Population, GDP, natural resources, leaders and history of United States: the Magna Factbook country file, with its Magna grade (MAB, ranked #2 of 195).
United States is a constitutional federal republic in North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico. The country's capital is Washington, D.C.; it covers 9,833,517 sq km. Independence: 4 July 1776 (declared independence from Great Britain); 3 September 1783 (recognized by Great Britain). 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. Climate: mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida, arctic in Alaska, semiarid in the great plains west of the Mississippi River, and arid in the Great Basin of the…
| Capital | Washington, D.C. |
|---|---|
| Population | 338,016,259 (2025 est.) |
| GDP (PPP) | $25.676 trillion (2024 est.) |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | $75,500 (2024 est.) |
| Real GDP growth | 2.8% (2024 est.) |
| Inflation | 2.9% |
| Unemployment | 4.2% |
| Public debt | 114.8% of GDP (2023 est.) |
| Exports | $3.191 trillion (2024 est.) |
| Imports | $4.108 trillion (2024 est.) |
| Life expectancy | 80.9 years (2024 est.) |
| Median age | 39.5 |
| Urbanization | 83.3% of total population (2023) |
| Government | constitutional federal republic |
| Independence | 4 July 1776 (declared independence from Great Britain); 3 September 1783 (recognized by Great Britain) |
| Languages | English only (official) 78.2%, Spanish 13.4%, Chinese 1.1%, other 7.3% (2017 est.) |
MAB · 84/100 — The Magna grade is our 0–100 composite of structural national power — five dimensions, 100+ indicators. It is the Bureau's own assessment, not a mirror of World Bank or CIA figures.
Momentum +6 — Quarterly momentum: the Bureau's read on the country's trajectory over the last quarter, from −10 (deteriorating fast) to +10 (accelerating).
Late September concentrated the quarter's signal: the Trump–Xi summit brought mutual tariff relief and a trade truce running to January 2027, while the $15B Mesabi steel-mill announcement underscored the industrial bet.
The other edge of the same blade: the Canada tariff escalation showed the protectionist reflex intact — momentum is positive, but it was bought with friction.
Coal, Copper, Lead, Molybdenum, Phosphates, Rare earths, Uranium, Bauxite, Gold, Iron ore, Mercury, Nickel, Potash, Silver, Tungsten, Zinc, Oil, Natural gas, Timber.
Donald J. Trump — President. President Donald J. TRUMP (since 20 January 2025)
United States maintains 168 embassies and 83 consulates abroad, hosts 184 foreign diplomatic missions, holds permanent missions to UN New York, OAS Washington. The breadth of a diplomatic network is a direct measure of diplomatic power — it shows how far a country’s influence, alliances and interests reach.
| Embassies abroad | 168 |
|---|---|
| Consulates abroad | 83 |
| Foreign missions hosted | 184 |
| Multilateral missions | UN New York, OAS Washington |
Source: Lowy Institute Global Diplomacy Index 2024 via Wikipedia 'List of countries by number of diplomatic missions' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_diplomatic_missions ; hosted: Consular Affairs Center Jan 2026 report (in-country ranking) https://zenodo.org/records/18109976
Transport networks are economic power made physical — ports, runways, railways and pipelines decide what a country can move, sell and defend.
| Sea access | Coastal — 19924 km of coastline. |
|---|---|
| Airports (total) | 16116 + 8130 heliports (registration prefix N) |
| Major seaports | Baltimore, Boston, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Chester, Cleveland, Detroit, Galveston, Houston, Los Angeles, Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), Mobile, New Orleans, New York City, Norfolk, Oakland, Philadelphia, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, Tri-City Port |
| Railways | 293564.2 km |
| Pipelines | 1,984,321 km natural gas, 240,711 km petroleum products (2013) |
| Top container ports (TEU) | Los Angeles (10,677,610 TEU, 2021); Long Beach (9,384,368 TEU, 2021); New York/New Jersey (8,985,929 TEU, 2021) |
Albany International Airport (ALB) — Albany; Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ) — Albuquerque; Austin Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) — Austin; Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) — Baltimore; Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport (BHM) — Birmingham; Boise Air Terminal/Gowen Field (BOI) — Boise; Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) — Boston; Bradley International Airport (BDL) — Hartford; Buffalo Niagara International Airport (BUF) — Buffalo; Charleston International Airport (CHS) — Charleston.
Showing 10 of 15 major airports.
| LNG export terminals | Calcasieu Pass (LA), Cameron (LA), Corpus Christi (TX), Cove Point (MD), Elba Island (GA), Freeport (TX), Sabine Pass (LA) |
|---|---|
| LNG import terminals | Cove Point (MD), Elba Island (GA), Everett (MA), Freeport (TX), Golden Pass (TX), Hackberry (LA), Lake Charles (LA), Neptune (offshore), Northeast Gateway (offshore), Pascagoula (MS), Sabine Pass (TX) |
| Oil terminals | LOOP terminal, Haymark terminal |
| River ports | Baton Rouge, Plaquemines, New Orleans (Mississippi River) |
Sources: OurAirports public-domain extract (2026-10-02); per-entry Wikipedia links included; CIA World Factbook via cia_factbook snapshot (2026-09-28); theodora.com CIA mirror (CIA World Factbook Transportation section), scraped 2026-10-02
| Political system | federal presidential republic |
|---|---|
| Last election | 2024 — presidential; 2024-11-05; winner: Donald Trump (Republican) Wikipedia |
| Next election | 2028 — presidential (scheduled) |
Source: constitutional schedule / public election calendar
MAB · 84 Ranked #2 of 195 countries in the Magna Country Rankings. Full ranking breakdown for United States.
Historical timeline of United States
