USA Map and Information on States and Cities

The United States is a federal union of fifty states. Washington D.C., the capital city of the USA lies on the mid-Atlantic Coast. The United States Map shows the location of the country and also sketches the location of all the fifty states of the U.S. and the respective capital cities. With a population of 308,745,538, the United States of America is the third-most populous country in the world. More that 80% of the entire country's population consists of whites, with African Americans following at 12.8%.

The United States was founded by thirteen British colonies ( Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia). On July 4, 1776, these colonies issued the Declaration of Independence, which proclaimed their right to self-rule and their establishment of a co-operative union.

Being a multi-cultural nation, the United States is composed of many linguistic groups and religions. English is the de facto national language; Spanish, and other native languages are also spoken. Officially declared a secular nation, the dominant faith is Christianity with Roman Catholicism being the largest individual denomination. However, there are also practitioners of Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Unitarian Universalism.

The United States has the world's largest national economy. In 2011, its nominal GDP was estimated to be over $15 trillion. The United States plays an important role in the global financial system. The U.S. dollar is used as a world reserve currency and for many financial transactions around the world. The major trading partners of the nation include Canada, China, Mexico, Japan, and Germany.

The governance of this vast nation takes place in the framework of a federal presidential constitutional republic where the President is both the head of state and the government.

The current President of the United States is Senator Barack Hussein Obama of the Democratic Party. As shown in the USA map, the United States also possesses five major overseas territories: Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands in the Caribbean; and American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific.

Some of the major states of the USA are:

• Hawaii
• California
• New York
• Ohio
• Arizona
• Pennsylvania
• Kentucky
• Illinois Tennessee Texas

Alaska is the largest state in the United States covering an area of 663,268 square miles, while the smallest state is Rhode Island with an area of 1,545 square miles. California is the most populous state of the USA with a population of 37,253,956 while the least populated state is Wyoming with over 568,158 inhabitants. New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and Phoenix are the five most populated cities of America.