Thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white; there is a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing 50 small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars (top and bottom) alternating with rows of five stars; the 50 stars represent the 50 states, the 13 stripes represent the 13 original colonies; known as Old Glory; the design and colors have been the basis for a number of other flags, including Chile, Liberia, Malaysia, and Puerto Rico.
50 states and 1 district*: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia*, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Population:
280,562,489 (July 2002 est.)
Languages:
English, Spanish (spoken by a sizable minority)
Geographic coordinates:
38° 00' N, 97° 00' W
Area total:
9,826,630 sq. km includes only the 50 states and District of Columbia
Land area:
9,161,923 sq. km
Water area:
664,707 sq. km
Total land boundaries:
12,034 km
Borders with neighbor countries:
Canada 8,893 km (including 2,477 km with Alaska), Mexico 3,141 km US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is leased by the US and thus remains part of Cuba, the base boundary is 29 km
Coastline:
19,924 km
Elevation extremes:
Death Valley -86 m - Mount McKinley 6,194 m
Internet country code:
.us
Currency:
US dollar (USD)
Name - abbreviation:
US or USA
Name - conventional long form:
United States of America
Name - conventional short form:
United States
Independence:
4 July 1776 (from Great Britain)
Constitution:
17 September 1787, effective 4 March 1789
Government type:
federal republic, strong democratic tradition
Dependent areas:
American Samoa, Baker Island, Guam, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Islands, Navassa Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palmyra Atoll, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Wake Island from 18 July 1947 until 1 October 1994, the US administered the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, but recently entered into a new political relationship with all four political units: the Northern Mariana Islands is a commonwealth in political union with the US (effective 3 November 1986), Palau concluded a Compact of Free Association with the US (effective 1 October 1994), the Federated States of Micronesia signed a Compact of Free Association with the US (effective 3 November 1986), the Republic of the Marshall Islands signed a Compact of Free Association with the US (effective 21 October 1986)