- Location
North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico
- Geographic coordinates
38 53 N, 77 02 W
- Area comparative
about half the size of Russia; about three-tenths the size of Africa; about half the size of South America (or slightly larger than Brazil); slightly larger than China; more than twice the size of the European Union
- Border countries
Canada 8,893 km (including 2,477 km with Alaska), Mexico 3,141 km
- Coastline
19,924 km
- Climate
mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida, arctic in Alaska, semiarid in the great plains west of the Mississippi River, and arid in the Great Basin of the southwest; low winter temperatures in the northwest are ameliorated occasionally in January and February by warm chinook winds from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains
- Terrain
vast central plain, mountains in west, hills and low mountains in east; rugged mountains and broad river valleys in Alaska; rugged, volcanic topography in Hawaii
- Lowest point
Death Valley -86 m
- Highest point
Mount McKinley 6,194 m
- Natural resources
coal, copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates, rare earth elements, uranium, bauxite, gold, iron, mercury, nickel, potash, silver, tungsten, zinc, petroleum, natural gas, timber
- Population
310,232,863 (July 2010 est.)
- Ethnic groups
white 79.96%, black 12.85%, Asian 4.43%, Amerindian and Alaska native 0.97%, native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander 0.18%, two or more races 1.61% (July 2007 estimate)
- Religions
Protestant 51.3%, Roman Catholic 23.9%, Mormon 1.7%, other Christian 1.6%, Jewish 1.7%, Buddhist 0.7%, Muslim 0.6%, other or unspecified 2.5%, unaffiliated 12.1%, none 4% (2007 est.)
- Languages
English 82.1%, Spanish 10.7%, other Indo-European 3.8%, Asian and Pacific island 2.7%, other 0.7% (2000 census)
- Government type
Constitution-based federal republic; strong democratic tradition
- Independence
4 July 1776 (from Great Britain)
- National holiday
Independence Day, 4 July (1776)
- Chief of state
President Barack H. OBAMA (since 20 January 2009); Vice President Joseph R. BIDEN (since 20 January 2009); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
- Head of government
President Barack H. OBAMA (since 20 January 2009); Vice President Joseph BIDEN (since 20 January 2009)
- Internet country code
.us
- Internet users
245 million (2009)
- Airports
15,079 (2010)
- Other countries in the region
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