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140-487: The reforms were diverse and varied, but are typified by three signature project: These reforms were included in a specific chapter of the Political Constitution . The Social Guarantees generated great popular support but also brought the ire and intense opposition of the most powerful classes including the coffee oligarchy, the creole aristocracy, and some intellectual sectors. It also raised distrust on

280-580: A " Special Relationship " with the United Kingdom and strong ties with Canada , Australia , New Zealand , the Philippines , Japan , South Korea , Israel , and several European Union countries ( France , Italy , Germany , Spain , and Poland ). The U.S. works closely with its NATO allies on military and national security issues, and with countries in the Americas through

420-490: A Constituent Assembly that was officially established on June 1. This Constituent Assembly would be the second last to assume legislative powers, although it was mostly reduced to ratification of Alfaro's decrees. He drafted the Constitution of 1844, which would leave unhappy the military hierarchy that would overthrow the then ruler, Antonio Pinto Soares who would return power to Alfaro on June 7, 1846. He reconvenes

560-420: A Constituent Assembly that would function until 1847, issuing the Constitution of that year. Which would be reformed, again via Constituent, in 1848. Being president José María Montealegre Fernández operated a Constituent Assembly from October 16 to December 26, 1859, which drafted the respective Constitution. The provisional governor José María Montealegre Fernández was elected as constitutional President for

700-542: A coordinated, continent-wide military effort. Finally, deteriorating relations between the British military establishment and the colonists, relations that were already less than positive, set the stage for further distrust and dislike of British troops. Following their victory in the French and Indian War, Britain began to assert greater control over local colonial affairs, resulting in colonial political resistance ; one of

840-534: A decentralized government that operated until 1789. After the British surrender at the siege of Yorktown in 1781 American sovereignty was internationally recognized by the Treaty of Paris (1783), through which the U.S. gained territory stretching west to the Mississippi River, north to present-day Canada, and south to Spanish Florida . The Northwest Ordinance (1787) established the precedent by which

980-677: A dictator in 1838 and calls a Constituent Assembly that is suspended indefinitely. Carrillo issues by decree the Law of Bases and Guarantees that operates as a de facto Constitution. In April 1842 General Francisco Morazán took power in Costa Rica by overthrowing Carrillo and calling a Constituent Assembly in June. This would also have legislative powers, even though they are not specific to a Constituent Power. Ousted Morazán and elected interim president José María Alfaro , on April 5, 1843, he convened

1120-476: A draft Constitution. The Constituent Assembly rejected their draft and instead took as a basis for discussion the Constitution of 1871, although in the course of the revisions they admitted some elements of it. On 1949 November 7, the Assembly approved the new constitution, which is currently in force. Its original wording had 199 articles distributed in eighteen titles and 19 transitory articles. Declares that

1260-407: A few prominent industrialists , largely by their formation of trusts and monopolies to prevent competition. Tycoons led the nation's expansion in the railroad , petroleum , and steel industries. The United States emerged as a pioneer of the automotive industry . These changes were accompanied by significant increases in economic inequality , slum conditions , and social unrest , creating

1400-666: A global reach. The U.S. is a founding member of the World Bank , Organization of American States , NATO , and the United Nations , as well as a permanent member of the UN Security Council . The first documented use of the phrase "United States of America" is a letter from January 2, 1776. Stephen Moylan , a Continental Army aide to General George Washington , wrote to Joseph Reed , Washington's aide-de-camp , seeking to go "with full and ample powers from

1540-547: A government, the stage was set for civil war. The opposition camp was led by José Figueres , commander of the National Liberation Army. Key allies for Figueres were the Caribbean Legion and Frank Marshall, the leader of the anti-communist forces with dual Costa Rican and German citizenship whose family had been persecuted by Calderón. That coalition prevailed in the civil war and Calderonismo

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1680-627: A journalist and a conservative politician; and León Cortés Castro , an ex-president who had served in Calderon's own Republican Party but defected. Cortés even ran as an opposition candidate in 1944 . Cortés has been accused of sympathies for fascism and anti-Semitism . During his government, Cortés persecuted Jews and communists, the antithesis of Calderón who was an ally of the Communist Party and who oppressed Costa Ricans of German and Italian descent after declaring war on fascism . In

1820-685: A la tica (tico-style communism). Figueres said he was visited by several representatives of the most conservative business, including Ricardo Castro Beeche, Francisco Jiménez Ortiz (shareholder of the Nation Group), Fernando Lara Bustamante, and Sergio Carballo who urged him to roll back the Social Guarantees and abolish the Labor Code and the Costa Rican Social Security Fund. In return, the offered him

1960-516: A military coup overthrew the government and broke the constitutional order again. The part of the Constitution of 1859 referred to the Executive Branch was again in effect for a brief period, from August to October 1870 In 1868, Jesús Jiménez Zamora overthrew José María Castro Madriz , convoking a constituent on November 15 of that year and legislating by decree authoritatively. The Assembly begins functions on January 1, 1869 and based on

2100-598: A period of heightened, overt racism following Reconstruction, a time often called the nadir of American race relations . A series of Supreme Court decisions, including Plessy v. Ferguson , emptied the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments of their force, allowing Jim Crow laws in the South to remain unchecked, sundown towns in the Midwest, and segregation in communities across the country , which would be reinforced by

2240-488: A prominent leader in the early 1960s. The Great Society plan of President Lyndon Johnson 's administration resulted in groundbreaking and broad-reaching laws, policies and a constitutional amendment to counteract some of the worst effects of lingering institutional racism . The counterculture movement in the U.S. brought significant social changes, including the liberalization of attitudes toward recreational drug use and sexuality . It also encouraged open defiance of

2380-499: A rather questionable election where the opposition could not participate. All, except two deputies, belonged to the single party of the regime; the Peliquista Party . Only the deputies Otilio Ulate Blanco and Otto Cortés Fernández had been elected by the "Tinoquista Party". A commission of former presidents was chosen to draft the 1917 Constitution, and it is considered one of the most reformist in history, although it had

2520-526: A sense of manifest destiny . The Missouri Compromise attempted to balance the desire of northern states to prevent the expansion of slavery into new territories with that of southern states to extend it, admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. It further prohibited slavery in all other lands of the Louisiana Purchase north of the 36°30′ parallel . As Americans expanded further into land inhabited by Native Americans,

2660-614: A sense of American identity as well. Men who otherwise never left their own colony now traveled across the continent to fight alongside men from decidedly different backgrounds but who were no less "American". British officers trained American officers for battle, most notably George Washington ; these officers would lend their skills and expertise to the colonists' cause during the American Revolutionary War to come. In addition, colonial legislatures and officials found it necessary to cooperate intensively in pursuit of

2800-550: A series of rights that are even higher than those of some developed countries (such as the United States ) and according to some studies may have contributed to the creation of a strong middle class . In any case in Costa Rica there was never the semifeudalization that occurred in the rest of Central America, and since its identity began to develop, the differences between social classes were never very marked. Constitution of Costa Rica The Constitution of Costa Rica

2940-508: A total of twenty constituent deputies who drafted the Political Constitution of 1870 strongly influenced by liberal ideas. This Constitution would be the longest lasting in Costa Rican history and would be taken as a basis by the constituents of 1949 to draft the respective Constitution. The National Constituent Assembly of 1917 was convoked by the de facto Costa Rican President Federico Alberto Tinoco Granados after gaining power in

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3080-522: A very short life. Among other things, it postulated the duty of the State to protect the working class and created a bicameral Parliament with a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies . It also endowed the population with a large number of civil rights, although more so in the theory that in practice, the Tinoquista regime was exceptionally repressive. In any case, after the overthrow of Tinoco in 1919,

3220-464: A year). Juvenile correctional facilities are operated by local or state governments and serve as longer-term placements for any minor adjudicated as delinquent and ordered by a judge to be confined. As of January 2023, the United States has the sixth-highest per capita incarceration rate in the world—531 people per 100,000 inhabitants—and the largest prison and jail population in

3360-591: Is believed to be the first widespread culture in the Americas. Over time, indigenous North American cultures grew increasingly sophisticated, and some, such as the Mississippian culture , developed agriculture , architecture , and complex societies . In the post-archaic period , the Mississippian cultures were located in the midwestern , eastern , and southern regions, and the Algonquian in

3500-498: Is known as the presidential system , in contrast to the parliamentary system , where the executive is part of the legislative body. Many countries around the world imitated this aspect of the 1789 Constitution of the United States , especially in the Americas. The Constitution is silent on political parties. However, they developed independently in the 18th century with the Federalist and Anti-Federalist parties. Since then,

3640-438: Is now the United States experienced conflicts with Native Americans, they also engaged in trade, exchanging European tools for food and animal pelts. Relations ranged from close cooperation to warfare and massacres. The colonial authorities often pursued policies that forced Native Americans to adopt European lifestyles, including conversion to Christianity. Along the eastern seaboard, settlers trafficked African slaves through

3780-417: Is the official religion and that it contributes to its maintenance, without impeding the exercise of any other worship it is not opposed to universal morality or good customs. Is devoted to education and culture. In addition to enshrining compulsory primary education, it states that the preschool and high school are free. Freedom of private education is guaranteed and introduced various provisions regarding

3920-532: Is the supreme law of Costa Rica . At the end of the 1948 Costa Rican Civil War , José Figueres Ferrer oversaw the Costa Rican Constitutional Assembly , which drafted the document. It was approved on 1949 November 7. Several older constitutions had been in effect starting from 1812 , with the most recent former constitution ratified in 1871 . The Costa Rican Constitution is remarkable in that in its Article 12 abolished

4060-529: Is the custom in Costa Rica, after a rupture of the constitutional order that defenestrates a government, a Constituent Assembly was convened. It legitimized the new government (a custom that was maintained in 1871, 1917 and 1949). During the very unstable second half of the nineteenth century in which there were many coups d'état, the Constitutions proliferated as much as the coups, as well as their Assemblies. Braulio Carrillo assumes power in Costa Rica as

4200-552: Is the federal agency charged with addressing most environmental-related issues . The idea of wilderness has shaped the management of public lands since 1964, with the Wilderness Act . The Endangered Species Act of 1973 provides a way to protect threatened and endangered species and their habitats. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service implements and enforces the Act. In 2024, the U.S. ranked 34th among 180 countries in

4340-441: The 1917 coup d'état in Costa Rica that overthrew Alfredo González Flores . Tinoco sought to legitimize his regime by creating a new model of republic, so the Constitution of 1871 was abolished. The Assembly began sessions on April 11 and ended on June 8. One of its first decisions was to declare Tinoco the legitimate president of Costa Rica and extend its mandate to six years. It was constituted by 42 deputies who were elected in

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4480-529: The 1948 general election , the Victory Bloc was the coalition of Calderón, reformists and Communists, the latter as part of the Popular Front that arose in several nations around the same time. The Victory Bloc nominated Calderón for the second time and the opposition supported Ulate, with both sides accused of widespread electoral fraud. When no candidate earned the required number of votes to form

4620-603: The Allies of World War I , helping to turn the tide against the Central Powers . In 1920, a constitutional amendment granted nationwide women's suffrage . During the 1920s and '30s, radio for mass communication and the invention of early television transformed communications nationwide. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 triggered the Great Depression , which President Franklin D. Roosevelt responded to with

4760-553: The Atlantic slave trade . The original Thirteen Colonies that would later found the United States were administered as possessions of Great Britain , and had local governments with elections open to most white male property owners . The colonial population grew rapidly, eclipsing Native American populations; by the 1770s, the natural increase of the population was such that only a small minority of Americans had been born overseas. The colonies' distance from Britain allowed for

4900-817: The Bering land bridge more than 12,000 years ago, and formed various civilizations and societies . British colonization led to the first settlement of the Thirteen Colonies in Virginia in 1607. Clashes with the British Crown over taxation and political representation sparked the American Revolution , with the Second Continental Congress formally declaring independence on July 4, 1776. Following its victory in

5040-545: The Constitutional Chamber . During the Óscar Arias Sánchez administration, the then Minister of the Presidency , his brother Rodrigo Arias, publicly declared that the government was interested in convening a new Constituent Assembly to draft a new Constitution that would reform the State by providing what it qualified as governability. For which it would require the approval of a bill that should have

5180-549: The Environmental Performance Index . The country joined the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2016 and has many other environmental commitments. The United States is a federal republic of 50 states and a separate federal capital district, Washington, D.C. It also asserts sovereignty over five unincorporated territories and several uninhabited island possessions . The U.S. is

5320-500: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Marshals Service have national jurisdiction and specialized duties, such as protecting civil rights , national security and enforcing U.S. federal courts ' rulings and federal laws. State courts conduct most civil and criminal trials, and federal courts handle designated crimes and appeals of state court decisions . There is no unified "criminal justice system" in

5460-702: The First Political Statute of the Province of Costa Rica on March 19, 1823. Which was in force until the outbreak of civil war between monarchists and republicans of that year . After the war, when the Mexican Empire had fallen and Central America had become the United Provinces , another Provincial Congress was convened again by the interim president and leader of the winning Republican side Gregorio José Ramírez, who handed over

5600-810: The Fundamental Law of the State of Costa Rica on January 25, 1825 by the Constituent Congress of the State of Costa Rica during the presidency of Juan Rafael Mora Porras and heavily influenced by the Cadiz Constitution . This Constitution will be in place until Costa Rica's departure from the Federal Republic in 1839. On March 8, 1841 then dictator Braulio Carrillo Colina enacted the Decree of Basis and Guarantees , which worked as de facto Constitution on his regime. and

5740-720: The Great Lakes , Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico . British colonization of the East Coast began with the Virginia Colony (1607) and Plymouth Colony (1620). The Mayflower Compact and the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut established precedents for representative self-governance and constitutionalism that would develop throughout the American colonies. While European settlers in what

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5880-719: The Great Lakes region and along the Eastern Seaboard , while the Hohokam culture and Ancestral Puebloans inhabited the southwest . Native population estimates of what is now the United States before the arrival of European immigrants range from around 500,000 to nearly 10 million. Christopher Columbus began exploring the Caribbean for Spain in 1492, leading to Spanish-speaking settlements and missions from Puerto Rico and Florida to New Mexico and California . France established its own settlements along

6020-524: The House of Representatives , a lower house based on population; and the Senate , an upper house based on equal representation for each state. Federalism provides substantial autonomy to the 50 states, while the country's political culture promotes liberty , equality , individualism , personal autonomy , and limited government . One of the world's most developed countries , the United States has had

6160-683: The Independence of Central America the Cadiz Constitution remained by decree of the Towns' Legates Junta which took over power as an interim government in the meantime a new constitutional text was drafted. The Towns' Legates Junta (or Junta de Legados de los Pueblos) sanctioned the Interim Fundamental Social Pact or Pact of Concord , Costa Rica's first Constitution on December 1, 1821. This Constitution

6300-596: The Midwest . At the same time, about one million French Canadians migrated from Quebec to New England . During the Great Migration , millions of African Americans left the rural South for urban areas in the North. Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867. The Compromise of 1877 effectively ended Reconstruction and white supremacists took local control of Southern politics . African Americans endured

6440-688: The National Park Service and other agencies. About 28% of the country's land is publicly owned and federally managed, primarily in the Western States . Most of this land is protected , though some is leased for commercial use, and less than one percent is used for military purposes. Environmental issues in the United States include debates on non-renewable resources and nuclear energy , air and water pollution , biodiversity , logging and deforestation , and climate change . The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

6580-652: The New Deal , a series of sweeping programs and public works projects combined with financial reforms and regulations . All were intended to protect against future economic depressions. Initially neutral during World War II , the U.S. began supplying war materiel to the Allies of World War II in March 1941 and entered the war in December after the Empire of Japan 's attack on Pearl Harbor . The U.S. developed

6720-778: The Organization of American States and the United States–Mexico–Canada Free Trade Agreement . In South America, Colombia is traditionally considered to be the closest ally of the United States. The U.S. exercises full international defense authority and responsibility for Micronesia , the Marshall Islands , and Palau through the Compact of Free Association . It has increasingly conducted strategic cooperation with India , but its ties with China have steadily deteriorated. Since 2014,

6860-648: The Pentium microprocessor in accordance with Moore's law , rechargeable lithium-ion batteries , the first gene therapy trial, and cloning either emerged in the U.S. or were improved upon there. The Human Genome Project was formally launched in 1990, while Nasdaq became the first stock market in the United States to trade online in 1998. In the Gulf War of 1991, an American-led international coalition of states expelled an Iraqi invasion force that had occupied neighboring Kuwait . The September 11 attacks on

7000-534: The Soviet Union's collapse and the end of the Cold War in 1991, the U.S. emerged as the world's sole superpower , wielding significant geopolitical influence globally . The U.S. national government is a presidential constitutional federal republic and liberal democracy with three separate branches : legislative , executive , and judicial . It has a bicameral national legislature composed of

7140-399: The Spanish–American War . (The Philippines was granted full independence from the U.S. on July 4, 1946, following World War II. Puerto Rico and Guam have remained U.S. territories.) American Samoa was acquired by the United States in 1900 after the Second Samoan Civil War . The U.S. Virgin Islands were purchased from Denmark in 1917. The United States entered World War I alongside

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7280-415: The University of Costa Rica , the freedom of teaching in higher education and various cultural aims of the Republic. Deals with the political rights and duties. The established universal suffrage and direct right of Costa Ricans of either sex and a Supreme Electoral Tribunal was established to organize and conduct the elections, declaring the result of the elections and perform other functions related to

7420-399: The cotton gin made the institution increasingly profitable for Southern elites . This sectional conflict regarding slavery culminated in the American Civil War (1861–1865). Eleven slave states seceded and formed the Confederate States of America , while the other states remained in the Union . War broke out in April 1861 after the Confederates bombarded Fort Sumter . After

7560-413: The fall of communism and the collapse of the Soviet Union , which marked the end of the Cold War and left the United States as the world's sole superpower . The 1990s saw the longest recorded economic expansion in American history , a dramatic decline in U.S. crime rates , and advances in technology . Throughout this decade, technological innovations such as the World Wide Web , the evolution of

7700-445: The largest nominal GDP since about 1890 and accounted for over 15% of the global economy in 2023. It possesses by far the largest amount of wealth of any country and has the highest disposable household income per capita among OECD countries. The U.S. ranks among the world's highest in economic competitiveness , productivity , innovation , human rights , and higher education . Its hard power and cultural influence have

7840-406: The 1775 Battles of Lexington and Concord , igniting the American Revolutionary War . At the Second Continental Congress , the colonies appointed George Washington commander-in-chief of the Continental Army , and created a committee that named Thomas Jefferson to draft the Declaration of Independence . Two days after passing the Lee Resolution to create an independent nation the Declaration

7980-408: The 1775–1783 Revolutionary War , the country continued to expand westward across North America , resulting in the dispossession of native inhabitants . As more states were admitted , a North–South division over slavery led to the secession of the Confederate States of America , which fought states remaining in the Union in the 1861–1865 American Civil War . With the victory and preservation of

8120-466: The 2010s, political polarization in the country increased between liberal and conservative factions. This polarization was capitalized upon in the January 2021 Capitol attack , when a mob of insurrectionists entered the U.S. Capitol and sought to prevent the peaceful transfer of power in an attempted self-coup d'état . The United States is the world's third-largest country by total area behind Russia and Canada. The 48 contiguous states and

8260-426: The American West have an alpine climate . The climate is arid in the Southwest, Mediterranean in coastal California , and oceanic in coastal Oregon , Washington , and southern Alaska . Most of Alaska is subarctic or polar . Hawaii , the southern tip of Florida and U.S. territories in the Caribbean and Pacific are tropical . States bordering the Gulf of Mexico are prone to hurricanes, and most of

8400-406: The Civil Registry certifies that all are genuine, the referendum would have been held on the first Sunday of July 2019. However, scholar and researcher at the University of Costa Rica Esperanza Tasies filed a writ of amparo against the ruling of the TSE on Thursday, February 16, 2017. According to Tasies, the current Constitution only allows for partial reforms of the Constitution, making use of

8540-414: The Comptroller General of the Republic and the National Treasury. Regulates the independent institutions that are independent in governance and administration. These include state banks, insurance institutions estatatales and new bodies set up by the Legislative Assembly by vote of at least two thirds of its members. Regulates the civil service and the oath that all civil servants must observe (to defend

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8680-420: The Constitution and laws). Refers to the constitutional review. A project that will partially reform the Constitution should be presented in regular session by at least ten deputies. The project requires approval by two-thirds vote of the Assembly and then passed to the Executive. President returns with his observations along with their annual Legislature at its next regular meeting message. The Assembly must pass

8820-405: The Constitution are null and that the Supreme Court can declare the laws and executive decrees unconstitutional. The army as a permanent institution is abolished. Regulates the condition of Costa Rican citizenship by birth or by naturalization. Regulates the situation of foreigners who have the same rights and duties as Costa Ricans, with the exceptions set by the Constitution and laws. Contains

8960-402: The Constitution of 1859, would issue on 18 February the Constitution of 1869, which would have an ephemeral duration then, overthrown Jiménez by Tomás Guardia and elected provisional president Bruno Carranza , he convenes a constituent in 1870 that accepts the resignation. The differences between this Assembly and the de facto president Tomás Guardia lead to the abolition of this by Guardia and

9100-417: The Constitution of 1917 was abolished and restored from that of 1871, it would not be until 1949 that a new Constituent Assembly would be convened that would create another Constitution that would replace, to date, that of 1871. The junta led by José Figueres Ferrer took office in Costa Rica on 1948 May 8 under the name of the Founding Junta of the Second Republic , and the same day provisionally reinstated

9240-424: The Costa Rican military , making it the second nation after Japan to do so by law. Another unusual clause is an amendment asserting the right to live in a healthy natural environment . The first Constitution ever to be implemented in the Costa Rican territory was the Cadiz Constitution or Spanish Constitution of 1812 , which was in place between 1812 and 1814 and then again between 1820 and 1821, however soon after

9380-420: The Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The term "United States" and the initialism "U.S.", used as nouns or as adjectives in English, are common short names for the country. The initialism "USA", a noun, is also common. "United States" and "U.S." are the established terms throughout the U.S. federal government , with prescribed rules. In English, the term "America" rarely refers to topics unrelated to

9520-404: The District of Columbia occupy a combined area of 3,119,885 square miles (8,080,470 km ). The coastal plain of the Atlantic seaboard gives way to inland forests and rolling hills in the Piedmont plateau region. The Appalachian Mountains and the Adirondack massif separate the East Coast from the Great Lakes and the grasslands of the Midwest . The Mississippi River System ,

9660-458: The Elder concluded that major military resources needed to be devoted to North America to win the war against France. For the first time, the continent became one of the main theaters of what could be termed a " world war ". The British colonies' position as an integral part of the British Empire became more apparent during the war, with British military and civilian officials becoming a more significant presence in American life. The war increased

9800-431: The Federation: Costa Rica, El Salvador , Guatemala , Honduras and Nicaragua , as a temporary constitution in the meantime the Central American Federal Constituent Assembly drafted the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Central America which was enacted on November 22, 1824 and was in place until the Federation's dissolution in 1838. Still as part of the Federal Republic the then State of Costa Rica promulgates

9940-465: The January 1863 Emancipation Proclamation , many freed slaves joined the Union army . The war began to turn in the Union's favor following the 1863 Siege of Vicksburg and Battle of Gettysburg , and the Confederacy surrendered in 1865 after the Union's victory in the Battle of Appomattox Court House . The Reconstruction era followed the war. After the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln , Reconstruction Amendments were passed to protect

10080-497: The New Constitution Movement presented a project for the convocation of a new Constituent Assembly. According to the original text, the Assembly would consist of 45 members, with an equal number of men and women, elected by closed lists of 27 nationals and 18 provincials to be installed on November 7, 2019 and extend for 20 months and draft a Constitution that is in effect by September 15, 2021. They also asked

10220-514: The Republic is free and independent, it proclaims that sovereignty resides in the nation, setting the limits of Costa Rican territory and consecrates its sovereignty over the airspace above its territory, territorial waters and constitutional platform. It provides that the government is popular, representative, alternative and responsible and is exercised by the legislative , executive , and judicial branches. It provides that provisions contrary to

10360-706: The Republic, who is popularly elected at the same time that the President and replace him in his temporary or permanent absence. The Governing Council composed of the President and the Ministers and has specific functions, such as exercising the right of pardon and appoint and dismiss diplomatic representatives. Regulates the judiciary. The Supreme Court justices are appointed by the Legislature for periods of eight years and reelected automatically for equal periods unless otherwise decided by two thirds of Deputies. For

10500-611: The Rocky Mountains, the Yellowstone Caldera , is the continent's largest volcanic feature. In 2021, the United States had 8% of global permanent meadows and pastures and 10% of cropland. With its large size and geographic variety, the United States includes most climate types. East of the 100th meridian , the climate ranges from humid continental in the north to humid subtropical in the south. The western Great Plains are semi-arid . Many mountainous areas of

10640-625: The Supreme Electoral Tribunal for authorization to convene the referendum initiative, however, the Court's decision was to reject the convocation when finding constitutional frictions with the proposal for three main reasons: A second version with the objections observed was subsequently presented before the Electoral Tribunal. Now it contemplated 61 deputies, half men and women, and a period of 15 months to discuss

10780-647: The U.S. has become a key ally of Ukraine ; it has also provided the country with significant military equipment and other support in response to Russia's 2022 invasion . The president is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces and appoints its leaders, the secretary of defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff . The Department of Defense , which is headquartered at the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., administers five of

10920-661: The U.S. territories." Despite disparate systems of confinement, four main institutions dominate: federal prisons , state prisons , local jails, and juvenile correctional facilities . Federal prisons are run by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and hold people who have been convicted of federal crimes, including pretrial detainees. State prisons, run by the official department of correction of each state, hold sentenced people serving prison time (usually longer than one year) for felony offenses. Local jails are county or municipal facilities that incarcerate defendants prior to trial; they also hold those serving short sentences (typically under

11060-464: The United States and the peaceful transfer of power , respectively. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 from France nearly doubled the territory of the United States. Lingering issues with Britain remained , leading to the War of 1812 , which was fought to a draw. Spain ceded Florida and its Gulf Coast territory in 1819. In the late 18th century, American settlers began to expand westward , many with

11200-775: The United States entered the Cold War, where geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union led the two countries to dominate world affairs . The U.S. utilized the policy of containment to limit the USSR's sphere of influence, and prevailed in the Space Race , which culminated with the first crewed Moon landing in 1969. Domestically, the U.S. experienced economic growth , urbanization , and population growth following World War II . The civil rights movement emerged, with Martin Luther King Jr. becoming

11340-666: The United States has operated as a de facto two-party system , though the parties in that system have been different at different times. The two main national parties are presently the Democratic and the Republican . The former is perceived as relatively liberal in its political platform while the latter is perceived as relatively conservative . In the American federal system , sovereign powers are shared between two levels of elected government: national and state. People in

11480-593: The United States in 2001 by the pan-Islamist militant organization al-Qaeda led to the war on terror , and subsequent military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq . The cultural impact of the attacks was profound and long-lasting. The U.S. housing bubble culminated in 2007 with the Great Recession , the largest economic contraction since the Great Depression. Coming to a head in

11620-656: The United States of America to Spain" to seek assistance in the Revolutionary War effort. The first known public usage is an anonymous essay published in the Williamsburg newspaper, The Virginia Gazette , on April 6, 1776. By June 1776, the "United States of America" appeared in the Articles of Confederation and the Declaration of Independence . The Second Continental Congress adopted

11760-601: The United States, slavery was abolished nationally . By 1900, the country had established itself as a great power , a status solidified after its involvement in World War I . After Japan 's attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the U.S. entered World War II . Its aftermath left the U.S. and the Soviet Union as the world's two superpowers and led to the Cold War , during which both countries struggled for ideological dominance and international influence . Following

11900-541: The United States, despite the usage of "the Americas " as the totality of North and South America. "The States" is an established colloquial shortening of the name, used particularly from abroad; "stateside" is the corresponding adjective or adverb. The first inhabitants of North America migrated from Siberia across the Bering land bridge about 12,000 years ago; the Clovis culture , which appeared around 11,000 BC,

12040-624: The United States, except Iran , North Korea , and Bhutan . Though Taiwan does not have formal diplomatic relations with the U.S., it maintains close unofficial relations. The United States regularly supplies Taiwan with military equipment to deter potential Chinese aggression. Its geopolitical attention also turned to the Indo-Pacific when the United States joined the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue with Australia, India, and Japan. The United States has

12180-509: The United States. The American prison system is largely heterogenous, with thousands of relatively independent systems operating across federal, state, local, and tribal levels. In 2023, "these systems [held] almost 2 million people in 1,566 state prisons, 98 federal prisons, 3,116 local jails, 1,323 juvenile correctional facilities, 181 immigration detention facilities, and 80 Indian country jails, as well as in military prisons , civil commitment centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and prisons in

12320-443: The amendment by a two-thirds vote of all its members again. The general reform of the Constitution can only be made by a Constituent Assembly convened for that purpose, after complying with the formalities of partial reform. The title refers to the authority of the Constitution and includes transitory articles. The 1949 Constitution has been in force for a considerable period and has been the subject of numerous partial reforms. Among

12460-574: The backing of qualified majority in the Legislative Assembly (38 deputies) and does not require a presidential signature, or via referendum. Arias mentioned to La Nación newspaper in December 2008 the interest of calling a referendum for that purpose and then holding the elections of constituent deputies. However at the end of the Arias administration, such a project was not presented. Other political figures have expressed their support for

12600-578: The bills relating to them and in some cases requires a qualified majority deviate from their approach. Concerns the executive branch exercising the President of the Republic and the Cabinet Ministers, as they subordinate collaborators and are freely appointed and removed by him. President's period of four years and a former President can not be elected again to eight years after completion of his previous period. There are two Vice Presidents of

12740-405: The contiguous United States are in the State of California, about 84 miles (135 km) apart. At an elevation of 20,310 feet (6,190.5 m), Alaska's Denali is the highest peak in the country and continent. Active volcanoes are common throughout Alaska's Alexander and Aleutian Islands , and Hawaii consists of volcanic islands. The supervolcano underlying Yellowstone National Park in

12880-538: The convening of a new Assembly in 1871 that drafted the Constitution of that year and the one with the longest duration in history, as it would last (except brief interruptions) until 1949. The National Constituent Assembly of 1871 was convoked by the de facto Costa Rican President Tomás Guardia Gutiérrez after annulling the previous Assembly established in May 1870 by his predecessor and political rival Bruno Carranza Ramírez . Guardia called for new elections that selected

13020-624: The convening of a new Constituent Assembly, including the former liberationist candidate Antonio Álvarez Desanti , the mayor of San José Johnny Araya and the former minister, ex-deputy and former president of the National Liberation Party Francisco Antonio Pacheco. In 2016, the New Constitution for Costa Rica Movement was founded by different figures, among them the former liberationists Maureem Clarke, Walter Coto and Álex Solís,

13160-556: The country's GDP. The U.S. has 42% of the world's nuclear weapons —the second-largest share after Russia. The United States has the third-largest combined armed forces in the world, behind the Chinese People's Liberation Army and Indian Armed Forces . The military operates about 800 bases and facilities abroad, and maintains deployments greater than 100 active duty personnel in 25 foreign countries. State defense forces (SDFs) are military units that operate under

13300-418: The country's bank, and the abolition of the army. That is why it is generally accepted in Costa Rican historiography that the four great social reformers of the country were Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia, Manuel Mora Valverde, José Figueres Ferrer and Víctor Manuel Sanabria Martínez. The first three created their own ideologies of transcendence throughout history such as Calderonismo , Figuerismo and communismo

13440-469: The country's territory would expand with the admission of new states , rather than the expansion of existing states. The U.S. Constitution was drafted at the 1787 Constitutional Convention to overcome the limitations of the Articles. It went into effect in 1789, creating a federal republic governed by three separate branches that together ensured a system of checks and balances . George Washington

13580-713: The development of self-governance, and the First Great Awakening , a series of Christian revivals , fueled colonial interest in religious liberty . For a century, the American colonists had been providing their own troops and materiel in conflicts with indigenous peoples allied with Britain's colonial rivals , especially France, and the Americans had begun to develop a sense of self-defense and self-reliance separate from Britain. The French and Indian War (1754–1763) took on new significance for all North American colonists after Parliament under William Pitt

13720-513: The election authority, but took others, including those to question and give vote of confidence to the Ministers and appoint investigating committees. Its regular sessions were expanded considerably. The Executive may veto a bill to consider it inconvenient or unconstitutional and in the latter case the Supreme Court decides the matter. The Assembly is obliged to consult the Supreme Court, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and other institutions in

13860-605: The enunciation of the rights and individual guarantees, including privacy , habeas corpus and the establishment of administrative courts. Refers to the Social Guarantees . It places high importance on family values . It establishes the rights of workers and trade unions . On the Religion, reproduces unchanged the text of the constitutional reform of 1882 on the subject, noting that the Catholic Church

14000-580: The environment for labor unions to begin to flourish . This period eventually ended with the advent of the Progressive Era , which was characterized by significant reforms. Pro-American elements in Hawaii overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy ; the islands were annexed in 1898. That same year, Puerto Rico , the Philippines , and Guam were ceded to the U.S. by Spain after the latter's defeat in

14140-541: The federal government often applied policies of Indian removal or assimilation . The Trail of Tears (1830–1850) was a U.S. government policy that forcibly removed and displaced most Native Americans living east of the Mississippi River to lands far to the west. These and earlier organized displacements prompted a long series of American Indian Wars west of the Mississippi. The Republic of Texas

14280-606: The first nuclear weapons and used them against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, ending the war. The United States was one of the " Four Policemen " who met to plan the post-war world , alongside the United Kingdom , Soviet Union , and China . The U.S. emerged relatively unscathed from the war, with even greater economic power and international political influence . After World War II,

14420-488: The former ambassador to Venezuela and historian Vladimir de la Cruz, the academic Francisco Barahona and the former libertarian deputy Patricia Pérez. De la Cruz was also a member of the Board of Notables for State Reform, convened by then President Laura Chinchilla and who made several suggestions for state reform. Some of the suggested changes to the constitutional body include: On February 16, 2016, representatives of

14560-489: The hard-won Social Guarantees. This seemed reasonable since Figueres himself, who exercised the de facto presidency before passing power to Otilio Ulate, made a series of socialist and progressive reforms. These included the creation of the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity , women's suffrage , the end of racial segregation (before 48 blacks could not leave certain areas or vote), the nationalization of

14700-621: The highest levels of lowest of infant mortality in Latin America only below Cuba), compulsory public education up to high school has allowed it to have a literacy level of 98% (one of the highest in Latin America) while the creation of the ICE has provided the country with accessibility in telecommunications and electrification of 90% of the territory. Another important aspect is the Labor Code, which provides Costa Rican wage earners with

14840-463: The integration of Army National Guard units and personnel into the U.S. Army and (since 1947) the U.S. Air Force. There are about 18,000 U.S. police agencies from local to national level in the United States. Law in the United States is mainly enforced by local police departments and sheriff departments in their municipal or county jurisdictions. The state police departments have authority in their respective state , and federal agencies such as

14980-482: The military draft (leading to the end of conscription in 1973) and wide opposition to U.S. intervention in Vietnam (with the U.S. totally withdrawing in 1975). A societal shift in the roles of women was significantly responsible for the large increase in female paid labor participation during the 1970s, and by 1985 the majority of American women aged 16 and older were employed. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw

15120-612: The most attractive to the population are the most vulnerable. The U.S. is one of 17 megadiverse countries containing large numbers of endemic species : about 17,000 species of vascular plants occur in the contiguous United States and Alaska, and over 1,800 species of flowering plants are found in Hawaii, few of which occur on the mainland. The United States is home to 428 mammal species, 784 birds, 311 reptiles, 295 amphibians , and around 91,000 insect species. There are 63 national parks , and hundreds of other federally managed parks, forests, and wilderness areas , managed by

15260-484: The most important reforms include: Proposals to convene a new Constituent Assembly in Costa Rica to draft a new Political Constitution have been circulating for several years. In 2016, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal authorized the collection of signatures to submit to a referendum the bill that would call a Constituent, although the process was held back by the filing of an amparo appeal before

15400-662: The most violent, the California genocide of thousands of Native inhabitants, lasted into the early 1870s, just as additional western territories and states were created. During the colonial period, slavery had been legal in the American colonies , though the practice began to be significantly questioned during the American Revolution. States in the North enacted abolition laws , though support for slavery strengthened in Southern states , as inventions such as

15540-430: The new constitution so that it could enter into force on September 15, 2021. On this occasion, the magistrates approved allowing the collection of signatures. According to the Costa Rican referendum regulation law, the promoters should collect at least 5% of the signatures of the registry, that is, some 167,000 signatures that by law must be collected within a period of nine months. If the signatures are obtained and after

15680-660: The north and Mexico to the south, with the states of Alaska to the northwest and the archipelagic Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean . The United States also asserts sovereignty over five major island territories and various uninhabited islands . The country has the world's third-largest land area , largest exclusive economic zone , and third-largest population , exceeding 334 million. Its three largest metropolitan areas are New York , Los Angeles , and Chicago , and its three most populous states are California , Texas , and Florida . Paleo-Indians migrated across

15820-723: The part of the US government that disapproved of Calderon's relationship with communism . A series of measures taken by the Calderonista government swelled the ranks of the opposition, especially the persecution of Germans and Italians during and after World War II , including the confiscation of property and their detention in concentration camps after Costa Rica declared war on the Third Reich . Accusations of electoral fraud, corruption, and repression of political and social opponents strengthened that opposition. Otilio Ulate Blanco ,

15960-482: The performance of the judiciary is required by law degree and have served the profession for ten years at least. Refers to the municipal system . It keeps the division into provinces , cantons and districts . In each canton there is a Municipality, popularly elected every four years. Municipal corporations are autonomous. Deals with the Treasury and regulates the issuance and execution of budgets and functions of

16100-533: The period 1860-1863. For the triennium 1863-1866, Jesús Jiménez Zamora was elected, and within a few months of being in power he dissolved the Congress, although elections were quickly called to appoint a new one. Jimenez's successor was José María Castro Madriz , elected to the period 1866-1869; but Castro's desire to be succeeded by his Secretary of State Julián Volio Llorente provoked great opposition in certain political and military circles. On November 1, 1868,

16240-408: The policy of redlining later adopted by the federal Home Owners' Loan Corporation . An explosion of technological advancement accompanied by the exploitation of cheap immigrant labor led to rapid economic expansion during the late 19th and early 20th centuries , allowing the United States to outpace the economies of England, France, and Germany combined. This fostered the amassing of power by

16380-763: The power to said body which held it between April 16 and on May 10, 1823. This Congress ratified the power of Ramírez, defined the capital of San José and issued the Second Political Statute of the Province of Costa Rica that temporarily served as a constitution within the Federation of Central America. From May to November 1824 the Basis of the Federal Constitution was in place in all the Central American countries as part of

16520-486: The presidency of the country and promised to place the Great Capital and the press at his service. Figueres declined indignantly and reported it to President Ulate. Social Guarantees had an important impact on Costa Rican social and economic development. Universal healthcare has allowed the country to have one of the highest health rates (it is currently considered an important destination for medical tourism and has

16660-574: The primary colonial grievances was a denial of their rights as Englishmen , particularly the right to representation in the British government that taxed them . To demonstrate their dissatisfaction and resolve, the First Continental Congress met in 1774 and passed the Continental Association , a colonial boycott of British goods that proved effective. The British attempt to then disarm the colonists resulted in

16800-554: The proposed referendum unconstitutional, declaring that only the Parliament can convene a Constitutional Assembly. United States The United States of America ( USA ), commonly known as the United States ( U.S. ) or America , is a country primarily located in North America . It is a federal union of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous states border Canada to

16940-519: The referendum and not a total reform, which can only be called by legislative act, and also argues that the bill is contradictory because if the referendums on "budgetary, tax, fiscal, monetary, credit, pension, security, approval of loans and contracts or acts of an administrative nature" are not allowed, the reform of the Constitution would address these issues. Chamber IV of the Supreme Court of Justice sustained Tasies' allegations and declared

17080-515: The rights of African Americans . National infrastructure, including transcontinental telegraph and railroads , spurred growth in the American frontier . From 1865 through 1917 an unprecedented stream of immigrants arrived in the United States, including 24.4 million from Europe. Most came through the port of New York City , and New York City and other large cities on the East Coast became home to large Jewish , Irish , and Italian populations, while many Germans and Central Europeans moved to

17220-614: The rocky Great Basin and Chihuahua , Sonoran , and Mojave deserts. In the northwest corner of Arizona , carved by the Colorado River over millions of years, is the Grand Canyon , a steep-sided canyon and popular tourist destination known for its overwhelming visual size and intricate, colorful landscape. The Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges run close to the Pacific coast . The lowest and highest points in

17360-573: The six service branches, which are made up of the U.S. Army , Marine Corps , Navy , Air Force , and Space Force . The Coast Guard is administered by the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime and can be transferred to the Department of the Navy in wartime. The United States spent $ 916 billion on its military in 2023, which is by far the largest amount of any country , making up 37% of global military spending and accounting for 3.4% of

17500-545: The sole authority of a state government. SDFs are authorized by state and federal law but are under the command of the state's governor . They are distinct from the state's National Guard units in that they cannot become federalized entities. A state's National Guard personnel, however, may be federalized under the National Defense Act Amendments of 1933 , which created the Guard and provides for

17640-543: The states are also represented by local elected governments , which are administrative divisions of the states. States are subdivided into counties or county equivalents , and further divided into municipalities . The District of Columbia is a federal district containing the U.S. capital, Washington, D.C. . The federal district is an administrative division of the federal government. Federally recognized tribes govern 326 Indian reservations . The United States has an established structure of foreign relations, and it has

17780-510: The structure and responsibilities of the national federal government and its relationship with the individual states. The U.S. Constitution is the world's oldest national constitution still in effect (from March 4, 1789). Composed of three branches, all headquartered in Washington, D.C., the federal government is the national government of the United States. It is regulated by a strong system of checks and balances . The three-branch system

17920-476: The validity of the national chapters, individual and social rights of the 1871 Constitution. On 1948 September 3, the Junta called for elections for a Constituent Assembly , which opened on 1949 January 15. This Assembly recognized the verified presidential election in favor of Otilio Ulate Blanco and provided that he exercised the presidency from 1949 to 1953. The Junta appointed a committee of jurists to prepare

18060-595: The vote. Under his dependence is a Civil Registry. Members of the Court are elected for six years by the Supreme Court by a vote of not less than two thirds of votes of all judges and must meet the requirements for these. Regulates the Legislative Branch , which holds one house called the Legislative Assembly integrated by 45 Deputies to homeowners and less 15 alternates. Deputies are elected for four years and may be reappointed successively. The Legislature lost some of their traditional, such as those relating to

18200-582: The world's fourth-longest river system , runs predominantly north–south through the heart of the country. The flat and fertile prairie of the Great Plains stretches to the west, interrupted by a highland region in the southeast. The Rocky Mountains , west of the Great Plains, extend north to south across the country, peaking at over 14,000 feet (4,300 m) in Colorado . Farther west are

18340-583: The world's second-largest diplomatic corps as of 2024 . It is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council , and home to the United Nations headquarters . The United States is a member of the G7 , G20 , and OECD intergovernmental organizations. Almost all countries have embassies and many have consulates (official representatives) in the country. Likewise, nearly all countries host formal diplomatic missions with

18480-444: The world's oldest surviving federation, and its presidential system of national government has been adopted, in whole or in part, by many newly independent states worldwide following their decolonization . It is a liberal representative democracy "in which majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law ". The Constitution of the United States serves as the country's supreme legal document , also establishing

18620-553: The world's tornadoes occur in the country , mainly in Tornado Alley . Overall, the United States receives more high-impact extreme weather incidents than any other country. Extreme weather became more frequent in the U.S. in the 21st century, with three times the number of reported heat waves as in the 1960s. In the American Southwest , droughts became more persistent and more severe. The regions considered as

18760-458: Was annexed in 1845, and the 1846 Oregon Treaty led to U.S. control of the present-day American Northwest . Victory in the Mexican–American War resulted in the 1848 Mexican Cession of California, Nevada, Utah, and much of present-day Colorado and the American Southwest . The California gold rush of 1848–1849 spurred a huge migration of white settlers to the Pacific coast, leading to even more confrontations with Native populations. One of

18900-703: Was adopted on July 4, 1776. The political values of the American Revolution included liberty , inalienable individual rights ; and the sovereignty of the people ; supporting republicanism and rejecting monarchy , aristocracy , and all hereditary political power; civic virtue ; and vilification of political corruption . The Founding Fathers of the United States , who included Washington, Jefferson, John Adams , Benjamin Franklin , Alexander Hamilton , John Jay , James Madison , Thomas Paine , and many others, were inspired by Greco-Roman , Renaissance , and Enlightenment philosophies and ideas. The Articles of Confederation were ratified in 1781 and established

19040-423: Was convened after the elections of deputies who would represent Costa Rica in the Constituent Congress of Mexico in 1822, but who never held office because it was dissolved by the Emperor Agustín de Iturbide . The Junta Gubernativa decides then to convene a constituent congress to decide the fate of the country divided between republicans willing to succeed and imperialists loyal to Mexico, and this congress issued

19180-439: Was defeated. Calderón escaped into exile in Nicaragua , then to Mexico where Mora Valverde had also emigrated. Mora led the Workers, Peasants and Intellectuals Bloc, the future Communist Party of Costa Rica . Before the civil war had concluded, Mora and Figueres negotiated the Pact of Ochomogo and the Pact of the Embassy of Mexico. On behalf of the communists, Mora committed to surrender; in return, Figueres promised not to revert

19320-404: Was elected the country's first president under the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights was adopted in 1791 to allay skeptics' concerns about the power of the more centralized government. His resignation as commander-in-chief after the Revolutionary War and his later refusal to run for a third term as the country's first president established a precedent for the supremacy of civil authority in

19460-491: Was in force until 1823. The Provincial Constituent Congress of Costa Rica was convened twice in the then Province of Costa Rica immediately after the independence of Spain. First with the country as a province, at least nominally, part of the First Mexican Empire , and the second as a province of the newly created Federal Republic of Central America . In both cases, it issued legal statutes that acted as provisional local constitutions. The First Provincial Constituent Congress

19600-429: Was pretty authoritarian in nature. Carrillo was toppled in April 1842 due to the invasion of Honduran general Francisco Morazán . Morazán abolished the Decree on June 6, 1842 and this was confirmed by the Constituent Assembly instituted by him on August 24, 1842. From 1838 to 1870, a large number of Constituent Assemblies with a greater or lesser degree of effectiveness, independence or legislative power were raised. As

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