ABSTRACT
The United States is a large country, with more than 3.6 million square miles (fourth after Russia, Canada, and China) and around 300 million inhabitants (third most populous after China and India, but less than 5% of the total world population). Its vastness, natural beauty, and big cities attract visitors from around the world. Its economic strength is still unrivaled and its per capita gross national product (GNP) is higher than that of any other major country in the world. It is celebrated for its technological advances and admired or loathed for its political and military might. Its research and development (R&D) achievements are legend (ca. 4 out of 10 of all the Nobel prizes awarded since its inception were awarded to American researchers) and its legal and political institutions serve as models for old and new societies elsewhere.
