Overview of and topical guide to the United States
An orthographic projection of the United States.
The following
outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the United States:
United States of America – federal republic located primarily in
North America , and the world's third-largest country by both land and total area. It shares land borders with
Canada to its north and with
Mexico to its south and has maritime borders with the
Bahamas ,
Cuba ,
Russia , and other nations. With the Soviet Union's collapse and the subsequent end of the Cold War in 1991, the United States emerged as the world's sole superpower.
General reference
An enlargeable map of the United States showing the population density in 2010
Pronunciation:
Abbreviations : USA or US
Common English country name: United States
Languages of the United States:
English ,
Spanish and
Hawaiian
Official English country name: United States of America
Common
endonyms :
United States , U.S., U.S.A.,
America
Official endonym: United States of America
Common
exonyms : United States;
America or
The States (chiefly
British /
Commonwealth ); North America (chiefly Latin America)
Adjectivals : United States,
American
Demonyms : American (among
others )
Etymology
International rankings of the United States
ISO country codes : US, USA, 840
ISO region codes : See
ISO 3166-2:US
Internet
country code top-level domain :
.us ,
.com ,
.org ,
.net ,
.gov ,
.edu
Geography of the United States
An enlargeable topographic map of the
contiguous United States
Location (
50 states ):
Northern Hemisphere and
Western Hemisphere (except western
Aleutian Islands )
Time zones :
Extreme points of the United States :
North:
Point Barrow ,
Alaska
71°23′15″N 156°28′52″W / 71.38750°N 156.48111°W / 71.38750; -156.48111 (AK-N Point Barrow )
South:
Ka Lae ,
Island of Hawai'i , Hawai'i (
18°54′39″N 155°40′52″W / 18.91083°N 155.68111°W / 18.91083; -155.68111 )
East: Sail Rock, just offshore
West Quoddy Head ,
Maine
44°48′54″N 66°56′52″W / 44.81500°N 66.94778°W / 44.81500; -66.94778
Physically East: Eastern Semisopochnoi Island,
Alaska
51°57′40″N 179°46′29″E / 51.96111°N 179.77472°E / 51.96111; 179.77472
West: Peaked Island, offshore
Cape Wrangell ,
Attu Island ,
Alaska
52°55′00″N 172°26′00″E / 52.91667°N 172.43333°E / 52.91667; 172.43333
Physically West: Western Amatignak Island,
Alaska
51°16′06″N 179°09′00″W / 51.26833°N 179.15000°W / 51.26833; -179.15000
High:
Denali (
Mount McKinley ),
Alaska at 6,194 meters (20,322 ft)
63°4′10″N 151°0′26″W / 63.06944°N 151.00722°W / 63.06944; -151.00722
Low:
Badwater Basin ,
Death Valley , California at −86 meters (−282 ft)
36°13′58″N 116°46′42″W / 36.23278°N 116.77833°W / 36.23278; -116.77833
Land boundaries: 12,034 km (7,477 mi)
Canada 8,893 km (5,525 mi)
[note 1]
Mexico 3,145 km (1,954 mi)
[1]
Coastline: 19,924 km (12,380 mi)
Environment of the United States
An enlargeable satellite composite image of the
contiguous United States . Lush temperate, subtropical, and tropical vegetation and low to moderately high mountains prevail throughout the humid east, and high mountains, plateaus, temperate and subtropical
savannas , and hot dry
deserts prevail in the west.
Geographic features of the United States
Regions of the United States
Physiographic divisions of the United States
The geography of the United States varies across their immense area. Within the continental U.S.,
eight distinct physiographic divisions exist, though each is composed of several smaller physiographic subdivisions.
[2] These major divisions are:
Laurentian Upland – part of the
Canadian Shield that extends into the northern United States
Great Lakes area.
Atlantic Plain – the coastal regions of the eastern and southern parts includes the continental shelf, the
Atlantic Coast and the
Gulf Coast .
Appalachian Highlands – lying on the eastern side of the United States, it includes the
Appalachian Mountains ,
Adirondacks and
New England province.
Interior Plains – part of the interior continental United States, it includes much of what is called the
Great Plains .
Interior Highlands – also part of the interior continental United States, this division includes the
Ozark Plateau.
Rocky Mountain System – one branch of the
Cordilleran system lying far inland in the western states.
Intermontane Plateaus – also divided into the
Columbia Plateau , the
Colorado Plateau and the
Basin and Range Province , it is a system of plateaus, basins, ranges and gorges between the Rocky and Pacific Mountain Systems. It is the setting for the
Grand Canyon , the
Great Basin and
Death Valley .
Pacific Mountain System – the coastal mountain ranges and features in the
west coast of the United States .
Administrative divisions of the United States
States of the United States
At the
Declaration of Independence , the United States consisted of
13 states , former
colonies of the United Kingdom. In the following years, the number of
states has grown steadily due to expansion to the west, conquest and purchase of lands by the American government, and division of existing states to the current number of
50 United States :
[3]
Map of the United States with state border lines. Alaska and Hawaii are shown at different scales, and that the
Aleutian Islands and the
uninhabited
northwestern Hawaiian Islands are omitted from this map.
Territories of the United States
Location of the insular areas of the United States: The United States of America
Incorporated unorganized territory
Unincorporated organized territory
Unincorporated unorganized territory
Freely associated commonwealth
Incorporated organized territories
Incorporated unorganized territories
Unincorporated organized territories
Unincorporated unorganized territories
Baker Island , uninhabited
Howland Island , uninhabited
Jarvis Island , uninhabited
Johnston Atoll , uninhabited
Kingman Reef , uninhabited
Bajo Nuevo Bank , uninhabited (disputed with
Colombia )
Serranilla Bank , uninhabited (disputed with Colombia)
Midway Islands , no indigenous inhabitants, currently included in the Midway Atoll
National Wildlife Refuge
Navassa Island , uninhabited (claimed by
Haiti )
Wake Atoll consisting of Peale, Wake and Wilkes Islands,
[4] no indigenous inhabitants, only contractor personnel (claimed by the
Marshall Islands )
Geography of the states and territories
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Demography of the United States
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Climate of the United States
History of the United States
John Trumbull 's
Declaration of Independence is usually incorrectly identified as a depiction of the signing of the
Declaration of Independence , but it actually shows the drafting committee presenting its work to the Congress.
A map of the
territorial evolution of the United States
Period-coverage
History of the states and territories
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History of cities
Presidents of the United States
Government and politics in the United States
Federal government
Legislative branch
The
United States Capitol
Executive branch
The
White House
Federal executive departments
All departments are listed by their present-day name and only departments with past or present cabinet-level status are listed. Order of succession applies only to within the cabinet; the vice president has always been first in the line of succession, and the Speaker of the House and the President pro tem of the Senate have at times been included.
Department
Creation
Order of succession
Modifications since creation
2007 Budget in billions of dollars
Employees (2007)
State
1789
1
Initially named "Department of Foreign Affairs"
9.96
30,266
Treasury
1789
2
11.10
115,897
Defense
1947
3
Initially named "National Military Establishment"
439.30
3,000,000
Justice
1870
4
Position of
Attorney General created in 1789, but had no department until 1870
23.40
112,557
Interior
1849
5
10.70
71,436
Agriculture
1889
6
77.60
109,832
Commerce
1903
7
Originally named Commerce and Labor; Labor later separated
6.20
36,000
Labor
1913
8
59.70
17,347
Health and Human Services
1953
9
Originally named Health, Education, and Welfare; Education later separated
543.20
67,000
Housing and Urban Development
1965
10
46.20
10,600
Transportation
1966
11
58.00
58,622
Energy
1977
12
21.50
116,100
Education
1979
13
62.80
4,487
Veterans Affairs
1989
14
73.20
235,000
Homeland Security
2002
15
44.60
208,000
Total budget (fiscal year 2007):
1,523.42
4,193,144
Commissions
Judicial branch
The
United States Supreme Court building
State and territory governments
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Politics of the states and territories
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Foreign relations
International organization membership
Military
The Pentagon
Intelligence organizations
Headquarters of the
Central Intelligence Agency
Law of the United States
Culture of the United States
American cuisine
Historical cuisine
Cuisine of the regions
Art in the United States
Film
Music in the United States
Genres
Music in the states and territories
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Radio
Sports in the United States
List of Major Sports Leagues in the United States
Other top-level leagues and series
Minor and developmental professional leagues and series
College sports
Sports governing bodies
Sports by state and territory
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Sports Museums in the United States
Education in the United States
Education in the states and territories
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Economy and infrastructure of the United States
Economy by state and territory
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Health in the United States
Tourism in the United States
See also
Notes
^ The total length of the land border between
Canada and the United States is the longest between any two countries.
References
External links
Government
Overviews and Data
History
Maps
Other