The United States of America

By: Issa I. Qadi

Table of Contents• General View

- US national Symbol, Government, Flag, Biggest ten cities, Biggest ten states.• Brief History

- Historical Facts about the USA.• US geography

- US Area, Land, rivers , Borders.• US Demography

- Population Number, Age, Ethnic groups, Religions.• US Education

- Number of students, Education expenditure, top 10 universities.• Economic Profile

- US Exports, Imports, GDP.• US Communication, Transportation and Military

- Telephones, Internet users, Airports, Military branches,…

General View

The Great Seal of the

United States.

National Symbol:

The Bald Eagle.

USA Government

• Government type: Constitution-based federal republic; strong democratic tradition.

• Administrative divisions: 50 states and 1 district.

• Legal system: federal court system based on English common law.

• Capital: Washington, DC .

• Suffrage : 18 years of age; universal.

• Legislative branch : bicameral Congress consists of the

Senate (100 seats, 2 members are elected from each

state).

USA Government

• Independence: 4 July 1776 (from Great Britain).

• First president: George Washington.

• Current President: Barack H. OBAMA.

• Current Vice President: Joseph R. BIDEN.

• Major political parties : Democratic Party (1828 modern, 1792 historic) . Republican Party (1854) .

• Constitution : 17 September 1787, effective 4 March 1789.

USA Flag

• thirteen horizontal stripes, seven red alternating with 6 white. The stripes represent the original 13 colonies, the stars represent the 50 states of the Union.

• Red symbolizes Heartiness and Valor.• White stands for Purity and Innocence.• Blue represents Vigilance, Perseverance and Justice.

• On June 14, 1777 the Continental Congress passed an Act to establish a flag for the new nation.

Ten Biggest States

1. California (pop 36,756,666).

2. Texas (pop 24,326,974) .

3. New York (pop 19,490,297) .

4. Florida (pop 18,328,340) .

5. Illinois (pop 12,901,563) .

6. Pennsylvania (pop 12,448,279) .

7. Ohio (pop 11,485,910) .

8. Michigan (pop 10,003,422) .

9. Georgia (pop 9,685,744) .

10. North Carolina (pop 9,222,414) (2008 est.).

Ten Biggest Cities

1. New York, New York (pop 8,213,839) .

2. Los Angeles, California (pop 3,827,953) .

3. Chicago, Illinois (pop 2,839,944) .

4. Houston, Texas (pop 2,076,189) .

5. Phoenix, Arizona (pop 1,473,223) .

6. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (pop 1,460,301) .

7. San Antonio, Texas (pop 1,262,858) .

8. San Diego, California (pop 1,258,961) .

9. Dallas, Texas (pop 1,213,608) .

10. Detroit, Michigan (pop 920,645) (2008).

A Brief History

1492 Columbus discovered America.1620 European people came to the New World and formed

colonies. The first settlers were Pilgrims.1693 The American Revolution was fought because of

taxes placed on the colonies by the British.

A Brief History

1776 The Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence.

1861 The Civil War started.1863 President Lincoln issued the Emancipation

Proclamation, declaring the freedom of slaves.

A Brief History

1865 The civil war ended.1917 America joined World War I that started in Europe

in1917.1941 America entered World War II.

USA Geography

• Total Land boundaries: 12,034 km Canada: 8,893 km,Mexico: 3,141 km.

• Total Area: 9,826,630 sq km, land: 9,161,923 sq km ,water: 664,707 sq km .

• Land use: arable land: 18.01%,permanent crops: 0.21%, other: 81.78% .

USA Geography

• Elevation extremes: lowest point: Death Valley -86 m,highest point: Mount McKinley 6,198 m.

• Largest inland body of water - Lake Michigan 22,400 mi2 (58,016 km2).

• Longest River - Missouri River 2,540 mi (4,090 km).

USA Demography

• Population: 307,212,123 (July 2009

• Age structure :0-14 years: 20.2% (male 51% , female 49%),15-64 years: 67% (male 50% , female 50%),65 years and over: 12.8% (male 43% , 57%) (2009).

• Median age: total: 36.7 years,male: 35.4 years, female: 38 years (2008).

• Population growth rate : 0.975% (2009).

• Birth rate: 14.18 births/1,000 population (2008),

• Death rate: 8.27 deaths/1,000 population (2008).

USA Demography• Urbanization:

urban population: 82% of total population (2008), rate of urbanization: 1.3% annual rate of change (05-

10).

• Literacy (age 15 and over can read and write): total population: 99%, male: 99% , female: 99% (2003 est.).

• 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).

USA Demography• Religions :

Protestant: 51.3%, Roman Catholic: 23.9%, others: 24.8% (2007 est.)

• Languages: English: 82.1%, Spanish: 10.7%, other Indo-European: 3.8%, Asian and Pacific island: 2.7%, Other: 0.7% (2000 census).

• School life expectancy : total: 16 years, male: 15 years, female: 16 years (2006),

USA Education• Enrollment (2004) , total 72.2 million:

Nursery school or kindergarten: 4,672,000, Elementary: 36,500,000, Secondary: 14,700,000, Colleges and universities – 17,400,000.

• Earned Degrees (2004): Associate degree holders: 665,000, Bachelor's degree graduates: 1.4 million, Master's degree graduates: 559,000, Doctoral degree graduates: 48,000.

• Percentage of Recent Secondary School Graduates

Enrolled in College (2006): 62.9%

USA Education• School Expenditures (2006) :

Elementary and secondary: $361.1 billion, Colleges and universities: $237.8 billion.

• Foreign Student Enrollment (2005): Africa: 36,000, Asia: 356,000, Europe: 72,000, Latin America: 68,000, North America: 29,000.

• Children Who Speak a Language Other Than

English at Home (2004) 10.0 Million

Best 10 Universities in USA

1. Harvard University

2. Princeton University

3. Yale University

4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

5. Stanford University

6. California Institute of Technology

7. University of Pennsylvania

8. Columbia University

9. Duke University

10. The University of Chicago

USA Economy

• GDP (purchasing power parity): $14.29 trillion (2008).

• GDP - real growth rate: 1.3% (2008).

• GDP - per capita : $47,000 (2008).

• GDP - composition by sector (2008): agriculture: 1.2%, Industry: 19.6% , services: 79.2%.

• GDP (official exchange rate): $14.33 trillion (2008).

USA Economy

• Labor force: 155.2 million (2008).

• Inflation rate : 4.2% (2008).

• Agriculture - products: wheat, corn, other grains, fruits,

vegetables, cotton, beef, pork, poultry, dairy products.

• Budget (2008): revenues: $2.524 trillion, expenditures: $2.979 trillion.

• Unemployment rate: 7.2% (December 2008).

• Industries: petroleum, steel, motor vehicles, aerospace,

telecommunications, chemicals, electronics.

USA Economy

• Exports : $1.377 trillion f.o.b. (2008 ).

• Exports - commodities (2003) : capital goods (aircraft, motor vehicle parts) 49.0%, industrial (organic chemicals) 26.8%, agricultural products (soybeans, fruit, corn) 9.2%, consumer goods (automobiles, medicines) 15.0%.

• Major exports – partners (2007) : Canada: 21.4%, Mexico: 11.7%, China: 5.6%, Japan: 5.4%, UK: 4.3%.

USA Economy

• Imports: $2.19 trillion f.o.b. (2008).

• Imports - commodities (2003) : industrial supplies: 32.9% , consumer goods: 31.8%, capital goods: 30.4%, agricultural products: 4.9%.

• Major imports – partners (2007): China: 16.9%, Canada: 15.7%, Mexico: 10.6%, Japan: 7.4%.

USA Communications

• Telephones - main lines in use: 163.2 million (2007).

• Telephones - mobile cellular: 255 million (2007).

• Internet hosts: 316 million (2008).

• Internet users: 223 million (2008).

• Radio broadcast stations : AM 4,789, FM 8,961(2006).

• Television broadcast stations : 2,218 (2006).

• Internet country code: .us

USA Transportation

• Airports : 14,951 (2008).

• Railways : 226,612 km (2005).

• Waterways: 41,009 km (2008).

• Ports and terminals: Corpus Christi, Duluth,

Hampton Roads, Houston, Long Beach, Los

Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Tampa.

• Roadways : total: 6,465,799 km, paved: 4,209,835 km, unpaved: 2,255,964 km (2007).

USA Military

• Military branches : US Army, US Navy (includes Marine Corps), US Air Force, US Coast Guard (2008).

• Manpower available for military service: males age 16-49: 72,715,332, females age 16-49: 71,638,785 (2008).

• Manpower reaching militarily age annually: male: 2,196,124, female: 2,085,085 (2009).

• Military expenditures: 4.06% of GDP (2005).

Website Links• https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/

geos/us.html#Geo• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_the_United_Stat

es• http://www.usa-flag-site.org/history.shtml• http://www.polytech.poltava.ua/education/america/usa_1.ht

ml• http://www.americanhospitals.com/questions/travel/majorci

tieslisting.htm• http://www.america.gov/st/educ-english/2008/April/200804

07160752myleen0.1279566.html• http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/index.asp?faq=FFOption3#faqF

FOption3• http://i.cs.hku.hk/~tse/topten.html