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1990s CIA political map of the Americas in Lambert azimuthal equal-area projection. The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, [3] [4] [5] are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.
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 term "United States," when used in the geographic sense, refers to the contiguous United States (sometimes referred to as the Lower 48, including the District of Columbia not as a state), Alaska, Hawaii, the five insular territories of Puerto Rico, Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and minor outlying possessions. [1]
This is a complete list of all 50 U.S. states, its federal district (Washington, D.C.) and its major territories ordered by total area, land area and water area. [1] The water area includes inland waters, coastal waters, the Great Lakes and territorial waters. Glaciers and intermittent bodies of water are counted as land area. [2]
This list ranks the top 150 U.S. cities (incorporated places) by 2024 land area. Total areas including water are also given, but when ranked by total area, a number of coastal cities appear disproportionately larger. San Francisco is an extreme example: water makes up nearly 80% of its total area of 232 square miles (601 km 2).
Below is a list of countries and dependencies in North America by area. [1] The region includes Canada, the Caribbean, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Central America, Greenland, Mexico, and the United States. Canada is the largest country in North America and the Western Hemisphere.
North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles), representing approximately 16.5% of the Earth's land area and 4.8% of its total surface area. It is the third-largest continent by size after Asia and Africa , and the fourth-largest continent by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe .
United States of America—a federal republic in North America founded in 1776 and comprising 50 states (one of which, Hawaii, is not considered to be located in North America) and one federal district (the District of Columbia), with several outlying territories of varying affiliation; commonly referred to as the U.S. or simply America.