The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C.
Besides the 48 conterminous states that occupy the middle latitudes of the continent, the United States includes the state of Alaska, at the northwestern extreme of North America, and the island state of Hawaii, in the mid- Pacific Ocean.
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The USA borders Canada in the north; its southern 3,155 km long border to Mexico is partly furnished with a great wall (or fence). The United States also shares maritime borders with the Bahamas, Cuba, and Russia. With an area of 9,833,516 km², the USA is the third-largest country in the world.
The United States of America is the fourth largest country in the world after Russia, Canada and China. With an area of 9.53 million km², it stretches across North America from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Atlantic Ocean in the east. They border Canada to the north and Mexico to the south.