in the united states

TheUnitedStatesofAmericans

icialnameofAmericaisTheUnitedStatesof

America.

isafederalconstitutionalrepubliccomprisingfifty

statesandafederaldistrict.

ssituatedmostlyinCentralNorthAmerica,where

its48contiguousstatesandWashingtonD.C.(thecapital

district)liebetweenthePacificandAtlanticOceans,bordered

byCanadatothenorthandMexicotothesouth.

tepfAlaskaisinthenorthwestofthecontinent,with

CanadatoitastandRussiatothewestacrosstheBering

Strait.

teofHawaiiisanarchipelagointhemid-Pacific.

ingonlythelandarea,theUSisthethirdinsizeinthe

worldbehindRussiaandChina.

sissippiRiver,heworld’sfourthlongestriversystem,

runsmainlynorth-souththoughtheheartoftheUSA.

kyMountains,tthewesternedgeoftheGreatPlains,

extendnorthtosouthacrosstheUS.

eginning,theUSAconsistedonlyofthethirteen

colonies.

ricancolonistsfoughtofftheBritisharmyinthe

AmericaRevolutionaryWarofthe1770sandissueda

DeclarationofIndependencein1776.

ningoftheTreatyofParisofficiallyrecognizedthe

AmericanindependencefromBritainintheyearof1783.

rasstatesofAlaskaandHawaiiwerebothadmitted

intotheUSAin1959.

ulationoftheUSAisabout____million.

samulticulturalnation,hometoawidevarietyof

ethnicgroups,traditions,andvalues…nearlyallAmericansor

theirancestorsimmigratedwithinthepastfivecenturies.

tureheldincommonbymostAmericans

–mainstreamAmericanculture—isaWesternculturelargely

derivedfromthetraditionsofEuropeanimmigrants.

ingtothetextbooktheWhitetakesup80%of

Americanpopulation,andtheAfricanAmerican12.8%.

ican,“success”hasnormallybeenaccompaniedby

anincreainwealth.

Shighereducationsystem,thefieldsofscience,

technology,engineeringandmathematics(STEM)

increasinglyrelyonforeignstudents.

nitedStates,whenyoutakeataxi,youhavetopay

fortoll,and15percenttippercenttipbesidesthedistancefee.

ncourrvesinAmericanmealsisusu,meat,fish

orpoultry,outrarelyismorethanoneofthervedatthe

samemeal.

opularAmericanfoodsarehotdogsand

hamburgers.

itesauceofmanyAmericansisatomatosaucecalled

ketchuporcatsup.