United States

Quick Facts

Capital

Washington, D.C.

Population

338,016,259 (2025 est.)

Area

9,833,517 sq km

Government

constitutional federal republic

Languages

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

Religions

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

Ethnic Groups

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

Life Expectancy

80.9 years (2024 est.)

Internet Domain

.us

Climate

mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida, arctic in Alaska, semiarid in the great plains west of the Mississippi River, and arid in the Great Basin of the southwest; low winter temperatures in the northwest are ameliorated occasionally in January and February by warm chinook winds from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains

Terrain

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

Natural Resources

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

Major Exports

crude petroleum, refined petroleum, natural gas, gas turbines, cars (2023)

Source: CIA World Factbook (public domain)