United States
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The United States of America is a country in North America that extends from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and shares land borders with Canada and Mexico. Its contiguous portion is bounded by the North Atlantic Ocean to the east, the North Pacific Ocean to the west, Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Canada to the north. The state of Alaska also borders Canada, with the Pacific Ocean to its south and the Arctic Ocean to its north. West of Alaska, across the narrow Bering Strait, is Russia. The state of Hawaii occupies an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, southwest of the North American mainland.
The first inhabitants of continental North America arrived after the ice age from Asia across what is now the Bering Strait. These nomadic hunters eventually settled and developed into distinct groups. Their descendants were Native American cultures such as the Pueblos in the South West, Navajo in Arizona, Apache in Texas, Cherokee in North Carolina, Crow in Montana and Mohawk and Iroquois in New York State.
In the 16th century European exploration and settlement began, led by the English, Dutch and Swedish. On July 4, 1776, at war with Britain over fair governance, thirteen of these colonies declared their independence. In 1783, the war ended in British acceptance of the new nation. Since then, the United States of America has more than quadrupled in size: it now consists of 50 states and one federal district; it also has numerous overseas territories.
AREA: 9,631,420 sq km
CLIMATE: 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
POPULATION: 300 million
RELIGIONS: Protestant 52%, Roman Catholic 24%, Mormon 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 1%, Others 10%, no religious affiliation 10%
LANGUAGES: The main language is English although Spanish is spoken by a sizeable minority.
GOVERNMENT TYPE: Constitution-based federal republic
CAPITAL: Washington, DC
CURRENCY: American Dollar
NATIONAL HOLIDAY: Independence Day, 4 July (1776)
GDP PER CAPITA (purchasing power parity): $41,600 (2005 est.)
France = $29,600 (2005 est.)
China = $6,800 (2005 est.)
Bresil = $8,300 (2005 est.)
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