Background 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. The People | Population | 301,139,947 (July 2007 est.) | | Age structure | 0-14 years: 20.2% (male 31,152,050/female 29,777,438)
15-64 years: 67.2% (male 100,995,752/female 101,365,035)
65 years and over: 12.6% (male 15,858,477/female 21,991,195) (2007 est.) | | Life expectancy at birth | total population: 78 years
male: 75.15 years
female: 80.97 years (2007 est.) | Population growth rate | 0.894% (2007 est.) | | Ethnic groups | White 81.7%, Black 12.9%, Asian 4.2%, Amerindian and Alaska native 1%, native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander 0.2% (2003 est.)
note: a separate listing for Hispanic is not included because the US Census Bureau considers Hispanic to mean a person of Latin American descent (including persons of Cuban, Mexican, or Puerto Rican origin) living in the US who may be of any race or ethnic group (White, Black, Asian, etc.) | | Religions | Protestant 52%, Roman Catholic 24%, Mormon 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 1%, other 10%, none 10% (2002 est.) | | Population below poverty line | 12% (2004 est.) | | People living with HIV/AIDS | 950,000 (2003 est.) | | HIV/AIDS - deaths | 17,011 (2005 est.) | | Mobile phones in use | 219.4 million (2005) |
Data (Background & The People) provided by The World Factbook |