USA

The United States, the United States of America, officially abbreviated USA, are a Federation of 50 Statesand the District of Columbia, located largely in North America . Two of the fifty States, Alaska and Hawaii, borders are not on the other States. To the country belong also various island areas in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. The United States, are the third largest country in the world in population, after China and India and it is also the third largest country in area, after Russia and Canada. [4]

The us are bounded on the North by Canada and on the South by Mexico. The west coast is formed by the Pacific while the Atlantic Ocean to the East and the Gulf of Mexico to the South of the country. The sea border with Russia runs between the Diomede Islands: great Diomede (in Russia) and Small-Diomede (in Alaska). The two islands are located only a few miles apart. Alaska has its northern border to the Arctic Ocean. Washington D.C. is the capital and the political center, New York is the largest city and economic center.

To the remote areas of the United States include:

The us have far-reaching cooperation agreements with the independent countries Marshall Islands, Palau and Micronesia. These agreements, known as the "Compacts of Free Association", regulate the financial assistance and the defense of these countries by the United States, as well as general military use of areas inside it. In addition, the US Canada Mexico and connected with neighbouring countries in NAFTA.
 * In the Caribbean Basin: Puerto Rico (a free State associated with the United States) and the United States Virgin Islands (which in 1917 from Denmark were purchased) as well as the island of Navassa Island that is claimed by Haiti ;
 * In the Pacific: Guam (ceded by Spain after the Spanish-American war), the Northern Mariana Islands (a Commonwealth associated with the United States), American Samoa, Wake Island and several other islands.



Content
[hide] *1 History 
 * 2 Geography
 * 2.1 political geography
 * 2.2 Cities
 * 2.3 physical geography
 * 2.4 Climate
 * 3 Government
 * 3.1 political parties
 * 3.2 foreign policy
 * 3.3 The United States seen by other countries
 * 4 Population
 * 4.1 Immigration
 * 4.2 social classes
 * 4.3 Religion
 * 5 Economy
 * Transport 6
 * 7 Culture
 * 8 Education
 * 9 Defense
 * 10 Symbolism
 * 11 national holidays
 * 12 see also
 * 13 external link

History
The Mayflower, the ship that thePilgrim Fathers brought to America in 1620The area, which is now occupied by the continental part of the United States, was originally inhabited by numerous native American peoples from the 16th century and was colonized by England, Spain, Netherlands, Sweden, France and Russia. The role of Sweden and Netherlands was played out in 1664.

As a result of the French and Indian war (1754-1763) took great Britain the French colonies in North America to a large extent on.With it came most of the East Coast under British control.

The colonists had the protection of mother country England against the French no longer needed, and began to oppose the British taxation. The thirteen colonies declared their independence from Great Britain in 1776, when the American war of independence began. In 1783 recognized the Kingdom Great Britain the independence. There was a Government that drew up a new Constitution that formed after 1789 became effective.

The new nation began to extend itself soon in a westerly direction, whereby already existing tensions on the issue of black slavery, which the country divided into a southern part that defended slavery (the Confederation), and a northern part that declined (the Union), were ever more strongly. There followed a civil war (1861-1865) which ended with the victory of the Northern States and the gradual abolition of slavery in the South. The rest of the 19th century was marked by a strengthened enlargement to the West at the expense of the originalIndian population, industrialization, and the influx of millions of immigrants.

In the 20th century United States took part in both world wars, which were finally settled by their intervention in favor of the Allied armies. After the Second World War, in which the United States came after theJapanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the United States became a world power. During the cold war, the United States and the Western world vis-à-vis the Soviet Union and the Eastern bloc Communist.

Political geography
Map: CIA World FactbookThe following States are part of the United States: Alabama - Alaska - Arizona - Arkansas - California - Colorado - Connecticut - Delaware - Florida- Georgia - Hawaii - Idaho - Illinois - Indiana - Iowa - Kansas - Kentucky - Louisiana - Maine - Maryland - Massachusetts - Michigan - Minnesota -Mississippi - Missouri - Montana - Nebraska - Nevada - New Hampshire - New Jersey - New Mexico - New York - North Carolina - North Dakota -Ohio - Oklahoma - Oregon - Pennsylvania - Rhode Island - South Carolina - South Dakota - Tennessee - Texas - Utah - Vermont - Virginia -Washington - West Virginia - Wisconsin - Wyoming. The District of Columbia is not a State but a federal district.

At the Declaration of independence in 1776 there were 13 States.

Alaska is the largest State (1.700.578 km²), and Rhode Island the smallest (4003 km²). California has the largest population (33.871.648 in 2000), while Wyoming has the least inhabitants (493.782 in 2000). Experienced In the late 20th century Nevada, Arizona, Florida, Colorado, Utah, Georgia and Texas the fastest rate of population growth. West Virginia, North Dakota and the District of Columbia during that period, however, had to do with population decreases.

The States of the United States also have nicknames, which one can find mostly on the number plates of cars.

Cities
<p lang="en" len="52" style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The six largest cities of the United States are:

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">A selection of other large cities (alphabetically): Albuquerque, Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus,Dallas, Denver, Detroit, El Paso, Fresno, Honolulu, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Long Beach, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis,Nashville, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Pittsburgh, Portland, Richmond, Sacramento, Saint Louis, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San José, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa, Tucson, Washington D.C. , Virginia Beach
 * 1) New York
 * 2) Los Angeles
 * 3) Chicago
 * 4) Houston
 * 5) Philadelphia
 * 6) Phoenix

Physical geography
The Teton range, part of the Rocky Mountains<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The landscape of the United States varies greatly. It can be divided into seven broad geographic areas. From East to West:

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The area of the North of the United States was formed by a large continental ice sheet that in North America during the late Cenozoïsche period arose. The southern edge of the ice cap runs roughly in a line that runs by Long Island in the East and in the West along the Ohio and Missouri rivers to the Rocky Mountains.The land north of this line was covered with ice. Alaska and the mountains in the Northwest of North America formerly had extensive mountainglaciers and were severely eroded. Great Salt Lake and other lakes in this area are remnants of the ice age.
 * coastal plain along the Atlantic coast
 * the mountain range of the Appalachian mountains
 * the Mississippi plain
 * the Great Plains
 * the mountain range of the Rocky Mountains
 * the intramontane area of the great basin
 * the Cascade Range along the Pacific Ocean

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">In the southwest of the United States are deserts. These are the hottest and driest places of the country. Along the Pacific coast has a Mediterranean climate type (for example, in Southern California). This climate gradually in the maritime climate of the west coast. The Northwest is one of the wettest parts of the United States and is densely forested. For example, Rocky Mountains, the Cascade Range and Sierra Nevada have typical Highland climates and are also densely forested. In addition to the Grand Canyon in Arizona and Great Salt Lake in Utah, there are other natural wonders in the country, such as the Niagara Falls on the border of Canada and the US; the cliffs of Bryce Canyon National Park, in Utah; and the geysers of Yellowstone National Park, primarily in Wyoming. There are over 50 national parks. The management of these parks is in the hands of the National Park Service, which also manages the national monuments and various other property.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Like all zones along the edge of the Pacific Ocean is the west coast of the us an earthquake zone. San Francisco is located exactly on the San Andreas fault. In 1906, this led to a heavy earthquake in which 3000 people were killed; in 1989 there was a lighter, with "only" a few dozen deaths. In the Northwest States Washington and Oregon are a number of volcanoes, including Mount St. Helens in 1980 for a spectacular eruption took care.

Climate
<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The United States have a varied climate, ranging from tropical rainforest of Hawaii and tropical Savannah of South Florida (Everglades) to subarctic and Tundra climate in Alaska. East of the 100th Meridian (the General dividing line between the dry and humid climates) the climate is humid and subtropical. The northeastern United States has a humid continental climate. Extensive forests are found in both areas. West of the 100th Meridian is a steppe climate.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Annual disasters are tornadoes in the Middle West and the even more devastating tropical hurricanes in the Southeast. Since the weather forecast by means of satellite images have much improved, people can seek timely apartments near nailing and skedaddle, but the material damage can still be enormous, especially if the accompanying tidal wave reaches the coast, as in the case of Katrina, which flooded New Orleans in 2005.

Government
The United States Capitol<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The United States of America are a on the Constitution based Federal Republic with a strong democratic tradition. Presidential elections are held every four years.The president of the United States is not elected directly, but by graded suffrage in accordance with a system of electors. The number of electors per State is determined by the census which is held every ten years. Amendment XXIII gets further according to the Constitution of the United States of the District of Columbiathree electors, although it is not a State. According to the Constitution, can determine the volksvertegwoordigingen of the States the rules for electing the electors, but most States follow the principle that a presidential candidate gets all electors of the State in case a majority of the electors is obtained in that State.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Who has most electors on a national level, wins the election and becomes president. In 1876, 1888 and 2000, the candidate with the most votes is not the largest number of electors. A president can be elected up to two more times.

<p lang="en" len="105" style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The presidential candidates choose their running mateeven before the elections, the intended Vice President.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The president of the United States is Barack Obama. He was sworn in on January 20, 2009, and is four years later to his second term started. Obama is the first African American to hold the highest political office of the United States.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The Congress (U.S. Congress) is the representative body and consists of the Senate and the House of representatives.

Political parties
<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The Federal and State Governments are dominated by the two largest political parties, the Republicans and the Democrats. The Republican party is more conservative, the Democratic Party more progressive. There are several other, smaller parties, but they have little influence in national politics.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The political parties in the United States have no formal ' leaders ' like many other countries, although there are complex hierarchies within the political parties that form various executive committees. Both major parties are ideologically very diverse; There are usually both moderates in a party as radicals and there may be substantial differences concerning, for example, the death penalty, abortion or the degree of autonomy of the Federal States in front of the federal authority.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Community groups, organizations and wealthy individuals give financial support to both major parties. The Republicans generally receive more funding and support from business groups, professing Christians and Americans in the countryside, while the Democratic Party receives more support from trade unions and ethnic minority groups. Because the u.s. federal elections almost entirely via purchased air time in the mass-media is fought, those belong to the world's most expensive. The total cost of the presidential campaigns of all candidates together runs into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Access to funds is therefore essential in the political system. Companies, trade unions and other organized groups that provide funds and political support to parties, play a role in determining political agendas and overheidsbesluit formation.

<p lang="en" len="127" style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The political system of the United States has historically catch-all-parties rather than supported coalition governments.

Foreign policy
<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">As a result of the military, economic and cultural preponderance of the United States in the world pays a lot of attention to politics in the US foreign relations. Since the end of the cold war, in the early 1990s, the US is more than ever the most powerful country in the world,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5" len="168" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[5]  a situation with which it itself should also learn to deal. On one side is the enormous preponderance mistrust, on the other hand is there by those who are in an emergency situation (Kuwait, Rwanda, former Yugoslavia) done soon appeal to the United States, because it is the best resources for powerful intervention anywhere in the world.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The foreign policy of the US has changed course several times in history between isolationism and interventionism. The most dramatic example of isolationism was the refusal to after the first world war to join theLeague of Nations, to disappointment of president Woodrow Wilson. John f. Kennedy, who became president when the cold war kept the world in its grasp, was an outspoken interventionist.

The United States seen by other countries
<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">As a result of the huge political and cultural influence are the comments on us policy often violently and sometimes irrational.<sup class="noprint nopopups" len="312" style="line-height:1;"> [source? ] It ranges from admiration of all things ' American ' to anti-Americanism. An extreme example of anti-Americanism is the call by the Iranian Ayatollah Khomeini of the us as ' great Satan ', to distinguish the ' little Satan ', Iraq at the time of Saddam Hussein. Admiration of the us often stems from the fact that many people see it as the land of the free. They admire the United States as the oldest modern democracy and have respect for the American Dream. For many Europeans, there is always the gratitude for the liberation of the nazi-Germany and Italy under Mussolini during the Second World War at. Opponents of the foreign policy of the USA on the other hand, find that the us throughout their history have shown little respect for the freedom and sovereignty of many other peoples. America would have ready for providing false supporting regimes. Critics point among other things on the Viet Nam war or the American efforts inLatin America, which is handled feels like America's backyard. In the whole Islamic world is America's continued support to Israel a stumbling stone and also the war in Afghanistan and the Iraq war are considered unjust by critics.

Population
New York is the largest city in the United StatesLos Angeles Skyline<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">At the 2000 census of 2010 the country had 308.745.538 inhabitants. In 1776, the original States counted only three million inhabitants in 1915 all 100 million and 200 million inhabitants in 1968.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6" len="168" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"> [6]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">More than 79% of the population living in the city (and more than half of it in suburbs). About 65% of the population is of European origin (Census Bureau, 2004), but this percentage has a downward trend by expanding other groups through immigration and births. According to the 2000 census, the largest group of minorities from Latinos, which 48.400.000 people, 15.8% of the population, represented. This figure includes people of Mexican, Puerto Rican and Cuban origin.Of this group are whites and 37% 63% is black or coloured. The African-American population amounted to 38.158.190, or 12.4% of the population, although an additional 0.6% of the population of partly African American origin. The Asian population amounted to 13.842.998 in 2000, or 4.5%, and consisted mainly of people of Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Vietnamese, Korean or Japanese origin. The native American population of the United States, such as Eskimos in Alaska and on theAleutian Islands, counted 2.475.956 souls, or 0.9% of the total population. Roughly one-third of the native Americans lived in reserves, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, or other country under American jurisdiction, such as Puerto Rico. There were 398.835 Hawaiians and other Oceaniansin 2000, which represents 0.1% of the population.

Immigration
<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">In addition to the original set of British settlers in the numerous colonies from the Atlantic coast, other national groups were introduced by immigration. The large numbers of Africans were transported under hopeless conditions for slave labor, especially on the plantations of the South. When the United States struck arrangements with the West (including some former groups of French and Spanish colonists), immigrants from Europe flowed into the country. An important group were the Scots and Irish. Just before the middle of the 19th century were the Irish and German immigrants predominant.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">After the civil war the immigrants came mainly from the Nations from southern and Eastern Europe: Italy, Greece, Russia, the part of Poland that then to Austria-Hungary belonged, and from Russia and the Balkans. During this period there were also large numbers of immigrants from China. During the peak years of immigration between 1890 and 1924 came to more than 15 million immigrants in the United States. After the Immigration Act of 1924 the immigration was heavily restricted until the mid-1960s. Since the 1980s there are large numbers of new immigrants have been added. The figures suggest that the proportion of non-indigenous people is 11.1% (2000), the highest percentage since the Census of 1930; more than 40% more than the 31 million foreigners in 1990. More than half of all immigrants in the United States comes from Latin America and more than one quarter comes from Asia. The US has to contend with many illegal immigrants who come across the border from Mexico. In 2006, it was believed that the number of illegal immigrants would be approximately 12,000,000. Reasons for illegal immigration can be found in the large disparities in wealth between North America with Central and South America, illegal immigrants can find work pretty simple that them black and underpaid is offered.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7" len="168" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"> [7]

Social classes
<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The gross national product of the United States is the highest in the world in terms of prosperity and the average American is in ninth place in the official World Golf rankings.<sup class="noprint nopopups" len="312" style="line-height:1;"> [source? ] 15% of the population lives below the official national poverty level.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8" len="168" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"> [8]  the social structure of the United States is somewhat stratified, however, the extremely rich have a disproportionate cultural and political influence.<sup class="noprint nopopups" len="312" style="line-height:1;"> [source? ] The Gini coefficient (which represents income inequalities) amounts to 40.8% and is the third highest of all developed Nations (after South Africa and Mexico).<sup class="noprint nopopups" len="312" style="line-height:1;"> [source?]

Religion
<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Since the first amendment of the U.s. Constitution in 1791 are freedom of religion and the separation of Church and State guaranteed, with which the main purpose was to make impossible an established Church.The influence of religion in politics, however, is much larger than it is today in many Western European countries. The majority of Americans is Christian.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9" len="168" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"> [9]  within Christianity carries the dominant Protestantism ;about 55% of all Americans is Protestant. That works out to about 165 million Protestants (census 2005). This may explain why since independence in 1776 has been only one Catholic president: John f. Kennedy.Within the American Protestantism, there are many different currents spread over numerous church communities, which is an important difference with the Catholic people share. A recent Latin American immigrant and a descendant of Italian, Polish or Irish immigrants of the 19th century all belong to the same Catholic Church, despite differences in spirituality and contradictions between conservatives and progressives. In 2005 there were 65 million Catholic Americans. Their number is growing mainly due to immigration from Latin America. Various Eastern Orthodox Churches, originating from immigrants from Eastern Europe, have a very small share. In addition, hang roughly 1.5% (2005) of Americans to Judaism, and 0.6% (2005) is Muslim (census 2005). The Buddhism is adhered to by 0.5% (2005) as faith. According to the Gallup Poll of december 2011 is the percentage of the population which is formally a member of one of the Christian churches dropped.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10" len="170" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"> [10]  Nevertheless, according to this poll the USA a mostly Christian nation, with 78% of the adults who recognize themselves in a form of Christianity, more than 90% who believe in God and 8 out of ten who say faith in their life very important to find. In October 2012 Pew Research reported that the number of people that is a member of a church fell was below 80%.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-11" len="170" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"> [11]  for people under thirty this is 68%. 6% of those surveyed stated to be atheist or agnostic.

Economy
The New York Stock Exchange is the largest Stock Exchange in the world to market capitalization<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The United States are rich in mineral resources. The United States possess about 20% of the coal, 13% of the petroleum, and 24% of the natural gas reserves in the world.The oil is primarily won to the Gulf of Mexico, and in the States Alaska and Texas.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Due to the large surface area and the favorable climate, agriculture is always very important for the United States. The country is the market leader in the production of cheese,corn, soybeans and tobacco. Other important agricultural products are cattle, pigs, cow's milk, butter, cotton, oats, wheat, barley and sugar; It is the main exporter of the world of wheat and corn and rice in the third of the world's output. In 1995 was fishing by the US fifth in the world in total production. Today, only 3% of the labour force works in agriculture. Thanks to the flat terrain in the Mississippi plain and the Great Plains, together about half of the u.s. territory, and the high technological level of development is agriculture mechanized and widely is the high productivity. Also be many products exported by the forestry.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Although the country was virtually self-sufficient in the past, the increasing consumption, especially of energy, depending on the make of certain imports. The energy consumption per capita is about 7.8 tons of oil equivalent each year, the ninth highest in the world after Canada. It leads all Nations in the production of liquid natural gas,aluminum, sulfur, phosphates, and salt. It is also a major producer of copper, Gold, coal, crude oil, nitrogen, iron ore, uranium, silver, lead, zinc, mica, molybdenum andmagnesium. Although the United States output has fallen, the world leader in the production of pig iron and ferro-alloys, steel, motor vehicles and synthetic rubber.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The main export products of the u.s. are motor vehicles, aircraft, food, iron and steel products, electronic equipment, machinery, chemical products and major industrial and consumer goods. Major import products include ores and scrap metal, petroleum and petroleum products, machinery, transport equipment (especially cars) and Office products. The most important trade partners of the u.s. are Canada (the largest bilateral trade relationship in the world), Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, GermanyandSouth Korea . The volume of trading has steadily increased. The gross domestic product has continued to increase, and today it amounts to $ 11750 billion (11.75 trillion), with distance is the largest in the world. The development of the economy is spurred by the growth of a complex communications network. This consists not only of railways, roads, inland waterways and air transport but also telephone, radio, television, computer (including internet) and the fax machine. This infrastructure has not only promoted agriculture and production growth increased, but also contributed to the tourism revenue and the shift to a service-based economy. In 1996 about 74% of Americans worked in the services sector. Among countries with a developed economy this is almost the highest percentage, only Canada has a larger service sector earns.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The United States have all in all a werelddominerende economy, and the average income per person is high. This does not mean that everyone has a high income. The wealth is unevenly distributed. 1% of the population owns more wealth than 90% of the rest of the population together. And this gap seems to be larger: at the 25% income between 1979 and 1995 with arms dropped 9%, while that of the richest 25% increased by 26%.<sup class="noprint nopopups" len="312" style="line-height:1;"> [source?]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">There is a big difference in the economic status of the various population groups. White and Asian families earning an average of one and a half to two times as much as Black or Hispanic families.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-12" len="170" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"> [12]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The United States have the largest absolute public debt in the world. On 13 november 2008 the national debt amounted to $ 10.579 billion (€ 8.426 billion).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-treasurydirect_13-0" len="185" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"> [13]  <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-14" len="170" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[14]  the national debt as a percentage of gross domestic product in 2007 was estimated at 60.8% (position 27).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-15" len="170" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"> [15]

Transport
<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">To connect to the large area, the United States have a large network of infrastructure, of which the Interstate Highway System is an important aspect. Americans have to rely heavily on the car to transport over short and medium distances. With some exceptions (for example, New York City and San Francisco) is the lack of public transport to provide an alternative. Cities such as Los Angeles are fully on the car oriented. This explains to a large extent the high energy consumption per capita.

<p lang="en" len="103" style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">For distances longer than 500 km is usually preferred the aircraft as a means of transport.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">There is also a transcontinental rail system that is used for transporting cargo, although Amtrak maintains a successful fast passenger connection from Boston, through New York City to Washington D.C. (North East Corridor). This train connection can compete with flight and car connections because the train directly from city centre to city centre.

Culture
Coca Cola frequently acts as a symbol of the culture of the United States<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Although generally considered to be different from the European culture should be regarded as belonging to the American culture the Western civilization, like the dominant cultures of other immigration countries like Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The cultural heritage of the different groups of settlers is usually still obvious to recognize in what Europeans and Latin Americans now as "typical American" or "Anglo-American" recognize, although mutated. This shows, for example, from the many forms of Christianitythat in the United States be confessed: the theological foundations are often recognizable English, but with the Anglican Church have little of these societies still a band. TheAfrican American culture has especially in the music and entertainment her mark on the American heritage. The cultural impressions that the original inhabitants, the Indians, have left behind are negligible. Only in topographical names come many Indian words for.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The same applies to the language. A large majority (82.1% at the 2000census) of Americans speak English, it is generally in a form that recognizes as American English. The lower social layers of the black population speak American English, a sociolect that deviates strongly from the American of whites. The largest language minority is the Spanish(10.7%) less than 1% score any other languages: Chinese (0.771%; in all variants, which actually languages in their own right), French (0,627%; including a number of Creoles and dialects) and German (in variants as a risk Pensylvaans%; often, what is today mostly as one of the German -based Creole language is considered derived) are still the largest. The by far largest of the Native American languages, the Navajo, one finds pretty far down the list of American languages arranged by number of speakers: it's spoken by 0,068% of the population. Take the other indigenous languages account for joint 0,078%. Most Indian languages are now extinct, endangered or nearly extinct strongly.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The American culture has a large influence on the rest of the world, especially the Western world, not just through tv and film, but also through literature and lifestyle. Jeans, t-shirt and baseball hats are of American origin. Us pop music is heard around the world; This is based largely on music forms as country and western, blues and jazz. Many great musicians and major orchestras in the Western classical music are or were based in the us. There are worldwide recognizable icons of American popular culture: Walt Disney, John Wayne, Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe. Later examples include Madonna and Michael Jackson. New York City is seen as a Center for opera and instrumental music and has the famous Broadwaytheater district where among other things to see are many musicals . New York City and San Francisco are worldwide leaders in graphic design and New York and Los Angeles compete with European fashion centres London, Paris and Milan in the fashion industry. American movies (primarily embodied in Hollywood) and television programs can be seen in many parts of the world. Film industries in other parts of the world are reflected to Hollywood to take by a sound related name: Bollywood in Bombay, Nollywood in Nigeria. American fast food restaurants, which like is issued, have nevertheless worldwide permanent foothold. Note that, throughout the American capital intensive as TV and film have the advantage of a huge domestic market compared to those from other parts of the world. They can, if they have been successful in America, so for competitive prices worldwide distributed.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">This influence in popular culture is sometimes criticized as cultural imperialism, which is then often dismissed with the observation that the ' is ' being gobbled up. There is indeed no question of consumption under duress. Not everything from the American culture can be found elsewhere in the world entrance; American sports like American football, baseball and basketball in Europe of very marginal interest; American television pastors as Robert h. Schuller do have some airtime on European tv channels, but have little influence and call even aversion, also under European Christians.<sup class="noprint nopopups" len="307" style="line-height:1;"> [source? ] In Latin America they do it better.<sup class="noprint nopopups" len="307" style="line-height:1;">[source? ] The rise of Protestant currents in that part of the world in recent decades is largely due to North American influence.<sup class="noprint nopopups" len="307" style="line-height:1;"> [source?]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Perhaps even more important aspect of American culture is the stimulating environment for scientific research and technological innovation. Over the past century and especially since the Second World War America has a more than proportionate contribution in these areas. It is no coincidence that the softwareindustry from the end of the 1970s in the first place in America to a serious industry developed. Still are the biggest software companies, especially Microsoft, [http://www.microsofttranslator.com/bv.aspx?from=nl&to=en&a=http%3A%2F%2Fnl.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FGoogle_Inc. Google Inc.], IBM and Oracle Corporation, of American origin. The American innovation is reflected in the large number of Nobel Prize winners in physics and chemistry, the attraction since the interwar period on scientific talent from Europe and more recently from India and East Asia. The American military superiority is based to a large extent on technological superiority.

Education
<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Education in the United States is mainly managed by the individual States. Each of the 50 States has a free public school system (public school system). There are also more than 3,500 institutions of higher education, supported by the individual States. The public school system is based on 13 years of education for each pupil, beginning with kindergarten (kindergarten) for five year olds and ending with the twelfth grade, after which students achieve their high schooldiploma . Therefore, the system is also called "K through 12", or simply "K12", called. Usually children successively through three different schools: elementary school, middle school (in some States junior high school ) and high school. If you still want to follow training, we often go to a college. Here one can a bachelor degree (four year program) or for some fields of study a lower associate degree (two years). Universities also offer a program to obtain a bachelor degree. After this, one can follow a study at a University a master's degree or a degree in Doctor of Philosophy to be gained.

Defence
AAV's on USS Fort McHenry<p lang="en" len="66" style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The armed forces of the United States of America consist of:

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The US Coast Guard was formally not part of the armed forces, but belongs to the Department of Homeland Security. In time of war, however, the Coast Guard falls under theDepartment of the Navy. The Coast Guard has a more or less military hierarchy and its ships are armed.
 * United States Army (Army)
 * United States Navy (Navy)
 * United States Air Force (air force)
 * United States Marine Corps (Marines Corps)
 * United States Coast Guard (Coast Guard)

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Both land know as air force (Air) National Guard Units: active duty reservists. Volunteers who spend some of their spare time to actively serve in the military, similar to the CorpsNATRES in Netherlands. Other than the NATIONAL RESERVES, are the soldiers of the National Guard classified in combat units and they can be broadcast abroad.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The Constitution provides that the president the Supreme Commander (Commander in Chief) of the armed forces is. The day-to-day management is in the hands of the Secretary of Defense (Secretary of Defense) and a Deputy Minister (Deputy Secretary of Defense). They are assisted by a number of assistant ministers (Assistant Secretary of Defense) for material Affairs, personeelaangelegenheden, finance etc. The umbrella organisation is the United States Department of Defense (DoD), the Pentagon also named after the building in which the Department is housed. Fall under the Defense Department three departments for the individual services: Department of the Navy, Department of the Air Force and the Department of the Army. Each is headed by a Minister (Secretary) and a Minister (Under Secretary). Both the Navy and the Marines Corps fall under the Department of the Navy.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The armed forces France 1.4 million active duty employees (without Coast Guard and National Guard). In that respect, the people's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China after the second in size. There are still several hundreds of thousands of available in the reserves and the National Guard. The military service is abolished after the Viet Nam war . If the president deems it necessary, he may, with the consent of Congress, which, however, reenactment. This local expenditure for defence in 2003 amounted to billion dollar (3.3% of GDP), which is almost half of the world's expenditure on defence.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The armed forces of the United States is a hierarchical organization, with a system of military ranks to denote levels of authority within the organization. The military service is divided into a professional officer corps along with a larger number of recruited staff that the military actions from day to day. Authorization to enter the officer corps of the United States is not limited by the social class.

<p lang="en" len="169" style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The US military maintains a number of military awards and honors to the qualifications and to indicate the special performance of military personnel.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">On 26 July 1948 signed the u.s. president Harry s. Truman the Executive Order 9981 which raised the racial separation between the military of the United States. Homosexuals, it is still not allowed to openly serve in the military (the policy of Don't ask, Don't tell -question not to, speak about it).

Symbolism
Stars and stripes ("Stars 'n stripes")<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The flag of the United States, the Star-Spangled Banner or stars and stripes, consists of 13 stripes and 50 stars on a blue field. The 13 stripes represent the original 13 colonies. The stars represent the current 50 States. For the flags of the Federal States, see: flags of the United States .

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">There are multiple designs before the flag that is used today saw the light. For instance, there was a design that the stars and stripes ' vice versa ', so 13 small bar top left and a large blue box with stars, and an increase in the number of stripes with each State came.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The current design was approved by the Congress in 1795 . In 1813 the Congress gave the command to flag maker Mary Pickersgill for making the first official "The Star-Spangled Banner, the flag of 10 by 14 feet that had to go waving above fort McHenry. It was this flag that inspired Francis Scott Key amateur poet to write the song.

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The great seal, on which the American bald eagle is depicted, dates back to 1782. It is still 2000 to 3000 times a year used to seal official documents.

National Holidays
<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The individual States determine the official holidays are for their State. Though the public institutions on those days usually closed, companies don't always follow the recommendation of the State and work continues.

<p lang="en" len="172" style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">The main public holidays, on which almost all companies are closed, are: New year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.
 * New year's Day, 1 January
 * Martin Luther King Day, third Monday in January
 * President's Day, third Monday in February
 * Memorial Day, last Monday in may
 * Independence Day, 4 July
 * Labor Day, first Monday of september
 * Columbus Day, second Monday in October (only celebrated in States with larger Italian population)
 * Halloween, October 31
 * Election Day, the Tuesday after the first Monday of november
 * Veterans Day, november 11
 * Thanksgiving Day, fourth Thursday in november
 * Christmas Day, 25 december