USA FACTS

Emmanuel Montoya Giraldo

6-3

Isabel Hoyos Sanclemente

The USA or the United States of America is the second largest
country on the North American continent - after Canada.
The U.S. (United States) are a union of states. Of the 50 states
of the USA, 49 are located on the American mainland and one
state, Hawaii, is located in the Pacific Ocean.

1. The USA is country on the North American continent
that consists of 50 states, a federal district (District of
Columbia) and 14 territories.
Five of the fourteen territories are inhabited: Puerto Rico, Guam,
Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands and American
Samoa. Puerto Rico is the biggest and most populous
territory.

2. The national flag of the USA has 13 stripes and 50 white
stars on blue background.

American Flag
The 13 stripes refer to the 13 British colonies that declared
independence from the kingdom of Great Britain in 1776 and
the 50 stars refer to the 50 U.S. states.

3. The motto of the USA is "In God We Trust".

4. The anthem of the USA is called 'Star-Spangled
banner' and the lyrics are based on a poem by Francis Scott
Key in 1814. Find the full lyrics here.

5. Other national symbols of the USA include:
 National animal: American Bison
 National tree: Oak Tree
 National bird: Bald Eagle
 National Flower: Rose

6. The capital city of the USA is called Washington D.C. D.C.
stands for District of Columbia. Washington D.C. has about 7.5
million inhabitants.
(Beware: Washington is also the name of an U.S. state in
northwestern USA. The capital city of Washington State is
Olympia.)

7. The USA shares land borders with Canada and with
Mexico. The border shared with Canada is the longest
international border in the world. It is 8,891 km/ 5,525 miles

long. The other international border of the USA with Mexico is
3,145 km/ 1,954 miles long. The USA borders the Atlantic
Ocean along the East Coast and the Pacific Ocean along the
West Coast.

8. The USA is the third largest country in the world. The USA
are smaller than Russia or Canada, but larger than China, if
all territories as well as coastal and territorial waters are
included.

9. The USA is the third most populous country in the world
after China and India. The USA is home to 338 million
inhabitants. Almost 40% of all Americans live close in the East
Coast states, while about 16% live along the West Coast states.
83% of the population lives in urban areas.

12. The largest U.S. state by land area is Alaska. Alaska is
a bit more than twice the size of Texas and four times the size of
California. On a global scale, Alaska is roughly the size of
Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and France combined!
The smallest state is Rhode Island and about 1.5 times the
size of Luxembourg.

10. Largest city in the USA is New York with almost 8.4
million inhabitants is the USA's biggest city.
Other large cities in the USA include:
 Los Angeles: 3.9 million inhabitants
 Chicago: 2.7 million inhabitants
 Brooklyn: 2.3 million inhabitants
 Houston: 2.3 million inhabitants

USA Facts | Geography Superlatives
13. Some fascinating USA Geography Superlatives:
 Highest mountain of the USA: Mount Denali, formerly
called Mount McKinley, is 6,190 m/ 20,310 ft high and
located in Alaska.
 Longest river of the USA: Missouri River with 3,767 km/
2,341 miles. The Missouri River flows through seven states
of the USA: Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota,
Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri. Together with the
Mississippi River, it forms one of the largest river systems
in the world.
 Hottest place in the USA: Death Valley. The Death
Valley's Badwater Basin is also the lowest point on the
North American continent with an elevation of 86 m/ 282
ft.
 Largest lake of the USA: Lake Superior, which is shared
by Canada (to the north) and the United States (to the
east, south and west). Lake Superior is also considered the
largest freshwater lake by area in the world.
 Highest waterfalls in the USA: The Colonial Creek Falls in
Washington State with a hight of 783 m/ 2,568 ft. are the
highest waterfalls in continental USA. However,
the Oloupena Falls in Hawaii are unofficially named North
America's highest waterfalls with a drop of 900 m/ 2,952
ft.