Country Name:

United States of America

Location:

North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico

Area:

9,826,630 sq km

land:

9,161,923 sq km

water:

664,707 sq km

Land Boundaries:

12,034 km

Border Countries:

Canada 8,893 km (including 2,477 km with Alaska), Mexico 3,141 km

Coastline:

19,924 km

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

Geography:

world's third-largest country by size (after Russia and Canada) and by population (after China and India); Mt. McKinley is highest point in North America and Death Valley the lowest point on the continent

Population:

298,444,215 (July 2006 est.)

Age Structure:

0-14 Years:

20.4% (male 31,095,847/female 29,715,872)

15-64 Years:

67.2% (male 100,022,845/female 100,413,484)

65 Years and Over:

12.5% (male 15,542,288/female 21,653,879) (2006 est.)

Average Age:

(2006 est.)

Total:

36.5 years

Male:

35.1 years

Female:

37.8 years

Ethnic Groups:

white 81.7%, black 12.9%, Asian 4.2%, Amerindian and Alaska native 1%, native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander 0.2% (2003 est.)
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.)

General

Languages:

English 82.1%, Spanish 10.7%, other Indo-European 3.8%, Asian and Pacific island 2.7%, other 0.7% (2000 census)
note: Hawaiian is an official language in the state of Hawaii

Government

Type:

Constitution-based federal republic; strong democratic tradition

Capital:

Washington, DC

Provincial:

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

Independence:

4 July 1776 (from Great Britain)

Economy

Currency:

US Dollar

GDP Growth Rate:

3.4% (2006 est.)

Labour Occupations:

farming, forestry, and fishing 0.7%, manufacturing, extraction, transportation, and crafts 22.9%, managerial, professional, and technical 34.9%, sales and office 25%, other services 16.5%
note: figures exclude the unemployed (2006)

Unemployment Rate:

4.8% (2006 est.)

Inflation Rate:

2.5% (2006 est.)

Agriculture Produce:

wheat, corn, other grains, fruits, vegetables, cotton; beef, pork, poultry, dairy products; fish; forest products

Transportation

Railways:

Total: 226,605 km

Roads:

total: 6,430,366 km
paved: 4,165,110 km (including 75,009 km of expressways)
unpaved: 2,265,256 km (2005)

Airports:

Paved total: 5,119
over 3,047 m: 189
2,438 to 3,047 m: 221
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1,426
914 to 1,523 m: 2,337
under 914 m: 946 (2006)

Ports & Harbours:

Corpus Christi, Duluth, Hampton Roads, Houston, Long Beach, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, Tampa, Texas City
note: 13 ports north of New Orleans (South Louisiana Ports) on the Mississippi River handle 290,000,000 tons of cargo annually

Communications

Mains Telephones:

268 million (2003)

Mobile Telephones:

219.4 million (2005)

Television Stations:

2,218 (2006)

Internet Users:

205.327 million (2005)

Country Internet Code:

.us