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(Replaced content with ""America", "US", and "USA" redirect here. For the landmass comprising North, Central and South America, see Americas. For other uses, see America (disambiguation), US (dis...")
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"America", "US", and "USA" redirect here. For the landmass comprising North, Central and South America, see Americas. For other uses, see America (disambiguation), US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation).
{{redirect-multi|3|America|US|USA|the landmass comprising North, Central and South America|Americas||America (disambiguation)|and|US (disambiguation)|and|USA (disambiguation)|and|United States (disambiguation)}}{{short description|Federal republic in North America}}
{{good article}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2019}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2017}}
{{Coord|40|N|100|W|display=title}}
{{Infobox country
| conventional_long_name                = United States of America
| common_name                = the United States
| linking_name                = America
| image_flag                = Flag of the United States.svg
| image_coat                = Great Seal of the United States (obverse).svg
| symbol_type                = Great Seal
| national_motto                = <div style="padding-bottom:0.5em;text-align:center;">"[[In God We Trust]]"{{sfn|McKenna|2007|p=280}}{{efn|{{USC|36|302}} }}</div>
{{collapsible list
|title=''{{nobold|Other traditional mottos&nbsp;}}''
|titlestyle=background:transparent;text-align:center;line-height:1.15em;
|liststyle=text-align:center;white-space:nowrap;
|{{native phrase|la|"[[E pluribus unum]]"|italics=off}} {{small|(de facto)}}<br />{{small|"Out of many, one"}}
|{{native phrase|la|"[[Annuit cœptis]]"|italics=off}}<br />{{small|"[[God|He]] has favored our undertakings"}}
|{{native phrase|la|"[[Novus ordo seclorum]]"|italics=off}}<br />{{small|"New order of the ages"}}
}}
| national_anthem                = <br />"[[The Star-Spangled Banner]]"<div style="display:inline-block;margin-top:0.4em;">{{center|[[File:Star Spangled Banner instrumental.ogg]]}}</div>
| other_symbol_type                = March:
| other_symbol                = {{center|"[[The Stars and Stripes Forever]]"{{sfn|Kidder|Oppenheim|2007|p=91}}<ref name="urluscode.house.gov">{{cite web |url=http://uscode.house.gov/statviewer.htm?volume=112&page=1263 |title=uscode.house.gov |author= |authorlink= |vauthors= |date=August 12, 1999 |website=Public Law 105-225 |publisher=uscode.house.gov |pages=112 Stat. 1263 |language= |quote=Section 304. "The composition by John Philip Sousa entitled "The Stars and Stripes Forever" is the national march." |accessdate=September 10, 2017}}</ref> }}<div style="display:inline-block;margin-top:0.4em;">{{center|[[File:March, "The Stars and Stripes Forever" · Colonel John R. Bourgeois, Director · John Philip Sousa · United States Marine Band.ogg]]}}</div>
| image_map                = USA orthographic.svg <!-- Consensus map, see talk page. -->
| map_width                = 220px
| alt_map                = Projection of North America with the United States in green
| image_map2                = US insular areas SVG.svg
| alt_map2                = The United States and its [[Territories of the United States|territories]]
| map_caption2                = The United States, including its [[Territories of the United States|territories]]
| capital                = [[Washington, D.C.]]<br />{{small|{{coord|38|53|N|77|01|W|display=inline}}}}
| largest_city                = [[New York City]]<br />{{small|{{coord|40|43|N|74|00|W|display=inline}}}}
| official_languages                = {{nowrap|None at [[Federal government of the United States|federal level]]{{efn|English is the [[Official language of the United States|official language]] of 32 states; English and [[Hawaiian language|Hawaiian]] are both official languages in [[Hawaii]], and English and [[Alaska Native languages|20 Indigenous languages]] are official in [[Alaska]]. [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]], [[Cherokee language|Cherokee]], and [[Sioux language|Sioux]] are among many other official languages in Native-controlled lands throughout the country. [[French language|French]] is a ''de facto'', but unofficial, language in [[Maine]] and [[Louisiana]], while [[New Mexico]] law grants [[Spanish language|Spanish]] a special status.{{sfn|Cobarrubias|1983|p=195}}{{sfn|García|2011|p=167}}}}}}
| languages_type                = [[National language]]
| languages                = [[English language|English]]<!--- NOTE: Just English, don't add "American English". --->{{efn|name="language"}}
| ethnic_groups                = '''{{small|By race:}}'''<br />76.6% [[White Americans|White]]<br />13.4% [[African Americans|Black]]<br />5.8% [[Asian Americans|Asian]]<br />2.7% [[Multiracial Americans|Other/multiracial]]<br />1.3% [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]]<br />0.2% [[Pacific Islands Americans|Pacific Islander]]<br />'''{{small|Ethnicity:}}'''<br />18.1% [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic or Latino]]<br />81.9% non-Hispanic or Latino
| ethnic_groups_year                = 2018
| ethnic_groups_ref                = <ref name="U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts selected: UNITED STATES">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045216 |title=U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts selected: United States |date=July 1, 2018 |website=QuickFacts |publisher=U.S. Department of Commerce |accessdate=February 12, 2019}}</ref>
| demonym                = [[Americans|American]]
| government_type                = [[Federalism in the United States|Federal]] [[Presidential system|presidential]] [[Republic|constitutional republic]] <!----Consensus description; do not change without addressing in talk page first ---->
| leader_title1                = [[President of the United States|President]]
| leader_name1                = {{nowrap|[[Donald Trump]]}} ([[Republican Party (United States)|R]])
| leader_title2                = [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]]
| leader_name2                = {{nowrap|[[Mike Pence]]}} ([[Republican Party (United States)|R]])
| leader_title3                = {{nowrap|[[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|House Speaker]]}}
| leader_name3                = {{nowrap|[[Nancy Pelosi]]}} ([[Democratic Party (United States)|D]])
| leader_title4                = [[Chief Justice of the United States|Chief Justice]]
| leader_name4                = [[John Roberts]]
| legislature                = [[United States Congress|Congress]]
| upper_house                = [[United States Senate|Senate]]
| lower_house                = [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]]
| sovereignty_type                = [[American Revolution|Independence]]
| sovereignty_note                = from [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]]
| established_event1                = [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration]]
| established_date1                = July 4, 1776
| established_event2                = [[Articles of Confederation|Confederation]]
| established_date2                = March 1, 1781
| established_event3                = [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris]]
| established_date3                = September 3, 1783
| established_event4                = {{nowrap|[[United States Constitution|Constitution]]}}
| established_date4                = June 21, 1788
| established_event5                = [[Northern Mariana Islands|Last polity admitted]]
| established_date5                = March 24, 1976
| area_link                = Geography of the United States
| area_label                = Total area
| area_footnote                = <ref>Areas of the 50 states and the District of Columbia but not Puerto Rico nor (other) island territories per {{Citation| date = August 2010| title = State Area Measurements and Internal Point Coordinates| publisher = [[U.S. Census Bureau]]| url = https://www.census.gov/geo/reference/state-area.html| accessdate = November 17, 2017| quote = reflect base feature updates made in the MAF/TIGER database through August, 2010.}}</ref>
| area_rank                = 3rd/4th
| area_sq_mi                = 3,796,742
| percent_water                = 6.97
| area_label2                = Total land area
| area_data2                = {{convert|3,531,905|sqmi|km2|abbr=on}}
| population_estimate                = 327,167,434{{efn|name="pop"}}<ref name="census2">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/population-increase-2018.html |title=Population increases to July 1, 2018 |publisher=[[U.S. Census Bureau]]}}</ref>
| population_census                = 308,745,538{{efn|name="pop"}}<ref name=PEPANNRES2016>{{cite web |url=https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=PEP_2016_PEPANNRES&src=pt |title=Annual Estimates of the Resident Population: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2016 |publisher=[[U.S. Census Bureau]] |accessdate=July 25, 2017}} The 2016 estimate is as of July 1, 2016. The 2010 census is as of April 1, 2010.</ref>
| population_estimate_year                = 2018
| population_estimate_rank                = 3rd
| population_census_year                = 2010
| population_census_rank                = 3rd
| population_density_sq_mi                = 85<!-- Figures use (population/land area) as of March 2018. -->
| population_density_rank                = 179th
| GDP_PPP                = {{nowrap|$20.891 trillion<!-- End nowrap. -->}}<ref name=bea76>{{cite web|title=Gross Domestic Product, Fourth Quarter and Annual 2018 (Initial Estimate) |url=https://www.bea.gov/data/gdp/gross-domestic-product|publisher=[[Bureau of Economy Analysis]] (BEA)|accessdate=February 28, 2019}}</ref>
| GDP_PPP_year                = 2018
| GDP_PPP_rank                = 2nd
| GDP_PPP_per_capita                = $62,518<ref name=imf2>{{cite web|title=World Economic Outlook Database, October 2018 – Report for Selected Countries and Subjects |url=https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2018/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2018&ey=2018&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&pr1.x=58&pr1.y=13&c=111&s=NGDPD%2CPPPGDP%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPPC&grp=0&a= |publisher=[[International Monetary Fund]] (IMF) |accessdate=April 1, 2018}}</ref>
| GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank                = 11th
| GDP_nominal                = {{nowrap|$20.891 trillion}}<ref name=bea76 />
| GDP_nominal_year                = 2018
| GDP_nominal_rank                = 1st
| GDP_nominal_per_capita                = $62,518<ref name=imf2 />
| GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank                = 7th
| Gini                = 41.5<!-- Number only. -->
| Gini_year                = 2016
| Gini_change                = increase
| Gini_ref                = <ref>{{Cite web |url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI?locations=US|title=GINI index (World Bank estimate): 2016|last=World Bank|website=World Bank|access-date=March 9, 2019}}</ref>
| HDI                = 0.924<!-- Number only. -->
| HDI_year                = 2017<!-- Please use the year to which the data refers, not the publication year. -->
| HDI_change                = increase<!-- Increase/decrease/steady. -->
| HDI_ref                = <ref name="HDI">{{cite web |url=http://www.hdr.undp.org/en/2018-update |title=2018 Human Development Report |year=2018 |accessdate=September 14, 2018 |publisher=United Nations Development Programme}}</ref>
| HDI_rank                = 13th
| currency                = [[{{#property:p38}}]] ($)
| currency_code                = USD
| utc_offset                = −4 to −12, +10, +11
| utc_offset_DST                = −4 to −10{{efn|name="time"}}
| date_format                = {{abbr|mm|month}}/{{abbr|dd|day}}/{{abbr|yy|year}}<br />{{abbr|yyyy|year}}-{{abbr|mm|month}}-{{abbr|dd|day}}<ref>See [[Date and time notation in the United States]].</ref>
| drives_on                = right{{efn|name="drive"}}
| calling_code                = [[North American Numbering Plan|+1]]
| iso3166code                = US
| cctld                = [[.us]], [[.gov]]
| religion                = 73.0% [[Christianity in the United States|Christian]]<br />21.3% [[Irreligion in the United States|Unaffiliated]]<br />2.1% [[American Jews#Religion|Jewish]]<br />0.8% [[Islam in the United States|Muslim]]<br />2.9% Other
| religion_year                = 2017
| religion_ref                = <ref>{{cite web |last1=Newport |first1=Frank |title=2017 Update on Americans and Religion |url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/224642/2017-update-americans-religion.aspx |website=Gallup News |accessdate=February 25, 2019}}</ref>
| area_km2                =
| today                =
}}


The '''United States of America''' ('''USA'''), commonly known as the '''United States''' ('''U.S.''' or '''US''') or '''America''', is a [[country]] composed of 50 [[U.S. state|states]], a [[Washington, D.C.|federal district]], five major [[Territories of the United States|self-governing territories]], and [[United States Minor Outlying Islands|various possessions]].{{efn|The five major territories are [[American Samoa]], [[Guam]], the [[Northern Mariana Islands]], [[Puerto Rico]], and the [[United States Virgin Islands]]. There are eleven smaller island areas without permanent populations: [[Baker Island]], [[Howland Island]], [[Jarvis Island]], [[Johnston Atoll]], [[Kingman Reef]], [[Midway Atoll]], and [[Palmyra Atoll]]. U.S. sovereignty over [[Bajo Nuevo Bank]], [[Navassa Island]], [[Serranilla Bank]], and [[Wake Island]] is disputed.<ref>U.S. State Department, [https://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/179780.htm Common Core Document to U.N. Committee on Human Rights], December 30, 2011, Item 22, 27, 80. And U.S. General Accounting Office Report, [http://www.gao.gov/archive/1998/og98005.pdf U.S. Insular Areas: application of the U.S. Constitution], November 1997, pp. 1, 6, 39n. Both viewed April 6, 2016.</ref>}} At 3.8&nbsp;million square miles (9.8&nbsp;million km<sup>2</sup>), the United States is the world's [[List of countries and dependencies by area|third or fourth largest country by total area]]{{efn|name=largestcountry|The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' lists China as the world's third-largest country (after Russia and Canada) with a total area of 9,572,900 sq km,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/topic/111803/China-quick-facts |title=China |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |accessdate=January 31, 2010}}</ref> and the United States as fourth-largest at 9,526,468 sq km. The figure for the United States is less than in the ''CIA World Factbook'' because it ''excludes'' coastal and territorial waters.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/topic/616563/United-States-quick-facts |title=United States |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |accessdate=January 31, 2010}}</ref><p>The ''CIA World Factbook'' lists the United States as the third-largest country (after Russia and Canada) with total area of 9,833,517 sq km,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html |title=United States |website=CIA World Factbook |publisher= |accessdate=June 10, 2016}}</ref> and China as fourth-largest at 9,596,960 sq km.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html |title=China |website=CIA World Factbook |publisher=CIA |accessdate=June 10, 2016}}</ref> This figure for the United States is greater than in the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' because it ''includes'' coastal and territorial waters.</p>}} and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of [[Europe]]'s 3.9&nbsp;million square miles (10.1&nbsp;million km<sup>2</sup>). With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the [[List of countries and dependencies by population|third most populous country]]. The capital is [[Washington, D.C.]], and the [[List of United States cities by population|largest city by population]] is [[New York City]]. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are [[Contiguous United States|contiguous]] in [[North America]] between [[Canada]] and [[Mexico]]. The [[Alaska|State of Alaska]] is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the [[Bering Strait]] from [[Russia]] to the west. The [[Hawaii|State of Hawaii]] is an [[archipelago]] in the mid-[[Pacific Ocean]]. The U.S. [[Territories of the United States|territories]] are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the [[Caribbean Sea]], stretching across nine official [[Time in the United States|time zones]]. The extremely diverse [[geography of the United States|geography]], [[climate of the United States|climate]], and [[Fauna of the United States|wildlife]] of the United States make it one of the world's 17 [[megadiverse countries]].<ref name="urlMegadiverse Countries definition | Biodiversity A-Z">{{cite web |url=http://www.biodiversitya-z.org/content/megadiverse-countries |title=Megadiverse Countries definition |author=UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre |website=Biodiversity A−Z |publisher=UN WCMC |quote=17 countries which have been identified as the most biodiversity-rich countries of the world, with a particular focus on endemic biodiversity. |accessdate=September 11, 2017}}</ref>
The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions.[g] At 3.8 million square miles (9.8 million km2), the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area[h] and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles (10.1 million km2). With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.
 
[[Paleo-Indians]] [[Settlement of the Americas|migrated from Siberia]] to the North American mainland at least 12,000 years ago.{{sfn|Erlandson|Rick|Vellanoweth|2008|p=19}} [[European colonization of the Americas|European colonization]] began in the 16th century. The United States emerged from the [[Thirteen Colonies|thirteen British colonies]] established along the [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]]. Numerous disputes between [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] and the colonies following the [[French and Indian War]] led to the [[American Revolution]], which began in 1775, and the subsequent [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] in 1776. The war [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|ended in 1783]] with the United States becoming the first country to gain independence from a [[colonial empire|European power]].<ref>Greene, Jack P., Pole, J.R., eds. (2008). ''A Companion to the American Revolution''. pp. 352–361.<br />{{cite book |author=Bender, Thomas |title=A Nation Among Nations: America's Place in World History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wQHlrIz4gpYC&pg=PA61 |year=2006 |publisher=Hill & Wang |location=New York |page=61 |isbn=978-0-8090-7235-4}}<br />{{cite web |url=http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/era.cfm?eraid=4&smtid=1 |title=Overview of the Early National Period |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=2014 |website=Digital History |publisher=University of Houston |access-date=February 25, 2015}}</ref> The [[United States Constitution|current constitution]] was adopted in 1788, with the first ten amendments, collectively named the [[United States Bill of Rights|Bill of Rights]], being ratified in 1791 to guarantee many [[Natural and legal rights|fundamental civil liberties]]. The United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century, [[United States territorial acquisitions|acquiring new territories]],<ref name="MD2007" /> [[American Indian Wars|displacing Native American tribes]], and gradually [[List of U.S. states by date of admission to the Union|admitting new states]] until it spanned the continent by 1848.<ref name="MD2007">{{cite book |last=Carlisle |first=Rodney P. |first2=J. Geoffrey |last2=Golson |title=Manifest Destiny and the Expansion of America |series=Turning Points in History Series |url=https://books.google.com/?id=ka6LxulZaEwC&vq=annexation&dq=territorial+expansion+United+States+%22manifest+destiny%22 |year=2007 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-85109-833-0 |page=238}}</ref>
 
During the second half of the 19th century, the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] led to the abolition of [[slavery in the United States|slavery]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2967.html |title=The Civil War and emancipation 1861–1865 |website=Africans in America |publisher=WGBH Educational Foundation |location=Boston |year=1999 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/19991012054217/http://pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2967.html |archivedate=October 12, 1999}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor1-first=Jeffrey H. |editor1-last=Wallenfeldt |author=Britannica Educational Publishing |series=America at War |title=The American Civil War and Reconstruction: People, Politics, and Power |url=https://books.google.com/?id=T_0TrXXiDbUC&dq=slavery+%22American+Civil+War%22 |year=2009 |publisher=Rosen Publishing Group |isbn=978-1-61530-045-7 |page=264}}</ref> By the end of the century, the United States had extended into the Pacific Ocean,<ref name="AmCentNYT">{{cite book |chapter-url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/w/white-century.html |title=The American Century |author=White, Donald W. |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-300-05721-8 |publisher=Yale University Press |chapter=1: The Frontiers |accessdate=March 26, 2013}}</ref> and its economy, driven in large part by the [[Industrial Revolution]], began to soar.<ref>{{cite web |title=Work in the Late 19th Century |url=https://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/riseind/work/ |website=Library of Congress |accessdate=January 16, 2015}}</ref> The [[Spanish–American War]] and {{nowrap|[[World War I]]}} confirmed the country's status as a global military power. The United States emerged from {{nowrap|[[World War II]]}} as a global [[superpower]], the [[Nuclear weapons and the United States|first country to develop nuclear weapons]], the only country to [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|use them in warfare]], and a [[Permanent members of the United Nations Security Council|permanent member]] of the [[United Nations Security Council]]. Sweeping civil rights legislation, notably the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]], the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]] and the [[Fair Housing Act of 1968]], outlawed discrimination based on race or color. During the [[Cold War]], the United States and the [[Soviet Union]] competed in the [[Space Race]], culminating with the [[Apollo 11|1969 U.S. Moon landing]]. The end of the Cold War and the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union|collapse of the Soviet Union]] in 1991 left the United States as the world's [[hyperpower|sole superpower]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=Tony Judt |author2=Denis Lacorne |title=With Us Or Against Us: Studies in Global Anti-Americanism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nVDHAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA61 |year= 2005 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-4039-8085-4 |page=61}}<br />{{cite book |author=Richard J. Samuels |title=Encyclopedia of United States National Security |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K751AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT666 |year=2005 |publisher=Sage Publications |isbn=978-1-4522-6535-3 |page=666}}<br />{{cite book |author=Paul R. Pillar |title=Terrorism and U.S. Foreign Policy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_GYklwy6booC&pg=PA57 |year= 2001 |publisher=Brookings Institution Press |isbn=978-0-8157-0004-3 |page=57}}<br />{{cite book |author=Gabe T. Wang |title=China and the Taiwan Issue: Impending War at Taiwan Strait |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CbPJ7KZ9FvIC&pg=PA179 |year= 2006 |publisher=University Press of America |isbn=978-0-7618-3434-2 |page=179}}<br />{{cite book |title=Understanding the "Victory Disease," From the Little Bighorn to Mogadishu and Beyond |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qgdmiw4VUHsC&pg=PA1 |publisher=Diane Publishing |isbn=978-1-4289-1052-2 |page=1|year=2004 }}<br />{{cite book |author1=Akis Kalaitzidis |author2=Gregory W. Streich |title=U.S. Foreign Policy: A Documentary and Reference Guide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tzwYzL9KcwEC&pg=PA313 |year=2011 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-313-38375-5 |page=313}}</ref>
 
The United States is the world's oldest surviving [[federation]]. It is a [[federal republic]] and a [[representative democracy]]. The United States is a founding member of the [[United Nations]], [[World Bank]], [[International Monetary Fund]], [[Organization of American States]] (OAS), and other international organizations. The United States is a highly [[developed country]], with the world's [[List of countries by GDP (nominal)|largest economy by nominal GDP]] and [[List of countries by GDP (PPP)|second-largest economy by PPP]], accounting for approximately a quarter of global GDP.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2015/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=23&pr.y=9&sy=2014&ey=2014&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=512%2C668%2C914%2C672%2C612%2C946%2C614%2C137%2C311%2C962%2C213%2C674%2C911%2C676%2C193%2C548%2C122%2C556%2C912%2C678%2C313%2C181%2C419%2C867%2C513%2C682%2C316%2C684%2C913%2C273%2C124%2C868%2C339%2C921%2C638%2C948%2C514%2C943%2C218%2C686%2C963%2C688%2C616%2C518%2C223%2C728%2C516%2C558%2C918%2C138%2C748%2C196%2C618%2C278%2C624%2C692%2C522%2C694%2C622%2C142%2C156%2C449%2C626%2C564%2C628%2C565%2C228%2C283%2C924%2C853%2C233%2C288%2C632%2C293%2C636%2C566%2C634%2C964%2C238%2C182%2C662%2C453%2C960%2C968%2C423%2C922%2C935%2C714%2C128%2C862%2C611%2C135%2C321%2C716%2C243%2C456%2C248%2C722%2C469%2C942%2C253%2C718%2C642%2C724%2C643%2C576%2C939%2C936%2C644%2C961%2C819%2C813%2C172%2C199%2C132%2C733%2C646%2C184%2C648%2C524%2C915%2C361%2C134%2C362%2C652%2C364%2C174%2C732%2C328%2C366%2C258%2C734%2C656%2C144%2C654%2C146%2C336%2C463%2C263%2C528%2C268%2C923%2C532%2C738%2C944%2C578%2C176%2C537%2C534%2C742%2C536%2C866%2C429%2C369%2C433%2C744%2C178%2C186%2C436%2C925%2C136%2C869%2C343%2C746%2C158%2C926%2C439%2C466%2C916%2C112%2C664%2C111%2C826%2C298%2C542%2C927%2C967%2C846%2C443%2C299%2C917%2C582%2C544%2C474%2C941%2C754%2C446%2C698%2C666&s=NGDPD&grp=0&a= |title=World Economic Outlook Database, April 2015 |date= |accessdate= |website= |publisher=}}</ref> The [[Economy of the United States|U.S. economy]] is largely [[post-industrial society|post-industrial]], characterized by the dominance of [[Service (economics)|services]] and [[knowledge economy|knowledge-based]] activities, although the manufacturing sector remains the second-largest in the world.<ref>{{cite web |title=Manufacturing, value added (current US$) |url=http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NV.IND.MANF.CD |website=World Bank Open Data |publisher=World Bank |accessdate=February 11, 2017}}</ref> The United States is the world's [[List of countries by imports|largest importer]] and the [[List of countries by exports|second largest exporter]] of goods, by value.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/Publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2087rank.html|title=The World Factbook |publisher= Central Intelligence Agency|website=www.cia.gov}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/Publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2078rank.html|title=The World Factbook |publisher= Central Intelligence Agency|website=www.cia.gov}}</ref> Although its population is only 4.3% of the world total,<ref name="urlPopulation Clock">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/popclock/ |title=Population Clock |date=July 4, 2017 |website=U.S. and World Population Clock |publisher=U.S. Department of Commerce |quote=The United States population on July 4, 2017 was: 325,365,189 |accessdate=September 11, 2017}}</ref> the U.S. holds [[National wealth|31% of the total wealth in the world]], the largest share of global wealth concentrated in a single country.<ref>{{cite web |title=Global Wealth Report |url=https://www.credit-suisse.com/corporate/en/research/research-institute/global-wealth-report.html |website=Credit Suisse |accessdate=February 11, 2019 |date=October 2018}}</ref>
 
Despite wide [[Income inequality in the United States|income]] and [[Wealth inequality in the United States|wealth disparities]], the United States continues to [[International rankings of the United States|rank very high]] in measures of socioeconomic performance, including [[List of countries by average wage|average wage]], [[Human Development Index|human development]], [[List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita|per capita GDP]], and worker productivity.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-500395_162-3228735.html |title=U.S. Workers World's Most Productive |publisher=CBS News |date=February 11, 2009 |accessdate=April 23, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=AV_AN_WAGE|title=Average annual wages|website=stats.oecd.org|access-date=February 2, 2019}}</ref> The United States is the foremost [[United States Armed Forces|military]] power in the world, making up a third of [[List of countries by military expenditures|global military spending]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://books.sipri.org/product_info?c_product_id=476 |title=Trends in world military expenditure, 2013 |publisher=Stockholm International Peace Research Institute |date=April 2014 |accessdate=April 14, 2014 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150104033821/http://books.sipri.org/product_info?c_product_id=476 |archivedate=January 4, 2015}}</ref> and is a leading [[Politics|political]], [[Culture of the United States|cultural]], and [[Science and technology in the United States|scientific]] force internationally.<ref>[[#Cohen|Cohen, 2004: History and the Hyperpower]]<br />[[#BBC18may|BBC, April 2008: Country Profile: United States of America]]<br />{{cite web |url=http://www.researchtrends.com/issue8-november-2008/geographical-trends-of-research-output/ |title=Geographical trends of research output |publisher=Research Trends |accessdate=March 16, 2014}}<br />{{cite web |url=http://www.openaccessweek.org/profiles/blogs/the-top-20-countries-for-scientific-output |title=The top 20 countries for scientific output |publisher=Open Access Week |accessdate=March 16, 2014}}<br />{{cite web |url=http://www.epo.org/about-us/annual-reports-statistics/annual-report/2012/statistics-trends/granted-patents.html |title=Granted patents |publisher=European Patent Office|accessdate=March 16, 2014}}</ref>
 
== Etymology ==
<!--linked-->
{{See also|Naming of the Americas|Names for United States citizens|American (word)}}
[[File:Amerigo Vespucci - Project Gutenberg etext 19997.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.6|The Americas are believed to be named for the Italian explorer [[Amerigo Vespucci]].{{sfn|Martone|2016|p=504}}]]
In 1507, the German cartographer [[Martin Waldseemüller]] produced a world map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere ''[[Americas|America]]'' in honor of the Italian explorer and cartographer [[Amerigo Vespucci]] ({{lang-la|Americus Vespucius}}).{{sfn|Sider|2007|p=226}} The first documentary evidence of the phrase "United States of America" is from a letter dated January 2, 1776, written by [[Stephen Moylan]], Esq., to [[George Washington]]'s [[aide-de-camp]] and Muster-Master General of the [[Continental Army]], [[Joseph Reed (politician)|Lt. Col. Joseph Reed]]. Moylan expressed his wish to go "with full and ample powers from the United States of America to Spain" to seek assistance in the revolutionary war effort.<ref>DeLear, Byron (July 4, 2013) [http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2013/0704/Who-coined-United-States-of-America-Mystery-might-have-intriguing-answer Who coined 'United States of America'? Mystery might have intriguing answer.] "Historians have long tried to pinpoint exactly when the name 'United States of America' was first used and by whom... ...This latest find comes in a letter that Stephen Moylan, Esq., wrote to Col. Joseph Reed from the Continental Army Headquarters in Cambridge, Mass., during the Siege of Boston. The two men lived with Washington in Cambridge, with Reed serving as Washington's favorite military secretary and Moylan fulfilling the role during Reed's absence." ''Christian Science Monitor'' (Boston, MA).</ref><ref>Touba, Mariam (November 5, 2014) [http://blog.nyhistory.org/coined-phrase-united-states-america-may-never-guess/ Who Coined the Phrase 'United States of America'? You May Never Guess] "Here, on January 2, 1776, seven months before the Declaration of Independence and a week before the publication of Paine's ''Common Sense'', Stephen Moylan, an acting secretary to General George Washington, spells it out, 'I should like vastly to go with full and ample powers from the United States of America to Spain' to seek foreign assistance for the cause." ''New-York Historical Society Museum & Library''</ref><ref>Fay, John (July 15, 2016) [http://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/The-forgotten-Irishman-who-named-the-United-States-of-America.html The forgotten Irishman who named the 'United States of America'] "According to the NY Historical Society, Stephen Moylan was the man responsible for the earliest documented use of the phrase "United States of America." But who was Stephen Moylan?" ''IrishCentral.com''</ref> The first known publication of the phrase "United States of America" was in an anonymous essay in ''[[The Virginia Gazette]]'' newspaper in Williamsburg, Virginia, on April 6, 1776.<ref>{{cite journal |title="To the inhabitants of Virginia," by A PLANTER.'' Dixon and Hunter's. April 6, 1776, Williamsburg, Virginia. Letter is also included in Peter Force's ''American Archives'' |url=http://research.history.org/DigitalLibrary/VirginiaGazette/VGIssueThumbs.cfm?IssueIDNo=76.DH.16 |issue=1287 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219053616/http://research.history.org/DigitalLibrary/VirginiaGazette/VGIssueThumbs.cfm?IssueIDNo=76.DH.16 |archivedate=December 19, 2014 |volume=5}}</ref>
 
The second draft of the [[Articles of Confederation]], prepared by [[John Dickinson]] and completed by June 17, 1776, at the latest, declared "The name of this Confederation shall be the 'United States of America{{' "}}.{{sfn|Safire|2003|p=199}} The final version of the Articles sent to the states for ratification in late 1777 contains the sentence "The Stile of this Confederacy shall be 'The United States of America{{' "}}.{{sfn|Mostert|2005|p=18}} In June 1776, [[Thomas Jefferson]] wrote the phrase "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" in all capitalized letters in the headline of his "original Rough draught" of the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]].{{sfn|Safire|2003|p=199}} This draft of the document did not surface until June 21, 1776, and it is unclear whether it was written before or after Dickinson used the term in his June 17 draft of the Articles of Confederation.{{sfn|Safire|2003|p=199}}
 
The short form "United States" is also standard. Other common forms are the "U.S.", the "USA", and "America". Colloquial names are the "U.S. of A." and, internationally, the "States". "[[Columbia (name)|Columbia]]", a name popular in poetry and songs of the late 18th century, derives its origin from [[Christopher Columbus]]; it appears in the name "[[Washington, D.C.|District of Columbia]]".{{sfn|Brokenshire|1993|page=49}}
 
The phrase "United States" was originally plural, a description of a collection of independent states—e.g., "the United States are"—including in the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]], ratified in 1865.{{sfn|Greg|1892|p=276}} The singular form—e.g., "the United States is"—became popular after the end of the American Civil War. The singular form is now standard; the plural form is retained in the idiom "these United States". The difference is more significant than usage; it is a difference between a collection of states and a unit.<ref>G. H. Emerson, ''The Universalist Quarterly and General Review'', Vol. 28 (Jan. 1891), p. 49, quoted in {{cite web |url=http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002663.html |author=Zimmer, Benjamin |date=November 24, 2005 |title=Life in These, Uh, This United States |publisher=University of Pennsylvania |accessdate=January 5, 2013}}</ref>
 
A citizen of the United States is an "[[Americans|American]]". "United States", "American" and "U.S." refer to the country adjectivally ("American values", "U.S.&nbsp;forces"). In English, the word "[[American (word)|American]]" rarely refers to topics or subjects not directly connected with the United States.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=Kenneth G. |title=The Columbia guide to standard American English |date=1993 |publisher=Columbia University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-231-06989-2 |pages=27–28}}</ref>
 
== History ==
{{Main|History of the United States|Timeline of United States history|American business history|Economic history of the United States|Labor history of the United States}}
 
=== Indigenous peoples and pre-Columbian history ===
{{Further|Native Americans in the United States}}
{{multiple image|caption_align=center|total_width=350
| image1 = Monks Mound in July.JPG|caption1=[[Monks Mound]], in [[Cahokia]], a [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]]
| image2 = Cliff Palace.JPG|caption2=The [[Cliff Palace]], built by the [[Ancestral Puebloans]]
}}
It has been generally accepted that the [[Prehistoric migration and settlement of the Americas from Asia|first inhabitants of North America]] migrated from [[Siberia]] by way of the [[Beringia|Bering land bridge]] and arrived at least 12,000 years ago; however, increasing evidence suggests an even earlier arrival.{{sfn|Erlandson|Rick|Vellanoweth|2008|p=19}}{{sfn|Savage|2011|page= 55}}{{sfn|Haviland|Walrath|Prins|2013|page=219}} After crossing the land bridge, the first Americans moved southward along the Pacific coast{{sfn|Fladmark|2017|pages= 55–69}} and through an interior ice-free corridor between the [[Cordilleran Ice Sheet|Cordilleran]] and [[Laurentide Ice Sheet|Laurentide]] ice sheets.{{sfn|Meltzer|2009|page= 129}} The [[Clovis culture]] appeared around 11,000 BC, and is considered to be an ancestor of most of the later indigenous cultures of the Americas.{{sfn|Waters|Stafford|2007|pages=1122–1126}}  The Clovis culture was believed to represent the first human settlement of the Americas.{{sfn|Flannery|2015|pages=173–185}} Over the years, more and more evidence has advanced the idea of "pre-Clovis" cultures including tools dating back about 15,550 years ago. It is likely these represent the first of three major waves of migrations into North America.{{sfn|Gelo|2018|pagees=79-80}}
 
Over time, indigenous cultures in North America grew increasingly complex, and some, such as the [[pre-Columbian era|pre-Columbian]] [[Mississippian culture]] in the southeast, developed advanced agriculture, grand architecture, and state-level societies.{{sfn|Lockard|2010|page= 315}} The Mississippian culture flourished in the south from 800 to 1600 AD, extending from the Mexican border down through Florida.{{sfn|Inghilleri|2016|page= 117}} Its city state [[Cahokia]] is considered the largest, most complex pre-Columbian [[archaeology|archaeological site]] in the modern-day United States.{{sfn|Martinez|Sage|Ono|2016|page= 4}} In the [[Four Corners]] region, [[Ancestral Puebloans]] culture developed as the culmination of centuries of agricultural experimentation, which produced greater dependence on farming.{{sfn|Fagan|2016|page=390}} Three [[UNESCO World Heritage Sites]] in the United States are credited to the Pueblos: [[Mesa Verde National Park]], [[Chaco Culture National Historical Park]], and [[Taos Pueblo]].{{sfn|Martinez|Bordeaux|2016|page=602}}{{sfn|Weiss|Jacobson|2000|page=180}} The earthworks constructed by Native Americans of the [[Poverty Point]] culture in northeastern [[Louisiana]] have also been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. In the southern [[Great Lakes]] region, the [[Iroquois Confederacy]] (Haudenosaunee) was established at some point between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries.<ref name="Dean Snow">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/?id=P7e82KQoX6IC&pg=PA1&lpg=PA1&dq=iroquois+basque |title=The Iroquois |author=Dean R. Snow |publisher=Blackwell Publishers, Ltd. |year=1994 |isbn=978-1-55786-938-8 |accessdate=July 16, 2010}}</ref>
 
The date of the first settlements of the [[Hawaiian Islands]] is a topic of continuing debate.<ref name="PearcePearce2010">{{cite book |first1=Charles E.M. |last1=Pearce |first2=F. M. |last2=Pearce |title=Oceanic Migration: Paths, Sequence, Timing and Range of Prehistoric Migration in the Pacific and Indian Oceans |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=rhQxc4GW8soC |page=167}} |year=2010 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media| isbn=978-90-481-3826-5 |page=167}}</ref> [[Archaeology|Archaeological]] evidence seems to indicate a settlement as early as 124 AD.<ref name="Whittaker1986">{{cite book |first=Elvi W. |last=Whittaker |title=The Mainland Haole: The White Experience in Hawaii |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=JNM-A-QJ_o4C |page=3}}|date=1986|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-05316-7|page=3}}</ref>
 
=== Effects on and interaction with native populations ===
{{Further|American Indian Wars|Population history of indigenous peoples of the Americas|James Cook}}
 
While estimating the original native population of North America at the time of European contact is difficult, an attempt was made in the early part of the twentieth century by [[James Mooney]] using historic records to estimate the indigenous population north of [[Mexico]] in 1600.{{sfn|Perdue|Green|2005|page=40}}{{sfn|Haines|Haines|Steckel|2000|page= 12}} In more recent years, [[Douglas H. Ubelaker]] of the [[Smithsonian Institution]] has updated these figures.{{sfn|Thornton|1998|page=34}} While Ubelaker estimated that there was a population of 92,916 in the south Atlantic states and a population of 473,616 in the Gulf states, most academics regard the figure as too low.{{sfn|Perdue|Green|2005|page=40}} [[Anthropologist]] [[Henry F. Dobyns]] believed that the populations were much higher, suggestion 1,100,000 along the shores of the gulf of Mexico, 2,211,000 people living between [[Florida]] and [[Massachusetts]], 5,250,000 in the [[Mississippi Valley]] and tributaries and 697,000 people in the [[Florida peninsula]].{{sfn|Perdue|Green|2005|page=40}}{{sfn|Haines|Haines|Steckel|2000|page= 12}}
 
The first interaction between Europeans and Native Americans was made by the [[Norsemen]]. A number of surviving Norse [[saga]]s provide information regarding [[The Maritimes]] and its indigenous people. The Norse attempted to settle in North America about 500 years before Columbus.{{sfn|Volo|Volo|2007|page=11}}{{sfn|Cowper|2011|page=67}}{{sfn|Wilson|Thompson|1997|page=14}}
 
In the early days of colonization, many European settlers were subject to food shortages, disease, and attacks from Native Americans. Native Americans were also often at war with neighboring tribes and allied with Europeans in their colonial wars. At the same time, however, many natives and settlers came to depend on each other. Settlers traded for food and animal pelts, natives for guns, ammunition and other European wares.<ref>[[#Ripper2008|Ripper, 2008]] p. 6</ref> Natives taught many settlers where, when and how to cultivate corn, beans, and squash. European missionaries and others felt it was important to "civilize" the Native Americans and urged them to adopt European agricultural techniques and lifestyles.<ref>[[#Ripper2008|Ripper, 2008]] p. 5</ref><ref>[[#Calloway1998|Calloway, 1998]], p. 55</ref>
 
=== European settlements ===
{{further|Colonial history of the United States|European colonization of the Americas|Thirteen Colonies}}
 
[[File:View of St. Augustine FL at intersection of Cathedral Pl and Charlotte St 20160707 1.jpg|thumb|[[Saint Augustine, Florida]], the oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement in the continental United States (1565)<ref name="Saint Augustine" />]]
[[File:The Mayflower Compact 1620 cph.3g07155.jpg|thumb|''The [[Mayflower Compact]], 1620'' by [[Jean Leon Gerome Ferris]] ]]
 
With the advancement of European colonization in the territories of the contemporary United States, the [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] were often [[American Indian Wars|conquered and displaced]].{{sfn|Joseph|2016|page=590}} The first Europeans to arrive in the territory of the modern United States were Spanish [[conquistador]]s such as [[Juan Ponce de León]], who made his first visit to Florida in 1513; however, if [[unincorporated territories of the United States|unincorporated territories]] are accounted for, then credit would go to [[Christopher Columbus]] who landed in [[Puerto Rico]] on his [[Columbus's second voyage|1493 voyage]]. The Spanish set up the first settlements in Florida and New Mexico such as [[St. Augustine, Florida|Saint Augustine]]<ref name="Saint Augustine">{{cite web |title=St. Augustine Florida, The Nation's Oldest City |url=http://staugustine.com/history/nations-oldest-city |website=staugustine.com |language=en}}</ref> and [[Santa Fe, New Mexico|Santa Fe]]. The French established their own as well along the [[Mississippi River]]. Successful [[English overseas possessions|English settlement]] on the eastern coast of North America began with the [[Colony of Virginia|Virginia Colony]] in 1607 at [[Jamestown, Virginia|Jamestown]] and the [[Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony)|Pilgrims']] [[Plymouth Colony]] in 1620. Many settlers were [[English Dissenters|dissenting Christian groups]] who came seeking [[freedom of religion|religious freedom]]. The continent's first elected legislative assembly, Virginia's [[House of Burgesses]] created in 1619, the [[Mayflower Compact]], signed by the Pilgrims before disembarking, and the [[Fundamental Orders of Connecticut]], established precedents for the pattern of representative self-government and constitutionalism that would develop throughout the American colonies.<ref name="Remini2–3">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Remini|2007|pp=2–3}}</ref><ref name="Johnson26–30">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Johnson|1997|pp=26–30}}</ref>
 
Most settlers in every colony were small farmers, but other industries developed within a few decades as varied as the settlements. [[Cash crops]] included tobacco, rice, and wheat. Extraction industries grew up in furs, fishing and lumber. Manufacturers produced rum and ships, and by the late colonial period, Americans were producing one-seventh of the world's iron supply.<ref>[[#Walton|Walton, 2009]], chapter 3</ref> Cities eventually dotted the coast to support local economies and serve as trade hubs. English colonists were supplemented by waves of [[Scotch-Irish American|Scotch-Irish]] and other groups. As coastal land grew more expensive, freed [[Indentured servitude|indentured servants]] pushed further west.<ref>[[#Lemon|Lemon, 1987]]</ref>
 
A large-scale slave trade with English privateers was begun.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jackson |first1=L. P. |title=Elizabethan Seamen and the African Slave Trade |journal=The Journal of Negro History |volume=9 |issue=1 |date=1924 |pages=1–17 |jstor=2713432|doi=10.2307/2713432 }}</ref> The life expectancy of slaves was much higher in North America than further south, because of less disease and better food and treatment, leading to a rapid increase in the numbers of slaves.<ref>[[#Tadman|Tadman, 2000]], p. 1534</ref><ref>[[#Schneider|Schneider, 2007]], p. 484</ref> Colonial society was largely divided over the religious and moral implications of slavery, and colonies passed acts for and against the practice.<ref name=Lien522>[[#Lien|Lien, 1913]], p. 522</ref><ref name=Davis7>[[#Davis96|Davis, 1996]], p. 7</ref> But by the turn of the 18th century, African slaves were replacing indentured servants for cash crop labor, especially in southern regions.<ref name="Quirk2011">[[#Quirk|Quirk, 2011]], p. 195</ref>
 
With the British colonization of [[Province of Georgia|Georgia]] in 1732, the [[Thirteen Colonies|13 colonies]] that would become the United States of America were established.<ref name="BilhartzElliott2007">{{cite book |author1=Bilhartz, Terry D. |author2=Elliott, Alan C. |title=Currents in American History: A Brief History of the United States |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J65Z_Ura2EIC&pg=PA7 |year=2007 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |isbn=978-0-7656-1817-7}}</ref> All had local governments with elections open to most free men, with a growing devotion to the ancient [[rights of Englishmen]] and a sense of self-government stimulating support for republicanism.<ref name="Wood1998">{{cite book |author=Wood, Gordon S. |title=The Creation of the American Republic, 1776–1787 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kdDRJLxBhl4C&pg=PA263 |year=1998 |publisher=UNC Press Books |isbn=978-0-8078-4723-7 |page=263}}</ref> With extremely high birth rates, low death rates, and steady settlement, the colonial population grew rapidly. Relatively small Native American populations were eclipsed.<ref>[[#Walton|Walton, 2009]], pp. 38–39</ref> The [[Christian revival]]ist movement of the 1730s and 1740s known as the [[First Great Awakening|Great Awakening]] fueled interest in both religion and religious liberty.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Foner |first1=Eric |title=The Story of American Freedom |date=1998 |publisher=W.W. Norton |isbn=978-0-393-04665-6 |pages=4–5 |edition=1st |url=https://books.google.com/?id=YhHcaweX2tIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=story+of+American+freedom#v=onepage&q=story%20of%20American%20freedom&f=false}}</ref>
 
During the [[Seven Years' War]] (in the United States, known as the [[French and Indian War]]), British forces seized Canada from the French, but the [[French language|francophone]] population remained politically isolated from the southern colonies. Excluding the [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]], who were being conquered and displaced, the 13 British colonies had a population of over 2.1 million in 1770, about one-third that of Britain. Despite continuing new arrivals, the rate of natural increase was such that by the 1770s only a small minority of Americans had been born overseas.<ref>[[#Walton|Walton, 2009]], p. 35</ref> The colonies' distance from Britain had allowed the development of self-government, but their success motivated [[monarchy|monarchs]] to periodically seek to reassert royal authority.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved | author=Otis, James |year=1763 }}</ref>
 
In 1774, the [[Spanish Navy]] ship ''Santiago'', under [[Juan José Pérez Hernández|Juan Pérez]], entered and anchored in an inlet of [[Nootka Sound]], Vancouver Island, in present-day British Columbia. Although the Spanish did not land, natives paddled to the ship to trade [[fur]]s for [[abalone]] shells from [[California]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Pethick |first=Derek |title=The Nootka Connection: Europe and the Northwest Coast 1790–1795 |year=1980 |publisher=Douglas & McIntyre |location=Vancouver |isbn=978-0-88894-279-1 |pages=8–9}}</ref> At the time, the Spanish were able to monopolize the trade between [[Asia]] and North America, granting limited licenses to the [[Portugal|Portuguese]]. When the [[Russians]] began establishing a growing [[fur trading]] system in [[Alaska]], the Spanish began to challenge the Russians, with Pérez's voyage being the first of many to the [[Pacific Northwest]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Pethick |first=Derek |title=The Nootka Connection: Europe and the Northwest Coast 1790–1795 |year=1980 |publisher=Douglas & McIntyre |location=Vancouver |isbn=978-0-88894-279-1 |pages=7–8}}</ref>{{efn|Spain sent [[Spanish expeditions to the Pacific Northwest|several expeditions to Alaska]] to assert its long-held claim over the Pacific Northwest, which dated back to the 16th century. During the decade 1785–1795 British merchants, encouraged by [[Sir Joseph Banks]] and supported by their government, made a sustained attempt to develop this trade despite Spain's claims and navigation rights. The endeavors of these merchants did not last long in the face of Spain's opposition. The challenge was also opposed by a Japanese holding obdurately to national seclusion.<ref>Robert J. King, "'The long wish'd for object' — Opening the trade to Japan, 1785–1795", ''The Northern Mariner / le marin du nord,'' vol. XX, no. 1, January 2010, pp. 1–35.</ref>}}
 
[[File:Zoffany Death of Captain Cook.jpg|upright=0.9|thumb|''Death of Captain Cook'' by [[Johann Zoffany]] (1795)]]
 
During his [[James Cook#Third voyage (1776–79)|third and final voyage]], [[Captain James Cook]] became the first European to begin formal contact with Hawaii. After his initial landfall in January 1778 at [[Waimea, Kauai County, Hawaii|Waimea]] harbor, [[Kauai]], Cook named the [[archipelago]] the "Sandwich Islands" after the [[John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich|fourth Earl of Sandwich]]—the acting [[Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty|First Lord of the Admiralty]] of the British [[Royal Navy]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Collingridge |first=Vanessa |authorlink=Vanessa Collingridge |title=Captain Cook: The Life, Death and Legacy of History's Greatest Explorer |year=2003 |publisher=Ebury Press |page=380 |isbn=978-0-09-188898-5}}</ref> Captain [[James Cook]]'s last voyage included sailing along the coast of North America and Alaska searching for a [[Northwest Passage]] for approximately nine months. After having arrived in the Hawaiian islands in 1778, Captain Cook sailed north and then northeast to explore the west coast of North America north of the Spanish settlements in [[Alta California]]. He made landfall on the Oregon coast at approximately 44°30′ north latitude, naming his landing point [[Cape Foulweather]]. Bad weather forced his ships south to about [[43rd parallel north|43° north]] before they could begin their exploration of the coast northward.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hayes |first=Derek |title=Historical Atlas of the Pacific Northwest: Maps of exploration and Discovery |date=1999 |publisher=Sasquatch Books |pages=42–43 |isbn=978-1-57061-215-2 |url=https://books.google.com/?id=sl57oHrVXGoC}}</ref> In March 1778, Cook landed on [[Bligh Island (Canada)|Bligh Island]] and named the inlet "King George's Sound". He recorded that the native name was ''Nutka'' or Nootka, apparently misunderstanding his conversations at ''[[Yuquot, British Columbia|Friendly Cove/Yuquot]]''; his informant may have been explaining that he was on an island (''itchme nutka'', a place you can "go around"). There may also have been confusion with ''[[Nuu-chah-nulth people|Nuu-chah-nulth]]'', the natives' autonym (a name for themselves). It may also have simply been based on Cook's mispronunciation of Yuquot, the native name of the place.<ref>Alexander von Humboldt, ''Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain,'' translated by John Black, Vol. 2, London, Longman, 1822, translator's note, p. 322.</ref> He returned to Hawaii to resupply, initially exploring the coasts of [[Maui]] and the [[Hawaii Island|big island]], trading with locals and then making anchor at [[Kealakekua Bay]] in January 1779. When his ships and company left the islands, a ship's mast broke in bad weather, forcing them to return in mid-February. Cook would be killed days later.<ref name="Campbell2010">{{cite book |author=Jeff Campbell |title=Hawaii |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TRXR69wo-rYC&pg=PA38 |year=2010 |publisher=Lonely Planet |isbn=978-1-74220-344-7 |page=38}}</ref> {{efn|His previous arrival coincided with the [[Makahiki]],<ref name="Tabrah1984">{{cite book |author=Ruth M. Tabrah |title=Hawaii: A History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZT7fAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA24 |year=1984 |publisher=W.W. Norton |isbn=978-0-393-24369-7 |pages=19–22}}</ref> a festival celebrating the [[Hawaiian religion|Hawaiian deity]] [[Lono]].<ref name="Sahlins1996">{{cite book |author=Marshall Sahlins |title=How "Natives" Think: About Captain Cook, For Example |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=adVe-z1xuvsC&pg=PA32 |year=1996 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-73369-2 |page=3–}}</ref> After {{HMS|Resolution|1771|6}} and {{HMS|Discovery|1774|6}} had left the islands, the season for battle and war had begun under the worship and rituals for [[Kū]]kaʻilimoku, the Hawaiian deity of war.<ref name="Meyer2014">{{cite book |author=Melissa Meyer |title=Thicker Than Water: The Origins of Blood as Symbol and Ritual: The Origins of Blood as Symbol and Ritual |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GxHKAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA184 |year=2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-34200-5 |page=184}}</ref>}}{{efn|On the evening of February 13, while anchored in Kealakekua Bay after their return, one of only two long boats was stolen.<ref name="Moore2012">{{cite book |author=Jerry D. Moore |title=Visions of Culture: An Introduction to Anthropological Theories and Theorists |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=We4N11-IrB4C&pg=PA336 |year=2012 |publisher=[[Rowman Altamira]] |isbn=978-0-7591-2219-2 |page=336}}</ref> The Hawaiians had begun to openly challenge the foreigners. In retaliation, Cook tried to take the [[aliʻi]] nui of the island of Hawaii, [[Kalaniʻōpuʻu]] as ransom for the boats.<ref name="Cook1971">{{cite book |author=James Cook |title=The Explorations of Captain James Cook in the Pacific, as Told by Selections of His Own Journals, 1768–1779 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SiRwbO-jx-AC&pg=PA255 |year=1971 |publisher=[[Courier Corporation]] |isbn=978-0-486-22766-5 |page=256}}</ref> The following morning of February 14, 1779<ref>{{cite book |title=Book Notes: A Monthly Literary Magazine and Review of New Books |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_9kRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA54 |year=1901 |publisher=Siegel-Cooper |page=54}}</ref> Cook and his men went directly to Kalaniʻōpuʻu's enclosure where the monarch was still sleeping.<ref name="O'Sullivan2008">{{cite book |author=Daniel O'Sullivan |title=In Search of Captain Cook: Exploring the Man Through His Own Words |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZHUAAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA224 |date=March 30, 2008 |publisher=I.B. Tauris |isbn=978-0-85771-350-6 |page=224}}</ref> One of ruler's wives, [[Kānekapōlei]] pleaded with them to stop.<ref name="Chambers2006">{{cite book |author=John H. Chambers |title=Hawaii |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HZpfH2LJoJoC&pg=PA55 |year=2006 |publisher=Interlink Books |isbn=978-1-56656-615-5 |page=55}}</ref> Cook's men and the Marines were confronted on the beach by thousands of [[Native Hawaiians]].<ref name="Bown2008">{{cite book |author=Stephen R. Bown |title=Madness, Betrayal and the Lash: The Epic Voyage of Captain George Vancouver |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m5wcA_8onnEC&pg=PA30 |year=2008 |publisher=Douglas & McIntyre |isbn=978-1-55365-339-4 |page=30}}</ref> Cook tried to move the elderly man but he refused. As the townspeople began to surrounding them, Cook and his men raised their guns. Two chiefs and the monarch's wife shielded Kalaniʻōpuʻu as Cook tried to force him to his feet.<ref name="Tregaskis1973">{{cite book |author=Richard Tregaskis |title=The warrior king: Hawaii's Kamehameha the Great |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=giQxAQAAIAAJ |date=November 1973 |publisher=Macmillan |page=115}}</ref> The crowd became hostile and [[Kanaʻina]] (one of the monarch's attendants) approached Cook, who reacted by striking him with the broad side of his sword. Kanaʻina instantly grabbed Cook and lifted him off his feet.<ref name="Williams2008">{{cite book |author=Glyndwr Williams |title=The Death of Captain Cook: A Hero Made and Unmade |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RfbMHdsFom8C&pg=PA37 |year=2008 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-03194-4 |page=37}}</ref> Kanaʻina released Cook, who fell to the ground as another attendant, Nuaa fatally stabbed Cook to death.<ref name="Meares1791">{{cite book |author=John Meares |title=Hawaiian Historical Society. Reprints (1787, 1788 and 1789) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=USMOAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA76 |year=1791 |page=76}}</ref>}}
 
=== Independence and expansion (1776–1865) ===
{{further|American Revolutionary War|United States Declaration of Independence|American Revolution|Territorial evolution of the United States}}
[[File:Declaration independence.jpg|thumb|''[[Declaration of Independence (Trumbull)|Declaration of Independence]]'' by [[John Trumbull]]]]
 
The [[American Revolutionary War]] was the first successful colonial war of independence against a European power. Americans had developed an ideology of "[[Republicanism in the United States|republicanism]]" asserting that government rested on the will of the people as expressed in their local legislatures. They demanded their [[Rights of Englishmen|rights as Englishmen]] and "no taxation without representation". The British insisted on administering the empire through Parliament, and [[American Revolution|the conflict]] escalated into war.<ref name="Humphrey2003">{{cite book |author=Humphrey, Carol Sue |title=The Revolutionary Era: Primary Documents on Events from 1776 To 1800 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=19NWMZ6Ec_sC&pg=PA8 |year=2003 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing |isbn=978-0-313-32083-5 |pages=8–10}}</ref>
 
The [[Second Continental Congress]] unanimously adopted the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] on July 4, which recognized, in a long preamble, that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with unalienable rights and that those rights were not being protected by Great Britain, and declared, in the words of the resolution, that the [[Thirteen Colonies|thirteen United Colonies]] formed an independent nation and had no further allegiance to the British crown. The fourth day of July is celebrated annually as [[Independence Day (United States)|Independence Day]].<ref name="YoungNash2011" /> The Second Continental Congress declared on September 9 "where, heretofore, the words 'United Colonies' have been used, the stile be altered for the future to the 'United States' ".{{sfn|Samuel|1920|p=323-324}} In 1777, the [[Articles of Confederation]] established a weak government that operated until 1789.<ref name="YoungNash2011">{{cite book |author1=Fabian Young, Alfred |author2=Nash, Gary B. |author3=Raphael, Ray |title=Revolutionary Founders: Rebels, Radicals, and Reformers in the Making of the Nation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QEzaLJ4u_MEC&pg=PA4 |year=2011 |publisher=Random House Digital |isbn=978-0-307-27110-5 |pages=4–7}}</ref>
 
[[File:U.S. Territorial Acquisitions.png|thumb|left|[[United States territorial acquisitions|U.S. territorial acquisitions]]{{endash}}portions of each territory were granted statehood since the 18th century.]]
Britain recognized the independence of the United States following its [[Siege of Yorktown|defeat at Yorktown]] in 1781.<ref>Greene and Pole, ''A Companion to the American Revolution'' p 357. Jonathan R. Dull, ''A Diplomatic History of the American Revolution'' (1987) p. 161. Lawrence S. Kaplan, "The Treaty of Paris, 1783: A Historiographical Challenge", ''International History Review'', Sept 1983, Vol. 5 Issue 3, pp. 431–442</ref> In the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|peace treaty of 1783]], American sovereignty was recognized from the Atlantic coast west to the [[Mississippi River]]. Nationalists led the [[Constitutional Convention (United States)|Philadelphia Convention]] of 1787 in writing the [[United States Constitution]], [[Ratification of the United States Constitution|ratified]] in state conventions in 1788. The federal government was reorganized into three branches, on the principle of creating salutary checks and balances, in 1789. [[George Washington]], who had led the revolutionary army to victory, was the first [[President of the United States|president]] elected under the new constitution. The [[United States Bill of Rights|Bill of Rights]], forbidding federal restriction of [[Natural and legal rights|personal freedoms]] and guaranteeing a range of legal protections, was adopted in 1791.<ref name="BoyerJr.2007">[[#Boyer|Boyer, 2007]], pp. 192–193</ref>
 
Although the federal government criminalized the international slave trade in 1808, after 1820, cultivation of the highly profitable cotton crop exploded in the [[Deep South]], and along with it, the slave population.<ref name="Cogliano2008">{{cite book |author=Cogliano, Francis D. |title=Thomas Jefferson: Reputation and Legacy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1f-wAfE0mpsC&pg=PA219 |year=2008 |publisher=University of Virginia Press |isbn=978-0-8139-2733-6 |page=219}}</ref><ref>[[#Walton|Walton, 2009]], p. 43</ref><ref>[[#Gordon|Gordon, 2004]], pp. 27,29</ref> The [[Second Great Awakening]], especially 1800–1840, converted millions to [[evangelicalism|evangelical]] Protestantism. In the North, it energized multiple social reform movements, including [[abolitionism in the United States|abolitionism]];<ref name="Clark2012iu">{{cite book |author=Clark, Mary Ann |title=Then We'll Sing a New Song: African Influences on America's Religious Landscape |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Tl3vqx-BX0C&pg=PT47 |date=May 2012 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-0881-0 |page=47}}</ref> in the South, Methodists and Baptists proselytized among slave populations.<ref>Heinemann, Ronald L., et al., Old Dominion, New Commonwealth: a history of Virginia 1607–2007, 2007 {{ISBN|978-0-8139-2609-4}}, p. 197</ref>
 
[[File:United States Central map 1834-06-28 to 1836-06-15.png|thumb|Map of the states and territories of the United States, c. 1834]]
Americans' eagerness to [[United States territorial acquisitions|expand westward]] prompted a long series of [[American Indian Wars]].<ref name="BillingtonRidge2001j">{{cite book |author1=Billington, Ray Allen |author2=Ridge, Martin |author-link2= Martin Ridge (historian) |title=Westward Expansion: A History of the American Frontier |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YoV-k7VcyZ0C&pg=PA22 |year=2001 |publisher=UNM Press |isbn=978-0-8263-1981-4 |page=22}}</ref> The [[Louisiana Purchase]] of French-claimed territory in 1803 almost doubled the nation's area.<ref>{{cite web |title=Louisiana Purchase |publisher=National Park Services |url=http://www.nps.gov/jeff/historyculture/upload/louisiana_purchase.pdf |accessdate=March 1, 2011}}</ref> The [[War of 1812]], declared against Britain over various grievances and fought to a draw, strengthened U.S. nationalism.<ref name="Wait1999">{{cite book |author=Wait, Eugene M. |title=America and the War of 1812 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=puuQ30N0EsIC&pg=PA78 |year=1999 |publisher=Nova Publishers |isbn=978-1-56072-644-9 |page=78}}</ref> A series of military incursions into Florida led [[Adams–Onís Treaty|Spain to cede]] it and other Gulf Coast territory in 1819.<ref name="KloseJones1994">{{cite book |author1=Klose, Nelson |author2=Jones, Robert F. |title=United States History to 1877 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r4pXwnFs2HMC&pg=PA150 |year=1994 |publisher=Barron's Educational Series |isbn=978-0-8120-1834-9 |page=150}}</ref> The expansion was aided by [[Steam engine|steam power]], when [[steamboats]] began traveling along America's large water systems, which were connected by new [[canal]]s, such as the [[Erie Canal|Erie]] and the [[Illinois and Michigan Canal|I&M]]; then, even faster railroads began their stretch across the nation's land.<ref>Winchester, pp. 198, 216, 251, 253</ref>
 
From 1820 to 1850, [[Jacksonian democracy]] began a set of reforms which included wider white male suffrage; it led to the rise of the [[Second Party System]] of Democrats and Whigs as the dominant parties from 1828 to 1854. The [[Trail of Tears]] in the 1830s exemplified the [[Indian Removal Act|Indian removal policy]] that resettled Indians into the west on [[Indian reservations]]. The U.S. annexed the [[Republic of Texas]] in 1845 during a period of expansionist [[Manifest destiny]].<ref name="Morrison1999">{{cite book |author=Morrison, Michael A. |title=Slavery and the American West: The Eclipse of Manifest Destiny and the Coming of the Civil War |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YTaxzMlkVEMC&pg=PA13 |date=April 28, 1997 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |isbn=978-0-8078-4796-1 |pages=13–21}}</ref> The 1846 [[Oregon Treaty]] with Britain led to U.S. control of the present-day [[Northwestern United States|American Northwest]].<ref name="Kemp2010">{{cite book |author=Kemp, Roger L. |title=Documents of American Democracy: A Collection of Essential Works |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JHawgM-WnlUC&pg=PA180 |year=2010 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-4210-2 |page=180 |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}</ref> Victory in the [[Mexican–American War]] resulted in the 1848 [[Mexican Cession]] of California and much of the present-day [[Southwestern United States|American Southwest]].<ref name="McIlwraithMuller2001">{{cite book |author1=McIlwraith, Thomas F. |author2=Muller, Edward K. |title=North America: The Historical Geography of a Changing Continent |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8NS0OTXRlTMC&pg=PA61 |year=2001 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-7425-0019-8 |page=61 |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}</ref>
 
[[File:American bison in Yellowstone National Park.jpg|thumb|The [[National symbols of the United States|national mammal]], an [[American bison]] in [[Yellowstone National Park]], Wyoming]]
The [[California Gold Rush]] of 1848–49 spurred western migration, the [[California Genocide]]<ref>Madley, Benjamin (2016). ''An American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe, 1846-1873.'' Yale University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-300-23069-7}}.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=sGKL6E9_J6IC&pg=PA143 "California Indians, Genocide of" in ''Encyclopedia of American Indian History'' edited by Bruce E. Johansen, Barry M. Pritzk (ABC-CLIO, 2007), pp. 226–231]</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TfiD-E7VBKYC&printsec=frontcover|title=Murder State: California's Native American Genocide, 1846–1873|last=Lindsay|first=Brendan C.|year=2012|publisher=U of Nebraska Press|isbn=978-0-8032-4021-6|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/revealing-the-history-of-genocide-against-californias-native-americans|title=Revealing the history of genocide against California's Native Americans|last=Wolf|first=Jessica|website=UCLA Newsroom|language=en|access-date=July 8, 2018}}</ref> and the creation of additional western states.<ref name="Rawls1999">{{cite book |author=Rawls, James J. |title=A Golden State: Mining and Economic Development in Gold Rush California |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UPUsIaHZTm0C&pg=PA20 |year=1999 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-21771-3 |page=20}}</ref> After the [[American Civil War]], new transcontinental [[Rail transportation in the United States#History|railways]] made relocation easier for settlers, expanded internal trade and increased conflicts with Native Americans.<ref name="Black2011kj">{{cite book |last=Black |first=Jeremy |authorlink=Jeremy Black (historian) |title=Fighting for America: The Struggle for Mastery in North America, 1519–1871 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EIst_CSWOqIC&pg=PA275 |year=2011 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-35660-4 |page=275}}</ref> Over a half-century, the loss of the [[American bison]] (sometimes called "buffalo") was an existential blow to many [[Plains Indians]] culture.<ref name="Wishart2004">{{cite book |author=Wishart, David J. |title=Encyclopedia of the Great Plains |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rtRFyFO4hpEC&pg=PA37 |year=2004 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |isbn=978-0-8032-4787-1 |page=37}}</ref> In 1869, a new [[Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant#Indian affairs and Peace Policy|Peace Policy]] nominally promised to protect Native-Americans from abuses, avoid further war, and secure their eventual U.S. citizenship. Nonetheless, large-scale conflicts continued throughout the West into the 1900s.
 
=== Civil War and Reconstruction era ===
{{further|American Civil War|Reconstruction era}}
[[File:Thure de Thulstrup - L. Prang and Co. - Battle of Gettysburg - Restoration by Adam Cuerden (cropped).jpg|thumb|''The [[Battle of Gettysburg]]'' by [[Thure de Thulstrup]]]]
 
Differences of opinion regarding [[Slavery in the United States|the slavery]] of [[Africans]] and [[African Americans]] ultimately led to the [[Origins of the American Civil War|American Civil War]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Stuart Murray |title=Atlas of American Military History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bJ_sy7mmmxQC&pg=PA76 |year=2004 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-1-4381-3025-5 |page=76 |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}<br />{{cite book |author=Harold T. Lewis |title=Christian Social Witness |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kr-xNru5vZkC&pg=PA53 |year=2001 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-56101-188-9 |page=53}}</ref> Initially, states entering the Union had alternated between [[Slave states and free states|slave and free states]], keeping a sectional balance in the Senate, while free states outstripped slave states in population and in the House of Representatives. But with additional western territory and more free-soil states, tensions between slave and free states mounted with arguments over federalism and disposition of the territories, whether and how to expand or restrict slavery.<ref name="O'Brien2002qs">{{cite book |author=Patrick Karl O'Brien |title=Atlas of World History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ffZy5tDjaUkC&pg=PA184 |year=2002 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-521921-0 |page=184 |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}</ref>
 
With the [[United States presidential election, 1860|1860 election]] of [[Abraham Lincoln]], the first president from the largely anti-slavery [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]], conventions in thirteen slave states ultimately declared secession and formed the [[Confederate States of America]] (the "South"), while the federal government (the "[[Union (American Civil War)|Union]]") maintained that secession was illegal.<ref name="O'Brien2002qs" /> In order to bring about this secession, military action was initiated by the secessionists, and the Union responded in kind. The ensuing war would become the deadliest military conflict in American history, resulting in the deaths of approximately 618,000 soldiers as well as many civilians.<ref>{{cite book |last=Vinovskis |first=Maris |date=1990 |title=Toward A Social History of the American Civil War: Exploratory Essays |page=4 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge; New York |isbn=978-0-521-39559-5}}</ref> The South fought for the freedom to own slaves, while the Union at first simply fought to maintain the country as one united whole. Nevertheless, as casualties mounted after 1863 and Lincoln delivered his [[Emancipation Proclamation]], the main purpose of the war from the Union's viewpoint became the abolition of slavery. Indeed, when the Union ultimately won the war in April 1865, each of the states in the defeated South was required to ratify the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Thirteenth Amendment]], which prohibited slavery.
 
[[Reconstruction Amendments|Three amendments]] were added to the U.S. Constitution in the years after the war: the aforementioned Thirteenth as well as the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth Amendment]] providing citizenship to the nearly four million [[African American]]s who had been slaves,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1860a-02.pdf |title=1860 Census |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |accessdate=June 10, 2007}} Page 7 lists a total slave population of 3,953,760.</ref> and the [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fifteenth Amendment]] ensuring in theory that African Americans had the right to vote. The war and its resolution led to a substantial increase in [[Federalism in the United States|federal power]]<ref>De Rosa, Marshall L. (1997). ''The Politics of Dissolution: The Quest for a National Identity and the American Civil War''. Edison, NJ: Transaction. p. 266. {{ISBN|1-56000-349-9}}.</ref> aimed at reintegrating and rebuilding the South while guaranteeing the rights of the newly freed slaves.
 
[[Reconstruction (United States)|Reconstruction]] began in earnest following the war. While President Lincoln attempted to foster friendship and forgiveness between the Union and the former Confederacy, [[Assassination of Abraham Lincoln|an assassin's bullet]] on April 14, 1865, drove a wedge between North and South again. Republicans in the federal government made it their goal to oversee the rebuilding of the South and to ensure the rights of African Americans. They persisted until the [[Compromise of 1877]] when the Republicans agreed to cease protecting the rights of African Americans in the South in order for Democrats to concede the [[United States presidential election, 1876|presidential election of 1876]].
 
Southern white Democrats, calling themselves "[[Redeemers]]", took control of the South after the end of Reconstruction. From 1890 to 1910, so-called [[Jim Crow laws]] [[Disenfranchisement after the Reconstruction Era|disenfranchised]] most blacks and some poor whites throughout the region. Blacks faced [[Racial segregation in the United States|racial segregation]], especially in the South.<ref>{{cite book |author=Shearer Davis Bowman |title=Masters and Lords: Mid-19th-Century U.S. Planters and Prussian Junkers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YXlrpdedpzoC&pg=PA221 |year=1993 |publisher=Oxford UP |page=221|isbn=978-0-19-536394-4 }}</ref> They also occasionally experienced vigilante violence, including [[Lynching in the United States|lynching]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Jason E. Pierce |title=Making the White Man's West: Whiteness and the Creation of the American West |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zJPgCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT256 |year=2016 |publisher=University Press of Colorado |page=256|isbn=978-1-60732-396-9 }}</ref>
 
[[File:Ellis island 1902.jpg|thumb|[[Ellis Island]], in New York City, was a major gateway for European [[Immigration to the United States|immigration]]<ref name="PriceBenton-Short2008">{{cite book |author1=Marie Price |author2=Lisa Benton-Short |title=Migrants to the Metropolis: The Rise of Immigrant Gateway Cities |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_Tb5HMB63xAC&pg=PA51 |year=2008 |publisher=Syracuse University Press |isbn=978-0-8156-3186-6 |page=51}}</ref>]]
[[File:Liberty-statue-from-below.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Statue of Liberty]] in New York City, dedicated in 1886, is a symbol of the United States as well as its ideals of freedom, democracy, and justice <ref>{{cite web| title = Statue of Liberty| website=World Heritage| publisher=UNESCO| url = http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/307| accessdate = October 20, 2011}}</ref>]]
=== Further immigration, expansion, and industrialization ===
{{Main|Economic history of the United States|Technological and industrial history of the United States}}
In the North, urbanization and an unprecedented [[History of immigration to the United States|influx of immigrants]] from [[Southern Europe|Southern]] and [[Eastern Europe]] supplied a surplus of labor for the country's industrialization and transformed its culture.<ref name="Powell2009qwet">{{cite book |author=John Powell |title=Encyclopedia of North American Immigration |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VNCX6UsdZYkC&pg=PA74 |year=2009 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-1-4381-1012-7 |page=74 |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}</ref> National infrastructure including [[First Transcontinental Telegraph|telegraph]] and [[First Transcontinental Railroad|transcontinental railroads]] spurred economic growth and greater settlement and development of the [[American frontier|American Old West]]. The later invention of [[Incandescent light bulb|electric light]] and the [[telephone]] would also affect communication and urban life.<ref>Winchester, pp. 351, 385</ref>
 
The United States fought [[American Indian Wars|Indian Wars]] west of the Mississippi River from 1810 to at least 1890.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Indian Wars: Western Battles and Skirmishes, 1850-1890|last=Michno|first=Gregory|date=2003|publisher=Mountain Press Publishing|isbn=978-0-87842-468-9}}</ref> Most of these conflicts ended with the cession of Native American territory and the confinement of the latter to [[Indian reservation]]s. This further expanded acreage under mechanical cultivation, increasing surpluses for international markets.<ref>{{cite web |title=Toward a Market Economy |url=http://www.cliffsnotes.com/more-subjects/history/us-history-i/economic-growth-and-development-18151860/toward-a-market-economy |website=CliffsNotes |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |accessdate=December 23, 2014}}</ref> Mainland expansion also included the [[Alaska Purchase|purchase of Alaska]] from [[Russian Empire|Russia]] in 1867.<ref>{{cite web |title=Purchase of Alaska, 1867 |url=https://history.state.gov/milestones/1866-1898/alaska-purchase |publisher=U.S. Department of State |website=Office of the Historian |accessdate=December 23, 2014}}</ref> In 1893, pro-American elements in Hawaii [[Overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii|overthrew]] the [[Kingdom of Hawaii|monarchy]] and formed the [[Republic of Hawaii]], which the U.S. [[Territory of Hawaii|annexed]] in 1898. [[Puerto Rico]], [[Guam]], and the [[Philippines]] were ceded by Spain in the same year, following the [[Spanish–American War]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Spanish–American War, 1898 |url=https://history.state.gov/milestones/1866-1898/spanish-american-war |publisher=U.S. Department of State |website=Office of the Historian |accessdate=December 24, 2014}}</ref> [[American Samoa]] was acquired by the United States in 1900 after the end of the [[Second Samoan Civil War]].<ref>Ryden, George Herbert. ''The Foreign Policy of the United States in Relation to Samoa.'' New York: Octagon Books, 1975.</ref> The United States purchased the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]] from Denmark in 1917.<ref>{{cite web |title=Virgin Islands History |url=http://www.vinow.com/general_usvi/history/ |publisher=Vinow.com |accessdate=January 5, 2018}}</ref>
 
[[Gilded Age|Rapid economic development]] during the late 19th and early 20th centuries fostered the rise of many prominent industrialists. [[Business magnate|Tycoons]] like [[Cornelius Vanderbilt]], [[John D. Rockefeller]], and [[Andrew Carnegie]] led the nation's progress in [[Railways|railroad]], [[Petroleum industry|petroleum]], and [[History of the steel industry|steel]] industries. Banking became a major part of the economy, with [[J. P. Morgan]] playing a notable role. [[Thomas Edison|Edison]] and [[Nikola Tesla|Tesla]] undertook the widespread distribution of electricity to industry, homes, and for street lighting. [[Henry Ford]] revolutionized the [[automotive industry]]. The American economy boomed, becoming the world's largest, and the United States achieved [[great power]] status.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kirkland |first1=Edward |title=Industry Comes of Age: Business, Labor, and Public Policy |pages=400–405 |edition=1961}}</ref> These dramatic changes were accompanied by social unrest and the rise of [[People's Party (United States)|populist]], [[History of the socialist movement in the United States|socialist]], and [[Anarchism in the United States|anarchist]] movements.<ref>[[#Zinn|Zinn, 2005]], pp. 321–357</ref> This period eventually ended with the advent of the [[Progressive Era]], which saw significant reforms in many societal areas, including [[women's suffrage]], [[Prohibition in the United States|alcohol prohibition]], regulation of consumer goods, greater [[United States antitrust law|antitrust measures]] to ensure competition and attention to worker conditions.<ref>Paige Meltzer, "The Pulse and Conscience of America" The General Federation and Women's Citizenship, 1945–1960,"&nbsp;''Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies''&nbsp;(2009), Vol. 30 Issue 3, pp. 52–76.</ref><ref>James Timberlake,&nbsp;''Prohibition and the Progressive Movement, 1900–1920''&nbsp;(Harvard UP, 1963)</ref><ref>George B. Tindall, "Business Progressivism: Southern Politics in the Twenties,"&nbsp;''South Atlantic Quarterly''&nbsp;62 (Winter 1963): 92–106.</ref>
 
=== World War I, Great Depression, and World War II ===
{{further|World War I|Great Depression|World War II}}
[[File:Empire State Building BW - NYC.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Empire State Building]] was the tallest building in the world when completed in 1931, during the [[Great Depression]].]]
The United States remained neutral from the outbreak of [[World War I]] in 1914 until 1917, when it joined the war as an "associated power", alongside the formal [[Allies of World War I]], helping to turn the tide against the [[Central Powers]]. In 1919, President [[Woodrow Wilson]] took a leading diplomatic role at the [[Paris Peace Conference, 1919|Paris Peace Conference]] and advocated strongly for the U.S. to join the [[League of Nations]]. However, the Senate refused to approve this and did not ratify the [[Treaty of Versailles]] that established the League of Nations.<ref name="autogenerated418">McDuffie, Jerome; Piggrem, Gary Wayne; Woodworth, Steven E. (2005). ''U.S. History Super Review''. Piscataway, NJ: Research & Education Association. p. 418. {{ISBN|0-7386-0070-9}}.</ref>
 
In 1920, the women's rights movement won passage of a [[Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|constitutional amendment]] granting [[Women's suffrage in the United States|women's suffrage]].<ref name="voris">{{cite book |last1=Voris |first1=Jacqueline Van |title=Carrie Chapman Catt: A Public Life |series=Women and Peace Series |year=1996 |publisher=Feminist Press at CUNY |location=New York City |isbn=978-1-55861-139-9 |page=vii |quote=Carrie Chapmann Catt led an army of voteless women in 1919 to pressure Congress to pass the constitutional amendment giving them the right to vote and convinced state legislatures to ratify it in 1920.&nbsp;... Catt was one of the best-known women in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century and was on all lists of famous American women.}}</ref> The 1920s and 1930s saw the rise of [[radio]] for [[mass communication]] and the invention of early [[television]].<ref>Winchester pp. 410–411</ref> The prosperity of the [[Roaring Twenties]] ended with the [[Wall Street Crash of 1929]] and the onset of the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]]. After his election as president in 1932, [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] responded with the [[New Deal]], which included the establishment of the [[Social Security (United States)|Social Security]] system.<ref>{{cite book |title=Social Welfare: A History of the American Response to Need |first1=June |last1=Axinn |first2=Mark J. |last2=Stern |isbn=978-0-205-52215-6 |edition=7th |publisher=Allyn & Bacon |location=Boston |year=2007}}</ref> The [[Great Migration (African American)|Great Migration]] of millions of African Americans out of the American South began before World War I and extended through the 1960s;<ref>{{cite book |last=Lemann |first=Nicholas |title=The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America |page=6 |year=1991 |location=New York |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |isbn=978-0-394-56004-5}}</ref> whereas the [[Dust Bowl]] of the mid-1930s impoverished many farming communities and spurred a new wave of western migration.<ref>{{cite book |author=James Noble Gregory |title=American Exodus: The Dust Bowl Migration and Okie Culture in California |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qNdtGwnXYrIC |year=1991 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-507136-8 |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}<br />{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/dustbowl-mass-exodus-plains/ |title=Mass Exodus From the Plains |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=2013 |website=American Experience |publisher=WGBH Educational Foundation |accessdate=October 5, 2014}}<br />{{cite web |url=http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/afctshtml/tsme.html |title=The Migrant Experience |last1=Fanslow |first1=Robin A. |date=April 6, 1997 |website=American Folklore Center |publisher=Library of Congress |accessdate=October 5, 2014}}<br />{{cite book |author=Walter J. Stein |title=California and the Dust Bowl Migration |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hGuGAAAAIAAJ |year=1973 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0-8371-6267-6 |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}</ref>
 
At first effectively neutral during [[Military history of the United States during World War II|World War II]] while [[Germany]] conquered much of continental Europe, the United States began supplying material to the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] in March 1941 through the [[Lend-Lease]] program. On December 7, 1941, the [[Empire of Japan]] launched a surprise [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], prompting the United States to join the Allies against the [[Axis powers]].<ref name="Pearl Harbor">{{cite web |last1=Yamasaki |first1=Mitch |title=Pearl Harbor and America's Entry into World War II: A Documentary History |url=http://www.hawaiiinternment.org/static/ush_yamasaki_documentary_history.pdf |publisher=World War II Internment in Hawaii |accessdate=January 14, 2015 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213122046/http://www.hawaiiinternment.org/static/ush_yamasaki_documentary_history.pdf |archivedate=December 13, 2014}}</ref> During the war, the United States was referred as one of the "[[Four Policemen]]"<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.iup.edu/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=37681 |title=The Four Policemen and. Postwar Planning, 1943–1945: The Collision of Realist and. Idealist Perspectives |last=Kelly |first=Brian |accessdate=June 21, 2014}}</ref> of Allies power who met to plan the postwar world, along with Britain, the Soviet Union and China.{{sfn|Hoopes|Brinkley|1997|p=100}}{{sfn|Gaddis|1972|p=25}} Although the nation lost more than 400,000 soldiers,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL32492.pdf |title=American War and Military Operations Casualties: Lists and Statistics |publisher=Congressional Research Service |last=Leland |first=Anne |last2=Oboroceanu |first2=Mari–Jana |date=February 26, 2010 |accessdate=February 18, 2011}} p. 2.</ref> it emerged [[World War II casualties#Human losses by country|relatively undamaged]] from the war with even greater economic and military influence.<ref>Kennedy, Paul (1989). ''The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers''. New York: Vintage. p. 358. {{ISBN|0-679-72019-7}}</ref>
 
[[File:Trinity Detonation T&B.jpg|thumb|upright|220px|The [[Trinity (nuclear test)|Trinity test]] of the [[Manhattan Project]] was the first detonation of a [[nuclear weapon]]]]
The United States played a leading role in the [[Bretton Woods Conference|Bretton Woods]] and [[Yalta Conference|Yalta]] conferences with the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and other Allies, which signed agreements on new international financial institutions and Europe's postwar reorganization. As an [[Victory in Europe Day|Allied victory was won in Europe]], a 1945 [[United Nations Conference on International Organization|international conference]] held in [[San Francisco]] produced the [[United Nations Charter]], which became active after the war.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/pubs/fs/55407.htm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070612221444/http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/pubs/fs/55407.htm |archivedate=June 12, 2007 |title=The United States and the Founding of the United Nations, August 1941&nbsp;– October 1945 |date=October 2005 |accessdate=June 11, 2007 |publisher=U.S. Dept. of State, Bureau of Public Affairs, Office of the Historian}}</ref> The United States developed the [[Manhattan Project|first nuclear weapons]] and used them on Japan [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]]; causing the Japanese to [[Surrender of Japan|surrender]] on September 2, ending World War II.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2016/08/06/commentary/japan-surrender-world-war-ii/ |title=Why did Japan surrender in World War II? {{!}} The Japan Times|newspaper=The Japan Times|access-date=February 8, 2017|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>Pacific War Research Society (2006). ''Japan's Longest Day''. New York: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|4-7700-2887-3}}.</ref> Parades and celebrations followed in what is known as [[Victory Day (United States)|Victory Day]], or V-J Day.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalww2museum.org/learn/education/for-students/ww2-history/at-a-glance/v-j-day.html |title=The National WWII Museum {{!}} New Orleans: Learn: For Students: WWII at a Glance: Remembering V-J Day|website=www.nationalww2museum.org|access-date=February 8, 2017}}</ref>
 
=== Cold War and civil rights era ===
{{Main|History of the United States (1945–64)|History of the United States (1964–80)|History of the United States (1980–91)}}
{{Further|Cold War|Civil Rights Movement|War on Poverty|Space Race|Reaganomics}}
[[File:Martin Luther King Jr St Paul Campus U MN.jpg|thumb|[[Martin Luther King, Jr.]] speaking to an [[Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War|anti-Vietnam War rally]] at the University of Minnesota, St. Paul on April 27, 1967]]
[[File:Reagan and Gorbachev hold discussions.jpg|thumb|U.S. President [[Ronald Reagan]] (left) and [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Soviet General Secretary]] [[Mikhail Gorbachev]], meeting [[Geneva Summit (1985)|in Geneva]] in 1985]]
After World War II the United States and the [[Soviet Union]] jockeyed for power during what became known as the [[Cold War]], driven by an ideological divide between [[capitalism]] and [[communism]]<ref name="WaggAndrews2012">{{cite book |last1=Wagg |first1=Stephen |last2=Andrews |first2=David |title=East Plays West: Sport and the Cold War |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qmjLR5YyUhEC&pg=PR11 |year=2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-24167-5 |page=11}}</ref> and, according to the school of [[geopolitics]], a divide between the maritime Atlantic and the continental Eurasian camps. They dominated the military affairs of [[Europe]], with the U.S. and its [[NATO]] allies on one side and the USSR and its [[Warsaw Pact]] allies on the other. The U.S. [[Containment|developed a policy of containment]] towards the expansion of communist influence. While the U.S. and Soviet Union engaged in [[proxy war]]s and developed powerful nuclear arsenals, the two countries avoided direct military conflict.
 
The United States often opposed [[Third World]] movements that it viewed as Soviet-sponsored, and occasionally pursued direct action for [[United States involvement in regime change|regime change]] against left-wing governments.<ref>[[#Blakeley|Blakeley, 2009]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=rft8AgAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PA92#v=onepage&q&f=false p. 92]</ref> American troops fought communist [[People's Liberation Army|Chinese]] and [[North Korea]]n forces in the [[Korean War]] of 1950–53.<ref name="Proxy" /> The Soviet Union's 1957 launch of the [[Sputnik 1|first artificial satellite]] and its 1961 launch of the [[Vostok 1|first manned spaceflight]] initiated a "[[Space Race]]" in which the United States became the first nation to [[Apollo 11|land a man on the moon]] in 1969.<ref name="Proxy">{{cite book |last=Collins |first=Michael |authorlink=Michael Collins (astronaut) |title=Liftoff: The Story of America's Adventure in Space |location=New York |publisher=Grove Press |year=1988}}</ref> A proxy war in Southeast Asia eventually evolved into full American participation, as the [[Vietnam War]].
 
At home, the U.S. experienced [[Post–World War II economic expansion|sustained economic expansion]] and a [[Post–World War II baby boom|rapid growth of its population]] and [[American middle class|middle class]]. Construction of an [[Interstate Highway System]] transformed the nation's infrastructure over the following decades. Millions moved from farms and [[inner city|inner cities]] to large [[suburb]]an housing developments.<ref>Winchester, pp. 305–308</ref><ref name=IntHighways>{{cite web |last1=Blas |first1=Elisheva |title=The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways |url=http://www.societyforhistoryeducation.org/pdfs/N10_NHD_Blas_Junior.pdf |website=societyforhistoryeducation.org |publisher=Society for History Education |accessdate=January 19, 2015}}</ref> In 1959 [[Hawaii]] became the 50th and last U.S. state added to the country.<ref name="Lightner2004">{{cite book |author=Richard Lightner |title=Hawaiian History: An Annotated Bibliography |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yei4fDrecWsC&pg=PA141 |year=2004 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-28233-1 |page=141}}</ref> The growing [[Civil Rights Movement]] used [[nonviolence]] to confront segregation and discrimination, with [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] becoming a prominent leader and figurehead. A combination of court decisions and legislation, culminating in the [[Civil Rights Act of 1968]], sought to end racial discrimination.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dallek |first=Robert |year=2004 |title=Lyndon B. Johnson: Portrait of a President |page=169 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-515920-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=old&doc=97 |title=Our Documents&nbsp;– Civil Rights Act (1964) |publisher=United States Department of Justice |accessdate=July 28, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/Johnson/archives.hom/speeches.hom/651003.asp |title=Remarks at the Signing of the Immigration Bill, Liberty Island, New York |date=October 3, 1965 |accessdate=January 1, 2012 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160516063650/http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/Johnson/archives.hom/speeches.hom/651003.asp |archivedate=May 16, 2016  }}</ref> Meanwhile, a [[counterculture of the 1960s|counterculture movement]] grew which was fueled by [[Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War|opposition to the Vietnam war]], [[black nationalism]], and the [[sexual revolution]].
 
The launch of a "[[War on Poverty]]" expanded entitlements and welfare spending, including the creation of [[Medicare (United States)|Medicare]] and [[Medicaid]], two programs that provide health coverage to the elderly and poor, respectively, and the [[means-tested]] [[Food Stamp Program]] and [[Aid to Families with Dependent Children]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ssa.gov/history/lbjsm.html |title=Social Security |website=ssa.gov |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}</ref>
 
The 1970s and early 1980s saw the onset of [[stagflation]]. After his election in 1980, President [[Ronald Reagan]] responded to economic stagnation with [[Reaganomics|free-market oriented reforms]]. Following the collapse of [[détente]], he abandoned "containment" and initiated the more aggressive "[[rollback]]" strategy towards the USSR.<ref>[[#Soss|Soss, 2010]], p. 277</ref><ref>[[#Fraser|Fraser, 1989]]</ref><ref>[[#Ferguson|Ferguson, 1986]], pp. 43–53</ref><ref>[[#Williams|Williams]], pp. 325–331</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Niskanen |first=William A. |title=Reaganomics: an insider's account of the policies and the people |url=https://books.google.com/?id=zq4rsWNrYo4C&q=Reaganomics&dq=Reaganomics |year=1988 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-505394-4 |page=363 |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}</ref> After a surge in female labor participation over the previous decade, by 1985 the majority of women aged 16 and over were employed.<ref>{{cite web |title=Women in the Labor Force: A Databook |url=http://www.bls.gov/cps/wlf-databook-2012.pdf |publisher=U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics |accessdate=March 21, 2014 |page=11 |year=2013}}</ref>
 
The late 1980s brought a "[[Cold War (1985–91)|thaw]]" in relations with the USSR, and [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|its collapse]] in 1991 finally ended the Cold War.<ref>{{cite book |last=Howell |first=Buddy Wayne |title=The Rhetoric of Presidential Summit Diplomacy: Ronald Reagan and the U.S.-Soviet Summits, 1985–1988 |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Rhetoric_of_Presidential_Summit_Dipl.html?id=LctvjhxJ-bsC |year=2006 |publisher=Texas A&M University |isbn=978-0-549-41658-6 |page=352 |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Kissinger |first=Henry |authorlink=Henry Kissinger |title=Diplomacy |url=https://books.google.com/?id=0IZboamhb5EC&lpg=PA731 |year=2011 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-1-4391-2631-8 |pages=781–784 |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}<br />{{cite book |last=Mann |first=James |title=The Rebellion of Ronald Reagan: A History of the End of the Cold War |url=https://books.google.com/?id=BgZyXNIrvB4C&pg=PT12 |year=2009 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-1-4406-8639-9 |page=432}}<br /></ref><ref>[[#Hayes|Hayes, 2009]]</ref><ref>[[#ushistory13|USHistory.org, 2013]]</ref> This brought about [[unipolarity]]<ref>[[Charles Krauthammer]], "The Unipolar Moment," ''Foreign Affairs'', 70/1, (Winter 1990/1), 23–33.</ref> with the U.S. unchallenged as the world's dominant superpower. The concept of [[Pax Americana]], which had appeared in the post-World War II period, gained wide popularity as a term for the post-Cold War [[new world order (politics)|new world order.]]
 
=== Contemporary history ===
{{Main|History of the United States (1991–2008)|History of the United States (2008–present)}}
{{Further||Gulf War|September 11 attacks|War on Terror|2008 financial crisis|Affordable Care Act}}
{{multiple image|total_width=360
| image1 = WTC smoking on 9-11.jpeg
| caption1 = The [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]] in [[Lower Manhattan]] during the [[September 11 attack|September 11]] [[Terrorism|terrorist attacks]] by the [[Islamic terrorism|Islamic terrorist]] group [[Al-Qaeda]] in 2001
| alt1 =
| image2 = OneWorldTradeCenter.jpg
| caption2 = [[One World Trade Center]], newly built in its place
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}}
 
After the Cold War, the conflict in the Middle East triggered a crisis in 1990, when [[Ba'athist Iraq|Iraq]] under [[Saddam Hussein]] [[Invasion of Kuwait|invaded and attempted to annex Kuwait]], an ally of the United States. Fearing that the instability would spread to other regions, President [[George H.W. Bush]] launched [[Gulf War|Operation Desert Shield]], a defensive force buildup in Saudi Arabia, and [[Gulf War|Operation Desert Storm]], in a staging titled the Gulf War; waged by [[Coalition of the Gulf War|coalition forces]] from 34 nations, led by the United States against Iraq ending in the successful expulsion of Iraqi forces from Kuwait, restoring the former monarchy.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |year=2016 |title=Persian Gulf War |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Persian-Gulf-War |accessdate=January 24, 2017}}</ref>
 
Originating in [[ARPANET|U.S. defense networks]], the [[Internet]] spread to international academic networks, and then to the public in the 1990s, greatly affecting the global economy, society, and culture.<ref>Winchester, pp. 420–423</ref>
 
Due to the [[dot-com boom]], stable monetary policy under [[Alan Greenspan]], and [[Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act|reduced social welfare spending]], the 1990s saw the [[1990s United States boom|longest economic expansion]] in modern U.S. history, ending in 2001.<ref>{{cite news |title=Did Clinton Do It, or Was He Lucky? |author=Dale, Reginald |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/18/business/worldbusiness/18iht-think.2.t_2.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=February 18, 2000 |accessdate=March 6, 2013}}<br />{{cite book |last=Mankiw |first=N. Gregory |title=Macroeconomics |url=https://books.google.com/?id=58KxPNa0hF4C&lpg=PA463 |year=2008 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-0-324-58999-3 |page=559 |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}</ref> Beginning in 1994, the U.S. entered into the [[North American Free Trade Agreement]] (NAFTA), linking 450 million people producing $17 trillion worth of goods and services. The goal of the agreement was to eliminate trade and investment barriers among the U.S., Canada, and Mexico by January 1, 2008. Trade among the three partners has soared since NAFTA went into force.<ref>{{cite web |title=North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) {{!}} United States Trade Representative |url=http://www.ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/north-american-free-trade-agreement-nafta |website=www.ustr.gov |accessdate=January 11, 2015}}<br />{{cite book |author1=Thakur |author2=Manab Thakur Gene E Burton B N Srivastava |title=International Management: Concepts and Cases |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J2SbAuVzHBMC&pg=PA334 |year=1997 |publisher=Tata McGraw-Hill Education |isbn=978-0-07-463395-3 |pages=334–335 |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}<br />{{cite book |author1=Akis Kalaitzidis |author2=Gregory W. Streich |title=U.S. Foreign Policy: A Documentary and Reference Guide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c9rhlt2Ke3gC&pg=PA201 |year=2011 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-313-38376-2 |page=201}}</ref>
 
On [[September 11 attacks|September 11, 2001]], [[Al-Qaeda]] terrorists struck the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]] in New York City and [[the Pentagon]] near Washington, D.C., killing nearly 3,000 people.<ref>{{cite AV media |date=September 9, 2011 |title=Flashback 9/11: As It Happened |url=http://video.foxnews.com/v/1151859712001/flashback-911-as-it-happened/ |accessdate=March 6, 2013 |publisher=Fox News}}<br />{{cite news |title=America remembers Sept. 11 attacks 11 years later |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57510234/america-remembers-sept-11-attacks-11-years-later/ |publisher=CBS News |date=September 11, 2012 |accessdate=March 6, 2013}}<br />{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/trade.center/multimedia.day.html |title=Day of Terror Video Archive |year=2005 |publisher=CNN |accessdate=March 6, 2013}}</ref> In response, the United States launched the [[War on Terror]], which included [[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|war in Afghanistan]] and the 2003–11 [[Iraq War]].<ref>{{cite news |title=The 'War on Terror' Is Critical to President George W. Bush's Legacy |author=Walsh, Kenneth T. |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2008/12/09/the-war-on-terror-is-critical-to-president-george-w-bushs-legacy |newspaper=U.S. News & World Report |date=December 9, 2008 |accessdate=March 6, 2013}}<br />{{cite book |last=Atkins |first=Stephen E. |title=The 9/11 Encyclopedia: Second Edition |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PDDIgWRN_HQC&pg=PA210 |year=2011 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-59884-921-9 |page=872 |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Overview: The Iraq War |last=Wong |first=Edward |url=https://www.nytimes.com/ref/timestopics/topics_iraq.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=February 15, 2008 |accessdate=March 7, 2013}}<br />{{cite book |last=Johnson |first=James Turner |title=The War to Oust Saddam Hussein: Just War and the New Face of Conflict |url=https://books.google.com/?id=SF7U27JsLC4C&dq=iraq+invasion+removes+hussein |year=2005 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-7425-4956-2 |page=159 |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}<br />{{cite news |title=Timeline: Key moments in the Iraq War |author=Durando, Jessica |author2=Green, Shannon Rae |agency=Associated Press |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/story/2011-12-21/iraq-war-timeline/52147680/1 |newspaper=USA Today |date=December 21, 2011 |accessdate=March 7, 2013}}</ref> In 2007, the Bush administration ordered a major [[Iraq War troop surge of 2007|troop surge in the Iraq War]],<ref name="fact">{{cite news |title=Fact Sheet: The New Way Forward in Iraq |publisher=Office of the Press Secretary |date=January 10, 2007 |quote=After talking to some Afghan leaders, it was said that the Iran's would be revolting if more troops were to be sent to Iran. |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2007/01/20070110-3.html |author=[[George W. Bush]] |accessdate=January 26, 2017}}</ref> which successfully reduced violence and led to greater stability in the region.<ref name=Feaver>{{cite news |author=[[Peter Feaver|Feaver, Peter]] |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/08/13/clinton-surge-iraq-maliki-obama/ |title=Hillary Clinton and the Inconvenient Facts About the Rise of the Islamic State |work=Foreign Policy |date=August 13, 2015 |quote=[T]he Obama team itself, including Clinton, have repeatedly confirmed that they understand that the surge was successful. Clinton even conceded to former Defense Secretary Robert Gates: 'The surge worked.'}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/26550764/ns/politics-decision_08/t/iraqi-surge-exceeded-expectations-obama-says/ |title=Iraqi surge exceeded expectations, Obama says |work=NBC News |date=September 4, 2008 |agency=Associated Press |quote=Obama said the surge of U.S. troops has 'succeeded beyond our wildest dreams.'}}</ref>
 
Government policy designed to promote affordable housing,<ref>{{Cite book |title=Hidden in Plain Sight: What Really Caused the World's Worst Financial Crisis and Why It Could Happen Again |last=Wallison |first=Peter |publisher=Encounter Books |year=2015 |isbn=978-978-59407-7-0 |author-link=Peter J. Wallison}}</ref> widespread failures in corporate and regulatory governance,<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/GPO-FCIC/pdf/GPO-FCIC.pdf |title=Financial Crisis Inquiry Report |year=2011 |author=[[Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission]] |isbn=978-1-60796-348-6}}</ref> and historically low interest rates set by the Federal Reserve<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Taylor |first=John B. |author-link=John B. Taylor |accessdate=January 21, 2017 |title=The Financial Crisis and the Policy Responses: An Empirical Analysis of What Went Wrong |url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w14631.pdf |journal=Hoover Institution Economics Paper Series |date=January 2009}}</ref> led to the [[United States housing bubble|mid-2000s housing bubble]], which culminated with the [[2008 financial crisis]], the largest economic contraction in the nation's history since the Great Depression.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB122169431617549947 |title=Worst Crisis Since '30s, With No End Yet in Sight |last=Hilsenrath |first=Jon |date=September 18, 2008 |work=The Wall Street Journal |publisher=Dow Jones & Company |last2=Ng |first2=Serena |last3=Paletta |first3=Damian |accessdate=January 21, 2017}}</ref> [[Barack Obama]], the first [[African-American]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/barack-obama-elected-as-americas-first-black-president |title=Barack Obama elected as America's first black president |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website=History.com |publisher=A&E Television Networks, LLC |accessdate=October 7, 2014}}</ref> and [[Multiracial American|multiracial]]<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=November 12, 2008 |title=Barack Obama: Face Of New Multiracial Movement? |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96916824 |newspaper=NPR |accessdate=October 4, 2014}}</ref> president, [[United States presidential election, 2008|was elected in 2008]] amid the crisis,<ref>{{cite news |title=African-American Economic Gains Reversed By Great Recession |agency=Associated Press |author=Washington, Jesse |author2=Rugaber, Chris |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/10/black-recession-economy-african-americans_n_894046.html |newspaper=Huffington Post |date=September 9, 2011 |accessdate=March 7, 2013 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130616183529/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/10/black-recession-economy-african-americans_n_894046.html |archivedate=June 16, 2013}}</ref> and subsequently passed [[American Reinvestment and Recovery Act|stimulus measures]] and the [[Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act]] in an attempt to mitigate its negative effects and ensure there would not be a repeat of the crisis. The stimulus facilitated infrastructure improvements<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/23/opinion/sunday/what-the-stimulus-accomplished.html?_r=0 |title=What the Stimulus Accomplished |date=February 22, 2014 |accessdate=January 21, 2017 |work=The New York Times |publisher=The New York Times Company}}</ref> and a relative decline in unemployment.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.igmchicago.org/igm-economic-experts-panel/poll-results?SurveyID=SV_cw5O9LNJL1oz4Xi |title=Economic Stimulus |website=IGM Polls |publisher=[[Initiative on Global Markets]] at the [[University of Chicago]] |date=February 15, 2012 |accessdate=January 21, 2017}}</ref> Dodd-Frank improved financial stability and consumer protection,<ref>{{cite web |title=The Impact of the Dodd-Frank Act on Financial Stability and Economic Growth |publisher=Brookings |url=https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Baily-Klein-PPTF-1.pdf |date=October 24, 2014 |accessdate=August 31, 2017 |postscript=none}}; {{cite journal |title=The Impact of the Dodd-Frank Act on Financial Stability and Economic Growth |journal=The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences |volume=3 |issue=1 |page=20 |date=January 2017 |doi=10.7758/RSF.2017.3.1.02 |last1=Martin Neil Baily |last2=Aaron Klein |last3=Justin Schardin}}</ref> although there has been debate about its effects on the economy.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.ft.com/content/dd4a6698-efe7-11e6-930f-061b01e23655 |title=Did Dodd-Frank really hurt the US economy? |date=February 13, 2017 |work=Financial Times |access-date=January 23, 2018}}</ref>
 
In 2010, the Obama administration passed the [[Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act|Affordable Care Act]], which made the most sweeping reforms to the [[Health care in the United States|nation's healthcare system]] in nearly five decades, including [[Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act#Mandates|mandates]], [[premium tax credit|subsidies]] and [[Health insurance marketplace|insurance exchanges]]. The law caused a significant reduction in the number and percentage of people without health insurance, with 24 million covered during 2016,<ref name=CBO_Subsidy2016>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbo.gov/publication/51385 |title=Federal Subsidies for Health Insurance Coverage for People Under Age 65: 2016 to 2026 |publisher=Congressional Budget Office |accessdate=January 21, 2017}}</ref> but remains controversial due to its impact on healthcare costs, insurance premiums, and economic performance.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2017/01/12/politics/paul-ryan-town-hall/ |title=Ryan: GOP will repeal, replace Obamacare at same time |last=Bradner |first=Eric |date=January 13, 2017 |accessdate=January 21, 2017 |website=CNN}}</ref> Although the recession reached its trough in June 2009, voters remained frustrated with the slow pace of the economic recovery. The Republicans, who stood in opposition to Obama's policies, won control of the House of Representatives with [[United States House of Representatives elections, 2010|a landslide in 2010]] and control of the Senate in [[United States Senate elections, 2014|2014]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Jacobson |first=Gary C. |title=The Republican Resurgence in 2010 |date=March 2011 |journal=[[Political Science Quarterly]] |volume=126 |issue=1 |pages=27–52 |doi=10.1002/j.1538-165X.2011.tb00693.x}}</ref>
 
American forces in Iraq were [[Withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq|withdrawn]] in large numbers in 2009 and 2010, and the war in the region was declared formally over in December 2011.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/16/world/middleeast/panetta-in-baghdad-for-iraq-military-handover-ceremony.html |work=The New York Times |first1=Thom |last1=Shanker |first2=Michael S. |last2=Schmidt |first3=Robert F. |last3=Worth |title=In Baghdad, Panetta Leads Uneasy Closure to Conflict |date=December 15, 2011}}</ref> The withdrawal caused [[Iraqi insurgency (2011–13)|an escalation of sectarian insurgency]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://ctc.usma.edu/the-jrtn-movement-and-iraqs-next-insurgency/ |title=The JRTN Movement and Iraq's Next Insurgency &#124; Combating Terrorism Center at West Point |publisher=[[United States Military Academy]] |accessdate=January 26, 2017 }}</ref> leading to the rise of the [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]], the successor of al-Qaeda in the region.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.state.gov/p/nea/rls/rm/221274.htm |title=Al-Qaeda's Resurgence in Iraq: A Threat to U.S. Interests |publisher=U.S. Department of State |accessdate=November 26, 2010 |date=January 26, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140205225829/http://www.state.gov/p/nea/rls/rm/221274.htm |archive-date=February 5, 2014 |dead-url=yes  }}</ref> In 2014, Obama announced a [[United States–Cuban Thaw|restoration]] of full [[Cuba–United States relations|diplomatic relations with Cuba]] for the first time since 1961.{{Update inline|date=June 2017}}<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/18/world/americas/us-cuba-relations.html |title=U.S. to Restore Full Relations With Cuba, Erasing a Last Trace of Cold War Hostility |author=[[Peter Baker (author)|Peter Baker]] |publisher=The New York Times |date=January 26, 2017}}</ref> The next year, the United States as a member of the [[P5+1]] countries signed the [[Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action]], an agreement aimed to slow the development of [[Nuclear program of Iran|Iran's nuclear program]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/15/world/middleeast/iran-nuclear-deal-is-reached-after-long-negotiations.html |title=Deal Reached on Iran Nuclear Program; Limits on Fuel Would Lessen With Time |last=Gordon |first=Michael R. |last2=Sanger |first2=David E. |work=The New York Times |publisher=The New York Times Company |accessdate=January 26, 2017 |date=July 15, 2015}}</ref> though the U.S. withdrew from the deal in May 2018.<ref>{{Citation | publisher = CNN | url = https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-iran-nuclear-deal/ | title = Trump, Iran nuclear deal}}.</ref> In the [[United States presidential election, 2016|United States presidential election of 2016]], Republican [[Donald Trump]] was elected as the [[List of Presidents of the United States|45th]] president of the United States. Trump is both the [[List of presidents of the United States by age|oldest]] and [[List of Presidents of the United States by net worth|wealthiest]] person elected president in United States history.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-richest-us-president-in-history-2017-1|title=Donald Trump is officially the richest US president in history|publisher=}}</ref>
 
== Geography, climate, and environment ==
{{Main|Geography of the United States|Climate of the United States|Environment of the United States}}
[[File:USA-satellite.jpg|thumb|A composite satellite image of the contiguous United States and surrounding areas]]
[[File:US 50 states Köppen.svg|thumb|right|[[Köppen climate classification]]s]]
 
The land area of the entire United States is approximately {{convert|3800000|sqmi|km2|0}},<ref name="urlState Area Measurements and Internal Point Coordinates – Geography – U.S. Census Bureau">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/geo/reference/state-area.html |title=State Area Measurements and Internal Point Coordinates – Geography – U.S. Census Bureau |website=State Area Measurements and Internal Point Coordinates |publisher=U.S. Department of Commerce |quote= |accessdate=September 11, 2017}}</ref> with the [[contiguous United States]] making up {{convert|2959064|sqmi|km2|1}} of that. [[Alaska]], separated from the contiguous United States by Canada, is the largest state at {{convert|663268|sqmi|km2|1}}. [[Hawaii]], occupying an archipelago in the central [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]], southwest of North America, is {{convert|10931|sqmi|km2|0}} in area. The populated territories of [[Puerto Rico]], [[American Samoa]], [[Guam]], [[Northern Mariana Islands]], and [[United States Virgin Islands|U.S. Virgin Islands]] together cover {{convert|9185|sqmi|km2|0}}.<ref name="Land Area of US and states">{{cite web |title=2010 Census Area |url=https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/cph-2-1.pdf |website=census.gov |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |page=41 |accessdate=January 18, 2015}}</ref> Measured by only land area, the United States is third in size behind Russia and China, just ahead of Canada.<ref name="CIA Factbook Area">{{cite web |title=Area |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2147.html |website=The World Factbook |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |accessdate=January 15, 2015}}</ref>
 
The United States is the world's third- or fourth-[[List of countries and dependencies by area|largest nation by total area]] (land and water), ranking behind Russia and Canada and just above or below [[China]]. The ranking varies depending on how two territories disputed by China and [[India]] are counted, and how the total size of the United States is measured.{{efn|name=largestcountry}} The ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'', for instance, lists the size of the United States as {{convert|3677649|sqmi|km2|0}}, as they do not count the country's coastal or territorial waters.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/616563/United-States |title=United States |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |accessdate=January 8, 2018}} (given in square miles, excluding)</ref> ''[[The World Factbook]]'', which includes those waters, gives {{convert|3796742|sqmi|km2|0}}.<ref name="WF">{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html |title=United States |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |website=The World Factbook |date=January 3, 2018 |accessdate=January 8, 2018}}</ref>
 
The coastal plain of the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] seaboard gives way further inland to [[deciduous]] forests and the rolling hills of the [[Piedmont (United States)|Piedmont]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Geographic Regions of Georgia |url=http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/topics/geography/article/geographic-regions-of-georgia |website=Georgia Info |publisher=Digital Library of Georgia |accessdate=December 24, 2014}}</ref> The [[Appalachian Mountains]] divide the eastern seaboard from the [[Great Lakes]] and the grasslands of the [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]].<ref name="NAU">{{cite web |last=Lew |first=Alan |title=PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE US |url=http://www.geog.nau.edu/courses/alew/gsp220/text/chapters/ch2.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409112252/http://www.geog.nau.edu/courses/alew/gsp220/text/chapters/ch2.html |archivedate=April 9, 2016 |website=GSP 220 – Geography of the United States |publisher=North Arizona University |accessdate=December 24, 2014}}</ref> The [[Mississippi River|Mississippi]]–[[Missouri River]], the world's [[List of rivers by length|fourth longest river system]], runs mainly north–south through the heart of the country. The flat, fertile [[prairie]] of the [[Great Plains]] stretches to the west, interrupted by [[U.S. Interior Highlands|a highland region]] in the southeast.<ref name="NAU" />
 
[[File:Mount Denali.jpg|thumb|Highest peak in the country, [[Denali]]]]
The [[Rocky Mountains]], at the western edge of the Great Plains, extend north to south across the country, reaching altitudes higher than {{convert|14000|ft}} in [[Colorado]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Harms |first=Nicole |title=Facts About the Rocky Mountain Range |url=http://traveltips.usatoday.com/rocky-mountain-range-11967.html |website=Travel Tips |publisher=USA Today |accessdate=December 24, 2014}}</ref> Farther west are the rocky [[Great Basin]] and deserts such as the [[Chihuahuan Desert|Chihuahua]] and [[Mojave Desert|Mojave]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Great Basin |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/242919/Great-Basin |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |accessdate=December 24, 2014}}</ref> The [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]] and [[Cascade Range|Cascade]] mountain ranges run close to the [[West Coast of the United States|Pacific coast]], both ranges reaching altitudes higher than {{convert|14000|ft}}. The [[Extreme points of the United States|lowest and highest points]] in the [[Contiguous United States|contiguous]] United States are in the state of [[California]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Mount Whitney, California |url=http://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=2829 |publisher=Peakbagger |accessdate=December 24, 2014}}</ref> and only about {{convert|84|mi|km}} apart.<ref>{{cite web |title=Find Distance and Azimuths Between 2 Sets of Coordinates (Badwater 36-15-01-N, 116-49-33-W and Mount Whitney 36-34-43-N, 118-17-31-W) |url=http://transition.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/distance?dlat=36&mlat=15&slat=01&ns=1&dlon=116&mlon=49&slon=33&ew=1&dlat2=36&mlat2=34&slat2=43&sn=1&dlon2=118&mlon2=17&slon2=31&we=1&iselec=1 |publisher=Federal Communications Commission |accessdate=December 24, 2014}}</ref> At an elevation of {{convert|20310|ft|1}}, Alaska's [[Denali]] (Mount McKinley) is the highest peak in the country and North America.<ref>{{cite web |last=Poppick |first=Laura |title=US Tallest Mountain's Surprising Location Explained |url=http://www.livescience.com/39245-us-tallest-mountain-location-explained.html |publisher=LiveScience |accessdate=May 2, 2015}}</ref> Active [[volcano]]es are common throughout Alaska's [[Alexander Archipelago|Alexander]] and [[Aleutian Islands]], and Hawaii consists of volcanic islands. The [[supervolcano]] underlying [[Yellowstone National Park]] in the [[Rockies]] is the continent's largest volcanic feature.<ref>{{cite web |last=O'Hanlon |first=Larry |title=America's Explosive Park |url=http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/supervolcano/under/under.html |date=March 14, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050314034001/http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/supervolcano/under/under.html |archive-date=March 14, 2005 |publisher=Discovery Channel |accessdate=April 5, 2016}}</ref> The United States has the most ecoregions out of any country in the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/ecoregions/ecoregion_list/ecoregions_country/ecoregions_country_t.cfm |title=Ecoregions by country – T |website=panda.org |accessdate=August 27, 2017}}</ref>
 
The United States, with its large size and geographic variety, includes most climate types. To the east of the [[100th meridian west|100th meridian]], the climate ranges from [[humid continental climate|humid continental]] in the north to [[humid subtropical climate|humid subtropical]] in the south.<ref>{{cite web |last=Boyden |first=Jennifer |title=Climate Regions of the United States |url=http://traveltips.usatoday.com/climate-regions-united-states-21570.html |website=Travel Tips |publisher=USA Today |accessdate=December 24, 2014}}</ref> The Great Plains west of the 100th meridian are [[Semi-arid climate|semi-arid]]. Much of the Western mountains have an [[alpine climate]]. The climate is [[Desert climate|arid]] in the Great Basin, desert in the Southwest, [[Mediterranean climate|Mediterranean]] in [[coastal California]], and [[oceanic climate|oceanic]] in coastal [[Oregon]] and [[Washington (state)|Washington]] and southern Alaska. Most of Alaska is [[Subarctic climate|subarctic]] or [[Polar climate|polar]]. Hawaii and the southern tip of [[Florida]] are [[Tropical climate|tropical]], as are the populated territories in the Caribbean and the Pacific.<ref>{{cite web |title=World Map of Köppen−Geiger Climate Classification |url=http://koeppen-geiger.vu-wien.ac.at/pdf/kottek_et_al_2006_A4.pdf|access-date=August 19, 2015}}</ref> Extreme weather is not uncommon—the states bordering the [[Gulf of Mexico]] are prone to [[Tropical cyclone|hurricanes]], and most of the world's [[tornado]]es occur in the country, mainly in [[Tornado Alley]] areas in the Midwest and South.<ref>{{cite news |author=Perkins, Sid |url=http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20020511/bob9.asp |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701131631/http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20020511/bob9.asp |archivedate=July 1, 2007 |title=Tornado Alley, USA |access-date=September 20, 2006 |date=May 11, 2002 |work=Science News}}</ref>
 
=== Wildlife ===
{{Main|Fauna of the United States|Flora of the United States}}
{{See also|Category:Biota of the United States}}
[[File:Bald Eagle Portrait.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[bald eagle]] has been the [[National bird of the United States|national bird]] of the United States since 1782.<ref name="McDougall2004">{{cite book |author=Len McDougall |title=The Encyclopedia of Tracks and Scats: A Comprehensive Guide to the Trackable Animals of the United States and Canada |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9XOc2_u7z6cC&pg=PA325 |year=2004 |publisher=Lyons Press |isbn=978-1-59228-070-4 |page=325}}</ref>]]
The U.S. ecology is [[megadiverse countries|megadiverse]]: about 17,000 species of [[vascular plant]]s occur in the contiguous United States and Alaska, and over 1,800 species of [[flowering plant]]s are found in Hawaii, few of which occur on the mainland.<ref>{{cite web |author=Morin, Nancy |url=http://www.fungaljungal.org/papers/National_Biological_Service.pdf |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724222726/http://www.fungaljungal.org/papers/National_Biological_Service.pdf |title=Vascular Plants of the United States |publisher=National Biological Service |website=Plants |accessdate=October 27, 2008 |archivedate=July 24, 2013}}</ref> The United States is home to 428 mammal species, 784 bird species, 311 reptile species, and 295 amphibian species.<ref name="Current Results # of native species in the US">{{cite web |last1=Osborn |first1=Liz |title=Number of Native Species in United States |url=http://www.currentresults.com/Environment-Facts/Plants-Animals/number-of-native-species-in-united-states.php |publisher=Current Results Nexus |accessdate=January 15, 2015}}</ref> About 91,000 insect species have been described.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/nmnh/buginfo/bugnos.htm |title=Numbers of Insects (Species and Individuals) |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |accessdate=January 20, 2009}}</ref> The [[bald eagle]] is both the [[List of national birds|national bird]] and [[List of national animals|national animal]] of the United States, and is an enduring symbol of the country itself.<ref name=j23>{{cite journal |last1=Lawrence |first1=E.A. |year=1990 |title=Symbol of a Nation: The Bald Eagle in American Culture |journal=The Journal of American Culture |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=63–69 |doi=10.1111/j.1542-734X.1990.1301_63.x}}</ref>
 
There are 59 [[List of areas in the United States National Park System|national parks]] and hundreds of other federally managed parks, forests, and [[wilderness]] areas.<ref>{{cite press release |title=National Park Service Announces Addition of Two New Units |url=http://home.nps.gov/applications/release/Detail.cfm?ID=639 |date=February 28, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061001195645/http://home.nps.gov/applications/release/Detail.cfm?ID=639 |archive-date=October 1, 2006 |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=February 10, 2017}}</ref> Altogether, the government owns about 28% of the country's land area.<ref name="NYTimes Federal Land">{{cite news |last1=Lipton |first1=Eric |last2=Krauss |first2=Clifford |title=Giving Reins to the States Over Drilling |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/24/us/romney-would-give-reins-to-states-on-drilling-on-federal-lands.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0 |accessdate=January 18, 2015 |publisher=New York Times |date=August 23, 2012}}</ref> Most of this is [[protected area|protected]], though some is leased for oil and gas drilling, mining, logging, or cattle ranching; about .86% is used for military purposes.<ref name="Federal Land Ownership">{{cite web |last1=Gorte |first1=Ross W. |last2=Vincent |first2=Carol Hardy. |last3=Hanson |first3=Laura A. |last4=Marc R. |first4=Rosenblum |title=Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42346.pdf |website=fas.org |publisher=Congressional Research Service |accessdate=January 18, 2015}}</ref><ref name="Fed Land Uses">{{cite web |title=Chapter 6: Federal Programs to Promote Resource Use, Extraction, and Development |url=http://www.doi.gov/pmb/oepc/wetlands2/v2ch6.cfm |website=doi.gov |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318005744/http://www.doi.gov/pmb/oepc/wetlands2/v2ch6.cfm |publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior |accessdate=January 19, 2015 |archivedate=March 18, 2015}}</ref>
 
[[Environmental issues in the United States|Environmental issues]] have been on the national agenda since 1970. Environmental controversies include debates on oil and [[nuclear binding energy|nuclear energy]], dealing with air and water pollution, the economic costs of protecting wildlife, logging and [[deforestation]],<ref>{{cite web |author=The National Atlas of the United States of America |url=http://www.nationalatlas.gov/articles/biology/a_forest.html |title=Forest Resources of the United States |publisher=Nationalatlas.gov |date=January 14, 2013 |accessdate=January 13, 2014 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090507195541/http://www.nationalatlas.gov/articles/biology/a_forest.html |archivedate=May 7, 2009 |df=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/gtr587.pdf |title=Land Use Changes Involving Forestry in the United States: 1952 to 1997, With Projections to 2050 |year=2003 |accessdate=January 13, 2014}}</ref> and international responses to global warming.<ref>[[#Daynes|Daynes & Sussman, 2010]], pp. 3, 72, 74–76, 78</ref><ref>Hays, Samuel P. (2000). ''A History of Environmental Politics since 1945''.</ref> Many federal and state agencies are involved. The most prominent is the [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|Environmental Protection Agency]] (EPA), created by presidential order in 1970.<ref name="Collin2006">{{cite book |last=Collin |first=Robert W. |title=The Environmental Protection Agency: Cleaning Up America's Act |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OVPoqXeTYTwC&pg=PA1 |year=2006 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-33341-5 |page=1 |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}</ref> The idea of wilderness has shaped the management of public lands since 1964, with the [[Wilderness Act]].<ref>Turner, James Morton (2012). ''The Promise of Wilderness''</ref> The [[Endangered Species Act]] of 1973 is intended to protect threatened and endangered species and their habitats, which are monitored by the [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]].<ref name="Office">{{cite book |title=Endangered species Fish and Wildlife Service |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a8BEuUPJb58C&pg=PA1 |publisher=General Accounting Office, Diane Publishing |isbn=978-1-4289-3997-4 |page=1 |accessdate=October 25, 2015|year=2003 }}</ref>
 
== Demographics ==
{{Main|Demography of the United States|Americans|Race and ethnicity in the United States}}
 
=== Population ===
{{See also|List of U.S. states by population|List of United States cities by population}}
{{US Census population
|1610= 350
|1620= 2302
|1630= 4646
|1640= 26634
|1650= 50368
|1660= 75058
|1670= 111935
|1680= 151507
|1690= 210372
|1700= 250888
|1710= 331711
|1720= 466185
|1730= 629445
|1740= 905563
|1750= 1170760
|1760= 1593625
|1770= 2148076
|1780= 2780369
|1790= 3929214
|1800= 5308483
|1810= 7239881
|1820= 9638453
|1830= 12866020
|1840= 17069453
|1850= 23191876
|1860= 31443321
|1870= 38558371
|1880= 50189209
|1890= 62979766
|1900= 76212168
|1910= 92228496
|1920= 106021537
|1930= 123202624
|1940= 132164569
|1950= 151325798
|1960= 179323175
|1970= 203211926
|1980= 226545805
|1990= 248709873
|2000= 281421906
|2010= 308745538
|align=right
|estyear=2018<ref name="census2" />
|estimate=327167434
|footnote=1610–1780 population data.<ref>{{cite web |title=CT1970p2-13: Colonial and Pre-Federal Statistics |url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/statcomp/documents/CT1970p2-13.pdf |website=census.gov |accessdate=August 20, 2015 |page=1168 |date=2004}}</ref><br />Note that the census numbers do<br />not include [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] until 1860.<ref name="Census1860">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0076/twps0076.html |title=Historical Census Statistics On Population Totals By Race, 1790 to 1990, and By Hispanic Origin, 1970 to 1990, For Large Cities And Other Urban Places In The United States |website=census.gov |accessdate=May 28, 2013 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/69hd5KAIE?url=http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0076/twps0076.html |archive-date=August 6, 2012 |dead-url=yes  }}</ref>
}}
 
The [[U.S. Census Bureau]] estimated the country's population to be {{formatnum:327167434}} as of July 1, 2018, and to be adding 1 person (net gain) every 13 seconds, or about 6,646 people per day.<ref name="urlPopulation Clock" /> The U.S. population almost quadrupled during the 20th century, from 76.2 million in 1900 to 281.4 million in 2000.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/06statab/pop.pdf |title=Statistical Abstract of the United States |year=2005 |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}</ref> The third most populous nation in the world, after [[China]] and [[India]], the United States is the only major industrialized nation in which large population increases are projected.<ref name="PRC">{{cite web |url=http://www.prcdc.org/summaries/uspopperspec/uspopperspec.html |title=Executive Summary: A Population Perspective of the United States |publisher=Population Resource Center |date=May 2000 |accessdate=December 20, 2007 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070604165856/http://www.prcdc.org/summaries/uspopperspec/uspopperspec.html |archivedate=June 4, 2007}}</ref> In the 1800s the average woman had 7.04 children; by the 1900s this number had decreased to 3.56.<ref name="Doan">{{cite book |title=Opposition and Intimidation:The abortion wars and strategies of political harassment |author=Alesha E. Doan |year=2007 |page=40 |publisher=University of Michigan}}</ref> Since the early 1970s the birth rate has been below the replacement rate of 2.1 with 1.76 children per woman in 2017.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Belluz |first1=Julia |title=The historically low birthrate, explained in 3 charts |url=https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/5/22/17376536/fertility-rate-united-states-births-women |website=Vox |accessdate=December 27, 2018 |date=May 22, 2018}}</ref> Foreign-born immigration has caused the U.S. population to continue its rapid increase with the foreign-born population doubling from almost 20 million in 1990 to over 40 million in 2010, representing one-third of the population increase.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/issue-briefs/2014/12/changing-patterns-in-us-immigration-and-population |title=Changing Patterns in U.S. Immigration and Population |website=pewtrusts.org}}</ref> The foreign-born population reached 45 million in 2015.<ref name="pewhispanic.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.pewhispanic.org/2015/09/28/modern-immigration-wave-brings-59-million-to-u-s-driving-population-growth-and-change-through-2065/ |title=Modern Immigration Wave Brings 59 Million to U.S. – Pew Research Center |date=September 28, 2015 |website=Pew Research Center's Hispanic Trends Project}}</ref> The United States has a very diverse population; 37 [[American ancestries|ancestry groups]] have more than one million members.<ref name="An2000">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/c2kbr-35.pdf |title=Ancestry 2000 |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |date=June 2004 |access-date=December 2, 2016 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20041204015245/http://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/c2kbr-35.pdf |archivedate=December 4, 2004 |df=}}</ref> [[German American]]s are the largest ethnic group (more than 50 million) – followed by [[Irish American]]s (circa 37 million), [[Mexican American]]s (circa 31 million) and [[English American]]s (circa 28 million).<ref>{{cite web |title=Table 52. Population by Selected Ancestry Group and Region: 2009 |url=https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0052.pdf |date=2009 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121225031832/http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0052.pdf |archivedate=December 25, 2012 |deadurl=yes |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |access-date=February 11, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Oleaga |first=Michael |title=Immigration Numbers Update: 13 Million Mexicans Immigrated to US in 2013, But Chinese Migrants Outnumber Other Latin Americans |url=http://www.latinpost.com/articles/20628/20140903/immigration-numbers-update-13-million-mexicans-immigrated-2013-chinese-migrants.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140905071238/http://www.latinpost.com/articles/20628/20140903/immigration-numbers-update-13-million-mexicans-immigrated-2013-chinese-migrants.htm |publisher=Latin Post |archivedate=September 5, 2014 |accessdate=December 28, 2014}}</ref>
 
[[White American]]s (mostly [[European Americans|European ancestry]] group with 73.1% of total population) are the largest [[race (human classification)|racial group]]; [[African American|black Americans]] are the nation's largest [[minority group|racial minority]] (note that in the U.S. Census, [[Hispanic and Latino Americans]] are counted as an ''ethnic'' group, not a "racial" group), and third-largest ancestry group.<ref name="An2000" /> [[Asian American]]s are the country's second-largest racial minority; the three largest Asian American ethnic groups are [[Chinese American]]s, [[Filipino American]]s, and [[Indian American]]s.<ref name="An2000" /> According to a 2015 survey, the largest American community with European ancestry is [[German American]]s, which consists of [[Race and ethnicity in the United States#2015 American Community Survey|more than 14% of the total population]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/15_5YR/DP02/0100000US |title=Selected Social Characteristics in the United States – 2011–2015 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau}}</ref> In 2010, the U.S. population included an estimated 5.2 million people with some [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indian]] or [[Alaska Natives|Alaska Native]] ancestry (2.9 million exclusively of such ancestry) and 1.2 million with some [[Native Hawaiians|native Hawaiian]] or [[Pacific Islands Americans|Pacific island]] ancestry (0.5 million exclusively).<ref name="Cen2010Race">{{cite web |author1=Humes, Karen R. |author2=Jones, Nicholas A. |author3=Ramirez, Roberto R. |url=https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-02.pdf |title=Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin: 2010 |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |date=March 2011 |accessdate=March 29, 2011 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429214029/http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-02.pdf |archivedate=April 29, 2011 |df=}}</ref> The census counted more than 19 million people of "Some Other Race" who were "unable to identify with any" of its five official race categories in 2010, over 18.5 million (97%) of whom are of Hispanic ethnicity.<ref name="Cen2010Race" />
[[File:Most common ancestries in the United States.svg|left|thumb|Most common ancestry in each [[U.S. state]] in 2000<br />{{Legend0|#0075ff|[[German Americans|German]]}} {{Legend0|#ff0000|''[[American ancestry|American]]''}} {{Legend0|#ff7500|[[Mexican Americans|Mexican]]}} {{Legend0|#007500|[[Irish Americans|Irish]]}} {{Legend0|#00ffff|[[African Americans|African]]}} {{Legend0|#7500ff|[[Italian Americans|Italian]]}} {{Legend0|#750075|[[English Americans|English]]}} {{Legend0|#ffff00|[[Japanese Americans|Japanese]]}} {{Legend0|#d93190|[[Puerto Ricans in the United States|Puerto Rican]]}}]]
 
The population growth of [[Hispanic and Latino Americans]] (the terms are officially interchangeable) is a major [[demographic transition|demographic trend]]. The 50.5 million Americans of Hispanic descent<ref name="Cen2010Race" /> are identified as sharing a distinct "[[Race and ethnicity in the United States Census|ethnicity]]" by the Census Bureau; 64% of Hispanic Americans are of [[Mexican American|Mexican descent]].<ref name=CB2007>{{cite web |url=http://factfinder2.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/07_1YR/B03001 |title=B03001. Hispanic or Latino Origin by Specific Origin |website=2007 American Community Survey |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|accessdate=September 26, 2008}}</ref> Between 2000 and 2010, the country's Hispanic population increased 43% while the non-Hispanic population rose just 4.9%.<ref name="Cen2010Summary">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/2010census/data/ |title=2010 Census Data |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|accessdate=March 29, 2011}}</ref> Much of this growth is from immigration; in 2007, 12.6% of the U.S. population was [[Foreign born|foreign-born]], with 54% of that figure born in [[Latin America]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/09statab/pop.pdf |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|website=Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009 |title=Tables 41 and 42—Native and Foreign-Born Populations |accessdate=October 11, 2009}}</ref>{{efn|[[Fertility]] is also a factor; in 2010 the average Hispanic woman gave birth to 2.35 children in her lifetime, compared to 1.97 for non-Hispanic black women and 1.79 for non-Hispanic white women (both below the [[Replacement rates|replacement rate]] of 2.1).<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web |url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr61/nvsr61_01.pdf |title=National Vital Statistics Reports: Volume 61, Number 1. Births: Final Data for 2012 |date=August 2012 |publisher=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |accessdate=November 25, 2012}}</ref> Between 2006 and 2017 the population growth rate for Hispanics dropped from 3.7% to 2.0%, for Asians from 3.5% to 2.9%, for blacks from 1.0% to 0.9% and for non-Hispanic whites from 0.1% to 0.0%. Hispanics accounted for 51% of the population increase between 2016 and 2017.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Krogstad |first1=Jens Manuel |title=U.S. Hispanic population growth has leveled off |url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/08/03/u-s-hispanic-population-growth-has-leveled-off/ |website=Pew Research Center |accessdate=December 27, 2018 |date=August 3, 2017}}</ref>
 
[[Minority group|Minorities]] (as defined by the Census Bureau as all those beside non-Hispanic, non-multiracial whites) constituted 36.3% of the population in 2010 (this is nearly 40% in 2015),<ref>[https://www.census.gov/2010census/news/releases/operations/cb11-cn123.html [[U.S. Census Bureau]]: "U.S. Census Bureau Delivers Final State 2010 Census Population Totals for Legislative Redistricting"] see custom table, 2nd worksheet</ref> and over 50% of children under age one,<ref name="exner" /> and are projected to constitute the majority by 2042.<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://media.timesfreepress.com/docs/2008/08/U.S._Census_diversity_0823.pdf |accessdate=March 29, 2013 |title=An Older and More Diverse Nation by Midcentury |date=August 14, 2008}}</ref> This contradicts the report by the National Vital Statistics Reports, based on the U.S. census data, which concludes that 54% (2,162,406 out of 3,999,386 in 2010) of births were non-Hispanic white.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> The Hispanic birth rate plummeted 25% between 2006 and 2013 while the rate for non-Hispanics decreased just 5%.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://fusion.net/story/53820/what-the-plummeting-hispanic-birthrate-means-for-the-u-s-economy/ |title=What the plummeting Hispanic birthrate means for the U.S. economy |website=Fusion}}</ref>}}
 
The drop in the U.S. fertility rate from 2.08 per woman in 2007 to 1.76 in 2017 was mostly due to the declining birth rate of Hispanics, teenagers, and young women, although the birth rate for older women rose.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stone |first1=Lyman |title=Baby Bust: Fertility is Declining the Most Among Minority Women |url=https://ifstudies.org/blog/baby-bust-fertility-is-declining-the-most-among-minority-women |website=Institute for Family Studies |accessdate=December 27, 2018 |date=May 16, 2018}}</ref>
 
[[Minority group|Minorities]] (as defined by the Census Bureau as all those beside non-Hispanic, non-multiracial [[Non-Hispanic whites|whites]]) constituted 37.2% of the population in 2012<ref name=":0">{{cite web |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_12_1YR_DP05&prodType=table |title=ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates 2015 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, (V2015) |website=census.gov|access-date=October 15, 2016}}</ref> and over 50% of children under age one,<ref name="pewcensus">{{cite news |url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/06/23/its-official-minority-babies-are-the-majority-among-the-nations-infants-but-only-just/ |title=It's official: Minority babies are the majority among the nation's infants, but only just |date=June 23, 2016 |work=Pew Research Center}}</ref><ref name="exner">{{cite news |author=Exner, Rich |url=http://www.cleveland.com/datacentral/index.ssf/2012/06/americas_under_age_1_populatio.html |title=Americans under age one now mostly minorities, but not in Ohio: Statistical Snapshot |date=July 3, 2012 |work=The Plain Dealer|location=Cleveland, OH |accessdate=July 29, 2012}}</ref> and are projected to constitute the majority by 2044.<ref name="pewcensus" />
 
The United States has a birth rate of 13 per 1,000, which is 5 births below the world average.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2054.html |title=Field Listing: Birth Rate |publisher=The World Factbook |website=Central Intelligence Agency |year=2014 |accessdate=January 21, 2015 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211213638/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2054.html |archivedate=December 11, 2007 }}</ref> Its [[population growth]] rate is positive at 0.7%, [[Total fertility rate#Developed or developing countries|higher than that of many developed nations]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW/countries |title=Population growth (annual %) |publisher=The World Bank |website=United Nations Population Division |year=2014 |accessdate=January 21, 2015}}</ref> In fiscal year 2016, over one million [[Immigration to the United States|immigrants]] (most of whom entered through [[Chain migration#Legislation and chain migration|family reunification]]) were granted [[Permanent residence (United States)|legal residence]].<ref name="LPR">[https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/Lawful_Permanent_Residents_2016.pdf "U.S. Legal Permanent Residents: 2016"]. [[Office of Immigration Statistics]] ''Annual Flow Report.''</ref> [[Mexico]] has been the leading source of new residents since the [[Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965|1965 Immigration Act]]. China, India, and the [[Philippines]] have been in the top four sending countries every year since the 1990s.<ref>{{cite web |title=Immigrants in the United States, 2010: A Profile of America's Foreign-Born Population |url=http://cis.org/2012-profile-of-americas-foreign-born-population |website=Center for Immigrant Studies |accessdate=January 13, 2015}}</ref> {{As of|2012}}, approximately 11.4 million residents are [[Illegal immigration to the United States|illegal immigrants]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/ois_ill_pe_2012_2.pdf |title=Estimates of the Unauthorized Immigrant Population Residing in the United States: January 2012 |last1=Baker |first1=Bryan |last2=Rytina |first2=Nancy |date=March 2013 |website=Office of Immigration Statistics |publisher=Department of Homeland Security |accessdate=October 21, 2014}}</ref> {{As of|2015}}, 47% of all immigrants are Hispanic, 26% are Asian, 18% are white and 8% are black. The percentage of immigrants who are Asian is increasing while the percentage who are Hispanic is decreasing.<ref name="pewhispanic.org" /> The estimated number of illegal immigrants dropped to 10.7 million in 2017, down from a peak of 12.2 million in 2007. In 2017, 33,000 refugees were resettled in the United States. This was fewer than were resettled in the rest of the world for the first time in decades.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/12/13/18-striking-findings-from-2018/ |title=18 striking findings from 2018 |publisher=Gallup |accessdate=December 27, 2018}}</ref>
A 2017 [[Gallup (company)|Gallup]] poll concluded that 4.5% of adult Americans identified as [[LGBT]] with 5.1% of women identifying as LGBT, compared with 3.9% of men.<ref>{{cite web |title=In U.S., Estimate of LGBT Population Rises to 4.5% |url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/234863/estimate-lgbt-population-rises.aspx |website=Gallup.com |accessdate=September 14, 2018}}</ref> The highest percentage came from the [[District of Columbia]] (10%), while the lowest state was [[North Dakota]] at 1.7%.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/160517/lgbt-percentage-highest-lowest-north-dakota.aspx |title=LGBT Percentage Highest in D.C., Lowest in North Dakota |publisher=Gallup |accessdate=June 14, 2014}}</ref>
 
About 82% of Americans live in [[United States urban area|urban areas]] (including suburbs);<ref name="WF" /> about half of those reside in cities with populations over 50,000.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GCTTable?_bm=y&-state=gct&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U&-_box_head_nbr=GCT-P1&-mt_name=&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=&-format=US-1&-_lang=en |title=United States – Urban/Rural and Inside/Outside Metropolitan Area |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100117053950/http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GCTTable?_bm=y&-state=gct&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U&-_box_head_nbr=GCT-P1&-mt_name=&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=&-format=US-1&-_lang=en |archivedate=January 17, 2010 |deadurl=yes}}</ref> The U.S. has numerous clusters of cities known as megaregions, the largest being the [[Great Lakes Megalopolis]] followed by the [[Northeast Megalopolis]] and [[Southern California]]. In 2008, 273 [[List of United States cities by population|incorporated municipalities]] had populations over 100,000, nine cities had more than one million residents, and four [[global city|global cities]] had over two million ([[New York City|New York]], [[Los Angeles]], [[Chicago]], and [[Houston]]).<ref name=PopEstBigCities>{{cite web |url=http://hawaii.gov/dbedt/info/census/popestimate/copy_of_2008-subcounty-population-hawaii/SUB_EST2008_01.pdf |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/5lpvuJk99?url=http://hawaii.gov/dbedt/info/census/popestimate/copy_of_2008-subcounty-population-hawaii/SUB_EST2008_01.pdf |archivedate=December 7, 2009 |title=Table 1: Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places Over 100,000, Ranked by July 1, 2008 Population: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2008 |website=2008 Population Estimates |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division |date=July 1, 2009 |deadurl=yes }}</ref> There are 52 [[List of Metropolitan Statistical Areas|metropolitan areas]] with populations greater than one million.<ref name=PopEstMSA>{{cite web |url=http://hawaii.gov/dbedt/info/census/popestimate/2008_MSA_Hawaii/CBSA_EST2008_05.pdf |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/5lpvuJzkG?url=http://hawaii.gov/dbedt/info/census/popestimate/2008_MSA_Hawaii/CBSA_EST2008_05.pdf |archivedate=December 7, 2009 |title=Table 5. Estimates of Population Change for Metropolitan Statistical Areas and Rankings: July 1, 2007 to July 1, 2008 |website=2008 Population Estimates |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |date=March 19, 2009 |deadurl=yes }}</ref> Of the 50 fastest-growing metro areas, 47 are in the West or South.<ref>{{cite press release |title=Raleigh and Austin are Fastest-Growing Metro Areas |url=https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/population/cb09-45.html |date=March 19, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160118182235/http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/population/cb09-45.html |archive-date=January 18, 2016 |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |access-date=February 21, 2017}}</ref> The metro areas of [[San Bernardino, California|San Bernardino]], [[Dallas]], Houston, [[Atlanta]], and [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]] all grew by more than a million people between 2000 and 2008.<ref name=PopEstMSA />
 
{{anchor|Population centers}}
<div style="margin:0 auto">{{Largest Metropolitan Areas of the United States}}</div>
{{Clear}}
 
=== Language ===
{{Main|Languages of the United States}}
{{See also|Language Spoken at Home in the United States of America|List of endangered languages in the United States|Language education in the United States}}
 
[[English language|English]] ([[American English]]) is the [[de facto]] [[national language]]. Although there is no [[official language]] at the federal level, some laws—such as [[Naturalized citizen of the United States|U.S. naturalization requirements]]—standardize English. In 2010, about 230 million, or 80% of the population aged five years and older, spoke only English at home. [[Spanish language in the United States|Spanish]], spoken by 12% of the population at home, is the second most common language and the most widely taught second language.<ref name=Lang>"Language Spoken at Home by the U.S. Population, 2010", American Community Survey, [[U.S. Census Bureau]], in ''World Almanac and Book of Facts 2012'', p. 615.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Welles |first=Elizabeth B. |title=Foreign Language Enrollments in United States Institutions of Higher Learning, Fall 2002 |url=http://www.adfl.org/resources/enrollments.pdf |date=Winter–Spring 2004 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/5hheedcc6?url=http://www.adfl.org/resources/enrollments.pdf |archivedate=June 21, 2009 |journal=ADFL Bulletin |volume=35 |page=7 |number=2–3 |doi=10.1632/adfl.35.2.7  |access-date=February 25, 2017}}</ref> Some Americans advocate making English the country's official language, as it is in 32 states.<ref name=ILW>{{cite web |author=Feder, Jody |url=http://www.ilw.com/immigrationdaily/news/2007,0515-crs.pdf |title=English as the Official Language of the United States: Legal Background and Analysis of Legislation in the 110th Congress |date=January 25, 2007 |publisher=Ilw.com (Congressional Research Service) |accessdate=June 19, 2007}}</ref>
 
Both [[Hawaiian language|Hawaiian]] and English are official languages in [[Hawaii]], by state law.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hawaii.gov/lrb/con/conart15.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724231656/http://hawaii.gov/lrb/con/conart15.html |archivedate=July 24, 2013 |title=The Constitution of the State of Hawaii, Article XV, Section 4 |publisher=Hawaii Legislative Reference Bureau |date=November 7, 1978 |accessdate=June 19, 2007}}</ref> [[Alaska]] recognizes [[Alaska Native languages|twenty Native languages]] as well as English.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Chapel|first1=Bill|title=Alaska OKs Bill Making Native Languages Official |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/04/21/305688602/alaska-oks-bill-making-native-languages-official |website=NPR.org |date=April 21, 2014}}</ref> While neither has an official language, [[New Mexico]] has laws providing for the use of both English and Spanish, as [[Louisiana]] does for English and [[French language in the United States|French]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Dicker, Susan J. |title=Languages in America: A Pluralist View |year=2003 |pages=216, 220–225 |location=Clevedon, UK |publisher=Multilingual Matters |isbn=978-1-85359-651-3}}</ref> Other states, such as California, mandate the publication of Spanish versions of certain government documents including court forms.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=ccp&group=00001-01000&file=412.10-412.30 |title=California Code of Civil Procedure, Section 412.20(6) |publisher=Legislative Counsel, State of California |accessdate=December 17, 2007 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722010302/http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=ccp&group=00001-01000&file=412.10-412.30 |archivedate=July 22, 2010}} {{cite web |url=http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/forms/allforms.htm |title=California Judicial Council Forms |publisher=Judicial Council, State of California |accessdate=December 17, 2007}}</ref>
 
Several insular territories grant official recognition to their native languages, along with English: [[Samoan language|Samoan]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lmp.ucla.edu/Profile.aspx?menu=004&LangID=96 |title=Samoan |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website=UCLA Language Materials Project |publisher=UCLA |accessdate=October 4, 2014}}<br />{{cite book |author1=Frederick T.L. Leong |author2=Mark M. Leach |title=Suicide Among Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups: Theory, Research, and Practice |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mrKTAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT185 |year=2010 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-91680-0 |page=185}}<br />{{cite book |author=Robert D. Craig |title=Historical Dictionary of Polynesia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=01U5DrqoMJgC&pg=PR33 |year=2002 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-4237-3 |page=33 |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}</ref> is officially recognized by [[American Samoa]]. [[Chamorro language|Chamorro]]<ref>{{cite book |author1=Nessa Wolfson |author2=Joan Manes |title=Language of Inequality |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ywvo0fNRGqgC&pg=PA176 |year=1985 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-009946-1 |page=176 |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}<br />{{cite book |author1=Lawrence J. Cunningham |author2=Janice J. Beaty |title=A History of Guam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bkaLkgHEFvIC&pg=PA203 |date=2001 |publisher=Bess Press |isbn=978-1-57306-047-9 |page=203}}<br />{{cite book |author=Eur |title=The Far East and Australasia 2003 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LclscNCTz9oC&pg=PA1137 |year=2002 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-1-85743-133-9 |page=1137 |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}</ref> is an official language of [[Guam]]. Both [[Carolinian language|Carolinian]] and Chamorro have official recognition in the [[Northern Mariana Islands]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=Yaron Matras |author2=Peter Bakker |title=The Mixed Language Debate: Theoretical and Empirical Advances |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qZMRV8y6T8AC&pg=PA301 |year=2003 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-017776-3 |page=301 |quote=in the Northern Marianas, Chamarro, Carolinian ( = the minority language of a group of Carolinian immigrants), and English received the status of co-official languages in 1985(Rodriguez-Ponga 1995:24–28).}}</ref>
Spanish is an official language of [[Puerto Rico]] and is more widely spoken than English there.<ref name=PuertoRicoTranslation>{{cite web |url=http://www.puertorico.com/translation/ |title=Translation in Puerto Rico |website=Puerto Rico Channel |accessdate=December 29, 2013}}</ref>
 
The [[List of most commonly learned foreign languages in the United States|most widely taught foreign languages]] in the United States, in terms of enrollment numbers from kindergarten through university [[undergraduate education]], are: Spanish (around 7.2 million students), French (1.5 million), and [[German language in the United States|German]] (500,000). Other commonly taught languages (with 100,000 to 250,000 learners) include [[Latin]], [[Japanese language education in the United States|Japanese]], [[American Sign Language|ASL]], [[Italian language in the United States|Italian]], and [[Chinese language in the United States|Chinese]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.actfl.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/ReportSummary2011.pdf |title=Foreign Language Enrollments in K–12 Public Schools |date=February 2011 |publisher=American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) |access-date=October 17, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mla.org/pdf/2013_enrollment_survey.pdf |title=Enrollments in Languages Other Than English in United States Institutions of Higher Education, Fall 2013 |last1=Goldberg |first1=David |last2=Looney |first2=Dennis |last3=Lusin |first3=Natalia |date=February 2015 |publisher=Modern Language Association |access-date=May 20, 2015}}</ref> 18% of all Americans claim to speak at least one language in addition to English.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/collegeprose/2012/08/27/americas-foreign-language-deficit/ |title=America's Foreign Language Deficit |author1=David Skorton |author2=Glenn Altschuler |lastauthoramp=yes |website=Forbes}}</ref>
 
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="float:center; margin-left:1em; font-size: 90%"
|+ Languages spoken at home by more than 1 million persons in the U.S. (2016)<ref name="MLA Data">{{cite web |url=http://www.mla.org/map_data |title=United States |publisher=[[Modern Language Association]]|access-date=September 2, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_10_1YR_B16001&prodType=table |title=American FactFinder – Results |first=U.S. Census |last=Bureau |publisher=}}</ref>{{efn|Source: 2015 [[American Community Survey]], [[U.S. Census Bureau]]. Most respondents who speak a language other than English at home also report speaking English "well" or "very well". For the language groups listed above, the strongest English-language proficiency is among speakers of German (96% report that they speak English "well" or "very well"), followed by speakers of French (93.5%), Tagalog (92.8%), Spanish (74.1%), Korean (71.5%), Chinese (70.4%), and Vietnamese (66.9%).}}
|-
! Language !! Percent of<br />population !! Number of<br />speakers !! Number who<br />speak English<br />very well !! Number who<br />speak English<br />less than<br />very well
|-
| [[English language|English]] <small>(only)</small> || ~80% || 237,810,023 || N/A || N/A
|-
| [[Spanish language|Spanish]]<br /><small>(including [[Spanish-based creole languages|Spanish Creole]] but excluding [[Puerto Rico]])</small> || 13% || 40,489,813 || 23,899,421 || 16,590,392
|-
| [[Chinese language|Chinese]]<br /><small>(all varieties, including [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]] and [[Cantonese]])</small> || 1.0% || 3,372,930 || 1,518,619 || 1,854,311
|-
| [[Tagalog language|Tagalog]]<br /><small>(including [[Filipino language|Filipino]])</small> || 0.5% || 1,701,960 || 1,159,211 || 542,749
|-
| [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]] || 0.4% || 1,509,993 || 634,273 || 875,720
|-
| [[Arabic language|Arabic]]<br /><small>(all varieties)</small> || 0.3% || 1,231,098 || 770,882 || 460,216
|-
| [[French language|French]]<br /><small>(including [[French Patois|Patois]] and [[Cajun French|Cajun]])</small> || 0.3% || 1,216,668 || 965,584 || 251,087
|-
| [[Korean language|Korean]] || 0.2% || 1,088,788 || 505,734|| 583,054
|}
 
=== Religion ===
{{Main|Religion in the United States}}
<!--There is no agreement to insert a picture to this section so please cease to do so. There are too many religious traditions in this country and it is wrong to venerate one over all others with a picture placed in this section. To avoid senseless arguments do not add any pictures to this section.-->
{| class="wikitable sortable floatright" style="font-size:95%"
|+ style="font-size:100%" | Religious affiliation in the U.S. (2014)<ref name="pew2015">{{cite web |url=http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/ |title=America's Changing Religious Landscape |publisher=[[Pew Research Center]]: Religion & Public Life |date=May 12, 2015}}</ref>
|-
! Affiliation
! colspan="2" | % of U.S. population
|-
| [[Christianity in the United States|Christianity]]
|align=right| '''{{bartable|70.6||2||background:darkblue}}'''
|-
| style="text-indent:15px;"| [[Protestantism in the United States|Protestant]]
|align=right| '''{{bartable|46.5||2||background:mediumblue}}'''
|-
| style="text-indent:30px;"| [[Evangelicalism in the United States|Evangelical Protestant]]
|align=right| '''{{bartable|25.4||2||background:lightblue}}'''
|-
| style="text-indent:30px;"| [[Mainline Protestant]]
|align=right| '''{{bartable|14.7||2||background:lightblue}}'''
|-
| style="text-indent:30px;"| [[Black church]]
|align=right| '''{{bartable|6.5||2||background:lightblue}}'''
|-
| style="text-indent:15px;"| [[Catholic Church in the United States|Catholic]]
|align=right| '''{{bartable|20.8||2||background:mediumblue}}'''
|-
| style="text-indent:15px;"| [[Mormon]]
|align=right| '''{{bartable|1.6||2||background:mediumblue}}'''
|-
| style="text-indent:15px;"| [[Jehovah's Witnesses]]
|align=right| '''{{bartable|0.8||2||background:mediumblue}}'''
|-
| style="text-indent:15px;"| [[Eastern Orthodox]]
|align=right| '''{{bartable|0.5||2||background:mediumblue}}'''
|-
| style="text-indent:15px;"| Other Christian
|align=right| '''{{bartable|0.4||2||background:mediumblue}}'''
|-
| [[American Jews|Judaism]]
|align=right| '''{{bartable|1.9||2||background:blue}}'''
|-
| [[Hinduism in the United States|Hinduism]]
|align=right| '''{{bartable|1.2||2||background:orange}}'''
|-
| [[Islam in the United States|Islam]]
|align=right| '''{{bartable|0.9||2||background:black}}'''
|-
| [[Buddhism in the United States|Buddhism]]
|align=right| '''{{bartable|0.9||2||background:yellow}}'''
|-
| Other faiths
|align=right| '''{{bartable|1.8||2||background:lightgreen}}'''
|-
| [[Irreligion in the United States|Irreligion]]
|align=right| '''{{bartable|22.8||2||background:purple}}'''
|-
| style="text-indent:15px;"| Nothing in particular
|align=right| '''{{bartable|15.8||2||background:#A020F0}}'''
|-
| style="text-indent:15px;"| [[Agnosticism|Agnostic]]
|align=right| '''{{bartable|4.0||2||background:#A020F0}}'''
|-
| style="text-indent:15px;"| [[Atheism|Atheist]]
|align=right| '''{{bartable|3.1||2||background:#A020F0}}'''
|-
| Don't know or refused answer
|align=right| '''{{bartable|0.6||2||background:#A020F0}}'''
|}
The [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]] of the U.S. Constitution guarantees the [[Free Exercise Clause|free exercise]] of religion and forbids Congress from passing laws respecting its [[Establishment Clause|establishment]].
 
In a 2013 survey, 56% of Americans said that religion played a "very important role in their lives", a far higher figure than that of any other wealthy nation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/1690/Religion.aspx#1 |title=Religion |publisher=Gallup |date=June 2013 |accessdate=January 10, 2014}}</ref> In a 2009 Gallup poll, 42% of Americans said that they attended church weekly or almost weekly; the figures ranged from a low of 23% in [[Vermont]] to a high of 63% in [[Mississippi]].<ref name="gallup.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/125999/mississippians-go-church-most-vermonters-least.aspx |title=Mississippians Go to Church the Most; Vermonters, Least |publisher=Gallup |accessdate=January 13, 2014}}</ref>
 
As with other Western countries, the U.S. is becoming less religious. [[Irreligion]] is growing rapidly among Americans under 30.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/12/pew-survey-doubt-of-god-growing-quickly-among-millennials/ |author=Merica, Dan |title=Pew Survey: Doubt of God Growing Quickly among Millennials |publisher=CNN |date=June 12, 2012|access-date=June 14, 2012}}</ref> Polls show that overall American confidence in organized religion has been declining since the mid to late 1980s,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/12/us-confidence-in-organized-religion-at-low-point_n_1669100.html |title=American Confidence in Organized Religion at All Time Low |access-date=July 14, 2012 |date=July 12, 2012 |work=Huffington Post |first=Samreen |last=Hooda}}</ref> and that younger Americans, in particular, are becoming increasingly irreligious.<ref name="pew2015" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pewforum.org/Age/Religion-Among-the-Millennials.aspx |title=Religion Among the Millennials |publisher=The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life |accessdate=August 29, 2012}}</ref> According to a 2012 study, the Protestant share of the U.S. population had dropped to 48%, thus ending its status as religious category of the majority for the first time.<ref name="Nones of the Rise">{{cite web |url=http://www.pewforum.org/files/2012/10/NonesOnTheRise-full.pdf |title="Nones" on the Rise: One-in-Five Adults Have No Religious Affiliation |publisher= |access-date=May 26, 2015 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6QhAHAv1T?url=http://www.pewforum.org/files/2012/10/NonesOnTheRise-full.pdf |archive-date=June 29, 2014 |dead-url=yes  }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-19892837 |title=US Protestants no longer a majority – study |website=BBC News}}</ref> Americans with no religion have 1.7 children compared to 2.2 among Christians. The unaffiliated are less likely to get married with 37% marrying compared to 52% of Christians.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/05/22/mormons-more-likely-to-marry-have-more-children-than-other-u-s-religious-groups/ |title=Mormons more likely to marry, have more children than other U.S. religious groups |date=May 22, 2015 |website=Pew Research Center}}</ref>
 
According to a 2014 survey, 70.6% of adults in the United States identified themselves as [[Christianity in the United States|Christians]];<ref>{{cite web |url=http://religions.pewforum.org/affiliations |title=Church Statistics and Religious Affiliations |publisher=Pew Research |access-date=September 23, 2014}}</ref> [[Protestantism|Protestants]] accounted for 46.5%, while [[Catholic Church in the United States|Roman Catholics]], at 20.8%, formed the largest single denomination.<ref name="Pew">{{cite web |url=http://www.pewforum.org/2012/10/09/nones-on-the-rise/ |title="Nones" on the Rise |publisher=Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life |year=2012 |accessdate=January 10, 2014}}</ref> In 2014, 5.9% of the U.S. adult population claimed a non-Christian religion.<ref name="pew2015" /> These include [[American Jews|Judaism]] (1.9%), [[Hinduism in the United States|Hinduism]] (1.2%), [[Buddhism in the United States|Buddhism]] (0.9%), and [[Islam in the United States|Islam]] (0.9%).<ref name="pew2015" /> The survey also reported that 22.8% of Americans described themselves as [[agnosticism|agnostic]], [[atheism|atheist]] or simply having [[irreligion|no religion]]—up from 8.2% in 1990.<ref name="Pew" /><ref name="ARIS">{{cite web |url=http://www.gc.cuny.edu/CUNY_GC/media/CUNY-Graduate-Center/PDF/ARIS/ARIS-PDF-version.pdf?ext=.pdf |title=American Religious Identification Survey 2001 |author1=Barry A. Kosmin |author2=Egon Mayer |author3=Ariela Keysar |publisher=CUNY Graduate Center |date=December 19, 2001|access-date=September 16, 2011}}</ref><ref name="The Future of the Global Muslim Population">{{cite web |url=http://features.pewforum.org/muslim-population-graphic/#/United%20States |title=United States |accessdate=May 2, 2013}}</ref> There are also [[Unitarian Universalist]], [[Scientologist]], [[Bahá'í Faith|Baha'i]], [[Sikh]], [[Jainism|Jain]], [[Shinto]], [[Confucianism|Confucian]], [[Taoism|Taoist]], [[Neo-Druidism|Druid]], [[Native American religion|Native American]], [[Wicca]]n, [[Religious humanism|humanist]] and [[deism|deist]] communities.<ref>Media, Minorities, and Meaning: A Critical Introduction&nbsp;— p. 88, Debra L. Merskin&nbsp;– 2010</ref>
 
[[Protestantism in the United States|Protestantism]] is the largest Christian religious grouping in the United States, accounting for almost half of all Americans. [[Baptists]] collectively form the largest branch of Protestantism at 15.4%,<ref name="pew2014">{{cite web |url=http://www.pewforum.org/2015/05/12/americas-changing-religious-landscape/ |title=America's Changing Religious Landscape |publisher=Pew Research Center: Religion & Public Life |date=May 12, 2015 |accessdate=}}</ref> and the [[Southern Baptist Convention]] is the largest individual Protestant denomination at 5.3% of the U.S. population.<ref name="pew2014" /> Apart from Baptists, other Protestant categories include [[nondenominational Protestants]], [[Methodists]], [[Pentecostals]], unspecified Protestants, [[Lutherans]], [[Presbyterians]], [[Congregationalists]], other [[Reformed]], [[Episcopalians]]/[[Anglicans]], [[Quakers]], [[Adventists]], [[Holiness movement|Holiness]], [[Christian fundamentalists]], [[Anabaptists]], [[Pietists]], and [[List of Protestant churches|multiple others]].<ref name="pew2014" /> Two-thirds of American Protestants consider themselves to be [[born again]].<ref name="pew2014" /> [[Catholic Church in the United States|Roman Catholicism]] in the United States has its origin primarily in the [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|Spanish]] and [[French colonization of the Americas|French]] colonization of the Americas, as well as in the English [[Province of Maryland|colony of Maryland]].<ref>Richard Middleton, ''Colonial America, A History, 1565–1776'', third edition (London: Blackwell, 2002) pp. 95–103.</ref> It later grew because of Irish, Italian, Polish, German and Hispanic immigration. [[Rhode Island]] has the highest percentage of Catholics, with 40 percent of the total population.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://religions.pewforum.org/maps |title=U.S. Religion Map and Religious Populations – U.S. Religious Landscape Study – Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life |publisher=Religions.pewforum.org |date= |accessdate=February 26, 2014}}</ref> [[Utah]] is the only state where [[Mormonism]] is the religion of the majority of the population.<ref name="pew2014 utah">{{cite web |url=http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/state/utah/|title=Religious Landscape Study|date=May 11, 2015|publisher=}}</ref> The [[Mormon Corridor]] also extends to parts of [[Arizona]], [[California]], [[Idaho]], [[Nevada]] and [[Wyoming]].<ref name="Walsh2005">{{cite book |last=Walsh |first=Margaret |title=The American West. Visions and Revisions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yyDKfY1gyH8C&pg=PA124 |year=2005 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-59671-8 |page=124}}</ref> [[Eastern Orthodoxy]] is claimed by 5% of people in [[Alaska]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/state/alaska/ |title=Adults in Alaska |date=May 11, 2015 |website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project}}</ref> a former [[Russian Alaska|Russian colony]], and maintains a presence on the U.S. mainland due to recent immigration from [[Eastern Europe]]. Finally, a number of other Christian groups are active across the country, including the [[Oneness Pentecostals]], [[Jehovah's Witnesses]], [[Restorationists]], [[Churches of Christ]], [[Christian Scientists]], [[Unitarianism|Unitarians]] and [[List of Christian denominations|many others]].
 
The [[Bible Belt]] is an informal term for a region in the [[Southern United States]] in which socially conservative [[evangelical Protestantism]] is a significant part of the culture and Christian church attendance across the denominations is generally higher than the nation's average. By contrast, religion plays the least important role in [[New England]] and in the [[Western United States]].<ref name="gallup.com" />
 
=== Family structure ===
{{Main|Family structure in the United States}}
{{As of|2007}}, 58% of Americans age 18 and over were married, 6% were widowed, 10% were divorced, and 25% had never been married.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/09statab/pop.pdf |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|website=Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009 |title=Table 55—Marital Status of the Population by Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 1990 to 2007 |accessdate=October 11, 2009}}</ref> Women now work mostly outside the home and receive a majority of [[Educational attainment in the United States|bachelor's degrees]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iserp.columbia.edu/news/articles/female_college.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609151527/http://www.iserp.columbia.edu/news/articles/female_college.html |archivedate=June 9, 2007 |title=Women's Advances in Education |publisher=Columbia University, Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy |year=2006 |accessdate=June 6, 2007}}</ref>
 
The U.S. [[teenage pregnancy]] rate is 26.5 per 1,000 women. The rate has declined by 57% since 1991.<ref name="tbirthrate">{{cite web |url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_01.pdf |title=Births: Final Data for 2013, tables 2, 3 |publisher=U.S. Department of Health & Human Services |accessdate=July 23, 2015}}</ref> In 2013, the highest teenage birth rate was in [[Alabama]], and the lowest in [[Wyoming]].<ref name="tbirthrate" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Trends in Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing |url=https://www.hhs.gov/ash/oah/adolescent-health-topics/reproductive-health/teen-pregnancy/trends.html |publisher=U.S. Department of Health & Human Services |accessdate=July 23, 2015}}</ref> [[Abortion in the United States|Abortion]] is legal throughout the U.S., owing to ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'', a 1973 [[Lists of landmark court decisions|landmark decision]] by the [[Supreme Court of the United States]]. While the abortion rate is falling, the abortion ratio of 241 per 1,000 live births and abortion rate of 15 per 1,000 women aged 15–44 remain higher than those of most Western nations.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5511a1.htm |author=Strauss, Lilo T. |title=Abortion Surveillance—United States, 2003 |accessdate=June 17, 2007 |publisher=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Reproductive Health |website=MMWR |date=November 24, 2006|display-authors=etal}}</ref> In 2013, the average age at first birth was 26 and 40.6% of births were to unmarried women.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/births.htm |title=FASTSTATS&nbsp;– Births and Natality |publisher=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |date=November 21, 2013 |accessdate=January 13, 2014}}</ref>
 
The [[total fertility rate]] (TFR) in 2016 was 1.82 births per 1000 woman.<ref>{{cite web|title=National Vital Statistics Volume 67, Number 1, January 31, 2018|url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr67/nvsr67_01.pdf|website=Center for Desease Control – CDC|accessdate=February 3, 2018}}</ref> [[Adoption in the United States]] is common and relatively easy from a legal point of view (compared to other Western countries).<ref>{{cite news |last=Jardine |first=Cassandra |title=Why adoption is so easy in America |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/3354960/Why-adoption-is-so-easy-in-America.html |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=October 31, 2007}}</ref> In 2001, with over 127,000 adoptions, the U.S. accounted for nearly half of the total number of adoptions worldwide.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications/pdf/policy/child-adoption.pdf |title=Child Adoption: Trends and policies |publisher=United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs |year=2009 |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}</ref> [[Same-sex marriage in the United States|Same-sex marriage]] is legal nationwide, owing to the Supreme Court's 2015 decision in ''[[Obergefell v. Hodges]]'', and it is legal for same-sex [[LGBT adoption in the United States|couples to adopt.]] [[Polygamy]] is illegal throughout the U.S.<ref name=quietly>{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90857818 |title=Some Muslims in U.S. Quietly Engage in Polygamy |publisher=National Public Radio: ''[[All Things Considered]]'' |accessdate=July 23, 2009 |date=May 27, 2008 |first=Barbara Bradley |last=Hagerty}}</ref>
 
=== Health ===
{{See also|Health care in the United States|Health care reform in the United States|Health insurance in the United States}}
[[File:MGH Main Entrance.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Massachusetts General Hospital]] is one of the oldest [[health care|health-care]] institutions in the United States.]]
The United States had a [[life expectancy]] of 78.6 years at birth in 2017, which was the third year of declines in life expectancy following decades of continuous increase. The recent decline is largely due to sharp increases in the [[drug overdose]] and [[suicide]] rates. Life expectancy was highest among Asians and Hispanics and lowest among blacks.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mortality in the United States, 2017 |url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db328.htm |website=www.cdc.gov |accessdate=December 27, 2018 |date=November 29, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Bernstein |first1=Lenny |title=U.S. life expectancy declines again, a dismal trend not seen since World War I |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/us-life-expectancy-declines-again-a-dismal-trend-not-seen-since-world-war-i/2018/11/28/ae58bc8c-f28c-11e8-bc79-68604ed88993_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.7e5a60841873 |accessdate=December 27, 2018 |work=Washington Post |date=November 29, 2018}}</ref> According to CDC and Census Bureau data, deaths from suicide, alcohol and drug overdoses hit record highs in 2017.<ref>{{cite news |last= Kight|first=Stef W.|date=March 6, 2019 |title=Deaths by suicide, drugs and alcohol reached an all-time high last year|url=https://www.axios.com/deaths-suicide-drugs-alcohol-mortality-rate-epidemic-18971e4f-760f-415d-910d-046de83c967c.html|work=[[Axios (website)|Axios]]|location= |access-date=March 6, 2019}}</ref>
 
Increasing [[obesity in the United States]] and health improvements elsewhere contributed to lowering the country's rank in life expectancy from 11th in the world in 1987, to 42nd in 2007.<ref>{{cite news |author=MacAskill, Ewen |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/aug/13/usa.ewenmacaskill |title=US Tumbles Down the World Ratings List for Life Expectancy |date=August 13, 2007 |work=The Guardian |accessdate=August 15, 2007 |location=London}}</ref> Obesity rates have more than doubled in the last 30 years, are the highest in the industrialized world, and are among the highest anywhere.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mexico Obesity Rate Surpasses The United States', Making It Fattest Country in the Americas |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/09/mexico-obesity_n_3567772.html |website=Huffington Post}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Schlosser, Eric |year=2002 |title=Fast Food Nation |publisher=Perennial |location=New York |isbn=978-0-06-093845-1 |page=240}}</ref> Approximately one-third of the adult population is obese and an additional third is overweight.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/overweight/overwght_adult_03.htm |title=Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity Among Adults: United States, 2003–2004 |accessdate=June 5, 2007 |publisher=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics}}</ref> Obesity-related [[diabetes mellitus type 2|type 2 diabetes]] is considered epidemic by health care professionals.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://atvb.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/25/12/2451#R3-101329 |title=Fast Food, Central Nervous System Insulin Resistance, and Obesity |year=2005 |accessdate=June 17, 2007 |website=[[Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology]] |publisher=American Heart Association}}</ref>
 
In 2010, [[coronary artery disease]], [[lung cancer]], [[stroke]], [[chronic obstructive pulmonary disease]]s, and traffic accidents caused the most years of life lost in the U.S. [[Low back pain]], [[major depressive disorder|depression]], [[musculoskeletal disorder]]s, [[neck pain]], and [[anxiety]] caused the most years lost to disability. The most deleterious [[risk factor]]s were poor diet, [[tobacco smoking]], obesity, [[Hypertension|high blood pressure]], [[Hyperglycemia|high blood sugar]], [[physical inactivity]], and alcohol use. [[Alzheimer's disease]], drug abuse, [[kidney disease]], cancer, and falls caused the most additional years of life lost over their age-adjusted 1990 per-capita rates.<ref name=Murray2013>{{cite journal |first=Christopher J.L. |last=Murray |title=The State of US Health, 1990–2010: Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors |journal=Journal of the American Medical Association |url=http://jama.jamanetwork.com/data/Journals/JAMA/0/joi130037.pdf |doi=10.1001/jama.2013.13805 |date=July 10, 2013 |volume=310 |issue=6 |pages=591–608 |pmid=23842577 |pmc=5436627 |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/6IN1kHmaR?url=http://jama.jamanetwork.com/data/Journals/JAMA/0/joi130037.pdf |archivedate=July 25, 2013 |deadurl=yes }}</ref> U.S. teenage pregnancy and abortion rates are substantially higher than in other Western nations, especially among blacks and Hispanics.<ref>{{cite web |title=About Teen Pregnancy |url=https://www.cdc.gov/TeenPregnancy/AboutTeenPreg.htm |publisher=Center for Disease Control |accessdate=January 24, 2015}}</ref>
 
The U.S. is a global leader in medical innovation. America solely developed or contributed significantly to 9 of the top 10 most important medical innovations since 1975 as ranked by a 2001 poll of physicians, while the European Union and Switzerland together contributed to five.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Whitman, Glen |author2=Raad, Raymond |title=Bending the Productivity Curve: Why America Leads the World in Medical Innovation |url=http://www.cato.org/publications/policy-analysis/bending-productivity-curve-why-america-leads-world-medical-innovation |publisher=The Cato Institute |accessdate=October 9, 2012}}</ref> Since 1966, more Americans have received the [[List of Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine|Nobel Prize in Medicine]] than the rest of the world combined. From 1989 to 2002, four times more money was invested in private biotechnology companies in America than in Europe.<ref>{{cite news |last=Cowen |first=Tyler |title=Poor U.S. Scores in Health Care Don't Measure Nobels and Innovation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/05/business/05scene.html?_r=1& |accessdate=October 9, 2012 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 5, 2006}}</ref> The U.S. health-care system far [[List of countries by total health expenditure (PPP) per capita|outspends]] any other nation, measured in both per capita spending and percentage of GDP.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dll.umaine.edu/ble/U.S.+HCweb.pdf |title=The U.S. Healthcare System: The Best in the World or Just the Most Expensive? |year=2001 |accessdate=November 29, 2006 |publisher=University of Maine |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/20070309142240/http://dll.umaine.edu:80/ble/U.S.%20HCweb.pdf |archivedate=March 9, 2007}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
 
Health-care coverage in the United States is a combination of public and private efforts and is not [[universal health care|universal]]. In 2017, 12.2% of the population did not carry [[health insurance]].<ref>{{cite web |title=U.S. Uninsured Rate Steady at 12.2% in Fourth Quarter of 2017 |url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/225383/uninsured-rate-steady-fourth-quarter-2017.aspx |website=Gallup}}</ref> The subject of uninsured and underinsured Americans is a major political issue.<ref>{{cite news |author=Abelson, Reed |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/10/health/policy/10health.html |title=Ranks of Underinsured Are Rising, Study Finds |date=June 10, 2008 |work=The New York Times |accessdate=October 25, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Blewett, Lynn A. |title=How Much Health Insurance Is Enough? Revisiting the Concept of Underinsurance |date=December 2006 |volume=63 |issue=6 |pages=663–700 |doi=10.1177/1077558706293634 |pmid=17099121 |issn=1077-5587 |journal=Medical Care Research and Review|display-authors=etal}}</ref> In 2006, [[Massachusetts]] became the first state to mandate universal health insurance.<ref>{{cite news |author=Fahrenthold, David A. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/04/AR2006040401937.html |title=Mass. Bill Requires Health Coverage |date=April 5, 2006 |work=The Washington Post |accessdate=June 19, 2007}}</ref> [[Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act|Federal legislation]] passed in early 2010 would ostensibly create a near-universal health insurance system around the country by 2014,{{Update inline|date=April 2018}} though the bill and its ultimate effect are issues of controversy.<ref>{{cite web |title=Health Care Law 54% Favor Repeal of Health Care Law |url=http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/healthcare/health_care_law |publisher=Rasmussen Reports |accessdate=October 13, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Debate on ObamaCare to intensify in the wake of landmark Supreme Court ruling |url=http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/06/29/debate-on-obamacare-to-intensify-in-wake-landmark-supreme-court-ruling/ |work=Fox News |date=June 29, 2012 |accessdate=October 14, 2012}}</ref>
 
=== Education ===
{{Main|Education in the United States}}
[[File:University-of-Virginia-Rotunda.jpg|thumb|The [[University of Virginia]], founded by [[Thomas Jefferson]] in 1819, is one of the many public universities in the United States. Universal government-funded education exists in the United States, while there are also many privately funded institutions.]]
 
American [[state school|public education]] is operated by state and local governments, regulated by the [[United States Department of Education]] through restrictions on federal grants. In most states, children are required to attend school from the age of six or seven (generally, [[kindergarten]] or [[first grade]]) until they turn 18 (generally bringing them through [[twelfth grade]], the end of [[high school]]); some states allow students to leave school at 16 or 17.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d02/dt150.asp |title=Ages for Compulsory School Attendance&nbsp;… |accessdate=June 10, 2007 |publisher=U.S. Dept. of Education, National Center for Education Statistics}}</ref>
 
About 12% of children are enrolled in [[parochial school|parochial]] or [[nonsectarian]] [[private school]]s. Just over 2% of children are [[homeschooling|homeschooled]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oii/nonpublic/statistics.html |title=Statistics About Non-Public Education in the United States |accessdate=June 5, 2007 |publisher=U.S. Dept. of Education, Office of Non-Public Education}}</ref> The U.S. spends more on education per student than any nation in the world, spending more than $11,000 per elementary student in 2010 and more than $12,000 per high school student.<ref name="education spending">{{cite news |last=AP |title=U.S. education spending tops global list, study shows |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57590921/u.s-education-spending-tops-global-list-study-shows/ |publisher=CBS |accessdate=October 5, 2013 |date=June 25, 2013}}</ref> Some 80% of U.S. college students attend [[public university|public universities]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Public Education for the Common Good |author=Rosenstone, Steven J. |publisher=University of Minnesota |url=http://cla.umn.edu/news/clatoday/summer2002/dean.php |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140801114734/http://cla.umn.edu/news/clatoday/summer2002/dean.php |date=December 17, 2009 |accessdate=March 6, 2009 |archivedate=August 1, 2014}}</ref>
 
Of Americans 25 and older, 84.6% graduated from high school, 52.6% attended some college, 27.2% earned a [[bachelor's degree]], and 9.6% earned graduate degrees.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/prod/2004pubs/p20-550.pdf |title=Educational Attainment in the United States: 2003 |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|accessdate=August 1, 2006}}</ref> The basic [[literacy]] rate is approximately 99%.<ref name="WF" /><ref>For more detail on U.S. literacy, see [http://nces.ed.gov/NAAL/PDF/2006470.PDF A First Look at the Literacy of America's Adults in the 21st century], U.S. Department of Education (2003).</ref> The United Nations assigns the United States an Education Index of 0.97, tying it for 12th in the world.<ref>{{cite web |title=Human Development Indicators |year=2005 |publisher=United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Reports |accessdate=January 14, 2008 |url=http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2005/pdf/HDR05_HDI.pdf |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070620235428/http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2005/pdf/HDR05_HDI.pdf |archivedate=June 20, 2007}}</ref>
 
====Higher education====
{{Main|Higher education in the United States}}
The United States has many competitive private and public [[Lists of American institutions of higher education|institutions of higher education]]. The majority of the world's top universities listed by different ranking organizations are in the U.S.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2010 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717074903/http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2010 |archivedate=July 17, 2011 |title=QS World University Rankings |publisher=Topuniversities |accessdate=July 10, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2010-2011/top-200.html |title=Top 200&nbsp;– The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2010–2011 |publisher=Times Higher Education |accessdate=July 10, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.shanghairanking.com/ARWU2014.html |title=Academic Ranking of World Universities 2014 |publisher=Shanghai Ranking Consultancy |accessdate=May 29, 2015 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150119210953/http://www.shanghairanking.com/ARWU2014.html |archivedate=January 19, 2015 }}</ref> There are also local [[community college]]s with generally more open admission policies, shorter academic programs, and lower tuition.
 
In 2018, [[Universitas 21|U21]], a network of research of research-intensive universities, ranked the United States first in the world for breadth and quality of higher education, and 15th when GDP was a factor.<ref>{{cite web |title=U21 Ranking of National Higher Education Systems 2019 {{!}} Universitas 21 |url=https://universitas21.com/network/u21-open-resources-and-publications/u21-rankings/u21-ranking-national-higher-education |publisher=Universitas 21 |accessdate=April 2, 2019}}</ref>
 
As for public expenditures on higher education, the U.S. trails some other [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development|OECD]] nations but spends more per student than the OECD average, and more than all nations in combined public and private spending.<ref name="education spending" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Education at a Glance 2013 |url=http://www.oecd.org/edu/eag2013%20%28eng%29--FINAL%2020%20June%202013.pdf |publisher=OECD |accessdate=October 5, 2013}}</ref> {{As of|2018}}, [[Student debt|student loan debt]] exceeded 1.5 trillion dollars, more than Americans owe on credit cards.<ref>{{cite news |title=Student Loan Debt Exceeds One Trillion Dollars |url=https://www.npr.org/2012/04/24/151305380/student-loan-debt-exceeds-one-trillion-dollars |accessdate=September 8, 2013 |work=NPR|date=April 4, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Krupnick |first=Matt |date=October 4, 2018 |title=Student loan crisis threatens a generation's American dream |url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/oct/04/student-loan-crisis-threatens-a-generations-american-dream |work=The Guardian |location= |access-date=October 4, 2018}}</ref>
 
== Government and politics ==
{{Main|Federal government of the United States|State governments of the United States|Local government in the United States|Elections in the United States}}
{{multiple image
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| direction    = vertical
| caption_align = center
| image1        = Capitol Building Full View.jpg
| caption1      = The [[United States Capitol]],<br />where [[United States Congress|Congress]] meets:<br />the [[United States Senate|Senate]], left; the [[United States House of Representatives|House]], right
| image2        = WhiteHouseSouthFacade.JPG
| caption2      = The [[White House]], home and workplace of the [[President of the United States|U.S. President]]
| image3        = Panorama of United States Supreme Court Building at Dusk.jpg
| caption3      = [[United States Supreme Court Building|Supreme Court Building]], where the [[Supreme Court of the United States|nation's highest court]] sits
}}
 
The United States is the world's oldest surviving [[federation]]. It is a [[representative democracy]], "in which [[majority rule]] is tempered by [[minority rights]] protected by [[Law of the United States|law]]".<ref name="Scheb">Scheb, John M.; Scheb, John M. II (2002). ''An Introduction to the American Legal System''. Florence, KY: Delmar, p. 6. {{ISBN|0-7668-2759-3}}.</ref> The government is regulated by a system of [[separation of powers|checks and balances]] defined by the U.S. Constitution, which serves as the country's supreme legal document.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.senate.gov/civics/constitution_item/constitution.htm |title=Constitution of the United States |publisher=The Office of the Secretary of the Senate |accessdate=February 11, 2012 |author=Killian, Johnny H.}}</ref> For 2018, the U.S. ranked 25th on the [[Democracy Index]]<ref>{{cite news |last= Germanos|first=Andrea|date=January 11, 2019|title= United States Doesn't Even Make Top 20 on Global Democracy Index|url=https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/11/united-states-doesnt-even-make-top-20-global-democracy-index |work=[[Common Dreams]] |location= |access-date=February 24, 2019 }}</ref> and 22nd on the [[Corruption Perceptions Index]].<ref>{{cite news |last= Simon|first=Zoltan|date=January 29, 2019|title=U.S. Government Seen as Most Corrupt in Seven Years |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-29/trump-leads-plunge-lower-by-populists-in-annual-corruption-index |work=[[Bloomberg L.P.|Bloomberg]] |location= |access-date=February 24, 2019}}</ref>
 
In the [[Federalism#United States|American federalist system]], citizens are usually subject to [[Political divisions of the United States|three levels of government]]: federal, state, and local. The [[Local government in the United States|local government]]'s duties are commonly split between [[County (United States)|county]] and [[municipal corporation|municipal governments]]. In almost all cases, executive and legislative officials are elected by a [[plurality voting system|plurality vote]] of citizens by district. There is no [[proportional representation]] at the federal level, and it is rare at lower levels.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Mikhail Filippov |author2=Peter C. Ordeshook |author3=Olga Shvetsova |title=Designing Federalism: A Theory of Self-Sustainable Federal Institutions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8CMX9GXA4T0C&pg=PA242 |year=2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-01648-3 |page=242}}<br />{{cite book |author1=Barbara Bardes |author2=Mack Shelley |author3=Steffen Schmidt |title=American Government and Politics Today: Essentials 2013–2014 Edition |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=taMWAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA265 |year=2013 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-1-285-60571-5 |pages=265–266}}</ref>
 
The federal government is composed of three branches:
* [[Legislature|Legislative]]: The [[bicameralism|bicameral]] [[United States Congress|Congress]], made up of the [[United States Senate|Senate]] and the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]], makes [[federal law]], [[declaration of war|declares war]], approves treaties, has the [[power of the purse]],<ref>{{cite web |title=The Legislative Branch |publisher=United States Diplomatic Mission to Germany |url=http://usa.usembassy.de/government-legislative.htm |accessdate=August 20, 2012}}</ref> and has the power of [[impeachment]], by which it can remove sitting members of the government.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Process for impeachment |publisher=ThinkQuest |url=http://library.thinkquest.org/25673/process.htm |accessdate=August 20, 2012}}</ref>
* [[Executive (government)|Executive]]: [[President of the United States|The President]] is the [[commander-in-chief]] of the military, can veto [[bill (law)|legislative bills]] before they become law (subject to Congressional override), and appoints the [[Cabinet of the United States|members of the Cabinet]] (subject to Senate approval) and other officers, who administer and enforce federal laws and policies.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Executive Branch |url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/1600/executive-branch |website=The White House |access-date=February 11, 2017}}</ref>
* [[Judiciary|Judicial]]: The [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] and lower [[Federal judiciary of the United States|federal courts]], whose judges are appointed by the President with Senate approval, interpret laws and overturn those they find [[constitutionality|unconstitutional]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=Kermit L. Hall |author2=Kevin T. McGuire |title=Institutions of American Democracy: The Judicial Branch |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6rWCaMAdUzgC |year=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-988374-5}}<br />{{cite book |author=U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services |title=Learn about the United States: Quick Civics Lessons for the Naturalization Test |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8X1CzvBXHksC&pg=PA4 |date=2013 |publisher=Government Printing Office |isbn=978-0-16-091708-0 |page=4}}<br />{{cite book |author=Bryon Giddens-White |title=The Supreme Court and the Judicial Branch |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mbZw3bJsWtUC |year=2005 |publisher=Heinemann Library |isbn=978-1-4034-6608-2}}<br />{{cite book |author=Charles L. Zelden |title=The Judicial Branch of Federal Government: People, Process, and Politics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rjBUYGbUiQwC |year=2007 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-85109-702-9 |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}<br />{{cite web |url=http://www.uscourts.gov/FederalCourts.aspx |title=Federal Courts |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website= |publisher=United States Courts |accessdate=October 19, 2014}}</ref>
 
The House of Representatives has 435 voting members, each representing a [[congressional district]] for a two-year term. House seats are [[United States congressional apportionment|apportioned]] among the states by population every tenth year. At the [[2010 United States Census|2010 census]], seven states had the minimum of one representative, while California, the most populous state, had 53.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/12/21/us/census-districts.html |title=Census 2010: Gains and Losses in Congress |author1=Bloch, Matt |author2=Ericson, Matthew |author3=Quealy, Kevin |work=The New York Times |date=May 30, 2013}}</ref> The [[District of Columbia]] and the five major [[Territories of the United States|U.S. territories]] each have [[Non-voting members of the United States House of Representatives|one member of Congress]] — these members are not allowed to vote.<ref name="Territories1" />
 
The Senate has 100 members with each state having two senators, elected [[at-large]] to six-year terms; one-third of Senate seats are up for election every other year. The District of Columbia and the five major U.S. territories do not have senators.<ref name="Territories1" /> The President serves a four-year term and may be elected to the office [[Term limits in the United States|no more than twice]]. The President is [[United States presidential election|not elected by direct vote]], but by an indirect [[Electoral College (United States)|electoral college]] system in which the determining votes are apportioned to the states and the [[Washington, D.C.|District of Columbia]].<ref>{{cite web |title=What is the Electoral College |publisher=National Archives |url=https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/about.html |accessdate=August 21, 2012}}</ref> The Supreme Court, led by the [[Chief Justice of the United States]], has nine members, who serve for life.<ref>{{cite news |title=Beyond politics: Why Supreme Court justices are appointed for life |first=Roger |last=Cossack |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2000/LAW/07/columns/cossack.scotus.07.12/ |publisher=CNN |date=July 13, 2000 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120712085825/http://archives.cnn.com/2000/LAW/07/columns/cossack.scotus.07.12 |archivedate=July 12, 2012 |deadurl=yes}}</ref>
 
The state governments are structured in a roughly similar fashion; [[Nebraska]] uniquely has a [[unicameralism|unicameral]] legislature.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/407533/Nebraska/78826/Agriculture#toc78830 |title=Nebraska (state, United States) : Agriculture |website=Britannica Online Encyclopedia |accessdate=November 11, 2012}}</ref> The [[Governor (United States)|governor]] (chief executive) of each state is directly elected. Some state judges and cabinet officers are appointed by the governors of the respective states, while others are elected by popular vote.
 
The original text of the Constitution establishes the structure and responsibilities of the federal government and its relationship with the individual states. [[Article One of the United States Constitution|Article One]] protects the right to the "great writ" of [[Habeas corpus in the United States|habeas corpus]]. The Constitution has been amended 27 times;<ref>[[#Feldstein|Feldstein, Fabozzi, 2011]], p. 9</ref> the first ten amendments, which make up the [[United States Bill of Rights|Bill of Rights]], and the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth Amendment]] form the central basis of Americans' individual rights. All laws and governmental procedures are subject to [[judicial review]] and any law ruled by the courts to be in violation of the Constitution is voided. The principle of judicial review, not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution, was established by the Supreme Court in ''[[Marbury v. Madison]]'' (1803)<ref>[[#Schultz|Schultz, 2009]], pp. 164, 453, 503</ref> in a decision handed down by [[John Marshall|Chief Justice John Marshall]].<ref>[[#Schultz|Schultz, 2009]], p. 38</ref>
 
=== Political divisions ===
{{Main|Political divisions of the United States|U.S. state|Territories of the United States|List of states and territories of the United States|Indian reservation}}
{{Further|Territorial evolution of the United States|United States territorial acquisitions}}
 
[[File:US.EEZ Pacific centered NOAA map.png|thumb|left|Map of U.S. [[Exclusive economic zone#United States|Economic Exclusion Zone]],<ref>Map of the U.S. EEZ omits U.S. claimed [[Serranilla Bank]] and [[Bajo Nuevo Bank]] which are disputed.</ref> highlighting states, territories and possessions]]
 
The United States is a federal republic of [[U.S. state|50 states]], a [[District of Columbia|federal district]], [[Territories of the United States|five territories]] and several uninhabited [[United States Minor Outlying Islands|island possessions]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Common Core Document of the United States of America |url=https://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/179780.htm |publisher=[[United States Department of State|U.S. Department of State]] |accessdate=July 10, 2015 |date=December 30, 2011}}</ref>{{sfn|The New York Times|2007|p=670}}{{sfn|Onuf|2010|p=xvii}} The states and territories are the principal administrative districts in the country. These are divided into subdivisions of counties and independent cities. The [[District of Columbia]] is a federal district that contains the capital of the United States, Washington DC.<ref>See {{usc|8|1101}}(a)(36) and {{usc|8|1101}}(a)(38) U.S. Federal Code, Immigration and Nationality Act. {{USC|8|1101a}}</ref> The states and the District of Columbia choose the President of the United States. Each state has presidential electors equal to the number of their Representatives and Senators in Congress; the District of Columbia has three (because of the [[Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution|23rd Amendment]]).<ref>{{cite web |title=Electoral College Fast Facts {{!}} U.S. House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives |url=http://history.house.gov/Institution/Electoral-College/Electoral-College/ |website=history.house.gov |accessdate=August 21, 2015}}</ref> [[Territories of the United States|Territories]] of the United States such as [[Puerto Rico]] do not have presidential electors, and so people in those territories cannot vote for the president.<ref name="Territories1">{{cite web |title=Watch John Oliver Cast His Ballot for Voting Rights for U.S. Territories |url=http://time.com/3736845/john-oliver-last-week-tonight-voting-rights/ |website=Time |accessdate=January 1, 2018 |date=March 9, 2015}}</ref>
 
Congressional Districts are reapportioned among the states following each decennial Census of Population. Each state then draws single-member districts to conform with the census apportionment. The total number of voting Representatives is 435. There are also [[Non-voting members of the United States House of Representatives|6 non-voting representatives]] who represent the District of Columbia and the five major U.S. territories.<ref>[[U.S. House of Representatives]]. History, Art & Archives, [http://history.house.gov/Institution/Apportionment/Determining-Apportionment/ Determining Apportionment] and [http://history.house.gov/Institution/Apportionment/Reapportioning/ Reapportioning]. viewed August 21, 2015.</ref>
 
The United States also observes [[Tribal sovereignty in the United States|tribal sovereignty]] of the American Indian nations to a limited degree, as it does with the states' sovereignty. American Indians are U.S. citizens and tribal lands are subject to the jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress and the federal courts. Like the states they have a great deal of autonomy, but also like the states, tribes are not allowed to make war, engage in their own foreign relations, or print and issue currency.<ref>{{cite web |title=Frequently Asked Questions |url=http://www.bia.gov/FAQs/ |publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Affairs |accessdate=January 16, 2016}}</ref>
 
Citizenship is granted at birth in all states, the District of Columbia, and all major U.S. territories except [[American Samoa]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/06/05/american_samoa_the_only_place_in_the_u_s_where_citizenship_isn_t_granted.html|title=How Come American Samoans Still Don't Have U.S. Citizenship at Birth?|first=Joshua|last=Keating|date=June 5, 2015|publisher=|via=Slate}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=American Samoa and the Citizenship Clause: A Study in Insular Cases Revisionism |url=https://harvardlawreview.org/2017/04/american-samoa-and-the-citizenship-clause/ |website=harvardlawreview.org |accessdate=January 5, 2018}}</ref>
{{US statehood dates}}
 
{{US territory dates}}
 
=== Parties and elections ===
{{Main|Politics of the United States|Political ideologies in the United States}}
[[File:Obama meets with Congressional Leadership July 2011.jpg|265px|thumb|Congressional leadership meeting with President [[Barack Obama|Obama]] in 2011.<ref>{{cite AV media |title=Debt And Deficit Negotiations |url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/photogallery/debt-and-deficit-negotiations |date=2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820190324/https://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/photogallery/debt-and-deficit-negotiations |archive-date=August 20, 2016 |at=Image 4 of 20 |type=Photograph |website=The White House |access-date=February 20, 2017}}</ref>]]
{{multiple image
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| image1        = Official Portrait of President Donald Trump (cropped).jpg
| width1        = 128
| caption1      = [[Donald Trump]]<br /><small>45th [[President of the United States|President]]<br />since January 20, 2017</small>
| image2        = Vice President Pence Official Portrait (cropped).jpg
| width2        = 131
| caption2      = [[Mike Pence]]<br /><small>48th [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]]<br />since January 20, 2017</small>
}}
 
The United States has operated under a [[two-party system]] for most of its history.<ref name=twsNovGe>{{cite news |author1=Etheridge, Eric |author2=Deleith, Asger |title=A Republic or a Democracy? |newspaper=New York Times blogs |quote=The US system seems essentially a two-party system.&nbsp;... |date=August 19, 2009 |url=http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/a-republic-or-a-democracy/ |accessdate=November 7, 2010}}</ref> For elective offices at most levels, state-administered [[primary election]]s choose the major party [[nomination|nominees]] for subsequent [[general election]]s. Since the [[United States presidential election, 1856|general election of 1856]], the major parties have been the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]], [[History of the United States Democratic Party|founded in 1824]], and the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]], [[History of the United States Republican Party|founded in 1854]]. Since the Civil War, only one [[Third party (United States)|third-party]] presidential candidate—former president [[Theodore Roosevelt]], running as a [[Progressive Party (United States, 1912)|Progressive]] in [[United States presidential election, 1912|1912]]—has won as much as 20% of the popular vote. The President and Vice-president are elected through the [[Electoral College (United States)|Electoral College]] system.<ref name="Avaliktos2004">{{cite book |last=Avaliktos |first=Neal |title=The Election Process Revisited |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XR21acqXy28C&pg=PA111 |year=2004 |publisher=Nova Publishers |isbn=978-1-59454-054-7 |page=111}}</ref>
 
In American [[political culture]], the [[Center-right politics|center-right]] Republican Party is considered "[[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]]" and the [[Centre-left politics|center-left]] Democratic Party is considered "[[Modern liberalism in the United States|liberal]]".<ref>{{cite book |author1=David Mosler |author2=Robert Catley |title=America and Americans in Australia |date=1998 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |page=83 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YungugjvIaQC&pg=PA83#v=onepage&q&f=false |accessdate=April 11, 2016|isbn=978-0-275-96252-4 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Grigsby |first=Ellen |title=Analyzing Politics: An Introduction to Political Science |publisher=Cengage Learning |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-495-50112-1 |pages=106–107}}</ref> The states of the [[Politics of the Northeastern United States|Northeast]] and [[Politics of the Western United States|West Coast]] and some of the Great Lakes states, known as "[[Red states and blue states|blue states]]", are relatively liberal. The "[[Political party strength in U.S. states|red states]]" of the [[Politics of the Southern United States|South]] and parts of the [[Midwestern United States#Politics|Great Plains]] and [[Politics of the Western United States|Rocky Mountains]] are relatively conservative.
 
[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[Donald Trump]], the winner of the [[United States Presidential Election, 2016|2016 presidential election]], is serving as the 45th [[President of the United States]].<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Flegenheimer |first1=Matt |last2=Barbaro |first2=Michael |title=Donald Trump Is Elected President in Stunning Repudiation of the Establishment |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/09/us/politics/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-president.html?_r=0 |date=November 9, 2016 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=November 11, 2016}}</ref> Leadership in the Senate includes Republican Vice President [[Mike Pence]], Republican President Pro Tempore [[Chuck Grassley]], [[Party leaders of the United States Senate|Majority Leader]] [[Mitch McConnell]], and Minority Leader [[Chuck Schumer]].<ref>{{cite web |title=U.S. Senate: Leadership & Officers |url=http://www.senate.gov/senators/leadership.htm|website=www.senate.gov |accessdate=January 10, 2019}}</ref> Leadership in the House includes Speaker of the House [[Nancy Pelosi]], [[Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives|Majority Leader]] [[Steny Hoyer]], and Minority Leader [[Kevin McCarthy (California politician)|Kevin McCarthy]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Leadership {{!}} House.gov |url=http://www.house.gov/leadership/ |website=www.house.gov |accessdate=January 10, 2019}}</ref>
 
In the [[116th United States Congress]], the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] is controlled by the Democratic Party and the [[United States Senate|Senate]] is controlled by the Republican Party, giving the U.S. a split Congress. The Senate consists of 53 Republicans, and 45 Democrats with 2 [[independent politician|Independents]] who caucus with the Democrats; the House consists of 235 Democrats and 199 Republicans.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/cong.aspx |title=Congressional Profile|publisher=[[Clerk of the United States House of Representatives|Office of the Clerk of the United States House of Representatives]]}}</ref>  In state governorships, there are 27 Republicans and 23 Democrats.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/06/us/elections/results-governor-elections.html |title=Governor Election Results 2018|publisher=The New York Times |accessdate=January 10, 2019}}</ref> Among the DC mayor and the 5 territorial governors, there are 2 Republicans, 1 Democrat, 1 [[New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico|New Progressive]], and 2 Independents.<ref>{{cite web |title=U.S. Governors |url=http://www.nga.org/cms/governors/bios |website=National Governors Association |accessdate=January 14, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Bowser is elected D.C. mayor, defeating independents Catania and Schwartz |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/dc-mayoral-candidates-bowser-catania-schwartz-await-voters-decision/2014/11/04/494fe0d6-533f-11e4-892e-602188e70e9c_story.html?tid=pm_local_pop |accessdate=January 14, 2015 |work=Washington Post |date=November 5, 2015}}</ref>
 
=== Foreign relations ===
{{Main|Foreign relations of the United States|Foreign policy of the United States}}
 
[[File:67º Período de Sesiones de la Asamblea General de Naciones Unidas (8020913157).jpg|thumb|The [[Headquarters of the United Nations|United Nations Headquarters]] was built in [[Midtown Manhattan]] in 1952.<ref name="Akenuwa2015">{{cite book |author=Ambrose Akenuwa |title=Is the United States Still the Land of the Free and Home to the Brave? |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7aw5CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT79 |year=2015 |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=978-1-329-26112-9 |page=79}}</ref>]]
 
The United States has an established structure of foreign relations. It is a permanent member of the [[United Nations Security Council]] and New York City is home to the [[Headquarters of the United Nations|United Nations Headquarters]]. It is a member of the [[Group of Seven|G7]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.g8.utoronto.ca/what_is_g8.html |title=What is the G8? |publisher=University of Toronto |accessdate=February 11, 2012}}</ref> [[G20]], and [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]]. Almost all countries have [[List of diplomatic missions in the United States|embassies]] in Washington, D.C., and many have [[consul (representative)|consulates]] around the country. Likewise, nearly all nations host [[List of diplomatic missions of the United States|American diplomatic missions]]. However, [[Iran–United States relations|Iran]], [[North Korea–United States relations|North Korea]], [[Foreign relations of Bhutan|Bhutan]], and the [[Taiwan–United States relations|Republic of China]] (Taiwan) do not have formal diplomatic relations with the United States (although the U.S. still maintains unofficial relations with Taiwan and supplies it with [[Six Assurances|military equipment]]).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/weapons/RL30957.pdf |title=Taiwan: Major U.S. Arms Sales Since 1990 |last1=Kan |first1=Shirley A. |date=August 29, 2014 |publisher=Federation of American Scientist |accessdate=October 19, 2014}}<br />{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Taiwan's Force Modernization: The American Side |url=http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/taiwans-unstalled-force-modernization-04250/ |newspaper=Defense Industry Daily |date=September 11, 2014 |accessdate=October 19, 2014}}</ref>
 
The United States has a "[[Special Relationship]]" with the [[United Kingdom–United States relations|United Kingdom]]<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/?id=jLy-NKnQitIC&pg=PA45&dq=uk+us+special+relationship#v=onepage&q=uk%20us%20special%20relationship&f=false |title=America's 'Special Relationships': Foreign and Domestic Aspects of the Politics of Alliance |page=45 |first1=John |first2=Axel |last2=Schäfer |last1=Dumbrell |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-203-87270-3 |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}</ref> and strong ties with [[Canada–United States relations|Canada]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/96-397.pdf |title=Canada–U.S. Relations |author1=Ek, Carl |author2=Ian F. Fergusson |lastauthoramp=yes |publisher=Congressional Research Service |date=September 3, 2010 |accessdate=August 28, 2011}}</ref> [[Australia–United States relations|Australia]],<ref>{{cite book |title=Australia: Background and U.S. Relations |author=Vaughn, Bruce |publisher=Congressional Research Service |date=August 8, 2008 |oclc = 70208969}}</ref> [[New Zealand–United States relations|New Zealand]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL32876.pdf |title=New Zealand: Background and Bilateral Relations with the United States |author=Vaughn, Bruce |publisher=Congressional Research Service |date=May 27, 2011 |accessdate=August 28, 2011}}</ref> [[Philippines–United States relations|the Philippines]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL33233.pdf |title=The Republic of the Philippines and U.S. Interests |author=Lum, Thomas |publisher=Congressional Research Service |date=January 3, 2011 |accessdate=August 3, 2011}}</ref> [[Japan–United States relations|Japan]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL33436.pdf |title=Japan-U.S. Relations: Issues for Congress |author=Chanlett-Avery, Emma |publisher=Congressional Research Service |date=June 8, 2011 |accessdate=August 28, 2011|display-authors=etal}}</ref> [[South Korea–United States relations|South Korea]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R41481.pdf |title=U.S.–South Korea Relations: Issues for Congress |author=Mark E. Manyin |author2=Emma Chanlett-Avery |author3=Mary Beth Nikitin |publisher=Congressional Research Service |date=July 8, 2011 |accessdate=August 28, 2011}}</ref> [[Israel–United States relations|Israel]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33476.pdf |title=Israel: Background and U.S. Relations |author=Zanotti, Jim |publisher=Congressional Research Service |date=July 31, 2014 |access-date=September 12, 2014}}</ref> and several [[European Union]] countries, including [[France–United States relations|France]], [[Italy–United States relations|Italy]], [[Germany–United States relations|Germany]], and [[Spain–United States relations|Spain]]. It works closely with fellow [[NATO]] members on military and security issues and with its neighbors through the [[Organization of American States]] and [[United States free trade agreements|free trade agreements]] such as the trilateral [[North American Free Trade Agreement]] with Canada and [[Mexico–United States relations|Mexico]]. In 2008, the United States spent a net $25.4 billion on [[official development assistance]], the most in the world. As a share of America's large [[gross national income]] (GNI), however, the U.S. contribution of 0.18% ranked last among 22 donor states. By contrast, private overseas giving by Americans is relatively generous.<ref>{{cite web |last=Shah |first=Anup |title=U.S. and Foreign Aid Assistance |date=April 13, 2009 |publisher=GlobalIssues.org |url=http://www.globalissues.org/article/35/us-and-foreign-aid-assistance |accessdate=October 11, 2009}}</ref>
 
The U.S. exercises full international defense authority and responsibility for three sovereign nations through [[Compact of Free Association]] with [[Federated States of Micronesia|Micronesia]], the [[Marshall Islands]] and [[Palau]]. These are Pacific island nations, once part of the U.S.-administered [[Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands]] after World War II, which gained independence in subsequent years.<ref>{{cite book |author=Charles L. Zelden |title=The Judicial Branch of Federal Government: People, Process, and Politics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rjBUYGbUiQwC&pg=PA217 |year=2007 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-85109-702-9 |page=217 |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}<br />{{cite book |author1=Loren Yager |author2=Emil Friberg |author3=Leslie Holen |title=Foreign Relations: Migration from Micronesian Nations Has Had Significant Impact on Guam, Hawaii, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TfoBd7_KsZMC&pg=PA7 |date=2003 |publisher=Diane Publishing |isbn=978-0-7567-3394-0 |page=7}}</ref>
 
On October 25, 2017, Vice President Mike Pence announced at a ''In Defense of Christians'' annual dinner meeting in Washington that the United States would stop funding United Nations relief efforts, cases tackling the persecution of Christians in the Middle East, but insisted that the U.S. would instead help and aid Christians directly through the [[United States Agency for International Development]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Trump to bypass U.N. and send aid directly to persecuted Christians in Middle East|url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/oct/25/mike-pence-us-rely-faith-based-groups-over-united/|website=The Washington Times|accessdate=October 26, 2017}}</ref> Pence said that he will be visiting the Middle East in December and will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss peace agreements.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mike Pence: US to stop funding 'ineffective' UN efforts to help Christians persecuted in Middle East |url=http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/mike-pence-us-to-stop-funding-ineffective-un-efforts-to-help-christians-persecuted-in-middle-east/article/2638649 |website=The Washington Examiner |accessdate=October 26, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Pence says US to stop funding 'ineffective' UN relief efforts |url=http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/357224-pence-says-us-to-stop-funding-ineffective-un-relief-efforts |website=The Hill |accessdate=October 26, 2017}}</ref>
 
=== Government finance ===
{{See also|Taxation in the United States|United States federal budget}}
[[File:Federal Debt Held by the Public 1790-2013.png|thumb|upright=1.9|U.S. federal debt held by the public as a percentage of GDP, from 1790 to 2013.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Budget Office |first1=Congressional |title=The Long-Term Budget Outlook 2013 |url=http://cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/44521-LTBO2013_0.pdf |website=cbo.gov |publisher=Congress of the United States Congressional Budget Office |page=10 |accessdate=January 21, 2016}}</ref>]]
[[File:Government Revenue and spending GDP.png|400px|right]]
[[File:USdebt.svg|thumb|United States debt from 1940 to 2015.]]
[[Taxation in the United States|Taxes in the United States]] are levied at the federal, state, and local government levels. These include taxes on income, payroll, property, sales, imports, estates and gifts, as well as various fees. Taxation in the United States is based on citizenship, not residency.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Konish |first1=Lorie |title=More Americans are considering cutting their ties with the US — here's why |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/27/more-americans-are-considering-cutting-their-ties-with-the-us-heres.html |website=CNBC |accessdate=August 23, 2018 |date=June 30, 2018}}</ref> Both non-resident citizens and [[Permanent residence (United States)|Green Card]] holders living abroad are taxed on their income irrespective of where they live or where their income is earned. It is the only country in the world, other than [[Eritrea]], to do so.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Power |first1=Julie |title=Tax fears: US-Aussie dual citizens provide IRS with details of $184 billion |url=https://www.smh.com.au/money/tax/tax-fears-us-aussie-dual-citizens-provide-irs-with-details-of-184-billion-20180221-p4z12g.html |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |accessdate=August 23, 2018 |language=en |date=March 3, 2018}}</ref>
 
In 2010 taxes collected by federal, state and municipal governments amounted to 24.8% of [[Gross domestic product|GDP]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Porter, Eduardo |title=America's Aversion to Taxes |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/15/business/economy/slipping-behind-because-of-an-aversion-to-taxes.html?_r=1&src=recg |quote=In 1965, taxes collected by federal, state and municipal governments amounted to 24.7 percent of the nation's output. In 2010, they amounted to 24.8 percent. Excluding Chile and Mexico, the United States raises less tax revenue, as a share of the economy, than every other industrial country. |newspaper=The New York Times |date=August 14, 2012 |accessdate=August 15, 2012}}</ref> During FY2012, the federal government collected approximately $2.45 trillion in tax revenue, up $147 billion or 6% versus FY2011 revenues of $2.30 trillion. Primary receipt categories included individual income taxes ($1,132B or 47%), Social Security/Social Insurance taxes ($845B or 35%), and corporate taxes ($242B or 10%).<ref name="CBO Historical Tables 2012FY" /> Based on CBO estimates,<ref name="CBO 2010">{{cite web |url=http://cbo.gov/publication/44604 |title=The Distribution of Household Income and Federal Taxes, 2010 |publisher=[[Congressional Budget Office|Congressional Budget Office (CBO)]] |date=December 4, 2013 |accessdate=January 6, 2014}}</ref> under 2013 tax law the top 1% will be paying the highest average tax rates since 1979, while other income groups will remain at historic lows.<ref name="Lowrey">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/05/business/after-fiscal-deal-tax-code-may-be-most-progressive-since-1979.html |work=The New York Times|title=Tax Code May Be the Most Progressive Since 1979, |date=January 4, 2013 |accessdate=January 6, 2014 |first1=Annie |last1=Lowrey}}</ref>
 
U.S. taxation has historically been generally [[Progressive tax|progressive]], especially the federal income taxes, though by most measures it became noticeably less progressive after 1980.<ref>{{cite book |last=Slemrod |first=Joel |title=Tax Progressivity and Income Inequality}}</ref><ref name="Piketty Saez">{{cite journal |last=Piketty |first=Thomas |last2=Saez |first2=Emmanuel |title=How Progressive is the U.S. Federal Tax System? A Historical and International Perspective |year=2007 |journal=[[Journal of Economic Perspectives]] |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=3–24 |doi=10.1257/jep.21.1.3 }}</ref> It has sometimes been described as among the most progressive in the developed world, but this characterization is controversial.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Isabelle Joumard |author2=Mauro Pisu |author3=Debbie Bloch |title=Tackling income inequality The role of taxes and transfers |journal=OECD Journal: Economic Studies |date=2012 |page=27 |url=http://www.oecd.org/eco/public-finance/TacklingincomeinequalityTheroleoftaxesandtransfers.pdf|access-date=September 24, 2015 |quote=Various studies have compared the progressivity of tax systems of European countries with that of the United States (see for instance Prasad and Deng, 2009; Piketty and Saez, 2007; Joumard, 2001). Though they use different definitions, methods and databases, they reach the same conclusion: the US tax system is more progressive than those of the continental European countries.}}</ref><ref>Taxation in the US:
* {{cite journal |last=Prasad |first=M. |last2=Deng |first2=Y. |title=Taxation and the worlds of welfare |journal=Socio-Economic Review |date=April 2, 2009 |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=431–457 |doi=10.1093/ser/mwp005 |url=http://ser.oxfordjournals.org/content/7/3/431.abstract?keytype=ref&ijkey=65cyoW8oR1QgGoI |accessdate=May 5, 2013 |hdl=10419/95615 }}
* {{cite news |last=Matthews |first=Dylan |title=Other countries don't have a "47%" |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/09/19/other-countries-dont-have-a-47/ |work=The Washington Post |accessdate=October 29, 2013 |date=September 19, 2012 }}
* {{cite web |title=How Much Do People Pay in Federal Taxes? |url=http://pgpf.org/budget-explainer/taxes |publisher=Peter G. Peterson Foundation |accessdate=October 2, 2015 }}
* {{cite web |title=T13-0174 – Average Effective Federal Tax Rates by Filing Status; by Expanded Cash Income Percentile, 2014 |url=http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/numbers/displayatab.cfm?DocID=3933 |publisher=The Tax Policy Center |accessdate=October 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924113422/http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/numbers/displayatab.cfm?DocID=3933 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |dead-url=yes  }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Huang |first1=Chye-Ching |last2=Frentz |first2=Nathaniel |title=What Do OECD Data Really Show About U.S. Taxes and Reducing Inequality? |url=http://www.cbpp.org/research/what-do-oecd-data-really-show-about-us-taxes-and-reducing-inequality |publisher=Center on Budget and Policy Priorities|access-date=September 13, 2015}}</ref><ref name="Dylan47">{{cite news |last=Matthews |first=Dylan |title=Other countries don't have a "47%" |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/09/19/other-countries-dont-have-a-47/ |work=The Washington Post |accessdate=October 29, 2013 |date=September 19, 2012}}</ref><ref name="Piketty Saez" /> The highest 10% of income earners pay a majority of federal taxes,<ref>{{cite news |author=Jane Wells |title=The rich do not pay the most taxes, they pay ALL the taxes |url=https://www.cnbc.com/id/101264757#. |newspaper=CNBC |date=December 11, 2013 |accessdate=January 14, 2015}}<br />{{cite news |author=Steve Hargreaves |title=The rich pay majority of U.S. income taxes |url=http://money.cnn.com/2013/03/12/news/economy/rich-taxes/ |newspaper=CNN |date=March 12, 2013 |accessdate=January 14, 2015}}<br />{{cite web |author= |title=Top 10 Percent of Earners Paid 68 Percent of Federal Income Taxes |url=http://www.heritage.org/federalbudget/top10-percent-income-earners |year=2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150106065112/http://www.heritage.org/federalbudget/top10-percent-income-earners |archive-date=January 6, 2015 |website=2014 Federal Budget in Pictures |publisher=[[The Heritage Foundation]] |access-date=February 25, 2017 |deadurl=yes |df=}}<br />{{cite news |author=Stephen Dinan |title=CBO: The wealthy pay 70 percent of taxes |url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jul/10/cbo-rich-pay-outsized-share-taxes/ |newspaper=Washington Times |date=July 10, 2012 |accessdate=January 14, 2015}}<br />{{cite news |author= |title=The Tax Man Cometh! But For Whom? |url=https://www.npr.org/2012/04/15/150632993/the-tax-man-cometh-but-for-whom |newspaper=NPR |date=April 15, 2012 |accessdate=January 14, 2015}}</ref> and about half of all taxes.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wamhoff |first1=Steve |title=Who Pays Taxes in America in 2014? |url=http://www.ctj.org/pdf/taxday2014.pdf |accessdate=January 17, 2015 |publisher=Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy |date=April 7, 2014}}</ref> Payroll taxes for Social Security are a flat [[regressive tax]], with no tax charged on income above $118,500 (for 2015 and 2016) and no tax at all paid on [[unearned income]] from things such as stocks and capital gains.<ref>{{cite web |last=Agadoni |first=Laura |title=Characteristics of a Regressive Tax |url=http://smallbusiness.chron.com/characteristics-regressive-tax-17562.html |publisher=Houston Chronicle Small Business blog}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxtopics/Payroll-Taxes.cfm |title=TPC Tax Topics &#124; Payroll Taxes |publisher=Taxpolicycenter.org |accessdate=January 13, 2014}}</ref> The historic reasoning for the regressive nature of the payroll tax is that entitlement programs have not been viewed as welfare transfers.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Design of the Original Social Security Act |url=http://www.socialsecurity.gov/history/genrev.html |website=Social Security Online |publisher=U.S. Social Security Administration |accessdate=April 3, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Blahous |first=Charles |title=The Dark Side of the Payroll Tax Cut |url=http://www.hoover.org/publications/defining-ideas/article/109216 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016140415/http://www.hoover.org/publications/defining-ideas/article/109216 |archivedate=October 16, 2013 |website=Defining Ideas |publisher=Hoover Institution |accessdate=April 3, 2013 |date=February 24, 2012}}</ref> However, according to the [[Congressional Budget Office]] the net effect of Social Security is that the benefit to tax ratio ranges from roughly 70% for the top earnings quintile to about 170% for the lowest earning quintile, making the system progressive.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/109th-congress-2005-2006/reports/12-15-progressivity-ss.pdf |title=Is Social SecurityProgressove? CBO |publisher=}}</ref>
 
The top 10% paid 51.8% of total federal taxes in 2009, and the top 1%, with 13.4% of pre-tax national income, paid 22.3% of federal taxes.<ref name="CBO, Distribution">{{cite web |title=The Distribution of Household Income and Federal Taxes, 2008 and 2009 |url=http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/43373-06-11-HouseholdIncomeandFedTaxes.pdf |accessdate=April 3, 2013 |publisher=Congressional Budget Office |date=July 2012}}</ref> In 2013 the Tax Policy Center projected total federal effective tax rates of 35.5% for the top 1%, 27.2% for the top quintile, 13.8% for the middle quintile, and −2.7% for the bottom quintile.<ref>{{cite news |first=Stephen |last=Ohlemacher |title=Tax bills for rich families approach 30-year high |url=http://seattletimes.com/html/politics/2020475301_apustaxingtherich.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029082458/http://seattletimes.com/html/politics/2020475301_apustaxingtherich.html |accessdate=April 3, 2013 |newspaper=The Seattle Times |agency=Associated Press |date=March 3, 2013 |archivedate=October 29, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Who will pay what in 2013 taxes? |url=http://seattletimes.com/html/politics/2020475325_apustaxeswhopayswhat.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029085558/http://seattletimes.com/html/politics/2020475325_apustaxeswhopayswhat.html |accessdate=April 3, 2013 |newspaper=The Seattle Times |agency=Associated Press |date=March 3, 2013 |archivedate=October 29, 2014}}</ref> The [[tax incidence|incidence]] of [[corporate tax in the United States|corporate income tax]] has been a matter of considerable ongoing controversy for decades.<ref name="Dylan47" /><ref>Tax incidence of corporate tax in the United States:
* {{cite web |last=Harris |first=Benjamin H. |date=November 2009 |title=Corporate Tax Incidence and Its Implications for Progressivity |url=http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/1001349_corporate_tax_incidence.pdf |publisher=Tax Policy Center |accessdate=October 9, 2013}}
* {{cite web |last=Gentry |first=William M. |date=December 2007 |title=A Review of the Evidence on the Incidence of the Corporate Income Tax |url=http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/tax-policy/tax-analysis/Documents/ota101.pdf |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/6KnVtsZ8M?url=http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/tax-policy/tax-analysis/Documents/ota101.pdf |archivedate=November 1, 2013 |website=OTA Paper 101 |publisher=Office of Tax Analysis, U.S. Department of the Treasury |accessdate=October 9, 2013 |deadurl=yes }}
* {{cite book |last=Fullerton |first=Don |title=Handbook of Public Economics |year=2002 |publisher=Elsevier Science B.V. |location=Amsterdam |pages=1788–1839 |chapter-url=http://works.bepress.com/don_fullerton/15/ |last2=Metcalf |first2=Gilbert E. |editor=A.J. Auerbach and M. Feldstein |accessdate=October 9, 2013 |chapter=Tax Incidence}}
* {{cite journal |last=Musgrave |first=R.A. |last2=Carroll |first2=J.J. |last3=Cook |first3=L.D. |last4=Frane |first4=L. |title=Distribution of Tax Payments by Income Groups: A Case Study for 1948 |journal=National Tax Journal |date=March 1951 |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=1–53 |url=https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/scribd/?item_id=463471&filepath=/docs/historical/eccles/026_13_0001.pdf |accessdate=October 9, 2013}}</ref> State and local taxes vary widely, but are generally less progressive than federal taxes as they rely heavily on broadly borne [[Regressive tax|regressive]] sales and property taxes that yield less volatile revenue streams, though their consideration does not eliminate the progressive nature of overall taxation.<ref name="Dylan47" /><ref name="TaxF">{{cite web |last=Malm |first=Elizabeth |title=Comments on Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50 States |url=http://taxfoundation.org/article/comments-who-pays-distributional-analysis-tax-systems-all-50-states |publisher=Tax Foundation |accessdate=April 3, 2013 |date=February 20, 2013}}</ref>
 
During FY 2012, the federal government spent $3.54 trillion on a budget or cash basis, down $60 billion or 1.7% vs. FY 2011 spending of $3.60 trillion. Major categories of FY 2012 spending included: Medicare & Medicaid ($802B or 23% of spending), Social Security ($768B or 22%), Defense Department ($670B or 19%), non-defense discretionary ($615B or 17%), other mandatory ($461B or 13%) and interest ($223B or 6%).<ref name="CBO Historical Tables 2012FY">{{cite web |url=http://cbo.gov/publication/43904 |title=CBO Historical Tables-February 2013 |publisher=Congressional Budget Office |date=February 5, 2013 |accessdate=April 23, 2013}}</ref>
 
The total [[national debt of the United States]] in the United States was $18.527 trillion (106% of the GDP) in 2014.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2014/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2012&ey=2014&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&pr1.x=61&pr1.y=12&c=111&s=GGXWDG%2CGGXWDG_NGDP&grp=0&a=#cs1 |title=IMF, United States General government gross debt |publisher=Imf.org |date=September 14, 2006 |accessdate=August 5, 2014}}</ref>{{efn|In January 2015, U.S. federal government debt held by the public was approximately $13 trillion, or about 72% of U.S. GDP. Intra-governmental holdings stood at $5 trillion, giving a combined total debt of $18.080 trillion.<ref name=autogenerated5>{{cite web |url=http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np |title=Debt to the Penny (Daily History Search Application) |publisher=TreasuryDirect |accessdate=January 6, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Burgess Everett |title=The next debt ceiling fight |url=http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/the-next-debt-ceiling-fight-113897.html |newspaper=Politico |date=January 6, 2015 |accessdate=January 6, 2015}}</ref> By 2012, total federal debt had surpassed 100% of U.S. GDP.<ref>{{cite web |last=Thornton |first=Daniel L. |title=The U.S. Deficit/Debt Problem: A Longer–Run Perspective |url=http://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/review/12/11/Thornton.pdf |website=Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review |accessdate=May 7, 2013 |date=Nov–Dec 2012}}</ref> The U.S. has a [[credit rating]] of AA+ from [[Standard & Poor's]], AAA from [[Fitch Ratings|Fitch]], and AAA from [[Moody's Investors Service|Moody's]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Lopez |first=Luciana |title=Fitch backs away from downgrade of U.S. credit rating |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/28/us-usa-rating-fitch-idUSBRE90R0WS20130128 |accessdate=March 26, 2013 |newspaper=Reuters |date=January 28, 2013}}</ref>}} The United States has the [[List of countries by external debt|largest external debt in the world]] and the 14th largest [[List of countries by public debt|government debt as a % of GDP]] in the world.
 
=== Military ===
{{Main|United States Armed Forces}}
 
[[File:US Navy 060618-N-8492C-212 An Air Force B-2 bomber along with other aircrafts from the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps fly over the Kitty Hawk, Ronald Reagan and Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike groups.jpg|thumb|The [[carrier strike group]]s of the ''[[USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63)|Kitty Hawk]]'', ''[[USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76)|Ronald Reagan]]'', and ''[[USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72)|Abraham Lincoln]]'' with aircraft from the [[United States Marine Corps|Marine Corps]], [[United States Navy|Navy]], and [[United States Air Force|Air Force]].]]
 
The President holds the title of [[commander-in-chief]] of the nation's armed forces and appoints its leaders, the [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]] and the [[Joint Chiefs of Staff]]. The [[United States Department of Defense]] administers the armed forces, including the [[United States Army|Army]], [[United States Marine Corps|Marine Corps]], [[United States Navy|Navy]], and [[United States Air Force|Air Force]]. The [[United States Coast Guard|Coast Guard]] is run by the [[United States Department of Homeland Security|Department of Homeland Security]] in peacetime and by the [[United States Department of the Navy|Department of the Navy]] during times of war. In 2008, the armed forces had 1.4 million personnel on active duty. The [[Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces|Reserves]] and [[National Guard of the United States|National Guard]] brought the total number of troops to 2.3 million. The Department of Defense also employed about 700,000 civilians, not including contractors.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Magazine%20Documents/2009/May%202009/0509facts_fig.pdf |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130113101605/http://www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Magazine%20Documents/2009/May%202009/0509facts_fig.pdf |title=The Air Force in Facts and Figures (Armed Forces Manpower Trends, End Strength in Thousands) |website=Air Force Magazine |date=May 2009 |accessdate=October 9, 2009 |archivedate=January 13, 2013}}</ref>
 
Military service is voluntary, though [[Conscription in the United States|conscription]] may occur in wartime through the [[Selective Service System]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sss.gov/what.htm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915102215/http://www.sss.gov/what.htm |title=What does Selective Service provide for America? |publisher=Selective Service System |accessdate=February 11, 2012 |archivedate=September 15, 2012}}</ref> American forces can be rapidly deployed by the Air Force's large fleet of transport aircraft, the Navy's 11 active [[aircraft carrier]]s, and [[Marine expeditionary unit]]s at sea with the Navy's [[United States Fleet Forces Command|Atlantic]] and [[United States Pacific Fleet|Pacific fleets]]. The military operates 865 bases and facilities abroad,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.defense.gov/pubs/BSR_2008_Baseline.pdf |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100228030019/http://www.defense.gov/pubs/BSR_2008_Baseline.pdf |archivedate=February 28, 2010 |title=Base Structure Report, Fiscal Year 2008 Baseline |publisher=Department of Defense |accessdate=October 9, 2009}}</ref> and maintains [[United States military deployments|deployments greater than 100 active duty personnel]] in 25 foreign countries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/MILITARY/history/hst1003.pdf |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724211511/http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/MILITARY/history/hst1003.pdf |title=Active Duty Military Personnel Strengths by Regional Area and by Country (309A) |publisher=Department of Defense |date=March 31, 2010 |accessdate=October 7, 2010 |archivedate=July 24, 2013}}</ref>
 
The [[military budget of the United States]] in 2011 was more than $700 billion, 41% of global military spending and equal to the next 14 largest national military expenditures combined. At 4.7% of GDP, the rate was the second-highest among the top 15 military spenders, after [[Saudi Arabia]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The 15 Countries with the Highest Military Expenditure in 2011 |url=http://www.sipri.org/research/armaments/milex/resultoutput/15majorspenders |date=2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130109085820/http://www.sipri.org/research/armaments/milex/resultoutput/milex_15/the-15-countries-with-the-highest-military-expenditure-in-2011-table/view |archive-date=January 9, 2013 |publisher=[[Stockholm International Peace Research Institute]] |format=PDF |accessdate=February 27, 2017}}</ref> U.S. defense spending as a percentage of GDP ranked 23rd globally in 2012 according to the CIA.<ref>{{cite web |title=Compare |url=http://cia-world-factbook.realclearworld.com/|archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20121220033039/http://cia-world-factbook.realclearworld.com/|dead-url=yes|archive-date=December 20, 2012 |website=CIA World Factbook |publisher=RealClearWorld |accessdate=February 4, 2013}}</ref> Defense spending plays a major role in science and technology investment, with roughly half of U.S. federal research and development funded by the Department of Defense.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.aaas.org/programs/r-d-budget-and-policy/federal-rd-budget-dashboard|title=Federal R&D Budget Dashboard|website=American Association for the Advancement of Science|language=en|access-date=March 25, 2019}}</ref> Defense's share of the overall U.S. economy has generally declined in recent decades, from Cold War peaks of 14.2% of GDP in 1953 and 69.5% of federal outlays in 1954 to 4.7% of GDP and 18.8% of federal outlays in 2011.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fiscal Year 2013 Historical Tables |url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2013/assets/hist.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120417053737/http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2013/assets/hist.pdf |dead-url=yes |archive-date=April 17, 2012 |website=Budget of the U.S. Government |publisher=White House OMB |accessdate=November 24, 2012 |df=}}</ref>
 
[[File:US Global Military Presence.svg|thumb|US global military presence.]]
 
The proposed base [[military budget of the United States|Department of Defense budget]] for 2012, $553 billion, was a 4.2% increase over 2011; an additional $118 billion was proposed for the military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://comptroller.defense.gov/defbudget/fy2012/FY2012_Budget_Request_Overview_Book.pdf |title=Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Request Overview |publisher=Department of Defense |date=February 2011 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725214533/http://comptroller.defense.gov/defbudget/fy2012/FY2012_Budget_Request_Overview_Book.pdf |archivedate=July 25, 2011 |deadurl=yes}}</ref> The last American troops serving in Iraq departed in December 2011;<ref>{{cite news |author=Basu, Moni |url=http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/17/world/meast/iraq-troops-leave/index.html?hpt=hp_t1 |title=Deadly Iraq War Ends with Exit of Last U.S. Troops |publisher=CNN |date=December 18, 2011 |accessdate=February 5, 2012}}</ref> 4,484 service members were killed during the [[Iraq War]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://icasualties.org/Iraq/index.aspx |title=Operation Iraqi Freedom |publisher=Iraq Coalition Casualty Count |date=February 5, 2012 |accessdate=February 5, 2012 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110321080348/http://icasualties.org/Iraq/index.aspx |archivedate=March 21, 2011 }}</ref> Approximately 90,000 U.S. troops were serving in Afghanistan in April 2012;<ref name='Frontline Turning Point'>{{cite news |first=John |last=Cherian |title=Turning Point |date=April 7, 2012 |publisher=[[The Hindu Group]] |url=http://www.frontline.in/fl2907/stories/20120420290705200.htm |work=[[Frontline (magazine)|Frontline]] |accessdate=December 2, 2012 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121202001115/http://www.frontline.in/fl2907/stories/20120420290705200.htm |archivedate=December 2, 2012 |quote=There are currently 90,000 U.S. troops deployed in the country.}}</ref> by November 8, 2013 2,285 had been killed during the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|War in Afghanistan]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas/pages/report_oef_type.xhtml |title=Department of Defence Defence Casualty Analysis System |publisher=Department of Defense |date=November 2013 |accessdate=November 11, 2013}}</ref>
 
== Law enforcement and crime ==
{{Main|Law enforcement in the United States|Crime in the United States}}
{{See also|Law of the United States|Second Amendment to the United States Constitution|Human rights in the United States#Justice system|Incarceration in the United States|Capital punishment in the United States}}
 
[[File:NYPD impala.JPG|thumb|Law enforcement in the U.S. is maintained primarily by local police departments. The [[New York City Police Department|New York Police Department]] (NYPD) is the largest in the country.]]
 
Law enforcement in the United States is primarily the responsibility of local police departments and [[sheriff]]'s offices, with [[state police]] providing broader services. The [[New York City Police Department|New York Police Department]] (NYPD) is the largest in the country. Federal agencies such as the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) and the [[United States Marshals Service|U.S. Marshals Service]] have specialized duties, including protecting [[civil rights]], [[National Security of the United States|national security]] and enforcing [[U.S. federal courts]]' rulings and federal laws.<ref>{{cite web |title=U.S. Federal Law Enforcement Agencies, Who Governs & What They Do |publisher=Chiff.com |url=http://www.chiff.com/police/federal-police-agencies.htm |accessdate=August 21, 2012}}</ref> At the federal level and in almost every state, a legal system operates on a [[common law]]. State courts conduct most criminal trials; [[Federal judiciary of the United States|federal courts]] handle certain designated crimes as well as certain appeals from the state criminal courts. [[Plea bargaining in the United States|Plea bargaining]] is very common; the vast majority of criminal cases in the country are settled by [[plea bargain]] rather than [[jury trial]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://criminal.findlaw.com/crimes/criminal_stages/criminal_plea_bargain.html |title=Plea Bargains |website=Findlaw |accessdate=January 6, 2015}}<br />{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/plea/interviews/mcspadden.html |title=Interview with Judge Michael McSpadden |publisher=PBS |date=December 16, 2003}}</ref>
 
In 2015, there were 15,696 murders which was 1,532 more than in 2014, a 10.8% increase, the largest since 1971.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/26/rate-murder-fbi-increase |title=Murders up 10.8% in biggest percentage increase since 1971, FBI data shows |last=Beckett |first=Lois |date=September 26, 2016 |last2=Aufrichtig |first2=Aliza |newspaper=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077 |last3=Davis |first3=Kenan|access-date=December 22, 2016}}</ref> The murder rate in 2015 was 4.9 per 100,000 people.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/murders-rose-at-their-fastest-pace-in-a-quarter-century-last-year |title=Murders Rose At Their Fastest Pace In A Quarter-Century Last Year |publisher=''[[FiveThirtyEight]]'' |date=September 26, 2016}}</ref> In 2016 the murder rate increased by 8.6%, with 17,413 murders that year.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Beckett |first1=Lois |last2=Chalabi |first2=Mona |date=September 25, 2017 |title=US murder rate rose in 2016 – but experts question claims of long-term trend |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/25/us-rate-rose-in-2016-but-this-years-numbers-suggest-decline-ahead |work=The Guardian |location=|access-date=September 25, 2017}}</ref> The national [[clearance rate]] for homicides in 2015 was 64.1%, compared to 90% in 1965.<ref>{{cite news |last=Kaste |first=Martin |date=March 30, 2015 |title=Open Cases: Why One-Third Of Murders In America Go Unresolved |url=https://www.npr.org/2015/03/30/395069137/open-cases-why-one-third-of-murders-in-america-go-unresolved |work=NPR |location=|access-date=May 8, 2017}}</ref> In 2012 there were 4.7 murders per 100,000 persons in the United States, a 54% decline from the modern peak of 10.2 in 1980.<ref>{{cite web |title=Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics |url=http://www.ucrdatatool.gov/ |publisher=U.S. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation |accessdate=November 16, 2013 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703191609/http://www.ucrdatatool.gov/ |archivedate=July 3, 2013  }}<br />{{cite web |url=https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/violent-crime/murder |title=Crime in the United States, 2011 |publisher=FBI '(Uniform Crime Statistics—Murder)' |accessdate=January 23, 2013 }}<br />{{cite web |url=http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/homicide.html |title=UNODC Homicide Statistics |publisher=United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) |accessdate=January 23, 2013 }}<br />{{cite news |title=Murder |date=September 2010 |publisher=Federal Bureau of Investigation |url=http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2009/offenses/violent_crime/murder_homicide.html |work=Crime in the United States, 2009 |accessdate=December 3, 2012 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100920225909/https://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2009/offenses/violent_crime/murder_homicide.html |archivedate=September 20, 2010 |quote=There were 5.0 murders per 100,000 inhabitants in 2009&nbsp;... compared with the 2000 rate, a 10.4 percent decrease was recorded.}}</ref> In 2001–2, the United States had above-average levels of [[violent crime]] and particularly high levels of [[Gun violence in the United States|gun violence]] compared to other developed nations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unodc.org/pdf/crime/eighthsurvey/8sv.pdf |title=Eighth United Nations Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems (2001–2002) |publisher=United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) |date=March 31, 2005 |accessdate=May 18, 2008}}</ref> A cross-sectional analysis of the [[World Health Organization]] Mortality Database from 2010 showed that United States "homicide rates were 7.0 times higher than in other high-income countries, driven by a gun homicide rate that was 25.2 times higher."<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Grinshteyn |first1=Erin |last2=Hemenway |first2=David |date=March 2016 |url=http://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(15)01030-X/fulltext |title=Violent Death Rates: The US Compared with Other High-income OECD Countries, 2010 |journal=[[The American Journal of Medicine]] |volume=129 |issue=3 |pages=226–273 |doi=10.1016/j.amjmed.2015.10.025 |pmid=26551975 |accessdate=June 18, 2017}}</ref> [[Second Amendment to the United States Constitution|Gun ownership rights]] continue to be the subject of [[Gun politics in the United States|contentious political debate]]. In 2016, the US murder rate of 5.4 per 100,000 was similar to the estimated global average of 5.15 per 100,000.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rawlinson |first1=Kevin |title=Global homicide rate rises for first time in more than a decade |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/07/global-homicide-rate-rises-first-time-decade-venezuela-jamaica |accessdate=December 26, 2018 |work=The Guardian |date=December 7, 2017}}</ref>
 
In 2017, there were 17,264 murders and the murder rate was 5.3 per 100,000. Regarding weapons, 73% of murders were committed by firearm, 10% by knife and 17% by other means.<ref name="disastercenter.com">{{cite web |title=United States Crime Rates 1960–2017 |url=http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm |website=www.disastercenter.com |accessdate=December 26, 2018}}</ref> The violent crime rose sharply in the 1960s until the early 1990s and declined in the late 1990s and 2000s.<ref name="disastercenter.com"/> In 2014, the murder rate fell to the lowest level (4.5) since 1957 (4.0).<ref>{{cite web |title=Homicide Rate (per 100,000), 1950–2014 |url=https://www.infoplease.com/us/crime/homicide-rate-1950-2014 |website=InfoPlease |accessdate=December 26, 2018}}</ref> The violent crime rate increased by 5.9% between 2014 and 2017 and the murder rate by 20.5%. Of those arrested for serious violent crimes in 2017, 58.5% were white, 37.5% were black, 2.1% were American Indian or Alaska Native and 1.5% Asian. Ethnically, 23.5% were Hispanic and 76.5% were non-Hispanic.<ref>{{cite web |title=Table 43 : Arrests by Race and Ethnicity, 2017 |url=https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2017/crime-in-the-u.s.-2017/tables/table-43 |website=FBI |accessdate=December 26, 2018}}</ref> Gun violence peaked in 1993 with 17,125 gun murders before declining to 9,527 in 1999 and steadily rising since to 12,772. Non-gun murders reached a peak in 1980 of 8,340 and declined in most years until the early 2010s with 4,668 in 2017.<ref>{{cite web |title=Supplemental Homicide Report 1976-2017 |url=http://www.murderdata.org/p/search-homicide-records-by-victim-type.html |website=Murder Accountability Project |accessdate=December 26, 2018}}</ref> The rate of robberies declined 62% between 1990 and 2017.<ref name="disastercenter.com"/>
 
From 1980 through 2008 males represented 77% of homicide victims and 90% of offenders. Blacks committed 52.5% of all homicides during that span, at a rate almost eight times that of whites ("whites" includes most Hispanics), and were victimized at a rate six times that of whites. Most homicides were intraracial, with 93% of black victims killed by blacks and 84% of white victims killed by whites.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Alexia Cooper |author2=Erica L. Smith |title=Homicide Trends in the United States, 1980–2008 |url=http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/htus8008.pdf |publisher=U.S. Department of Justice |accessdate=November 14, 2015 |pages=3, 12 |date=November 2011}}</ref> In 2012, Louisiana had the highest rate of murder and non-negligent manslaughter in the U.S., and New Hampshire the lowest.<ref>{{cite news |last=Fuchs |first=Erin |title=Why Louisiana Is The Murder Capital of America |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/why-is-the-murder-rate-high-in-louisiana-2013-9 |work=Business Insider |date=October 1, 2013}}</ref> The FBI's [[Uniform Crime Reports]] estimates that there were 3,246 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents in 2012, for a total of over 9 million total crimes.<ref>{{cite news |first=David |last=Agren |title=Mexico crime belies government claims of progress |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/10/18/mexico-violence-crime/17048757 |work= |newspaper=Florida Today&nbsp;– USA Today |location=Melbourne, FL |pages=4B |date=October 19, 2014 |id= |accessdate=October 19, 2014}}</ref>
 
[[Capital punishment]] is sanctioned in the United States for certain federal and military crimes, and also at the state level in 30 states.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Connor |first1=Tracy |last2=Chuck |first2=Elizabeth |title=Nebraska's Death Penalty Repealed With Veto Override |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/nebraskas-death-penalty-repealed-veto-override-n365456 |accessdate=June 11, 2015 |work=NBC News |date=May 28, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Simpson |first=Ian |title=Maryland becomes latest U.S. state to abolish death penalty |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-maryland-deathpenalty-idUSBRE9410TQ20130502 |date=May 2, 2013 |accessdate=April 6, 2016 |agency=Reuters}}</ref> No executions took place from 1967 to 1977, owing in part to a [[Furman v. Georgia|U.S. Supreme Court ruling]] striking down arbitrary imposition of the death penalty. In 1976, that Court ruled that, under appropriate circumstances, capital punishment may constitutionally be imposed. Since the decision there have been more than 1,300 executions, a majority of these taking place in three states: Texas, Virginia, and [[Oklahoma]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/views-executions |title=Searchable Execution Database |accessdate=October 10, 2012 |publisher=[[Death Penalty Information Center]]}}</ref> Meanwhile, [[Capital punishment in the United States#States without capital punishment|several states]] have either abolished or struck down death penalty laws. In 2015, the country had the fifth-highest number of executions in the world, following China, [[Iran]], [[Pakistan]] and [[Saudi Arabia]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amnestyusa.org/reports/death-sentences-and-executions-2015/ |title=Death Sentences and Executions 2015 |accessdate=June 3, 2017 |year=2015 |publisher=Amnesty International USA}}</ref>
 
The United States has the [[United States incarceration rate|highest documented incarceration rate]] and [[Incarceration in the United States|largest prison population]] in the world.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Schmidt, Steffen W. |author2=Shelley, Mack C. |author3=Bardes, Barbara A. |title=American Government & Politics Today |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IV1sxbRqhGIC&pg=PA591 |year=2008 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-0-495-50228-9 |page=591 |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}<br />{{cite web |author=Walmsley, Roy |url=http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/rel/icps/world-prison-population-list-2005.pdf |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070628215935/http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/rel/icps/world-prison-population-list-2005.pdf |archivedate=June 28, 2007 |title=World Prison Population List |year=2005 |publisher=King's College London, International Centre for Prison Studies}} For the latest data, see {{cite web |url=http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/rel/icps/worldbrief/north_america_records.php?code=190 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070804061423/http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/rel/icps/worldbrief/north_america_records.php?code=190 |archivedate=August 4, 2007 |title=Prison Brief for United States of America |date=June 21, 2006 |publisher=King's College London, International Centre for Prison Studies}}<br />{{cite web |url=http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=18613 |title=The Growth of Incarceration in the United States: Exploring Causes and Consequences |publisher=[[United States National Research Council|National Research Council]] |date=2014 |accessdate=May 10, 2014}}. <br />{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/related_material/2014_US_Nation_Behind_Bars_0.pdf |title=Nation Behind Bars: A Human Rights Solution |publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]] |date=May 2014 |accessdate=May 10, 2014}}<br />[[#Haymes et al|Haymes et al, 2014]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=qnHfBQAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PA389#v=onepage&q&f=false p. 389]</ref> At the start of 2008, more than 2.3 million people were incarcerated, more than one in every 100 adults.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Barkan, Steven E. |author2=Bryjak, George J. |title=Fundamentals of Criminal Justice: A Sociological View |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bNGaYvTAeLMC&pg=PT23 |year=2011 |publisher=Jones & Bartlett |isbn=978-1-4496-5439-9 |page=23 |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}</ref> In December 2012, the combined U.S. adult correctional systems supervised about 6,937,600 offenders. About 1 in every 35 adult residents in the United States was under some form of correctional supervision in December 2012, the lowest rate observed since 1997.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Glaze |first1=Lauren E. |last2=Herberman |first2=Erinn J. |title=Correctional Populations in the United States, 2012 |url=http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cpus12.pdf |date=December 2013}}</ref> The prison population has quadrupled since 1980,<ref>{{cite book |author1=Iadicola, Peter |author2=Shupe, Anson |title=Violence, Inequality, and Human Freedom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KSp0Ulmx44kC&pg=PA456 |year=2012 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-0949-7 |page=456}}</ref> and state and local spending on prisons and jails has grown three times as much as that spent on public education during the same period.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Brown |first1=Emma |last2=Douglas-Gabriel |first2=Danielle |title=Since 1980, spending on prisons has grown three times as much as spending on public education |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2016/07/07/since-1980-spending-on-prisons-has-grown-three-times-faster-than-spending-on-public-education/ |website=The Washington Post|accessdate=July 12, 2016 |date=July 7, 2016}}</ref> However, the imprisonment rate for all prisoners sentenced to more than a year in state or federal facilities is 478 per 100,000 in 2013<ref>{{cite web |title=Prisoners in 2013 |url=http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/p13.pdf |website=Bureau of Justice Statistics}}</ref> and the rate for pre-trial/remand prisoners is 153 per 100,000 residents in 2012.<ref>{{cite web |title=United States of America – International Centre for Prison Studies |url=http://www.prisonstudies.org/country/united-states-america |website=[[International Centre for Prison Studies]]}}</ref> The country's high rate of incarceration is largely due to changes in [[United States Federal Sentencing Guidelines|sentencing guidelines]] and [[Federal drug policy of the United States|drug policies]].<ref name="ClearCole2008b">{{cite book |author1=Clear, Todd R. |author2=Cole, George F. |author3=Reisig, Michael Dean |title=American Corrections |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cYVdYfUGxvoC&pg=PA485 |year=2008 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-0-495-55323-6 |page=485 |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}</ref> According to the [[Federal Bureau of Prisons]], the majority of inmates held in federal prisons are convicted of drug offenses.<ref>{{cite web |title=Federal Bureau of Prisons: Statistics |url=http://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/ |website=Federal Bureau of Prisons |accessdate=March 4, 2015}}</ref> The [[Incarceration in the United States#Privatization|privatization of prisons]] and prison services which began in the 1980s has been a subject of debate.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Moore |first1=Adrian T. |title=Private Prisons: Quality Corrections at a Lower Cost |url=http://reason.org/files/d14ffa18290a9aeb969d1a6c1a9ff935.pdf |website=Reason.org |publisher=Reason Foundation |accessdate=April 29, 2015}}<br />{{cite web |last1=Benefield |first1=Nathan |title=Private Prisons Increase Capacity, Save Money, Improve Service |url=http://www.commonwealthfoundation.org/issues/detail/private-prisons-increase-capacity-save-money |website=Commonwealth Foundation.org |publisher=Commonwealth Foundation |accessdate=April 29, 2015 |date=October 24, 2007}}<br />{{cite journal |author1=William G. Archambeault |author2=Donald R. Deis, Jr. |title=Cost Effectiveness Comparisons of Private Versus Public Prisons in Louisiana: A Comprehensive Analysis of Allen, Avoyelles, and Winn Correctional Centers |journal=Journal of the Oklahoma Criminal Justice Research Consortium |date=1997–1998 |volume=4 |url=https://www.cca.com/Media/Default/documents/CCA-Resource-Center/Cost-Effectiveness-Comparisons-Study-1997.pdf |accessdate=April 29, 2015}}<br />{{cite journal |last1=Volokh |first1=Alexander |title=A Tale of Two Systems: Cost, Quality, and Accountability in Private Prisons |journal=Harvard Law Review |date=May 1, 2002 |volume=115 |page=1868 |url=http://volokh.com/sasha/prisons.html |accessdate=April 29, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Donna |first1=Selman |last2=Leighton |first2=Paul |date=2010 |title=Punishment for Sale: Private Prisons, Big Business, and the Incarceration Binge |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5lBraTDtiSgC&lpg=PP1&pg=PR11#v=onepage&q&f=false |location=New York City |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |page=xi |isbn=978-1-4422-0173-6}}<br />{{cite book |last=Harcourt |first=Bernard |authorlink=Bernard Harcourt |title=The Illusion of Free Markets: Punishment and the Myth of Natural Order |publisher=Harvard University Press |date=2012 |url=http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674066168 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=LW8I66EGmfcC&lpg=PP1&vq=GEO%20Group&pg=PA235#v=onepage&q&f=false 235 & 236] |isbn=978-0-674-06616-8}}<br />{{cite journal |title=Neoliberalism's penal and debtor states |author=John L. Campbell |journal=Theoretical Criminology |date=2010 |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=59–73 |doi=10.1177/1362480609352783 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240707441}}<br />{{cite news |last1=Davidson |first1=Joe |title=Private federal prisons — less safe, less secure |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/08/12/private-federal-prisons-less-safe-less-secure/ |website=Washington Post |accessdate=August 13, 2016 |date=August 12, 2016}}<br />{{cite book |last=Gottschalk |first=Marie |date=2014 |title=Caught: The Prison State and the Lockdown of American Politics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iOs_BAAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PA70#v=onepage&q&f=false |publisher=Princeton University Press |page=70 |isbn=978-0-691-16405-2 |author-link=Marie Gottschalk}}<br />{{cite news |last1=Kerwin |first1=Peter |title=Study finds private prisons keep inmates longer, without reducing future crime |url=http://www.news.wisc.edu/23835 |website=University of Wisconsin–Madison News |accessdate=June 11, 2015 |date=June 10, 2015}}</ref> In 2018, Oklahoma [[List of U.S. states by incarceration rate#Incarceration rate by state|had the highest incarceration rate]] (1,079 per 100,000 people), and Massachusetts the lowest (324 per 100,000 people).<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=June 7, 2018 |title=Report: Oklahoma now 'world's prison capital'|url=http://www.kake.com/story/38371417/report-oklahoma-now-worlds-prison-capital|work=KAKE|location= |access-date=December 16, 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.prisonpolicy.org/global/2018.html|title=States of Incarceration: The Global Context 2018|last1=Wagner|first1=Peter|last2= Sawyer|first2=Wendy|date=June 2018 |website=|publisher=[[Prison Policy Initiative]]|access-date=December 16, 2018}}</ref> Among the [[Territories of the United States|U.S. territories]], the highest incarceration rate was in the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]] (542 per 100,000 people) and the lowest was in [[Puerto Rico]] (313 per 100,000 people).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.prisonstudies.org/country/virgin-islands-usa|title=Virgin Islands (US) – World Prison Brief|website=www.prisonstudies.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.prisonstudies.org/country/puerto-rico-usa|title=Puerto Rico (US) – World Prison Brief|website=www.prisonstudies.org}}</ref>
 
== Economy ==
{{Main|Economy of the United States}}
{{See also|Economic history of the United States}}
 
{| class="infobox" style="font-size: 90%; border: 1px solid #999; float: right; margin-left: 1em; width:325px"
|- style="background:#f5f5f5"
! colspan="3" | Economic indicators
|-
| Nominal [[gross domestic product|GDP]] || $20.66 trillion <small>(Q3 2018)</small> || style="text-align:right;"|<ref name="BEA">{{cite web |title=GDP Estimates |url=https://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/gdp/gdpnewsrelease.htm |website=Bureau of Economic Analysis |publisher=Bureau of Economic Analysis |access-date=August 25, 2018}}</ref>
 
|-
| Real GDP growth || 3.5% <small>(Q3 2018)</small> || style="text-align:right;"|<ref name="BEA" />
|-
| ||2.1% <small>(2017)</small>|| style="text-align:right;"|<ref name="BEA" />
|-
| [[Consumer price index|CPI]] inflation || 2.2% <small>(November 2018)</small> || style="text-align:right;" |<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cpi.pdf |title=Consumer Price Index&nbsp;– November 2018 |publisher=Bureau of Labor Statistics |accessdate=December 19, 2018 |date=November 2018}}</ref>
|-
| [[Employment-to-population ratio]] || 60.6% <small>(November 2018)</small> || style="text-align:right;" |<ref>{{cite web |url=http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS12300000 |title=Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey |publisher=Bureau of Labor Statistics |accessdate=December 19, 2018 |date=December 19, 2018}}</ref>
|-
| [[Unemployment in the United States|Unemployment]] || 3.7% <small>(November 2018)</small>|| style="text-align:right;" |<ref>{{cite web |title=The Employment Situation – November 2018 |url=http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm |website=Bureau of Labor Statistics |publisher=Bureau of Labor Statistics |date=December 7, 2018 |accessdate=December 19, 2018}}</ref>
|-
| [[Labor force#Labor force in the United States|Labor force]] participation rate || 62.9% <small>(November 2018)</small> ||<ref>{{cite web |url=http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS11300000 |title=Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date= December 19, 2018 |website=Bureau of Labor Statistics |publisher=United States Department of Labor |accessdate=December 19, 2018}}</ref>
|-
| [[National debt of the United States|Total public debt]] || $21.85 trillion <small>(November 2018)</small> || style="text-align:right;" |<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/mspd/2018/opds112018.pdf |title=Monthly Statement of the Public Debt of the United States |publisher=Treasury Direct |accessdate=December 19, 2018 |date=November 30, 2018}}</ref>
|-
| [[Wealth in the United States|Household net worth]] || $109.0 trillion <small>(Q3 2018)</small> || style="text-align:right;" |<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/20181206/z1.pdf |title=Federal Reserve Statistical Release |date=December 6, 2018 |accessdate=December 19, 2018 |website=Federal Reserve |publisher=Federal Reserve}}</ref>
|}
The United States has a [[capitalism|capitalist]] [[mixed economy]]{{citation needed|date=January 2019}} which is fueled by abundant [[natural resource]]s and high [[productivity]].<ref>Wright, Gavin; Czelusta, Jesse (2007). "Resource-Based Growth Past and Present", in ''Natural Resources: Neither Curse Nor Destiny'', ed. Daniel Lederman and William Maloney. World Bank. p. 185. {{ISBN|0-8213-6545-2}}.</ref> According to the [[International Monetary Fund]], the U.S. GDP of $16.8 trillion constitutes 24% of the [[gross world product]] at market exchange rates and over 19% of the gross world product at [[purchasing power parity]] (PPP).<ref name=IMF_GDP>{{cite web |url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2014/02/weodata/index.aspx |publisher=International Monetary Fund |title=World Economic Outlook Database: United States |date=October 2014 |accessdate=November 2, 2014}}</ref>
 
The nominal GDP of the U.S. is estimated to be $17.528 trillion {{as of|2014|lc=y}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2014/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=17&pr.y=20&sy=2012&ey=2019&scsm=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=110%2C998&s=NGDPD%2CPPPGDP&grp=1&a=1 |title=European Union GDP |date=April 2014 |accessdate=June 14, 2014 |website=International Monetary Fund |publisher=International Monetary Fund}}</ref> From 1983 to 2008, U.S. real compounded annual GDP growth was 3.3%, compared to a 2.3% weighted average for the rest of the [[G7]].<ref name=Hagopian>{{cite journal |author=Hagopian, Kip |last2=Ohanian |first2=Lee |title=The Mismeasure of Inequality |journal=Policy Review |date=August 1, 2012 |url=http://www.hoover.org/publications/policy-review/article/123566 |accessdate=August 22, 2013 }}</ref> The country ranks ninth in the world in [[List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita|nominal GDP per capita]] according to the United Nations (first in the Americas)<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://unstats.un.org/unsd/snaama/selbasicFast.asp |title=United Nations Statistics Division – National Accounts|website=unstats.un.org|access-date=June 1, 2018}}</ref> and sixth in [[List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita|GDP per capita at PPP]].<ref name="IMF_GDP" /> The [[United States dollar|U.S. dollar]] is the world's primary [[reserve currency]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.imf.org/external/np/sta/cofer/eng/cofer.pdf |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007054940/http://www.imf.org/external/np/sta/cofer/eng/cofer.pdf |title=Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves |publisher=International Monetary Fund |accessdate=April 9, 2012 |archivedate=October 7, 2014}}</ref>
 
The United States is the [[List of countries by imports|largest importer]] of goods and [[List of countries by exports|second-largest exporter]], though [[List of countries by exports per capita|exports per capita]] are relatively low. In 2010, the total [[Foreign trade of the United States|U.S. trade deficit]] was $635 billion.<ref name=Trade>{{cite web |title=Trade Statistics |url=http://greyhill.com/trade-statistics |publisher=Greyhill Advisors |accessdate=October 6, 2011}}</ref> [[Canada]], [[China]], [[Mexico]], [[Japan]], and [[Germany]] are its top trading partners.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/top/dst/current/balance.html |title=Top Ten Countries with which the U.S. Trades |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|date=August 2009 |accessdate=October 12, 2009}}</ref> In 2010, oil was the largest import commodity, while transportation equipment was the country's largest export.<ref name=Trade /> Japan is the largest foreign holder of U.S. public debt.<ref>{{cite web |title=Major Foreign Holders of Treasury Securities |website=treasury.gov |url=http://ticdata.treasury.gov/Publish/mfh.txt |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017031710/http://www.treasury.gov/ticdata/Publish/mfh.txt |archivedate=October 17, 2015 |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}</ref> The largest holder of the U.S. debt are American entities, including federal government accounts and the [[Federal Reserve System|Federal Reserve]], who hold the majority of the debt.<ref>{{cite web |title=Who Holds Our Debt? |url=http://www.factcheck.org/2013/11/who-holds-our-debt/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/who-owns-us-debt-2011-7 |title=The TRUTH About Who Really Owns All Of America's Debt |first=Vincent |last=Trivett |website=Business Insider}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=This surprising chart shows which countries own the most U.S. debt |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/10/10/this-surprising-chart-shows-which-countries-own-the-most-u-s-debt/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=National debt: Whom does the US owe? |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/DC-Decoder/Decoder-Buzz/2011/0204/National-debt-Whom-does-the-US-owe}}</ref>{{efn|The [[Stockholm International Peace Research Institute]], SIPRI, found that the United States' [[arms industry]] was the world's biggest exporter of major weapons from 2005 to 2009,<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=World's Top 5 arms exporters |url=http://www.upi.com/News_Photos/Features/Worlds-Top-5-arms-exporters/fp/3105/ |newspaper=United Press International |access-date=March 18, 2015}}</ref> and remained the largest exporter of major weapons during a period between 2010 and 2014, followed by Russia, China (PRC), and Germany.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=China becomes the world's third largest arms exporter |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-31901493 |newspaper=BBC News |date=March 15, 2015 |access-date=March 18, 2015}}<br />{{cite news |last=Shankar |first=Sneha |title=US Remains World's Largest Exporter of Arms While India Leaps Ahead To Become Largest Importer: Study |url=http://www.ibtimes.com/us-remains-worlds-largest-exporter-arms-while-india-leaps-ahead-become-largest-importer-study |newspaper=International Business Times |date=March 17, 2015 |access-date=March 18, 2015}}</ref>}}
[[File:Photos NewYork1 032.jpg|thumb|left|The [[New York Stock Exchange]] on [[Wall Street]], by a significant margin the [[List of stock exchanges|world's largest stock exchange]] per [[market capitalization]] of its listed companies,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/global-stock-market-capitalization-chart-2014-11?IR=T|title=The NYSE Makes Stock Exchanges Around The World Look Tiny|publisher=|accessdate=March 26, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://finance.zacks.com/new-york-stock-exchange-largest-stock-market-world-5426.html|title=Is the New York Stock Exchange the Largest Stock Market in the World?|publisher=|accessdate=March 26, 2017}}</ref> at US$23.1&nbsp;trillion as of April 2018.<ref name="Largest stock markets in the world">{{cite web|title=Largest stock exchange operators worldwide as of April 2018, by market capitalization of listed companies (in trillion U.S. dollars) |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/270126/largest-stock-exchange-operators-by-market-capitalization-of-listed-companies/|publisher=Statista|accessdate=February 18, 2019}}</ref> |alt=A large flag is stretched over Roman style columns on the front of a large building.]]
In 2009, the private sector was estimated to constitute 86.4% of the economy, with federal government activity accounting for 4.3% and state and local government activity (including federal transfers) the remaining 9.3%.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://greyhill.com/gdp-by-industry/ |title=GDP by Industry |publisher=Greyhill Advisors |accessdate=October 13, 2011}}</ref> The number of employees at all levels of government outnumber those in [[Manufacturing in the United States|manufacturing]] by 1.7 to 1.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bls.gov/webapps/legacy/cesbtab1.htm |title=Table B-1. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and selected industry detail [In thousands] |website=bls.gov}}</ref> While its economy has reached a [[post-industrial society|postindustrial]] level of development and its [[Tertiary sector of the economy|service sector]] constitutes 67.8% of GDP, the United States remains an industrial power.<ref name=Econ>{{cite web |url=http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/economy-in-brief/page3.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080312123609/http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/economy-in-brief/page3.html |archivedate=March 12, 2008 |title=USA Economy in Brief |publisher=U.S. Dept. of State, International Information Programs}}</ref> The leading business field by gross business receipts is wholesale and retail trade; by net income it is manufacturing.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009/tables/09s0724.xls |archiveurl=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20120209192518/http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009/tables/09s0724.xls |archivedate=February 9, 2012 |title=Table 724—Number of Tax Returns, Receipts, and Net Income by Type of Business and Industry: 2005 |format=XLS |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |accessdate=October 12, 2009 |deadurl=yes |df=}}</ref> In the [[franchising]] business model, [[McDonald's]] and [[Subway (restaurant)|Subway]] are the two most recognized brands in the world. [[Coca-Cola]] is the most recognized [[soft drink]] company in the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cheskin.com/view_news.php?id=2|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060325195617/http://www.cheskin.com/view_news.php?id=2|dead-url=yes|archive-date=March 25, 2006 |title=Sony, LG, Wal-Mart among Most Extendible Brands |publisher=Cheskin |date=June 6, 2005 |accessdate=June 19, 2007}}</ref>
 
Chemical products are the leading manufacturing field.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009/tables/09s0964.xls |archiveurl=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20120209110858/http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009/tables/09s0964.xls |archivedate=February 9, 2012 |title=Table 964—Gross Domestic Product in Current and Real (2000) Dollars by Industry: 2006 |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|date=May 2008 |accessdate=October 12, 2009 |deadurl=yes |df=}}</ref> The United States is the largest producer of oil in the world, as well as its second-largest importer.<ref>{{cite web |title=U.S. surges past Saudis to become world's top oil supplier -PIRA |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/15/us-oil-pira-idUSL1N0I51IX20131015 |website=Reuters}}</ref> It is the world's number one producer of electrical and nuclear energy, as well as [[Liquefied natural gas|liquid natural gas]], [[sulfur]], [[phosphates]], and [[salt]]. The [[National Mining Association]] provides data pertaining to [[coal]] and [[mineral]]s that include [[beryllium]], [[copper]], [[lead]], [[magnesium]], [[zinc]], [[titanium]] and others.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nma.org/index.php/coal-statistics |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121216090931/http://nma.org/index.php/coal-statistics |dead-url=yes |archive-date=December 16, 2012 |title=Coal Statistics |publisher=National Mining Association |accessdate=January 13, 2014 |df=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nma.org/index.php/minerals-statistics/minerals-production |title=Minerals Production |publisher=National Mining Association |accessdate=January 13, 2014}}</ref>
 
[[Agriculture in the United States|Agriculture]] accounts for just under 1% of GDP,<ref name=Econ /> yet the United States is the world's top producer of [[corn]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.grains.org/page.ww?section=Barley,+Corn+%26+Sorghum&name=Corn |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080112182404/http://www.grains.org/page.ww?section=Barley%2C%2BCorn%2B&%2BSorghum&name=Corn |archivedate=January 12, 2008 |title=Corn |publisher=U.S. Grains Council |accessdate=March 13, 2008 |deadurl=yes |df=}}</ref> and [[soybeans]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5442 |title=Soybean Demand Continues to Drive Production |publisher=Worldwatch Institute |date=November 6, 2007 |accessdate=March 13, 2008}}</ref> The [[National Agricultural Statistics Service]] maintains agricultural statistics for products that include [[peanut]]s, [[oat]]s, [[rye]], [[wheat]], [[rice]], [[cotton]], [[maize|corn]], [[barley]], [[hay]], [[Helianthus|sunflowers]], and [[Vegetable oil|oilseeds]]. In addition, the [[United States Department of Agriculture]] (USDA) provides livestock statistics regarding [[beef]], [[poultry]], [[pork]], and [[Milk|dairy products]]. The country is the primary developer and grower of [[genetically modified food]], representing half of the world's biotech crops.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/39/download/isaaa-brief-39-2008.pdf |title=ISAAA Brief 39-2008: Executive Summary—Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2008 |publisher=International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications |page=15 |accessdate=July 16, 2010}}</ref>
 
[[Consumer spending]] comprises 68% of the U.S. economy in 2015.<ref>[http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=hh3 "Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE)/Gross Domestic Product (GDP)"] ''FRED Graph'', Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis</ref> In August 2010, the American labor force consisted of 154.1 million people. With 21.2 million people, government is the leading field of employment. The largest private employment sector is health care and social assistance, with 16.4 million people. About 12% of workers are [[Labor unions in the United States|unionized]], compared to 30% in [[Western Europe]].<ref>{{cite web |first=Thomas |last=Fuller |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/06/14/news/europe.php |title=In the East, many EU work rules don't apply |newspaper=International Herald Tribune |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050616015106/http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/06/14/news/europe.php |archivedate=June 16, 2005 |date=June 15, 2005 |deadurl=yes}}</ref> The World Bank ranks the United States first in the ease of hiring and firing workers.<ref name="EDBI">{{cite web |url=http://www.doingbusiness.org/ExploreEconomies/?economyid=197 |accessdate=June 28, 2007 |title=Doing Business in the United States |year=2006 |publisher=World Bank}}</ref> The United States is ranked among the top three in the [[Global Competitiveness Report]] as well. It has a smaller [[welfare state]] and redistributes less income through government action than European nations tend to.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Isabelle Joumard |author2=Mauro Pisu |author3=Debbie Bloch |title=Tackling income inequality The role of taxes and transfers |url=http://www.oecd.org/eco/public-finance/TacklingincomeinequalityTheroleoftaxesandtransfers.pdf |publisher=OECD |accessdate=May 21, 2015 |date=2012}}</ref>
 
The United States is the only advanced economy that does not [[List of statutory minimum employment leave by country|guarantee its workers paid vacation]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/no-vacation-update-2013-05.pdf |title=No-Vacation Nation Revisited |last1=Ray |first1=Rebecca |last2=Sanes |first2=Milla |last3=Schmitt |first3=John |date=May 2013 |website= |publisher=[[Center for Economic and Policy Research]] |access-date=September 8, 2013}}</ref> and is one of just a few countries in the world without [[paid family leave]] as a legal right, with the others being [[Papua New Guinea]], [[Suriname]] and [[Liberia]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/23/your-money/us-trails-much-of-the-world-in-providing-paid-family-leave.html |title=In Paid Family Leave, U.S. Trails Most of the Globe |last=Bernard |first=Tara Siegel |date=February 22, 2013 |website= |publisher=The New York Times|access-date=August 27, 2013}}</ref> While federal law does not require sick leave, it is a common benefit for government workers and full-time employees at corporations.<ref name=SLCNN /> 74% of full-time American workers get paid sick leave, according to the [[Bureau of Labor Statistics]], although only 24% of part-time workers get the same benefits.<ref name=SLCNN>{{cite web |last1=Vasel |first1=Kathryn |title=Who doesn't get paid sick leave? |url=http://money.cnn.com/2015/01/20/news/economy/paid-sick-leave/ |website=CNN}}</ref> In 2009, the United States had the third-highest [[workforce productivity]] per person in the world, behind [[Luxembourg]] and [[Norway]]. It was fourth in productivity per hour, behind those two countries and the [[Netherlands]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.conference-board.org/data/economydatabase/ |title=Total Economy Database, Summary Statistics, 1995–2010 |publisher=The Conference Board |website=Total Economy Database |date=September 2010 |access-date=September 20, 2009}}</ref>
 
The [[Great Recession|2008–2012 global recession]] significantly affected the United States, with output still below potential according to the [[Congressional Budget Office]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3252 |title=Chart Book: The Legacy of the Great Recession |publisher=Center on Budget and Policy Priorities |date=March 12, 2013 |accessdate=March 27, 2013}}</ref> It brought high [[unemployment]] (which has been decreasing but remains above pre-recession levels), along with low [[Consumer confidence index|consumer confidence]], the [[United States housing bubble|continuing decline in home values and increase in foreclosures and personal bankruptcies]], an escalating federal debt crisis, [[inflation]], and [[2000s energy crisis|rising petroleum and food prices]].
 
=== Science and technology ===
{{Main|Science and technology in the United States|Science policy of the United States}}
 
[[File:Apollo 15 flag, rover, LM, Irwin cropped.jpg|thumb|Astronaut [[James Irwin]] walking on the [[Moon]] next to [[Apollo 15]]'s [[Apollo Lunar Module|landing module]] and [[lunar rover]] in 1971]]
The United States has been a leader in technological innovation since the late 19th century and scientific research since the mid-20th century. Methods for producing [[interchangeable parts]] were developed by the U.S. War Department by the Federal Armories during the first half of the 19th century. This technology, along with the establishment of a [[machine tool]] industry, enabled the U.S. to have large-scale manufacturing of sewing machines, bicycles, and other items in the late 19th century and became known as the [[American system of manufacturing]]. Factory [[electrification]] in the early 20th century and introduction of the [[assembly line]] and other labor-saving techniques created the system called [[mass production]].<ref>{{Hounshell1984}}</ref>
 
In 1876, [[Alexander Graham Bell]] was awarded the first U.S. [[Invention of the telephone|patent for the telephone]]. [[Thomas Edison]]'s [[Research institute|research laboratory]], one of the first of its kind, developed the [[phonograph]], the first [[Incandescent light bulb|long-lasting light bulb]], and the first viable [[Kinetoscope|movie camera]].<ref name=Edison>{{cite web |title=Thomas Edison's Most Famous Inventions |url=http://www.thomasedison.org/index.php/education/inventions/ |website=Thomas A Edison Innovation Foundation |accessdate=January 21, 2015}}</ref> The latter led to emergence of the worldwide [[Show business|entertainment industry]]. In the early 20th century, the automobile companies of [[Ransom E. Olds]] and [[Henry Ford]] popularized the assembly line. The [[Wright brothers]], in 1903, made the [[Wright Flyer|first sustained and controlled heavier-than-air powered flight]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Benedetti, François |url=http://www.fai.org/news_archives/fai/000295.asp |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070912065254/http://www.fai.org/news_archives/fai/000295.asp |archivedate=September 12, 2007 |title=100 Years Ago, the Dream of Icarus Became Reality |publisher=Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) |date=December 17, 2003 |accessdate=August 15, 2007}}</ref>
 
The rise of [[fascism]] and [[Nazism]] in the 1920s and 1930s led many European scientists, including [[Albert Einstein]], [[Enrico Fermi]], and [[John von Neumann]], to immigrate to the United States.<ref name=fraser>{{cite book |last1=Fraser |first1=Gordon |title=The Quantum Exodus: Jewish Fugitives, the Atomic Bomb, and the Holocaust |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-19-959215-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Quantum_Exodus.html?id=-NYknwEACAAJ}}</ref> During World War II, the [[Manhattan Project]] developed nuclear weapons, ushering in the [[Atomic Age]], while the [[Space Race]] produced rapid advances in rocketry, [[materials science]], and [[aeronautics]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/?id=qYZmj7Us3m8C&pg=PA68&lpg=PA68&dq=Space+Race++rapid+advances+in+rocketry,+materials+science,+and+computers#v=onepage&q=Space%20Race%20%20rapid%20advances%20in%20rocketry%2C%20materials%20science%2C%20and%20computers&f=false |title=10 Little Americans |via=Google Books |accessdate=September 15, 2014 |isbn=978-0-615-14052-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.computerworld.com/article/2525898/app-development/nasa-s-apollo-technology-has-changed-history.html |title=NASA's Apollo technology has changed the history |publisher=Sharon Gaudin |accessdate=September 15, 2014}}</ref>
 
The invention of the [[transistor]] in the 1950s, a key active component in practically all modern [[electronics]], led to many technological developments and a significant expansion of the U.S. technology industry.<ref>{{cite news |title=Celebrating July 2: 10 Days That Changed History |work=The New York Times|first=Adam |last=Goodheart |date=July 2, 2006 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/02/weekinreview/02goodheart.html}}</ref><ref>Silicon Valley: 110 Year Renaissance, McLaughlin, Weimers, Winslow 2008.</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Roadmap to Entrepreneurial Success |author=Robert W. Price |publisher=AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-8144-7190-6 |page=42 |url=https://books.google.com/?id=q7UzNoWdGAkC&pg=PA42&dq=transistor+inventions-of-the-twentieth-century}}</ref> This, in turn, led to the establishment of many new technology companies and regions around the country such as [[Silicon Valley]] in California. Advancements by American [[microprocessor]] companies such as [[Advanced Micro Devices]] (AMD), and [[Intel]] along with both computer [[software]] and [[Computer hardware|hardware]] companies that include [[Adobe Systems]], [[Apple Inc.]], [[IBM]], [[Microsoft]], and [[Sun Microsystems]] created and popularized the [[personal computer]]. The [[ARPANET]] was developed in the 1960s to meet [[United States Department of Defense|Defense Department]] requirements, and became the first of a [[history of the Internet|series of networks which evolved]] into the [[Internet]].<ref name="Sawyer2012">{{cite book |last=Sawyer |first=Robert Keith |title=Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QyJjyZ_YBAkC&pg=PA256 |year=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-973757-4 |page=256}}</ref>
 
These advancements then lead to greater [[personalization]] of technology for individual use.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bennett|authorlink1=W. Lance Bennett |first1=W. Lance |last2=Segerberg |first2=Alexandra |title=Digital Media and the Personalization of Collective Action |journal=Information, Communication & Society |date=September 2011 |volume=14 |issue=6 |pages=770–799 |doi=10.1080/1369118X.2011.579141|url=http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-70937 }}</ref> {{As of|2013}}, 83.8% of American households owned at least one [[computer]], and 73.3% had high-speed Internet service.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2014/acs/acs-28.pdf |title=Computer and Internet Use Main |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|accessdate=July 22, 2015}}</ref> 91% of Americans also own a mobile phone {{as of|2013|05|lc=y}}.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/06/06/cell-phone-ownership-hits-91-of-adults/ |title=Cell phone ownership hits 91% of adults |publisher=Pew Research Center |date=May 19, 2013 |accessdate=July 22, 2015}}</ref> The United States ranks highly with regard to freedom of use of the internet.<ref>{{cite web |title=Freedom on the Net 2014 |url=https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net-2014/freedom-net-2014-graphics#.VQ9Itu7F9aw |website=[[Freedom House]]}}</ref>
 
In the 21st century, approximately two-thirds of research and development funding comes from the private sector.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2008/tables/08s0775.xls |archiveurl=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20120210170338/http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2008/tables/08s0775.xls |archivedate=February 10, 2012 |title=Research and Development (R&D) Expenditures by Source and Objective: 1970 to 2004 |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|accessdate=June 19, 2007 |deadurl=yes |df=}}</ref> The United States leads the world in scientific research papers and [[impact factor]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2006/mar/21/highereducation.uk4 |author=MacLeod, Donald |title=Britain Second in World Research Rankings |date=March 21, 2006 |work=The Guardian |accessdate=May 14, 2006 |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cnas.org/publications/reports/understanding-chinas-ai-strategy|title=Understanding China's AI Strategy|last=Allen|first=Gregory|date=February 6, 2019|website=Center for a New American Security|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=}}</ref>
 
=== Income, poverty and wealth ===
 
{{Further|Income in the United States|Poverty in the United States|Affluence in the United States|United States counties by per capita income|Income inequality in the United States}}
 
Accounting for 4.4% of the global population, Americans collectively possess 41.6% of the world's total wealth,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sherman |first1=Erik |title=America is the richest, and most unequal, country |url=http://fortune.com/2015/09/30/america-wealth-inequality/ |website=Fortune|access-date=August 30, 2016}}</ref> and Americans make up roughly half of the world's population of millionaires.<ref>{{cite web |last1=McCarthy |first1=Niall |title=The Countries With The Most Millionaires |url=https://www.statista.com/chart/3890/the-countries-with-the-most-millionaires/ |website=Statista|access-date=August 30, 2016}}</ref> The [[Global Food Security Index]] ranked the U.S. number one for food affordability and overall food security in March 2013.<ref>{{cite web |title=Global Food Security Index |url=http://foodsecurityindex.eiu.com/Country/Details#United%20States |publisher=The Economist Intelligence Unit |location=London |access-date=April 8, 2013 |date=March 5, 2013}}</ref> Americans on average have over twice as much living space per dwelling and per person as [[European Union]] residents, and more than every EU nation.<ref name="Heritage Poor">{{cite web |title=Understanding Poverty in the United States: Surprising Facts About America's Poor |url=http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/09/understanding-poverty-in-the-united-states-surprising-facts-about-americas-poor |publisher=Heritage Foundation |accessdate=April 8, 2013 |author=Rector, Robert |last2=Sheffield |first2=Rachel |date=September 13, 2011}}</ref> For 2017 the [[United Nations Development Programme]] ranked the United States 13th among 189 countries in its [[Human Development Index#2014 report|Human Development Index]] and 25th among 151 countries in its [[Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index|inequality-adjusted HDI]] (IHDI).<ref>{{cite web |title=Human Development Index (HDI) {{!}} Human Development Reports |url=http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/human-development-index-hdi |website=UNHDP |accessdate=December 27, 2018}}</ref>
 
[[File:South San Jose (crop).jpg|thumb|A [[tract housing]] development in [[San Jose, California]]]]
After years of stagnant growth, in 2016, according to the Census, median household income reached a record high after two consecutive years of record growth, although income inequality remains at record highs with top fifth of earners taking home more than half of all overall income.<ref name="auto">{{cite web |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/us-middle-class-incomes-reached-highest-ever-level-in-2016-census-bureau-says/2017/09/12/7226905e-97de-11e7-b569-3360011663b4_story.html |title=U.S. middle-class incomes reached highest-ever level in 2016, Census Bureau says |first=Heather |last=Long |date=September 12, 2017 |publisher=|access-date=September 18, 2017 |via=www.WashingtonPost.com}}</ref> There has been a widening gap between productivity and median incomes since the 1970s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.epi.org/publication/ib330-productivity-vs-compensation/ |title=The wedges between productivity and median compensation growth |last=Mishel |first=Lawrence |date=April 26, 2012 |website= |publisher=[[Economic Policy Institute]] |access-date=October 18, 2013}}</ref> However, the gap between total compensation and productivity is not as wide because of increased employee benefits such as health insurance.<ref>{{cite web |last=Anderson |first=Richard G. |title=How Well Do Wages Follow Productivity Growth? |year=2007 |url=https://research.stlouisfed.org/publications/es/07/ES0707.pdf |publisher=St. Louis Federal Reserve |postscript=<!--None--> |access-date = October 25, 2015}}</ref> The rise in the share of total annual income received by the top 1 percent, which has more than doubled from 9 percent in 1976 to 20 percent in 2011, has significantly affected [[Income inequality in the United States|income inequality]],<ref name="PikettySaez">{{cite journal |last1=Alvaredo |first1=Facundo |last2=Atkinson |first2=Anthony B. |author-link2=Tony Atkinson |last3=Piketty |first3=Thomas |author-link3=Thomas Piketty |last4=Saez |first4=Emmanuel |author-link4=Emmanuel Saez |date=2013 |title=The Top 1 Percent in International and Historical Perspective |journal=[[Journal of Economic Perspectives]] |volume=27 |issue=Summer 2013 |pages=3–20 |doi=10.1257/jep.27.3.3 }}</ref> leaving the United States with one of the widest income distributions among OECD nations.<ref name="Sme">{{cite journal |last1=Smeeding |first1=T.M. |year=2005 |title=Public Policy: Economic Inequality and Poverty: The United States in Comparative Perspective |journal=Social Science Quarterly |volume=86 |pages=955–983 |doi=10.1111/j.0038-4941.2005.00331.x}}<br />{{cite web |last1=Tcherneva |first1=Pavlina R. |title=When a rising tide sinks most boats: trends in US income inequality |url=http://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/pn_15_4.pdf |website=levyinstitute.org |publisher=Levy Economics Institute of Bard College |accessdate=April 10, 2015 |date=April 2015}}<br />{{cite web |url=http://elsa.berkeley.edu/~saez/TabFig2005prel.xls |author=Saez, E. |title=Table A1: Top Fractiles Income Shares (Excluding Capital Gains) in the U.S., 1913–2005 |publisher=UC Berkeley |date=October 2007 |accessdate=July 24, 2008}}<br />{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2172.html |title=Field Listing—Distribution of Family Income—Gini Index |publisher=CIA |website=The World Factbook |date=June 14, 2007 |accessdate=June 17, 2007}}<br />{{cite web |url=http://www.oecd.org/els/soc/OECD2014-FocusOnTopIncomes.pdf |title=Focus on Top Incomes and Taxation in OECD Countries: Was the crisis a game changer? |date=May 2014 |publisher=[[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development|OECD]] |access-date=May 1, 2014}}</ref> According to a 2018 study by the OECD, the United States has much higher income inequality and a larger percentage of low-income workers than almost any other developed nation. This is largely because at-risk workers get almost no government support and are further set back by a very weak [[collective bargaining]] system.<ref>{{cite news |last=Van Dam |first=Andrew |date=July 4, 2018 |title=Is it great to be a worker in the U.S.? Not compared with the rest of the developed world.|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/07/04/is-it-great-to-be-a-worker-in-the-u-s-not-compared-to-the-rest-of-the-developed-world/?noredirect=on|work=The Washington Post |location= |access-date=July 12, 2018}}</ref> The [[Upper class|top 1 percent of income-earners]] accounted for 52 percent of the income gains from 2009 to 2015, where income is defined as market income excluding government transfers.<ref>{{cite web |last=Saez |first=Emmanuel |author-link=Emmanuel Saez |title=Striking it Richer: The Evolution of Top Incomes in the United States |url=http://elsa.berkeley.edu/~saez/saez-UStopincomes-2015.pdf |publisher=University of California, Berkeley|accessdate=September 15, 2017 |date=June 30, 2016}}</ref> The extent and relevance of income inequality is a matter of debate.{{sfn|Gilens|Page|2014}}<ref>{{Cite book |title=Economic Inequality and Political Representation |author=[[Larry Bartels]] |journal=The Unsustainable American State |date=2009 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195392135.003.0007 |url=https://www.princeton.edu/~bartels/economic.pdf |pages=167–196 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304091537/http://www.princeton.edu/~bartels/economic.pdf |archivedate=March 4, 2016 |df= |isbn=978-0-19-539213-5|citeseerx=10.1.1.172.7597 }}<br />{{cite journal |title=Responsiveness in an Era of Inequality: The Case of the U.S. Senate |author=Thomas J. Hayes |journal=[[Political Research Quarterly]] |date=2012 |volume=66 |issue=3 |pages=585–599 |doi=10.1177/1065912912459567 |ssrn=1900856}}{{cite news |last= Dunsmuir |first=Lindsay |date=October 11, 2017 |title=IMF calls for fiscal policies that tackle rising inequality |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/imf-g20-inequality/imf-calls-for-fiscal-policies-that-tackle-rising-inequality-idUSL2N1ML16B|work=Reuters|location= |access-date= August 2, 2018 |quote="While overall global inequality has fallen in recent decades because of the economic rise of countries such as China and India, inequality within countries has risen sharply, especially in large countries like the United States and China. The Fund warned that excessive inequality could lower economic growth as well as polarize politics."}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Winship |first1=Scott |title=Overstating the Costs of Inequality |journal=National Affairs |date=Spring 2013 |issue=15 |url=http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/articles/2013/03/overstating%20inequality%20costs%20winship/overstating%20inequality%20costs%20winship.pdf |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/6Mb0GcQnr?url=http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Research/Files/Articles/2013/03/overstating%20inequality%20costs%20winship/overstating%20inequality%20costs%20winship.pdf |archivedate=January 13, 2014 |accessdate=April 29, 2015 |deadurl=yes |df= }}<br />{{cite web |title=Income Inequality in America: Fact and Fiction |url=http://www.economics21.org/files/e21ib_1.pdf |publisher=Manhattan Institute |accessdate=April 29, 2015 |date=May 2014 }}<br />{{cite journal |last1=Brunner |first1=Eric |last2=Ross |first2=Stephen L |last3=Washington |first3=Ebonya |title=Does Less Income Mean Less Representation? |journal=American Economic Journal: Economic Policy |date=May 2013 |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=53–76 |doi=10.1257/pol.5.2.53 |url=http://economics.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Faculty/washington/less-income.pdf |accessdate=July 12, 2015 |citeseerx=10.1.1.360.9508 }}<br />{{cite news |last1=Feldstein |first1=Martin |title=Piketty's Numbers Don't Add Up: Ignoring dramatic changes in tax rules since 1980 creates the false impression that income inequality is rising. |url=https://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304081804579557664176917086 |accessdate=July 12, 2015 |agency=Wall Street Journal |date=May 14, 2014 }}</ref>
 
{| class="floatright" style="margin:auto; text-align:right;"
|+ '''United States' families median net worth'''
|+ align="bottom" style="caption-side: bottom; text-align: right;" | Source: Fed Survey of Consumer Finances<ref>{{cite web |last1=Weston |first1=Liz |title=Americans Are Pissed – This Chart Might Explain Why |url=https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/finance/why-people-are-angry/ |website=nerdwallet.com |date=May 10, 2016}}</ref>
! in 2013 dollars !! 1998 !! 2013 !! change
|-
| All families || $102,500 || $81,200 || -20.8%
|-
| Bottom 20% of incomes || $8,300 || $6,100 || -26.5%
|-
| 2nd lowest 20% of incomes || $47,400 || $22,400 || -52.7%
|-
| Middle 20% of incomes || $76,300 || $61,700 || -19.1%
|-
| Top 10% || $646,600 || $1,130,700 || +74.9%
|}
 
[[Wealth in the United States|Wealth]], like income and taxes, is [[Wealth inequality in the United States|highly concentrated]]; the richest 10% of the adult population possess 72% of the country's household wealth, while the bottom half claim only 2%.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Piketty |first1=Thomas |author-link1=Thomas Piketty |title=Capital in the Twenty-First Century |date=2014 |publisher=Belknap Press |page=257|title-link=Capital in the Twenty-First Century }} {{ISBN|0-674-43000-X}}</ref> According to a September 2017 report by the Federal Reserve, the top 1% controlled 38.6% of the country's wealth in 2016.<ref>{{cite news |last=Egan |first=Matt |date=September 27, 2017 |title=Record inequality: The top 1% controls 38.6% of America's wealth |url=http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/27/news/economy/inequality-record-top-1-percent-wealth/index.html |work=CNN Money|location=|access-date=October 12, 2017}}</ref> Between June 2007 and November 2008 the [[Great Recession|global recession]] led to falling asset prices around the world. Assets owned by Americans lost about a quarter of their value.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Altman, Roger C. |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2009-01-01/great-crash-2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081223095528/http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20090101faessay88101/roger-c-altman/the-great-crash-2008.html |archivedate=December 23, 2008 |title=The Great Crash, 2008 |journal=Foreign Affairs |accessdate=February 27, 2009}}</ref> Since peaking in the second quarter of 2007, household wealth was down $14&nbsp;trillion, but has since increased $14&nbsp;trillion over 2006 levels.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Luhby |first1=Tami |title=Americans' wealth drops $1.3 trillion |url=http://money.cnn.com/2009/06/11/news/economy/Americans_wealth_drops/?postversion=2009061113 |publisher=CNN Money |date=June 11, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/TNWBSHNO |title=Households and Nonprofit Organizations; Net Worth, Level |website=stlouisfed.org |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}</ref> At the end of 2014, [[household debt]] amounted to $11.8&nbsp;trillion,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newyorkfed.org/microeconomics/hhdc.html#/2014/q4 |title=Household Debt and Credit Report |publisher=[[Federal Reserve Bank of New York]] |accessdate=June 26, 2015 |ref=none}}</ref> down from $13.8&nbsp;trillion at the end of 2008.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE52B58720090312 |title=U.S. household wealth falls $11.2&nbsp;trillion in 2008 |website=Reuters |accessdate=October 4, 2014}}</ref>
 
There were about 578,424 sheltered and unsheltered [[Homelessness in the United States|homeless persons in the U.S.]] in January 2014, with almost two-thirds staying in an emergency shelter or transitional housing program.<ref>{{cite web |title=The 2014 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress |url=https://www.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/2014-AHAR-Part1.pdf |publisher=The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development |accessdate=August 6, 2015 |year=2014}}</ref> In 2011 [[Hunger in the United States#Children|16.7 million children lived in food-insecure households]], about 35% more than 2007 levels, though only 1.1% of U.S. children, or 845,000, saw reduced food intake or disrupted eating patterns at some point during the year, and most cases were not chronic.<ref>{{cite web |title=Household Food Security in the United States in 2011 |url=http://www.ers.usda.gov/media/884525/err141.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007231515/http://www.ers.usda.gov/media/884525/err141.pdf |dead-url=yes |archive-date=October 7, 2012 |publisher=USDA |accessdate=April 8, 2013 |date=September 2012}}</ref> According to a 2014 report by the Census Bureau, one in five young adults lives in [[Poverty in the United States|poverty]], up from one in seven in 1980.<ref>{{cite press release |date=December 4, 2014 |title=New Census Bureau Statistics Show How Young Adults Today Compare With Previous Generations in Neighborhoods Nationwide |url=https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2014/cb14-219.html |agency=U.S. Census Bureau}}</ref> {{as of|2017|September}}, 40 million people, roughly 12.7% of the U.S. population, were living in poverty, with 18.5 million of those living in deep poverty (a family income below one-half of the poverty threshold). In 2016, 13.3 million children were living in poverty, which made up 32.6% of the impoverished population.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22533&LangID=E|title=Statement on Visit to the USA, by Professor Philip Alston, United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights|last=Alston|first=Philp|date=December 15, 2017|website= |publisher=[[Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights|OHCHR]]|access-date=December 22, 2017|authorlink=Philip Alston}}</ref>
 
In 2017, the region with the lowest [[List of U.S. states by poverty rate|poverty rate]] was [[New Hampshire]] (7.3%), and the region with the highest poverty rate was [[American Samoa]] (65%).<ref>{{cite web |title=Places: New Hampshire. |url=https://www.forbes.com/places/nh/ |website=Forbes |accessdate=January 5, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: New Hampshire |url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/NH |website=www.census.gov |accessdate=January 5, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Sagapolutele |first1=Fili |title=American Samoa Governor Says Small Economies 'Cannot Afford Any Reduction In Medicaid' {{!}} Pacific Islands Report |url=http://www.pireport.org/articles/2017/03/02/american-samoa-governor-says-small-economies-cannot-afford-any-reduction |website=www.pireport.org |accessdate=January 8, 2018 |date=February 3, 2017}}</ref> Among the states, the highest poverty rate was in [[Mississippi]] (21.9%).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stebbins |first1=Samuel |last2=Sauter |first2=Michael B. |last3=Comen |first3=Evan |last4=C. Frohlich |first4=Thomas |title=America's Happiest (and Most Miserable) States |url=http://247wallst.com/special-report/2017/02/01/happiest-and-most-miserable-states/10/ |website=247wallst.com |accessdate=January 5, 2018 |date=February 1, 2017}}</ref> According to the UN, around five million people in the U.S. live in "third world" conditions.<ref>{{cite news |last= |first= |date=June 4, 2018|title="Contempt for the poor in US drives cruel policies," says UN expert|url=http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23172&LangID=E|work=OHCHR|location= |access-date=June 5, 2018}}</ref>
 
== Infrastructure ==
=== Transportation ===
{{Main|Transportation in the United States}}
[[File:Map of current Interstates.svg|thumb|The [[Interstate Highway System]], which extends {{convert|46876|mi|km}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=Interstate FAQ (Question #3) |publisher=Federal Highway Administration |year=2006 |url=http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/faq.htm#question3 |accessdate=March 4, 2009}}</ref>]]
Personal transportation is dominated by automobiles, which operate on a network of {{convert|4|e6mi|abbr=off|sp=us}} of public roads,<ref>{{cite web |title=Public Road and Street Mileage in the United States by Type of Surface |url=http://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/national_transportation_statistics/html/table_01_04.html |website=United States Department of Transportation |accessdate=January 13, 2015}}</ref> including one of the world's [[National Highway System (United States)|longest highway systems]] at {{convert|57000|mi|-2|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.newgeography.com/content/002003-china-expressway-system-exceed-us-interstates |title=China Expressway System to Exceed US Interstates |work=New Geography |location=Grand Forks, ND |date=January 22, 2011 |access-date=September 16, 2011}}</ref> The world's second-largest automobile market,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/jan/08/china-us-car-sales-overtakes |title=China overtakes US in car sales |newspaper=The Guardian |date=January 8, 2010 |access-date=July 10, 2011 |location=London}}</ref> the United States has the highest rate of per-capita vehicle ownership in the world, with 765 vehicles per 1,000 Americans (1996).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/tra_mot_veh-transportation-motor-vehicles |title=Motor vehicles statistics&nbsp;– countries compared worldwide |publisher=NationMaster |access-date=July 10, 2011}}</ref> About 40% of [[Passenger vehicles in the United States|personal vehicles]] are vans, [[Sport utility vehicle|SUVs]], or light trucks.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bts.gov/publications/highlights_of_the_2001_national_household_travel_survey/html/section_01.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050513103251/http://www.bts.gov/publications/highlights_of_the_2001_national_household_travel_survey/html/section_01.html |dead-url=yes |archive-date=May 13, 2005 |title=Household, Individual, and Vehicle Characteristics |publisher=U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics |website=2001 National Household Travel Survey |accessdate=August 15, 2007 |df=}}</ref> The average American adult (accounting for all drivers and non-drivers) spends 55 minutes driving every day, traveling {{convert|29|mi|km|0}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bts.gov/publications/highlights_of_the_2001_national_household_travel_survey/html/section_02.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050513103255/http://www.bts.gov/publications/highlights_of_the_2001_national_household_travel_survey/html/section_02.html |dead-url=yes |archive-date=May 13, 2005 |title=Daily Passenger Travel |publisher=U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics |website=2001 National Household Travel Survey |accessdate=August 15, 2007 |df=}}</ref> In 2017, there were 255,009,283 motor vehicles—including cars, vans, buses, freight, and other trucks, but excluding motorcycles and other two-wheelers—or 910 vehicles per 1,000 people.<ref name="USBTS">{{cite web |url=https://capitol-tires.com/how-many-cars-per-capita-in-the-us.html|title=Vehicle Statistics: Cars Per Capita|publisher=Capitol Tires}}</ref>
 
[[File:High Speed Railroad Map of the United States 2013.svg|thumb|Map showing [[Amtrak]] (passenger) [[High-speed rail in the United States|rail speeds]] in the United States.<ref>{{Cite report |last1=Todorovich |first1=Petra |last2=Hagler |first2=Yoav |title=High Speed Rail in America |publisher=America 2050 |date=January 2011 |url=http://www.america2050.org/pdf/HSR-in-America-Complete.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=May 5, 2011}}</ref>]]
 
[[Mass transit in the United States|Mass transit]] accounts for 9% of total U.S. work trips.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.policy.rutgers.edu/vtc/documents/TOD.Euro-Style_Planning-Renne-Wells.pdf |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140912143021/http://www.policy.rutgers.edu/vtc/documents/TOD.Euro-Style_Planning-Renne-Wells.pdf |author1=Renne, John L. |author2=Wells, Jan S. |title=Emerging European-Style Planning in the United States: Transit-Oriented Development |page=2 |year=2003 |publisher=Rutgers University |accessdate=June 11, 2007 |archivedate=September 12, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/kbenfield/natgeo_surveys_countries_trans.html |title=NatGeo surveys countries' transit use: guess who comes in last |last=Benfield |first=Kaid |publisher=Natural Resources Defense Council |date=May 18, 2009 |accessdate=January 6, 2015 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120234533/http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/kbenfield/natgeo_surveys_countries_trans.html |archivedate=January 20, 2015  }}</ref> [[Rail transportation in the United States|Transport of goods by rail]] is extensive, though relatively low numbers of passengers (approximately 31 million annually) use intercity rail to travel, partly because of the low population density throughout much of the U.S. interior.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-07-15 |title=Intercity Passenger Rail: National Policy and Strategies Needed to Maximize Public Benefits from Federal Expenditures |date=November 13, 2006 |publisher=U.S. Government Accountability Office |accessdate=June 20, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/08/economist-explains-18 |title=The Economist Explains: Why Americans Don't Ride Trains |date=August 29, 2013 |publisher=''[[The Economist]]'' |accessdate=May 12, 2015}}</ref> However, ridership on [[Amtrak]], the national intercity passenger rail system, grew by almost 37% between 2000 and 2010.<ref>{{cite web |title=Amtrak Ridership Records |url=http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/BlobServer?blobcol=urldata&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobkey=id&blobwhere=1249227805921&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobhead |publisher=Amtrak |date=June 8, 2011 |accessdate=February 29, 2012 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120509091022/http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/BlobServer?blobcol=urldata&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobkey=id&blobwhere=1249227805921&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobhead |archivedate=May 9, 2012  }}</ref> Also, [[Light rail in the United States|light rail development]] has increased in recent years.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.metaefficient.com/trains/master-2.html |title=3 Reasons Light Rail Is an Efficient Transportation Option for U.S. Cities |author=McGill, Tracy |work=MetaEfficient |date=January 1, 2011 |accessdate=June 14, 2013}}</ref> Bicycle usage for work commutes is minimal.<ref>{{cite web |first=Brian |last=McKenzie |url=https://www.census.gov/prod/2014pubs/acs-25.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140513133037/http://www.census.gov/prod/2014pubs/acs-25.pdf |dead-url=yes |archive-date=May 13, 2014 |title=Modes Less Traveled—Bicycling and Walking to Work in the United States: 2008–2012 |publisher=U.S. Census Burea |date=May 2014 |df=}}</ref>
 
The [[List of airlines of the United States|civil airline industry]] is entirely privately owned and has been largely [[Airline Deregulation Act|deregulated since 1978]], while [[List of airports in the United States|
most major airports]] are publicly owned.<ref>{{cite web |title=Privatization |url=http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/privatization |website=downsizinggovernment.org |publisher=[[Cato Institute]] |accessdate=December 27, 2014}}</ref> The three largest airlines in the world by passengers carried are U.S.-based; [[American Airlines]] is number one after its 2013 acquisition by [[US Airways]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iata.org/publications/pages/wats-passenger-carried.aspx |title=Scheduled Passengers Carried |publisher=International Air Transport Association (IATA) |year=2011 |accessdate=February 17, 2012 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150102034843/http://www.iata.org/publications/pages/wats-passenger-carried.aspx |archivedate=January 2, 2015}}</ref> Of the [[List of the world's busiest airports by passenger traffic|world's 50 busiest passenger airports]], 16 are in the United States, including the busiest, [[Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport]], and the fourth-busiest, [[O'Hare International Airport]] in [[Chicago]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aci.aero/News/Releases/Most-Recent/2014/03/31/Preliminary-World-Airport-Traffic-and-Rankings-2013--High-Growth-Dubai-Moves-Up-to-7th-Busiest-Airport- |title=Preliminary World Airport Traffic and Rankings 2013 – High Growth Dubai Moves Up to 7th Busiest Airport |publisher=Airports Council International |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140401052319/http://www.aci.aero/News/Releases/Most-Recent/2014/03/31/Preliminary-World-Airport-Traffic-and-Rankings-2013--High-Growth-Dubai-Moves-Up-to-7th-Busiest-Airport- |archivedate=April 1, 2014 |date=March 31, 2014 |accessdate=May 17, 2014 |deadurl=no}}</ref> In the aftermath of the [[September 11 attacks|9/11 attacks]] of 2001, the [[Transportation Security Administration]] was created to police airports and commercial airliners.
 
=== Energy ===
{{Further|Energy policy of the United States}}
 
The [[Energy in the United States|United States energy]] market is about 29,000 [[Kilowatt hour|terawatt hours]] per year.<ref name=IEA2013>IEA Key World Energy Statistics Statistics [http://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/KeyWorld2013.pdf 2013], [http://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/kwes.pdf 2012], [http://www.iea.org/textbase/nppdf/free/2011/key_world_energy_stats.pdf 2011], [http://www.iea.org/textbase/nppdf/free/2010/key_stats_2010.pdf 2010], [http://www.iea.org/textbase/nppdf/free/2009/key2009.pdf 2009] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131007042901/http://www.iea.org/textbase/nppdf/free/2009/key2009.pdf# |date=October 7, 2013 }}, [http://www.iea.org/textbase/nppdf/free/2006/key2006.pdf 2006] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091012043312/http://www.iea.org/textbase/nppdf/free/2006/key2006.pdf# |date=October 12, 2009 }} [[International Energy Agency|IEA]] October, crude oil p. 11, coal p. 13 gas p. 15</ref> [[List of countries by energy consumption per capita|Energy consumption per capita]] is 7.8&nbsp;tons (7076&nbsp;kg) of oil equivalent per year, the 10th-highest rate in the world. In 2005, 40% of this energy came from petroleum, 23% from coal, and 22% from natural gas. The remainder was supplied by nuclear power and [[renewable energy]] sources.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/pdf/pages/sec1_3.pdf |title=Diagram 1: Energy Flow, 2007 |website=EIA Annual Energy Review |year=2007 |publisher=U.S. Dept. of Energy, Energy Information Administration |accessdate=June 25, 2008}}</ref> The United States is the world's largest consumer of petroleum.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2246rank.html |title=Country Comparison: Refined Petroleum Products&nbsp;− Consumption |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |website=The World Factbook |access-date=May 18, 2014}}</ref> The United States has 27% of global coal reserves.<ref name="BPReview">{{cite web |url=http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/reports_and_publications/statistical_energy_review_2007/STAGING/local_assets/downloads/spreadsheets/statistical_review_full_report_workbook_2007.xls |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724221536/http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/reports_and_publications/statistical_energy_review_2007/STAGING/local_assets/downloads/spreadsheets/statistical_review_full_report_workbook_2007.xls |archivedate=July 24, 2013 |title=BP Statistical Review of World Energy |publisher=British Petroleum |format=XLS |date=June 2007 |access-date= February 22, 2010}}</ref> It is the world's largest producer of natural gas and crude oil.<ref>{{cite news |author=Ames, Paul |date=May 30, 2013 |title=Could fracking make the Persian Gulf irrelevant? |url=http://www.salon.com/2013/05/30/could_fracking_make_the_persian_gulf_irrelevant_partner/ |work=Salon |accessdate=May 30, 2012 |quote=Since November, the United States has replaced Saudi Arabia as the world's biggest producer of crude oil. It had already overtaken Russia as the leading producer of natural gas.}}</ref>
 
For decades, [[Nuclear power in the United States|nuclear power]] has played a limited role relative to many other developed countries, in part because of public perception in the wake of a [[Three Mile Island accident|1979 accident]]. In 2007, several applications for new nuclear plants were filed.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9762843 |title=Atomic Renaissance |work=The Economist |location=London |access-date=September 6, 2007 |date=September 6, 2007}}</ref>
 
=== Water supply and sanitation ===
 
{{Main|Drinking water supply and sanitation in the United States}}
Issues that affect water supply in the United States include [[drought]]s in the West, [[water scarcity]], [[Water pollution in the United States|pollution]], a backlog of investment, concerns about the affordability of water for the poorest, and a rapidly retiring workforce. Increased variability and intensity of rainfall as a result of [[climate change]] is expected to produce both more severe droughts and flooding, with potentially serious consequences for water supply and for pollution from [[combined sewer overflow]]s.<ref name="AMWA">{{cite web |author=American Metropolitan Water Association |title=Implications of Climate Change for Urban Water Utilities – Main Report |publisher= |date=December 2007 |url=http://www.amwa.net/galleries/climate-change/AMWA_Climate_Change_Paper_12.13.07.pdf |doi= |accessdate=February 26, 2009}}</ref><ref name="National Academies">{{cite web |author=National Academies' Water Information Center |title=Drinking Water Basics |publisher= |url=http://water.nationalacademies.org/basics_part_3.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080917075648/http://water.nationalacademies.org/basics_part_3.shtml |dead-url=yes |archive-date=September 17, 2008 |doi= |accessdate=February 26, 2009}}</ref>{{efn|Droughts are likely to particularly affect the 66 percent of Americans whose communities depend on surface water.<ref name="EPA:Water on Tap">{{cite web |author=U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |authorlink=United States Environmental Protection Agency |title=Water on Tap: What You Need to Know |publisher= |year=2003 |url=http://www.epa.gov/safewater/wot/pdfs/book_waterontap_full.pdf |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090223172052/http://www.epa.gov/safewater/wot/pdfs/book_waterontap_full.pdf |archivedate=February 23, 2009 |doi= |accessdate=February 23, 2009}}, p. 11</ref> As for drinking water quality, there are concerns about disinfection by-products, [[lead]], [[perchlorates]] and pharmaceutical substances, but generally [[Drinking water quality in the United States|drinking water quality in the U.S.]] is good.<ref>{{cite web |last1=McLendon |first1=Russell |title=How polluted is U.S. drinking water? |url=http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/translating-uncle-sam/stories/how-polluted-is-us-drinking-water |publisher=[[Mother Nature Network]] |accessdate=October 20, 2015}}</ref>}}
 
== Culture ==
{{Main|Culture of the United States}}
 
The United States is home to [[Multiculturalism|many cultures]] and a wide variety of ethnic groups, traditions, and values.<ref name="DD">{{cite book |last1=Adams |first1=J.Q. |last2=Strother-Adams |first2=Pearlie |title=Dealing with diversity : the anthology |date=2001 |publisher=Kendall/Hunt Pub |location=Chicago |isbn=978-0-7872-8145-8}}</ref><ref name="Society in Focus">{{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=William E. |last2=Hickey |first2=Joseph V. |title=Society in focus : an introduction to sociology |date=2004 |publisher=Pearson/Allyn and Bacon |location=Boston |isbn=978-0-205-41365-2 |edition=5th}}</ref> Aside from the [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]], [[Native Hawaiians|Native Hawaiian]], and [[Alaska Natives|Native Alaskan]] populations, nearly all Americans or their ancestors settled or immigrated within the past five centuries.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fiorina |first1=Morris P. |author-link1=Morris P. Fiorina |last2=Peterson |first2=Paul E. |title=The New American democracy |date=2010 |publisher=Longman |location=London |isbn=978-0-205-78016-7 |page=97 |edition=7th}}</ref> Mainstream American culture is a [[Western culture]] largely derived from the [[European American|traditions of European immigrants]] with influences from many other sources, such as [[African-American culture|traditions brought by slaves from Africa]].<ref name="DD" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Holloway |first1=Joseph E. |title=Africanisms in American culture |date=2005 |publisher=Indiana University Press |location=Bloomington |isbn=978-0-253-21749-3 |pages=18–38 |edition=2nd}}<br />{{cite book |last1=Johnson |first1=Fern L. |title=Speaking culturally : language diversity in the United States |publisher=Sage Publications |isbn=978-0-8039-5912-5 |page=116|year=2000 }}</ref> More recent immigration from [[Asian American|Asia]] and especially [[Latin American culture|Latin America]] has added to a cultural mix that has been described as both a homogenizing [[melting pot]], and a heterogeneous [[salad bowl (cultural idea)|salad bowl]] in which immigrants and their descendants retain distinctive cultural characteristics.<ref name="DD" />
 
Core American culture was established by [[Protestantism|Protestant]] British colonists and shaped by the [[frontier]] settlement process, with the traits derived passed down to descendants and transmitted to immigrants through assimilation. Americans have traditionally been characterized by a strong [[work ethic]], competitiveness, and individualism,<ref>{{cite web |website=Huffington Post |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-koch/is-individualism-good-or-_b_4056305.html |title=Is Individualism Good or Bad? |date=July 10, 2013 |author=Richard Koch}}</ref> as well as a unifying belief in an "American [[creed]]" emphasizing liberty, equality, private property, democracy, rule of law, and a preference for limited government.<ref>{{cite book |last=Huntington |first=Samuel P. |authorlink=Samuel P. Huntington |title=Who are We?: The Challenges to America's National Identity |year=2004 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/?id=6xiYiybkE8kC&vq=core |chapter=Chapters 2–4 |isbn=978-0-684-87053-3 |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}: also see [[American's Creed]], written by [[William Tyler Page]] and adopted by Congress in 1918.</ref> Americans are extremely charitable by global standards. According to a 2006 British study, Americans gave 1.67% of GDP to charity, more than any other nation studied, more than twice the second place British figure of 0.73%, and around twelve times the French figure of 0.14%.<ref>{{cite news |last=AP |title=Americans give record $295B to charity |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-06-25-charitable_N.htm?POE=click-refer |accessdate=October 4, 2013 |newspaper=USA Today |date=June 25, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=International comparisons of charitable giving |url=http://www.cafonline.org/pdf/International%20Comparisons%20of%20Charitable%20Giving.pdf |publisher=Charities Aid Foundation |accessdate=October 4, 2013 |date=November 2006}}</ref>
 
The [[American Dream]], or the perception that Americans enjoy high [[Socio-economic mobility in the United States|social mobility]], plays a key role in attracting immigrants.<ref>{{cite web |last=Clifton |first=Jon |title=More Than 100 Million Worldwide Dream of a Life in the U.S. More than 25% in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Dominican Republic want to move to the U.S |url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/161435/100-million-worldwide-dream-life.aspx |publisher=Gallup |accessdate=January 10, 2014 |date=March 21, 2013}}</ref> Whether this perception is realistic has been a topic of debate.<ref name="socialmobility">{{cite web |url=http://www.oecd.org/tax/public-finance/chapter%205%20gfg%202010.pdf |title=A Family Affair: Intergenerational Social Mobility across OECD Countries |publisher=OECD |website=Economic Policy Reforms: Going for Growth |year=2010 |access-date=September 20, 2010}} {{cite web |url=http://www.suttontrust.com/reports/IntergenerationalMobility.pdf |title=Intergenerational Mobility in Europe and North America |author1=Blanden, Jo |author2=Gregg, Paul |author3=Machin, Stephen |publisher=Centre for Economic Performance |date=April 2005 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060623094610/http://www.suttontrust.com/reports/IntergenerationalMobility.pdf |archivedate=June 23, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Gould |first1=Elise |title=U.S. lags behind peer countries in mobility |url=http://www.epi.org/publication/usa-lags-peer-countries-mobility/ |website=[[Economic Policy Institute]] |accessdate=July 15, 2013 |date=October 10, 2012}}</ref><ref name=CAP>{{cite web |title=Understanding Mobility in America |url=https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/news/2006/04/26/1917/understanding-mobility-in-america/ |website=Center for American Progress |date=April 26, 2006}}</ref><ref name=Schneider>{{cite web |last=Schneider |first=Donald |title=A Guide to Understanding International Comparisons of Economic Mobility |url=http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2013/07/a-guide-to-understanding-international-comparisons-of-economic-mobility |publisher=The Heritage Foundation |accessdate=August 22, 2013 |date=July 29, 2013}}</ref><ref name=Hagopian /><ref>{{cite journal |last=Winship |first=Scott |title=Overstating the Costs of Inequality |journal=National Affairs |date=Spring 2013 |url=http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Research/Files/Articles/2013/03/overstating%20inequality%20costs%20winship/overstating%20inequality%20costs%20winship.pdf |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/6Mb0GcQnr?url=http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Research/Files/Articles/2013/03/overstating%20inequality%20costs%20winship/overstating%20inequality%20costs%20winship.pdf |archivedate=January 13, 2014 |accessdate=January 10, 2014 |deadurl=yes |df= }}</ref> While mainstream culture holds that the United States is a [[classless society]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Gutfeld |first=Amon |year=2002 |title=American Exceptionalism: The Effects of Plenty on the American Experience |publisher=Sussex Academic Press |location=Brighton and Portland |page=65 |isbn=978-1-903900-08-6}}</ref> scholars identify significant differences between the country's social classes, affecting [[socialization]], language, and values.<ref>{{cite book |last=Zweig |first=Michael |year=2004 |title=What's Class Got To Do With It, American Society in the Twenty-First Century |publisher=Cornell University Press |location=Ithaca, NY |isbn=978-0-8014-8899-3}} {{cite web |url=http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/Home.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=RecordDetails&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED309843&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=eric_accno&objectId=0900000b800472a5 |title=Effects of Social Class and Interactive Setting on Maternal Speech |publisher=Education Resource Information Center |accessdate=January 27, 2007}}</ref> Americans' self-images, social viewpoints, and cultural expectations are associated with their occupations to an unusually close degree.<ref>{{cite book |last=Eichar |first=Douglas |year=1989 |title=Occupation and Class Consciousness in America |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=Westport, CT |isbn=978-0-313-26111-4}}</ref> While Americans tend greatly to value socioeconomic achievement, being [[Average Joe|ordinary or average]] is generally seen as a positive attribute.<ref>{{cite book |last=O'Keefe |first=Kevin |year=2005 |title=The Average American |publisher=PublicAffairs |location=New York |isbn=978-1-58648-270-1}}</ref>
 
=== Food ===
{{Main|Cuisine of the United States}}
[[File:Motherhood and apple pie.jpg|thumb|[[Apple pie]] is a food commonly associated with American cuisine.]]
Mainstream American cuisine is similar to that in other Western countries. [[Wheat]] is the primary cereal grain with about three-quarters of grain products made of wheat flour<ref name=Wheat>{{cite web |title=Wheat Info |url=http://www.wheatworld.org/wheat-info/fast-facts/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091011012758/http://www.wheatworld.org/wheat-info/fast-facts/ |dead-url=yes |archive-date=October 11, 2009 |website=Wheatworld.org |accessdate=January 15, 2015 |df=}}</ref> and many dishes use indigenous ingredients, such as turkey, venison, potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, squash, and maple syrup which were consumed by Native Americans and early European settlers.<ref>{{cite web |title=Traditional Indigenous Recipes |url=http://aihd.ku.edu/recipes/index.html |publisher=American Indian Health and Diet Project|access-date=September 15, 2014}}</ref> These homegrown foods are part of a shared national menu on one of America's most popular holidays, [[Thanksgiving (United States)|Thanksgiving]], when some Americans make traditional foods to celebrate the occasion.<ref name="Mintz1996">{{cite book |author=Sidney Wilfred Mintz |title=Tasting Food, Tasting Freedom: Excursions Into Eating, Culture, and the Past |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6emmgneaE50C&pg=PA134 |year=1996 |publisher=Beacon Press |isbn=978-0-8070-4629-6 |pages=134– |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}</ref>
 
[[File:Roast turkey.jpg|thumb|Roasted [[Turkey (bird)|turkey]] is a traditional menu item of an American [[Thanksgiving (United States)|Thanksgiving]] dinner.<ref name="GillespieMechling1995">{{cite book |author1=Angus K. Gillespie |author2=Jay Mechling |title=American Wildlife in Symbol and Story |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QWRm9QEhpZYC&pg=PA31 |year=1995 |publisher=Univ. of Tennessee Press |isbn=978-1-57233-259-1 |pages=31–}}</ref>]]
 
Characteristic dishes such as apple pie, fried chicken, pizza, hamburgers, and hot dogs derive from the recipes of various immigrants. French fries, [[Mexican cuisine|Mexican]] dishes such as burritos and tacos, and pasta dishes freely adapted from [[Italian cuisine|Italian]] sources are widely consumed.<ref name="IFT">{{cite web |url=http://www.newswise.com/articles/what-when-and-where-americans-eat-in-2003 |author=Klapthor, James N. |title=What, When, and Where Americans Eat in 2003 |publisher=Newswise/Institute of Food Technologists |date=August 23, 2003 |accessdate=June 19, 2007}}</ref> Americans drink three times as much coffee as tea.<ref name=coffeeandtea>{{cite news |last1=H |first1=D |title=The coffee insurgency |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2013/12/daily-chart-17 |website=The Economist |accessdate=January 15, 2015}}</ref> Marketing by U.S. industries is largely responsible for making orange juice and milk ubiquitous [[breakfast]] beverages.<ref>[[#Smith2004|Smith, 2004]], pp. 131–132</ref><ref>[[#Levenstein|Levenstein, 2003]], pp. 154–155</ref>
 
American eating habits owe a great deal to that of their [[British cuisine|British culinary]] roots with some variations. Although American lands could grow newer vegetables that Britain could not, most colonists would not eat these new foods until accepted by Europeans.<ref name="Levenstein1988">{{cite book |author=Harvey A. Levenstein |title=Revolution at the Table: The Transformation of the American Diet |page=3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NXULJejXRWoC |year=1988 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-23439-0 |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}</ref> Over time American foods changed to a point that food critic, [[John L. Hess]] stated in 1972: ''"Our founding fathers were as far superior to our present political leaders in the quality of their food as they were in the quality of their prose and intelligence"''.<ref name="Wallach2013">{{cite book |author=Jennifer Jensen Wallach |title=How America Eats: A Social History of U.S. Food and Culture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mnuSNvXeqLAC |year=2013 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |page=xi |isbn=978-1-4422-0874-2 |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}</ref>
 
The American [[fast food]] industry, the world's largest,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Breadsley |first1=Eleanor |title=Why McDonald's in France Doesn't Feel Like Fast Food |url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/01/24/145698222/why-mcdonalds-in-france-doesnt-feel-like-fast-food |website=NPR |accessdate=January 15, 2015}}</ref> pioneered the [[drive-through]] format in the 1940s.<ref name=drivethru>{{cite web |title=When Was the First Drive-Thru Restaurant Created? |url=http://www.wisegeek.org/when-was-the-first-drive-thru-restaurant-created.htm |website=Wisegeek.org |accessdate=January 15, 2015}}</ref> Fast food consumption has sparked health concerns. During the 1980s and 1990s, Americans' caloric intake rose 24%;<ref name="IFT" /> frequent dining at fast food outlets is associated with what public health officials call the American "[[Obesity in the United States|obesity epidemic]]".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chapman |first1=Roger |last2=Ciment |first2=James |title=Culture Wars: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices |date=2010 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |location=New York |isbn=978-0-7656-1761-3 |pages=413–14}}</ref> Highly sweetened soft drinks are widely popular, and sugared beverages account for nine percent of American caloric intake.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Isganaitis |first1=Elvira |last2=Lustig |first2=Robert H. |date=September 15, 2005 |title=Fast Food, Central Nervous System Insulin Resistance, and Obesity |url=http://atvb.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/25/12/2451#R3-101329 |journal=[[Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology]] |volume=25 |issue=12 |pages=2451–2462 |doi= 10.1161/01.ATV.0000186208.06964.91|pmid=16166564 |access-date=June 9, 2007 }}
{{cite web |title=Let's Eat Out: Americans Weigh Taste, Convenience, and Nutrition |publisher=U.S. Dept. of Agriculture |url=http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/eib19/eib19_reportsummary.pdf |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/5lpvum1lU?url=http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/eib19/eib19_reportsummary.pdf |archivedate=December 7, 2009 |accessdate=June 9, 2007 |deadurl=yes }}</ref>
 
=== Literature, philosophy, and visual art ===
{{Main|American literature|American philosophy|Architecture of the United States|Visual art of the United States}}
 
[[File:Mark Twain, Brady-Handy photo portrait, Feb 7, 1871, cropped.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Mark Twain]], American author and [[Comedy|humorist]].]]
In the 18th and early 19th centuries, American art and literature took most of its cues from Europe. Writers such as [[Nathaniel Hawthorne]], [[Edgar Allan Poe]], and [[Henry David Thoreau]] established a distinctive American literary voice by the middle of the 19th century. [[Mark Twain]] and poet [[Walt Whitman]] were major figures in the century's second half; [[Emily Dickinson]], virtually unknown during her lifetime, is now recognized as an essential American poet.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Harold |first1=Bloom |author-link1=Harold Bloom |title=Emily Dickinson |date=1999 |publisher=Chelsea House Publishers |location=Broomall, PA |isbn=978-0-7910-5106-1 |page=9}}</ref> A work seen as capturing fundamental aspects of the national experience and character—such as [[Herman Melville]]'s ''[[Moby-Dick]]'' (1851), Twain's ''[[Adventures of Huckleberry Finn|The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn]]'' (1885), [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]]'s ''[[The Great Gatsby]]'' (1925) and [[Harper Lee]]'s ''[[To Kill a Mockingbird]]'' (1960)—may be dubbed the "[[Great American Novel]]".<ref>{{cite journal |author=Buell, Lawrence |title=The Unkillable Dream of the Great American Novel: ''Moby-Dick'' as Test Case |date=Spring–Summer 2008 |volume=20 |issue=1–2 |pages=132–155 |doi=10.1093/alh/ajn005 |journal=American Literary History |issn=0896-7148|url=http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:31740086 }}</ref>
 
Twelve U.S. citizens have won the [[Nobel Prize in Literature]], most recently [[Bob Dylan]] in 2016. [[William Faulkner]], [[Ernest Hemingway]] and [[John Steinbeck]] are often named among the most influential writers of the 20th century.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Edward |first1=Quinn |title=A dictionary of literary and thematic terms |date=2006 |publisher=Facts On File |isbn=978-0-8160-6243-0 |page=361 |edition=2nd}}{{cite book |last1=David |first1=Seed |title=A companion to twentieth-century United States fiction |date=2009 |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |location=Chichester, West Sussex |isbn=978-1-4051-4691-3 |page=76}}{{cite book |last1=Jeffrey |first1=Meyers |title=Hemingway : A biography |date=1999 |publisher=Da Capo Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-306-80890-6 |page=139}}</ref> Popular literary genres such as the [[Western fiction|Western]] and [[hardboiled]] crime fiction developed in the United States. The [[Beat Generation]] writers opened up new literary approaches, as have [[postmodern literature|postmodernist]] authors such as [[John Barth]], [[Thomas Pynchon]], and [[Don DeLillo]].<ref name="Lesher2000">{{cite book |last=Lesher |first=Linda Parent |title=The Best Novels of the Nineties: A Reader's Guide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fSiXAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA109 |year=2000 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-0389-6 |page=109}}</ref>
 
The [[transcendentalism|transcendentalists]], led by Thoreau and [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]], established the first major [[American philosophy|American philosophical movement]]. After the Civil War, [[Charles Sanders Peirce]] and then [[William James]] and [[John Dewey]] were leaders in the development of [[pragmatism]]. In the 20th century, the work of [[Willard Van Orman Quine|W. V. O. Quine]] and [[Richard Rorty]], and later [[Noam Chomsky]], brought [[analytic philosophy]] to the fore of American philosophical academia. [[John Rawls]] and [[Robert Nozick]] led a revival of [[political philosophy]], and [[Martha Nussbaum]] is its most important figure today. [[Cornel West]] and [[Judith Butler]] have led a continental tradition in American philosophical academia. [[Chicago school of economics|Chicago school economists]] like [[Milton Friedman]], [[James M. Buchanan]], and [[Thomas Sowell]] have affected various fields in social and political philosophy.<ref>{{cite news |last=Summers |first=Lawrence H. |title=The Great Liberator |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/19/opinion/19summers.html?_r=0 |accessdate=May 17, 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=November 19, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=McFadden |first=Robert D. |title=James M. Buchanan, Economic Scholar and Nobel Laureate, Dies at 93 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/10/business/economy/james-m-buchanan-economic-scholar-dies-at-93.html?pagewanted=all |accessdate=May 17, 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=January 9, 2013}}</ref>
 
In the visual arts, the [[Hudson River School]] was a mid-19th-century movement in the tradition of European [[Realism (arts)|naturalism]]. The realist paintings of [[Thomas Eakins]] are now widely celebrated. The 1913 [[Armory Show]] in New York City, an exhibition of European [[modern art|modernist art]], shocked the public and transformed the U.S. art scene.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Milton W. |title=The Story of the Armory Show |date=1963 |publisher=Abbeville Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-89659-795-2 |edition=2nd}}</ref> [[Georgia O'Keeffe]], [[Marsden Hartley]], and others experimented with new, individualistic styles. Major artistic movements such as the [[abstract expressionism]] of [[Jackson Pollock]] and [[Willem de Kooning]] and the [[pop art]] of [[Andy Warhol]] and [[Roy Lichtenstein]] developed largely in the United States. The tide of modernism and then [[postmodernism]] has brought fame to American architects such as [[Frank Lloyd Wright]], [[Philip Johnson]], and [[Frank Gehry]].<ref name="JansonJanson2003">{{cite book |last1=Janson |first1=Horst Woldemar |last2=Janson |first2=Anthony F. |title=History of Art: The Western Tradition |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MMYHuvhWBH4C&pg=PT955 |year=2003 |publisher=Prentice Hall Professional |isbn=978-0-13-182895-7 |page=955}}</ref> Americans have long been important in the modern artistic medium of [[photography]], with major photographers including [[Alfred Stieglitz]], [[Edward Steichen]], and [[Ansel Adams]].<ref name="Davenport1991">{{cite book |last=Davenport |first=Alma |title=The History of Photography: An Overview |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hca5H_rJZnUC&pg=PA67 |year=1991 |publisher=UNM Press |isbn=978-0-8263-2076-6 |page=67}}</ref>
 
[[File:Times Square 1-2.JPG|thumb|[[Times Square]] in [[New York City]], the hub of the [[Broadway theatre|Broadway theater]] [[Theater District, Manhattan|district]]<ref name="Bloom2004">{{cite book |author=Ken Bloom |title=Broadway: Its History, People, and Places : an Encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fYbYyQjHwdsC&pg=PA322 |year=2004 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-415-93704-7 |pages=322–}}</ref>]]
One of the first major promoters of [[Theater of the United States|American theater]] was impresario [[P. T. Barnum]], who began operating a lower [[Manhattan]] entertainment complex in 1841. The team of [[Edward Harrigan|Harrigan and Hart]] produced a series of popular [[musical theatre|musical]] comedies in New York starting in the late 1870s. In the 20th century, the modern musical form emerged on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]]; the songs of musical theater composers such as [[Irving Berlin]], [[Cole Porter]], and [[Stephen Sondheim]] have become [[Traditional pop music|pop standards]]. Playwright [[Eugene O'Neill]] won the Nobel literature prize in 1936; other acclaimed U.S. dramatists include multiple [[Pulitzer Prize for Drama|Pulitzer Prize]] winners [[Tennessee Williams]], [[Edward Albee]], and [[August Wilson]].<ref name="Moran2002">{{cite book |last=Moran |first=Eugene V. |title=A People's History of English and American Literature |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=32BbXzfaUxoC&pg=PA228 |year=2002 |publisher=Nova Publishers |isbn=978-1-59033-303-7 |page=228}}</ref>
 
[[Choreography|Choreographers]] [[Isadora Duncan]] and [[Martha Graham]] helped create [[modern dance]], while [[George Balanchine]] and [[Jerome Robbins]] were leaders in 20th-century ballet.
 
=== Music ===
{{Main|Music of the United States|American classical music}}
 
Although little known at the time, [[Charles Ives]]'s work of the 1910s established him as the first major U.S. composer in the classical tradition, while experimentalists such as [[Henry Cowell]] and [[John Cage]] created a distinctive American approach to classical composition. [[Aaron Copland]] and [[George Gershwin]] developed a new synthesis of popular and classical music.
 
The rhythmic and lyrical styles of [[African-American music]] have deeply influenced [[Music of the United States|American music]] at large, distinguishing it from European and African traditions. Elements from [[folk music|folk]] idioms such as the [[blues]] and what is now known as [[old-time music]] were adopted and transformed into [[popular music|popular genres]] with global audiences. [[Jazz]] was developed by innovators such as [[Louis Armstrong]] and [[Duke Ellington]] early in the 20th century. [[Country music]] developed in the 1920s, and [[rhythm and blues]] in the 1940s.<ref name="autogenerated2001">{{cite book |last1=Biddle |first1=Julian |title=What Was Hot!: Five Decades of Pop Culture in America |date=2001 |publisher=Citadel |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8065-2311-8 |page=ix}}</ref>
 
[[Elvis Presley]] and [[Chuck Berry]] were among the mid-1950s pioneers of [[rock and roll]]. Rock bands such as [[Metallica]], the [[Eagles (band)|Eagles]], and [[Aerosmith]] are among the [[List of best-selling music artists|highest grossing]] in worldwide sales.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hartman |first1=Graham |title=Metallica's 'Black album' is Top-Selling Disc of last 20 years |url=http://loudwire.com/metallica-black-album-top-selling-disc-last-20-years/ |website=Loudwire |accessdate=October 12, 2015 |date=January 5, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Vorel |first1=Jim |title=Eagles tribute band landing at Kirkland |url=http://herald-review.com/entertainment/local/eagles-tribute-band-landing-at-kirkland/article_a8dcd506-08d0-11e2-82ac-001a4bcf887a.html |accessdate=October 12, 2015 |agency=Herald & Review |date=September 27, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Aerosmith will rock Salinas with July concert |url=http://www.ksbw.com/news/central-california/salinas/aerosmith-will-rock-salinas-with-july-concert/31042330 |accessdate=October 12, 2015 |date=February 2, 2015}}</ref> In the 1960s, [[Bob Dylan]] emerged from the [[American folk music revival|folk revival]] to become one of America's most celebrated songwriters and [[James Brown]] led the development of [[funk]].
 
More recent American creations include [[hip hop music|hip hop]] and [[house music]]. American pop stars such as [[Elvis Presley]], [[Michael Jackson]], and [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]] have become global celebrities,<ref name="autogenerated2001" /> as have contemporary musical artists such as [[Taylor Swift]], [[Britney Spears]], [[Katy Perry]], [[Beyoncé]], [[Jay-Z]], [[Eminem]] and [[Kanye West]].<ref>* {{cite web |url=http://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2015/09/24/taylor-swift-teen-idol-biggest-pop-artist-world/72744548/ |title=Taylor Swift: Teen idol to 'biggest pop artist in the world' |date=September 24, 2015 |website=The Tennessean}}
* {{cite web |last1=Lynch |first1=Gerald |title=Britney Spears is the most searched for celebrity of the decade |url=http://www.techdigest.tv/2009/12/britney_spears_1.html |website=Tech Digest |accessdate=October 12, 2015}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/shortcuts/2015/jun/30/katy-perry-worlds-richest-famous-woman-taylor-swift-forbes-left-shark |title=Katy Perry: now the world's richest (famous) woman |website=the Guardian |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}
* {{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/03/t-magazine/beyonce-the-woman-on-top-of-the-world.html?_r=0 |title=Beyoncé: The Woman on Top of the World |last=Rosen |first=Jody |publisher=The New York Times}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/imagine/episode/hecame_heconquered.shtml |title=BBC – Imagine – Jay-Z: He Came, He Saw, He Conquered |website=bbc.co.uk |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}*{{cite web |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/introducing-the-king-of-hip-hop-20110815 |title=Introducing the King of Hip-Hop |website=Rolling Stone |accessdate=October 25, 2015}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jun/25/kanye-west-glastonbury-festival-2015-worlds-biggest-pop-star |title=The enigma of Kanye West – and how the world's biggest pop star ended up being its most reviled, too |author=Ben Westhoff |website=the Guardian}}</ref>
 
=== Cinema ===
{{Main|Cinema of the United States}}
 
[[File:HollywoodSign.jpg|thumb|The [[Hollywood Sign]] in [[Los Angeles]], California]]
[[Hollywood]], a northern district of [[Los Angeles]], California, is one of the leaders in motion picture production.<ref>{{cite press release |url=https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=30707 |title=Nigeria surpasses Hollywood as world's second-largest film producer |publisher=United Nations |date=May 5, 2009 |accessdate=February 17, 2013}}</ref> The world's first commercial motion picture exhibition was given in New York City in 1894, using [[Thomas Edison]]'s [[Kinetoscope]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Billboard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=igwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT68 |date=April 29, 1944 |publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc. |page=68 |issn=0006-2510}}</ref> The next year saw the first commercial screening of a projected film, also in New York, and the United States was in the forefront of [[sound film]]'s development in the following decades. Since the early 20th century, the U.S. film industry has largely been based in and around Hollywood, although in the 21st century an increasing number of films are not made there, and film companies have been subject to the forces of globalization.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/john-landis-rails-studios-theyre-659222 |title=John Landis Rails Against Studios: 'They're Not in the Movie Business Anymore' |publisher=''The Hollywood Reporter'' |accessdate=January 24, 2015}}</ref>
 
Director [[D. W. Griffith]], the top American [[filmmaker]] during the [[silent film]] period, was central to the development of [[film grammar]], and producer/entrepreneur [[Walt Disney]] was a leader in both [[animation|animated film]] and movie [[merchandising]].<ref name="KrasniewiczDisney2010">{{cite book |last1=Krasniewicz |first1=Louise |last2=Disney |first2=Walt |title=Walt Disney: A Biography |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lZ3vTgpHgFoC&pg=PR10 |year=2010 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-313-35830-2 |page=10}}</ref> Directors such as [[John Ford]] redefined the image of the American Old West and history, and, like others such as [[John Huston]], broadened the possibilities of cinema with location shooting, with great influence on subsequent directors. The industry enjoyed its golden years, in what is commonly referred to as the "[[Classical Hollywood cinema|Golden Age of Hollywood]]", from the early sound period until the early 1960s,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Matthews |first1=Charles |title=Book explores Hollywood 'Golden Age' of the 1960s-'70s |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/book-explores-hollywood-golden-age-of-the-1960s-70s/2011/02/10/AGh5xJIH_story.html |publisher=The Washington Post |accessdate=August 6, 2015 |date=June 3, 2011}}</ref> with screen actors such as [[John Wayne]] and [[Marilyn Monroe]] becoming iconic figures.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Banner |first1=Lois |title=Marilyn Monroe, the eternal shape shifter |url=http://articles.latimes.com/2012/aug/05/opinion/la-oe-0805-banner-marilyn-monroe-icon-biography-20120805 |publisher=Los Angeles Times |accessdate=August 6, 2015 |date=August 5, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Rick |first1=Jewell |title=John Wayne, an American Icon |url=http://www.usc.edu/uscnews/stories/15465.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080822102812/http://www.usc.edu/uscnews/stories/15465.html |dead-url=yes |archive-date=August 22, 2008 |publisher=University of Southern California |accessdate=August 6, 2015 |date=August 8, 2008}}</ref> In the 1970s, film directors such as [[Martin Scorsese]], [[Francis Ford Coppola]] and [[Robert Altman]] were a vital component in what became known as "[[New Hollywood]]" or the "Hollywood Renaissance",<ref name="Greven2013">{{cite book |last=Greven |first=David |title=Psycho-Sexual: Male Desire in Hitchcock, De Palma, Scorsese, and Friedkin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QIyNBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT23 |year=2013 |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=978-0-292-74204-8 |page=23}}</ref> grittier films influenced by French and Italian realist pictures of the [[Aftermath of World War II|post-war period]].<ref name="Morrison1998">{{cite book |last=Morrison |first=James |title=Passport to Hollywood: Hollywood Films, European Directors |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dWRif68I3igC&pg=PA11 |year=1998 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-7914-3938-8 |page=11}}</ref> Since, directors such as [[Steven Spielberg]], [[George Lucas]] and [[James Cameron]] have gained renown for their blockbuster films, often characterized by high production costs, and in return, high earnings at the box office, with Cameron's ''[[Avatar (2009 film)|Avatar]]'' (2009) earning more than $2 billion.<ref name="Turow2011">{{cite book |last=Turow |first=Joseph |title=Media Today: An Introduction to Mass Communication |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MZsSMKQZoYwC&pg=PA434 |year=2011 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-136-86402-5 |page=434}}</ref>
 
Notable films topping the [[American Film Institute]]'s [[AFI 100]] list include [[Orson Welles]]'s ''[[Citizen Kane]]'' (1941), which is frequently cited as the greatest film of all time,<ref>[http://www.filmsite.org/villvoice.html ''Village Voice'': 100 Best Films of the 20th century (2001)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140331174817/http://www.filmsite.org/villvoice.html |date=March 31, 2014 }}. Filmsite.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/topten/poll/critics-long.html |title=Sight & Sound Top Ten Poll 2002 |publisher=British Film Institute |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20021105130210/http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/topten/poll/critics-long.html |archivedate=November 5, 2002 |year=2002 |deadurl=yes}}</ref> ''[[Casablanca (film)|Casablanca]]'' (1942), ''[[The Godfather]]'' (1972), ''[[Gone with the Wind (1939 film)|Gone with the Wind]]'' (1939), ''[[Lawrence of Arabia (film)|Lawrence of Arabia]]'' (1962), ''[[The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|The Wizard of Oz]]'' (1939), ''[[The Graduate]]'' (1967), ''[[On the Waterfront]]'' (1954), ''[[Schindler's List]]'' (1993), ''[[Singin' in the Rain]]'' (1952), ''[[It's a Wonderful Life]]'' (1946) and ''[[Sunset Boulevard (film)|Sunset Boulevard]]'' (1950).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.afi.com/100years/movies10.aspx |title=AFI's 100 Years |publisher=American Film Institute |accessdate=January 24, 2015}}</ref> The [[Academy Awards]], popularly known as the Oscars, have been held annually by the [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] since 1929,<ref name="DrowneHuber2004">{{cite book |last1=Drowne |first1=Kathleen Morgan |last2=Huber |first2=Patrick |title=The 1920's |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CecCHiI95dYC&pg=PA236 |year=2004 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-32013-2 |page=236}}</ref> and the [[Golden Globe Awards]] have been held annually since January 1944.<ref name="Kroon2014">{{cite book |last=Kroon |first=Richard W.|title=A/V A to Z: An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Media, Entertainment and Other Audiovisual Terms |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HjmNAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA338 |year=2014 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-5740-3 |page=338}}</ref>
 
=== Sports ===
{{Main|Sports in the United States}}
 
[[File:Map of Cities in the USA and Canada with MLB, MLS, NBA, NFL or NHL Teams.png|thumb|left|All cities in the U.S. and Canada with at least one team in the MLB, MLS, NBA, NFL or NHL, 2018]]
 
[[American football]] is by several measures the most popular spectator sport;<ref>{{cite web |author=Krane, David K. |title=Professional Football Widens Its Lead Over Baseball as Nation's Favorite Sport |url=http://www.harrisinteractive.com/Insights/HarrisVault8482.aspx?PID=337 |publisher=Harris Interactive |date=October 30, 2002 |access-date=September 14, 2007 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100709111448/http://www.harrisinteractive.com/Insights/HarrisVault8482.aspx?PID=337 |archivedate=July 9, 2010}} MacCambridge, Michael (2004). ''America's Game: The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured a Nation''. New York: Random House. {{ISBN|0-375-50454-0}}.</ref> the [[National Football League]] (NFL) has the highest average attendance of any sports league in the world, and the [[Super Bowl]] is watched by millions globally. [[Baseball]] has been regarded as the U.S. [[national sport]] since the late 19th century, with [[Major League Baseball]] (MLB) being the top league. [[Basketball]] and [[ice hockey]] are the country's next two [[Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada|leading professional team sports]], with the top leagues being the [[National Basketball Association]] (NBA) and the [[National Hockey League]] (NHL). These four major sports, when played professionally, each occupy a season at different but overlapping, times of the year. [[College football]] and [[College basketball|basketball]] attract large audiences.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.footballfoundation.org/tabid/567/Article/53380/Passion-for-College-Football-Remains-Robust.aspx |title=Passion for College Football Remains Robust |publisher=National Football Foundation |date=March 19, 2013 |accessdate=April 1, 2014}}</ref> In [[Association football|soccer]], the country hosted the [[1994 FIFA World Cup]], the [[United States men's national soccer team|men's national soccer team]] qualified for ten World Cups and the [[United States women's national soccer team|women's team]] has won the [[FIFA Women's World Cup]] three times; [[Major League Soccer]] is the sport's highest league in the United States (featuring 21 American and 3 Canadian teams). The market for professional sports in the United States is roughly $69 billion, roughly 50% larger than that of all of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa combined.<ref>{{cite web |title=Global sports market to hit $141 billion in 2012 |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/2008/06/18/us-pwcstudy-idUSN1738075220080618 |website=Reuters |accessdate=July 24, 2013 |date=June 18, 2008}}</ref>
 
{{multiple image|perrow = 2|total_width=350
| image1 = Arian Foster fumble.jpg
| image2 = David-ortiz-batters-box.JPG
| image3 = Trevor Booker Troy Murphy.jpg
| image4 = 151005-F-ZJ145-361 (22030960390).jpg
| footer = The most popular American sports are [[American football]], [[baseball]], [[basketball]] and [[ice hockey]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Top 10 Most Popular Sports in America 2017 |url=http://www.sportsind.com/list/most-popular-sports-in-america/ |website=SportsInd |accessdate=June 8, 2017 |date=October 28, 2016}}</ref>
}}
Eight [[Olympic Games]] have taken place in the United States ([[2028 Summer Olympics]] will mark the ninth time). {{as of|2017}}, the United States has won 2,522 medals at the [[Summer Olympic Games]], more than any other country, and 305 in the [[Winter Olympic Games]], the second most behind Norway.<ref>{{cite news |title=The 10 most fascinating facts about the all-time Winter Olympics medal standings |first=Chris |last=Chase |date=February 7, 2014 |work=USA Today|url=http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/02/winter-olympics-medal-count-sochi-all-time-facts/ |accessdate=February 28, 2014}} {{cite news |title=With Sochi Olympics approaching, a history of Winter Olympic medals |date=February 6, 2014 |first=Dan |last=Loumena |work=Los Angeles Times |url=http://articles.latimes.com/2014/feb/06/sports/la-sp-a-history-of-the-winter-olympic-medals-20140206 |accessdate=February 28, 2014}}</ref>
While most major U.S. sports such as [[baseball]] and [[American football]] have evolved out of European practices, [[basketball]], [[volleyball]], [[skateboarding]], and [[snowboarding]] are American inventions, some of which have become popular worldwide. [[Lacrosse]] and [[surfing]] arose from Native American and Native Hawaiian activities that predate Western contact.<ref name=liss>Liss, Howard. ''Lacrosse'' (Funk & Wagnalls, 1970) pg 13.</ref> The most watched [[individual sport]]s are [[golf]] and [[auto racing]], particularly [[NASCAR]].<ref>{{cite web |title=As American as Mom, Apple Pie and Football? Football continues to trump baseball as America's Favorite Sport |url=http://www.harrisinteractive.com/vault/Harris%20Poll%205%20-%202014%20Fave%20Sport_1.16.14.pdf |website=Harris Interactive |accessdate=July 2, 2014 |date=January 16, 2014 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309053431/http://www.harrisinteractive.com/vault/Harris%20Poll%205%20-%202014%20Fave%20Sport_1.16.14.pdf |archivedate=March 9, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Cowen, Tyler |author2=Grier, Kevin |title=What Would the End of Football Look Like? |url=http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7559458/cte-concussion-crisis-economic-look-end-football |publisher=Grantland/ESPN |date=February 9, 2012 |accessdate=February 12, 2012}}</ref> [[Rugby union]] is considered the fastest growing sport in the U.S., with registered players, numbered at 115,000+ and a further 1.2 million participants.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/04/sport/usa-rugby-nigel-melville/index.html |title=Will U.S. learn to love rugby? |first=Rob |last=Hodgetts |publisher=}}</ref>
 
=== Mass media ===
{{Main|Media of the United States}}
[[File:ABC 77 W66 jeh.JPG|thumb|The corporate headquarters of the [[American Broadcasting Company]] in New York City]]
The four major broadcasters in the U.S. are the [[NBC|National Broadcasting Company]] (NBC), [[CBS|Columbia Broadcasting System]] (CBS), [[American Broadcasting Company]] (ABC), and [[Fox Broadcasting Company]] (FOX). The four major broadcast [[television network]]s are all commercial entities. [[Cable television in the United States|Cable television]] offers hundreds of channels catering to a variety of niches.<ref>{{cite news |title=Streaming TV Services: What They Cost, What You Get |url=https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/10/12/business/ap-us-streaming-tv-options.html?_r=0 |accessdate=October 12, 2015 |agency=NY Times; Associated Press |date=October 12, 2015}}</ref> Americans listen to radio programming, also largely commercial, on average just over two-and-a-half hours a day.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1004830 |title=TV Fans Spill into Web Sites |date=June 7, 2007 |publisher=eMarketer |accessdate=June 10, 2007}}</ref>
 
In 1998, the number of U.S. commercial radio stations had grown to 4,793 AM stations and 5,662 FM stations. In addition, there are 1,460 public radio stations. Most of these stations are run by universities and public authorities for educational purposes and are financed by public or private funds, subscriptions, and corporate underwriting. Much public-radio broadcasting is supplied by [[NPR]] (formerly National Public Radio). NPR was incorporated in February 1970 under the [[Public Broadcasting Act of 1967]]; its television counterpart, [[PBS]], was also created by the same legislation (NPR and PBS are operated separately from each other). {{As of|2014|09|30|df=US}}, there are 15,433 licensed full-power radio stations in the U.S. according to the [[U.S. Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC).<ref>{{cite web |last=Waits |first=Jennifer |title=Number of U.S. Radio Stations on the Rise, Especially LPFM, according to New FCC Count |website=Radio Survivor |date=October 17, 2014 |accessdate=January 6, 2015 |url=http://www.radiosurvivor.com/2014/10/17/number-u-s-radio-stations-rise-especially-lpfm-according-latest-fcc-count/}}</ref>
 
Well-known newspapers include ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'', ''[[The New York Times]]'', and ''[[USA Today]]''.<ref name="Shaffer2006">{{cite book |author=Brenda Shaffer |title=The Limits of Culture: Islam and Foreign Policy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uEOd-cDWVwQC&pg=PA116 |year=2006 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=978-0-262-19529-4 |page=116}}</ref> Although the cost of publishing has increased over the years, the price of newspapers has generally remained low, forcing newspapers to rely more on advertising revenue and on articles provided by a major wire service, such as the [[Associated Press]] or [[Reuters]], for their national and world coverage. With very few exceptions, all the newspapers in the U.S. are privately owned, either by large chains such as [[Gannett Company|Gannett]] or [[The McClatchy Company|McClatchy]], which own dozens or even hundreds of newspapers; by small chains that own a handful of papers; or in a situation that is increasingly rare, by individuals or families. Major cities often have "alternative weeklies" to complement the mainstream daily papers, for example, New York City's ''[[The Village Voice]]'' or Los Angeles' ''[[LA Weekly]]'', to name two of the best-known. Major cities may also support a local business journal, trade papers relating to local industries, and papers for local ethnic and social groups. Early versions of the American newspaper [[comic strip]] and the [[American comic book]] began appearing in the 19th century. In 1938, [[Superman]], the comic book [[superhero]] of [[DC Comics]], developed into an American icon.<ref>{{cite book |last=Daniels |first=Les |authorlink=Les Daniels |year=1998 |title=Superman: The Complete History |page=11 |edition=1st |publisher=Titan Books |isbn=978-1-85286-988-5}}</ref> Aside from [[web portal]]s and [[web search engine|search engines]], the most popular websites are [[Facebook]], [[YouTube]], [[Wikipedia]], [[Yahoo!]], [[eBay]], [[Amazon.com|Amazon]], and [[Twitter]].<ref name="alexa-topsitesus">{{cite web |url=http://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries/US |title=Top Sites in United States |year=2014 |publisher=Alexa |accessdate=October 20, 2014}}</ref>
 
More than 800 publications are produced in Spanish, the second most commonly used language in the United States behind English.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.w3newspapers.com/usa/spanish |title=Spanish Newspapers in United States |publisher=W3newspapers |accessdate=August 5, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/usstate/spanish-language-newspapers-usa.htm |title=Spanish Language Newspapers in the USA : Hispanic Newspapers : Periódiscos en Español en los EE.UU |publisher=Onlinenewspapers.com |accessdate=August 5, 2014}}</ref>
 
== See also ==
{{Portal|United States|American cuisine}}
{{Wikipedia books}}
* [[Index of United States-related articles]]
* [[Lists of U.S. state topics]]
* [[Outline of the United States]]{{-}}
 
== References ==
=== Footnotes ===
{{notelist
| colwidth = 30em
| notes =
{{efn
| name = pop
| Excludes [[Puerto Rico]] and the other [[Unincorporated territories of the United States|unincorporated islands]].
}}
{{efn
| name = language
| In five territories, English as well as one or more indigenous languages are official: [[Spanish language|Spanish]] in Puerto Rico, [[Samoan language|Samoan]] in American Samoa, [[Chamorro language|Chamorro]] in both Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. [[Carolinian language|Carolinian]] is also an official language in the Northern Mariana Islands.
}}
{{efn
| name = time
| See [[Time in the United States]] for details about laws governing time zones in the United States.
}}
{{efn
| name = drive
| Except the [[United States Virgin Islands|U.S. Virgin Islands]].
}}
}}
 
=== Citations ===
{{reflist}}
 
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{{refend}}
 
'''Internet sources'''
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/country_profiles/1217752.stm |title=''Country Profile: United States of America'' |ref=BBC18may |work=BBC News |location=London |date=April 22, 2008 |accessdate=May 18, 2008}}
* {{cite web |last=Cohen |first=Eliot A. |ref=Cohen |location=Washington, DC |url=http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/59919/eliot-a-cohen/history-and-the-hyperpower |title=''History and the Hyperpower'' |website=Foreign Affairs |date=July–August 2004 |accessdate=July 14, 2006}}
* {{cite web |title=Slavery and the Slave Trade in Rhode Island |ref=Brown |url=https://www.brown.edu/Facilities/John_Carter_Brown_Library/jcbexhibit/Pages/exhibSlavery.html}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.treasury.gov/about/education/Pages/in-god-we-trust.aspx |title=History of "In God We Trust" |ref=God |publisher=U.S. Department of the Treasury |date=March 8, 2011 |accessdate=February 23, 2013}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.mchspa.org/body.htm |title=''Early History, Native Americans, and Early Settlers in Mercer County'' |year=2005 |ref=Mercer |publisher=Mercer County Historical Society |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050310021430/http://www.mchspa.org/body.htm |archivedate=March 10, 2005|access-date=April 6, 2016}}
* {{cite news |title=Looking back 20 years: Who deserves credit for ending the Cold War? |first=Nick |last=Hayes |ref=Hayes |url=http://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy/2009/11/looking-back-20-years-who-deserves-credit-ending-cold-war |newspaper=MinnPost |date=November 6, 2009 |accessdate=March 11, 2013}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.ushistory.org/us/59e.asp |title=59e. The End of the Cold War |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website=USHistory.org |ref=ushistory13 |publisher=Independence Hall Association |accessdate=March 10, 2013}}
* {{cite book |last=Levy |first=Peter B. |ref=Levy1996 |title=Encyclopedia of the Reagan-Bush Years |url=https://books.google.com/?id=7veohk0fkLYC&lpg=PA88 |year=1996 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-313-29018-3 |page=442}}
* {{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045216 |title=U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts selected: United States|date=2016 |website=QuickFacts |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau|pages= |language= |quote= |accessdate=September 9, 2017}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Wallander |first1=Celeste A. |year=2003 |ref=Wallander2003 |title=Western Policy and the Demise of the Soviet Union |journal=[[Journal of Cold War Studies]] |volume=5 |issue=4 |pages=137–177 |doi=10.1162/152039703322483774 }}
* {{cite journal |title=Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens |last1=Gilens|first1=Martin|last2=Page|first2=Benjamin I.|lastauthoramp=yes |journal=[[Perspectives on Politics]] |date=2014 |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=564–581 |doi=10.1017/S1537592714001595 |url=http://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/files/gilens_and_page_2014_-testing_theories_of_american_politics.doc.pdf|ref=harv}}
 
{{refend}}
 
== External links ==
{{Sister project links|voy=United States}}
<!--Please:
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* {{CIA World Factbook link|us|United States}}
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16761057 United States], from the [[BBC News]]
* [http://www.ifs.du.edu/ifs/frm_CountryProfile.aspx?Country=US Key Development Forecasts for the United States] from [[International Futures]]
 
;Government
* [http://www.usa.gov/ Official U.S. Government Web Portal] Gateway to government sites
* [http://www.house.gov/ House] Official site of the United States House of Representatives
* [https://www.senate.gov/ Senate] Official site of the United States Senate
* [http://www.whitehouse.gov/ White House] Official site of the President of the United States
* [{{SCOTUS URL}} Supreme Court] Official site of the Supreme Court of the United States
 
;History
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080314143240/http://www.nationalcenter.org/HistoricalDocuments.html Historical Documents] Collected by the National Center for Public Policy Research
* [http://www.religioustolerance.org/nat_mott.htm U.S. National Mottos: History and Constitutionality] Analysis by the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
* [http://www.historicalstatistics.org/index2.html USA] Collected links to historical data
 
;Maps
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20091021182322/http://www.nationalatlas.gov/ National Atlas of the United States] Official maps from the U.S. Department of the Interior
* {{wikiatlas|the United States}}
* [http://www.measureofamerica.org/maps/ Measure of America] A variety of mapped information relating to health, education, income, and demographics for the U.S.
 
;Photos
* [https://www.flickr.com/search/?text=USA Photos of the USA]
 
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{{United States topics}}
{{United States political divisions|state=collapsed}}
 
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[[Category:Countries in North America]]
[[Category:English-speaking countries and territories]]
[[Category:Federal constitutional republics]]
[[Category:Former British colonies]]
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[[Category:G20 nations]]
[[Category:Member states of NATO]]
[[Category:Member states of the United Nations]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1776]]
[[Category:Superpowers]]
[[Category:1776 establishments in the United States]]

Revision as of 21:12, 2 April 2019

"America", "US", and "USA" redirect here. For the landmass comprising North, Central and South America, see Americas. For other uses, see America (disambiguation), US (disambiguation), USA (disambiguation), and United States (disambiguation).

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions.[g] At 3.8 million square miles (9.8 million km2), the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area[h] and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles (10.1 million km2). With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.

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