USA

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D. C. the capital district, lied between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. With 3.79 million square miles (9.83 million km sq) and with over 310 million people, the United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area and the third largest both by land area and population.

Folk music in the US is varied across the country's numerous ethnic groups. The Native American tribes each play their own varieties of folk music, most of it spiritual in nature. African American music includes blues and gospel, descendants of West African music brought to the Americas by slaves and mixed with Western European music. During the colonial era, English, French, and Spanish styles and instruments were brought to the Americas. By the early 20th century, the US had become a major center for folk music from around the world, including polka, Ukrainian and Polish fiddling, Ashkenazi Jewish Klezmer and several kinds of Latin music. The United States is truly a melting pot consisting of numerous ethnic groups. Many of these peoples have kept alive the folk traditions of their homeland, often producing distinctively American styles of foreign music.