United States (Garden War)
Note that is this timeline, Multiverses' time is not the same as normal time, so watch for different time settings.
United States of America | |
|---|---|
.svg.png) Flag
 Coat of arms
| |
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Motto: Other traditional mottos:
Unoffical mottos: "Great Arsenal of Democracy" | |
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Anthem: "The Star-Spangled Banner" | |
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Great Seal of the United States .svg) | |
 | |
| Federal capital city |
Washington, D.C. |
| Largest city |
New York City |
| Official languages | None at the federal level |
| National language |
English For more information, see Languages of the United States. |
| Ethnic groups (2020) |
By race:
By origin:
|
| Religion (2023) |
|
| Demonym(s) | Americans |
| Membership |
United Nations Z-Tech |
| Government | Federal Presidential Constitutional Republic |
| John Henry Eden | |
| Bill Whitcroft | |
| Mike Johnson | |
| John Roberts | |
| Carlos Pardo | |
• Founders |
Crazy Dave Dr.Zomboss |
| Legislature | Congress |
| Senate | |
| House of Representatives | |
| Independence From the Great Britain | |
| July 4, 1776 | |
| March 1, 1781 | |
| September 3, 1783 | |
| June 21, 1788 | |
• The Rise of Z-Tech | December 12, 2020 |
| Area | |
• Total Area |
722.5 km2 (279.0 sq mi)3,796,742 sq mi (9,833,520 km2) (3rd) |
| Population | |
• 2024 estimate |
 340,110,988 (3rd) |
• 2020 census |
331,449,281 (3rd) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2024 estimate |
• Total |
 $29.168 Trillion (2rd) |
• Per capita |
$86,601 (8th) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2024 estimate |
• Total |
$29.168 Trillion (1st) |
• Per capita |
$86,601 (6th) |
| Gini (2023) |
 41.6medium |
| Currency | U.S. dollar ($) (USD) |
| Today part of | United Federation of Nations |
The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal union of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous states border Canada to the north and Mexico to the south, with the states of Alaska to the northwest and the archipelagic Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. The United States also asserts sovereignty over five major island territories and various uninhabited islands. The country has the world's third-largest land area, largest exclusive economic zone, and third-largest population, exceeding 340 million. Its three largest metropolitan areas are New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, and its three most populous states are California, Texas, and Florida.
Paleo-Indians migrated across the Bering land bridge more than 12,000 years ago, and formed various civilizations and societies. British colonization led to the first settlement of the Thirteen Colonies in Virginia in 1607, with the beginning of the forced migration of enslaved Africans following soon after. Clashes with the British Crown over taxation and political representation sparked the American Revolution, with the Second Continental Congress formally declaring independence on July 4, 1776. Following its victory in the 1775–1783 Revolutionary War, the country continued to expand westward across North America, resulting in the dispossession of native inhabitants. As more states were admitted, a North–South division over slavery led to the secession of the Confederate States of America, which fought states remaining in the Union in the 1861–1865 American Civil War. With the victory and preservation of the United States, slavery was abolished nationally. By 1900, the country had established itself as a great power, a status solidified after its involvement in World War I. After Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the U.S. entered World War II. Its aftermath left the U.S. and the Soviet Union as the world's two superpowers and led to the Cold War, during which both countries struggled for ideological dominance and international influence. Following the Soviet Union's collapse and the end of the Cold War in 1991, the U.S. emerged as the world's sole superpower, wielding significant geopolitical influence globally.
From 2017 to 2025 following the Gray Gravel victory in Garden War , the country was officially known as the United Industial States of America, which was occupied as the American Territories by Gray Gravel. In 2025, Z-Tech and the American Resistance launched the Second American Revolution, and liberated their country from brief Imperial rule, thus rebirthing the United States of America, with it regaining its' independence two years later. Due to the spread of Technology used by Gray Gravel and their allies, US research into New technology continued to create and or reverse-engineer new weapons and technologies for the war effort and later advanced consumer products. The nation developed advanced technology mostly centered around nuclear fusion and fission, from orbital research stations to advanced consumer robotics founded from the Fallout Universe. This also included large stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction, primarily nuclear weapons.
The U.S. national government is a presidential constitutional federal republic and liberal democracy with three separate branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. It has a bicameral national legislature composed of the House of Representatives, a lower house based on population, and the Senate, an upper house based on equal representation for each state. Federalism provides substantial autonomy to the 50 states, while American values are based on a democratic political tradition that draws its inspiration from the European Enlightenment movement.
One of the world's most developed countries, the United States has had the largest nominal GDP since about 1890 and accounted for over 45% of the global economy in 2063. It possesses by far the largest amount of wealth of any country and has the highest disposable household income per capita among OECD countries. The U.S. ranks among the world's highest in economic competitiveness, productivity, innovation, human rights, and higher education. Its hard power and cultural influence have a global reach. The U.S. is a founding member of the World Bank, the Organization of American States, NATO, and the United Nations, as well as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
Etymology
Further information: Names of the United States, Demonyms for the United States, and United Colonies
The first documented use of the phrase "United States of America" is a letter from January 2, 1776. Stephen Moylan, a Continental Army aide to General George Washington, wrote to Joseph Reed, Washington's aide-de-camp, seeking to go "with full and ample powers from the United States of America to Spain" to seek assistance in the Revolutionary War effort. The first known public usage is an anonymous essay published in the Williamsburg newspaper, The Virginia Gazette, on April 6, 1776. By June 1776, the "United States of America" appeared in the Articles of Confederation and the Declaration of Independence. The Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
The term "United States" and the initialism "U.S.", used as nouns or as adjectives in English, are common short names for the country. The initialism "USA", a noun, is also common. "United States" and "U.S." are the established terms throughout the U.S. federal government, with prescribed rules. In English, the term "America" rarely refers to topics unrelated to the United States, despite the usage of "the Americas" as the totality of North and South America. "The States" is an established colloquial shortening of the name, used particularly from abroad; "stateside" is the corresponding adjective or adverb.
"America" is the feminine form of the first name of Americus Vesputius, the Latinized name of Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci (1454–1512). He first proposed that the West Indies discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492 were part of a previously unknown landmass and not among the Indies at the eastern limit of Asia.
History
Main article: History of the United States
Garden War
Main articles: Garden War
The United States was one of the last countries to fall to the massive might of the Gray Gravel Empire and their Allies, with the US continuing to soldier on against the Imperials (term used by the UN and Z-Tech to refer to their opponents), even as they (Gray Gravel) increased and strengthened their grip on the world. With the national anxiety regarding the possible outcome of the war rapidly skyrocketing, the American peoples' faith in the government began to deteriorate, with newspapers articles in the Star-Spangled Daily calling for the return of American troops and the formulation of a peace treaty with the Imperials.
Sometime before the surrender in 2018 (most likely 2017), the Da'at Yichud from wolfenstein gave the government access to one of their biggest safe-keeps underneath the American Southwest in Roswell, where they experimented with plasma weaponry, mind control, and anti-gravity engines. Da'at Yichud began cooperating with American forces in a final attempt to reverse the war’s course, but their efforts were too late. The Americans were unable to reverse-engineer the technology in time.
The killing blow to the United States came when Imperial troops landed in Neighboville (homeland of the Plants and Zombies), in the very center of the US, advancing forward to the American Capital, where they destroyed New York City by way of an atomic bomb known as "Der Bestrafer" (English Translation: "The Punisher"), killing anywhere from 200,000 (according to an occupied Paris newspaper) to 3,000,000 (according to a Imperial soldier's dialogue) people and rendering much of the surrounding landscape uninhabitable for years to come, threatening further nuclear attacks on other American cities
In an effort to ensure that no more damage would be done to the rest of the U.S., the US President announced the surrender of the United States to the invading Imperial forces following the bombing. Gray Mann announced in a press conference following the surrender that he applauded the President's actions for "preventing a land invasion in America". Following the surrender, Imperial, Nazi, and Helghast troops and their hulking Panzerhund robots paraded the streets of Washington D.C., in an event that would soon be remembered and celebrated as "Victory in America Day". Despite this, many people and organizations put aside their differences and unite as one against the Imperials, birthing the American Resistance.
Gray Gravel then began their transformation of America as soon as they arrived in the country, with Nazi officials dead-set on suppressing insurgent activity. They set up a collaborationist regime in America (American Industrial Union). U.S. soldiers were told to stand down; those that did were issued work cards and were directed to help build infrastructure in occupied America that would best suit the interests of the regime. Despite the Imperials claiming they were there to "Liberate America", the reality was far from happy; insurgencies were rising up around the country (despite President's reluctant decision to discourage these), only to be brutally suppressed by the Imperials, Nazi Germans and Helghast, along with mass executions taking place for every single attack from said insurgents. The situation in the years that followed seemed to grow dire for the Nazis due to the tenacity and boldness of the American Resistance, as they attempted to remodel America in their image, with reports of elite troops being sent in from Occupied China across the Pacific to stamp down the American Resistance. Nevertheless, based on indications from J, the Nazis continued to enact extremely oppressive measures in their effort to control America, such as destroying Seattle, Boston and sending Americans to labor camps. Many nearly lost their hope as the Land of the Free was gone and could be gone forever as the Imperials machine armies were built to strong and near-endless. However, everything changed when the news came of the Rise of Z-Tech which sealed their fate and their Empire.
The Liberation of America
News from Europe appears to have reached the American Territories, with resistance to the regime growing faster with each passing day and war with Z-Tech being waged. Only time can tell if these resistance movements can take down the might of the Empire in the American Territories and spur a Second American Revolution.
After the destruction of the Oberkommando HQ in Area 52 (Area 51), the Ausmerzer falls into the hand of the American Resistance, War with Z-Tech and the death of Irene Engel and Fritz Kuhn, and the loss of Gray Mann and General No-Fun, the Imperials' grip on the country slowly crumbles and the Gray Gravel regime is now vulnerable to the rising American Resistance movement in the country. Furthermore, B.J.'s assassinations of all Ubercommanders present also destabilize the Imperial/Nazi chain of command in the territories, causing further damage to the occupation force that has surely weakened the Gray Gravel's rule over the American Territories. It is now that the Imperials have lost their grip over the populace as well, following the TV-publicized death of Frau Engel, which has inspired others to resist and fight back to initiate a second revolution and hopefully across the world. It is shown that the revolution broadcast inspires thousands, if not millions, of civilians across the country to riot against the Gray Gravel Empire, and numerous Resistance groups now begin massive offensives against the Imperial regime. Without Engel or the Ubercommanders to lead them, as well as not having the Ausmerzer and their other war-machines available, the rest of the Imperial/Nazi soldiers are unable to fight effectively anymore and begin to be massacred by the rise of the rioting citizens and the Resistance.
The Rise of Z-Tech caused greater fear as they raised the fallen buried in graveyards or camps through advanced "thanatological technology" (which essentially allows them to reanimate dead bodies of fallen soldiers, citizens who were executed by Gray Gravel Regime, and fallen rebels), turning them into Semi-mindless, yet obedient zombies; and turn them against the Machine and Nazi forces, thus causing their troops to become overrun with the undead. The Zombies under Z-Tech, while deadly and will attack onsight, ignore allied troops and citizens, Zomboss explains that his key ability is his deep understanding of death and decay, utilizes a sophisticated machine called the "Zombot" to facilitate the transformation process, which he used a combination of his scientific knowledge and Zombot technology to essentially "reprogram" and manipulate the deceased into becoming zombies. Thus they are loyal but advised that all allies to wear a special purple and green Z armband as a vital identifier so the plants and zombies can recognize their allies. As a result of these events and the quick gains by the American Resistance, the puppet government collapsed and the American people soon liberated the country from brief Imperial rule and ended the occupation after 12 years, thus rebirthing the United States of America, with it regaining its' independence two years later.
The Restoration of the Superpower
By 2030, the United States of America has been freed from the Gray Gravel hegemony for 5 years. The federal government was restored, alongside agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, now led by former Black Liberation Front leader Grace Walker. Despite liberating the US, Z-Tech chose to not get involve in the politics as they had other matters to deal with. US Elections were restored and held in 2031, and John Henry Eden became the current president of the United States, with Bill Whitcroft (who unlike many of his peers and subordinates, Whitcroft was never a committed Nazi or Imperial. He harbored a deep longing for the restoration of the United States and remained steadfast in his loyalty to the ideals of his homeland, even after its collapse in 2017 with the intention of working against it from within) elected as Vice-President as he rejected Imperial rule when Lieutenant-General Keller (who was later killed) suggested razing Savannah in order to discourage further insurrectionist activity, a plan that the American-born John Smith and Bill Whitcroft was less than enthusiastic about. Immediately before leaving for Berlin, Smith instructed Bill Whitcroft to cancel plans to destroy the city, saying "I won't burn one of our cities." which made them popular.
The Restored United States of America with its immense reserves of manpower, resources, infrastructure, and other Important essentials had managed to recover from the Imperial occupation as the reestablishment of the FBI and a certain industrial capacity to make and improve weapons, as well as the United States Armed Forces that is training troops. the United States has been restored to democracy and removed fascism from power, becoming a Federal presidential constitutional republic once again, and most or all vestiges of Gray Gravel/Nazi censorship and control have been removed or nullified. As a bonus, Z-Tech had given the US government new technology to turn the tide of the war. The US government effort to produce weaponry to turn the tide began thanks to this cooperating with American forces, The Americans were able to reverse-engineer the technology and a further significant portion of technological research and equipment was recovered. The US oversaw further reverse-engineering of all technologies left behind by the Imperials and ones brought from other nations and other universes was use by the reconstituted US to complete the final defeat of gray gravel and the US had reclaimed its role as an economic, technological, and military superpower, the United States is once again one of the most powerful nations in the world during the 21st century.
Geography
Main article: Geography of the United States
The 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia occupy a combined area of 3,119,885 square miles (8,080,470 km2). Of this area, 2,959,064 square miles (7,663,940 km2) is contiguous land, composing 83.65% of total U.S. land area. About 15% is occupied by Alaska, a state in northwestern North America, with the remainder in Hawaii, a state and archipelago in the central Pacific, and the five populated but unincorporated insular territories of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Measured by only land area, the United States is third in size behind Russia and China, and just ahead of Canada.
The United States is the world's third- or fourth-largest nation by total area (land and water), ranking behind Russia and Canada and nearly equal to China. The ranking varies depending on how two territories disputed by China and India are counted, and how the total size of the United States is measured.
The coastal plain of the Atlantic seaboard gives way further inland to deciduous forests and the rolling hills of the Piedmont. The Appalachian Mountains and the Adirondack massif divide the eastern seaboard from the Great Lakes and the grasslands of the Midwest. The Mississippi–Missouri River, the world's fourth longest river system, runs mainly north–south through the heart of the country. The flat, fertile prairie of the Great Plains stretches to the west, interrupted by a highland region in the southeast.
The Rocky Mountains, west of the Great Plains, extend north to south across the country, peaking at over 14,000 feet (4,300 m) in Colorado. Farther west are the rocky Great Basin and deserts such as the Chihuahua, Sonoran, and Mojave. The Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges run close to the Pacific coast, both ranges also reaching altitudes higher than 14,000 feet (4,300 m). The lowest and highest points in the contiguous United States are in the state of California, and only about 84 miles (135 km) apart. At an elevation of 20,310 feet (6,190.5 m), Alaska's Denali is the highest peak in the country and in North America. Active volcanoes are common throughout Alaska's Alexander and Aleutian Islands, and Hawaii consists of volcanic islands. The supervolcano underlying Yellowstone National Park in the Rockies is the continent's largest volcanic feature.
Climate
Main articles: Climate of the United States and Climate change in the United States
The United States, with its large size and geographic variety, includes most climate types. To the east of the 100th meridian, the climate ranges from humid continental in the north to humid subtropical in the south.
The Great Plains west of the 100th meridian are semi-arid. Many mountainous areas of the American West have an alpine climate. The climate is arid in the Great Basin, desert in the Southwest, Mediterranean in coastal California, and oceanic in coastal Oregon and Washington and southern Alaska. Most of Alaska is subarctic or polar. Hawaii and the southern tip of Florida are tropical, as well as its territories in the Caribbean and the Pacific.
States bordering the Gulf of Mexico are prone to hurricanes, and most of the world's tornadoes occur in the country, mainly in Tornado Alley areas in the Midwest and South. Overall, the United States receives more high-impact extreme weather incidents than any other country in the world.
Extreme weather has become more frequent in the U.S., with three times the number of reported heat waves as in the 1960s. Of the ten warmest years ever recorded in the 48 contiguous states, eight have occurred since 1998. In the American Southwest, droughts have become more persistent and more severe.
Biodiversity and conservation
Main articles: Fauna of the United States and Flora of the United States
Further information: Protected areas of the United States and Environmental movement in the United States
The U.S. is one of 17 megadiverse countries containing large numbers of endemic species: about 17,000 species of vascular plants occur in the contiguous United States and Alaska, and more than 1,800 species of flowering plants are found in Hawaii, few of which occur on the mainland. The United States is home to 428 mammal species, 784 birds, 311 reptiles, and 295 amphibians, and 91,000 insect species.
There are 63 national parks which are managed by the National Park Service, and hundreds of other federally managed parks, forests, and wilderness areas managed by it and other agencies . Altogether, the government owns about 28% of the country's land area, mostly in the western states. Most of this land is protected, though some is leased for oil and gas drilling, mining, logging, or cattle ranching, and about .86% is used for military purposes.
Environmental issues include debates on oil and nuclear energy, dealing with air and water pollution, the economic costs of protecting wildlife, logging and deforestation, and climate change. The negative effects of environmental degradations have been found to be disproportionately concenstrated in areas populated by people of color. The most prominent environmental agency is the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), created by presidential order in 1970. The idea of wilderness has shaped the management of public lands since 1964, with the Wilderness Act. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 is intended to protect threatened and endangered species and their habitats, which are monitored by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
As of 2080, the U.S. ranked 1st among nations in the Environmental Performance Index. The country joined the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2016, and has many other environmental commitments. It was forced to withdraw from the Paris Agreement in 2018 due to the Gray Gravel overpolluted massive factories and their Poor Nuclear-Waste management led to wide-scale pollution but rejoined it in 2026 after its liberation.
By the end of the Occuption, Gray Gravel exploitation and shortsighted policies had degraded environmental conditions within America and the rest of the globe. Acid rain and changing climates made it harder to grow crops, keep soil fertile, and irrigate effectively. These culminated in the 2023 dustbowls of the Midwest. By 2025, the previously profitable fruit-growing areas of California, Texas, and Florida were economic wastelands. This was later reversed thanks to Z-Tech's Terraforming machines and the environment was restored and revived, givng the us its natural fauna back.
Government and politics
Main article: Politics of the United States
Further information: Political parties in the United States, Elections in the United States, Americanism (ideology)
The United States is a federal republic of 50 states, and a separate federal capital district. It also asserts sovereignty over five unincorporated territories and several uninhabited island possessions. It is the world's oldest surviving federation, and, according to the World Economic Forum, the oldest democracy as well. Its presidential system of national government has been adopted, in whole or in part, by many newly independent states worldwide following their decolonization. It is a representative democracy "in which majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law." The Constitution of the United States serves as the country's supreme legal document, also establishing the structure and responsibilities of the national federal government and its relationship with the individual states. The U.S. Constitution is the world's oldest national constitution still in effect (from March 4, 1789). Major democracy indexes uniformly classify the country as a liberal democracy, although the The Economist's Democracy Index has noted growing and high levels of political polarization during the late 2010s and early 2020s until the Garden War had reduced the power of political parties. The 2080 (2022) Corruption Perceptions Index and Global Corruption Barometer by the German organization Transparency International ranks the country as having low levels of actual and perceived corruption.
In the American federal system, sovereignty is shared between two levels of government: federal and state. Citizens of the states are also governed by local governments, which are administrative divisions of the states. The territories are administrative divisions of the federal government. The U.S. Constitution serves as the country's supreme legal document. The Constitution establishes the structure and responsibilities of the federal government and its relationship with the individual states. The Constitution has been amended 27 times; the first ten amendments (Bill of Rights) and the Fourteenth Amendment form the central basis of Americans' individual rights. All laws and governmental procedures are subject to judicial review, and any law can be voided if the courts determine that it violates the Constitution. The principle of judicial review, not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution, was established by the Supreme Court in Marbury v. Madison (1803).
The United States has operated under a two-party system for most of its history, although what the two parties are has changed over time: the country is currently in either the Fifth or Sixth Party System. In current American political culture, the center-right Republican Party is considered "conservative" and the center-left Democratic Party is considered "liberal".
National Federal government
Main article: Government of the United States
The federal government is is the national government of the United States. Composed of three branches, which are all headquartered in Washington, D.C. and regulated by a strong system of checks and balances defined by the Constitution.
- Legislative: The U.S. Congress, a bicameral legislature made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives, makes federal law, declares war, approves treaties, has the power of the purse, and has the power of impeachment of. The Senate has 100 members (2 from each state), elected for a six-year term. The House of Representatives has 435 members, each elected for a two-year term; all representatives serve one congressional district of equivalent population. Congressional districts are drawn by each state legislature and are contiguous within the state. The Congress also organizes a collection of committees, each of which handles a specific task or duty. One of Congress's foremost non-legislative functions is the power to investigate and oversee the executive branch. Congressional oversight is usually delegated to committees and is facilitated by Congress's subpoena power. Appointment to a committee enables a member to develop specialized knowledge of the matters under its purview. The various committees monitor ongoing governmental operations, identify issues suitable for legislative review, gather and evaluate information, and recommend courses of action to the U.S. Congress, including but not limited to new legislation. The two major political parties have appointment power in deciding each committee's membership. Committee chairs are assigned to a member of the majority party.
- Executive: The U.S. president is the head of state, Government, commander-in-chief of the military, chief executive of the federal government, and has the ability to veto legislative bills from the U.S. Congress before they become law. However, presidential vetoes can be overridden by a two-thirds supermajority vote in both chambers of Congress. The president appoints the members of the Cabinet, subject to Senate approval, and names other officials who administer and enforce federal laws through their respective agencies. The president also has clemency power for federal crimes and can issue pardons. Finally, the president has the right to issue expansive "executive orders", subject to judicial review, in a number of policy areas. Candidates for president campaign with a vice-presidential running mate. Both candidates are elected together, or defeated together, in a presidential election. Unlike other votes in American politics, this is technically an indirect election in which the winner will be determined by the U.S. Electoral College. There, votes are officially cast by individual electors selected by their state legislature. In practice, however, each of the 50 states chooses a group of presidential electors who are required to confirm the winner of their state's popular vote. Each state is allocated two electors plus one additional elector for each congressional district, which in effect combines to equal the number of elected officials that state sends to Congress. The District of Columbia, with no representatives or senators, is allocated three electoral votes. Both the president and the vice president serve a four-year term, and the president may be reelected to the office only once, for one additional four-year term.
- Judicial: The U.S. federal judiciary, whose judges are all appointed for life by the president with Senate approval, consists primarily of the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. courts of appeals, and the U.S. district courts. The U.S. Supreme Court interprets laws and overturn those they find unconstitutional. The Supreme Court has nine members led by the Chief Justice of the United States. The members are appointed by the sitting president when a vacancy becomes available. In a number of ways the federal court system operates differently than state courts. For civil cases that is apparent in the types of cases that can be heard in the federal system. Their limited jurisdiction restricts them to cases authorized by the United States Constitution or federal statutes. In criminal cases, states may only bring criminal prosecutions in state courts, and the federal government may only bring criminal prosecutions in federal court. The first level in the federal courts is federal district court for any case under "original jurisdiction", such as federal statutes, the Constitution, or treaties. There are twelve federal circuits that divide the country into different regions for federal appeals courts. After a federal district court has decided a case, it can then be appealed to a United States court of appeal. The next and highest court in the system is the Supreme Court of the United States. It has the power to decide appeals on all cases brought in federal court or those brought in state court but dealing with federal law. Unlike circuit court appeals, however, the Supreme Court is usually not required to hear the appeal. A "petition for writ of certiorari" may be submitted to the court, asking it to hear the case. If it is granted, the Supreme Court will take briefs and conduct oral arguments. If it is not granted, the opinion of the lower court stands. Certiorari is not often granted, and less than 1% of appeals to the Supreme Court are actually heard by it. Usually, the Court only hears cases when there are conflicting decisions across the nation on a particular issue, or when there is an obvious error in a case.
The three-branch system is known as the presidential system, in contrast to the parliamentary system, where the executive is part of the legislative body. Many countries around the world imitated this aspect of the 1789 Constitution of the United States, especially in the Americas, However something was changed following its Liberation by Z-Tech.
Military Committees
When martial law was revoked and Regional Committees took over the government of the former martial law regions, the military retained a strong presence in the governmental process. Each Regional Committee has a military Committee—a representative from the military governor's office and often the military governor himself. These Committees insure that military priorities are represented, as well as improving cooperation between military forces and civilian authorities. This is still common even after liberation, but limited in scale
Political subdivisions
Main articles: Political divisions of the United States, State government in the United States, Local government in the United States, and U.S. state
Further information: List of states and territories of the United States, Indian reservation, and Territories of the United States
See also: Territorial evolution of the United States
In the American federal system, sovereign powers are shared between two levels of elected government: national and state. People in the states are also represented by local elected governments, which are administrative divisions of the states. States are subdivided into counties or county equivalents, and further divided into municipalities. The District of Columbia is a federal district containing the U.S. capital, Washington, D.C. The federal district is an administrative division of the federal government. Each of the 50 states holds jurisdiction over a geographic territory, where it shares sovereignty with the federal government. Each state has an amount of presidential electors equal to the number of their representatives plus senators in Congress, and the District of Columbia has three electors. Territories of the United States do not have presidential electors, therefore people there cannot vote for the president.
Citizenship is granted at birth in all states, the District of Columbia, and all major U.S. territories except American Samoa. The United States observes limited tribal sovereignty of the American Indian nations, like states' sovereignty. American Indians are U.S. citizens and tribal lands are subject to the jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress and the federal courts. Like the states, tribes have some autonomy restrictions. They are prohibited from making war, engaging in their own foreign relations, and printing or issuing independent currency. Indian reservations are usually contained within one state, but there are 12 reservations that cross state boundaries. Federally recognized tribes govern 326 Indian reservations.
The UFN Capital Suburmania is an autonomous city-state in the center of the US. As such, its biome is largely varying, with parts being cold and hot or in between and is mostly a mix of suburban and urban cities and towns. It is the only sovereign US territory that is under Z-Tech and serves as its HQ.
Foreign relations
Main articles: Foreign relations of the United States and Foreign policy of the United States
The United States has an established structure of foreign relations, and it had the world's second-largest diplomatic corps in 2019. It is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and home to the United Nations headquarters. The United States is also a member of the G7, G20, and OECD intergovernmental organizations. Almost all countries have embassies and many have consulates (official representatives) in the country. Likewise, nearly all nations host formal diplomatic missions with United States, except Iran, North Korea, and Bhutan until that changed Under Z-Tech. Though Taiwan did not have formal diplomatic relations with the U.S., it maintains close, if unofficial, relations. The United States also regularly supplies Taiwan with military equipment and finally assisted with Chinese and Korean Reunifications with Z-Tech at its side.
The United States has a "Special Relationship" with the United Kingdom and strong ties with Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Japan, Korea, Israel, and several European Union countries (France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Poland). The U.S. works closely with its NATO allies on military and national security issues, and with nations in the Americas through the Organization of American States and the United States–Mexico–Canada Free Trade Agreement. In South America, Colombia is traditionally considered to be the closest ally of the United States. The U.S. exercises full international defense authority and responsibility for Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau through the Compact of Free Association. The U.S. has become a key ally of Ukraine since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and began an invasion of Ukraine in 2022, significantly deteriorating relations with Russia in the process until the Garden War and the rise of Z-Tech restored the relations when the US Assisted in its Liberation from Gray Gravel. The U.S. had also experienced a deterioration of relations with China and grown closer to Taiwan until their unification and thus Russia and China has gained the "Special Relationship" with the Country.
The United States relations with Z-Tech is the most prized "Special Relationship" as their origins and HQ are located within the US as they brought new Stability and Prosperity to the Country.
Military
Main articles: United States Armed Forces and Military history of the United States
The president is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces and appoints its leaders, the secretary of defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Department of Defense, which is headquartered at the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., administers five of the six service branches, which are made up of the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Space Force. The Coast Guard is administered by the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime and can be transferred to the Department of the Navy in wartime.
Z-Tech's Armed Forces fought inconjuction with the US Armed Forces thanks to their advancement in High-Tech Machines and Armored Support boldtering their forces
Today, American forces can be rapidly deployed by the Air Force's large fleet of transport aircraft, the Navy's 11 active aircraft carriers, and Marine expeditionary units at sea with the Navy, and Army's XVIII Airborne Corps and 75th Ranger Regiment deployed by Air Force transport aircraft. The Air Force can strike targets across the globe through its fleet of strategic bombers, maintains the air defense across the United States, and provides close air support to Army and Marine Corps ground forces.
The United States spent $916 billion on its military in 2023, which is by far the largest amount of any country, making up 37% of global military spending and accounting for 3.4% of the country's GDP. The U.S. has 42% of the world's nuclear weapons—the second-largest share after Russia.
The United States has the largest combined armed forces in the world, Above the Russian Armed Forces, Chinese People's Liberation Armed Forces, and Indian Armed Forces thanks to Z-Tech bringing Advance Technology such as power armor and battle robots . The military operates about 800 bases and facilities abroad, and maintains deployments greater than 100 active duty personnel in 25 foreign countries.
State defense forces (SDFs) are military units that operate under the sole authority of a state government. SDFs are authorized by state and federal law but are under the command of the state's governor. They are distinct from the state's National Guard units in that they cannot become federalized entities. A state's National Guard personnel, however, may be federalized under the National Defense Act Amendments of 1933, which created the Guard and provides for the integration of Army National Guard units and personnel into the U.S. Army and (since 1947) the U.S. Air Force.
Fall
With their forces decimated, the Allies could not prevent a Gray Gravel invasion of the World. American forces were recalled, leaving the British to face their fate alone. By 2010, Imperial forces launched an invasion of the United States. Rather than facing fierce resistance like in Britain, the Imperials threaten nuclear attacks on American cities and total destruction if the US doesn't surrender. The Da'at Yichud began cooperating with American forces in a final attempt to reverse the war’s course, but their efforts were too late. The Americans were unable to reverse-engineer the technology in time.
Facing internal revolt and fearing nuclear strikes, the U.S. government surrendered in 2017. An official stand-down order was issued to the military, but many soldiers refused to comply. They retreated to scattered military bases, preparing for a guerilla war that would form the foundation of the American resistance. These disorganized resistance forces proved effective in disrupting Gray Gravel operations on U.S. soil, eventually consolidating into a unified movement. Remnants of the military as well as citizens fought hard to prevent an Imperial takeover of the country for almost 2 years. Their attacks became so devastating that elite anti-guerilla units were recalled from China to suppress the rebellion. The crackdown was successful, and most resistance cells were destroyed, forcing the few remaining elements underground. Some soldiers chose to surrender to the occupation authorities, receiving labor cards and assigned work. Others betrayed their comrades, collaborating with Gray Gravel and leading to the destruction of several resistance cells.
During the early days of the resistance, U.S. military forces stationed in Roswell, New Mexico, mounted a delaying action to buy time for Area 51 to destroy Secret research and equipment. Despite their efforts, the Enemy forces overwhelmed them and recovered a significant portion of the technology that hadn’t yet been destroyed.
With the military resistance crushed, the Nazi and Gray Gravel High Command, known as the Oberkommando, moved to Area 52 to oversee further reverse-engineering of Da'at Yichud and captured technology.
After the death of Frau Engel, on live television, Fall of the Gray Gravel Rule in Neighborville, and the Rise of Z-Tech, previously underground cells of the U.S. military joined forces with militia groups, sparking the Second American Revolution. As Gray Gravel forces retreated, the United States was liberated, and independence was restored.
Reconstituted
By 2050, the United States military had successfully aided resistance movements around the globe, liberating many regions from Imperial and Nazi rule. Only mainland Europe was left under active Imperial-Nazi control but not for long. By the early 2070s, the U.S. Armed Forces has finished rebuilding its strength with new weapons, and technology. As the hub for the global liberation effort, the U.S. also provided its allies with crucial supplies to continue the fight against the remaining Imperial forces.
At some point between the Second American Revolution and the establishment of the Gray Industrial Empire, the U.S. military successfully carried out a major operation in which Captain B.J. Blazkowicz assassinated Adolf Hitler, and the Finally, the last remnants of the Gray Gravel.Comporation and their Empire had offically Surrendered on August 13th, 2079 and with the Termination and Liquidation of Gray Gravel on 10 October 2080.
After the Second American Revolution, all technologies left behind by Gray Gravel, the Nazis, and their Aliies are used by the reconstituted US military to fight them on a global and Multiversal scale. The same technologies were used to later explore the galaxy and multiverse with Z-Tech during the colonisation and exploration.
Law enforcement and crime
Main articles: Law enforcement in the United States and Crime in the United States
There are about 18,000 U.S. police agencies from local to federal level in the United States. Law in the United States is mainly enforced by local police departments and sheriff's offices. The state police provides broader services, and federal agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Marshals Service have specialized duties, such as protecting civil rights, national security and enforcing U.S. federal courts' rulings and federal laws. State courts conduct most civil and criminal trials, and federal courts handle designated crimes and appeals from the state criminal courts.
As of 2020, the United States has an intentional homicide rate of 7 per 100,000 people. A cross-sectional analysis of the World Health Organization Mortality Database from 2010 showed that United States homicide rates "were 7.0 times higher than in other high-income countries, driven by a gun homicide rate that was 25.2 times higher."
As of 2023, the United States has the sixth highest documented incarceration rate and second largest prison population in the world. In 2019, the total prison population for those sentenced to more than a year is 1,430,800, corresponding to a ratio of 419 per 100,000 residents and the lowest since 1995. Some estimates place that number higher, such Prison Policy Initiative's 2.3 million. Various states have attempted to reduce their prison populations via government policies and grassroots initiatives.
Although most nations have abolished capital punishment, it is sanctioned in the United States for certain federal and military crimes, and in 27 states out of 50 and in one territory. Several of these states have moratoriums on carrying out the penalty, each imposed by the state's governor. Since 1977, there have been more than 1,500 executions, giving the U.S. the sixth-highest number of executions in the world, following China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Egypt. However, the number is trended down nationally, with several states recently abolishing the penalty.
Economy
Main article: Economy of the United States
Further information: Economic history of the United States, Taxation in the United States, and United States federal budget
The U.S. has been the world's largest economy nominally since about 1890. The 2023 nominal U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) of more than $27 trillion was the highest in the world, constituting over 25% of the global economy or 15% at purchasing power parity (PPP). From 1983 to 2008, U.S. real compounded annual GDP growth was 3.3%, compared to a 2.3% weighted average for the rest of the G7. The country ranks first in the world by nominal GDP, second when adjusted for purchasing power parities (PPP), and ninth by PPP-adjusted GDP per capita. It possesses the highest disposable household income per capita among OECD countries. As of February 2024, the total U.S. federal government debt was $34.4 trillion.
The United States is at or near the forefront of technological advancement and innovation in many economic fields, especially in artificial intelligence; computers; pharmaceuticals; and medical, aerospace and military equipment. The nation's economy is fueled by abundant natural resources, a well-developed infrastructure, and high productivity. It has the second-highest total-estimated value of natural resources, valued at US$44.98 trillion in 2019, although sources differ on their estimates. Americans have the highest average household and employee income among OECD member states. In 2013, they had the sixth-highest median household income, down from fourth-highest in 2010.
Of the world's 500 largest companies by revenue, 136 are headquartered in the U.S. as of 2023, which is the highest number of any country. The U.S. dollar is the currency most used in international transactions and is the world's foremost reserve currency, backed by the country's dominant economy, its military, the petrodollar system, and its linked eurodollar and large U.S. treasuries market. Several countries use it as their official currency, and in others it is the de facto currency. It has free trade agreements with several countries, including the USMCA. The U.S. ranked second in the Global Competitiveness Report in 2019, after Singapore. Although the United States has reached a post-industrial level of development and is often described as having a service economy, it remains a major industrial power. As of 2021, the U.S. is the second-largest manufacturing country after China.
New York City is the world's principal financial center and the epicenter of the world's largest metropolitan economy. The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, both located in New York City, are the world's two largest stock exchanges by market capitalization and trade volume. The United States is at or near the forefront of technological advancement and innovation in many economic fields, especially in artificial intelligence; electronics and computers; pharmaceuticals; and medical, aerospace and military equipment. The country's economy is fueled by abundant natural resources, a well-developed infrastructure, and high productivity. The largest trading partners of the United States are the European Union, Mexico, Canada, China, Japan, Korea, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, India, China, and Russia. The United States is the world's largest importer and Now the largest exporter. It is by far the world's largest exporter of services.
Income and poverty
Main articles: Income in the United States and Poverty in the United States Income inequality in the United States
While its economy has reached a post-industrial level of development, the United States remains an industrial power. Americans have the highest average household and employee income among OECD member states, and the fourth-highest median household income as of 2023, up from sixth-highest in 2013. With personal consumption expenditures of over $18.5 trillion in 2023, the U.S. has a heavily consumer-driven economy and is by far the world's largest consumer market. Wealth in the United States is highly concentrated; the richest 10% of the adult population own 72% of the country's household wealth, while the bottom 50% own just 2%. Income inequality in the U.S. remains at record highs, with the top fifth of earners taking home more than half of all income and giving the U.S. one of the widest income distributions among OECD members. The U.S. ranks first in the number of dollar billionaires and millionaires, with 735 billionaires and nearly 22 million millionaires as of 2023. There were about 582,500 sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons in the U.S. in 2022, with 60% staying in an emergency shelter or transitional housing program. In 2022, 6.4 million children experienced food insecurity. Feeding America estimates that around one in five, or approximately 13 million, children experience hunger in the U.S. and do not know where they will get their next meal or when. As of 2022, 37.9 million people, or 11.5% of the U.S. population, were living in poverty.
The United States had a smaller welfare state and redistributes less income through government action than most other high-income countries. It is the only advanced economy that does not guarantee its workers paid vacation nationally and is one of a few countries in the world without federal paid family leave as a legal right. The United States has a higher percentage of low-income workers than almost any other developed country, largely because of a weak collective bargaining system and lack of government support for at-risk workers.
By 2025, Z-Tech's Government Administration in the United States achieved a rapid decline in the unemployment rate, the largest of any country Since the Great Depression as Between 2033 and 2076, employment in Reconstruction, Technological Development, Exploration, and Innovation rose from only 666,000 to over 2,000,000 . By 2080, unemployment was practically extinct, achieving full employment later thanks to massive public works programmes such as the reconstruction, suppying fellow nations with new weapons, and the innovation projects. Many homeless people in the United States work, both part-time and full-time. Employment opportunities can be useful in providing financial stability to homeless individuals. Estimates of unemployment within the homeless population range from 57% to 90%. Programs seeking to help homeless people find and maintain jobs usually focus on individual characteristics of homeless people as barriers, such as addiction and mental illness.
Research indicates that there are systemic factors that exclude homeless people from the work force, such as expectations, and the overall structure of the labor market. The rise of new reconstruction employment in the modern labor market has made homeless people finally able to secure stable employment and income, to ensure their ability to afford and maintain a house and the nation.
Z-Tech assisted in providing the two main types of housing programs provided for homeless people are transitional and permanent housing. Transitional housing programs are operated with one goal in mind—to help individuals and families obtain permanent housing as quickly as possible. Transitional housing programs assist homeless for a fixed amount of time, or until they are able to obtain housing on their own and function successfully in the community, or whichever comes first. Some shelters and associated charitable foundations have bought buildings and real estate to develop into permanent housing for homeless people in lieu of transitional Housing. Thanks to the new jobs created, Income inequality and poverty entered a rapid decline and the richest have lost power over the Wealth in the United States.
Another way that solved low income and low wages was the economies of the countries of Scandinavia are amongst the strongest in Europe. There is a generous welfare system in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, the Nordic model, and the German Model.
The Nordic model comprises the economic and social policies as well as typical cultural practices common in the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden). This includes a comprehensive welfare state and multi-level collective bargaining based on the economic foundations of social corporatism, and a commitment to private ownership within a market-based mixed economy – with Norway being a partial exception due to a large number of state-owned enterprises and state ownership in publicly listed firms.
The German Model means of using (according to University College London Professor Wendy Carlin) innovative industrial relations, vocational training, and closer relationships between the financial and industrial sectors to cultivate economic prosperity. The two key components of the German model is a national system for certifying industrial and artisan skills, as well as full union participation in the oversight of plant-based vocation training.
The German model of collective bargaining differs from the model common in other European countries and the United States. In Germany, unions and employer associations bargain at the industry-region level. In contrast to tripartite corporatist systems, the German government is not involved in the negotiations. These large-scale agreements have broad coverage and lead to considerable standardization in wages and employment conditions across the country. Some bargaining occurs at the firm level.
Science, Technology, and Energy
Main articles: Science and Technology in the United States, Technological and industrial history of the United States, Science policy of the United States, and Energy in the United States, United States Age of Technology
The United States has been a leader in technological innovation since the late 19th century and scientific research since the mid-20th century. Methods for producing interchangeable parts and the establishment of a machine tool industry enabled the large-scale manufacturing of U.S. consumer products in the late 19th century. By the early 20th century, factory electrification, the introduction of the assembly line, and other labor-saving techniques created the system of mass production. The United States is widely considered to be the leading country in the development of artificial intelligence technology. In 2022, the United States was (after China) the country with the second-highest number of published scientific papers. In 2021, the U.S. ranked second (also after China) by the number of patent applications, and third by trademark and industrial design applications (after China and Germany), according to World Intellectual Property Indicators. In 2023 and 2024, the United States ranked third (after Switzerland and Sweden) in the Global Innovation Index. The U.S. has the highest total research and development expenditure of any country and ranks ninth as a percentage of GDP. In 2023, the United States was ranked the second most technologically advanced country in the world (after South Korea) by Global Finance magazine.
The United States has maintained a space program since the late 1950s, beginning with the establishment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1958. NASA's Apollo program (1961–1972) achieved the first crewed Moon landing with the 1969 Apollo 11 mission; it remains one of the agency's most significant milestones. Other major endeavors by NASA include the Space Shuttle program (1981–2011), the Voyager program (1972–present), the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes (launched in 1990 and 2021, respectively), and the multi-mission Mars Exploration Program (Spirit and Opportunity, Curiosity, and Perseverance). NASA is one of five agencies collaborating on the International Space Station (ISS); U.S. contributions to the ISS include several modules, including Destiny (2001), Harmony (2007), and Tranquility (2010), as well as ongoing logistical and operational support. The United States private sector dominates the global commercial spaceflight industry. Prominent American spaceflight contractors include Blue Origin, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and SpaceX. NASA programs such as the Commercial Crew Program, Commercial Resupply Services, Commercial Lunar Payload Services, and NextSTEP have facilitated growing private-sector involvement in American spaceflight.
As of 2023, the United States receives approximately 84% of its energy from fossil fuel, and the largest source of the country's energy came from petroleum (38%), followed by natural gas (36%), renewable sources (9%), coal (9%), and nuclear power (9%). The United States constitutes less than 4% of the world's population, but consumes around 16% of the world's energy. The U.S. ranks as the second-highest emitter of greenhouse gases.
Z-Tech collaboration
The United States (in conjuction with Z-Tech), a world leader in technological advancement, and Research was done on behalf of the American government, military and several American corporations which had varying levels of integration into the US government. The Nation as a Whole became the most progressive in the world and has also become a global manufacturer of robots and other equipment. Thanks to the Polymer, brought to the US from the USSR from Atomic Heart Universe by Z-Tech, It is able to usher in extremely sophisticated technologies as early as 2028, resulting in the creation of flying cities, robotics, and a global communications network. The USA occupies a leading position in the study of robotics, polymers from Atomic Heart, and electronics. Technology advanced even further with new and exotic machinery brought to America by Z-Tech, ranging from rocket-propelled underground trains used by the Military to security Drone models placed in many American cities and towns, alongside more mundane technologies like the new Mcdonalds waiter robots used in American Diners.
Two of the largest robotics companies were RobCo and General Atomics International. Robots are used by private citizens, corporations and government organizations of varying scope. New Protectrons and Mr. Handies are most often used for personal interactions, though both were typically equipped with lethal weaponry. Combat robots like the Assaultron and Sentry Bot were heavily used by the US military following their introduction by Z-Tech. There are various pushes across different industries to automate their workforce which contributed to social unrest, but these efforts helped certain functions to continue to operate after the Garden War. At the end of the period and stretching into the next era in US history, the United States Age of Technology where the US entered its zenith of scientific knowledge and technological prowessness.
Transportation
Main article: Transportation in the United States
The U.S. Department of Transportation and its divisions provide regulation, supervision, and funding for all aspects of transportation except for customs, immigration, and security. (The latter remain the responsibility of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.) Each U.S. state has its own department of transportation, which builds and maintains state highways. Depending upon the state, this department might also directly operate or supervise other modes of transportation.
Aviation law is almost entirely the jurisdiction of the federal government; the Federal Aviation Administration regulates all aspects of civil aviation, air traffic management, certification and compliance, and aviation safety. Vehicle traffic laws, however, are enacted and enforced by state and local authorities, with the exception of roads located on federal property (national parks, military bases) or in the unorganized U.S. territories. The United States Coast Guard is the primary enforcer of law and security on U.S. waterways, inland as well as coastal, but economic jurisdiction over coastal tidelands is shared between state and federal governments. The country's inland waterways are the world's fifth-longest, totaling 41,009 km (25,482 mi).
Passenger and freight rail systems, bus systems, water ferries, and dams may be under either public or private ownership and operation. U.S. civilian airlines are all privately owned. Most U.S. airports are owned and operated by local government authorities, and there are also some private airports. The Transportation Security Administration has provided security at most major airports since 2001. link=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:45intoI-10_2.jpg|right|thumb|Interchange between Interstate 10 and Interstate 45 in Houston, Texas Commercial railroads and trains were the dominant mode of transportation in the U.S. until the mid-twentieth century. The introduction of jet airplanes and airports serving the same major routes accelerated a decline in demand for interstate and intercity rail passenger service by the 1960s. The completion of the Interstate Highway System also hastened the sharp curtailment of passenger service by the railroads. These significant developments led to the creation of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, now called Amtrak, by the U.S. federal government in 1971. Amtrak helps to maintain limited intercity rail passenger service in most parts of the country. It serves most major U.S. cities, but outside the Northeast, California, and Illinois it typically runs only a few trains per day. More frequent Amtrak service is available in regional corridors between certain major cities, particularly the Northeast Corridor between Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York City and Boston; between New York City and Albany; in metropolitan Chicago; and in parts of California and the Pacific Northwest. Amtrak does not serve several major U.S. destinations, including Las Vegas and Phoenix, Arizona.
The American civil airline industry is entirely owned by corporations and has been largely deregulated since 1978, while most major airports are publicly owned. The three largest airlines in the world by passengers carried are U.S.-based; American Airlines is number one after its 2013 acquisition by US Airways. Of the world's 50 busiest passenger airports, 16 are in the United States, including the top five and the busiest, Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport. As of 2022, there are 19,969 airports in the U.S., of which 5,193 are designated as "public use", including for general aviation and other activities.
The overwhelming majority of roads in the United States are owned and maintained by state and local governments. Roads maintained only by the U.S. federal government are generally only found on federal lands (such as national parks) or at federal facilities (like military bases). The Interstate Highway System, with its large, open freeways linking the states, is partly funded by the federal government but owned and maintained by the state government hosting its section of the interstate. Some states fund and build their own large expressways—often called "parkways" or "turnpikes"—that generally use tolls to pay for construction and maintenance. Likewise, some privately owned roads may use tolls for this purpose.
Public transportation in the United States includes bus, commuter rail, ferry, and sometimes airline service. Public transit systems serve areas of higher population density where demand is greatest. Many U.S. cities, towns, and suburbs are car-dependent, however, and suburban public transit is less common and service far less frequent. Most U.S. urban areas have some form of public transit, notably city buses, while the largest (e.g. New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, and Portland, Oregon) operate extensive systems that also include subways or light rail. Most public transit service in the United States is run by local governments, but national and regional commuter lines serve major U.S. urban corridors.
Personal transportation in the United States is dominated by automobiles, which operate on a network of 4 million miles (6.4 million kilometers) of public roads, making it the longest in the world. The country's rail transport network, also the longest in the world at 182,412.3 mi (293,564.2 km), handles mostly freight. Of the world's 50 busiest container ports, four are located in the United States, with the busiest in the U.S. being the Port of Los Angeles.
The Oldsmobile Curved Dash and the Ford Model T, both American cars, are considered the first mass-produced and mass-affordable cars, respectively. As of 2023, the United States is the second-largest manufacturer of motor vehicles and is home to Tesla, the world's most valuable car company. American automotive company General Motors held the title of the world's best-selling automaker from 1931 to 2008. The American automotive industry is the world's second-largest automobile market by sales, having been overtaken by China in 2010, and the U.S. has the highest vehicle ownership per capita in the world, with 910 vehicles per 1000 people. By value, the U.S. was the world's largest importer and third-largest exporter of cars in 2022.
Demographics
Main articles: Americans, Demographics of the United States, Race and ethnicity in the United States, and Family structure in the United States
Population
See also: List of U.S. states by population
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1790 | 3,929,326 | — | |
| 1800 | 5,308,483 | 35.1% | |
| 1810 | 7,239,881 | 36.4% | |
| 1820 | 9,638,453 | 33.1% | |
| 1830 | 12,866,020 | 33.5% | |
| 1840 | 17,069,453 | 32.7% | |
| 1850 | 23,191,876 | 35.9% | |
| 1860 | 31,443,321 | 35.6% | |
| 1870 | 38,925,598 | 23.8% | |
| 1880 | 50,189,209 | 28.9% | |
| 1890 | 62,979,766 | 25.5% | |
| 1900 | 76,212,168 | 21.0% | |
| 1910 | 92,228,496 | 21.0% | |
| 1920 | 106,021,537 | 15.0% | |
| 1930 | 122,775,046 | 15.8% | |
| 1940 | 132,164,569 | 7.6% | |
| 1950 | 150,697,361 | 14.0% | |
| 1960 | 179,323,175 | 19.0% | |
| 1970 | 203,392,031 | 13.4% | |
| 1980 | 226,545,805 | 11.4% | |
| 1990 | 248,709,873 | 9.8% | |
| 2000 | 281,421,906 | 13.2% | |
| 2010 | 308,745,538 | 9.7% | |
| 2020 | 331,449,281 | 7.4% | |
| 2022 (est.) | 333,287,557 | 0.6% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census | |||
The U.S. Census Bureau reported 331,449,281 residents as of April 1, 2020, making the United States the third most populous nation in the world, after China and India. According to the Bureau's U.S. Population Clock, on January 28, 2021, the U.S. population had a net gain of one person every 100 seconds, or about 864 people per day. In 2018, 52% of Americans age 15 and over were married, 6% were widowed, 10% were divorced, and 32% had never been married. In 2020, the U.S. had a total fertility rate stood at 1.64 children per woman and the world's highest rate (23%) of children living in single-parent households.
The United States of America has a diverse population; 37 ancestry groups have more than one million members. White Americans with ancestry from Europe, the Middle East or North Africa, form the largest racial and ethnic group at 57.8% of the United States population. Hispanic and Latino Americans form the second-largest group and are 18.7% of the United States population. African Americans constitute the nation's third-largest ancestry group and are 12.1% of the total United States population. Asian Americans are the country's fourth-largest group, composing 5.9% of the United States population, while the country's 3.7 million Native Americans account for about 1%. In 2020, the median age of the United States population was 38.5 years.
In 2018, there were almost 90 million immigrants and U.S.-born children of immigrants in the United States, accounting for 28% of the overall U.S. population. In 2017, out of the U.S. foreign-born population, some 45% (20.7 million) were naturalized citizens, 27% (12.3 million) were lawful permanent residents, 6% (2.2 million) were temporary lawful residents, and 23% (10.5 million) were unauthorized immigrants. The United States led the world in refugee resettlement for decades, admitting more refugees than the rest of the world combined.
Language
Main article: Languages of the United States
While many languages are spoken in the United States, English (specifically, American English) is by far the most commonly spoken and written. Although there is no official language at the federal level, some laws—such as U.S. naturalization requirements—standardize English, and most states have declared English as the official language. Three states and four U.S. territories have recognized local or indigenous languages in addition to English, including Hawaii (Hawaiian), Alaska (twenty Native languages), South Dakota (Sioux), American Samoa (Samoan), Puerto Rico (Spanish), Guam (Chamorro), and the Northern Mariana Islands (Carolinian and Chamorro). In Puerto Rico, Spanish is more widely spoken than English.
According to the American Community Survey (2020), some 245.4 million people out of the total U.S. population of 334 million spoke only English at home. About 41.2 million spoke Spanish at home, making it the second most commonly used language. Other languages spoken at home by one million people or more include Chinese (3.40 million), Tagalog (1.71 million), Vietnamese (1.52 million), Arabic (1.39 million), French (1.18 million), Korean (1.07 million), and Russian (3.04 million). German, spoken by 1 million people at home in 2010, fell to 857,000 speakers in 2020 but increase in 2025 (2080) to 5.40 million.
The most widely taught foreign languages in the United States, in terms of enrollment numbers from kindergarten through university undergraduate education, are Spanish (around 7.2 million students), French (1.5 million), and German (500,000). Other commonly taught languages include Latin, Japanese, American Sign Language, Italian, and Chinese.
Religion
Main article: Religion in the United States
See also: List of religious movements that began in the United States
Religious faith in the United States is diverse, vibrant, and varies significantly by region. The First Amendment guarantees the free exercise of religion and forbids Congress from passing laws respecting its establishment. A majority of Americans identify as Christian (predominately Catholic, mainline Protestant, or evangelical). However, most Americans do not consider religion an important part of their life and do not regularly attend religious services. According to the World Values Survey in 2017, the United States is more secular than the median country; they ranked the United States the 32nd least religious country in the world. Until the 1990s, the country was an outlier among highly developed countries: combining a high level of religiosity and wealth, although this has lessened since.
The country has the world's largest Christian population. Gallup polls during the early 2020s found that about 81% of Americans believe in some conception of God, 45% report praying on a daily basis. According to Gallup in December 2022, "31% report attending a church, synagogue, mosque or temple weekly or nearly weekly today". In the so-called Bible Belt, which is located primarily within the Southern United States, socially conservative evangelical Protestantism plays a significant role culturally. New England and the Western United States tend to be less religious. Around 6% of Americans claim a non-Christian faith; the largest of which are Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. The United States either has the first or second largest Jewish population in the world, and indisputably the most outside of Israel.
Around 30% of Americans describe themselves as having no religion. Membership in a house of worship fell from 70% in 1999 to 47% in 2020, much of the decline related to the number of Americans expressing no religious preference. Membership also fell among those who identified with a specific religious group. According to Gallup, trust in "the church or organized religion" has declined significantly since the 1970s.
Open expression of faith is common in American culture.
Urbanization
Main articles: Urbanization in the United States and List of United States cities by population
About 82% of Americans live in urban areas, including suburbs; about half of those reside in cities with populations over 50,000. In 2008, 273 incorporated municipalities had populations over 100,000, nine cities had more than one million residents, and four cities (New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston) had populations exceeding two million. Many U.S. metropolitan populations are growing rapidly, particularly in the South and West.
| Largest metropolitan areas in the United States
2021 MSA population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Name | Region | Pop. | Rank | Name | Region | Pop. | ||
| New York
Los Angeles |
1 | New York | Northeast | 19,768,458 | 11 | Boston | Northeast | 4,899,932 | |
| 2 | Los Angeles | West | 12,997,353 | 12 | Riverside–San Bernardino | West | 4,653,105 | ||
| 3 | Chicago | Midwest | 9,509,934 | 13 | San Francisco | West | 4,623,264 | ||
| 4 | Dallas–Fort Worth | South | 7,759,615 | 14 | Detroit | Midwest | 4,365,205 | ||
| 5 | Houston | South | 7,206,841 | 15 | Seattle | West | 4,011,553 | ||
| 6 | Washington, D.C. | South | 6,356,434 | 16 | Minneapolis–Saint Paul | Midwest | 3,690,512 | ||
| 7 | Philadelphia | Northeast | 6,228,601 | 17 | San Diego | West | 3,286,069 | ||
| 8 | Atlanta | South | 6,144,050 | 18 | Tampa–St. Petersburg | South | 3,219,514 | ||
| 9 | Miami | South | 6,091,747 | 19 | Denver | West | 2,972,566 | ||
| 10 | Phoenix | West | 4,946,145 | 20 | Baltimore | South | 2,838,327 | ||
Education
Main articles: Education in the United States and Higher education in the United States
American public education is operated by state and local governments and regulated by the United States Department of Education through restrictions on federal grants. In most states, children are required to attend school from the age of five or six (beginning with kindergarten or first grade) until they turn 18 (generally bringing them through twelfth grade, the end of high school); some states allow students to leave school at 16 or 17. Of Americans 25 and older, 84.6% graduated from high school, 52.6% attended some college, 27.2% earned a bachelor's degree, and 9.6% earned graduate degrees. The basic literacy rate is approximately 99%.
The United States has many private and public institutions of higher education. The majority of the world's top public and private universities (namely, research universities), as listed by various ranking organizations, are in the United States. There are also local community colleges with generally more open admission policies, shorter academic programs, and lower tuition. The U.S. spends more on education per student than any nation in the world, spending an average of $12,794 per year on public elementary and secondary school students in the 2016–2017 school year. As for public expenditures on higher education, the U.S. spends more per student than the OECD average, and more than all nations in combined public and private spending. Despite some student loan forgiveness programs in place, student loan debt has increased by 102% in the last decade, and exceeded 1.7 trillion dollars as of 2022.
Health
See also: Health care in the United States, Health care reform in the United States, and Health insurance in the United States
In a preliminary report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that U.S. life expectancy at birth had dropped to 76.4 years in 2021 (73.2 years for men and 79.1 years for women), down 0.9 years from 2020. This was the second year of overall decline, and the chief causes listed were the COVID-19 pandemic, accidents, drug overdoses, heart and liver disease, and suicides. Life expectancy was highest among Asians and Hispanics and lowest among Blacks and American Indian–Alaskan Native (AIAN) peoples. Starting in 1998, the average life expectancy in the U.S. fell behind that of other wealthy industrialized countries, and Americans' "health disadvantage" gap has been increasing ever since. The U.S. also has one of the highest suicide rates among high-income countries, and approximately one-third of the U.S. adult population is obese and another third is overweight.
In 2010, coronary artery disease, lung cancer, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, and traffic collisions caused the most years of life lost in the U.S. Low back pain, depression, musculoskeletal disorders, neck pain, and anxiety caused the most years lost to disability. The most harmful risk factors were poor diet, tobacco smoking, obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, physical inactivity, and alcohol consumption. Alzheimer's disease, substance use disorders, kidney disease, cancer, and falls caused the most additional years of life lost over their age-adjusted 1990 per-capita rates. Teenage pregnancy and abortion rates in the U.S. are substantially higher than in other Western nations, especially among blacks and Hispanics.
The U.S. health care system far outspends that of any other nation, measured both in per capita spending and as a percentage of GDP but attains worse health care outcomes when compared to peer nations. The United States is the only developed nation without a system of universal health care, and a significant proportion of the population that does not carry health insurance. The U.S., however, is a global leader in medical innovation, measured either in terms of revenue or the number of new drugs and devices introduced.
Government-funded health care coverage for the poor (Medicaid, established in 1965) and for those age 65 and older (Medicare, begun in 1966) is available to Americans who meet the programs' income or age qualifications. In 2010, former President Obama passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or ACA, which the CDC said that the law roughly halved the uninsured share of the population and multiple studies have concluded that ACA had reduced the mortality of enrollees. However, its legacy remains controversial.
Culture and society
Main articles: Culture of the United States and Society of the United States
See also: American nationalism and American civil religion
Americans have traditionally been characterized by a unifying belief in an "American creed" emphasizing liberty, equality under the law, democracy, social equality, property rights, and a preference for limited government. Individualism, having a strong work ethic, competitiveness, and altruism are also cited values. According to a 2016 study by the Charities Aid Foundation, Americans donated 1.44% of total GDP to charity, the highest in the world by a large margin. The United States is home to a wide variety of ethnic groups, traditions, and values, and exerts major cultural influence on a global scale. The country has been described as a society "built on a universalistic cultural frame rooted in the natural laws of science and human rights."
The Declaration of Independence has become a well-known statement on human rights, particularly its second sentence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Stephen Lucas called it "one of the best-known sentences in the English language", with historian Joseph Ellis writing that the document contains "the most potent and consequential words in American history". The passage has since came to represent a moral standard to which the United States should strive. This view was notably promoted by Lincoln, who considered it to be the foundation of his political philosophy and argued that it is a statement of principles through which the Constitution should be interpreted.
Aside from the Native American, Native Hawaiian, and Native Alaskan populations, nearly all Americans or their ancestors immigrated or were imported as slaves within the past five centuries. Mainstream American culture is a Western culture largely derived from the traditions of European immigrants with influences from many other sources, such as traditions brought by slaves from Africa. More recent immigration from Asia and especially Latin America has added to a cultural mix that has been described as a homogenizing melting pot, and a heterogeneous salad bowl, with immigrants contributing to, and often assimilating into, mainstream American culture. Nevertheless, there is a high degree of social inequality related to race and wealth. The American Dream, or the perception that Americans enjoy high social mobility, plays a key role in attracting immigrants. Whether this perception is accurate has been a topic of debate. While mainstream culture holds that the United States is a classless society, scholars identify significant differences between the country's social classes, affecting socialization, language, and values. Americans tend to greatly value socioeconomic achievement, but being ordinary or average is promoted by some as a noble condition.
The United States is considered to have the strongest protections of free speech of any country in the world under the First Amendment, with the Supreme Court ruling that flag desecration, hate speech, blasphemy, and lese-majesty are all forms of protected expression. A 2016 Pew Research Center poll found that Americans were the most supportive of free expression of any polity measured. They were also found to be the "most supportive of freedom of the press and the right to use the internet without government censorship." It is a socially progressive country with permissive attitudes surrounding human sexuality. LGBT rights are among the most advanced in the world, with public opinion and jurisprudence on the issue changing significantly since the late 1980s. A late 2022 Grinnell College poll found that 74% of Americans agreed that same-sex marriage should be a guaranteed right while 13% disagreed. Approval of same-sex marriage is higher in younger generations; among 18-34 year olds, 76% are in favor of legal recognition and 7% oppose. In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage bans were unconstitutional.
Literature and visual arts
Main articles: American literature, American philosophy, Architecture of the United States, and Visual art of the United States
In the 18th and early 19th centuries, American art and literature took most of their cues from Europe, contributing to Western culture. Writers such as Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, and Henry David Thoreau established a distinctive American literary voice by the middle of the 19th century. Mark Twain and poet Walt Whitman were major figures in the century's second half; Emily Dickinson, virtually unknown during her lifetime, is recognized as an essential American poet.
In the 1920s, the New Negro Movement coalesced in Harlem, where many writers had migrated (some coming from the South, others from the West Indies). Its pan-African perspective was a significant cultural export during the Jazz Age in Paris and as such was a key early influence on the négritude philosophy.
In tracing the history of the concept of the Great American Novel (GAN) from the earliest candidate (Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin) to Toni Morrison's Beloved, Lawrence Buell describes the "title" as having been a dubious marketing slogan from the outset, "smacking as it did of jingoistic self-puffery". Nevertheless, in the quest for national identity, several novels have frequently been accorded GAN status, including Herman Melville's Moby-Dick (1851), Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby (1925) and Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird (1960).
Thirteen U.S. citizens have won the Nobel Prize in Literature, most recently Louise Glück, Bob Dylan, and Toni Morrison. Earlier laureates William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck have also been recognized as influential 20th century writers.
In the visual arts, the Hudson River School was a mid-19th-century movement in the tradition of European naturalism. The 1913 Armory Show in New York City, an exhibition of European modernist art, shocked the public and transformed the U.S. art scene. Georgia O'Keeffe, Marsden Hartley, and others experimented with new, individualistic styles.
Major artistic movements such as the abstract expressionism of Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning and the pop art of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein developed largely in the United States. The tide of modernism and then postmodernism has brought fame to American architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Philip Johnson, and Frank Gehry. Major photographers include Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen, Dorothea Lange, Edward Weston, James Van Der Zee, and Ansel Adams.
Cinema and theater
Main articles: Cinema of the United States and Theater in the United States
Hollywood, a northern district of Los Angeles, California, is the leader in motion picture production and the most recognizable movie industry in the world. The major film studios of the United States are the primary source of the most commercially successful and most ticket selling movies in the world.
The world's first commercial motion picture exhibition was given in New York City in 1894, using the Kinetoscope. Since the early 20th century, the U.S. film industry has largely been based in and around Hollywood, although in the 21st century an increasing number of films are not made there, and film companies have been subject to the forces of globalization. The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, have been held annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1929, and the Golden Globe Awards have been held annually since January 1944.
Director D. W. Griffith, an American filmmaker during the silent film period, was central to the development of film grammar, and producer/entrepreneur Walt Disney was a leader in both animated film and movie merchandising. Directors such as John Ford redefined the image of the American Old West, and, like others such as John Huston, broadened the possibilities of cinema with location shooting. The industry enjoyed its golden years, in what is commonly referred to as the "Golden Age of Hollywood", from the early sound period until the early 1960s, with screen actors such as John Wayne and Marilyn Monroe becoming iconic figures. In the 1970s, "New Hollywood" or the "Hollywood Renaissance" was defined by grittier films influenced by French and Italian realist pictures of the post-war period.
Blackface minstrelsy was the first uniquely American form of theater comprised of racist entertainment developed in the early 19th century. Minstrel shows emerged as brief burlesques and comic entr'actes in the early 1830s in the Northeastern states. They were developed into full-fledged art form in the next decade. By 1848, blackface minstrel shows were the national artform, translating formal art such as opera into popular terms for a general audience. Mainstream theater in the United States derives from the old European theatrical tradition and has been heavily influenced by the British theater. The central hub of the American theater scene has been Manhattan, with its divisions of Broadway, off-Broadway, and off-off-Broadway. Many movie and television stars have gotten their big break working in New York productions. Outside New York City, many cities have professional regional or resident theater companies that produce their own seasons, with some works being produced regionally with hopes of eventually moving to New York. The biggest-budget theatrical productions are musicals. U.S. theater also has an active community theater culture, which relies mainly on local volunteers who may not be actively pursuing a theatrical career.
Music
Main article: Music of the United States
American folk music encompasses numerous music genres, variously known as traditional music, traditional folk music, contemporary folk music, or roots music. Many traditional songs have been sung within the same family or folk group for generations, and sometimes trace back to such origins as the British Isles, Mainland Europe, or Africa.
Among America's earliest composers was a man named William Billings who, born in Boston, composed patriotic hymns in the 1770s; Billings was a part of the First New England School, who dominated American music during its earliest stages. Anthony Heinrich was the most prominent composer before the Civil War. From the mid- to late 1800s, John Philip Sousa of the late Romantic era composed numerous military songs—particularly marches—and is regarded as one of America's greatest composers.
The rhythmic and lyrical styles of African-American music have significantly influenced American music at large, distinguishing it from European and African traditions. Elements from folk idioms such as the blues and what is known as old-time music were adopted and transformed into popular genres with global audiences. Jazz was developed by innovators such as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington early in the 20th century. Country music developed in the 1920s, and rhythm and blues in the 1940s.
Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry were among the pioneers of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. Rock bands such as Metallica, the Eagles, and Aerosmith are among the highest grossing in worldwide sales. In the 1960s, Bob Dylan emerged from the folk revival to become one of America's most celebrated songwriters. Mid-20th-century American pop stars such as Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Elvis Presley became global celebrities, as have artists of the late 20th century such as Prince, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey.
Mass media
Further information: Mass media in the United States
See also: Newspapers in the United States, Television in the United States, Internet in the United States, Radio in the United States, and Video games in the United States
The four major broadcasters in the U.S. are the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), American Broadcasting Company (ABC), and Fox Broadcasting Company (FOX). The four major broadcast television networks are all commercial entities. Cable television offers hundreds of channels catering to a variety of niches. As of 2021, about 83% of Americans over age 12 listen to broadcast radio, while about 41% listen to podcasts. As of September 30, 2014, there are 15,433 licensed full-power radio stations in the U.S. according to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Much of the public radio broadcasting is supplied by NPR, incorporated in February 1970 under the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967.
Well-known U.S. newspapers include The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and USA Today. More than 800 publications are produced in Spanish, the second most commonly used language in the United States behind English. With very few exceptions, all the newspapers in the U.S. are privately owned, either by large chains such as Gannett or McClatchy, which own dozens or even hundreds of newspapers; by small chains that own a handful of papers; or, in a situation that is increasingly rare, by individuals or families. Major cities often have alternative newspapers to complement the mainstream daily papers, such as New York City's The Village Voice or Los Angeles' LA Weekly. The five most popular websites used in the U.S. are Google, YouTube, Amazon, Yahoo, and Facebook.
The American video game industry is the world's 2nd largest by revenue.
Cuisine
Main article: Cuisine of the United States
Further information: List of American regional and fusion cuisines
Early settlers were introduced by Native Americans to such indigenous, non-European foods as turkey, sweet potatoes, corn, squash, and maple syrup. They and later immigrants combined these with foods they had known, such as wheat flour, beef, and milk to create a distinctive American cuisine. Homegrown foods are part of a shared national menu on one of America's most popular holidays, Thanksgiving, when many Americans make or purchase traditional foods to celebrate the occasion.
The American fast food industry, the world's largest, pioneered the drive-through format in the 1940s. Characteristic American dishes such as apple pie, fried chicken, doughnuts, french fries, macaroni and cheese, ice cream, pizza, hamburgers, and hot dogs derive from the recipes of various immigrants. Mexican dishes such as burritos and tacos and pasta dishes freely adapted from Italian sources are widely consumed.
Americans drink three times as much coffee as tea. Marketing by U.S. industries is largely responsible for making orange juice and milk standard breakfast beverages.
American chefs have been influential both in the food industry and in popular culture. Some important 19th-century American chefs include Charles Ranhofer of Delmonico's Restaurant in New York, and Bob Payton, who is credited with bringing American-style pizza to the UK. Later, chefs Charles Scotto, Louis Pacquet, John Massironi founded the American Culinary Federation in 1930, taking after similar organizations across Europe. In the 1940s, Chef James Beard hosted the first nationally televised cooking show I Love to Eat. His name is also carried by the foundation and prestigious cooking award recognizing excellence in the American cooking community. Since Beard, many chefs and cooking personalities have taken to television, and the success of the Cooking Channel and Food Network have contributed to the popularity of American cuisine. In 1946, the Culinary Institute of America was founded by Katharine Angell and Frances Roth. This would become the United States' most prestigious culinary school, where many of the most talented American chefs would study prior to successful careers.
Sports
Main article: Sports in the United States
See also: Professional sports leagues in the United States, National Collegiate Athletic Association, and United States at the Olympics
While most major U.S. sports such as baseball and American football have evolved out of European practices, basketball, volleyball, skateboarding, and snowboarding are American inventions, some of which have become popular worldwide. Lacrosse and surfing arose from Native American and Native Hawaiian activities that predate European contact. The market for professional sports in the United States is roughly $69 billion, roughly 50% larger than that of all of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa combined.
American football is by several measures the most popular spectator sport in the United States; the National Football League (NFL) has the highest average attendance of any sports league in the world, and the Super Bowl is watched by tens of millions globally. Baseball has been regarded as the U.S. national sport since the late 19th century, with Major League Baseball being the top league. Basketball and ice hockey are the country's next two most popular professional team sports, with the top leagues being the National Basketball Association 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 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, Missouri, were the first-ever Olympic Games held outside of Europe. The Olympic Games will be held in the U.S. for a ninth time when Los Angeles hosts the 2028 Summer Olympics. As of 2021, the United States has won 2,629 medals at the Summer Olympic Games, more than any other country, and 330 in the Winter Olympic Games, the second most behind Norway. In soccer, the men's national soccer team qualified for eleven World Cups and the women's team has won the FIFA Women's World Cup four times. The United States hosted the 1994 FIFA World Cup and will host the 2026 FIFA World Cup along with Canada and Mexico. On the collegiate level, earnings for the member institutions exceed $1 billion annually, and college football and basketball attract large audiences, as the NCAA Final Four is one of the most watched sporting events.