For Starters the U.S is the 3rd or 4th largest country by Total area the reason is because of China. China is huge by land area but the U.S water Area is Also a pretty big issue in this cause the CIA and UN are to blame for giving the U.S access to Coastal Water regions as part of their area making it technically bigger than China. but mainly focusing on land the Us is 3rd place behind China and Russia (obviously). The Reason the U.S is such a powerful country is because of where it is in its geographic area like in the Pacific, the continental U.S, Alaska, and in The Caribbean aka Puerto Rico. starting out with the Continental U.S is isolated from most of the world considering its in the western hemisphere and Canada and Mexico (its two bordering Countries) are its allies. It is also home to the Mississippi river; the 3rd largest river basin is a very U.S drainage system, pretty cool huh. also after the U.S purchased Alaska from Russia it was in for a surprise.
Alaska & More
Alaska is the Northernmost, westernmost, and easternmost state. how? part of Alaska passes through the international dateline. This also makes the Diomedes islands (big Diomede belonging to Russia small belonging to Alaska and the United states) even though their 55 miles at their closets are about 21 hours apart because of the international dateline. Also Alaska is pretty big being the biggest state way more than that of Texas, also Alaska is pretty rich in gold and minerals, pretty lucky U.S. however though after Alaska the U.S just went around looking for islands.
Hawaii & Puerto Rico
Hawaii and Puerto Rico are the best of the islands. Hawaii actually became a state from the previous kingdom of Hawaii but Puerto Rico isn't a state but really gets treated like it. Guam is inhabited but with a very low population.