介紹美國的英語作文

　　The United States of America, also known as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., and America, is a country in North America that shares land borders with Canada and Mexico, and a sea border with Russia. Extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, the United States is a federal republic, with its capital in Washington, D.C.

　　The present-day continental United States has been inhabited for at least 15,000 years by indigenous tribes.[1] After European exploration and settlement in the 16th century, the English established their own colonies—and gained control of others that had been begun by other European nations—in the eastern portion of the continent in the 17th and early 18th centuries. On 4 July 1776, at war with Britain over fair governance, thirteen of these colonies declared their independence. In 1783, the war ended in British acceptance of the new nation. Since then, the country has more than quadrupled in size: it now consists of 50 states and one federal district; it also has numerous overseas territories.

　　At over 3.7 million square miles (over 9.5 million km), the U.S. is the third or fourth largest country by total area, depending on whether the disputed areas of China are included. It is the world's third most populous nation, with nearly 300 million people.

　　The United States has maintained a liberal democratic political system since it adopted its Articles of Confederation on 1 March 1781 and the Constitution, the Articles' replacement, on 17 September 1787. American military, economic, cultural, and political influence increased throughout the 20th century; with the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War, the nation emerged as the world's sole remaining superpower.[2] Today, it plays a major role in world affairs.

　　The earliest known use of the name America is from 1507, when a globe and a large map created by the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller in Saint-Die-des-Vosges described the combined continents of North and South America. Although the origin of the name is uncertain[3], the most widely held belief is that expressed in an accompanying book, Cosmographiae Introductio, which explains it as a feminized version of the Latin name of Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci (Americus Vespucius); in Latin, the other continents' names were all feminine. Vespucci theorized, correctly, that Christopher Columbus, on reaching islands in the Caribbean Sea in 1492, had come not to India but to a "New World".

　　The Americas were also known as Columbia, after Columbus, prompting the name District of Columbia for the land set aside as the U.S. capital. Columbia remained a popular name for the United States until the early 20th century, when it fell into relative disuse; but it is still used poetically and appears in various names and titles. A female personification of the country is also called Columbia; she is similar to Britannia.[4][5][6][7] Columbus Day, a holiday in the U.S. and other countries in the Americas commemorating Columbus' October 1492 landing.

　　The term "united States of America" was first used officially in the Declaration of Independence, adopted on 4 July 1776. On 15 November 1777, the Second Continental Congreadopted the Articles of Confederation, the first of which stated "The Stile of this Confederacy shall be 'The United States of America.'"

　　The adjectival and demonymic forms for the United States are American, a point of controversy among some.