The US was founded in 1776, when the first 13 colonies were established on the Atlantic coast. Today, it is a federation of fifty states. Alaska and Hawaii were the last two states and were included in 1959. In addition to these fifty states, it includes: Washington DC (District of Colombia), the free Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and some Pacific Islands.

The USA is the third largest country by area in the world (Russia and Canada are larger) and 30 times larger than Norway. It would take you five to six days to drive a car the 4,500 km from the eastern to the western coast. From Canada in the north to Mexico in the south it is 2,500 km. It has about 304 million inhabitants. It is the third largest country by population. Only China and India have more people.

The country is divided into four regions: the Northeast, the Midwest, the South and the West. These regions are different in size, population, race, dialects and cultural background. For example, food traditions are different in the four regions.