The United States of America (USA), commonly referred to as the United

States (U.S.) or America, is a federal republic[19][20] composed of 50

states, a federal district, five major territories and various
possessions.[fn 1][fn 2] The 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C.,
are in central North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of
Alaska is in the northwestern part of North America and the state of
Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The territories are
scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. At 3.8 million
square miles (9.842 million km2)[18] and with over 320 million people,
the country is the world's third or fourth-largest by total area[fn 3]
and the third most populous. It is one of the world's most ethnically
diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration
from many countries.[26] The geography and climate of the United States
are also extremely diverse, and the country is home to a wide variety of
wildlife.[27]
Paleo-Indians migrated from Eurasia to what is now the U.S. mainland at
least 15,000 years ago,[28] with European colonization beginning in the
16th century. The United States emerged from 13 British colonies along
the East Coast. Disputes between Great Britain and the colonies led to
the American Revolution. On July 4, 1776, as the colonies were fighting
Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War, delegates from the 13
colonies unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence. The war
ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States
by the Kingdom of Great Britain, and was the first successful war of
independence against a European colonial empire.[29] The country's
constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787, and ratified by the
states in 1788. The first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of
Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental
civil liberties.
Driven by the doctrine of Manifest Destiny, the United States embarked on
a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th
century.[30] This involved displacing American Indian tribes, acquiring
new territories, and gradually admitting new states, until by 1848 the
nation spanned the continent.[30] During the second half of the 19th
century, the American Civil War ended legal slavery in the
country.[31][32] By the end of that century, the United States extended
into the Pacific Ocean,[33] and its economy, driven in large part by the
Industrial Revolution, began to soar.[34] The SpanishAmerican War and
World War I confirmed the country's status as a global military power.
The United States emerged from World War II as a global superpower, the
first country to develop nuclear weapons, the only country to use them in
warfare, and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.
The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991
left the United States as the world's sole superpower.[35]
The United States is a developed country and has the world's largest
national economy by nominal and real GDP, benefiting from an abundance of
natural resources and high worker productivity.[36] While the U.S.
economy is considered post-industrial, the country continues to be one of
the world's largest manufacturers.[37] Accounting for 34% of global
military spending[38] and 23% of world GDP,[39] it is the world's
foremost military and economic power, a prominent political and cultural
force, and a leader in scientific research and technological
innovations.[40]