After living in five different countries including the U.S. and having taken numerous road trips across this stunningly beautiful country, I feel qualified to answer the question. I’ve written several posts on Quora containing numerous incredible facts about the United States. But in the spirit of uniqueness, I’ll try to introduce some fascinating attributes that I haven’t previously highlighted.
Disclaimer 1: Don’t confuse this response with a boastful proclamation of the success of the United States. As a world traveler, I’m hardly the type to claim that “America is the greatest country on earth.” Americans who travel worldwide don’t make such ignorant statements. But it’s okay to celebrate some of the extraordinary attributes about the United States without being accused of braggadocio.
Disclaimer 2: Even though a leader who is rather unpopular with the world is currently running the U.S., we’re not going to make this a political post. That craziness can be discussed elsewhere. While I fully understand the unpopularity of those politics, on the flip side I won’t tolerate any anti-Americanism in the comment section. This isn’t a platform for hatred. It’s quite simply a post to identity a few fascinating attributes about a country I’ve enjoyed traveling throughout.
Fact 1 of 5 - The Road System
While vast areas of Russia, China, and even Canada have little population and few paved roads, the development of the U.S. is incredible. It is thoroughly covered by roads and small towns, yet it simultaneously maintains rurality and pristine natural areas. The vast network of highways covering the country is extraordinary. There are nearly 826,000 miles of high-speed motorways in the U.S. (1.3 million km), enough to circumnavigate the equator more than 33 times. And that doesn’t even include more than 3 million additional miles of paved roads (5 million km).
Fact 2 of 5 - The Gross Domestic Product
It’s amazing that the United States has had the world’s largest economy of any country since 1890, a year that was only 114 years after its independence. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2025 is nearly US$31 trillion (€26.3 trillion). That amount of money is 1.6 times second-place China and 6.1 times third-place Germany!
Even more amazingly, the state of California alone generates US$4.2 trillion annual GDP (€3.6 trillion), which is greater than any other country in the world except China, Germany, and Japan (although California outranks Japan in certain years).
Fact 3 of 5 - Driving Distance
The shortest driving distance between the southwestern corner of Key West, Florida, and the northwestern corner of the Olympic Peninsula known as Cape Flattery, Washington, requires a minimum of 3,696 miles (5,948 km). In the 48 contiguous states (which excludes Alaska and Hawaii), those are the two points farthest apart based on minimal driving distance. That’s the same driving distance as taking a road trip from the Arctic Circle near Krokfors, Sweden, all the way to Kabul, Afghanistan!
Even driving from Miami to Seattle is a 3,303 mile trek (5,316 km) or alternatively a seven-hour flight.
As far as the record-setting 3,696-mile drive (5,948 km) from Key West to Cape Flattery, I actually drove that path solo in only four days to complete one of my 350 absurd travel goals. Actually, it was more like 3½ days, but I digress. I had a lot more energy back then.
(Cape Flattery, Washington)
Fact 4 of 5 - Temperature and Climate
The staggering array of climates is amazing, and the range of daily temperatures is indicative of that. While the world is broken into 30 Köppen climate subzones, the U.S. contains a staggering 22 of them! Even during the winter, the temperature somewhere in the states will exceed 80°F (27°C). And even during the summer, there will be a location that is colder than 0°F (-18°C). In fact, today as I write this (October 19, 2025), the highest temperature in any town or city in the U.S. was 101°F (38.3°C) in South Texas. And the lowest temperature in any town or city was 17°F (-8.3°C) in Western Wyoming. Other places not within the boundaries of any town or city are even hotter or colder.
Fact 5 of 5 - Sunset and sunrise
There are countless other facts about the United States that are pretty astounding, much of it regarding either its wealth or its vast size. But in my opinion, there is one fact that is the most amazing of all that captures the enormous longitudinal spread of the 50 states.
I just calculated (for the purposes of this post) that from late May to mid-July, as the sun is setting at the western edge of Alaska, it has already risen in Eastern Maine! That phenomenon occurs for roughly 12% of the year! And that’s only considering the actual United States without its other territories.
In 2025, the longest such window was 20 minutes on June 19 as the sun was simultaneously visible in both the western extreme of Alaska and some northeastern portions of Maine! That occurred from 4:37 a.m. to 4:57 a.m. local time in Maine (Eastern Daylight Saving Time).
Note: if the top of Alaska is also included in the conversation, a region in which the sun never sets from mid-June to early August, that would mean it’s always light in the 50 states for almost one-fourth of the year.
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