The module surveys some of the key historical and present day geographical patterns and processes through which this vast and diverse country has developed and maintained its curious cultural and economic unity despite being home to such a wide array of different environments and ways of life. Themes foregrounded include the absolutely foundational role played by 'White America's' encounters with American Indians and people of African, Hispanic and Asian descent over the past few centuries in weaving together a hybrid national culture; and the colourful historical geographies of the key national and regional systems (rail, water, roads) that have come to produce unity-in-diversity at a more material level. Other themes that will be explored include ongoing struggles over immigration and the U.S.-Mexican borderlands, the United States' geopolitical relations with the wider world and especially within the context of the Americas, and the globalization of U.S. popular culture.