Boston is located within a constitutional federal republic.
Boston . One of the oldest cities in the United States , Boston was founded on the Shawmut Peninsula in 1630 by Puritan settlers from England . Households in the city claim the highest average rate of philanthropy in the United States ; businesses and institutions rank among the top in the country for environmental sustainability and investment . The United States of America ( USA ) , commonly known as the United States ( U.S. ) or America , is a constitutional federal republic composed of 50 states , a federal district , five major self-governing territories , and various possessions . Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico .