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United States real estate investment information for Alaska,
California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts,
New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon,
Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington. Scroll
down for more information about the United States.
About
The United States
United
States Population: 293,027,571 (July 2004 est.)
Languages: English, Spanish (spoken by a sizable minority)
Capital: Washington DC
Government Type: Constitution-based federal republic; strong
democratic tradition.
Independence Day: 4 July 1776 (from Great Britain)
Legal System: Based on English common law; judicial review of
legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations.
Currency: US dollar (USD)
Executive
Branch:
Chief
of State: President George W. BUSH (since 20 January 2001);
note - the president is both the chief of state and head of
government.
Head of Government: President George W. BUSH (since 20 January
2001) ; note - the president is both the chief of state and
head of government.
American
Embassy: 140 Msese Road, Kinondoni District, Dar es Salaam
Mailing Address: P. O. Box 9123, Dar es Salaam
Telephone: [255] (22) 2666-010 through 2666-015 FAX: [255] (22)
2666-701
General Overview: Britain's American colonies broke with the
mother country in 1776 and were recognized as the new nation
of the United States of America following the Treaty of Paris
in 1783. During the 19th and 20th centuries, 37 new states were
added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the North
American continent and acquired a number of overseas possessions.
The two most traumatic experiences in the nation's history were
the Civil War (1861-65) and the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Buoyed by victories in World Wars I and II and the end of the
Cold War in 1991, the US remains the world's most powerful nation
state. The economy is marked by steady growth, low unemployment
and inflation, and rapid advances in technology.
Economic
Overview: The US has the largest and most technologically powerful
economy in the world, with a per capita GDP of $37,800. In this
market-oriented economy, private individuals and business firms
make most of the decisions, and the federal and state governments
buy needed goods and services predominantly in the private marketplace.
US business firms enjoy considerably greater flexibility than
their counterparts in Western Europe and Japan in decisions
to expand capital plant, to lay off surplus workers, and to
develop new products. At the same time, they face higher barriers
to entry in their rivals' home markets than the barriers to
entry of foreign firms in US markets. US firms are at or near
the forefront in technological advances, especially in computers
and in medical, aerospace, and military equipment; their advantage
has narrowed since the end of World War II. The onrush of technology
largely explains the gradual development of a "two-tier labor
market" in which those at the bottom lack the education and
the professional/technical skills of those at the top and, more
and more, fail to get comparable pay raises, health insurance
coverage, and other benefits. Since 1975, practically all the
gains in household income have gone to the top 20% of households.
The years 1994-2000 witnessed solid increases in real output,
low inflation rates, and a drop in unemployment to below 5%.
The year 2001 saw the end of boom psychology and performance,
with output increasing only 0.3% and unemployment and business
failures rising substantially. The response to the terrorist
attacks of 11 September 2001 showed the remarkable resilience
of the economy. Moderate recovery took place in 2002 with the
GDP growth rate rising to 2.4%. A major short-term problem in
first half 2002 was a sharp decline in the stock market, fueled
in part by the exposure of dubious accounting practices in some
major corporations. The war in March/April 2003 between a US-led
coalition and Iraq shifted resources to the military. In 2003,
growth in output and productivity and the recovery of the stock
market to above 10,000 for the Dow Jones Industrial Average
were promising signs. Unemployment stayed at the 6% level, however,
and began to decline only at the end of the year. Long-term
problems include inadequate investment in economic infrastructure,
rapidly rising medical and pension costs of an aging population,
sizable trade and budget deficits, and stagnation of family
income in the lower economic groups.
International
Disputes: Prolonged drought, population growth, and outmoded
practices and infrastructure in the border region has strained
water-sharing arrangements with Mexico; undocumented nationals
from Mexico and Central America continue to enter the United
States illegally; 1990 Maritime Boundary Agreement in the Bering
Sea still awaits Russian Duma ratification; managed maritime
boundary disputes with Canada at Dixon Entrance, Beaufort Sea,
Strait of Juan de Fuca, and around the disputed Machias Seal
Island and North Rock; The Bahamas have not been able to agree
on a maritime boundary; US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay is leased
from Cuba and only mutual agreement or US abandonment of the
area can terminate the lease; Haiti claims US-administered Navassa
Island; US has made no territorial claim in Antarctica (but
has reserved the right to do so) and does not recognize the
claims of any other state; Marshall Islands claims Wake Island
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