United States

Coordinates: 40°N 100°W / 40°N 100°W / 40; -100

The United States of America (USA), commonly referred to as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a federal republic composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major territories and various possessions. The 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., are in central North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwestern part of North America and the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. At 3.8 million square miles (9.842 million km²) and with over 320 million people, the country is the world's third or fourth-largest by total area and the third most populous. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The geography and climate of the United States are also extremely diverse, and the country is home to a wide variety of wildlife.

List of states and territories of the United States

The United States of America is a federal republic consisting of 50 states, a federal district (where the nation's seat of government–Washington, D.C.–is located), five major territories, and various possessions. The 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., are in central North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwestern part of North America (also bordering Canada) and the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

States are the primary subdivisions of the United States, and possess a number of powers and rights under the United States Constitution, such as regulating intrastate commerce, running elections, creating local governments, and ratifying constitutional amendments. Each state has its own constitution, grounded in republican principles, and government, consisting of three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. All states and their residents are represented in the federal Congress, a bicameral legislature consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each state is represented by two Senators, while Representatives are distributed among the states in proportion to the most recent constitutionally mandated decennial census. Additionally, each state is entitled to select a number of electors to vote in the Electoral College, the body that elects the President of the United States, equal to the total of Representatives and Senators in Congress from that state.Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the Constitution grants to Congress the authority to admit new states into the Union. Since the establishment of the United States in 1776, the number of states has expanded from the original 13 to 50. Each new state has been admitted on an equal footing with the existing states.

United States (disambiguation)

United States usually refers to the United States of America, a country in North America.

United States may also refer to:

Countries

Historical

United States House of Representatives elections, 1864

Elections to the United States House of Representatives were held in 1864 to elect Representatives to the 39th United States Congress. The election coincided with the presidential election of 1864, in which President Abraham Lincoln was re-elected.

In the midst of the American Civil War, the opposition Democrats were divided between the Copperheads, a group that demanded an immediate negotiated settlement with the Confederate States of America, and the War Democrats, who supported the war. The Democrats lacked a coherent message, and Lincoln's Republican Party gained 50 seats, increasing their majority over the Democrats. The National Union Party (formerly known as the Unionists) lost seven seats, retaining control of 18 seats (some classify the Representatives as including 13 Unconditional Unionists and five Unionists), all from the border states of Maryland, Tennessee, and Kentucky, as well as West Virginia.

Election summaries

One new seat was added for the new State of Nebraska and 8 vacancies were filled by the readmission of Tennessee, the first secessionist state to be readmitted. Three former Confederate States held elections in 1865 that were rejected by Congress.

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the United States Congress (a bicameral legislature) alongside the Senate.

The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the United States Constitution. The major power of the House is to pass federal legislation that affects the entire country, although its bills must also be passed by the Senate and further agreed to by the U.S. President before becoming law (unless both the House and Senate re-pass the legislation with a two-thirds majority in each chamber). The House has some exclusive powers: the power to initiate revenue bills, to impeach officials (impeached officials are subsequently tried in the Senate), and to elect the U.S. President in case there is no majority in the Electoral College.

Each U.S. state is represented in the House in proportion to its population as measured in the census, but every state is entitled to at least one representative. The most populous state, California, currently has 53 representatives. On the other end of the spectrum, there are seven states with only one representative each (Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming). The total number of voting representatives is fixed by law at 435. In addition there are six non-voting Representatives who have a voice on the floor and a vote in committees, but no vote on the floor.

SS United States

SS United States is a luxury passenger liner built in 1952 for United States Lines designed to capture the trans-Atlantic speed record.

Built at a cost of $79.4 million ($724 million in today's dollars) the ship is the largest ocean liner constructed entirely in the U.S. and the fastest ocean liner to cross the Atlantic in either direction. Even in her retirement, she retains the Blue Riband, the accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the highest speed.

Her construction was subsidized by the U.S. government, since she was designed to allow conversion to a troopship should the need arise.United States operated uninterrupted in transatlantic passenger service until 1969. Since 1996 she has been docked at Pier 82 on the Delaware River in Philadelphia.

Design and construction

Inspired by the exemplary service of the British liners RMS Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, which transported hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops to Europe during World War II, the U.S. government sponsored the construction of a large and fast merchant vessel that would be capable of transporting large numbers of soldiers. Designed by renowned American naval architect and marine engineer William Francis Gibbs (1886–1967), the liner's construction was a joint effort between the United States Navy and United States Lines. The U.S. government underwrote $50 million of the $78 million construction cost, with the ship's operators, United States Lines, contributing the remaining $28 million. In exchange, the ship was designed to be easily converted in times of war to a troopship with a capacity of 15,000 troops, or to a hospital ship .

United States (album)

United States is the first full length hard rock collaborative album between hard rock guitar virtuoso Paul Gilbert and singer Freddie Nelson. The collaboration has been described as a cross between Queen and Mr. Big.

Track listing

Personnel

References