Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Flag
Great Seal
Motto:
"In God We Trust" (official)[1][2][3]
Other traditional mottos [show]
Anthem: "The Star-Spangled Banner"
MENU
0:00
Washington, D.C.
3853N 7701W
New York City
4043N 7400W
National
language
English[b]
Demonym
American
-President
Federal presidentialconst
itutional republic
Barack Obama
-Vice President
Joe Biden
-Speaker of the
House
-Chief Justice
John Boehner
Legislature
-Upper house
Congress
Senate
-Lower house
House of
Representatives
Government
John Roberts
-Recognized
September 3, 1783
-Constitution
-Current
Statehood
-Total
-Water (%)
Area
9,857,306[4] km2(3rd)
3,805,927[4] sq mi
2.23
Population
-2014 estimate 319,309,000[5](3rd)
-Density
34.2/km2 (180th)
88.6/sq mi
GDP (PPP)
-Total
2013 estimate
$16.768 trillion[6](1st)
-Per capita
$53,001[6] (9th)
GDP (nominal)
-Total
2013 estimate
$16.768 trillion[6](1st)
-Per capita
$53,001[6] (9th)
Gini (2012)
36.9[7]
medium 39th (2009)
HDI (2013)
0.914[8]
very high 5th
Currency
(UTC5 to 10)
Time zone
-Summer (DST) (UTC4 to 10[d])
Drives on the
right[e]
Calling code
+1
US
Internet TLD
1 Etymology
2 History
o 2.1 Native American and European
contact
o 2.2 Settlements
o 2.3 Independence and expansion
o 2.4 Civil War and Reconstruction Era
o 2.5 Industrialization
o 2.6 World War I, Great Depression,
and World War II
o 2.7 Cold War and civil rights era
o 2.8 Contemporary history
3 Geography, climate, and environment
4 Demographics
o 4.1 Population
o 4.2 Language
o 4.3 Religion
o 4.4 Family structure
5 Government and politics
o 5.1 Political divisions
o 5.2 Parties and elections
o 5.3 Foreign relations
16 References
17 Bibliography
o 17.1 Website sources
18 External links
Etymology
See also: Names for United States
citizens
In 1507, the German cartographer Martin
Waldseemller produced a world map on
which he named the lands of the Western
Hemisphere "America" after the Italian
explorer and cartographer Amerigo
Vespucci (Latin: Americus
Vespucius).[32] The first documentary
evidence of the phrase "United States of
America" is from a letter dated January 2,
1776, written by Stephen Moylan,
Esq., George Washington's aide-decampand Muster-Master General of
the Continental Army. Addressed to Lt.
Col. Joseph Reed, Moylan expressed his
wish to carry the "full and ample powers
in 1607 at Jamestownand
the Pilgrims' Plymouth Colony in 1620.
Early experiments in communal living
failed until the introduction of private farm
holdings.[59] Many settlers
were dissenting Christian groups who
came seekingreligious freedom. The
continent's first elected legislative
assembly, Virginia's House of
Burgesses created in 1619, and
the Mayflower Compact, signed by the
Pilgrims before disembarking,
established precedents for the pattern of
representative self-government and
constitutionalism that would develop
throughout the American colonies.[60][61]
Most settlers in every colony were small
farmers, but other industries developed.
Cash crops included tobacco, rice and
wheat. Extraction industries grew up in
furs, fishing and lumber. Manufacturers
produced rum and ships, and by the late
colonial period Americans were