1. The USA is the Worlds richest country with a GDP of 14,580 billion dollars it is almost twice that of second placed China which has a GDP 7,800 billion dollars; though if counted all together the EU is slightly richer with a GDP 14,960 billion dollars.

2. The USA is the Worlds 3rd largest country. Both Russia and Canada are larger though it is a close run race for 3rd between the USA and China.

3. The worlds longest border, between the USA and Canada, comes to 8891 kms (of which 2477kms is shared between Alaska and Canada).

4. The USA is the Worlds 3rd most populous country. China and India are home to in excess of 1 Billion each, but the USA numbers a distant 3rd with only 300 Million.

5. The USA spends almost as much on defence than the rest of the world combined! The budget in 2009 runs to approximately US$651.2 billion and accounts for 48% of the world total. This is over 5 times that spent by China, 10 times as much spent as Russia and 100 times as much as Iran.

6. The US dollar is the primary reserve currency in the world. It is used for buying such commodities as gold and petroleum. The US Dollar accounts for over 60% of the worlds reserve currency which is well in advance of the 2nd placed Euro which has almost 30%, though this gap is closing.

7. The Flag of the USA consists of 50 stars for each modern state, and 13 stripes representing each of the original 13 colonies. Each of the colours is said to represent something: White: signifies Purity and Innocence; Red: Hardiness and Valour; Blue: Vigilance, Perseverance and Justice.

8. While there is no official language of the USA, English is the de facto official language with 82% of the population speaking English. The second most spoken language would be Spanish which has almost 35 million speakers which makes the USA the world's second-largest Spanish-speaking community ahead of Spain, Argentina and Columbia though it is behind Mexico.

9. The Native Americans, who are sometimes called the American Indians due to a mistake made by Columbus over 500 years ago who had believed he had arrived in India. These people arrived on the North American continent about 12000 years ago by crossing the Bering Strait. Though horses were hunted to extinction in the Americas, when they were re-introduced by Europeans they had a great influence on Native American culture.

10. The USA has Ethnic Diversity and is a real melting pot of cultures. There are over 30 ancestry groups which have numbers that exceed 1 million members. The largest ancestry groups are German American, Irish American, African American, English American and Mexican American.

11. Alaska is the biggest state in the USA and at 1,717,854 km (about the same size as Germany, France, Spain and the UK combined) accounts for over 17% of the total area of the USA but has the lowest population density with only 0.46 people per km.

12. Rhode_Island is the smallest state in the USA at just 4000 km (which is less than twice the size of Luxembourg) but has one of the highest population densities with only 390.78 people per km.

13. The state of Louisiana has almost 2500 islands!

14. The state of California has, if counted independently, the 9th largest economy in the world! It contributes 13% of the GDP for the whole country.

15. California is famously located over the San Andreas Fault and there are 500,000 detectable seismic tremors each year.

16. The state of Ohio was the birthplace of 8 American presidents, more than any other state.

17. The state of Virginia was the birthplace of 4 of the first 5 American presidents; George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe. (The fifth was John Adams from Massachusetts)

18. The USA has a number of towns which have an official population of just 1! These are Hibberts Gore, Maine; Ervings, New Hampshire; Lost Springs, Wyoming; and New Amsterdam, Indiana.

19. From the top of the USAs largest building, the Sears Tower in Chicago, you can see 4 states (Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin) on a clear day.

20. The city of Las Vegas gets 308 days a year of sunshine. It is not uncommon for the temperature to rise to 40C in the summer with the highest on record being 47C.

Mairead writes for Novacarhire.com where you can book car hire at airports, ferry ports, rail stations, cities and towns all over the world.

Visit Novacarhire.com for all you need to know before you take to the roads in America, like where to go and what to see with your car hire. Book your Car hire USA now http://www.novacarhire.com/car-hire/USA/.