Constitution-based federal republic; strong democratic tradition
parliamentary democracy
Independence date
4 July 1776 (from Great Britain)
26 September 1907 (from UK)
Religions
Protestant 51.3%, Roman Catholic 23.9%, Mormon 1.7%, other Christian 1.6%, Jewish 1.7%, Buddhist 0.7%, Muslim 0.6%, other or unspecified 2.5%, unaffiliated 12.1%, none 4% (2007 est.)
Anglican 14.9%, Roman Catholic 12.4%, Presbyterian 10.9%, Methodist 2.9%, Pentecostal 1.7%, Baptist 1.3%, other Christian 9.4%, other 3.3%, unspecified 17.2%, none 26% (2001 census)
Languages
English 82.1%, Spanish 10.7%, other Indo-European 3.8%, Asian and Pacific island 2.7%, other 0.7% (2000 census) note: Hawaiian is an official language in the state of Hawaii
English (official), Maori (official), Sign Language (official)
dairy products, meat, wood and wood products, fish, machinery
External Debt
$14,710,000,000,000 $
$85,650,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
New Zealand dollars (NZD) per US dollar - 1.4151 (2008 est.), 1.3811 (2007), 1.5408 (2006), 1.4203 (2005), 1.5087 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
4.060%
1.000%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
110
9
Location
North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico
Oceania, islands in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of Australia
Area
9,826,675 km sq
267,710 km sq
Coastline
19,924 km
15,134 km
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 southwest; low winter temperatures in the northwest are ameliorated occasionally in January and February by warm chinook winds from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains
