UNITED STATES
This “Factsheet” on the US is provided solely as a service to those wishing to make rough comparisons of foreign country data with a US "yardstick." Information is from US open sources and publications and in no sense represents estimates by the US Intelligence Community.
LAND
9,371,829 km2 (contiguous US plus Alaska and Hawaii); 19% cultivated, 27% grazing and pasture, 32% forested, 22% waste, urban, and other
WATER
Limits of territorial waters (claimed): 3 nm (fishing 200 nm)
Coastline: 19,924 km
PEOPLE
Population: 232,195,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 1.0%
Ethnic divisions: 79.7% white, 11.7% black, 6.5% Spanish origin, 1.5% Asian and Pacific Islander, 0.6% American Indian, Eskimo, and Aleut (1980)
Religion: total membership in religious bodies, 133,749,000; Protestant 73,704,000, Roman Catholic 49,602,000, Jewish 5,781,000, other religions 4,662,000 (1978)
Language: English, predominantly
Literacy: 99.0% of total population 14 years or older (1977)
Labor force: 102.9 million (civilian), unemployment 7.6% (1981)
Organized labor: 20.2% of civilian labor force (1978)
GOVERNMENT
Official name: United States of America
Type: federal republic; strong democratic tradition
Capital: Washington, D.C.
Political subdivisions: 50 states, the District of Columbia, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Wake and Midway Islands; under UN trusteeship Caroline, Marshall, and Northern Mariana Islands
Legal system: based on English common law; dual system of courts, state and federal; constitution adopted 1789; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
National holiday: Independence Day, 4 July
Branches: executive (President), bicameral legislative (House of Representatives and Senate), and judicial (Supreme Court); branches, in principle, independent and maintain balance of power
Government leaders: Ronald Wilson REAGAN, President; George Herbert Walker BUSH, Vice President
Suffrage: all citizens over age 18, not compulsory
Elections: presidential, every four years (last November 1980); all members of the House of Representatives, every two years; one-third of members of the Senate, every two years
Political parties and leaders: Republican Party, Richard Richards, chairman; Democratic Party, Charles T. Manatt, chairman; several other groups or parties of minor political significance
Voting strength: national average of voting age population voting, 53.9% (1980 presidential election)—Republican Party (Ronald Reagan), 50% of the popular vote (489 electoral votes); Democratic Party (Jimmy Carter), 42% (42 electoral votes); John Anderson (third-line candidate), 6% (no electoral votes); other, 2% (no electoral votes)
Communists: Communist Party membership, claimed 15,000-20,000 (1981); general secretary, Gus Hall; in the 1980 presidential election the Communist Party candidate received 43,896 votes; Socialist Workers Party membership, claimed 1,800; national secretary, Jack Barnes; in the 1980 presidential election, the Socialist Workers Party candidate received 48,650 votes
Member of: ADB, ANZUS, BIS, CCC, CENTO, Colombo Plan, DAC, FAO, GATT, Group of Ten, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICEM, ICES, ICO, IDA, IDB, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, International Lead and Zinc Study Group, IMCO, IMF, INTELSAT, IPU, ITC, ITU, IWC—International Whaling Commission, IWC—International Wheat Council, NATO, OAS, OECD, SPC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO
ECONOMY
GNP: $2,368.8 billion (1979); 63.7% personal consumption, 16.4% private investment, 20.1% government, −0.2% net exports; $10,745 per capita
Fishing: catch 6.482 billion metric tons (1980); imports $3,648 million (1980); exports $1,006 million, (1980); est. value, $2,237 million (1980)
Crude steel: 113.7 million metric tons produced (1977), 618 kg per capita consumption
Electric power: 616,486,200 kW capacity (1980); 2,286.439 billion (net) kWh produced (1980), 10,245 kWh per capita
Exports: $181.8 billion (f.o.b., 1979); machinery, chemicals, grains, and road motor vehicles
Imports: $218.9 billion (c.i.f., 1979); crude and partly refined petroleum, machinery, and transport equipment (mainly new automobiles)
Major trade partners: exports—23.4% EEC (5.9% UK, 4.7% FRG), 18.2% Canada, 12.8% LAFTA, 9.7% Japan, 5.4% Mexico; import—18.5% Canada, 16.1% EEC (5.3% FRG, 3.9% UK), 12.7% Japan, 10.6% LAFTA, 4.3% Mexico, 4.0% Nigeria, 3.9% Saudi Arabia (1979)
