Natural resources: coal, copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates, uranium, bauxite, gold, iron, mercury, nickel, potash, silver, tungsten, zinc, petroleum, natural gas, timber
Land use:
arable land: 20%
permanent crops: 0%
meadows and pastures: 26%
forest and woodland: 29%
other: 25%
Irrigated land: 181,020 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues: air pollution resulting in acid rain in both the US
and Canada; the US is the largest single emitter of carbon dioxide
from the burning of fossil fuels; water pollution from runoff of
pesticides and fertilizers; very limited natural fresh water
resources in much of the western part of the country require careful
management; desertification
natural hazards: tsunamis, volcanoes, and earthquake activity around
Pacific Basin; hurricanes along the Atlantic coast; tornadoes in the
midwest; mud slides in California; forest fires in the west;
flooding; permafrost in northern Alaska is a major impediment to
development
international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Air
Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Antarctic Treaty, Climate Change,
Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Marine Dumping,
Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection,
Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands, Whaling; signed, but
not ratified - Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds,
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Biodiversity, Desertification,
Hazardous Wastes, Tropical Timber 94
Geographic note: world's fourth-largest country (after Russia,
Canada, and China)
People ———
Population: 266,476,278 (July 1996 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 22% (male 29,718,390; female 28,335,934)
15-64 years: 65% (male 86,225,056; female 87,411,573)
65 years and over: 13% (male 13,850,234; female 20,021,655) (July
1996 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.91% (1996 est.)
Birth rate: 14.8 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)