Topic outline of the United States

For an alphabetical index of this subject, see the List of United States-related articles.

Location of the United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to its east and Russia to the west across the Bering Strait, and the state of Hawaii is in the mid-Pacific. The United States also possesses several territories, or insular areas, scattered around the Caribbean and Pacific.

The following topic outline is provided as an overview of and introduction to the United States of America:

United States portal

Flag of the United States		Great Seal of the United States

General reference

• Pronunciation:
• Adjective: American
• International rankings of the United States

Geography of the United States

A satellite composite image of the contiguous United States. Deciduous vegetation and grasslands prevail in the east, transitioning to prairies, boreal forests, and the Rockies in the west, and deserts in the southwest.

Main article: Geography of the United States

• The United States is: a country
• Location:
  • Northern Hemisphere and Western Hemisphere
    • North America
  • Extreme points of the United States
• Population of the United States: 305,349,000 people (2008 estimate) - 3rd most populous country
• Area of the United States: 9,826,630 km² (3,794,083 sq mi) - 3rd largest country
• Atlas of the United States
• Cities of the United States, by population

Environment of the United States

Main article: Environment of the United States

• Climate of the United States
  • Climate change in the United States
• Ecology of the United States
  • Ecoregions in the United States
  • Renewable energy in the United States
• Geology of the United States
• National parks of the United States
• Protected areas of the United States
• Wildlife of the United States
  • Flora of the United States
  • Fauna of the United States
    • Birds of the United States
    • Mammals of the United States

Geographic features of the United States

Main article: Landforms of the United States

• Fjords of the United States
• Glaciers of the United States
• Islands of the United States
• Lakes of the United States
• Mountain peaks of the United States
  • Appalachian Mountains
  • Cascade Range
  • Rocky Mountains
  • Volcanoes in the United States
• Rivers of the United States
  • Columbia River
  • Colorado River
  • Hudson River
  • Mississippi River
  • Missouri River
  • Potomac River
  • Rio Grande
  • Waterfalls of the United States
• Valleys of the United States
• World Heritage Sites in the United States

View from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, a World Heritage Site.

Regions of the United States

Main article: List of regions of the United States

• East Coast of the United States
• West Coast of the United States

• New England
• Mid-Atlantic
• The South
• Midwest
• Great Plains
• Northwest
• Southwest

v • d • e Geographic regions of the United States 4 Regions 9 Census Bureau Divisions Other subregions of this region Northeast New England · Mid-Atlantic East Coast · Atlantic Northeast Midwest E North Central · W N Central Great Lakes · Great Plains · Upper Midwest South S Atlantic · E, W South Central Southeast · Upper · Deep · Gulf Coast West Pacific/West Coast · Mountain Northwest · Southwest · Pacific Northwest · Great Basin Other North · East · East Coast · Central · Coastal

Physiographic divisions of the United States

The geography of the United States varies across their immense area. Within the contential U.S., eight distinct physiographic divisions exist, though each is composed of several smaller physiographic subdivisions.^[1] These major divisions are:

• Laurentian Upland - part of the Canadian Shield that extends into the northern United States Great Lakes area.
• Atlantic Plain - the coastal regions of the eastern and southern parts includes the continental shelf, the Atlantic Coast and the Gulf Coast.
• Appalachian Highlands - lying on the eastern side of the United States, it includes the Appalachian Mountains, Adirondacks and New England province.
• Interior Plains - part of the interior contentintal United States, it includes much of what is called the Great Plains.
• Interior Highlands - also part of the interior contentintal United States, this division includes the Ozark Plateau.
• Rocky Mountain System - one branch of the Cordilleran system lying far inland in the western states.
• Intermontane Plateaus - also divided into the Columbia Plateau, the Colorado Plateau and the Basin and Range Province, it is a system of plateaus, basins, ranges and gorges between the Rocky and Pacific Mountain Systems. It is the setting for the Grand Canyon, the Great Basin and Death Valley.
• Pacific Mountain System - the coastal mountain ranges and features in the west coast of the United States.

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:

Map of the United States with state border lines. Note that 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

Main article: Territories of the United States

Location of the insular areas:      The USA      incorporated unorganized Territory      unincorporated organized territory      Commonwealth status      unincorporated unorganized territory

• Territorial evolution of the United States

Incorporated organized territories

none since 1959

Incorporated unorganized territories

• Palmyra Atoll

Unincorporated organized territories

• Guam
• Northern Mariana Islands (commonwealth)
• Puerto Rico (commonwealth)
• United States Virgin Islands

Unincorporated unorganized territories

• American Samoa, technically unorganized, but self-governing under a constitution last revised in 1967
• Baker Island, uninhabited
• Howland Island, uninhabited
• Jarvis Island, uninhabited
• Johnston Atoll, uninhabited
• Kingman Reef, uninhabited
• Petrel Islands, uninhabited
• Serranilla Bank, uninhabited
• Midway Islands, no indigenous inhabitants, currently included in the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge
• Navassa Island, uninhabited (claimed by Haiti)
• Wake Atoll consisting of Peale, Wake and Wilkes Islands^[2], no indigenous inhabitants, only contractor personnel (claimed by the Marshall Islands)

Geography of the states and territories

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Demography of the United States

Main article: Demography of the United States

Demographics of the states and territories

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Climate of the United States

Government and politics in the United States

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

The United States Capitol

• Form of government: presidential, federal republic
• Capital of the United States: Washington, D.C.

• Flag of the United States
• Political parties in the United States
• Elections in the United States
• Voting rights in the United States
• Elections in the United States
• List of political parties in the United States
  • Democratic Party
    • History of the United States Democratic Party
  • Republican Party
    • History of the United States Republican Party
  • Green Party
  • Libertarian Party
  • Reform Party
  • Constitution Party
  • Socialist Party USA
• Political divisions of the United States
• Canadian and American politics compared
• International Politics of the United States
• Politics of the Southern United States

Federal government

Main article: Federal government of the United States

• United States Constitution

Legislative branch

Further information: Legislative branch

• United States Congress
  • United States Senate
    • President pro tempore of the United States Senate
  • United States House of Representatives
    • Speaker of the United States House of Representatives

Executive branch

Further information: Executive branch

• Head of state and head of government: President of the United States, George W. Bush
  • Vice President of the United States, Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney

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.

Judicial branch

U.S. Supreme Court building

Further information: Judicial branch

• United States federal courts
  • United States Supreme Court
    • Chief Justice of the United States
  • United States court of appeals
  • United States district court

State and territory governments

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Politics of the states and territories

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Military

Main article: United States military

• United States Army
  • United States Army Reserve
• United States Navy
  • United States Navy Reserve
• United States Marines
  • Marine Forces Reserve
• United States Air Force
  • Air Force Reserve Command
• United States Coast Guard
  • United States Coast Guard Reserve
• United States National Guard
  • Army National Guard
  • Air National Guard
  • Naval militia
  • State Defense Forces

Intelligence Organizations

Main article: United States Intelligence Community

• Central Intelligence Agency
• Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency
• United States Army Military Intelligence
• Defense Intelligence Agency
• Marine Corps Intelligence Activity
• National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
• National Reconnaissance Office
• National Security Agency
• Office of Naval Intelligence
• Coast Guard Intelligence
• Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Drug Enforcement Administration
• Bureau of Intelligence and Research
• Office of Intelligence and Analysis
• Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence
• Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence

Law of the United States

Main article: Law of the United States

• Constitution of the United States
  • United States Bill of Rights
  • Separation of powers under the United States Constitution
• Law enforcement in the United States
• State law
• Local ordinance

History of the United States

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

John Trumbull's famous painting 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.

• Territorial evolution of the United States
• Westward expansion
• Overseas expansion
• Diplomatic history
• Military history
• Industrial history
• Economic history
• Cultural history
• History of the South
• Civil Rights (1896-1954)
• Civil Rights (1955-1968)
• Women's history

Period-coverage

• Pre-Columbian era
• Colonial period
• 1776 to 1789
• 1789 to 1849
• 1849 to 1865
• 1865 to 1918
• 1918 to 1945
• 1945 to 1964
• 1964 to 1980
• 1980 to 1991
• 1991 to present

History of the states and territories

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Culture of the United States

Main article: Culture of the United States

• American humor
• Languages of the United States
• National symbols of the United States
• Religion in the United States

American cuisine

Main article: Cuisine of the United States

See also: List of United States dishes

• Cajun cuisine
• Louisiana Creole cuisine
• Midwestern cuisine
• Native American cuisine
• Southern cuisine
• Southwestern cuisine
• Tex-Mex cuisine

Cuisine of the states and territories

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The Arts in the United States

• Literature of the United States
• Music of the United States
• Theatre in the United States
• Cinema of the United States
• Television in the United States
• Visual arts of the United States

Music in the United States

Main article: Music in the United States

Genres

• Blues music
• Gospel music
• Jazz
• Country music
• R&B music
• Soul music
• Rock
• Heavy metal
• Punk rock
• Hip hop