bo Plan, DAC, FAO, ESCAP, GATT,
IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICEM, ICES, ICO, IDA, IDB--Inter-American
Development Bank, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, ILZSG, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT,
INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ITC, ITU, IWC--International Whaling Commission,
IWC--International Wheat Council, NATO, OAS, OECD, PAHO, SPC, UN, UPU,
WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO

Diplomatic representation: US Representative to the UN,
Ambassador Thomas R. PICKERING; Mission at 799 United Nations Plaza,
New York, NY 10017; telephone (212) 415-4444

Flag: thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom)
alternating with white; there is a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side
corner bearing 50 small white five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset
horizontal rows of six stars (top and bottom) alternating with rows of five
stars; the 50 stars represent the 50 states, the 13 stripes represent the 13
original colonies; known as Old Glory; the design and colors have been the basis
for a number of other flags including Chile, Liberia, Malaysia, and Puerto Rico

- Economy
Overview: The US has the most powerful and diversified economy in
the world, with a per capita GNP of over $21,000, the largest among the
major industrial nations. In 1989 the economy entered its eighth
successive year of growth, the longest in peacetime history. The
expansion has featured continued moderation in wage and consumer price
increases, an unemployment rate of 5.2%, (the lowest in 10 years), and an
inflation rate of 4.8%. On the negative side, the US enters the 1990s
with massive budget and trade deficits, huge and rapidly rising medical
costs, and inadequate investment in industrial capacity and economic
infrastructure.

GNP: $5,233.3 billion, per capita $21,082; real growth rate 2.9%
(1989)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.8% (1989)

Unemployment rate: 5.2% (1989)

Budget: revenues $976 billion; expenditures $1,137 billion,
including capital expenditures of NA (FY89 est.)

Exports: $322.3 billion (f.o.b., 1988); commodities--capital goods,
automobiles, industrial supplies and raw materials, consumer goods,
agricultural products; partners--Canada 22.9%, Japan 11.8% (1988)

Imports: $440.9 billion (c.i.f., 1988); commodities--crude and
partly refined petroleum, machinery, automobiles, consumer goods, industrial
raw materials, food and beverages; partners--Japan 19.6% , Canada 19.1%
(1988)

External debt: $532 billion (December 1988)

Industrial production: growth