Land area: 3,539,225 sq mi (9,166,601 sq km);

Total area: 3,718,691 sq mi (9,631,420 sq km)

Population (2009 est.): 307,212,123 (growth rate: 0.9%); birth rate: 13.8/1000; infant mortality rate: 6.2/1000; life expectancy: 78.1; density per sq mi: 85

Capital (2003 est.): Washington, DC, 570,898

Largest cities (2003 est.): New York, 18,498,000 (metro area), 8,085,742 (city proper); Los Angeles, 12,146,000 (metro area), 3,819,951 (city proper); Chicago, 8,711,000 (metro area), 2,869,121 (city proper); Houston, 2,009,960; Philadelphia, 1,479,339; Phoenix, 1,388,416; San Diego, 1,226,753; San Antonio, 1,214,725; Dallas, 1,208,318; Detroit, 911,402

Monetary unit: dollar

The United States of America

Languages: English 82%, Spanish 11% (2000)

Ethnicity/race: White: 211,460,626 (75.1%); Black: 34,658,190 (12.3%); Asian: 10,242,998 (3.6%); American Indian and Alaska Native: 2,475,956 (0.9%); Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander: 398,835 (0.1%); other race: 15,359,073 (5.5%); Hispanic origin:1 35,305,818 (12.5%)

Religions: Protestant 52%, Roman Catholic 24%, Mormon 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 1%, none 10% (2002)

Literacy rate: 99% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007 est.): $13.84 trillion; per capita $45,800. Real growth rate: 2.2%. Inflation: 2.9%. Unemployment: 4.6%. Arable land: 18%. Agriculture: wheat, corn, other grains, fruits, vegetables, cotton; beef, pork, poultry, dairy products; fish; forest products. Labor force: 153.1 million (includes unemployed); farming, forestry, and fishing 0.6%, manufacturing, extraction, transportation, and crafts 22.6%, managerial, professional, and technical 35.5%, sales and office 24.8%, other services 16.5%; note: figures exclude the unemployed (2007). Industries: leading industrial power in the world, highly diversified and technologically advanced; petroleum, steel, motor vehicles, aerospace, telecommunications, chemicals, electronics, food processing, consumer goods, lumber, mining. Natural resources: coal, copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates, uranium, bauxite, gold, iron, mercury, nickel, potash, silver, tungsten, zinc, petroleum, natural gas, timber. Exports: $927.5 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): agricultural products 9.2% (soybeans, fruit, corn), industrial supplies 26.8% (organic chemicals), capital goods 49.0% (transistors, aircraft, motor vehicle parts, computers, telecommunications equipment), consumer goods 15.0% (automobiles, medicines) (2003). Imports: $1.727 trillion f.o.b. (2005 est.): agricultural products 4.9%, industrial supplies 32.9% (crude oil 8.2%), capital goods 30.4% (computers, telecommunications equipment, motor vehicle parts, office machines, electric power machinery), consumer goods 31.8% (automobiles, clothing, medicines, furniture, toys) (2003). Major trading partners: Canada, Mexico, Japan, UK, China, Germany (2004).