Amerika Serikat, Sang Negara Adidaya! Inilah Sejarah dan Faktanya...
When you hear the United States of America, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? Uncle Sam Statue of Liberty Hollywood Donald Trump or fast food from America that has mushroomed in Indonesia? or even something else you guys think? The United States of America or what we are generally better known as America, is a country located in the central part of the North American continent. America is a federal state, it consists of 50 states, 5 overseas territories and a federal district. The total area of this country is 9,826,675 square kilometers. Based on this area, the United States is the 4th largest country in the world after Russia, Canada and China. The
United States shares land borders with Canada in the north and with Mexico in the south. In addition, America also has maritime borders with the Bahamas, Cuba, and Russia. The total population of America in mid-2022 is estimated at 332,830,651 people, this number covers 50 state territories and 1 federal district territory, but does not include 5 states or the United States Department of State such as Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands . , American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.
The American population is dominated by white ethnic groups with a percentage of about 61%, blacks are the largest ethnic minority group with a percentage of about 12%, followed by Asian ethnic groups at 6%. Meanwhile, Native Americans or Indians have the lowest percentage, which is about 1.1% of the entire country's population. And the rest are people of mixed ethnicity or descent.
Officially, the United States is a secular country, the first amendment to the country's constitution guarantees freedom for any religious activity and prohibits the formation of a religious government. According to a 2019 survey about 63% of adults in the country identify as being Christian. And Protestantism is the largest branch of Christianity adopted by the population in this country.
The survey also reports that about 29% of Americans describe themselves as agnostic, atheist, and unaffiliated with any religion. While the remaining 8% said they were affiliated with other religions, such as Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism. English, especially American English, is the de facto national language of the country.
United States politics takes place within the framework of a constitutional federal republic and presidential system, with various levels and branches of power. The United States of America is the oldest surviving federal state in the world . The system of government in this country is a federal republic and a representative democracy in which majority rule is governed by minority rights which are protected by law. In the American federalist system, citizens are usually subject to three levels of government : the federal, state, and local levels. The country's constitution establishes the structure and responsibilities of the federal government and its relationship to the individual states. The United States federal government consists of 3 branches, namely the legislative branch which consists of the United States Congress. The executive branch is headed by the president of the United States, who serves as head of state and head of government.
And the judicial branch which consists of the supreme court and federal courts. Joseph Robinette Biden Junior or more familiarly called Joe Biden is the current President of the United States. He has officially served as president of the United States since January 20, 2021, after winning the presidential election the previous year. Economically, the United States is categorized as a developed country.
According to the International Monetary Fund, America is the largest economy in the world by GDP at market exchange rates. The country's economy accounts for about a quarter of global GDP. The United States is one of the countries that has adopted a market economy system, and by value it is the world's largest importer and the world's second largest exporter.
Countries such as China, the European Union, Canada, Mexico, India, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and Taiwan are major trading partners of the United States. History of the United States It is generally known that the first inhabitants of the North American continent were people who came from the Siberian region around 15,000 BC. Furthermore, these people lived in the region for thousands of years and were then often referred to as Native Americans before the arrival of the European colonists. In 1492, Christopher Columbus managed to reach America on his mission to discover the new world. The news of the discovery of this new world then provoked Europeans to come to America. After European explorers and traders made first contact with the natives, millions of them died from epidemics of diseases transmitted by European settlers, such as smallpox and measles, .
where the natives do not yet have an immune system against diseases brought by the Europeans. In 1607, the British established their settlement in Jamestown, Virginia, this settlement is considered the first settlement in the United States. Furthermore, American territory continues to be visited by British, French, Spanish, and Dutch people also living in parts of America.
In the 1760s, the number of British colonies scattered on the east coast of America reached 13 colonies. These colonies grew and developed rapidly, and developed their own political and legal systems. In 1765, the British royal government through its parliament enacted new rules by increasing taxes on its colonies.
Not accepting the decision of the central government which was considered unconstitutional, the 13 British colonies in America then fought against the British Empire. The increasingly heated conflict then led to a full-fledged war that began in April 1775. This event became known as the American Revolutionary War. The American Revolution was the first successful colonial war of independence against European powers. After going through the American Revolution, these 13 colonies later declared independence from the British Empire on July 4, 1776, and founded the United States of America.
September 3, 1783, after suffering defeat in the Revolutionary War, the British government and the United States government signed a peace treaty, officially ending the American Revolutionary War. The sovereignty of the United States became internationally recognized, and the country was granted all land east of the Mississippi River. Beginning in the late 18th century, American settlers began to expand and expand westward. This period marked the beginning of the period of American expansionism. Starting with the purchase of the Louisiana region from France by President Thomas Jefferson in 1803, managed to expand the territory of the United States almost double its previous size. It did not stop there, the expansion of the territory of the United States was still continuing when in 1819, Spain handed over the territory of Florida and other Gulf Coast areas to the United States government.
In 1846, through the Oregon treaty with Britain, the United States controlled the present-day Northwest of America. In addition, after the victory in the Mexican-American War resulted in the surrender of California by Mexico in 1848 and most of Southwest America today. In addition to expansionism, the 19th century was also marked by the events of the American Civil War. War This is a war fought between the northern states that remained loyal to the federal union and the southern states that chose to secede from the union.
The cause of this war is the controversy about the practice of slavery in the territory of the United States. The civil war began when the southern states broke away from the federal union to form their own pro-slavery state, known as the confederate states of America. The American Civil War ended in April 1865 and was won by the Northern Blocks, which resulted in the dissolution of the Confederacy and the abolition of the slave system throughout the United States. The rise of leading industrialists in the late 19th century led to a wave of urbanization and an influx of millions of immigrant workers and peasants from Europe. It also marked the birth of the trade union era, a period of high economic growth and prosperity.
This period further led to the emergence of a progressive era, which was marked by major social reforms, including legal protection for the community, and attention to the living conditions of the working class. This rapid economic development made the United States a preeminent industrial power and the largest economy in the world at the beginning of the 20th century. Although initially declared neutral in World War I, in 1917 the United States declared war on Germany and later joined as part of the Allied bloc, where American expeditionary forces helped in fighting the Axis. America did the same thing again in the period of World War II. The United States initially chose to be neutral in World War II.
Initially America only acted as a supplier of weapons to the Allies, but after the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japanese troops in 1941 , it finally pushed the United States to go directly into the war and join the Allies in fighting the Axis Block. After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union emerged as rival superpowers and started a cold war. These two countries clashed indirectly in arms competition and the space race. United States foreign policy during the Cold War was centered on containing communism, and the country participated in the wars in Korea and Vietnam to achieve this goal. The cold war ended after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, which made the United States the only superpower. That's a little summary of the history of the United States.
And to know more about this country, here are 20 facts about the United States. As we all know, America took its name from Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian explorer and cartographer. The word America itself first appeared in 1507, when the German cartographer Martin Waldseemuller made a map of the world which contained the word "america" to refer to the western continent. While the first documentation related to the use of the phrase "United States of America" is in An anonymous essay published in the Virginia Gazette newspaper on April 6, 1776. Then in June 1776, the phrase was used by Thomas Jefferson in the title line of the draft Declaration of Independence.
Morocco was the first country to recognize the United States as a country. Sultan mohamed III was the first to recognize the United States as a country in 1777 when Morocco opened its ports to America. And in 1786, Morocco officially recognized the United States with a treaty of friendship and peace.
The United States national flag design consists of 13 horizontal stripes of red and white. At the top left of the flag is a blue rectangle with 50 stars in it. The meanings contained in the flag design include, among others, 13 horizontal lines symbolizing the first 13 colonies. when the United States became independent from Britain. While the 50 white stars symbolize the 50 states in the United States today.
The flag design that we see today was first used on July 4, 1960, precisely after Hawaii was declared the 50th state of the United States. Because of its design, the American national flag has several nicknames or designations. Such as the stars and strips, old glory, and the star-spangled banner. The United States Dollar is the official currency of the United States of America. Internationally this currency is coded with USD. If we convert to our country's currency, currently 1 USD has an exchange rate ranging from 14 thousand to 15 thousand rupiah, In recent times the value of the rupiah against the dollar has experienced a weakening trend.
Not only the rupiah, for now many currencies other than USD , especially emerging market currencies, are experiencing a weakening trend. The weakening of the exchange rate was caused by several factors originating from outside and within the country. One of the factors that caused the weakening of the rupiah against the dollar was the concern by investors of a wave of recession in various countries. This causes investors to choose to divert their funds to other investment instruments that are safer. Apart from being the official currency in the United States.
As we all know that the US dollar is the currency most widely used in international transactions, besides that the US dollar is also widely used internationally as the exchange rate for foreign exchange reserves outside the United States. The American dollar itself became the main international reserve currency starting after the First World War, and was then widely used to replace the pound sterling as the world's main reserve currency according to the Bretton Woods Treaty towards the end of the Second World War. Based on the total area, it is still often debated which one is greater, the United States or China.
In some sources it is stated that America is the country with the 3rd largest area in the world. but in other sources it is also mentioned that China is the 3rd largest country in the world. So, which one is actually bigger? This claim as to whether America or China is the third largest country by total area depends on two factors.
The first is the validity of China's claims to the Aksa Chin area and the Trans-Karakoram tract. Where both these areas are also claimed by India. The second one takes into account the fact that how America calculates the surface area of its own territory.
Since the initial publication of the world factbook, the CIA has updated the total area of the United States several times, from an initial 9,372,610 square kilometers, to 9,826,675 square kilometers. Regardless of the debate on the previous facts. The large territory of the United States also includes a diverse geographical area that makes it home to a wide variety of biodiversity. The United States of America is one of 17 megadiverse countries in the world that contains a large number of endemic species.
The United States is home to 428 species of mammals, 784 species of birds, 311 species of reptiles, and 295 species of amphibians, as well as about 91,000 species of insects. Alaska is the state of the United States with the largest area. Previously this area was part of the Russian Empire.
Russia first took control of Alaska in the 18th century. However, due to logistical difficulties and the high cost of maintaining ownership of this area, in 1867 the ownership of Alaska was acquired by the United States for 7.2 million USD. Located at an altitude of 6190.5 meters above sea level, the peak of Mount Denali which is located in the interior of the state of Alaska is the highest point in the United States as well as on the North American continent. While the Badwater Basin, located in Death Valley National Park in the state of California , is recorded as the lowest point in the United States at a depth of 86 meters below sea level.
The United States has the longest national border in the world. Stretching for 8,891 kilometers, the border between Canada and the United States is the longest international border in the world. The border is divided between the northern edge of the 48 states, and the eastern border of Alaska.
The Great Lakes are a group of large lakes located on the border of the United States and Canada. And the superior lake is the largest lake in the region. Lake Superior or also known as Gitchi-gami by local residents is the largest freshwater lake in the world, with a surface area of 82,100 square kilometers, or roughly the size of North Carolina or Scotland. It is said that, the lake water which has a volume of 12,088 cubic kilometers is enough to cover the entire area of North and South America as high as one foot. New York City is the largest city in the United States. With more than 20.1 million people in its metropolitan statistical area
and 23.5 million in its combined statistical area, in 2020, New York was named one of the most densely populated major cities in the world. New york city is a major global cultural, financial and media center, and is a significant influence on commerce, entertainment, research, technology, education, politics, tourism, culinary, arts, fashion and sport. the city is home to the headquarters of the United Nations, new york is an important center for international diplomacy.
Hence new york city is sometimes referred to as the capital of the world. New York was formerly a trading post established on the southern tip of the island of Manhattan. by the Dutch colonialists in about 1624. By the Dutch the settlement was given the name New Amsterdam.
The city came under British control in 1664 and was renamed New York after King Charles II of England gave the land to his brother, the Duke of York. After the independence of the United States of America, New York was the nation's capital from 1785 to 1790. Interestingly, the history of New York City has something to do with one of the regions in Indonesia. In 1677, through the Breda agreement, the Dutch government was willing to relinquish its ownership of the island of Manhattan to the British, in exchange for the island of Run, which is in the Banda Islands, Indonesia. One of the most prominent icons of New York City is the Statue of Liberty. A monument identified as a symbol of freedom, the Statue of Liberty is located on Liberty Island in New York City.
But do you know? If the Statue of Liberty isn't actually located in New York City at all. Technically the Statue of Liberty is in Jersey City, New Jersey. The Statue of Liberty was a gift from France to the United States in October 1886 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of its independence from British colonial rule. What is quite unique, when the statue arrived from Paris to New York, there was a change in color from golden brown to turquoise like platinum. This happens because the copper which is the main material for making sculptures is oxidized. While the current capital city of the United States is Washington, DC.
Or officially known as the District of Columbia, this district is also the only federal district of the United States of America. As mentioned earlier, that America is a federation consisting of 50 states and 1 federal district, as well as 5 related territories. The city of washington, DC serves as the seat of the United States federal government and several international organizations, the city is also one of the world's important political capitals.
2022-08-08 05:38
