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United States
| Introduction |
United States |
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Background:
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Britain's American colonies broke with the mother country in 1776 and were recognized as the new nation of the United States of America following the Treaty of Paris in 1783. During the 19th and 20th centuries, 37 new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the North American continent and acquired a number of overseas possessions. The two most traumatic experiences in the nation's history were the Civil War (1861-65) and the Great Depression of the 1930s. Buoyed by victories in World Wars I and II and the end of the Cold War in 1991, the US remains the world's most powerful nation state. The economy is marked by steady growth, low unemployment and inflation, and rapid advances in technology. |
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Location:
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North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico |
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Geographic coordinates:
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38 00 N, 97 00 W |
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Map references:
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North America |
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Area:
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total: 9,631,420 sq km
land: 9,161,923 sq km
water: 469,497 sq km
note: includes only the 50 states and District of Columbia |
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Area - comparative:
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about half the size of Russia; about three-tenths the size of Africa; about half the size of South America (or slightly larger than Brazil); slightly larger than China; almost two and a half times the size of the European Union |
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Land boundaries:
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total: 12,034 km
border countries: Canada 8,893 km (including 2,477 km with Alaska), Mexico 3,141 km
note: US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is leased by the US and is part of Cuba; the base boundary is 29 km |
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Coastline:
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19,924 km |
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Maritime claims:
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territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: not specified |
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Climate:
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mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida, arctic in Alaska, semiarid in the great plains west of the Mississippi River, and arid in the Great Basin of the southwest; low winter temperatures in the northwest are ameliorated occasionally in January and February by warm chinook winds from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains |
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Terrain:
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vast central plain, mountains in west, hills and low mountains in east; rugged mountains and broad river valleys in Alaska; rugged, volcanic topography in Hawaii |
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: Death Valley -86 m
highest point: Mount McKinley 6,194 m |
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Natural resources:
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coal, copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates, uranium, bauxite, gold, iron, mercury, nickel, potash, silver, tungsten, zinc, petroleum, natural gas, timber |
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Land use:
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arable land: 18.01%
permanent crops: 0.21%
other: 81.78% (2005) |
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Irrigated land:
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223,850 sq km (2003) |
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Natural hazards:
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tsunamis, volcanoes, and earthquake activity around Pacific Basin; hurricanes along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts; tornadoes in the midwest and southeast; mud slides in California; forest fires in the west; flooding; permafrost in northern Alaska, a major impediment to development |
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Environment - current issues:
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air pollution resulting in acid rain in both the US and Canada; the US is the largest single emitter of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels; water pollution from runoff of pesticides and fertilizers; limited natural fresh water resources in much of the western part of the country require careful management; desertification |
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Environment - international agreements:
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party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Biodiversity, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Hazardous Wastes |
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Geography - note:
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world's third-largest country by size (after Russia and Canada) and by population (after China and India); Mt. McKinley is highest point in North America and Death Valley the lowest point on the continent |
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Population:
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298,444,215 (July 2006 est.) |
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Age structure:
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0-14 years: 20.4% (male 31,095,847/female 29,715,872)
15-64 years: 67.2% (male 100,022,845/female 100,413,484)
65 years and over: 12.5% (male 15,542,288/female 21,653,879) (2006 est.) |
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Median age:
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total: 36.5 years
male: 35.1 years
female: 37.8 years (2006 est.) |
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Population growth rate:
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0.91% (2006 est.) |
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Birth rate:
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14.14 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
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Death rate:
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8.26 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
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Net migration rate:
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3.18 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
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Sex ratio:
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at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female
total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2006 est.) |
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Infant mortality rate:
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total: 6.43 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 7.09 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 5.74 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) |
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Life expectancy at birth:
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total population: 77.85 years
male: 75.02 years
female: 80.82 years (2006 est.) |
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Total fertility rate:
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2.09 children born/woman (2006 est.) |
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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
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0.6% (2003 est.) |
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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
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950,000 (2003 est.) |
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HIV/AIDS - deaths:
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14,000 (2003 est.) |
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Nationality:
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noun: American(s)
adjective: American |
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Ethnic groups:
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white 81.7%, black 12.9%, Asian 4.2%, Amerindian and Alaska native 1%, native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander 0.2% (2003 est.)
note: a separate listing for Hispanic is not included because the US Census Bureau considers Hispanic to mean a person of Latin American descent (including persons of Cuban, Mexican, or Puerto Rican origin) living in the US who may be of any race or ethnic group (white, black, Asian, etc.) |
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Religions:
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Protestant 52%, Roman Catholic 24%, Mormon 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 1%, other 10%, none 10% (2002 est.) |
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Languages:
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English 82.1%, Spanish 10.7%, other Indo-European 3.8%, Asian and Pacific island 2.7%, other 0.7% (2000 census) |
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Literacy:
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definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99%
male: 99%
female: 99% (2003 est.) |
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Country name:
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conventional long form: United States of America
conventional short form: United States
abbreviation: US or USA |
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Government type:
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Constitution-based federal republic; strong democratic tradition |
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Capital:
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Washington, DC |
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Administrative divisions:
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50 states and 1 district*; Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia*, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming |
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Dependent areas:
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American Samoa, Baker Island, Guam, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Islands, Navassa Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palmyra Atoll, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Wake Island
note: from 18 July 1947 until 1 October 1994, the US administered the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands; it entered into a political relationship with all four political units: the Northern Mariana Islands is a commonwealth in political union with the US (effective 3 November 1986); the Republic of the Marshall Islands signed a Compact of Free Association with the US (effective 21 October 1986); the Federated States of Micronesia signed a Compact of Free Association with the US (effective 3 November 1986); Palau concluded a Compact of Free Association with the US (effective 1 October 1994) |
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Independence:
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4 July 1776 (from Great Britain) |
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National holiday:
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Independence Day, 4 July (1776) |
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Constitution:
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17 September 1787, effective 4 March 1789 |
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Legal system:
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federal court system based on English common law; each state has its own unique legal system, of which all but one (Louisiana's) is based on English common law; judicial review of legislative acts |
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Suffrage:
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18 years of age; universal |
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Executive branch:
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chief of state: President George W. BUSH of the US (since 20 January 2001); Vice President Richard B. CHENEY (since 20 January 2001); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President George W. BUSH of the US (since 20 January 2001); Vice President Richard B. CHENEY (since 20 January 2001); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president with Senate approval
elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by a college of representatives who are elected directly from each state; president and vice president serve four-year terms; election last held 2 November 2004 (next to be held 4 November 2008)
election results: George W. BUSH reelected president; percent of popular vote - George W. BUSH (Republican Party) 50.9%, John KERRY (Democratic Party) 48.1%, other 1.0% |
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Legislative branch:
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bicameral Congress consists of the Senate (100 seats, one-third are renewed every two years; 2 members are elected from each state by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and the House of Representatives (435 seats; members are directly elected by popular vote to serve two-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 2 November 2004 (next to be held on 7 November 2006); House of Representatives - last held 2 November 2004 (next to be held on 7 November 2006)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - Republican Party 55, Democratic Party 44, independent 1; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - Republican Party 231, Democratic Party 200, undecided 4 |
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Judicial branch:
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Supreme Court (its nine justices are appointed for life on condition of good behavior by the president with confirmation by the Senate); United States Courts of Appeal; United States District Courts; State and County Courts |
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Political parties and leaders:
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Democratic Party [Howard DEAN]; Green Party; Libertarian Party [Steve DAMERELL]; Republican Party [Ken MEHLMAN] |
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Political pressure groups and leaders:
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NA |
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International organization participation:
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AfDB, ANZUS, APEC, Arctic Council, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group, BIS, CBSS (observer), CE (observer), CERN (observer), CP, EAPC, EBRD, FAO, G-5, G-7, G- 8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, MINUSTAH, NAFTA, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS, OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, PIF (partner), SPC, UN, UN Security Council, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMOVIC, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UNTSO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC |
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Flag description:
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13 equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white; there is a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing 50 small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars (top and bottom) alternating with rows of five stars; the 50 stars represent the 50 states, the 13 stripes represent the 13 original colonies; known as Old Glory; the design and colors have been the basis for a number of other flags, including Chile, Liberia, Malaysia, and Puerto Rico |
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Economy - overview:
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The US has the largest and most technologically powerful economy in the world, with a per capita GDP of $42,000. In this market-oriented economy, private individuals and business firms make most of the decisions, and the federal and state governments buy needed goods and services predominantly in the private marketplace. US business firms enjoy greater flexibility than their counterparts in Western Europe and Japan in decisions to expand capital plant, to lay off surplus workers, and to develop new products. At the same time, they face higher barriers to enter their rivals' home markets than foreign firms face entering US markets. US firms are at or near the forefront in technological advances, especially in computers and in medical, aerospace, and military equipment; their advantage has narrowed since the end of World War II. The onrush of technology largely explains the gradual development of a "two-tier labor market" in which those at the bottom lack the education and the professional/technical skills of those at the top and, more and more, fail to get comparable pay raises, health insurance coverage, and other benefits. Since 1975, practically all the gains in household income have gone to the top 20% of households. The response to the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 showed the remarkable resilience of the economy. The war in March-April 2003 between a US-led coalition and Iraq, and the subsequent occupation of Iraq, required major shifts in national resources to the military. The rise in GDP in 2004 and 2005 was undergirded by substantial gains in labor productivity. Hurricane Katrina caused extensive damage in the Gulf Coast region in August 2005, but had a small impact on overall GDP growth for the year. Soaring oil prices in 2005 and 2006 threatened inflation and unemployment, yet the economy continued to grow through mid-2006. Imported oil accounts for about two-thirds of US consumption. Long-term problems include inadequate investment in economic infrastructure, rapidly rising medical and pension costs of an aging population, sizable trade and budget deficits, and stagnation of family income in the lower economic groups. |
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GDP (purchasing power parity):
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$12.36 trillion (2005 est.) |
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GDP (official exchange rate):
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$12.49 trillion (2005 est.) |
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GDP - real growth rate:
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3.5% (2005 est.) |
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GDP - per capita (PPP):
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$41,800 (2005 est.) |
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GDP - composition by sector:
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agriculture: 1%
industry: 20.7%
services: 78.3% (2005 est.) |
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Labor force:
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149.3 million (includes unemployed) (2005 est.) |
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Labor force - by occupation:
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farming, forestry, and fishing 0.7%, manufacturing, extraction, transportation, and crafts 22.9%, managerial, professional, and technical 34.7%, sales and office 25.4%, other services 16.3%
note: figures exclude the unemployed (2005) |
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Unemployment rate:
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5.1% (2005 est.) |
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Population below poverty line:
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12% (2004 est.) |
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Household income or consumption by percentage share:
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lowest 10%: 1.8%
highest 10%: 30.5% (1997) |
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Distribution of family income - Gini index:
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45 (2004) |
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Inflation rate (consumer prices):
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3.2% (2005 est.) |
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Investment (gross fixed):
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16.8% of GDP (2005 est.) |
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Budget:
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revenues: $2.119 trillion
expenditures: $2.466 trillion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2005 est.) |
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Public debt:
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64.7% of GDP (2005 est.) |
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Agriculture - products:
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wheat, corn, other grains, fruits, vegetables, cotton; beef, pork, poultry, dairy products; fish; forest products |
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Industries:
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leading industrial power in the world, highly diversified and technologically advanced; petroleum, steel, motor vehicles, aerospace, telecommunications, chemicals, electronics, food processing, consumer goods, lumber, mining |
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Industrial production growth rate:
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3.2% (2005 est.) |
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Electricity - production:
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3.892 trillion kWh (2003) |
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Electricity - production by source:
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fossil fuel: 71.4%
hydro: 5.6%
nuclear: 20.7%
other: 2.3% (2001) |
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Electricity - consumption:
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3.656 trillion kWh (2003) |
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Electricity - exports:
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23.97 billion kWh (2003) |
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Electricity - imports:
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30.39 billion kWh (2003) |
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Oil - production:
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7.61 million bbl/day (2005 est.) |
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Oil - consumption:
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20.03 million bbl/day (2003 est.) |
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Oil - exports:
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1.048 million bbl/day (2004) |
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Oil - imports:
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13.15 million bbl/day (2004) |
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Oil - proved reserves:
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22.45 billion bbl (1 January 2002) |
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Natural gas - production:
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539 billion cu m (2003 est.) |
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Natural gas - consumption:
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633.6 billion cu m (2003 est.) |
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Natural gas - exports:
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24.19 billion cu m (2004) |
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Natural gas - imports:
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114.1 billion cu m (2004 est.) |
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Natural gas - proved reserves:
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5.353 trillion cu m (1 January 2002) |
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Current account balance:
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$-829.1 billion (2005 est.) |
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Exports:
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$927.5 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.) |
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Exports - commodities:
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agricultural products (soybeans, fruit, corn) 9.2%, industrial supplies (organic chemicals) 26.8%, capital goods (transistors, aircraft, motor vehicle parts, computers, telecommunications equipment) 49.0%, consumer goods (automobiles, medicines) 15.0% (2003) |
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Exports - partners:
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Canada 23%, Mexico 13.6%, Japan 6.7%, UK 4.4%, China 4.3% (2004) |
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Imports:
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$1.727 trillion f.o.b. (2005 est.) |
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Imports - commodities:
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agricultural products 4.9%, industrial supplies 32.9% (crude oil 8.2%), capital goods 30.4% (computers, telecommunications equipment, motor vehicle parts, office machines, electric power machinery), consumer goods 31.8% (automobiles, clothing, medicines, furniture, toys) (2003) |
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Imports - partners:
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Canada 17%, China 13.8%, Mexico 10.3%, Japan 8.7%, Germany 5.2% (2004) |
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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
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$86.94 billion (2004 est.) |
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Debt - external:
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$8.837 trillion (30 June 2005 est.) |
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Economic aid - donor:
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ODA, $6.9 billion (1997) |
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Currency (code):
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US dollar (USD) |
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Currency code:
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USD |
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Exchange rates:
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British pounds per US dollar - 0.5500 (2005), 0.5462 (2004), 0.6125 (2003), 0.6672 (2002), 0.6947 (2001); Canadian dollars per US dollar - 1.2118 (2005), 1.3010 (2004), 1.4011 (2003), 1.5693 (2002), 1.5488 (2001); Japanese yen per US dollar - 110.22 (2005), 108.19 (2004), 115.93 (2003), 125.39 (2002), 121.53 (2001); euros per US dollar - 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004), 0.8866 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001); Chinese yuan per US dollar - 8.1943 (2005), 8.2768 (2004), 8.2770 (2003), 8.2770 (2002), 8.2271 (2001) |
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Fiscal year:
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1 October - 30 September |
| Communications |
United States |
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Telephones - main lines in use:
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268 million (2003) |
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Telephones - mobile cellular:
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194,479,364 (2005) |
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Telephone system:
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general assessment: a large, technologically advanced, multipurpose communications system
domestic: a large system of fiber-optic cable, microwave radio relay, coaxial cable, and domestic satellites carries every form of telephone traffic; a rapidly growing cellular system carries mobile telephone traffic throughout the country
international: country code - 1; 24 ocean cable systems in use; satellite earth stations - 61 Intelsat (45 Atlantic Ocean and 16 Pacific Ocean), 5 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region), and 4 Inmarsat (Pacific and Atlantic Ocean regions) (2000) |
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Radio broadcast stations:
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AM 4,789, FM 8,961, shortwave 19 (2006) |
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Radios:
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575 million (1997) |
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Television broadcast stations:
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2,218 (2006) |
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Televisions:
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219 million (1997) |
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Internet country code:
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.us |
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Internet hosts:
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195,138,696 (2004) |
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Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
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7,000 (2002 est.) |
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Internet users:
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203,824,428 (2005) |
| Transportation |
United States |
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Airports:
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14,893 (2005) |
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Airports - with paved runways:
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total: 5,120
over 3,047 m: 191
2,438 to 3,047 m: 223
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1,402
914 to 1,523 m: 2,355
under 914 m: 949 (2005) |
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Airports - with unpaved runways:
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total: 9,773
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 7
1,524 to 2,437 m: 156
914 to 1,523 m: 1,736
under 914 m: 7,873 (2005) |
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Heliports:
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153 (2005) |
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Pipelines:
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petroleum products 244,620 km; natural gas 548,665 km (2003) |
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Railways:
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total: 227,736 km
standard gauge: 227,736 km 1.435-m gauge (2003) |
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Roadways:
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total: 6,407,637 km
paved: 4,164,964 km (including 74,950 km of expressways)
unpaved: 2,242,673 km (2004) |
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Waterways:
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41,009 km (19,312 km used for commerce)
note: Saint Lawrence Seaway of 3,769 km, including the Saint Lawrence River of 3,058 km, shared with Canada (2004) |
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Merchant marine:
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total: 470 ships (1000 GRT or over) 10,698,467 GRT/13,466,359 DWT
by type: barge carrier 7, bulk carrier 65, cargo 93, chemical tanker 20, container 82, passenger 19, passenger/cargo 56, petroleum tanker 76, refrigerated cargo 3, roll on/roll off 28, specialized tanker 1, vehicle carrier 20
foreign-owned: 48 (Australia 2, Canada 6, Denmark 20, Greece 3, Malaysia 3, Netherlands 4, Norway 2, Sweden 4, Taiwan 1, UK 2, US 1)
registered in other countries: 659 (Antigua and Barbuda 7, Australia 3, The Bahamas 121, Belize 2, Bermuda 26, Bolivia 1, Cambodia 6, Canada 2, Cayman Islands 42, China 1, Comoros 2, Cyprus 6, Finland 1, Gibraltar 2, Honduras 2, Hong Kong 19, Ireland 1, Isle of Man 3, Italy 15, North Korea 4, Liberia 77, Luxembourg 3, Malta 4, Marshall Islands 131, Federated States of Micronesia 2, Netherlands 11, Netherlands Antilles 1, Norway 13, Panama 97, Peru 1, Philippines 4, Puerto Rico 2, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 21, Singapore 6, Spain 6, Sweden 1, Tonga 1, Trinidad and Tobago 1, UK 6, US 1, Vanuatu 1, Venezuela 1, Wallis and Futuna 1, unknown 1) (2005) |
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Ports and terminals:
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Corpus Christi, Duluth, Hampton Roads, Houston, Long Beach, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, Tampa, Texas City
note: 13 ports north of New Orleans (South Louisiana Ports) on the Mississippi River handle 290,000,000 tons of cargo annually |
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Military branches:
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Army, Navy and Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard; note - Coast Guard administered in peacetime by the Department of Homeland Security, but in wartime reports to the Department of the Navy |
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Military service age and obligation:
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18 years of age; 17 years of age with written parental consent (2006) |
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Manpower available for military service:
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males age 18-49: 67,742,879
females age 18-49: 67,070,144 (2005 est.) |
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Manpower fit for military service:
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males age 18-49: 54,609,050
females age 18-49: 54,696,706 (2005 est.) |
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Manpower reaching military service age annually:
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males age 18-49: 2,143,873
females age 18-49: 2,036,201 (2005 est.) |
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Military expenditures - dollar figure:
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$518.1 billion (FY04 est.) (2005 est.) |
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Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
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4.06% (FY03 est.) (2005 est.) |
| Transnational Issues |
United States |
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Disputes - international:
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prolonged drought, population growth, and outmoded practices and infrastructure in the border region strain water-sharing arrangements with Mexico; the US has stepped up efforts to stem nationals from Mexico, Central America, and other parts of the world from crossing illegally into the US from Mexico; illegal immigrants from the Caribbean, notably Haiti and the Dominican Republic, attempt to enter the US through Florida by sea; 1990 Maritime Boundary Agreement in the Bering Sea still awaits Russian Duma ratification; managed maritime boundary disputes with Canada at Dixon Entrance, Beaufort Sea, Strait of Juan de Fuca, and around the disputed Machias Seal Island and North Rock; US and Canada seek greater cooperation in monitoring people and commodities crossing the border; The Bahamas and US have not been able to agree on a maritime boundary; US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay is leased from Cuba and only mutual agreement or US abandonment of the area can terminate the lease; Haiti claims US-administered Navassa Island; US has made no territorial claim in Antarctica (but has reserved the right to do so) and does not recognize the claims of any other state; Marshall Islands claims Wake Island |
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Refugees and internally displaced persons:
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refugees (country of origin): the US admitted 52,868 refugees during FY03/04 including: 13,331 (Somalia), 6,000 (Laos), 3,482 (Ukraine), 2,959 (Cuba), 1,787 (Iran); note - 32,229 refugees had been admitted as of 30 June 2005 |
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Illicit drugs:
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world's largest consumer of cocaine, shipped from Colombia through Mexico and the Caribbean; consumer of heroin, marijuana, and increasingly methamphetamine from Mexico; consumer of high-quality Southeast Asian heroin; illicit producer of cannabis, marijuana, depressants, stimulants, hallucinogens, and methamphetamine; money-laundering center |
History of the United States
Pre-Colonial America
The land of what is now the United States is thought to have been populated by people migrating from Asia via the Bering land bridge some time between 50,000 and 11,000 years ago. These people became the indigenous people who inhabited the Americas prior to the arrival of European explorers in the 1400s and who are now called Native Americans.
Many cultures thrived in the Americas before Europeans came, including the Puebloans (Anasazi) in the Southwest and the Adena Culture in the East. Several such societies and communities, over time, intensified this practice of established settlements, and grew to support sizeable and concentrated populations. Agriculture was independently developed in what is now the eastern United States by 2500 BC, based on the domestication of indigenous sunflower, squash and goosefoot. Eventually, in the last eleven hundred years, the Mexican crops of corn and beans were adapted to the shorter summers of eastern North America and replaced the indigenous crops.
Native Americans in the United States (also known as Indians, American Indians, Amerindians, Amerinds, or Indigenous, Aboriginal or Original peoples or Americans) are the indigenous peoples within the territory that is now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska down to their descendants in modern times. In Canada they are known as First Nations, and those nations unique to that nation-state are covered in the article First Nations. This collective term encompasses a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which are still enduring as political communities. There is some controversy surrounding the names used to describe these peoples.
The U.S. states and several of the inhabited insular areas that are not part of the continental U.S. also contain indigenous groups. Some of these other indigenous peoples in the United States, including the Inuit, Yupik Eskimos, and Aleuts, are not usually counted as Native Americans. Nor are Native Hawaiians (also known as Kanaka Mâoli and Kanaka 'Oiwi) or various other Pacific Islander American peoples such as the Chamorros.
Early European settlements
One recorded European exploration of the Americas was by Christopher Columbus in 1492, sailing on behalf of the King and Queen of Spain. He didn't reach mainland America until his fourth voyage, almost 20 years later. Natives of the Caribbean islands, whom he mistook for people of the Indies (thus, "Indians") greeted him and his fleet by swimming out to their ships with gifts and food. Columbus, after island-hopping for several months, heard nothing of gold, his main drive for the voyage. However, he realized that a great market of slavery could be made with these populations.
After a period of exploration by various European countries, Dutch, Spanish, English, French, Swedish, and Portuguese settlements were established. The first such settlement was a Spanish settlement at St. Augustine in what is now the state of Florida, which still exists today.
In the 15th century, Spaniards and other Europeans brought horses to the Americas. The introduction of the horse had a profound impact on Native American culture in the Great Plains of North America. The horse offered revolutionary speed and efficiency, both while hunting and in battle. The horse also became a sort of currency for native tribes and nations. Horses became a pivotal part in solidifying social hierarchy, expanding trade areas with neighboring tribes, and creating a stereotype both to their advantage and against it, as well.
During colonization, the European colonizers committed ruthless acts. The Spanish conquistadores brought about the end of the great Incans of Ecuador and Peru and killed many Mayans, although the latter remain today. European diseases, brought over by the colonizers, killed countless natives. While the colonizers already had an immunity to these diseases, the natives were susceptible to them. The Portuguese and French focused mainly on trade, but some amount of brutal colonization occurred. The English colonization of North America was a result of deplorable diplomacy; the colonizers made and broke countless agreements with the natives at some points and waged war at others.
Colonial America (1493-1776)
Colonial America was defined by ongoing battles between mainly English-speaking colonists and Native Americans, by a severe labor shortage that gave birth to forms of unfree labor such as slavery and indentured servitude, and by a British policy of benign neglect (salutary neglect) that permitted the development of an American spirit distinct from that of its European founders.
The first truly successful English colony was established in 1607, on the James River near the Chesapeake Bay. The Virginia Company of London financed the purchase of three ships to transport settlers to the Virginia colony. The settlers sailed to Virginia on three ships. The names of the three ships were The Susan Constant, Godspeed and the Discovery. The leader of the group was Captain Christopher Newport. Also on board was John Smith, an explorer, soldier, and writer. King James decided to give the Virginia Company a charter for the Jamestown settlement. When the settlers landed in Jamestown, they chose a place they thought had fresh water, deep water to dock their ships, and was easy to defend. The settlement was named Jamestown after the king. England also wanted to find gold, silver and other riches in North America.
As increasing numbers of settlers arrived in Virginia, many conflicts arose between the Native Americans and the colonists. The colonists increasingly appropriated land to farm and grow tobacco. This was the beginning of a general trend towards displacing Native Americans westward to make room for settlers.
One example of conflict between Native Americans and English settlers was the 1622 Powhatan uprising in Virginia, in which Indians had killed hundreds of English settlers. The largest conflict between Native Americans and English settlers in the 17th century was King Philip's War in New England.
Differences of language, religion and culture also contributed to the friction between the two groups. At the base of the friction was an assumption by the English colonists of racial, cultural and moral superiority.
New England was founded by two separate groups of religious dissenters. A second group of colonists called the Puritans established the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629. The Middle Colonies, consisting of the present-day states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, were characterized by a large degree of diversity. The first attempted English settlement south of Virginia was the Province of Carolina, with Georgia Colony the last of the 13 colonies established in 1733.
Spain claimed or controlled a large part of the central and western United States as part of New Spain which included Spanish Florida, California and Texas. In 1682, French explorer Sieur de La Salle explored the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, and claimed the entire territory as far south as the Gulf of Mexico, which became New France. The Louisiana Territory, under Spanish control since the end of the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), remained off-limits to settlement from the 13 American colonies.
These are historic regions of the United States, meaning regions that were legal entities in the past, or which the average modern American would no longer immediately recognize as a regional description.
Formation of the United States (1776-1789)
During this period the United States won its independence from Great Britain by winning the American Revolutionary War, and the thirteen former colonies established themselves as the United States of America under the Articles of Confederation.
On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress, still meeting in Philadelphia declared the independence of the United States in a remarkable document, the Declaration of Independence, primarily authored by Thomas Jefferson. Morocco was the first country in the World to recognize the newly sovereign United States in 1777. The Moroccan-American Treaty of Friendship stands as the U.S.'s oldest non-broken friendship treaty. Signed by John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, it has been in continuous effect since 1783.
The United States celebrates its founding date as July 4, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress—representing thirteen British colonies—adopted the Declaration of Independence that rejected British authority in favor of self-determination. The structure of the government was profoundly changed on March 4, 1789, when the states replaced the Articles of Confederation with the United States Constitution. The new government reflected a radical break from the normative governmental structures of the time, favoring representative, elective government with a weak executive, rather than the existing monarchial structures common within the western traditions of the time. The system borrowed heavily from enlightenment age ideas and classical western philosophy, in that a primacy was placed upon individual liberty and upon constraining the power of government through division of powers and a system of checks and balances.
The colonists' victory at Saratoga led the French into an open alliance with the United States. In 1781, a combined American and French Army, acting with the support of a French fleet, captured a large British army, led by General Cornwallis, at Yorktown, Virginia (see Siege of Yorktown). The surrender of General Cornwallis ended serious British efforts to find a military solution to their American problem.
A series of attempts to organize a movement to outline and press reforms culminated in the Congress calling the Constitutional Convention of 1787, which met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Westward Expansion (1789–1849)
During this period, the United States government was established by its first president, George Washington, and the Louisiana Purchase, the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, and various Indian Wars expanded and consolidated the land expanse of the United States--while largely displacing the indigenous population.
George Washington, a renowned hero of the American Revolutionary War, commander and chief of the Continental Army, and president of the Constitutional Convention, became the first President of the United States under the new U.S. Constitution. The Whiskey Rebellion in 1794, when settlers in the Monongahela Valley of western Pennsylvania protested against a federal tax on liquor and distilled drinks, was the first serious test of the federal government.
The Louisiana Purchase, in 1803, gave Western farmers use of the important Mississippi River waterway, removed the French presence from the western border of the United States, and provided U.S. settlers with vast potential for expansion. In response to continued British impressment of American sailors into the British Navy Madison had the Twelfth United States Congress—led by Southern and Western Jeffersonians—declared war on Britain in 1812. The United States and Britain came to a draw in the War of 1812, after bitter fighting that lasted until January 8, 1815. The Treaty of Ghent, officially ending the war, essentially resulted in the maintenance of the 'status quo ante bellum'; but, crucially for the U.S., saw the end of the British alliance with the Native Americans.
The Monroe Doctrine, expressed in 1823, proclaimed the United States' opinion that European powers should no longer colonize or interfere in the Americas; this was a defining moment in the foreign policy of the United States.
In 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, which authorized the president to negotiate treaties that exchanged Indian tribal lands in the eastern states for lands west of the Mississippi River. This established Andrew Jackson, a military hero and president, as a cunning tyrant in regards to native populations. This Act resulted in the Chickasaw and Choctaw tribes to peacefully go and die en route to the West, the Creeks to put up violent opposition and eventual defeat, and the Cherokee Nation to peacefully take up farming and "civilized behavior." The Cherokees, under Jackson's presidency, were eventually pushed from their land, even after successful agriculture, trade, and the first North American Indian written language was established. The Indian Removal Act also directly caused the ceding of Spanish Florida and subsequently to the many Seminole Wars.
Mexico refused to accept the annexation of Texas in 1845, and war broke out in 1846. The U.S., using regulars and large numbers of volunteers, defeated Mexico, which was badly led, short on resources, and was plagued by a divided command. Public sentiment in the States was also divided, as Whigs and anti-slavery forces opposed the war. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, in 1848, California, New Mexico and adjacent areas to the United States. In 1850, the issue of slavery in the new territories was settled by the Compromise of 1850 brokered by Whig Henry Clay and Democrat Stephen Douglas.
Civil War Era (1849–1865)
This period of United States history saw the breakdown of the ability of white Americans of the North and South to reconcile fundamental differences in their approach to government, economics, society and African American slavery. Abraham Lincoln was elected president, the South seceded to form the Confederate States of America, the Civil War followed, with the ultimate defeat of the South.
In 1854, the proposed Kansas-Nebraska Act abrogated the Missouri Compromise by providing that each new state of the Union would decide its stance on slavery. After the election of Abraham Lincoln, eleven Southern states seceded from the union between late 1860 and 1861, establishing a rebel government, the Confederate States of America on February 9, 1861.
The Civil War began when Confederate General Pierre Beauregard opened fire upon Fort Sumter. They fired because Fort Sumter was in a confederate state. Along with the northwestern portion of Virginia, four of the five northernmost "slave states" did not secede, and became known as the Border States. Emboldened by Second Bull Run, the Confederacy made its first invasion of the North when General Robert E. Lee led 55,000 men of the Army of Northern Virginia across the Potomac River into Maryland. The Battle of Antietam near Sharpsburg, Maryland, on September 17 1862, was the bloodiest single day in American history. At the beginning of 1864, Lincoln made General Ulysses S. Grant commander of all Union armies. Sherman marched from Chattanooga to Atlanta, defeating Confederate Generals Joseph E. Johnston and John B. Hood. Sherman's army laid waste to about 20% of the farms in Georgia in his celebrated "March to the Sea", and reaching the Atlantic Ocean at Savannah in December 1864. Lee finally surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Court House.
Reconstruction and the Rise of Industrialization (1865–1918)
After its civil war, America experienced an accelerated rate of industrialization, mainly in the northern states. However, Reconstruction and its failure left the Southern whites in a position of firm control over its black population, denying them their Civil Rights and keeping them in a state of economic, social and political servitude. Since the late 1800s, the United States has been formally grouped amongst the Great Powers, and has also become a dominant economic force.
U.S. Federal government policy, since the James Monroe administration, had been to move the indigenous population beyond the reach of the white frontier into a series of Indian Reservations. In 1876, the last serious Sioux war erupted, when the Dakota gold rush penetrated the Black Hills.
An unprecedented wave of immigration to the United States served both to provide the labor for American industry and to create diverse communities in previously undeveloped areas. Native American tribes were generally forced onto small reservations as white farmers and ranchers took over their lands. Abusive industrial practices led to the often violent rise of the labor movement in the United States.
The United States began its rise to international power in this period with substantial population and industrial growth domestically, and a number of military ventures abroad, including the Spanish-American War, which began when the United States blamed the sinking of the USS Maine (ACR-1) on Spain without any real evidence.
This period was capped by the 1917 entry of the United States into World War I.
Post World War I and the Great Depression (1918–1940)
Following World War I, the U.S. grew steadily in stature as an economic and military world power. The after-shock of Russia's October Revolution resulted in real fears of communism in the United States, leading to a three year Red Scare.
The United States Senate did not ratify the Treaty of Versailles imposed by its Allies on the defeated Central Powers; instead, the United States chose to pursue unilateralism, if not isolationism.
In 1920, the manufacture, sale, import and export of alcohol was prohibited by the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Prohibition ended in 1933, a failure.
During most of the 1920s, the United States enjoyed a period of unbalanced prosperity: farm prices and wages fell, while industrial profits grew. The boom was fueled by a rise in debt and an inflated Stock Market. The Stock Market crash in 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression led to government efforts to re-start the economy and help its victims, with Roosevelt's New Deal. The recovery was rapid in all areas except unemployment, which remained fairly high until 1940.
Homefront: World War II (1940-1945)
The United States threw its diplomatic and economic power into the war beginning in May 1940, when it became the "Arsenal of Democracy." Militarily it entered after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. The U.S. joined Britain, Nationalist China, and the Soviet Union to defeat Imperial Japan, Fascist Italy, and Nazi Germany.
Cold War Beginnings and the Civil Rights Movement (1945–1964)
Following World War II, the United States emerged as one of the two dominant superpowers. The U.S. Senate, on December 4, 1945, approved U.S. participation in the United Nations (UN), which marked a turn away from the traditional isolationism of the U.S. and toward more international involvement. The post-war era in the United States was defined internationally by the beginning of the Cold War, in which the United States and the Soviet Union attempted to expand their influence at the expense of the other, checked by each side's massive nuclear arsenal and the doctrine of mutual assured destruction. The result was a series of conflicts during this period including the Korean War and the tense nuclear showdown of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Within the United States, the Cold War prompted concerns about Communist influence, and also resulted in government efforts to encourage math and science toward efforts like the space race.
In the decades after the Second World War, the United States became a dominant global influence in economic, political, military, cultural and technological affairs. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, it stands today as the sole superpower. The power of the United States is nonetheless limited by international agreements and the realities of political, military and economic constraints. At the center of middle-class culture since the 1950s has been a growing obsession with consumer goods.
John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960, known for his charisma, he was the only Catholic to ever be President. The Kennedys brought a new life and vigor to the atmosphere of the White House. During his time in office, the Cold War reached its height with the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. He was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963.
Meanwhile, the American people completed their great migration from the farms into the cities, and experienced a period of sustained economic expansion. At the same time, institutionalized racism across the United States, but especially in the American South, was increasingly challenged by the growing Civil Rights movement and African American leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr. During the 1960s, the Jim Crow laws that legalized racial segregation between Whites and Blacks came to an end.
Cold War (1964–1980)
The Cold War continued through the 1960s and 1970s, and the United States entered the Vietnam War, whose growing unpopularity fed already existing social movements, including those among women, minorities and young people. President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society social programs and the judicial activism of the Warren Court added to the wide range of social reform during the 1960s and 70s. The period saw the birth of feminism and the environmental movement as political forces, and continued progress toward Civil Rights.
In the early 1970s, Johnson's successor, President Richard Nixon brought the Vietnam War to a close, and the American-backed South Vietnamese government collapsed. The war cost the lives of 58,000 American troops and millions of Vietnamese. Nixon's own administration was brought to an ignominious close with the political scandal of Watergate. The OPEC oil embargo and slowing economic growth led to a period of stagflation under President Jimmy Carter as the 1970s drew to a close. Space Stations were launched as early as 1971. Huge space advancements became known to man.
End of the Cold War (1980–1988)
Ronald Reagan produced a major realignment with his 1980 and 1984 landslides. In 1980 the Reagan coalition was possible because of Democratic losses in most social-economic groups.
"Reagan Democrats" were conservative ethnics who usually voted Democratic but were attracted by Reagan's policies, personality and leadership, notably his social conservatism and hawkish foreign policy.
In foreign affairs bipartisanship was not in evidence. The Democrats doggedly opposed the president's efforts to support the Contras of Nicaragua. He took a hard line against the Soviet Union, alarming Democrats who wanted a nuclear freeze, but he succeeded in growing the military budget and launching a very high tech "Star Wars" missile defense system that the Soviets could not match. When Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in Moscow many conservative Republicans were dubious of the friendship between him and Reagan. Gorbachev tried to save Communism in Russia first by ending the expensive arms race with America, then (1989) by shedding the East European empire. Communism finally collapsed in Russia in 1991.
Modern Era (1988–present)
After the fall of the Soviet Union, the United States still involved itself in military action overseas, including the 1991 Gulf War. Following his election in 1992, President Bill Clinton oversaw the longest economic expansion in American history, a side effect of the digital revolution and new business opportunities created by the Internet (see Internet bubble).
At the beginning of the new millennium, the United States found itself attacked by Islamist terrorism, with the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and The Pentagon orchestrated by Osama bin Laden. Another flight, Flight 93, crashed in Pennsylvania near a forest. It is believed this was intended to hit the White House. In response, under the administration of President George W. Bush, the United States (with the military support of NATO and the political support of most of the international community) invaded Afghanistan and overthrew the Taliban regime, which had supported and harbored bin Laden. More controversially, President Bush continued what he dubbed the War on Terrorism with the invasion of Iraq by overthrowing and capturing Saddam Hussein in 2003. This second invasion proved to be unpopular in many parts of the world, even amongst long-time American allies such as France, and helped fuel a global wave of anti-American sentiment.
The presidential election in 2000 was one of the closest in American history, and helped lay the seeds for political polarization to come. In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina flooded parts of the city of New Orleans and heavily damaged other areas of the gulf coast, including major damage to the Mississippi coast. The preparation and the response of the government were criticized as ineffective and slow, respectively. As of 2006, the political climate remains polarized as debates continue over partial birth abortion, federal funding of stem cell research, separation of church and state, same-sex marriage, immigration reform and the ongoing war in Iraq. According to many recent opinion polls, a great majority of the American people are losing faith in both parties of the federal government and are dissatisfied about the present state of the nation.
Culture of the United States
American culture is a Western culture, with influences from Europe, the Native American peoples, African Americans and young groups of immigrants. The United States has traditionally been known as a melting pot, with a trend towards cultural diversity. Due to the extent of American culture there are many integrated but unique subcultures within the United States.
Attitudes
It is important to bear in mind that the United States of America is highly diverse, by way of region. The South is entirely different from the Northeast, which is itself in many ways foreign to the Mid-West, which adheres to an entirely different cultural attitude than the West. There really isn't any "American" attitude, or "American" style for the simple reason that the country is so extraordinarily diverse.
The formative years of the United States were the late 18th century when the country was founded, and a great deal of American culture is couched in the ideals of the Enlightenment. The Declaration of Independence's mission statement about securing life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; the French Revolution's ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity; and the national motto, E pluribus unum ("From many, one"), reflect the country's values and social development. Another primary influence on American culture is the constant stream of new immigrants, many of whom have fled persecution or oppression in their home countries, and are seeking freedom (including religious freedom) and economic opportunity, leading them to reject totalitarian practices.
By and large, Americans value the ideals of individual liberty, individualism, self-sufficiency, altruism, equality, Judeo-Christian morals, free markets, a republican form of government, democracy, populism, pluralism, feminism, and patriotism.
Society and economic attitudes
There is a close relationship between America's political and economic traditions. It is widely believed that the individual pursuit of self-interest leads to the best result both for the individual and for society as a whole. It has been a successful formula for both economic success and optimal political function for many. The precise amount of individual economic freedom that Americans should have is often debated, with the (usually relatively slight) differences in opinion marking the major differences between political parties. The end result, however, is that the U.S. economy has become the largest on earth, with most of its citizens enjoying comparatively high living standards.
The fact that the United States is the largest English-speaking marketplace allows firms to compete across the country and to enjoy economies of scale (cost reductions that arise from the huge scale of manufacturing) that reduce prices and benefit consumers. The relatively uniform commercial culture—with many large stores or "chains" operating nationwide—produces a commercial atmosphere that is relatively homogeneous throughout the country.
The population of the United States tends to be centered in large cities, in marked contrast to the demographics of a century ago, when the country was quite agrarian.
The United States is generally skeptical or hostile toward socialist and communist ideologies, but some of the related movements, such as the labor movement, became a defining part of America's heritage after the New Deal. The American process of Judicial Review caused the United States to be less affected by socialist ideas and policies in the 20th century than was Europe, because the Supreme Court overturned much labor legislation which in the European countries remained law. The McCarthy Era and the Cold War as a whole demonstrated a deeply felt hostility to communism, which, especially at that time, was perceived as anti-individualist, undemocratic, and essentially anti-American. They are also evidenced in aspects of social policy (for example, the absence of a national health care system and the constant controversy about the size and role of the government, especially the federal government, in individuals' lives and in states' laws).
The American tradition of free-market capitalism has led the populace (and their leaders) to generally accept the vicissitudes of the free market and the continuous alterations to society that a changing economy implies, although social and economic displacement are common. The result is a flexible, profit-oriented socioeconomic system.
Relationship to other countries/cultures
It has been claimed that some Americans exhibit an insular outlook, with little interest in the culture or political developments of other countries. As possible evidence of this trait, comparatively few books from European countries or Japan are translated for sale in the United States, and sales of those that are translated tend to be slow. Imported films are generally less successful than domestic productions. Likewise, imported television shows are also rarely successful, except on PBS, although remakes of foreign shows are increasingly common (though there are of course exceptions, such as anime and Monty Python). This is emphasized in the Americanization of such television shows as The Office, Queer as Folk, Red Dwarf and even Dad's Army. In this process, the show is often rewritten and localized with American actors cast in the place of their British counterparts. By contrast, in many other countries, films and television programs produced abroad are broadcast unchanged (except for dubbing/subtitling).
Americans also tend to travel to other countries less than citizens of European countries, partly because international travel from the United States typically entails much further distances than for Europeans resulting in much higher costs. The average American worker has fewer vacation days than the average European (10-15 rather than the European average of around 20). America's vast size also enables its citizens to go great distances, and see a variety of places, without leaving the country. For example, one can travel within the continental United States from a near-tropical region (e.g. Southern Texas) to a frigid region (Minnesota). Lifestyles, food, and culture also tend to differ within the different regions.
Body contact and expression
In most regions of the U.S., public display of affection, as well as significant expression of emotion, was historically disapproved of and discouraged, prior to the mid-20th century. Such attitudes have seen considerable change, however, with the cultural revolutions of the 1960s and 1970s. There is considerable variation with respect to attitudes, mostly generational in nature, and while Americans are not generally as demonstrative of their affections as, say, Latin Americans or Southern Europeans, they are considerably more so than, for instance, the Northern Europeans or the Japanese, have been historically. Noticeable regional differences in norms of social expression also exist. For example, it is generally acceptable in the egalitarian Northeast (especially among younger Americans) for a female candidly to discuss sexuality and certain aspects of sexual behavior in conversation among friends, while such expression is usually recognized as socially taboo in the more genteel South.
Names
The citizens and many other residents of the United States refer to themselves and each other as Americans, and to their country as the United States or as America. Non-Hispanic Americans understand, and may say, "the Americas" with the meaning of the two major continents of the Western hemisphere, but generally will resist using "America" in that sense, despite that designation's familiarity to Spanish speakers. While to many foreigners "Yankees" is synonymous with the American people, Americans almost always use the term for the sports team, for New Englanders, New Yorkers, or with reference to those living in the northeastern U.S. in contrast to Southerners. The major exception to that is Americans' occasional ironic usage of "Yankee" (or especially "Yank", construed by Americans as a British usage), in attempting to convey either striving to transcend American parochialism, or resignation to the failure of any such striving. "The States" is a term generally used when referring to the country from an overseas or Canadian vantage point. In the same context, something or someone that is "back in the States" may be referred to as being "Stateside." "The US" or "The U.S." is a casual, short-hand term.
When discussing the American Civil War, Americans use the phrase "the Union" to refer to the states that remained under the control of the federal government in Washington and did not secede to join the Confederacy. The phrase is also occasionally used in contemporary discussions of American federalism and states' rights.
Fairly formal terms, still short-hand, evoking patriotic observances (possibly with irony) are "U.S.A." (with or without the periods, and usually with "the"); a more marked version is "the U. S. of A." In the nineteenth century it was fairly common for Americans to refer to their nation simply as "the Republic," an appellation which has since fallen out of use. The official name of the nation, the "United States of America," is very formal and is most often used in formal government documents, pledges, or ceremonies, but not in colloquial conversations.
Intra-national allegiances
Because of the size and large population of the country, America is often described as a nation of joiners who tend to self-associate with non-familial groups. Individuals tend to perceive themselves as "free agents" rather than bound by family or clan ties.
Group allegiances are sometimes regional, but can also be related to a professional or fraternal organization. For example, residents of North Carolina are proud to be "Tar Heels," Indiana residents are "Hoosiers" and Texans are notorious for an especially prominent state pride often compared to nationalism. Many cities have a strong sense of civic identity, often reinforced by an innocuous but deeply felt rivalry with another local city. An example of such a rivalry exists between the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, another one with two similar sized Texas cities of Dallas, Texas and Houston, Texas. A strong rivalry that continues to this day involves the cities of Boston and New York, which is centered around the historic rivalry in the sport of baseball between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox.
Recent immigrants tend to congregate with other immigrants from their country of origin, often establishing neighborhoods (sometimes called ethnic enclaves) in cities with popular names like "Chinatown", "Poletown", or "Little Saigon." Second- and third-generation descendants of immigrants tend to have looser affiliations with their ethnic groups.
America has tens of thousands of clubs and organizations, and if a group has a charitable or service orientation, Americans may volunteer their time through those groups. Examples of these groups include the Rotary Club, the Boy Scouts of America, Little League, etc.
Food
The types of food served at home vary greatly and depend upon the region of the country and the family's own cultural heritage. Americanized versions of these cultural foods, such as American Chinese cuisine, sometimes appear. Recent immigrants tend to eat food similar to that of their country of origin. Families that have lived for a few generations in the U.S. tend to eat some combination of that and the food common to the region they live in or grew up in, such as New England cuisine, Midwestern cuisine, Southern cuisine, Tex-Mex cuisine, and Californian cuisine.
Popular culture
The United States is known around the world for the films, shows, and musical have become popular, but most cities host traveling productions of popular Broadway shows.
Technology and gadgets
Americans, by and large, are often fascinated by new technology and new gadgets. Many of the new technological innovations in the modern world were either first invented in the United States and/or first widely adopted by Americans. Examples include: the lightbulb, the airplane, the transistor, nuclear power, personal computers, and online shopping, As well as heavily influencing the development of the internet. There are also many within the United States that share the attitude that through technology many of the evils in the society can be solved. The iPod is the most popular gadget for portable digital music.
Drugs
The culture of the United States distinguishes sharply between legal, illegal and prescription drugs. The three main legal drugs are alcohol, tobacco and caffeine. The use and sale of illegal drugs such as marijuana, heroin and cocaine carries heavy penalties (see Controlled Substances Act); the U.S. expends significant resources in combatting the enterprises that produce and import such commodities, in what is termed the War on Drugs. Antidepressant drugs are widely prescribed, as are amphetamines such as Ritalin, used as a stimulant to improve concentration.
Alcohol
The sale and consumption of alcohol was banned completely for a period in the first half of the 20th Century (Prohibition); today, alcohol is legal but restricted (for example, in many places stronger beverages may only be purchased from specialist shops). The drinking age, 21 in most places, is widely enforced and there is little tradition of consumption of alcohol in a family context. While some American (particularly Californian) wine is highly regarded, most beer consumed in the US is mass-produced rice lager.
Tobacco
Use of tobacco has decreased sharply among Americans; there is a strong correlation with education, with use at only 10 percent among the college educated, while continuing at 40 percent among high school dropouts. Users smoke cigarettes; a fraction smoke cigars or pipes. Fewer and fewer public places, or business places, permit smoking. Often smokers are forced outside the building. Some cities and even some states, such as California, New York, New Jersey, Utah, Washington, Florida, Rhode Island, Montana, Massachusetts, and Indiana prohibit smoking inside public places.
Caffeine
Coffee is used as a stimulant and in a social context. America's take on the coffee shop has proved particularly successful, with Starbucks (founded in Seattle) having spread across the world as a symbol of American capitalism.
Sports
American sports are quite distinct from those played elsewhere in the world. The top three spectator team sports are baseball, American football and basketball, which are all popular on both the college and professional levels. Baseball is the oldest of these. The professional game dates from 1869 and had no close rivals in popularity until the 1960s; though baseball is no longer the most popular sport it is still referred to as the "national pastime." Also unlike the professional levels of the other popular spectator sports in the U.S., Major League Baseball teams play almost every day from April to October. American football (known simply as "football" in the U.S.) attracts more viewers within the country than baseball nowadays; however, National Football League teams play only 16 regular-season games each year, so baseball is the runaway leader in ticket sales. Basketball, invented in Massachusetts by the Canadian-born James Naismith, is another popular sport, represented professionally by the National Basketball Association.
Most residents along the northern tier of states recognize a fourth major sport - ice hockey. Always a mainstay of Great Lakes and New England-area culture, the sport gained tenuous footholds in regions like the Carolinas and Tampa Bay, Florida in recent years, as the National Hockey League pursued a policy of expansion.
The top tier of stock car auto racing, NASCAR, has grown from a mainly Southern sport to the second-most-watched sport in the U.S. behind football. It has largely outgrown a previously provincial image; it is now avidly followed by fans in all socioeconomic groups and NASCAR sponsorships in the premier Nextel Cup division are highly sought after by hundreds of the U.S.'s largest corporations.
Unlike in Europe, Africa, and Latin America, soccer has a relatively small following, and is mostly popular in the more international cities with large immigrant populations, like New York and Los Angeles. Generally few non-Hispanic American adults appear to be attracted to soccer as spectators, but the sport is widely played by children of all backgrounds. Dramatic growth in youth participation, rather than rising interest, has fueled the national team's steady rise in caliber of play over the last two decades of the 20th century and the 2000s. Almost as many girls as boys play youth soccer in the U.S., contributing to the women's national team becoming one of the world's premier women's sides.
The extent in America to which sports are associated with secondary and tertiary education is unique among nations. In basketball and football, high school and particularly college sports are followed with a fervor equaling or exceeding that felt for professional sports; college football games can draw six-digit crowds, the college basketball championship tournament played in March draws enormous attention, and for upper-tier schools, sports are a significant source of revenue. Though student athletes may be held to significantly lower academic requirements than non-athletes at many large universities, minimum standards do exist.
Fashion
Dress was moderately formal until the 1960s, when a revolution took place that stressed casual and informal, and in the Western tradition of pants and a shirt. Exceptions are major cities such as New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, where many residents embrace a more expensive and "stylish" approach to fashion. Social and business situations may call for tailored suits or other more elegant outfits. Tuxedos and evening dress occasions have become much less common since 1960. The top hat vanished in 1960--along with most millinery. Skirts and dresses are usually exclusively reserved for females. Men wear kilts only as part of celebrations such as parades, or as part of a family reunion tradition. Jeans, a T-shirt and athletic shoes come close to being a "national uniform".
Types of clothing worn often have something to do with which region of the country people live in. Some Texans and residents of the Southwest dress in boots and hats in a style typically associated with traditional cowboys. In the region from New England to New Jersey, preppy style clothing is popular. In the South, people sometimes dress more casually, although formality in certain contexts is valued some parts of the region, a trend which may also influence ethnic groups outside the South, including African Americans.
The greatest variations in dress are related to climate. Easterners generally tend to dress more formally than Westerners, though this is also closely connected with cultural history as well. Residents of northern states wear heavy sweaters, warm, water-resistant boots, stocking caps and heavy coats or down parkas in the cold season. In Hawaii, the Hawaiian shirt as an acceptable item of wear by men has received formal approval by the state legislature. In beach areas and places with relatively warm and consistent climates, especially California, Hawaii, and Florida, "skimpy" clothing is considered acceptable in all but the most formal settings. Cowboy hats, Western boots and large silver belt buckles are found in southwestern and western regions of the United States, particularly Texas and Arizona. However, many from the Southern United States dress in the aforementioned jeans and t-shirt.
The trend toward informality has increased among many segments of society. For instance, students at colleges and universities are often noted for wearing flip flops or thong sandals as well as pajamas to class.
Language
The primary, although not official, language of the United States is English. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, more than 97% of Americans can speak English "well," and for 81% of the population, it is the only language spoken at home.
Other languages that are considered to be important to U.S. culture include:
Spanish because of the proximity of and immigration from Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries of the Caribbean and Central and South America, as well as the cultural crossover of the borderlands,
the native Hawaiian language, and other native languages with large numbers of speakers (like Navajo)
Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Tagalog (Filipino dialect) due to immigration from the countries where those languages are spoken, and
French, in Louisiana (a former French colony, where Cajun French is spoken), and in northern New England, home to many French Canadian immigrants in the past and which is also influenced by neighboring Acadian-Canadian culture.
There are more than 300 languages besides English which can claim native speakers in the United States--some of which are spoken by the indigenous peoples (about 150 living languages) and others which were imported by immigrants. Creoles native to the United States include Gullah and Cajun, both spoken in the Southeast. American Sign Language, used mainly by the deaf, is also native to the country.
There are four major regional dialects in the United States--northeastern, south, inland north and midlands. The Midlands accent (considered the "standard accent" in the United States, and analogous in some respects to the received pronunciation elsewhere in the English-speaking world) extends from what were once the "Middle Colonies" across the Midwest to the Pacific states.
Religion
Historically, the United States' religious tradition has been dominated by Protestant Christianity, but this tradition coexists in a public sphere where religious plurality and secularism are the norm. For example, the United States Constitution enshrined individual freedom of religious practice, which courts have since interpreted to mean that the government is a secular institution, an idea called "separation of church and state".
While the many Christian sects have the most adherents, many other faiths are also popular and growing in numbers. No one religion holds sway over the entirety of the population. "Culture wars" often have roots in religious differences, but religious violence is virtually nonexistent and roundly condemned by religious as well as non-religious individuals. U.S. people as a whole attend religious services more often than do their peers in most Northern European countries. In fact, the U.S. is rare among industrialized nations in that most of its citizens consider themselves religious. It is not, however, as religious as many of its neighbors in the New World.
According to the 2001 American Religious Identity Survey (ARIS), 76.5% of United States residents, or 159 million people, identify themselves as Christians; 13.2% or 27.5 million identify as non-religious or secular. Other faiths represented include the 1.3% (or 2.8 million) of U.S. people who identify themselves as Jewish; 0.5% (1 million) who identify themselves as Muslim; 0.5% (1 million) who identify themselves as Buddhists; 0.5% (991,000) who identify as agnostic; 0.4% (902,000) who identify as atheist; 0.4% (766,000) identify as Hindu; and 0.3% (629,000) who identify as Unitarian Universalist.
According to the same study, the major Christian denominations (making up the vast majority of faiths actively practiced in the United States) are (in order): Roman Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Pentecostal (aka Charismatic or Evangelical), Episcopalian, Latter-Day Saints, Church of Christ, and Congregational.
According to other studies, as reported by the Statistical Abstract of the United States, Americans' self-reported religious affiliations are 56% Protestant, 27% Roman Catholic, 2% Judaism, 1% Orthodox Christianity, 1% Mormon faith, 5% "other specific" religion, and 8% "other" or "did not designate." Some 68% of Americans are members of a place of worship, and 44% attend that place of worship regularly.
Last update on 7 July 2006
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