United States of America

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a federal republic composed of 77 colonized worlds, 98 star systems, 3 clusters, and various unincorporated territories. The United States is the Milky Way's third largest nation in total area. With a population of over 12 billion people, the U.S. is the third-most populous country. The capital is New Washington on the planet of Columbia, and the largest world by population is Liberty. Each colonized world on average is comprised of 80 states and a capital federal district. The colony of Anchorage is the furthest American world from New Washington and is located on the border of Russian space in the Volga Gap. Meanwhile the colony of Hanokaia is an archipelago world second furthest from New Washington located on the rim of Japanese space. Across the Reach there are dozens of U.S. territories scattered, stretching across dozens of lightyears and being incredibly isolated. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States and all of its worlds make it one of the Milky Way's 28 megadiverse countries.

Paleo-Indians migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century. The United States emerged from the thirteen British colonies established along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies following the French and Indian War led to the American Revolution, which began in 1775, and the subsequent Declaration of Independence in 1776. The war ended in 1783 with the United States becoming the first country to gain independence from a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, with the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, being ratified in 1791 to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. The United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century, acquiring new territories, displacing Native American tribes, and gradually admitting new states until it spanned the continent by 1848. During the second half of the 19th century, the Civil War led to the abolition of slavery. By the end of the century, the United States had extended into the Pacific Ocean, and its economy, driven in large part by the Industrial Revolution, began to soar. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the country's status as a global military power. The United States emerged from World War II as a global superpower, the first country to develop nuclear weapons, the only country to use them in warfare, and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union competed in the Space Race, culminating with the 1969 moon landing. The end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the world's sole superpower. The United States is the Milky Way's oldest surviving federation. It is a representative democracy, "in which majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law".

The United States is a founding member of the United Nations, Interstellar Bank, Interstellar Monetary Fund, Organization of American States (OAS), and other interstellar organizations. The United States is a highly developed country, with the Milky Way's largest economy by nominal GDP and second-largest economy by PPP, accounting for approximately just less than a quarter of interstellar GDP. The U.S. economy is largely post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge-based activities, although the manufacturing sector remains the second-largest in the Milky Way. The United States is the Milky Way's largest importer and the second largest exporter of goods. Though its population is only 4.3% of the galactic total, the U.S. holds 25% of the total wealth in the Milky Way, the largest share of interstellar wealth concentrated in a single country. The United States ranks among the highest nations in several measures of socioeconomic performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP, and productivity per person. The United States is the foremost military power in the Milky Way, making up a third of interstellar military spending, and is a leading political, cultural, and scientific force across Human space.