United States
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United States
Official name: United States of America
Capital city: Washington, D.C.
Internet country code: .us
Flag description: 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
National anthem: “The Star-Spangled Banner”
National bird: Bald eagle
National mottoes: E pluribus unum (Out of Many, One) and “In God We Trust”
Geographical description: North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico
Total area: 3,794,062 sq. mi. (9,826,630 sq. km.)
Climate: Mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida, arctic in Alaska, semiarid in the Great Plains west of the Mississippi River, and arid in the Great Basin of the southwest; low winter temperatures in the northwest are ameliorated occasionally in January and February by warm chinook winds from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains
Nationality: noun: American(s); adjective: American
Population: 301,139,947 (July 2007 CIA est.)
Ethnic groups: European 81.7%, black 12.9%, Asian 4.2%, Amerindian and Alaska native 1%, native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander 0.2% (note: a separate listing for Hispanic is not included because the United States Census Bureau considers Hispanic to mean a person of Latin American descent, including persons of Cuban, Mexican, or Puerto Rican origin, living in the U.S. who may be of any race or ethnic group - white, black, Asian, etc.)
Languages spoken: English 82.1%, Spanish 10.7%, other Indo-European 3.8%, Asian and Pacific island 2.7%, other 0.7%
Religions: Protestant 52%, Roman Catholic 24%, Mormon 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 1%, other 10%, none 10%