US Geo Handouts.pptxVIP

U.S. Geography Contents Quick Facts General Characteristics Physiographic Divisions Regions Major Cities Capital Washington, D.C. Government federal constitutional republic President: Barack Obama(D)? Vice President: Joe Biden (D) Speaker of the House: Nancy Pelosi (D) Chief Justice: John Roberts Currency US dollar (USD) Area 3,794,066 miles2 (9,826,630 km2) Population 305,868,000 (2009 est.) Quick Facts Language English, Spanish (spoken by a sizable minority), Hawaiian (in Hawaii), Creole (in Louisiana), various indigenous and other languages Religion Christian 78% (Protestant 52%, Roman Catholic 24% Mormon 2%) other 10%, none 9%, Jewish 2%, Muslim 1% (2002) Independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain Declared: July 4, 1776 Recognized: September 3, 1783 Current constitution: June 21, 1788 GDP (PPP) 2008 estimate Total: $14.334 trillion (1st) Per capita: $47,025 (6th) General Characteristics The United States shares land borders with Canada (to the north) and Mexico (to the south), and a territorial water border with Russia in the northwest. The contiguous forty-eight states are otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the west, the Atlantic Ocean on the east, and the Gulf of Mexico to the southeast. Alaska borders the Pacific Ocean to the south, the Bering Strait to the west, and the Arctic Ocean to the north, while Hawaii lies far to the southwest of the mainland in the Pacific Ocean. The contiguous U.S. (48 states) stretches across the midsection of North America, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and from the southern borders of Canada to the northern frontier with Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico. Alaska, separated from the continental states by Canadian territory, borders both Canada and Russia (maritime border) in the far northwest. Hawaii is located in the middle of the Pacific, and the unincorporated Caribbean territory (the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico) is found in the region southeast near the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The Uni