
Page semi-protected

United States

  (Redirected from U.S)
Jump to navigation Jump to search


United States of America


Projection of North America with the United States in green
The United States and its territories
The United States, including its territories
Largest city
Official languagesNone at federal level[b]
National languageEnglish[c]
Ethnic groups
By race:

No official count (%) Middle East and North African considered White under current government policy)[6] [7]

GovernmentFederal presidential constitutional republic
• President
Donald Trump (R)
Mike Pence (R)
Nancy Pelosi (D)
John Roberts
House of Representatives
July 4, 1776
March 1, 1781
September 3, 1783
June 21, 1788
March 24, 1976
• Total area
3,796,742 sq mi (9,833,520 km2)[d][10] (3rd/4th)
• Water (%)
• Total land area
3,531,905 sq mi (9,147,590 km2)
• 2018 estimate
Increase327,167,434[e][11] (3rd)
• 2010 census
308,745,538[e][12] (3rd)
• Density
87/sq mi (33.6/km2) (146th)
GDP (PPP)2019 estimate
• Total
$21.345 trillion[13] (2nd)
• Per capita
$64,767[13] (11th)
GDP (nominal)2019 estimate
• Total
$21.345 trillion[13] (1st)
• Per capita
$64,767[13] (7th)
Gini (2016)Negative increase 41.5[14]
medium · 56th
HDI (2017)Increase 0.924[15]
very high · 13th
CurrencyUnited States dollar ($) (USD)
• Summer (DST)
UTC−4 to −10[f]
Date format
  • mm/dd/yy
  • yyyy-mm-dd[16]
Driving sideright[g]
Calling code+1
ISO 3166 codeUS
Internet TLD


Paleo-Indians migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland at least 12,000 years ago.[23] European colonization began in the 16th century. The United States emerged from the thirteen British colonies established along the East Coast. Following the French and Indian War, numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies led to the American Revolution, which began in 1775, and the subsequent Declaration of Independence in 1776. The war ended in 1783 with the United States becoming the first country to gain independence from a European power.[24] The current constitution was adopted in 1788, with the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, being ratified in 1791 to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. The United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century, acquiring new territories,[25] displacing Native American tribes, and gradually admitting new states until it spanned the continent by 1848.[25]

During the second half of the 19th century, the Civil War led to the abolition of slavery.[26][27] By the end of the century, the United States had extended into the Pacific Ocean,[28] and its economy, driven in large part by the Industrial Revolution, began to soar.[29] The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the country's status as a global military power. The United States emerged from World War II as a global superpower, the first country to develop nuclear weapons, the only country to use them in warfare, and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Sweeping civil rights legislation, notably the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, outlawed discrimination based on race or color. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union competed in the Space Race, culminating with the 1969 U.S. Moon landing. The end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the world's sole superpower.[30]

A multicultural country, the United States is the world's oldest surviving federation. It is a federal republic and a representative democracy. The United States is a founding member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States (OAS), and other international organizations. The United States is a highly developed country, with the world's largest economy by nominal GDP and second-largest economy by PPP, accounting for approximately a quarter of global GDP.[31] The U.S. economy is largely post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge-based activities, although the manufacturing sector remains the second-largest in the world.[32] The United States is the world's largest importer and the second largest exporter of goods, by value.[33][34] Although its population is only 4.3% of the world total,[35] the U.S. holds 31% of the total wealth in the world, the largest share of global wealth concentrated in a single country.[36]

Despite income and wealth disparities, the United States continues to rank very high in measures of socioeconomic performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP, and worker productivity.[37][38] The United States is the foremost military power in the world, making up a third of global military spending,[39] and is a leading political, cultural, and scientific force internationally.[40]


The Americas are believed to be named for the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci.[41]

In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a world map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America in honor of the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci (Latin: Americus Vespucius).[42] The first documentary evidence of the phrase "United States of America" is from a letter dated January 2, 1776, written by Stephen Moylan, Esq., to George Washington's aide-de-camp and Muster-Master General of the Continental Army, Lt. Col. Joseph Reed. Moylan expressed his wish to go "with full and ample powers from the United States of America to Spain" to seek assistance in the revolutionary war effort.[43][44][45] The first known publication of the phrase "United States of America" was in an anonymous essay in The Virginia Gazette newspaper in Williamsburg, Virginia, on April 6, 1776.[46]

The second draft of the Articles of Confederation, prepared by John Dickinson and completed by June 17, 1776, at the latest, declared "The name of this Confederation shall be the 'United States of America'".[47] The final version of the Articles sent to the states for ratification in late 1777 contains the sentence "The Stile of this Confederacy shall be 'The United States of America'".[48] In June 1776, Thomas Jefferson wrote the phrase "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" in all capitalized letters in the headline of his "original Rough draught" of the Declaration of Independence.[47] This draft of the document did not surface until June 21, 1776, and it is unclear whether it was written before or after Dickinson used the term in his June 17 draft of the Articles of Confederation.[47]





Indigenous peoples and pre-Columbian history

It has been generally accepted that the first inhabitants of North America migrated from Siberia by way of the Bering land bridge and arrived at least 12,000 years ago; however, increasing evidence suggests an even earlier arrival.[23][53][54] After crossing the land bridge, the first Americans moved southward along the Pacific coast[55] and through an interior ice-free corridor between the Cordilleran and Laurentide ice sheets.[56] The Clovis culture appeared around 11,000 BC, and is considered to be an ancestor of most of the later indigenous cultures of the Americas.[57] The Clovis culture was believed to represent the first human settlement of the Americas.[58] Over the years, more and more evidence has advanced the idea of "pre-Clovis" cultures including tools dating back about 15,550 years ago. It is likely these represent the first of three major waves of migrations into North America.[59]

Over time, indigenous cultures in North America grew increasingly complex, and some, such as the pre-Columbian Mississippian culture in the southeast, developed advanced agriculture, grand architecture, and state-level societies.[60] The Mississippian culture flourished in the south from 800 to 1600 AD, extending from the Mexican border down through Florida.[61] Its city state Cahokia is considered the largest, most complex pre-Columbian archaeological site in the modern-day United States.[62] In the Four Corners region, Ancestral Puebloans culture developed as the culmination of centuries of agricultural experimentation, which produced greater dependence on farming.[63] Three UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the United States are credited to the Pueblos: Mesa Verde National Park, Chaco Culture National Historical Park, and Taos Pueblo.[64][65] The earthworks constructed by Native Americans of the Poverty Point culture in northeastern Louisiana have also been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. In the southern Great Lakes region, the Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee) was established at some point between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries.[66]

The date of the first settlements of the Hawaiian Islands is a topic of continuing debate.[67] Archaeological evidence seems to indicate a settlement as early as 124 AD.[68]

Effects on and interaction with native populations

While estimating the original native population of North America at the time of European contact is difficult, an attempt was made in the early part of the twentieth century by James Mooney using historic records to estimate the indigenous population north of Mexico in 1600.[69][70] In more recent years, Douglas H. Ubelaker of the Smithsonian Institution has updated these figures.[71] While Ubelaker estimated that there was a population of 92,916 in the south Atlantic states and a population of 473,616 in the Gulf states, most academics regard the figure as too low.[69] Anthropologist Henry F. Dobyns believed that the populations were much higher, suggestion 1,100,000 along the shores of the gulf of Mexico, 2,211,000 people living between Florida and Massachusetts, 5,250,000 in the Mississippi Valley and tributaries and 697,000 people in the Florida peninsula.[69][70]



European settlements

St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement in the continental United States (1565)[78]



A large-scale slave trade with English privateers was begun.[84] The life expectancy of slaves was much higher in North America than further south, because of less disease and better food and treatment, leading to a rapid increase in the numbers of slaves.[85][86] Colonial society was largely divided over the religious and moral implications of slavery, and colonies passed acts for and against the practice.[87][88] But by the turn of the 18th century, African slaves were replacing indentured servants for cash crop labor, especially in southern regions.[89]

With the British colonization of Georgia in 1732, the 13 colonies that would become the United States of America were established.[90] All had local governments with elections open to most free men, with a growing devotion to the ancient rights of Englishmen and a sense of self-government stimulating support for republicanism.[91] With extremely high birth rates, low death rates, and steady settlement, the colonial population grew rapidly. Relatively small Native American populations were eclipsed.[92] The Christian revivalist movement of the 1730s and 1740s known as the Great Awakening fueled interest in both religion and religious liberty.[93]



Death of Captain Cook by Johann Zoffany (1795)

During his third and final voyage, Captain James Cook became the first European to begin formal contact with Hawaii. After his initial landfall in January 1778 at Waimea harbor, Kauai, Cook named the archipelago the "Sandwich Islands" after the fourth Earl of Sandwich—the acting First Lord of the Admiralty of the British Royal Navy.[99] Captain James Cook's last voyage included sailing along the coast of North America and Alaska searching for a Northwest Passage for approximately nine months. After having arrived in the Hawaiian islands in 1778, Captain Cook sailed north and then northeast to explore the west coast of North America north of the Spanish settlements in Alta California. He made landfall on the Oregon coast at approximately 44°30′ north latitude, naming his landing point Cape Foulweather. Bad weather forced his ships south to about 43° north before they could begin their exploration of the coast northward.[100] In March 1778, Cook landed on Bligh Island and named the inlet "King George's Sound". He recorded that the native name was Nutka or Nootka, apparently misunderstanding his conversations at Friendly Cove/Yuquot; his informant may have been explaining that he was on an island (itchme nutka, a place you can "go around"). There may also have been confusion with Nuu-chah-nulth, the natives' autonym (a name for themselves). It may also have simply been based on Cook's mispronunciation of Yuquot, the native name of the place.[101] He returned to Hawaii to resupply, initially exploring the coasts of Maui and the big island, trading with locals and then making anchor at Kealakekua Bay in January 1779. When his ships and company left the islands, a ship's mast broke in bad weather, forcing them to return in mid-February. Cook would be killed days later.[102] [j][k]

Independence and expansion (1776–1865)









The California Gold Rush of 1848–49 spurred western migration, the California Genocide[133][134][135][136] and the creation of additional western states.[137] After the American Civil War, new transcontinental railways made relocation easier for settlers, expanded internal trade and increased conflicts with Native Americans.[138] Over a half-century, the loss of the American bison (sometimes called "buffalo") was an existential blow to many Plains Indians culture.[139] In 1869, a new Peace Policy nominally promised to protect Native-Americans from abuses, avoid further war, and secure their eventual U.S. citizenship. Nonetheless, large-scale conflicts continued throughout the West into the 1900s.

Civil War and Reconstruction era



Three amendments were added to the U.S. Constitution in the years after the war: the aforementioned Thirteenth as well as the Fourteenth Amendment providing citizenship to the nearly four million African Americans who had been slaves,[143] and the Fifteenth Amendment ensuring in theory that African Americans had the right to vote. The war and its resolution led to a substantial increase in federal power[144] aimed at reintegrating and rebuilding the South while guaranteeing the rights of the newly freed slaves.


Southern white Democrats, calling themselves "Redeemers", took control of the South after the end of Reconstruction. From 1890 to 1910, so-called Jim Crow laws disenfranchised most blacks and some poor whites throughout the region. Blacks faced racial segregation, especially in the South.[145] They also occasionally experienced vigilante violence, including lynching.[146]

Ellis Island, in New York City, was a major gateway for European immigration.[147]

Further immigration, expansion, and industrialization

In the North, urbanization and an unprecedented influx of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe supplied a surplus of labor for the country's industrialization and transformed its culture.[149] National infrastructure including telegraph and transcontinental railroads spurred economic growth and greater settlement and development of the American Old West. The later invention of electric light and the telephone would also affect communication and urban life.[150]

The United States fought Indian Wars west of the Mississippi River from 1810 to at least 1890.[151] Most of these conflicts ended with the cession of Native American territory and the confinement of the latter to Indian reservations. This further expanded acreage under mechanical cultivation, increasing surpluses for international markets.[152] Mainland expansion also included the purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867.[153] In 1893, pro-American elements in Hawaii overthrew the monarchy and formed the Republic of Hawaii, which the U.S. annexed in 1898. Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines were ceded by Spain in the same year, following the Spanish–American War.[154] American Samoa was acquired by the United States in 1900 after the end of the Second Samoan Civil War.[155] The United States purchased the U.S. Virgin Islands from Denmark in 1917.[156]


World War I, Great Depression, and World War II

The Empire State Building was the tallest building in the world when completed in 1931, during the Great Depression.

The United States remained neutral from the outbreak of World War I in 1914 until 1917, when it joined the war as an "associated power", alongside the formal Allies of World War I, helping to turn the tide against the Central Powers. In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson took a leading diplomatic role at the Paris Peace Conference and advocated strongly for the U.S. to join the League of Nations. However, the Senate refused to approve this and did not ratify the Treaty of Versailles that established the League of Nations.[162]

In 1920, the women's rights movement won passage of a constitutional amendment granting women's suffrage.[163] The 1920s and 1930s saw the rise of radio for mass communication and the invention of early television.[164] The prosperity of the Roaring Twenties ended with the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the onset of the Great Depression. After his election as president in 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt responded with the New Deal, which included the establishment of the Social Security system.[165] The Great Migration of millions of African Americans out of the American South began before World War I and extended through the 1960s;[166] whereas the Dust Bowl of the mid-1930s impoverished many farming communities and spurred a new wave of western migration.[167]

At first effectively neutral during World War II while Germany conquered much of continental Europe, the United States began supplying material to the Allies in March 1941 through the Lend-Lease program. On December 7, 1941, the Empire of Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, prompting the United States to join the Allies against the Axis powers.[168] During the war, the United States was referred as one of the "Four Policemen"[169] of Allies power who met to plan the postwar world, along with Britain, the Soviet Union and China.[170][171] Although the nation lost around 400,000 military personnel,[172] it emerged relatively undamaged from the war with even greater economic and military influence.[173]


The United States played a leading role in the Bretton Woods and Yalta conferences with the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and other Allies, which signed agreements on new international financial institutions and Europe's postwar reorganization. As an Allied victory was won in Europe, a 1945 international conference held in San Francisco produced the United Nations Charter, which became active after the war.[174] The United States developed the first nuclear weapons and used them on Japan in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; causing the Japanese to surrender on September 2, ending World War II.[175][176] Parades and celebrations followed in what is known as Victory Day, or V-J Day.[177]

Cold War and civil rights era

U.S. president Ronald Reagan (left) and Soviet general secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, meeting in Geneva in 1985


The United States often opposed Third World movements that it viewed as Soviet-sponsored, and occasionally pursued direct action for regime change against left-wing governments.[179] American troops fought communist Chinese and North Korean forces in the Korean War of 1950–53.[180] The Soviet Union's 1957 launch of the first artificial satellite and its 1961 launch of the first manned spaceflight initiated a "Space Race" in which the United States became the first nation to land a man on the moon in 1969.[180] A proxy war in Southeast Asia eventually evolved into full American participation, as the Vietnam War.

At home, the U.S. experienced sustained economic expansion and a rapid growth of its population and middle class. Construction of an Interstate Highway System transformed the nation's infrastructure over the following decades. Millions moved from farms and inner cities to large suburban housing developments.[181][182] In 1959 Hawaii became the 50th and last U.S. state added to the country.[183] The growing Civil Rights Movement used nonviolence to confront segregation and discrimination, with Martin Luther King Jr. becoming a prominent leader and figurehead. A combination of court decisions and legislation, culminating in the Civil Rights Act of 1968, sought to end racial discrimination.[184][185][186] Meanwhile, a counterculture movement grew which was fueled by opposition to the Vietnam war, black nationalism, and the sexual revolution.


The 1970s and early 1980s saw the onset of stagflation. After his election in 1980, President Ronald Reagan responded to economic stagnation with free-market oriented reforms. Following the collapse of détente, he abandoned "containment" and initiated the more aggressive "rollback" strategy towards the USSR.[188][189][190][191][192] After a surge in female labor participation over the previous decade, by 1985 the majority of women aged 16 and over were employed.[193]

The late 1980s brought a "thaw" in relations with the USSR, and its collapse in 1991 finally ended the Cold War.[194][195][196][197] This brought about unipolarity[198] with the U.S. unchallenged as the world's dominant superpower. The concept of Pax Americana, which had appeared in the post-World War II period, gained wide popularity as a term for the post-Cold War new world order.

Contemporary history




On September 11, 2001, Al-Qaeda terrorists struck the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., killing nearly 3,000 people.[203] In response, the United States launched the War on Terror, which included war in Afghanistan and the 2003–11 Iraq War.[204][205] In 2007, the Bush administration ordered a major troop surge in the Iraq War,[206] which successfully reduced violence and led to greater stability in the region.[207][208]

Government policy designed to promote affordable housing,[209] widespread failures in corporate and regulatory governance,[210] and historically low interest rates set by the Federal Reserve[211] led to the mid-2000s housing bubble, which culminated with the 2008 financial crisis, the largest economic contraction in the nation's history since the Great Depression.[212] Barack Obama, the first African-American[213] and multiracial[214] president, was elected in 2008 amid the crisis,[215] and subsequently passed stimulus measures and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in an attempt to mitigate its negative effects and ensure there would not be a repeat of the crisis. The stimulus facilitated infrastructure improvements[216] and a relative decline in unemployment.[217] Dodd-Frank improved financial stability and consumer protection,[218] although there has been debate about its effects on the economy.[219]

In 2010, the Obama administration passed the Affordable Care Act, which made the most sweeping reforms to the nation's healthcare system in nearly five decades, including mandates, subsidies and insurance exchanges. The law caused a significant reduction in the number and percentage of people without health insurance, with 24 million covered during 2016,[220] but remains controversial due to its impact on healthcare costs, insurance premiums, and economic performance.[221] Although the recession reached its trough in June 2009, voters remained frustrated with the slow pace of the economic recovery. The Republicans, who stood in opposition to Obama's policies, won control of the House of Representatives with a landslide in 2010 and control of the Senate in 2014.[222]

American forces in Iraq were withdrawn in large numbers in 2009 and 2010, and the war in the region was declared formally over in December 2011.[223] The withdrawal caused an escalation of sectarian insurgency,[224] leading to the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the successor of al-Qaeda in the region.[225] In 2014, Obama announced a restoration of full diplomatic relations with Cuba for the first time since 1961.[needs update][226] The next year, the United States as a member of the P5+1 countries signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, an agreement aimed to slow the development of Iran's nuclear program,[227] though the U.S. withdrew from the deal in May 2018.[228] In the United States presidential election of 2016, Republican Donald Trump was elected as the 45th president of the United States. Trump is both the oldest and wealthiest person elected president in United States history.[229]

Geography, climate, and environment

A composite satellite image of the contiguous United States and surrounding areas

The land area of the entire United States is approximately 3,800,000 square miles (9,841,955 km2),[230] with the contiguous United States making up 2,959,064 square miles (7,663,940.6 km2) of that. Alaska, separated from the contiguous United States by Canada, is the largest state at 663,268 square miles (1,717,856.2 km2). Hawaii, occupying an archipelago in the central Pacific, southwest of North America, is 10,931 square miles (28,311 km2) in area. The populated territories of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and U.S. Virgin Islands together cover 9,185 square miles (23,789 km2).[231] Measured by only land area, the United States is third in size behind Russia and China, just ahead of Canada.[232]

The United States is the world's third- or fourth-largest nation by total area (land and water), ranking behind Russia and Canada and just above or below China. The ranking varies depending on how two territories disputed by China and India are counted, and how the total size of the United States is measured.[d] The Encyclopædia Britannica, for instance, lists the size of the United States as 3,677,649 square miles (9,525,067 km2), as they do not count the country's coastal or territorial waters.[233] The World Factbook, which includes those waters, gives 3,796,742 square miles (9,833,517 km2).[234]

The coastal plain of the Atlantic seaboard gives way further inland to deciduous forests and the rolling hills of the Piedmont.[235] The Appalachian Mountains divide the eastern seaboard from the Great Lakes and the grasslands of the Midwest.[236] The MississippiMissouri River, the world's fourth longest river system, runs mainly north–south through the heart of the country. The flat, fertile prairie of the Great Plains stretches to the west, interrupted by a highland region in the southeast.[236]

Highest peak in the country, Denali

The Rocky Mountains, at the western edge of the Great Plains, extend north to south across the country, reaching altitudes higher than 14,000 feet (4,300 m) in Colorado.[237] Farther west are the rocky Great Basin and deserts such as the Chihuahua and Mojave.[238] The Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges run close to the Pacific coast, both ranges reaching altitudes higher than 14,000 feet (4,300 m). The lowest and highest points in the contiguous United States are in the state of California,[239] and only about 84 miles (135 km) apart.[240] At an elevation of 20,310 feet (6,190.5 m), Alaska's Denali (Mount McKinley) is the highest peak in the country and North America.[241] Active volcanoes are common throughout Alaska's Alexander and Aleutian Islands, and Hawaii consists of volcanic islands. The supervolcano underlying Yellowstone National Park in the Rockies is the continent's largest volcanic feature.[242] The United States has the most ecoregions out of any country in the world.[243]

The United States, with its large size and geographic variety, includes most climate types. To the east of the 100th meridian, the climate ranges from humid continental in the north to humid subtropical in the south.[244] The Great Plains west of the 100th meridian are semi-arid. Much of the Western mountains have an alpine climate. The climate is arid in the Great Basin, desert in the Southwest, Mediterranean in coastal California, and oceanic in coastal Oregon and Washington and southern Alaska. Most of Alaska is subarctic or polar. Hawaii and the southern tip of Florida are tropical, as are the populated territories in the Caribbean and the Pacific.[245] Extreme weather is not uncommon—the states bordering the Gulf of Mexico are prone to hurricanes, and most of the world's tornadoes occur in the country, mainly in Tornado Alley areas in the Midwest and South.[246]


The bald eagle has been the national bird of the United States since 1782.[247]

The U.S. ecology is megadiverse: about 17,000 species of vascular plants occur in the contiguous United States and Alaska, and over 1,800 species of flowering plants are found in Hawaii, few of which occur on the mainland.[248] The United States is home to 428 mammal species, 784 bird species, 311 reptile species, and 295 amphibian species.[249] About 91,000 insect species have been described.[250] The bald eagle is both the national bird and national animal of the United States, and is an enduring symbol of the country itself.[251]

There are 59 national parks and hundreds of other federally managed parks, forests, and wilderness areas.[252] Altogether, the government owns about 28% of the country's land area.[253] Most of this is protected, though some is leased for oil and gas drilling, mining, logging, or cattle ranching; about .86% is used for military purposes.[254][255]

Environmental issues have been on the national agenda since 1970. Environmental controversies include debates on oil and nuclear energy, dealing with air and water pollution, the economic costs of protecting wildlife, logging and deforestation,[256][257] and international responses to global warming.[258][259] Many federal and state agencies are involved. The most prominent is the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), created by presidential order in 1970.[260] The idea of wilderness has shaped the management of public lands since 1964, with the Wilderness Act.[261] The Endangered Species Act of 1973 is intended to protect threatened and endangered species and their habitats, which are monitored by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.[262]



Historical population
Census Pop.
Est. 2018[11]327,167,4346.0%
1610–1780 population data.[263]
Note that the census numbers do
not include Native Americans until 1860.[264]

The U.S. Census Bureau estimated the country's population to be 327,167,434 as of July 1, 2018, and to be adding 1 person (net gain) every 13 seconds, or about 6,646 people per day.[35] The U.S. population almost quadrupled during the 20th century, from 76.2 million in 1900 to 281.4 million in 2000.[265] The third most populous nation in the world, after China and India, the United States is the only major industrialized nation in which large population increases are projected.[266] In the 1800s the average woman had 7.04 children;[267] by the 1900s this number had decreased to 3.56.[268] Since the early 1970s the birth rate has been below the replacement rate of 2.1 with 1.76 children per woman in 2017.[269] Foreign-born immigration has caused the U.S. population to continue its rapid increase with the foreign-born population doubling from almost 20 million in 1990 to over 45 million in 2015,[270] representing one-third of the population increase.[271] In 2018, there were almost 90 million immigrants and U.S.-born children of immigrants (second-generation Americans) in the United States, accounting for 28% of the overall U.S. population.[272] The United States has a very diverse population; 37 ancestry groups have more than one million members.[273] German Americans are the largest ethnic group (more than 50 million) – followed by Irish Americans (circa 37 million), Mexican Americans (circa 31 million) and English Americans (circa 28 million).[274][275]

White Americans (mostly European ancestry group with 73.1% of total population) are the largest racial group; black Americans are the nation's largest racial minority (note that in the U.S. Census, Hispanic and Latino Americans are counted as an ethnic group, not a "racial" group), and third-largest ancestry group.[273] Asian Americans are the country's second-largest racial minority; the three largest Asian American ethnic groups are Chinese Americans, Filipino Americans, and Indian Americans.[273] According to a 2015 survey, the largest American community with European ancestry is German Americans, which consists of more than 14% of the total population.[276] In 2010, the U.S. population included an estimated 5.2 million people with some American Indian or Alaska Native ancestry (2.9 million exclusively of such ancestry) and 1.2 million with some native Hawaiian or Pacific island ancestry (0.5 million exclusively).[277] The census counted more than 19 million people of "Some Other Race" who were "unable to identify with any" of its five official race categories in 2010, over 18.5 million (97%) of whom are of Hispanic ethnicity.[277]

Most common ancestry in each U.S. state in 2000
     German      American      Mexican      Irish      African      Italian      English      Japanese      Puerto Rican

The population growth of Hispanic and Latino Americans (the terms are officially interchangeable) is a major demographic trend. The 50.5 million Americans of Hispanic descent[277] are identified as sharing a distinct "ethnicity" by the Census Bureau; 64% of Hispanic Americans are of Mexican descent.[278] Between 2000 and 2010, the country's Hispanic population increased 43% while the non-Hispanic population rose just 4.9%.[279] Much of this growth is from immigration; in 2007, 12.6% of the U.S. population was foreign-born, with 54% of that figure born in Latin America.[280][l]

The drop in the U.S. fertility rate from 2.08 per woman in 2007 to 1.76 in 2017 was mostly due to the declining birth rate of Hispanics, teenagers, and young women, although the birth rate for older women rose,[287] below the replacement rate of 2.1. In 2018 the median age of the United States population was 38.1 years.[288]

Minorities (as defined by the Census Bureau as all those beside non-Hispanic, non-multiracial whites) constituted 37.2% of the population in 2012[289] and over 50% of children under age one,[290][284] and are projected to constitute the majority by 2044.[290]

The United States has a birth rate of 13 per 1,000, which is 5 births below the world average.[291] Its population growth rate is positive at 0.7%, higher than that of many developed nations.[292] In fiscal year 2017, over one million immigrants (most of whom entered through family reunification) were granted legal residence.[293] Mexico has been the leading source of new residents since the 1965 Immigration Act. China, India, and the Philippines have been in the top four sending countries since the 1990s.[294] As of 2012, approximately 11.4 million residents are illegal immigrants.[295] As of 2015, 47% of all immigrants are Hispanic, 26% are Asian, 18% are white and 8% are black. The percentage of immigrants who are Asian is increasing while the percentage who are Hispanic is decreasing.[270] The estimated number of illegal immigrants dropped to 10.7 million in 2017, down from a peak of 12.2 million in 2007. In 2017, 33,000 refugees were resettled in the United States. This was fewer than were resettled in the rest of the world for the first time in decades.[296] A 2017 Gallup poll concluded that 4.5% of adult Americans identified as LGBT with 5.1% of women identifying as LGBT, compared with 3.9% of men.[297] The highest percentage came from the District of Columbia (10%), while the lowest state was North Dakota at 1.7%.[298]

About 82% of Americans live in urban areas (including suburbs);[234] about half of those reside in cities with populations over 50,000.[299] The U.S. has numerous clusters of cities known as megaregions, the largest being the Great Lakes Megalopolis followed by the Northeast Megalopolis and Southern California. In 2008, 273 incorporated municipalities had populations over 100,000, nine cities had more than one million residents, and four global cities had over two million (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston).[300] There are 52 metropolitan areas with populations greater than one million.[301] Of the 50 fastest-growing metro areas, 47 are in the West or South.[302] The metro areas of San Bernardino, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, and Phoenix all grew by more than a million people between 2000 and 2008.[301]

Leading population centers (see complete list)
Rank Core city (cities) Metro area population Metropolitan Statistical Area Region[303]
New York
New York

Los Angeles
Los Angeles



1 New York 19,979,477 New York–Newark–Jersey City, NY–NJ–PA MSA Northeast
2 Los Angeles 13,291,486 Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim, CA MSA West
3 Chicago 9,498,716 Chicago–Joliet–Naperville, IL–IN–WI MSA Midwest
4 Dallas–Fort Worth 7,539,711 Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington, TX MSA South
5 Houston 6,997,384 Houston–The Woodlands-Sugar Land MSA South
6 Washington, D.C. 6,249,950 Washington, D.C.–VA–MD–WV MSA South
7 Miami 6,198,782 Miami–Fort Lauderdale–West Palm Beach, FL MSA South
8 Philadelphia 6,096,372 Philadelphia–Camden–Wilmington, PA–NJ–DE–MD MSA Northeast
9 Atlanta 5,949,951 Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Roswell, GA MSA South
10 Boston 4,875,390 Boston–Cambridge–Quincy, MA–NH MSA Northeast
11 Phoenix 4,857,962 Phoenix–Mesa–Chandler, AZ MSA West
12 San Francisco 4,729,484 San Francisco–Oakland–Fremont, CA MSA West
13 Riverside–San Bernardino 4,662,361 Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario, CA MSA West
14 Detroit 4,326,442 Detroit–Warren–Dearborn, MI MSA Midwest
15 Seattle 3,939,363 Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue, WA MSA West
16 Minneapolis–St. Paul 3,629,190 Minneapolis–St. Paul–Bloomington, MN–WI MSA Midwest
17 San Diego 3,343,364 San Diego–Carlsbad–San Marcos, CA MSA West
18 Tampa–St. Petersburg 3,142,663 Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater, FL MSA South
19 Denver 2,932,415 Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO MSA West
20 St. Louis 2,805,465 St. Louis, MO-IL MSA Midwest
Based on 2018 MSA population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau



Both Hawaiian and English are official languages in Hawaii, by state law.[307] Alaska recognizes twenty Native languages as well as English.[308] While neither has an official language, New Mexico has laws providing for the use of both English and Spanish, as Louisiana does for English and French.[309] Other states, such as California, mandate the publication of Spanish versions of certain government documents including court forms.[310]

Several insular territories grant official recognition to their native languages, along with English: Samoan[311] is officially recognized by American Samoa. Chamorro[312] is an official language of Guam. Both Carolinian and Chamorro have official recognition in the Northern Mariana Islands.[313] Spanish is an official language of Puerto Rico and is more widely spoken than English there.[314]

The most widely taught foreign languages in the United States, in terms of enrollment numbers from kindergarten through university undergraduate education, are: Spanish (around 7.2 million students), French (1.5 million), and German (500,000). Other commonly taught languages (with 100,000 to 250,000 learners) include Latin, Japanese, ASL, Italian, and Chinese.[315][316] 18% of all Americans claim to speak at least one language in addition to English.[317]

Languages spoken at home by more than 1 million persons in the U.S. (2016)[318][319][m]
Language Percent of
Number of
Number who
speak English
very well
Number who
speak English
less than
very well
(including Spanish Creole but excluding Puerto Rico)
13% 40,489,813 23,899,421 16,590,392
(all varieties, including Mandarin and Cantonese)
1.0% 3,372,930 1,518,619 1,854,311
(including Filipino)
0.5% 1,701,960 1,159,211 542,749
Vietnamese 0.4% 1,509,993 634,273 875,720
(all varieties)
0.3% 1,231,098 770,882 460,216
(including Patois and Cajun)
0.3% 1,216,668 965,584 251,087
Korean 0.2% 1,088,788 505,734 583,054


Religious affiliation in the U.S. (2014)[320]
Affiliation % of U.S. population
Christianity 70.6 70.6
Protestant 46.5 46.5
Evangelical Protestant 25.4 25.4
Mainline Protestant 14.7 14.7
Black church 6.5 6.5
Catholic 20.8 20.8
Mormon 1.6 1.6
Jehovah's Witnesses 0.8 0.8
Eastern Orthodox 0.5 0.5
Other Christian 0.4 0.4
Judaism 1.9 1.9
Hinduism 1.2 1.2
Islam 0.9 0.9
Buddhism 0.9 0.9
Other faiths 1.8 1.8
Irreligion 22.8 22.8
Nothing in particular 15.8 15.8
Agnostic 4.0 4
Atheist 3.1 3.1
Don't know or refused answer 0.6 0.6


In a 2013 survey, 56% of Americans said that religion played a "very important role in their lives", a far higher figure than that of any other wealthy nation.[321] In a 2009 Gallup poll, 42% of Americans said that they attended church weekly or almost weekly; the figures ranged from a low of 23% in Vermont to a high of 63% in Mississippi.[322]

As with other Western countries, the U.S. is becoming less religious. Irreligion is growing rapidly among Americans under 30.[323] Polls show that overall American confidence in organized religion has been declining since the mid to late 1980s,[324] and that younger Americans, in particular, are becoming increasingly irreligious.[320][325] According to a 2012 study, the Protestant share of the U.S. population had dropped to 48%, thus ending its status as religious category of the majority for the first time.[326][327] Americans with no religion have 1.7 children compared to 2.2 among Christians. The unaffiliated are less likely to get married with 37% marrying compared to 52% of Christians.[328]

According to a 2014 survey, 70.6% of adults in the United States identified themselves as Christians;[329] Protestants accounted for 46.5%, while Roman Catholics, at 20.8%, formed the largest single denomination.[330] In 2014, 5.9% of the U.S. adult population claimed a non-Christian religion.[320] These include Judaism (1.9%), Hinduism (1.2%), Buddhism (0.9%), and Islam (0.9%).[320] The survey also reported that 22.8% of Americans described themselves as agnostic, atheist or simply having no religion—up from 8.2% in 1990.[330][331][332] There are also Unitarian Universalist, Scientologist, Baha'i, Sikh, Jain, Shinto, Confucian, Satanist, Taoist, Druid, Native American, Wiccan, humanist and deist communities.[333]

Protestantism is the largest Christian religious grouping in the United States, accounting for almost half of all Americans. Baptists collectively form the largest branch of Protestantism at 15.4%,[334] and the Southern Baptist Convention is the largest individual Protestant denomination at 5.3% of the U.S. population.[334] Apart from Baptists, other Protestant categories include nondenominational Protestants, Methodists, Pentecostals, unspecified Protestants, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, other Reformed, Episcopalians/Anglicans, Quakers, Adventists, Holiness, Christian fundamentalists, Anabaptists, Pietists, and multiple others.[334] Two-thirds of American Protestants consider themselves to be born again.[334] Roman Catholicism in the United States has its origin primarily in the Spanish and French colonization of the Americas, as well as in the English colony of Maryland.[335] It later grew because of Irish, Italian, Polish, German and Hispanic immigration. Rhode Island has the highest percentage of Catholics, with 40 percent of the total population.[336] Utah is the only state where Mormonism is the religion of the majority of the population.[337] The Mormon Corridor also extends to parts of Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada and Wyoming.[338] Eastern Orthodoxy is claimed by 5% of people in Alaska,[339] a former Russian colony, and maintains a presence on the U.S. mainland due to recent immigration from Eastern Europe. Finally, a number of other Christian groups are active across the country, including the Oneness Pentecostals, Jehovah's Witnesses, Restorationists, Churches of Christ, Christian Scientists, Unitarians and many others.


Family structure

As of 2007, 58% of Americans age 18 and over were married, 6% were widowed, 10% were divorced, and 25% had never been married.[340] Women now work mostly outside the home and receive a majority of bachelor's degrees.[341]

The U.S. teenage pregnancy rate is 26.5 per 1,000 women. The rate has declined by 57% since 1991.[342] In 2013, the highest teenage birth rate was in Alabama, and the lowest in Wyoming.[342][343] Abortion is legal throughout the U.S., owing to Roe v. Wade, a 1973 landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States. While the abortion rate is falling, the abortion ratio of 241 per 1,000 live births and abortion rate of 15 per 1,000 women aged 15–44 remain higher than those of most Western nations.[344] In 2013, the average age at first birth was 26 and 40.6% of births were to unmarried women.[345]

The total fertility rate (TFR) in 2016 was 1.82 births per 1000 woman.[346] Adoption in the United States is common and relatively easy from a legal point of view (compared to other Western countries).[347] In 2001, with over 127,000 adoptions, the U.S. accounted for nearly half of the total number of adoptions worldwide.[348] Same-sex marriage is legal nationwide, owing to the Supreme Court's 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, and it is legal for same-sex couples to adopt. Polygamy is illegal throughout the U.S.[349]


View of the Texas Medical Center from Fannin Street. The center is the largest medical complex in the world.

The United States had a life expectancy of 78.6 years at birth in 2017, which was the third year of declines in life expectancy following decades of continuous increase. The recent decline is largely due to sharp increases in the drug overdose and suicide rates. Life expectancy was highest among Asians and Hispanics and lowest among blacks.[350][351] According to CDC and Census Bureau data, deaths from suicide, alcohol and drug overdoses hit record highs in 2017.[352]

Increasing obesity in the United States and health improvements elsewhere contributed to lowering the country's rank in life expectancy from 11th in the world in 1987, to 42nd in 2007.[353] Obesity rates have more than doubled in the last 30 years, are the highest in the industrialized world, and are among the highest anywhere.[354][355] Approximately one-third of the adult population is obese and an additional third is overweight.[356] Obesity-related type 2 diabetes is considered epidemic by health care professionals.[357]


The U.S. is a global leader in medical innovation. America solely developed or contributed significantly to 9 of the top 10 most important medical innovations since 1975 as ranked by a 2001 poll of physicians, while the European Union and Switzerland together contributed to five.[360] Since 1966, more Americans have received the Nobel Prize in Medicine than the rest of the world combined. From 1989 to 2002, four times more money was invested in private biotechnology companies in America than in Europe.[361] The U.S. health-care system far outspends any other nation, measured in both per capita spending and percentage of GDP.[362]

Health-care coverage in the United States is a combination of public and private efforts and is not universal. In 2017, 12.2% of the population did not carry health insurance.[363] The subject of uninsured and underinsured Americans is a major political issue.[364][365] In 2006, Massachusetts became the first state to mandate universal health insurance.[366] Federal legislation passed in early 2010 would ostensibly create a near-universal health insurance system around the country by 2014,[needs update] though the bill and its ultimate effect are issues of controversy.[367][368]




About 12% of children are enrolled in parochial or nonsectarian private schools. Just over 2% of children are homeschooled.[370] The U.S. spends more on education per student than any nation in the world, spending more than $11,000 per elementary student in 2010 and more than $12,000 per high school student.[371] Some 80% of U.S. college students attend public universities.[372]

Of Americans 25 and older, 84.6% graduated from high school, 52.6% attended some college, 27.2% earned a bachelor's degree, and 9.6% earned graduate degrees.[373] The basic literacy rate is approximately 99%.[234][374] The United Nations assigns the United States an Education Index of 0.97, tying it for 12th in the world.[375]

Higher education

The United States has many competitive private and public institutions of higher education. The majority of the world's top universities listed by different ranking organizations are in the U.S.[376][377][378] There are also local community colleges with generally more open admission policies, shorter academic programs, and lower tuition.

In 2018, U21, a network of research-intensive universities, ranked the United States first in the world for breadth and quality of higher education, and 15th when GDP was a factor.[379]

As for public expenditures on higher education, the U.S. trails some other OECD nations but spends more per student than the OECD average, and more than all nations in combined public and private spending.[371][380] As of 2018, student loan debt exceeded 1.5 trillion dollars, more than Americans owe on credit cards.[381][382]

Government and politics

The United States Capitol,
where Congress meets:
the Senate, left; the House, right
The White House, home and workplace of the U.S. President

The United States is the world's oldest surviving federation. It is a representative democracy, "in which majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law".[383] The government is regulated by a system of checks and balances defined by the U.S. Constitution, which serves as the country's supreme legal document.[384] For 2018, the U.S. ranked 25th on the Democracy Index[385] and 22nd on the Corruption Perceptions Index.[386]


The federal government comprises three branches:


The Senate has 100 members with each state having two senators, elected at-large to six-year terms; one-third of Senate seats are up for election every other year. The District of Columbia and the five major U.S. territories do not have senators.[393] The president serves a four-year term and may be elected to the office no more than twice. The president is not elected by direct vote, but by an indirect electoral college system in which the determining votes are apportioned to the states and the District of Columbia.[394] The Supreme Court, led by the chief justice of the United States, has nine members, who serve for life.[395]

The state governments are structured in a roughly similar fashion; Nebraska uniquely has a unicameral legislature.[396] The governor (chief executive) of each state is directly elected. Some state judges and cabinet officers are appointed by the governors of the respective states, while others are elected by popular vote.

The original text of the Constitution establishes the structure and responsibilities of the federal government and its relationship with the individual states. Article One protects the right to the "great writ" of habeas corpus. The Constitution has been amended 27 times;[397] the first ten amendments, which make up the Bill of Rights, and the Fourteenth Amendment form the central basis of Americans' individual rights. All laws and governmental procedures are subject to judicial review and any law ruled by the courts to be in violation of the Constitution is voided. The principle of judicial review, not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution, was established by the Supreme Court in Marbury v. Madison (1803)[398] in a decision handed down by Chief Justice John Marshall.[399]

Political divisions

Map of U.S. Economic Exclusion Zone,[400] highlighting states, territories and possessions

The United States is a federal republic of 50 states, a federal district, five territories and several uninhabited island possessions.[401][402][403] The states and territories are the principal administrative districts in the country. These are divided into subdivisions of counties and independent cities. The District of Columbia is a federal district that contains the capital of the United States, Washington, D.C.[404] The states and the District of Columbia choose the president of the United States. Each state has presidential electors equal to the number of their representatives and senators in Congress; the District of Columbia has three (because of the 23rd Amendment).[405] Territories of the United States such as Puerto Rico do not have presidential electors, and so people in those territories cannot vote for the president.[393]

Congressional Districts are reapportioned among the states following each decennial Census of Population. Each state then draws single-member districts to conform with the census apportionment. The total number of voting representatives is 435. There are also 6 non-voting representatives who represent the District of Columbia and the five major U.S. territories.[406]


Citizenship is granted at birth in all states, the District of Columbia, and all major U.S. territories except American Samoa.[408][409]

Parties and elections

Congressional leadership meeting with President Obama in 2011.[410]
Donald Trump
45th President
since January 20, 2017
Mike Pence
48th Vice President
since January 20, 2017

The United States has operated under a two-party system for most of its history.[411] For elective offices at most levels, state-administered primary elections choose the major party nominees for subsequent general elections. Since the general election of 1856, the major parties have been the Democratic Party, founded in 1824, and the Republican Party, founded in 1854. Since the Civil War, only one third-party presidential candidate—former president Theodore Roosevelt, running as a Progressive in 1912—has won as much as 20% of the popular vote. The president and vice president are elected through the Electoral College system.[412]

In American political culture, the center-right Republican Party is considered "conservative" and the center-left Democratic Party is considered "liberal".[413][414] The states of the Northeast and West Coast and some of the Great Lakes states, known as "blue states", are relatively liberal. The "red states" of the South and parts of the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains are relatively conservative.

Republican Donald Trump, the winner of the 2016 presidential election, is serving as the 45th president of the United States.[415] Leadership in the Senate includes Republican vice president Mike Pence, Republican president pro tempore Chuck Grassley, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.[416] Leadership in the House includes Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.[417]

In the 116th United States Congress, the House of Representatives is controlled by the Democratic Party and the Senate is controlled by the Republican Party, giving the U.S. a split Congress. The Senate consists of 53 Republicans, and 45 Democrats with 2 Independents who caucus with the Democrats; the House consists of 235 Democrats and 199 Republicans.[418] In state governorships, there are 27 Republicans and 23 Democrats.[419] Among the D.C. mayor and the 5 territorial governors, there are 2 Republicans, 1 Democrat, 1 New Progressive, and 2 Independents.[420][421]

Foreign relations


The United States has a "Special Relationship" with the United Kingdom[425] and strong ties with Canada,[426] Australia,[427] New Zealand,[428] the Philippines,[429] Japan,[430] South Korea,[431] Israel,[432] and several European Union countries, including France, Italy, Germany, and Spain. It works closely with fellow NATO members on military and security issues and with its neighbors through the Organization of American States and free trade agreements such as the trilateral North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico. In 2008, the United States spent a net $25.4 billion on official development assistance, the most in the world. As a share of America's large gross national income (GNI), however, the U.S. contribution of 0.18% ranked last among 22 donor states. By contrast, private overseas giving by Americans is relatively generous.[433] Colombia is traditionally considered by the United States as its most loyal ally in South America. Policymakers in both countries consider Plan Colombia to be a foreign policy success for the United States.[434][435][436]



Government finance

U.S. federal debt held by the public as a percentage of GDP, from 1790 to 2013.[441]
Government Revenue and spending GDP.png
United States debt from 1940 to 2015.


In 2010 taxes collected by federal, state and municipal governments amounted to 24.8% of GDP.[444] During FY2012, the federal government collected approximately $2.45 trillion in tax revenue, up $147 billion or 6% versus FY2011 revenues of $2.30 trillion. Primary receipt categories included individual income taxes ($1,132B or 47%), Social Security/Social Insurance taxes ($845B or 35%), and corporate taxes ($242B or 10%).[445] Based on CBO estimates,[446] under 2013 tax law the top 1% will be paying the highest average tax rates since 1979, while other income groups will remain at historic lows.[447]

U.S. taxation has historically been generally progressive, especially the federal income taxes, though by most measures it became noticeably less progressive after 1980.[448][449] It has sometimes been described as among the most progressive in the developed world, but this characterization is controversial.[450][451][452][453][449] The highest 10% of income earners pay a majority of federal taxes,[454] and about half of all taxes.[455] Payroll taxes for Social Security are a flat regressive tax, with no tax charged on income above $118,500 (for 2015 and 2016) and no tax at all paid on unearned income from things such as stocks and capital gains.[456][457] The historic reasoning for the regressive nature of the payroll tax is that entitlement programs have not been viewed as welfare transfers.[458][459] However, according to the Congressional Budget Office the net effect of Social Security is that the benefit to tax ratio ranges from roughly 70% for the top earnings quintile to about 170% for the lowest earning quintile, making the system progressive.[460]

The top 10% paid 51.8% of total federal taxes in 2009, and the top 1%, with 13.4% of pre-tax national income, paid 22.3% of federal taxes.[461] In 2013 the Tax Policy Center projected total federal effective tax rates of 35.5% for the top 1%, 27.2% for the top quintile, 13.8% for the middle quintile, and −2.7% for the bottom quintile.[462][463] The incidence of corporate income tax has been a matter of considerable ongoing controversy for decades.[453][464] State and local taxes vary widely, but are generally less progressive than federal taxes as they rely heavily on broadly borne regressive sales and property taxes that yield less volatile revenue streams, though their consideration does not eliminate the progressive nature of overall taxation.[453][465]


The total national debt of the United States in the United States was $18.527 trillion (106% of the GDP) in 2014.[466][n] The United States has the largest external debt in the world and the 14th largest government debt as a % of GDP in the world.



Military service is voluntary, though conscription may occur in wartime through the Selective Service System.[472] American forces can be rapidly deployed by the Air Force's large fleet of transport aircraft, the Navy's 11 active aircraft carriers, and Marine expeditionary units at sea with the Navy's Atlantic and Pacific fleets. The military operates 865 bases and facilities abroad,[473] and maintains deployments greater than 100 active duty personnel in 25 foreign countries.[474]

The military budget of the United States in 2011 was more than $700 billion, 41% of global military spending and equal to the next 14 largest national military expenditures combined. At 4.7% of GDP, the rate was the second-highest among the top 15 military spenders, after Saudi Arabia.[475] U.S. defense spending as a percentage of GDP ranked 23rd globally in 2012 according to the CIA.[476] Defense spending plays a major role in science and technology investment, with roughly half of U.S. federal research and development funded by the Department of Defense.[477] Defense's share of the overall U.S. economy has generally declined in recent decades, from Cold War peaks of 14.2% of GDP in 1953 and 69.5% of federal outlays in 1954 to 4.7% of GDP and 18.8% of federal outlays in 2011.[478]

US global military presence.

The proposed base Department of Defense budget for 2012, $553 billion, was a 4.2% increase over 2011; an additional $118 billion was proposed for the military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.[479] The last American troops serving in Iraq departed in December 2011;[480] 4,484 service members were killed during the Iraq War.[481] Approximately 90,000 U.S. troops were serving in Afghanistan in April 2012;[482] by November 8, 2013 2,285 had been killed during the War in Afghanistan.[483]

Law enforcement and crime

Law enforcement in the U.S. is maintained primarily by local police departments. The New York Police Department (NYPD) is the largest in the country.


In 2015, there were 15,696 murders which was 1,532 more than in 2014, a 10.8% increase, the largest since 1971.[486] The murder rate in 2015 was 4.9 per 100,000 people.[487] In 2016 the murder rate increased by 8.6%, with 17,413 murders that year.[488] The national clearance rate for homicides in 2015 was 64.1%, compared to 90% in 1965.[489] In 2012 there were 4.7 murders per 100,000 persons in the United States, a 54% decline from the modern peak of 10.2 in 1980.[490] In 2001–2, the United States had above-average levels of violent crime and particularly high levels of gun violence compared to other developed nations.[491] A cross-sectional analysis of the World Health Organization Mortality Database from 2010 showed that United States "homicide rates were 7.0 times higher than in other high-income countries, driven by a gun homicide rate that was 25.2 times higher."[492] Gun ownership rights continue to be the subject of contentious political debate. In 2016, the US murder rate of 5.4 per 100,000 was similar to the estimated global average of 5.15 per 100,000.[493]

In 2017, there were 17,264 murders and the murder rate was 5.3 per 100,000. Regarding weapons, 73% of murders were committed by firearm, 10% by knife and 17% by other means.[494] The violent crime rose sharply in the 1960s until the early 1990s and declined in the late 1990s and 2000s.[494] In 2014, the murder rate fell to the lowest level (4.5) since 1957 (4.0).[495] The violent crime rate increased by 5.9% between 2014 and 2017 and the murder rate by 20.5%. Of those arrested for serious violent crimes in 2017, 58.5% were white, 37.5% were black, 2.1% were American Indian or Alaska Native and 1.5% Asian. Ethnically, 23.5% were Hispanic and 76.5% were non-Hispanic.[496] Gun violence peaked in 1993 with 17,125 gun murders before declining to 9,527 in 1999 and steadily rising since to 12,772. Non-gun murders reached a peak in 1980 of 8,340 and declined in most years until the early 2010s with 4,668 in 2017.[497] The rate of robberies declined 62% between 1990 and 2017.[494]

From 1980 through 2008 males represented 77% of homicide victims and 90% of offenders. Blacks committed 52.5% of all homicides during that span, at a rate almost eight times that of whites ("whites" includes most Hispanics), and were victimized at a rate six times that of whites. Most homicides were intraracial, with 93% of black victims killed by blacks and 84% of white victims killed by whites.[498] In 2012, Louisiana had the highest rate of murder and non-negligent manslaughter in the U.S., and New Hampshire the lowest.[499] The FBI's Uniform Crime Reports estimates that there were 3,246 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents in 2012, for a total of over 9 million total crimes.[500]

Capital punishment is sanctioned in the United States for certain federal and military crimes, and also at the state level in 30 states.[501][502] No executions took place from 1967 to 1977, owing in part to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down arbitrary imposition of the death penalty. In 1976 the Court ruled that, under appropriate circumstances, capital punishment may constitutionally be imposed. Since the decision there have been more than 1,300 executions, a majority of these taking place in three states: Texas, Virginia, and Oklahoma.[503] Meanwhile, several states have either abolished or struck down death-penalty laws. In 2015, the country had the fifth-highest number of executions in the world, following China, Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.[504]

The United States has the highest documented incarceration rate and largest prison population in the world.[505] At the start of 2008, more than 2.3 million people were incarcerated, more than one in every 100 adults.[506] In December 2012, the combined U.S. adult correctional systems supervised about 6,937,600 offenders. About 1 in every 35 adult residents in the United States was under some form of correctional supervision in December 2012, the lowest rate observed since 1997.[507] The prison population has quadrupled since 1980,[508] and state and local spending on prisons and jails has grown three times as much as that spent on public education during the same period.[509] However, the imprisonment rate for all prisoners sentenced to more than a year in state or federal facilities is 478 per 100,000 in 2013[510] and the rate for pre-trial/remand prisoners is 153 per 100,000 residents in 2012.[511] The country's high rate of incarceration is largely due to changes in sentencing guidelines and drug policies.[512] According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the majority of inmates held in federal prisons are convicted of drug offenses.[513] The privatization of prisons and prison services which began in the 1980s has been a subject of debate.[514][515] In 2018, Oklahoma had the highest incarceration rate (1,079 per 100,000 people), and Massachusetts the lowest (324 per 100,000 people).[516][517] Among the U.S. territories, the highest incarceration rate was in the U.S. Virgin Islands (542 per 100,000 people) and the lowest was in Puerto Rico (313 per 100,000 people).[518][519]


Economic indicators
Nominal GDP $20.66 trillion (Q3 2018) [520]
Real GDP growth 3.5% (Q3 2018) [520]
2.1% (2017) [520]
CPI inflation 2.2% (November 2018) [521]
Employment-to-population ratio 60.6% (November 2018) [522]
Unemployment 3.7% (November 2018) [523]
Labor force participation rate 62.9% (November 2018) [524]
Total public debt $21.85 trillion (November 2018) [525]
Household net worth $109.0 trillion (Q3 2018) [526]

The United States has a capitalist mixed economy[citation needed] which is fueled by abundant natural resources and high productivity.[527] According to the International Monetary Fund, the U.S. GDP of $16.8 trillion constitutes 24% of the gross world product at market exchange rates and over 19% of the gross world product at purchasing power parity (PPP).[528]

The nominal GDP of the U.S. is estimated to be $17.528 trillion as of 2014.[529] From 1983 to 2008, U.S. real compounded annual GDP growth was 3.3%, compared to a 2.3% weighted average for the rest of the G7.[530] The country ranks ninth in the world in nominal GDP per capita according to the United Nations (first in the Americas)[531] and sixth in GDP per capita at PPP.[528] The U.S. dollar is the world's primary reserve currency.[532]

The United States is the largest importer of goods and second-largest exporter, though exports per capita are relatively low. In 2010, the total U.S. trade deficit was $635 billion.[533] Canada, China, Mexico, Japan, and Germany are its top trading partners.[534] In 2010, oil was the largest import commodity, while transportation equipment was the country's largest export.[533] Japan is the largest foreign holder of U.S. public debt.[535] The largest holder of the U.S. debt are American entities, including federal government accounts and the Federal Reserve, who hold the majority of the debt.[536][537][538][539][o]

The New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street, by a significant margin the world's largest stock exchange per market capitalization of its listed companies,[542][543] at US$23.1 trillion as of April 2018.[544]

In 2009, the private sector was estimated to constitute 86.4% of the economy, with federal government activity accounting for 4.3% and state and local government activity (including federal transfers) the remaining 9.3%.[545] The number of employees at all levels of government outnumber those in manufacturing by 1.7 to 1.[546] While its economy has reached a postindustrial level of development and its service sector constitutes 67.8% of GDP, the United States remains an industrial power.[547] The leading business field by gross business receipts is wholesale and retail trade; by net income it is manufacturing.[548] In the franchising business model, McDonald's and Subway are the two most recognized brands in the world. Coca-Cola is the most recognized soft drink company in the world.[549]

Chemical products are the leading manufacturing field.[550] The United States is the largest producer of oil in the world, as well as its second-largest importer.[551] It is the world's number one producer of nuclear energy, as well as liquid natural gas, sulfur, phosphates, and salt. The National Mining Association provides data pertaining to coal and minerals that include beryllium, copper, lead, magnesium, zinc, titanium and others.[552][553]

Agriculture accounts for just under 1% of GDP,[547] yet the United States is the world's top producer of corn[554] and soybeans.[555] The National Agricultural Statistics Service maintains agricultural statistics for products that include peanuts, oats, rye, wheat, rice, cotton, corn, barley, hay, sunflowers, and oilseeds. In addition, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) provides livestock statistics regarding beef, poultry, pork, and dairy products. The country is the primary developer and grower of genetically modified food, representing half of the world's biotech crops.[556] In the contiguous 48 states, 35% of the land is used as pasture, 28% is covered by forest, and 21% is agricultural cropland, with all other uses accounting for less than 20%.[557]

Consumer spending comprises 68% of the U.S. economy in 2015.[558] In August 2010, the American labor force consisted of 154.1 million people. With 21.2 million people, government is the leading field of employment. The largest private employment sector is health care and social assistance, with 16.4 million people. About 12% of workers are unionized, compared to 30% in Western Europe.[559] The World Bank ranks the United States first in the ease of hiring and firing workers.[560] The United States is ranked among the top three in the Global Competitiveness Report as well. It has a smaller welfare state and redistributes less income through government action than European nations tend to.[561]

The United States is the only advanced economy that does not guarantee its workers paid vacation[562] and is one of just a few countries in the world without paid family leave as a legal right, with the others being Papua New Guinea, Suriname and Liberia.[563] While federal law does not require sick leave, it is a common benefit for government workers and full-time employees at corporations.[564] 74% of full-time American workers get paid sick leave, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, although only 24% of part-time workers get the same benefits.[564] In 2009, the United States had the third-highest workforce productivity per person in the world, behind Luxembourg and Norway. It was fourth in productivity per hour, behind those two countries and the Netherlands.[565]


Science and technology




The rise of fascism and Nazism in the 1920s and 1930s led many European scientists, including Albert Einstein, Enrico Fermi, and John von Neumann, to immigrate to the United States.[570] During World War II, the Manhattan Project developed nuclear weapons, ushering in the Atomic Age, while the Space Race produced rapid advances in rocketry, materials science, and aeronautics.[571][572]


These advancements then lead to greater personalization of technology for individual use.[577] As of 2013, 83.8% of American households owned at least one computer, and 73.3% had high-speed Internet service.[578] 91% of Americans also own a mobile phone as of May 2013.[579] The United States ranks highly with regard to freedom of use of the internet.[580]

In the 21st century, approximately two-thirds of research and development funding comes from the private sector.[581] The United States leads the world in scientific research papers and impact factor.[582][583]

Income, poverty and wealth

Accounting for 4.4% of the global population, Americans collectively possess 41.6% of the world's total wealth,[584] and Americans make up roughly half of the world's population of millionaires.[585] The Global Food Security Index ranked the U.S. number one for food affordability and overall food security in March 2013.[586] Americans on average have over twice as much living space per dwelling and per person as European Union residents, and more than every EU nation.[587] For 2017 the United Nations Development Programme ranked the United States 13th among 189 countries in its Human Development Index and 25th among 151 countries in its inequality-adjusted HDI (IHDI).[588]

After years of stagnant growth, in 2016, according to the Census, median household income reached a record high after two consecutive years of record growth, although income inequality remains at record highs with top fifth of earners taking home more than half of all overall income.[589] There has been a widening gap between productivity and median incomes since the 1970s.[590] However, the gap between total compensation and productivity is not as wide because of increased employee benefits such as health insurance.[591] The rise in the share of total annual income received by the top 1 percent, which has more than doubled from 9 percent in 1976 to 20 percent in 2011, has significantly affected income inequality,[592] leaving the United States with one of the widest income distributions among OECD nations.[593] According to a 2018 study by the OECD, the United States has much higher income inequality and a larger percentage of low-income workers than almost any other developed nation. This is largely because at-risk workers get almost no government support and are further set back by a very weak collective bargaining system.[594] The top 1 percent of income-earners accounted for 52 percent of the income gains from 2009 to 2015, where income is defined as market income excluding government transfers.[595] The extent and relevance of income inequality is a matter of debate.[596][597][598]

United States' families median net worth Source: Fed Survey of Consumer Finances[599]
in 2013 dollars 1998 2013 change
All families $102,500 $81,200 -20.8%
Bottom 20% of incomes $8,300 $6,100 -26.5%
Middle 20% of incomes $76,300 $61,700 -19.1%
Top 10% $646,600 $1,130,700 +74.9%

Wealth, like income and taxes, is highly concentrated; the richest 10% of the adult population possess 72% of the country's household wealth, while the bottom half claim only 2%.[600] According to a September 2017 report by the Federal Reserve, the top 1% controlled 38.6% of the country's wealth in 2016.[601] Between June 2007 and November 2008 the global recession led to falling asset prices around the world. Assets owned by Americans lost about a quarter of their value.[602] Since peaking in the second quarter of 2007, household wealth was down $14 trillion, but has since increased $14 trillion over 2006 levels.[603][604] At the end of 2014, household debt amounted to $11.8 trillion,[605] down from $13.8 trillion at the end of 2008.[606]

There were about 578,424 sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons in the U.S. in January 2014, with almost two-thirds staying in an emergency shelter or transitional housing program.[607] In 2011 16.7 million children lived in food-insecure households, about 35% more than 2007 levels, though only 1.1% of U.S. children, or 845,000, saw reduced food intake or disrupted eating patterns at some point during the year, and most cases were not chronic.[608] According to a 2014 report by the Census Bureau, one in five young adults lives in poverty, up from one in seven in 1980.[609] As of September 2017, 40 million people, roughly 12.7% of the U.S. population, were living in poverty, with 18.5 million of those living in deep poverty (a family income below one-half of the poverty threshold). In 2016, 13.3 million children were living in poverty, which made up 32.6% of the impoverished population.[610]

In 2017, the region with the lowest poverty rate was New Hampshire (7.3%), and the region with the highest poverty rate was American Samoa (65%).[611][612][613] Among the states, the highest poverty rate was in Mississippi (21.9%).[614] According to the UN, around five million people in the U.S. live in "third world" conditions.[615]



The Interstate Highway System, which extends 46,876 miles (75,440 km).[616]

Personal transportation is dominated by automobiles, which operate on a network of 4 million miles (6.4 million kilometers) of public roads,[617] including one of the world's longest highway systems at 57,000 mi (91,700 km).[618] The world's second-largest automobile market,[619] the United States has the highest rate of per-capita vehicle ownership in the world, with 765 vehicles per 1,000 Americans (1996).[620] About 40% of personal vehicles are vans, SUVs, or light trucks.[621] The average American adult (accounting for all drivers and non-drivers) spends 55 minutes driving every day, traveling 29 miles (47 km).[622] In 2017, there were 255,009,283 motor vehicles—including cars, vans, buses, freight, and other trucks, but excluding motorcycles and other two-wheelers—or 910 vehicles per 1,000 people.[623]

Map showing Amtrak (passenger) rail speeds in the United States.[624]

Mass transit accounts for 9% of total U.S. work trips.[625][626] Transport of goods by rail is extensive, though relatively low numbers of passengers (approximately 31 million annually) use intercity rail to travel, partly because of the low population density throughout much of the U.S. interior.[627][628] However, ridership on Amtrak, the national intercity passenger rail system, grew by almost 37% between 2000 and 2010.[629] Also, light rail development has increased in recent years.[630] Bicycle usage for work commutes is minimal.[631]

The civil airline industry is entirely privately owned and has been largely deregulated since 1978, while most major airports are publicly owned.[632] The three largest airlines in the world by passengers carried are U.S.-based; American Airlines is number one after its 2013 acquisition by US Airways.[633] Of the world's 50 busiest passenger airports, 16 are in the United States, including the busiest, Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the fourth-busiest Los Angeles International Airport, and the sixth-busiest O'Hare International Airport in Chicago.[634] In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks of 2001, the Transportation Security Administration was created to police airports and commercial airliners.


The United States energy market is about 29,000 terawatt hours per year.[635] Energy consumption per capita is 7.8 tons (7076 kg) of oil equivalent per year, the 10th-highest rate in the world. In 2005, 40% of this energy came from petroleum, 23% from coal, and 22% from natural gas. The remainder was supplied by nuclear power and renewable energy sources.[636] The United States is the world's largest consumer of petroleum.[637] The United States has 27% of global coal reserves.[638] It is the world's largest producer of natural gas and crude oil.[639]

For decades, nuclear power has played a limited role relative to many other developed countries, in part because of public perception following the Three Mile Island accident in 1979. In 2007, several applications for new nuclear plants were filed.[640]

Since 2007, the total greenhouse gas emissions by the United States are the second highest by country, exceeded only by China.[641][642] The United States has historically been the world's largest producer of greenhouse gases and greenhouse gas emissions per capita remain high.[643]

Water supply and sanitation



The United States is home to many cultures and a wide variety of ethnic groups, traditions, and values.[648][649] Aside from the Native American, Native Hawaiian, and Native Alaskan populations, nearly all Americans or their ancestors settled or immigrated within the past five centuries.[650] Mainstream American culture is a Western culture largely derived from the traditions of European immigrants with influences from many other sources, such as traditions brought by slaves from Africa.[648][651] More recent immigration from Asia and especially Latin America has added to a cultural mix that has been described as both a homogenizing melting pot, and a heterogeneous salad bowl in which immigrants and their descendants retain distinctive cultural characteristics.[648]

Core American culture was established by Protestant British colonists and shaped by the frontier settlement process, with the traits derived passed down to descendants and transmitted to immigrants through assimilation. Americans have traditionally been characterized by a strong work ethic, competitiveness, and individualism,[652] as well as a unifying belief in an "American creed" emphasizing liberty, equality, private property, democracy, rule of law, and a preference for limited government.[653] Americans are extremely charitable by global standards. According to a 2006 British study, Americans gave 1.67% of GDP to charity, more than any other nation studied, more than twice the second place British figure of 0.73%, and around twelve times the French figure of 0.14%.[654][655][656]

The American Dream, or the perception that Americans enjoy high social mobility, plays a key role in attracting immigrants.[657] Whether this perception is realistic has been a topic of debate.[658][659][660][661][530][662] While mainstream culture holds that the United States is a classless society,[663] scholars identify significant differences between the country's social classes, affecting socialization, language, and values.[664] Americans' self-images, social viewpoints, and cultural expectations are associated with their occupations to an unusually close degree.[665] While Americans tend greatly to value socioeconomic achievement, being ordinary or average is generally seen as a positive attribute.[666]


Apple pie is a food commonly associated with American cuisine.

Mainstream American cuisine is similar to that in other Western countries. Wheat is the primary cereal grain with about three-quarters of grain products made of wheat flour[667] and many dishes use indigenous ingredients, such as turkey, venison, potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, squash, and maple syrup which were consumed by Native Americans and early European settlers.[668] These homegrown foods are part of a shared national menu on one of America's most popular holidays, Thanksgiving, when some Americans make traditional foods to celebrate the occasion.[669]

Roasted turkey is a traditional menu item of an American Thanksgiving dinner.[670]

Characteristic dishes such as apple pie, fried chicken, pizza, hamburgers, and hot dogs derive from the recipes of various immigrants. French fries, Mexican dishes such as burritos and tacos, and pasta dishes freely adapted from Italian sources are widely consumed.[671] Americans drink three times as much coffee as tea.[672] Marketing by U.S. industries is largely responsible for making orange juice and milk ubiquitous breakfast beverages.[673][674]


The American fast food industry, the world's largest,[677] pioneered the drive-through format in the 1940s.[678] Fast food consumption has sparked health concerns. During the 1980s and 1990s, Americans' caloric intake rose 24%;[671] frequent dining at fast food outlets is associated with what public health officials call the American "obesity epidemic".[679] Highly sweetened soft drinks are widely popular, and sugared beverages account for nine percent of American caloric intake.[680]

Literature, philosophy, and visual art

Mark Twain, American author and humorist.






Choreographers Isadora Duncan and Martha Graham helped create modern dance, while George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins were leaders in 20th-century ballet.[citation needed]




Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry were among the mid-1950s pioneers of rock and roll. Rock bands such as Metallica, the Eagles, and Aerosmith are among the highest grossing in worldwide sales.[693][694][695] In the 1960s, Bob Dylan emerged from the folk revival to become one of America's most celebrated songwriters and James Brown led the development of funk.

More recent American creations include hip hop and house music. American pop stars such as Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, and Madonna have become global celebrities,[692] as have contemporary musical artists such as Taylor Swift, Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Eminem, Kanye West, and Ariana Grande.[696]


The Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles, California

Hollywood, a northern district of Los Angeles, California, is one of the leaders in motion picture production.[697] The world's first commercial motion picture exhibition was given in New York City in 1894, using Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope.[698] The next year saw the first commercial screening of a projected film, also in New York, and the United States was in the forefront of sound film's development in the following decades. Since the early 20th century, the U.S. film industry has largely been based in and around Hollywood, although in the 21st century an increasing number of films are not made there, and film companies have been subject to the forces of globalization.[699]

Director D. W. Griffith, the top American filmmaker during the silent film period, was central to the development of film grammar, and producer/entrepreneur Walt Disney was a leader in both animated film and movie merchandising.[700] Directors such as John Ford redefined the image of the American Old West and history, and, like others such as John Huston, broadened the possibilities of cinema with location shooting, with great influence on subsequent directors. The industry enjoyed its golden years, in what is commonly referred to as the "Golden Age of Hollywood", from the early sound period until the early 1960s,[701] with screen actors such as John Wayne and Marilyn Monroe becoming iconic figures.[702][703] In the 1970s, film directors such as Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and Robert Altman were a vital component in what became known as "New Hollywood" or the "Hollywood Renaissance",[704] grittier films influenced by French and Italian realist pictures of the post-war period.[705] Since, directors such as Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and James Cameron have gained renown for their blockbuster films, often characterized by high production costs, and in return, high earnings at the box office, with Cameron's Avatar (2009) earning more than $2 billion.[706]

Notable films topping the American Film Institute's AFI 100 list include Orson Welles's Citizen Kane (1941), which is frequently cited as the greatest film of all time,[707][708] Casablanca (1942), The Godfather (1972), Gone with the Wind (1939), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), The Wizard of Oz (1939), The Graduate (1967), On the Waterfront (1954), Schindler's List (1993), Singin' in the Rain (1952), It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and Sunset Boulevard (1950).[709] The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, have been held annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1929,[710] and the Golden Globe Awards have been held annually since January 1944.[711]


The most popular American sports are American football, baseball, basketball and ice hockey[712]

American football is by several measures the most popular spectator sport;[713] the National Football League (NFL) has the highest average attendance of any sports league in the world, and the Super Bowl is watched by millions globally. Baseball has been regarded as the U.S. national sport since the late 19th century, with Major League Baseball (MLB) being the top league. Basketball and ice hockey are the country's next two leading professional team sports, with the top leagues being the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Hockey League (NHL). These four major sports, when played professionally, each occupy a season at different but overlapping, times of the year. College football and basketball attract large audiences.[714] In soccer, the country hosted the 1994 FIFA World Cup, the men's national soccer team qualified for ten World Cups and the women's team has won the FIFA Women's World Cup four times; Major League Soccer is the sport's highest league in the United States (featuring 21 American and 3 Canadian teams). The market for professional sports in the United States is roughly $69 billion, roughly 50% larger than that of all of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa combined.[715]

Eight Olympic Games have taken place in the United States (2028 Summer Olympics will mark the ninth time). As of 2017, the United States has won 2,522 medals at the Summer Olympic Games, more than any other country, and 305 in the Winter Olympic Games, the second most behind Norway.[716] While most major U.S. sports such as baseball and American football have evolved out of European practices, basketball, volleyball, skateboarding, and snowboarding are American inventions, some of which have become popular worldwide. Lacrosse and surfing arose from Native American and Native Hawaiian activities that predate Western contact.[717] The most watched individual sports are golf and auto racing, particularly NASCAR.[718][719] Rugby union is considered the fastest growing sport in the U.S., with registered players, numbered at 115,000+ and a further 1.2 million participants.[720]

Mass media

The corporate headquarters of the American Broadcasting Company in New York City

The four major broadcasters in the U.S. are the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), American Broadcasting Company (ABC), and Fox Broadcasting Company (FOX). The four major broadcast television networks are all commercial entities. Cable television offers hundreds of channels catering to a variety of niches.[721] Americans listen to radio programming, also largely commercial, on average just over two-and-a-half hours a day.[722]



More than 800 publications are produced in Spanish, the second most commonly used language in the United States behind English.[727][728]

See also


  1. ^ 36 U.S.C. § 302
  4. ^ a b c The Encyclopædia Britannica lists China as the world's third-largest country (after Russia and Canada) with a total area of 9,572,900 sq km,[18] and the United States as fourth-largest at 9,526,468 sq km. The figure for the United States is less than in the CIA World Factbook because it excludes coastal and territorial waters.[19]
    The CIA World Factbook lists the United States as the third-largest country (after Russia and Canada) with total area of 9,833,517 sq km,[20] and China as fourth-largest at 9,596,960 sq km.[21] This figure for the United States is greater than in the Encyclopædia Britannica because it includes coastal and territorial waters.
  5. ^ a b Excludes Puerto Rico and the other unincorporated islands.
  7. ^ Except the U.S. Virgin Islands.
  12. ^ Fertility is also a factor; in 2010 the average Hispanic woman gave birth to 2.35 children in her lifetime, compared to 1.97 for non-Hispanic black women and 1.79 for non-Hispanic white women (both below the replacement rate of 2.1).[281] Between 2006 and 2017 the population growth rate for Hispanics dropped from 3.7% to 2.0%, for Asians from 3.5% to 2.9%, for blacks from 1.0% to 0.9% and for non-Hispanic whites from 0.1% to 0.0%. Hispanics accounted for 51% of the population increase between 2016 and 2017.[282] Minorities (as defined by the Census Bureau as all those beside non-Hispanic, non-multiracial whites) constituted 36.3% of the population in 2010 (this is nearly 40% in 2015),[283] and over 50% of children under age one,[284] and are projected to constitute the majority by 2042.[285] This contradicts the report by the National Vital Statistics Reports, based on the U.S. census data, which concludes that 54% (2,162,406 out of 3,999,386 in 2010) of births were non-Hispanic white.[281] The Hispanic birth rate plummeted 25% between 2006 and 2013 while the rate for non-Hispanics decreased just 5%.[286]
  14. ^ In January 2015, U.S. federal government debt held by the public was approximately $13 trillion, or about 72% of U.S. GDP. Intra-governmental holdings stood at $5 trillion, giving a combined total debt of $18.080 trillion.[467][468] By 2012, total federal debt had surpassed 100% of U.S. GDP.[469] The U.S. has a credit rating of AA+ from Standard & Poor's, AAA from Fitch, and AAA from Moody's.[470]
  15. ^ The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI, found that the United States' arms industry was the world's biggest exporter of major weapons from 2005 to 2009,[540] and remained the largest exporter of major weapons during a period between 2010 and 2014, followed by Russia, China (PRC), and Germany.[541]
  16. ^ Droughts are likely to particularly affect the 66 percent of Americans whose communities depend on surface water.[646] As for drinking water quality, there are concerns about disinfection by-products, lead, perchlorates and pharmaceutical substances, but generally drinking water quality in the U.S. is good.[647]


  1. ^ McKenna 2007, p. 280.
  2. ^ Kidder & Oppenheim 2007, p. 91.
  3. ^ "". Public Law 105-225. August 12, 1999. pp. 112 Stat. 1263. Retrieved September 10, 2017. Section 304. "The composition by John Philip Sousa entitled "The Stars and Stripes Forever" is the national march."
  4. ^ Cobarrubias 1983, p. 195.
  5. ^ García 2011, p. 167.
  6. ^
  7. ^
  8. ^ "U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts selected: United States". QuickFacts. U.S. Department of Commerce. July 1, 2018. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  9. ^ Newport, Frank. "2017 Update on Americans and Religion". Gallup. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  10. ^ Areas of the 50 states and the District of Columbia but not Puerto Rico nor (other) island territories per "State Area Measurements and Internal Point Coordinates". August 2010. Retrieved November 17, 2017. reflect base feature updates made in the MAF/TIGER database through August, 2010.
  11. ^ a b "Population increases to July 1, 2018".
  12. ^ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2016". Retrieved July 25, 2017. The 2016 estimate is as of July 1, 2016. The 2010 census is as of April 1, 2010.
  13. ^ a b c d "World Economic Outlook Database, April 2019 – Report for Selected Countries and Subjects". International Monetary Fund (IMF). Retrieved June 30, 2019.
  14. ^ "GINI index (World Bank estimate): 2016". World Bank. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
  15. ^ "2018 Human Development Report". United Nations Development Programme. 2018. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  16. ^ See Date and time notation in the United States.
  17. ^ U.S. State Department, Common Core Document to U.N. Committee on Human Rights, December 30, 2011, Item 22, 27, 80. And U.S. General Accounting Office Report, U.S. Insular Areas: application of the U.S. Constitution, November 1997, pp. 1, 6, 39n. Both viewed April 6, 2016.
  18. ^ "China". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  19. ^ "United States". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  20. ^ "United States". CIA World Factbook. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  21. ^ "China". CIA World Factbook. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  22. ^ UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre. "Megadiverse Countries definition". Biodiversity A−Z. UN WCMC. Retrieved September 11, 2017. 17 countries which have been identified as the most biodiversity-rich countries of the world, with a particular focus on endemic biodiversity.
  23. ^ a b Erlandson, Rick & Vellanoweth 2008, p. 19.
  24. ^ Greene, Jack P., Pole, J.R., eds. (2008). A Companion to the American Revolution. pp. 352–361.
  26. ^ "The Civil War and emancipation 1861–1865". Africans in America. Boston: WGBH Educational Foundation. 1999. Archived from the original on October 12, 1999.
  27. ^ Britannica Educational Publishing (2009). Wallenfeldt, Jeffrey H. (ed.). The American Civil War and Reconstruction: People, Politics, and Power. America at War. Rosen Publishing Group. p. 264. ISBN 978-1-61530-045-7.
  30. ^ Tony Judt; Denis Lacorne (2005). With Us Or Against Us: Studies in Global Anti-Americanism. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 61. ISBN 978-1-4039-8085-4.
    Richard J. Samuels (2005). Encyclopedia of United States National Security. Sage Publications. p. 666. ISBN 978-1-4522-6535-3.
    Paul R. Pillar (2001). Terrorism and U.S. Foreign Policy. Brookings Institution Press. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-8157-0004-3.
    Understanding the "Victory Disease," From the Little Bighorn to Mogadishu and Beyond. Diane Publishing. 2004. p. 1. ISBN 978-1-4289-1052-2.
  31. ^ "World Economic Outlook Database, April 2015".
  33. ^ "The World Factbook". Central Intelligence Agency.
  34. ^ "The World Factbook". Central Intelligence Agency.
  36. ^ "Global Wealth Report". Credit Suisse. October 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  38. ^ "Average annual wages". Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  40. ^ Cohen, 2004: History and the Hyperpower
    BBC, April 2008: Country Profile: United States of America
  41. ^ Martone 2016, p. 504.
  42. ^ Sider 2007, p. 226.
  47. ^ a b c Safire 2003, p. 199.
  48. ^ Mostert 2005, p. 18.
  49. ^ Brokenshire 1993, p. 49.
  50. ^ Greg 1892, p. 276.
  52. ^ Wilson, Kenneth G. (1993). The Columbia guide to standard American English. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 27–28. ISBN 978-0-231-06989-2.
  53. ^ Savage 2011, p. 55.
  54. ^ Haviland, Walrath & Prins 2013, p. 219.
  55. ^ Fladmark 2017, pp. 55–69.
  56. ^ Meltzer 2009, p. 129.
  57. ^ Waters & Stafford 2007, pp. 1122–1126.
  58. ^ Flannery 2015, pp. 173–185.
  59. ^ Gelo 2018.
  60. ^ Lockard 2010, p. 315.
  61. ^ Inghilleri 2016, p. 117.
  62. ^ Martinez, Sage & Ono 2016, p. 4.
  63. ^ Fagan 2016, p. 390.
  64. ^ Martinez & Bordeaux 2016, p. 602.
  65. ^ Weiss & Jacobson 2000, p. 180.
  67. ^ Pearce, Charles E.M.; Pearce, F. M. (2010). Oceanic Migration: Paths, Sequence, Timing and Range of Prehistoric Migration in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 167. ISBN 978-90-481-3826-5.
  68. ^ Whittaker, Elvi W. (1986). The Mainland Haole: The White Experience in Hawaii. Columbia University Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-231-05316-7.
  69. ^ a b c Perdue & Green 2005, p. 40.
  70. ^ a b Haines, Haines & Steckel 2000, p. 12.
  71. ^ Thornton 1998, p. 34.
  72. ^ Volo & Volo 2007, p. 11.
  73. ^ Cowper 2011, p. 67.
  74. ^ Wilson & Thompson 1997, p. 14.
  75. ^ Ripper, 2008 p. 6
  76. ^ Ripper, 2008 p. 5
  77. ^ Calloway, 1998, p. 55
  78. ^ a b "St. Augustine Florida, The Nation's Oldest City".
  79. ^ Joseph 2016, p. 590.
  80. ^ Remini 2007, pp. 2–3
  81. ^ Johnson 1997, pp. 26–30
  82. ^ Walton, 2009, chapter 3
  83. ^ Lemon, 1987
  84. ^ Jackson, L. P. (1924). "Elizabethan Seamen and the African Slave Trade". The Journal of Negro History. 9 (1): 1–17. doi:10.2307/2713432. JSTOR 2713432.
  85. ^ Tadman, 2000, p. 1534
  86. ^ Schneider, 2007, p. 484
  87. ^ Lien, 1913, p. 522
  88. ^ Davis, 1996, p. 7
  89. ^ Quirk, 2011, p. 195
  92. ^ Walton, 2009, pp. 38–39
  93. ^ Foner, Eric (1998). The Story of American Freedom (1st ed.). W.W. Norton. pp. 4–5. ISBN 978-0-393-04665-6.
  94. ^ Walton, 2009, p. 35
  95. ^ Otis, James (1763). The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved.
  98. ^ Robert J. King, "'The long wish'd for object' — Opening the trade to Japan, 1785–1795", The Northern Mariner / le marin du nord, vol. XX, no. 1, January 2010, pp. 1–35.
  102. ^ Jeff Campbell (2010). Hawaii. Lonely Planet. p. 38. ISBN 978-1-74220-344-7.
  103. ^ Ruth M. Tabrah (1984). Hawaii: A History. W.W. Norton. pp. 19–22. ISBN 978-0-393-24369-7.
  106. ^ Jerry D. Moore (2012). Visions of Culture: An Introduction to Anthropological Theories and Theorists. Rowman Altamira. p. 336. ISBN 978-0-7591-2219-2.
  109. ^ Daniel O'Sullivan (March 30, 2008). In Search of Captain Cook: Exploring the Man Through His Own Words. I.B. Tauris. p. 224. ISBN 978-0-85771-350-6.
  117. ^ Samuel 1920, p. 323-324.
  119. ^ Boyer, 2007, pp. 192–193
  121. ^ Walton, 2009, p. 43
  122. ^ Gordon, 2004, pp. 27,29
  130. ^ Morrison, Michael A. (April 28, 1997). Slavery and the American West: The Eclipse of Manifest Destiny and the Coming of the Civil War. University of North Carolina Press. pp. 13–21. ISBN 978-0-8078-4796-1.
  133. ^ Madley, Benjamin (2016). An American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe, 1846-1873. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-23069-7.
  134. ^ Johansen, Bruce E.; Pritzker, Barry M. (July 23, 2007). "California Indians, Genocide of". Encyclopedia of American Indian History [4 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. pp. 226–231 – via Google Books.
  135. ^ Lindsay, Brendan C. (2012). Murder State: California's Native American Genocide, 1846–1873. U of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-4021-6.
  136. ^ Wolf, Jessica. "Revealing the history of genocide against California's Native Americans". UCLA Newsroom. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
    Harold T. Lewis (2001). Christian Social Witness. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-56101-188-9.
  150. ^ Winchester, pp. 351, 385
  151. ^ Michno, Gregory (2003). Encyclopedia of Indian Wars: Western Battles and Skirmishes, 1850-1890. Mountain Press Publishing. ISBN 978-0-87842-468-9.
  156. ^ "Virgin Islands History". Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  158. ^ Zinn, 2005, pp. 321–357
  164. ^ Winchester pp. 410–411
    Fanslow, Robin A. (April 6, 1997). "The Migrant Experience". American Folklore Center. Library of Congress. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
  170. ^ Hoopes & Brinkley 1997, p. 100.
  171. ^ Gaddis 1972, p. 25.
  178. ^ Wagg, Stephen; Andrews, David (2012). East Plays West: Sport and the Cold War. Routledge. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-134-24167-5.
  179. ^ Blakeley, 2009, p. 92
  181. ^ Winchester, pp. 305–308
  183. ^ Richard Lightner (2004). Hawaiian History: An Annotated Bibliography. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 141. ISBN 978-0-313-28233-1.
  187. ^ "Social Security". Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  188. ^ Soss, 2010, p. 277
  189. ^ Fraser, 1989
  190. ^ Ferguson, 1986, pp. 43–53
  191. ^ Williams, pp. 325–331
  196. ^ Hayes, 2009
  197. ^, 2013
  200. ^ Winchester, pp. 420–423
  209. ^ Wallison, Peter (2015). Hidden in Plain Sight: What Really Caused the World's Worst Financial Crisis and Why It Could Happen Again. Encounter Books. ISBN 978-978-59407-7-0.
  228. ^ Trump, Iran nuclear deal, CNN.
  229. ^ "Donald Trump is officially the richest US president in history".
  238. ^ "Great Basin". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
  243. ^ "Ecoregions by country – T". Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  261. ^ Turner, James Morton (2012). The Promise of Wilderness
  262. ^ Endangered species Fish and Wildlife Service. General Accounting Office, Diane Publishing. 2003. p. 1. ISBN 978-1-4289-3997-4. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  264. ^ "Historical Census Statistics On Population Totals By Race, 1790 to 1990, and By Hispanic Origin, 1970 to 1990, For Large Cities And Other Urban Places In The United States". Archived from the original on August 12, 2012. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
  267. ^ Jay Weinstein; Vijayan K. Pillai (2016), Demography: The Science of Population (Second ed.), p. 208
  269. ^ Belluz, Julia (May 22, 2018). "The historically low birthrate, explained in 3 charts". Vox. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
  271. ^ "Changing Patterns in U.S. Immigration and Population".
  272. ^ "Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States". Migration Policy Institute. March 14, 2019.
  276. ^ "Selected Social Characteristics in the United States – 2011–2015 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". U.S. Census Bureau.
  282. ^ Krogstad, Jens Manuel (August 3, 2017). "U.S. Hispanic population growth has leveled off". Pew Research Center. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
  287. ^ Stone, Lyman (May 16, 2018). "Baby Bust: Fertility is Declining the Most Among Minority Women". Institute for Family Studies. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
  288. ^ "The World Factbook: United States". Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
  289. ^ "ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates 2015 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, (V2015)". Retrieved October 15, 2016.
  293. ^ "U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents: 2017". Office of Immigration Statistics Annual Flow Report.
  296. ^ "18 striking findings from 2018". Gallup. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
  297. ^ "In U.S., Estimate of LGBT Population Rises to 4.5%". Retrieved September 14, 2018.
  309. ^ Dicker, Susan J. (2003). Languages in America: A Pluralist View. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. pp. 216, 220–225. ISBN 978-1-85359-651-3.
    Frederick T.L. Leong; Mark M. Leach (2010). Suicide Among Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups: Theory, Research, and Practice. Routledge. p. 185. ISBN 978-1-135-91680-0.
    Lawrence J. Cunningham; Janice J. Beaty (2001). A History of Guam. Bess Press. p. 203. ISBN 978-1-57306-047-9.
  319. ^ Bureau, U.S. Census. "American FactFinder – Results".
  326. ^ ""Nones" on the Rise: One-in-Five Adults Have No Religious Affiliation" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 26, 2014. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
  327. ^ "US Protestants no longer a majority – study". BBC News.
  332. ^ "United States". Retrieved May 2, 2013.
  333. ^ Media, Minorities, and Meaning: A Critical Introduction — p. 88, Debra L. Merskin – 2010
  335. ^ Richard Middleton, Colonial America, A History, 1565–1776, third edition (London: Blackwell, 2002) pp. 95–103.
  337. ^ "Religious Landscape Study". May 11, 2015.
  338. ^ Walsh, Margaret (2005). The American West. Visions and Revisions. Cambridge University Press. p. 124. ISBN 978-0-521-59671-8.
  346. ^ "National Vital Statistics Volume 67, Number 1, January 31, 2018" (PDF). Center for Disease Control – CDC. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
  350. ^ "Mortality in the United States, 2017". November 29, 2018. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
  351. ^ Bernstein, Lenny (November 29, 2018). "U.S. life expectancy declines again, a dismal trend not seen since World War I". Washington Post. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
  352. ^ Kight, Stef W. (March 6, 2019). "Deaths by suicide, drugs and alcohol reached an all-time high last year". Axios. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  353. ^ MacAskill, Ewen (August 13, 2007). "US Tumbles Down the World Ratings List for Life Expectancy". The Guardian. London. Retrieved August 15, 2007.
  354. ^ "Mexico Obesity Rate Surpasses The United States', Making It Fattest Country in the Americas". Huffington Post.
  355. ^ Schlosser, Eric (2002). Fast Food Nation. New York: Perennial. p. 240. ISBN 978-0-06-093845-1.
  356. ^ "Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity Among Adults: United States, 2003–2004". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Retrieved June 5, 2007.
  357. ^ "Fast Food, Central Nervous System Insulin Resistance, and Obesity". Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. American Heart Association. 2005. Retrieved June 17, 2007.
  358. ^ Murray, Christopher J.L. (July 10, 2013). "The State of US Health, 1990–2010: Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors" (PDF). Journal of the American Medical Association. 310 (6): 591–608. doi:10.1001/jama.2013.13805. PMC 5436627. PMID 23842577. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 25, 2013.
  359. ^ "About Teen Pregnancy". Center for Disease Control. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  360. ^ Whitman, Glen; Raad, Raymond. "Bending the Productivity Curve: Why America Leads the World in Medical Innovation". The Cato Institute. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
  361. ^ Cowen, Tyler (October 5, 2006). "Poor U.S. Scores in Health Care Don't Measure Nobels and Innovation". The New York Times. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
  362. ^ "The U.S. Healthcare System: The Best in the World or Just the Most Expensive?" (PDF). University of Maine. 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 9, 2007. Retrieved November 29, 2006.
  363. ^ "U.S. Uninsured Rate Steady at 12.2% in Fourth Quarter of 2017". Gallup.
  364. ^ Abelson, Reed (June 10, 2008). "Ranks of Underinsured Are Rising, Study Finds". The New York Times. Retrieved October 25, 2008.
  365. ^ Blewett, Lynn A.; et al. (December 2006). "How Much Health Insurance Is Enough? Revisiting the Concept of Underinsurance". Medical Care Research and Review. 63 (6): 663–700. doi:10.1177/1077558706293634. ISSN 1077-5587. PMID 17099121.
  366. ^ Fahrenthold, David A. (April 5, 2006). "Mass. Bill Requires Health Coverage". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 19, 2007.
  367. ^ "Health Care Law 54% Favor Repeal of Health Care Law". Rasmussen Reports. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
  368. ^ "Debate on ObamaCare to intensify in the wake of landmark Supreme Court ruling". Fox News. June 29, 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
  369. ^ "Ages for Compulsory School Attendance …". U.S. Dept. of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved June 10, 2007.
  370. ^ "Statistics About Non-Public Education in the United States". U.S. Dept. of Education, Office of Non-Public Education. Retrieved June 5, 2007.
  371. ^ a b AP (June 25, 2013). "U.S. education spending tops global list, study shows". CBS. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
  372. ^ Rosenstone, Steven J. (December 17, 2009). "Public Education for the Common Good". University of Minnesota. Archived from the original on August 1, 2014. Retrieved March 6, 2009.
  373. ^ "Educational Attainment in the United States: 2003" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved August 1, 2006.
  374. ^ For more detail on U.S. literacy, see A First Look at the Literacy of America's Adults in the 21st century, U.S. Department of Education (2003).
  375. ^ "Human Development Indicators" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Reports. 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 20, 2007. Retrieved January 14, 2008.
  376. ^ "QS World University Rankings". Topuniversities. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
  377. ^ "Top 200 – The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2010–2011". Times Higher Education. Retrieved July 10, 2011.
  378. ^ "Academic Ranking of World Universities 2014". Shanghai Ranking Consultancy. Archived from the original on January 19, 2015. Retrieved May 29, 2015.
  379. ^ "U21 Ranking of National Higher Education Systems 2019 | Universitas 21". Universitas 21. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  380. ^ "Education at a Glance 2013" (PDF). OECD. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
  381. ^ "Student Loan Debt Exceeds One Trillion Dollars". NPR. April 4, 2012. Retrieved September 8, 2013.
  382. ^ Krupnick, Matt (October 4, 2018). "Student loan crisis threatens a generation's American dream". The Guardian. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
  385. ^ Germanos, Andrea (January 11, 2019). "United States Doesn't Even Make Top 20 on Global Democracy Index". Common Dreams. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  386. ^ Simon, Zoltan (January 29, 2019). "U.S. Government Seen as Most Corrupt in Seven Years". Bloomberg. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  387. ^ Mikhail Filippov; Peter C. Ordeshook; Olga Shvetsova (2004). Designing Federalism: A Theory of Self-Sustainable Federal Institutions. Cambridge University Press. p. 242. ISBN 978-0-521-01648-3.
    Barbara Bardes; Mack Shelley; Steffen Schmidt (2013). American Government and Politics Today: Essentials 2013–2014 Edition. Cengage Learning. pp. 265–266. ISBN 978-1-285-60571-5.
  391. ^ Kermit L. Hall; Kevin T. McGuire (2005). Institutions of American Democracy: The Judicial Branch. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-988374-5.
    U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (2013). Learn about the United States: Quick Civics Lessons for the Naturalization Test. Government Printing Office. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-16-091708-0.
    Bryon Giddens-White (2005). The Supreme Court and the Judicial Branch. Heinemann Library. ISBN 978-1-4034-6608-2.
  397. ^ Feldstein, Fabozzi, 2011, p. 9
  398. ^ Schultz, 2009, pp. 164, 453, 503
  399. ^ Schultz, 2009, p. 38
  402. ^ The New York Times 2007, p. 670.
  403. ^ Onuf 2010, p. xvii.
  412. ^ Avaliktos, Neal (2004). The Election Process Revisited. Nova Publishers. p. 111. ISBN 978-1-59454-054-7.
  414. ^ Grigsby, Ellen (2008). Analyzing Politics: An Introduction to Political Science. Cengage Learning. pp. 106–107. ISBN 978-0-495-50112-1.
  416. ^ "U.S. Senate: Leadership & Officers". Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  417. ^ "Leadership |". Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  418. ^ "Congressional Profile". Office of the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives.
  419. ^ "Governor Election Results 2018". The New York Times. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  422. ^ Ambrose Akenuwa (2015). Is the United States Still the Land of the Free and Home to the Brave?. p. 79. ISBN 978-1-329-26112-9.
  427. ^ Vaughn, Bruce (August 8, 2008). Australia: Background and U.S. Relations. Congressional Research Service. OCLC 70208969.
  434. ^ "América Latina en la era Trump".
  435. ^ "Obama reveals plans to boost aid to Colombia to $450 million". Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  436. ^ "Remarks by President Obama and President Santos of Colombia at Plan Colombia Reception". February 4, 2016. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
    Loren Yager; Emil Friberg; Leslie Holen (2003). Foreign Relations: Migration from Micronesian Nations Has Had Significant Impact on Guam, Hawaii, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Diane Publishing. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-7567-3394-0.
  442. ^ Konish, Lorie (June 30, 2018). "More Americans are considering cutting their ties with the US — here's why". CNBC. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
  443. ^ Power, Julie (March 3, 2018). "Tax fears: US-Aussie dual citizens provide IRS with details of $184 billion". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
  447. ^ Lowrey, Annie (January 4, 2013). "Tax Code May Be the Most Progressive Since 1979,". The New York Times. Retrieved January 6, 2014.
  448. ^ Slemrod, Joel. Tax Progressivity and Income Inequality.
  450. ^ Isabelle Joumard; Mauro Pisu; Debbie Bloch (2012). "Tackling income inequality The role of taxes and transfers" (PDF). OECD Journal: Economic Studies: 27. Retrieved September 24, 2015. Various studies have compared the progressivity of tax systems of European countries with that of the United States (see for instance Prasad and Deng, 2009; Piketty and Saez, 2007; Joumard, 2001). Though they use different definitions, methods and databases, they reach the same conclusion: the US tax system is more progressive than those of the continental European countries.
  451. ^ Taxation in the US:
  460. ^ "Is Social SecurityProgressove? CBO" (PDF).
  464. ^ Tax incidence of corporate tax in the United States: