According to businesscarriers, the United States of America is a country in North America.

The area is 9,629,091 km2. It occupies the 4th place in the world in terms of territory (after the Russian Federation, Canada and China). The total land area is 9,158,960 km2, territorial waters are 131 km2. The length from east to west is 4662 km, from south to north 4583 km. Land borders 12,034 km (with Canada, including Alaska, 8,893 km; with Mexico 3,141 km), water borders 19,924 km. The boundary of territorial waters is 12 nautical miles. The boundary of the adjacent maritime zone is 24 nautical miles. The boundary of the maritime exclusive economic zone is 200 nautical miles.

Population 293.6 million people. (2004), 3rd in the world (after China and India). The official language is English. The capital is Washington, DC.

National holidays: January 1 – New Year; 3rd Monday in January – Birthday of Martin Luther King Jr.; February 12 – A. Lincoln’s birthday; 3rd Monday in February – George Washington’s birthday; the last Monday of May – Memorial Day (Day of Remembrance for the Fallen in Wars); July 4 – Independence Day; 1st Monday in September – Labor Day; November 11 – Veterans Day; 4th Thursday of November – Thanksgiving Day; December 25 – Christmas. In some states, various categories of citizens are marked for another approx. 40 other significant dates. The monetary unit is the dollar (equal to 100 cents).

Member of more than 70 international organizations, incl. UN and its specialized organizations, NATO, IMF, ILO, OAS, MTS, OECD, G7,

IBRD, North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), etc.

The US possessions include Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean, the islands in the Pacific Ocean – Guam, Eastern Samoa, Wake, Midway, Johnston Atoll, etc.

The United States established diplomatic relations with Russia in December 1807, with the USSR in November 1933, and with the Russian Federation in December 1991.

History

During the war years, the share of the United States in the world economy has increased significantly, from a debtor they have become a creditor of many countries. In the focus of attention of 3 post-war Republican administrations of the USA – Warren Harding (1921-23), Calvin Coolidge (1923-29) and Herbert Hoover (1929-33) were questions raised by the country’s big business, which was interested in obtaining real political and economic benefits. from the alignment of forces in the international arena after the military defeat of Germany and two revolutions in Russia. For 12 years, the country’s foreign policy course has remained virtually unchanged. The socio-economic situation in the country became more complicated every year. In October 1929, an economic crisis broke out in the United States, engulfing all spheres of industrial production, agriculture, and financial activity. The Hoover administration proved unable to deal with the crisis and its aftermath. The 1932 elections were won by the Democratic Party and its candidate, Franklin Roosevelt. F. Roosevelt’s presidency, which lasted for 12 years (1933-45), was marked by major historical events. Roosevelt took decisive steps in the field of domestic and foreign policy, including the implementation of economic and social reforms (the “New Deal”) and the establishment in November 1933 of diplomatic relations with the USSR. In the field of foreign policy, the plans of Japan in the Far East and Germany in Europe, which provided for a new redivision of the world, were of particular concern to the administration of F. Roosevelt. Until the 2nd World War, the United States refrained from direct participation in European affairs, but after it began in September 1939, they began to provide more and more support to the victims of aggression from Nazi Germany. In March 1941, the Lend-Lease Law was adopted, which provided for the provision of assistance to them with weapons and strategic raw materials. After the German attack on the USSR, the effect of this law was extended to the USSR. The United States entered World War II after Japan attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in December 1941. During the war, an anti-Hitler coalition was created, the main participants of which were the United States, Great Britain and the USSR. During the meetings of the leaders of the “Big Three” states in Tehran (1943) and Yalta (1945), issues of their military cooperation in order to defeat Germany and its allies were agreed, including the issue of opening a second front in Europe, as well as post-war cooperation and the creation of the UN. The main military operations with the participation of the United States and Great Britain unfolded in North Africa, Italy and the island of Sicily. The second front was opened in Normandy (France) in June 1944. Roosevelt died suddenly in April 1945, and Harry Truman (1945–53) assumed the presidency, revising the course towards post-war cooperation with the USSR. During the last meeting of the “Big Three” in Potsdam in June 1945, disagreements between the USSR and the USA on a number of aspects of post-war policy came to light. The atomic bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (August 1945) demonstrated the intention of the United States to take advantage of the monopoly on nuclear weapons. US losses in manpower during the war years amounted to approx. 300 thousand killed and St. 670 thousand wounded. During the war years, the income of American corporations more than doubled.

With the end of the war, the opposing national interests of the former allies came to the fore. The Cold War, which began in 1945, and the arms race continued for nearly five decades. In development of the policy of containing the USSR, the USA concluded bilateral defense pacts with 42 states in 1945–49. Post-war US foreign policy interests were met by the administration’s announced “Marshall Plan”, the Truman Doctrine, and the program of military-technical assistance in the “fight against communism.” On the initiative of the United States in April 1949, the North Atlantic Pact was signed, providing for the creation of NATO. In the United States itself, the period of McCarthyism began – the struggle against dissent and “anti-Americanism”. In 1947 the CIA and the NSS were formed. In 1950, the Korean War began, in which the Armed Forces of the United States and China took an active part on opposite sides of the front. In response to the appearance of the atomic bomb in the USSR in 1949, in November 1952 the United States carried out the first successful test of a thermonuclear device. The hard line of confrontation with the USSR continued under Truman’s successor, President Dwight Eisenhower (1953–61). The Korean War ended in 1953; in subsequent years, the possibility of negotiations between the US and the USSR with the aim of normalizing relations arose. The action with the sending of the American U-2 reconnaissance aircraft into the airspace of the USSR in 1960 disrupted the negotiation process. The first steps towards the normalization of Soviet-American relations were taken during the years of the John F. these relationships. The transition from the “era of confrontation” to the “era of negotiations” and the beginning of international detente (“detente”) is associated with the presidency of Richard Nixon (1969–74). Between 1972 and 1974, three summit meetings were held between the leaders of the United States and the USSR, during which dozens of bilateral agreements were signed, including the first agreements in the field of disarmament and arms control. The internal political “Watergate scandal” led to the resignation of President Nixon (August 1974). Under Gerald Ford (1974–77), who replaced him in the White House, the Vietnam War ended, but the president failed to achieve serious success in foreign and domestic policy. In 1976, James (Jimmy) Carter (1977–81) was elected President of the United States. During his presidency, the economic situation in the country deteriorated significantly. On January 1, 1979, diplomatic relations were established with the PRC, but relations with Iran became more complicated, where, after the overthrow of the Shah, employees of the American embassy were taken hostage. In June 1979, a meeting of Soviet and American leaders took place in Vienna, culminating in the signing of the Treaty between the USSR and the USA on the limitation of strategic offensive arms (SALT-2), but at the end. In 1979, after the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan, relations with the USSR again became complicated. There was a long break in the summit meetings between the American and Soviet leaders, which lasted during the 1st half of the 20th century. presidency of Ronald Reagan (1981-89). There was a serious complication of the international situation caused by a new round of the arms race and the intention of the US administration to negotiate with the USSR from a position of strength. In Latin America and the countries of Asia and Africa, regimes and forces that acted from anti-Soviet positions were actively financed. From the beginning In 1984, several Soviet-American summits were held, as a result of which the confrontation began to weaken. The revival of the American economy and the opened up prospects for the normalization of the international situation began to be associated with the continuation of the foreign and domestic policies of the Reagan administration. The continuity of this course was ensured by the election of George W. Bush. During the years of his presidency (1989-93), the situation in the country deteriorated noticeably – an economic recession began, unemployment and a budget deficit began to grow. In the realm of foreign policy, the administration strongly opposed Iraq’s attempt to annex Kuwait. The Gulf War (“Desert Storm”) lasted ca. 1.5 months and ended with the defeat of Iraq. In December 1991 the USSR collapsed. The Russian Federation was immediately recognized by the United States. In February 1992, Russian President B.N. Yeltsin and George W. Bush officially proclaimed the end of the Cold War.

Prior to the end of the Bush presidency, Russia and the United States signed the Treaty on the Further Reduction and Limitation of Offensive Arms (START II), and the United States, Canada, and Mexico signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAF-TA). In January 1993, William J. (Bill) Clinton (1993-2001) became President of the United States. The end of the Cold War allowed his administration to focus more on securing US interests in the Asia-Pacific region (APR) and Africa. Political and economic relations between the United States and China began to normalize, the embargo on trade with Vietnam was lifted, and an attempt was made to normalize relations with the DPRK. The idea of an “Atlantic home” built on the foundations of NATO began to lose its appeal for the states of Western Europe, but received support from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. During the years of the Clinton presidency, a foreign policy strategy began to take shape that combined neo-isolationist provisions with the principle of limited (or selective) participation of the United States in the development, together with other states (primarily with its allies), of solutions to controversial international problems, but with the obligatory preservation of American leadership. The United States has consolidated its military superiority and maintained its military presence in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region and the Persian Gulf. The final period of the Clinton administration was marred by a scandal dubbed “Monicagate”, which nearly ended with the president’s impeachment. Before leaving the White House, Clinton announced plans to deploy a US national missile defense system (ABM) to protect US soil and military forces beyond it from weapons of mass destruction. The reaction of European countries to this intention and the negative attitude of the Russian Federation towards it forced Clinton to leave the implementation of these plans to his successor. In January 2001, the administration of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush, began. The first 2 years of his presidency were characterized by the complication of internal socio-economic problems. However, the main problem of the administration was the fight against international terrorism and control over the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. On September 11, 2001, the buildings of the New York World Trade Center and the Department of Defense in Washington were attacked by Arab suicide pilots, killing approx. 3 thousand people In March 2003, the United States and Great Britain, with the diplomatic support of other countries, began to eliminate Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq, accused of possession of weapons of mass destruction and assistance to international terrorism. The military action ended with the removal of the regime from the political arena and the establishment of the United States as the only world superpower.