United States Issues - 2023

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Disputes - international

US-Antarctica: the US has made no territorial claim in Antarctica (but has reserved the right to do so) and does not recognize the claims of any other states

US-Bahamas: the Bahamas and US have not been able to agree on a maritime boundary; the two countries have met several times to define their maritime boundary

US-Canada: Canada and the United States dispute how to divide the Beaufort Sea and the status of the Northwest Passage but continue to work cooperatively to survey the Arctic continental shelf; because of the dispute over Machias Seal Island and adjoining North Rock, the terminus of the land boundary beyond Canada's Grand Manon Island and the US state of Maine is not defined

US-Canada-Mexico: the US has intensified domestic security measures and is collaborating closely with its neighbors, Canada and Mexico, to monitor and control legal and illegal personnel, transport, and commodities across the international borders

US-Cuba: the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay is leased from Cuba and only mutual agreement or US abandonment of the area can terminate the lease

US-Haiti: Haiti claims US-administered Navassa Island; the dispute dates to 1857, when the US claimed the Navassa Island under the 1856 Guano Act; Haiti claims it has had ownership over Navassa Island continuously since its 1801 constitution laid claim to “adjacent lands”

US-Marshall Islands: in May 2016, the Marshall Islands filed a declaration of authority with the UN over Wake Island, which is currently a US territory, reaffirming that it considers Wake Island part of its territory; control over Wake Island would drastically increase the Marshall Islands’ exclusive economic zone; the US State Department is assembling a group of experts from both countries to discuss the maritime boundary

US-Russia: 1990 Maritime Boundary Agreement in the Bering Sea still awaits Russian Duma ratification

US-Tokelau: Tokelau included American Samoa's Swains Island among the islands listed in its 2006 draft constitution; Swains Island has been administered by American Samoa since 1925; the 1980 Treaty of Tokehega delineates the maritime boundary between American Samoa and Tokelau; while not specifically mentioning Swains Island, the treaty notes in its preamble that New Zealand does not claim as part of Tokelau any island administered as part of American Samoa

Refugees and internally displaced persons

refugees (country of origin): the US admitted 25,465 refugees during FY2022, including: 7,810 (Democratic Republic of the Congo), 4,556 (Syria), 2,156 (Burma), 1,669 (Sudan), 1,618 (Afghanistan), 1,610 (Ukraine)

stateless persons: 47 (2022)

Illicit drugs

world's largest consumer of cocaine (shipped from Colombia through Mexico and the Caribbean), Colombian heroin, and Mexican heroin and marijuana; major consumer of ecstasy and Mexican methamphetamine; minor consumer of high-quality Southeast Asian heroin; illicit producer of cannabis, marijuana, depressants, stimulants, hallucinogens, and methamphetamine; money-laundering center

NOTE: The information regarding United States on this page is re-published from the 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of United States 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about United States 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.