United States

United States of America


Flag	Coat of arms
Motto	In God we trust
Location

Geography
Capital	Washington, D.C.
Largest city	New York
Area	9.629.048 km²
Rank	Ranked 4
Water	2.2 %
Bordering countries	Canada Mexico
Time zone	UTC -5 to -10
Demographics
Population	331,449,281 (2,020) inhabitants
Rank	Ranked 3
Density	34.2 inhabitants/km²
Demonym	American
Official language(s)	English (de facto)
Politics and Government
Formation	Independence from Great Britain
President	Donald Trump (R)
Vice President	JD Vance
International organizations	UN, NATO, WTO
Currency	U.S. dollar

Edit	see template • edit

The United States (short and common form; in English: United States), or United States of America (long form,^[1] in English United States of America / "USA"), is a transcontinental country comprising fifty states and one district, Washington DC, the capital and is not part of any of the federated states (the United States is a federal state, like Germany).^[2] Forty-eight of these fifty states are located south of Canada and north of Mexico. Alaska is located northwest of Canada. Hawaii is an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. The capital is Washington, D.C. and the inhabitants are known as Americans. The United States is a major political, military, economic, and cultural power. The currency is the dollar and the most widely spoken language is English.

The current president is Donald Trump and the vice president is JD Vance.

History

Formation of the United States (1810–1920). In green, the U.S. territories; in orange, the states of the Union.

To learn more, read the article: History of the United States.

Before the Arrival of Europeans

The first inhabitants of North America arrived from Asia at the end of Prehistory via the present-day Bering Strait, which was then covered in ice. These indigenous people initially lived by fishing, hunting, and farming. Several centuries before the arrival of Europeans in America, very diverse Native American civilizations occupied the territory of the present-day United States: for example, the civilizations of the Southwestern deserts, such as the Anasazi, built actual cities, mastered irrigation, and possessed knowledge of astronomy. In the Great Plains, the Sioux hunted bison. On the East Coast, the Iroquois were excellent farmers.

The American Colonies

Starting in the 16th century, Europeans crossed the Atlantic Ocean and began settling on Native American lands. The English established thirteen colonies on the East Coast, while the French settled in the central part of the country and the Spanish in the south. They had to fight the indigenous peoples and face natural constraints. They forcibly brought African slaves to work on tobacco and later cotton plantations.

In 1773, following an increase in taxes, the thirteen English colonies in America went to war against England with the help of Revolutionary France. A few years later, the country famously declared their independence on July 4, 1776. The war, titled the American Revolutionary War, occurred for eight years, until 1783, which is when the United States officially became a country.

To learn more, read the article: English colonies in North America.

To learn more, read the article: American Revolutionary War.

The Civil War and Expansion

Throughout the 19th century, Americans expanded their country westward, either by waging war against Native Americans and Mexicans or by purchasing territories. In 1848, California was annexed by the United States: the country now stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific coasts, which were connected by the railroad in 1869. Gold was discovered in the California mountains, prompting the arrival of thousands of adventurers in the region. Native Americans resisted white conquest until the end of the 19th century.

The United States also needed to produce crops. To make this possible, they used Africans from the western coasts of Africa as slaves. Slaves were badly treated and had to work all day. This culminated in the American Civil War, which pitted the northern states against the slave-holding southern states. The northern states, led by President Abraham Lincoln, won in 1865. In the middle of the Civil War, Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which set the slaves free. However, the slaves' descendants continued to face discrimination.

Finally, the United States underwent significant transformations in the second half of the 19th century: the country's population grew rapidly, partly due to immigrants from Europe. American cities grew rapidly, and industries proliferated. The first skyscrapers were built in New York and Chicago. By the early 20th century, the United States had become a power capable of rivaling European nations.

American Power

The United States entered World War I in 1917, a few years after the war started in 1914, and joined forces with the French and British against the Germans and their allies. It emerged victorious from the conflict, but the economic crisis of 1929 led to a sharp rise in unemployment and poverty. In 1933, 16 million Americans were unemployed, and more than 5,000 banks had gone bankrupt^[3]. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt tried to get Americans back to work. In 1941, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he decided to join the Second World War against Nazi Germany, led by Adolf Hitler, and his allies in the Axis powers. On D-Day (June 6, 1944), American troops landed in Italy and Normandy to drive out the Germans, who had occupied much of Europe. Nazi Germany was finally defeated by the Allies on May 8, 1945. The U. S. military recaptured the territories conquered by the Japanese in the Pacific and East Asia. By using the atomic bomb for the first time in 1945, the United States succeeded in defeating Japan.

After World War II, American power was at its peak. After 1947, the United States entered the period of the Cold War: its goal was to prevent the USSR and communism from expanding their influence. Europe was then divided into two parts: the Eastern European countries (Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, East Germany) had been liberated by the Red Army and came under Soviet control; several Western European countries chose the American side. The United States created a defensive alliance called NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) with Canada and several Western European countries. They intervened against the communists in Korea and Vietnam.

The Cold War between the United States and the USSR also took the form of a technological competition centered on the space race. In 1957, the USSR became the first country to launch a satellite into orbit around the Earth. In 1961, it was again the USSR that sent a man to orbit the Earth in a space capsule. As a result, U. S. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy made a bet that before 1970 two Americans would go to the Moon and return alive. This was the Apollo program. The challenge was met in July 1969 during the Apollo 11 mission. In total, between 1968 and 1972, 27 men, all Americans, traveled around the Moon, and 12 of them walked on its surface.

By the mid-20th century, racism was still common in America, even a century after Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Black and white people were separated in public areas, such as schools, bathrooms, and even water fountains. An African-American named Martin Luther King Jr. fought against racism. Toward the end of the 1960s, equality was achieved, but some racism still occurs today.

Finally, the USSR collapsed in 1991, and communism declined worldwide. The United States then became the world's sole superpower.

21st century

Today, the United States is one of the most powerful and wealthiest countries in the world. However, it faces increasing competition from the European Union and China. On September 11, 2001, New York was struck by Al-Qaeda, led by radical Islamists, who crashed two airplanes into the Twin Towers, causing nearly 3,000 deaths. Late that year, United States then went to war in Afghanistan because they refused to send Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden to the United States to be criminally charged.

In 2003, the United States went to war against Iraq. The war in Iraq drew severe criticism of the Bush administration because evidence of weapons of mass destruction had been fabricated, and the United States intervened without United Nations approval and against the advice of certain allies (notably France).

In 2008, Barack Obama was elected the first black president of the US, serving from 2009 until 2017.

Geography

A very large country

The United States consists of fifty states (represented by the fifty stars on the flag) located in North America and the Pacific Ocean. It is the third-largest country in the world by area, behind Russia and Canada, but ahead of the China.

With 7 % of the world's landmass and 9.6 million km², the United States is almost as large as the European continent and 17 times the size of metropolitan France. 4,500 km separate the Atlantic coast in the east from the Pacific coast in the west. It takes 2,500 km to travel from north to south.

Physical geography

A "Flat" East

The eastern half of the country is low-lying: the only mountain range is the Appalachians, which stretches over more than 2,000 kilometers and reaches its highest point at Mount Mitchell at 2,037 m above sea level. To the west lie vast plains, stretching from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and Florida. Among them, beyond the Mississippi and up to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, the Great Plains derive their economy from grain farming, with the prairies used for livestock raising. Further south, oil and gas become the main sources of income (particularly in Texas). Florida, with its peninsula, benefits from the Gulf Stream and has a subtropical climate, which is tropical in the far south, where characteristic vegetation (mangroves) and wildlife (alligators) are found.

A "Mountainous" West

The mountainous regions are located primarily in the west, including (from west to east) the coastal ranges (Olympic, Klamath, and San Bernardino Mountains), the Cascade Range, the Sierra Nevada, and the Rocky Mountains. Active volcanoes are found in Washington State, including Mount St. Helens and Rainier (4,392 meters), the highest peak in the Cascade Range. The Sierra Nevada, in California, is home to Mount Whitney, a peak of 4,417 meters, the highest in the 48 contiguous states (the "Mainland"). The Rocky Mountains are dominated by two peaks in Colorado, only eight kilometers apart: Mount Elbert (4,401 meters in elevation) and Mount Massive (4,396 meters). Further north, in Wyoming, stands Gannett Peak (4,207 meters), the highest point in the Greater Yellowstone Rockies.

Hawaii and Alaska

The Hawaiian archipelago is home to Mauna Loa and Kilauea, the latter being the most active volcano in the world. But the highest peak in the Hawaiian Islands is Mauna Kea (4,207 meters), a dormant volcano, which also happens to be the highest point in the islands of the Pacific Ocean. In the northwest, in Alaska, two mountain ranges dominate the landscape: the first, the Brooks Range, stretches across the northern part of the state, and the second, further south, is the Alaska Range, approximately 820 kilometers long. The latter is home to large glaciers as well as Mount McKinley, the highest peak in the United States and North America (but only the 45th highest in the Americas, North and South combined), which rises to an altitude of 6,194 m.

Diverse climates

The climates of the United States are very diverse: oceanic in the Northwest, continental inland, subtropical in the Southeast and in Hawaii, desert in the Southwest, Mediterranean on the southern coast of the Pacific, mountain climate in the Rockies, and polar climate in northern Alaska. Florida and the Southeast are hit by hurricanes at the end of summer. The North is affected by snowstorms in winter, which are particularly severe in North Dakota and Minnesota. The West and Southwest are dominated by deserts: Nevada is home to the Great Basin, California and southern Nevada to the Mojave Desert, and finally, near the Mexican border lie the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts. Added to all these arid zones is the Colorado Plateau, home to the Grand Canyon, which is a vast dry region spanning four states, primarily Utah and Arizona.

The Pacific Coast

On the Pacific Coast, the ocean's humidity is evident both in the coastal range (coniferous and oak forests) and in the Oregon plains (Willamette Valley), but the climate becomes Mediterranean in California, where the Central Valley remains very fertile in its northern part, though less so in the south, where irrigation is necessary.

The most unstable region is on the Pacific Coast: this is where the volcanoes are found, and certain regions such as California are threatened by earthquakes (San Simeon, 2003, magnitude 7.3).

Major Rivers

The longest rivers are the Missouri (3,981 kilometers), the main tributary of the Mississippi, and the Mississippi itself (3,742 kilometers). The Yukon flows partly through Canada, then crosses Alaska and empties into the Bering Sea after a course of 3,185 kilometers. The Rio Grande, 3,060 kilometers long, forms the border with Mexico and flows into the Gulf of Mexico. The Arkansas is a tributary of the Mississippi, and the Colorado River empties into the Gulf of California. It is also necessary to mention the Ohio River because it is the tributary that contributes the most water to the basin: at its confluence with the Mississippi, the river's average flow rate reaches nearly 8,000 m³/second. Five Great Lakes, in the northeastern part of the country, together cover an area equal to half that of mainland France. These are Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario.

Human geography and demographics

The United States has had a population of nearly 331.5 million since 2020; the population has increased by 7.4% since 2010. However, the population is unevenly distributed: it is concentrated along the coasts, while the mountainous region in the west is sparsely populated. The Sun Belt region is dynamic: its climate attracts many residents.

The United States is a multicultural country: this means that people from different cultures live there. The first inhabitants of America were the Native Americans: they lived in tribes that spoke different languages and were scattered throughout the country. Europeans began arriving in the 17th century: they gradually settled in the interior during the 19th century (this is known as the Western expansion). Diseases brought by Europeans and wars decimated the Native American populations in the United States. Settlers brought slaves from Africa from the 17th to the 19th centuries. Their present-day descendants are called African Americans. More recently, Asians and Hispanics have come to live in the United States. The Chinese settled in neighborhoods called "Chinatown". Today, whites are the largest group, but ethnic minorities are seeing their share of the population increase.

Globalization

Globalization is accelerating the urbanization of the United States. In major cities, business districts are home to the headquarters of large corporations, while airports (Atlanta) are being built on the outskirts. Metropolises with global influence are primarily located in the Megalopolis (New York) and in California.

The metropolises of the Sun Belt are home to most high-tech industries: IT and the internet in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, aerospace in Seattle, etc. They are home to innovative companies (Apple, Tesla) and major universities (Stanford). They also benefit from industrial relocations from the Rust Belt.

List of states

To learn more, read the article: List of U.S. states and territories.

There are fifty states in the United States. There are also a few territories that are not part of a state, such as the capital, Washington, D.C..

Politics

The United States is both a federal republic and a presidential republic. Americans are led by a president assisted by a vice president, both of whom are elected to a four-year term followed by possibly another four-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 Congress. The Congress of the United States is bicameral, meaning there are two parts, called "chambers". They are the House of Representatives (with 435 representatives) and the Senate (with 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 supreme law of the land is governed by nine judges on the Supreme Court.

Major metropolitan areas

New York (New York): 24,112,176 inhabitants
Los Angeles (California): 18,313,809
Chicago (Illinois): 11,318,384
Washington, D.C. - Baltimore: 8,026,607
San Francisco (California): 7,159,693
Philadelphia (Pennsylvania): 5,951,797
Dallas - Fort Worth (Texas): 5,931,956
Las Vegas (Nevada): 583,756 inhabitants

Economy

A wealthy country...

Since the start of the 20th century, the United States has had the world's largest economy, with a GDP of 12,760 billion dollars in 2005.

The most dynamic sectors are information technology, aerospace, healthcare, biotechnology, and the defense industry, although the lead has narrowed since the end of World War II. The country's main strength remains, however, the service sector (banking, film, tourism, etc.).

The unemployment rate is relatively low (4.4 % of the labor force in October 2006). The New York Stock Exchange (Wall Street) is one of the world's leading stock exchanges.

The United States ranks among the top three countries in the world for the production of salt, coal, oil, natural gas, gold, copper, and lead.

Silicon Valley is home to several universities and hundreds of companies focused on new technologies (computing); it is a sort of giant technology hub that stretches around San Francisco.

... but unequal

The United States is the richest country in the world. It has a GDP of 19,000 billion dollars and a per capita GDP of $85,000. France has a GDP of 2,300 billion dollars and a GDP per capita of $45,000. The United States is a developed country, with an HDI of 0.920. France has an HDI of 0.884.

However, like Brazil, the United States is a highly unequal country: the gap between the rich and the poor is very wide (the Gini index is approximately 0.45 compared to 0.30 for France; the closer the Gini index is to 1, the greater the inequality). There are 813 billionaires in 2024 (a world record).^[4]

Since social security is not universal (unlike in other developed countries such as France and the Nordic countries) and is largely private, millions of Americans lack insurance and therefore struggle to seek medical care and pay hospital bills: a blood test can cost more than 400 $; surgery following a car accident can cost 300,000 $; heart surgery following a heart attack can cost more than 100,000 $.^[5]

Holidays

There are at least three major holidays in the United States:

Independence Day (the anniversary of American independence), when Americans commemorate the Declaration of Independence of the United States on July 4, 1776. It is the American national holiday. It is celebrated on July 4
Halloween, a holiday celebrated on October 31, where the most well-known tradition involves children dressing up in scary costumes (ghosts, witches, monsters, vampires…) and going door-to-door asking for candy with the phrase: "Trick or treat!" which means "candy or a trick!".
Thanksgiving Day, which is celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday of November. Thanksgiving is usually celebrated with family around a large meal, with roast turkey as the main course.

Trivia

The United States of America is the country which is the most affected by tornadoes. They mostly occur in the Midwest and the South.^[6]

References

^ The term “United States” is also found in the official long form of Mexico (United States of Mexico), but as a short form of a country name, it refers exclusively to the United States of America.
^ But not like France, which is a unitary state.
^ “Wall Street's Failed Putsch Against Roosevelt,” British newspaper The Guardian, cited by Courrier International No. 1632, February 10–16, 2022, p. 50.
^ https://www.cnews.fr/monde/2024-05-24/voici-les-10-pays-avec-le-plus-de-milliardaires-dans-le-monde-en-2024-1500773
^ https://www.france24.com/fr/20190606-focus-etats-unis-factures-soins-hospitaliers-dette-levee-fonds-cagnottes
^ A Modern View of Tornado Alley

Countries of America

North America	Canada Mexico United States
Central America	Belize Costa Rica Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Panama El Salvador
Caribbean	Antigua and Barbuda Bahamas Barbados Cuba Dominican Republic Dominica Grenada Haiti Jamaica Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Lucia Trinidad and Tobago
South America	Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador French Guiana Guyana Paraguay Peru Suriname Uruguay Venezuela
Other islands	Anguilla Bermuda Cayman Islands Clipperton Island Greenland Guadeloupe Martinique Montserrat Puerto Rico Saint Pierre and Miquelon