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Background: The United States became the world's first modern
democracy after its break with Great Britain (1776) and the adoption
of a constitution (1789). During the 19th century, many new states were
added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the North American
continent and acquired a number of overseas possessions. The two major
traumatic experiences in the nation's history were the Civil War (1861-65)
and the Great Depression of the 1930s. Buoyed by victories in World Wars
I and II and the end of the Cold War in 1991, the US remains the world's
most powerful nation-state. The economy is marked by steady growth, low
unemployment and inflation, and rapid advances in technology.
Location: North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean
and the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico
Area:
Total: 9,629,091 sq km
Land: 9,158,960 sq km
Water: 470,131 sq km
Note: includes only the 50 states and District of Columbia
Land Boundaries:
Total: 12,248 km
Border Countries:
Canada 8,893 km (including 2,477 km with Alaska),
Cuba 29 km (US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay),
Mexico 3,326 km
Note: Guantanamo Naval Base is leased by the US and thus remains part of Cuba
Coastline: 19,924 km
Elevation Extremes:
Lowest Point: Death Valley -86 m
Highest Point: Mount McKinley 6,194 m
Population: 275,562,673 (July 2000 est.)
Ethnic Groups: white 83.5%, black 12.4%, Asian 3.3%, Amerindian 0.8% (1992)
Note: a separate listing for Hispanic is not included because the US Census
Bureau considers Hispanic to mean a person of Latin American descent
(especially of Cuban, Mexican, or Puerto Rican origin) living in the US
who may be of any race or ethnic group (white, black, Asian, etc.)
Languages: English, Spanish (spoken by a sizable minority)
Information courtesy of the
CIA World Factbook.
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