United States Travel Podcast with Harper Wells

Location

North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico

Terrain

Vast central plain, mountains in west, hills and low mountains in east; rugged mountains and broad river valleys in Alaska; rugged, volcanic topography in Hawaii

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

Elevation

Highest point

Mount McKinley 6,190 m (highest point in North America)

Lowest point

Death Valley (lowest point in North America) -86 m

Mean elevation

760 m

Area

Total

9,833,517 sq km

Land

9,147,593 sq km

Water

685,924 sq km

Size comparison

About half the size of Russia; about three-tenths the size of Africa; about half the size of South America (or slightly larger than Brazil); slightly larger than China; more than twice the size of the European Union

Coastline

19,924 km

Land borders

Total

12,002 km

Border countries

Canada 8,891 km (including 2,475 km with Alaska); Mexico 3,111 km

Natural resources

Coal, copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates, rare earth elements, uranium, bauxite, gold, iron, mercury, nickel, potash, silver, tungsten, zinc, petroleum, natural gas, timber, arable land

Land use

Agricultural land

46.1% (2023 est.)

Arable land

16.6% (2023 est.)

Permanent crops

0.3% (2023 est.)

Permanent pasture

29.2% (2023 est.)

Forest

33.8% (2023 est.)

Other

18.7% (2023 est.)

Natural hazards

Tsunamis; volcanoes; earthquake activity around Pacific Basin; hurricanes along the Atlantic and Gulf of America coasts; tornadoes in the Midwest and Southeast; mud slides in California; forest fires in the west; flooding; permafrost in northern Alaska is a major impediment to development

Volcanism: volcanic activity in the Hawaiian Islands, Western Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, and in the Northern Mariana Islands; Mauna Loa (4,170 m) in Hawaii and Mount Rainier (4,392 m) in Washington have been deemed Decade Volcanoes by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, worthy of study due to their explosive history and close proximity to human populations; Pavlof (2,519 m) is the most active volcano in Alaska's Aleutian Arc and poses a significant threat to intercontinental air travel; St. Helens (2,549 m), famous for the devastating 1980 eruption, remains active today; other historically active volcanoes are mostly concentrated in the Aleutian arc and Hawaii, including (in Alaska) Aniakchak, Augustine, Chiginagak, Fourpeaked, Iliamna, Katmai, Kupreanof, Martin, Novarupta, Redoubt, Spurr, Wrangell, Trident, Ugashik-Peulik, Ukinrek Maars, Veniaminof, (in Hawaii) Haleakala, Kilauea, Loihi, (in the Northern Mariana Islands) Anatahan, (in the Pacific Northwest) Mount Baker, and Mount Hood; see note 2 under "Geography - note"

Note

Note 1: world's third-largest country by size (after Russia and Canada) and by population (after China and India); Mt. McKinley is the highest point (6,190 m; 20,308 ft) in North America, and Death Valley is the lowest point (-86 m; -282 ft)

Note 2: the western US coast and the southern coast of Alaska lie along the Ring of Fire, which is a belt bordering the Pacific Ocean that contains about 75% of the world's volcanoes and up to 90% of the world's earthquakes

Note 3: the Aleutian Islands are a chain of volcanic islands that divide the Bering Sea (north) from the main Pacific Ocean (south); they extend about 1,800 km (1,118 mi) westward from the Alaskan Peninsula; the archipelago consists of 14 larger islands, 55 smaller islands, and hundreds of islets; there are 41 active volcanoes on the islands, which together form a large northern section of the Ring of Fire

Note 4: Mammoth Cave, in west-central Kentucky, is the world's longest known cave system with more than 650 km (405 miles) of surveyed passageways, which is nearly twice as long as the second-longest cave system, the Sac Actun underwater cave in Mexico (see "Geography - note" under Mexico)

Note 5: Kazumura Cave on the island of Hawaii is the world's longest and deepest lava-tube cave; it has been surveyed at 66 km (41 mi) long and 1,102 m (3,614 ft) deep

Note 6: Bracken Cave outside San Antonio, Texas is the world's largest bat cave and the summer home to the largest colony of bats in the world; an estimated 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats roost in the cave from March to October, making it the world's largest known concentration of mammals

Population

Total

338,016,259 (2025 est.)

Male

167,543,554

Female

170,472,705

Nationality

Noun

American(s)

Adjective

American

Ethnic groups

White 61.6%, Black or African American 12.4%, Asian 6%, Indigenous and Alaska native 1.1%, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0.2%, other 8.4%, two or more races 10.2% (2020 est.)

Languages

English only (official) 78.2%, Spanish 13.4%, Chinese 1.1%, other 7.3% (2017 est.)

Religions

Protestant 46.5%, Roman Catholic 20.8%, Jewish 1.9%, Church of Jesus Christ 1.6%, other Christian 0.9%, Muslim 0.9%, Jehovah's Witness 0.8%, Buddhist 0.7%, Hindu 0.7%, other 1.8%, unaffiliated 22.8%, don't know/refused 0.6% (2014 est.)

Median age

Total

39.5 years (2025 est.)

Male

37.8 years

Female

40 years

Life expectancy

Total population

80.9 years (2024 est.)

Male

78.7 years

Female

83.1 years

Urbanisation

Urban population

83.3% of total population (2023)

Rate of urbanization

0.96% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Where people live

Large urban clusters are spread throughout the eastern half of the US (particularly the Great Lakes area, northeast, east, and southeast) and the western-tier states; mountainous areas such as the Rocky Mountains and Appalachians, deserts in the southwest, the dense boreal forests in the extreme north, and the central prairie states are less densely populated; Alaska's population is concentrated along its southern coast, particularly around Anchorage, and Hawaii's is centered on the island of Oahu

Largest cities

18.937 million New York-Newark, 12.534 million Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, 8.937 million Chicago, 6.707 million Houston, 6.574 million Dallas-Fort Worth, 5.490 million WASHINGTON, D.C. (capital) (2023)

Background

Thirteen of Britain's American colonies broke with the mother country in 1776 and were recognized as the new nation of the United States of America following the Treaty of Paris in 1783. During the 19th and 20th centuries, 37 new states were added as the nation expanded across the North American continent and acquired a number of overseas possessions. Two of the most traumatic experiences in the nation's history were the Civil War (1861-65), in which a northern Union of states defeated a secessionist Confederacy of 11 southern slave states, and the Great Depression of the 1930s, an economic downturn during which about a quarter of the labor force lost its jobs. Buoyed by victories in World Wars I and II and the end of the Cold War in 1991, the US remains the world's most powerful nation state. Since the end of World War II, the economy has achieved relatively steady growth, low unemployment, and rapid advances in technology.

Government

Constitutional federal republic

Capital

Washington, D.C.

Time zone

UTC-5 (during Standard Time)

Independence

4 July 1776 (declared independence from Great Britain); 3 September 1783 (recognized by Great Britain)

National day

Independence Day, 4 July (1776)

Overview

World’s largest economy by nominal GDP; largest importer and second-largest exporter; home to leading financial exchanges and global reserve currency; high and growing public debt; inflation moderating but remains above pre-pandemic levels

GDP per capita

Real GDP per capita 2024

$75,500 (2024 est.)

Real GDP per capita 2023

$74,200 (2023 est.)

Real GDP per capita 2022

$72,700 (2022 est.)

Inflation

Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2024

2.9% (2024 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2023

4.1% (2023 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices) 2022

8% (2022 est.)

Unemployment

Unemployment rate 2024

4.2% (2024 est.)

Unemployment rate 2023

3.7% (2023 est.)

Unemployment rate 2022

3.7% (2022 est.)

Exchange rate

British pounds per US dollar

0.782 (2024 est.), 0.805 (2023 est.), 0.811 (2022 est.), 0.727 (2021 est.), 0.780 (2020 est.)

Canadian dollars per US dollar

1.369 (2024 est.), 1.35 (2023 est.), 1.302 (2022 est.), 1.254 (2021 est.), 1.341 (2020 est.)

Chinese yuan per US dollar

0.783 (2024 est.), 7.084 (2023 est.), 6.737 (2022 est.), 6.449 (2021 est.), 6.901 (2020 est.)

Euros per US dollar

0.924 (2024 est.), 0.925 (2023 est.), 0.950 (2022 est.), 0.845 (2021 est.), 0.876 (2020 est.)

Japanese yen per US dollar

151.366 (2024 est.), 140.49 (2023 est.), 131.50 (2022 est.), 109.75 (2021 est.), 106.78 (2020 est.)

Note 1

The following countries and territories use the US dollar officially as their legal tender: British Virgin Islands, Ecuador, El Salvador, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, Timor Leste, Turks and Caicos, and islands of the Caribbean Netherlands (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba)

Note 2

The following countries and territories use the US dollar as official legal tender alongside local currency: Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, and Panama

Main industries

Highly diversified, world leading, high-technology innovator, second-largest industrial output in the world; petroleum, steel, motor vehicles, aerospace, telecommunications, chemicals, electronics, food processing, consumer goods, lumber, mining

Agriculture

Maize, soybeans, milk, wheat, sugar beets, sugarcane, potatoes, chicken, pork, tomatoes (2023)

Airports

16,116 (2025)

Railways

Total

293,564.2 km (2014)

Standard gauge

293,564.2 km (2014) 1.435-m gauge

Ports

Total ports

666 (2024)

Large

21

Medium

38

Small

132

Very small

475

Ports with oil terminals

204

Key ports

Baltimore, Boston, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Chester, Cleveland, Detroit, Galveston, Houston, Los Angeles, Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), Mobile, New Orleans, New York City, Norfolk, Oakland, Philadelphia, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, Tri-City Port

Internet domain

.us

Internet users

Percent of population 93% (2023 est.)

Mobile subscriptions

Total subscriptions

391 million (2024 est.)

Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants

113 (2024 est.)

Environmental issues

Air pollution; water pollution from runoff of pesticides and fertilizers; declining natural freshwater resources in the west; deforestation; mining; desertification; species conservation; invasive species

Fresh water

3.069 trillion cubic meters (2022 est.)