessed May 13, 2006. 2% of the population do not have minimal literacy and 14% have Below Basic prose literacy.
  55. ^ Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), OECD, reading literacy, science literacy and mathematics literacy all rank near the bottom of OECD-countries.
  56. ^ "Health system performance in all Member States" 1997. World Health Organization. Accessed May 1, 2006.
  57. ^ "U.S. gets poor grades for newborns' survival- Nation ranks near bottom among modern nations, better only than Latvia". May 9, 2006. Associated Press. URL accessed May 9, 2006.
  58. ^ "Obesity cost US $75bn, says study" by Jannat Jalil. January 21, 2004. BBC News. URL accessed May 12, 2006.
  59. ^ "Illness And Injury As Contributors To Bankruptcy", by David U. Himmelstein, Elizabeth Warren, Deborah Thorne, and Steffie Woolhandler, published at Health Affairs journal in 2005, Accessed May 10, 2006.
  60. ^ Chapter Seven A REPUBLIC OF SCIENCE- Inquiry and innovation in science and medicine. USINFO.STATE.GOV. Accessed May 2, 2006.
  61. ^ Boritt, Gabor S. Lincoln and the Economics of the American Dream. Page 1. December 1994. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252064453.
  62. ^ Ronald Reagan. "Final Radio Address to the Nation". January 14, 1989. URL accessed June 3, 2006.
  63. ^ Provine, Rob with Okon Hwang and Andy Kershaw. "Our Life Is Precisely a Song" in the Rough Guide to World Music, Volume 2, pg. 167. ISBN 1858286360.
  64. ^ Maccambridge, Michael. America's Game : The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured a Nation. October 26, 2004. Random House. ISBN 0375504540
  65. ^ "The Best-Paid Athletes". June 24, 2004. Forbes.com. Accessed May 2, 2006.
  66. ^ Medal Tally. ABC News. Accessed May 3, 2006.
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