d does not recognize the claims of any other
nation; Marshall Islands claims Wake Island

_#_Climate: mostly temperate, but varies from tropical (Hawaii) to
arctic (Alaska); arid to semiarid in west with occasional warm, dry
chinook wind

_#_Terrain: vast central plain, mountains in west, hills and low
mountains in east; rugged mountains and broad river valleys in Alaska;
rugged, volcanic topography in Hawaii

_#_Natural resources: coal, copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates,
uranium, bauxite, gold, iron, mercury, nickel, potash, silver, tungsten,
zinc, crude oil, natural gas, timber

_#_Land use: arable land 20%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and
pastures 26%; forest and woodland 29%; other 25%; includes irrigated 2%

_#_Environment: pollution control measures improving air and water
quality; acid rain; agricultural fertilizer and pesticide pollution;
management of sparse natural water resources in west; desertification;
tsunamis, volcanoes, and earthquake activity around Pacific Basin;
continuous permafrost in northern Alaska is a major impediment to
development

_#_Note: world's fourth-largest country (after USSR, Canada, and
China)

_*_People
_#_Population: 252,502,000 (July 1991), growth rate 0.8% (1991)

_#_Birth rate: 15 births/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Net migration rate: 2 migrants/1,000 population (1991)

_#_Infant mortality rate: 10 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)

_#_Life expectancy at birth: 72 years male, 79 years female (1991)

_#_Total fertility rate: 1.8 children born/woman (1991)

_#_Nationality: noun--American(s); adjective--American

_#_Ethnic divisions: white 85%, black 12%, other 3% (1985)

_#_Religion: Protestant 61% (Baptist 21%, Methodist 12%, Lutheran 8%,
Presbyterian 4%, Episcopalian 3%, other Protestant 13%), Roman Catholic
25%, Jewish 2%, other 5%, none 7%

_#_Language: predominantly English; sizable Spanish-speaking minority

_#_Literacy: 97% (male 97%, female 97%) age 15 and over having
completed 5 or more years of schooling (1980)

_#_Labor force: 126,424,000 (includes armed forces and unemployed);
civilian labor force 124,787,000 (1990)

_#_Organized labor: 16,729,000 members; 16.1% of total wage and
salary employment which was 103,905,000 (1990)

_*_Government
_#_Long-form name: United States of America; abbreviated US or USA

_#_Type: federal republic; strong democ