USA

USA Background

Britain's American colonies broke with the mother country in 1776 and were recognized as the new nation of the United States of America following the Treaty of Paris in 1783. During the 19th and 20th centuries, 37 new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the North American continent and acquired a number of overseas possessions. The two most traumatic experiences in the nation's history were the Civil War (1861-65) and the Great Depression of the 1930s. Buoyed by victories in World Wars I and II and the end of the Cold War in 1991, the US remains the world's most powerful nation state. The economy is marked by steady growth, low unemployment and inflation, and rapid advances in technology.

USA Information

• Population: 293,027,571 (July 2004 est.)
• Nationality: noun: American(s) adjective: American
• Location:: North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico
• Religions:: Protestant 52%, Roman Catholic 24%, Mormon 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 1%, other 10%, none 10% (2002 est.)
• 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 perso
• 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
• 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
• Coast Line: 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 Janu
• 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
• Maritime Claims: territorial sea: 12 nm contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: not specified
• Land Use: arable land: 19.13% other: 80.65% (2001) permanent crops: 0.22%
• Environmental Issues: air pollution resulting in acid rain in both the US and Canada; the US is the largest single emitter of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels; water pollution from runoff of pesticides and fertilizers; limited natural fresh water resources in mu
• Natural Resources: coal, copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates, uranium, bauxite, gold, iron, mercury, nickel, potash, silver, tungsten, zinc, petroleum, natural gas, timber
• Highways: total: 6,406,296 km paved: 4,148,395 km (including 74,898 km of expressways) unpaved: 2,257,902 km (2002)
• Railways: total: 228,464 km standard gauge: 228,464 km 1.435-m gauge (2003)
• Ports & Harbours: 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: 14,807 (2003 est.)