Map of United States | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
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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) in which a northern Union of states defeated a secessionist Confederacy of 11 southern slave states and the Great Depression of the 1930s an economic downturn during which about a quarter of the labor force lost its jobs. 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. Over a span of more than five decades the economy has achieved steady growth low unemployment and inflation and rapid advances in technology.


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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

Map reference: North America

Area
Total: 9,826,675 km²
Rank: 3
Land: 9,161,966 km²
Water: 664,709 km²
Note: includes only the 50 states and District of Columbia
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; more than twice the size of the European Union

Land boundaries
Total: 12,034 km
Border countries: (2) 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 28 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

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Death Valley -86 m
Extremes highest point: Mount McKinley 6,194 m
Extremes note: the peak of Mauna Kea (4,207 m above sea level) on the island of Hawaii rises about 10,200 m above the Pacific Ocean floor; by this measurement it is the world's tallest mountain - higher than Mount Everest which is recognized as the tallest mountain above sea level

Natural resources: coal copper lead molybdenum phosphates rare earth elements uranium bauxite gold iron mercury nickel potash silver tungsten zinc petroleum natural gas timber
Note: the US has the world's largest coal reserves with 491 billion short tons accounting for 27% of the world's total

Land use
Arable land: 18.01%
Permanent crops: 0.21%
Other: 81.78% (2005)

Irrigated land: 223,850 km² (2003)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources: 3,069 km³ (1985)

Natural hazards: tsunamis; volcanoes; earthquake activity around Pacific Basin; hurricanes along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts; tornadoes in the Midwest and Southeast; mud slides in California; forest fires in the west; flooding; permafrost in northern Alaska a major impediment to development
Volcanism: the United States experiences volcanic activity in the Hawaiian Islands Western Alaska the Pacific Northwest and in the Northern Mariana Islands; both Mauna Loa (elev. 4,170 m 13,678 ft) in Hawaii and Mount Rainier (elev. 4,392 m 14,409 ft) in Washington have been deemed 'Decade Volcanoes' by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior worthy of study due to their explosive history and close proximity to human populations; Pavlof (elev. 2,519 m 8,264 ft) is the most active volcano in Alaska's Aleutian Arc and poses a significant threat to air travel since the area constitutes a major flight path between North America and East Asia; St. Helens (elev. 2,549 m 8,363 ft) famous for the devastating 1980 eruption remains active today; numerous other historically active volcanoes exist mostly concentrated in the Aleutian arc and Hawaii; they include: in Alaska: Aniakchak Augustine Chiginagak Fourpeaked Iliamna Katmai Kupreanof Martin Novarupta Redoubt Spurr Wrangell; in Hawaii: Trident Ugashik-Peulik Ukinrek Maars Veniaminof; in the Northern Mariana Islands: Anatahan; and in the Pacific Northwest: Mount Baker Mount Hood

Geography
Note: 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


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Population: 310,232,863 (July 2010 est.)
Rank: 3
Growth rate: 0.97% (2010 est.)
Growth rate rank: 121
Below poverty line: 12% (2004 est.)

Nationality
Noun: American
Adjective: American

Ethnic groups: white 79.96% black 12.85% Asian 4.43% Amerindian and Alaska native 0.97% native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander 0.18% two or more races 1.61% (July 2007 estimate)
Note: a separate listing for Hispanic is not included because the US Census Bureau considers Hispanic to mean persons of Spanish/Hispanic/Latino origin including those of Mexican Cuban Puerto Rican Dominican Republic Spanish and Central or South American origin living in the US who may be of any race or ethnic group (white black Asian etc.); about 15.1% of the total US population is Hispanic

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

Religions: Protestant 51.3% Roman Catholic 23.9% Mormon 1.7% other Christian 1.6% Jewish 1.7% Buddhist 0.7% Muslim 0.6% other or unspecified 2.5% unaffiliated 12.1% none 4% (2007 est.)

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 20.2%
15-64 years: 67% (male 102,665,043/female 103,129,321)
65 years and over: 12.8% (male 16,901,232/female 22,571,696) (2010 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age
Total: 36.8 years
Male: 35.5 years
Female: 38.1 years (2010 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.97% (2010 est.)
Rank: 121

Birth rate: 13.83 births/1000 population (2010 est.)
Rank: 150

Death rate: 8.38 deaths/1000 population (July 2010 est.)
Rank: 90

Net migration rate: 4.25 migrant(s)/1000 population (2010 est.)
Rank: 22

Population distribution

Urbanization
Urban population: 82% of total population
Rate of urbanization: 1.3% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)

Major urban areas

Environment
Current 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 much of the western part of the country require careful management; desertification
International agreements party to: Air Pollution Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides Antarctic-Environmental Protocol Antarctic-Marine Living Resources Antarctic Seals Antarctic Treaty Climate Change Desertification Endangered Species Environmental Modification Marine Dumping Marine Life Conservation Ozone Layer Protection Ship Pollution Tropical Timber 83 Tropical Timber 94 Wetlands Whaling
International agreements signed but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds Biodiversity Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol Hazardous Wastes

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.047 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2010 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate
Total: 6.14 deaths/1000 live births
Rank: 177
Male: 6.81 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 5.44 deaths/1000 live births (2010 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 78.24 years
Rank: 49
Male: 75.78 years
Female: 80.81 years (2010 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.06 children born/woman (2010 est.)
Rank: 125

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.6% (2007 est.)
Adult prevalence rate rank: 70
People living with hivaids: 1.2 million (2007 est.)
People living with hivaids rank: 9
Deaths: 22,000 (2007 est.)
Deaths rank: 21

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures: 5.5% of GDP (2007)
Rank: 46

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 99%
Male: 99%
Female: 99% (2003 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education
Total: 16 years
Male: 15 years
Female: 17 years (2008)

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: United States of America
Conventional short form: United States
Abbreviation: US or USA

Government type: Constitution-based federal republic; strong democratic tradition

Capital
Name: Washington DC
Geographic coordinates: 38 53 N 77 02 W
Time difference: UTC-5 (during Standard Time)
Daylight saving time: +1hr begins second Sunday in March; ends first Sunday in November
Note: the 50 United States cover six time zones

Administrative 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: (14) 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 which is still influenced by the Napoleonic Code) is based on English common law; judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Barack H. OBAMA ; Vice President Joseph R. BIDEN (since 20 January 2009); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
Head of government: President Barack H. OBAMA (since 20 January 2009); Vice President Joseph BIDEN (since 20 January 2009)
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 (eligible for a second term); election last held 4 November 2008 (next to be held on 6 November 2012)
Election results: Barack H. OBAMA elected president; percent of popular vote - Barack H. OBAMA 52.4% John MCCAIN 46.3% other 1.3%;

Legislative branch: bicameral Congress consists of the Senate (100 seats 2 members elected from each state by popular vote to serve six-year terms; one-third elected every two years) and the House of Representatives (435 seats; members directly elected by popular vote to serve two-year terms)
Elections: Senate - last held on 2 November 2010 (next to be held in November 2012); House of Representatives - last held on 2 November 2010 (next to be held in November 2012)
Election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - Democratic Party 51 Republican Party 47 independent 2; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - Democratic Party 192 Republican Party 243

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (nine justices; nominated by the president and confirmed with the advice and consent of the Senate; appointed to serve for life); United States Courts of Appeal; United States District Courts; State and County Courts

Political parties and leaders: Democratic Party [Timothy KAINE]; Green Party; Libertarian Party [William (Bill) REDPATH]; Republican Party [Reince PRIEBUS]

International organization participation: ADB (nonregional member) AfDB (nonregional member) ANZUS APEC Arctic Council ARF ASEAN (dialogue partner) Australia Group BIS BSEC (observer) CBSS (observer) CD CERN (observer) CICA (observer) CP EAPC EBRD FAO FATF G-20 G-5 G-7 G-8 G-10 IADB IAEA IBRD ICAO ICC ICRM IDA IEA IFAD IFC IFRCS IHO ILO IMF IMO IMSO Interpol IOC IOM ISO ITSO ITU ITUC MIGA MINUSTAH MONUSCO NAFTA NATO NEA NSG OAS OECD OPCW OSCE Paris Club PCA PIF (partner) SAARC (observer) SECI (observer) SPC UN UN Security Council UNCTAD UNESCO UNHCR UNITAR UNMIL UNRWA UNTSO UPU WCO WHO WIPO WMO WTO ZC

Diplomatic representation

Flag description: 13 equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white; there is a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing 50 small white five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars (top and bottom) alternating with rows of five stars; the 50 stars represent the 50 states the 13 stripes represent the 13 original colonies; the blue stands for loyalty devotion truth justice and friendship; red symbolizes courage zeal and fervency while white denotes purity and rectitude of conduct; commonly referred to by its nickname of Old Glory
Note: the design and colors have been the basis for a number of other flags including Chile Liberia Malaysia and Puerto Rico

National symbols

National anthem
Name: 'The Star-Spangled Banner'
Lyricsmusic: Francis Scott KEY/John Stafford SMITH
Note: adopted 1931; during the War of 1812 after witnessing the successful American defense of Fort McHenry in Baltimore following British naval bombardment Francis Scott KEY wrote the lyrics to what would become the national anthem; the lyrics were set to the tune of 'The Anacreontic Song;' only the first verse is sung

National heritage


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Economy overview: The US has the largest and most technologically powerful economy in the world with a per capita GDP of $47,400 In this market-oriented economy private individuals and business firms make most of the decisions and the federal and state governments buy needed goods and services predominantly in the private marketplace. US business firms enjoy greater flexibility than their counterparts in Western Europe and Japan in decisions to expand capital plant to lay off surplus workers and to develop new products. At the same time they face higher barriers to enter their rivals' home markets than foreign firms face entering US markets. US firms are at or near the forefront in technological advances especially in computers and in medical aerospace and military equipment; their advantage has narrowed since the end of World War II. The onrush of technology largely explains the gradual development of a 'two-tier labor market' in which those at the bottom lack the education and the professional/technical skills of those at the top and more and more fail to get comparable pay raises health insurance coverage and other benefits. Since 1975 practically all the gains in household income have gone to the top 20% of households. The war in March-April 2003 between a US-led coalition and Iraq and the subsequent occupation of Iraq required major shifts in national resources to the military. Soaring oil prices between 2005 and the first half of 2008 threatened inflation and unemployment as higher gasoline prices ate into consumers' budgets. Imported oil accounts for about 60% of US consumption. Long-term problems include inadequate investment in economic infrastructure rapidly rising medical and pension costs of an aging population sizable trade and budget deficits and stagnation of family income in the lower economic groups. The merchandise trade deficit reached a record $840 billion in 2008 before shrinking to $506 billion in 2009 and ramping back up to $630 billion in 2010. The global economic downturn the sub-prime mortgage crisis investment bank failures falling home prices and tight credit pushed the United States into a recession by mid-2008. GDP contracted until the third quarter of 2009 making this the deepest and longest downturn since the Great Depression. To help stabilize financial markets the US Congress established a $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) in October 2008. The government used some of these funds to purchase equity in US banks and other industrial corporations much of which had been returned to the government by early 2011. In January 2009 the US Congress passed and President Barack OBAMA signed a bill providing an additional $787 billion fiscal stimulus to be used over 10 years - two-thirds on additional spending and one-third on tax cuts - to create jobs and to help the economy recover. Approximately two-thirds of these funds were injected into the economy by the end of 2010. In March 2010 President OBAMA signed a health insurance reform bill into law that will extend coverage to an additional 32 million American citizens by 2016 through private health insurance for the general population and Medicaid for the impoverished. In July 2010 the president signed the DODD-FRANK Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act a bill designed to promote financial stability by protecting consumers from financial abuses ending taxpayer bailouts of financial firms dealing with troubled banks that are 'too big to fail' and improving accountability and transparency in the financial system - in particular by requiring certain financial derivatives to be traded in markets that are subject to government regulation and oversight. In late 2010 the US Federal Reserve Bank (The Fed) announced that it would purchase $600 billion worth of US Government bonds by June 2011 in an attempt to keep interest rates from rising and snuffing out the nascent recovery.

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Rank: 2
Note: data are in 2010 US dollars

Real gdp growth rate:
Rank: 133

Real gdp per capita:
Rank: 10
Note: data are in 2010 US dollars

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 1.2%
Industry: 22.2%
Services: 76.7% (2010 est.)

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

Industries: highly diversified world leading high-technology innovator second largest industrial output in world; petroleum steel motor vehicles aerospace telecommunications chemicals electronics food processing consumer goods lumber mining

Industrial production growth rate: 3.3% (2010 est.)
Rank: 96

Labor force: 153.9 million
Rank: 4
Note: includes unemployed (2010 est.)
By occupation farming forestry and fishing: 0.7%
By occupation manufacturing extraction transportation and crafts: 20.3%
By occupation managerial professional and technical: 37.2%
By occupation sales and office: 24%
By occupation other services: 17.7%
By occupation note: figures exclude the unemployed (2009)

Unemployment rate: 9.3% (2009 est.)
Rank: 107

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: 12% (2004 est.)

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 2%
Highest 10: 30% (2007 est.)

Distribution of family income gini index: 40.8 (1997)
Rank: 42

Budget

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt: 53.5% of GDP (2009 est.)
Rank: 36
Note: data cover only what the United States Treasury denotes as 'Debt Held by the Public' which includes all debt instruments issued by the Treasury that are owned by non-US Government entities; the data include Treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data exclude debt issued by individual US states as well as intra-governmental debt; intra-governmental debt consists of Treasury borrowings from surpluses in the trusts for Federal Social Security Federal Employees Hospital Insurance (Medicare and Medicaid) Disability and Unemployment and several other smaller trusts; if data for intra-government debt were added 'Gross Debt' would increase by about 30% of GDP

Revenue

Fiscal year

Inflation rate consumer prices: -0.3% (2009 est.)
Rank: 34

Central bank discount rate: 0.86% (31 December 2008)
Rank: 137

Commercial bank prime lending rate: 5.09% (31 December 2008 est.)
Rank: 149

Stock of narrow money: $1.722 trillion (31 December 2009 est)
Rank: 5

Stock of broad money: $12.46 trillion (31 December 2008)
Rank: 3

Stock of domestic credit: $31.53 trillion (31 December 2008 est.)
Rank: 1

Market value of publicly traded shares:
Rank: 1

Current account balance: -$378.4 billion (2009 est.)
Rank: 190

Exports: $1.069 trillion (2009 est.)
Rank: 4
Commodities: agricultural products (soybeans fruit corn) 9.2% industrial supplies (organic chemicals) 26.8% capital goods (transistors aircraft motor vehicle parts computers telecommunications equipment) 49.0% consumer goods (automobiles medicines) 15.0%
Partners: Canada 19.37% Mexico 12.21% China 6.58% Japan 4.84% UK 4.33% Germany 4.1% (2009)

Imports: $1.575 trillion (2009 est.)
Rank: 1
Commodities: 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)
Partners: China 19.3% Canada 14.24% Mexico 11.12% Japan 6.14% Germany 4.53% (2009)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

Debt external: $13.75 trillion (31 December 2008)
Rank: 1
Note: approximately 4/5ths of US external debt is denominated in US dollars; foreign lenders have been willing to hold US dollar denominated debt instruments because they view the dollar as the world's reserve currency

Stock of direct foreign investment at home: $2.41 trillion (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 1

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad: $3.367 trillion (31 December 2009 est.)
Rank: 1

Exchange rates
British pounds per us dollar: 1 0.6504 (2010) 0.6494 (2009) 0.5302 (2008) 0.4993 (2007) 0.5418 (2006)
Canadian dollars per us dollar: 1.0346 (2010) 1.1548 (2009) 1.0364 (2008) 1.0724 (2007) 1.1334 (2006)
Chinese yuan per us dollar: 6.7852 (2010) 6.8249 (2009) 6.9385 (2008) 7.61 (2007) 7.97 (2006)
Euros per us dollar: 0.7715 (2010) 0.7338 (2009) 0.6827 (2008) 0.7345 (2007) 0.7964 (2006)
Japanese yen per us dollar: 88.67 (2010) 94.5 (2009) 103.58 (2008) 117.99 (2007) 116.18 (2006)


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Electricity
Production: 4.11 trillion kWh (2008 est.)
Production rank: 1
Consumption: 3.873 trillion kWh (2008 est.)
Consumption rank: 1
Exports: 24.08 billion kWh (2008 est.)
Imports: 57.02 billion kWh (2008 est.)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas
Production: 593.4 billion m³ (2009 est.)
Production rank: 1
Consumption: 646.6 billion m³ (2009 est.)
Consumption rank: 1
Exports: 30.35 billion m³ (2009 est.)
Exports rank: 9
Imports: 106.1 billion m³ (2009 est.)
Imports rank: 1
Proven reserves: 6.928 trillion m³ (1 January 2010 est.)
Proven reserves rank: 6

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Main lines in use: 141 million (2009)
Main lines in use rank: 2
Mobile cellular: 286 million (2009)
Mobile cellular rank: 3

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; multiple ocean cable systems provide international connectivity; 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)

Broadcast media: 4 major terrestrial television networks with affiliate stations throughout the country plus cable and satellite networks independent stations and a limited public broadcasting sector that is largely supported by private grants; overall thousands of TV stations broadcasting; multiple national radio networks with large numbers of affiliate stations; while most stations are commercial National Public Radio (NPR) has a network of some 600 member stations; satellite radio available; overall nearly 15,000 radio stations operating (2008)

Internet
Country code: .us
Hosts: 439 million (2010); note - the US Internet total host count includes the following top level domain host addresses: .us .com .edu .gov .mil .net and .org
Hosts rank: 1
Users: 245 million (2009)
Users rank: 2

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures: 4.06% of GDP (2005 est.)
Rank: 24

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age (17 years of age with parental consent) for male and female voluntary service; maximum enlistment age 42 (Army) 27 (Air Force) 34 (Navy) 28 (Marines); service obligation 8 years including 2-5 years active duty (Army) 2 years active (Navy) 4 years active (Air Force Marines) (2010)

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 15,079 (2010)
Rank: 1
With paved runways total: 5,194
With paved runways over 3047 m: 189
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 235
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1479
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 2,316
With paved runways under 914 m: 975 (2010)
With unpaved runways total: 9,885
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 7
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 155
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 1752
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 7,971 (2010)

Heliports: 126 (2010)

Pipelines: petroleum products 244,620 km; natural gas 548,665 km (2009)

Railways
Total: 226,427 km
Rank: 1
Standard gauge: 226,427 km 1.435-m gauge (2007)

Roadways
Total: 6,506,204 km
Rank: 1
Paved: 4,374,784 km (includes 75,238 km of expressways)
Unpaved: 2,131,420 km (2008)

Waterways: 41,009 km (19,312 km used for commerce)
Rank: 4
Note: Saint Lawrence Seaway of 3,769 km including the Saint Lawrence River of 3,058 km shared with Canada (2008)

Merchant marine
Total: 418
Rank: 26
By type: barge carrier 6 bulk carrier 58 cargo 58 carrier 3 chemical tanker 30 container 87 passenger 18 passenger/cargo 56 petroleum tanker 45 refrigerated cargo 3 roll on/roll off 27 vehicle carrier 27
Foreign owned: 86 (Australia 1 Bermuda 5 Canada 1 Denmark 34 France 4 Germany 3 Malaysia 2 Norway 10 Singapore 17 Sweden 5 UK 4)
Registered in other countries: 734 (Antigua and Barbuda 6 Australia 2 Bahamas 100 Belgium 2 Bermuda 25 Cambodia 4 Canada 9 Cayman Islands 54 Comoros 2 Cyprus 7 Georgia 1 Greece 7 Hong Kong 31 Indonesia 2 Ireland 2 Isle of Man 2 Italy 21 Liberia 39 Luxembourg 3 Malta 35 Marshall Islands 168 Netherlands 15 Norway 9 Panama 102 Portugal 4 Saint Kitts and Nevis 1 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 19 Sierra Leone 1 Singapore 33 South Korea 8 UK 11 unknown 8) (2010)

Ports and terminals
Cargo ports: Baton Rouge Corpus Christi Houston Long Beach Los Angeles New Orleans New York Plaquemines Tampa Texas City
Container ports: Los Angeles (7,849,985) Long Beach (6,350,125) New York/New Jersey (5,265,058) Savannah (2,616,126) Oakland (2,236,244) Hampton Roads (2,083,278) (2008)
Cruise departure ports: Miami (2,032,000) Port Everglades (1,277,000) Port Canaveral (1,189,000) Seattle (430,000) Long Beach (415,000) (2009)


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Disputes international: the U.S. has intensified domestic security measures and is collaborating closely with its neighbors Canada and Mexico to monitor and control legal and illegal personnel transport and commodities across the international borders; abundant rainfall in recent years along much of the Mexico-US border region has ameliorated periodically strained water-sharing arrangements; 1990 Maritime Boundary Agreement in the Bering Sea still awaits Russian Duma ratification; managed 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 and US 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 US-administered 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 states; Marshall Islands claims Wake Island; Tokelau included American Samoa's Swains Island among the islands listed in its 2006 draft constitution

Refugees and internally displaced persons
Refugees: the US admitted 62,643 refugees during FY04/05 including; 10,586 (Somalia); 8,549 (Laos); 6,666 (Russia); 6,479 (Cuba); 3,100 (Haiti); 2,136 (Iran) (2006)

Illicit drugs: world's largest consumer of cocaine (shipped from Colombia through Mexico and the Caribbean) Colombian heroin and Mexican heroin and marijuana; major consumer of ecstasy and Mexican methamphetamine; minor consumer of high-quality Southeast Asian heroin; illicit producer of cannabis marijuana depressants stimulants hallucinogens and methamphetamine; money-laundering center