USA FACTS

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.

14. The national holiday of the United States of America is
called Independence Day and is celebrated on 4 July and is
commonly referred to as Fourth of July. This holiday
commemorates the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and is
celebrated as a federal holiday since 1941. Read more here.

USA Facts | History

15. A little history of the USA: Native American settled on
the continent in about 15,000 BC. Leif Eriksson, the Viking
explorer reached the North American continent already in
around 1000 AD. The European colonialization started in 1492
with the arrival of explorer Christopher Colombus. The first
permanent settlement of the British in America, Jamestown in
the Colony of Virginia, dates back to 1607. The British Pilgrims
arrived on the Mayflower in 1620 and founded Plymouth Colony.

In 1626 New Amsterdam, which today is Manhattan, and other
settlements along the Hudson River were established by Dutch
settlers in a region they referred to as New Netherland. By the
17th and 18th century, Britain had established thirteen colonies
along the East Coast of the continent.
When was the USA formed? On 4 July 1776, the thirteen
British colonies signed the Declaration of Independence from the
kingdom of Britain.

Leif Eriksson, el vikingo

16. The first president of the USA was George
Washington. He was elected in 1789. Presidential elections are
held every four years since 1792. Joe Biden, born in 1942, is the
46th president of the USA.
The president resides in the White House building where there
are also the offices of the president since 1800.

USA Facts | USA People

The USA are home to people of all different ethnic groups,
different religions and different mother tongues. About 67% of
all US Americans are Christians.
17. Languages in the USA: English is the most commonly
used language of the USA, however, more than 300 languages
are spoken in the country. 78% of all American say that they
speak only English. About 13% speak mainly Spanish.

There is no official languages in the country, however, English is
an official language in all states.

American English also has some words that differ from the
British English:

British English

American English

18. Famous people: Among the American people everybody
should have heard of are:

 George Washington (1732 - 1799): first president of the
USA
 Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865): president during the
American Civil War and fighter for the abolishment of
slavery

 Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826): one of the founding
fathers of the nation, author of the Declaration of
Independence
 Sequoyah (1767-1843): inventor of the Cherokee
alphabet
 Pocahontas (1595 - 1617): native American who save
Jamestown chief and became the wife of British colonist
John Rolfe
 Neil Armstrong (1930 - 2012): astronaut and first man
on the Moon
 Amelia Earhart (1897 - 1937): first woman to fly across
the Atlantic Ocean
 Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 - 1962): first lady and civil
rights activist
 Walt Disney (1901 - 1966): film producer 'Cinderella' and
founder of the Disney theme parks
 Ella Fitzgerald (1918 - 1996): jazz singer and musician
 Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 - 1968): leader of the Civil
Rights Movement
 Andy Warhol (1928 - 1987): film director and artist,
famous for his painting of Campbell Soup Cans
 Ellen Ochoa (born 1958): engineer and first
female Hispanic astronaut