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The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country mostly located in central North America, between Canada and Mexico. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the most populous city is New York City.
It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions.
At 3.8 million square miles (9.8 million km2), it is the world's third- or fourth-largest country by total area.[e] With a 2019 estimated population of over 328 million,[7] the U.S. is the third most populous country in the world.
The United States, with its large size and geographic variety, includes most climate types. We can say that it is mostly template, tropical in Hawaii and Florida , semiarid in the great planes west of the Mississippi River and arid in the Great Basin of the southwest. Overall, the United States has the world's most violent weather, receiving more high-impact extreme weather incidents than any other country in the world.
There are 62 national parks and hundreds of other federally managed parks, forests, and wilderness areas.
The fauna of the United States of America includes species of mammals,reptiles,species of insects and birds. Continental United States and its surrounding islands and seas has most distinctive indigenous wildlife, including the gray wolf, American Black bear,White Tailed Deer and threatened lynx. Other known wild animals of America also includes North American river otter,American mink, Ocelot,Red Fox,American beaver,American badger and polar bear.
In addition to Native Americans who were already living on the continent, the population of the United States was built on immigration from other countries
Nearly every region of the world has influenced American culture, most notably the English who colonized the country beginning in the early 1600s.
In the early days of colonization, many European settlers were subject to food shortages, disease, and attacks from Native Americans. Native Americans were also often at war with neighboring tribes and allied with Europeans in their colonial wars.
The first Europeans to arrive in the contiguous United States were Spanish conquistadors such as Juan Ponce de León, who made his first visit to Florida in 1513. Even earlier, Christopher Columbus landed in Puerto Rico on his 1493 voyage. The French established their own as well along the Mississippi River.
Successful English settlement on the eastern coast of North America began with the Virginia Colony in 1607 at Jamestown and with the Pilgrim's Plymouth Colony in 1620.
With the advancement of European colonization in North America, the Native Americans were often conquered and displaced.
During the Seven Years' War (the French and Indian War), British forces seized Canada from the French, but the francophone population remained politically isolated from the southern colonies.
Despite continuing new arrivals, the rate of natural increase was such that by the 1770s only a small minority of Americans had been born overseas. The colonies' distance from Britain had allowed the development of self-government.
The American Revolutionary War was the first successful colonial war of independence against a European power.
In the late 1800s, people in many parts of the world decided to leave their homes and immigrate to the United States. Fleeing crop failure, land and job shortages, rising taxes, and famine, many came to the U. S. because it was perceived as the land of economic opportunity. Others came seeking personal freedom or relief from political and religious persecution. With hope for a brighter future, nearly 12 million immigrants arrived in the United States between 1870 and 1900.
It is estimated that as many as 4.5 million Irish arrived in America between 1820 and 1930. Between 1820 and 1860, the Irish constituted over one third of all immigrants to the United States. In the 1840s, they comprised nearly half of all immigrants to this nation.
During the 1870s and 1880s, the vast majority of these people were from Germany, Ireland, and England--the principal sources of immigration before the Civil War.
U.S. culture has been shaped by the cultures of Native Americans, Latin Americans, Africans and Asians.
The United States is sometimes described as a "melting pot" in which different cultures have contributed their own distinct "flavors" to American culture.
There is no official language of the United States, according to the U.S. government. While almost every language in the world is spoken in the United States, the most frequently spoken non-English languages are Spanish, Chinese, French and German. Ninety percent of the U.S. population speaks and understands at least some English, and most official business is conducted in English. Some states have official or preferred languages. For example, English and Hawaiian are the official languages in Hawaii.
The flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the American Flag or U.S. flag consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton (referred to specifically as the "union") bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows.
The 50 stars on the flag represent the 50 states of the United States of America, and the 13 stripes represent the thirteen British colonies that declared independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, and became the first states in the U.S.
Nicknames for the flag include the Stars and Stripes, Old Glory, and the Star-Spangled Banner.
The modern motto of the United States of America, as established in a 1956 law signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, is "In God we trust". The phrase first appeared on U.S. coins in 1864.
The bald eagle is the national bird of the United States of America. The bald eagle appears on its seal.
On the seal we can read "Out of many, one"
The United States is a sports-minded country, with millions of fans who follow football, baseball, basketball and hockey, among other sports. Baseball, which was developed in colonial America and became an organized sport in the mid-1800s, is known as America's favorite pastime
Many holidays are celebrated only in the United States.
Valentine's Day is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Western Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and is recognized as a significant cultural, religious, and commercial celebration of romance and love in many regions of the world.
Thanksgiving is a federal holiday in the United States, celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November.
It originated as a harvest festival. Thanksgiving dinner consists of foods and dishes indigenous to the Americas, namely turkey, potatoes (usually mashed), squash, corn , green beans, cranberries (typically in sauce form), and pumpkin pie.