Part 103
Exports: total value: $31.3 billion (f.o.b., 1996 est.) commodities: crude oil 66%, natural gas, reexports, dried fish, dates partners: Japan 38%, India 6%, South Korea 6%, Singapore 5%, Iran 4%, Oman 4% (1995)
Imports: total value: $22.3 billion (c.i.f., 1996 est.) commodities: manufactured goods, machinery and transport equipment, food partners : Japan 9%, US 8%, UK 8%, Italy 7%, Germany 7%, South Korea 5% (1995)
Debt - external: $14 billion (1996 est.)
Economic aid: $NA
Currency: 1 Emirian dirham (Dh) = 100 fils
Exchange rates: Emirian dirhams (Dh) per US$1 - 3.6710 (fixed rate)
Fiscal year: calendar year
@United Arab Emirates:Communications
Telephones: 677,793 (1993 est.)
Telephone system: modern system consisting of microwave radio relay and coaxial cable; key centers are Abu Dhabi and Dubai domestic: microwave radio relay and coaxial cable international: satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 2 Indian Ocean) and 1 Arabsat; submarine cables to Qatar, Bahrain, India, and Pakistan; tropospheric scatter to Bahrain; microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia
Radio broadcast stations: AM 8, FM 3, shortwave 0
Radios: 545,000 (1992 est.)
Television broadcast stations: 12
Televisions: 170,000 (1993 est.)
@United Arab Emirates:Transportation
Railways: 0 km
Highways: total: 4,750 km paved: 4,750 km unpaved : 0 km (1995 est.)
Pipelines: crude oil 830 km; natural gas, including natural gas liquids, 870 km
Ports and harbors: 'Ajman, Al Fujayrah, Das Island, Khawr Fakkan, Mina' Jabal 'Ali, Mina' Khalid, Mina' Rashid, Mina' Saqr, Mina' Zayid, Umm al Qaywayn
Merchant marine: total: 60 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,128,495 GRT/1,955,344 DWT ships by type: bulk 3, cargo 18, chemical tanker 3, container 6, liquefied gas tanker 1, livestock carrier 1, oil tanker 22, refrigerated cargo 1, roll-on/roll-off cargo 5 (1996 est.)
Airports: 36 (1996 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 27 over 3,047 m : 9 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 3 under 914 m: 10 (1996 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total : 9 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 7 (1996 est.)
Heliports: 2 (1996 est.)
Military
Military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, paramilitary (includes Federal Police Force)
Military manpower - military age: 18 years of age
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49 : 790,838 (1997 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males: 424,962 (1997 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually: males: 20,584 (1997 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $1.59 billion (1994)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 4.3% (1994)
Transnational Issues
Disputes - international: location and status of boundary with Saudi Arabia is not final, de facto boundary reflects 1974 agreement; no defined boundary with most of Oman, but Administrative Line in far north; claims two islands in the Persian Gulf occupied by Iran: Lesser Tunb (called Tunb as Sughra in Arabic by UAE and Jazireh-ye Tonb-e Kuchek in Persian by Iran) and Greater Tunb (called Tunb al Kubra in Arabic by UAE and Jazireh-ye Tonb-e Bozorg in Persian by Iran); claims island in the Persian Gulf jointly administered with Iran (called Abu Musa in Arabic by UAE and Jazireh-ye Abu Musa in Persian by Iran) - over which Iran has taken steps to exert unilateral control since 1992, including access restrictions and a military build-up on the island; the UAE has garnered significant diplomatic support in the region in protesting these Iranian actions
Illicit drugs: growing role as heroin transshipment and money-laundering center due to its proximity to southwest Asian producing countries and the bustling free trade zone in Dubai ______________________________________________________________________
UNITED KINGDOM
@United Kingdom:Geography
Location: Western Europe, islands including the northern one-sixth of the island of Ireland between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, northwest of France
Geographic coordinates: 54 00 N, 2 00 W
Map references: Europe
Area: total: 244,820 sq km land: 241,590 sq km water : 3,230 sq km note: includes Rockall and Shetland Islands
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Oregon
Land boundaries: total: 360 km border countries : Ireland 360 km
Coastline: 12,429 km
Maritime claims: continental shelf : as defined in continental shelf orders or in accordance with agreed upon boundaries exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: temperate; moderated by prevailing southwest winds over the North Atlantic Current; more than one-half of the days are overcast
Terrain: mostly rugged hills and low mountains; level to rolling plains in east and southeast
Elevation extremes: lowest point : Fenland -4 m highest point: Ben Nevis 1,343 m
Natural resources: coal, petroleum, natural gas, tin, limestone, iron ore, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, lead, silica
Land use: arable land: 25% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 46% forests and woodland : 10% other: 19% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 1,080 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: NA
Environment - current issues: sulfur dioxide emissions from power plants contribute to air pollution; some rivers polluted by agricultural wastes and coastal waters polluted because of large-scale disposal of sewage at sea
Environment - international agreements: party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note: lies near vital North Atlantic sea lanes; only 35 km from France and now linked by tunnel under the English Channel; because of heavily indented coastline, no location is more than 125 km from tidal waters
@United Kingdom:People
Population: 57,591,677 (July 1997 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 19% (male 5,647,549; female 5,386,750) 15-64 years : 65% (male 18,532,243; female 18,757,168) 65 years and over: 16% (male 3,808,399; female 5,459,568) (July 1997 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.24% (1997 est.)
Birth rate: 11.83 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Death rate: 10.77 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Net migration rate: 1.32 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Sex ratio: 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 total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (1997 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 6 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 77.25 years male: 74.67 years female: 79.96 years (1997 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.65 children born/woman (1997 est.)
Nationality: noun: Briton(s), British (collective plural) adjective: British
Ethnic groups: English 81.5%, Scottish 9.6%, Irish 2.4%, Welsh 1.9%, Ulster 1.8%, West Indian, Indian, Pakistani, and other 2.8%
Religions: Anglican 27 million, Roman Catholic 9 million, Muslim 1 million, Presbyterian 800,000, Methodist 760,000, Sikh 400,000, Hindu 350,000, Jewish 300,000 (1991 est.) note: the UK does not include a question on religion in its census
Languages: English, Welsh (about 26% of the population of Wales), Scottish form of Gaelic (about 60,000 in Scotland)
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over has completed five or more years of schooling total population: 99% (1978 est.) male: NA% female : NA%
@United Kingdom:Government
Country name: conventional long form: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland conventional short form: United Kingdom abbreviation: UK
Data code: UK
Government type: constitutional monarchy
National capital: London
Administrative divisions: 47 counties, 7 metropolitan counties, 26 districts, 9 regions, and 3 islands areas; England - 39 counties, 7 metropolitan counties*; Avon, Bedford, Berkshire, Buckingham, Cambridge, Cheshire, Cleveland, Cornwall, Cumbria, Derby, Devon, Dorset, Durham, East Sussex, Essex, Gloucester, Greater London*, Greater Manchester*, Hampshire, Hereford and Worcester, Hertford, Humberside, Isle of Wight, Kent, Lancashire, Leicester, Lincoln, Merseyside*, Norfolk, Northampton, Northumberland, North Yorkshire, Nottingham, Oxford, Shropshire, Somerset, South Yorkshire*, Stafford, Suffolk, Surrey, Tyne and Wear*, Warwick, West Midlands*, West Sussex, West Yorkshire*, Wiltshire; Northern Ireland - 26 districts; Antrim, Ards, Armagh, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Banbridge, Belfast, Carrickfergus, Castlereagh, Coleraine, Cookstown, Craigavon, Down, Dungannon, Fermanagh, Larne, Limavady, Lisburn, Londonderry, Magherafelt, Moyle, Newry and Mourne, Newtownabbey, North Down, Omagh, Strabane; Scotland - 9 regions, 3 islands areas*; Borders, Central, Dumfries and Galloway, Fife, Grampian, Highland, Lothian, Orkney*, Shetland*, Strathclyde, Tayside, Western Isles*; Wales - 8 counties; Clwyd, Dyfed, Gwent, Gwynedd, Mid Glamorgan, Powys, South Glamorgan, West Glamorgan
Dependent areas: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Hong Kong (scheduled to become a Special Administrative Region of China on 1 July 1997), Jersey, Isle of Man, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands
Independence: 1 January 1801 (United Kingdom established)
National holiday: Celebration of the Birthday of the Queen (second Saturday in June)
Constitution: unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice
Legal system: common law tradition with early Roman and modern continental influences; no judicial review of Acts of Parliament; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); Heir Apparent Prince CHARLES (son of the queen, born 14 November 1948) head of government: Prime Minister Tony BLAIR (since 2 May 1997) cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the prime minister elections: none; the queen is a hereditary monarch; prime minister is the leader of the majority party in the House of Commons and must have the consent of the monarch
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of House of Lords (1,200 seats; four-fifths of the members are hereditary peers, two archbishops, 24 other senior bishops, serving and retired Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, other life peers, Scottish peers) and House of Commons (659 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: House of Lords - no elections; House of Commons - last held 1 May 1997 (next to be held by NA May 2002) election results: House of Commons - percent of vote by party - Labor 44.5%, Conservative 31%, Liberal Democratic 17%, other 7.5%; seats by party - Labor 418, Conservative 165, Liberal Democratic 46, other 30
Judicial branch: House of Lords, several Lords of Appeal in Ordinary are appointed by the monarch for life
Political parties and leaders: Conservative and Unionist Party [John MAJOR]; Labor Party [Anthony (Tony) Blair]; Liberal Democrats or LD [Jeremy (Paddy) ASHDOWN]; Scottish National Party [Alex SALMOND]; Welsh National Party (Plaid Cymru) [Dafydd Iwan WIGLEY]; Ulster Unionist Party (Northern Ireland) [David TRIMBLE]; Democratic Unionist Party (Northern Ireland) [Rev. Ian PAISLEY]; Social Democratic and Labor Party or SDLP (Northern Ireland) [John HUME]; Sinn Fein (Northern Ireland) [Gerry ADAMS]; Alliance Party (Northern Ireland) [Lord ALDERDICE]
Political pressure groups and leaders: Trades Union Congress; Confederation of British Industry; National Farmers' Union; Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
International organization participation: AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, C, CCC, CDB (non-regional), CE, CERN, EBRD, ECA (associate), ECE, ECLAC, EIB, ESA, ESCAP, EU, FAO, G- 5, G- 7, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MTCR, NACC, NATO, NEA, NSG, OECD, OSCE, PCA, UN, UN Security Council, UNAVEM III, UNCTAD, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNOMIG, UNRWA, UNTAES, UNU, UPU, WCL, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Sir John Olav KERR (will return to London in late 1997) chancery: 3100 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone : [1] (202) 588-6500 FAX: [1] (202) 588-7870 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco consulate(s): Dallas, Miami, and Seattle
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador William J. CROWE, Jr. embassy: 24/31 Grosvenor Square, London, W. 1A1AE mailing address: PSC 801, Box 40, London; FPO AE 09498-4040 telephone: [44] (71) 499-9000 FAX : [44] (71) 409-1637 consulate(s) general: Belfast, Edinburgh
Flag description: blue with the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England) edged in white superimposed on the diagonal red cross of Saint Patrick (patron saint of Ireland) which is superimposed on the diagonal white cross of Saint Andrew (patron saint of Scotland); known as the Union Flag or Union Jack; the design and colors (especially the Blue Ensign) have been the basis for a number of other flags including dependencies, Commonwealth countries, and others
Economy
Economy - overview: The UK is one of the world's great trading powers and financial centers, and its essentially capitalistic economy ranks among the four largest in Western Europe. Over the past 17 years the ruling Tories have greatly reduced public ownership and contained the growth of social welfare programs. Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanized, and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs with only about 1% of the labor force. The UK has large coal, natural gas, and oil reserves; primary energy production accounts for 12% of GDP, one of the highest shares of any industrial nation. Services, particularly banking, insurance, and business services, account by far for the largest proportion of GDP while industry continues to decline in importance, now employing only 25% of the work force. The economy registered 3.9% GDP growth in 1994, the best rate for six years, but slipped back to 2.7% in 1995 and 2.4% in 1996. Exports and manufacturing output have been the primary engines of growth. Unemployment is gradually falling. Inflation is a comfortable 2.6%. A major economic policy question for the UK in the late 1990s is the terms on which it participates in the financial and economic integration of Europe.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $1.19 trillion (1996 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 2.4% (1996 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $20,400 (1996 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 1.9% industry: 34.1% services : 64% (1994 est.)
Inflation rate - consumer price index: 2.6% (1996 est.)
Labor force: total : 28.1 million (September 1996) by occupation: services 62.8%, manufacturing and construction 25.0%, government 9.1%, energy 1.9%, agriculture 1.2% (June 1992)
Unemployment rate: 6.7% (December 1996)
Budget: revenues : $421.5 billion expenditures: $474.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY95/96 est.)
Industries: production machinery including machine tools, electric power equipment, automation equipment, railroad equipment, shipbuilding, aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, electronics and communications equipment, metals, chemicals, coal, petroleum, paper and paper products, food processing, textiles, clothing, and other consumer goods
Industrial production growth rate: 1% (1996 est.)
Electricity - capacity: 66.15 million kW (1994)
Electricity - production: 327.7 billion kWh (1995)
Electricity - consumption per capita: 5,178 kWh (1995 est.)
Agriculture - products: cereals, oilseed, potatoes, vegetables; cattle, sheep, poultry; fish
Exports: total value: $240.4 billion (f.o.b., 1995) commodities : manufactured goods, machinery, fuels, chemicals, semifinished goods, transport equipment partners: EU countries 56.4% (Germany 12.7%, France 9.9%, Netherlands 7.0%), US 13.1% (1994)
Imports: total value : $258.8 billion (f.o.b., 1995) commodities: manufactured goods, machinery, semifinished goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods partners: EU countries 54.9% (Germany 14.6%, France 10.0%, Netherlands 6.7%), US 12.2% (1994)
Debt - external: $16.2 billion (June 1992)
Economic aid: donor: ODA, $2.908 billion (1993)
Currency: 1 British pound (£) = 100 pence
Exchange rates: British pounds (£) per US$1 - 0.6023 (January 1997), 0.6403 (1996), 0.6335 (1995), 0.6529 (1994), 0.6658 (1993), 0.5664 (1992)
Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March
@United Kingdom:Communications
Telephones: 29.5 million (1987 est.)
Telephone system: technologically advanced domestic and international system domestic: equal mix of buried cables, microwave radio relay, and fiber-optic systems international: 40 coaxial submarine cables; 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 225, FM 525 (mostly repeaters), shortwave 0
Radios: 70 million
Television broadcast stations: 207 (repeaters 3,210)
Televisions: 20 million
@United Kingdom:Transportation
Railways: total : 17,561 km broad gauge: 434 km 1.600-m gauge (190 km double track); note - all 1.600-m gauge track, of which 357 km is in common carrier use, is in Northern Ireland standard gauge: 16,892 km 1.435-m gauge (4,928 km electrified; 12,591 km double or multiple track); note - 16,532 km of 1.435-m routes are in common carrier service; the remaining 360 km are operated by a total of 40 tourist or other private companies narrow gauge: 235 km 0.260-m, 0.311-m, 0.381-m, 0.600-m, 0.610-m, 0.686-m, 0.760-m, 0.762-m, 0.800-m, 0.825-m, 0.914-m and 1.067-m gauges; note - these short, narrow-gage lines are operated by a total of 25 tourist and other private firms (1995)
Highways: total: 388,831 km (1994 est.) paved: NA km (including 3,284 km of expressways) unpaved: NA km
Waterways: 3,200 km under British Waterways Board
Pipelines: crude oil (almost all insignificant) 933 km; petroleum products 2,993 km; natural gas 12,800 km
Ports and harbors: Aberdeen, Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, Grangemouth, Hull, Leith, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Sullom Voe, Tees, Tyne
Merchant marine: total: 150 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,719,891 GRT/3,246,718 DWT ships by type: bulk 8, cargo 28, chemical tanker 2, container 21, liquefied gas tanker 2, oil tanker 54, passenger 8, passenger-cargo 1, refrigerated tanker 1, roll-on/roll-off cargo 12, short-sea passenger 12, specialized tanker 1 (1996 est.)
Airports: 387 (1996 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 366 over 3,047 m: 9 2,438 to 3,047 m: 29 1,524 to 2,437 m: 103 914 to 1,523 m: 59 under 914 m: 166 (1996 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total : 21 914 to 1,523 m: 21 (1996 est.)
Heliports: 12 (1996 est.)
Military
Military branches: Army, Royal Navy (includes Royal Marines), Royal Air Force
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 13,829,704 (1997 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service: males : 11,527,058 (1997 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $35.1 billion (FY95/96)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 3.1% (FY95/96)
Transnational Issues
Disputes - international: Northern Ireland question with Ireland; Gibraltar question with Spain; Argentina claims Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas); Argentina claims South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands; Mauritius claims island of Diego Garcia in British Indian Ocean Territory; Rockall continental shelf dispute involving Denmark, Iceland, and Ireland (Ireland and the UK have signed a boundary agreement in the Rockall area); territorial claim in Antarctica (British Antarctic Territory)
Illicit drugs: gateway country for Latin American cocaine entering the European market; producer of synthetic drugs, precursor chemicals; transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin; money-laundering center ______________________________________________________________________
UNITED STATES
@United States:Geography
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: 9,629,091 sq km land: 9,158,960 sq km water : 470,131 sq km note: includes only the 50 states and District of Columbia
Area - comparative: about one-half the size of Russia; about three-tenths the size of Africa; about one-half the size of South America (or slightly larger than Brazil); slightly larger than China; about two and one-half times the size of Western Europe
Land boundaries: total: 12,248 km border countries : Canada 8,893 km (including 2,477 km with Alaska), Cuba 29 km (US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay), Mexico 3,326 km note: Guantanamo Naval Base is leased by the US and thus remains part of Cuba
Coastline: 19,924 km
Maritime claims: contiguous zone : 12 nm continental shelf: not specified exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: 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
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 6,194 m
Natural resources: coal, copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates, uranium, bauxite, gold, iron, mercury, nickel, potash, silver, tungsten, zinc, petroleum, natural gas, timber
Land use: arable land: 19% permanent crops : 0% permanent pastures: 25% forests and woodland: 30% other: 26% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 207,000 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: 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
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; very 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 Treaty, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Biodiversity, Desertification, Hazardous Wastes
Geography - note: world's third-largest country (after Russia and Canada)
@United States:People
Population: 267,954,764 (July 1997 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 22% (male 29,837,393; female 28,450,028) 15-64 years: 65% (male 87,170,245; female 88,400,551) 65 years and over : 13% (male 13,975,746; female 20,120,801) (July 1997 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.89% (1997 est.)
Birth rate: 14.6 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Death rate: 8.8 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Net migration rate: 3.1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Sex ratio: 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 total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (1997 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 6.55 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 76.04 years male: 72.75 years female : 79.49 years (1997 est.)
Total fertility rate: 2.06 children born/woman (1997 est.)
Nationality: noun: American(s) adjective: American
Ethnic groups: white 83.4%, black 12.4%, Asian 3.3%, Amerindian 0.8% (1992)
Religions: Protestant 56%, Roman Catholic 28%, Jewish 2%, other 4%, none 10% (1989)
Languages: English, Spanish (spoken by a sizable minority)
Literacy: definition : age 15 and over can read and write total population: 97% male: 97% female: 97% (1979 est.)
@United States:Government
Country name: conventional long form : United States of America conventional short form: United States abbreviation: US or USA
Data code: US
Government type: federal republic; strong democratic tradition
National capital: Washington, DC
Administrative divisions: 50 states and 1 district*; Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia*, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
Dependent areas: American Samoa, Baker Island, Guam, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Islands, Navassa Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palmyra Atoll, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Wake Island note: from 18 July 1947 until 1 October 1994, the US administered the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, but recently entered into a new political relationship with all four political units: the Northern Mariana Islands is a Commonwealth in political union with the US (effective 3 November 1986); Palau concluded a Compact of Free Association with the US (effective 1 October 1994); the Federated States of Micronesia signed a Compact of Free Association with the US (effective 3 November 1986); the Republic of the Marshall Islands signed a Compact of Free Association with the US (effective 21 October 1986)
Independence: 4 July 1776 (from England)
National holiday: Independence Day, 4 July (1776)
Constitution: 17 September 1787, effective 4 March 1789
Legal system: based on English common law; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal