By The Numbers · Nº 02
America
A country in six numbers.
01 / 06
4¢ an acre
what the U.S. paid France in 1803 to double its size overnight — the Louisiana Purchase.
America once bought a third of a continent for about four cents an acre. In 1803, fifteen million dollars to France doubled the entire country — overnight, with a signature.
Louisiana Purchase, 1803 (~$15M, ~828,000 sq mi).
02 / 06
25 %
of the entire world economy is produced by the U.S. — home to barely 4% of its people.
Four percent of humanity lives here; a quarter of everything the world makes comes from here. No country has ever concentrated so much economic weight in so few people.
US ≈25% of world GDP; ≈4.2% of world population (World Bank/IMF).
03 / 06
12 million
immigrants passed through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954 — ancestors of a vast share of Americans today.
Twelve million people passed through one small island in New York Harbor. Most Americans alive today can trace a line back to a name written in those ledgers.
Ellis Island, ~12M immigrants 1892–1954 (US National Park Service).
04 / 06
1969
the year 400,000 people and 4% of the federal budget put two humans on the Moon.
In 1969, four hundred thousand people and four percent of the whole federal budget put two humans on the Moon. Half a century later, no nation has returned.
Apollo 11, 1969; peak ~4% of federal budget, ~400,000 workers (NASA).
05 / 06
1st
national park in the world — Yellowstone, set aside in 1872. America invented the idea; ~100 countries now have their own.
In 1872, America did something no country had: it set wild land aside for everyone, forever. Yellowstone became the world's first national park — an idea now embraced across a hundred nations.
Yellowstone National Park, established 1872 — first national park in the world.
06 / 06
B−
the grade a 17-year-old earned for designing today's 50-star flag — now the longest-flying version in history.
The fifty-star flag over America was a teenager's homework. Robert Heft designed it in 1958 for a school project; his teacher gave him a B-minus.
Robert G. Heft, 50-star flag, 1958 (adopted 1959–60).
Sources
- Louisiana Purchase, 1803 (~$15M, ~828,000 sq mi).
- US ≈25% of world GDP; ≈4.2% of world population (World Bank/IMF).
- Ellis Island, ~12M immigrants 1892–1954 (US National Park Service).
- Apollo 11, 1969; peak ~4% of federal budget, ~400,000 workers (NASA).
- Yellowstone National Park, established 1872 — first national park in the world.
- Robert G. Heft, 50-star flag, 1958 (adopted 1959–60).
Image credits
- Statue of Liberty frontal 2.jpg — Daniel Schwen, Public domain · Commons
- Geography 028 - Map of the Louisiana Purchase - 1803.jpg — BioKnowlogy, Public domain · Commons
- Western North America at night by VIIRS.jpg — NASA Earth Observatory, Public domain · Commons
- Ellis island 1902.jpg — Unknown author, Public domain · Commons
- Aldrin Apollo 11.jpg — Neil A. Armstrong, Public domain · Commons
- Yellowstone National Park (WY, USA), Grand Prismatic Spring -- 2022 -- 2514.jpg — Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
- American Flag Waving on a Flag Pole.jpg — Noah Wulf, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
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