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.
At 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km²) and with over 300 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and third largest by land area and by population. The United States is one of the world's most ethnically diverse nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The U.S. economy is the largest national economy in the world, with a nominal 2006 gross domestic product (GDP) of more than US$13 trillion (over 19% of the world total based on purchasing power parity).
The nation was founded by thirteen colonies of Great Britain located along the Atlantic seaboard. Proclaiming themselves "states," they issued the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The rebellious states defeated Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War, the first successful colonial war of independence. A federal convention adopted the current United States Constitution on September 17, 1787; its ratification the following year made the states part of a single republic. The Bill of Rights, comprising ten constitutional amendments, was ratified in 1791.
In the nineteenth century, the United States acquired land from France, Spain, Great Britain, Mexico, and Russia, and annexed the Republic of Texas and the Republic of Hawaii. Disputes between the agrarian South and industrial North over states' rights and the expansion of the institution of slavery provoked the American Civil War of the 1860s. The North's victory prevented a permanent split of the country and led to the end of slavery in the United States. The Spanish-American War and World War I confirmed the nation's status as a military power. In 1945, the United States emerged from World War II as the first country with nuclear weapons, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and a founding member of NATO. In the post–Cold War era, the United States is the only remaining superpower—accounting for approximately 50% of global military spending—and a dominant economic, political, and cultural force in the world.
For all the Kashmiri Hindus in the USA and in other parts of world, it will provide a window to the beautiful valley and through this glorious view, create a stark contrast as a reminder of their painful exodus from Kashmir.In Kashmiri pandits to establish first cultural centre in US
If Modi wants to convert Gandhinagar into USA, even there churches exist. They don't demolish it there, but here temples are being erased.In Temples not spared in Modi demolition drive
A governor represents, after the election, the entire State and all the people within including Christians, Jews, Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, nonbelievers and others. United States of America stand for democracy and pluralism and the First Amendment clearly forbids any government official from establishing or promoting any one religion. He can not govern as a representative of one denomination of a religion. We are indeed glad that he has retracted that statement but could have been even more clear and explicit about the apology. I hope this will provide opportunities for intense interfaith dialogue and collaborative service projects in Alabama and rest of USA. This can be a great opportunity to bring together people of diverse faiths in our increasingly pluralistic countryIn Healing the Interfaith Gap in Alabama with Dharmic Seva
