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And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for youask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man. ~ J. F. Kennedy
The United States of America is a country of the western hemisphere, comprising fifty states and numerous territories. Forty-eight contiguous states lie in central North America between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bound on land by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south; Alaska is in the northwest of the continent with Canada to its east, and Hawaii is in the mid-Pacific. The United States is a federal constitutional republic; Washington, its capital, is coextensive with the District of Columbia (D.C.), the federal capital district.
At over 3.7 million square miles (over 9.6 million kmČ) and with over 300 million people, the United States is the third largest country by both total area and population. With a gross domestic product (GDP) of over $13 trillion, the U.S. has the largest national economy in the world. GDP per capita ranks first among the larger economies of the world, and third or eighth overall, depending on the measurement. The product of large-scale historical immigration and home to a complex social structure as well as a wide array of household arrangements, the U.S. is one of the world\'s most ethnically and socially diverse nations.
The nation was founded by thirteen colonies declaring their independence from Great Britain on July 4, 1776 and ratifying the Articles of Confederation, on March 1, 1781. It adopted the current constitution on September 17, 1787. The country greatly expanded in territory throughout the 19th century acquiring lands from France, Mexico, and Russia. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, it became the world\'s sole remaining superpower. The United States continues to exert dominant economic, political, cultural, and military influence around the globe.
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