United States

United States
Official languages Capital	English[note 1] Washington D.C.
Area Government	9,826,675 km2 Federal presidential democratic republic
Population Religion	317,314,000 White 72%, Hispanic 14%, Black 10%, Other 4% Christianity (77%), Others 1.2%, Don't Know 2.2%, None 20%
Time zone Currency	UTC−5 to −10 United States dollar
Demonym	American
Preceded by Succeeded by

The United States of America is a country in North America. Its capital is Washington DC. The president is Joe Biden and the vice President is Kamala Harris. As of 2018, it had a population of over 328 million.

Geography

Location

Location of the United States

The United States of America is located in North America. A part of the United States, Puerto Rico, is in the Caribbean islands; Hawaii is in the Pacific Ocean.

The borders of the USA are shared with Canada and Mexico.

The United States of America is the country which is the most affected by tornadoes.

States

The country is divided into 50 parts called "states". The following is a list in alphabetical order:^[1]

Agriculture in Minnesota.

Cities

These are the top 10 most populous cities:^[2]

The city of Chicago.

1. New York City, New York
2. Los Angeles, California
3. Chicago, Illinois
4. Houston, Texas
5. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
6. Phoenix, Arizona
7. San Antonio, Texas
8. San Diego, California
9. Dallas, Texas
10. San Jose, California

History

See : History of the USA

An American cowboy in 1887.

The history of the present-day country, the United States of America spans over 240 years.

Before the Europeans came, some native Americans developed agriculture, and built cities.

During the 17^th and 18^th century, Protestants from the United Kingdom settled on the eastern coasts of the continent. In 1773, the 13 British colonies wanted to become independent, but the British army refused to lose their colonies and a war began between the American and British armies. After 8 years of war, called the American Revolutionary War, Great Britain was defeated with the help of the French, and the Americans became independent. They called their country United States of America.

The USA then expanded west. The Native Americanwho lived there, were fought by white Americans. The USA also needed to produce crops. To produce these crops, they used Africans from the western coasts of Africa, as slaves. Slaves were badly treated and had to work all day. Slavery was only abolished fully in the country, in 1865, as a result of the Civil War.

Buzz Aldrin, the second man who walked on the moon.

In 1914, the First World War, then known as the "Great War" began in Europe. The USA sent its army to Europe in 1917. After the war, the USA became richer.

In World War II, the USA, allied with France and the United Kingdom, bombed the German army, and on the 6^th June 1944, thousands of American soldiers arrived on the beaches of Normandy. The Germans were defeated, and in 1945 the war was won by the Americans. At the end of the war, the United States became the richest country in the World.

The USA was enemieswith Russia, during a time known as the Cold War. The USA was capitalist and Russia communist. Each country tried to have more power and influence than the other. In 1969, Neil Armstrong, an American astronaut, was sent on the moon.

In the US, there was still racism. Black and white people were segregated (separated in public areas). An African-American, Martin Luther King, Jr. fought against racism. After many years of repression, equality was achieved, but there is still some racism today.

The United States has had many wars. On 11^th September 2001, terrorists from al-Qaeda attacked the World Trade Center, and killed 2,000 people. In 2003, the American army invaded Iraq.

In 2008, Barack Obama was elected president of the USA, and first black president of the US, serving from 2009 until 2017. The current president, Joe Biden, in office since 2021, served as his vice president.

Notes

Politics

The United States is a federal and presidential republic. Americans are ruled by a president and a vice president both elected for a 4-year term. The president of the United States is both head of state and head of government. That means he is responsible for carrying out the law, as well as representing the Republic ceremonially. The legislative power (making laws) is in the hands of the congress. The Congress of the United States is bicameral, so there are two parts, called "chambers". They are the House of Representatives (compound of 435 representatives) and the Senate (compound of 100 senators) . The vice president of the United States is also the president of the Senate. This means he can vote on legislation, but only when there's a tie. The headquarters of the American congress are in the Capitol, which is located in Washington, DC, the federal capital. The American president nominates the 9 judges of the supreme court.

References

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