U.S. top most of the world rankings

The USA is the world’s foremost economic and military power, with global interests and an unmatched global reach.

America’s gross domestic product accounts for close to a quarter of the world total, and its military budget is reckoned to be almost as much as the rest of the world’s defence spending put together.

With over 320 million people, the United States is the world’s fourth-largest country by total area and third most populous. It is also one of the world’s most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. Ethnic and racial diversity – the “melting pot” – is celebrated as a core element of the American ideology.

Despite relative prosperity in recent years, the gap between rich and poor remains a major challenge. More than 30 million Americans live below the official poverty line, with a disproportionate percentage of these being African-Americans and Hispanics.

Furthermore, the global financial crisis of 2008 has left the US facing its most challenging set of economic circumstances since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

The US has the most technologically powerful economy in the world, with a per capita GDP of $54,800. In 2014, however, US GDP ran second to China’s, when compared on a Purchasing Power Parity basis; the US lost the top spot, where it had stood for more than a century.

The United States is the largest importer of goods and second largest exporter, with Canada, China, Mexico, Japan, and Germany among its top trading partners.

The Economist Intelligence Unit forecast that the US economy will expand by 2.5% in 2015. The economy contracted in the first quarter, hampered by severe weather and a port dispute, as well as the strong dollar and weak business investment. The economy will rebound in the remainder of the year, as strong private consumption is supported by continued job creation, and faster growth in wages and consumer borrowing. EIU also expects the Fed to increase the policy rate in September and that the tightening cycle will last until 2018.

Bluegrass and beaches, snow-covered peaks and redwood forests, restaurant-loving cities and big open skies, this could be America in a snapshot.

America is the birthplace of LA, Las Vegas, Chicago, Miami, Boston and New York City –cities that became real brands over time, rejoining culture, cuisine and entertainment. Thus, you’ll experience the eclectic music scene of Austin, the easygoing charms of antebellum Savannah, the ecoconsciousness of free-spirited Portland, the magnificent waterfront of San Francisco, and the captivating old quarters of New Orleans, still rising up from its waterlogged ashes.