The United States of America, also known as the United States or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and Washington, D.C. as its federal capital district. The 48 contiguous states border Canada to the north and Mexico to the south, with the semi-exclavic state of Alaska in the northwest and th…The United States of America, also known as the United States or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and Washington, D.C. as its federal capital district. The 48 contiguous states border Canada to the north and Mexico to the south, with the semi-exclavic state of Alaska in the northwest and the archipelagic state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. The U.S. also asserts federal sovereignty over five major island territories and various uninhabited islands. In addition, some 326 Indian reservations are treated as "domestic dependent nations" with tribal sovereignty rights. The U.S. is a megadiverse country, with the world's third-largest land area and third-largest population, exceeding 340 million. Its three largest metropolitan areas are New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, and its three most populous states are California, Texas, and Florida. Paleo-Indians migrated to North America across the Bering land bridge more than 12,000 years ago, and formed various civilizations and societies. Spanish exploration and colonization led to the establishment in 1513 of Spanish Florida, the first European colony in what is now the continental United States. France also began to colonize at this time, but major settlements came much later. Subsequent British colonization led to the first settlement of the Thirteen Colonies in Virginia in 1607. Intensive agriculture in the rapidly expanding Southern Colonies encouraged the forced migration of enslaved Africans. Clashes with the British Crown over taxation and political representation sparked the American Revolution, with the Second Continental Congress formally declaring independence on July 4, 1776. The United States emerged victorious from the 1775–1783 Revolutionary War and expanded westward across North America, dispossessing Native Americans as it fought the Indian Wars. Expansion continued when the U.S. signed the 1803 Louisiana Purchase with Napoleonic France and won the Mexican–American War in 1848. As more states were admitted, a North–South division over slavery led to the secession of the …
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