At 33.4%, the U.S. holds the world’s largest share of wealth.
Amazingly, 100 acres of pizza are served in the U.S. every day.
The motto of the USA is "In God We Trust".
The U.S. is one of the most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations.
The anthem of the USA is called 'Star-Spangled banner' and the lyrics are based on a poem by Francis Scott Key in 1814. Find the full lyrics here.
The capital city of the USA is called Washington D.C. D.C. stands for District of Columbia. Washington D.C. has about 7.5 million inhabitants.
Three out of every four tornadoes in the world occur in the United States.
The United States has been awarded more Nobel Prizes than any other country.
The US banknotes available now are in denominations from 1 US$ to 100 US$.
An estimated 90% of Americans use the internet, compared with about 54% of the global population.
The United States is one of the most generous nations in the world, trailing only Australia, Indonesia, and New Zealand, according to the 2018 World Giving Index, published annually by international nonprofit organization Charities Aid Foundation.
The United States has about 12,380 miles of coastline, more than all but eight other countries worldwide.
Founded in Arkansas in 1962, Walmart is the world's largest private sector employer, employing 2.2 million people.
Manhattan's Chinatown is home to more Chinese residents than anywhere else in the Western Hemisphere.
The first president of the USA was George Washington. He was elected in 1789. Presidential elections are held every four years since 1792. Joe Biden, born in 1942, is the 46th president of the USA.
The president resides in the White House building where there are also the offices of the president since 1800.
Languages in the USA: English is the most commonly used language of the USA, however, more than 300 languages are spoken in the country. 78% of all American say that they speak only English. About 13% speak mainly Spanish.
There is no official languages in the country, however, English is an official language in all states.
Largest city in the USA is New York with almost 8.4 million inhabitants is the USA's biggest city.
The most populous U.S. state is California with almost 40 million inhabitants. The least populous state is Wyoming with about 580,000 inhabitants.
The largest U.S. state by land area is Alaska. Alaska is a bit more than twice the size of Texas and four times the size of California. On a global scale, Alaska is roughly the size of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and France combined!
Highest mountain of the USA: Mount Denali, formerly called Mount McKinley, is 6,190 m/ 20,310 ft high and located in Alaska.
Lasting from 1929 to 1939, The Great Depression was the worst economic downturn in the history of America. The economic crash happened because of the soaring stock prices and the decline in production of goods coupled with rising unemployment. The crash of the stock market kick-started the depression which eventually left millions unemployed, furthered slowdown of production, and led to the failure of more than half of the country’s banks.
Michael Phelps, a retired swimmer, from the United States is the most decorated and the most successful Olympian of all times. He has won 28 medals. Phelps won eight gold medals at 2008 Beijing Games.
The U.S. was formed by thirteen colonies of Great Britain after defeating Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War. On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was issued.
In 2008, Barack Obama became the first black president of the United States. In 2012, he was re-elected as the country’s president. Obama was succeeded by Donald Trump.
There are an estimated 75.8 million dogs in the United States, more than double the number in Brazil, the country with the second most dogs.
Though the United States is home to less than 5% of the world's population, it accounts for approximately 25% of global economic output.
The United States became the world's largest petroleum producer in the last 10 years. The country produced 18.23 million barrels of oil per day in 2019, well above the daily production of Saudi Arabia, the world's second-biggest oil producer. Oil includes crude oil, all other petroleum liquids, and biofuels.
The United States is also the world's largest consumer of oil. Gasoline, distillate fuel oil, hydrocarbon gas liquids, and jet fuel consumption combine for a total of 20.48 million barrels of oil consumed daily.
Americans bought 871.8 million pounds or about $2.3 billion worth of hot dogs in supermarkets in 2019. Los Angeles is top dog for franks, consuming about 30 million pounds a year.
A Pew Research Center study conducted from 2011 to 2013 found that about 54% of Americans said religion was very important in their lives, compared with 24% of people in Canada, 21% in Australia, and 21% in Germany.
While baseball may be America's national pastime, it borrows heavily from the British game of cricket. Similarly, football is based largely on the British sport of rugby. Invented in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1891, basketball is the most popular uniquely American game.
The United States shares the world’s longest land border with its neighbor to the north, Canada, at over 5,500 miles. The border is split between the northern edge of the lower 48 states, and the eastern border of Alaska.
The United States produces more corn than any other country in the world, accounting for over 366 million metric tons in the 2018-2019 season. The next closest country, China, trailed U.S. corn production by over 100 million metric tons.
The United States is one of the 17 megadiverse countries (megadiverse refers to a country where the majority of Earth’s species and a high number of endemic species are found) of the world. The other sixteen countries include Australia, Brazil, China, Columbia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, South Africa, and Venezuela.
American Civil War happened between 1861 and 1865 when the United States and 11 southern states (South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina) left the union and formed the Confederate States of America. The war happened during the presidency of Abraham Lincoln (the 16th president of the U.S.) Lincoln was the candidate of the explicitly antislavery Republican Party. Soon after his election as the president of the nation, seven Southern states organized as the Confederate States of America. More than 3 million Union and Confederate soldiers fought during the Civil War. The war was essentially fought to abolish slavery in the region.
The U.S. also shares maritime borders with Russia, Cuba, and the Bahamas.
The geographical center of the 48 contiguous U.S. states is located at 39°50′N 98°35′W. However, the geographic center of the United States (including Alaska and Hawaii) is located at a point northeast of Belle Fourche, South Dakota.
The United States has 16 territories out of which five are permanently inhabited (Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa.) These five are classified as unincorporated territories. The other uninhabited 11 territories of the U.S. include Bajo Nuevo Bank, Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Islands, Navassa Island, Palmyra Atoll, Serranilla Bank, and Wake Island (these 11 territories have no permanent or native population).
Did you know that the U.S. Patent Act was passed in Philadelphia in 1790?
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) seated and holding his spectacles and a pencil on Feb. 5, 1865, in a portrait by Alexander Gardner.
The United States (9,833,517 sq km) is more than twice the size of the European Union (4,475,757 sq km).
The first United States Census was taken in 1790. The census takes place every ten years and counts all people living in the U.S.
Spanish is the second most common language spoken in the U.S. However, the U.S. does not have any official language.
Did you know that Los Angeles ranks as the city with the worst traffic in the United States? Once again, it is interesting to note here that Elon Musk is trying to solve this problem with his new venture “The Boring Company”. The initial Test Tunnel, located in Hawthorne, CA is used for testing and development of the company’s transportation system. Learn more about the tunnel here.
The country has a large population. However, due to the fact that it also has an extensive area under its territory, the population density of America is relatively low.
30. Death Valley is the lowest point on the continent and Mt. McKinley is the highest point in North America.
The national holiday of the United States of America is called Independence Day and is celebrated on 4 July and is commonly referred to as the Fourth of July. This holiday commemorates the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and is celebrated as a federal holiday since 1941.
Native Americans settled on the continent in about 15,000 BC. Leif Eriksson, the Viking explorer reached the North American continent already in around 1000 AD. The European colonialization started in 1492 with the arrival of explorer Christopher Colombus. The first permanent settlement of the British in America, Jamestown in the Colony of Virginia, dates back to 1607. The British Pilgrims arrived on the Mayflower in 1620 and founded Plymouth Colony.
The USA has highly diversified industries and the second-largest industrial output in the world behind China. Major industries include petroleum, steel, motor vehicles, aerospace, chemicals, food production, and telecommunications. The main agricultural products are wheat, corn, beef, pork, and timber products.
Lake Superior, on the United States-Canada border, is the largest body of fresh water in the world by surface area. The lake covers 31,700 square miles.
The Pentagon – the headquarters of the Department of Defense – is the world's largest office building by floor area.
The only people to have walked on the moon's surface were Americans.
The United States is home to nearly 45 million immigrants – more than any other country in the world.
Much of the music the world listens to – jazz, rock 'n' roll, hip-hop, country, folk, R&B, soul, and gospel – comes out of the United States.
The U.S. film industry is the largest, oldest, and most profitable film industry in the world. According to research firm IBISWorld, the American film industry generated about $33 billion in 2019.
More than nine in every 10 Americans have eaten pizza in the last month. According to some estimates, Americans consume the equivalent of about 100 acres of pizza every day.
Nearly one-third of all land in the United States – or about 650 million acres – is federally owned.
The United States experiences the highest rate of tornadoes of any country in the world. On average, the country deals with more than 1000 tornadoes every year.
Alaska has the longest coastline of any state while Florida has the second-longest.
Did you know that gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill near Sacramento, California in 1948? Interestingly, by 1850 nearly 300,000 immigrants had arrived to seek their fortune.
F-22 Raptor fighter jet at the airshow.
The United States of America has the world’s largest air force. It was founded on September 18, 1947. The USAF with more than 5,369 military aircraft is the most technologically advanced air force in the world.
Interestingly, in 1903, the first controlled, engine-powered flight with a heavier-than-air aircraft lasted only 12 seconds when the Wright Brothers from Dayton, Ohio, took a giant leap for the whole of mankind. The airplane at Kill Devil Hills near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, flew at a ground speed of 10.9 km/h at an altitude of 8-12 feet. This remarkable flight would pave the path for other aviation enthusiasts to take the industry to a new level in the coming years.
Robert Ripley, an American cartoonist, and entrepreneur, known for the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! newspaper panel series was born in California. At the age of 32, he made his first trip around the world. In 1929, he through his cartoon said, “Believe It or Not, America has no national anthem.” And soon after two years, after a law signed by the then-president Herbert Hoover, “The Star-Spangled Banner” was adopted as the national anthem of the U.S.
The U.S. is the world’s largest economy by nominal GDP and the world’s second-largest economy by PPP. It is also the third most populated country in the world after China and India.
Did you know that Rhode Island witnessed the beginning of the American Revolution? It was here that the first successful water-powered cotton-spinning factory went into operation in the 1790s.
Did you know that the United States has the world’s largest coal reserves? However, note that China is the world’s biggest consumer and producer of coal.
The phrase “United States of America” was first published anonymously in the Virginia Gazette newspaper in Williamsburg, Virginia, on April 6, 1776.
Did you know that the important ideas for the declaration of independence were contributed by a committee of five people including Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, John Adams and Roger Sherman? Although the credit for authoring the Declaration of Independence is often given to Thomas Jefferson.
On the back of the Declaration of Independence, a few words are handwritten that say “Original Declaration of Independence/ dated 4th July 1776”. However, it is not known who wrote this. About 200 copies of the declaration were made. The original copy of the document is housed and displayed at the National Archives in Washington DC.
Four of the forty-five Presidents of the United States have been assassinated in office.
The United States is the first country to have developed nuclear weapons and the only country to have used them in combat.
The United States and Russia both claim to have landed on the moon for the first time in history in 1969.
Approximately 43 million Americans identify as ancestrally German, more than any other nationality.
The United States is one of only three countries that have not officially switched to the metric system. Liberia and Burma are the other two.
The typical wage or salary worker in the United States has been with his or her current employer for 4.2 years.
The government chose to color U.S. currency green as an anti-counterfeiting strategy. When the color was adopted in the 19th century, cameras could only take black and white photographs, making imitation bills difficult to produce.
Over half of the U.S. population lives in just nine states: California, Texas, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Georgia, and North Carolina.
The first moving assembly line for the mass production of an entire automobile was installed in America by the legendary businessman and industrialist Henry Ford on December 01, 1913.
The Watergate scandal emerged on June 17 of 1972 when several burglars while attempting to steal important documents and wiretapping phones were arrested in the office of the Democratic National Committee located in Washington D.C. The conspiracy was linked with the then-president Nixon when he was running for reelection. In August 1974, Nixon resigned after his role in the conspiracy was revealed.
Did you know that more than 3 million people including 58,000 Americans were killed in the Vietnam War? The war happened due to the conflict between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. The United States of America supported South Vietnam during the war, which they unfortunately lost.
Apple Computer launched its Macintosh computer in 1984. The company is today valued at more than $1 Trillion, becoming the second publicly traded company to reach the mark. The first company to cross the $1 Trillion valuations was Oil Giant PetroChina which crossed the mark in 2007, however, for a brief period.
The United States is the largest producer of nuclear power, while France has the largest share of electricity generated by nuclear power.
Good news for beer lovers. The number of brewers in the United States climbed to 7,450 in 2018, from just 89 in 1978, fueled by the craft beer surge.
Nine of the 10 largest companies in the world by market cap are based in the United States. Most of the top 100 companies by market cap (54) are American.
According to the latest BLS report, 108 million people (71% of nonfarm payroll employees) were employed in the service sector.
More than half of the states – 26 – have names with native American origins.
The United States, with its extensive coastline, has had more hurricanes (close to 300) since 1851 than any other country, according to data from the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration.
Of the 2,000 world's largest companies, 575 are U.S.-based, according to Forbes. China and its special administrative region of Hong Kong are home to 309 of the 2,000 biggest businesses.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in every four deaths in the United States is due to a heart attack. Every year in America about 735,000 people have a heart attack.
Did you know that the foreign motor vehicle manufacturing companies are manufacturing more cars and trucks in the United States than that of all of the U.S. automobile manufacturing companies combined?
Did you know that the United States has sent athletes to every modern Olympic Games except the 1980 Summer Olympics, during which it led to a boycott? Note that in Summer Olympics between 1896 and 2018, the U.S. has won the most number medals than any other nation.
The United States is at the fourth spot among the countries with the most number of internet users. China leads the tally with a huge margin, followed by European Union (2nd) and India (3rd).
Did you know that there are at least 5,000 aircraft in the skies over the U.S territory at any given time? These aircraft are handled by 521 air traffic control towers with a combined working strength of 14,050 air traffic controllers.
18. Did you know that the first fatal aero plane crash happened in the United States on 17 September 1908 when a plane piloted by Orville Wright crashed into a field after the propeller of the plane snapped a rudder control wire? The propeller was broken and the plane nosedived into a field. Orville Wright was accompanied by Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge who acted as an army observer on the flight. He became the first fatality from the accident while Wright was hospitalized with several broken ribs and a fractured thigh.
In 1800 the U.S. population was approximately 5,309,000 and by 1850 it was 23,191,867.
Mount Rushmore Monument in the United States shows the heads of the four former presidents of the United States (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.)
The U.S. is the world’s largest consumer of cocaine which is allegedly shipped from Columbia.
George Washington was the first president of the United States.
To the west of the United States lies the Pacific Ocean and to the East lies the Atlantic Ocean. Mexico lies at the southern end of the country and thus connects the U.S. with the other South American countries.
Three U.S. presidents died on the 4th of July. Thomas Jefferson and John Adam died on July 4, 1826, while John Monroe died on July 4, 1831.
The only point shared by four states (Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico) in the U.S. is the Four Corners Monument.
Did you know that Nelson Mandela was on the U.S. terror watch list until 2008?
According to Title 3 of the US Code, the U.S. president earns a salary of $400,000 a year.
The first oil drilling started near Titusville, Pennsylvania, in 1859.
In 2001, the first self-contained artificial heart was successfully implanted into a man with end heart failure at the Jewish Hospital of the University of Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Did you know that a US company is trying to build a human colony on Mars? It takes about 7 months to get to Mars from the Earth. Musk and SpaceX have proposed the development of Mars transportation infrastructure in order to facilitate the eventual colonization of Mars.
The USA is a country on the North American continent that consists of 50 states, a federal district (District of Columbia), and 14 territories.
The USA shares land borders with Canada and with Mexico. The border shared with Canada is the longest international border in the world. It is 8,891 km/ 5,525 miles long. The other international border of the USA with Mexico is 3,145 km/ 1,954 miles long. The USA borders the Atlantic Ocean along the East Coast and the Pacific Ocean along the West Coast.
The USA is the third-largest country in the world. The USA is smaller than Russia or Canada, but larger than China, if all territories, as well as coastal and territorial waters, are included.
The USA is the third most populous country in the world after China and India. The USA is home to 332 million inhabitants. Almost 40% of all Americans live close to the East Coast states, while about 16% live along with the West Coast states. 83% of the population lives in urban areas.
The U.S. American money is called the United States Dollar or in short US dollar. The American currency was first introduced in 1792 as the country's standard currency.
The United States is the third-largest country in the world by landmass – nearly as big as the entire continent of Europe.
American athletes have won more Olympic medals than athletes from any other country.
The United States is the only country that has all of Earth's five climate zones: tropical, dry, temperate, continental, and polar.
The United States is the third most visited country by international tourists after Spain and France.
On any given day in the United States, about 84.8 million adults – 37% of the adult population – consume fast food, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to the USDA, foreign investors own at least 28.3 million acres of U.S. farmland, an area about the size of Ohio.
The United States was the first nation to use the title of "President" for its head of state.
The United States is at the center of the global invention. Airplanes, computers, cellphones, potato chips, and the light bulb are just a few examples of American ingenuity.
There are more guns than people in the United States – about 101 for every 100 people, according to some estimates. The country with the next highest ownership rate is Serbia, where there are 58 guns for every 100 people.
The number of passports Americans held leaped to 21.4 million in 2017, the most ever recorded.
According to a recent Pew Research Center study, 57% of Americans believe that individuals control their own success in life, the largest share of any country surveyed.
The United States is one of the most mobile nations on Earth. According to a Gallup poll, 24% of U.S. adults reported moving within the country in the past five years.
The United States ranks among the top 10 countries in the world for the number of mammals, reptiles, fish, and vascular plant species.
The United States has over 3.1 million square miles of forest land, the fourth most after Canada, Brazil, and Russia.
Super Bowl XLIX in 2015 was the most-watched broadcast in U.S. television history, with an estimated 114.4 million viewers. 2019's Super Bowl LIII averaged 98.3 million viewers, the lowest in over a decade.
New Census Bureau projections predict the United States will be "minority white" – 49.7% – by 2045.
The United States has the world's strongest higher education system and draws over a million international students a year, the most of any country.
The United States accounts for 21% of energy consumption globally and has the world's highest per capita energy consumption. America is second in the world in energy production.
Being such a large country, the United States has plenty of room to build top-of-the-line golf courses. Of Golf Advisor’s top 100 golf courses in the world, 52 are located in the United States.
CNBC reported the United States is home to by far more billionaires than any other country, with 705 – more than the next four countries combined. Seven of the world’s 10 richest people are American.
The United States of America is also referred to as “the States”, “the United States”, “the U.S.”, “the USA”, and “America”.
In 1783, the United States became the first country to gain independence from a European power.
Did you know that the GPS is operated and maintained by the U.S. Air Force? The Global Positioning System is a utility that provides users with positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services. The system consists of three segments: the space segment, the control segment, and the user segment. Learn more about GPS.
.The first constitution of the United States was adopted in 1788. For the acceptance of the constitution which was proposed in 1787, nine states needed to vote in its favor. Delaware was the first state and New Hampshire was the ninth state to accept the constitution, thus making it legal.
The current U.S. flag was designed by a high school student – Robert G. Heft.
There are 13 stripes on the American National flag, representing the original thirteen colonies? And there were thirteen stars arranged in a circle. However, today, there are 50 stars for 50 states. The flag has had 27 versions since its debut.
Did you know that more than one-third of adults in the United States are obese? Obesity costs Americans $147 billion each year. Colorado has the lowest obesity rates.
The horizontal width of the U.S. is 2860 miles and the vertical length of the country is 1582 miles. Hawaii is the widest U.S. state from east to west.
Did you know that the Everglades National Park is the only ecosystem in the world where alligators and crocodiles co-exist side by side?
Interestingly, Abraham Lincoln is the only U.S. president to own a patent and a saloon.
Did you know that before 1776, the United States was not a single country? The individual states were colonies of the British Empire, called British Colonies. Initially, thirteen colonies came together to become a new country. The first permanent British settlement was in Virginia, at Jamestown, in 1607.
Did you know that the U.S. purchased Alaska from Russia for just US$7.2 million in 1867?
After Christianity and Judaism, Islam is the third largest religion in number in the U.S.
Did you know that Yellowstone (Area: 8,991 km²) was the first national park in the U.S.? It was established in 1872. The National Park Service was established in 1916.
Did you know that there are 50 states in the United States of America and not 52? There are various myths that there are 52 and not 50 states. The U.S. flag has 50 stars on it, each representing a state in the union.
The U.S. has 99 operating commercial nuclear reactors at 61 nuclear power plants in 30 states. On average, these nuclear reactors are 37 years old. The oldest of these began its commercial operation in December 1969. Illinois has more reactors than any other state with 11 reactors at 6 plants. And the largest of these reactors is located in Mississippi.
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