United States Government 1997

Country name
conventional long form : United States of America
conventional short form: United States
abbreviation: US or USA

Data code US

Government type federal republic; strong democratic tradition

National capital Washington, DC

Administrative divisions 50 states and 1 district*; Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California,Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia*, Florida, Georgia,Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine,Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana,Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina,North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina,South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, WestVirginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming

Dependent areas American Samoa, Baker Island, Guam, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, JohnstonAtoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Islands, Navassa Island, Northern Mariana Islands,Palmyra Atoll, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Wake Island
note: from 18 July 1947 until 1 October 1994, the US administered the TrustTerritory of the Pacific Islands, but recently entered into a new politicalrelationship with all four political units: the Northern Mariana Islands is a Commonwealth in political union with the US (effective 3 November 1986);Palau concluded a Compact of Free Association with the US (effective 1 October1994); the Federated States of Micronesia signed a Compact of Free Associationwith the US (effective 3 November 1986); the Republic of the Marshall Islandssigned a Compact of Free Association with the US (effective 21 October 1986)

Independence 4 July 1776 (from England)

National holiday Independence Day, 4 July (1776)

Constitution 17 September 1787, effective 4 March 1789

Legal system based on English common law; judicial review of legislative acts; acceptscompulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
chief of state: President William Jefferson CLINTON (since 20 January 1993) and VicePresident Albert GORE, Jr. (since 20 January 1993); note - the president isboth the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President William Jefferson CLINTON (since 20 January 1993) and VicePresident Albert GORE, Jr. (since 20 January 1993); note - the president isboth the chief of state and head of government
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president with Senate approval
elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by a collegeof representatives who are elected directly from each state; president andvice president serve four-year terms; election last held 5 November 1996 (nextto be held 7 November 2000)
election results: William Jefferson CLINTON elected president; percent of popular vote- William Jefferson CLINTON (Democratic Party) 49.2%, Bob DOLE (RepublicanParty) 40.7%, Ross PEROT (Reform Party) 8.4%, other 1.7%

Legislative branch bicameral Congress consists of Senate (100 seats, one-third are renewedevery two years; two members are elected from each state by popular vote toserve six-year terms) and House of Representatives (435 seats; members aredirectly elected by popular vote to serve two-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 5 November 1996 (next to be held 2 November 1998);House of Representatives - last held 5 November 1996 (next to be held 2 November 1998)
election results : Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - RepublicanParty 55, Democratic Party 45; House of Representatives - percent of voteby party - NA; seats by party - Republican Party 227, Democratic Party 205,independent 1, vacant 2

Judicial branch Supreme Court, justices are appointed for life by the president withconfirmation by the Senate

Political parties and leaders Republican Party, Jim NICHOLSON, national committee chairman; DemocraticParty, Steve GROSSMAN, national committee chairman; several other groups orparties of minor political significance

International organization participation AfDB, AG (observer), ANZUS, APEC, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE(observer), CP, EBRD, ECE, ECLAC, ESCAP, FAO, G- 2, G- 5, G- 7, G- 8, G-10,IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO,ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MINURSO,MTCR, NACC, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS, OECD, OSCE, PCA, SPC, UN, UN Security Council,UNCTAD, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMIBH, UNMIH, UNOMIG, UNPREDEP, UNRWA, UNTAES,UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC

Flag description thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternatingwith white; there is a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing50 small white five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rowsof six stars (top and bottom) alternating with rows of five stars; the 50stars represent the 50 states, the 13 stripes represent the 13 original colonies;known as Old Glory; the design and colors have been the basis for a numberof other flags including Chile, Liberia, Malaysia, and Puerto Rico

NOTE: The information regarding United States on this page is re-published from the 1997 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of United States Government 1997 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about United States Government 1997 should be addressed to the CIA.