Outline of the United States

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the United States:

United States of America – federal republic located primarily in North America, and the world's third-largest country by both land and total area. It shares land borders with Canada to its north and with Mexico to its south and has maritime borders with the Bahamas, Cuba, Russia, and other nations. With the Soviet Union's collapse and the subsequent end of the Cold War in 1991, the United States emerged as the world's sole superpower.

General reference

Pronunciation: /jʊˌnaɪ.tɪd ˈsteɪts/
Abbreviations: USA or US
Common English country name: United States
Languages of the United States: English, Spanish and Hawaiian
Official English country name: United States of America
Common endonyms: United States, U.S., U.S.A., America
Official endonym: United States of America
Common exonyms: United States; America or The States (chiefly British/Commonwealth); North America (chiefly Latin America)
Adjectivals: United States, American
Demonyms: American (among others)
Etymology
International rankings of the United States
ISO country codes: US, USA, 840
ISO region codes: See ISO 3166-2:US
Internet country code top-level domain: .us, .com, .org, .net, .gov, .edu

Geography of the United States

An enlargeable topographic map of the contiguous United States

The United States is: a megadiverse country

Location (50 states):
- Northern Hemisphere and Western Hemisphere (except western Aleutian Islands)
  - Americas
    - North America
      - Northern America
  - Oceania
    - Polynesia
- Time zones:
  - Atlantic Standard Time (UTC-04), Atlantic Daylight Time (UTC-03) (Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands)
  - Eastern Standard Time (UTC-05), Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-04)
  - Central Standard Time (UTC-06), Central Daylight Time (UTC-05)
  - Mountain Standard Time (UTC-07), Mountain Daylight Time (UTC-06)
  - Pacific Standard Time (UTC-08), Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-07)
  - Alaska Standard Time (UTC-09), Alaska Daylight Time (UTC-08)
  - Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time (UTC-10), Hawaii-Aleutian Daylight Time (UTC-09)
- Extreme points of the United States:
  - North: Point Barrow, Alaska 71°23′15″N 156°28′52″W / 71.38750°N 156.48111°W / 71.38750; -156.48111 (AK-N Point Barrow)
  - South: Ka Lae, Island of Hawai'i, Hawai'i (18°54′39″N 155°40′52″W / 18.91083°N 155.68111°W / 18.91083; -155.68111)
  - East: Sail Rock, just offshore West Quoddy Head, Maine 44°48′54″N 66°56′52″W / 44.81500°N 66.94778°W / 44.81500; -66.94778
  - Physically East: Eastern Semisopochnoi Island, Alaska 51°57′40″N 179°46′29″E / 51.96111°N 179.77472°E / 51.96111; 179.77472
  - West: Peaked Island, offshore Cape Wrangell, Attu Island, Alaska 52°55′00″N 172°26′00″E / 52.91667°N 172.43333°E / 52.91667; 172.43333
  - Physically West: Western Amatignak Island, Alaska 51°16′06″N 179°09′00″W / 51.26833°N 179.15000°W / 51.26833; -179.15000
  - High: Denali (Mount McKinley), Alaska at 6,194 meters (20,322 ft) 63°4′10″N 151°0′26″W / 63.06944°N 151.00722°W / 63.06944; -151.00722
  - Low: Badwater Basin, Death Valley, California at −86 meters (−282 ft) 36°13′58″N 116°46′42″W / 36.23278°N 116.77833°W / 36.23278; -116.77833
- Land boundaries: 12,034 km (7,477 mi)

Canada 8,893 km (5,525 mi)^{[note 1]}

Mexico 3,145 km (1,954 mi)^[1]

Coastline: 19,924 km (12,380 mi)

Population of the United States: 308,745,538 (2010 census) – 3rd most populous country
Area of the United States: 9,826,630 km² (3,794,080 sq mi) – 4th most extensive country
Atlas of the United States
Cities of the United States, by population

Environment of the United States

An enlargeable satellite composite image of the contiguous United States. Lush temperate, subtropical, and tropical vegetation and low to moderately high mountains prevail throughout the humid east, and high mountains, plateaus, temperate and subtropical savannas, and hot dry deserts prevail in the west.

Geographic features of the United States

View from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, a World Heritage Site

Regions of the United States

Physiographic divisions of the United States

The geography of the United States varies across their immense area. Within the continental U.S., eight distinct physiographic divisions exist, though each is composed of several smaller physiographic subdivisions.^[2] These major divisions are:

Laurentian Upland – part of the Canadian Shield that extends into the northern United States Great Lakes area.
Atlantic Plain – the coastal regions of the eastern and southern parts includes the continental shelf, the Atlantic Coast and the Gulf Coast.
Appalachian Highlands – lying on the eastern side of the United States, it includes the Appalachian Mountains, Adirondacks and New England province.
Interior Plains – part of the interior contentintal United States, it includes much of what is called the Great Plains.
Interior Highlands – also part of the interior contentintal United States, this division includes the Ozark Plateau.
Rocky Mountain System – one branch of the Cordilleran system lying far inland in the western states.
Intermontane Plateaus – also divided into the Columbia Plateau, the Colorado Plateau and the Basin and Range Province, it is a system of plateaus, basins, ranges and gorges between the Rocky and Pacific Mountain Systems. It is the setting for the Grand Canyon, the Great Basin and Death Valley.
Pacific Mountain System – the coastal mountain ranges and features in the west coast of the United States.

Administrative divisions of the United States

States of the United States

At the Declaration of Independence, the United States consisted of 13 states, former colonies of the United Kingdom. In the following years, the number of states has grown steadily due to expansion to the west, conquest and purchase of lands by the American government, and division of existing states to the current number of 50 United States:^[3]

Alabama (AL)
Alaska (AK)
Arizona (AZ)
Arkansas (AR)
California (CA)
Colorado (CO)
Connecticut (CT)
Delaware (DE)
Florida (FL)
Georgia (GA).

Hawai'i (HI)
Idaho (ID)
Illinois (IL)
Indiana (IN)
Iowa (IA)
Kansas (KS)
Kentucky (KY)
Louisiana (LA)
Maine (ME)
Maryland (MD)

Massachusetts (MA)
Michigan (MI)
Minnesota (MN)
Mississippi (MS)
Missouri (MO)
Montana (MT)
Nebraska (NE)
Nevada (NV)
New Hampshire (NH)
New Jersey (NJ)

New Mexico (NM)
New York (NY)
North Carolina (NC)
North Dakota (ND)
Ohio (OH)
Oklahoma (OK)
Oregon (OR)
Pennsylvania (PA)
Rhode Island (RI)
South Carolina (SC)

South Dakota (SD)
Tennessee (TN)
Texas (TX)
Utah (UT)
Vermont (VT)
Virginia (VA)
Washington (WA)
West Virginia (WV)
Wisconsin (WI)
Wyoming (WY)

Territories of the United States

United States territory
- Territorial evolution of the United States

Incorporated organized territories

none since 1959

Incorporated unorganized territories

Palmyra Atoll

Unincorporated organized territories

Unincorporated unorganized territories

Territory of American Samoa, technically unorganized, but self-governing under a constitution last revised in 1967

Baker Island, uninhabited
Howland Island, uninhabited
Jarvis Island, uninhabited
Johnston Atoll, uninhabited
Kingman Reef, uninhabited
Bajo Nuevo Bank, uninhabited (disputed with Colombia)
Serranilla Bank, uninhabited (disputed with Colombia)
Midway Islands, no indigenous inhabitants, currently included in the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge
Navassa Island, uninhabited (claimed by Haiti)
Wake Atoll consisting of Peale, Wake and Wilkes Islands,^[4] no indigenous inhabitants, only contractor personnel (claimed by the Marshall Islands)

Geography of the states and territories

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Demography of the United States

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MT – NC – ND – NE – NH – NM – NV – NJ – NY – OH – OK – OR – PA – RI – SC – SD – TN – TX – UT – VA – VT – WA – WI – WV – WY

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Climate of the United States

History of the United States

Period-coverage

History of the states and territories

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MT – NC – ND – NE – NH – NM – NV – NJ – NY – OH – OK – OR – PA – RI – SC – SD – TN – TX – UT – VA – VT – WA – WI – WV – WY

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History of cities

Outline of the history of Los Angeles

Presidents of the United States

George Washington: 1789–1797
John Adams: 1797–1801
Thomas Jefferson: 1801–1809
James Madison: 1809–1817
James Monroe: 1817–1825
John Quincy Adams: 1825–1829
Andrew Jackson: 1829–1837
Martin Van Buren: 1837–1841
William Henry Harrison: 1841
John Tyler: 1841–1845
James K. Polk: 1845–1849
Zachary Taylor: 1849–1850
Millard Fillmore: 1850–1853
Franklin Pierce: 1853–1857
James Buchanan: 1857–1861
Abraham Lincoln: 1861–1865
Andrew Johnson: 1865–1869
Ulysses S. Grant: 1869–1877
Rutherford B. Hayes: 1877–1881
James A. Garfield: 1881
Chester A. Arthur: 1881–1885
Grover Cleveland: 1885–1889
Benjamin Harrison: 1889–1893
Grover Cleveland: 1893–1897
William McKinley: 1897–1901
Theodore Roosevelt: 1901–1909
William H. Taft: 1909–1913
Woodrow Wilson: 1913–1921
Warren G. Harding: 1921–1923
Calvin Coolidge: 1923–1929
Herbert Hoover: 1929–1933
Franklin D. Roosevelt: 1933–1945
Harry S. Truman: 1945–1953
Dwight D. Eisenhower: 1953–1961
John F. Kennedy: 1961–1963
Lyndon B. Johnson: 1963–1969
Richard M. Nixon: 1969–1974
Gerald Ford: 1974–1977
Jimmy Carter: 1977–1981
Ronald Reagan: 1981–1989
George H. W. Bush: 1989–1993
Bill Clinton: 1993–2001
George W. Bush: 2001–2009
Barack Obama: 2009–2017
Donald Trump: 2017–2021
Joe Biden: 2021–present

Government and politics in the United States

Federal executive departments

All departments are listed by their present-day name and only departments with past or present cabinet-level status are listed. Order of succession applies only to within the cabinet; the vice president has always been first in the line of succession, and the Speaker of the House and the President pro tem of the Senate have at times been included.

Department	Creation	Order of succession	Modifications since creation	2007 Budget in billions of dollars	Employees (2007)
State	1789	1	Initially named "Department of Foreign Affairs"	9.96	30,266
Treasury	1789	2		11.10	115,897
Defense	1947	3	Initially named "National Military Establishment"	439.30	3,000,000
Justice	1870	4	Position of Attorney General created in 1789, but had no department until 1870	23.40	112,557
Interior	1849	5		10.70	71,436
Agriculture	1889	6		77.60	109,832
Commerce	1903	7	Originally named Commerce and Labor; Labor later separated	6.20	36,000
Labor	1913	8		59.70	17,347
Health and Human Services	1953	9	Originally named Health, Education, and Welfare; Education later separated	543.20	67,000
Housing and Urban Development	1965	10		46.20	10,600
Transportation	1966	11		58.00	58,622
Energy	1977	12		21.50	116,100
Education	1979	13		62.80	4,487
Veterans Affairs	1989	14		73.20	235,000
Homeland Security	2002	15		44.60	208,000
Total budget (fiscal year 2007):				1,523.42	4,193,144

Commissions

Judicial branch

United States federal courts

State and territory governments

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Politics of the states and territories

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Foreign relations

Foreign policy of the United States

International organization membership

Military

Intelligence organizations

Law of the United States

Culture of the United States

American cuisine

Historical cuisine

Cuisine of the regions

Art in the United States

Film

Music in the United States

Genres

Music in the states and territories

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Radio

Sports in the United States

List of Major Sports Leagues in the United States

Other top-level leagues and series

IndyCar Series
Legends Tour – for women's golfers age 45 and over
LPGA Tour (Ladies' Professional Golf Association)
Major League Lacrosse (MLL)
Major League Rugby (MLR) – rugby union
NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing)
- NASCAR Cup Series
National Lacrosse League (NLL)
National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
PGA Tour
PGA Tour Champions – for men's golfers age 50 and over
Professional Bull Riders (PBR)
Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA)
Sports Car Club of America (SCCA)
Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)

Minor and developmental professional leagues and series

American Hockey League (AHL)
American Indoor Football Association (AIFA)
American National Rugby League (AMNRL)
Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL)
ECHL (formerly East Coast Hockey League)
Korn Ferry Tour – men's golf
Minor League Baseball
National Arena League
NBA G League
Professional Inline Hockey Association (PIHA)
Rugby Super League (RSL)
Symetra Tour – women's golf
United Indoor Football (UIF)
United States Australian Football League (USAFL)
Xfinity Series – NASCAR

College sports

Sports governing bodies

Professional Golfers' Association of America (PGA of America)
United States of America Cricket Association (USACA)
United States Golf Association (USGA)
United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC)
United States Rowing Association
United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer)
United States Tennis Association (USTA)
USA Basketball
USA Cycling
USA Rugby – governs rugby union
USA Track and Field
U.S. Ski & Snowboard

Sports by state and territory

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Sports Museums in the United States

Education in the United States

Education in the states and territories

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MT – NC – ND – NE – NH – NM – NV – NJ – NY – OH – OK – OR – PA – RI – SC – SD – TN – TX – UT – VA – VT – WA – WI – WV – WY

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Economy and infrastructure of the United States

The United States is the world's largest economy (IMF, 2010).

Economy by state and territory

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Health in the United States

Tourism in the United States

Notes

^ The total length of the land border between Canada and the United States is the longest between any two countries.

References

^ "U.S.-Mexico Border". National Geographic. February 26, 2013. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
^ "Physiographic Regions". United States Geological Survey. April 17, 2003. Archived from the original on May 15, 2006. Retrieved January 30, 2008.
^ "Arkansas Secretary of State". www.sos.arkansas.gov. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
^ DOI Office of Internal Affairs "DOI Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) - WAKE ISLAND". Archived from the original on May 13, 2012. Retrieved May 13, 2012.

External links

United States travel guide from Wikivoyage

Government

Official U.S. Government Web Portal Gateway to governmental sites
White House Official site of the President of the United States
Senate Official site of the United States Senate
House Official site of the United States House of Representatives
Supreme Court Official site of the Supreme Court of the United States
Library of Congress Official site of the Library of Congress

Overviews and Data

Portrait of the United States Overview from the U.S. Information Agency
United States CIA World Factbook entry
United States Encyclopædia Britannica entry
U.S. Census Housing and Economic Statistics Wide-ranging data from the U.S. Census Bureau
"State Fact Sheets", population, employment, income, and farm data from the U.S. Economic Research Service
"The 50 States of the U.S.A.", collected informational links for each state

History

Historical Documents Collected by the National Center for Public Policy Research
U.S. National Mottos: History and Constitutionality Analysis by the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
USA Collected links to historical data