1982 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1982 (Wikisource)
Geography
Area
9,371,829 km2 (contiguous US plus Alaska and Hawaii); 19% cultivated, 27% grazing and pasture, 32% forested, 22% waste, urban, and other WATER
Coastline
19,924 km
Limits of territorial waters (claimed)
3 nm (fishing 200 nm)
People and Society
Ethnic divisions
79.7% white, 11.7% black, 6.5% Spanish origin, 1.5% Asian and Pacific Islander, 0.6% American Indian, Eskimo, and Aleut (1980)
Labor force
102.9 million (civilian), unemployment 7.6% (1981)
Language
English, predominantly
Literacy
99.0% of total population 14 years or older (1977)
Organized labor
20.2% of civilian labor force (1978)
Population
232,195,000 (July 1982), average annual growth rate 1.0%
Religion
total membership in religious bodies, 133,749,000; Protestant 73,704,000, Roman Catholic 49,602,000, Jewish 5,781,000, other religions 4,662,000 (1978)
Government
Branches
executive (President), bicameral legislative (House of Representatives and Senate), and judicial (Supreme Court); branches, in principle, independent and maintain balance of power
Capital
Washington, D.C.
Communists
Communist Party membership, claimed 15,000-20,000 (1981); general secretary, Gus Hall; in the 1980 presidential election the Communist Party candidate received 43,896 votes; Socialist Workers Party membership, claimed 1,800; national secretary, Jack Barnes; in the 1980 presidential election, the Socialist Workers Party candidate received 48,650 votes
Elections
presidential, every four years (last November 1980); all members of the House of Representatives, every two years; one-third of members of the Senate, every two years Political parties and leaders: Republican Party, Richard Richards, chairman; Democratic Party, Charles T. Manatt, chairman; several other groups or parties of minor political significance
Government leaders
Ronald Wilson REAGAN, President; George Herbert Walker BUSH, Vice President
Legal system
based on English common law; dual system of courts, state and federal; constitution adopted 1789; judicial review of legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Member of
ADB, ANZUS, BIS, CCC, CENTO, Colombo Plan, DAC, FAO, GATT, Group of Ten, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICEM, ICES, ICO, IDA, IDB, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, International Lead and Zinc Study Group, IMCO, IMF, INTELSAT, IPU, ITC, ITU, IWC—International Whaling Commission, IWC—International Wheat Council, NATO, OAS, OECD, SPC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO
National holiday
Independence Day, 4 July
Official name
United States of America
Political subdivisions
50 states, the District of Columbia, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Wake and Midway Islands; under UN trusteeship Caroline, Marshall, and Northern Mariana Islands
Suffrage
all citizens over age 18, not compulsory
Type
federal republic; strong democratic tradition
Voting strength
national average of voting age population voting, 53.9% (1980 presidential election)—Republican Party (Ronald Reagan), 50% of the popular vote (489 electoral votes); Democratic Party (Jimmy Carter), 42% (42 electoral votes); John Anderson (third-line candidate), 6% (no electoral votes); other, 2% (no electoral votes)
Economy
Budget
(FY81 est.) receipts $605.64 billion, outlays $661,237 billion
Crude steel
113.7 million metric tons produced (1977), 618 kg per capita consumption
Electric power
616,486,200 kW capacity (1980); 2,286.439 billion (net) kWh produced (1980), 10,245 kWh per capita
Exports
$181.8 billion (f.o.b., 1979); machinery, chemicals, grains, and road motor vehicles
Fiscal year
1 October-30 September
Fishing
catch 6.482 billion metric tons (1980); imports $3,648 million (1980); exports $1,006 million, (1980); est. value, $2,237 million (1980)
GNP
$2,368.8 billion (1979); 63.7% personal consumption, 16.4% private investment, 20.1% government, −0.2% net exports; $10,745 per capita
Imports
$218.9 billion (c.i.f., 1979); crude and partly refined petroleum, machinery, and transport equipment (mainly new automobiles)
Major trade partners
exports—23.4% EEC (5.9% UK, 4.7% FRG), 18.2% Canada, 12.8% LAFTA, 9.7% Japan, 5.4% Mexico; import—18.5% Canada, 16.1% EEC (5.3% FRG, 3.9% UK), 12.7% Japan, 10.6% LAFTA, 4.3% Mexico, 4.0% Nigeria, 3.9% Saudi Arabia (1979) Aid: obligations and loan authorizations (FY78), economic $6.51 billion, military $2.35 billion
Communications
Airfields
14,746 in operation (1979)
Civil air
3,208 multiengine transport aircraft—some 2,500 jet planes, remainder turboprop (December 1980)
Freight carried
rail—1,645.0 million metric tons, 1,360.0 billion metric ton/km (1980); highways—936.84 billion metric ton/km (1980); inland water freight (excluding Great Lakes traffic)—569.79 million metric tons, 319.01 billion metric tons/km (1979)
Highways
6,251,769.5 km (1978)
Inland waterways
40,416 km of navigable inland channels, exclusive of the Great Lakes (1970)
Pipelines
petroleum, 271,921 km (1979); natural gas, 408,203 km (1978)
Ports
53 handling 9.07% million metric tons or more per year
Railroads
286,885 km (1978)
Telecommunications
162 million telephones (74 telephones per 100 popl.); 4,550 AM, 4,100 FM, and 990 TV broadcast stations; 436 million radio and 133 million TV receivers (1979)
Military and Security
Military budget
$146.2 billion (1981 est. in current dollars)
Personnel
army 1,108,000, air force 790,000, navy and marines 1,013,000 (1979)