The 2008 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency (ebook reader 8 inch .txt) 📕

- proved reserves:

412 billion cu m (1 January 2008 est.)

Current account balance:

-$119.2 billion (2007 est.)

Exports:

$442.2 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Exports - commodities:

manufactured goods, fuels, chemicals; food, beverages, tobacco

Exports - partners:

US 14.2%, Germany 11.1%, France 8.1%, Ireland 8%, Netherlands 6.8%,
Belgium 5.3%, Spain 4.5%, Italy 4.1% (2007)

Imports:

$621.4 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Imports - commodities:

manufactured goods, machinery, fuels; foodstuffs

Imports - partners:

Germany 14.2%, US 8.6%, China 7.3%, Netherlands 7.3%, France 6.9%,
Belgium 4.7%, Norway 4.7%, Italy 4.2% (2007)

Economic aid - donor:

ODA, $12.46 billion (2006)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

$57.3 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Debt - external:

$10.45 trillion (30 June 2007)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:

$1.288 trillion (2007 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:

$1.707 trillion (2007 est.)

Market value of publicly traded shares:

$3.058 trillion (2005)

Currency (code):

British pound (GBP)

Currency code:

GBP

Exchange rates:

British pounds (GBP) per US dollar - 0.4993 (2007), 0.5418 (2006), 0.5493 (2005), 0.5462 (2004), 0.6125 (2003)

Communications
United Kingdom

Telephones - main lines in use:

33.682 million (2007)

Telephones - mobile cellular:

71.992 million (2007)

Telephone system:

general assessment: technologically advanced domestic and international system domestic: equal mix of buried cables, microwave radio relay, and fiber-optic systems international: country code - 44; numerous submarine cables provide links throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, the Middle East, and US; satellite earth stations - 10 Intelsat (7 Atlantic Ocean and 3 Indian Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic Ocean region), and 1 Eutelsat; at least 8 large international switching centers

Radio broadcast stations:

AM 219, FM 431, shortwave 3 (1998)

Radios:

84.5 million (1997)

Television broadcast stations:

228 (plus 3,523 repeaters) (1995)

Televisions:

30.5 million (1997)

Internet country code:

.uk

Internet hosts:

8.269 million (2008)

Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

more than 400 (2000)

Internet users:

40.2 million (2007)

Transportation
United Kingdom

Airports:

449 (2007)

Airports - with paved runways:

total: 310 over 3,047 m: 8 2,438 to 3,047 m: 33 1,524 to 2,437 m: 131 914 to 1,523 m: 79 under 914 m: 59 (2007)

Airports - with unpaved runways:

total: 139 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 23 under 914 m: 113 (2007)

Heliports:

11 (2007)

Pipelines:

condensate 567 km; condensate/gas 22 km; gas 18,980 km; liquid petroleum gas 59 km; oil 4,930 km; oil/gas/water 165 km; refined products 4,444 km (2007)

Railways:

total: 16,567 km broad gauge: 303 km 1.600-m gauge (in Northern Ireland) standard gauge: 16,264 km 1.435-m gauge (5,361 km electrified) (2006)

Roadways:

total: 398,366 km paved: 398,366 km (includes 3,520 km of expressways) (2006)

Waterways:

3,200 km (620 km used for commerce) (2003)

Merchant marine:

total: 518 by type: bulk carrier 33, cargo 67, carrier 5, chemical tanker 61, container 180, liquefied gas 18, passenger 10, passenger/cargo 67, petroleum tanker 23, refrigerated cargo 12, roll on/roll off 24, vehicle carrier 18 foreign-owned: 264 (Cyprus 2, Denmark 62, Finland 1, France 23, Germany 76, Hong Kong 2, Ireland 1, Italy 5, Japan 4, NZ 1, Norway 31, South Africa 3, Spain 1, Sweden 17, Switzerland 1, Taiwan 11, Turkey 2, UAE 9, US 12) registered in other countries: 391 (Algeria 11, Antigua and Barbuda 9, Argentina 4, Australia 5, Bahamas 56, Barbados 9, Belize 5, Bermuda 3, Brunei 1, Cape Verde 1, Cayman Islands 3, Cyprus 19, Gibraltar 2, Greece 32, Hong Kong 39, India 2, Italy 7, South Korea 1, Liberia 20, Luxembourg 8, Malta 19, Marshall Islands 18, Netherlands 2, Norway 5, Panama 59, Saint Kitts and Nevis 3, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 14, Sierra Leone 2, Singapore 17, Slovakia 1, Spain 5, Sweden 2, Thailand 5, Tonga 1, US 1) (2008)

Ports and terminals:

Dover, Felixstowe, Immingham, Liverpool, London, Southampton,
Teesport (England), Forth Ports, Hound Point (Scotland), Milford
Haven (Wales)

Military
United Kingdom

Military branches:

Army, Royal Navy (includes Royal Marines), Royal Air Force

Military service age and obligation:

16-33 years of age (officers 17-28) for voluntary military service (with parental consent under 18); women serve in military services, but are excluded from ground combat positions and some naval postings; must be citizen of the UK, Commonwealth, or Republic of Ireland; reservists serve a minimum of 3 years, to age 45 or 55; 16 years of age for voluntary military service by Nepalese citizens in the Brigade of the Gurkhas; 16-34 years of age for voluntary military service by Papua New Guinean citizens (2008)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16-49: 14,729,500 females age 16-49: 14,125,600 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 12,121,602 females age 16-49: 11,616,582 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

male: 400,927 female: 383,593 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures:

2.4% of GDP (2005 est.)

Transnational Issues
United Kingdom

Disputes - international:

in 2002, Gibraltar residents voted overwhelmingly by referendum to reject any "shared sovereignty" arrangement between the UK and Spain; the Government of Gibraltar insists on equal participation in talks between the two countries; Spain disapproves of UK plans to grant Gibraltar greater autonomy; Mauritius and Seychelles claim the Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory), and its former inhabitants since their eviction in 1965; most Chagossians reside in Mauritius, and in 2001 were granted UK citizenship, where some have since resettled; in May 2006, the High Court of London reversed the UK Government's 2004 orders of council that banned habitation on the islands; UK rejects sovereignty talks requested by Argentina, which still claims the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; territorial claim in Antarctica (British Antarctic Territory) overlaps Argentine claim and partially overlaps Chilean claim; Iceland, the UK, and Ireland dispute Denmark's claim that the Faroe Islands' continental shelf extends beyond 200 nm

Illicit drugs:

producer of limited amounts of synthetic drugs and synthetic precursor chemicals; major consumer of Southwest Asian heroin, Latin American cocaine, and synthetic drugs; money-laundering center

This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008

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@United States

Introduction
United States

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. The economy is marked by steady growth, low unemployment and inflation, and rapid advances in technology.

Geography
United States

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 references:

North America

Area:

total: 9,826,630 sq km land: 9,161,923 sq km water: 664,707 sq km note: includes only the 50 states and District of Columbia

Area - 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: 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 highest point: Mount McKinley 6,198 m

Natural resources:

coal, copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates, 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 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources:

3,069 cu km (1985)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):

total: 477 cu km/yr (13%/46%/41%) per capita: 1,600 cu m/yr (2000)

Natural hazards:

tsunamis, volcanoes, and 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

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

Environment - 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
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic
Pollutants, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Biodiversity,
Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Hazardous Wastes

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

People
United States

Population:

303,824,640 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 20.1% (male 31,257,108/female 29,889,645) 15-64 years: 67.1% (male 101,825,901/female 102,161,823) 65 years and over: 12.7% (male 16,263,255/female 22,426,914) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 36.7 years male: 35.4 years female: 38.1 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

0.883% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

14.18 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

8.27 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

2.92 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 6.3 deaths/1,000 live births male: 6.95 deaths/1,000 live births female: 5.62 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 78.14 years male: 75.29 years female: 81.13 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate:

2.1 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

0.6% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

950,000 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:

17,011 (2005 est.)

Nationality:

noun: American(s) 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 a person of Latin American descent (including persons of Cuban, Mexican, or Puerto Rican 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

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