United States

• mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida and 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

• 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

• tsunamis, volcanoes, and earthquake activity around Pacific Basin;
• hurricanes along the Atlantic coast;
• tornadoes in the midwest;
• mud slides in California;
• forest fires in the west;
• flooding;
• permafrost in northern Alaska is a major impediment to development

• 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;
• very limited natural fresh water resources in much of the western part of the country require careful management;
• desertification

0-14 years:

22% (male 29,952,220; female 28,560,357)

15-64 years:

66% (male 88,113,895; female 89,399,501)

65 years and over:

12% (male 14,088,571; female 20,197,212) (July 1998 est.)

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

0.99 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.7 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

noun:

American(s)

adjective:

American

conventional long form:

United States of America

conventional short form:

United States

abbreviation:

US or USA

• based on English common law;
• judicial review of legislative acts;
• accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

chief of state:

• President William Jefferson CLINTON (since 20 January 1993) and Vice President Albert GORE, Jr. (since 20 January 1993);
• note-the president is both the chief of state and head of government

head of government:

• President William Jefferson CLINTON (since 20 January 1993) and Vice President Albert GORE, Jr. (since 20 January 1993);
• note-the president is both the chief of state and head of government

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;
• election last held 5 November 1996 (next to be held 7 November 2000)

election results:

• William Jefferson CLINTON elected president;
• percent of popular vote - William Jefferson CLINTON (Democratic Party) 49.2%, Bob DOLE (Republican Party) 40.7%, Ross PEROT (Reform Party) 8.4%, other 1.7%

• Republican Party, Jim NICHOLSON, national committee chairman;
• Democratic Party, Steve GROSSMAN, national committee chairman;
• several other groups or parties of minor political significance

AfDB, AG (observer), ANZUS, APEC, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE (observer), CP, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ECLAC, ESCAP, FAO, G- 2, G- 5, G- 7, G- 8, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MINUGUA, MINURSO, MIPONUH, MTCR, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS, OECD, OSCE, PCA, SPC, UN, UN Security Council, UNCTAD, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMIBH, UNOMIG, UNPREDEP, UNRWA, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC

• thirteen 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;
• known as Old Glory;
• the design and colors have been the basis for a number of other flags including
  • Chile,
  • Liberia,
  • Malaysia,
  • and Puerto Rico

total:

136.3 million (includes unemployed) (1997)

by occupation:

managerial and professional 29.1%, technical, sales and administrative support 29.6%, services 13.5%, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and crafts 25.1%, farming, forestry, and fishing 2.7%

• 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

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

total value:

$625.1 billion (f.o.b., 1996)

commodities:

capital goods, automobiles, industrial supplies and raw materials, consumer goods, agricultural products

partners:

Canada 22%, Western Europe 21%, Japan 11%, Mexico 8% (1995)

total value:

$822 billion (c.i.f., 1996)

commodities:

crude oil and refined petroleum products, machinery, automobiles, consumer goods, industrial raw materials, food and beverages

partners:

Canada, 20%, Western Europe 18%, Japan 16.5%, Mexico 8% (1995)

• British pounds (£) per US$-0.6115 (January 1998), 0.6106 (1997), 0.6403 (1996), 0.6335 (1995), 0.6529 (1994), 0.6658 (1993);
• Canadian dollars (Can$) per US$-1.4408 (January 1998), 1.3846 (1997), 1.3635 (1996), 1.3724 (1995), 1.3656 (1994), 1.2901 (1993);
• French francs (F) per US$-6.0836 (January 1998), 5.8367 (1997), 5.1155 (1996), 4.9915 (1995), 5.5520 (1994), 5.6632 (1993);
• Italian lire (Lit) per US$-1,787.7 (January 1997), 1,703.1 (1997), 1,542.9 (1996), 1,628.9 (1995), 1,612.4 (1994), 1,573.7 (1993);
• Japanese yen (¥) per US$-129.45 (January 1998), 120.99 (1997), 108.78 (1996), 94.06 (1995), 102.21 (1994), 111.20 (1993);
• German deutsche marks (DM) per US$ - 1.8167 (January 1998), 1.7341 (1997), 1.5048 (1996), 1.4331 (1995), 1.6228 (1994), 1.6533 (1993)

domestic:

• a large system of fiber-optic cable, microwave radio relay, coaxial cable, and domestic satellites carries conventional telephone traffic;
• a rapidly growing cellular system carries mobile telephone traffic throughout country

international:

24 ocean cable systems in use; satellite earth stations-61 Intelsat (45 Atlantic Ocean and 16 Pacific Ocean) (1990 est.), 5 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region), and 4 Inmarsat (Pacific and Atlantic Ocean regions)

total:

240,000 km mainline routes (nongovernment owned)

standard gauge:

240,000 km 1.435-m gauge (1989)

total:

6.42 million km

paved:

3,903,360 km (including 88,400 km of expressways)

unpaved:

2,516,640 km (1996 est.)

• maritime boundary disputes with Canada (Dixon Entrance, Beaufort Sea, Strait of Juan de Fuca, Machias Seal Island);
• 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 nation;
• Marshall Islands claims Wake Island

• consumer of cocaine shipped from Colombia through Mexico and the Caribbean;
• consumer of heroin, marijuana, and increasingly methamphetamines from Mexico;
• consumer of high-quality Southeast Asian heroin;
• illicit producer of cannabis, marijuana, depressants, stimulants, hallucinogens, and methamphetamines;
• drug money-laundering center URUGUAY