United States

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United States of America
Motto: In God We Trust  (official)
E Pluribus Unum  (traditional)
(Latin: Out of Many, One)
Anthem: "The Star-Spangled Banner"
CapitalWashington, D.C.
Largest city New York City
Official language(s) None at federal level[a]
National language English (de facto)[b]
Demonym American
Government Federal presidential constitutional republic
 -  President Barack Obama (D)
 -  Vice President Joe Biden (D)
 -  Speaker of the House John Boehner (R)
 -  Chief Justice John Roberts
Legislature Congress
 -  Upper House Senate
 -  Lower House House of Representatives
Independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain
 -  Declared July 4, 1776 
 -  Recognized September 3, 1783 
 -  Current constitution June 21, 1788 
Area
 -  Total 9,826,675 km2 [1][c](3rd/4th)
3,794,101 sq mi 
 -  Water (%) 6.76
Population
 -  2010 census 308,745,538[2] 
 -  Density 33.7/km2 
87.4/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2010 estimate
 -  Total $14.624 trillion[3] (1st)
 -  Per capita $47,123[3] (6th)
GDP (nominal) 2010 estimate
 -  Total $14.624 trillion[3] (1st)
 -  Per capita $47,132[3] (9th)
Gini (2007) 45.0[1] (44th)
HDI (2010) Increase 0.902[4] (very high) (4th)
EFI (2011) decrease 77.8[5] (high) (9th)
CPI (2010) decrease 7.1[6] (high) (22nd)
GIR (2009) decrease 85[7] (strong) 
DBR (2011) Steady[8] (very high) (5th)
Currency United States dollar ($) (USD)
Time zone (UTC−5 to −10)
 -  Summer (DST)  (UTC−4 to −10)
Date formats m/d/yy (AD)
Drives on the right
Internet TLD .us .gov .mil .edu
Calling code +1
^ a. English is the official language of at least 28 states—some sources give a higher figure, based on differing definitions of "official".[9] English and Hawaiian are both official languages in the state of Hawaii.

^ b. English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language.

^ c. Whether the United States or the People's Republic of China is larger is disputed. The figure given is from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's World Factbook. Other sources give smaller figures. All authoritative calculations of the country's size include only the 50 states and the District of Columbia, not the territories.

^ d. The population estimate includes people whose usual residence is in the fifty states and the District of Columbia, including noncitizens. It does not include either those living in the territories, amounting to more than 4 million U.S. citizens (most in Puerto Rico), or U.S. citizens living outside the United States.

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.[10]

See also: History of money and banking in the US

Economic characteristics

  • Currency: United States dollar (ISO code: USD)
  • Central bank discount rate: 0.5% (31 December 2009)[10]
  • Commercial banks lending rate: 5.09% (31 December 2008)[10]
  • Stock of money (M1): $1.436 trillion (31 December 2008)[10]
  • Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $10.99 trillion (31 December 2008)[10]
  • According to an estimate, for every 1.65 employed persons in the private sector, 1 person receives welfare assistance. Also, for every 1.25 employed persons in the private sector, 1 person receives welfare assistance or works for the government.[11]

Notable events:

Statistics

Statistic / Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
GDP (million USD)[14] 9 216 200 9 764 800 10 075 900 10 417 600 10 908 000 11 630 900 12 364 100 13 116 500 13 741 600 14 093 300
Govt. debt (% of GDP)[15] 32.957 44.103 46.834 47.680 48.016 47.128 47.484 55.662
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)[16] 20.431 18.187 17.531 17.609 18.856 19.569 19.659 17.874
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)[17] 19.857 20.717 21.324 21.186 21.590 21.442 21.803 23.464
Debt to revenue (years) 1.613 2.425 2.671 2.708 2.546 2.408 2.415 3.114

References

Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "United States". The World Factbook. CIA. 2009-09-30. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html. Retrieved 2010-01-05 (area given in square kilometers). 
  2. ↑ "Resident Population Data – 2010". U.S. Census Bureau. 2010. http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data/apportionment-dens-text.php. Retrieved 2010-12-22. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "United States". International Monetary Fund. http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2010/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2007&ey=2010&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=111&s=NGDPD%2CNGDPDPC%2CPPPGDP%2CPPPPC%2CLP&grp=0&a=&pr.x=40&pr.y=10. Retrieved 2010-04-21. 
  4. ↑ "Human Development Report 2010". United Nations. 2010. http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2010_EN_Tables_reprint.pdf. Retrieved 4 November 2010. 
  5. ↑ "Index of Economic Freedom 2011". The Heritage Foundation. 2011. http://www.heritage.org/index/Country/UnitedStates. Retrieved 2011-05-08. 
  6. ↑ "Corruption Perceptions Index 2010". Transparency International. 2010. http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2010/in_detail. Retrieved 2011-05-08. 
  7. ↑ "Global Integrity Report 2009". Global Integrity. 2009. http://report.globalintegrity.org/United%20States/2009. Retrieved 2011-05-08. 
  8. ↑ "Doing Business Report 2011". International Finance Corporation, World Bank. 2011. http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/united-states/. Retrieved 2011-05-08. 
  9. ↑ Feder, Jody (2007-01-25). "English as the Official Language of the United States—Legal Background and Analysis of Legislation in the 110th Congress". Ilw.com (Congressional Research Service). http://www.ilw.com/immigrationdaily/news/2007,0515-crs.pdf. Retrieved 2007-06-19. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 CIA - The World Factbook. "United States", from The World Factbook. Referenced 2010-09-21.
  11. ↑ Gary D. Alexander, Secretary of Public Welfare, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. "Welfare’s Failure and the Solution", The American Enterprise Institute, July 2012. Referenced 2012-12-04.
  12. ↑ Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff. "This Time is Different", Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-14216-6, p. 389-390. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-21.
  13. ↑ Carmen M. Reinhart. "This Time is Different Chartbook: Country Histories on Debt, Default, and Financial Crises" (pdf), March 3, 2010, p. 116. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-21.
  14. ↑ World Bank. "United States: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-21.
  15. ↑ World Bank. "United States: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-21.
  16. ↑ World Bank. "United States: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-21.
  17. ↑ World Bank. "United States: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-21.

External links

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