The land

The United States is a very large country, and an ocean lies on each side of it. The Atlantic Ocean is on the East Coast. The Pacific Ocean is on the West Coast. Alaska, in the far northwest, also touches the Arctic Ocean. Hawaii is a group of islands out in the Pacific Ocean.

The two longest rivers in the country are the Missouri River and the Mississippi River. Each one runs more than two thousand miles. The Missouri begins in the Rocky Mountains in Montana and joins the Mississippi near St. Louis. The Mississippi begins in Minnesota, flows down the middle of the country, and reaches the sea in Louisiana. If a question asks for one of the two longest rivers, either name is accepted.

The country has two neighbors on land. Canada is to the north and Mexico is to the south. Ships, trucks and trains cross both borders every day, and both borders are controlled by the federal government.

Thirteen states touch Canada: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Alaska. You only have to name one of them. Part of the northern border runs through the Great Lakes rather than over land.

Four states touch Mexico: California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. Again, you only need to name one. Along Texas the border follows a river, the Rio Grande.

The border with Canada is about 5,525 miles long. That total includes the part along Alaska. It is the longest border between any two countries in the world. The border with Mexico is about 1,954 miles long.

The capital of the United States is Washington, D.C. It is the city where Congress meets, where the President lives and works, and where the Supreme Court sits. The letters D.C. stand for District of Columbia, and the city is named after George Washington.

Washington, D.C. is not a state. It is a special federal district. It was created so that the national government would not sit inside any single state and depend on it. Congress chose the Potomac River area in 1790, President Washington picked the exact site in 1791, and the government moved there in 1800.

Because D.C. is not a state, the people who live there have no United States senators. They send one member to the House of Representatives, called a delegate. The delegate can speak and work in committees, but cannot vote when the House takes its final vote on a new law. D.C. has no governor. It has a mayor and a city council. Since the 23rd Amendment was added in 1961, people who live in D.C. do vote in presidential elections.

There are 50 states. The first thirteen grew out of the original colonies. The newest are Alaska and Hawaii, which both became states in 1959. Each state has its own capital city, its own governor, its own legislature and its own laws, within the limits the Constitution sets.

Not all American land is inside the 50 states. The United States also has territories, which are American land but are not states. They are Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa. If you are asked to name one United States territory, any one of those five is correct.

People born in Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands are United States citizens at birth. People born in American Samoa are United States nationals. The territories have no senators. Like D.C., each one sends a member to the House of Representatives. Puerto Rico calls its member a resident commissioner. The others call theirs a delegate. These members can speak and work in committees. They cannot vote when the House takes its final vote on a bill. People living in the territories do not vote in the general election for President.