| GEOGRAPHY |
| Country name: |
conventional long form: United States of America
conventional short form: United States
abbreviation: US or USA |
| Capital: |
Washington, DC |
| Location: |
North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico |
| Geographic
Coordinates: |
38 00 N, 97 00 W |
| Area: |
total: 9,631,418 sq km
land: 9,161,923 sq km
water: 469,495 sq km
note: includes only the 50 states and District of Columbia |
| Area
Comparative: |
about half the size of Russia; about three-tenths the size of Africa; about half the size of South America (or slightly larger than Brazil); slightly larger than China; about two and a half times the size of Western Europe |
| Land
Boundaries: |
total: 12,034 km
border countries: Canada 8,893 km (including 2,477 km with Alaska), Mexico 3,141 km
note: US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is leased by the US and is part of Cuba; the base boundary is 29 km |
| Coastline: |
19,924 km |
| Maritime
Claims: |
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: not specified |
| Climate: |
mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida, arctic in Alaska, semiarid in the great plains west of the Mississippi River, and arid in the Great Basin of the southwest; low winter temperatures in the northwest are ameliorated occasionally in January and February by warm chinook winds from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains |
| Terrain: |
vast central plain, mountains in west, hills and low mountains in east; rugged mountains and broad river valleys in Alaska; rugged, volcanic topography in Hawaii |
| Elavation
Extremes: |
lowest point: Death Valley -86 m
highest point: Mount McKinley 6,194 m |
| Natural
Resources: |
coal, copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates, uranium, bauxite, gold, iron, mercury, nickel, potash, silver, tungsten, zinc, petroleum, natural gas, timber |
| GOVERNEMENT |
| Governement
Type: |
Constitution-based federal republic; strong democratic tradition |
| Administratives
Divisions: |
50 states and 1 district*; Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia*, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming ( Dependent areas:American Samoa, Baker Island, Guam, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Islands, Navassa Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palmyra Atoll, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Wake Island
note: from 18 July 1947 until 1 October 1994, the US administered the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands; it entered into a political relationship with all four political units: the Northern Mariana Islands is a commonwealth in political union with the US (effective 3 November 1986); the Republic of the Marshall Islands signed a Compact of Free Association with the US (effective 21 October 1986); the Federated States of Micronesia signed a Compact of Free Association with the US (effective 3 November 1986); Palau concluded a Compact of Free Association with the US (effective 1 October 1994) ) |
| Independence |
4 July 1776 (from Great Britain) |
| National
Holiday: |
Independence Day, 4 July (1776) |
| Constitution: |
17 September 1787, effective 4 March 1789 |
| Legal
System; |
federal court system based on English common law; each state has its own unique legal system, of which all but one (Louisiana's) is based on English common law; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations |
| Suffrage |
18 years of age; universal |
| Executive
Branch: |
chief of state: President George W. BUSH (since 20 January 2001); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President George W. BUSH (since 20 January 2001); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president with Senate approval
elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by a college of representatives who are elected directly from each state; president and vice president serve four-year terms; election last held 2 November 2004 (next to be held November 2008)
election results: George W. BUSH reelected president; percent of popular vote - George W. BUSH (Republican Party) 50.9%, John KERRY (Democratic Party) 48.1%, other 1.0% |
| Legislative
Branch: |
bicameral Congress consists of the Senate (100 seats, one-third are renewed every two years; two members are elected from each state by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and the House of Representatives (435 seats; members are directly elected by popular vote to serve two-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 2 November 2004 (next to be held November 2006); House of Representatives - last held 2 November 2004 (next to be held November 2006)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Republican Party 55, Democratic Party 44, independent 1; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - Republican Party 231, Democratic Party 200, undecided 4 |
| Judicial
Branch: |
Supreme Court (its nine justices are appointed for life on condition of good behavior by the president with confirmation by the Senate); United States Courts of Appeal; United States District Courts; State and County Courts |
| Political
parties and Leaders: |
Democratic Party [Howard DEAN]; Green Party [leader NA]; Libertarian Party [Steve DAMERELL]; Republican Party [Ken MEHLMAN] |
| PEOPLE |
| Population: |
295,734,134 (July 2005 est.) |
| Age structure: |
0-14 years: 20.6% (male 31,095,725/female 29,703,997)
15-64 years: 67% (male 98,914,382/female 99,324,126)
65 years and over: 12.4% (male 15,298,676/female 21,397,228) (2005 est.) |
| Median age: |
total: 36.27 years
male: 34.94 years
female: 37.6 years (2005 est.) |
| Nationality: |
noun: American(s)
adjective: American |
| Ethnic groups: |
white 77.1%, black 12.9%, Asian 4.2%, Amerindian and Alaska native 1.5%, native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander 0.3%, other 4% (2000)
note: a separate listing for Hispanic is not included because the US Census Bureau considers Hispanic to mean a person of Latin American descent (including persons of Cuban, Mexican, or Puerto Rican origin) living in the US who may be of any race or ethnic group (white, black, Asian, etc.) |
| Religions: |
Protestant 52%, Roman Catholic 24%, Mormon 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 1%, other 10%, none 10% (2002 est.) |
| Languages: |
English, Spanish (spoken by a sizable minority) |
| COMUNICATIONS |
| Telephones - main
lines in use: |
181,599,900 (2003) |
| Telephones - mobile
cellular: |
158.722 million (2003) |
| Telephone system: |
general assessment: a large, technologically advanced, multipurpose communications system
domestic: a large system of fiber-optic cable, microwave radio relay, coaxial cable, and domestic satellites carries every form of telephone traffic; a rapidly growing cellular system carries mobile telephone traffic throughout the country
international: country code - 1; 24 ocean cable systems in use; satellite earth stations - 61 Intelsat (45 Atlantic Ocean and 16 Pacific Ocean), 5 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region), and 4 Inmarsat (Pacific and Atlantic Ocean regions) (2000) |
| Radio broadcast
stations: |
AM 4,854, FM 8,950, shortwave 18 (2004) |
| 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) |
| Internet country
code: |
.us |
| Internet hosts: |
115,311,958 (2002) |
| Internet users: |
159 million (2002) |
| TRANSPORT |
| Railways: |
total: 228,464 km
standard gauge: 228,464 km 1.435-m gauge (2003) |
| Highways: |
total: 6,393,603 km
paved: 4,180,053 km (including 74,406 km of expressways)
unpaved: 2,213,550 km (2003) |
| Waterways: |
41,009 km (19,312 km used for commerce)
note: Saint Lawrence Seaway of 3,769 km, including the Saint Lawrence River of 3,058 km, shared with Canada (2004) |
| Pipelines: |
petroleum products 244,620 km; natural gas 548,665 km (2003) |
| 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 |
| Merchant marine: |
total: 486 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 12,436,658 GRT/14,630,116 DWT
by type: barge carrier 7, bulk carrier 19, cargo 152, chemical tanker 19, container 92, passenger 17, passenger/cargo 57, petroleum tanker 79, refrigerated cargo 2, roll on/roll off 28, vehicle carrier 14
foreign-owned: 49 (Australia 2, Canada 8, China 1, Denmark 20, Malaysia 2, Netherlands 1, Norway 2, Singapore 11, Sweden 1, United Kingdom 1)
registered in other countries: 680 (2005) |
| Airports: |
14,857 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with
paved runways: |
total: 5,128
over 3,047 m: 188
2,438 to 3,047 m: 221
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1,375
914 to 1,523 m: 2,383
under 914 m: 961 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with
unpaved runways: |
total: 9,729
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 7
1,524 to 2,437 m: 160
914 to 1,523 m: 1,718
under 914 m: 7,843 (2004 est.) |
| Heliports: |
155 (2004 est.) |
|
