Outline of the United States
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the United States of America:
[edit] General reference
- Pronunciation: /jʊˌnaɪ.tɪd ˈsteɪts/ ( listen)
- Abbreviations: USA or US
- Common English country name: The United States
- Official English country name: The United States of America
- Common endonyms: United States, U.S., U.S.A., America
- Official endonym: The United States of America
- Common exonyms: The United States; America or The States (chiefly British/Commonwealth); North America (chiefly Latin America)
- Adjectivals: United States, American
- Demonyms: American (among others)
- United States#Etymology
- International rankings of the United States
- ISO country codes: US, USA, 840
- ISO region codes: See ISO 3166-2:US
- Internet country code top-level domain: .us
[edit] Geography of the United States
- The United States is: a country
- Location (50 states):
- Northern Hemisphere and Western Hemisphere (except western Aleutian Islands)
- Time zones:
- Eastern Standard Time (UTC-05), Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-04)
- Central Standard Time (UTC-06), Central Daylight Time (UTC-05)
- Mountain Standard Time (UTC-07), Mountain Daylight Time (UTC-06)
- Pacific Standard Time (UTC-08), Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-07)
- Alaska Standard Time (UTC-09), Alaska Daylight Time (UTC-08)
- Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time (UTC-10), Hawaii-Aleutian Daylight Time (UTC-09)
- Extreme points of the United States:
- North: Point Barrow, Alaska 71°23′15″N 156°28′52″W / 71.3875°N 156.48111°W
- South: Ka Lae, Island of Hawai'i, Hawai'i (18°54′39″N 155°40′52″W / 18.91083°N 155.68111°W)
- East: Sail Rock, just offshore West Quoddy Head, Maine 44°48′54″N 66°56′52″W / 44.815°N 66.94778°W
- Physically East: Eastern Semisopochnoi Island, Alaska 51°57′40″N 179°46′29″E / 51.96111°N 179.77472°E
- West: Peaked Island, offshore Cape Wrangell, Attu Island, Alaska 52°55′00″N 172°26′00″E / 52.9166667°N 172.4333333°E
- Physically West: Western Amatignak Island, Alaska 51°16′06″N 179°09′00″W / 51.26833°N 179.15°W
- High: Mount McKinley (Denali), Alaska at 6,194 meters (20,322 ft) 63°4′10″N 151°0′26″W / 63.06944°N 151.00722°WCoordinates: 63°4′10″N 151°0′26″W / 63.06944°N 151.00722°W
- Low: Badwater Basin, Death Valley, California at −86 meters (−282.2 ft) 36°13′58″N 116°46′42″W / 36.23278°N 116.77833°W
- Land boundaries: 12,034 km
- Population of the United States: 308,745,538 (2010 census) – 3rd most populous country
- Area of the United States: 9,826,630 km2 (3,794,080 sq mi) – 3rd most extensive country
- Atlas of the United States
- Cities of the United States, by population
[edit] Environment of the United States
- Climate of the United States
- Environmental issues in the United States
- Ecoregions in the United States
- Renewable energy in the United States
- Geology of the United States
- National parks of the United States
- Protected areas of the United States
- Superfund sites in the United States
- Wildlife of the United States
[edit] Geographic features of the United States
- Fjords of the United States
- Glaciers of the United States
- Islands of the United States
- Lakes of the United States
- Mountain peaks of the United States
- Rivers of the United States
- Valleys of the United States
- List of World Heritage Sites in the United States
[edit] Regions of the United States
- Belt regions of the United States
- New England
- Mid-Atlantic
- The South
- Midwest
- Great Plains
- Pacific Northwest
- Southwest
- Hawaiian Archipelago
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[edit] Physiographic divisions of the United States
The geography of the United States varies across their immense area. Within the contential U.S., eight distinct physiographic divisions exist, though each is composed of several smaller physiographic subdivisions.[2] These major divisions are:
- Laurentian Upland - part of the Canadian Shield that extends into the northern United States Great Lakes area.
- Atlantic Plain - the coastal regions of the eastern and southern parts includes the continental shelf, the Atlantic Coast and the Gulf Coast.
- Appalachian Highlands - lying on the eastern side of the United States, it includes the Appalachian Mountains, Adirondacks and New England province.
- Interior Plains - part of the interior contentintal United States, it includes much of what is called the Great Plains.
- Interior Highlands - also part of the interior contentintal United States, this division includes the Ozark Plateau.
- Rocky Mountain System - one branch of the Cordilleran system lying far inland in the western states.
- Intermontane Plateaus - also divided into the Columbia Plateau, the Colorado Plateau and the Basin and Range Province, it is a system of plateaus, basins, ranges and gorges between the Rocky and Pacific Mountain Systems. It is the setting for the Grand Canyon, the Great Basin and Death Valley.
- Pacific Mountain System - the coastal mountain ranges and features in the west coast of the United States.
[edit] Administrative divisions of the United States
[edit] States of the United States
At the Declaration of Independence, the United States consisted of 13 states, former colonies of the United Kingdom. In the following years, the number of states has grown steadily due to expansion to the west, conquest and purchase of lands by the American government, and division of existing states to the current number of 50 United States:
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[edit] Territories of the United States
[edit] Incorporated organized territories
- none since 1959
[edit] Incorporated unorganized territories
[edit] Unincorporated organized territories
- Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
- Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
- Territory of Guam
- Territory of the United States Virgin Islands
[edit] Unincorporated unorganized territories
- Territory of American Samoa, technically unorganized, but self-governing under a constitution last revised in 1967
- Baker Island, uninhabited
- Howland Island, uninhabited
- Jarvis Island, uninhabited
- Johnston Atoll, uninhabited
- Kingman Reef, uninhabited
- Bajo Nuevo Bank, uninhabited (disputed with Colombia)
- Serranilla Bank, uninhabited (disputed with Colombia)
- Midway Islands, no indigenous inhabitants, currently included in the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge
- Navassa Island, uninhabited (claimed by Haiti)
- Wake Atoll consisting of Peale, Wake and Wilkes Islands,[3] no indigenous inhabitants, only contractor personnel (claimed by the Marshall Islands)
[edit] Geography of the states and territories
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[edit] Demography of the United States
- Main article: Demography of the United States
[edit] Demographics of the states and territories
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[edit] Climate of the United States
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[edit] Government and politics in the United States
- Main articles: Government of the United States and Politics of the United States
- Form of government: presidential, federal republic
- Capital (political) of the United States: Washington, D.C.
- Flag of the United States
- Political parties in the United States
- Elections in the United States
- Voting rights in the United States
- List of political parties in the United States
- Political divisions of the United States
- Canadian and American politics compared
- International Politics of the United States
- Politics of the Southern United States
[edit] Federal government
[edit] Legislative branch
[edit] Executive branch
- Head of state and head of government: President of the United States, Barack H. Obama
[edit] Federal executive departments
All departments are listed by their present-day name and only departments with past or present cabinet-level status are listed. Order of succession applies only to within the cabinet; the vice president has always been first in the line of succession, and the Speaker of the House and the President pro tem of the Senate have at times been included.
Department | Creation | Order of succession |
Modifications since creation | 2007 Budget in billions of dollars |
Employees (2007) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
State | 1789 | 1 | Initially named "Department of Foreign Affairs" | 9.96 | 30,266 |
Treasury | 1789 | 2 | 11.10 | 115,897 | |
Defense | 1947 | 3 | Initially named "National Military Establishment" | 439.30 | 3,000,000 |
Justice | 1870 | 4 | Position of Attorney General created in 1789, but had no department until 1870 | 23.40 | 112,557 |
Interior | 1849 | 5 | 10.70 | 71,436 | |
Agriculture | 1889 | 6 | 77.60 | 109,832 | |
Commerce | 1903 | 7 | Originally named Commerce and Labor; Labor later separated | 6.20 | 36,000 |
Labor | 1913 | 8 | 59.70 | 17,347 | |
Health and Human Services | 1953 | 9 | Originally named Health, Education, and Welfare; Education later separated | 543.20 | 67,000 |
Housing and Urban Development | 1965 | 10 | 46.20 | 10,600 | |
Transportation | 1966 | 11 | 58.00 | 58,622 | |
Energy | 1977 | 12 | 21.50 | 116,100 | |
Education | 1979 | 13 | 62.80 | 4,487 | |
Veterans Affairs | 1989 | 14 | 73.20 | 235,000 | |
Homeland Security | 2002 | 15 | 44.60 | 208,000 | |
Total budget (fiscal year 2007): | 1,523.42 | 4,193,144 |
[edit] Judicial branch
[edit] State and territory governments
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[edit] Politics of the states and territories
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[edit] Foreign relations
[edit] International organization membership
[edit] Military
- United States Army
- United States Marine Corps
- United States Navy
- United States Air Force
- United States Coast Guard
- National Guard of the United States
- Uniformed services of the United States
[edit] Intelligence Organizations
- Central Intelligence Agency
- Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency
- United States Army Military Intelligence
- Defense Intelligence Agency
- Marine Corps Intelligence Activity
- National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
- National Reconnaissance Office
- National Security Agency
- Office of Naval Intelligence
- Coast Guard Intelligence
- Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Drug Enforcement Administration
- Bureau of Intelligence and Research
- Office of Intelligence and Analysis
- Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence
- Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence
[edit] Law of the United States
- Main article: Law of the United States
[edit] Laws by type
[edit] History of the United States
- Territorial evolution of the United States
- Westward expansion
- Overseas expansion
- Diplomatic history
- Military history
- Industrial history
- Economic history
- Cultural history
- History of the South
- Civil Rights (1896-1954)
- Civil Rights (1955-1968)
- Women's history
[edit] Period-coverage
- Pre-Columbian era
- Colonial period
- 1776 to 1789
- 1789 to 1849
- 1849 to 1865
- 1865 to 1918
- 1918 to 1945
- 1945 to 1964
- 1964 to 1980
- 1980 to 1991
- 1991 to present
[edit] History of the states and territories
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[edit] Presidents of the United States
- George Washington: 1789-1797
- John Adams: 1797-1801
- Thomas Jefferson: 1801-1809
- James Madison: 1809-1817
- James Monroe: 1817-1825
- John Quincy Adams: 1825-1829
- Andrew Jackson: 1829-1837
- Martin Van Buren: 1837-1841
- William Henry Harrison: 1841
- John Tyler: 1841-1845
- James K. Polk: 1845-1849
- Zachary Taylor: 1849-1850
- Millard Fillmore: 1850-1853
- Franklin Pierce: 1853-1857
- James Buchanan: 1857-1861
- Abraham Lincoln: 1861-1865
- Andrew Johnson: 1865-1869
- Ulysses S. Grant: 1869-1877
- Rutherford B. Hayes: 1877-1881
- James A. Garfield: 1881
- Chester A. Arthur: 1881-1885
- Grover Cleveland: 1885-1889
- Benjamin Harrison: 1889-1893
- Grover Cleveland: 1893-1897
- William McKinley: 1897-1901
- Theodore Roosevelt: 1901-1909
- William H. Taft: 1909-1913
- Woodrow Wilson: 1913-1921
- Warren Harding: 1921-1923
- Calvin Coolidge: 1923-1929
- Herbert Hoover: 1929-1933
- Franklin D. Roosevelt: 1933-1945
- Harry S. Truman: 1945-1953
- Dwight D. Eisenhower: 1953-1961
- John F. Kennedy: 1961-1963
- Lyndon B. Johnson: 1963-1969
- Richard M. Nixon: 1969-1974
- Gerald Ford: 1974-1977
- Jimmy Carter: 1977-1981
- Ronald Reagan: 1981-1989
- George H. W. Bush: 1989-1993
- Bill Clinton: 1993-2001
- George W. Bush: 2001-2009
- Barack Obama: 2009–Present
[edit] Culture of the United States
- Main article: Culture of the United States
- American humor
- Languages of the United States
- National symbols of the United States
- Religion in the United States
- World Heritage Sites in the United States
[edit] American cuisine
- Cajun cuisine
- Louisiana Creole cuisine
- Midwestern cuisine
- Native American cuisine
- Southern cuisine
- Southwestern cuisine
- Tex-Mex cuisine
[edit] Cuisine of the states and territories
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[edit] Art in the United States
- American Literature
- Music of the United States
- Theater of the United States
- Cinema of the United States
- Television in the United States
- Visual arts of the United States
[edit] Music in the United States
[edit] Genres
- Blues music
- Gospel music
- Jazz
- Country music
- R&B music
- Soul music
- Rock music
- Heavy metal
- Punk rock
- Hip hop
- Bluegrass music
- Folk music
[edit] Music in the states and territories
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[edit] Sports in the United States
- Main article: Sports in the United States
- Football in the United States
- Baseball in the United States
- Little League Baseball
- Soccer in the United States
[edit] List of Major Sports Leagues in the United States
- Main article: Major North American professional sports leagues
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[edit] Sports by state and territory
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[edit] Education in the United States
- Main article: Education in the United States
[edit] Education in the states and territories
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[edit] Economy and infrastructure of the United States
- Main article: Economy of the United States
The United States is the world's largest economy (IMF, 2010). |
- Currency of the United States: US$
- ISO 4217: USD
- North American Free Trade Agreement
- World Trade Organization
- Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
- Federal Reserve System
- United States public debt
- Wealth in the United States
- Household income in the United States
- Personal income in the United States
- Poverty in the United States
- Income inequality in the United States
- American Dream
- Balance of payments
- Economy of Puerto Rico
- Trade policy of the United States
- List of United States companies
- National debt by U.S. presidential terms
- Economic history of the United States
- List of industry trade groups in the United States
- Tourism in the United States
[edit] Economy by state and territory
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[edit] Infrastructure of the United States
- Communications in the United States
- Energy in the United States
- Health care in the United States
- Transportation in the United States
- Water supply and sanitation in the United States
[edit] See also
English language edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
- Index of United States-related articles
- List of international rankings
- Member state of the Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors
- Member state of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
- Member state of the United Nations
- Outline of geography
- Outline of North America
[edit] References
- ^ The total length of the land border between Canada and the United States is the longest between any two countries.
- ^ "Physiographic Regions". United States Geological Survey. 2003-04-17. http://tapestry.usgs.gov/physiogr/physio.html. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
- ^ DOI Office of Internal Affairs http://www.doi.gov/oia/Islandpages/wakepage.htm
[edit] External links
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Definitions and translations from Wiktionary |
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Images and media from Commons |
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Learning resources from Wikiversity |
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News stories from Wikinews |
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Quotations from Wikiquote |
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Source texts from Wikisource |
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Textbooks from Wikibooks |
- 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
- United States Satellite view at WikiMapia (not affiliated with Wikipedia/Wikimedia Foundation)
- Other
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Official government site
- United States Travel guide and tourist information from Wikitravel (not affiliated with Wikipedia/Wikimedia Foundation)
- Outline of the United States to top page of page
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Outlines for each U.S. state |
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Article indexes for each U.S. state |
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