USA
A country in North America. Area — 9,363.2 thousand km². It consists of 3 non-contiguous parts: 1) the territory of the USA itself is located between 24°30'—49°23' north latitude and 66°57'—124°45' west longitude, with an area of 7.83 million km², bordered to the north by Canada, to the south — by Mexico, washed by the waters of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, and the Gulf of Mexico; 2) Alaska - area 1.53 million km², bordered by Canada, washed by the waters of the Pacific and Arctic Oceans; 3) Hawaii - 24 islands in the Pacific Ocean, with a total area of 16.7 thousand km². The USA has several territories: Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea, American Samoa, Guam, Midway, Wake, and others in the Pacific Ocean.
The capital is Washington, D.C. (563 thousand in 2003). The largest cities are New York (8 million), Los Angeles (3.8 million), Chicago (2.9 million), Houston (2 million), Philadelphia (about 1.5 million). Administrative division - 50 states and the federal (capital) district of Columbia. States: Idaho, Iowa, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Wyoming, Washington, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, Hawaii, Delaware, Georgia, West Virginia, Illinois, Indiana, California, Kansas, Kentucky, Colorado, Connecticut, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Michigan, Montana, Maine, Maryland, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, North Dakota, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Florida, South Dakota, South Carolina, and Utah. The population initially formed due to mass immigration, primarily from Europe, and the importation of enslaved Africans. The ethnic spectrum includes the indigenous peoples of America - Native Americans, Eskimos, Aleuts, as well as Spanish-speaking peoples. In 2005, the population was over 295 million Americans, including whites - 77.1%, African Americans - 12.9%, and individuals of other racial and ethnic groups - 10%. Over 13% of the total population are representatives of the Spanish-speaking community. Official language: de facto English, however, its official status is not fixed in federal legislation. Religion: the majority of believers belong to various Protestant (52%) and Catholic (24%) churches. Currency - dollar = 100 cents.
It has diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation (established with the USSR on November 16, 1933).
National holidays include: the 3rd Monday of January - Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the 3rd Monday of February - George Washington's Birthday, the 4th Monday of May - Memorial Day, July 4 - Independence Day (1776), the 1st Monday of September - Labor Day, the 2nd Monday of October - Columbus Day, November 11 - Veterans Day (Armistice Day), the 4th Thursday of November - Thanksgiving Day.
The USA is a federal republic. The constitution, adopted on September 17, 1787, came into effect on March 4, 1789. It has since been amended by 27 amendments.
The head of state is the president, since January 20, 2005 - George W. Bush (Republican Party; re-elected in November 2004). The president and vice president are elected through indirect, two-stage elections for a term of 4 years. Presidential elections are held in leap years along with congressional elections. The same person cannot serve as president for more than 2 consecutive terms. In the event of the president's removal from office, death, or resignation, the vice president becomes president and has the right to appoint a new vice president with the approval of a majority vote in both houses of the US Congress.
Legislative power belongs to Congress, which consists of two chambers: the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate (100 members) includes 2 senators from each state, elected by direct equal voting for a term of 6 years. Every 2 years, the Senate is renewed by 1/3. The House of Representatives (435 members) is elected by direct equal voting under a majoritarian representation system for a term of 2 years. The Senate can initiate any bills, except for financial ones, which can only originate from the House of Representatives. It can repeal or amend any bill submitted by the House of Representatives. The Senate ratifies international treaties concluded by the president and approves his appointments. On November 2, 2004, the House of Representatives was elected, and the Senate was renewed by 1/3.
The executive power belongs to the president, who is also the commander-in-chief of the US armed forces. The president appoints the cabinet (government) with the consent of the Senate. The overwhelming majority of cabinet members belong to the president's party (Republican Party). The cabinet includes the vice president (Dick Cheney), the Secretary of State (Condoleezza Rice), and other ministers.
States have their own legislative and executive bodies, the structure and competence of which are determined by the constitutions of the states. Legislative bodies of the states are bicameral or unicameral legislatures. The executive power in the states is exercised by governors elected by the population of the states for 2 or 4 years.
The USA has a two-party system, where the struggle for power occurs between two main political parties: the Democratic Party (organizationally formed during the election campaign of 1828) and the Republican Party (founded in 1854). Both parties do not have permanent membership; party affiliation is determined by voting in elections. In addition to these parties, there are other political parties in the country that do not play a significant role in the political life of the country. After the elections in November 2004, the Republican Party held 55 seats in the Senate and 232 in the House of Representatives, while the Democratic Party held 44 and 202 (1 senator and 1 congressman are independent).
The largest trade union federation - the American Federation of Labor - Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) has over 9 million members. It was created in 1955. The top leadership of the AFL-CIO is the main social-reformist force in the country. There are also independent unions that are not part of the AFL-CIO and have about 7 million members. In 2005, unions united more than 16 million people.
In the African American movement, the main organizations are: the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the National Urban League, the Congress of Racial Equality, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Black Trade Union Coalition, and the National Black United Fund.
Leading organizations of the business community include: the National Association of Manufacturers, the American Bankers Association, the Business Roundtable, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and others. On the right flank of the political spectrum, there are organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan, the John Birch Society, the Council of Conservative Citizens, and others.
In the 16th century, the colonization of North America began, carried out by Spain, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Sweden. The most stable were the British colonies. The settlement of North America was accompanied by wars with the Native Americans and their extermination. From the early 17th century, the importation of slaves for plantation work from Africa began.
As capitalism developed in the British colonies, a single market was formed, and the North American nation emerged. The intensification of colonial oppression from the metropolis led to the beginning of the war for independence (1775-83), during which 13 British colonies united (1776) and created an independent state - the United States of America. The Constitution of 1787 enshrined the dominance of the bourgeoisie and plantation slave owners in the form of bourgeois democracy. The first bourgeois revolution (also the war for independence) created the prerequisites for the rapid development of capitalism in the Northern USA, which by the mid-19th century came into sharp contradiction with the plantation slavery system that prevailed in the South. The second bourgeois revolution (1861-77), which resolved this contradiction, went through 2 stages: the Civil War of 1861-65 between the North and the South, during which slavery was legislatively abolished, and the Reconstruction period of the South from 1865-77, when the struggle for the completion of bourgeois-democratic transformations in the Southern states took place. In 1803, the USA purchased the Louisiana Territory from France, in 1819 forced Spain to cede Florida, in the 1840s-50s seized over 1/2 of Mexico's territory, and in 1867 bought Alaska and the Aleutian Islands from Russia. On the international stage, the USA entered the struggle for the redistribution of the world.
The main object of their expansion was Latin America. US participation in World War I brought enormous profits to American monopolies and strengthened the country's role in the world economy. During World War II, the USA actively participated in the creation of the anti-fascist coalition, conducting military operations in Europe, Africa, and the Pacific (against Japan). After the war, under conditions of American monopoly on atomic weapons, the so-called "Cold War" began. At the initiative and direct participation of the USA, military blocs such as NATO, ANZUS, SEATO, CENTO, and others were created, as well as a network of military bases around the world.
Domestically, the late 1940s to early 1950s was marked by the rise of "McCarthyism," expressed in a wave of persecution for free thought and democratic activity. However, growing public discontent forced the Republican administration of D. Eisenhower (1953-61) to make adjustments to the domestic and foreign policy of the country.
For American foreign policy from the mid-1960s, the intensification of the struggle against national liberation movements was characteristic. The unpopular war in Vietnam (1965-73) led to the growth of the anti-war movement. The 1960s were marked by the activation of the struggle of American blacks against racial discrimination, for civil rights and freedoms. The result was the passage of civil rights laws (1964, 1968) and voting rights (1965).
During the tenure of Republican administrations of R. Nixon (1969-74) and G. Ford (1974-77), the Democratic administration of J. Carter (1977-81), and subsequent Republican administrations of R. Reagan (1981-89) and G. Bush Sr. (1989-93), efforts were made to strengthen détente and reduce the threat of global war. In this regard, treaties and agreements concluded during this period between the USSR and the USA were of great importance, primarily the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (terminated in June 2002 due to the unilateral withdrawal of the USA), the 1972 Interim Agreement on Certain Measures Limiting Strategic Offensive Arms (SALT I), "Principles of Relations between the USSR and the USA" 1972, the 1973 Agreement on the Prevention of Nuclear War,
the 1979 Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT II; which never came into force), the 1987 Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles, and the 1991 Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms.
In January 1993, in Moscow, the leaders of the USA and Russia signed the Treaty on Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START II; which never came into force).
In May 2002, in Moscow, the presidents of Russia and the USA V. V. Putin and G. Bush signed the Treaty on the Reduction of Strategic Offensive Potentials (which came into force in June 2003), which established the partnership nature of relations between the two countries in the strategic sphere.
The USA is a participant in international non-proliferation regimes of various types of weapons of mass destruction, delivery systems, and production technologies: the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (in 1995, a decision was made at the diplomatic conference in New York for the indefinite extension of the treaty), the Convention on the Prohibition of Biological Weapons, the Missile Technology Control Regime, the Australia Group, and others, the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe.
At the same time, American ruling circles, viewing the USA as the "sole superpower," consider it permissible and possible to conduct military actions bypassing the UN and principles of international law. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, in New York and Washington, the main task on the international stage was proclaimed to be the fight against terrorism. Among the priorities is also the struggle against the proliferation of WMD and "rogue regimes" (in American terminology - "rogue states"), including encouraging and financially supporting internal opposition in these countries under the banner of "democratization." In September 2002, a new national security strategy was published, proclaiming the goal of US dominance in the world and providing for the possibility of preventive, including unilateral, use of American armed forces.
In 2003, the USA, in alliance with Great Britain, conducted a military operation against Iraq.
The USA is a member of the UN (since 1945), as well as NATO (since 1949), OECD (since 1960), the Colombo Plan (since 1951), OAS (since 1948), and other international organizations. They play an important role in the creation of the MAZST. They are one of the largest shareholders of the Inter-American Development Bank.
The USA is the leading economic power in the world. With less than 5% of the world's population and 7% of the Earth's territory, they account for over 25% of the world's GDP, about 15% of international trade, and are a leader in the development and implementation of cutting-edge technologies.
In 2001, the US economy entered a period of decline after a decade of growth. The tragic events of September 11, 2001, further complicated the situation. The aviation, automotive, insurance, and tourism sectors were particularly affected. However, by 2003, the economy began to recover from the recession. This was facilitated by the Federal Reserve System (FRS) of the USA conducting an expansionary monetary policy (in the second quarter of 2003, the discount rate was lowered to a record low of 1%), which led to an increase in housing construction and laid a favorable foundation for growth in the manufacturing sector. At the same time, in May 2003, the Employment and Economic Growth Support Act was adopted, providing for a tax reduction of $350 billion over 10 years.
According to the results of 2004, due to an increase in domestic consumer demand, improvement in the labor market, low interest rates, and a revival in housing construction, the GDP of the USA increased by 4.2%. At the same time, high consumer demand was the reason for the decline in private, government, and corporate savings to a record low level (1-2% of GDP). To enhance the attractiveness of the dollar and control inflation, the FRS gradually raised the discount rate starting in early 2004.
The GDP of the country is over $12 trillion, and per capita, the USA ranks among the top in the world - $41,500.
The sectoral structure of GDP (in %): industry - 19.7, agriculture - 0.9, services - 79.4.
In the USA, the overall socio-economic situation remains favorable, which was ensured by stable economic development in the 1990s. The average hourly wage in 2001 was $13.4. At the same time, over 30 million people live below the officially established poverty line ($16,400 per year for a family of four).
The US administration has managed to implement a program to create over 2.4 million jobs in a year and a half (the average monthly increase over the last year was about 185 thousand), which allowed by the end of 2004 to reduce the unemployment rate to 5.4%. At the same time, the inflation rate in 2004 was virtually zero.
In 1996, a program was adopted in the USA aimed at balancing the federal budget, aimed at gradually reducing government spending. In 2000, its surplus reached a record level - $237 billion. But by 2001, the budget became deficit ($127 billion), caused by "extraordinary factors" - the war against terrorism and recession. In 2002, the budget deficit was $158 billion (1.5% of GDP), and the national debt was $3.5 trillion. In 2003, the budget deficit amounted to $374 billion (taking into account the war in Iraq). By the end of 2004, it exceeded $412 billion, which is an absolute record in the history of the country and one of the fundamental factors negatively affecting the state of the world economy. The size of the national debt continues to increase. By the end of 2004, its volume approached $8 trillion. In foreign trade, Americans have not managed to overcome the negative trends of previous years: while the volume of goods exported in 2004 reached $1.146 trillion, imports rose to $1.763 trillion. The negative balance of the trade balance increased to a record level - $617.7 billion (in 2003 - $489 billion, 2002 - $435 billion).
In the commodity structure of foreign trade, machinery and equipment for industrial purposes predominated (over 40% of exports and 23% of imports), industrial materials and raw materials (25% and 28%, including oil and oil products - 12%), consumer goods (12% and 25%), automobiles (11% and 15% respectively), food products (7% and 4%). The main trading partners of the USA are Canada (19.5%), Mexico (11.6%), China (10.1%), Japan (8%), Germany (4.7%), Great Britain (3.6%), South Korea (3.2%), Taiwan (2.5%), and France (2.3%).
The service sector plays a leading role in the American economy. The USA holds leading positions in the world in the production of industrial products. Important sectors include metallurgy, machine engineering, instrumentation, electronics and electrical engineering, oil, gas, chemical, automotive, and aerospace industries. The USA accounts for about 20% of the world's export of high-tech products.
The USA ranks among the top countries in the world in the production of oil, coal, natural gas, gold, uranium concentrates, electricity, pig iron, steel, copper, aluminum, and lead.
In the agro-industrial complex, about 0.7% of the total number of employed in the economy of the country work.
The country is the largest exporter of agricultural products in the world. The USA's share of the global food market exceeds 15%. The main articles of agricultural exports are grain, meat products, and cotton.
In recent years, there has been a decrease in the number of farms (a farm in the USA is considered an enterprise that sells agricultural products worth at least $1,000 per year) and the concentration of agricultural production.
The priorities of the economic policy of the US administration in the coming years include further stimulation of economic growth. An important place in it is given to the formation of new markets for American goods, reducing the budget deficit, and the negative balance of the foreign trade balance. In the social sphere, the focus is on creating new jobs and reducing the unemployment rate, increasing funding for the education system, and reforming the social security and healthcare systems.
The US economy is characterized by a high level of computerization and the use of advanced information technologies in industry and services.
The education system in the USA includes both the public (mainly in the field of primary and secondary education) and the private sector (especially in higher education). Leading universities in the USA include: Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Columbia, Yale, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and others.
In terms of the number of periodicals published, the USA holds a leading position in the world. More than 10,000 newspapers and over 10,000 magazines and other periodicals are published in the USA. The largest newspapers include: "USA Today" (2.66 million copies), "The Wall Street Journal" (2.1 million), "The New York Times" (1.68 million), "The Los Angeles Times" (1.29 million), "The Washington Post" (over 1 million). Among the most influential general political weeklies are the magazines "Time" (4 million copies), "Newsweek" (3.1 million), "U.S. News & World Report" (2 million), "Business Week" (980 thousand); among monthly magazines are "Life," "National Geographic Magazine," "Reader's Digest," and "Sports Illustrated."
Leading news agencies are the Associated Press (AP) and United Press International (UPI). In broadcasting, the largest networks are "Columbia Broadcasting System" (CBS), "National Broadcasting Company" (NBC), "American Broadcasting Company" (ABC). In addition, the "Mutual Broadcasting System" (MBS) and "Public Broadcasting System" (PBS) are well-known. The first three private broadcasting corporations formed the three main television networks in the country. The "Cable News Network" (CNN; with the radio network "CNN Radio") and "Fox News" are also successfully developing.