The amendments are proposed by Congress or by a constitutional convention convoked by Congress on the petition of the legislatures of two-thirds of the states. A very complicated procedure has been set up for adding amendments to the Constitution. Hence, its interpretation, the duty of the Supreme Court, is vitally important.
The Constitution is concisely worded, and many of its articles are general in nature. Prior to 1787 the Articles of Confederation, adopted in 1781, had functioned as a constitution. Its Constitution was drafted in 1787 by a constitutional convention held in Philadelphia. The USA is a federal republic consisting of 50 states. Also under US administration are the UN trust territories of the Caroline, Mariana, and Marshall islands in the Western Pacific. Possessions in the Pacific Ocean include Guam (area, 500 sq km population, 96,000), American Samoa (area, 200 sq km population, 30,000), and a number of smaller islands.
Possessions of the USA in the West Indies include Puerto Rico (area, 8,900 sq km population, 3.2 million in 1976), which has the formal status of a commonwealth, and the Virgin Islands (area, 300 sq km population, 95,000). Historically the territory of the coterminous states has been divided into three principal regions: the North, South, and West (see Table 1). is coextensive with the District of Columbia. Area and population of the United StatesġThe city of Washington, D.C. The Hawaiian Islands are situated in the Pacific Ocean ( see HAWAII and HAWAIIAN ISLANDS).įor statistical purposes the USA is divided into nine census bureau Table 1. Alaska occupies the northwestern part of North America and includes many islands, for example, the Aleutians. They border Canada on the north, Mexico on the south, the Pacific Ocean on the west, the Atlantic Ocean on the east, and the Gulf of Mexico on the southeast.
The coterminous states (within the USA’s pre-1959 borders) have an area of 7.8 million sq km and a population of 202 million (1970 census). Since 1959 the USA has consisted of three, noncontiguous physiographic divisions-the coterminous states, Alaska, and the Hawaiian Islands-which vary in size, level of development, and population. The country is divided administratively into 50 states and the Federal District of Columbia. It has an area of 9.4 million sq km and a population of 219 million (as of Jan. The United States of America is a country in North America.
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