United States Of America

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in . It is a of 50 and a federal capital district, The border to the north and to the south, with the states of to the northwest and the in the . The United States also asserts sovereignty over five and . The country has the world's , , and , exceeding 340 million. Its three are , , and , and its three are , , and .

migrated across the more than 12,000 years ago, and formed . led to the first settlement of the in in 1607, with the beginning of the of following soon after. Clashes with the over taxation and sparked the , with the formally on July 4, 1776. Following its victory in the 1775–1783 , the country continued to , resulting in the dispossession of . As more states , a over slavery led to the secession of the , which fought states remaining in in the 1861–1865 . With the victory and preservation of the United States, . By 1900, the country had established itself as a , a status solidified after its involvement in . After 's in December 1941, the U.S. . left the U.S. and the as the world's two and led to the , during which both countries struggled for and . Following the and the in 1991, the U.S. , wielding .

The is a and with : , , and . It has a national legislature composed of the , a based on population, and the , an based on equal representation for each state. to the 50 states, while American values are based on a democratic political tradition that draws its inspiration from the .

One of the world's , the United States has had the and accounted for over 15% of the in 2023. It possesses by far the as well as the among countries, but has high levels of and . The U.S. in , , , , and . Its and have a global reach. The U.S. is a founding member of the , the , , and the , as well as a .

The first documented use of the phrase "United States of America" is a letter from January 2, 1776. , a aide to General , wrote to , Washington's , seeking to go "with full and ample powers from the United States of America to Spain" to seek assistance in the effort. The first known public usage is an published in the newspaper, , on April 6, 1776. By June 1776, the "United States of America" appeared in the and the . The adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.

The term "United States" and the 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 the , 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 name of Americus Vesputius, the Latinized name of Italian explorer (1454–1512). He first proposed that the discovered by in 1492 were part of a previously unknown landmass and not among the Indies at the eastern limit of . In English, the term "America" rarely refers to topics unrelated to the United States, despite the usage of "the " to describe the totality of North and South America.

The migrated from across the about 12,000 years ago; the , 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 the , developed , , and . In the , the Mississippian cultures were located in the , , and regions, and the in the and along the , while the and inhabited the . of what is now the United States before the arrival of European immigrants range from around 500,000 to nearly 10 million.

began exploring the for Spain in 1492, leading to from Puerto Rico and Florida to and . established along the , and . of the began with the (1607) and (1620). The and the established precedents for representative and that 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, settlers through the .

The original that would later found the United States were administered as possessions of , and had . The colonial population grew rapidly, 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 the , a series of , fueled colonial interest in .

Following their victory in the French and Indian War, Britain began to assert greater control over local colonial affairs, resulting in ; one of the primary colonial grievances was a denial of their , particularly the right to . To demonstrate their dissatisfaction and resolve, the met in 1774 and passed the , a colonial boycott of British goods that proved effective. The British attempt to then disarm the colonists resulted in the 1775 , igniting the . At the , the colonies appointed commander-in-chief of the , and created that named to draft the . Two days after passing the to create an independent nation the Declaration was adopted on July 4, 1776. The included , ; and the ; supporting and rejecting , , and all hereditary political power; ; and vilification of . The , who included Washington, Jefferson, , , , , , , and many others, were inspired by , , and philosophies and ideas.

The were ratified in 1781 and established a decentralized government that operated until 1789. After the British surrender at the in 1781 American sovereignty was internationally recognized by the (1783), through which the U.S. gained territory stretching west to the Mississippi River, north to present-day Canada, and south to . The (1787) established the precedent by which the country's territory would expand with the , rather than the expansion of existing states. The was drafted at the 1787 to overcome the limitations of the Articles. It went into effect in 1789, creating a governed by that together ensured a system of . George Washington the country's first president under the Constitution, and the was adopted in 1791 to allay skeptics' concerns about the power of the more centralized government. after 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 the .

The of 1803 from France nearly doubled the territory of the United States. , leading to the , which was fought to a draw. and its Gulf Coast territory in 1819. In the late 18th century, American settlers began to , many with a sense of . The , which admitted as a and as 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 the . As Americans expanded further into land inhabited by Native Americans, the federal government often applied of or . The (1830–1850) was a U.S. government policy that forcibly removed and displaced most Native Americans living east of the to lands far to the west. The policy uprooted some 60,000 Native Americans and resulted in anywhere from 13,200 to 16,700 deaths. These and earlier organized displacements prompted a long series of west of the Mississippi. The was in 1845, and the 1846 led to U.S. control of the present-day . Victory in the resulted in the 1848 of California, Nevada, Utah, and much of present-day Colorado and the . The of 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, the of thousands of Native inhabitants, lasted into the early 1870s, just as additional western territories and states were created.

During the colonial period, , though the practice began to be significantly questioned during the American Revolution. States in enacted , though support for slavery strengthened in , as inventions such as the made the institution increasingly profitable for . This regarding slavery in the (1861–1865). Eleven slave states and formed the , while the other states remained in . War broke out in April 1861 after the Confederates . After the January 1863 , many freed slaves joined the . The war following the 1863 and , and the Confederacy surrendered in 1865 after the Union's victory in the . The followed the war. After of President , were passed to . National infrastructure, including and , spurred growth in the .

From 1865 through 1917, an unprecedented stream of immigrants arrived in the United States, including 24.4 million from Europe. Most came through the , and New York City and other large cities on the became home to large , , and populations, while many and Central Europeans moved to the . At the same time, about one million migrated from to . During the , millions of African Americans for urban areas in the North. from in 1867.

The effectively ended Reconstruction and . African Americans endured a period of heightened, overt racism following Reconstruction, a time often called the . A series of Supreme Court decisions, including , emptied the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments of their force, allowing in the South to remain unchecked, in the Midwest, and , which would be reinforced by the policy of later adopted by the federal .

accompanied by the exploitation of cheap immigrant labor led to , allowing the United States to outpace the economies of England, France, and Germany combined. This fostered the amassing of power by , largely by their formation of and to prevent competition. led the nation's expansion in the , , and industries. The United States emerged as a pioneer of the . These changes were accompanied by significant increases in , , and , creating the environment for . This period eventually ended with the advent of the , which was characterized by significant reforms.

Pro-American elements in Hawaii ; the islands in 1898. That same year, , , and were ceded to the U.S. by Spain after the latter's defeat in the . (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.) was acquired by the United States in 1900 after the . The were purchased from in 1917.

The United States alongside the , helping to turn the tide against the . In 1920, granted nationwide . During the 1920s and '30s, radio for and the invention of early television transformed communications nationwide. The triggered the , which President responded to with the , a series of and combined with financial reforms and . All were intended to protect against future economic depressions.

during , the U.S. began to the in March 1941 and in December after the 's attack on . The U.S. and in August 1945, ending the war. The United States was one of the "" who met to plan the , alongside the , , and . The U.S. emerged relatively unscathed from the war, with even greater and .

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 to . The U.S. utilized the policy of to limit the USSR's sphere of influence, and prevailed in the , which culminated with the in 1969. Domestically, the U.S. , , and . The emerged, with becoming a prominent leader in the early 1960s. The plan of President 's administration resulted in groundbreaking and broad-reaching laws, policies and a constitutional amendment to counteract some of the worst effects of lingering . The in the U.S. brought significant social changes, including the liberalization of attitudes toward and . It also encouraged (leading to the in 1973) and to (with the U.S. totally withdrawing in 1975). was 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 the and the , which marked the end of the Cold War and .

The 1990s saw the , a dramatic , and . Throughout this decade, technological innovations such as the , the evolution of the in accordance with , rechargeable , the first trial, and either emerged in the U.S. or were improved upon there. The was formally launched in 1990, while became the first stock market in the United States to trade online in 1998.

In the of 1991, an expelled an invasion force that had occupied neighboring . The on the United States in 2001 by the militant organization led to the , and subsequent and .

The culminated in 2007 with the , the largest economic contraction since the Great Depression. Coming to a head in the 2010s, increased between liberal and conservative factions. This polarization was capitalized upon in the , when a mob of insurrectionists entered the and sought to prevent the peaceful transfer of power in an .

The United States is the world's by total area behind Russia and Canada. The 48 occupy a combined area of 3,119,885 square miles (8,080,470 km²). of the seaboard gives way to inland forests and rolling hills in the plateau region.

The and the massif separate the from the and the grasslands of . The , the world's , runs predominantly north–south through the heart of the country. The flat and fertile of the stretches to the west, interrupted by in the southeast.

The , west of the Great Plains, extend north to south across the country, peaking at over 14,000 feet (4,300 m) in . Farther west are the rocky and , , and deserts. In the northwest corner of , carved by the over millions of years, is the , a steep-sided canyon and popular tourist destination known for its overwhelming visual size and intricate, colorful landscape.

The and mountain ranges run close to the . The are in the State of California, about 84 miles (135 km) apart. At an elevation of 20,310 feet (6,190.5 m), Alaska's is the highest peak in the country and continent. Active are common throughout Alaska's and , and Hawaii consists of volcanic islands. The underlying in the Rocky Mountains, the , 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 the , the climate ranges from in the north to in the south. The western Great Plains are . Many mountainous areas of the American West have an . The climate is in the Southwest, in , and in coastal , , and southern . Most of Alaska is or . , the and U.S. territories in the and are .

States bordering the are prone to hurricanes, and most of the world's tornadoes , mainly in . Overall, the United States receives more high-impact extreme weather incidents than any other country. Extreme weather became more frequent in the U.S. in the 21st century, with three times the number of reported as in the 1960s. In the , 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 17 containing large numbers of : about 17,000 species of occur in the contiguous United States and Alaska, and over 1,800 species of are found in Hawaii, few of which occur on the mainland. The United States is home to 428 species, 784 birds, 311 reptiles, 295 , and around 91,000 insect species.

There are , and parks, forests, and , managed by the and other agencies. About 28% of the country's land is publicly owned and federally managed, primarily in the . , though some is leased for commercial use, and less than one percent is used for military purposes.

include debates on and , , , logging and , and . The (EPA) is the federal agency charged with . The has shaped the management of public lands since 1964, with the . The provides a way to protect threatened and endangered species and their habitats. The implements and enforces the Act. In 2024, the U.S. ranked 35th among 180 countries in the . The country joined the on climate change in 2016.

The United States is a of 50 and a separate federal capital district, It also asserts sovereignty over five and . The U.S. is the world's oldest surviving federation, and its has been adopted, in whole or in part, by many newly independent states worldwide following their . It is a liberal "in which by protected ". The serves as .

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 of .

• The , a made up of the and the , makes , , approves treaties, has the , and has . The Senate has 100 members (2 from each state), elected for a six-year term. The House of Representatives has 435 members, each elected for a two-year term; all representatives serve one of equivalent population. Congressional districts are drawn by each state legislature and are contiguous within the state. The Congress also organizes a collection of , each of which handles a specific task or duty. One of Congress's foremost non-legislative functions is the power to and oversee the executive branch. is usually delegated to committees and is facilitated by Congress's subpoena power.
• The U.S. president is the , of the military, chief executive of the federal government, and has the ability to veto from the U.S. Congress before they become law. However, can be overridden by a two-thirds vote in both chambers of Congress. The president appoints the , subject to Senate approval, and names other officials who administer and enforce federal laws through . The president also has clemency power for federal crimes and . Finally, the president has the right to issue expansive "", subject to , in a number of policy areas. Candidates for president campaign with a vice-presidential . Both candidates are elected together, or defeated together, in a presidential election. Unlike other votes in American politics, this is technically an in which the winner will be determined by the . There, votes are officially cast by individual electors selected by . In practice, however, each of the 50 states chooses a group of presidential electors who are required to confirm the winner of their state's popular vote. Each state is allocated two electors plus one additional elector for each , which in effect combines to equal the number of elected officials that state sends to Congress. The District of Columbia, with no representatives or senators, is allocated three electoral votes. Both the president and the vice president serve a four-year term, and the president may be , for one additional four-year term.
• The , whose judges are all appointed for life by the president with Senate approval, consists primarily of the , the , and the . The U.S. Supreme Court interprets laws and . The Supreme Court has nine members led by the . The members are appointed by the sitting president when a vacancy becomes available. The first level in the federal courts is for any case under "", such as federal statutes, the Constitution, or . There are twelve that divide the country into different regions for federal appeals courts. After a federal district court has decided a case, it can then be to a United States court of appeal. The next and highest court in the system is the Supreme Court of the United States.

The three-branch system is known as the , in contrast to the , where the executive is part of the legislative body. Many countries around the world imitated this aspect of the 1789 , especially in the Americas.

The Constitution is silent on political parties. However, they developed independently in the 18th century with the and parties. Since then, the United States has operated as a de facto , though the parties in that system have been different at different times. The two main national parties are presently the and the . The former is perceived as in its while the latter is perceived as .

In the , sovereign powers are shared between two levels of elected government: national and state. People in the states are also represented by , which are administrative divisions of the states. States are subdivided into , and . The District of Columbia is a containing the U.S. capital, The federal district is an administrative division of the federal government. govern 326 .

The United States has an established structure of foreign relations, and it has the world's as of 2024. It is a , and home to the . The United States is a member of the , , and intergovernmental organizations. Almost all countries have and many have (official representatives) in the country. Likewise, nearly all countries host formal with the United States, except , , and . Though does not have formal diplomatic relations with the U.S., it maintains close unofficial relations. The United States regularly to deter potential Chinese aggression. Its geopolitical attention also turned to the when the United States joined the with Australia, India, and Japan.

The United States has a "" and strong ties , , , , , , , and several (, , , , and ). The U.S. works closely with its allies on military and issues, and with countries in the Americas through the and the . In South America, is traditionally considered to be the closest ally of the United States. The U.S. exercises full international defense authority and responsibility for , the , and through the . It has increasingly conducted strategic cooperation , but have steadily deteriorated. Since 2014, the U.S. has ; it has also provided the country with significant military equipment and other support in response to .

The president is the of the United States Armed Forces and appoints its leaders, the and the . The , which is headquartered at near Washington, D.C., administers five of the six service branches, which are made up of the , , , , and . The is administered by the in peacetime and can be transferred to the in wartime.

The United States in 2023, which is by far the , making up 37% of global military spending and accounting for 3.4% of the country's GDP. The U.S. —the second-largest share after Russia.

The United States has the in the world, behind the and . The military operates about 800 bases and facilities abroad, and maintains in 25 foreign countries.

(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 of . They are distinct from the state's units in that they cannot become federalized entities. A state's National Guard personnel, however, may be federalized under the , which created the Guard and provides for the integration of units 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 and in their municipal or county jurisdictions. departments , and such as the (FBI) and the have national jurisdiction and specialized duties, such as protecting , and enforcing ' rulings and federal laws. conduct most civil and criminal trials, and federal courts handle designated crimes and .

There is no unified "criminal justice system" in the United States. The is largely heterogenous, with thousands of relatively independent systems operating across federal, state, local, and tribal levels. In 2023, "these systems [held] almost 2 million people in 1,566 state prisons, 98 federal prisons, 3,116 local jails, 1,323 juvenile correctional facilities, 181 immigration detention facilities, and 80 Indian country jails, as well as in , civil commitment centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and prisons in the U.S. territories." Despite disparate systems of confinement, four main institutions dominate: , , local jails, and . Federal prisons are run by the and 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.

As of January 2023, the United States has the in the world—531 people per 100,000 inhabitants—and the largest prison and jail population in the world, with . An analysis of the Mortality Database from 2010 showed U.S. homicide rates "were 7 times higher than in other high-income countries, driven by that was 25 times higher".

The U.S. has been the world's . The 2023 nominal U.S. (GDP) of more than $27 trillion was the highest in the world, constituting over 25% of the global economy or 15% at (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 the . The country ranks , (PPP), and . It possesses the among countries. As of February 2024, the total was $34.4 trillion.

Of the world's , as of 2023, which is the highest number of any country. The is the currency most used and is the world's foremost , backed by the country's dominant economy, , the system, and its linked and large . , and in others it is the . It has with , including the . The U.S. ranked second in the in 2019, after Singapore. Although the United States has reached a and is often described as having a , it . As of 2021, the U.S. is the after China.

is the world's principal and the epicenter of the world's . The and , both located in New York City, are the world's two by and . The United States is at or near the forefront of and in many economic fields, especially in ; and ; ; and medical, and . The country's economy is fueled by abundant , a well-developed , and . The are the , Mexico, Canada, China, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, India, and Taiwan. The United States is the world's and the . It is by far the world's .

Americans have the highest average and among member states, and the fourth-highest as of 2023, up from sixth-highest in 2013. With personal of over $18.5 trillion in 2023, the U.S. has a heavily and is by far the world's . is ; the richest 10% of the adult population own 72% of the country's household wealth, while the bottom 50% own just 2%. remains at record highs, with the top fifth of earners taking home more than half of all income and giving the U.S. one of the widest income distributions among OECD members. The U.S. and , with 735 billionaires and nearly 22 million millionaires as of 2023. There were about 582,500 sheltered and unsheltered in 2022, with 60% staying in an emergency shelter or transitional housing program. In 2022, 6.4 million children experienced food insecurity. estimates that around one in five, or approximately 13 million, and do not know where they will get their next meal or when. As of 2022, 37.9 million people, or 11.5% of the U.S. population, were .

The United States has a smaller and redistributes less income through government action than most other . It is the only that does not nationally and is one of a few countries in the world without federal as a legal right. The United States has a higher percentage of low-income than almost any other developed country, largely because of a weak system and lack of government support for at-risk workers.

The United States and scientific research since the mid-20th century. Methods for producing and the establishment of a industry enabled of U.S. consumer products in the late 19th century. By the early 20th century, factory , the introduction of the , and other created the system of . The United States is widely considered to be the leading country in the development of technology. In 2022, the United States was (after China) the country with the . 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 to . In 2023 and 2024, the United States ranked third (after Switzerland and Sweden) in the . The U.S. has the and ranks ninth as a percentage of GDP. In 2023, the United States was ranked the second most technologically advanced country in the world (after South Korea) by magazine.

The United States has maintained a space program since the late 1950s, beginning with the establishment of the (NASA) in 1958. NASA's (1961–1972) achieved the first crewed with the 1969 mission; it remains one of the agency's most significant milestones. Other major endeavors by NASA include the (1981–2011), the (1972–present), the and (launched in 1990 and 2021, respectively), and the multi-mission ( and , , and ). NASA is one of five agencies collaborating on the (ISS); U.S. contributions to the ISS include several modules, including (2001), (2007), and (2010), as well as ongoing logistical and operational support. The United States dominates the global . Prominent American spaceflight contractors include , , , , and . NASA programs such as the , , , and have facilitated growing private-sector involvement in American spaceflight.

As of 2023, the United States receives approximately 84% of its energy from fossil fuel, and the largest source of the country's energy came from (38%), followed by (36%), (9%), (9%), and (9%). The United States constitutes less than 4% of the , but consumes around 16% of the world's energy. The U.S. ranks as the .

The and its divisions provide regulation, supervision, and funding for all aspects of transportation except for customs, immigration, and security. (The latter remain the responsibility of the .) Each U.S. state has , which builds and maintains state highways. Depending upon the state, this department might also directly operate or supervise other modes of transportation.

is almost entirely the jurisdiction of the federal government; the regulates all aspects of , , certification and compliance, and . Vehicle traffic laws, however, are enacted and enforced by state and local authorities, with the exception of roads located on federal property (national parks, military bases) or in the . The is the primary enforcer of law and security on U.S. waterways, inland as well as coastal, but economic jurisdiction over coastal is shared between state and federal governments. The are the world's , 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. The has provided security at most major airports since 2001.

Commercial railroads and trains were the dominant in 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 the also hastened the sharp curtailment of passenger service by the railroads. These significant developments led to the creation of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, now called , by the in 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 the , , and it typically runs only a few trains per day. More frequent Amtrak service is available in regional corridors between certain major cities, particularly the between , , and ; between New York City and ; in metropolitan ; and in parts of California and the . Amtrak does not serve several major U.S. destinations, including and .

The is entirely owned by corporations and has been largely , while are publicly owned. The three largest airlines in the world by passengers carried are U.S.-based; is number one after its 2013 acquisition by . Of the world's , 16 are in the United States, including the top five and the busiest, . As of 2022, there are 19,969 airports in the U.S., of which 5,193 are designated as "public use", including for and 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 on (such as ) or at federal facilities (like military bases). The , with its large, open linking 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 "" or ""—that generally use tolls to pay for construction and maintenance. Likewise, some privately owned roads may use tolls for this purpose.

includes , , , and sometimes service. Public transit systems serve areas of higher population density where demand is greatest. Many U.S. cities, towns, and suburbs are car-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 include or . 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 , which operate on a network of 4 million miles (6.4 million kilometers) of public roads, making it the in the world. The , also the in the world at 182,412.3 mi (293,564.2 km), handles mostly . Of the , four are located in the United States, with the busiest in the U.S. being the .

The and the , both American cars, are considered the first mass-produced and mass-affordable cars, respectively. As of 2023, the United States is the and is home to , the world's most valuable car company. American automotive company held the title of the world's best-selling automaker from 1931 to 2008. The is the world's second-largest automobile market by sales, having been overtaken by China in 2010, and the U.S. has the in 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.

The reported 331,449,281 residents as of April 1, 2020, making the United States the in 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's , 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% were , 10% were divorced, and 34% had never been married. In 2023, the for the U.S. stood at 1.6 children per woman, and, at 23%, it had the world's highest rate of children living in households in 2019.

The United States has a diverse population; 37 have more than one million members. with ancestry from Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa form the largest and at 57.8% of the United States population. form the second-largest group and are 18.7% of the United States population. constitute 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, the of the United States population was 38.9 years.

While many languages are spoken in the United States, is by far the most commonly spoken and written. Although there is no at the federal level, some laws, such as , 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 (), Alaska (), South Dakota (), American Samoa (), Puerto Rico (), Guam (), and the Northern Mariana Islands ( and 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 the (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 include (3.40 million), (1.71 million), (1.52 million), (1.39 million), (1.18 million), (1.07 million), and (1.04 million). , 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's . In 2022, there were 87.7 million immigrants and in 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 through ) were granted . The United States led the world in for decades, admitting more refugees than the rest of the world combined.

The guarantees the and forbids Congress from passing laws respecting . Religious practice is widespread, among the in the world, and profoundly vibrant. The country has the world's . Other notable faiths include , , , , many movements, and . Religious practice varies significantly by region. "" is common in American culture.

The overwhelming majority of believe in a or spiritual force, engage in such as prayer, and consider themselves religious or . In the "", located within the Southern United States, plays a significant role culturally, whereas and the Western United States . —a movement, whose members migrated westward from Missouri and Illinois under the leadership of in 1847 after the assassination of —remains the predominant religion in Utah to this day.

About 82% of Americans live in , including suburbs; about half of those reside in cities with populations over 50,000. In 2022, 333 had populations over 100,000, nine cities had more than one million residents, and four cities—, , , and —had populations exceeding two million. Many U.S. metropolitan populations are growing rapidly, particularly in the South and West.

According to the (CDC), average American life expectancy at birth was 77.5 years in 2022 (74.8 years for men and 80.2 years for women). This was a gain of 1.1 years from 76.4 years in 2021, but the CDC noted that the new average "didn't fully offset the loss of 2.4 years between 2019 and 2021". Higher overall mortality due especially to the as well as and were held mostly responsible for the previous drop in life expectancy. The same report stated that the 2022 gains in average U.S. life expectancy were especially significant for men, Hispanics, and American Indian–Alaskan Native people (AIAN). Starting in 1998, the life expectancy in the U.S. fell , and Americans' "health disadvantage" gap has been increasing ever since. The U.S. has one of the among . and another third is overweight. The U.S. healthcare system far , 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 country , and . Government-funded healthcare coverage for the poor () and for those age 65 and older () is available to Americans who meet the programs' income or age qualifications. In 2010, former President Obama passed the . is not federally protected, and is illegal or restricted in 17 states.

American primary and secondary education (known in the U.S. as , "kindergarten through 12th grade") is decentralized. School systems are operated by state, territorial, and sometimes municipal governments and regulated by the . In general, children are required to attend school or from the age of five or six ( or ) until they are 18 years old. This often brings students through the , 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 country in the world, 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 a , and 14.2% earned a graduate degree. The is near-universal. The country has the , with (having won 413 awards).

has 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 by , although enroll about 20% of all American students. Local generally 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 for on higher education, the U.S. spends more per student than the average, 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: the , the , and . Despite some student programs in place, increased by 102% between 2010 and 2020, and exceeded $1.7 trillion as of 2022.

Americans have traditionally by a unifying political belief in an "" emphasizing , , , , , , and a preference for . Culturally, the country has been described as having the values of and , as well as having a strong , , and voluntary towards others. According to a 2016 study by the , Americans donated 1.44% of total GDP to charity—the in the world by a large margin. The United States is home to a . It has acquired and economic .

Nearly all present Americans or their ancestors came from (the "") within the past five centuries. American culture is a largely derived from the with influences from many other sources, such as . More recent immigration from and especially has added to a cultural mix that has been described as a homogenizing , and a heterogeneous , with immigrants contributing to, and often into, mainstream American culture. The , or the perception that Americans enjoy high , 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 a , scholars identify significant differences between , affecting , language, and values. Americans tend to greatly value achievement, but is promoted by some as a noble condition as well.

The is 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 the under the , which protects , , , and as forms of protected expression. A 2016 poll found that Americans were the most supportive of free expression of any polity measured. They are the "most supportive of and the without government censorship." The U.S. is a country with attitudes surrounding . are advanced by global standards.

Colonial American authors were influenced by and various other philosophers. (1765–1783) is notable for the political writings of , , , and . Shortly before and after the , the newspaper rose to prominence, filling a demand for anti-British national literature. An early novel is 's , published in 1791. Writer and critic in the early- to mid-nineteenth century helped advance America toward a unique literature and culture by criticizing predecessors such as for imitating their British counterparts, and by influencing writers such as , who took American poetry and short fiction in new directions. and pioneered the influential movement; , author of , was influenced by this movement. The conflict surrounding inspired writers, like , and authors of slave narratives, such as . 's (1850) explored the dark side of American history, as did 's (1851). Major American poets of the nineteenth century include , Melville, and . was the first major American writer to be born in the West. achieved international recognition with novels like (1881). As literacy rates rose, periodicals published more stories centered around industrial workers, women, and the rural poor. , , and were the major literary movements of the period.

While generally 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 black authors of the developed an independent tradition of literature that rebuked a history of inequality and celebrated black culture. An important cultural export during the , these writings were a key influence on , a philosophy emerging in the 1930s among francophone writers of the . In the 1950s, an ideal of homogeneity led many authors to attempt to write the , while the rejected this conformity, using styles that elevated the impact of the over 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-conscious . As of 2024, there have been 12 American laureates for the .

Media is , with the providing significant protections, as reiterated in . The four major broadcasters in the U.S. are the (NBC), (CBS), (ABC), and (FOX). The four major broadcast television networks are all commercial entities. offers hundreds of channels catering to a variety of niches. As of 2021, about 83% of Americans over age 12 listen to , while about 40% listen to . As of 2020, there were 15,460 licensed full-power radio stations in the U.S. according to the (FCC). Much of the public radio broadcasting is supplied by , incorporated in February 1970 under the .

U.S. newspapers with a global reach and reputation include , , , and . are produced in Spanish. With few exceptions, newspapers are privately owned, either by large chains such as or , 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 have to complement the mainstream daily papers, such as in New York City and in Los Angeles. The five most popular websites used in the U.S. are , , , , and —all of them American-owned.

As of 2022, the video game market of the United States is the world's . 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 the . By the middle of the 19th century America had created new distinct dramatic forms in the , the and the . The central hub of the American theater scene is the , with its divisions of , , and .

Many movie and television have gotten their big break working in New York productions. Outside New York City, many cities have professional that produce their own seasons. The biggest-budget theatrical productions are musicals. U.S. theater has an active culture.

The recognizes excellence in live Broadway theater and are presented at an annual ceremony in . The awards are given for Broadway productions and performances. One is also given for . Several discretionary non-competitive awards are given as well, including a , the , and the .

in grew out of artisanal craftsmanship in communities that allowed commonly trained people to individually express themselves. It was distinct from Europe's tradition of , 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 of and primitive became integral to early American folk art, despite the emergence of in 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.

The was a mid-19th-century movement in the visual arts tradition of European . The 1913 in New York City, an exhibition of European , shocked the public and transformed the U.S. art scene.

, , and others experimented with new and individualistic styles, which would become known as . Major artistic movements such as the of and and the of and developed largely in the United States. Major photographers include , , , , , , and .

The tide of and then has brought global fame to American architects, including , , and . The in is the largest in the United States and the in the world.

encompasses numerous music genres, variously known as traditional music, traditional , 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 the , , or . The rhythmic and lyrical styles of African-American music in particular have influenced American music. were brought to America through the slave trade. incorporating the instrument into their acts led to its increased popularity and widespread production in the 19th century. The , first invented in the 1930s, and mass-produced by the 1940s, had an enormous influence on popular music, in particular due to the development of .

Elements from folk idioms such as the and were adopted and transformed into with global audiences. grew from blues and in the early 20th century, developing from the innovations and recordings of composers such as and . and increased its popularity early in the 20th century. developed in the 1920s, rock and roll in the 1930s, and and in the 1940s. In the 1960s, emerged from the to become one of the country's most celebrated songwriters. The musical forms of and both originated in the United States in the 1970s.

The United States has the world's with a total retail value of $15.9 billion in 2022. Most of the world's are based in the U.S.; they are represented by the (RIAA). Mid-20th-century American pop stars, such as and , became and , as have artists of the late 20th century, such as , , , and , and the early 21st century, such as and .

The United States is the world's largest market by revenue. Apart from professional , American fashion is eclectic and predominantly informal. Americans' diverse cultural roots are reflected in their clothing; however, , , T-shirts, and are emblematic of American styles. New York, with , is considered to be one of the "Big Four" global , along with , , and . A study demonstrated that general proximity to has been synonymous with American fashion since its inception in the early 20th century.

The headquarters of many reside in . Labels cater to , 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 annual in Manhattan is commonly known as the fashion world's "biggest night".

The U.S. film industry has . , a district in northern Los Angeles, the nation's second-most populous city, is also metonymous for the American filmmaking industry. The of the United States are the primary source of the and 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. The , popularly known as the Oscars, have been held annually by the since 1929, and the have been held annually since January 1944.

The industry peaked in what is commonly referred to as the "", from the early sound period until the early 1960s, with screen actors such as and becoming iconic figures. In the 1970s, "", or the "Hollywood Renaissance", was defined by grittier films influenced by French and Italian realist pictures of the . 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 as , , , , and . Of the most enduring and pervasive examples are variations of the native dish called . Early settlers and later immigrants combined these with foods they were familiar with, such as , beef, and milk, to create a distinctive American cuisine. , especially , corn, , and turkey as the main course are part of a shared national menu on , when many Americans prepare or purchase traditional dishes to celebrate the occasion.

Characteristic American dishes such as , , , , , , , , and derive from the recipes of various immigrant groups. such as and preexisted the United States in areas later annexed from Mexico, and as well as are all widely consumed. American have had a significant impact on society both domestically and internationally. In 1946, the was founded by and . This would become the United States' most prestigious culinary school, where many of the most talented American chefs would study prior to successful careers.

The was 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 220 -rated restaurants, 70 of which are in New York City alone. has been produced in what is now the United States since the 1500s, with the in 1628. In the modern U.S., wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with . With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km²) under vine, the United States is the in the world, after , , and .

The American industry developed alongside the nation's . American restaurants developed the format in the 1920s, which they began to replace with the format by the 1940s. American chains, such as , , and , have numerous outlets around the world.

The most popular spectator sports in the U.S. are , , , , and . While most major U.S. sports such as baseball and American football have evolved out of European practices, basketball, , , and are American inventions, many of which have become popular worldwide. and arose from Native American and Native Hawaiian activities that predate European contact. The was approximately $69 billion in July 2013, roughly 50% larger than that of all of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa combined.

American football is by several measures the most popular spectator sport in the United States; the has the highest average attendance of any sports league in the world, and the is watched by tens of millions globally. However, baseball has been regarded as the U.S. "" 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, the , , , and the . The most-watched in the U.S. are and , particularly and .

On the , earnings for the member institutions exceed $1 billion annually, and and attract large audiences, as the and the are 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.

Eight have taken place in the United States. The in , 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 the . have won a total of 2,968 medals (1,179 gold) at the Olympic Games, the most of any country.

In international professional competition, the has qualified for , while the has the and four times each. The United States hosted the and will co-host, along with Canada and Mexico, the . The was also hosted by the United States. was watched by 90,185, setting the world record for most-attended women's sporting event at the time.

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