United States

TheUnited States of America(USA), also known as theUnited States(U.S.) orAmerica, is a country primarily located inNorth America. It is afederal republicof 50statesandWashington, D.C.asits federal capital district. The 48contiguous statesborderCanadato the north andMexicoto the south, with thesemi-exclavicstate ofAlaskain the northwest and thearchipelagicstate ofHawaiiin thePacific Ocean. Some 574federally recognized tribal governmentsand 326Indian reservationsare legally classified asdomestic dependent nationswithtribal sovereignty rights. The U.S. asserts sovereignty over fivemajor island territoriesandvarious uninhabited islands.It is amegadiverse country, with the world'sthird-largest land areaandthird-largest population, exceeding 340 million.
Paleo-Indiansmigrated to North America across theBering land bridgemore than 12,000 years ago, and formed various civilizations and societies.Spanish exploration and colonizationled to the establishment in 1513 ofSpanish Florida, the first European colony in what is now thecontinental United States.France also began to colonizeat this time, but major settlements came much later. SubsequentBritish colonizationled to the first settlement of theThirteen ColoniesinVirginiain 1607. Intensive agriculture in the rapidly expandingSouthern Coloniesencouraged theforced migrationofenslaved Africans. Clashes with theBritish Crownover taxation andpolitical representationsparked theAmerican Revolution, with theSecond Continental Congressformallydeclaring independenceon July 4, 1776.
The United States emerged victorious from the 1775–1783Revolutionary Warandexpanded westward across North America, dispossessingNative Americansas it fought theIndian Wars. Expansion continued when the U.S. signed the 1803Louisiana PurchasewithNapoleonic Franceand won theMexican–American Warin 1848. As more stateswere admitted, aNorth–South divisionover slavery led to the secession of theConfederate States of America, which foughtthe Unionin the 1861–1865American Civil War. With the victory and preservation of the United States,slavery was abolished nationally. By the late 19th century, the United States established itself as agreat powerwith victory in theSpanish–American War, a status solidified withits participation in World War I. FollowingJapan'sattack on Pearl Harborin December 1941, the U.S.entered World War II. Theaftermath of the warleft the U.S. and theSoviet Unionas the world's twosuperpowerswhich led to theCold War, during which both countries struggled forideological dominanceandinternational influence. Theend of the Cold Warand theSoviet Union's collapsein 1991left the U.S. as the world's sole superpower, withsignificant geopolitical influence globally.
TheU.S. national governmentis apresidentialconstitutionalfederal republic andliberal democracywiththree separate branches:legislative,executive, andjudicial. It has abicameralnational legislature composed of theHouse of Representatives, alower housebased on population, and theSenate, anupper housebased on equal representation for each state. The country'sDemocraticandRepublicanparties have dominatedAmerican politicssince the 1850s.Federalism provides substantial autonomyto the 50 states, whileAmerican valuesare based on a political tradition that draws its inspiration from theEuropean Enlightenment movement. Amelting potofmany ethnicities and customs, theculture of the United Stateshas been shaped bycenturies of immigration, andits soft power influencehas a global reach.
One of the world'smost developed countries, the U.S.ranks among the highestineconomic competitiveness,productivity,innovation,human rights, andhigher education. The United Statesaccounted for over a quarterof nominalglobal economic outputin 2024, andits economyhas been the world'slargest by nominal GDP since about 1890. It possesses by far thelargest amount of wealth of any countryand has thehighest disposable household income per capitaamongOECDcountries, thoughU.S. wealth inequalityis higher than in most otherdeveloped countries. The U.S. is a member ofmultiple international organizationsand plays a leading role in global political, cultural, economic, and military affairs.
The first documented use of the phrase "United States of America" is a letter from January 2, 1776.Stephen Moylan, aContinental Armyaide to GeneralGeorge Washington, wrote toJoseph Reed, Washington'saide-de-camp, seeking to go "with full and ample powers from the United States of America to Spain" to seek assistance in theRevolutionary Wareffort.The first known public usage is ananonymous essaypublished in theWilliamsburgnewspaper,The Virginia Gazette, on April 6, 1776.By June 1776, the "United States of America" appeared in theArticles of Confederation,and in July, theDeclaration of Independence.TheSecond Continental Congressadopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
The term "United States" and its initialism "U.S.", used as nouns or as adjectives in English, are common short names for the country. The initialism "USA", a noun, is also common."United States" and "U.S." are the established terms throughout theU.S. federal government, with prescribed rules."The States" is an established colloquial shortening of the name, used particularly from abroad;"stateside" is the corresponding adjective or adverb.
"America" is the feminine form of the first word ofAmericus Vesputius, the Latinized name of Italian explorerAmerigo Vespucci(1454–1512); it was first used as a place name by the German cartographersMartin WaldseemüllerandMatthias Ringmannin 1507.Vespucci first proposed that theWest Indiesdiscovered byChristopher Columbusin 1492 were part of a previously unknown landmass and not among the Indies at the eastern limit of Asia.In English,the term "America"rarely refers to topics unrelated to the United States, despite the usage of "theAmericas" to describe the totality ofNorthandSouth America.
Thefirst inhabitants of North Americamigrated fromSiberiaover 12,000 years ago, either across theBering land bridgeor along thenow-submerged Ice Age coastline.TheClovis culture, which appeared around 11,000 BC, is believed to be the first widespread culture in the Americas.Over time, indigenous North American cultures grew increasingly sophisticated, and some, such as theMississippian culture, developedagriculture,architecture, andcomplex societies.In thepost-archaic period, the Mississippian cultures were located in themidwestern,eastern, andsouthernregions, and theAlgonquianin theGreat Lakes regionand along theEastern Seaboard, while theHohokam cultureandAncestral Puebloansinhabited thesouthwest.Native population estimatesof what is now the United States before the arrival of European immigrants range from around 500,000to nearly 10 million.
Christopher Columbusbegan exploring theCaribbeanfor Spain in 1492, leading toSpanish-speaking settlements and missionsfromPuerto RicoandFloridatoNew MexicoandCalifornia. The first Spanish colony in what is now the continental United States wasSpanish Florida, chartered in 1513.After several settlements failed there due to hunger and disease, Spain's first permanent town,Saint Augustine, was founded in 1565.France established its own settlements inFrench Floridain 1562, but they were either abandoned (Charlesfort, 1578) or destroyed by Spanish raids (Fort Caroline, 1565);permanent French settlementswould be founded much later along theGreat Lakes(Fort Detroit, 1701), theMississippi River(Saint Louis, 1764) and especially theGulf of Mexico(New Orleans, 1718).Early European colonies also included the thriving Dutch colony ofNew Nederland(settled 1626, present-day New York) and the small Swedish colony ofNew Sweden(settled 1638 in what is now Delaware).British colonizationof theEast Coastbegan with theVirginia Colony(1607) and thePlymouth Colony(Massachusetts, 1620).TheMayflower Compactin Massachusetts and theFundamental Orders of Connecticutestablished precedents for representativeself-governanceandconstitutionalismthat would develop throughout the American colonies.While European settlers in what is now the United States experienced conflicts with Native Americans, they also engaged in trade, exchanging European tools for food and animal pelts.Relations ranged from close cooperation to warfare and massacres. The colonial authorities often pursued policies that forced Native Americans to adopt European lifestyles, including conversion to Christianity.Along the eastern seaboard, settlerstrafficked African slavesthrough theAtlantic slave trade.
The originalThirteen Coloniesthat would later found the United States were administered as possessions ofGreat Britain,and hadlocal governments with elections open to most white male property owners.The colonial population grew rapidly from Maine to Georgia, eclipsing Native American populations;by the 1770s, the natural increase of the population was such that only a small minority of Americans had been born overseas.The colonies' distance from Britain allowed for the development of self-governance,and theFirst Great Awakening, a series ofChristian revivals, fueled colonial interest inreligious liberty.
Following their victory in the French and Indian War, Britain began to assert greater control over local colonial affairs, resulting incolonial political resistance; one of the primary colonial grievances was a denial of theirrights as Englishmen, particularly the right torepresentation in the British government that taxed them. To demonstrate their dissatisfaction and resolve, theFirst Continental Congressmet in 1774 and passed theContinental Association, a colonial boycott of British goods that proved effective. The British attempt to then disarm the colonists resulted in the 1775Battles of Lexington and Concord, igniting theAmerican Revolutionary War. At theSecond Continental Congress, the colonies appointedGeorge Washingtoncommander-in-chief of theContinental Army, and createda committeethat namedThomas Jeffersonto draft theDeclaration of Independence. Two days after passing theLee Resolutionto create an independent nation the Declaration was adopted on July 4, 1776.Thepolitical values of the American Revolutionincludedliberty,inalienable individual rights; and thesovereignty of the people;supportingrepublicanismand rejectingmonarchy,aristocracy, and all hereditary political power;civic virtue; and vilification ofpolitical corruption.TheFounding Fathers of the United States, who included Washington, Jefferson,John Adams,Benjamin Franklin,Alexander Hamilton,John Jay,James Madison,Thomas Paine, and many others, were inspired byGreco-Roman,Renaissance, andEnlightenmentphilosophies and ideas.
TheArticles of Confederationand Perpetual Unionwere ratified in 1781 and established a decentralized government that operated until 1789.After the British surrender at thesiege of Yorktownin 1781 American sovereignty was internationally recognized by theTreaty of Paris(1783), through which the U.S. gained territory stretching west to the Mississippi River, north to present-day Canada, and south toSpanish Florida.TheNorthwest Ordinance(1787) established the precedent by which the country's territory would expand with theadmission of new states, rather than the expansion of existing states.TheU.S. Constitutionwas drafted at the 1787Constitutional Conventionto overcome the limitations of the Articles. It went into effect in 1789, creating afederal republicgoverned bythree separate branchesthat together ensured a system ofchecks and balances.George Washingtonwas electedthe country's first president under the Constitution, and theBill of Rightswas adopted in 1791 to allay skeptics' concerns about the power of the more centralized government.His resignation as commander-in-chiefafter the Revolutionary War and his later refusal to run for a third term as the country's first president established a precedent for the supremacy of civil authority in the United States and thepeaceful transfer of power.
TheLouisiana Purchaseof 1803 from France nearly doubled the territory of the United States.Lingering issues with Britain remained, leading to theWar of 1812, which was fought to a draw.Spain ceded Floridaand its Gulf Coast territory in 1819.In the late 18th century, American settlers began toexpand westward, many with a sense ofmanifest destiny.TheMissouri Compromiseof 1820, which admittedMissourias aslave stateandMaineas a free state, attempted to balance the desire of northern states to prevent the expansion of slavery into new territories with that of southern states to extend it there. The compromise further prohibited slavery in all other lands of the Louisiana Purchase north of the36°30′ parallel.As Americans expanded further into land inhabited by Native Americans, the federal government often appliedpoliciesofIndian removalorassimilation.The most significant removal legislation in U.S. history was theIndian Removal Act of 1830. It culminated in theTrail of Tears(1830–1850), in which an estimated 60,000 Native Americans living east of theMississippi Riverwere forcibly removed and displaced to lands far to the west, resulting in anywhere from 13,200 to 16,700 deaths.These and earlier organized displacements prompted a long series ofAmerican Indian Warswest of the Mississippi.TheRepublic of Texaswasannexedin 1845,and the 1846Oregon Treatyled to U.S. control of the present-dayAmerican Northwest.Victory in theMexican–American Warresulted in the 1848Mexican Cessionof California, Nevada, Utah, and much of present-day Colorado and theAmerican Southwest.TheCalifornia gold rushof 1848–1849 spurred a huge migration of white settlers to the Pacific coast, leading to even more confrontations with Native populations. One of the most violent, theCalifornia genocideof thousands of Native inhabitants, lasted into the early 1870s,just as additional western territories and states were created.
During the colonial period,slavery had been legal in the American colonies, especially in the agriculture-intensiveSouthern Coloniesfrom Maryland to Georgia. The practice began to be significantly questioned during the American Revolution.Spurred by an activeabolitionist movementthat had reemerged in the 1830s, states inthe Northenacted anti-slavery laws.At the same time, support for slavery had strengthened inSouthern stateswith inventions such as thecotton gin(1793), which had long made the institution profitable forSouthern elites.Throughout the 1850s, thissectional conflict regarding slaverywas further inflamed by legislation in Congress and decisions of the Supreme Court: TheFugitive Slave Act of 1850mandated the return of slaves taking refuge in non-slave states to their owners in the South. TheKansas–Nebraska Actof 1854 effectively gutted the anti-slavery requirements of the Missouri Compromise.Finally, in itsDred Scott decisionof 1857, the Supreme Court ruled against a slave brought into non-slave territory and declared the Missouri Compromise to be unconstitutional. These events exacerbated tensions between North and South that wouldculminatein theAmerican Civil War(1861–1865).Eleven slave statessecededand formed theConfederate States of America, while the other states remained inthe Union.War broke out in April 1861 after the Confederatesbombarded Fort Sumter.After the January 1863Emancipation Proclamation, many freed slaves joined theUnion army.The warbegan to turn in the Union's favorfollowing the 1863Siege of VicksburgandBattle of Gettysburg, and the Confederacy surrendered in 1865 after the Union's victory in theBattle of Appomattox Court House.TheReconstruction erafollowed the war. Afterthe assassinationof PresidentAbraham Lincoln,Reconstruction Amendmentswere passed toprotect the rights of African Americans. National infrastructure, includingtranscontinental telegraphandrailroads, spurred growth in theAmerican frontier.
From 1865 through 1917, an unprecedented stream of immigrants arrived in the United States, including 24.4 million from Europe.Most came through theport of New York City, and New York City and other large cities on theEast Coastbecame home to largeJewish,Irish, andItalianpopulations, while manyGermansand Central Europeans moved to theMidwest. At the same time, about one millionFrench Canadiansmigrated fromQuebectoNew England.During theGreat Migration, millions of African Americansleft the rural Southfor urban areas in the North.Alaska was purchasedfromRussiain 1867.
TheCompromise of 1877effectively ended Reconstruction andwhite supremacists took local control of Southern politics.African Americans endured a period of heightened, overt racism following Reconstruction, a time often called thenadir of American race relations.A series of Supreme Court decisions, includingPlessy v. Ferguson, emptied the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments of their force, allowingJim Crow lawsin the South to remain unchecked,sundown townsin the Midwest, andsegregation in communities across the country, which would be reinforced by the policy ofredlininglater adopted by the federalHome Owners' Loan Corporation.
An explosion of technological advancementaccompanied by the exploitation of cheap immigrant laborled torapid economic expansion during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, allowing the United States to outpace the economies of England, France, and Germany combined.This fostered the amassing of power bya few prominent industrialists, largely by their formation oftrustsandmonopoliesto prevent competition.Tycoonsled the nation's expansion in therailroad,petroleum, andsteelindustries. The United States emerged as a pioneer of theautomotive industry.These changes were accompanied by significant increases ineconomic inequality,slum conditions, andsocial unrest, creating the environment forlabor unionsandsocialist movementsto begin to flourish.This period eventually ended with the advent of theProgressive Era, which was characterized by significant reforms.
Pro-American elements in Hawaiioverthrew the Hawaiian monarchy; the islandswere annexedin 1898. That same year,Puerto Rico,the Philippines, andGuamwere ceded to the U.S. by Spain after the latter's defeat in theSpanish–American War. (The Philippines was granted full independence from the U.S. on July 4, 1946, following World War II. Puerto Rico and Guam have remained U.S. territories.)American Samoawas acquired by the United States in 1900 after theSecond Samoan Civil War.TheU.S. Virgin Islandswere purchased fromDenmarkin 1917.
The United Statesentered World War Ialongside theAllies, helping to turn the tide against theCentral Powers.In 1920,a constitutional amendmentgranted nationwidewomen's suffrage.During the 1920s and '30s, radio formass communicationand the invention of early television transformed communications nationwide.TheWall Street Crash of 1929triggered theGreat Depression, which PresidentFranklin D. Rooseveltresponded to with theNew Deal, a series ofsweeping programsandpublic works projectscombined with financial reforms andregulations. All were intended to protect against future economic depressions.
Initially neutralduringWorld War II, the U.S. begansupplying war materielto theAllies of World War IIin March 1941 andentered the warin December after theEmpire of Japan's attack onPearl Harbor.The U.S.developed the first nuclear weaponsandused them against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasakiin August 1945, ending the war.The United States was one of the "Four Policemen" who met to plan thepost-war world, alongside theUnited Kingdom,Soviet Union, andChina.The U.S. emerged relatively unscathed from the war, with even greatereconomic powerandinternational political influence.
After World War II, the United States entered the Cold War, where geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union led the two countries todominate world affairs.The U.S. utilized the policy ofcontainmentto limit the USSR's sphere of influence, engaged inregime changeagainst governments perceived to be aligned with Moscow, and prevailed in theSpace Race, which culminated with thefirst crewed Moon landingin 1969.Domestically, the U.S.experienced economic growth,urbanization, andpopulation growth following World War II.Thecivil rights movementemerged, withMartin Luther King Jr.becoming a prominent leader in the early 1960s.TheGreat Societyplan of PresidentLyndon B. Johnson's administration resulted in groundbreaking and broad-reaching laws, policies and a constitutional amendment to counteract some of the worst effects of lingeringinstitutional racism.Thecounterculture movementin the U.S. brought significant social changes, including the liberalization of attitudes towardrecreational drug useandsexuality.It also encouragedopen defiance of the military draft(leading to theend of conscriptionin 1973) andwide oppositiontoU.S. intervention in Vietnam(with the U.S. totally withdrawing in 1975).A societal shift in the roles of womenwas significantly responsible for the large increase in female paid labor participation during the 1970s, and by 1985 the majority of American women aged 16 and older were employed.The late 1980s and early 1990s saw thefall of communismand thecollapse of the Soviet Union, which marked the end of the Cold War andleft the United States as the world's sole superpower.
The 1990s saw thelongest recorded economic expansion in American history, a dramaticdecline in U.S. crime rates, andadvances in technology. Throughout this decade, technological innovations such as theWorld Wide Web, the evolution of thePentium microprocessorin accordance withMoore's law, rechargeablelithium-ion batteries, the firstgene therapytrial, andcloningeither emerged in the U.S. or were improved upon there. TheHuman Genome Projectwas formally launched in 1990, whileNasdaqbecame the first stock market in the United States to trade online in 1998.
In theGulf Warof 1991, anAmerican-led international coalition of statesexpelled anIraqiinvasion force that had occupied neighboringKuwait.TheSeptember 11 attackson the United States in 2001 by thepan-Islamistmilitant organizational-Qaedaled to thewar on terror, and subsequentmilitary interventions in AfghanistanandIraq.
TheU.S. housing bubbleculminated in 2007 with theGreat Recession, the largest economic contraction since the Great Depression.Coming to a head in the 2010s,political polarization in the countryincreased between liberal and conservative factions.This polarization was capitalized upon in theJanuary 2021 Capitol attack,when a mob of insurrectionistsentered theU.S. Capitoland sought to prevent the peaceful transfer of powerin anattempted self-coup d'état.In May–August 2021, the2021 Taliban offensiveended the War in Afghanistan one year after theUnited States–Taliban deal.
The United States is the world'sthird-largest countryby total area behind Russia and Canada.The 48contiguous states and the District of Columbiaoccupy a combined area of 3,119,885 square miles (8,080,470 km).The coastal plainof theAtlanticseaboard gives way to inland forests and rolling hills in thePiedmontplateau region.
TheAppalachian Mountainsand theAdirondackmassif separate theEast Coastfrom theGreat Lakesand the grasslands ofthe Midwest.TheMississippi River System, the world'sfourth-longest river system, runs predominantly north–south through the heart of the country. The flat and fertileprairieof theGreat Plainsstretches to the west, interrupted bya highland regionin the southeast.
TheRocky Mountains, west of the Great Plains, extend north to south across the country, peaking at over 14,000 feet (4,300 m) inColorado.Farther west are the rockyGreat BasinandChihuahua,Sonoran, andMojavedeserts.In the northwest corner ofArizona, carved by theColorado Riverover millions of years, is theGrand Canyon, a steep-sided canyon and popular tourist destination known for its overwhelming visual size and intricate, colorful landscape.
TheSierra NevadaandCascademountain ranges run close to thePacific coast. Thelowest and highest points in the contiguous United Statesare in the State of California,about 84 miles (135 km) apart.At an elevation of 20,310 feet (6,190.5 m), Alaska'sDenaliis the highest peak in the country and continent.Activevolcanoesare common throughout Alaska'sAlexanderandAleutian Islands, and Hawaii consists of volcanic islands. ThesupervolcanounderlyingYellowstone National Parkin the Rocky Mountains, theYellowstone Caldera, is the continent's largest volcanic feature.In 2021, the United States had 8% of global permanent meadows and pastures and 10% of cropland.
With its large size and geographic variety, the United States includes most climate types. East of the100th meridian, the climate ranges fromhumid continentalin the north tohumid subtropicalin the south.The western Great Plains aresemi-arid.Many mountainous areas of the American West have analpine climate. The climate isaridin the Southwest,Mediterraneanincoastal California, andoceanicin coastalOregon,Washington, and southernAlaska. Most of Alaska issubarcticorpolar.Hawaii, thesouthern tip of Floridaand U.S. territories in theCaribbeanandPacificaretropical.
The United States receives more high-impactextreme weatherincidents than any other country.States bordering theGulf of Mexicoare prone to hurricanes, and most of the world's tornadoesoccur in the country, mainly inTornado Alley.Extreme weather became more frequent in the U.S. in the 21st century, with three times the number of reportedheat wavesas in the 1960s. In theAmerican Southwest, droughts became more persistent and more severe.The regions considered as the most attractive to the population are the most vulnerable.
The U.S. is one of 17megadiverse countriescontaining large numbers ofendemic species: about 17,000 species ofvascular plantsoccur in the contiguous United States and Alaska, and over 1,800 species offlowering plantsare found in Hawaii, few of which occur on the mainland.The United States is home to 428mammalspecies, 784 birds, 311 reptiles, 295amphibians,and around 91,000 insect species.
There are63 national parks, andhundreds of other federally managedparks, forests, andwilderness areas, managed by theNational Park Serviceand other agencies.About 28% of the country's land is publicly owned and federally managed,primarily in theWestern States.Most of this land is protected, though some is leased for commercial use, and less than one percent is used for military purposes.
Environmental issues in the United Statesinclude debates onnon-renewable resourcesandnuclear energy,air and water pollution,biodiversity, logging anddeforestation,andclimate change.TheU.S. Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) is the federal agency charged withaddressing most environmental-related issues.Theidea of wildernesshas shaped the management of public lands since 1964, with theWilderness Act.TheEndangered Species Act of 1973provides a way to protect threatened and endangered species and their habitats. TheUnited States Fish and Wildlife Serviceimplements and enforces the Act.In 2024, the U.S. ranked 35th among 180 countries in theEnvironmental Performance Index.
The United States is afederal republicof 50statesand a separate federal capital district,Washington, D.C.It also asserts sovereignty over fiveunincorporated territoriesandseveral uninhabited island possessions.The U.S. is the world's oldest surviving federation,and itspresidential system of national governmenthas been adopted, in whole or in part, by many newly independent states worldwide following theirdecolonization.It is a liberalrepresentative democracy"in whichmajority ruleis tempered byminority rightsprotectedby law".TheConstitution of the United Statesserves asthe country's supreme legal document.
Composed of three branches, all headquartered in Washington, D.C., the federal government is the national government of the United States. It is regulated by a strong system ofchecks and balances.
The three-branch system is known as thepresidential system, in contrast to theparliamentary system, where the executive is part of the legislative body. Many countries around the world imitated this aspect of the 1789Constitution of the United States, especially in the Americas.
The Constitution is silent on political parties. However, they developed independently in the 18th century with theFederalistandAnti-Federalistparties.Since then, the United States has operated as a de factotwo-party system, though the parties in that system have been different at different times.The two main national parties are presently theDemocraticand theRepublican. The former is perceived asrelatively liberalin itspolitical platformwhile the latter is perceived asrelatively conservative.
In theAmerican federal system, sovereign powers are shared between two levels of elected government: national and state. People in the states are also represented bylocal elected governments, which are administrative divisions of the states.States are subdivided intocounties or county equivalents, andfurther divided into municipalities. The District of Columbia isa federal districtcontaining the U.S. capital,Washington, D.C.The federal district is an administrative division of the federal government.Federally recognized tribesgovern 326Indian reservationswhich are treated asdomestic dependent nationswithtribal sovereignty rights.
The United States has an established structure of foreign relations, and it has the world'ssecond-largest diplomatic corpsas of 2024. It is apermanent member of the United Nations Security Council,and home to theUnited Nations headquarters.The United States is a member of theG7,G20,andOECDintergovernmental organizations.Almost all countries have embassiesand many haveconsulates(official representatives) in the country. Likewise, nearly all countries host formaldiplomatic missionswith the United States, exceptIran,North Korea,andBhutan.ThoughTaiwandoes not have formal diplomatic relations with the U.S., it maintains close unofficial relations.The United States regularlysupplies Taiwan with military equipmentto deter potential Chinese aggression.Its geopolitical attention also turned to theIndo-Pacificwhen the United States joined theQuadrilateral Security Dialoguewith Australia, India, and Japan.
The United States has a "Special Relationship"with the United Kingdomand strong tieswith Canada,Australia,New Zealand,the Philippines,Japan,South Korea,Israel,and severalEuropean Union countries(France,Italy,Germany,Spain, andPoland).The U.S. works closely with itsNATOallies on military andnational securityissues, and with countries in the Americas through theOrganization of American Statesand theUnited States–Mexico–Canada Free Trade Agreement. In South America,Colombiais traditionally considered to be the closest ally of the United States.The U.S. exercises full international defense authority and responsibility forMicronesia, theMarshall Islands, andPalauthrough theCompact of Free Association.It has increasingly conducted strategic cooperationwith India,whileits ties with Chinahave steadily deteriorated.Since 2014, the U.S. hasbecome a key ally of Ukraine;it has also provided the country with significant military equipment and other support in response toRussia's 2022 invasion.
The president is thecommander-in-chiefof the United States Armed Forces and appoints its leaders, thesecretary of defenseand theJoint Chiefs of Staff. TheDepartment of Defense, which is headquartered atthe Pentagonnear Washington, D.C., administers five of the six service branches, which are made up of theU.S. Army,Marine Corps,Navy,Air Force, andSpace Force.TheCoast Guardis administered by theDepartment of Homeland Securityin peacetime and can be transferred to theDepartment of the Navyin wartime.
The United Statesspent $916 billion on its militaryin 2023, which is by far thelargest amount of any country, making up 37% of global military spending and accounting for 3.4% of the country's GDP.The U.S.possesses 42% of the world's nuclear weapons—the second-largest share after Russia.
The United States has thethird-largest combined armed forcesin the world, behind theChinese People's Liberation ArmyandIndian Armed Forces.The military operates about 800 bases and facilities abroad,and maintainsdeployments greater than 100 active duty personnelin 25 foreign countries.
State defense forces(SDFs) are military units that operate under the sole authority of a state government. SDFs are authorized by state and federal law but are under the command ofthe state's governor.They are distinct from the state'sNational Guardunits in that they cannot become federalized entities. A state's National Guard personnel, however, may be federalized under theNational Defense Act Amendments of 1933, which created the Guard and provides for the integration ofArmy National Guardunits and personnel into the U.S. Army and (since 1947) the U.S. Air Force.
There are about 18,000 U.S. police agencies from local to national level in the United States.Law in the United States is mainly enforced by local police departments andsheriff departmentsin their municipal or county jurisdictions.The state policedepartmentshave authority in their respective state, andfederal agenciessuch as theFederal Bureau of Investigation(FBI) and theU.S. Marshals Servicehave national jurisdiction and specialized duties, such as protectingcivil rights,national securityand enforcingU.S. federal courts' rulings and federal laws.State courtsconduct most civil and criminal trials,and federal courts handle designated crimes andappeals of state court decisions.
There is no unified "criminal justice system" in the United States. TheAmerican prison systemis largely heterogenous, with thousands of relatively independent systems operating across federal, state, local, and tribal levels. In 2024, "these systems hold over 1.9 million people in 1,566 state prisons, 98 federal prisons, 3,116 local jails, 1,323 juvenile correctional facilities, 142 immigration detention facilities, and 80 Indian country jails, as well as inmilitary prisons, civil commitment centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and prisons in the U.S. territories."Despite disparate systems of confinement, four main institutions dominate:federal prisons,state prisons, local jails, andjuvenile correctional facilities.Federal prisons are run by theFederal Bureau of Prisonsand hold people who have been convicted of federal crimes, including pretrial detainees.State prisons, run by the official department of correction of each state, hold sentenced people serving prison time (usually longer than one year) for felony offenses.Local jails are county or municipal facilities that incarcerate defendants prior to trial; they also hold those serving short sentences (typically under a year).Juvenile correctional facilities are operated by local or state governments and serve as longer-term placements for any minor adjudicated as delinquent and ordered by a judge to be confined.
In January 2023, the United States had thesixth-highest per capita incarceration ratein the world—531 people per 100,000 inhabitants—and the largest prison and jail population in the world, withmore than 1.9 million people incarcerated.An analysis of theWorld Health OrganizationMortality Database from 2010 showed U.S. homicide rates "were 7 times higher than in other high-income countries, driven bya gun homicide ratethat was 25 times higher".
The U.S. has been the world'slargest economy nominally since about 1890.The 2024 U.S.gross domestic product(GDP) of more than $29 trillionwas the highest in the world, constituting over 25% of the nominalglobal economic outputor 15% atpurchasing power parity(PPP). 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 theG7.The country ranksfirst in the world by nominal GDP,second when adjusted for purchasing power parities(PPP),andninth by PPP-adjusted GDP per capita.It has thehighest disposable household income per capitaamongOECDcountries.In February 2024, the totalU.S. federal government debtwas $34.4 trillion.
Of the world's500 largest companies by revenue,136 were headquartered in the U.S.in 2023,which is the highest number of any country.TheU.S. dollaris the currency most usedin international transactionsand is the world's foremostreserve currency, backed by the country's dominant economy,its military, thepetrodollarsystem, and its linkedeurodollarand largeU.S. treasuries market.Several countries use it as their official currency, and in others it is thede factocurrency.The U.S. hasfree trade agreementswithseveral countries, including theUSMCA.It ranked second in theGlobal Competitiveness Reportin 2019, after Singapore.Although the United States has reached apost-industrial level of developmentand is often described as having aservice economy,it remainsa major industrial power.In 2021, the U.S. had thesecond-highest manufacturing outputafter China.
New York Cityis the world's principalfinancial centerand the epicenter of the world'slargest metropolitan economy.TheNew York Stock ExchangeandNasdaq, both located in New York City, are the world's twolargest stock exchangesbymarket capitalizationandtrade volume.The United States is at or near the forefront oftechnological advancementandinnovationin many economic fields, especially inartificial intelligence;electronicsandcomputers;pharmaceuticals; and medical,aerospaceandmilitary equipment.The country's economy is fueled by abundantnatural resources, a well-developedinfrastructure, andhigh productivity.Thelargest trading partners of the United Statesare theEuropean Union, Mexico, Canada, China, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, India, and Taiwan.The United States is the world'slargest importerandsecond-largest exporter.It is by far the world'slargest exporter of services.
Americans have the highest averagehouseholdandemployee incomeamong OECD member states,and the fourth-highestmedian household incomein 2023,up from sixth-highest in 2013.With personalconsumption expendituresof over $18.5 trillion in 2023,the U.S. has a heavilyconsumer-driven economyis the world'slargest consumer market.The U.S.ranked first in the number of dollar billionairesandmillionairesin 2023, with 735 billionaires and nearly 22 million millionaires.
Wealth in the United Statesis highly concentrated; in 2011, the richest 10% of the adult population owned 72% of the country's household wealth, while the bottom 50% owned just 2%.U.S. wealth inequalityincreased substantially since the late 1980s,andincome inequality in the U.S.reached a record high in 2019.Since the 1970s there has been a decoupling of U.S. wage gains from worker productivity.In 2016, the top fifth of earners took home more than half of all income,giving the U.S. one of the widest income distributions among OECD countries.There were about 771,480homeless persons in the U.S.in 2024.In 2022, 6.4 million children experienced food insecurity.Feeding Americaestimates that around one in five, or approximately 13 million,children experience hunger in the U.S.and do not know where they will get their next meal or when.Also in 2022, about 37.9 million people, or 11.5% of the U.S. population, wereliving in poverty.
The United States has a smallerwelfare stateand redistributes less income through government action than most otherhigh-income countries.It is the onlyadvanced economythat does notguarantee its workers paid vacationnationallyand is one of a few countries in the world without federalpaid family leaveas a legal right.The United States has a higher percentage of low-incomeworkersthan almost any other developed country, largely because of a weakcollective bargainingsystem and lack of government support for at-risk workers.
The United Stateshas been a leader in technological innovation since the late 19th centuryand scientific research since the mid-20th century.Methods for producinginterchangeable partsand the establishment of amachine toolindustry enabledthe large-scale manufacturingof U.S. consumer products in the late 19th century.By the early 20th century, factoryelectrification, the introduction of theassembly line, and otherlabor-saving techniquescreated the system ofmass production.
In the 21st century, the United States continues to be one of the world's foremost scientific powers,though China has emerged as a major competitor in many fields.The U.S. has thehighest total research and development expenditure of any countryand ranks ninth as a percentage of GDP.In 2022, the United States was (after China) the country with thesecond-highest number of published scientific papers.In 2021, the U.S. ranked second (also after China) by the number of patent applications, and third by trademark and industrial design applications (after China and Germany), according toWorld Intellectual Property Indicators.In 2023 and 2024, the United States ranked third (after Switzerland and Sweden) in theGlobal Innovation Index.The United States is considered to be the leading country in the development ofartificial intelligencetechnology.In 2023, the United States was ranked the second most technologically advanced country in the world (after South Korea) byGlobal Financemagazine.
The United States has maintained a space program since the late 1950s, beginning with the establishment of theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA) in 1958.NASA'sApollo program(1961–1972) achieved the first crewedMoon landingwith the 1969Apollo 11mission; it remains one of the agency's most significant milestones.Other major endeavors by NASA include theSpace Shuttle program(1981–2011),theVoyager program(1972–present), theHubbleandJames Webbspace telescopes(launched in 1990 and 2021, respectively),and the multi-missionMars Exploration Program(SpiritandOpportunity,Curiosity,andPerseverance).NASA is one of five agencies collaborating on theInternational Space Station(ISS);U.S. contributions to the ISS include several modules, includingDestiny(2001),Harmony(2007), andTranquility(2010), as well as ongoing logistical and operational support.The United Statesprivate sectordominates the globalcommercial spaceflight industry.Prominent American spaceflight contractors includeBlue Origin,Boeing,Lockheed Martin,Northrop Grumman, andSpaceX. NASA programs such as theCommercial Crew Program,Commercial Resupply Services,Commercial Lunar Payload Services, andNextSTEPhave facilitated growing private-sector involvement in American spaceflight.
∈{\displaystyle \in }, the United States received approximately 84% of its energy from fossil fuel, and the largest source of the country's energy came frompetroleum(38%), followed bynatural gas(36%),renewable sources(9%),coal(9%), andnuclear power(9%).The United States constitutes less than 4% of theworld's population, but consumes around 16% of theworld's energy.The U.S. ranks as thesecond-highest emitter of greenhouse gases.
TheU.S. Department of Transportationand its divisions provide regulation, supervision, and funding for all aspects of transportation except for customs, immigration, and security. (The latter remain the responsibility of theU.S. Department of Homeland Security.) Each U.S. state hasits own department of transportation, which builds and maintains state highways. Depending upon the state, this department might also directly operate or supervise other modes of transportation.
Aviation lawis almost entirely the jurisdiction of the federal government; theFederal Aviation Administrationregulates all aspects ofcivil aviation,air traffic management, certification and compliance, andaviation safety. Vehicle traffic laws, however, are enacted and enforced by state and local authorities, with the exception of roads located on federal property (such as national parks and military bases) or in theunorganized U.S. territories. TheUnited States Coast Guardis the primary enforcer of law and security on U.S. waterways, inland as well as coastal, but economic jurisdiction over coastaltidelandsis shared between state and federal governments.The country's inland waterwaysare the world'sfifth-longest, totaling 41,009 km (25,482 mi).
Passenger and freight rail systems, bus systems, water ferries, and dams may be under either public or private ownership and operation. U.S. civilian airlines are all privately owned. Most U.S. airports are owned and operated by local government authorities, and there are also some private airports. TheTransportation Security Administrationhas provided security at most major airports since 2001.
Commercial railroads and trains were the dominantmode of transportationin the U.S. until the mid-twentieth century. The introduction of jet airplanes and airports serving the same major routes accelerated a decline in demand for interstate and intercity rail passenger service by the 1960s. The completion of theInterstate Highway Systemalso hastened the sharp curtailment of passenger service by the railroads. These significant developments led to the creation of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, now calledAmtrak, by theU.S. federal governmentin 1971. Amtrak helps to maintain limited intercity rail passenger service in most parts of the country. It serves most major U.S. cities, but outside theNortheast,California, andIllinoisit typically runs only a few trains per day. More frequent Amtrak service is available in regional corridors between certain major cities, particularly theNortheast CorridorbetweenWashington, D.C.,Philadelphia,New York CityandBoston; between New York City andAlbany; in metropolitanChicago; and in parts of California and thePacific Northwest. Amtrak does not serve several major U.S. destinations, includingLas VegasandPhoenix, Arizona.
TheAmerican civil airline industryis entirely owned by corporations and has been largelyderegulated since 1978, whilemost major airportsare publicly owned.The three largest airlines in the world by passengers carried are U.S.-based;American Airlinesis number one after its 2013 acquisition byUS Airways.Of the world's50 busiest passenger airports, 16 are in the United States, including the top five and the busiest,Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport.∈{\displaystyle \in }, there were 19,969 airports in the U.S., of which 5,193 are designated as "public use", including forgeneral aviationand other activities.
The overwhelming majority of roads in the United States are owned and maintained by state and local governments. Roads maintained only by the U.S. federal government are generally only found onfederal lands(such asnational parks) or at federal facilities (like military bases). TheInterstate Highway System, with its large, openfreewayslinking the states, is partly funded by the federal government but owned and maintained by the state government hosting its section of the interstate. Some states fund and build their own large expressways—often called "parkways" or "turnpikes"—that generally use tolls to pay for construction and maintenance. Likewise, some privately owned roads may use tolls for this purpose.
Public transportation in the United Statesincludesbus,commuter rail,ferry, and sometimesairlineservice. Public transit systems serve areas of higher population density where demand is greatest. Many U.S. cities, towns, and suburbs arecar-dependent, however, and suburban public transit is less common and service far less frequent. Most U.S. urban areas have some form of public transit, notably city buses, while the largest (e.g. New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, and Portland, Oregon) operate extensive systems that also includesubwaysorlight rail.Most public transit service in the United States is run by local governments, but national and regional commuter lines serve major U.S. urban corridors.
Personal transportation in the United States is dominated by automobiles,which operate on a network of 4 million miles (6.4 million kilometers) of public roads, making it thelongestin the world.The country's rail transport network, also thelongestin the world at 182,412.3 mi (293,564.2 km),handles mostlyfreight.Of theworld's 50 busiest container ports, four are located in the United States, with the busiest in the U.S. being thePort of Los Angeles.
TheOldsmobile Curved Dashand theFord Model T, both American cars, are considered the first mass-producedand mass-affordablecars, respectively. American automotive companyGeneral Motorsheld the title of the world's best-selling automaker from 1931 to 2008.The United States was thesecond-largest manufacturer of motor vehiclesin 2023and is home toTesla, the world's most valuable car company.The United States is the world's second-largest automobile market by sales, having been overtaken by China in 2010,and the U.S. has thehighest vehicle ownership per capitain the world,with 910 vehicles per 1000 people.By value, the U.S. was the world's largest importer and third-largest exporter of cars in 2022.
TheU.S. Census Bureaureported 331,449,281 residents on April 1, 2020,making the United States thethird-most-populous countryin the world, after China and India.The Census Bureau's official 2024 population estimate was 340,110,988, an increase of 2.6% since the 2020 census.According to the Bureau'sU.S. Population Clock, on July 1, 2024, the U.S. population had a net gain of one person every 16 seconds, or about 5400 people per day.In 2023, 51% of Americans age 15 and over were married, 6% werewidowed, 10% were divorced, and 34% had never been married.In 2023, thetotal fertility ratefor the U.S. stood at 1.6 children per woman,and, at 23%, it had the world's highest rate of children living insingle-parenthouseholds in 2019.
The United States has a diverse population; 37ancestry groupshave more than one million members.White Americanswith ancestry from Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa form the largestracialandethnic groupat 57.8% of the United States population.Hispanic and Latino Americansform the second-largest group and are 18.7% of the United States population.African Americansconstitute the country's third-largest ancestry group and are 12.1% of the total U.S. population.Asian Americans are the country's fourth-largest group, composing 5.9% of the United States population. The country's 3.7 million Native Americans account for about 1%,and some 574 native tribes are recognized by the federal government.In 2022, themedian ageof the United States population was 38.9 years.
While many languages are spoken in the United States,Englishis by far the most commonly spoken and written.Although there is noofficial languageat the federal level, some laws, such asU.S. naturalization requirements, standardize English, and most states have declared it the official language.Three states and four U.S. territories have recognized local or indigenous languages in addition to English, including Hawaii (Hawaiian),Alaska (twenty Native languages),South Dakota (Sioux),American Samoa (Samoan), Puerto Rico (Spanish), Guam (Chamorro), and the Northern Mariana Islands (Carolinianand Chamorro). In total, 169 Native American languages are spoken in the United States.In Puerto Rico, Spanish is more widely spoken than English.
According to theAmerican Community Survey(2020),some 245.4 million people in the U.S. age five and older spoke only English at home. About 41.2 million spoke Spanish at home, making it the second most commonly used language. Other languages spoken at home by one million people or more includeChinese(3.40 million),Tagalog(1.71 million),Vietnamese(1.52 million),Arabic(1.39 million),French(1.18 million),Korean(1.07 million), andRussian(1.04 million).German, spoken by 1 million people at home in 2010, fell to 857,000 total speakers in 2020.
America's immigrant population is by far the world'slargest in absolute terms.In 2022, there were 87.7 million immigrants andU.S.-born children of immigrantsin the United States, accounting for nearly 27% of the overall U.S. population.In 2017, out of the U.S. foreign-born population, some 45% (20.7 million) were naturalized citizens, 27% (12.3 million) were lawful permanent residents, 6% (2.2 million) were temporary lawful residents, and 23% (10.5 million) were unauthorized immigrants.In 2019, the top countries of origin for immigrants were Mexico (24% of immigrants), India (6%), China (5%), the Philippines (4.5%), and El Salvador (3%).In fiscal year 2022, over one million immigrants (most of whom entered throughfamily reunification) were grantedlegal residence.In fiscal year 2024 alone, according to the Migration Policy Institute, the United States resettled 100,034 refugees, which "re-cements the United States' role as the top global resettlement destination, far surpassing other major resettlement countries in Europe and Canada".
TheFirst Amendmentguarantees thefree exercise of religion in the countryand forbids Congress from passing laws respectingits establishment.Religious practice is widespread, among themost diversein the world,and profoundly vibrant.The country has the world'slargest Christian population.Other notable faiths includeJudaism,Buddhism,Hinduism,Islam, manyNew Agemovements, andNative American religions.Religious practice varies significantly by region."Ceremonial deism" is common in American culture.
The overwhelming majority ofAmericansbelieve in ahigher poweror spiritual force, engage inspiritual practicessuch as prayer, and consider themselves religious orspiritual.In the "Bible Belt", located within the Southern United States,evangelical Protestantismplays a significant role culturally, whereasNew Englandand the Western United Statestend to be more secular.Mormonism—aRestorationistmovement, whose members migrated westward from Missouri and Illinois under the leadership ofBrigham Youngin 1847 after the assassination ofJoseph Smith—remains the predominant religion in Utah to this day.
About 82% of Americans live inurban areas, including suburbs;about half of those reside in cities with populations over 50,000.In 2022, 333incorporated municipalitieshad populations over 100,000, nine cities had more than one million residents, and four cities—New York City,Los Angeles,Chicago, andHouston—had populations exceeding two million.Many U.S. metropolitan populations are growing rapidly, particularly in the South and West.
According to theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC), average American life expectancy at birth was 78.4 years in 2023 (75.8 years for men and 81.1 years for women). This was a gain of 0.9 year from 77.5 years in 2022, and the CDC noted that the new average was largely driven by "decreases in mortality due to COVID-19, heart disease, unintentional injuries, cancer and diabetes".Starting in 1998, life expectancy in the U.S. fellbehind that of other wealthy industrialized countries, and Americans' "health disadvantage" gap has been increasing ever since.The U.S. has one of thehighest suicide ratesamonghigh-income countries.Approximately one-third of the U.S. adult population is obeseand another third is overweight.The U.S. healthcare system faroutspends that of any other country, measured both in per capita spending and as a percentage of GDP, but attains worse healthcare outcomes when compared to peer countries for reasons that are debated.The United States is the only developed countrywithout a system of universal healthcare, anda significant proportion of the population that does not carry health insurance.Government-funded healthcare coverage for the poor (Medicaid) and for those age 65 and older (Medicare) is available to Americans who meet the programs' income or age qualifications. In 2010, former President Obama passed thePatient Protection and Affordable Care Act.Abortion in the United Statesis not federally protected, and is illegal or restricted in 17 states.
American primary and secondary education (known in the U.S. asK-12, "kindergarten through 12th grade") is decentralized. School systems are operated by state, territorial, and sometimes municipal governments and regulated by theU.S. Department of Education. In general, children are required to attend school oran approved homeschoolfrom the age of five or six (kindergartenorfirst grade) until they are 18 years old. This often brings students through the12th grade, the final year of a U.S. high school, but some states and territories allow them to leave school earlier, at age 16 or 17.The U.S. spends more on education per student than any other country,an average of $18,614 per year per public elementary and secondary school student in 2020–2021.Among Americans age 25 and older, 92.2% graduated from high school, 62.7% attended some college, 37.7% earned abachelor's degree, and 14.2% earned a graduate degree.TheU.S. literacy rateis near-universal.The country has themost Nobel Prize winners of any country, with411(having won 413 awards).
U.S. tertiary or higher educationhas earned a global reputation. Many of the world's top universities, as listed by various ranking organizations, are in the United States, including 19 of the top 25.American higher education is dominated bystate university systems, althoughthe country's many private universities and collegesenroll about 20% of all American students. Localcommunity collegesgenerally offer coursework and degree programs covering the first two years of college study. They often have more open admission policies, shorter academic programs, and lower tuition.
As forpublic expenditureson higher education, the U.S. spends more per student than theOECDaverage, and Americans spend more than all nations in combined public and private spending.Colleges and universities directly funded by the federal government do not charge tuition and are limited to military personnel and government employees, including: theU.S. service academies, theNaval Postgraduate School, andmilitary staff colleges. Despite some studentloan forgivenessprograms in place,student loan debtincreased by 102% between 2010 and 2020,and exceeded $1.7 trillion in 2022.
Americans have traditionallybeen characterizedby a unifying political belief in an "American Creed" emphasizingconsent of the governed,liberty,equality under the law,democracy,social equality,property rights, and a preference forlimited government.Culturally, the country has been described as havingthe valuesofindividualismandpersonal autonomy,as well as having a strongwork ethic,competitiveness,and voluntaryaltruismtowards others.According to a 2016 study by theCharities Aid Foundation, Americans donated 1.44% of total GDP to charity—thehighest ratein the world by a large margin.The United States is home to awide variety of ethnic groups, traditions, and values.The country has acquired significanthardandsoft powerthroughits diplomatic influence,economic power,military alliances, andcultural exportssuch asAmerican movies,music,video games,sports, andfood.The influence that the United States exerts on other countries through soft power is referred to asAmericanization.
Nearly all present Americans or their ancestors came fromEurope, Africa, or Asia(the "Old World") within the past five centuries.MainstreamAmerican culture is aWestern culturelargely derived from thetraditions of European immigrantswith influences from many other sources, such astraditions brought by slaves from Africa.More recent immigration fromAsiaand especiallyLatin Americahas added to a cultural mix that has been described as a homogenizingmelting pot, and a heterogeneoussalad bowl, with immigrants contributing to, and oftenassimilatinginto, mainstream American culture. TheAmerican Dream, or the perception that Americans enjoy highsocial mobility, plays a key role in attracting immigrants.Whether this perception is accurate has been a topic of debate.While mainstream culture holds that the United States is aclassless society,scholars identify significant differences betweenthe country's social classes, affectingsocialization, language, and values.Americans tend to greatly valuesocioeconomicachievement, butbeing ordinary or averageis promoted by some as a noble condition as well.
TheNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanitiesis an agency of the United States federal government that was established in 1965 with the purpose to "develop and promote a broadly conceived national policy of support for the humanities and the arts in the United States, and for institutions which preserve the cultural heritage of the United States."It is composed of four sub-agencies:
The United States is considered to have thestrongest protections of free speech of any countryunder theFirst Amendment,which protectsflag desecration,hate speech,blasphemy, andlese-majestyas forms of protected expression.A 2016Pew Research Centerpoll found that Americans were the most supportive of free expression of any polity measured.They are the "most supportive offreedom of the pressand theright to use the Internetwithout government censorship".The U.S. is asocially progressivecountrywithpermissiveattitudes surroundinghuman sexuality.LGBT rights in the United Statesare advanced by global standards.
Colonial American authors were influenced byJohn Lockeand various otherEnlightenmentphilosophers.TheAmerican Revolutionary Period(1765–1783) is notable for the political writings ofBenjamin Franklin,Alexander Hamilton,Thomas Paine, andThomas Jefferson. Shortly before and after theRevolutionary War, the newspaper rose to prominence, filling a demand for anti-British national literature.An early novel isWilliam Hill Brown'sThe Power of Sympathy, published in 1791. Writer and criticJohn Nealin the early- to mid-nineteenth century helped advance America toward a unique literature and culture by criticizing predecessors such asWashington Irvingfor imitating their British counterparts, and by influencing writers such asEdgar Allan Poe,who took American poetry and short fiction in new directions.Ralph Waldo EmersonandMargaret Fullerpioneered the influentialTranscendentalismmovement;Henry David Thoreau, author ofWalden, was influenced by this movement. The conflict surroundingabolitionisminspired writers, likeHarriet Beecher Stowe, and authors of slave narratives, such asFrederick Douglass.Nathaniel Hawthorne'sThe Scarlet Letter(1850) explored the dark side of American history, as didHerman Melville'sMoby-Dick(1851). Major American poets of the nineteenth centuryAmerican RenaissanceincludeWalt Whitman, Melville, andEmily Dickinson.Mark Twainwas the first major American writer to be born in the West.Henry Jamesachieved international recognition with novels likeThe Portrait of a Lady(1881). As literacy rates rose, periodicals published more stories centered around industrial workers, women, and the rural poor.Naturalism,regionalism, andrealismwere the major literary movements of the period.
Whilemodernismgenerally took on an international character, modernist authors working within the United States more often rooted their work in specific regions, peoples, and cultures.Following the Great Migration to northern cities, African-American and blackWest Indianauthors of theHarlem Renaissancedeveloped an independent tradition of literature that rebuked a history of inequality and celebrated black culture. An important cultural export during theJazz Age, these writings were a key influence onNégritude, a philosophy emerging in the 1930s among francophone writers of theAfrican diaspora.In the 1950s, an ideal of homogeneity led many authors to attempt to write theGreat American Novel,while theBeat Generationrejected this conformity, using styles that elevated the impact of thespoken wordover mechanics to describe drug use, sexuality, and the failings of society.Contemporary literature is more pluralistic than in previous eras, with the closest thing to a unifying feature being a trend toward self-consciousexperiments with language.Twelve American laureates have won theNobel Prize in Literature.
Media isbroadly uncensored, with theFirst Amendmentproviding significant protections, as reiterated inNew York Times Co. v. United States.The four major broadcasters in the U.S. are theNational Broadcasting Company(NBC),Columbia Broadcasting System(CBS),American Broadcasting Company(ABC), andFox Broadcasting Company(FOX). The four major broadcast television networks are all commercial entities.Cable televisionoffers hundreds of channels catering to a variety of niches.∈{\displaystyle \in }, about 83% of Americans over age 12 listened tobroadcast radio, while about 40% listened topodcasts.In the prior year, there were 15,460 licensed full-power radio stations in the U.S. according to theFederal Communications Commission(FCC).Much of the public radio broadcasting is supplied byNPR, incorporated in February 1970 under thePublic Broadcasting Act of 1967.
U.S. newspapers with a global reach and reputation includeThe Wall Street Journal,The New York Times,The Washington Post, andUSA Today.About 800 publicationsare produced in Spanish.With few exceptions, newspapers are privately owned, either by large chains such asGannettorMcClatchy, which own dozens or even hundreds of newspapers; by small chains that own a handful of papers; or, in an increasingly rare situation, by individuals or families. Major cities often havealternative newspapersto complement the mainstream daily papers, such asThe Village Voicein New York City andLA Weeklyin Los Angeles. The five most popular websites used in the U.S. areGoogle,YouTube,Amazon,Yahoo, andFacebook—all of them American-owned.
∈{\displaystyle \in }, the video game market of the United States was the world'slargest by revenue.There are 444 publishers, developers, and hardware companies in California alone.
The United States is well known for its theater. Mainstream theater in the United States derives from the old European theatrical tradition and has been heavily influenced by theBritish theater.By the middle of the 19th century America had created new distinct dramatic forms in theTom Shows, theshowboat theaterand theminstrel show.The central hub of the American theater scene is theTheater District in Manhattan, with its divisions ofBroadway,off-Broadway, andoff-off-Broadway.
Many movie and televisioncelebritieshave gotten their big break working in New York productions. Outside New York City, many cities have professionalregional or resident theater companiesthat produce their own seasons. The biggest-budget theatrical productions are musicals. U.S. theater has an activecommunity theaterculture.
TheTony Awardsrecognizes excellence in live Broadway theater and are presented at an annual ceremony inManhattan. The awards are given for Broadway productions and performances. One is also given forregional theater. Several discretionary non-competitive awards are given as well, including aSpecial Tony Award, theTony Honors for Excellence in Theatre, and theIsabelle Stevenson Award.
Folk artincolonial Americagrew out of artisanalcraftsmanshipin communities that allowed commonly trained people to individually express themselves. It was distinct from Europe's tradition ofhigh art, which was less accessible and generally less relevant to early American settlers.Cultural movements in art and craftsmanship in colonial America generally lagged behind those of Western Europe. For example, the prevailing medieval style ofwoodworkingand primitivesculpturebecame integral to early American folk art, despite the emergence ofRenaissance stylesin England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. The new English styles would have been early enough to make a considerable impact on American folk art, but American styles and forms had already been firmly adopted. Not only did styles change slowly in early America, but there was a tendency for rural artisans there to continue their traditional forms longer than their urban counterparts did—and far longer than those in Western Europe.
TheHudson River Schoolwas a mid-19th-century movement in the visual arts tradition of Europeannaturalism. The 1913Armory Showin New York City, an exhibition of Europeanmodernist art, shocked the public and transformed the U.S. art scene.
Georgia O'Keeffe,Marsden Hartley, and others experimented with new and individualistic styles, which would become known asAmerican modernism. Major artistic movements such as theabstract expressionismofJackson PollockandWillem de Kooningand thepop artofAndy WarholandRoy Lichtensteindeveloped largely in the United States. Major photographers includeAlfred Stieglitz,Edward Steichen,Dorothea Lange,Edward Weston,James Van Der Zee,Ansel Adams, andGordon Parks.
The tide ofmodernismand thenpostmodernismhas brought global fame to American architects, includingFrank Lloyd Wright,Philip Johnson, andFrank Gehry.TheMetropolitan Museum of ArtinManhattanis the largestart museumin the United Statesand thefourth-largestin the world.
American folk musicencompasses numerous music genres, variously known as traditional music, traditionalfolk music, contemporary folk music, or roots music. Many traditional songs have been sung within the same family or folk group for generations, and sometimes trace back to such origins as theBritish Isles,mainland Europe, orAfrica.The rhythmic and lyrical styles of African-American music in particular have influenced American music.Banjoswere brought to America through the slave trade.Minstrel showsincorporating the instrument into their acts led to its increased popularity and widespread production in the 19th century.Theelectric guitar, first invented in the 1930s, and mass-produced by the 1940s, had an enormous influence on popular music, in particular due to the development ofrock and roll.Thesynthesizer,turntablism, andelectronic musicwere also largely developed in the U.S.
Elements from folk idioms such as thebluesandold-time musicwere adopted and transformed intopopular genreswith global audiences.Jazzgrew from blues andragtimein the early 20th century, developing from the innovations and recordings of composers such asW.C. HandyandJelly Roll Morton.Louis ArmstrongandDuke Ellingtonincreased its popularity early in the 20th century.Country musicdeveloped in the 1920s,rock and roll in the 1930s,andbluegrassandrhythm and bluesin the 1940s.In the 1960s,Bob Dylanemerged from thefolk revivalto become one of the country's most celebrated songwriters.The musical forms ofpunkandhip hopboth originated in the United States in the 1970s.
The United States has the world'slargest music market, with a total retail value of $15.9 billion in 2022.Most of the world'smajor record companiesare based in the U.S.; they are represented by theRecording Industry Association of America(RIAA).Mid-20th-century American pop stars, such asFrank SinatraandElvis Presley,becameglobal celebritiesandbest-selling music artists,as have artists of the late 20th century, such asMichael Jackson,Madonna,Whitney Houston,andMariah Carey,and the early 21st century, such asEminem,Britney Spears,Lady Gaga,Katy Perry,Taylor SwiftandBeyoncé.
The United States is the world's largestapparelmarket by revenue.Apart from professionalbusiness attire, American fashion is eclectic and predominantly informal. Americans' diverse cultural roots are reflected in their clothing; however,sneakers,jeans, T-shirts, andbaseball capsare emblematic of American styles.New York, withits fashion week, is considered to be one of the "Big Four" globalfashion capitals, along withParis,Milan, andLondon. A study demonstrated that general proximity toManhattan's Garment Districthas been synonymous with American fashion since its inception in the early 20th century.
The headquarters of manydesigner labelsreside inManhattan. Labels cater toniche markets, such as preteens. New York Fashion Week is one of the most influential fashion weeks in the world, and occurs twice a year;while the annualMet Galain Manhattan is commonly known as the fashion world's "biggest night".
The U.S. film industry hasa worldwide influence and following.Hollywood, a district in northern Los Angeles, the nation's second-most populous city, is also metonymous for the American filmmaking industry.Themajor film studiosof the United States are the primary source of themost commercially successfuland most ticket-selling movies in the world.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.TheAcademy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, have been held annually by theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciencessince 1929,and theGolden Globe Awardshave been held annually since January 1944.
The industry peaked in what is commonly referred to as the "Golden Age of Hollywood", from the early sound period until the early 1960s,with screen actors such asJohn WayneandMarilyn Monroebecoming iconic figures.In the 1970s, "New Hollywood", or the "Hollywood Renaissance",was defined by grittier films influenced by French and Italian realist pictures of thepost-war period.The 21st century has been marked by the rise of American streaming platforms, which came to rival traditional cinema.
Early settlers were introduced by Native Americans to foods such asturkey,sweet potatoes,corn,squash, andmaple syrup. Of the most enduring and pervasive examples are variations of the native dish calledsuccotash. Early settlers and later immigrants combined these with foods they were familiar with, such aswheat flour,beef, and milk, to create a distinctive American cuisine.New World crops, especiallypumpkin, corn,potatoes, and turkey as the main course are part of a shared national menu onThanksgiving, when many Americans prepare or purchase traditional dishes to celebrate the occasion.
Characteristic American dishes such asapple pie,fried chicken,doughnuts,french fries,macaroni and cheese,ice cream,hamburgers,hot dogs, andAmerican pizzaderive from the recipes of various immigrant groups.Mexican dishessuch asburritosandtacospreexisted the United States in areas later annexed from Mexico, andadaptations of Chinese cuisineas well aspasta dishes freely adapted from Italian sourcesare all widely consumed.Americanchefshave had a significant impact on society both domestically and internationally. In 1946, theCulinary Institute of Americawas founded byKatharine AngellandFrances Roth. This would become the United States' most prestigious culinary school, where many of the most talented American chefs would study prior to successful careers.
TheUnited States restaurant industrywas projected at $899 billion in sales for 2020,and employed more than 15 million people, representing 10% of the nation's workforce directly.It is the country's second-largest private employer and the third-largest employer overall.The United States is home to over 220Michelin star-rated restaurants, 70 of which are in New York City alone.Winehas been produced in what is now the United States since the 1500s, with thefirst widespread production beginning in what is now New Mexicoin 1628.In the modern U.S., wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, withCalifornia producing 84 percent of all U.S. wine. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km) under vine, the United States is thefourth-largest wine-producing countryin the world, afterItaly,Spain, andFrance.
The Americanfast-foodindustry developed alongside the nation'scar culture.American restaurants developed thedrive-informat in the 1920s, which they began to replace with thedrive-throughformat by the 1940s.Americanfast-food restaurantchains, such asMcDonald's,Kentucky Fried Chicken,Dunkin' Donutsandmany others, have numerous outlets around the world.
The most popular spectator sports in the U.S. areAmerican football,basketball,baseball,soccer, andice hockey.While most major U.S. sports such as baseball and American football have evolved out of European practices, basketball,volleyball,skateboarding, andsnowboardingare American inventions, many of which have become popular worldwide.Lacrosseandsurfingarose from Native American and Native Hawaiian activities that predate European contact.Themarket for professional sports in the United Stateswas approximately $69 billion in July 2013, roughly 50% larger than that of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa combined.
American football is by several measures the most popular spectator sport in the United States;theNational Football Leaguehas the highest average attendance of any sports league in the world, and theSuper Bowlis watched by tens of millions globally.However, baseball has been regarded as the U.S. "national sport" since the late 19th century. After American football, the next four most popular professional team sports are basketball, baseball, soccer, and ice hockey. Their premier leagues are, respectively, theNational Basketball Association,Major League Baseball,Major League Soccer, and theNational Hockey League. The most-watchedindividual sportsin the U.S. aregolfandauto racing, particularlyNASCARandIndyCar.
On thecollegiate level, earnings for the member institutions exceed $1 billion annually,andcollege footballandbasketballattract large audiences, as theNCAA March Madness tournamentand theCollege Football Playoffare some of the most watched national sporting events.In the U.S., the intercollegiate sports level serves as a feeder system for professional sports. This differs greatly from practices in nearly all other countries, where publicly and privately funded sports organizations serve this function.
EightOlympic Gameshave taken place in the United States. The1904 Summer OlympicsinSt. Louis, Missouri, were the first-ever Olympic Games held outside of Europe.The Olympic Games will be held in the U.S. for a ninth time when Los Angeles hosts the2028 Summer Olympics.U.S. athleteshave won a total of 2,968 medals (1,179 gold) at the Olympic Games, the most of any country.
In international professional competition, theU.S. men's national soccer teamhas qualified foreleven World Cups, while thewomen's national teamhaswontheFIFA Women's World CupandOlympic soccer tournamentfour times each.The United States hosted the1994 FIFA World Cupand will co-host, along with Canada and Mexico, the2026 FIFA World Cup.The1999 FIFA Women's World Cupwas also hosted by the United States.Its final matchwas watched by 90,185, setting the world record for most-attended women's sporting event at the time.
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