International Business

Economics

The U.S. has the largest and most technologically advanced economy in the world. It mainly consists of the industrial and service sectors.

The main industries include petroleum, steel, motor vehicles, aerospace, telecommunications, chemicals, electronics, food processing, consumer goods, lumber and mining.

Agricultural production, though only a small part of the economy, includes: wheat, corn, other grains, fruits, vegetables, cotton, beef, pork, poultry, dairy products, fish and forest products.

Geography

The U.S. borders both the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans and is bordered by Canada and Mexico.

It is the third largest country in the world by area and has a varied topography. The eastern regions consist of hills and low mountains while the central interior is a vast plain (called the Great Plains region) and the west has high rugged mountain ranges (some of which are volcanic in the Pacific Northwest).

Alaska also features rugged mountains as well as river valleys.

Hawaii's landscape varies but is dominated by volcanic topography

Political

three defining characteristics of the U.S. political system

- U.S. politics are shaped by two major political parties: Democrats and Republicans.

- Citizens have competing interests that differ based on their different backgrounds—the types of jobs they have, their race or age, whether they have children, etc.

- Politics are also shaped by special interest groups, lobbyists, and the media.

The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct branches—legislative, executive, and judicial—whose powers are vested by the U.S. Constitution in the Congress, the President, and the federal courts, including the Supreme Court, respectively .

The United States is a representative democracy. Citizens elect representatives to national, state, and local government; those representatives create the laws that govern U.S. society. Although nothing in U.S. law requires it, in practice, the...