United States
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History
The United States of America is a federal republic within the continent of North America.
It declared independence from Great Britain in 1776. The first constitution was the Articles of Confederation, which outlined a confederation of the former British colonies, and was adopted in 1777. It was a decentralized federation, which left nearly all sovreignty in the control of the several States. Later, and under much opposition, certain Founding Fathers created the current Constitution, which was ratified by a supermajority of the States in June 1788. The newly outlined Federal government took office in 1789.
Geography
The Continental United States of America is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Its northern border is shared with Canada, and its southern with Mexico. Mountains The Appalachian Mountains run North to South slightly inland and parallel to the Eastern Seaboard. The Rocky Mountains also run more or less North to South near the center of the continent. The Rockies are a chain of mountains much larger than the Appalachians. The Rockies form The Continental Divide of North America. Rivers to the east of this divide flow eastward towards the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico. Rivers to the west of the divide flow westward towards the Pacific. Great Plains The center of the continental United States is largely prarie, and is one of the major bread baskets of the world. This prarie region is often reffered to as "The Great Plains" and is roughly bordered by the Rocky Mountain range to the west, and the Mississippi River to the east.
The country is politically divided into 46 states, 4 full commonwealths, 1 federal district, 2 partial commonwealths, 3 territories, 5 minor outlying islands, 3 atolls, a tropical coral reef, and a vast number of military bases around the world. The government claims not to be imperialistic.
Politics
The current Constitution is probably the oldest existing constitution in the world and was devised in 1789. It also is the oldest existing presidential system in the world.
The Constitution provides for a federal system with a seperation of powers between all three branches of government. The President is the exective branch, Congress is the legislative branch and the Supreme Court is the judicial branch. The legislature reffered to as "Congress" is bicameral. The House of Representatives is divided proportionately to the population of the several states. The Senate is a body comprised of two Senators from each state.
George W. Bush is the current President. Congress is currently controlled by the Democrats.
Politcal Parties The two major political parties in the United States are the Democrats and Republicans. The Democrats proport to be a liberal party. The meaning of liberal in modern American politics relates closely to moderate socialist in Europe. In the United States, liberal does not reffer to a promarket movement. Democrats are generally in support of social welfare programs, government healthcare, gun control, and they are generally prochoice on abortion issues. Republicans claim to be a conservative party. The Republican Party is known as a "big tent". Its membership holds varying views, but in general Republicans purport to be more in favor of free market solutions than Democrats, they generally support legislation to support traditional values, they claim to be pro gun as a general rule, and as of September 11, 2001 Republicans favor an interventionist foreign policy, some claiming to support premptive nuclear strkes.
The Libertarian Party is the third largest in the United States, but very few LP candidates hold state or federal office. The United States has a winner take all election process, so there is not proportional representation for parties that come in second or third. The Libertarian Party is generally the party to which most free marketeers and minarchists belong. The platform of the Libertarian Party calls for a massive reduction in the size of government, but the platform reflects minarchism rather than a totally stateless system. Ian often notes that the Libertarian Party requires members to sign a pledge stating "I do not support the innitiation of force to acheive political or social goals". He fails to note that the party platform calls for government defense, law enforcement, and judicial system. Many platform planks were removed at the 2006 party convention in Portland, Oregon. Some Libertarians were offended by this event and dubbed it the Portland Purge.
Culture
American culture is often described as a melting pot of different cultures, due to the large amount of immigrants who migrated here. Others use the metaphor of a salad bowl, where the ingredients are not melted together. The majority of Americans are of European descent and many cultural norms in the United States trace back to European origins. Non-European immigrants have contributed greatly to the culture of the United States as well, particularly in the areas of cuisine, music, and art.
Language
Over 700 languages are spoken in the United States. Despite the fact that the U.S. has no official language, English is widely spoken by the majority of the population, and is considered to be the national language.
Spanish is the second most widely spoken language in the United States. This has prompted many conervative/nationalist groups to call for legislation establishing English as an official language. Such a measure has failed to pass to date.
Religion
The USA traditionally is a Christian country, and the majority of Americans today are Christian. The largest single denomination of Christians in the United States is Catholic, although various Protestant denominations form the majority of Christians in the United States. Athesists, Agnostics, and other secular people account for less than 10% of the total population.
