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Map: Economic Might by U.S. Metro Area

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Map: Economic Might by U.S. Metro Area

Map: Economic Might by U.S. Metro Area

The U.S. economy is massive on a global scale, and much of the country’s economic capabilities can be traced back to the innovation, knowledge, and productivity that tends to be clustered in urban areas.

The fact is that 80% of Americans live in cities – and the 10 largest metro areas alone combine for a whopping 34% of the country’s total GDP.

The 10 Largest Metro Areas by GDP

Today’s map comes to us from HowMuch.net, and it highlights recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis that estimates the GDP for each U.S. metro area in 2016:

RankMetropolitan Area2016 GDP (Est.)Population
#1New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA$1.43 trillion20.1 million
#2Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA$885 billion13.3 million
#3Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI$569 billion9.5 million
#4Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX$471 billion7.2 million
#5Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV$449 billion6.1 million
#6Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX$442 billion6.7 million
#7San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA$406 billion4.7 million
#8Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD$381 billion6.1 million
#9Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH$371 billion4.8 million
#10Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA$320 billion5.8 million
Top 10 Metropolitan Areas$5.7 trillion84.3 million

Note: figures in chained 2009 dollars

Not surprisingly, New York City and its surrounding area is the breadwinner here with an annual economic output of $1.43 trillion – the largest for any city in the United States. Impressively, the GDP of the NYC metro area is even higher than those of most of the world’s countries, including Australia, Mexico, and Spain.

It’s also interesting that some metro areas punch above their weight in relation to their population figures. San Francisco is #7 on the list with a GDP of $406 billion, despite having the lowest population total of all of the top 10. Boston and D.C. can be classified similarly, each with a high economic output per capita.

Trending Up, Trending Down

While they can’t quite compete with cities like New York and Chicago in terms of GDP or population, there are actually 300+ other metro areas in the country.

Here’s a recent snapshot from the BEA of which cities are growing – and which are shrinking in terms of GDP:

U.S. metro areas

The BEA noted that real gross domestic product (GDP) increased in 267 out of 382 metropolitan areas in 2016.

The biggest increase was a tie between Lake Charles, LA and Bend-Redmond, OR, each which had GDP climb by 8.1% from the last year. The city that saw the biggest drop was Odessa, TX, which fell -13.3%.

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Politics

Mapped: The World’s Legal Government Systems

The political regimes of the world’s countries have changed over centuries. This map charts the nine government systems that rule the world today.

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Mapping The World’s Legal Government Systems

With over 200 countries existing across the world with unique cultures and traditions, one might assume that there are hundreds of types of government systems. But both historically and in modern times, that’s not the case.

Even while political regimes across these countries have changed over time, they’ve largely followed a few different types of governance. Today, every country can ultimately be classified into just nine broad forms of government systems.

This map by Truman Du uses information from Wikipedia to map the government systems that rule the world today.

Countries By Type of Government

It’s important to note that this map charts government systems according to each country’s legal framework.

Many countries have constitutions stating their de jure or legally recognized system of government, but their de facto or realized form of governance may be quite different.

Here is a list of the stated government system of UN member states and observers as of January 2023:

CountryConstitutional formHead of state
AfghanistanProvisionaln/a
AlbaniaRepublicCeremonial
AlgeriaRepublicExecutive
AndorraConstitutional monarchyCeremonial
AngolaRepublicExecutive
Antigua and BarbudaConstitutional monarchyCeremonial
ArgentinaRepublicExecutive
ArmeniaRepublicCeremonial
AustraliaConstitutional monarchyCeremonial
AustriaRepublicCeremonial
AzerbaijanRepublicExecutive
Bahamas, TheConstitutional monarchyCeremonial
BahrainConstitutional monarchyExecutive
BangladeshRepublicCeremonial
BarbadosRepublicCeremonial
BelarusRepublicExecutive
BelgiumConstitutional monarchyCeremonial
BelizeConstitutional monarchyCeremonial
BeninRepublicExecutive
BhutanConstitutional monarchyExecutive
BoliviaRepublicExecutive
Bosnia and HerzegovinaRepublicCeremonial
BotswanaRepublicExecutive
BrazilRepublicExecutive
BruneiAbsolute monarchyExecutive
BulgariaRepublicCeremonial
Burkina FasoProvisionaln/a
BurundiRepublicExecutive
CambodiaConstitutional monarchyCeremonial
CameroonRepublicExecutive
CanadaConstitutional monarchyCeremonial
Cape VerdeRepublicExecutive
Central African RepublicRepublicExecutive
ChadProvisionaln/a
ChileRepublicExecutive
China, People's Republic ofRepublicCeremonial
ColombiaRepublicExecutive
ComorosRepublicExecutive
Congo, Democratic Republic of theRepublicExecutive
Congo, Republic of theRepublicExecutive
Costa RicaRepublicExecutive
Côte d'IvoireRepublicExecutive
CroatiaRepublicCeremonial
CubaRepublicExecutive
CyprusRepublicExecutive
Czech RepublicRepublicCeremonial
DenmarkConstitutional monarchyCeremonial
DjiboutiRepublicExecutive
DominicaRepublicCeremonial
Dominican RepublicRepublicExecutive
East TimorRepublicExecutive
EcuadorRepublicExecutive
EgyptRepublicExecutive
El SalvadorRepublicExecutive
Equatorial GuineaRepublicExecutive
EritreaRepublicExecutive
EstoniaRepublicCeremonial
EswatiniAbsolute monarchyExecutive
EthiopiaRepublicCeremonial
FijiRepublicCeremonial
FinlandRepublicCeremonial
FranceRepublicExecutive
GabonRepublicExecutive
Gambia, TheRepublicExecutive
GeorgiaRepublicCeremonial
GermanyRepublicCeremonial
GhanaRepublicExecutive
GreeceRepublicCeremonial
GrenadaConstitutional monarchyCeremonial
GuatemalaRepublicExecutive
GuineaProvisionaln/a
Guinea-BissauRepublicExecutive
GuyanaRepublicExecutive
HaitiRepublicExecutive
HondurasRepublicExecutive
HungaryRepublicCeremonial
IcelandRepublicCeremonial
IndiaRepublicCeremonial
IndonesiaRepublicExecutive
IranRepublicExecutive
IraqRepublicCeremonial
IrelandRepublicCeremonial
IsraelRepublicCeremonial
ItalyRepublicCeremonial
JamaicaConstitutional monarchyCeremonial
JapanConstitutional monarchyCeremonial
JordanConstitutional monarchyExecutive
KazakhstanRepublicExecutive
KenyaRepublicExecutive
KiribatiRepublicExecutive
KuwaitConstitutional monarchyExecutive
KyrgyzstanRepublicExecutive
LaosRepublicExecutive
LatviaRepublicCeremonial
LebanonRepublicCeremonial
LesothoConstitutional monarchyCeremonial
LiberiaRepublicExecutive
LibyaProvisionaln/a
LiechtensteinConstitutional monarchyExecutive
LithuaniaRepublicExecutive
LuxembourgConstitutional monarchyCeremonial
MadagascarRepublicExecutive
MalawiRepublicExecutive
MalaysiaConstitutional monarchyCeremonial
MaldivesRepublicExecutive
MaliProvisionaln/a
MaltaRepublicCeremonial
Marshall IslandsRepublicExecutive
MauritaniaRepublicExecutive
MauritiusRepublicCeremonial
MexicoRepublicExecutive
MicronesiaRepublicExecutive
MoldovaRepublicCeremonial
MonacoConstitutional monarchyExecutive
MongoliaRepublicExecutive
MontenegroRepublicCeremonial
MoroccoConstitutional monarchyExecutive
MozambiqueRepublicExecutive
MyanmarProvisionaln/a
NamibiaRepublicExecutive
NauruRepublicExecutive
NepalRepublicCeremonial
NetherlandsConstitutional monarchyCeremonial
New ZealandConstitutional monarchyCeremonial
NicaraguaRepublicExecutive
NigerRepublicExecutive
NigeriaRepublicExecutive
North KoreaRepublicExecutive
North MacedoniaRepublicCeremonial
NorwayConstitutional monarchyCeremonial
OmanAbsolute monarchyExecutive
PakistanRepublicCeremonial
PalauRepublicExecutive
PalestineRepublicExecutive
PanamaRepublicExecutive
Papua New GuineaConstitutional monarchyCeremonial
ParaguayRepublicExecutive
PeruRepublicExecutive
PhilippinesRepublicExecutive
PolandRepublicCeremonial
PortugalRepublicExecutive
QatarConstitutional monarchyExecutive
RomaniaRepublicExecutive
RussiaRepublicExecutive
RwandaRepublicExecutive
Saint Kitts and NevisConstitutional monarchyCeremonial
Saint LuciaConstitutional monarchyCeremonial
Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesConstitutional monarchyCeremonial
SamoaRepublicCeremonial
San MarinoRepublicExecutive
São Tomé and PríncipeRepublicExecutive
Saudi ArabiaAbsolute monarchyExecutive
SenegalRepublicExecutive
SerbiaRepublicCeremonial
SeychellesRepublicExecutive
Sierra LeoneRepublicExecutive
SingaporeRepublicCeremonial
SlovakiaRepublicCeremonial
SloveniaRepublicCeremonial
Solomon IslandsConstitutional monarchyCeremonial
SomaliaRepublicCeremonial
South AfricaRepublicExecutive
South KoreaRepublicExecutive
South SudanRepublicExecutive
SpainConstitutional monarchyCeremonial
Sri LankaRepublicExecutive
SudanProvisionaln/a
SurinameRepublicExecutive
SwedenConstitutional monarchyCeremonial
SwitzerlandRepublicExecutive
SyriaRepublicExecutive
TajikistanRepublicExecutive
TanzaniaRepublicExecutive
ThailandConstitutional monarchyCeremonial
TogoRepublicExecutive
TongaConstitutional monarchyExecutive
Trinidad and TobagoRepublicCeremonial
TunisiaRepublicExecutive
TurkeyRepublicExecutive
TurkmenistanRepublicExecutive
TuvaluConstitutional monarchyCeremonial
UgandaRepublicExecutive
UkraineRepublicExecutive
United Arab EmiratesConstitutional monarchyExecutive
United KingdomConstitutional monarchyCeremonial
United StatesRepublicExecutive
UruguayRepublicExecutive
UzbekistanRepublicExecutive
VanuatuRepublicCeremonial
Vatican CityAbsolute monarchyExecutive
VenezuelaRepublicExecutive
VietnamRepublicExecutive
YemenProvisionaln/a
ZambiaRepublicExecutive
ZimbabweRepublicExecutive

Let’s take a closer look at some of these systems.

Monarchies

Brought back into the spotlight after the death of Queen Elizabeth II of England in September 2022, this form of government has a single ruler. They carry titles from king and queen to sultan or emperor, and their government systems can be further divided into three modern types: constitutional, semi-constitutional, and absolute.

A constitutional monarchy sees the monarch act as head of state within the parameters of a constitution, giving them little to no real power. For example, King Charles III is the head of 15 Commonwealth nations including Canada and Australia. However, each has their own head of government.

On the other hand, a semi-constitutional monarchy lets the monarch or ruling royal family retain substantial political powers, as is the case in Jordan and Morocco. However, their monarchs still rule the country according to a democratic constitution and in concert with other institutions.

Finally, an absolute monarchy is most like the monarchies of old, where the ruler has full power over governance, with modern examples including Saudi Arabia and Vatican City.

Republics

Unlike monarchies, the people hold the power in a republic government system, directly electing representatives to form government. Again, there are multiple types of modern republic governments: presidential, semi-presidential, and parliamentary.

The presidential republic could be considered a direct progression from monarchies. This system has a strong and independent chief executive with extensive powers when it comes to domestic affairs and foreign policy. An example of this is the United States, where the President is both the head of state and the head of government.

In a semi-presidential republic, the president is the head of state and has some executive powers that are independent of the legislature. However, the prime minister (or chancellor or equivalent title) is the head of government, responsible to the legislature along with the cabinet. Russia is a classic example of this type of government.

The last type of republic system is parliamentary. In this system, the president is a figurehead, while the head of government holds real power and is validated by and accountable to the parliament. This type of system can be seen in Germany, Italy, and India and is akin to constitutional monarchies.

It’s also important to point out that some parliamentary republic systems operate slightly differently. For example in South Africa, the president is both the head of state and government, but is elected directly by the legislature. This leaves them (and their ministries) potentially subject to parliamentary confidence.

One-Party State

Many of the systems above involve multiple political parties vying to rule and govern their respective countries.

In a one-party state, also called a single-party state or single-party system, only one political party has the right to form government. All other political parties are either outlawed or only allowed limited participation in elections.

In this system, a country’s head of state and head of government can be executive or ceremonial but political power is constitutionally linked to a single political movement. China is the most well-known example of this government system, with the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China ruling as the de facto leader since 1989.

Provisional

The final form of government is a provisional government formed as an interim or transitional government.

In this system, an emergency governmental body is created to manage political transitions after the collapse of a government, or when a new state is formed. Often these evolve into fully constitutionalized systems, but sometimes they hold power for longer than expected.

Some examples of countries that are considered provisional include Libya, Burkina Faso, and Chad.

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