The United States has a total area of more than 3.5 million square miles, making it the third largest country in the world after Russia and Canada. It is slightly larger than China, and about half the size of Russia, but has the largest and most technically powerful economy in the world. The United States includes 50 States and one district, as well as several territories and other associated areas that are not States but that are under U.S. jurisdiction. The States vary in size from Rhode Island, the smallest with 1,231 square miles, to Alaska, the largest with 616,240 square miles. The District of Columbia, home to our nation's capital of Washington, DC, covers an area of only 68 square miles.



In terms of population, China and India are the two largest countres in the world; each has more than 1 billion people. Third in the population rankings is the United States with more than 280 million people. Those people are not evenly distributed across the country. For example, Alaska, the largest State in area, has one of the smallest populations. In contrast, New Jersey is one of the smallest States but it ranks ninth in population.

The United States is a nation of many different races. The Census Bureau collects both racial and ethnic information based on how people describe themselves. The majority of Americans give their race as White, but many other races are represented in our diverse population.

A significant number of people in the United States describe themselves as Hispanic or Latino. According to the Office of Management and Budget, Hispanic or Latino is defined as "a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race." In data collection and presentation, Federal agencies are required to use a minimum of two ethnicities: "Hispanic or Latino" and "Not Hispanic or Latino."

While the United States does not have an official language, 82 percent of the population speaks English at home and English is the language most commonly used for government business. English is used for legislation and other official documents, and laws making it the official language have been passed in more than half the States. However, millions of people in the United States speak languages other than English. Eleven percent of the population speaks Spanish or Spanish Creole at home, and the remaining population speaks a variety of other languages. Census Bureau statistics on language are only collected for people over the age of 5. The major languages spoken in the United States are listed in the table below.

The United States shares borders with both Canada and Mexico. The 5,525-mile boundary between Canada and the United States is the longest undefended boundary in the world. There are more than 86 million passenger trips between the United States and Canada each year, and more than 227 million between the United States and Mexico. Only those States with international borders are included in the table below.

Stay tuned next month for Part 2!