The world in focus.

• Position: Almanac

THE WORLD IN FOCUS WORLD ALMANAC

Country-by-Country Statistics Compare Economics, Politics, Quality of Life Around the Globe

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

* If you were the editor of The World in Focus, which data would you add to the tables?

* If you were an aide to President Bush, which of the data would you use in making recommendations about trade with and aid to other countries?

TEACHING OBJECTIVES

To help students better understand what economic, social and political statistics reveal about history, culture and life in countries around the world.

CLASSROOM STRATEGIES

BEFORE READING: Ask students whether they encounter statistics in their daily lives, then ask:

* Do you follow school or professional sports teams?

* Do you ever ride in a car?

* Have you ever been treated by a medical doctor?

* Do you go to the movies or buy CDs or DVDs?

BACKGROUND: Tell students that statistics play a key role in every activity listed. Sports statistics determine which teams win championships--and which players are paid big salaries. States use statistics on auto use to make decisions about speed limits, road building and where traffic lights and signs should go. Physicians make determinations about treatment based on data collected from health studies. And statistics on movie and CD sales help determine entertainers' sales potential and salaries.

BEHIND THE STATS: Data in one area may offer clues to data in other areas. Demonstrate this by having students identify countries with population increases around 3 percent and those below one percent. This indicator often provides clues to income and quality of life. (High population growth rates often signal low income and HDI.) Students can test this by matching high growth rates with per capita GDP and HDI. Discuss reasons for these links.

HISTORICAL HAPPENINGS: Do students see anything in the tables about history--besides Date of Origin? Have them look in the Major Languages columns in South America and Africa. What does the prevalence of Spanish in South America and French in Africa say about history? (Spain colonized most of South America, France much of Africa.) In which African country is German spoken? (Namibia was a German protectorate until 1915.)

Upfront Quiz 4

FILL IN THE BLANK > WORLD IN FOCUS > PAGES 24-33

OPEN BOOK TEST DIRECTIONS: Fill in the blank with the correct answer.

1. Males in the North American country of have the same life expectancy as males in the U.S.

2. Two North American countries, and , have male and female life expectancies that are higher than those in the U.S.

3. The island country of (two words) has the smallest percentage of its population living in urban areas of any country in North America.

4. This South American capital of sounds as though it might have been named for the first U.S. President. (It was actually named for a British king.)

5. Per capita GDP in the country referred to in question 4, above, is almost exactly one half that of, whose capital is Montevideo.

6. is the only European country identified as a dictatorship.

7. At 0.944, has the best Human Development Index rating in Europe. Its rating is also higher than that of the U.S.

8. From his capital in Tripoli, Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi runs a one-party dictatorship in the North African country of

9. French and are the two most commonly spoken European languages in Africa.

10. In terms of square miles, is the largest country in Africa.

11. The smallest African country in terms of size is the island nation of With only 174 square miles, it is a little more than 2.5 times the size of Washington, D.C.

12. , the third-most-important U.S. trading partner, has the highest per capita GDP in all of Asia.

    ANSWER KEY

    Upfront Quiz 4, page 6

1. Cuba

2. Canada/Costa Rica

3. Saint Lucia

4. Georgetown

5. Uruguay

6. Belarus

7. Norway

8. Libya

9. English

10. Sudan

11. Seychelles

12. Japan

    North America COUNTRY AREA (SQ MI) URBAN CAPITAL POPULATION POP % POP RISE %/YEAR Antigua & 170 37 St. John's Barbuda 100,000 1.7 Bahamas 5,359 84 Nassau 300,000 1.3 Barbados 166 38 Bridgetown 300,000 0.6 Belize 8,865 45 Belmopan 300,000 2.3 Canada 3,846,670 79 Ottawa 31,600,000 0.3 Costa Rica 19,730 59 San Jose 4,200,000 1.4 Cuba 42,803 75 Havana 11,300,00 0.5 Dominica 290 71 Roseau 100,000 1.0 Dominican 18,815 61 Santo Republic 8,700,000 1.9 Domingo EL Salvador 8,124 58 San Salvador 6,600,000 2.3 Grenada 131 38 St. George's 100,000 1.2 Guatemala 42,042 39 Guatemala 12,400,000 2.6 City Haiti 10,714 36 Port-au-Prince 7,500,000 1.8 Honduras 43,278 46 Tegucigalpa 6,900,000 2.9 Jamaica 4,243 52 Kingston 2,600,000 1.5 Mexico 756,062 75 Mexico City 104,900,000 2.4 Nicaragua 50,193 57 Managua 5,500,000 2.7 Panama 29,158 62 Panama City 3,000,000 1.8 Saint Kitts 139 43 Basseterre & Nevis 50,000 1.2 Saint Lucia 239 30 Castries 200,000 1.1 Saint Vincent & 151 44 Kingstown the Grenadines 100,000 1.1 Trinidad & 1,981 72 Port-of-Spain Tobago 1,300,000 0.6 United States 3,717,796 79 Washington 291,500,000 0.6 D.C COUNTRY MAJOR FORM OF GOVERNMENT LANGUAGES & HEAD Antigua & English, local Dominant party; Barbuda dialects 1 Prime Minister Lester Bird Bahamas English, Creole Parliamentary democracy; Prime Minister Perry Christie Barbados English Parliamentary democracy; Prime Minister Owen Arthur Belize English, Spanish, Parliamentary democracy; Mayan, Garifuna Prime Minister Said Musa Canada English, French Parliamentary democracy; Prime Minister Jean Chretien Costa Rica Spanish, English Presidential-legislative democracy; President Abel Pacheco de la Espriella Cuba Spanish Communist one-party state; President Fidel Castro Dominica English, French Parliamentary democracy; patois Prime Minister Pierre Charles Dominican Spanish Presidential-legislative Republic democracy; President Hipolito Mejia EL Salvador Spanish, Nahua Presidential-legislative democracy; President Francisco Flores Perez Grenada English, French Parliamentary democracy; patois Prime Minister Keith Mitchell Guatemala Spanish, Amerindian President-legislative dialects democracy; President Alfonso Portillo Cabrera Haiti Creole, French Dominant party; President lean-Bertrand Aristide Honduras Spanish, Amerindian Presidential-legislative dialects democracy; President Ricardo Maduro Jamaica English, Creole Parliamentary democracy; Prime Minister Percival James Patterson Mexico Spanish, Mayan, other Presidential-legislative indigenous languages democracy; President Vicente Fox Nicaragua Spanish, English, Presidential-legislative Amerindian dialects democracy; President Enrique Bolanos Panama Spanish, English Presidential-legislative democracy; President Mireya Moscoso Saint Kitts English Parliamentary democracy; & Nevis Prime Minister Denzil Douglas Saint Lucia English, French Parliamentary democracy; patois Prime Minister Kenny Anthony Saint Vincent & English, French Parliamentary democracy; the Grenadines patois Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves Trinidad & English, Hindi, Parliamentary democracy; Tobago French, Spanish Prime Minister Patrick Manning United States English, Spanish Presidential-legislative others democracy; President George W. Bush COUNTRY DATE OF LITERACY PER ORIGIN RATE (%) CAPITA GDP %OF POP. LIFE HDI UNDER 15 EXPECTANCY Antigua & 1981 90/88 $11,000 Barbuda 26 68/73 0.798 Bahamas 1973 95/97 $17,000 30 70/75 0.812 Barbados 1966 98/97 $14,500 22 70/76 0.888 Belize 1981 94/94 $4,900 41 65/69 0.776 Canada 1867 97(1) $29,400 18 77/82 0.937 Costa Rica 1821 96/96 $8,500 30 76/81 0.832 Cuba 1902 97/97 $2,300 21 74/78 0.806 Dominica 1978 94/94 $5,400 33 71/76 0.776 Dominican 1844 85/85 $6,100 Republic 35 68/70 0.737 EL Salvador 1821 83/78 $4,700 38 67/73 0.719 Grenada 1974 98/98 $5,000 35 NA 0.738 Guatemala 1821 78/63 63/69 42 63/69 0.652 Haiti 1804 55/51 $1,700 40 50/52 0.467 Honduras 1821 76/76 $2,600 42 67/74 0.667 Jamaica 1962 84/92 $3,900 31 73/77 0.757 Mexico 1810 94/91 $9,000 33 73/78 0.800 Nicaragua 1821 67/68 $2,500 42 66/71 0.643 Panama 1903 93/92 $6,000 32 72/77 0.788 Saint Kitts 1983 97/98 $8,800 & Nevis 31 68/74 0.808 Saint Lucia 1979 65/69 $5,400 31 70/74 0.775 Saint Vincent & 1979 96/96 $2,900 the Grenadines 37 71/74 0.755 Trinidad & 1962 99/98 $9.500 Tobago 25 68/73 0.802 United States 1776 97/97 $37,600 21 74/80 0,937 South America COUNTRY AREA (SQ MI) URBAN CAPITAL POP.% POPULATION POP RISE %/YEAR Argentina 1,073,514 89 Buenos Aires 36,900,000 1.2 Bolivia 424,162 63 La Paz 8,600,000 2.3 and Sucre Brazil 3,300,154 81 Brasilia 176,500,000 1.3 Chile 292,135 87 Santiago 15,800,000 1.2 Colombia 439,734 71 Bogota 44,200,000 1.8 Ecuador 109,483 61 Quito 12,600,000 2.1 Guyana 83,000 36 Georgetown 800,000 1.4 Paraguay 157,046 54 Asuncion 6,200,000 2.7 Peru 496,224 72...