Constitution-based federal republic; strong democratic tradition
Independence date
4 July 1776 (from Great Britain)
Religions
Muslim 50%, indigenous beliefs 40%, Christian 10%
Protestant 51.3%, Roman Catholic 23.9%, Mormon 1.7%, other Christian 1.6%, Jewish 1.7%, Buddhist 0.7%, Muslim 0.6%, other or unspecified 2.5%, unaffiliated 12.1%, none 4% (2007 est.)
Languages
Portuguese (official), Crioulo, African languages
English 82.1%, Spanish 10.7%, other Indo-European 3.8%, Asian and Pacific island 2.7%, other 0.7% (2000 census) note: Hawaiian is an official language in the state of Hawaii
Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Senegal
North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico
Area
36,125 km sq
9,826,675 km sq
Coastline
350 km
19,924 km
Climate
tropical; generally hot and humid; monsoonal-type rainy season (June to November) with southwesterly winds; dry season (December to May) with northeasterly harmattan winds
mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida, arctic in Alaska, semiarid in the great plains west of the Mississippi River, and arid in the Great Basin of the southwest; low winter temperatures in the northwest are ameliorated occasionally in January and February by warm chinook winds from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains
