The United States is the world's fourth largest country, with an area of 3,679,192 square miles (9,529,107 square kilometers). It includes fifty states and one federal district, where the capital, Washington, D.C., is located. Its forty-eight contiguous states are situated in the middle of North America. The mainland United States borders Canada to the north and Mexico, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Straits of Florida to the south. The western border meets the Pacific Ocean, and to the east lies the Atlantic Ocean.

Alaska and Hawaii are not joined to the other forty-eight states. Alaska is at the extreme north of North America, between the Pacific and Arctic oceans, and is bordered by Canada to the east. The island chain of Hawaii is situated in the east-central Pacific Ocean, about two thousand miles southwest of San Francisco.

Although Americans generally do not consider themselves an imperial or colonial power, the country has a number of commonwealths and territories, most of which were acquired through military conquest. These territories include Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean basin, and Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, and Wake island in the Pacific.

The physical environment is extremely diverse and often spectacular. Alaska's glaciers coexist with flowering tundras that bloom in the arctic summer. The forests of the Pacific Northwest and northern California are known for giant ancient trees such as Sitka spruce and sequoia (redwoods). Niagara Falls, Yellowstone National Park, and the Grand Canyon are a few of the better-known landscapes.

The physical regions of the country overlap both national boundaries and cultural regions. For example, the Atlantic coastal plain extends from New England to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. It is characterized by flooded river valleys that form major estuaries, such as the Chesapeake Bay.

The United States of America (commonly referred to as the United States, the U.S., the USA, or America) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to its east and Russia to the west across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories, or insular areas, in the Caribbean and Pacific.

The nation was founded by thirteen colonies of Great Britain located along the Atlantic seaboard. On July 4, 1776, they issued the Declaration of Independence, which proclaimed their independence from Great Britain and their formation of a cooperative union. The rebellious states defeated Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War, the first successful colonial war of independence.[10] The Philadelphia Convention adopted the current United States Constitution on September 17, 1787; its ratification the following year made the states part of a single republic with a strong central government. The Bill of Rights, comprising ten constitutional amendments guaranteeing many fundamental civil rights and freedoms, was ratified in 1791.

Geography

The contiguous United States (the 48 states other than Alaska and Hawaii) are bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west, with much of the population living on these two coasts. Its only borders are shared with Canada to the north, and Mexico to the south.

The country has three major mountain ranges. The Appalachians extend from Canada to the state of Alabama, a few hundred miles west of the Atlantic Ocean. They are the oldest of the three mountain ranges, and offer spectacular sightseeing and excellent camping spots. The Rockies are the highest in North America, extending from Alaska to New Mexico, with many areas protected as national parks. They offer hiking, camping, and sightseeing opportunities. The combined Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges are the youngest. The Sierras extend across the "backbone" of California, with sites such as Lake Tahoe and Yosemite National Park, then give way to the even younger volcanic Cascade range, with some of the highest points in the country.

The Great Lakes define much of the border between the United States and Canada. Formed by the pressure of glaciers retreating north at the end of the last Ice Age, the five lakes touch the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. The lakes span hundreds of miles, and their shores vary from pristine wilderness areas to industrial "rust belt" cities. They are the second-largest bodies of freshwater in the world, after the polar ice caps.

Climate

The overall climate is temperate, with notable exceptions. Alaska has Arctic tundra, while Hawaii and South Florida are tropical. The Great Plains are dry, flat and grassy, turning into arid desert in the far West and Mediterranean along the California coast.

In the winter, the northern and mid-western major cities can see as much as 2 feet (61 cm) of snow can fall in one day, with cold temperatures. Summers are humid, but mild. Temperatures over 100°F (38°C) sometimes invade the Midwest and Great Plains. Some areas in the northern plains can experience cold temperatures of -30°F (-34°C) during the winter. Temperatures below 0°F (-18°C) sometimes reach as far south as Oklahoma.

The climate of the South also varies. In the summer, it is hot and humid, but from October through April the weather can range from 60°F (15°C) to short cold spells of 20°F (-7°C) or so.

Medical Tourism is also known as Medical Travel, Health Tourism, Health Travel, Medical Value Travel, Healthcare Abroad, Medical Overseas, Overseas Medical, Surgery Overseas, Medical Outsourcing and Offshore Medical. Medical tourism can be described as a healthy holiday. In most cases, medical tourists are not your average vacationers opting for medical or cosmetic treatment, just because it is available, but patients with significant health concerns for whom the cost of their health-care is a primary concern and the vacation aspect a secondary one. Indeed, someone needing medical or cosmetic treatment would not go abroad if the 'affordable healthcare' factor-quality of treatment, cost savings and wait time did not justify it. As long as you are healthy enough to travel, you stand to benefit from medical tourism’s offerings.

Medical Tourism is a combination of wellness and healthcare coupled with leisure and relaxation which is aimed at rejuvenating a person mentally, physically and emotionally, drawing away from his daily routine to a relaxed environment in an exotic location. Medical Tourism is the process of traveling abroad to receive superior medical, and cosmetic care by highly skilled surgeons at some of the most modern and state-of-the-art medical facilities in the world. This means that those who choose medical tourism are able to utilize the services of some of the top surgeons in the world, all while enjoying exotic locales and accommodations. Patients can put the money they are saving on the procedure into turning their journey into a magnificent, world-class retreat. For millions of patients, it is the only way to get the needed or desired medical treatment, without wiping out their entire life-savings.

The United States of America is believed to have one of the most technologically advanced medical care. The U.S. is a leader in medical innovation. Yet, health care is out of reach for many Americans.The prices paid for health care services are much higher in the U.S. The World Health Organization (WHO), in 2000, ranked the U.S. health care system as the highest in cost. There are about 47 million Americans without health insurance and many with limited coverage. The sum paid to a doctor for a service rendered to an insured patient is generally less than that paid "out of pocket" by an uninsured patient.

All these factors have led to outbound medical tourism or a scenario in which Americans travel out of country for medical care that they can find for much lower costs compared to cost of care within the United States.

However, recently, Healthbase has established partnerships with several health care providers within the United States to offer health care to our members at a cost that's comparable to many foreign providers. These domestic US health care providers are Joint Commission accredited and offer health care at a substantial discount (up to 90% off) compared to the typical prices charged by US hospitals.

This has led to inbound medical tourism into USA. Our domestic partner health care providers are spread all across the country and offer most major procedures at a substantial discount. Some of the major procedures offered include cardiac surgeries (e.g. heart bypass, valve replacements), orthopedic procedures (hip surgery, knee surgery), etc.

Culture

The United States is a multicultural nation, home to a wide variety of ethnic groups, traditions, and values.There is no American ethnicity; aside from the now small Native American and Native Hawaiian populations, nearly all Americans or their ancestors immigrated within the past five centuries.The culture held in common by most Americans—mainstream American culture—is a Western culture largely derived from the traditions of European immigrants with influences from many other sources, such as traditions brought by slaves from Africa.More recent immigration from Asia and especially Latin America has added to a cultural mix that has been described as both a homogenizing melting pot and a heterogeneous salad bowl in which immigrants and their descendants retain distinctive cultural characteristics.

Religion

Religious Beliefs. The overwhelming majority of the people are Christian. Catholicism is the largest single denomination, but Protestants of all denominations (Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and others) outnumber Catholics. Judaism is the largest non-Christian faith, followed by Islam, which has a significant African-American following. Baptism, the largest Protestant sect, originated in Europe but grew exponentially in the United States, especially in the South, among both whites and blacks. Aside from the many Christian movements from England and Europe that reestablished themselves early in the nation's history, a few religious sects arose independently in the United States, including Mormons and Shakers.

Although religion and the state are formally separated, religious expression is an important aspect of public and political life. Nearly every President has professed some variety of Christian faith. One of the most significant religious trends in recent years has been the rise of evangelical and fundamentalist sects of Christianity.

Medicine And Health Care

The dominant approach to medicine is biomedical, or Western. Although many people are interested in alternative approaches such as acupuncture, homeopathic medicine, and other therapies, the United States continues to be less medically diverse than most other countries. Biomedicine is characterized by the frequent use of invasive surgeries such as cesarean sections and high doses of psychotropic drugs. With the exception of limited government care for the elderly and the disabled, health care is private and profit-based. This makes the United States distinct from other wealthy, industrial nations, nearly all of which provide universal health-care coverage.

Transport

Air Transport

The United States has advanced air transportation infrastructure which utilizes approximately 5,000 paved runways. In terms of passengers, seventeen of the world's thirty busiest airports in 2004 were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. In terms of cargo, in the same year, twelve of the world's thirty busiest airports were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Memphis International Airport. Private aircraft are also used for medical emergencies, government agencies, large businesses, and individuals, see general aviation).

Due to the size of the United States and the generally large distance between major cities, air transportation is the preferred method of travel for trips over 300 miles, such as for business travelers and long distance vacation travelers. For cities closer together, such as Boston and New York City, New York and Washington D.C., and Philadelphia and D.C., air travel does not carry a majority of intercity traffic.

Rail Transport

Amtrak serves most major cities but, especially in parts of the west, often by only one or two trains per day. (It does not, however, send any trains to Las Vegas, Nevada or Phoenix, Arizona.) More frequent service is available in regional corridors between major cities, particularly the Northeast Corridor between Washington, D.C., New York City and Boston, between New York City and Albany, around Chicago, and in parts of California and the Pacific Northwest.

Places To Visit

Florida
Northern Florida is similar to the rest of the South, but not so the resorts of Orlando, retirement communities, tropical Caribbean-influenced Miami, the Everglades swamp, and 1200 miles of sandy beaches.

Midwest (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin)
The Midwest is home to farmland, forests, picturesque towns, industrial cities, and the Great Lakes, the largest system of freshwater lakes in the world, forming the North Coast of the U.S.

Texas
The second biggest state in the nation, it's like a whole other country (and in fact, once was). The terrain ranges from southeastern swamplands to the cattle-ranching South Plains to the sandy beaches of South Texas to the mountains and deserts of West Texas.

Great Plains (North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma)
Travel westward through these supposedly flat states, from the edge of the eastern forests through the prairies and onto the High Plains, an enormous expanse of steppes (shortgrass prairies) as desolate as in the frontier days.

Rocky Mountains (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming)
The spectacular snow-covered Rockies offer hiking, rafting, and excellent snow skiing as well as deserts, and some large cities.

Southwest (Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah)
This area was once under Spanish and Mexican rule and is heavily influenced by Spanish and Mexican culture, the arid Southwest is home to some of the nation's most spectacular natural attractions, and flourishing artistic communities. Although mostly empty, the region's deserts have some of the nation's largest cities.

California
Like the Southwest, California has a history under Spanish and Mexican rule, and is heavily influenced by Spanish and Mexican culture. California offers world-class cities, deserts, rain forests, snowy mountains, and beaches. Northern California (around the Bay Area) and Southern California (around Los Angeles) are culturally distinct.

Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon)
The pleasantly mild Pacific Northwest offers outdoor pursuits as well as cosmopolitan cities. The terrain ranges from spectacular rain forests to scenic mountains and volcanoes to beautiful coastlines to sage-covered steppes and deserts.

Alaska
One fifth as large as the rest of the United States, Alaska reaches well into the Arctic, and features mountainous wilderness.

Hawaii
A volcanic archipelago in the tropical Pacific, 2,300 miles south west of California (the nearest state), laid-back Hawaii is a vacation paradise.