The flag of the United States
An orthographic projection 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

An enlargeable map of the United States showing the population density in 2010

Geography of the United States

Main article: Geography of the United States
An enlargeable topographic map of the contiguous United States
 Canada 8,893 km (5,525 mi)[note 1]
 Mexico 3,145 km (1,954 mi)[1]
  • Coastline: 19,924 km (12,380 mi)

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.

Main article: Environment of the United States

Geographic features of the United States

For a more comprehensive list, see List of landforms of the United States.
View from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, a World Heritage Site

Regions of the United States

For a more comprehensive list, see List of 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:

Administrative divisions of the United States

States of the United States

Main articles: U.S. state and Administrative division

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]

Map of the United States with state border lines. Alaska and Hawaii are shown at different scales, and that the Aleutian Islands and the uninhabited northwestern Hawaiian Islands are omitted from this map.

Territories of the United States

Location of the insular areas of the United States:
  The United States of America
  Incorporated unorganized territory
  Unincorporated organized territory
  Unincorporated unorganized territory
  Freely associated commonwealth

Main article: Territories of the United States
Incorporated organized territories
Incorporated unorganized territories
Unincorporated organized territories
Unincorporated unorganized territories

Geography of the states and territories

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Demography of the United States

Main article: Demography of the United States

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Climate of the United States

History of the United States

John Trumbull's Declaration of Independence is usually incorrectly identified as a depiction of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, but it actually shows the drafting committee presenting its work to the Congress.
A map of the territorial evolution of the United States

Main outline: Outline of the history of the United States

Main articles: History of the United States and Timeline of United States history

Period-coverage

History of the states and territories

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History of cities

Presidents of the United States

For a more comprehensive list, see List of presidents of the United States.

Main article: President of the United States

Government and politics in the United States

Main outline: Outline of American politics

Main articles: Government of the United States and Politics of the United States

Federal government

Main article: Federal government of the United States

Legislative branch

The United States Capitol

Further information: Legislative branch

Executive branch

The White House

Further information: Executive branch
Federal executive departments

Main article: United States federal executive departments

Further information: List of United States federal agencies

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

The United States Supreme Court building

Further information: Judicial branch

State and territory governments

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Politics of the states and territories

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Foreign relations

Main article: Foreign relations of the United States

International organization membership

Main article: International organization membership of the United States

Military

The Pentagon

Main article: United States Armed Forces

Intelligence organizations

Headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency

Main article: United States Intelligence Community

Law of the United States

Main article: Law of the United States

Culture of the United States

Main article: Culture of the United States

American cuisine

Main article: Cuisine of the United States

Historical cuisine

Cuisine of the regions

Main page: Category:American cuisine by region

Art in the United States

Film

Music in the United States

Main article: Music in the United States
Genres
Music in the states and territories

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Radio

Main article: Radio in the United States

Sports in the United States

Main article: Sports in the United States

List of Major Sports Leagues in the United States

Main article: Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada
Other top-level leagues and series
Minor and developmental professional leagues and series
College sports

Main article: College athletics in the United States
Sports governing bodies

Sports by state and territory

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Sports Museums in the United States

Education in the United States

Main article: Education in the United States

For a more comprehensive list, see Lists of schools in the United States.

See also: Educational attainment in the United States

Education in the states and territories

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Economy and infrastructure of the United States

Main article: Economy 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

Main article: Tourism in the United States

See also

Notes

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

References

  1. ^ "U.S.-Mexico Border". National Geographic. February 26, 2013. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
  2. ^ "Physiographic Regions". United States Geological Survey. April 17, 2003. Archived from the original on May 15, 2006. Retrieved January 30, 2008.
  3. ^ "Arkansas Secretary of State". www.sos.arkansas.gov. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  4. ^ 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.

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