The United States

The conterminous states are bounded on the north by Canada, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Gulf of Mexico and Mexico, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.

A country located in North America

Besides the 48 conterminous states that occupy the middle latitudes of the continent, the United States includes the state of Alaska, at the northwestern extreme of North America, and the island state of Hawaii, in the mid-Pacific Ocean.

The national capital is Washington, which is coextensive with the District of Columbia, the federal capital region created in 1790.

The United States are a federation of 50 states (the 50 stars on the flag)

A federal state is one where there are two (or more) levels of government, one at the national/country level and more at the sub-national level.

A federal state

The U.S. states have their own elected governors and assemblies and pass their own laws. This is why in some states, there's no death penalty and in some others there is.

The United States is the fourth largest country in the world in area (after Russia, Canada, and China).

It is the size of a continent: Europe and the United States are roughly the same size and it is about 18 times bigger than France.

A large and populous country

With nearly 330 million inhabitants, it's one of the most populous country in the world but its overall population density (35 per sq.km) is relatively low compared to the one of Europe (120 per sq.km).

The United States is relatively young by world standards, being less than 250 years old; it achieved its current size only in the mid-20th century.

A"young" country

America was the first of the European colonies to separate successfully from its motherland, and it was the first nation to be established on the premise that sovereignty rests with its citizens and not with the government.

And the republican democratic form of the government has persisted since its birth in 1776 so that it can be said the “the world’s oldest constitutional democracy”.

The major characteristic of the United States is probably its great variety. Its physical environment ranges from the Arctic to the subtropical, from the moist rain forest to the arid desert, from the rugged mountain peak to the flat prairie.

A variety of landscapes

The centre of the conterminous United States is a great sprawling interior lowland. To east and west this lowland rises. The Appalachian Mountains on the east are low, almost unbroken, and in the main set well back from the Atlantic. From New York to the Mexican border stretches the low Coastal Plain, which faces the ocean along a swampy, coast. West of the Central Lowland is the mighty Cordillera, part of a global mountain system that rings the Pacific basin. The Cordillera encompasses fully one-third of the United States. At its eastern margin lie the Rocky Mountains, a high, diverse, and discontinuous chain that stretches all the way from New Mexico to the Canadian border. The Cordillera’s western edge is a Pacific coastal chain of rugged mountains and inland valleys, the whole rising spectacularly from the sea without benefit of a coastal plain.

A power…

A power

… is a country that has the ability and authority to force or influence others and to defend itself from the same kind of pressure. It is developed in terms of political (diplomatic, military…), economic (financial, technological…) and cultural power.

A world power is…

A world power

… a country able to exert its power in the whole world

A global power

Globalisation is the key process in the world today. Being a global power means that you're a key actor and stakeholder in the process.

A first class power…

The first power

… is also called a "superpower". It has definitely the ability to shape the world.