Constitution-based federal republic; strong democratic tradition
republic
Independence date
4 July 1776 (from Great Britain)
Religions
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.)
Christian 42.8% (Catholic 27.1%, Celestial 5%, Methodist 3.2%, other Protestant 2.2%, other 5.3%), Muslim 24.4%, Vodoun 17.3%, other 15.5% (2002 census)
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
French (official), Fon and Yoruba (most common vernaculars in south), tribal languages (at least six major ones in north)
North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico
Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Benin, between Nigeria and Togo
Area
9,826,675 km sq
112,622 km sq
Coastline
19,924 km
121 km
Climate
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
