United States of America

The United States of America is most popularly known as the United States, the USA, the U.S., or simply just America. It is where several of the world’s wonders can be found. It houses the world’s most amazing and exciting cities, the mind – blowing landscapes and its rich history. It also has the reputation as having the most approachable natives in the entire globe.

This rich country is located at the North America continent. It has about 50 states with 48 contiguous states. It borders the Gulf of Mexico and Mexico at its south and Canada to its north; the Atlantic Ocean is at its east coast and Pacific Ocean is at its west coast. The Alaska State is one of the 50 states of the country which is located at the northwest of Canada. Hawaii State is situated at the Pacific Ocean which is located at the State of California at its southwest region.

On top of the 50 states of the country, the United States of America also has several possessions as well as territories or insular areas which are scattered at the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

Fast Facts about the United States of America
Country Full Name	United States of America (USA)
Population	305,106,000 (2008 estimate)
Currency
Name	US Dollar
Code	USD
Symbol	US$
Largest State	Alaska
Smallest State	Rhode Island
Capital City	Washington, DC
National Independence	4th of July 1776
Motto	In God We Trust
Electrical Plugs	110V 60Hz
Languages Spoken	English
Time Zones
GMT/UTC	- 5 (Eastern)
GMT/UTC	- 6 (Central)
GMT/UTC	- 7 (Mountain)
GMT/UTC	- 8 (Pacific Standard)
Country Dialing Code (Calling Code)	+ 1
Largest Cities	New York Los Angeles Chicago Houston Philadelphia Phoenix San Antonio San Diego Dallas San Jose
Land Area	3,615,123 square miles (9,375,720 square kilometers)
Weights and Measures	Imperial
Highest Point	Mount McKinley, Alaska with 20,320 ft or 6194 meters above sea level
Lowest Point	Death Valley, California with 282 ft or 86 meters below sea level
National Bird	Bald Eagle
National Flower	Rose
National Anthem	The Star – Spangled Banner

RACE / ETHNICITY
White	80%
African American	12.8%
Asian	12.8%
Native American and Alaskan Native	1%
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander	0.2%
Multiracial	1.6%
Hispanic / Latino (of any race)	15.1%

LEADING POPULATION CENTERS
Rank	Core City	State Pop.	Metro Area Rank	Metro Area Population	Region
New York City	New York	8,250,567	1	18,818,536	Northeast
Los Angeles	California	3,849,378	2	12,950,129	West
Chicago	Illinois	2,833,321	3	9,505,748	Midwest
Houston	Texas	2,169,248	6	5,539,949	South
Phoenix	Arizona	1,512,986	13	4,039,936	West
Philadelphia	Pennsylvania	1,448,394	5	5,826,742	NorthEast
San Antonio	Texas	1,296,682	29	1,942,217	South
San Diego	California	1,256,951	17	2,941,454	West
Dallas	Texas	1,232,940	4	6,003,967	South
San Jose	California	929,936	30	1,787,123	West

LANGUAGES
English (only)	214.8 M
Spanish, including the Creole dialect	29.7 M
Chinese	2.2 M
French, including the Creole dialect	1.9 M
Tagalong	1.3 M
Vietnamese	1.1 M
German	1.1 M

The country USA is characterized as the homogeneous melting pot / the salad bowl of cultures where those immigrants & their descendants undyingly preserve their own distinctive cultural characteristics. It is a multicultural land where people of different races, culture and background blend together in order to fulfill their dreams. The nation provides a rich home to various ethnic groups with different traditions and values. Almost all the American people and their ancestors have immigrated to the country of promised within the past 5 centuries.

The culture that is commonly held by most of the American people is referred as the mainstream of American culture which is more commonly called as the Western culture which is from the European (western) migrants. The Scottish, German and Irish cultures were also very influential. The largest immigration to the country was during the 19th – 20th centuries were majority are Asians and Latinos from Latin America. Then mix their culture with the mainstream of the country.

The American culture is sure an exciting way of life.

Wheat is the main cereal grain that is widely used in the whole diversified country. They have a traditional cuisine that uses exotic ingredients like:

Potatoes
Corn
Turkey
Squash
White – tailed deer venison
Maple Syrup
Sweet Potatoes
Indigenous foods that are employed by the Native Americans and those early Europeans settlers.

Soul food which was developed by the African slaves is quite popular in at the South region of the country and those African American that lives elsewhere. There are also those Louisiana Creole, Tex – Mex and Cajun are also very essential to its own regions. There are also those characteristic cuisines that are from the different cultures such as:

Mexican dishes were adapted from the Italians such as:

Pasta
Burritos
Tacos

American locals prefer coffee rather than tea. The consummation of milk and orange juice is a very popular breakfast beverages. The frequency of the Americans dining at fast food outlets together with their usage of the highly sweetened soft drinks/beverages is greatly associated with the American 'obesity epidemic'.

The American football's Pro Bowl is the annual all – star game that is almost always the cause of why Americans are glued to their TV sets.

Baseball is regarded as the national sport of the United States. The country's other famous professional sports are the following: ice hockey, basketball and of course the American football.

Today, American football is the most well – liked spectator sport event in the country followed by auto racing (NASCAR) and golf. Soccer is widely popular as it is growing to be a professional spectator sport together with tennis and other outdoor sports. Basketball, snowboarding, skateboarding and volleyball are purely American sports inventions.