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The United States of America is a federal republic [1] consisting of 50 states, a federal district (Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States), five major territories, and various minor islands. [2] [3] Both the states and the United States as a whole are each sovereign jurisdictions. [4]
The following table is a list of all 50 states and their respective dates of statehood. The first 13 became states in July 1776 upon agreeing to the United States Declaration of Independence, and each joined the first Union of states between 1777 and 1781, upon ratifying the Articles of Confederation, its first constitution. [6]
Since the establishment of the United States in 1776 by the Thirteen Colonies, the number of states has expanded from the original 13 to 50. Each new state has been admitted on an equal footing with the existing states. [5] While the Constitution does not explicitly discuss secession from the Union, the United States Supreme Court, in Texas v.
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 president of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States, [1] indirectly elected to a four-year term via the Electoral College. [2] Under the U.S. Constitution, the officeholder leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces. [3]
See also: Flags of the U.S. states and territories A 2.00 m × 1.70 m oil painting showing historical US flags. This is a list of flags in the United States describing the evolution of the flag of the United States, as well as other flags used within the United States, such as the flags of governmental agencies. There are also separate flags for embassies and ships. National flags Main article ...
Congressional districts in the United States are electoral divisions for the purpose of electing members of the United States House of Representatives. The number of voting seats within the House of Representatives is currently set at 435, with each one representing an average of 761,169 people following the 2020 United States census . [ 1 ]
The following is a list of the 3,143 counties and county-equivalents in the 50 states and District of Columbia sorted by U.S. state, plus an additional 100 county-equivalents in the U.S. territories sorted by territory.