United States

=== Indigenous peoples ===
{{Further|Native Americans in the United States|Pre-Columbian era}}
[[File:Extreme_Makeover,_Mesa_Verde_Edition_-_panoramio.jpg|left|thumb|[[Cliff Palace]], built by [[Ancestral Puebloans]] in present-day [[Montezuma County, Colorado]], between {{Circa|1200 and 1275}}<ref>[https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/cliff-palace "Cliff Palace"] at Colorado Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 31, 2024</ref>]]
The [[Paleo-Indians|first inhabitants of North America]] migrated from [[Siberia]] across the [[Bering land bridge]] at least 12,000 years ago;{{sfn|Erlandson|Rick|Vellanoweth|2008|p=19}}{{sfn|Savage|2011|page=55}} the [[Clovis culture]], which appeared around 11,000 BC, is believed to be the first widespread culture in the Americas.{{sfn|Waters|Stafford|2007|pages=1122–1126}}{{sfn|Flannery|2015|pages=173–185}} Over time, indigenous North American cultures grew increasingly sophisticated, and some, such as the [[Mississippian culture]], developed [[Eastern Agricultural Complex|agriculture]], [[Southeastern Ceremonial Complex|architecture]], and complex societies.{{sfn|Lockard|2010|page=315}} Indigenous peoples and cultures such as the [[Algonquian peoples]],<ref>Smithsonian Institution—Handbook of North American Indians series: ''Handbook of North American Indians,'' Volume 15—Northeast. Bruce G. Trigger (volume editor). Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution. 1978 References to Indian burning for the Eastern Algonquians, Virginia Algonquians, Northern Iroquois, Huron, Mahican, and Delaware Tribes and peoples.</ref> [[Ancestral Puebloans]],{{sfn|Fagan|2016|page=390}} and the [[Iroquois]] developed across the present-day United States.<ref name="Dean Snow2">{{cite book |last=Snow |first=Dean R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P7e82KQoX6IC&q=iroquois+basque&pg=PA1 |title=The Iroquois |publisher=Blackwell Publishers, Ltd. |year=1994 |isbn=978-1-55786-938-8 |access-date=July 16, 2010}}</ref> [[Population history of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native population estimates]] of what is now the United States before the arrival of European immigrants range from around 500,000{{sfn|Thornton|1998|page=34}}{{sfn|Perdue|Green|2005|page=40}} to nearly 10 million.{{sfn|Perdue|Green|2005|page=40}}{{sfn|Haines|Haines|Steckel|2000|page=12}}