If the United States has one defining quality, it's variety. This vast area of some 3.6 million square miles--it's 2,500 miles from New York to Los Angeles, and that again to Hawaii--has something for everyone.

Although TV, suburban sprawl, strip malls, and chain restaurants have a homogenizing effect, America hasn't yet become a monolithic place. Each region still speaks with its own accent, enjoys its own favorite foods, and has its own political and social attitudes. Indeed, foreign travelers often go away with the impression that we aren't one nation but an amalgam of 50 little countries. Whatever you want to see, do, or eat, you're likely to find it within the vast and diverse confines of the United States of America.