A continental territory between two oceans, extended by Alaska, Hawaii and island territories
The United States covers most of central North America, between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, with Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. Its terrain combines the Atlantic coastal plains, the Appalachians in the east, the vast Great Plains in the centre and the high ranges of the Rocky Mountains in the west. The national territory also includes Alaska, at the north-western tip of the continent, the volcanic archipelago of Hawaii, isolated in the middle of the Pacific, and several non-contiguous island territories.
9,147,420 km²
Area
6,190 m
Highest point · Denali (Alaska)
2
Land borders
The main rivers of the United States. Click a river to see its length, source and mouth.
Climate
Highly varied given the size of the country: humid continental in the Northeast and Midwest, humid subtropical in the Southeast, semi-arid and desert across much of the interior West, Mediterranean on the California coast, oceanic in the Pacific Northwest, polar in Alaska and tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida.
Administrative divisions
The United States is a federation of 50 states, plus the federal district of Washington, D.C., seat of the federal government and separate from any state. The country also administers five inhabited, non-contiguous island territories, most of them acquired after the Spanish–American War of 1898, whose inhabitants are US citizens or nationals but have no full voting representation in Congress.
50
States
1
Washington, D.C., seat of the federal government.
5
Puerto Rico, Guam, US Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands.
The 51 regions of the mainland territory of the United States.
Overseas territories
Territories separate from the mainland, each with its own institutional status.
Mainland territory (in colour) and 5 overseas territories, shown at their actual location on the globe.
Puerto Rico
Unincorporated, organised territory with Commonwealth status
Guam
Unincorporated, organised territory
US Virgin Islands
Unincorporated, organised territory
American Samoa
Unincorporated, unorganised territory
Northern Mariana Islands
Unincorporated territory with Commonwealth status, in political union with the United States