United States

Coordinates: 40°N 100°W / 40°N 100°W / 40; -100

The United States of America (USA), commonly referred to as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a federal republic composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major territories and various possessions. The 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., are in central North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwestern part of North America and the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. At 3.8 million square miles (9.842 million km²) and with over 320 million people, the country is the world's third or fourth-largest by total area and the third most populous. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. The geography and climate of the United States are also extremely diverse, and the country is home to a wide variety of wildlife.

List of states and territories of the United States

The United States of America is a federal republic consisting of 50 states, a federal district (where the nation's seat of government–Washington, D.C.–is located), five major territories, and various possessions. The 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., are in central North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwestern part of North America (also bordering Canada) and the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

States are the primary subdivisions of the United States, and possess a number of powers and rights under the United States Constitution, such as regulating intrastate commerce, running elections, creating local governments, and ratifying constitutional amendments. Each state has its own constitution, grounded in republican principles, and government, consisting of three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. All states and their residents are represented in the federal Congress, a bicameral legislature consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each state is represented by two Senators, while Representatives are distributed among the states in proportion to the most recent constitutionally mandated decennial census. Additionally, each state is entitled to select a number of electors to vote in the Electoral College, the body that elects the President of the United States, equal to the total of Representatives and Senators in Congress from that state.Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the Constitution grants to Congress the authority to admit new states into the Union. Since the establishment of the United States in 1776, 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.

United States (disambiguation)

United States usually refers to the United States of America, a country in North America.

United States may also refer to:

Countries

Historical

Western United States

The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply the West, traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because European settlement in the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time. Prior to about 1800, the crest of the Appalachian Mountains was seen as the western frontier.

Since then, the frontier generally moved westward and eventually lands west of the Mississippi River came to be referred to as the West. Though no consensus exists, even among experts, for the definition of the West as a region, this article adopts the U.S. Census Bureau's definition of the 13 westernmost states which include the Rocky Mountains and the Great Basin to the West Coast, and the outlying states of Hawaii and Alaska.

The West contains several major biomes. It is known for arid to semi-arid plateaus and plains, particularly in the American Southwest - forested mountains, including the major ranges of the American Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains - the massive coastal shoreline of the American Pacific Coast - and the temperate rainforests of the Pacific Northwest.

Waitemata AFC

Waitemata is an semi-professional association football club in Waitemata, Auckland, New Zealand. They are competing in the US1 Premiership and are the champions of the 2011 US1 Premiership season.

Club history

The birth of Waitemata AFC started in Ranui. A club called Western United was formed headed by Tommy Russell, Reg Matthews and Frank Lowe The Ranui community is steeped in Rugby but the new club was formed in 1959 with junior teams followed by Senior teams the next year. In 1960 the senior club came to life with a gala held at Cooks Paddock in Swanson Road. Floats were made and travelled along Swanson Rd from Redwood Park to the new grounds at Cooks Paddock. In the same year a float was entered in the Auckland Anniversary show at Western Springs and a stall was set up with table football on offer.

The people and events that made up the history of the club is as follows: – In 1961 our president was Assid Corban and Patron was Edmund Hillary. Western Utd's first senior games were played at Cooks Paddock with both the first team and reserves playing. The reserves drew 2–2 and the first team took on Eden, whose captain commented "I don't know where Western are from, but we'll show them how to play". Unfortunately for him Western gave Eden a 5–0 drubbing.

SS United States

SS United States is a luxury passenger liner built in 1952 for United States Lines designed to capture the trans-Atlantic speed record.

Built at a cost of $79.4 million ($724 million in today's dollars) the ship is the largest ocean liner constructed entirely in the U.S. and the fastest ocean liner to cross the Atlantic in either direction. Even in her retirement, she retains the Blue Riband, the accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the highest speed.

Her construction was subsidized by the U.S. government, since she was designed to allow conversion to a troopship should the need arise.United States operated uninterrupted in transatlantic passenger service until 1969. Since 1996 she has been docked at Pier 82 on the Delaware River in Philadelphia.

Design and construction

Inspired by the exemplary service of the British liners RMS Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, which transported hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops to Europe during World War II, the U.S. government sponsored the construction of a large and fast merchant vessel that would be capable of transporting large numbers of soldiers. Designed by renowned American naval architect and marine engineer William Francis Gibbs (1886–1967), the liner's construction was a joint effort between the United States Navy and United States Lines. The U.S. government underwrote $50 million of the $78 million construction cost, with the ship's operators, United States Lines, contributing the remaining $28 million. In exchange, the ship was designed to be easily converted in times of war to a troopship with a capacity of 15,000 troops, or to a hospital ship .

United States (album)

United States is the first full length hard rock collaborative album between hard rock guitar virtuoso Paul Gilbert and singer Freddie Nelson. The collaboration has been described as a cross between Queen and Mr. Big.

Track listing

Personnel

References