World Library  
My Account |  Register |  Help  
  
Flag as Inappropriate
Email this Article

Outline of the United States

 

Outline of the United States

The flag of the United States
The Great Seal of the United States (obverse)

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the United States of America:

Contents

  • General reference 1
  • Geography of the United States 2
    • Environment of the United States 2.1
      • Geographic features of the United States 2.1.1
    • Regions of the United States 2.2
      • Physiographic divisions of the United States 2.2.1
    • Administrative divisions of the United States 2.3
      • States of the United States 2.3.1
      • Territories of the United States 2.3.2
        • Incorporated organized territories 2.3.2.1
        • Incorporated unorganized territories 2.3.2.2
        • Unincorporated organized territories 2.3.2.3
        • Unincorporated unorganized territories 2.3.2.4
      • Geography of the states and territories 2.3.3
    • Demography of the United States 2.4
      • Demographics of the states and territories 2.4.1
    • Climate of the United States 2.5
  • History of the United States 3
    • Period-coverage 3.1
      • History of the states and territories 3.1.1
    • Presidents of the United States 3.2
  • Government and politics in the United States 4
    • Federal government 4.1
      • Legislative branch 4.1.1
      • Executive branch 4.1.2
        • Federal executive departments 4.1.2.1
      • Commissions 4.1.3
      • Judicial branch 4.1.4
    • State and territory governments 4.2
    • Politics of the states and territories 4.3
    • Foreign relations 4.4
      • International organization membership 4.4.1
    • Military 4.5
    • US Military Awards and Decorations 4.6
    • Intelligence Organizations 4.7
  • Law of the United States 5
  • Culture of the United States 6
    • American cuisine 6.1
      • Historical cuisine 6.1.1
      • Cuisine of the regions 6.1.2
    • Art in the United States 6.2
      • Film 6.2.1
      • Music in the United States 6.2.2
        • Genres 6.2.2.1
        • Music in the states and territories 6.2.2.2
      • Radio 6.2.3
    • Sports in the United States 6.3
      • List of Major Sports Leagues in the United States 6.3.1
      • Sports by state and territory 6.3.2
      • Sports Museums in the United States 6.3.3
  • Education in the United States 7
    • Education in the states and territories 7.1
  • Economy and infrastructure of the United States 8
    • Economy by state and territory 8.1
    • Tourism in the United States 8.2
  • See also 9
  • References 10
  • External links 11

General reference

An enlargeable map of the United States showing the population density in 2010

Geography of the United States

An enlargeable topographic map of the contiguous United States
 Canada 8,893 km (5,525 mi)[1]
 Mexico 3,141 km (1,951 mi)
  • Coastline: 19,924 km (12,380 mi)

Environment of the United States

An enlargeable satellite composite image of the contiguous United States. Deciduous vegetation and grasslands prevail in the east, transitioning to prairies, boreal forests, the Rocky Mountains in the west, and deserts in the southwest.

Geographic features of the United States

View from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, a World Heritage Site

Regions of the United States

Units
Time zones
Census
Physical
Physiographic
Coastal
Historical
Cessions and
accessions
Civil War
Divided
Other

Physiographic divisions of the United States

The geography of the United States varies across their immense area. Within the contential U.S., eight distinct physiographic divisions exist, though each is composed of several smaller physiographic subdivisions.[2] These major divisions are:

Administrative divisions of the United States

States of the United States

At the Declaration of Independence, the United States consisted of 13 states, former colonies of the United Kingdom. In the following years, the number of states has grown steadily due to expansion to the west, conquest and purchase of lands by the American government, and division of existing states to the current number of 50 United States:

Map of the United States with state border lines. Note that Alaska and Hawaii are shown at different scales, and that the Aleutian Islands and the uninhabited northwestern Hawaiian Islands are omitted from this map.

Territories of the United States

Location of the insular areas of the United States:
  The United States of America
  Incorporated unorganized territory
  Unincorporated organized territory
  Unincorporated unorganized territory
  Freely associated commonwealth
Incorporated organized territories
  • none since 1959
Incorporated unorganized territories
Unincorporated organized territories
Unincorporated unorganized territories

Geography of the states and territories

GA - HI - IA - ID - IL - IN - KS - KY - LA - MA - MD - ME - MI - MN - MO - MS - MT - NC - ND - NE - NH - NM - NV - NJ - NY - OH - OK - OR - PA - RI - SC - SD - TN - TX - UT - VA - VT - WA - WI - WV - WY

AS - GU - MP - PR - VI

Demography of the United States

Main article: Demography of the United States

Demographics of the states and territories

GA - HI - IA - ID - IL - IN - KS - KY - LA - MA - MD - ME - MI - MN - MO - MS - MT - NC - ND - NE - NH - NM - NV - NJ - NY - OH - OK - OR - PA - RI - SC - SD - TN - TX - UT - VA - VT - WA - WI - WV - WY

AS - GU - MP - PR - VI

Climate of the United States

States
Federal district
Insular areas
By state

History of the United States

John Trumbull's famous painting is usually incorrectly identified as a depiction of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, but it actually shows the drafting committee presenting its work to the Congress.
Main outline: Outline of United States history

Period-coverage

History of the states and territories

GA - HI - IA - ID - IL - IN - KS - KY - LA - MA - MD - ME - MI - MN - MO - MS - MT - NC - ND - NE - NH - NM - NV - NJ - NY - OH - OK - OR - PA - RI - SC - SD - TN - TX - UT - VA - VT - WA - WI - WV - WY

AS - GU - MP - PR - VI

Presidents of the United States

Government and politics in the United States

Main articles: Government of the United States and Politics of the United States

Federal government

Legislative branch

Executive branch

Federal executive departments

All departments are listed by their present-day name and only departments with past or present cabinet-level status are listed. Order of succession applies only to within the cabinet; the vice president has always been first in the line of succession, and the Speaker of the House and the President pro tem of the Senate have at times been included.

Department Creation Order of
succession 		Modifications since creation 2007 Budget
in billions
of dollars 		Employees (2007)
State 1789 1 Initially named "Department of Foreign Affairs" 9.96 30,266
Treasury 1789 2 11.10 115,897
Defense 1947 3 Initially named "National Military Establishment" 439.30 3,000,000
Justice 1870 4 Position of Attorney General created in 1789, but had no department until 1870 23.40 112,557
Interior 1849 5 10.70 71,436
Agriculture 1889 6 77.60 109,832
Commerce 1903 7 Originally named Commerce and Labor; Labor later separated 6.20 36,000
Labor 1913 8 59.70 17,347
Health and Human Services 1953 9 Originally named Health, Education, and Welfare; Education later separated 543.20 67,000
Housing and Urban Development 1965 10 46.20 10,600
Transportation 1966 11 58.00 58,622
Energy 1977 12 21.50 116,100
Education 1979 13 62.80 4,487
Veterans Affairs 1989 14 73.20 235,000
Homeland Security 2002 15 44.60 208,000
Total budget (fiscal year 2007): 1,523.42 4,193,144

Commissions

Judicial branch

State and territory governments

GA - HI - IA - ID - IL - IN - KS - KY - LA - MA - MD - ME - MI - MN - MO - MS - MT - NC - ND - NE - NH - NM - NV - NJ - NY - OH - OK - OR - PA - RI - SC - SD - TN - TX - UT - VA - VT - WA - WI - WV - WY

AS - GU - MP - PR - VI

Politics of the states and territories

GA - HI - IA - ID - IL - IN - KS - KY - LA - MA - MD - ME - MI - MN - MO - MS - MT - NC - ND - NE - NH - NM - NV - NJ - NY - OH - OK - OR - PA - RI - SC - SD - TN - TX - UT - VA - VT - WA - WI - WV - WY

AS - GU - MP - PR - VI

Foreign relations

International organization membership

Military

US Military Awards and Decorations

Intelligence Organizations

Headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency

Law of the United States

Main article: Law of the United States

Culture of the United States

Main article: Culture of the United States

American cuisine

Historical cuisine

Cuisine of the regions

Main article Category:American cuisine by region

Art in the United States

Film

Music in the United States

Genres
Music in the states and territories

GA - HI - IA - ID - IL - IN - KS - KY - LA - MA - MD - ME - MI - MN - MO - MS - MT - NC - ND - NE - NH - NM - NV - NJ - NY - OH - OK - OR - PA - RI - SC - SD - TN - TX - UT - VA - VT - WA - WI - WV - WY

AS - GU - MP - PR - VI

Radio

Sports in the United States

Main article: Sports in the United States

List of Major Sports Leagues in the United States

Main article: Major North American professional sports leagues

Sports by state and territory

GA - HI - IA - ID - IL - IN - KS - KY - LA - MA - MD - ME - MI - MN - MO - MS - MT - NC - ND - NE - NH - NM - NV - NJ - NY - OH - OK - OR - PA - RI - SC - SD - TN - TX - UT - VA - VT - WA - WI - WV - WY

AS - GU - MP - PR - VI

Sports Museums in the United States

Education in the United States

Main article: Education in the United States

Education in the states and territories

GA - HI - IA - ID - IL - IN - KS - KY - LA - MA - MD - ME - MI - MN - MO - MS - MT - NC - ND - NE - NH - NM - NV - NJ - NY - OH - OK - OR - PA - RI - SC - SD - TN - TX - UT - VA - VT - WA - WI - WV - WY

AS - GU - MP - PR - VI

Economy and infrastructure of the United States

Main article: Economy of the United States
The United States is the world's largest economy (IMF, 2010).

Economy by state and territory

GA - HI - IA - ID - IL - IN - KS - KY - LA - MA - MD - ME - MI - MN - MO - MS - MT - NC - ND - NE - NH - NM - NV - NJ - NY - OH - OK - OR - PA - RI - SC - SD - TN - TX - UT - VA - VT - WA - WI - WV - WY

AS - GU - MP - PR - VI

Tourism in the United States

See also

References

  1. ^ The total length of the land border between Canada and the United States is the longest between any two countries.
  2. ^
  3. ^ DOI Office of Internal Affairs http://www.doi.gov/oia/Islandpages/wakepage.htm

External links

  • United States travel guide from Wikivoyage
Government
  • Official U.S. Government Web Portal Gateway to governmental sites
  • White House Official site of the President of the United States
  • Senate Official site of the United States Senate
  • House Official site of the United States House of Representatives
  • Supreme Court Official site of the Supreme Court of the United States
  • Library of Congress Official site of the Library of Congress
Overviews and Data
  • Portrait of the United States Overview from the U.S. Information Agency
  • United States CIA World Factbook entry
  • United States Encyclopædia Britannica entry
  • U.S. Census Housing and Economic Statistics Wide-ranging data from the U.S. Census Bureau
  • State Fact Sheets Population, employment, income, and farm data from the U.S. Economic Research Service
  • The 50 States of the U.S.A. Collected informational links for each state
History
  • Historical Documents Collected by the National Center for Public Policy Research
  • U.S. National Mottos: History and Constitutionality Analysis by the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
  • USA Collected links to historical data
Maps
  • National Atlas of the United States Official maps from the U.S. Department of the Interior
Other
  • U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Official government site
Sovereign states
Dependencies and
other territories
This article was sourced from Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. World Heritage Encyclopedia content is assembled from numerous content providers, Open Access Publishing, and in compliance with The Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act (FASTR), Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., Public Library of Science, The Encyclopedia of Life, Open Book Publishers (OBP), PubMed, U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and USA.gov, which sources content from all federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial government publication portals (.gov, .mil, .edu). Funding for USA.gov and content contributors is made possible from the U.S. Congress, E-Government Act of 2002.
 
Crowd sourced content that is contributed to World Heritage Encyclopedia is peer reviewed and edited by our editorial staff to ensure quality scholarly research articles.
 
By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. World Heritage Encyclopedia™ is a registered trademark of the World Public Library Association, a non-profit organization.
 



Copyright © World Library Foundation. All rights reserved. eBooks from World Library are sponsored by the World Library Foundation,
a 501c(4) Member's Support Non-Profit Organization, and is NOT affiliated with any governmental agency or department.