United States

The United States is a federal country in North America, formed by 50 states and the District of Columbia. Its 48 contiguous states lie between Canada and Mexico, while Alaska sits in the northwest and Hawaii in the Pacific.

Washington, D.C., is the capital, and English is by far the most widely spoken language. People reached North America from North Asia at least 15,000 years ago, and the Mississippian culture later built farming towns and earthworks. British settlement began with Virginia in 1607 and Plymouth in 1620, and the Mayflower Compact set an early example of self-government. The Thirteen Colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson, on July 4, 1776, and won recognition after the Revolutionary War of 1775 to 1783.

The Constitution, drafted in 1787, took effect in 1789 with George Washington as the first president, and the Bill of Rights followed in 1791. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 nearly doubled the territory, Alaska was bought from Russia in 1867, and Hawaii joined in 1898. The country is a federal republic in which Congress, the president and the Supreme Court share power and the states keep wide autonomy. Denali in Alaska reaches 6,190 m (20,310 ft), and the Mississippi river system drains much of the interior.

NASA, founded in 1958, landed the first crew on the Moon with Apollo 11 in 1969. American firms run Google, YouTube and Instagram, and Boeing and SpaceX build aircraft and rockets. The Grand Canyon and Yellowstone are among its national parks. Jazz grew from blues and ragtime, rock and roll from the electric guitar, and Hollywood became the center of filmmaking. Mark Twain and Frank Lloyd Wright shaped its writing and architecture, Thanksgiving brings turkey and pumpkin to the table, and basketball and volleyball were invented there.