Paleo-Indians first migrated from North Asia to North America at least 15,000 years ago, forming various civilizations. European discovery of the Americas began in 1492, and British colonization followed with the 1607 settlement of Virginia, the first of the Thirteen Colonies. The American Revolution led to the July 2, 1776, Lee Resolution formally declaring independence from Great Britain. Victory in the 1775–1783 Revolutionary War brought international recognition of the country's sovereignty. Rapid westward territorial expansion followed the purchase, settlement, and conquest of European-held or Indigenous-controlled territory. A North–South division over slavery led 11 Southern states to declare secession and join as the Confederate States of America in order to preserve slavery there. These states fought against the Union in the American Civil War of 1861–1865 but were defeated. With the United States' victory and reunification, slavery was abolished nationally. By 1900, the country had established itself as a great power, a status solidified after its involvement during World War I. Following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the U.S. entered World War II on the side of the Allies. Its aftermath left the U.S. and the Soviet Union as rival superpowers, competing for ideological dominance and international influence during the Cold War. The Soviet Union's collapse in 1991 left the U.S. the world's sole superpower, though China has recently emerged as a strong rival.
The U.S. federal government is a representative democracy with a president and a constitution that creates a separation of powers among three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. The United States Congress is a bicameral national legislature composed of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Federalism grants substantial autonomy to the 50 states. In addition, 574 Native American tribes have sovereignty rights, and there are 326 Native American reservations.
A developed country, the U.S. ranks high in economic competitiveness, innovation, and higher education. Accounting for over a quarter of nominal global GDP, the U.S. economy has been the world's largest since about 1890. It is the wealthiest country, with the highest disposable household income per capita among OECD members, though its wealth inequality is highly pronounced. Making up nearly a third of global military spending, the country is widely considered to have the most powerful armed forces in the world and was the first to develop and employ nuclear weapons. A member of numerous international organizations including the United Nations Security Council, it plays a major role in global political, cultural, economic, and military affairs.
The United States' 4 million miles (6.4 million kilometers) of road network, owned almost entirely by state and local governments, is the longest in the world. The extensive Interstate Highway System that connects all major U.S. cities is funded mostly by the federal government but maintained by state departments of transportation. The U.S. is among the top ten countries with the highest vehicle ownership per capita (850 vehicles per 1,000 people) in 2022. The world's busiest airport by passenger volume is Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International in Atlanta, Georgia. The country's rail transport network, the longest in the world at 182,412.3 mi (293,564.2 km), handles mostly freight.
The most popular spectator sports in the U.S. are American football, basketball, baseball, soccer, and ice hockey. Their premier leagues are, respectively, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, and the National Hockey League. The most-watched individual sports in the U.S. are golf and auto racing, particularly NASCAR and IndyCar. Eight Olympic Games have taken place in the United States. The Olympic Games will be held in the U.S. for a ninth time when Los Angeles hosts the 2028 Summer Olympics. U.S. athletes have won a total of 2,968 medals (1,179 gold) at the Olympic Games, the most of any country.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
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