Map of United States

President: Barack H. Obama (2009)

Vice President: Joseph Biden (2009)

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 (2012 est.): 313,847,465 (growth rate: 0.899%); birth rate: 13.68/1000; infant mortality rate: 5.9/1000; life expectancy: 78.49; density per sq mi: 85

Capital (2010 est.): Washington, DC, 601,723

Largest cities (2010 est.): New York, 8,175,133; Los Angeles, 3,792,621; Chicago, 2,695,598; Houston, 2,099,451; Philadelphia, 1,526,006; Phoenix, 1,445,632; San Antonio, 1,327,407; San Diego, 1,307,402; Dallas, 1,197,816; San Jose, 945,942

Monetary unit: dollar

The United States of America

Languages: English 82%, Spanish 11% (2000)

Ethnicity/race (2010 Census): White: 223,553,265 (72.4%); Black: 38,929,319 (12.6%); Asian: 14,674,252 (4.8%); American Indian and Alaska Native: 2,369,431 (0.8%); Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander: 1,225,195 (0.4%); Hispanic origin:¹ 50,477,594 (16.3%)

Religions: Protestant 51.3%, Roman Catholic 23.9%, Mormon 1.7%, Jewish 1.7%, Muslim 0.6%, none 4% (2007)

Literacy rate: 99% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2011 est.): $15.29 trillion; per capita $49,000. Real growth rate: –1.7%. Inflation: –3.1%. Unemployment: 9%. Arable land: 18%. Agriculture: wheat, corn, other grains, fruits, vegetables, cotton; beef, pork, poultry, dairy products; fish; forest products. Labor force: 153.6 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: $1.497 trillion (2011 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) (2011). Imports: $2.236 trillion (2011 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) (2011). Major trading partners: Canada, Mexico, Japan, China, Germany (2011).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 151 million (2009); mobile cellular: 279 million (2009). Radio broadcast stations: AM about 5,000, FM about 10,000, shortwave 18 (2008). Radios: 575 million (2008). 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) (2008). Televisions: 498 million (2008). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 498 million (2011 est.). Internet users: 245 million (2009).

Transportation: Railways: total: 224,792 km mainline routes (2007). Highways: total: 6,506,204 km; paved: 4,374,784 km (including 89,426 km of expressways); unpaved: 2,131,420 km (2008). Waterways: 41,009 km of navigable inland channels, exclusive of the Great Lakes (2012). 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: 15,079 (2010).

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.

Major sources and definitions

U.S. Territories and Outlying Areas