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 United StatesComments on United States
About United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[change] StatesIn the United States of America there are 50 states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland,Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. There are also five territories with civilian governments: American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and United States Virgin Islands. Some or all could become future states or parts of states. [change] GovernmentThe federal government is set up by the Constitution. There are three branches of government. They are the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch. State governments work very much like the federal government. [change] Executive branchThe executive branch is the part of the government that enforces the law. Members of the U.S. Electoral College elect a President who is the leader of the executive branch, as well as the leader of the Armed Forces. The President decides whether or not the bills that the Legislative branch passes will become laws, and the President may veto any bill. The President may also make "executive orders" to ensure that people follow the law. Two of the most famous executive orders were President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and President Dwight D. Eisenhower's order to send 1,200 soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division to allow the Little Rock Nine into a school that refused to admit African Americans students. The President is in charge of many departments that control much of the day-to-day business of government. For example, Department of Commerce makes rules about trade and business. The President chooses the heads of these departments, and also nominates judges at the federal (nation-wide) level. However, the Senate, part of the legislative branch, must agree with all of the people the President chooses. The President may serve two 4-year terms, making 8 years in all. [change] Legislative branch
The legislative branch is the part of the government that makes laws. The legislative branch is called Congress. Congress is divided into two "houses". One house is the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives is made up of Representatives, who are each elected by voters from their own state. The number of Representatives a state has is based on how many people live there: the more people a state has, the more representatives it gets. Every 10 years, the U.S. Census Bureau conducts a census, or count, of the population of the United States. States gain or lose Representatives based on their total population as shown by the census. Representatives serve two-year terms. The total number of representatives today is 435. The leader of the House of Representatives is the Speaker of the House, who is also the person who would become president if the President or Vice President were unable. The other house is the Senate. In the Senate, each state is represented equally, by two Senators. Because there are 50 states, there are 100 senators. Before the President makes treaties or appoints officials, the Senate must approve them. Senators serve six-year terms. The Vice President of the United States serves as president of the Senate, but may only cast votes in order to break a tie vote. In practice, the Vice President is usually absent from the Senate, and a Senator is selected to serve as president pro tempore, or temporary president, of the Senate. Representatives and Senators propose laws, called "bills", in their respective houses. A bill may be voted upon by the entire house right away or may first go to a small group of members of that house, known as a committee, which may recommend a bill for a vote by the whole house. If one house votes to pass a bill, the bill then gets sent to the other house; if both houses vote for it, it is then sent to the President, who may sign the bill into law or veto it. If the President vetoes the bill, it is sent back to Congress. If Congress votes again and passes the bill with at least a two-thirds majority, the bill becomes law and cannot be vetoed by the President. Under the American system of federalism, Congress may not make laws that directly control the states; instead, Congress may use the promise of federal funds or extenuating circumstances, such as national emergencies, to encourage the states to follow federal law. This system is both complex and unique. [change] Judicial branchThe Judicial Branch is the part of government that interprets what the law means. The Judicial Branch is made up of the Supreme Court and many lower courts. If the Supreme Court decides that a law is not allowed by the Constitution, the law is said to be "struck down" and is no longer a valid law. The Supreme Court is made up of 9 judges, called Justices, who are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. One of these 9 Justices, called the Chief Justice, heads the Court. A Supreme Court Justice serves until he or she dies or resigns (quits in the middle of his or her term). When that happens, the President nominates someone new to replace the Justice who left. If the Senate agrees with that choice, the person becomes a Justice. If the Senate does not agree with the President's choice, then the President must nominate someone else. Famous court cases such as Marbury v. Madison (which was decided in 1803) have firmly established that the Supreme Court is the ultimate interpreter of the United States Constitution and has the power to strike down any law that conflicts with it. [2] [change] History
[change] PoliticsThe United States of America consists of 50 states, 5 territories and 1 district (Washington, D.C.). States can make laws about things inside the state, but federal law is usually about things dealing with more than one state or dealing with other countries. In some areas, if the federal government makes laws that say different things from the state laws, people only have to follow the federal government's law because the state law is not a law any more. Each state has a constitution of its own, different from the federal (national) Constitution. Each one of these is like the federal Constitution because they talk about how each state's government is set up, but some also talk about specific laws. The federal and a lot of state governments are dominated today by two groups of politicians (called political parties): the Republicans (who are usually more conservative) and the Democrats (who are usually more liberal), although other people can sometimes be elected too, like people from the Green Party or the Constitution Party. The two main parties get support from different people and businesses, who give money to the parties. Since people give money to the politicians, the politicians must listen those people's opinions. This is called lobbying. All Americans are allowed to lobby the government, but when small groups have a lot of money, they are better at lobbying. Some people think that this is a problem, and want rules to be made to change this. As of May 2010, the President is a Democrat, and there are more Democrats than Republicans in Congress. So Democrats have a lot of power in the federal government. However, there are still many powerful Republicans who can try to stop the Democrats from doing things that they believe will be bad for the country. Also, the Democrats do not always agree with each other on what to do. And if enough people decide to vote against Democrats in the next election, then they will lose power. In a republic like the United States, no party can do whatever they want. All politicians have to argue, compromise, and make deals with each other to get things done. They have to answer to the people and take responsibility for their mistakes. The USA's large cultural, economic, and military influence has made foreign relations, or relations with other countries, an especially important topic in American politics, and the politics of many other countries. [change] LandThe United States has grown from 13 states in 1776, to 50 states, 5 territories (Guam, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, US Virgin Islands), 1 district (District of Columbia) and other lands (such as Guantanamo Bay and Johnston Atoll) today. The country grew from East to West. It conquered and bought lands. It also divided some states into two. The states are divided into smaller counties. Two states use different words than "county". Louisiana uses the word "parish". Alaska uses the word "borough". The United States also consists of several other lands that are not states. Most of these are colonial territories, and are not a part of the Mainland U.S. Some examples are: The United States also includes one federal district that was split from a state:
The Philippines was once a possession of the United States, and before that a possession of Spain. Now the Philippines is an independent country. Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and other Pacific island nations were once governed by the United States as a United Nations "Trust Territory", but are now independent. The U.S. military has bases in many countries. The U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay was rented from Cuba, even after that country had a Communist revolution. [change] Geography
The United States is the third biggest country in the world. Its geography varies a lot.
The climate varies along with the geography, from tropical (hot and wet in summer, warm and dry in winter) in Florida to tundra (cold all year) in Alaska. Large parts of the country have warm summers and cold winters. Some parts of the United States, like parts of California, have a Mediterranean climate. [change] EconomyThe United States has a capitalist economy. This means that people are allowed to start their own businesses. The country has low unemployment and inflation, and a large trade deficit (meaning the United States buys more things from other countries than it sells). The country has rich mineral resources, with many gold, oil, coal and uranium deposits. Farming makes the country among the top producers of, among others, corn (maize), wheat, sugar and tobacco. American produces cars, airplanes and electronics. About 3/4 of Americans work in the service industry. The top 15 trading partners in terms of total trade are:
[change] DemographicsThe United States of America has people of many different race and ethnic background. 80% of the people in the United States descend from European immigrants. Many people are descended from Germany, England, Scotland, Ireland, Africa, and Italy. [3] 13% of the people in the United States are African-American. Most of them descend from the African slaves that were brought to America. Asian-Americans make up only 5% of the population in America but make up a bigger portion in the west coast. For example in California, Asian-Americans make up 13% of the population of that state. Asian-Americans are underrepresented in the media. Hispanic-Americans or people of Latin origins make up 15% of the nation. The original peoples, called Native American or American Indians and Inuit (Eskimos) are a very small group. 11% of the people in the United States are foreign born. 18% speak a language other than English at home. For people 25 and older, 80% have are high school graduates while 25% have a bachelor's degree or higher. The 2000 Census counted self-reported ancestry. It identified 43 million German-Americans, 30.5 million Irish-Americans, 24.9 million African-Americans, 24.5 million English-Americans, and 18.4 million Mexican-Americans. [change] MoneyThe social structure of the United States has a big range. This means that some Americans are much, much richer than others. The average (median) income for an American was $37,000 a year in 2002. However, the richest 1% of Americans have as much money as the poorest 90%. 51% of all households have access to a computer and 41% had access to the Internet in 2000, a figure which had grown to 75% in 2004. Globally, less than one percent of people own a computer. Furthermore, 67.9% of American families owned their homes in 2002. In addition, there are 200 million cars in the United States, two for every three Americans and roughly one-third of all cars in the world. The debt has grown to over $13,000,000,000,000. [change] ReligionThe level of Christianity in the US is declining. 86.2% called themselves Christian in 1990 and 76.5% said this in 2001. [4] However, the United States is still one of the most religious countries in the Western World, and the most religious country where most people are not Catholic. Unlike most other Protestant countries, most Americans believe in God. The religious memberships in 2001 were Protestant 52%, Catholic 24.5%, none 13.2%, 2% Buddhist, Jewish 1.3% and 0.5-0.3% for Muslim, Agnostic, Atheist, Hindu and Unitarian Universalist. There is a large difference between those who say that they belong to a religion and those who are members of a church of that religion. [5] show that church membership in 2001 was 53% Christian, 2.3% Jewish and 0.1% Muslim, others lower. [change] Languages
The United States does not currently have an official language, although the United States Congress has considered officially designating English as such for many years, since it is the most used language, and the language in which the United States Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution are written. Spanish has increased in usage in certain sectors of society, due to an influx of immigrants--especially from Mexico and Cuba. French is also a predominant language in parts of Louisiana because of former occupation from France. [change] CultureAmerican popular culture goes out to many places in the world. It has a large influence on most of the world, especially the Western world. American music is heard all over the world, and American movies and television shows can be seen almost anywhere. [change] Federal holidays (For 2011) (Gregorian calendar)
[change] FlagThe American flag is made up of fifty stars on a blue background. It also has thirteen stripes, seven red and six white. The fifty stars represent the fifty states. The red represents courage. The blue represents the sky and respect for God. The white represents peace and purity. The thirteen stripes represent the thirteen original colonies.[7] 
[change] References
[change] Other websites Wikimedia Commons has images, video, and/or sound related to:
[change] United States government
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This country information has been retrieved from wikipedia.org and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
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