Country Overview
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic occupying much of central North America, with Alaska in the continent's northwest and Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. It consists of 50 states and the federal District of Columbia, and it exercises sovereignty over several inhabited territories. The country emerged from thirteen British colonies that declared independence in 1776; its present federal constitutional government began operating in 1789. [8]
Identity and State Formation
- Official name
- United States of America
- Common name
- United States; USA; U.S.
- Capital
- Washington, District of Columbia
- Continent / UN M49 subregion
- North America / Northern America [10]
- Independence declared
- July 4, 1776 (adoption of the Declaration of Independence, a date commemorated nationally)
- Independence recognized
- September 3, 1783 (Treaty of Paris between Great Britain and the United States)
- First national constitution
- Articles of Confederation, effective March 1, 1781
- Current constitutional order
- U.S. Constitution drafted in 1787, ratified in 1788, and the new federal government began operations in 1789 [8]
- National day
- Independence Day, July 4
- ISO 3166-1 codes
- US (alpha-2); USA (alpha-3); 840 (numeric)
- Internet country-code domain
- .us
Historical context: Indigenous peoples inhabited and governed societies across these lands long before European colonization. The United States subsequently expanded across North America through treaties, purchases, war, settlement, and the dispossession of Indigenous nations. Enslavement, abolition, Reconstruction, and struggles over civil and voting rights are central to its institutional history. A single “founding date” cannot capture all stages of state formation.
Geography and Population
- Total surface area
- 9,833,517 km² (about 3.80 million sq. mi.); includes land and inland water in the 50 states and District of Columbia, excluding overseas territories [9]
- Land area
- 9,147,593 km² (archived World Factbook measure; geographical definitions can differ across publishers) [9]
- Resident population
- 341,784,857, estimate as of July 1, 2025 (U.S. Census Bureau) [1]
- 2020 decennial census
- 331,449,281 residents (April 1, 2020) [1]
- Population change
- 3.1% increase from the April 2020 estimates base to July 2025 [1]
- Population density
- Approximately 37 people per km² of land, calculated from the 2025 population estimate and the land-area figure above; not an official published density statistic
- Physical regions
- Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains; Appalachian Mountains; Great Plains; Rocky Mountains; Great Basin; Pacific mountain and coastal ranges; Alaska; Hawaiian archipelago
- Principal water systems
- Mississippi–Missouri river system, Great Lakes, Colorado River, Columbia River, and major Atlantic, Gulf, Pacific, and Arctic drainages
- Neighboring sovereign countries
- Canada and Mexico (land borders)
- Climate
- Ranges from arctic and subarctic Alaska to temperate, arid, subtropical, tropical, and alpine zones
Geographic comparability: Total area and land area exclude most U.S. overseas territories. Other sources, including the Census Bureau, use slightly different land-area methodologies. Population estimates here principally cover the 50 states and Washington, D.C.; territorial population totals are reported separately.
Economy and International Trade
- Economic system
- High-income, market-based mixed economy, with substantial private enterprise and federal, state, and local government activity
- Nominal GDP
- Approximately US$30.77 trillion (2025; current US dollars; World Bank) [2]
- Nominal GDP per capita
- Approximately US$90,027 (2025; current US dollars; World Bank). This is GDP divided by population, not average personal earnings. [2]
- Real GDP growth
- 2.2% (2025; annual percentage change; World Bank series) [2]
- Median household income
- US$87,460 (2025; Census Bureau, inflation-adjusted measure from the annual income survey) [11]
- Currency
- United States dollar (USD); symbol $
- Main economic activities
- Professional and business services, finance, health care, information technology, manufacturing, construction, transportation, agriculture, and energy
- Exports of goods and services
- US$3.4323 trillion in 2025: goods US$2.1975 trillion; services US$1.2349 trillion (BEA, balance-of-payments basis) [3]
- Imports of goods and services
- US$4.3338 trillion in 2025 (BEA, balance-of-payments basis) [3]
- Trade balance
- US$901.5 billion goods-and-services deficit in 2025 [3]
- Major goods export markets
- Mexico, Canada, China, United Kingdom, and Netherlands (leading destinations by 2025 goods export value) [12]
Principal Export Categories (2025)
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Industrial supplies and materials | Natural gas, petroleum products, chemicals, metals, and industrial materials |
| Capital goods | Aircraft and engines, semiconductors, machinery, computers, and industrial equipment |
| Consumer goods | Pharmaceutical preparations, medical and consumer products, jewelry, and other finished goods |
| Agriculture and food | Food, animal feed, grains, soybeans, meat, and other agricultural products |
| Transport equipment | Cars, vehicle parts, engines, trucks, and related equipment |
| Services | Business and professional services, financial services, travel, and licensing of intellectual property |
People and Society
- Federal official language
- English, designated by presidential executive order on March 1, 2025. This designation is by executive action, not an amendment to the Constitution. [5]
- Other languages spoken
- Spanish, Chinese languages, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Arabic, French, Korean, and numerous Indigenous and immigrant languages, among others
- Language diversity
- 22.3% of people age 5 and older spoke a language other than English at home (2020–2024 American Community Survey period) [1]
- Religious composition
- Among U.S. adults in Pew's 2023–2024 survey: Christian 62%; religiously unaffiliated 29%; other religions 7%; remaining approximately 1% did not answer, with percentages subject to rounding. [4]
- Christian traditions
- Protestant 40% of adults; Catholic 19%; other Christian 3% (Pew, 2023–2024) [4]
- Other religious traditions
- Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Indigenous spiritual traditions, and other faiths; no single faith is established as the national religion by the U.S. Constitution
- Population age 65 and older
- 18.9% (Census QuickFacts, 2025 estimate) [1]
- Foreign-born population
- 14.1% (2020–2024 Census American Community Survey period) [1]
- Ethnic and cultural diversity
- A multiethnic population including Indigenous peoples; descendants of European, African, Asian, Pacific Islander, and Latin American populations; and immigrant communities from around the world. Race and Hispanic-origin Census categories use distinct, sometimes overlapping definitions.
Survey interpretation: Religious percentages describe surveyed adults, not the entire population or official government registration. U.S. Census race and Hispanic-origin measures should not be summed without accounting for their different definitions.
Government and Institutions
- Form of government
- Federal presidential constitutional republic; representative democracy
- Foundational law
- Constitution of the United States, with amendments and constitutional jurisprudence
- Head of state and government
- President Donald J. Trump (in office since January 20, 2025; status checked November 4, 2026) [7]
- Vice president
- JD Vance (since January 20, 2025; status checked November 4, 2026) [7]
- Executive branch
- President, vice president, executive departments, and federal agencies
- Legislature
- Bicameral U.S. Congress: Senate (100 seats, two per state) and House of Representatives (435 voting seats apportioned among states) [6]
- Judiciary
- U.S. Supreme Court and lower federal courts; separate state court systems
- Administrative divisions
- 50 states and the federal District of Columbia; inhabited U.S. territories include Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands
- Governmental powers
- Federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, and division of authority among federal, state, local, and territorial governments [6]
- National elections
- Presidential elections every four years; all voting House seats every two years; Senate seats are elected for staggered six-year terms
International Profile
- United Nations
- Founding member; membership effective October 24, 1945 [13]
- UN Security Council
- Permanent member
- Major international memberships
- United Nations, NATO, G7, G20, OECD, WTO, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund
- Regional economic arrangement
- United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), in effect since July 1, 2020 [14]
- Standard time zones
- Multiple zones across the 50 states and territories, including Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific, Alaska, Hawaii–Aleutian, Atlantic, Samoa, and Chamorro standards
- International dialing code
- +1 (North American Numbering Plan; shared with several other jurisdictions)
Sources and Verification
Editorial cutoff: November 4, 2026. The profile favors completed annual datasets; it does not present partial 2026 observations as full-year results. Time-sensitive figures may be revised by publishers.
- U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts: United States — July 2025 population estimate, 2020 census, ACS demographic information, and 2020 land-area tables.
- World Bank, United States Country Data — nominal GDP, GDP per capita, and 2025 GDP growth; values rounded for display.
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and Census Bureau, U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services: Annual 2025 — goods, services, and export groupings.
- Pew Research Center, Religious Landscape Study 2023–2024, United States — religion among surveyed U.S. adults.
- USAGov, Official Language of the United States — 2025 executive-order designation.
- USAGov, Branches of the U.S. Government and Congressional Elections — national institutions and legislative structure.
- USAGov, Presidents, Vice Presidents, and First Ladies — current executive leadership.
- U.S. National Archives, Articles of Confederation; see also Declaration of Independence and Constitution — historical milestones.
- CIA World Factbook historical area series, archived by The Factbook — total and land area for 50 states and District of Columbia; overseas territories excluded.
- United Nations Statistics Division, M49 Geographic Regions — geographic classification.
- U.S. Census Bureau, Income in the United States: 2025 — household median income from the Current Population Survey.
- United States Exports by Country, UN Comtrade compilation — leading 2025 goods export destinations; partner values can vary slightly by revision or valuation basis.
- United Nations, Member States — original membership and October 24, 1945 date.
- Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Mexico Trade Summary — USMCA effective date.
Data conventions: Nominal GDP measures current-price aggregate output; GDP per capita divides that output by population; median household income is a different distributional statistic. Goods and services trade totals here use the BEA balance-of-payments basis. Country profile statistics carry their own dates, because population, trade, GDP, and surveys are not all released on the same schedule.