United States
Article
July 5, 2022
The United States of America is a federal and constitutional republic made up of 50 states and one federal district. The republic is located mostly in the center of the American subcontinent, where the 48 contiguous or continental states are located and Washington DC, the capital district, which borders Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska lies to the northwest of the subcontinent, bordering Canada to the east and south and Russia to the west, crossing the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is located in the north-central Pacific Ocean. The United States also administers several territories and island areas of the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. With an area of 9.38 million km², and with more than 330 million inhabitants today, the United States of America is the third largest country in the world in area and population. It is one of the most ethnically diverse countries, the result of mass immigration from many continents. The U.S. economy is the largest national economy in the world, with a gross domestic product (GDP) in excess of $ 13 trillion in 2006, or 19 percent of world production. The nation was founded by thirteen British colonies located on the Atlantic coast. They proclaimed themselves "states" and made the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The rebel states defeated Britain in the war, America's first successful colonial war of independence. The Philadelphia Convention adopted the current constitution of the United States on September 17, 1787; the ratification of this the following year made the states integral parts of a single republic. The Bill of Rights in the United States Constitution, which contains ten amendments on the rights and freedoms of citizens, was ratified in 1791. The United States is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Today, they are the largest military power after the Cold War, and a major force in the world economy.