Who is Kamala Harris?

Kamala Harris, the current vice-president of the United States, is hoping to become the country's first female leader.

She will face former president Donald Trump when the nation heads to the polls to vote on 5 November.

She is the official nominee for the Democratic Party, replacing current US president Joe Biden after he withdrew from the race.

Ms Harris's nomination has support from many celebrities including Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Billie Eilish.

But her critics accuse her of not doing more over her vice-presidency to help the US economy or to stop illegal immigration.

Why is Kamala Harris a ground-breaking vice-president?

On 20 January 2021, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were officially inaugurated as the president and vice-president of the United States.

They beat Donald Trump in the US presidential election that took place in November 2020.

It was an historic moment because Ms Harris became the most senior woman politician in US history.

She is the first woman vice-president and also the first black and first South Asian-American to ever take on that job.

Kamala Harris' early life

Kamala Harris was born in Oakland, California, to an Indian mother and a Jamaican father. Her parents were both immigrants.

They later divorced and Ms Harris was raised by her Hindu mother, who was a cancer researcher and civil rights activist.

Her Indian heritage was a big part of her life growing up and she visited India with her mum.

However, her mother also made sure Kamala and her sister Maya were proud of Oakland's black culture too.

Kamala Harris and her sister, Maya Lakshmi Harris, are close

"She knew that her adopted homeland would see Maya and me as black girls and she was determined to make sure we would grow into confident, proud black women," Harris wrote about her mother in her autobiography, The Truths We Hold.

Ms Harris says she's always been comfortable with her identity and simply describes herself as "an American".

Before entering politics, Kamala Harris was a successful lawyer in the US

She later studied law at Howard University, which is one of America's most famous historically black universities.

In 2003, Ms Harris became the district attorney for the city of San Francisco, and then went on to become California's attorney general, which is the top lawyer and law enforcement official in the state.

What does Kamala Harris stand for?

In 2019, Harris launched her own campaign to become the Democratic Party's nominee for president but she eventually lost that race to Joe Biden.

However, she was then chosen by Mr Biden to be his vice-president and running mate in the US 2020 election.

She has spoken out on issues including systemic racism, police brutality and the criminal justice system.

However, she has faced some criticism from people who thought she didn't do enough during her time as California's attorney general to fix these problems.

As vice-president, she has backed policies tackling climate change, and was tasked with looking at immigration.

Why would Kamala Harris being the Democratic presidential candidate be a big deal?

The US has never had a woman as president

A woman of colour has never been chosen as a presidential candidate by either of the two main American political parties

Kamala Harris has already made history by being the US vice-president.

If Ms Harris wins the presidential election in November, it will be one for the history books.