United States

Overview

The United States of America was founded on the 4th of July 1776 when 13 British colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence. The US now has 50 states, is the third biggest country in the world and is an economic and military superpower.

It is not surprising that such a low percentage of American possess passports as there is such diversity within the bounds of their own nation that there is a great deal to occupy them before making the investment in going abroad. The incredibly broad range of possible experiences in the United States means that the visitor may in fact that they are going over country not state boundaries. Mountains, lakes, deserts, vast tracts of forest and particularly varied urban populations of ghost gold rush towns to sprawling metropoli.

History

Britain's American colonies broke with the mother country in 1776 and were recognized as the new nation of the United States of America following the Treaty of Paris in 1783. During the 19th and 20th centuries, 37 new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the North American continent and acquired a number of overseas possessions. The two most traumatic experiences in the nation's history were the Civil War (1861-65) and the Great Depression of the 1930s. Buoyed by victories in World Wars I and II and the end of the Cold War in 1991, the US remains the world's most powerful nation state. The economy is marked by steady growth, low unemployment and inflation, and rapid advances in technology.