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Andrew Sullivan

Andrew Sullivan

Andrew Sullivan (born August 10, 1963) is a British-American journalist, blogger and former editor of The New Republic, known both for his heterodox personal-political identity (HIV-positive, gay, libertarian and Roman Catholic) and for his pioneering efforts in the field of blog journalism. Sullivan has described himself as being a South Park Republican, a phrase he coined in 2001 and which has gained considerable currency since. In addition, Sullivan is an important gay and lesbian advocate. He is a popular speaker at major universities and civic organizations in the U.S. and a frequent guest on many national news and political commentary television shows in the United States and Europe.

Biography

Sullivan was born in South Godstone, Surrey, England, and received a B.A. in modern history from Oxford University (Magdalen College, Oxford). He went on to earn a masters degree in public administration and a Ph.D. in political science at Harvard University, writing his dissertation on conservative British philosopher Michael Oakeshott. In 1986 he began his career with The New Republic magazine, serving as its editor from 1991 to 1996. In that position, he expanded the magazine from its traditional roots in political coverage to cultural politics and the issues around them. This produced much in the way of groundbreaking journalism, but also courted several high-profile controversies. Some longtime subscribers, who had never forgiven Sullivan for firing veteran political writer Morton Kondracke when he took over, regularly took umbrage at the articles by Camille Paglia he published. One particular article about Hillary Clinton led to some readers writing letters to Martin Peretz, saying they intended to cancel their subscriptions. Martin Peretz Sullivan decided in 1994 to publish excerpts from Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray's controversial The Bell Curve, which argued that African Americans' lower IQ scores than whites' were the result of genetics. Almost the entire staff of the magazine threatened to resign if material which they considered racist was allowed to be published; when the issue did come out, it ran with lengthy rebuttals from more than a dozen writers and contributors. Sullivan's departure as editor of The New Republic magazine is also not without controversy. Opinions still differ, even among those who wrote for The New Republic at the time, about whether he was fired or quit after losing a bitter power struggle with Leon Wieseltier, the magazine's literary editor and a longtime friend of Peretz's. In any event, Sullivan had only recently gone public with his HIV status, and was likely to be taking a break for treatment soon. Regardless, Andrew Sullivan is currently a senior editor of TNR. Later, Sullivan wrote for The New York Times Magazine briefly. He left the magazine in 2002 — Sullivan describes himself as having been "banned". (see [http://slate.msn.com/?id=206582]) Sullivan is often compared to lesbian academic Camille Paglia, another gay intellectual who argues from a non-leftist perspective and who wrote for The New Republic under his leadership.

Scandals

In May 2001, Village Voice columnist Michael Musto revealed that Sullivan had anonymously posted advertisements for "bareback" sex (anal sex and/or oral sex without a condom) on America Online and the now-defunct website barebackcity.com. Subsequently, the Italian-American journalist and activist, Michelangelo Signorile, wrote about the scandal in a front-page article in a New York gay magazine, LGNY, igniting a storm of controversy. In the advertisements, Sullivan noted that he was HIV-positive. Sullivan's critics have argued that it was hypocritical of Sullivan to engage in this kind of sexual activity while simultaneously arguing against gay sexual promiscuity; they claim that the vision of gay sexuality presented in Sullivan's writing is at odds with the activities he was revealed to be engaging in. They also charge that because Sullivan was HIV-positive, it was unsafe for him to engage in sex without a condom. Sullivan's critics argue that it is unfair for Sullivan to criticize Bill Clinton's sexual indiscretions as "reckless" while engaging in unprotected sex himself. Sullivan's defenders respond that he only had bareback sex with consenting adults who were also HIV-positive. According to professional journalist Sullivan, this significantly reduced the risk inherent in his behavior, and he has derided what he called a "thin reed of evidence" of the existence of "reinfection," which, according to medical professionals, heightens the destruction caused by the virus. His supporters have also argued that it was a violation of his privacy to publish information about his sex life. Sullivan has called the scandal "sexual McCarthyism". Sullivan supporters also argue that those who revealed the details about his sex life were motivated by a desire for payback, because they disagreed with his politics and his comments about the gay community. His detractors respond that his hypocrisy was reason enough to publish the stories. In Sullivan's book, "Love Undetectable", published in 1999, Sullivan wrote "Although I never publicly defended promiscuity, I never publicly attacked it. I attempted to avoid the subject, in part because I felt, and often still feel, unable to live up to the ideals I really hold." Sullivan's journalistic ethics were called into question, when he announced that he would be accepting a sponsorship to write his blog The Daily Dish from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the lobby for the industry that he credited with saving his life, but which has also been criticized for its practices in AIDS-affected areas of the Third World. The controversy lay in Sullivan's initial refusal to disclose the relationship in writing outside his blog, even though much of that often touches on drug manufacturers and their policies in poor countries. He dropped the sponsorship in the ensuing uproar.

Blogging

In late 2000 he began his blog The Daily Dish. In the wake of September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, his blog soon became one of the most popular political blogs on the Internet (by the middle of 2003, it was receiving about 300,000 unique visits per month). Between starting his blog and ending his New Republic editorship, Sullivan wrote two works on homosexuality, arguing for its social acceptance on libertarian grounds. His writing appears in a number of widely-read publications. He currently serves as the U.S.-based columnist for The Sunday Times of London. Sullivan's blog has been characterized by passionate argumentation (some call it stridency), a willingness to admit doubts and entertain changes of mind, and hostility towards The New York Times. The blog's core principles have been fiscal conservatism, limited government, and libertarianism on social issues. Sullivan is against government involvement with respect to sexual and consensual matters between adults (such as the use of marijuana). Sullivan believes recognition of gay marriage is a civil rights issue, but is willing to promote it on a state by state legislative federalism basis rather than trying to judicially impose the change. (see [http://www.thestranger.com/2004-06-24/ex6.html]) Most of Sullivan's disputes with other conservatives have been over social issues such as these and the handling of postwar Iraq. Sullivan reluctantly decided to support John Kerry's presidential campaign due to his dissastisfaction with the handling of the post-war situation in Iraq by the Bush administration, their views on gay rights, and their fiscal policy. Sullivan is a supporter of John McCain and Arnold Schwarzenegger (see [http://www.andrewsullivan.com/index.php?dish_inc=archives/2003_10_05_dish_archive.html#106558908347085182] and other fiscally conservative but socially liberal Republicans. Sullivan also gives out parody "awards" each year on various public statements that mirror those of persons he disagrees with. These awards include: the Michael Moore Award (originally the Susan Sontag award) for "egregious anti-Americanism in the war on terror" (see [http://www.andrewsullivan.com/index.php?dish_inc=archives/2002_12_29_dish_archive.html]) later for "egregious moral equivalence in the war on terror"), the John Derbyshire Award (for "egregious and outlandish comments on gays, women and minorities"), the Paul Begala Award (for extreme liberal hyperbole), the Nicholas Von Hoffman (see [http://www.shilohbucher.com/blog/archives/000598.html]) Award (for "egregiously bad predictions on the Afghanistan and Iraq wars"), the Brent Scowcroft Award (for "continued punditry on Iraq after egregiously bad predictions on Afghanistan"), the Michelle Malkin Award (see [http://www.andrewsullivan.com/index.php?dish_inc=archives/2004_12_05_dish_archive.html#110252187853259588]) (for "cliché-ridden writing from the left and right intended to insult"), the Matt Yglesias Award [http://www.andrewsullivan.com/index.php?dish_inc=archives/2005_09_11_dish_archive.html#112698968841546006]) (which is "an award for bloggers - or anyone else for the matter - who are prepared to alienate their core readership with some unpleasant truths"), and the "Poseur Alert" (see [http://www.andrewsullivan.com/info.php?artnum=00awards]) In February 2005 Sullivan decided to go on "hiatus for a few months" after nearly five years of continuous blogging. (see [http://www.andrewsullivan.com/index.php?dish_inc=archives/2005_01_30_dish_archive.html#110723289508671920]) By this time his blog was receiving over 50,000 visitors a day, and among the most linked-to blogs in the world. Sullivan planned to work on a book, do some traveling, and focus on other projects. His plan is to return to blogging "full steam" in roughly nine months. In the mean time, he still posts roughly three to five times per day (except weekends) and gains some blog revenue from advertising. In response to readers who asked whether his continuing blogging meant that he had given up on his "hiatus", he wrote: :In deference to my relationship (and my sanity), I'm not blogging in the early hours any more… I blog when I feel like it… The pressure to promise something every day first thing no longer haunts me... But I'm making progress on the book and writing longer stuff. It's all about balance, no? (see [http://www.andrewsullivan.com/index.php?dish_inc=archives/2005_04_10_dish_archive.html#111357634125570481]) He attributes his ability to "blog, write my usual columns and work on my book" simultaneously to an increase in energy after being fitted with a CPAP machine to help him sleep. (see[http://www.andrewsullivan.com/index.php?dish_inc=archives/2005_05_01_dish_archive.html#111535397355266219]) This has allowed him to return to blogging full time. His blog has remained very popular since then.

Gay marriage

Sullivan made a case for gay marriage in the 1980s, before the idea had become popular in the LGBT community. In the 2004 election, Sullivan criticized the Republican Party for what he saw as political exploitation of a hated minority: :"I've been trying to think of what to say about what appears to be the enormous success the Republicans had in using gay couples' rights to gain critical votes in key states. In eight more states now, gay couples have no relationship rights at all. Their legal ability to visit a spouse in hospital, to pass on property, to have legal protections for their children has been gutted. If you are a gay couple living in Alabama, you know one thing: your family has no standing under the law; and it can and will be violated by strangers. I'm not surprised by this. When you put a tiny and despised minority up for a popular vote, the minority usually loses." [http://www.andrewsullivan.com/index.php?dish_inc=archives/2004_10_31_dish_archive.html#109949972677510025]

War on terrorism

Sullivan strongly supported the decision to go to war in Iraq, and has generally been hawkish in the war on terror, arguing that weakness would embolden terrorists. However, he has harshly criticized the Bush administration for its postwar efforts, especially regarding the numbers of troops, protection of munitions, and treatment of prisoners. Sullivan has been strongly against the use of coercive force against detainees in U.S. custody and has had heated disputes with Heather MacDonald (see [http://www.andrewsullivan.com/index.php?dish_inc=archives/2005_01_09_dish_archive.html#110568034329756699]) and fellow British-American John Derbyshire, among others, on that issue. Though Sullivan originally believed that enemy combatants in the war on terror should not be given status as prisoners of war because "terrorists are not soldiers", he currently believes that the "systematic abuse, torture [and] beating" that has occurred against uncharged inmates since 2002 means that the U.S. government cannot be trusted to treat prisoners well unless constrained by the rules of war. (see [http://www.andrewsullivan.com/index.php?dish_inc=archives/2005_07_03_dish_archive.html#112085651653164877]) This opposition to Bush's policies has caused many disputes with other conservatives, who argue that he is changing his support on the war itself...

Other disputes with conservatives

Sullivan has caused controversy because he frequently attacks conservatives. He did not support the re-election of George W. Bush, endorsed John Kerry in 2004, and has frequently argued much of the Republican Party has abandoned its conservative ideology (which he defines largely according to small-government, libertarian principles.) In a recent post he described the ideology of the modern Republicans as "Christianist socialism." In three days he wrote in three different places that "[c]onservatism is a philosophy without a party in America any more. It has been hijacked by zealots and statists" (see [http://www.andrewsullivan.com/index.php?dish_inc=archives/2005_03_20_dish_archive.html#111159318157485892]) that "[w]e're getting to the point when conservatism has become a political philosophy that believes that government - at the most distant level - has the right to intervene in almost anything to achieve the right solution. Today's conservatism is becoming yesterday's liberalism" (see [http://www.andrewsullivan.com/index.php?dish_inc=archives/2005_03_13_dish_archive.html#111116425176589706]) and that "the only real difference between the Democrats and Republicans at this point is that the Democrats believe in big, solvent government and the Republicans believe in an even bigger, insolvent government" (see [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2088-1533089,00.html]. He has been particularly critical of some conservatives' defense of the Administration's actions involved in the Abu Ghraib and other prison scandals.

Consistency

One of the most common charges Sullivan addresses is that he is inconsistent, that his views on certain policies (such as the desirability of invading Iraq) and people (such as George W. Bush) change radically over time. A typical defense of his changing views follows: :If you want to read a blog that will always take the position of the Bush administration on the war, there are plenty out there. Ditto if you want to read a relentlessly anti-Bush blog, like Kos. But this blog is a little different. It's an attempt to think out loud, which means there will be shifts over time in argument and emphasis. It may appear wishy-washy or excitable or whatever. But it's my best attempt to figure things out as I go along. If you don't like it, read someone else... I try and read as much criticism of my fallible work as I can. (see [http://www.andrewsullivan.com/index.php?dish_inc=archives/2005_07_03_dish_archive.html#112083774194374637])

Humor

One of Sullivan's strong points on his blog is his sense of humor. This eclectic mix of humor and politics is often cited as one reason for the popularity of his blog. Sullivan is an avid lover of his dog, a Beagle, and often mentions his pet canine. Fans of Sullivan's blog enjoy an occasional photograph of his dog.

List of works


- Sullivan, Andrew (1995). Virtually Normal: An Argument About Homosexuality. Knopf. ISBN 0679423826.
- Sullivan, Andrew (1998). Love Undetectable: Notes on Friendship, Sex and Survival. Knopf. ISBN 0679451196.

External links


- [http://www.AndrewSullivan.com AndrewSullivan.com weblog]
- [http://www.roycecarlton.com/speakers/sullivan_bio.html Biography of Andrew Sullivan; Royce Carlton,Inc.]
- [http://www.tnr.com/showBio.mhtml?pid=30 The New Republic]
- [http://archive.salon.com/news/feature/2001/06/02/sullivan/ In Defense of Andrew Sullivan]
- [http://dir.salon.com/politics/feature/2001/06/05/sullivan/index.html Michelangelo Signorile on the Sullivan scandal]
- [http://signorile.com/articles/lgsull.html Contradictory Faces of Andrew Sullivan]
- [http://SullyWatch.blogspot.com SullyWatch] Sullivan, Andrew Sullivan, Andrew Sullivan, Andrew Sullivan, Andrew Sullivan, Andrew Sullivan, Andrew Sullivan, Andrew Sullivan, Andrew Sullivan, Andrew

August 10

August 10 is the 222nd day of the year (223rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 143 days remaining. The term "the 10th of August" is widely used by historians as a shorthand for the Storming of the Tuileries Palace on August 10 1792, the effective end of the French monarchy until it was restored in 1814.

Events


- 612 BC - Killing of Sinsharishkun, King of Assyrian Empire. Destruction of Nineveh.
- AD 955 - Battle of Lechfeld: Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor defeats Magyars, ending 50 years of Magyar invasion of the West.
- 1519 - Ferdinand Magellan's five ships set sail from Seville to circumnavigate the globe.
- 1680 - Pueblo Revolt begins in New Mexico.
- 1792 - French Revolution: Storming of the Tuileries Palace. Louis XVI of France is arrested and taken into custody.
- 1809 - Quito, now the capital of Ecuador, declares independence from Spain.
- 1821 - Missouri is admitted as the 24th U.S. state.
- 1846 - The Smithsonian Institution is chartered by the U.S. Congress after $500,000 was given for such a purpose by scientist Joseph Smithson.
- 1856 - In Last Island, Louisiana, a hurricane kills about 400 people.
- 1861 - American Civil War: Battle of Wilson's Creek - The war enters Missouri when a band of raw Confederate troops defeat Union forces in the southwestern part of the state.
- 1893 - At Augsburg, Rudolf Diesel's prime model runs on its own power for the first time. Because of this, August 10 is the International Biodiesel Day.
- 1905 - Russian and Japanese peace negotiations begin in Portsmouth.
- 1913 - Second Balkan War ends: Delegates from Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece sign the Treaty of Bucharest, ending the war.
- 1920 - World War I: Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI's representatives sign the Treaty of Sevres which divides up the Ottoman Empire between the Allies.
- 1932 - A 5.1-kg (11.2-pound) chondrite-type meteorite breaks into at least seven pieces and lands near the town of Archie in Cass County, Missouri.
- 1944 - World War II: American forces defeat the last Japanese troops on Guam.
- 1948 - Candid Camera makes its television debut after being on radio for a year as Candid Microphone.
- 1949 - US President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Bill, streamlining the defense agencies of the United States government, and replacing the National Military Establishment with the United States Department of Defense.
- 1954 - At Massena, New York, the groundbreaking ceremony for the St. Lawrence Seaway is held.
- 1969 - A day after murdering Sharon Tate and four others, members of Charles Manson's cult kill Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.
- 1971 - Harmon Killebrew becomes the 10th member of the 500 home run club with a home run at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota.
- 1977 - In Yonkers, New York, 24-year-old postal employee David Berkowitz ("Son of Sam") is arrested for a series of killings in the New York City area over a year's period.
- 1981 - The head of John Walsh's son Adam is found in Hollywood, Florida. This event will later prompt the U.S. Congress to pass the Missing Children's Act, giving the Federal Bureau of Investigation greater authority to track the disappearance of children. It also makes Walsh a national spokesman against crime and eventually leads to the establishment of America's Most Wanted.
- 1988 - Japanese American Internment: US President Ronald Reagan signs the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, providing $20,000 payments to Japanese-Americans who were either interned or relocated by in the United States during World War II.
- 1990 - The Magellan space probe reaches Venus.
- 1995 - Oklahoma City bombing: Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols are indicted for the bombing. Michael Fortier pleads guilty in a plea-bargain agreement for his testimony.
- 2003 - The highest temperature ever recorded in the UK, 38.1°C (100.5 °F), occurs in Kent and Greater London. It is the first time the UK has recorded a temperature over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
- 2003 - Yuri Ivanovich Malenchenko became the first person to marry in space when he marries Ekaterina Dmitriev, on the ground in Texas, while he orbits 240 miles over New Zealand, on the International Space Station.

Births


- 1267 - King James II of Aragon (d. 1327)
- 1296 - John I, Count of Luxemburg (d. 1346)
- 1360 - Francesco Zabarella, Italian jurist (d. 1417)
- 1397 - Albert II of Germany, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1439)
- 1489 - Jacob Sturm von Sturmeck, German statesman and reformer (d. 1553)
- 1520 - Madeleine de Valois, queen of James V of Scotland (d. 1537)
- 1560 - Hieronymus Praetorius, German composer (d. 1629)
- 1645 - Eusebio Kino, Italian Catholic missionary (d. 1711)
- 1821 - Jay Cooke, American financier (d. 1905)
- 1845 - Abai Kunanbaev, Kazak poet (d. 1904)
- 1869 - Laurence Binyon, British poet (d. 1943)
- 1872 - Bill Johnson, American musician (d. 1972)
- 1874 - Herbert Hoover, President of the United States (d. 1964)
- 1877 - Frank Marshall, American chess player (d. 1944)
- 1878 - Alfred Döblin, German writer (d. 1957)
- 1880 - Robert L. Thornton, American businessman, philanthropist, and Mayor of Dallas, Texas (d. 1964)
- 1890 - Angus L. MacDonald, Canadian politician (d. 1954)
- 1898 - Jack Haley, American actor (d. 1979)
- 1900 - Arthur Espie Porritt, New Zealand politician and athlete (d. 1994)
- 1902 - Norma Shearer, Canadian actress (d. 1983)
- 1902 - Curt Siodmak, German-born author (d. 2000)
- 1902 - Arne Tiselius, Swedish chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
- 1905 - Era Bell Thompson, American journalist (d. 1986)
- 1909 - Leo Fender, American luthier (d. 1991)
- 1912 - Jorge Amado, Brazilian novelist (d. 2001)
- 1913 - Wolfgang Paul, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1993)
- 1914 - Jeff Corey, American actor (d. 2002)
- 1923 - Rhonda Fleming, American actress
- 1927 - Vernon Washington, American actors (d. 1988)
- 1928 - Jimmy Dean, American singer
- 1933 - Doyle Brunson, American poker player
- 1939 - Kate O'Mara, British actress
- 1940 - Bobby Hatfield, American singer (Righteous Brothers) (d. 2003)
- 1948 - Martha Ohliger, American artist
- 1943 - Ronnie Spector, American singer (Ronettes)
- 1945 - Harriet Miers, White House counsel
- 1947 - Ian Anderson, Scottish musician (Jethro Tull)
- 1947 - Anwar Ibrahim, Former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia
- 1948 - Martha Ohliger, American artist
- 1952 - Daniel Hugh Kelly, American actor
- 1959 - Rosanna Arquette, American model and actress
- 1960 - Antonio Banderas, Spanish actor
- 1963 - Andrew Sullivan, English-born journalist
- 1965 - Claudia Christian, American actress
- 1965 - Mike Smith, American jockey
- 1965 - John Starks, American basketball player
- 1967 - Riddick Bowe, American boxer
- 1967 - Mart Sander, Estonian singer and actor
- 1971 - Roy Keane, Irish footballer
- 1971 - Mario César Kindelán Mesa, Cuban amateur boxer
- 1971 - Justin Theroux, American actor
- 1972 - Angie Harmon, American model and actress
- 1974 - David Sommeil, French footballer
- 1980 - Kaysar Ridha, Reality TV Star
- 1982 - Devon Aoki, American model and actress

Deaths


- 612 BC - Sinsharishkun, Assyrian king
- AD 258 - Saint Lawrence, martyr
- 1535 - Ippolito de' Medici, ruler of Florence (poisoned) (b. 1509)
- 1633 - Anthony Munday, English writer (b. 1553)
- 1637 - Johann Gerhard, German Lutheran leader (b. 1582)
- 1653 - Maarten Tromp, Dutch admiral (b. 1598)
- 1655 - Alonso de la Cueva, Spanish cardinal and diplomat (b. 1572)
- 1723 - Guillaume Dubois, French cardinal and statesman (b. 1656)
- 1759 - King Ferdinand VI of Spain (b. 1713)
- 1784 - Allan Ramsay, Scottish painter (b. 1713)
- 1802 - Franz Aepinus, German scientist (b. 1724)
- 1806 - Michael Haydn, Austrian composer (b. 1737)
- 1839 - John St Aubyn, British fossil collector (b. 1758)
- 1862 - Shusaku Honinbo, Japanese Go player (b. 1829)
- 1875 - Karl Andree, German geographer (b. 1808)
- 1896 - Otto Lilienthal, German aviation pioneer (b. 1848)
- 1945 - Robert Goddard, American rocket scientist (b. 1882)
- 1948 - Montague Summers, English writer (b. 1880)
- 1963 - Estes Kefauver, U.S. Senator from Tennessee (b. 1903)
- 1980 - Yahya Khan, President of Pakistan (b. 1917)
- 1993 - Øystein Aarseth, Norwegian musician (Mayhem) (b. 1968)
- 1997 - Conlon Nancarrow, American composer (b. 1912)
- 2002 - Michael Houser, American guitarist (Widespread Panic) (b. 1962)
- 2002 - Kristen Nygaard, Norwegian computer scientist (b. 1926)
- 2003 - Carmita Jimenez, Puerto Rican singer

Holidays and observances


- Roman festivals - Opalia, festival in honor of Ops
- Ancient Latvia - Labrenca Diena held
- Independence Day in Ecuador -- Movement began in Quito in 1809. Independence not achieved till May 1822.

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/10 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050810.html The New York Times: On This Day] ---- August 9 - August 11 - July 10 - September 10 -- listing of all days ko:8월 10일 ms:10 Ogos ja:8月10日 simple:August 10 th:10 สิงหาคม

British

:This article deals with the history of the word Britain. For clarification of terminology and an overview of articles about Britain and Ireland see British Isles (terminology). The word Britain is an informal term used to refer to
- the island of Great Britain which consists of the nations of England, Scotland and Wales.
- the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland or UK,
- sometimes the Roman province called "Britain" or "Britannia" The word British generally means belonging to or associated with Britain in one of the first two senses above (i.e. the United Kingdom or the island of Great Britain). However, the term has a range of related usages, as described in this article. Etymologically, these words are closely related to Brittany, the name of the western French peninsula, and its adjective Breton.

Earliest attested references


- Pretaniké; Pretanikai nesoi (Pretanic isles) - 325 BC
- Britannia - 55 BC (Julius Caesar, Roman invasion of Britain)
- Breten - 855 (Old English Chronicle, introduction)
- Brittisc - 855 (OED)
- Grate Briteigne - 1548 (OED)
- British isles - 1550 (in Latin; map of Sebastian Munster cited in British Isles article)

Etymology

The etymology of the name Britain is thought to derive from a Celtic word, Pritani, "painted people/men", a reference to the inhabitants of the islands' use of body-paint and tattoos. If this is true, there is an interesting parallel with the name Pict, connected with a Latin word of the same meaning. The modern Welsh name for Britain is Prydain. The Q-Celtic form was Cruithin, showing that the Common Celtic singular form was qr[ui]tanos. The root is presumably that of the modern Gaelic/Irish word cruth 'shape, form'. It has also been postulated that Britain may derive from the Celtic goddess Brigid; the form of the word, however, is against this postulation. In 325 BC the Greek explorer Pytheas of Massalia visited a group of islands which he called Pretaniké, the principal ones being Albionon (Albion) and Ierne (Erin). The records of this visit date from much more recent times, so there is room for these details to be disputed, but it does seem to attest pre-Roman use of the name by Celtic-speaking inhabitants of the islands - or the names used by the Phoenecians Pytheas went with. The Roman geographer Ptolemy called the larger island Megale Brettania (Great Britain), and the smaller island Micra Bretannia (Little Britain).

Britain and Brittany

The original reference seems to have been to the territory in which the Brythonic languages were spoken, which more or less coincided with the Roman province of Britannia, an area equivalent to modern England, Wales and southern Scotland. In the Early Middle Ages speakers of a Brythonic language which later evolved into Breton migrated from Cornwall to Armorica, Western France, possibly because of pressure from Saxon invasions. This is why different forms of the same name apply to insular Britain and continental Brittany. In French the similarity is even more obvious: Bretagne and Grande Bretagne. Geoffrey of Monmouth used the names Britannia minor to refer to the Armorican region and Britannia major for the island. The element great in the term Great Britain thus simply means large, to make the distinction from Brittany.

Historical evolution of the term Britain

The kingdoms established on the island of Great Britain were perceived to be dominant over the whole archipelago, which thus came to be known as the British Isles. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England, the queen's astrologer and alchemist, John Dee, wrote mystical volumes predicting a British Empire and using the terms Great Britain and Britannia. After Elizabeth's death in 1603 the kingdoms shared one King, James VI of Scotland and I of England. On 20 October 1604 he proclaimed himself "King of Great Brittaine" (thus including Wales and also avoiding the cumbersome title "King of England and Scotland"). This title was eventually adopted formally in 1707 when the Kingdom of Great Britain was formed. Politically, then, British has been used to described someone or something from the United Kingdom, in its various forms, since 1707. Briton or Brit are also used colloquially in this form, though the use of Briton here is incorrect. Since its formation, the kingdom was enlarged in 1801 by the addition of the island of Ireland - already ruled by the British monarchy - to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and was then reduced in 1922 by the independence of the Irish Free State, now the Republic of Ireland. The name of the kingdom changed accordingly, in 1927 becoming The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. British was also used to describe members of nations that formed part of the British Empire. This use now, however, could be seen as justifying the colonial era, even if only applied historically.

Modern use of the term 'British'

The modern use of the term 'British' is as an adjective to describe someone or something from the United Kingdom. It is officially used as the term to describe the nationality of a citizen of the United Kingdom. Irish Nationalists may reject this term as offensive, as it is used to describe Irish people in Northern Ireland. Many people from England, Scotland and Wales also dislike the term, preferring to define themselves as natives of their own particular country. It is also frequently used to describe residents of the United Kingdom's current colonies. This may still offend some people, though since the British Overseas Territories Act 2002 all residents of the United Kingdom's remaining colonies have been eligible for British citizenship, making the term more apt. British occurs in the legal term British Islands . This was coined to describe all of the islands of the British Isles, exlcuding those that form part of the Republic of Ireland, when they act together as a political whole. Geographically, the term can be used in various ways:
- To describe someone from the island of Great Britain
- In the term British Isles, the traditional term for the entire archipelago of islands that lie off the north west coast of France, of which Great Britain and Ireland are the two biggest. Note that this is not intended to imply that all of these islands are part of the United Kingdom, for many of them are part of the Republic of Ireland. However, confusion caused by this term can lead to offense.
- The term has historically been used to describe someone or something from the British Isles. Due to the above mentioned potential for offense, this rarely happens today. For example the British Lions a rugby team which draws players from the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland has been renamed to the British and Irish Lions.
- Sometimes British applies to an area or territory currently or formerly governed by or a dependent territory of the United Kingdom, for example the British Virgin Islands, the British Indian Ocean Territory, or British Columbia which is now a province of Canada.

Brutus of Troy

In keeping with the mediaeval penchant for etymologising country names in terms of eponomous heroes, English historians of the late mediaeval and early modern periods charted the history of the nation from Brutus of Troy, supposedly a hero of the Trojan war who founded Britain just as Aeneaus' descendant Romulus founded Rome, Frankus France, and so forth. The life of Brutus, anglicised as Brute, was recorded in the literary tradition of the Prose Brute. This was long accepted as the etymology of Britain.

See also


- List of country name etymologies
- List of United Kingdom topics
- British Isles
- United Kingdom
- Great Britain
- Kingdom of Great Britain
- Constitutional status of Cornwall The Cornish question
- Laws in Wales Acts 1535-1542 merging the Kingdom of England and the Principality of Wales
- Act of Union 1707 merging Scotland and England to form Great Britain
- History of Britain
- History of Wales
- History of Scotland
- History of England
- British Kings
- List of British monarchs

Sources and further reading


- A History of Britain: At the Edge of the World, 3000 BC - 1603 AD by Simon Schama, BBC/Miramax, 2000 ISBN 0786866756
- A History of Britain, Volume 2: The Wars of the British 1603-1776 by Simon Schama, BBC/Miramax, 2001 ISBN 0786866756
- A History of Britain - The Complete Collection on DVD by Simon Schama, BBC 2002
- The Isles, A History by Norman Davies, Oxford University Press, 1999, ISBN 0195134427
- Shortened History of England by G. M. Trevelyan Penguin Books ISBN 0140233237
- Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English by Eric Partridge, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1966

External links


- [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/ British History Online] Category:British Isles Category:History of Britain Category:Europe simple:Britain

United States

:For alternative meanings, see the disambiguation page for US, USA, United States, or American. The United States of America is a federal democratic republic situated primarily in central North America. It comprises 50 states and one federal district, and has several territories. It is also referred to, with varying formality, as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., the States, or simply and most commonly, America. The official founding date of the United States is July 4, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress—representing thirteen British colonies—adopted the Declaration of Independence. However, the structure of the government was profoundly changed in 1788, when the states replaced the Articles of Confederation with the United States Constitution. The date on which each of the fifty states adopted the Constitution is typically regarded as the date that state "entered the Union" (became part of the United States). Since the mid-20th century, following World War II, the United States has emerged as a dominant global influence in economic, political, military, scientific, technological, and cultural affairs.

Geography and climate

The United States shares land borders with Canada (to the north) and Mexico (to the south), and territorial water boundaries with Canada, Russia, the Bahamas, and numerous smaller nations. It is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, in the west; the Arctic Ocean, in the northernmost areas; and the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea, in the eastern and southeastern areas. Forty-eight of the states are in the single region between Canada and Mexico; this group is referred to, with varying precision and formality, as the continental or contiguous United States, sometimes abbreviated CONUS, and as the Lower 48. Alaska, which is not included in the term contiguous United States, is at the northwestern end of North America, separated from the Lower 48 by Canada. The archipelago of Hawaii is in the Pacific Ocean. The capital city, Washington, District of Columbia is a federal district located on land donated by the state of Maryland. (Virginia also donated land, but it was returned in 1847.) The United States also has overseas territories with varying levels of independence and organization. When inland water is included in the total area, only Russia and Canada are larger than the United States; if inland water is excluded, China ranks third and the U.S. ranks fourth. The United States' total area is 3,718,711 square miles (9,631,418 km²), of which land makes up 3,537,438 square miles (9,161,923 km²) and water makes up 181,273 square miles (469,495 km²). The United States' landscape is one of the most varied among those of the world's nations: among its many features are temperate forestland and rolling hills, on the east coast; mangrove, in Florida; the Great Plains, in the center of the country; the Mississippi–Missouri river system; the Great Lakes, four of the five of which are shared with Canada; the Rocky Mountains, west of the Great Plains; deserts and temperate coastal zones, west of the Rocky Mountains; and temperate rain forests, in the Pacific northwest. Alaska's tundra, and the volcanic, tropical islands of Hawaii add to the geographic diversity. Hawaii The climate varies along with the landscape, from tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida to tundra in Alaska and atop some of the highest mountains. Most of the North and East experience a temperate continental climate, with warm summers and cold winters. Most of the South experiences a subtropical humid climate with mild winters and long, hot, humid summers. Rainfall decreases markedly from the humid forests of the Eastern Great Plains to the semi-arid shortgrass prairies on the high plains abutting the Rocky Mountains. Arid deserts, including the Mojave, extend through the lowlands and valleys of the southwest, from westernmost Texas to California and northward throughout much of Nevada. Some parts of California have a Mediterranean climate. Rainforests line the windward mountains of the Pacific Northwest from Oregon to Alaska.

History

American history started with the migration of people from Asia across the Bering land bridge approximately 12,000 years ago following large animals that they hunted into the Americas. These Native Americans left evidence of their presence in petroglyphs, burial mounds, and other artifacts. It is estimated that 2-9 million people lived in the territory now occupied by the U.S. before European contact, and the subsequent introduction of foreign diseases such as small pox that greatly diminished the native populations. Some advanced societies were the Anasazi of the southwest, who inhabited Chaco Canyon, and the Woodland Indians, who built Cahokia, located near present-day St Louis, a city with a population of 40,000 at its peak in AD 1200. Vikings first visited North America around 1000, but did not settle permanently. Following the discovery voyages of Christopher Columbus around 1492, other Europeans began to explore and settle there. During the 1500s and 1600s, the Spanish settled parts of the present-day Southwest and Florida, founding St. Augustine, Florida in 1565 and Santa Fe (in what is now New Mexico) in 1607. The first successful English settlement was at Jamestown, Virginia, also in 1607. Within the next two decades, several Dutch settlements, including New Amsterdam (the predecessor to New York City), were established in what are now the states of New York and New Jersey. In 1637, Sweden established a colony at Fort Christina (in what is now Delaware), but lost the settlement to the Dutch in 1655. This was followed by extensive British settlement of the east coast. The British colonists remained relatively undisturbed by their home country until after the French and Indian War, when France ceded Canada and the Great Lakes region to Britain. Britain then imposed taxes on the 13 colonies, widely regarded by the colonists as unfair because they were denied representation in the British Parliament. Tensions between Britain and the colonists increased, and the thirteen colonies eventually rebelled against British rule. British Parliament, George Washington (1789-1797).]] In 1776, the 13 colonies split from Great Britain and formed the United States, the world's first constitutional and democratic federal republic, after their Declaration of Independence of that year, and the Revolutionary War (1775 to 1783). The original political structure was a confederation in 1777, ratified in 1781 as the Articles of Confederation. After long debate, this was supplanted by the Constitution in 1789, forming a more centralized federal government. Prior to all these was the Albany Congress in 1754, in which a union was first seriously proposed. From early colonial times, there was a shortage of labor, which encouraged unfree labor, particularly indentured servitude and slavery. In the mid-19th century, a major division occurred in the United States over the issue of states' rights and the expansion of slavery. The northern states had become opposed to slavery, while the southern states saw it as necessary for the continued success of southern agriculture and wanted it expanded to the territories. Several federal laws were passed in an attempt to settle the dispute, including the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. The dispute reached a crisis in 1861, when seven southern states seceded1 from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America, leading to the Civil War. Soon after the war began, four more southern states seceded. During the war, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, mandating the freedom of all slaves in states in rebellion, though full emancipation did not take place until after the end of the war in 1865, the dissolution of the Confederacy, and the Thirteenth Amendment took effect. The Civil War effectively ended the question of a state's right to secede, and is widely accepted as a major turning point after which the federal government became more powerful than state governments. Thirteenth Amendment). The title of the painting, from a 1726 poem by Bishop Berkeley, was a phrase often quoted in the era of Manifest Destiny, expressing a widely held belief that civilization had steadily moved westward throughout history. [http://americanart.si.edu/t2go/1lw/1931.6.1.html (more)] ]] During the 19th century, many new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the continent. Manifest Destiny was a philosophy that encouraged westward expansion in the United States. As the population of the Eastern states grew and as a steady increase of immigrants entered the country, settlers moved steadily westward across North America. In the process, the U.S. displaced most American Indian nations. This displacement of American Indians continues to be a matter of contention in the U.S. with many tribes attempting to assert their original claims to various lands. In some areas American Indian populations were reduced by foreign diseases contracted through contact with European settlers, and US settlers acquired those emptied lands. In other instances American Indians were removed from their traditional lands by force. Though some would say the U.S. was not a colonial power until the Spanish-American War when it acquired Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, the dominion exercised over land in North America the United States claimed is essentially colonial. The Philippines became independent in 1946. During this period, the nation also became an industrial power. This continued into the 20th century, which has been termed "the American Century" because of the nation's overriding influence on the world. The US became a center for innovation and technological development; major technologies that America either developed or was greatly involved in improving include the telephone, television, computer, the Internet, nuclear weapons, nuclear power, aviation, and aeronautics. In addition to the Civil War, another major traumatic experience for the nation was the Great Depression (1929 to 1939). The nation has also taken part in several major foreign wars, including World War I and World War II (in both of which the US later joined the Allies). During the Cold War, the US was a major player in the Korean War and Vietnam War, and, along with the Soviet Union, was considered one of the world's two "superpowers". With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US emerged as the world's leading economic and military power. Beginning in the 1990s, the United States became very involved in police actions and peacekeeping, including actions in Kosovo, Haiti, Somalia and Liberia, and the first Persian Gulf War driving Iraq out of Kuwait. After attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, the United States and other allied nations found themselves involved in what has come to be called the "War on Terrorism," which has primarily encompassed military actions in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Government

Iraq of the United States.]]

Republic and suffrage

The United States is an example of a constitutional republic, with a government composed of and operating through a set of limited powers imposed by its design and enumerated in the United States Constitution. Specifically, the nation operates as a presidential democracy. There are three levels of government: federal, state, and local. Officials of each of these levels are either elected by eligible voters via secret ballot or appointed by other elected officials. Americans enjoy almost universal suffrage from the age of 18 regardless of race, sex, or wealth. There are some limits, however: felons are disenfranchised and in some states former felons are likewise. Furthermore, the national representation of territories and the federal district of Washington, DC in Congress is limited: residents of the District of Columbia are subject to federal laws and federal taxes but their only Congressional representative is a non-voting delegate.

Federal government

The federal government is the national government, comprising the Legislative Branch (led by Congress), the Executive Branch (led by the President), and the Judicial Branch (led by the Supreme Court). These three branches were designed to apply checks and balances on each other. The Constitution limits the powers of the federal government to defense, foreign affairs, the issuing and management of currency, the management of trade and relations between the states, and the protection of human rights. In addition to these explicitly stated powers, the federal government—with the assistance of the Supreme Court—has gradually extended these powers into such areas as welfare and education, on the basis of the "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution.

The Congress

necessary and proper The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives consists of 435 members, each of whom represents a congressional district and serves for a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the states by population; in contrast, each state has two Senators, regardless of population. There are a total of 100 senators, who serve six-year terms. The powers of Congress are limited to those enumerated in the Constitution; all other powers are reserved to the states and the people. The Constitution also includes the necessary-and-proper clause, which grants Congress the power to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers."

The President

necessary-and-proper clause At the top level of the executive branch is the President of the United States. The President and Vice-President are elected as 'running mates' for four-year terms by the Electoral College, for which each state, as well as the District of Columbia, is allocated a number of seats based on its representation (or ostensible representation, in the case of D. C.) in both houses of Congress (see U.S. Electoral College). The relationship between the President and the Congress reflects that between the English monarchy and parliament at the time of the framing of the United States Constitution. Congress can legislate to constrain the President's executive power, even with respect to his or her command of the armed forces; however, this power is used only very rarely—a notable example was the constraint placed on President Richard Nixon's strategy of bombing Cambodia during the Vietnam War. The President cannot directly propose legislation, and must rely on supporters in Congress to promote his or her legislative agenda. The President's signature is required to turn congressional bills into law; in this respect, the President has the power—only occasionally used—to veto congressional legislation. Congress can override a presidential veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both houses. The ultimate power of Congress over the President is that of impeachment or removal of the elected President through a House vote, a Senate trial, and a Senate vote. The threat of using this power has had major political ramifications in the cases of Presidents Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton. The President makes around 2,000 executive appointments, including members of the Cabinet and ambassadors, which must be approved by the Senate; the President can also issue executive orders and pardons, and has other Constitutional duties, among them the requirement to give a State of the Union address to Congress once a year. Although the President's constitutional role may appear to be constrained, in practice, the office carries enormous prestige that typically eclipses the power of Congress: the Presidency has justifiably been referred to as 'the most powerful office in the world'. The Vice President is first in the line of succession, and is the President of the Senate ex officio, with the ability to cast a tie-breaking vote. The members of the President's Cabinet are responsible for administering the various departments of state, including the Department of Defense, the Justice Department, and the State Department. These departments and department heads have considerable regulatory and political power, and it is they who are responsible for executing federal laws and regulations. George W. Bush is the 43rd President, currently serving his second term.

The Courts

George W. Bush The highest court is the Supreme Court, which consists of nine justices. The court deals with federal and constitutional matters, and can declare legislation made at any level of the government as unconstitutional, nullifying the law and creating precedent for future law and decisions. Below the Supreme Court are the courts of appeals, and below them in turn are the district courts, which are the general trial courts for federal law. Separate from, but not entirely independent of, this federal court system are the individual court systems of each state, each dealing with its own laws and having its own judicial rules and procedures. A case may be appealed from a state court to a federal court only if there is a federal question; the supreme court of each state is the final authority on the interpretation of that state's laws and constitution.

State and local governments

supreme court of each state. Note that Alaska and Hawaii are shown at different scales, and that the Aleutian Islands and the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are omitted from this map.]] The state governments have the greatest influence over people's daily lives. Each state has its own written constitution and has different laws. There are sometimes great differences in law and procedure between the different states, concerning issues such as property, crime, health, and education. The highest elected official of each state is the Governor. Each state also has an elected legislature (bicameral in every state except Nebraska), whose members represent the different parts of the state. Of note is the New Hampshire legislature, which is the third-largest legislative body in the English-speaking world, and has one representative for every 3,000 people. Each state maintains its own judiciary, with the lowest level typically being county courts, and culminating in each state supreme court, though sometimes named differently. In some states, supreme and lower court justices are elected by the people; in others, they are appointed, as they are in the federal system. The institutions that are responsible for local government are typically town, city, or county boards, making laws that affect their particular area. These laws concern issues such as traffic, the sale of alcohol, and keeping animals. The highest elected official of a town or city is usually the mayor. In New England, towns operate directly democratically, and in some states, such as Rhode Island and Connecticut, counties have little or no power, existing only as geographic distinctions. In other areas, county governments have more power, such as to collect taxes and maintain law enforcement agencies.

Political divisions

With the Declaration of Independence, the thirteen colonies proclaimed themselves to be nation states modeled after the European states of the time. Although considered as sovereigns initially, under the Articles of Confederation of 1781 they entered into a "Perpetual Union" and created a fully sovereign federal state, delegating certain powers to the national Congress, including the right to engage in diplomatic relations and to levy war, while each retaining their individual sovereignty, freedom and independence. But the national government proved too ineffective, so the administrative structure of the government was vastly reorganized with the United States Constitution of 1789. Under this new union, the continued status of the individual states as sovereign nation states fell into dispute in 1861, as several states attempted to secede from the union; in response, then-President Abraham Lincoln claimed that such secession was illegal, and the result was the American Civil War. Since the Union victory in 1865, the independent status of the individual states has not been broached again by any state, and the status of each state within the union has been deemed by mainstream officials and academics to be settled as being subordinate to the union as a whole. In subsequent years, the number of states grew steadily due to western expansion, the purchase of lands by the national government from other nation states, and the subdivision of existing states, resulting in the current total of 50. The states are generally divided into smaller administrative regions, including counties, cities and townships. The United States–Canadian border is the longest undefended political boundary in the world. The U.S. is divided into three distinct sections:
- the "continental United States," also known as "the Lower 48" and more accurately termed the conterminous, coterminous or contiguous United States
- Alaska, which is physically connected only to Canada
- the archipelago of Hawaii, in the central Pacific Ocean. The United States also holds several other territories, districts, and possessions, notably the federal district of the District of Columbia, which is the nation's capital, and several overseas insular areas, the most significant of which are American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. The Palmyra Atoll is the United States' only incorporated territory; it is unorganized and uninhabited. The United States Navy has held a base at a portion of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 1898. The United States government possesses a lease to this land, which only mutual agreement or United States abandonment of the area can terminate. The present Cuban government of Fidel Castro disputes this arrangement, claiming Cuba was not truly sovereign at the time of the signing. The United States argues this point moot because Cuba apparently ratified the lease post-revolution, and with full sovereignty, when it cashed one rent check in accordance with the disputed treaty.

Foreign relations and military

sovereign] The immense military and economic dominance of the United States has made foreign relations an especially important topic in its politics, with considerable concern about the image of the United States throughout the world. Reactions towards the United States by other nationalities are often strong, ranging from uninhibited admiration and mimicking of all things American to anti-Americanism. US foreign policy has swung about several times over the course of its history between the poles of strict isolationism and imperialism and everywhere in between. Three of the nation's four military branches are administered by the Department of Defense: the Army, the Navy (including the Marine Corps), and the Air Force. The Coast Guard falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime, but is placed under the Department of the Navy in time of war. The combined United States armed forces consist of 1.4 million active duty personnel, along with several hundred thousand each in the Reserves and the National Guard. Military conscription ended in 1973. The United States Armed forces are considered to be the most powerful military (of any sort) on Earth and their force projection capabilities are unrivaled by any other nation. The 2005 defense budget amounted to $401.7 billion, which is an increase of 4% over 2004 and of 35% since 2001. Over 50% of that number is spent in research & development. (For comparison, in 2004 the European Union (considered as the second-largest military force) had a combined total of 1.6 million troops, and a defense budget of €160 billion, with less than 10% of that being spent on R&D.)

Largest cities

The United States has dozens of major cities, including 11 of the 55 global cities of all types — with three "alpha" global cities: New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The figures expressed below are for populations within city limits. A different ranking is evident when considering U.S. metro area populations, although the top three would be unchanged. Note that some cities not listed (such as Atlanta, Boston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.) are still considered important on the basis of other factors and issues, including culture, economics, heritage, and politics. The twenty largest cities, based on the United States Census Bureau's 2004 estimates, are as follows:

Economy

The United States has the largest single-country economy in the world, with a per-capita gross domestic product of $40,100. In this market-oriented economy, private individuals and business firms make most of the decisions, and the federal and state governments buy needed goods and services predominantly in the private marketplace. gross domestic product The largest industry of the U.S. is now service, which employs roughly three quarters of the U.S. work force. The United States has many natural resources, including oil and gas, metals, and such minerals as gold, soda ash, and zinc. In agriculture, the U.S. is a top producer of, among other crops, corn, soy beans, and wheat; the United States is a net exporter of food. The U.S. manufacturing sector produces goods such as, cars, airplanes, steel, and electronics, among many others. Economic activity varies greatly from one part of the country to another, with many industries being largely dependent on a certain city or region; New York City is the center of the American financial, publishing, broadcasting, and advertising industries; Silicon Valley is the country’s primary location for high-technology companies, while Los Angeles is the most important center for film production. The Midwest is known for its reliance on manufacturing and heavy industry, with Detroit, Michigan, serving as the center of the American automotive industry; the Great Plains are known as the "breadbasket" of America for their tremendous agricultural output; the intermountain region serves as a mining hub and natural gas resource; the Pacific Northwest for fish and timber, while Texas is largely associated with the oil industry; the Southeast is a major hub for both medical research and the textiles industry. Several countries continue to link their currency to the dollar or even use it as a currency (such as Ecuador), although this practice has subsided since the collapse of the Bretton Woods system. Many markets are also quoted in dollars, such as those of oil and gold. The dollar is also the predominant reserve currency in the world, and more than half of global reserves are in dollars. The largest trading partner of the United States is Canada (19%), followed by China (12%), Mexico (11%), and Japan (8%). More than 50% of total trade is with these four countries. In 2003, the United States was ranked as the third most visited tourist destination in the world; its 40,400,000 visitors ranked behind France's 75,000,000 and Spain's 52,500,000. Labor unions have existed since the 19th century, and grew large and powerful from the 1930s to the 1950s. See Labor history of the United States. Since 1970 they have shrunk in the private sector and now cover fewer than 8% of the workers. However union membership has grown rapidly in the public sector, especially among teachers, nurses, police, postal workers, and municipal clerks. There have been few strikes in recent years. The United States' imports exceed exports by 80%, leading to an annual trade deficit of $700,000,000,000, or 6% of gross domestic product. It is the largest debtor nation in the world, with total gross foreign debt of over $13,000,000,000,000 (2005 estimate); and it absorbs more than 50% of global savings annually. Since the 1980s, the U.S. has increased the use of neoliberal economic policies that reduce government intervention and reduce the size of the welfare state, backing away from the more interventionist Keynsian economic policies that had been in favor since the Great Depression. As a result, the United States provides fewer government-delivered social welfare services than most industrialized nations, choosing instead to keep its tax burden lower and relying more heavily on the free market and private charities. Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages higher than the national level ($5.15 per-hour), including the highest, Washington State at $7.35. Twenty-six states are the same as the federal level; two--Ohio and Kansas--are below; and six do not have state laws. America's wealth is relatively highly concentrated. The average C.E.O. earns 500 times the typical amount a worker grosses, this is up from 25 times in the late 1970s. In terms of wealth the top 1% of Americans own 40% of all assets and 50.1% of the country's income goes to the top twenty percent of households. Average wages for the majority of employees have been largely stagnating since the 1970s. America's poverty line defined as a family of four earning less than $19,157 is at 12.7% of the general population. Approximately one out of every five children in the United States grows up below the official poverty line. Among racial groups; African Americans have the lowest median income while Asians had the highest. Regionally, the southern states had the lowest median incomes while the West Coast and New England had the highest. The current Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan remarked that the U.S.’s growing income inequality since the 1970s is, "not the type of thing which a democratic society - a capitalist democratic society - can really accept without addressing."[http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0614/p01s03-usec.html?s=itm] However, Greenspan also noted, "...you can look at the system and say it's got a lot of problems to it, and sure it does. It always has. But you can't get around the fact that this is the most extraordinarily successful economy in history."

Transportation

Alan Greenspan ]] Because the United States is a relatively young nation, most of the development of U.S. cities has taken place since the invention of the automobile. To link its vast territory, the United States built a network of high-capacity, high-speed highways, of which the most important element is the Interstate Highway system, commissioned in the 1950s by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and modeled after the German Autobahn. The United States also has a transcontinental rail system, which is used for moving freight across the lower forty-eight states. Passenger rail service is provided by Amtrak, which serves forty-six of the lower forty-eight states. Many cities in the United States have extensive mass-transit systems. New York City operates one of the world's largest and most heavily used subway systems. The regional rail and bus networks that extend into Long Island, New Jersey, Upstate New York, and Connecticut are among the most heavily used in the world. Air travel is often preferred for destinations over 300 miles (500 kilometers) away. In terms of passengers, seventeen of the world's thirty busiest airports in 2004 were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport; in terms of cargo, in the same year, twelve of the world's thirty busiest airports were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Memphis International Airport. There are several major seaports in the United States; the three busiest are the Port of Los Angeles, California; the Port of Long Beach, California; and the Port of New York and New Jersey. Others include Houston, Texas; Charleston, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Portland, Oregon; San Francisco, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Seattle, Washington; plus, outside the contiguous forty-eight states, Anchorage, Alaska, and Honolulu, Hawaii.

Society

Demographics

Hawaii The mean center of the U.S. population continues to drift farther west and south. The fastest growing region is the western United States followed by the southern portion. According to Census 2000, the states that saw the greatest increases from 1990 were: Nevada (66.3%), Arizona (40%), Colorado (30.6%), Utah (29.6%), Idaho (28.5%), Georgia (26.4%), Florida (23.5%), Texas (22.8%), North Carolina (21.4%), and Washington (21.1%). [http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/phc-t2/tab03.pdf]

Ethnicity and race

:Main article: Racial demographics of the United States The United States is a very racially diverse country. According to the 2000 census, it has 31 ethnic groups with at least one million members each, and numerous others represented in smaller amounts. The majority of Americans descend from white European immigrants who arrived at the establishment of the first colonies (most after Reconstruction). This majority--69.1% in 2000--decreases each year, and is expected to become a plurality within a few decades. The most frequently stated European ancestries are German (15.2%), Irish (10.8%), English (8.7%), Italian (5.6%) an