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The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country mostly located in central North America, between Canada and Mexico. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions.[a] At 3.8 million square miles (9.8 million km2), it is the world's third- or fourth-largest country by total area.[b] With a 2019 estimated population of over 328 million,[6] the U.S. is the third most populous country in the world. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the most populous city is New York City.

Paleo-Indians migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland at least 12,000 years ago,[7] and European colonization began in the 16th century. The United States emerged from the thirteen British colonies established along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies led to the American Revolutionary War lasting between 1775 and 1783, leading to independence.[8] The United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century—gradually acquiring new territories,[9] killing and displacing Native Americans, and admitting new states—until 1848 when it spanned the continent.[9] Slavery had been legal in much of the United States from the 17th to second half of the 19th century, when the American Civil War led to its abolition.[10][11] Systemic racism, exemplified by the Jim Crow laws of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, continues to plague the country, partly remedied by the Civil rights movement of the 20th century.

The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the country's status, a status confirmed by the outcome of World War II. It was the first country to develop nuclear weapons and is the only country to have used them in warfare. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union competed in the Space Race, culminating with the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, the spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. The end of the Cold War and collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the world's sole superpower.[12]

The United States is a federal republic and a representative democracy. It is a founding member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States (OAS), NATO, and other international organizations. It is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.

A highly developed country, the United States is the world's largest economy by nominal GDP, the second-largest by purchasing power parity, and accounts for approximately a quarter of global GDP.[13] The United States is the world's largest importer and the second-largest exporter of goods, by value.[14][15] Although its population is only 4.3% of the world total,[16] it holds 29.4% of the total wealth in the world, the largest share of global wealth concentrated in a single country.[17] Despite income and wealth disparities, the United States continues to rank very high in measures of socioeconomic performance, including average wage, median income, median wealth, human development, per capita GDP, and worker productivity.[18][19] It is the foremost military power in the world, making up more than a third of global military spending,[20] and is a leading political, cultural, and scientific force internationally.[21]

Sources

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ "China". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  3. ^ "United States". Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on December 19, 2013. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  4. ^ "United States". CIA World Factbook. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  5. ^ "China". CIA World Factbook. Retrieved June 10, 2016.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference 2019estimate was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Erlandson, Rick & Vellanoweth 2008, p. 19.
  8. ^ Greene, Jack P., Pole, J.R., eds. (2008). A Companion to the American Revolution. pp. 352–361.
    Bender, Thomas (2006). A Nation Among Nations: America's Place in World History. New York: Hill & Wang. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-8090-7235-4.
    "Overview of the Early National Period". Digital History. University of Houston. 2014. Retrieved February 25, 2015.
  9. ^ a b Carlisle, Rodney P.; Golson, J. Geoffrey (2007). Manifest Destiny and the Expansion of America. Turning Points in History Series. ABC-CLIO. p. 238. ISBN 978-1-85109-833-0.
  10. ^ "The Civil War and emancipation 1861–1865". Africans in America. Boston: WGBH Educational Foundation. 1999. Archived from the original on October 12, 1999.
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ 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.
    Gabe T. Wang (2006). China and the Taiwan Issue: Impending War at Taiwan Strait. University Press of America. p. 179. ISBN 978-0-7618-3434-2.
    Understanding the "Victory Disease", From the Little Bighorn to Mogadishu and Beyond. Diane Publishing. 2004. p. 1. ISBN 978-1-4289-1052-2.
    Akis Kalaitzidis; Gregory W. Streich (2011). U.S. Foreign Policy: A Documentary and Reference Guide. ABC-CLIO. p. 313. ISBN 978-0-313-38375-5.
  13. ^ "World Economic Outlook Database, April 2015".
  14. ^ "The World Factbook". CIA.gov. Central Intelligence Agency.
  15. ^ "The World Factbook". CIA.gov. Central Intelligence Agency.
  16. ^ "Population Clock". U.S. and World Population Clock. U.S. Department of Commerce. May 16, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2020. The United States population on May 23, 2020 was: 329,686,270
  17. ^ "Global Wealth Report". Credit Suisse. October 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  18. ^ "U.S. Workers World's Most Productive". CBS News. February 11, 2009. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
  19. ^ "Average annual wages". stats.oecd.org. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  20. ^ Trends in World Military Expenditure Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
  21. ^ Cohen, 2004: History and the Hyperpower
    BBC, April 2008: Country Profile: United States of America
    "Geographical trends of research output". Research Trends. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
    "The top 20 countries for scientific output". Open Access Week. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
    "Granted patents". European Patent Office. Retrieved March 16, 2014.

Rewritten version[edit]

Paragraph 1
location, composition, size, population
Paragraph 2
peopling, colonization, independence, expansion, slavery, civil war
Paragraph 3
reconstruction, jim crow, rise to global prominence, depression, ww2
Paragraph 4
cold war, postwar boom, civil rights movement,
Paragraph 5
government structure, politics, republican character
Paragraph 6
geography, important cities, national parks, diversity
Paragraph 7
economy, status, superpower, biggest cities and other superlatives


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