The United States is the fourth largest country in the world, after Russia, Canada, and China. There are fifty (50) states: 48 contiguous states and Washington D.C., located in the central portion of North America plus the states of Alaska (49th) and Hawaii (50th), both joined in 1959.
Area (50 states and District of Columbia only):
Total: 9.631.418 sq km Land: 9.161.923 sq km Water: 469,495 sq km
SIZE COMPARISONS:
The United States is...
• about one-half the size of Russia,
• slightly smaller than China.
BOUNDARIES:
• 48 states: Canada on the north;
Atlantic Ocean on the east; Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico on the south; and Pacific Ocean on the west
• Alaska: Arctic Ocean on the north;
Canada on the east; Pacific Ocean on the south; and Arctic Ocean, Chukchi Sea, Bering Sea, and Bering Strait on the west
• Hawaii: Pacific Ocean
LAND USE (1992):
Cropland-25.8%
Rangeland-26.9%
Forestland-26.6%
Pastureland-8.5%
Urban, mountain, and other-12,5%
COASTLINE: 19,929 kilometers,
including Alaska and Hawaii
INLAND WATERWAYS: 41,009 kilometers of navigable inland channels,
excluding the Great Lakes
Terrain: Vast central plain, mountains in west, hills and low mountains in east; rugged mountains and broad river valleys in Alaska; rugged, volcanic topography in Hawaii
HIGHEST PDINT: Mount McKinley in Alaska - 6,198 meters above sea level
LOWEST POINT: Death Valley in California - 86 meters below sea level
LARGEST STATE: Alaska
SMALLEST STATE: Rhode Island
NORTHERNMOST CITY: Barrow, Alaska
SOUTHERNMOST CITY: Hilo, Hawaii
EASTERNMOST CITY: Eastport, Maine
WESTERNMOST С1П: Atka, Alaska
Ports and harbors:
Anchorage, Baltimore, Boston, Charleston, Chicago, Duluth, Hampton Roads, Honolulu, Houston, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, Port Canaveral, Portland (Oregon), Prudhoe Bay, San Francisco, Savannah, Seattle, Tampa, Toledo
Tsunamis, volcanoes, and earthquake activity around Pacific Basin; hurricanes along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts; tornadoes in the midwest and southeast; mud slides in California; forest fires in the west; flooding; permafrost in northern Alaska, a major impediment to development
People
Population:298,444,215 (July 2006 est.)
Ethnic groups:
White 81.7%, Black 12.9%, Asian 4.2%, Amerindian and Alaska native 1%, native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander 0.2%, others 10% (2003 est.) Note: a separate listing for Hispanic is not included because the US Census Bureau considers Hispanic to mean a person of Latin American descent (including persons of Cuban, Mexican, or Puerto Rican origin) living in the US who may be of any race or ethnic group (white, black, Asian, etc.)
The continental United States stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and from Canada to Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico. Separated by Canada, it touches the Pacific and Arctic Oceans. Hawaii occupies an archipelago in the Pacific, southwest of North America. The commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the largest and most populous U.S. territory, is in the northeastern Caribbean. Deciduous vegetation and grasslands prevail in the eastern U.S., transitioning to prairies, boreal forests, and the Rocky Mountains in the west, and deserts in the southwest. In the northeast, the coasts of the Great Lakes and Atlantic seaboard host much of the country's population. With a few exceptions such as the territory of Guam and the westernmost portions of Alaska, nearly all of the country lies in the western hemisphere.
Beyond the coastal plain, the rolling hills of the Piedmont end at the Appalachian Mountains. The Rocky Mountains, at the western edge of the Great Plains, extend north to south across the continental U.S., reaching altitudes higher than 14,000 feet (4,270 m) in Colorado. Between the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains, the Interior Plains and Great Plains are relatively flat, fertile farm land. The Mississippi-Missouri River, the world's fourth longest river system, runs mainly north-south through the heart of the country. Active volcanoes are common throughout the Alexander and Aleutian Islands and the entire state of Hawaii is built upon tropical volcanic islands. The supervolcano underlying Yellowstone National Park in the Rockies is the continent's largest volcanic feature.
