Afghanistan Argentina Australia Austria Bahrain Bangladesh Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Kazakhstan Kenya Bermuda Kuwait Bolivia Mexico Bosnia and HerzEgovina Brazil Canada Chile China Colombia Costa Rica Croatia Cuba DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO Egypt England Ethiopia France Republic of Georgia Germany The Netherlands New Zealand Nigeria North Korea Norway Pakistan Peru The Philippines Portugal PUERTO RICO Russia Saudi Arabia Scotland SenEgal South Africa South Korea Ghana SPAIN GREECE SWEDEN Guatemala Taiwan Honduras Thailand Iceland India Indonesia Turkey Ukraine The United States of america Iran Uzbekistan Iraq VENEZUELA Ireland VIETNAM The United States of America Charles F Gritzner South Dakota State University For my grandchildren, Bradley and Jaime Minor and Lucas Swafford Frontispiece: Flag of the United States of America Cover: An aerial view of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C The United States of America Copyright © 2008 by Infobase Publishing All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher For information contact: Chelsea House An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gritzner, Charles F The United States / Charles F Gritzner p cm.—(Modern world nations) Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN-13: 978–0-7910–9511–9 (hardcover) ISBN-10: 0–7910–9511–8 (hardcover) United States—Juvenile literature I Title II Series E156.G75 2007 973—dc22 2007021722 Chelsea House books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk quantities for businesses, associations, institutions, or sales promotions Please call our Special Sales Department in New York at (212) 967–8800 or (800) 322–8755 You can find Chelsea House on the World Wide Web at http://www.chelseahouse.com Series design by Takeshi Takahashi Cover design by Jooyoung An Printed in the United States of America Bang NMSG 10 This book is printed on acid-free paper All links and Web addresses were checked and verified to be correct at the time of publication Because of the dynamic nature of the Web, some addresses and links may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid Table of Contents Introducing the United States Physical Geography 16 The United States Through Time 47 People and Culture 62 Government and Politics 75 The United States’ Economy 89 Living in the United States Today 103 The United States Looks Ahead 119 Facts at a Glance History at a Glance Bibliography Further Reading Index 127 131 133 134 137 The United States of America Introducing the United States “America the Beautiful . From sea to shining sea.” T hese well-known lyrics, written by Katharine Lee Bates, hold as true today as they did in 1893, when the original verses were penned On a trip from her Massachusetts home to Col- orado Springs, Colorado, Bates was awed by the magnificent view of the Great Plains from atop majestic Pikes Peak The United States of America truly is a beautiful and bountiful land that has been blessed in countless ways by nature, culture, and history It is also a country of vast natural and cultural extremes Through time, the United States has experienced and survived a number of hardships This brief book attempts to paint a geographical portrait of the land that is home to most readers The United States is a land for which superlatives come easily Its nearly 3.8 million square miles (9,826,630 square kilometers) in Introducing the United States At 3,794,083 square miles (9,826,630 square kilometers), the United States is the world’s third-largest country (in terms of land area) It is bordered by Canada to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Mexico to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west Government Country Name Conventional long form: United States of America; conventional short form: United States; America; abbreviated form: U.S.A., U.S Capital City Washington, D.C (District of Columbia) Type of Government Constitution-based federal republic with strong tradition of democracy Head of Government President George W Bush (since January 20, 2001) Independence July 4, 1776 (from Great Britain) Administrative Divisions 50 states, one district (D.C.), numerous dependent areas Constitution September 17, 1787 (effective March 4, 1789) Branches of Government Executive (president); legislative (bicameral, with 435-seat House of Representatives and 100-seat Senate); judicial (Supreme Court, with nine appointed justices; U.S Courts of Appeal; U.S District Courts; state and county courts Communications TV Stations Radio Stations Phones Internet Users Internet Service Providers 2,218; (219 million television sets) 13,750 (8,961 FM, 4,789 AM); (575 million radios) (Line) 268 million; (cell) 219 million 205 million (2005) 7,000 * Source: CIA-The World Factbook (2007) 130 History at a Glance