United States - Transportation

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United States is located North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico. The climate is 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. The terrain is vast central plain, mountains in west, hills and low mountains in east; rugged mountains and broad river valleys in Alaska; rugged, volcanic topography in Hawaii.

Airports

This entry gives the total number of airports or airfields recognizable from the air. The runway(s) may be paved (concrete or asphalt surfaces) or unpaved (grass, earth, sand, or gravel surfaces) but may include closed or abandoned installations. Airports or airfields that are no longer recognizable (overgrown, no facilities, etc.) are not included. Note that not all airports have accommodations for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control.
Airports : 14,947 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways - total : 5,143
Airports - with paved runways - over 3,047 m : 191
Airports - with paved runways - 2,438 to 3,047 m : 224
Airports - with paved runways - 1,524 to 2,437 m : 1,452
Airports - with paved runways - 914 to 1,523 m : 2,323
Airports - with paved runways - under 914 m : 953 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways - total : 9,804
Airports - with unpaved runways - 2,438 to 3,047 m : 7
Airports - with unpaved runways - 1,524 to 2,437 m : 153
Airports - with unpaved runways - 914 to 1,523 m : 1,732
Airports - with unpaved runways - under 914 m : 7,912 (2007)

Heliports

This entry gives the total number of heliports with hard- surface runways, helipads, or landing areas that support routine sustained helicopter operations exclusively and have support facilities including one or more of the following facilities
Heliports : 146 (2007)

Pipelines

This entry gives the lengths and types of pipelines for transporting products like natural gas, crude oil, or petroleum products.
Pipelines : petroleum products 244,620 km; natural gas 548,665 km (2006)

Railways

This entry states the total route length of the railway network and of its component parts by gauge
Railways - total : 226,612 km
Railways - standard gauge : 226,612 km 1.435-m gauge (2005)

Roadways

This entry gives the total length of the road network and includes the length of the paved and unpaved portions.
Roadways - total : 6,465,799 km
Roadways - paved : 4,209,835 km (includes 75,040 km of expressways)
Roadways - unpaved : 2,255,964 km (2007)

Waterways

This entry gives the total length of navigable rivers, canals, and other inland bodies of water.
Waterways - note : Saint Lawrence Seaway of 3,769 km, including the Saint Lawrence River of 3,058 km, shared with Canada (2007)

Merchant marine

Merchant marine may be defined as all ships engaged in the carriage of goods; or all commercial vessels (as opposed to all nonmilitary ships), which excludes tugs, fishing vessels, offshore oil rigs, etc. This entry contains information in four fields - total, ships by type, foreign-owned, and registered in other countries. *** Total includes the number of ships (1,000 GRT or over), total DWT for those ships, and total GRT for those ships. DWT or dead weight tonnage is the total weight of cargo, plus bunkers, stores, etc., that a ship can carry when immersed to the appropriate load line. GRT or gross register tonnage is a figure obtained by measuring the entire sheltered volume of a ship available for cargo and passengers and converting it to tons on the basis of 100 cubic feet per ton; there is no stable relationship between GRT and DWT. *** Ships by type includes a listing of barge carriers, bulk cargo ships, cargo ships, chemical tankers, combination bulk carriers, combination ore/oil carriers, container ships, liquefied gas tankers, livestock carriers, multifunctional large-load carriers, petroleum tankers, passenger ships, passenger/cargo ships, railcar carriers, refrigerated cargo ships, roll-on/roll-off cargo ships, short-sea passenger ships, specialized tankers, and vehicle carriers. *** Foreign-owned are ships that fly the flag of one country but belong to owners in another. *** Registered in other countries are ships that belong to owners in one country but fly the flag of another.
Merchant marine - total : 422
Merchant marine - by type : barge carrier 6, bulk carrier 61, cargo 69, carrier 2, chemical tanker 22, container 81, passenger 19, passenger/cargo 59, petroleum tanker 53, refrigerated cargo 3, roll on/roll off 25, vehicle carrier 22
Merchant marine - foreign-owned : 74 (Australia 1, Denmark 31, Germany 5, Japan 7, Malaysia 2, Netherlands 1, Norway 9, Singapore 12, Sweden 5, UK 1)
Merchant marine - registered in other countries : 732 (Antigua and Barbuda 8, Australia 2, Bahamas 106, Bermuda 23, Cambodia 6, Canada 10, Cayman Islands 42, Comoros 2, Cyprus 5, Ecuador 1, Greece 8, Hong Kong 29, Ireland 2, Isle of Man 4, Italy 17, South Korea 7, Liberia 98, Luxembourg 4, Malta 23, Marshall Islands 123, Netherlands 14, Netherlands Antilles 1, Norway 1, Norway 7, Panama 126, Portugal 1, Puerto Rico 3, Russia 1, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 18, Sierra Leone 1, Singapore 22, Trinidad and Tobago 1, Tuvalu 1, UK 12, Vanuatu 1, unknown 2) (2008)

Ports and terminals

This entry lists major ports and terminals primarily on the basis of the amount of cargo tonnage shipped through the facilities on an annual basis. In some instances, the number of containers handled or ship visits were also considered.
Ports and terminals : Corpus Christi, Duluth, Hampton Roads, Houston, Long Beach, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Tampa, Texas City

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