The United States of America President: George W. Bush (2001) Vice President: Richard B. Cheney (2001) Land area:
3,539,225 sq mi (9,166,601 sq km); total area: 3,718,691 sq mi
(9,631,420 sq km) Population (2007
est.): 301,139,947 (growth rate: 0.9%); birth rate: 14.2/1000;
infant mortality rate: 6.4/1000; life expectancy: 78.0; density per sq
mi: 85
Capital (2003 est.):
Washington, DC, 570,898 Largest cities (2003 est.): New York,
18,498,000 (metro area), 8,085,742 (city proper); Los Angeles,
12,146,000 (metro area), 3,819,951 (city proper); Chicago, 8,711,000
(metro area), 2,869,121 (city proper); Houston, 2,009,960;
Philadelphia, 1,479,339; Phoenix, 1,388,416; San Diego, 1,226,753; San
Antonio, 1,214,725; Dallas, 1,208,318; Detroit, 911,402 Monetary unit: dollar
Languages:
English 82%, Spanish 11% (2000) Ethnicity/race: White: 211,460,626 (75.1%);
Black: 34,658,190 (12.3%); Asian: 10,242,998 (3.6%); American Indian
and Alaska Native: 2,475,956 (0.9%); Native Hawaiian and other Pacific
Islander: 398,835 (0.1%); other race: 15,359,073 (5.5%); Hispanic
origin:1 35,305,818 (12.5%)
Religions:
Protestant 52%, Roman Catholic 24%, Mormon 2%,
Jewish 1%, Muslim 1%, none 10% (2002) Literacy rate: 99% (2003 est.) Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007 est.):
$13.84 trillion; per capita $45,800. Real growth rate: 2.2%.
Inflation: 2.9%. Unemployment: 4.6%. Arable land:
18%. Agriculture: wheat, corn, other grains, fruits,
vegetables, cotton; beef, pork, poultry, dairy products; fish; forest
products. Labor force: 153.1 million (includes unemployed);
farming, forestry, and fishing 0.6%, manufacturing, extraction,
transportation, and crafts 22.6%, managerial, professional, and
technical 35.5%, sales and office 24.8%, other services 16.5%; note:
figures exclude the unemployed (2007). Industries: leading
industrial power in the world, highly diversified and technologically
advanced; petroleum, steel, motor vehicles, aerospace,
telecommunications, chemicals, electronics, food processing, consumer
goods, lumber, mining. Natural resources: coal, copper, lead,
molybdenum, phosphates, uranium, bauxite, gold, iron, mercury, nickel,
potash, silver, tungsten, zinc, petroleum, natural gas, timber.
Exports: $927.5 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): agricultural
products 9.2% (soybeans, fruit, corn), industrial supplies 26.8%
(organic chemicals), capital goods 49.0% (transistors, aircraft, motor
vehicle parts, computers, telecommunications equipment), consumer
goods 15.0% (automobiles, medicines) (2003). Imports: $1.727
trillion f.o.b. (2005 est.): agricultural products 4.9%, industrial
supplies 32.9% (crude oil 8.2%), capital goods 30.4% (computers,
telecommunications equipment, motor vehicle parts, office machines,
electric power machinery), consumer goods 31.8% (automobiles,
clothing, medicines, furniture, toys) (2003). Major trading
partners: Canada, Mexico, Japan, UK, China, Germany (2004). Communications: Telephones: main lines in
use: 194 million (1997); mobile cellular: 69.209 million (1998).
Radio broadcast stations: AM about 5,000, FM about 5,000,
shortwave 18 (1998). Radios: 575 million (1997). Television
broadcast stations: more than 1,500 (including nearly 1,000
stations affiliated with the five major networks—NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX,
and PBS; in addition, there are about 9,000 cable TV systems) (1997).
Televisions: 219 million (1997). Internet Service Providers
(ISPs): 7,000 (2002 est.). Internet users: 165.75 million
(2002). Transportation: Railways:
total: 194,731 km mainline routes (2000). Highways: total:
6,334,859 km; paved: 3,737,567 km (including 89,426 km of
expressways); unpaved: 2,597,292 km (2000). Waterways: 41,009
km of navigable inland channels, exclusive of the Great Lakes.
Ports and harbors: Anchorage, Baltimore, Boston, Charleston,
Chicago, Duluth, Hampton Roads, Honolulu, Houston, Jacksonville, Los
Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, Port Canaveral, Portland
(Oregon), Prudhoe Bay, San Francisco, Savannah, Seattle, Tampa,
Toledo. Airports: 14,801 (2002). International disputes: prolonged drought in
the Mexico border region has strained water-sharing arrangements; 1990
Maritime Boundary Agreement in the Bering Sea awaits Russian Duma
ratification; maritime boundary disputes with Canada at Dixon
Entrance, Beaufort Sea, Strait of Juan de Fuca, and around the
disputed Machias Seal Island and North Rock; The Bahamas have not been
able to agree on a maritime boundary; US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay
is leased from Cuba and only mutual agreement or US abandonment of the
area can terminate the lease; Haiti claims Navassa Island; US has made
no territorial claim in Antarctica (but has reserved the right to do
so) and does not recognize the claims of any other state; Marshall
Islands claims Wake Island. 1.
Persons of Hispanic origin can be of any race.
Major sources and definitions
U.S. Territories and Outlying Areas
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