United States

The United States of America, also known as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., the U.S. of A. more...

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, The States and America, is a country in North America that extends from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and shares land borders with Canada and Mexico. The United States is a federal republic, with its capital in Washington, D.C.

At over 3.7 million square miles (over 9.5 million km²), the U.S. (including its non-contiguous and overseas states and territories) is the third or fourth largest country by total area, depending on whether China's figures include its disputed areas. It is the world's third most populous nation, with over 300 million people, as well as the world's most populous Christian-majority nation, with adherents spanning across all major denominations.

The present day continental United States was inhabited for at least 15,000 years by indigenous tribes. In the 16th century European exploration and settlement began, led by the English, French and Spanish. On July 4, 1776, at war with Britain over fair governance, thirteen British colonies on the Eastern seaboard declared their independence and in 1783, the war ended with British acceptance of the new nation. July 4, 1776, is generally considered to be the date on which the U.S. was founded.

American military, economic, cultural, and political influence increased through the 19th and 20th centuries. With the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War, the nation emerged as the world's sole remaining superpower, and today, the United States plays a major role in world affairs.

Name

See also: List of meanings of countries' names

The earliest known use of the name America is from 1507, when a globe and a large map created by the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller in Saint-Dié-des-Vosges described the combined continents of the North and South Americas. Although the origin of the name is uncertain, the most widely held belief is that expressed in an accompanying book, Cosmographiae Introductio, which explains it as a feminized version of the Latin name of Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci (Americus Vespucius); in Latin, the other continents' names were all feminine. Vespucci theorized, correctly, that Christopher Columbus, on reaching islands in the Caribbean Sea in 1492, had come not to India but to a "New World".

The Americas were also known as Columbia, after Columbus, prompting the name District of Columbia for the land set aside as the U.S. capital. Columbia remained a popular name for the United States until the early 20th century, when it fell into relative disuse; but it is still used poetically and appears in various names and titles. One female personification of the country is called Columbia; she is similar to Britannia. Columbus Day is a holiday in the U.S. and other countries in the Americas commemorating Columbus' October 1492 landing.

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