Introduction

Britain's American colonies broke with the mother country in 1776 and were recognized as the new nation of the United States of America following the Treaty of Paris in 1783. During the 19th and 20th centuries, 37 new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the North American continent and acquired a number of overseas possessions. The two most traumatic experiences in the nation's history were the Civil War (1861-65) and the Great Depression of the 1930s. Buoyed by victories in World Wars I and II and the end of the Cold War in 1991, the US remains the world's most powerful nation state. The economy is marked by steady growth, low unemployment and inflation, and rapid advances in technology.

Geographical Location

The USA is located in North America and bordered by both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and by Canada and Mexico. It is the world's third-largest country by size (after Russia and Canada) and by population (after China and India). Mt. McKinley is the highest point in North America and Death Valley is the lowest point on the continent. The 50 states and District of Columbia have a total area of 9,631,418 sq. km., of which 19,924 km. is coastline. There is a vast central plain, mountains in the west, hills and low mountains in the east, rugged mountains and broad river valleys in Alaska, and volcanic topography in Hawaii. Natural resources include coal, copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates, uranium, bauxite, gold, iron, mercury, nickel, potash, silver, tungsten, zinc, petroleum, natural gas, and timber. The USA is one of the leading industrial powers in the world.

Climate

The USA's climate is mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida, arctic in Alaska, semiarid in the great plains west of the Mississippi River, and arid in the Great Basin of the southwest. Low winter temperatures in the northwest are ameliorated occasionally in January and February by warm chinook winds from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Natural hazards for the USA include tsunamis, volcanoes, and earthquake activity around the Pacific Basin; hurricanes along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts; tornadoes in the mid-west and southeast; mud slides in California; forest fires in the west; flooding; permafrost in northern Alaska, a major impediment to development.

Population

The population of the United States (July 2009) was estimated to be 307,212,123. The growth rate is .997% with a birth rate of 13.83 births per 1000 and the death rate of 8.38 deaths per 1000. Life expectancy at birth is 78.11 years. The US is made up of many ethnic groups: white 79.96%, black 12.85%, Asian 4.43%, Amerindian and Alaska native .97%, native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander 0.18%, and Hispanic (including persons of Cuban, Mexican, or Puerto Rican origin living in the US who may be of any race or ethnic group - white, black, Asian, etc.) 15.1% (2007)

Languages

The main language is English (82.1%), with Spanish (10.7%) , Indo-European 3.8%, Asian & Pacific Island 2.7%, other .7% (2000 census). Hawaiian is an official language in the state of Hawaii. 99% of the population age 15 and older can read and write.

Religion

In 2007, religions were estimated to be: Protestant 51.3%, other Christian 1.6%, Roman Catholic 23.9%, Mormon 1.7%, Jewish 1.7%, Muslim .6%, Buddhist .7%, other or unspecified 2.5%, unaffiliated 12.1%, none 4%.