Society / American Lifestyle

USA ( United States of America ) is a country that occupies most of the southern half of North America as well as Alaska and the Hawaiian Islands; pop. 293,027,000; capital, Washington, D.C. Full name United States of America .

The U.S. is a federal republic comprising 50 states and the Federal District of Columbia. It originated in the American Revolution, the successful rebellion of the colonies on the eastern coast against British rule in 1775–83. The original 13 states that formed the Union drew up a federal constitution in 1787, and George Washington was elected the first president in 1789. In the 19th century the territory of the U.S. was extended across the continent through the westward spread of pioneers and settlers and acquisitions such as that of Texas and California from Mexico in the 1840s. After a long period of isolation in foreign affairs, the U.S. participated on the Allied side in both world wars and emerged from the Cold War as the world's leading military and economic power.