United States of America is the third largest country in the world in population, and it is the fourth largest country in area. China and India are the only countries with more people. Only Russia, Canada, and China have larger areas. The United States covers the entire midsection of North America, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It also includes Alaska, in the northwest corner of North America; and Hawaii, far out in the Pacific. The United States is often called the U.S., U.S.A., or America.

The land of the United States is as varied as it is vast. It ranges from the warm beaches of Florida and Hawaii to the frozen northlands of Alaska, and from the level Midwestern prairies to the snow-capped Rocky Mountains. This huge and beautiful country is rich in natural resources. It has great stretches of some of the most fertile soil on Earth, a plentiful water supply and excellent water routes, and large stretches of forests. Huge deposits of valuable minerals, including coal, natural gas, and petroleum, lie underground.

Economically, the United States is one of the world's most highly developed and productive nations. No other country equals the United States in the production of goods and services. Its people enjoy one of the world's highest standards of living.

Until the 1500's, most of what is now the United States was thinly populated forests and prairies. Small groups of Indians lived scattered over the land between the Atlantic and Pacific. Inuit (also called Eskimos) inhabited what is now Alaska, and Polynesians lived in Hawaii. People in Europe saw in this vast "new world" a chance to build new and better lives. Small groups of Spaniards settled in what is now the southeastern and western United States in the 1500's. People from England and some other European countries began settling along and near the East Coast during the 1600's. In 1776, colonists in the East established an independent nation based on freedom and economic opportunity. Through the years, large numbers of Europeans continued to settle in the United States. People from almost every other part of the world also settled in the country. Except for black Africans brought in as slaves, these immigrants came seeking the rights and the opportunities that had become part of the American way of life. As a result of this immigration, the United States today has one of the world's most varied populations. It has been called "a nation of immigrants."

The vast space and resources of the land, the ideals of freedom and economic opportunity, and hard work by the people all helped build the United States into the economic giant it is today. The Americans