Aarushhh/wikipedia-simple-splitted huggingface dataset:
A example of animals that are native to the United States such as opossums, raccoons, pumas, and bears. Endangered animals in the United States include the jaguar, the California condor, and the Florida panther.

There are many types of small trees and shrubs in the United States. Some of these are hackberries, hawthorn, serviceberry, blackberry, wild cherry, dogwood, and snowberry. Wildflowers grow all around the United States. They even grow in deserts and places with mountains. Wildflowers include forget-me-not, fringed and closed gentians, jack-in-the-pulpit, black-eyed Susan, columbine, and common dandelion, as well as many types of aster, orchid, lady's slipper, and wild rose.

History

Native Americans
Native Americans 

It is believed that the indigenous peoples of the continental United States, including the natives of Alaska, moved in from Asia. They began arriving twelve or forty thousand years ago, if not earlier. Some, such as the pre-Columbian Mississippian culture in the southeast, developed advanced farming, grand construction, and state-level communities. The native population of America decreased after Europeans arrived, and for different reasons, mostly sicknesses such as smallpox and measles.

European settlers
In 1492, Genoese explorer Christopher Columbus, under contract to the Spanish crown, reached some Caribbean islands, making the first contact with the native people. On April 2, 1513, Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León landed on what he called "La Florida"—the first recorded European coming on what would become the U.S. mainland. Spanish settlements in the area were followed by ones in the present-day southwestern United States that drew thousands through Mexico. French fur traders established outposts of New France around the Great Lakes; France eventually claimed much of the North American interior, down to the Gulf of Mexico. The first successful English settlements were the Colony of Virginia in Jamestown in 1607 and the Pilgrims' Plymouth Colony in 1620. The 1628 chartering of the Massachusetts Bay Colony resulted in a wave of relocation; by 1634, New England had been settled by some 10,000 Puritans
. Between the late 1610s and the American Revolution, about 50,000 convicts were shipped to Britain's American colonies. Beginning in 1614, the Dutch settled along the lower Hudson River, including New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island.
Independence and expansion 

Tensions between American colonials and the British during the rebel period of the 1760s and early 1770s led to the American Revolutionary War, fought from 1775 through 1781. On June 14, 1775, the Continental Congress, a meeting in Philadelphia, established a Continental Army led by George Washington.The Congress said that "all men are created equal" and are born with "certain natural rights," and adopted the Declaration of Independence, written mostly by Thomas Jefferson, on July 4, 1776. That date is now celebrated every year as America's Independence Day. In 1777, the Articles of Confederation established a weak federal government that operated until 1789. Morocco was the first country in the world to recognize America’s independence.
Attitudes toward slavery were shifting; a clause in the Constitution protected the African slave trade only until 1808. The Northern states permanently stopped slavery between 1780 and 1804, leaving the slave states of the South as defenders of the "peculiar institution." The Second Great Awakening, beginning about 1800, made evangelicalism a force behind different social reform movements, including abolitionism.
Americans' eagerness to expand westward caused a long series of Indian Wars and an Indian removal policy that stripped the native peoples of their land. The Louisiana Purchase of French-claimed land under President Thomas Jefferson in 1803 almost doubled the nation's size. The War of 1812, declared against Britain over different complaints and fought to a draw, strengthened U.S. nationalism. A series of U.S. military invasions into Florida led Spain to give up it and other Gulf Coast territory in 1819. The United States took over the Republic of Texas in 1845. The idea of Manifest destiny became popular during this time. The 1846 Oregon Treaty with Britain led to U.S. control of the present-day American Northwest. The U.S. victory in the Mexican–American War resulted in the 1848 cession of California and much of the present-day American Southwest. The California Gold Rush of 1848–49 further encouraged western relocation
. New railways made relocation easier for settlers and increased conflicts with Native Americans. Over a half-century, up to 40 million American bison, or buffalo, were killed for skins and meat and to ease the railways' spread. The loss of the buffalo, which were valuable to the plains Indians, caused many native cultures to become gone forever.
Civil War and industrialization 

Tensions between slave and free states mounted with arguments over the relationship between the state and federal governments, as well as violent conflicts over the spread of slavery into new states. Abraham Lincoln, a candidate of the most antislavery Republican Party, was elected president in 1860. Before he took office, seven slave states declared their secession—which the federal government maintained was illegal—and formed the Confederate States of America. With the Confederate attack upon Fort Sumter, the American Civil War began and four more slave states joined the Confederacy. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation committed the Union to end slavery. Following the Union victory in 1865, three changes to the U.S. Constitution secured freedom for the nearly four million African Americans who had been slaves, made them citizens, and gave them voting rights. The war and its resolution led to a big increase in federal power.
After the war, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln caused the Reconstruction, where policies were put together directed at getting back and rebuilding the Southern states while securing the rights of the newly freed slaves. The resolution of the disputed 1876 presidential election by the Compromise of 1877 ended this era, and the Jim Crow laws soon disenfranchised many African Americans. In the North, urbanization and a never-before-seen inflow of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe made the country's industrialization grow rapidly. The wave of immigration, lasting until 1929, gave labor and changed American culture. High tax protections, national infrastructure building, and new banking laws encouraged growth also. The 1867 Alaska Purchase from Russia completed the country's mainland expansion. The Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890 was the last major armed conflict of the Indian Wars
. In 1893, the native monarchy of the Pacific Kingdom of Hawaii was ended in a secret and successful plan led by American residents. the United States took over the archipelago in 1898. Victory in the Spanish–American War the same year proved that the United States was a world power and led to the addition of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. The Philippines gained independence fifty years later. Puerto Rico and Guam are still U.S. territories.
World War I, Great Depression, and World War II 

The First World War started in Europe in 1914. The United States said it was neutral and did not join the war at first. Later, the Americans helped the British and French, even though many citizens, especially those from Ireland and Germany, were against it. In 1917, the United States joined the Allies. They helped defeat the Central Powers. At the end fo the war, many Americans did not want to stay involved in Europe.  The Senate did not approve the Treaty of Versailles (1919). The United States stayed out of the League of Nations. The country became more isolationist.
In 1920, the Women's rights movement gained the approval of a constitutional amendment to grant women the right to vote. For most of the 1920s, the country enjoyed a period of success, decreasing the inequality in the balance of payments while profiting from industrial farms. This period, known as the Roaring Twenties, ended with the Wall Street Crash of 1929 that triggered the Great Depression. 

After his election as president in 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt responded with the New Deal, a series of policies that increased government interference in the economy. From 1920 to 1933 a prohibition banning alcohol was in place. The Dust Bowl of the 1930s left many poor farmer communities and encouraged a new wave of emigration to the West Coast.
The United States, officially neutral during the early stages of World War II, began supplying supplies to the Allies in March 1941, through the Lend-Lease program. On December 7, 1941, the country joined the Allies' fight against the Axis Powers, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. World War II boosted the economy by providing investment capital and jobs, making many women enter the labor market. Of the significant fighters, the United States was the only nation to be enriched by war. The discussions at Bretton Woods and Yalta created a new system of an international organization that placed the country and the Soviet Union at the heart of world affairs. In 1945, when the end of the Second World War in Europe came, and international gathering held in San Francisco drafted the Charter of the United Nations, which came into force after the war. Having developed the first nuclear weapon, the government decided to use it in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August of that same year
. Japan gave up on September 2, ending the war.
Cold War and civil rights era 

After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union started the Cold War. This was because both of them thought their own type of government was the best. The United States was supported by NATO, and the Soviet Union was supported by the Warsaw Pact. They never fought each other directly, but did many proxy wars. In the Korean War, the United States sent soldiers to help South Korea. They fought Chinese soldiers that were helping communist North Korea. In the 1960s, the Cuban Missile Crisis almost led to a real war between the two countries. However, the Soviets agreed to take their missiles out of Cuba if the United States did not attack them. Because of the Cold War, many Americans were scared of communist spies taking over the United States. This started the Second Red Scare, and hundreds of people were arrested because they were communist. Later, many cases in the Supreme Court made arresting communists illegal, because it is free speech.
In 1957, the Soviet Union launched a satellite named Sputnik 1 into outer space. Later, they were the first to put people in outer space. Because of this, President John F. Kennedy wanted to send a man to the Moon. This started the Space Race, and the United States made the Apollo program, a project used for outer space. In 1969, the United States launched Apollo 11, and was the first country to send people to the Moon.

The economy of the United States grew a lot. In the 1950s and 1960s, Americans had the highest average income in the world. Because of this, many people moved to large cities and suburbs, and had more children. The country built the Interstate Highway System, which made it easier to travel and move things across the country. In 1959, Alaska and Hawaii became U.S. states.
In 1974, Richard Nixon became the first President to resign. This was because of the Watergate scandal, where people broke into the Democratic headquarters and took a lot of information to help Nixon. During the Yom Kippur War, the United States helped Israel. Because of this, countries in OPEC did not let the United States buy their oil. This started an oil crisis. In the 1970s, the country's economy had a problem with stagflation, something that happens when prices go up but production does not. When Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980, he tried to stop this with lower taxes and less government control over the economy. These changes were called Reaganomics. The Cold War ended in 1991. This was because the Soviet Union dissolved. With no Soviet Union, the United States became the largest superpower in the world.

Modern history
Modern history 

Under President George H. W. Bush, the country took on a global dominant role worldwide, as in the Gulf War (1991). The longest economic expansion in modern American history, from March 1991 to March 2001, spanned the presidency of Bill Clinton and the dot-com bubble. A civil lawsuit and a sex scandal led to his impeachment in 1998, although he managed to finish his period. The 2000 presidential election was one of the most competitive in American history, it was settled by the Supreme Court: George W. Bush, son of George H. W. Bush, became president, even though he gained fewer votes than his opponent Al Gore.
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina, which would end up being the deadliest natural disaster in national history, caused severe destruction along the Gulf Coast: the city of New Orleans was devastated, with 1833 dead.

On November 4, 2008, during a global economic downturn, Barack Obama was elected president, having been the first African American to take office. In May 2011, American Special forces managed to kill Osama bin Laden, hiding in Pakistan. The following year, Barack Obama was re-elected. Under his second term, he led the war against the Islamic State and restored diplomatic relations with Cuba.

On November 8, 2016, the Republican Party leader Donald Trump defeated former First Lady Hillary Clinton for presidency in an unusual election and whose plans have been described by political analysts as populist, protectionist and nationalist, assuming office on January 20, 2017.
The massacres in Orlando of June 12, 2016 at the gay disco Pulse (51 dead) and in Las Vegas on October 1, 2017 (60) are listed as the largest massacres in the country since 9/11. The Murder of George Floyd in late May 2020 sparked protests all over the world that demanded racial justice. On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. was stormed during a riot and violent attack against the U.S. Congress.

Government
Government 

The United States is the world's oldest surviving federation. It is a constitutional republic and representative democracy, "in which majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law." The government is controlled by a system of checks and balances from the United States Constitution. The constitution is the country's main legal document. There are three branches. They are the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch. State governments and the federal government work in very similar ways. Each state has its own executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The executive branch of a state government is led by a governor, instead of a president.
Executive branch
The executive branch is the part of the government that enforces the law. Members of the U.S. Electoral College elect a president who is the leader of the executive branch, as well as the leader of the armed forces. The president may veto a bill that Congress has passed, so it does not become a law. The President may also make "executive orders" to ensure that people follow the law.

The president is in charge of many departments that control much of the day-to-day actions of the government. For example, Department of Commerce makes rules about trade. The president chooses the heads of these departments and also nominates federal judges. However, the Senate, part of the legislative branch, must agree with all of the people the president chooses. The president may serve two 4-year terms.

Legislative branch

The legislative branch makes laws. The legislative branch is called the United States Congress. Congress is divided into two "houses".
One house is the House of Representatives. The Representatives are each elected by voters from set areas within the states. The number of Representatives a state has is based on how many people live there. Representatives serve two-year terms. The total number of representatives today is 435. The leader of the House of Representatives is the Speaker of the House.

The other house is the Senate. In the Senate, each state is represented equally, by two senators. Because there are 50 states, there are 100 senators. The President's treaties or appointments of officials need the Senate's approval. Senators serve six-year terms. The Vice President of the United States serves as president of the Senate. In practice, the vice president is usually absent from the Senate, and a senator serves as president pro tempore, or temporary president, of the Senate.
Representatives and senators propose laws, called "bills", in their respective houses. A bill may be voted upon by the entire house right away or may first go to a small group, known as a committee, which may recommend a bill for a vote by the whole house. If one house votes to pass a bill, the bill then gets sent to the other house; if both houses vote for it, it is then sent to the president, who may sign the bill into law or veto it. If the president vetoes the bill, it is sent back to Congress. If Congress votes again and passes the bill with at least a two-thirds majority, the bill becomes law and cannot be vetoed by the president.

Under the American system of federalism, Congress may not make laws that directly control the states; instead, Congress may use the promise of federal funds, or special circumstances such as national emergencies, to encourage the states to follow federal law. This system is both complex and unique.
Judicial branch
The judicial branch is the part of government that interprets what the law means. The Judicial Branch is made up of the Supreme Court and many lower courts. If the Supreme Court decides that a law is not allowed by the Constitution, the law is said to be "struck down" and is no longer a valid law.

The Supreme Court is made up of nine judges, called justices, who are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. One of these justices, called the chief justice, heads the court. A Supreme Court justice serves until he or she dies or resigns (quits in the middle of his or her term). When that happens, the president nominates someone new to replace the justice who left. If the Senate agrees with that choice, the person becomes a justice. If the Senate does not agree with the president's choice, then the president must nominate someone else.
Famous court cases such as Marbury v Madison (which was decided in 1803) have firmly established that the Supreme Court is the ultimate interpreter of the United States Constitution and has the power to strike down any law that conflicts with it.

Politics

The United States of America consists of 50 states, 5 territories, and 1 district (Washington D.C.). States can make laws about things inside the state, but federal law is about things dealing with more than one state or dealing with other countries. In some areas, if the federal government makes laws that say different things from the state laws, people must follow the federal law because the state law is not a law anymore. Each state has a constitution of its own, different from the federal (national) Constitution. Each of these is like the federal Constitution because they say how each state's government is set up, but some also talk about specific laws.
Since 2021, the president is a Democrat, and Congress is also Democrat-controlled, so the Democrats have more power in the federal government. There are still many powerful Republicans who can try to stop the Democrats from doing things that they believe will be bad for the country. Also, members of a party in power do not always agree on what to do. If enough people decide to vote against Democrats in the next election, they will lose power. In a republic like the United States, no party can do whatever they want. All politicians have to argue, compromise, and make deals with each other to get things done. They have to answer to the people and take responsibility for their mistakes.

The USA's large cultural, economic, and military influence has made the foreign policy of the United States, or relations with other countries, a topic in American politics, and the politics of many other countries.

Political divisions

States
States

The United States conquered and bought new lands over time, and grew from the original 13 colonies in the east to the current 50 states, of which 48 of them are joined together to make up the contiguous United States. These states, called the "lower 48", can all be reached by road without crossing a border into another country. They go from the Atlantic to the east to the Pacific in the west. There are two other states which are not joined to the lower 48 states. Alaska can be reached by passing through British Columbia and the Yukon, both of which are part of Canada. Hawaii is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Washington, D.C., the national capital, is a federal district that was split from the states of Maryland and Virginia in 1791. Not part of any US state, it used to be in the shape of a square, with the land west of the Potomac River coming from Virginia and the land east of the river coming from Maryland. In 1846, Virginia took back its part of the land. Some people living in DC want it to become a state, or for Maryland to take back its land, so that they can have the right to vote in Congress.

Territories and possessions

The United States territories and possessions consist of sixteen lands that do not state, many of which are colonial territories. None of them have any land borders with the rest of the US. People live in five of these places, which are de facto American:

Puerto Rico
American Samoa
Guam
U.S. Virgin Islands
Northern Mariana Islands
The Philippines was a possession of the United States. Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and other Pacific island nations were governed by the United States as a United Nations "Trust Territory". All of these places have become independent: the Philippines in 1946, Palau in 1947, and Micronesia in 1986.

The U.S. armed forces has bases in many countries, and the U.S. Navy's base at Guantanamo Bay was rented from Cuba after that country had a Communist revolution.

Counties and cities

All the states are divided into administrative subdivisions. Most of them are called counties, but Louisiana uses the word "parish," and Alaska uses the word "borough."
There are many cities in the United States. One city in each state is the state capital, where the government of the state meets and the governor works. This city is not always the largest in its state. For example, the city with the most people living in is New York City in New York State, but the state capital is Albany. Some other big cities are Los Angeles, California; Chicago, Illinois; Seattle, Washington; Miami, Florida; Indianapolis, Indiana; Las Vegas, Nevada; Houston and Dallas, Texas; Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Boston, Massachusetts; Denver, Colorado; St. Louis, Missouri, Memphis, Tennessee, Atlanta, Georgia, San Francisco, San Diego and Detroit, Michigan.

Foreign relations and military
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. U.S. defense spending as a percentage of GDP ranked 23rd globally in 2012 according to the CIA. The proposed base 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. The last American troops serving in Iraq departed in December 2011; 4,484 service members were killed during the Iraq War. Approximately 90,000 U.S. troops were serving in Afghanistan in April 2012; by November 8, 2013 2,285 had been killed during the War in Afghanistan.

Economy
Economy

The United States has a capitalist economy. The country has rich mineral resources, with many gold, coal, and uranium deposits. Farming makes the country among the top producers of, among others, corn (maize), wheat, sugar, and tobacco. Housing contributes about 15% to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the United States. America produces cars, airplanes, and electronics. About 3/4 of Americans work in the service industry.

Demographics
Demographics

The United States of America has people of many different race and ethnic backgrounds. 80% of the people in the United States descend from European immigrants. Many people are descended from Germany, England, Scotland, Ireland, Africa, and Italy. 13% of the people in the United States are African-American. Most of them descend from the African slaves that were brought to America. African Americans are concentrated in the Southern United States. Asian-Americans make up only 5% of the population in America but make up a bigger portion in the west coast. For example, in California, Asian-Americans make up 13% of the population of that state. Hispanic-Americans or people of Latin origins make up 15% of the nation. Mexicans are the largest Hispanic national group, followed by Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Salvadorans and Dominicans. The original peoples, called Native American, American Indians, or Amerindians and Inuit (Eskimos) are a very small group.
11% of the people in the United States are foreign-born. 18% speak a language other than English at home. For people 25 and older, 80% are high school graduates while 25% have a bachelor's degree or higher.

The 2000 Census counted self-reported ancestry. It identified 43 million German-Americans, 30.5 million Irish-Americans, 24.9 million African-Americans, 24.5 million English-Americans, and 18.4 million Mexican Americans.

The United States has the largest number of immigrants of any country in the world. The United States attracts immigrants from other countries due to the American Dream. Most immigrants in the United States come from Mexico, China, India, the Philippines and El Salvador.
Money 
The social structure of the United States has a big range. This means that some Americans are much, much richer than others. The average (median) income for an American was $37,000 a year in 2002. However, the richest 1% of Americans have as much money as the poorest 90%. 51% of all households have access to a computer and 41% had access to the Internet in 2000, a figure which had grown to 75% in 2004. Also, 67.9% of American families owned their homes in 2002. There are 200 million cars in the United States, two for every three Americans. The debt has grown to over $21,000,000,000,000.
Religion 
There are many different religions in the U.S. Statistically, the largest religion is Christianity, including groups such as Catholicism, Protestantism, and Mormonism. Other religions include Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Unitarian Universalism, Wicca, Druidry, Baha'i, Raelism, Zoroastrianism, Taoism, and Jainism. Religions which were founded within the United States include Eckankar, Satanism, and Scientology. Native American religions have various animistic beliefs.

The United States is one of the most religious countries in the Western World, and most Americans believe in God. The number of Christians in the U.S. has gone down. 86.2% called themselves Christian in 1990 and 78.4% said this in 2007. The others include Judaism (2.3%), Islam (0.8%), Buddhism (0.7%), Hinduism (0.4%), and Unitarian Universalism (0.3%). Those who have no religion are at 16.1%. There is a large difference between those who say that they belong to a religion and those who are members of a religious body of that religion.
Doubts about the existence of a God, gods or goddesses are higher among young people. Among the non-religious population of the U.S., there are deists, humanists, ignostics, atheists, and agnostics.

Language 

English (American English) is the de facto national language. Although there is no official language at the federal level, some laws—such as 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, spoken by 12% of the population at home, is the second most common language and the most widely taught second language. Some Americans advocate making English the country's official language, as it is in at least twenty-eight states. Both Hawaiian and English are official languages in Hawaii by state law.
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. Other states, such as California, order the publication of Spanish versions of certain government documents including court forms. Many jurisdictions with large numbers of non-English speakers produce government materials, especially voting information, in the most commonly spoken languages in those jurisdictions.

Several insular territories grant official recognition to their native languages, along with English: Samoan and Chamorro are recognized by American Samoa and Guam, respectively; Carolinian and Chamorro are recognized by the Northern Mariana Islands; Spanish is an official language of Puerto Rico and is more widely spoken than English there.

Many Native American languages in the United States are endangered.

Education
Education 

In most states, children are required to attend school from the age of six or seven (generally, kindergarten or first grade) until they turn eighteen (generally bringing them through twelfth grade, the end of high school); some states allow students to leave school at sixteen or seventeen. About 12% of children are enrolled in parochial or nonsectarian private schools. Just over 2% of children are homeschooled.

Culture
American popular culture goes out to many places in the world. It has a large influence on most places, especially the Western world. American music is everywhere, and American movies and television shows can be seen in most countries.

Federal holidays

Flag
Flag

The American flag is made up of 50 stars on a blue background and has 13 stripes, seven red and six white. It is one of many symbols of the United States like the Bald Eagle. The 50 stars represent the 50 states. The red stands for courage, the blue stands for justice, and the white represents peace and cleanliness. The 13 stripes represent the 13 original colonies.

Cuisine
A hamburger is one of the popular foods of the United States. Fast food in the United States is home to many regional cuisines such as the Cuisine of the Southern United States, also known as Southern food. There are Americanized versions of Chinese, Greek, Japanese, Italian and Mexican cuisine. Native American cuisine is the cuisine of the indigenous Native Americans. A lot of American dishes are influenced by many countries around the world. American cuisine has Native American, British, French, German, and Spanish influences. Soul food is traditional southern African American food.
Music
The most popular genres in the United States are rock and roll, pop, country, R&B, and hip hop. Native American music is the indigenous music of the United States like Taylor Swift.

Sports

Native Americans played lacrosse before Europeans arrived. Baseball is the country sport for the United States, and American football is the most popular sport. Basketball is also very popular in the USA, which the USA has its own league called the NBA.

Video games 
The video game industry of the United States is one of the largest of any country. It is the second largest market for video games after China. Many of the world's largest video game developers are based in the USA, like Take-Two Interactive, Electronic Arts, Activision Blizzard, and Xbox Game Studios.
Measurement
The United States is the only developed country that doesn't officially use the metric system. Instead, the United States customary units are the official measurement system used, though certain fields like science use the metric system. There were also attempts at metrication in the past, most notably in the 1970s, but they have been struck down.

Notes

References

Other websites

 Government
Official U.S. Government Web Portal Gateway to governmental sites
White House Official site of the President of the United States
Senate Official site of the United States Senate
House Official site of the United States House of Representatives
[ Supreme Court] Official site of the Supreme Court of the United States
Library of Congress Official site of the Library of Congress
Overviews and data
Portrait of the United States Overview from the U.S. Information Agency
United States. . CIA World Factbook entry.
United States Encyclopædia Britannica entry
U.S. Census Housing and Economic Statistics Wide-ranging data from the U.S. Census Bureau
State Fact Sheets Population, employment, income, and farm data from the U.S. Economic Research Service
The 50 States of the U.S.A. Collected informational links for each state

 History
Historical documents Collected by the National Center for Public Policy Research
U.S. National Mottos: History and Constitutionality. . Analysis by the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance.
USA Collected links to historical data

 Maps

National Atlas of the United States Official maps from the U.S. Department of the Interior

 Other
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Official government site

 
English-speaking countries
G8 nations
G7 nations
Federations
1776 establishments in North America
The name "Canada" probably comes from the Huron-Iroquois word "Kanata," meaning "village" or "settlement." In 1535, two Aboriginal youths told an explorer from France, named Jacques Cartier, about the route to Kanata. They were actually referring to the village named Stadacona, which is near present-day city of Québec.

Aboriginal people lived in the places (that are now Canada) for a long time. In 1537, the French started a colony. The British Empire soon followed. The two empires fought several wars. In the late 18th century, only British North America remained with what is more or less Canada today. The country was formed from several colonies with the British North America Act on July 1, 1867. Over time, more provinces and territories became part of Canada. In 1931, Canada achieved nearly total independence with the Statute of Westminster 1931, and became completely independent when the Canada Act 1982 removed the last remaining ties of legal dependence with the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Geography 
By total land and water area, Canada is the second-largest country in the world. It is only smaller than Russia. By land area alone, Canada ranks fourth. It has the longest border with water (coastline) of any country in the world. It is next to the Pacific, Arctic, and Atlantic Oceans. It is the only country in the world to be next to three oceans at once. It has six time zones.

Canada is made up of ten provinces and three territories. The provinces are between the 45th and 60th parallels of latitude, and the territories are to the north of the 60th parallel of latitude. Most large cities in Canada are in the southern part of the country, including Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal. Very few people live in the northern part of Canada.
Canada extends from the west coast to the Atlantic provinces. In the north, there are three territories: Yukon in the west, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. They make up 16% of the Earth's fresh water. The Saint Lawrence Seaway joins the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean, allowing vessels in the ocean to travel as far inland as Thunder Bay in Ontario, Canada.

Canada shares land and sea borders with the USA (the lower 48 states and Alaska), Greenland, and France (St. Pierre and Miquelon, a small group of islands off the southern coast off the island of Newfoundland).

The geography of Canada is very different in each region. Canada's geography features high alpine areas in the west, flat grasslands and prairies in the middle, and ancient shield rocks in the east. Canada has some of the very last untouched boreal forest in the world.
The Canadian Shield is a vast area of ancient Pre-Cambrian rocks lying in an arc around Hudson Bay, covering more than one third of Canada's land area. This is a unique land of lakes, bogs, swamps, trees, and rocks. It is a terrain that is very dangerous and difficult to traverse cross country because of the lakes, bogs, swamps, trees, and rocks. Canada has 60% of the world's lakes.

History

Aboriginal people 
Indigenous people lived in what is now Canada for thousands of years before the first Europeans arrived. The indigenous groups that live in Canada are the First Nations, the Inuit, and the Métis. The Métis are people that come from both First Nations and European families. Together, these three groups are called "Indigenous," "Aboriginal," or "First Peoples." They used to be called "Indians" by the Europeans, but this is now considered rude.
Many people think the first people to live in Canada came from Siberia at least 14,000 years ago, using the Bering land bridge. The land bridge connected Asia and North America.

When European people first settled in Canada, the number of Indigenous people living in Canada was between 200,000 and two million.

European colonization 
The Vikings were the first Europeans to land in Canada, in what is now Newfoundland. The exploration was led by the Viking explorer Leif Erikson. They did not stay for a long time. In the early 16th century, Europeans started exploring Canada's eastern coast. The first of these explorers was John Cabot from England, in 1497, and later Jacques Cartier from France, in 1534. Alexander Mackenzie later reached the Pacific coast over land, where captains James Cook and George Vancouver went by sea. The Europeans also traded beaver furs to the First Nations.
Some parts of Canada were settled by France. Other parts of the country were settled by Great Britain. In 1605, Port-Royal was built in Acadia (today called Nova Scotia) by the French, led by Samuel de Champlain. In 1608, he settled in Quebec. The British took control of the French areas after a battle of the French and Indian War on the Plains of Abraham, near Quebec City, in 1759.

Thousands of people came north to Canada and settled in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario. They were called United Empire Loyalists.

Confederation and expansion 
On July 1, 1867, Canada was united under a federal government. At first, Canada was only made up of the provinces Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. Sir John A. Macdonald was the first prime minister. Manitoba, the Yukon territory, and the Northwest Territories became part of Canada in 1870. British Columbia joined in 1871, and Prince Edward Island in 1873.
There were two Red River Rebellions, in 1869-70 and 1885, both led by Louis Riel. He fought for more rights for the Métis people, a mix between French and First Nations. A railroad across the country, the Canadian Pacific Railway, finished in 1885, making it easier for Canadians to move to the west. Many Europeans came to the prairies, so Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.

Early 20th century 
Canadian soldiers fought in World War I for the British Empire. More Canadians died in this war than any other war. Canada became better known as a country after its success in capturing Vimy Ridge from the Germans in France in 1917. Women were given the right to vote by the end of the war, partly because of the help they gave making weapons while the men fought in Europe. In 1931, Canada became fully independent. The government of Canada made all the decisions about Canada.
Canadians also fought in World War II. The Dieppe Raid, in 1942, went very badly. Most soldiers were killed, wounded, or imprisoned. Canadians helped capture soldiers at Normandy in 1944. They also liberated the Netherlands from Germany.

Modern times 
In 1949, Newfoundland and Labrador became the 10th province of Canada. In 1956, Canadian Lester Pearson, who later became prime minister, helped end the Suez Crisis. Because of this, he won the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1965, Pearson helped change the design of Canada's flag. This design is known as the Maple Leaf today. Before that, the Red Ensign was Canada's flag. In 1982, Canada changed its constitution. The change introduced a new Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The main part of the Constitution is the 1867 British North America Act.
Some French Canadians today wish to form their own country, separate from the rest of Canada. The province of Quebec held a referendum (vote) in 1980, but only about 40% wanted to separate. Another referendum was held in 1995, with almost 50% voting in favour of leaving Canada. Since then, fewer people in Quebec have wanted to leave Canada, but it is still important to Quebec politics.

Today, about 25% of Canadians speak French as their first language. Many people in Canada speak both French and English. Although most French Canadians live in the province of Quebec, there are French-speaking communities and people all across Canada. For example, 40% of the people in the province of New Brunswick and 20% of those in Manitoba have a strong French background, as some people do in Ontario, mainly along its border with Quebec.

In 1999, Nunavut was created as Canada's third territory, out of the eastern Northwest Territories, in an agreement with the Inuit people.

Government
Government 

Canada has a government called a constitutional monarchy. It has a monarch (meaning a king or queen is the head of that country), and is a democracy (meaning the people of that country rule it). The head of state is King Charles III, who is officially the King of Canada. He appoints a Governor General to represent him in the country, however, the choice of Governor General is made by the prime minister.

The King’s powers are mostly exercised by the Governor General, currently Mary Simon. The Governor General, like the Canadian sovereign (King/Queen of Canada), is not political and remains above politics, and because of that they do not usually use their powers without the advice of the Prime Minister or other ministers.
The head of government is the Prime Minister. The current prime minister is Justin Trudeau, who replaced Stephen Harper in October 2015. Each province and territory has a premier to lead its government. The day-to-day operations of the government are run by the cabinet. The cabinet is usually formed from the largest party in Parliament.

The Parliament of Canada passes the laws of the country. The governor general, acting on behalf of the monarch, has the right to veto a law (meaning the law cannot go into effect) but this right has not been used for some time. There are five main parties in the Canadian Parliament: the Conservative Party, the New Democratic Party, the Liberal Party, the Bloc Québécois, and the Green Party. In addition to the five parties with MPs in Parliament, there are fourteen other smaller parties registered with Elections Canada and several MPs who sit as Independents.

Provinces and territories 

Below is a list of provinces and territories. They are listed by population.
Climate and its influence 

Because Canada is very far north, and most people cannot survive the conditions, most Canadians live in the southern parts, where the weather is much milder. In some cities, the temperature gets very cold in the winter, especially inland. Warm air systems, moving in from the Pacific Ocean, bring more rain than snow to the Pacific coast. The colder temperatures further inland result in snow. Parts of Canada can get quite hot in the summer, often over .

Canadians are known to play winter sports, such as ice hockey and skiing and snowboarding, as well as enjoy many summer sports and games.

Natural resources
Natural resources 

Canada has lots of natural resources. Its large amounts of fish have been used for centuries for food and money. Hydroelectric power (electricity by water) is abundant because of Canada's many rivers. Forests in the west are used for wood. Besides these renewable resources, Canada has metal ores and oil deposits. Canada is the leading exporter of zinc, uranium, gold, nickel, aluminum, steel and lead.

Demographics 
Around 38 million people live in Canada. About 90% of the Canadian population live within  of the border with the United States. This is because of climate and trade with the US. This means that 90% of Canadians live south of Seattle, Washington.

Many immigrants, who come from almost every part of the world, live in Canada. One example is the former Governor General of Canada, Michaëlle Jean, who came to Canada as a young child with her family from Haiti in 1968. Today, up to 1/5th of the population is an immigrant of Canada.
Healthcare 
The Canadian government provides universal health care. The provinces are responsible for health insurance. Five provinces prohibit all extra-billing, while Alberta, British Columbia and Newfoundland allow it in a small number of circumstances, and Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick do not restrict it at all.

In 2020, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that there were not enough hospital beds in Ontario. Ontario is Canada's largest province, and is home to Canada's largest city, Toronto. The number of hospital beds available in Ontario is 1.4 per every 1,000 people.

References

Other websites 

 Official Government of Canada website
 CIA World Factbook - Canada 
 Yahoo - Definition of Canada

 
Current monarchies
English-speaking countries
French-speaking countries
Commonwealth realms
G8 nations
G7 nations
Federations
1867 establishments in North America
Islam (; , ) is an Abrahamic  monotheistic religion. A person who believes in Islam is called a Muslim. A disbeliever is called a Kafir in Islam. Islam means submission to the will of God.

Most teachings and beliefs of Islam are written out in the Quran (the words from God) (also spelled Qur'an or Kuran), the central holy scripture of Islam. Alongside the Qur'an, Muslims also believe in the previous revelations of God, such as the Tawrat (Torah), the Zabur (Psalms), the Injeel (Gospel), the Scrolls of Abraham, and the Scrolls of Moses.  Muslims believe that the Quran was spoken to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel. The Quran is regarded as the word of God (or Allah), while Muhammad is regarded as the last prophet and messenger of God. Other beliefs and rules about what Muslims should do may come from  hadiths, although they are not universally accepted by Muslims.
Linguistically, Islam is defined as surrender to the command of God as per Islam, without objection, without submission, rebellion, and stubbornness. As for its idiomatic meaning, it is the religion that was brought by “Muhammad bin Abdullah,” sent by Almighty God, and which Muslims believe is the law with which God sealed the heavenly messages. 

Muslims believe that there were many other prophets before Muhammad since the dawn of humanity, beginning with the Prophet Adam and including the Prophet Noah (Nuh), the Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim), the Prophet Moses (Musa), the Prophet David (Dawuud), and the Prophet Jesus (Isa). They believe that all these prophets were given messages by God to their communities, but Satan (referred to as 'Shaytan شيطان' in Arabic) made the past communities deviate from them. Muslims believe that the content of the Quran (written in Arabic) is protected by Allah as mentioned in the Quran and is the final message of God for all of mankind until the Day of Judgement.
Most Muslims belong to one of two groups.  The most common is Sunni Islam (75–90% of all Muslims are Sunni Muslims). The second is Shia Islam (10–20% of all Muslims are Shias – also called Shiites). There are also non-denominational Muslims who do not follow any sect; they make up a majority of the Muslims in eight countries (and a plurality in three others): Albania (65%), Kyrgyzstan (64%), Kosovo (58%), Indonesia (56%), Mali (55%), Bosnia and Herzegovina (54%), Uzbekistan (54%), Azerbaijan (45%), Russia (45%), and Nigeria (42%).

With about 1.75 billion followers (24% of the world's population), Islam is the second-largest religion in the world. Islam is also the fastest-growing religion in the world. Islam is also the second-largest and fastest-growing religion in Europe.

History 

Muslims believe the Qur'an was first revealed to Muhammad by the archangel Gabriel in a cave on the mountain of Hira in Mecca, and then over a period of twenty-three years until his death.