Eco.361 Assignment (The Structural Diversities of Different Economies) —30/01/2018

Talent is a natural ability or capacity to do something, my talent is in the arts. My mind is always on the think creatively mode, Using
Cosmetic techniques and processess to create beauty on human body, smoothing out flaws and enhacing appearance is a natural gift in me I discovered over the years.

My talent requires few skills in order to excel and earn money these skills includes:-

Creativity
My talent as an art requires a creative imagination and a strong visual sense. I must be able to understand the different shapes and features of a face and also recognize how to highlight them.
It is important for me to understand perception and visualization as cosmetic application relies on the ability to mentally rearrange details of an image to create an attractive look without mistakes.

Detail orientation
I must be able to complete work under presure without letting the details slip as some job may require extended periods of concentration to complete meticulous cosmetic requests.

Management
I manage my time and time of others, I have to be able to quickly analyze each client's desire and obtain the equipment and products necessary to complete the job. When starting out I must market myself and manage my physical and online presence to gain clientele and build a strong client base.

I have the natural ability to create beauty on faces using cosmetic products but the above needed skills to earn money with it does not come naturally, heres a few ways I can develop and get better with each skill.

Practice
Practice makes perfect, making practise part of my everyday routine, Trying out different looks on myself or friends will help me get better.

Mentorship
It will be a great advantage if I can connect with a makeup artist who will let me tag along to their jobs, finding someone to show me the ropes is invaluabe to my skill development.

Get online and market myself
Social media has a huge impact on my skill development and growth. The more I expose my work and exposed to others the more I grow.

Taking any job and putting my best to it
To build experience Its important I take any makeup job and put in effort to make it fine

Introduction
We need to carefully understand the conventional meaning of the above terms.
A talent (or gift, or aptitude) is the skill that someone has to do something very well that people usually like and that is difficult.
A skill is the ability to carry out a task with determined results often within a given amount of time, energy, or both.
While Develop is to design, create, or improve an object, idea, or other item.
Talents and Skills Developed
In the course of my growing up in my family, I have an endowed talent right from my childhood days which is basically hair stylish making. I never learnt how to make ladies hair from nobody or anywhere in the world. I discovered that this talent was embedded in me during my secondary school days. I am a proud hair stylist not only for my friends also a hairstylist of my family. This I can say is my talent because I never I acquired it until it unfolded in me.
Skills I have developed on the other hand are enormous, first I am I certified Baker, a Decorator, and Caterer in the making. I acquired these skills when I newly gained admission into the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. It is no news today that my decoration skill is one of the best in my local church here in University of Nigeria, Nsukka. I am one of the chief decorators in my unit in the church. I also used my baking skill to bake for one of my friends on her birthday and others in recent time.
How I intend to develop my Talent and Skills to Create Wealth?
The society we live today is quite different from the era of our great ancestors and heroes of the pasts. The question now is since I have identified my talents and developed certain skills, then how can these generate wealth for me? In fact, to generate wealth for me and my family.
First and foremost, I am currently undergoing series of online training in fashion and cosmetics in order to boost my endowed hairstylist talent. This training will give me edge to be most current in the latest fashion trend especially among ladies. I belief that knowledge is progressive in this 21st century and beyond, I need to be up to date in my talent in order to make more money.
Secondly, the skills I have currently would be developed through massive ultimate search for local, state, and national empowerment programmes. It may not be only in Nigeria if possible at the international stage. So more knowledge will be acquired in my local community, state and paid tutelage.
How can my talent and skills take me out of Poverty?
Wao! I can’t wait to tell the whole world the story of my transformation, because I am current like a time bomb ready to explode in the world market. I will engage in accumulation of more up to date knowledge in order to make more money than my peers. It is no news today that hardworking pays and no food lazy man/woman. My skills currently are putting food on my table and some upkeeping money, but this is not enough to eradicate poverty not only in my life but for my generation.
I belief Dangote, Bill Gate among others never start to be the richest in Africa and in the world, it all started as a step, a move and a progress. Thus, I have begun my own progress of transformation from poverty to affluent. In no few time my baking will touch every market in Nigeria with our pastry, snacks, chips etc. shortly, my catering school and academic will circulate to all state in Nigeria and beyond.

CHAPTER ONE
THE CONCEPT OF FINANCE AND DEVELOPMENT USING GLOBAL AND DOMESTIC STYLIZED FACTS
Definition of terms
Finance:
Finance is a field that is concerned with the allocation (investment) of assets and liabilities (known as elements of the balance statement) over space and time, often under conditions of risk or uncertainty. Finance can also be defined as the science of money management. Market participants aim to price assets based on their risk level, fundamental value, and their expected rate of return. Finance can be broken into three sub-categories: public finance, corporate finance and personal finance.
Features of Finance
1. Investment Opportunities
In Finance, Investment can be explained as a utilization of money for profit or returns.
Investment can be done by:- i. Creating physical assets with the money (such as development of land, acquiring commercial assets, etc.), ii. Carrying on business activities (like manufacturing, trading, etc.), and iii. Acquiring financial securities (such as shares, bonds, units of mutual funds, etc.). Investment opportunities are commitments of monetary resources at different times with an expectation of economic returns in the future.

6.3 Hong Kong
Compare to the developed economy of Hong Kong which mainly comprises the manufacturing and services sectors which operate in a business – friendly there s full support from the government in the form of free trade, minimum government intervention and a law and simple taxation system. The city world class infrastructure and considerable investment in the development of human resources and education indicate a promising future. The strong legal system of Hong Kong ensures proper individual and property rights protection in 2009, the service sector accounted for 92.3% of the territary’s total gross domestic product.
Hong Kong economic structure can be divided into the following sectors.
• Primary sector: In Hong Kong agriculture and agriculture are called the sunset industries. The steep hillside is largely responsible for zero agriculture and has to import agriculture produce from mainland China. In 2006, not even 0.3% of the labour force was engaged in Hong Kong’s agriculture sector.
• Secondary sector: The manufacturing sector of Hong Kong comprised 274,000 small and medium enterprises (SMES) as of June 2009. That year the industrial secgtor contributed 7.6% to country’s gross domestic product (GDP). In Hong Kong as at 2008 4.0% of the total labour force was employed in the manufacturing sector. The country produces and export electrical machinery and appliances, textiles and apparel, foot wave, watches and clocks toys and plastics, precious stones and printed material. The manufacturing processes are highly technology oriented.
• Tertiary sector: The economy of Hong Kong rides on its services sector. Since 1990s, there has been tremendous development in the tertiary sector, placing it among the world’s leading service oriented economics. In 2007, this sector contributed 92.3% to the territory’s GDP. Major development was witnessed in the producer services that handle off share production operations in Hong Kong. As of 2008, 87.7% of the total work force was employed in the services sector.
7.1 External Dependent of Georgia: The economy of Georgia is an emerging free market. Its gross domestic product fell sharply following the collapse of the soviet but recovered in mid – 2005, growing in double digits. Georgia’s economy is supported by a relatively free and transparent atmosphere in the country.
Since 2014 Georgia is part of the European Imont free trade area.
Foreign direct investment in Georgia. Large inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) have been a driving factor behind a rapid economic growth in Georgia since 2003.
An attractive and liberal investment environment and equal approach to local and foreign investors makes the country an attractive destination for FDI in 2015, Georgia’s main imports, in the order of magnitude, were oil products, vehicles, hydrocarbons, copper ores, and concentrates.
7.2 External dependent of Togo: Togo long served as a regional banking center, but that position has been eroded by the political instability and economic downturn of the early 1990s, historically, france has been Togo’s principal tradition partner, although other European union countries one import and to Togo’s economy. While Togo itself produces no crude oil, it is the name sake of an illegal market for stolen oil off the Niger Delta, called the Togo triangle. Togo exports cotton, phosophates coffee cocoa to Netherlands, Ghana, Mali, benin. Partners are france 21.1%, Netherlands 12.1%, ivory coast 5.9%, Germany 4/6%, Italy 4.4%, south Africa 4.3%, people’s republic of China 4.1% in 2003. The imports – commodities are machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum products.

Togo Religion: The religion of Togo has remained faithful to the country’s pagan history. This is the reason why 51% of the country’s population has indigenous belief or ancestor worship called Voodoo. While Christian and Muslims population’s consist of 20^ and 19% respectively. Voodoo is traceable to African word which means spirit and consists as many sects including yeve and others.
In Togo GDP – composition by sector are: agriculture 39.5%, industry 20.4% and services 40.1% (2003 est.) in 1996 the size of its labour force was 1.74 million. Agriculture maintains a lion share of 65%, industry 5% and services 30% (1998 est.).
Togo’s economy is dominated by commercial and subsistence farming, food and cash crops production accounts for 47% of the GDP, providing work for 65% of the population. The mining industry is one of Togo’s most promising economic sectors, with the country being the world’s fourth largest producer of phosphate. It’s estimated 60 millions metric tons of reserves have potential to give this industry a boost.
4.3 Hong Kong Ethnic and Religious Composition: Ethnically, Hong mainly consists of Hon Chinese who constitute approximately 92^% of the population. There are also a number of descendants of immigrants from elsewhere in southern China and around the world after the and of world war II. While the remaining 8% are other ethnic groups including a large number south Africa (comprising Indians, Pakistenia and Nepalese.
In Hong Kong religion is characterized by a multi faith diversity of beliefs and practices. Most of the Hong Kong people of Chinese descent practice Chinese folk religion which may include Confucian and Taoist doctrines and ritual traditions – or Buddhism, mostly of the Chinese variety. According to official statistics for the year 2016 among the Hong Kong people who belong to an organized religion there are: over one million Budbhists, over 1 million Taoists, 480,000 hundus, 12,000 sikhs, and other smaller communities.
The great majority of the population mostly followed Chinese traditional religions, which comprehend the worship of local gods and concestors, in many cases not worship of local gods and ancestors, in many cases note declearing this practice as a religious affilation in the politics of Hong Kong takes place in a framework of political system dominated by its quasi-constitutional document the Hong Kong Basic law, its own legislature, the Chief executive as the head of government and of the special administrative region and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government.
The head of the government (Chief Executive of Hong Kong) is elected through an electoral college with the majority of its members of voters mainly within business and professional sectors.
The three branches: Executive branch, the chief executive (CE) is the head of the special administrative region, and is also the highest ranking official in the government of Hong Kong special.
Legislative branch: In accordance with article 26 of the basic law of the Hong Long special administrative region permanent residents of Hong Kong are eligible to vote in direct elections for the 35 seats representing geographical constituencies and 34 seats from a functional constituency in 70 – seats, linicameral legislation council.
Judicial branch: The judiciary consists of a series of counts, of which the court of final adjudication is the count of find appeal.

Government of Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s economic policy has often been cited by economists such as Milton Friedman and the Cato institute as an example of Laisse – faire capitalism, attributing the city’s success to the policy. However, they point out that there are still many ways in which government is involved in the economy, some of which exceed the degree of involvement in other capitalist countries for example the government is involved in public works project health care, education and social welfare spending.
Hong Kong is owned by the government and is leased to private developers and users on fixed terms, for fees which are paid to the state treasury.

3.1 Physical and Human Resources
Georgia: In Georgia there are four external factors that affect human resources. These are: Government regulations, Economics conditions, technological advancement and workforce demographics. When it comes to human resource in Georgia there are several factors that affect day-to-day operations.
3.2 Togo: The human resource in Togo, the labour force total in Togo was reported at 3578,703 in 2016 according to the world bank collection of development indicators, complied from officially recognized sources. It comprises people ages 15 and above who meet the internationally active population. All people who services during a specified period. To general human resources in Togo includes the armed forces the unemployed, and first line job seekers, but excludes home makers other unpaid categories and workers in the informal sector.
3.3 Hong Kong: Hong Kong was recognized as perhaps the freest market economy in the world with a virtually no government interference. Entrepreneurs in Hong Kong developed a manufacturing based economy that uses technology other countries have already developed. Producers in Hong Kong are exceptionally efficient and their manufacturing plants are among the most flexible in the world. Companies that want to bring products to the market as quickly turn to Hong Kong because producers there can turn a prototype into a finished assembly – line product faster than any other producer.

2.1 Size and Income Level Of Georgia
Georgia household income. According to the census ACS 1 – year survey, the median household income for Georgia was S53,559 in 2016, the latest figures available.
Georgia per capital income. The ACS survey shows the median per capital income for Georgia was $28,183 in 2016. Georgia real per capital income peaked in 2005 at $29,474 and is now 51,291 (4.38) cover industrial structure of the state Georgia.
2.2 Size and Income Level of Togo
In terms of industrial Togo’s average annual per capital income is equivalent of $400, and most families are unable to carry out their means of livelihood. One of the reasons Togo stays mined mired in poverty is the general populations low level of education. Since 2007 to boost Togo industrial sector was week and dominated by the mining of mosphate rock. Other industries are agricultural processing, cement, handicrafts, textiles, beverages. Subsistence agriculture is the main economic activity in Togo, the majority of the population depends on subsistence agriculture. Food and cash crops production employs the majority of labour and contributes about 42% to the gross domestic product (GDP). Coffee and coca are traditionally the major cash crops for export.
Labour force by occupation: agriculture 65%, industry 5%, services 30% (1998 est).

POLITICAL STRUCTURE, POWER, INTEREST GROUP
Maldives is a presidential republic, with the President as head of government and head of state. The President heads the executive branch and appoints the cabinet which is approved by the People's Majlis (Parliament). Following the introduction of a new constitution in 2008, direct elections for the President take place every five years, with a limit of two terms in office for any individual. The current President is Abdulla Yameen. Members of the unicameral Majlis serve five-year terms, with the total number of members determined by atoll populations. At the 2009 election, 77 members were elected. The People's Majlis, located in Male, houses members from all over the country.
The republican constitution came into force in 1968, and was amended in 1970, 1972, and 1975. On 27 November 1997 it was replaced by another Constitution assented to by the President Gayoom. This Constitution came into force on 1 January 1998. All stated that the president was the Head of State, Head of Government and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and the Police of the Maldives. A third Constitution was ratified in 2008, which separated the judiciary from the head of state.
Saint Lucia is a Commonwealth realm. Queen Elizabeth II is the Head of State, represented on the island by a Governor-General. The prime minister is normally the head of the party commanding the support of the majority of the members of the House of Assembly, which has 17 seats. The other chamber of Parliament, the Senate, has 11 appointed members.
Saint Lucia is a two-party parliamentary democracy. Three political parties participated in the 6 June 2016 General Election. Allen Chastanet of the United Workers Party won eleven of the seventeen seats.
The 100-seat unicameral Latvian parliament, the Saeima, is elected by direct popular vote every four years. The president is elected by the Saeima in a separate election, also held every four years. The president appoints a prime minister who, together with his cabinet, forms the executive branch of the government, which has to receive a confidence vote by the Saeima. This system also existed before World War II. The most senior civil servants are the thirteen Secretaries of State.
The pressure groups found in Maldives are various political parties. There are no pressure groups in Saint Lucia. While in Latvia the pressure groups are Latvian Employers’ Confederation or IDDK, Farmers’ Parliament or ZSA, Free Trade Union and Confederation of Latvia or LBAS

In Latvia, continued institutional reform to enhance transparency will be indispensable to ensuring the emergence of a more profitable private sector. Poor governance and inefficiency in state-owned enterprises remain problems. Corruption increases the overall cost of doing business and undermines government integrity and judicial effectiveness.
Since independence was achieved in 1991, Latvia continued with its privatization program and market reforms in the hope of qualifying for EU accession. By mid-2003, 98% of former state-owned industries had been sold, and the private sector accounted for two-thirds of GDP.
Latvia’s structural transition out of the planned economy under communism has occurred more or less spontaneously since independence. As of 2002, the thriving private sector accounted for two-thirds of employment and GDP. Privatization is generally considered to be near-finished; although the government still owns a few key companies, most are in private hands, even the utilities, and the government is working to sell off its ownership of what remains in order to satisfy its commitments to the IMF.

INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE
The Maldives industrial sector is small. Traditional industries are still in place. For example, women collect cowrie shells (the former national currency) for export. They weave the labour-intensive coir rope from coconut husks, which is a very strong, flexible and waterproof rope. Male carpenters build the traditional fishing boats (dhonis) from coconut trees, which can last up to 20 years. However, more modern developments have occurred in the Maldives industrial sector.
Since the 1990s the government in St. Lucia has tried to build up a manufacturing sector as an alternative to the reliance on bananas and tourism. The island's population is too small to support the manufacture of goods for domestic consumption (St. Lucia's citizens cannot afford to buy expensive manufactured items), so the emphasis has been on export-oriented products such as garments, sporting goods, toys, and diving equipment. Most of the larger factories are situated in an industrial park near the container port at Vieux Fort, for the easy transportation of goods off the island. In 1996 the manufacturing sector was badly hit when 3 foreign companies closed because they were nearing the end of their 10-year tax holiday. Since then, more plants have closed and manufacturing as a whole has stagnated. The majority of manufacturing plants in St. Lucia are owned and operated by foreign companies. They open plants on the island to take advantage of the cheap labor, low tax rates, and easy access to the U.S. market. However, because the government of St. Lucia gives tax incentives to these companies, the island community does not receive many benefits from the arrangement apart from employment gains.
In employment terms, however, manufacturing is still much less important than agriculture and tourism, and 1999 export figures show that all manufacturing, including beverages and tobacco, earned only US$21 million. Construction, on the other hand, has grown sharply since the mid-1990s with a mixture of public-sector investment, such as roads, and private-sector hotel projects. Construction of a new large Hyatt hotel in the north of the island created many jobs and gave a boost to local builders and suppliers.

Latvians have always been the largest ethnic group in Latvia during the past century, but minority peoples have always been numerous. Before WW II the proportion of non-Latvians was approximately 25%, the Russians being the largest minority (app. 10%), followed by Jews (approx. 5%), Germans and Poles (2–3%). After World War 2 only small numbers of Jews and Germans remained and following a massive immigration of Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians, Latvians almost became a minority. In 1989, the proportion of Latvians had decreased to only 52% (from 75.5% in 1935). Despite the decreasing number of Latvians due to low fertility rates, the proportion of Latvians has considerably increased during the past two decades and reached 62.1% in 2011 (slightly higher than the 62.0% in 1959). This is due to large scale emigration of Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians. The number of these peoples almost halved between 1989 and 2011.

As regards to religion, the official religion of the Maldives is Sunni Islam, and according to the Maldivian Constitution, only Muslims may be citizens of the country. Open practice of other faiths is punishable by law. Historically, the Maldives were converted to Islam from Buddhism in the 12th century. Under the 1997 constitution, freedom of religion is limited, Islam being the only religion accepted in public. Consequently, the vast majority of population professes adherence to Islam, reported as 98.4% as of 2010.
In St. Lucia, according to the 2010 census, 90.2% percent of the population of Saint Lucia is considered Christian, 2.3% has a non-Christian religion and 5.9% has no religion or did not state a religion (1.4%). Roughly two thirds of Christians are Roman Catholics (61.5% of the total population), a reflection of early French influence on the island, and 25.5% are Protestant. The Seventh-day Adventists constitute the largest Protestant group, with 10.4% of the population. Pentecostals are the second largest group (8.9%). The next largest group are Evangelicals (2.3% of the population), followed by Baptists (2.2%). Other Christians include Anglicanism (3.4%) and Jehovah's Witnesses (1.1%). The number of non-Christians is small. These religious groups include the Rastafarian Movement (1.9% of the population), Hinduism (0.3%) and Muslims (0.1%).

The main religion traditionally practiced in Latvia is Christianity. As of 2011, The largest religion in Latvia is Christianity (80%), though only about 7% of the population attends religious services regularly. Lutheranism is the main Christian denomination among ethnic Latvians due to strong historical links with the Nordic countries and Northern Germany, while Roman Catholicism is most prevalent in Eastern Latvia (Latgale), mostly due to Polish influence. The Latvian Orthodox Church is the third largest Christian church in Latvia, with adherents primarily among the Russian-speaking minority. Before the Second World War, Latvia was approximately 60% Protestant; overwhelmingly Lutheran.

As regards to Latvia, Baltic tribespeople settled along the Baltic Sea and, lacking a centralized government, fell prey to more powerful peoples. In the 13th century, they were overcome by the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, a German order of knights whose mission was to conquer and Christianize the Baltic region. The land became part of the state of Livonia until 1561. Germans composed the ruling class of Livonia and Baltic tribes made up the peasantry. German was the official language of the region.
Poland conquered the territory in 1562 and occupied it until Sweden took over the land in 1629, ruling until 1721. The land then passed to Russia. From 1721 until 1918, the Latvians remained Russian subjects, although they preserved their language, customs, and folklore.
The Russian Revolution of 1917 gave Latvia the opportunity for freedom, and the Latvian republic was proclaimed on Nov. 18, 1918. The republic lasted little more than 20 years. Plagued by political instability, Latvia essentially became a dictatorship under President Karlis Ulmanis. The country was occupied by Russian troops in 1939 and incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1940. German armies occupied the nation from 1941 to 1944. Of the 70,000 Jews living in Latvia during World War II, 95% were massacred. In 1944, Russia again took control.

SIZE AND INCOME
Maldives is the smallest Asian country, both by land area and population. Its estimated population is 436,330, who live on a total land area of just 298 square kilometers (206th in the world). The Maldive Islands has a high population density of 1,102 people per square kilometer, making it the 11th most densely populated country on earth.
The current population of Maldives is 440,571 as of Sunday, January 14, 2018, based on the latest United Nations estimates. Maldives population is equivalent to 0.01% of the total world population. Maldives ranks number 174 in the list of countries (and dependencies) by population. The population density in Maldives is 1454 per Km2 (3,767 people per mi2). The total land area is 300 Km2 (116 sq. miles)
The current population of Saint Lucia is 179,287 as of Sunday, January 14, 2018, based on the latest United Nations estimates. Saint Lucia population is equivalent to 0% of the total world population. Saint Lucia ranks number 189 in the list of countries (and dependencies) by population. The population density in Saint Lucia is 293 per Km2 (759 people per mi2). The total land area is 610 Km2 (236 sq. miles)
The current population of Latvia is 1,938,966 as of Sunday, January 14, 2018, based on the latest United Nations estimates. Latvia population is equivalent to 0.03% of the total world population. Latvia ranks number 150 in the list of countries (and dependencies) by population. The population density in Latvia is 31 per Km2 (81 people per mi2). The total land area is 62,200 Km2 (24,016 sq. miles)

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Settlers from southern India and Sri Lanka seem to have peopled the Maldives by the fifth century BCE, if not earlier. Little archaeological evidence remains from this period, however. The earliest Maldivians likely subscribed to proto-Hindu beliefs. Buddhism was introduced to the islands early, perhaps during the reign of Ashoka the Great (r. 265-232 BCE). The archaeological remains of Buddhist stupas and other structures are evident on at least 59 of the individual islands, but recently Muslim fundamentalists have destroyed some pre-Islamic artifacts and works of art.
In the 10th through 12th centuries CE, sailors from Arabia and East Africa began to dominate the Indian Ocean trade routes around the Maldives.
They stopped in for supplies and to trade for cowrie shells, which were used as currency in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. The sailors and traders brought a new religion with them, Islam, and had converted all of the local kings by the year 1153.
After their conversion to Islam, the formerly Buddhist kings of the Maldives became sultans. The sultans ruled without foreign meddling until 1558, when the Portuguese appeared and established a trading post in the Maldives. By 1573, however, the local people drove the Portuguese out of the Maldives, because the Portuguese insisted on trying to convert people to Catholicism.
In the mid-1600s, the Dutch East India Company established a presence in the Maldives, but the Dutch were wise enough to stay out of local affairs. When the British ousted the Dutch in 1796 and made the Maldives part of a British protectorate, they initially continued this policy of leaving internal affairs to the sultans.
Britain's role as the protector of the Maldives was formalized in an 1887 treaty, which gave the British government sole authority to run the country's diplomatic and foreign affairs. The British governor of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) also served as the official in charge of the Maldives. This protectorate status lasted until 1953.
Beginning on January 1, 1953, Mohamed Amin Didi became the first president of the Maldives after abolishing the sultanate. Didi had tried to push through social and political reforms, including rights for women, that angered conservative Muslims.
His administration also faced critical economic problems and food shortages, leading to his ouster. Didi was deposed on August 21, 1953 after less than eight months in office, and passed away in internal exile the following year.
After Didi's fall, the sultanate was re-established, and British influence in the archipelago continued until the UK granted the Maldives its independence in a 1965 treaty. In March 1968, the people of the Maldives voted to abolish the sultanate once more, paving the way for the Second Republic.
The political history of the Second Republic has been full of coups, corruption, and conspiracies. The first president, Ibrahim Nasir, ruled from 1968 until 1978, when he was forced into exile in Singapore after having stolen millions of dollars from the national

1.1 Historical Background
Georgia
Georgia in many ways, its history is integrally linked to that of the rest of the south and the rest of the nation. But as the largest east of the mississipi, the youngest and southern most of the thirteen colonies, and by 1860 the most population southern state. Georgia is in certain respects historically distinctive.
Prehistory and European exploration: The human history of Georgia begins well before the founding of the colony, with native American culture that date back to the paleoindian period at the end of the ice age nearly 13,000 years ago. The Clovis Culture, identified by its unique projectile points is the earliest documented group to have lived in present day Georgia. The more permanent settlements of the late archa it period, including the notable population centre of stallings Island in the savanna river date back to 3000 B.C. During the woodland period around 1000 B.C to 900 A.D. The native American groups in Georgia became increasingly sedentary, establishing villages and developing horticulture.
Colonial and revolutionary Georgia: Georgia colonial experience was very different from that of the other British colonies in North America. It was established in 1732, with settlement in savannah in 1733.

reform, the government has eased the rules on private employment in an effort to reshape the economy and improve efficiency.Cuba’s potential entrepreneurs have long been shackled by tight government control and institutional shortcomings. No courts are free of political interference, and private property is strictly regulated.
Portugal
As a group, the public enterprises performed poorly financially and relied excessively on debt financing from both domestic and foreign commercial banks. The operating and financial problems of the public enterprise sector were revealed in a study by the Bank of Portugal covering the years 1978-80. Based upon a survey of fifty-one enterprises, which represented 92 percent of the sector's VA, the analysis confirmed the debilitated financial condition of the public enterprises, i.e., their inadequate equity and liquidity ratios. The consolidated losses of the firms included in the survey increased from 18.3 million contos in 1 The share of general government expenditure (including capital outlays) in GDP rose from 23 percent in 1973 to 46 percent

Chapter two
Comparison between developed and developing countries
Portugal Kyrgyzstan
Economy – overview After experiencing a prolonged recession in the wake of the global financial crisis that began in 2008, in 2016 Spain marked the third full year of positive economic growth in nine years, largely due to increased private consumption.

Portugal has become a diversified and increasingly service-based economy since joining the European Community – the EU's predecessor – in 1986. Over the following two decades, successive governments privatized many state-controlled firms and liberalized key areas of the economy.

GDP (purchasing power parity) $1.69 trillion (2016 est.)
$1.64 trillion (2015 est.)
$1.589 trillion (2014 est.)
note: data are in 2016 dollars $297.1 billion (2016 est.)
$294.1 billion (2015 est.)
$289.9 billion (2014 est.)
note: data are in 2016 dollars
GDP – real growth rate 3.1% (2016 est.)
3.2% (2015 est.)
1.4% (2014 est.) 1% (2016 est.)
1.5% (2015 est.)
0.9% (2014 est.)
GDP – per capita (PPP) $36,500 (2016 est.)
$35,300 (2015 est.)
$34,200 (2014 est.)
note: data are in 2016 dollars $28,500 (2016 est.)
$28,300 (2015 est.)
$27,900 (2014 est.)
note: data are in 2016 dollars
GDP – composition by sector agriculture: 2.5%
industry: 22.4%
services: 75.1% (2016 est.) agriculture: 2.4%
industry: 21.9%
services: 75.9% (2016 est.)
Population below poverty line 21.1% (2012 est.) 19% (2015 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) -0.3% (2016 est.)
-0.6% (2015 est.) 0.8% (2016 est.)
0.5% (2015 est.)
Labor force 22.89 million (2016 est.) 5.167 million (2016 est.)
Labor force – by occupation agriculture: 4.2%
industry: 24%
services: 71.7% (2009) agriculture: 8.6%
industry: 23.9%
services: 67.5% (2014 est.)
Industries textiles and apparel (including footwear), food and beverages, metals and metal manufactures, chemicals, shipbuilding, automobiles, machine tools, tourism, clay and refractory products, footwear, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment textiles, clothing, footwear, wood and cork, paper and pulp, chemicals, fuels and lubricants, automobiles and auto parts, base metals, minerals, porcelain and ceramics, glassware, technology, telecommunications; dairy products, wine, other foodstuffs; ship construction and refurbishment; tourism, plastics, financial services, optics

Cuba
There is a labor code that protects workers from social injustice and abuse; however, there are 11 million citizens and only four million workers.That means four million people hustle and seven million people ride the flow.Cuban citizens are given a free education, free healthcare, and a free home. Workers are protected by unions, and they are granted access to lawyers to file grievances against unfair labor practices. Food and utilities are subsidized. Children and the elderly are cared for through state programs. And the retirement age is low: for women it’s 60 and for men it’s 65.

Portugal
From 1960 to 1973, Portuguese policy measures supported a shift of resources, including labor, from low-productivity toward high-productivity uses, especially export-oriented industries. Rapid and accelerated economic growth was reflected in the profound alteration of the sectoral composition of the work force.
rise in the industrial and services sectors.
Ethnic and religious composition of Kyrgyzstan, Cuba and Portugal
Kyrgyzstan
Religions: Muslim 75 percent, Russian Orthodox 20 percent, other 5 percent. Most Kyrgyz are Sunni Muslims of the Hanafi school of law. Shamanism and tribal religions still exert a strong influence in Kyrgyzstan. The Russian population is largely Russian Orthodox. The Kyrgyz consider themselves Sunni Muslim but do not have strong ties to Islam. They celebrate the Islamic holidays but do not follow daily Islamic practices. Many areas were not converted to Islam until the eighteenth century, and even then it was by the mystical Sufi branch, who integrated local shamanistic practices with their religion. Ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks are primarily Muslims.
Cuba
Cuba mostly consists of people of that are ethnically European (primarily Spanish). In addition to this group of ethnic Europeans, another quarter of the population is "mestizo," which is a combination of ethnic American Indians and Europeans. Another 10% of the population is of African descent, many of whose ancestors were brought to the Caribbean with the slave trade. Among these people, their ethnic variation can be significant as the About 85% of the people of Cuba are Roman Catholic although few of these people regularly practice the religion. Protestant groups, Jehovah's Witnesses and Jews are also present, but again few people are practicing, partially due to the government discouraging the practice of religion.

Portugal
Portugal's population was remarkably homogeneous and had been so for all of its history. This lack of ethnic variety helped it become the first unified nation-state in Western Europe. For centuries Portugal had virtually no ethnic, tribal, racial, religious, or cultural minorities. Almost all Portuguese spoke the national language, almost all were Roman Catholic, and almost all identified with Portuguese culture and the nation of Portugal.
Relative importance of public and private sector in the three countries
Kyrgyzstan

The enterprise sector officially comprises about 2,000 large, 800 medium-sized, and 11,300 small enterprises, as well as almost 245,000 registered individual entrepreneurs and more than 330,000 peasant farms (2010). Most of these enterprises are private. Women manage 21% of them and account for 33% of registered entrepreneurs. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) estimates the private sector share in Kyrgyz Republic’s GDP at 75%, the highest percentage for Central Asia. Official statistics put the share of the private sector in GDP at 86%, its share in investment at 80% and its share in employment at 85%. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are frequently the backbone of a vibrant private sector.
Cuba
State control of Cuba’s economy is both pervasive and inefficient, hampering any meaningful development of a job-creating private sector. As the largest source of employment, the bloated

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Settlers from southern India and Sri Lanka seem to have peopled the Maldives by the fifth century BCE, if not earlier. Little archaeological evidence remains from this period, however. The earliest Maldivians likely subscribed to proto-Hindu beliefs. Buddhism was introduced to the islands early, perhaps during the reign of Ashoka the Great (r. 265-232 BCE). The archaeological remains of Buddhist stupas and other structures are evident on at least 59 of the individual islands, but recently Muslim fundamentalists have destroyed some pre-Islamic artifacts and works of art.
In the 10th through 12th centuries CE, sailors from Arabia and East Africa began to dominate the Indian Ocean trade routes around the Maldives.
They stopped in for supplies and to trade for cowrie shells, which were used as currency in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. The sailors and traders brought a new religion with them, Islam, and had converted all of the local kings by the year 1153.
After their conversion to Islam, the formerly Buddhist kings of the Maldives became sultans. The sultans ruled without foreign meddling until 1558, when the Portuguese appeared and established a trading post in the Maldives. By 1573, however, the local people drove the Portuguese out of the Maldives, because the Portuguese insisted on trying to convert people to Catholicism.
In the mid-1600s, the Dutch East India Company established a presence in the Maldives, but the Dutch were wise enough to stay out of local affairs. When the British ousted the Dutch in 1796 and made the Maldives part of a British protectorate, they initially continued this policy of leaving internal affairs to the sultans.
Britain's role as the protector of the Maldives was formalized in an 1887 treaty, which gave the British government sole authority to run the country's diplomatic and foreign affairs. The British governor of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) also served as the official in charge of the Maldives. This protectorate status lasted until 1953.
Beginning on January 1, 1953, Mohamed Amin Didi became the first president of the Maldives after abolishing the sultanate. Didi had tried to push through social and political reforms, including rights for women, that angered conservative Muslims.
His administration also faced critical economic problems and food shortages, leading to his ouster. Didi was deposed on August 21, 1953 after less than eight months in office, and passed away in internal exile the following year.
After Didi's fall, the sultanate was re-established, and British influence in the archipelago continued until the UK granted the Maldives its independence in a 1965 treaty. In March 1968, the people of the Maldives voted to abolish the sultanate once more, paving the way for the Second Republic.

The New Zealand Parliament holds legislative power and consists of the Queen and the House of Representatives. It also included an upper house, the Legislative Council, until this was abolished in 1950. The supremacy of Parliament, over the Crown and other government institutions, was established in England by the Bill of Rights 1689 and has been ratified as law in New Zealand. The House of Representatives is democratically elected and a government is formed from the party or coalition with the majority of seats. If no majority is formed, a minority government can be formed if support from other parties during confidence and supply votes is assured. The Governor-General appoints ministers under advice from the Prime Minister, who is by convention the parliamentary leader of the governing party or coalition. Cabinet, formed by ministers and led by the Prime Minister, is the highest policy-making body in government and responsible for deciding significant government actions. Members of Cabinet make major decisions collectively, and are therefore collectively responsible for the consequences of these decisions.
A parliamentary general election must be called no later than three years after the previous election. Almost all general elections between 1853 and 1993 were held under the first-past-the-post voting system. Since the 1996 election, a form of proportional representation called mixed-member proportional (MMP) has been used. Under the MMP system, each person has two votes; one is for electorate seats (including some reserved for Māori), and the other is for a party. Since the 2014 election, there have been 71 electorates (which includes 7 Māori electorates), and the remaining 49 seats are assigned so that representation in parliament reflects the party vote, although a party has to win one electorate or 5% of the total party vote before it is eligible for these seats.
Elections since the 1930s have been dominated by two political parties, National and Labour. Between March 2005 and August 2006, New Zealand became the first country in the world in which all the highest offices in the land—Head of State, Governor-General, Prime Minister, Speaker and Chief Justice—were occupied simultaneously by women. The current Prime Minister is Jacinda Ardern, who has been in office since 26 October 2017.
New Zealand's judiciary, headed by the Chief Justice, includes the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, the High Court, and subordinate courts. Judges and judicial officers are appointed non-politically and under strict rules regarding tenure to help maintain judicial independenceUnemployment peaked above 10% in 1991 and 1992, following the 1987 share market crash, but eventually fell to a record low (since 1986) of 3.7% in 2007 (ranking third from twenty-seven comparable OECD nations). However, the global financial crisis that followed had a major impact on New

its narrowest point.[131] Besides the North and South Islands, the five largest inhabited islands are Stewart Island, Chatham Island, Great Barrier Island (in the Hauraki Gulf), d'Urville Island (in the Marlborough Sounds) and Waiheke Island (about 22 km (14 mi) from central Auckland). In June 2016, the population of New Zealand was estimated at 4.69 million and was increasing at a rate of about 2.1% per year. New Zealand is a predominantly urban country, with 73.0% of the population living in the seventeen main urban areas (i.e. population 30,000 or greater) and 53.8% living in the four largest cities of Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington, and Hamilton.[235] New Zealand cities generally rank highly on international livability measures.
ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS COMPOSITION
In the 2013 census, 74.0% of New Zealand residents identified ethnically as European, and 14.9% as Māori. Other major ethnic groups include Asian (11.8%) and Pacific peoples (7.4%), two-thirds of whom live in the Auckland Region. The population has become more diverse in recent decades: in 1961, the census reported that the population of New Zealand was 92% European and 7% Māori, with Asian and Pacific minorities sharing the remaining 1%. The official languages are English, Māori and New Zealand Sign Language, with English predominant. Christianity is the predominant religion in New Zealand, although its society is among the most secular in the world. In the 2013 census, 55.0% of the population identified with one or more religions, including 49.0% identifying as Christians. Another 41.9% indicated that they had no religion. The main Christian denominations are, by number of adherents, Roman Catholicism (12.6%), Anglicanism (11.8%), Presbyterianism (8.5%) and "Christian not further defined" (i.e. people identifying as Christian but not stating the denomination, 5.5%).The Māori-based Ringatū and Rātana religions (1.4%) are also Christian in origin. Immigration and demographic change in recent decades has contributed to the growth of minority religions, such as Hinduism (2.1%), Buddhism (1.5%), Islam (1.2%) and Sikhism (0.5%). The Auckland Region exhibited the greatest religious diversity.
POLITICAL STRUCTURE, POWER, AND INTEREST GROUPS
NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy, although its constitution is not codified. Elizabeth II is the Queen of New Zealand and the head of state. The Queen is represented by the Governor-General, whom she appoints on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Governor-General can exercise the Crown's prerogative powers, such as reviewing cases of injustice and making appointments of ministers, ambassadors and other key public officials, and in rare situations, the reserve powers (e.g. the power to dissolve Parliament or refuse the Royal Assent of a bill into law). The powers of the Queen and the Governor-General are limited

copra. Outside of a large automotive wire harness factory (Yazaki Corporation which ended production in August 2017[67]), the manufacturing sector mainly processes agricultural products. Tourism is an expanding sector which now accounts for 25% of GDP. Tourist arrivals have been increasing over the years with more than 100,000 tourists visiting the islands in 2005, up from 70,000 in 1996.
The Samoan government has called for deregulation of the financial sector, encouragement of investment, and continued fiscal discipline. Observers point to the flexibility of the labour market as a basic strength for future economic advances. The sector has been helped enormously by major capital investment in hotel infrastructure, political instability in neighbouring Pacific countries, and the 2005 launch of Virgin Samoa a joint-venture between the government and Virgin Australia (then Virgin Blue). In the period before German colonisation, Samoa produced mostly copra. German merchants and settlers were active in introducing large scale plantation operations and developing new industries, notably cocoa bean and rubber, relying on imported labourers from China and Melanesia. When the value of natural rubber fell drastically, about the end of the Great War (World War I), the New Zealand government encouraged the production of bananas, for which there is a large market in New Zealand.
Because of variations in altitude, a large range of tropical and subtropical crops can be cultivated, but land is not generally available to outside interests. Of the total land area of 2,934 km² (725,000 acres), about 24.4% is in permanent crops and another 21.2% is arable. About 4.4% is Western Samoan Trust Estates Corporation (WSTEC).
The staple products of Samoa are copra (dried coconut meat), cocoa bean (for chocolate), and bananas. The annual production of both bananas and copra has been in the range of 13,000 to 15,000 metric tons (about 14,500 to 16,500 short tons). If the rhinoceros beetle in Samoa were eradicated, Samoa could produce in excess of 40,000 metric tons (44,000 short tons) of copra. Samoan cocoa beans are of very high quality and used in fine New Zealand chocolates. Most are Criollo-Forastero hybrids. Coffee grows well, but production has been uneven. WSTEC is the biggest coffee producer. Rubber has been produced in Samoa for many years, but its export value has little impact on the economy.
Other agricultural industries have been less successful. Sugarcane production, originally established by Germans in the early 20th century, could be successful. Old train tracks for

Prominent women in Samoan politics include the late Laulu Fetauimalemau Mata'afa (1928–2007) from Lotofaga constituency, the wife of Samoa's first prime minister. Their daughter Fiame Naomi Mata'afa is a paramount chief and a long-serving senior member of cabinet. Other women in politics include Samoan scholar and eminent professor Aiono Fanaafi Le Tagaloa, orator-chief Matatumua Maimoana and Safuneitu'uga Pa'aga Neri (as of 2016 the Minister of Communication and Technology).
The judicial system incorporates English common law and local customs. The Supreme Court of Samoa is the court of highest jurisdiction. Its chief justice is appointed by the head of state upon the recommendation of the prime minister.
Samoa comprises eleven itūmālō (political districts). These are the traditional eleven districts which predate European arrival. Each district has its own constitutional foundation (faavae) based on the traditional order of title precedence found in each district's faalupega (traditional salutations). The capital village of each district administers and coordinates the affairs of the district and confers each district's paramount title, amongst other responsibilities. For example, the District of A'ana has its capital at Leulumoega. The paramount title of A'ana is the TuiA'ana. The orator group which confers this title – the Faleiva (House of Nine) – is based at Leulumoega. This is also the same for the other districts. In the district of Tuamasaga, the paramount title of the district – the Malietoa title – is conferred by the FaleTuamasaga based in Afega.
ECONOMY OVERVIEW
(SIZE AND INCOME LEVEL, RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS, INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE AND EXTERNAL DEPENDENCE)
MAURITIUS
Since independence from Britain in 1968, Mauritius has developed from a low-income, agriculture-based economy to a middle-income diversified economy, based on tourism, textiles, sugar, and financial services. The economic history of Mauritius since independence has been called “the Mauritian Miracle” and the “success of Africa” (Romer, 1992; Frankel, 2010; Stiglitz, 2011). In recent years, information and communication technology, seafood, hospitality and property development, healthcare, renewable energy, and education and training have emerged as important sectors, attracting substantial investment from both local and foreign investors.
Mauritius has no exploitable natural resources and therefore depends on imported petroleum products to meet most of its energy requirements. Local and renewable energy sources are biomass, hydro, solar and wind energy. Mauritius has one of the largest Exclusive Economic Zones in the world, and in 2012 the government announced its intention to develop the marine economy. Mauritius is ranked high in terms of economic competitiveness, a friendly investment climate, good governance and a free economy. The Gross Domestic Product (PPP) was estimated at US$22.025 billion in 2014, and GDP (PPP) per capita was over US$16,820, one of the highest in Africa.

ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS COMPOSITION
MAURITIUS
Subsequent to a Constitutional amendment in 1982, there is no need for Mauritians to reveal their ethnic identities for the purpose of population census. Official statistics on ethnicity are not available. The 1972 census was the last one to measure ethnicity. Mauritius is a multiethnic society, drawn from Indian (mostly Bihari), African, Chinese and European (mostly French) origin.
The Mauritian population is multilingual; while Mauritian Creole is the mother tongue of most Mauritians, most people are also fluent in English and French; they tend to switch languages according to the situation. French and English are favoured in educational and professional settings, while Asian languages are used mainly in music, religious and cultural activities. The media and literature are primarily in French. According to the 2011 census conducted by Statistics Mauritius, Hinduism is the majority religion at 51.9%, followed by Christianity (31.4%), Islam (15.3%) and Buddhism (0.4%). Those of other religions accounted for 0.2% of the population, and 0.7% reported themselves as non-religious and 0.1% did not answer. Mauritius is the only country in Africa to have a Hindu majority.
SAMOA
92.6% of the population are Samoans, 7% Euronesians (people of mixed European and Polynesian ancestry) and 0.4% are Europeans, per the CIA World Factbook. Only the Māori of New Zealand outnumber Samoans among Polynesian groups. Samoan (Gagana Fa'asāmoa) and English are the official languages. Including second-language speakers, there are more speakers of Samoan than English in Samoa.[68] Samoan Sign Language is also used by at least some of the deaf population.
Article 1 of the Samoan Constitution states that “Samoa is a Christian nation founded of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit”. Samoans' religious adherence includes the following: Christian Congregational Church of Samoa 31.8%, Roman Catholic 19.4%, Methodist 15.2%, Assembly of God 13.7%, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints 7.6%, Seventh-day Adventist 3.9%, Worship Centre 1.7%, other Christian 5.5%, other 0.7%, none 0.1%, unspecified 0.1% (2011 estimate). The Head of State until 2007, His Highness Malietoa Tanumafili II, was a Bahá'í. Samoa hosts the seventh (of nine current) Bahá'í Houses of Worship in the world; completed in 1984 and dedicated by the Head of State, it is located in Tiapapata, 8 km (5 mi) from Apia.
POLITICAL STRUCTURE, POWER, AND INTEREST GROUPS
MAURITIUS
The politics of Mauritius take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, in which the President is the head of state and the Prime Minister is the head of government, assisted by a Council of Ministers. Mauritius has a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the Government. Legislative power is vested in both the Government and the National Assembly.

ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS COMPOSITION OF INDONESIA
Indonesia is constitutionally a secular state and the first principle of Indonesia's philosophical foundation, Pancasila, is "belief in the one and only God". A number of different religions are practised in the country, and their collective influence on the country's political, economic and cultural life is significant. The Indonesian Constitution guarantees freedom of religion. The government recognizes only six official religions (Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism andConfucianism). Although based on data collected by the Indonesian Conference on Religion and Peace (ICRP), there are about 245 non-official religions in Indonesia. Indonesian law requires that every Indonesian citizen hold an identity card that identifies that person with one of these six religions, although citizens may be able to leave that section blank. Indonesia does not recognise agnosticism or atheism, and blasphemy is illegal. In the 2010 Indonesian census, 87.18% of Indonesians identified themselves as Muslim (with Sunnis more than 99%, Shias 0.5%, Ahmadis 0.2% 6.96% Protestant, 2.91% Catholic, 1.69% Hindu, 0.72% Buddhist, 0.05% Confucianism, 0.13% other, and 0.38% unstated or not asked.
Indonesia's political leadership has played an important role in the relations between groups, both positively and negatively, promoting mutual respect by affirming Pancasila but also promoting a Transmigration Program, which has caused a number of conflicts in the eastern region of the country.
There are over 300 ethnic groups in Indonesia including Batak, Minangkabau, Krui, and Pelalawan-Petalangan.
Based on ethnic group, the largest ethnic group in Indonesia is the Javanese who make up about 40% of the total population. The Javanese are concentrated on the island of Java but millions have migrated to other islands throughout the archipelago because of the transmigration program. The Sudanese, Malay, and Madurese are the next largest groups in the country. Many ethnic groups, particularly in Kalimantan and Papua, have only hundreds of members. Most of the local languages belong to Austronesian language family, although a significant number, particularly in Papua, speak Papuan languages. Chinese Indonesians population makes up a little less than 1% of the total Indonesian population according to the 2000 census. Some of

per annum (Liong, 1999). Reduced poverty and improvements in social indicators such as literacy levels and life expectancy had seen Indonesia become one of Asia’snewly industrializing countries. However, even though most of Asia has begun to recover from the worse effects of the crisis, Indonesia is still struggling to recover from its unprecedented economic, political, and social problems. In the context of both the crisis, the incipient recovery, and the impact of globalization on businesses in general, more attention is being paid to the need for effective HRM in Indonesia (Budihardjo, 1996; Ciptono, 1998; Kismono, 1999). Nonetheless, Hess (1995) suggests that the extent of HRM in Indonesia is limited. Despite the major issues facing this country and the significant international concern about its future, reports on HRM are limited mostly to labor economics and macrolevel human resource development. The English language journals have included articles on the developing countries in Europe, Africa, and Asia (countries, such as Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Korea, Japan, and India), but surprisingly little has been reported on Indonesia. Even industrial relations books on Asian and East Asian countries have failed to provide chapters on Indonesia (e.g., Deery & Mitchell, 1993; Nish, Redding, & Ng, 1996). Similarly, the Teagarden/Von Glinow research consortium, which has included Indonesia as one of the target countries, has not yet reported specifically on Indonesia (Teagarden et al., 1995). This significant gap in the literature is important because of the different context for HRM evident in Indonesia, especially given the increasing number of calls for HRM researchers to take context more seriously (Jackson & Schuler, 1995). Both internal contextual factors (such as technology, structure, size, organizational life cycle stage, and business strategy) and external contextual factors (such as the legal, social and political environments, unionization, labor market conditions, industry characteristics, and national cultures) (Hollinshead & Leat, 1995; Jackson & Schuler, 1995) need to be considered. This paper covers much of the Sparrow and Hiltrop (1997) framework for describing HRM practices, providing a strong focus on external context. Highlighted will be the context for HRM in Indonesia, beginning with a discussion of the business context, followed by a discussion of the demography, legal, and industrial relations context, general conditions of employment, issues in core HR functions (including equal opportunity policy and practice; recruitment, selection, and retention; training; compensation; performance management; and separation and retirement), a brief discussion of multinational HRM practice, the role of HR managers, and an overview of current challenges for HRM in Indonesia.

Europeans such as the Portuguese arrived in Indonesia from the 16th century seeking to monopolise the sources of valuablenutmeg, cloves, and cubeb pepper in Maluku. In 1602 the Dutch established the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and became the dominant European power by 1610. Following bankruptcy, the VOC was formally dissolved in 1800, and the government of the Netherlands established the Dutch East Indiesunder government control. By the early 20th century, Dutch dominance extended to the current boundaries. The Japanese invasion and subsequent occupation in 1942–45 during WWII ended Dutch rule, and encouraged the previously suppressed Indonesian independence movement. Two days after the surrender of Japan in August 1945, nationalist leader, Sukarno, declared independence and became president. The Netherlands tried to reestablish its rule, but a bitter armed and diplomatic struggle ended in December 1949, when in the face of international pressure, the Dutch formally recognised Indonesian independence.
SIZE AND INCOME LEVEL OF INDONESIA
The largest economy in Southeast Asia, Indonesia – a diverse archipelago nation of more than 300 ethnic groups — has charted impressive economic growth since overcoming the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s. The country’s GDP per capita has steadily risen, from $857 in the year 2000 to $3,603 in 2016. Today, Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous nation, the world’s 10th largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity, and a member of the G-20. An emerging middle-income country, Indonesia has made enormous gains in poverty reduction, cutting the poverty rate to more than half since 1999, to 10.9% in 2016.
Indonesia’s economic planning follows a 20-year development plan, spanning from 2005 to 2025. It is segmented into 5-year medium-term plans, called the RPJMN (Rencana Pembangunan Jangka Menengah Nasional) each with different development priorities. The current medium-term development plan – the third phase of the long-term plan – runs from 2015 to 2020. It focuses on, among others, infrastructure development and social assistance programs related to education and health-care. Such shifts in public spending has been enabled by the reform of long-standing energy subsidies, allowing for more investments in programs that directly impact the poor and near-poor.
Considerable challenges remain in achieving Indonesia’s goals.

and promotes national skills. Thus it should be prepared to step in whenever needed.
In this context, this strategy puts forth a twenty-year vision for the Egyptian industry that
defines strategic targets, and carefully identifies the instruments through which public
policy can contribute to industrial development. A vision for Egypt to be the leading industrial power in the Middle East and North Africa by the year 2050. This is an
ambitious goal, but one that is certainly attainable. All goals and means are within our
reach, and in the end it will all depend on our performance.
Implementation is already underway. Many of the designed programs are off the ground,
and more will be forthcoming. Implementation is a national task and the Ministry of
Trade and Industry will not be the sole actor, several public and private partners will be
involved. Success will be the result of a concerted Egyptian effort
EXTERNAL DEPENDENCE
More than five years after the overthrow of then president Hosni Mubarak, the structural shortcomings that characterized the Egyptian economy before the January 2011 uprising remain in place. At the time, these contributed to the revolt against Mubarak’s rule, and today, unless they are addressed, the possibility of renewed political volatility remains very real.
For now, however, Egypt has stabilized politically relative to where it was a few years ago. This provides the government with an opportunity to embark on a thorough restructuring of the country’s model of socioeconomic development. The objective must be to establish an economic system based on inclusive growth that is capable of generating quality jobs that are sufficient in number to absorb the 600,000 new entrants into the labor market each year.

POLITICAL STRUCTURE POWER AND INTEREST GROUP IN EGYPT
National legislature
Unicameral, following the passage of the amended constitution in January 2015. Members of parliament serve a five-year term. There are 568 elected members in the new House of Representatives, and 28 members appointed by the president to boost the numbers of underrepresented minorities such as women and Copts

In 1995/96, the sixth survey was conducted on a sample of 15090 households allocated between urban and rural areas such as 45.1% in urban and 54.9% in rural. The same observation scheme of the previous survey was applied, i.e., households were observed for one month only.
In 1999/2000, the seventh survey was conducted on a sample of 48000 households (4000 household monthly) distributed between urban and rural areas with the percentage of 60% for urban and 40% for rural.(households were observed for one month only).
In 2004/2005, the eighth survey was conducted on a sample of 48000 households (4000 households monthly) distributed in urban and rural areas with the percentage of 46.4% for urban and 53.6% rural (households were observed for one month only).
In 2008/2009 the ninth in the series was conducted on a sample of 48658 households (2000 households every 15 days) distributed between urban and rural areas with the percentage of 47.2% for urban and 52.8% rural.(households were observed every 15 days).

The current survey is the tenth survey that was carried out in 2010/2011 on a sample of 26.5 thousand households, out of which 16.5 thousands were new households and 10 thousands were panel households. 1100 household were collected every 15 days distributed between urban and rural areas with the percentage of 47.1% for urban and 52.9% rural (surveyed households were changed every 15 days).
RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR
Egypt’s 2011 revolution sent seismic tremors through the country’s economy.
Uncertainty about the direction of government policies has resulted in
Reduced levels of domestic and foreign direct investment. The decline threatens
To complicate Egypt’s transition to a market system. The private sector
and the government, in collaboration with civil society organizations, must
work together to avert an economic crisis and promote growth, stability, and
the consolidation of democracy in Egypt.
Key Themes
• The private sector employs some 70 percent of Egypt’s labor force.
Without a marked increase in investment in the private sector, the government
will not be able to restore economic growth.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
EGYPT:
The history of Egypt has been long and rich, due to the flow of the Nile river, with its fertile banks and delta. Its rich history also comes from its native inhabitants and outside influence. Much of Egypt's ancient history was a mystery until the secrets of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs were deciphered with the discovery and help of the Rosetta stone. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing. The Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the other Seven Wonders, is gone. The Library of Alexandria was the only one of its kind for centuries.
Human settlement in Egypt dates back to at least 40,000 BC with Aterian tool manufacturing Ancient Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh of the First Dynasty, Narmer. Predominately native Egyptian rule lasted until the conquest by the Achaemenid Empire in the sixth century BC.
In 332 BC, Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great conquered Egypt as he toppled the Achaemenids and established the HellenisticPtolemaic Kingdom, whose first ruler was one of Alexander's former generals, Ptolemy I Soter. The Ptolemies had to fight native rebellions and were involved in foreign and civil wars that led to the decline of the kingdom and its final annexation by Rome. The death of Cleopatra ended the nominal independence of Egypt resulting in Egypt becoming one of the provinces of the Roman Empire
The modern Republic of Egypt was founded in 1953, and with the complete withdrawal of British forces from the Suez Canal in 1956, it marked the first time in 2300 years that Egypt was both fully independent and ruled by native Egyptian] President Gamal Abdel Nasser (president from 1956 to 1970) introduced many reforms and created the short-lived United Arab Republic (with Syria). His terms also saw the Six-Day War and the creation of the international Non-Aligned Movement. His successor, Anwar Sadat (president from 1970 to 1981) changed Egypt's trajectory, departing from many of the political, and economic tenets of Nasserism, re-instituting a multi-party system, and launching the Infitah economic policy. He led

RELATIVE MPORTANCE OF PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SECTORS
The privatization in Israel refers to the transferring or selling of a service or property owned by the Israeli government or any public organization to private ownership. The meaning of the privatization is reducing the share and level of intervening which is directly connected with the Israeli government in the Israeli economy, increasing the portion and the economic activity of a private group, on the control and ownership of the assets. The opposite process is nationalization.
INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE
Israel has a large industrial capacity with a well-developed chemical industry with many of its products aimed at the export market. Most of the chemical plants are located in Ramat Hovav, the Haifa Bay area and near the Dead Sea. Israel Chemicals is one of largest fertilizer and chemical companies in Israel and its subsidiary, the Dead Sea Works in Sdom is the world's fourth largest producer and supplier of potash products. The company also produces other products such as magnesium chloride, industrial salts, de-icers, bath salts, table salt, and raw materials for the cosmetic industry. One of the country's largest employers is Israel Aerospace Industries which produces mainly aviation, space, and defense products. In 2017 the company had an order backlog of 11.4 billion US dollars. Another large employer is Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, employing 40,000 people as of 2011. It specializes in generic and proprietary pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients. It is the largest generic drug manufacturer in the world and one of the 15 largest pharmaceutical companies worldwide.
EXTERNAL DEPENDENCE
Israel's dependence on the United States is not limited to financial aid and weapons sales. The United States provides technologies for the development of unique weapons systems that Israel needs, such as the Iron Dome and the Arrow rocket and missile defense systems. It mans the radar deployed in Israel which is linked to the global American satellite system, thereby providing us with additional warning time before missiles from distant countries, such as Iran, hit.
The United States also cooperates with Israel in a variety of areas related to counter-terrorism, the cyber threat, and prevention of the proliferation of WMD. The United States has prepositioned a huge store of weapons and munitions in Israel, some of which are available for Israeli use, and conducts joint military exercises with the IDF, which provide it with the opportunity to learn some of the most advanced military tactics. Intelligence cooperation is so broad and deep that Israel's capabilities would be totally different without the United States.
POLITICAL STRUCTURE AND POWER
The Israeli system of government is based on democracy. The Prime Minister of Israel is the head of government and leader of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in the Knesset. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The political system of the State of Israel and its main principles are set out in 11 Basic Laws. Israel does not have a written constitution.
CONCLUSION
Moldova has a population size of 4,430,654 people. Services comprise the most important sector of Moldova’s economy while agriculture accounted for 28% of her GDP. They have no mineral deposit and most of its supplies are coal, oil, and natural gas.
While Kazakhstan has a population of 17,165,000 people. It’s the 62th place in the list of countries by population. It possesses abundant natural resources, its major export includes: agricultural

Services
Technology
On 22 December 2014 the World Bank approved an $88 million loan that would support Kazakhstan’s efforts to facilitate commercially and socially viable innovation in technology. The Fostering Productive Innovation Project aims to improve the country in areas that are able to foster and support technological innovation.
POLITICAL STRUCTURE
Kazakhstan has a hybrid system of government that combines aspects of both parliamentary and presidential systems.
The principle of independence and the political system were formulated in the first Constitution of Kazakhstan of January 1993, which was approved by referendum on 30 August 1995.
Kazakhstan government features
Kazakhstan has a parliamentary system with a president as head of the State. Kazakhstan last presidential election was in January 2006 for a seven-year term. Kazakhstan president serves as commander-in-chief, sets foreign policy, can initiate legislation, and appoints Kazakhstan prime minister, subject to Parliamentary approval.
Kazakhstan parliament is the supreme legislative body and consists of two chambers, the Senate (Upper House) and the Mazhilis (Lower House). The 47 members of Kazakhstan Senate are indirectly elected representatives of regional assemblies and appointees of Kazakhstan president. The Mazhilis is composed of 67 elected deputies. Kazakhstan parliament is elected for a four-year term.
Kazakhstan prime minister is the head of the executive branch of government and is appointed by Kazakhstan president, with the approval of Kazakhstan parliament. He chairs the Cabinet, which, as of January 2006, consists of three Deputy Prime Ministers, the Ministers of the 14 State Ministries and the 5 Chairmen of the State Agencies.
The heads of the local administrations (Akims of 14 oblasts and 2 cities) are appointed by Kazakhstan president. Since December 1997, the capital of Kazakhstan has been Astana. From 1929 to 1997 the capital of Kazakhstan was the city of Almaty, founded in 1854.
ISRAEL
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Israel (/ˈɪzriəl, -reɪəl/; Hebrew: יִשְׂרָאֵל‬; Arabic: إِسْرَائِيل‎), officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Middle East, on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. It has land borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan on the east, the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the east and west, respectively, and Egypt to the southwest. The country contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area Israel's economy and technology center is Tel Aviv, while its seat of government and proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, although the state's sovereignty over Jerusalem is not recognized internationally.
The Kingdoms of Israel and Judah emerged during the Iron Age. The Neo-Assyrian Empire destroyed Israel around 720 BCE. Judah was later conquered by the Babylonian, Persian and Hellenistic empires and had existed as Jewish autonomous provinces. The successful Maccabean Revolt led to an independent Jewish kingdom in 110 BCE, which came to an end in 63 BCE when the Hasmonean kingdom became a client state of the Roman Republic that subsequently installed the Herodian dynasty in 37 BCE, and in 6 CE created the Roman province of Judea. Judea lasted as a Roman province until the failed Jewish revolts resulted in widespread destruction, expulsion of Jewish population and the renaming of the region from Iudaea to Syria Palestine Jewish presence in the region has persisted to a certain extent over the centuries. In the 7th century the Levant was taken from the Byzantine Empire by the Arabs and remained in Muslim control until the First Crusade of 1099, followed by the Ayyubid conquest of 1187. The Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt

power. The Court is invested with the power of judicial review over all acts of the parliament, over presidential decrees, and over international treaties, signed by the country.
KAZAKHSTAN
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Kazakhstan, also spelled Kazakstan, officially Republic of Kazakhstan, Kazakh Qazaqstan Respublikasï, country of Central Asia. It is bounded on the northwest and north by Russia, on the east by China, and on the south by Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and the Aral Sea; the Caspian Sea bounds Kazakhstan to the southwest. Kazakhstan is the largest country in Central Asia and the ninth largest in the world. Between its most distant points Kazakhstan measures about 1,820 miles (2,930 kilometers) east to west and 960 miles north to south. While Kazakhstan was not considered by authorities in the former Soviet Union to be a part of Central Asia, it does have physical and cultural geographic characteristics similar to those of the other Central Asian countries. The capital is Astana (formerly Tselinograd) in the north-central part of the country. Kazakhstan, formerly a constituent (union) republic of the U.S.S.R., declared independence on Dec. 16, 1991.
SIZE AND INCOME LEVEL
The population size of Kazakhstan is about 17,165,000. It takes the 62th place in the List of countries by population. Average density is one of the lowest on earth with almost 6 people/km2.. Kazakhstan's GDP grew 4.1% in real terms during the period from January to September 2014.
Kazakhstan's real GDP growth is projected to reach 4.3% in 2014, the main driving force of the economy in Kazakhstan in 2014 is the consumer sector; the consumption in Kazakhstan is mainly boosted by the retail lending.
According to the Agency of Statistics of the Republic of Kazakhstan the Kazakhstan's GDP growth in the first quarter of 2014 was 3.8%.
The Government of Kazakhstan signed a Framework Partnership Agreement with IBRD, IFC, and MIGA on May 1, 2014; according to this Agreement the World Bank will allocate $2.5 billion to Kazakhstan, for the diversification of the economy and reaching the sustainable development.
As of 2015, the World Bank classified Kazakhstan as an upper-middle-income country with GDP per capita of nearly US$10.5 thousand.
Foreign direct investment increased 30 percent in 2015 in Kazakhstan’s agricultural industry and 80 percent in the country’s petroleum products sector.
In 2016 Kazakhstan's economy started to recover from the crisis caused by low oil prices and the tenge devaluation. According to the Minister of National Economy of Kazakhstan, in nine months of 2016 the GDP growth reached 0.4%. Sectors of economy that experienced the highest growth included construction (6.9%), agriculture (4.9%), and transport sector (4.0%).
PHYSICAL AND HUMAN RESOURCES
Kazakhstan is the leading country in the world for uranium production volumes with 35% of global production, and it has the world's second biggest uranium reserves after Australia.
Oil and gas
Oil and gas is the leading economic sector. In 2000, Kazakhstan produced 35,252,000 metric tons of oil (700,000 barrels per day), a 17.4% increase over 1999's 30,025,000 tons. It exported 28,883,000 tons of oil in 2000, up 38.8% from 20,813,000 tons in 1999. Production in 2001 has been growing at roughly 20%, on target to meet the government's forecast of 40,100,000 tons of oil (800,000 barrels per day). In 2000, production reached 11.5 km³ of natural gas, up from 8.2 km³ in 1999.
Kazakhstan has the potential to be a world-class oil exporter in the medium term. The landmark foreign investment in Kazakhstan is the TengizChevroil joint venture, owned 50% by ChevronTexaco, 25% by ExxonMobil, 20% by KazMunaiGas of Kazakhstan, and 5% by LukArco

Moldova has no major mineral deposits and must import all of its supplies of coal, oil, and natural gas. Since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, energy shortages have contributed to sharp production declines. Moldova is seeking alternative energy sources and working to develop its own energy supplies including solar power, wind, and geothermal. The country is implementing a national energy conservation program.
In 1998, the Moldovan economy experienced an 8.6% decline due primarily to fallout from the financial crisis in Russia, by far its biggest export market. Continuing financial turmoil in Ukraine and Romania hurt Moldova's exports, which were needed to pay for imports of fuel from these countries. About one-fourth of Moldova's external debt burden, which peaked at 75% of GDP in 2000, is traceable to energy imports from Russia, which has on occasion suspended gas supplies, and from the Ukraine and Romania, both of which have on occasion suspended electricity power to Moldova. Further isolation occurred in 1999 when the IMF halted loans following the refusal of the Moldovan parliament to carry out privatization plans. By year's end, the Moldovan economy had contracted to roughly one-third of its 1989 level, with end of period inflation soaring to 45.8%. In 2000, the contraction was halted with real GDP growth of 2.2%, and in December, the government entered into a three-year arrangement with the IMF under its Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF). Although average inflation for 2000 was 31.3%, by the end of the year the rate had moderated to 18.5%. In 2001 and 2002, inflation has been reduced to single digits: 6.4% and 8%, respectively. Real growth was 6.1% in 2001 and peaked at 4.8% in 2002. The external debt burden had eased somewhat to 58% of GDP.
The economy continued to expand in the following years, registering GDP growth rates of 6.3% in 2003, and 7.3% in 2004; the estimates for 2005 place the growth at 6.0%. This increase was encouraged mainly by remittances send by Moldovans working abroad, and by a strong economic performance in Moldova's neighboring countries. However, the prolonged and deep economic recession that preceded this economic expansion put Moldova in a lagging position in comparison with all its neighbors.
Today, Moldova still is one of Europe's poorest economies. The GDP per capita was only $717 in 2004, and the country's production capacity was reduced due to the exodus of working-age Moldovans. The inflation rate was on the rise in 2004, reaching 12.4%, after falling to 5.2% in 2002. The fact that most of its industry is located in secessionist Transnistria and its dependence on trade with neighboring countries makes Moldova extremely vulnerable.
ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS COMPOSITION
The most recent estimates indicate that the population is 64.5% Moldovan/Romanian; 13.8% Ukrainian; 13% Russian; 2% Bulgarian; 1.5% Jewish; and 5.2% Gagauz or other. The Gagauz are a Christian Turkic minority that live primarily in the south. The government estimates the number of Roma to be about 11,600; however, nongovernmental organizations have placed the estimated Romani population at anywhere between 20,000 and 200,000.
Over 90% of the population belongs to one of two Orthodox denominations: the Moldovan Orthodox or the Bessarabian Church. About 3.6% of the population belongs to the Old Rite Russian Orthodox Church (Old Believers). Other Christian denominations include Roman Catholics, Baptists, Pentecostals, Seventh-Day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Mormons. The Jewish community has about 31,300 members. There are also communities of Muslims and Baha'is. Though there is no state religion, the Moldovan Orthodox Church has a privileged status with the state and the government imposes some restrictions on religious groups

2 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF SWEDEN, FIJI AND MOROCO
Historical Backgound For Morocco
The history of Morocco spans several millennia, succeeding the prehistoric cultures of Jebel Irhoud and Taforalt. It dates from the establishment of Mauretania and other ancient Berber kingdoms, to the establishment of the Moroccan state by the Idrisid dynasty followed by other Islamic dynasties, through to the colonial and independence periods.
Archaeological evidence has shown that the area was inhabited by hominids at least 400,000 years ago. The recorded history of Morocco begins with the Phoenician colonization of the Moroccan coast between the 8th and 6th centuries BC, although the area was inhabited by indigenous Berbers for some two thousand years before that. In the 5th century BC, the city-state of Carthage extended its hegemony over the coastal areas. They remained there until the late 3rd century BC, while the hinterland was ruled by indigenous monarchs. Indigenous Berber monarchs ruled the territory from the 3rd century BC until 40 AD, when it was annexed to the Roman Empire. In the mid-5th century AD, it was overrun by Vandals, before being recovered by the Byzantine Empire in the 6th century.
The region was conquered by the Muslims in the early 8th century AD, but broke away from the Umayyad Caliphate after the Berber Revolt of 740. Half a century later, the Moroccan state was established by the Idrisid dynasty.[6][7] Under the Almoravid and the Almohad dynasties, Morocco dominated the Maghreb and Muslim Spain. The Saadi dynasty ruled the country from 1549 to 1659, followed by the Alaouites from 1667 onwards, who have since been the ruling dynasty of Morocco.[8][9][10]
Historical Background For Sweden
Sweden and the Swedes are first referred to in written records by the Roman historian Tacitus, who, in his Germania (ad 98), mentions the Suiones, a people "mighty in ships and arms." These people, also referred to as Svear, conquered their southern neighbors, the Gotar, merged with them, and extended their dominion over most of what is now central and southern Sweden. In the 9th and 10th centuries when Vikings from the Norwegian homeland traveled west to Iceland, Greenland and farther afield to Newfoundland, Vikings from eastern Sweden raided areas southeastward across Russia to Constantinople. Archeologists and historians hold that the descendants of one of their chieftains, Rurik, founded the Kievan Russian state. Some other settled regions and place-names in various parts of Europe also show Swedish influence through rune-stones found across Eastern Europe.
In the Viking era, the Swedish kingdom took shape but was not very centralized. Political power became more centralized with the advent of Christianity, which came gradually between the 9th and 11th centuries. During the 12th century, the Swedish kingdom consolidated internally and under the guise of the crusades began to expand into the Baltic, incorporating Finland, between 1150 and 1300.

EXTERNAL DEPENDANCE
BRUNIE:
Until 1979, Brunei's foreign relations were managed by the UK government. After that, they were handled by the Brunei Diplomatic Service. After independence in 1984, this Service was upgraded to ministerial level and is now known as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
A turning point in relations with France was reached with the 1956 Overseas Reform Act (Loi Cadre), which transferred a number of powers from Paris to elected territorial governments in French West Africa and also removed the remaining voting inequalities. In 1958, Ivory Coast became an autonomous member of the French Community, which had replaced the French Union.
At the time of Ivory Coast's independence (1960), the country was easily French West Africa's most prosperous, contributing over 40% of the region's total exports. When Houphouët-Boigny became the first president, his government gave farmers good prices for their products to further stimulate production. This was further boosted by a significant immigration of workers from surrounding countries. Coffee production increased significantly, catapulting Ivory Coast into third place in world output (behind Brazil and Colombia). By 1979, the country was the world's leading producer of cocoa.
BELGUIM:
The Berlin Conference of 1885 ceded control of the Congo Free State to King Leopold II as his private possession. From around 1900 there was growing international concern for the extreme and savage treatment of the Congolese population under Leopold II, for whom the Congo was primarily a source of revenue from ivory and rubber production. Many Congolese were killed by Leopold's agents for failing to meet production quotas for ivory and rubber. It is estimated that nearly 10 million were killed during the Leopold period. In 1908, this outcry led the Belgian state to assume responsibility for the government of the colony, henceforth called the Belgian Congo. A Belgian commission in 1919 estimated that Congo's population was half what it was in 1879.

IVORY COAST:
Ethnic groups
Ethnic groups include Akan (42.1%), Voltaiques or Gur (17.6%), Northern Mandés (16.5%), Krous (11%), Southern Mandés (10%), and others (2.8%, including 30,000 Lebanese and 45,000 French; 2004). About 77% of the population is considered Ivorian.
Since Ivory Coast has established itself as one of the most successful West African nations, about 20% of the population (about 3.4 million) consists of workers from neighbouring Liberia, Burkina Faso, and Guinea.
About 4% of the population is of non-African ancestry. Many are French, Lebanese, Vietnamese and Spanish citizens, as well as Protestant missionaries from the United States and Canada. In November 2004, around 10,000 French and other foreign nationals evacuated Ivory Coast due to attacks from progovernment youth militias. Aside from French nationals, native-born descendants of French settlers who arrived during the country's colonial period are present.

GDP (PPP) 2016 estimate
• Total
$508.598 billion (38th)
• Per capita
$44,881 (20th)
GDP (nominal)2016 estimate
• Total
$470.179 billion (23rd)
• Per capita
$41,491

BELGIUM:
Belgium's strongly globalized econom and its transport infrastructure are integrated with the rest of Europe. Its location at the heart of a highly industrialized region helped make it the world's 15th largest trading nation in 2007. The economy is characterized by a highly productive work force, high GNP and high exports per capita Belgium's main imports are raw materials, machinery and equipment, chemicals, raw diamonds, pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, transportation equipment, and oil products. Its main exports are machinery and equipment, chemicals, finished diamonds, metals and metal products, and foodstuffs.
The Belgian economy is heavily service-oriented and shows a dual nature: a dynamic Flemish economy and a Walloon economy that lags behind. One of the founding members of the European Union, Belgium strongly supports an open economy and the extension of the powers of EU institutions to integrate member economies. Since 1922, through the Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union, Belgium and Luxembourg have been a single trade market with customs and currency union.
Belgium was the first continental European country to undergo the Industrial Revolution, in the early 19th centur Liège and Charleroi rapidly developed mining and steelmaking, which flourished until the mid-20th century in the Sambre and Meuse valley and made Belgium among one of the three most industrialized nations in the world from 1830 to 1910. However, by the 1840s the textile industry of Flanders was in severe crisis, and the region experienced famine from 1846 to 1850.
After World War II, Ghent and Antwerp experienced a rapid expansion of the chemical and petroleum industries. The 1973 and 1979 oil crises sent the economy into a recession; it was particularly prolonged in Wallonia, where the steel industry had become less competitive and experienced serious decline. In the 1980s and 1990s, the economic centre of the country continued to shift northwards and is now concentrated in the populous Flemish Diamond area.
By the end of the 1980s, Belgian macroeconomic policies had resulted in a cumulative government debt of about 120% of GDP. As of 2006, the budget was balanced and public debt was equal to 90.30% of GDP. In 2005 and 2006, real GDP growth rates of 1.5% and 3.0%, respectively, were slightly above the average for the Euro area. Unemployment rates of 8.4% in 2005 and 8.2% in 2006 were close to the area average. By October 2010, this had grown to 8.5%

SIZE AND INCOME LEVEL
BRUNIE:
Brunei's small, wealthy economy is a mixture of foreign and domesticentrepreneurship, government regulation, welfare measures, and village tradition. Crude oil and natural gas production account for about 90% of its GDP. About 167,000 barrels (26,600 m3) of oil are produced every day, making Brunei the fourth-largest producer of oil in Southeast Asia.It also produces approximately 25.3 million cubic metres (890×106 cu ft) of liquified natural gas per day, making Brunei the ninth-largest exporter of the substance in the world.
Substantial income from overseas investment supplements income from domestic production. Most of these investments are made by the Brunei Investment Agency, an arm of the Ministry of Finance. The government provides for all medical services, and subsidises rice and housing.
The national air carrier, Royal Brunei Airlines, is trying to develop Brunei as a modest hub for international travel between Europe and Australia/New Zealand. Central to this strategy is the position that the airline maintains at London Heathrow Airport. It holds a daily slot at the highly capacity-controlled airport, which it serves from Bandar Seri Begawan via Dubai. The airline also has services to major Asian destinations including Shanghai, Bangkok, Singapore and Manila.
Brunei depends heavily on imports such as agricultural products (e.g. rice, food products, livestock, etc.) motorcars and electrical products from other countries.Brunei imports 60% of its food requirements; of that amount, around 75% come from the ASEAN countries.
Brunei's leaders are very concerned that steadily increased integration in the world economy will undermine internal social cohesion. But, it has become a more prominent player by serving as chairman for the 2000 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. Leaders plan to upgrade the labour force, reduce unemployment, which was at 6.9% in 2014; strengthen the banking and tourism sectors, and, in general, broaden the economic base.
The government of Brunei has also promoted food self-sufficiency, especially in rice. Brunei renamed its Brunei Darussalam Rice 1 as Laila Rice during the launch of the "Padi Planting Towards Achieving Self-Sufficiency of Rice Production in Brunei Darussalam" ceremony at the Wasan padi fields in April 2009. In August 2009, the Royal Family reaped the first few Laila padi stalks, after years of attempts to boost local rice production, a goal first articulated about half a century ago. In July 2009 Brunei launched its national halal branding scheme, Brunei Halal, with a goal to export to foreign markets.
GDP (PPP) 2016 estimate
• Total
$33.376 billion[6] (116th)
• Per capita
$76,884[6] (5th)

IVORY COAST:
Also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially as the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire,is a sovereign state located in West Africa. Ivory Coast's political capital is Yamoussoukro, and its economic capital and largest city is the port city of Abidjan. Its bordering countries are Guinea and Liberia in the west, Burkina Fasoand Mali in the north, and Ghana in the east. The Gulf of Guinea (Atlantic Ocean) is located south of Ivory Coast.
Prior to its colonization by Europeans, Ivory Coast was home to several states, including Gyaaman, the Kong Empire, and Baoulé. Two Anyi kingdoms, Indénié and Sanwi, attempted to retain their separate identity through the French colonial period and after independence. Ivory Coast became a protectorate of France in 1843–1844 and was later formed into a French colony in 1893 amid the European scramble for Africa. Ivory Coast achieved independence in 1960, led by Félix Houphouët-Boigny, who ruled the country until 1993. The country maintained close political and economic association with its West African neighbors while at the same time maintaining close ties to the West, especially France. Since the end of Houphouët-Boigny's rule in 1993, Ivory Coast has experienced one coup d'état, in 1999, and two religion-grounded civil wars. The first took place between 2002 and 2007 and the second during 2010–2011. In 2000, the country adopted a new constitution.
Ivory Coast is a republic with a strong executive power invested in its President. Through the production of coffee and cocoa, the country was an economic powerhouse in West Africa during the 1960s and 1970s. Ivory Coast went through an economic crisis in the 1980s, contributing to a period of political and social turmoil. Changing into the 21st-century Ivorian economy is largely market-based and still relies heavily on agriculture, with smallholder cash-crop production being dominant.
The official language is French, with local indigenous languages also widely used, including Baoulé, Dioula, Dan, Anyin, and Cebaara Senufo. In total there are around 78 languages spoken in Ivory Coast. Popular religions include Christianity (primarily Roman Catholicism), Islam, and various indigenous religions.

HISTORIC BACKGROUND
BRUNEI:
Officially the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace (Malay: Negara Brunei Darussalam, is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its coastline with the South China Sea, the country is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak. It is separated into two parts by the Sarawak district of Limbang. Brunei is the only sovereign state completely on the island of Borneo; the remainder of the island's territory is divided between the nations of Malaysia and Indonesia. Brunei's population was 423,196 in 2016.
At the peak of the Bruneian Empire, Sultan Bolkiah (reigned 1485–1528) is alleged to have had control over most regions of Borneo, including modern-day Sarawak and Sabah, as well as the Sulu Archipelagooff the northeast tip of Borneo, Seludong (modern-day Manila), and the islands off the northwest tip of Borneo. The maritime state was visited by Spain's Magellan Expedition in 1521 and fought against Spain in the 1578 Castilian War.
During the 19th century, the Bruneian Empire began to decline. The Sultanate ceded Sarawak (Kuching) to James Brooke and installed him as the White Rajah, and it ceded Sabah to the British North Borneo Chartered Company. In 1888, Brunei became a British protectorate and was assigned a British residentas colonial manager in 1906. After the Japanese occupation during World War II, in 1959 a new constitution was written. In 1962, a small armed rebellion against the monarchy was ended with the help of the British.
Brunei gained its independence from the United Kingdom on 1 January 1984. Economic growth during the 1990s and 2000s, with the GDP increasing 56% from 1999 to 2008, transformed Brunei into an industrialised country. It has developed wealth from extensive petroleum and natural gas fields. Brunei has the second-highest Human Development Index among the Southeast Asian nations, after Singapore, and is classified as a "developed country".According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Brunei is ranked fifth in the world by gross domestic product per capita at purchasing power parity. The IMF estimated in 2011 that Brunei was one of two countries (the other being Libya) with a public debt at 0% of the national GDP. Forbes also ranks Brunei as the fifth-richest nation out of 182, based on its petroleum and natural gas fields.

POLITICAL STRUCTURE, POWER AND INTEREST GROUPS.
The Republic of Croatia is a unitary state using a parliamentary system of governance. With the collapse of the ruling communist party in SFR Yugoslavia, Croatia organized its first multi-party elections and adopted its present constitution in 1990. It declared independence on 8 October 1991 which led to the break-up of Yugoslavia and countries international recognition by the United Nations in 1992. Under its 1990 constitution, Croatia operated a semi-presidential system until 2000 when it switched to a parliamentary system. Government powers in Croatia are divided into legislative, executive and judiciary powers.
The President of the Republic (Croatian: Predsjednik Republike) is the head of state, directly elected to a five-year term and is limited by the Constitution to a maximum of two terms. In addition to being the commander in chief of the armed forces, the president has the procedural duty of appointing the prime minister with the consent of the parliament, and has some influence on foreign policy. The most recent presidential elections were held on 11 January 2015, when Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović won. She took the oath of office on 15 February 2015. The government is headed by the Prime Minister, who has four deputy prime ministers and 16 ministers in charge of particular sectors of activity. As the executive branch, it is responsible for proposing legislation and a budget, executing the laws, and guiding the foreign and internal policies of the republic. The government is seated at Banski dvori in Zagreb. Since 19 October 2016, Croatian Prime Minister has been Andrej Plenković.
The parliament (Sabor) is a unicameral legislative body. A second chamber, the House of Counties, set up in 1993 pursuant to the 1990 Constitution, was abolished in 2001. The number of Sabor members can vary from 100 to 160; they are all elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms. The sessions of the Sabor take place from 15 January to 15 July, and from 15 September to 15 December. The two largest political parties in Croatia are the Croatian Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party of Croatia

ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS COMPOSITION
PALAU.
About 70% of Palau's population is Palauan, which is an ethnicity that is often times considered to be Micronesian. The Micronesians are a combination of Melanesian, Polynesian, and Filipino, but the percentage of each of these groups varies. Although widely considered Micronesian, The Palauans have significant traces of Malay and Melanesian, but, like all Micronesians, have traces of Filipino and Polynesian as well. Additionally, many Palauans today have Japanese ancestry due to intermarriage between the two groups in the 1800s and 1900s.
In addition to the Palauans, there is a significant Filipino population in Palau, making up about 15% of the population. The ethnic Chinese make up about 5% of the population and the rest of the people are of multiple ethnicities, including other parts of Asia, Europe, and various regions in Micronesia.
Religion
About 40% of Palau's population is Roman Catholic and another quarter is Protestant, a divide that essentially represents the missionaries that converted many of the people in the past. An additional 10% of the population is Modekngei (or Ngara Modekngei), which is a monotheistic religion founded in Palau in the early 1900s. It contains aspects of Christianity as well as historic Palauan religions.

CROATIA:
Nearly everyone living in Croatia claims to be an ethnic Croat or Croatian. In much smaller numbers, there are also Serbs, Bosniaks, and to a lesser extent Slovenes, Hungarians, and Italians. From a genetic standpoint, the Croats, Serbs, and Bosniaks are nearly identical, however each group claims they are different ethnic groups; an argument primarily based on religious, cultural, and political differences rather than on genetics. The Croats, as well as the Serbs and Bosniaks, are a southern Slavic group and their closest ethnic relatives are the other Southern Slavic groups, including each other, the Slovenes, and the Bulgarians among smaller groups.
Religion
Generally, the defining difference between the Croats, Serbs, and Bosniaks is their religious affiliation. The Croats are Catholic, the Serbs Orthodox, and the Bosniaks Muslim. As the overwhelming majority of Croatia's population is Croat, most of the country is Catholic.
Catholicism is a Christian religion that is one of the first Christian religions (founded after the death of Jesus in about 30-33 AD). Catholicism believes that there is a single God who created everything, a savior, the son of God, Jesus Christ who is the forgiver of sins, and there is the Holy Spirit, which makes up the last part of the Holy Trinity. Catholics follow the teachings of the Bible, consisting of the Old and New Testaments. Much of the faith is based on the life and teachings of Jesus, which is found in the gospels (in the New Testament).

PHYSICAL AND HUMAN RESOURCES
PALAU:
The economically active population of Palau was 9,845 persons in 2000 (the latest year for which data was available). Recent data on the occupational breakdown of the workforce is not available. In 2000, the unemployment rate was estimated at 2.3%.
There are no specific provisions granting the right to strike or organize unions, but the issue has never come up and there were no organized trade unions.
There is no minimum age for employment, but children do not typically work, except to help out in small scale family enterprises such as fishing or agriculture. Education is compulsory until age 14, and this is enforced by the government.
Palau's first minimum wage law, passed in 1998, set a rate of $2.50 per hour. This was still in effect in 2002, and generally provides for a decent standard of living for a family. There are many foreign workers in Palau, and these workers often receive housing and food in addition to wages. There are no legally proscribed work hours, but most businesses are closed on Saturday or Sunday.
CROATIA:

According to the results of the 2001 Census, a total of 891,259 inhabitants lived in Eastern
Croatia, or 20,1% of the total population of the Republic of Croatia. In 2011, 805,998
inhabitants lived in Eastern Croatia (18,81% of the total Croatian population; the Census,
2011). This means that East Slavonia recorded depopulation of 9,56% in the ten-year census
period. This is a consequence of negative natural population growth and mechanical attrition.
The following table presents the basic data on population, households, and population density
of the counties in Eastern Croatia and in the Republic of Croatia in 2011.

CROATIA:
Currency
Croatian kuna (HRK, kn)
Fiscal year
Calendar year
Statistics
GDP
Increase$51.5 billion (nominal, 2017 est.)
Increase$98.3 billion (PPP, 2017 est.)
GDP rank
76th (nominal) / 83rd (PPP)
GDP growth
Increase3.3% (real, Q3 2017)
GDP per capita
$12,292 (nominal, 2017 est.)
$23,471 (PPP, 2017 est.)
GDP by sector
agriculture: 4.3%; industry: 26.7%; services: 69.1% (2015 est.)
GDP by component
Private consumption: 60.6%; Public consumption: 20.0%; Investments: 19.3% (2013)
Inflation (CPI)
1.4% (October 2017)
Population below poverty line
19.9% (2016)
Adriatic Croatia 15.8% (2016)
Continental Croatia 21.9% (2016)
Gini coefficient
Positive decrease29.7 (2016)
Human Development Index
Increase0.827 (2015)
Labor force
1.642,474 (2015)
Labour force by occupation
agriculture: 1.9%; industry: 27.6%; services: 70.4% (2014)
Unemployment
Negative increase11.6% (October 2017)
Average gross salary
8,019 HRK / $1211, monthly (March 2017)
Average net salary
6,022 HRK / $909, monthly (March 2017)

ESTONIA:
Estonia officially the Republic of Estonia (Estonian: Eesti Vabariik), is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia (343 km), and to the east by Lake Peipus and Russia (338.6 km). Across the Baltic Sea lies Sweden in the west and Finland in the north. The territory of Estonia consists of a mainland and 2,222 islands in the Baltic Sea, covering 45,339 km2 (17,505 sq mi) of land and water, and is influenced by a humid continental climate. Ethnic Estonians are a Finnic people, sharing close cultural ties with their northern neighbour, Finland, and the official language, Estonian, is a Finno-Ugric language closely related to Finnish and the Sami languages, and distantly to Hungarian.
The territory of Estonia has been inhabited since at least 6500 BC, with Finno-Ugric speakers – the linguistic ancestors of modern Estonians – arriving no later than around 1800 BC. After centuries of successive German, Danish, Swedish, and Russian rule, Estonians experienced a national awakening that culminated in independence from the Russian Empire towards the end of World War I on 24 February 1918. After successful democratic rule from 1918 to 1934, Estonia became increasingly autocratic during the Era of Silence. During World War II, Estonia was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940, then by Nazi Germany a year later and was again annexed by the Soviets in 1944, after which it was reconstituted as the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic. After the loss of its de facto independence, a government in exile was formed. In 1988, during the Singing Revolution, the Estonian Supreme Soviet issued the Estonian Sovereignty Declaration in defiance of Soviet rule, and independence was restored on 20 August 1991. Since restoration of its independence, Estonia has been a democratic unitary parliamentary republic divided into fifteen counties. Its capital and largest city is Tallinn. With a population of 1.3 million, it is one of the least-populous member states of the European Union, Eurozone, OECD, Schengen Area, and of NATO.
Estonia is a developed country with an advanced, high-income economy that as of 2011 is among the fastest growing in the EU. It ranks very high in the Human Development Index of the United Nations,] and it performs favourably in measurements of economic freedom, civil liberties and press freedom (3rd in the world in 2012 and 2007). The 2015 PISA test places Estonian high school students 3rd in the world, behind Singapore and Japan. Citizens of Estonia are provided with universal health care, free education and the longest-paid maternity leave in the OECD. Since independence the country has rapidly developed its IT sector, becoming one of the world's most digitally-advanced societies. In 2005 Estonia became the first nation to hold elections over the Internet, and in 2014 the first nation to provide e-residency.

PALAU:
The Republic of Palau became an independent nation on October 1, 1994 in part with the
implementation of the Compact of Free Association (COFA) between Palau and the United States of
America. On December 4, 1994 Palau became a member to the United Nations.
Since Palau’s independence in 1994, many aspects of the Barbados Programme of Action (BPoA)
have been implemented. Nonetheless, there is a need for greater awareness raising and ownership of
the BPoA, as well as greater political commitment to implementation at the national and regional
levels.
Palau is on the brink of rapid large-scale development. The “Compact Road,” a 53-mile road project,
is currently under construction to circumnavigate the island of Babeldaob, (Palau’s largest island) and
is scheduled to be completed in 2005. This road project is the largest development project in
Micronesian history and is expected to bring many social and environmental changes.
Small IslandDeveloping States (SIDS) face particular constraints and challenges in the sustainable
development process as a result of their social, economic and environmental vulnerabilities. The
issues faced by the Republic of Palau range from cultural inundation by outside influences (both
through the close association with the United States, as well as close proximity to Asia) to geographic
isolation and small population size. The latter two create diseconomies of scale, which in many ways,
impact the nation’s economic development potential. Environmental vulnerability in Palau is high due
to diverse, but limited natural resources and fragile ecosystems that must withstand the pressures of a
rapidly growing population, an increasing tourism industry and the expected rapid and large-scale
development of Palau’s largest island, Babeldaob.
In short, Palau’s greatest challenge in sustainable development is to assure that high-quality
environmental planning accompanies economic development planning and that economic
development is pursued through a shared vision that takes into account the social and cultural needs
of the Palauan people.

locations across the country. Alverca, Covilhã, Évoraa and Ponte de Sor are the main centres of the Portuguese aerospace industry, which is led by Brazil-based company Embraer and the Portuguese company OGMA. Following the turn of the 21st century, many major biotechnology and information technology industries have been founded, and are concentrated in the metropolitan areas of Lisbon, Porto, Braga, Coimbra and Aveiro
EXTERNAL DEPENDENCE
A member state of the United Nations since 1955, Portugal is also a founding member of NATO (1949), OECD (1961) and EFTA (1960); it left the last in 1986 to join the European Economic Community, which became the European Union in 1993. In 1996 it co-founded the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), which seeks to foster closer economic and cultural ties between the world's Lusophone nations. In addition, Portugal is a full member of the Latin Union (1983) and the Organization of Ibero-American States (1949). It has a friendship alliance and dual citizenship treaty with its former colony, Brazil. Portugal and England (subsequently, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) share the world's oldest active military accord through their Anglo-Portuguese Alliance (Treaty of Windsor), which was signed in 1373.

POLITICAL STRUCTURE POWER AND INTEREST GROUPS
The Government is headed by the presidentially appointed Prime Minister, also including one or more Deputy Prime Ministers, Ministers, Secretaries of State and Under-Secretaries of State.
The Government is both the organ of sovereignty that conducts the general politics of the country and the superior body of the public administration.
It has essentially Executive powers, but has also limited Legislative powers. The Government can legislate about its own organization, about areas covered by legislative authorizations conceded by the Assembly of the Republic and about the specific regulation of generalist laws issued by the Assembly.
The Council of Ministers – under the presidency of the Prime Minister (or the President of Portugal at the latter's request) and the Ministers (may also include one or more Deputy Prime Ministers) – acts as the cabinet. Each government is required to define the broad outline of its policies in a programme, and present it to the Assembly for a mandatory period of debate. The failure of the Assembly to reject the government programme by an absolute majority of deputies confirms the cabinet in office.

POLITICAL STRUCTURE POWER AND INTEREST GROUPS
Gabon is a republic with a presidential form of government under the 1961 constitution (revised in 1975, rewritten in 1991, and revised in 2003). The president is elected by universal suffrage for a seven-year term; a 2003 constitutional amendment removed presidential term limits and facilitated a presidency for life. The president can appoint and dismiss the prime minister, the cabinet, and judges of the independent Supreme Court. The president also has other strong powers, such as authority to dissolve the National Assembly, declare a state of siege, delay legislation, and conduct referenda.
Gabon has a bicameral legislature with a National Assembly and Senate. The National Assembly has 120 deputies who are popularly elected for a 5-year term. The Senate is composed of 102 members who are elected by municipal councils and regional assemblies and serve for 6 years. The Senate was created in the 1990–1991 constitutional revision, although it was not brought into being until after the 1997 local elections. The President of the Senate is next in succession to the President.

INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE
Gabon’s industry is centered on petroleum, manganese mining, and timber processing. Most industrial establishments are located near Libreville and Port-Gentil. Virtually all industrial enterprises were established with government subsidies in the oil boom years of the 1970s. Timber-related concerns include five veneer plants and a large 50-year-old plywood factory in Port-Gentil, along with two other small plywood factories. Other industries include textile plants, cement factories, chemical plants, breweries, shipyards, and cigarette factories. Gabonese manufacturing is highly dependent on foreign inputs, and import costs rose significantly in 1994 when the CFA franc was devalued. Increased costs and oversized capacity have made the manufacturing sector less competitive and it mainly supplies the domestic market. The government has taken steps to privatize parastatal enterprises.
Because the Gabonese economy is dependent upon oil (crude oil accounts for over 80% of the country’s exports, 43% of GDP, and 65% of state revenue), it is subject to worldwide price fluctuations. Gabon is sub-Saharan Africa’s third-largest crude oil producer and exporter, although there are concerns that proven reserves are declining and production has declined as well. Thus the country has taken steps to diversify the economy, and to engage in further petroleum exploration. The country produced 240,000 barrels (38,000 m3) of oil per day in 2014, a decrease of 35% from the 1997 peak. Gabon’s proven oil reserves were estimated at 2.0 billion barrels (320×106 m3) in 2015, and its proven natural gas reserves were estimated at 1.0 trillion cubic feet (28 km3).
The Sogara oil refinery at Port-Gentil is the sole refinery in Gabon, built in 1968 by a consortium that included Total, Shell, Mobil, Texaco, Petrofina and Agip. Sogara (Societe Gabonaise de Raffinage) is owned by the government of Gabon (25%), Total (43.8%), Shell (17%), and Agip (2.5%). In 2012 Gabon signed an agreement with Samsung for the construction of a new refinery at Port-Gentil.

EXTERNAL DEPENDENCE
Since independence, Gabon has followed a nonaligned policy, advocating dialogue in international affairs and recognizing each side of divided countries. Gabon is a member of the United Nations (UN) and some of its specialized and related agencies, as well as of the World Bank; the IMF; the African Union (AU); the Central African Customs Union/Central African Economic and Monetary Community (UDEAC/CEMAC); EU/ACP association under the Lome Convention; the Communaute Financiere Africaine(CFA); the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC); the Nonaligned Movement; and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS/CEEAC), among others. In 1995, Gabon withdrew from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), rejoining in 2016. Gabon was elected to a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council for January 2010 through December 2011 and held the rotating presidency in March 2010.

GABON
CAPITAL: LIBREVILLE
CONTINENT: AFRICA
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
French explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza led his first mission to the Gabon-Congo area in 1875. He founded the town of Franceville, and was later colonial governor. Several Bantu groups lived in the area that is now Gabon when France officially occupied it in 1885.
In 1910, Gabon became one of the four territories of French Equatorial Africa, a federation that survived until 1959. In World War II, the Allies invaded Gabon in order to overthrow the pro-Vichy France colonial administration. The territories of French Equatorial Africa became independent on August 17, 1960. The first president of Gabon, elected in 1961, was Léon M'ba, with Omar Bongo Ondimba as his vice president.
SIZE
Gabon has a population of approximately 2 million, with 1.92% growth rate Historical and environmental factors caused Gabon's population to decline between 1900 and 1940. Gabon has one of the lowest population densities of any country in Africa, and the fourth highest Human Development Index in Sub-Saharan Africa. about a third of the Gabonese population lives in poverty.
INCOME LEVEL
Because of its potential to use abundant offshore oil reserves discovered in the 1970s to build a strong middle class, Gabon was once dubbed “central Africa’s little emirate”. Oil accounts for 60 percent of the country’s revenues. But with world prices sliding, forcing layoffs in the oil, Gabon rejoined the organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in July after more than 20years outside the cartel. It is OPEC’s smallest member, pumping 200,000 barrels per day. Gabon is the world’s second largest producer of manganese, and its vast forest provide 12 percent of global timber exports, including coveted tropical hardwoods

Gabon's oil revenues have given it a per capita GDP of $8,600, unusually high for the region. Per capita gross national income (GNI) in 2015 was estimated at $9,210(8,130 euros) by the world bank – about four times greater than in most sub-saharan African nations. But because of high income in equality about one-third of Gabon’s populations of 1.8 million people still live below the poverty line. Between 2010 and 2014, the economic growth rate was about six percent but it has fallen to 3.9 percent this year, according to a world Bank forecast, because of the slump in global oil prices

Tunisia has a sizable Christian community of around over 25,000 adherents, mainly Catholics (22,000) and to a lesser degree Protestants. Judaism is the country's third largest religion with 900 members. One-third of the Jewish population lives in and around the capital The constitution declares Islam as the official state religion and requires the President to be Muslim. Aside from the president, Tunisians enjoy a significant degree of religious freedom, a right enshrined and protected in its constitution, which guarantees the freedom of thoughts, beliefs and to practice one's religion

RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR
Tunisia runs a mixed economy
INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE
Manufacturing contributes roughly one-sixth of GDP and employs an equal proportion of the population. The development of manufacturing in Tunisia has historically encountered two major difficulties: raw material and power supplies are inadequate, and the domestic market is limited. Since independence was achieved in 1956, some notable and sometimes costly projects, such as the Menzel Bourguiba (Manzil Bū Ruqaybah) iron-smelting complex located near Bizerte, have been successfully established. In general, however, the manufacturing base has remained relatively small and overly concentrated on making clothes, textiles, leather goods, and food products. Tunisia’s industry became increasingly export-oriented during the 1970s, but it remained uncompetitive and overprotected and did not generate sufficient income. It also continued to be largely concentrated in wealthier coastal areas, despite government incentives to relocate to the country’s western and southern parts.
As a result of reforms, Tunisian manufacturing has become much more diversified, with new investments in the production and export of mechanical and electromechanical equipment, petroleum products, and chemicals. The textile sector still remains disproportionately large, however, and more than one-third of all manufacturing operations are located in Tunis alone. On the other hand, investment codes introduced in the late 1980s have attracted strong foreign interest, which has enhanced technology transfer, modernized the service and financial sectors, and aided export development.
Privatization has been a slower process. After an initial flurry of sales in the early 1990s, the pace slackened, and privatization seemed restricted to small, profitable enterprises such as textile factories. There have been renewed efforts to expand the private sector by transferring ownership of large, strategic companies, and activity has increased, particularly involving foreign interests.

EXTERNAL DEPENDENCE
It has an association agreement with the European Union; is a member of La Francophonie, the Union for the Mediterranean, the Arab Maghreb Union, the Arab League, the OIC,

Ben Ali and his family were accused of corruption and plundering the country's money. Economic liberalisation provided further opportunities for financial mismanagement, while corrupt members of the Trabelsi family, most notably in the cases of Imed Trabelsi and Belhassen Trabelsi, controlled much of the business sector in the country. The First Lady Leila Ben Ali was described as an "unabashed shopaholic" who used the state airplane to make frequent unofficial trips to Europe's fashion capitals. Tunisia refused a French request for the extradition of two of the President's nephews, from Leila's side, who were accused by the French State prosecutor of having stolen two mega-yachts from a French marina. Ben Ali's son-in-law Sakher El Materi was rumoured as being primed to eventually take over the country.
Independent human rights groups, such as Amnesty International, Freedom House, and Protection International, documented that basic human and political rights were not respected. The regime obstructed in any way possible the work of local human rights organizations. In 2008, in terms of Press freedom, Tunisia was ranked 143rd out of

SIZE
According to the CIA, as of 2017, Tunisia has a population of 11,403,800 inhabitants. The government has supported a successful family planning program that has reduced the population growth rate to just over 1% per annum, contributing to Tunisia's economic and social stability.
INCOME LEVEL
Tunisia is an export-oriented country in the process of liberalizing and privatizing an economy that, while averaging 5% GDP growth since the early 1990s.Tunisia has a diverse economy, ranging from agriculture, mining, manufacturing, and petroleum products, to tourism. In 2008 it had a GDP of US$41 billion (official exchange rates), or $82 billion (purchasing power parity).
The agricultural sector accounts for 11.6% of the GDP, industry 25.7%, and services 62.8%. The industrial sector is mainly made up of clothing and footwear manufacturing, production of car parts, and electric machinery. Although Tunisia managed an average 5% growth over the last decade it continues to suffer from a high unemployment especially among youth.
Tunisia was in 2009 ranked the most competitive economy in Africa and the 40th in the world by the World Economic Forum. Tunisia has managed to attract many international companies such as Airbus and Hewlett-Packard.
Tourism accounted for 7% of GDP and 370,000 jobs in 2009.

PHYSICAL AND HUMAN RESOURCES
Tunisia’s natural resources are relatively meagre. Until the discovery of petroleum, the principal mineral resource was phosphate; of this, one-third is exported, and the remainder is

Egypt
Over the last five years Egypt’s pattern of integration into world markets has undergone a deep reorientation towards the CAR region (Central Asia and Russia). The shift has taken place in a dynamic setting: it has not been the result of contraction in links with other countries but of a much stronger expansion in trade and finance with CAR economies. CAR economies, Egypt in particular, account for both most of Georgia’s foreign trade turnover and have become the major sources of FDI inflows
Togo
There is a labor code that protects workers from social injustice and abuse; however, there are 11 million citizens and only four million workers.That means four million people hustle and seven million people ride the flow.Togo citizens are given a free education, free healthcare, and a free home. Workers are protected by unions, and they are granted access to lawyers to file grievances against unfair labor practices. Food and utilities are subsidized. Children and the elderly are cared for through state programs. And the retirement age is low: for women it’s 60 and for men it’s 65.

Japan
From 1960 to 1973, Japan’s policy measures supported a shift of resources, including labor, from low-productivity toward high-productivity uses, especially export-oriented industries. Rapid and accelerated economic growth was reflected in the profound alteration of the sectoral composition of the work force.
Ethnic and religious composition
Egypt
Religions: Muslim 75 percent, Egyptian Orthodox 20 percent, other 5 percent. Most Egyptians are Sunni Muslims of the Hanafi school of law. Shamanism and tribal religions still exert a strong influence in Egypt. The Egyptian population is largely Egyptian Orthodox. The Georgia’s consider themselves Sunni Muslim but do not have strong ties to Islam. They celebrate the Islamic holidays but do not follow daily Islamic practices. Many areas were not converted to Islam until the eighteenth century, and even then it was by the mystical Sufi branch, who integrated local shamanistic practices with their religion. Ethnic Egypt and Uzbeks are primarily Muslims.
Togo
Togo mostly consists of people of that are ethnically European (primarily Spanish). In addition to this group of ethnic Europeans, another quarter of the population is "mestizo," which is a combination of ethnic American Indians and Europeans. Another 10% of the population is of African descent, many of whose ancestors were brought to the Caribbean with the slave trade. Among these people, their ethnic variation can be significant as the About 85% of the people of Togo are Roman Catholic although few of these people regularly practice the religion. Protestant groups, Jehovah's Witnesses and Jews are also present, but again few people are practicing, partially due to the government discouraging the practice of religion.

Japan
Japan's population was remarkably homogeneous and had been so for all of its history. This lack of ethnic variety helped it become the first unified nation-state in Western Europe. For centuries .Japanese had virtually no ethnic, tribal, racial, religious, or cultural minorities. Almost all the people of Japan spoke the national language, almost all were Roman Catholic, and almost all identified with Japan culture and the nation of Japan.

In 2015 largest companies of the Czech Republic by revenue were automobile manufacturer Škoda Auto, utility company ČEZ Group, conglomerate Agrofert, energy trading company RWE Supply & Trading CZ and electronics manufacturer Foxconn CZ.[104] Other Czech transportation companies include: Škoda Transportation (tramways, trolleybuses, metro), Tatra (the third oldest car maker in the world), Karosa (buses), Aero Vodochody (airplanes) and Jawa Moto (motorcycles). Škoda Auto is one of the largest car manufacturers in Central Europe. In 2014, it sold a record number of 1,037,000 cars and said it aimed to double sales by 2018.
The Czech economy gets a substantial income from tourism. Prague is the fifth most visited city in Europe after London, Paris, Istanbul and Rome. In 2001, the total earnings from tourism reached 118 billion CZK, making up 5.5% of GNP and 9% of overall export earnings. The industry employs more than 110,000 people – over 1% of the population.

The president is a formal head of state with limited and specific powers, most importantly to return bills to the parliament, appoint members to the board of the Czech National Bank, nominate constitutional court judges for the Senate's approval and dissolve the Chamber of Deputies under certain special and unusual circumstances. The president and vice president of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President of the Republic. He also appoints the prime minister, as well the other members of the cabinet on a proposal by the prime minister. From 1993 until 2012, the President of the Czech Republic was selected by a joint session of the parliament for a five-year term, with no more than two consecutive terms (2x Václav Havel, 2x Václav Klaus). Since 2013 the presidential election is direct. MilošZeman was the first directly elected Czech President.
The Government of the Czech Republic's exercise of executive power derives from the Constitution. The members of the government are the Prime Minister, Deputy ministers and other ministers. The Government is responsible to the Chamber of Deputies.
The Prime Minister is the head of government and wields considerable powers, such as the right to set the agenda for most foreign and domestic policy and choose government ministers. The current Prime Minister of the Czech Republic is Andrej Babiš, serving since 6 December 2017 as 12th Prime Minister.The members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected for a four-year term by proportional representation, with a 5% election threshold. There are 14 voting districts, identical to the country's administrative regions. The Chamber of Deputies, the successor to the Czech National Council, has the powers and responsibilities of the now defunct federal parliament of the former Czechoslovakia.
The members of the Senate are elected in single-seat constituencies by two-round runoff voting for a six-year term, with one-third elected every even year in the autumn. The first election was in 1996, for differing terms. This arrangement is modeled on the U.S. Senate, but each constituency is roughly the same size and the voting system used is a two-round runoff. The Senate is unpopular among the public and suffers from low election turnout. Since 2000, the Czech Republic has been divided into thirteen regions and the capital city of Prague. Every region has its own elected regional assembly (a regional governor). In Prague, the assembly and presidential powers are executed by the city council and the mayor.
The older seventy-six districts (okresy, singular okres) including three "statutory cities" (without Prague, which had special status) lost most of their importance in 1999 in an administrative reform; they remain as territorial divisions and seats of various branches of state administration.

Agriculture in Chile encompasses a wide range of different activities due to its particular geography, climate and geology and human factors. Historically agriculture is one of the bases of Chile's economy, now agriculture and allied sectors like forestry, logging and fishing accounts only for 4.9% of the GDP as of 2007 and employed 13.6% of the country's labor force. Agriculture in Chile encompasses a wide range of different activities due to its particular geography, climate and geology and human factors. Historically agriculture is one of the bases of Chile's economy, now agriculture and allied sectors like forestry, logging and fishing accounts only for 4.9% of the GDP as of 2007 and employed 13.6% of the country's labor force.
DEVELOPED COUNTRY
BRIEF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF CZECH REPUBLIC
The Czech Republic also known as Czechia. Czech: is a landlockednation state in Central Europe. The Czech state was formed in the late 9th century as the Duchy of Bohemia under the Great Moravian Empire. After the fall of the Empire in 907, the centre of power transferred from Moravia to Bohemia under the Přemyslid dynasty. In 1002, the duchy was formally recognized as part of the Holy Roman Empire, becoming the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198 and reaching its greatest territorial extent in the 14th century. Besides Bohemia itself, the king of Bohemia ruled the lands of the Bohemian Crown, he had a vote in the election of the Holy Roman Emperor, and Prague was the imperial seat in periods between the 14th and 17th century. In the Hussite wars of the 15th century driven by the ProtestantBohemian Reformation, the kingdom faced economic embargoes and defeated five consecutive crusades proclaimed by the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church.
Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the whole Crown of Bohemia was gradually integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy alongside the Archduchy of Austria and the Kingdom of Hungary. The Protestant Bohemian Revolt (1618–20) against the Catholic Habsburgs led to the Thirty Years' War. After the Battle of the White Mountain, the Habsburgs consolidated their rule, eradicated Protestantism and reimposed Roman Catholicism, and also adopted a policy of gradual Germanization. With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the Bohemian Kingdom became part of the Austrian Empire and the Czech language experienced a revival as a consequence of widespread romantic nationalism. In the 19th century, the Czech lands became the industrial powerhouse of the monarchy and were subsequently the core of the Republic of Czechoslovakia, which was formed in 1918 following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after World War I.

. In addition to tourism, energy and agriculture are considered two distinct pillars of the economy. Only 20% of Montenegro’s hydro potential is utilized. Montenegro plans to become a net energy exporter, and the construction of an underwater cable to Italy, which will be completed by 2018, will help meet its goal.
Montenegro uses the euro as its domestic currency, though it is not an official member of the euro zone. In January 2007, Montenegro joined the World Bank and IMF, and in December 2011, the WTO. Montenegro began negotiations to join the EU in 2012, having met the conditions set down by the European Council, which called on Montenegro to take steps to fight corruption and organized crime.
The government recognizes the need to remove impediments in order to remain competitive and open the economy to foreign investors. The biggest foreign investors in Montenegro are Russia, Italy, Cyprus, Denmark, Hungary and Serbia. Net foreign direct investment in 2016 reached $755 million and investment per capita is one of the highest in Europe.
Montenegro is currently planning major overhauls of its road and rail networks, and possible expansions of its air transportation system. In 2014, the Government of Montenegro selected two Chinese companies to construct a 41 km-long section of the country’s highway system. Construction will cost around $1.1 billion. Cheaper borrowing costs have stimulated Montenegro’s growing debt, which currently sits at 65.9% of GDP. Montenegro first instituted a value-added tax (VAT) in April 2003, and introduced differentiated VAT rates of 17% and 7% (for tourism) in January 2006. In May 2013, the Montenegrin Government raised the higher level VAT rate to 19%. Montenegro total exports is $370.2 million and imports is $1.982 billion. The exchange rate is 0.9214 per dollar.
CHILE
The Central Bank of Chile in Santiago serves as the central bank for the country. The Chilean currency is the Chilean peso (CLP). Chile is one of South America's most stable and prosperous nations, leading Latin American nations in human development, competitiveness, income per capita, globalization, economic freedom, and low perception of corruption. Since July 2013, Chile is considered by the World Bank as a "high-income economy".
Chile has the highest degree of economic freedom in South America (ranking 7th worldwide), owing to its independent and efficient judicial system and prudent public finance management. In May 2010 Chile became the first South American country to join the OECD.In 2006, Chile became the country with the highest nominal GDP per capita in Latin America.Copper mining makes up 20% of Chilean GDP and 60% of exports. Escondida is the largest copper mine in the world, producing over 5% of global supplies. Overall, Chile produces a third of the world’s copper. Codelco, the state mining firm, competes with private ones.

The Congress of Chile has a 38-seat Senate and a 120-member Chamber of Deputies. Senators serve for eight years with staggered terms, while deputies are elected every 4 years. The last congressional elections were held on 17 November 2013, concurrently with the presidential election. The current Senate has a 21–15 split in favor of the governing coalition and 2 independents. The current lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, contains 67 members of the governing center-left coalition, 48 from the center-right opposition and 5 from small parties or independents. The Congress is located in the port city of Valparaíso, about 140 kilometres (87 miles) west of the capital, Santiago.
Chile's congressional elections are governed by a binomial system that, for the most part, rewards the two largest representations equally, often regardless of their relative popular support. Parties are thus forced to form wide coalitions and, historically, the two largest coalitions (Concertación and Alianza) split most of the seats. Only if the leading coalition ticket out-polls the second place coalition by a margin of more than 2-to-1 does the winning coalition gain both seats, which tends to lock the legislature in a roughly 50-50 split.
Chile's judiciary is independent and includes a court of appeal, a system of military courts, a constitutional tribunal, and the Supreme Court of Chile. In June 2005, Chile completed a nationwide overhaul of its criminal justice system. The reform has replaced inquisitorial proceedings with an adversarial system more similar to that of the United States.
Chileans voted in the first round of presidential elections on 17 November 2013. None of the nine presidential candidates got more than 50 percent of the vote. As a result, the top two candidates, center-left Nueva Mayoría coalition's Michelle Bachelet and center-right Alianza coalition's Evelyn Matthei, competed in a run-off election on 15 December 2013, which Bachelet won. This was Chile's sixth presidential election since the end of the Pinochet era. All six have been judged free and fair. The president is constitutionally barred from serving consecutive terms.
Chile is divided into 15 regions, each headed by an intendant appointed by the president. The regions are further divided into provinces, with provincial governors also appointed by the president. Finally each province is divided into communeswhich are administered by municipalities, each with its own mayor and council elected for four-year terms. Each region is designated by a name and a Roman numeral, assigned from north to south. The only exception is the Santiago Metropolitan Region which is designated RM (RegiónMetropolitana). Two new regions were created in 2006 and became operative in October 2007; Los Ríos in the south (Region XIV), and Arica y Parinacota in the north (Region XV). The numbering scheme skipped Region XIII, usually assumed to be the Metropolitan Region before the 2006 reform. Aysen, Antofagasta, Araucania, Arica y Parinacota, Atacama, Biobio, Coquimbo, Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins, Los Lagos, Los Rios, Magallanes y de la AntarticaChilena, Maule, Region Metropolitana (Santiago), Tarapaca, Valparaiso

ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS COMPOSITION
MONTENEGRO
According to the 2003 census, Montenegro has 620,145 citizens. If the methodology used up to 1991 had been adopted in the 2003 census, Montenegro would officially have recorded 673,094 citizens. The results of the 2011 census show that Montenegro has 620,029 citizens.
Montenegro is multiethnic state in which no ethnic group forms a majority. Major ethnic groups include Montenegrins and Serbs, others are BosniaksAlbaniansand Croats. The number of "Montenegrins" and "Serbs" fluctuates widely from census to census due to changes in how people perceive, experience, or choose to express, their identity and ethnic affiliation. The official language in Montenegro is Montenegrin. Also, Serbian, Bosnian, Albanian and Croatian are recognized in usage. Montenegro has been historically at the crossroads of multiculturalism and over centuries this has shaped its unique form of co-existence between Muslim and Christian population.[68] Montenegrins have been, historically, members of the Serbian Orthodox Church(governed by the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral), and Serbian Orthodox Christianity is the most popular religion today in Montenegro.
CHILE
As of 2012, 66.6% of Chilean population over 15 years of age claimed to adhere to the Roman Catholic church, a decrease from the 70% reported in the 2002 census. In the same census of 2012, 17% of Chileans reported adherence to an Evangelical church ("Evangelical" in the census referred to all Christian denominations other than the Roman Catholic and Orthodox — Greek, Persian, Serbian, Ukrainian, and Armenian — churches, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Mormons, Seventh-day Adventists, and Jehovah's Witnesses: essentially, those denominations generally still termed "Protestant" in most English-speaking lands, although Adventism is often considered an Evangelical denomination as well). Approximately 90% of Evangelical Christians are Pentecostal. but Wesleyan, Lutheran, Anglican, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, other Reformed, Baptist, and Methodist churches also are present amongst Chilean Evangelical churches. Irreligious people, atheists, and agnostics account for around 12% of the population. With ethnic composition of white and non-indigenous 88.9%, Mapuche 9.1%, Aymara 0.7%, other indigenous groups 1% (includes Rapa Nui, LikanAntai, Quechua, Colla, Diaguita, Kawesqar, Yagan or Yamana), unspecified 0.3% and language as Spanish 99.5% (official), English 10.2%, indigenous 1% (includes Mapudungun, Aymara, Quechua, Rapa Nui), other 2.3%, unspecified 0.2%.

ECONOMY OVERVIEW
(SIZE AND INCOME LEVEL, RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS, INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE AND EXTERNAL DEPENDENCE)
NORWAY
Norwegians enjoy the second-highest GDP per-capita among European countries (after Luxembourg), and the sixth-highest GDP (PPP) per-capita in the world. Today, Norway ranks as the second-wealthiest country in the world in monetary value, with the largest capital reserve per capita of any nation. According to the CIA World Factbook, Norway is a net external creditor of debt. Norway maintained first place in the world in the UNDPHuman Development Index (HDI) for six consecutive years (2001–2006),and then reclaimed this position in 2009, through 2015.The standard of living in Norway is among the highest in the world. Foreign Policy magazine ranks Norway last in its Failed States Index for 2009, judging Norway to be the world's most well-functioning and stable country. The OECD ranks Norway fourth in the 2013 equalised Better Life Index and third in intergenerational earnings elasticity. Norway's exclusive economic zones.
The Norwegian economy is an example of a mixed economy, a prosperous capitalist welfare state and social democracy country featuring a combination of free market activity and large state ownership in certain key sectors. Public health care in Norway is free (after an annual charge of around 2000 kroner for those over 16), and parents have 46 weeks paid parental leave. The state income derived from natural resources includes a significant contribution from petroleum production. Norway has an unemployment rate of 4.8%, with 68% of the population aged 15–74 employed. People in the labour force are either employed or looking for work. 9.5% of the population aged 18–66 receive a disability pensionand 30% of the labour force are employed by the government, the highest in the OECD.The hourly productivity levels, as well as average hourly wages in Norway, are among the highest in the world.
The egalitarian values of Norwegian society have kept the wage difference between the lowest paid worker and the CEO of most companies as much less than in comparable western economies.This is also evident in Norway's low Gini coefficient.The state has large ownership positions in key industrial sectors, such as the strategic petroleum sector (Statoil), hydroelectric energy production (Statkraft), aluminium production (Norsk Hydro), the largest Norwegian bank (DNB), and telecommunication provider (Telenor). Through these big companies, the government controls approximately 30% of the stock values at the Oslo Stock Exchange. When non-listed companies are included, the state has even higher share in ownership (mainly from direct oil licence ownership). Norway is a major shipping nation and has the world's 6th largest merchant fleet, with 1,412 Norwegian-owned merchant vessels.

150 are elected directly from the 19 constituencies, and an additional 19 seats ("levelling seats") are allocated on a nationwide basis to make the representation in parliament correspond better with the popular vote for the political parties. A 4% election threshold is required for a party to gain levelling seats in Parliament. There are a total of 169 Members of Parliament.The Parliament of Norway, called the Stortinget (meaning Grand Assembly), ratifies national treaties developed by the executive branch. It can impeach members of the government if their acts are declared unconstitutional. If an indicted suspect is impeached, Parliament has the power to remove the person from office.The position of Prime Minister, Norway's head of government, is allocated to the Member of Parliament who can obtain the confidence of a majority in Parliament, usually the current leader of the largest political party or, more effectively, through a coalition of parties. A single party generally does not have sufficient political power in terms of the number of seats to form a government on its own. Norway has often been ruled by minority governments.
The Prime Minister nominates the Cabinet, traditionally drawn from members of the same political party or parties in the Storting, making up the government. The PM organises the executive government and exercises its power as vested by the Constitution. Norway has a state church, the Lutheran Church of Norway, which has in recent years gradually been granted more internal autonomy in day-to-day affairs, but which still has a special constitutional status. Formerly, the PM had to have more than half the members of Cabinet be members of the Church of Norway, meaning at least ten out of the 19 ministries. This rule was however removed in 2012. The issue of separation of church and state in Norway has been increasingly controversial, as many people believe it is time to change this, to reflect the growing diversity in the population. A part of this is the evolution of the public school subject Christianity, a required subject since 1739. Even the state's loss in a battle at the European Court of Human Rights at Strasbourg in 2007 did not settle the matter. As of 1 January 2017, the Church of Norway is a separate legal entity, and no longer a branch of the civil service.
Through the Council of State, a privy council presided over by the Monarch, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet meet at the Royal Palace and formally consult the Monarch. All government bills need the formal approval by the Monarch before and after introduction to Parliament. The Council reviews and approves all of the Monarch's actions as head of state. Although all government and parliamentary acts are decided beforehand, the privy council is an example of symbolic gesture the King retains.

DEVELOPED COUNTRY
BRIEF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF NORWAY
Norway officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a sovereign state and unitarymonarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula plus the remote island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard. The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the Kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land. Until 1814, the kingdom included the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. It also included Bohuslän until 1658, Jämtland and Härjedalen until 1645, Shetland and Orkney until 1468, and the Hebrides and Isle of Man until 1266.Norway has two official names: Norge in Bokmål and Noreg in Nynorsk. The English name Norway comes from the Old English word Norþweg mentioned in 880, meaning "northern way" or "way leading to the north", which is how the Anglo-Saxons referred to the coastline of atlantic Norway.The Anglo-Saxons of Britain also referred to the kingdom of Norway in 880 as Norðmanna land.
There is some disagreement about whether the native name of Norway originally had the same etymology as the English form. According to the traditional undisputed view, the first component was originally norðr, a cognate of English north, so the full name was Norðr vegr, "the way northwards", referring to the sailing route along the Norwegian coast, and contrasting with suðrvegar "southern way" (from Old Norsesuðr) for Germany, and austrvegr "eastern way" (from austr) for the Baltic.Norway flag description is red with a blue cross outlined in white that extends to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side in the style of the Dannebrog (Danish flag); the colors recall Norway's past political unions with Denmark (red and white) and Sweden (blue). With national anthem "Ja, vi elsker dette landet"" (Yes, We Love This Country) and national colours and symbols lion; national colors: red, white, blue.
PHYSICAL AND HUMAN RESOURCES
NORWAY
Norway comprises the western part of Scandinavia in Northern Europe. The rugged coastline, broken by huge fjords and thousands of islands, stretches 25,000 kilometres (16,000 mi) and 83,000 kilometres (52,000 mi). Norway shares a 1,619-kilometre (1,006 mi) land border with Sweden, 727 kilometres (452 mi) with Finland, and 196 kilometres (122 mi) with Russia to the east. To the north, west and south, Norway is bordered by the Barents Sea, the Norwegian Sea, the North Sea, and Skagerrak. The Scandinavian Mountains form much of the border with Sweden. Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometres (148,747 sq mi) and a population of 5,258,317 (as of January 2017). The country shares a long eastern border with Sweden (1,619 kmor 1,006 mi long). Norway is bordered by Finland and Russia to the north-east, and the Skagerrak strait to the south, with Denmark on the other side. Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea.

COSTA RICA
The country has been considered economically stable with moderate inflation, estimated at 2.6% in 2017, and moderately high growth in GDP, which increased from US$41.3 billion in 2011 to US$52.6 billion in 2015. The estimated GDP for 2017 is US$61.5 billion and the estimated GDP per capita (purchasing power parity) is US$12,382. The growing debt and budget deficit are the country's primary concerns.
That is a primary reason why the major credit rating agencies – Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch – have downgraded Costa Rica’s risk ratings. For example, Moody's Investors Service in early 2017 reduced the rating to Ba2 from Ba1, with a negative outlook due to the "rising government debt burden and persistently high fiscal deficit, which was 5.2% of GDP in 2016" and the "lack of political consensus to implement measures to reduce the fiscal deficit [which] will result in further pressure on the government's debt ratios".The country is currently debating major fiscal reform legislation to cut the budget deficits and stop the growth in debt,one of the highest in Latin America.
Many foreign companies (manufacturing and services) operate in Costa Rica's Free Trade Zones (FTZ) where they benefit from investment and tax incentives. Well over half of that type of investment has come from the U.S. According to the government, the zones supported over 82 thousand direct jobs and 43 thousand indirect jobs in 2015. Companies with facilities in the America Free Zone in Heredia, for example, include Intel, Dell, HP, Bayer, Bosch, DHL, IBM and Okay Industries.
Of the GDP, 5.5% is generated by agriculture, 18.6% by industry and 75.9% by services.(2016)Agriculture employs 12.9% of the labor force, industry 18.57%, services 69.02% (2016) For the region, its unemployment level is moderately high (8.2% in 2016, according to the IMF).Although 20.5% of the population lives below the poverty line (2017),Costa Rica has one of the highest standards of living in Central America.
High quality health care is provided by the government at low cost to the users. Housing is also very affordable. Costa Rica is recognized in Latin America for the quality of its educational system. Because of its educational system, Costa Rica has one of the highest literacy rates in Latin America, 97%.General Basic Education is mandatory and provided without cost to the user.A US government report confirms that the country has "historically placed a high priority on education and the creation of a skilled work force" but notes that the high school drop-out rate is increasing. As well, Costa Rica would benefit from more courses in languages such as English, Portuguese, Mandarin and French and also in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)

Costa Rica runs a presidential republic type of government with executive composed of chief of state: President Luis Guillermo SOLIS Rivera (since 8 May 2014); First Vice President Helio FALLAS Venega (since 8 May 2014); Second Vice President Ana Helena CHACON Echeverria (since 8 May 2014); note – the president is both chief of state and head of governmenthead of government: President Luis Guillermo SOLIS Rivera (since 8 May 2014); First Vice President Helio FALLAS Venegas (since 8 May 2014); Second Vice President Ana Helena CHACON Echeverria (since 8 May 2014)
cabinet: Cabinet selected by the president elections/appointments: president and vice presidents directly elected on the same ballot by modified majority popular vote (40% threshold) for a 4-year term (eligible for non-consecutive terms); election last held on 2 February 2014 with a runoff on 6 April 2014 (next to be held in February 2018).
Costa Rica is an active member of the United Nations and the Organization of American States. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the United Nations University of Peace are based in Costa Rica. It is also a member of many other international organizations related to human rights and democracy, such as the Community of Democracies.
ECONOMY OVERVIEW
(SIZE AND INCOME LEVEL, RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS, INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE AND EXTERNAL DEPENDENCE)
CROATIA
Croatia is classified as a high-income economy by the United Nations.[139]International Monetary Fund data projects that Croatian nominal GDP stands at $53.5 billion, or $12,863 per capita for year 2017, while purchasing power parity GDP stands at $100 billion, or $24,095 per capita. According to Eurostat data, Croatian PPS GDP per capita stood at 61% of the EU average in 2012.
Real GDP growth in 2007 was 6.0 per cent. The average net salary of a Croatian worker in January 2017 was 5,895 HRK per month, and the average gross salary was 7,911 HRK per month. As of February 2017, registered unemployment rate in Croatia was 15.3%.

COSTA RICA
Christianity is Costa Rica's predominant religion, with Roman Catholicism being the official state religion according to the 1949 Constitution, which at the same time guarantees freedom of religion. It is the only state in the Americas which established Roman Catholicism as its state religion; other such countries are microstates in Europe: Liechtenstein, Monaco, the Vatican City and Malta.The primary language spoken in Costa Rica is Spanish, which features characteristics distinct to the country, a form of Central American Spanish. Costa Rica is a linguistically diverse country and home to at least five living local indigenous languages spoken by the descendants of pre-Columbian peoples: Maléku, Cabécar, Bribri, Guaymí, and Buglere.white or mestizo 83.6%, mulato 6.7%, indigenous 2.4%, black of African descent 1.1%, other 1.1%, none 2.9%, unspecified 2.2%.
POLITICAL STRUCTURE, POWER, AND INTEREST GROUPS
CROATIA
The Republic of Croatia is a unitary state using a parliamentary system of governance. With the collapse of the ruling communist party in SFR Yugoslavia, Croatia organized its first multi-party elections and adopted its present constitution in 1990. It declared independence on 8 October 1991 which led to the break-up of Yugoslavia and countries international recognition by the United Nations in 1992. Under its 1990 constitution, Croatia operated a semi-presidential system until 2000 when it switched to a parliamentary system. Government powers in Croatia are divided into legislative, executive and judiciary powers.
The President of the Republic (Croatian: Predsjednik Republike) is the head of state, directly elected to a five-year term and is limited by the Constitution to a maximum of two terms. In addition to being the commander in chief of the armed forces, the president has the procedural duty of appointing the prime minister with the consent of the parliament, and has some influence on foreign policy. The parliament (Sabor) is a unicameral legislative body. A second chamber, the House of Counties, set up in 1993 pursuant to the 1990 Constitution, was abolished in 2001. The number of Sabor members can vary from 100 to 160; they are all elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms. The sessions of the Sabor take place from 15 January to 15 July, and from 15 September to 15 December.

The standard of living is relatively high. Land ownership is widespread. With flag description five horizontal bands of blue (top), white, red (double width), white, and blue, with the coat of arms in a white elliptical disk placed toward the hoist side of the red band; Costa Rica retained the earlier blue-white-blue flag of Central America until 1848 when, in response to revolutionary activity in Europe, it was decided to incorporate the French colors into the national flag and a central red stripe was added; today the blue color is said to stand for the sky, opportunity, and perseverance, white denotes peace, happiness, and wisdom, while red represents the blood shed for freedom, as well as the generosity and vibrancy of the people and national anthem "Himno Nacional de Costa Rica"" (National Anthem of Costa Rica) with national colours and symbols yiguirro (clay-colored robin); national colors: blue, white, red
PHYSICAL AND HUMAN RESOURCES
CROATIA
Croatia is located in Central and Southeast Europe, bordering Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the southeast, Montenegro to the southeast, the Adriatic Sea to the southwest and Slovenia to the northwest. It lies mostly between latitudes 42° and 47° N and longitudes 13° and 20° E. Part of the territory in the extreme south surrounding Dubrovnik is a practical exclave connected to the rest of the mainland by territorial waters, but separated on land by a short coastline strip belonging to Bosnia and Herzegovina around Neum with natural resources oil, some coal, bauxite, low-grade iron ore, calcium, gypsum, natural asphalt, silica, mica, clays, salt, hydropower. With its estimated population of 4,19 million in 2016, Croatia ranks 125th by population in the world. Its population density stands at 75.9 inhabitants per square kilometre. The overall life expectancy in Croatia at birth was 78 years in 2012.

THE STRUCTURAL DIVERSITY OF DIFFERENT ECONOMIC: COMPARE AND DISCUSS TWO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND A DEVELOPED COUNTRY (NICARAGUA, AZERBIAJAN AND SOUTH KOREA)

Comparison between developed and developing countries
Luxembourg Belarilus

Luxembourg Gabon

GDP (purchasing power parity) $1.69 trillion (2016 est.)
$1.64 trillion (2015 est.)
$1.589 trillion (2014 est.)
note: data are in 2016 dollars $297.1 billion (2016 est.)
$294.1 billion (2015 est.)
$289.9 billion (2014 est.)
note: data are in 2016 dollars
GDP – real growth rate 3.1% (2016 est.)
3.2% (2015 est.)
1.4% (2014 est.) 1% (2016 est.)
1.5% (2015 est.)
0.9% (2014 est.)
GDP – per capita (PPP) $36,500 (2016 est.)
$35,300 (2015 est.)
$34,200 (2014 est.)
note: data are in 2016 dollars $28,500 (2016 est.)
$28,300 (2015 est.)
$27,900 (2014 est.)
note: data are in 2016 dollars
GDP – composition by sector agriculture: 2.5%
industry: 22.4%
services: 75.1% (2016 est.) agriculture: 2.4%
industry: 21.9%
services: 75.9% (2016 est.)
Population below poverty line 21.1% (2012 est.) 19% (2015 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) -0.3% (2016 est.)
-0.6% (2015 est.) 0.8% (2016 est.)
0.5% (2015 est.)
Labor force 22.89 million (2016 est.) 5.167 million (2016 est.)
Labor force – by occupation agriculture: 4.2%
industry: 24%
services: 71.7% (2009) agriculture: 8.6%
industry: 23.9%
services: 67.5% (2014 est.)
Industries textiles and apparel (including footwear), food and beverages, metals and metal manufactures, chemicals, shipbuilding, automobiles, machine tools, tourism, clay and refractory products, footwear, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment textiles, clothing, footwear, wood and cork, paper and pulp, chemicals, fuels and lubricants, automobiles and auto parts, base metals, minerals, porcelain and ceramics, glassware, technology, telecommunications; dairy products, wine, other foodstuffs; ship construction and refurbishment; tourism, plastics, financial services, optics
GDP (purchasing power parity) $1.69 trillion (2016 est.)
$1.64 trillion (2015 est.)
$1.589 trillion (2014 est.)
note: data are in 2016 dollars $297.1 billion (2016 est.)
$294.1 billion (2015 est.)
$289.9 billion (2014 est.)
note: data are in 2016 dollars
GDP – real growth rate 3.1% (2016 est.)
3.2% (2015 est.)
1.4% (2014 est.) 1% (2016 est.)
1.5% (2015 est.)
0.9% (2014 est.)
GDP – per capita (PPP) $36,500 (2016 est.)
$35,300 (2015 est.)
$34,200 (2014 est.)
note: data are in 2016 dollars $28,500 (2016 est.)
$28,300 (2015 est.)
$27,900 (2014 est.)
note: data are in 2016 dollars
GDP – composition by sector agriculture: 2.5%
industry: 22.4%
services: 75.1% (2016 est.) agriculture: 2.4%
industry: 21.9%
services: 75.9% (2016 est.)
Population below poverty line 21.1% (2012 est.) 19% (2015 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) -0.3% (2016 est.)
-0.6% (2015 est.) 0.8% (2016 est.)
0.5% (2015 est.)
Labor force 22.89 million (2016 est.) 5.167 million (2016 est.)
Labor force – by occupation agriculture: 4.2%
industry: 24%
services: 71.7% (2009) agriculture: 8.6%
industry: 23.9%
services: 67.5% (2014 est.)
Industries textiles and apparel (including footwear), food and beverages, metals and metal manufactures, chemicals, shipbuilding, automobiles, machine tools, tourism, clay and refractory products, footwear, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment textiles, clothing, footwear, wood and cork, paper and pulp, chemicals, fuels and lubricants, automobiles and auto parts, base metals, minerals, porcelain and ceramics, glassware, technology, telecommunications; dairy products, wine, other foodstuffs; ship construction and refurbishment; tourism, plastics, financial services, optics

The enterprise sector officially comprises about 2,000 large, 800 medium-sized, and 11,300 small enterprises, as well as almost 245,000 registered individual entrepreneurs and more than 330,000 peasant farms (2010). Most of these enterprises are private. Women manage 21% of them and account for 33% of registered entrepreneurs. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) estimates the private sector share in Belarilus Republic’s GDP at 75%, the highest percentage for Central Asia. Official statistics put the share of the private sector in GDP at 86%, its share in investment at 80% and its share in employment at 85%. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are frequently the backbone of a vibrant private sector.

Gabon
State control of Gabon’s economy is both pervasive and inefficient, hampering any meaningful development of a job-creating private sector. As the largest source of employment, the bloated government sector soaks up much of the labor force. After decades without effective economic reform, the government has eased the rules on private employment in an effort to reshape the economy and improve efficiency.Gabon’s potential entrepreneurs have long been shackled by tight government control and institutional shortcomings. No courts are free of political interference, and private property is strictly regulated.
Luxembourg
In 1980 included a core of fifty nonfinancial enterprises, entirely government owned. This so-called public nonfinancial enterprise group included the Institute of State Participation, a holding company with investments in some seventy subsidiary enterprises; a number of state-owned entities manufacturing or selling goods and services grouped with nationalized enterprises for national accounts purposes (arms, agriculture, and public infrastructure, such as ports); and a large number of over 50-percent EPNF- Following the sweeping nationalizations of the mid-1970s, public enterprises became a major component of Luxembourg's consolidated public sector. Luxembourg's nationalized owned subsidiaries operating under private law. Altogether these public enterprises accounted for 25 percent of VA in GDP, 52 percent of GFCF, and 12 percent of Portugal's total employment.
Industrial structure of the three countries

Belarilus
Belarilus is a low-income country; it had a per capita gross national income (GNI) of $880 in 2010. It ranks as the second lowest in Europe and Central Asia, after Tajikistan. In 2008, almost one in three people was living in poverty in Belarilus (31.7%). As a result many Belarilus, predominantly men, have emigrated to Russia and Belarilus in search of better economic opportunities. An estimated 800,000 Belarilus work abroad, sending home remittances that account for almost 15% of the country's GDP.
Gabon
Gabon receives almost 100,000 barrels of oil a day from venezuela.The easing of diplomatic hostilities between the United States and Gabon may work to lessen Gabon dependence on the Venezuelan regime, Ted Piccone notes. Russian President Vladimir Putin also recently wrote off $32 billion, 90 percent of the debt Gabon owed dating back to the Soviet era. the aggregated gross national income per capital of Gabon is officially $5,539, butthe take home salary for most Gabonians is around $20 a month. While there is little publicly available data regarding individual incomes, Richard Feinberg concludes, using a variety of indicators, that 40 percent of the Gabon labor force falls within a broadly defined middle class, though consumption remains depressed due to low government wages.
Luxembourg
After the revolution, the Luxembourg’s economy experienced a rapid, and often uncontrollable, expansion of public expenditures–both in the general government and in public enterprises. The lag in public sector receipts resulted in large public enterprise and general government deficits. In 1982 the borrowing requirement of the consolidated public sector reached 24 percent of GDP, its peak level; it was subsequently reduced to 9 percent of GDP in 1990.

They can be called upon to mediate between contending parties at moments of political crisis.[189] In 1979, Miguel D'Escoto Brockman, a priest who had embraced Liberation Theology, served in the government as foreign minister when the Sandinistas came to power. The largest denomination, and traditionally the religion of the majority, is Roman Catholic. Roman Catholicism came to Nicaragua in the 16th century with the Spanish conquest and remained, until 1939, the established faith.
The numbers of practicing Roman Catholics have been declining, while members of evangelical Protestant groups and Mormons have been rapidly growing since the 1990s. There are also strong Anglican and Moravian communities on the Caribbean coast in what constituted the sparsely populated Mosquito Coast colony, which came under British influence for nearly three centuries. British and German colonists brought Protestantism, respectively in forms of Anglicanism and the Moravian Church. Other kinds of Protestant and other Christian denominations were introduced to the rest of Nicaragua during the 19th century.

ETHNIC AND RELIGION
The majority of the Nicaraguan population is composed of mestizos, roughly 69%. 17% of Nicaragua's population is of unmixed European stock, with the majority of them being of Spanish descent, while others are of German, Italian, English, Turkish, Danish or French ancestry. About 9% of Nicaragua's population is black and mainly resides on the country's Caribbean (or Atlantic) coast. The black population is mostly composed of black English-speaking Creoles who are the descendants of escaped or shipwrecked slaves; many carry the name of Scottish settlers who brought slaves with them, such as Campbell, Gordon, Downs and Hodgeson.About 5% of Nicaraguans are Native Americans, descendants of the country's indigenous inhabitants. Nicaragua's pre-Columbian population consisted of many indigenous groups. In the western region, the Nahua people (also known as the Pipil-Nicaraos) were present along with other groups such as the Chorotega people. Nicaragua's central region and the Caribbean coast were inhabited by indigenous peoples who were mostly Chibcha-related groups that had migrated from South America, primarily what is today Colombia and Venezuela. These groups include the present-day Miskitos, Ramas and Sumos. In the 19th century, there was a substantial indigenous minority, but this group was also largely assimilated culturally into the mestizo majority. In the mid-1980s, the government divided the department of Zelaya Department into two autonomous regions and granted the black and indigenous people of this region limited self-rule.
Nicaragua has no official religion. Catholic bishops are expected to lend their authority to important state occasions, and their pronouncements on national issues are closely followed.

NICARAGUA
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Originally inhabited by various indigenous cultures since ancient times, the Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century. Nicaragua gained independence from Spain in 1821. The Mosquito Coast followed a different historical path, with the English colonizing it in the 17th century and later coming under the British rule, as well as some minor Spanish interludes in the 19th century. It became an autonomous territory of Nicaragua in 1860 and the northernmost part of it was later transferred to Honduras in 1960. Since its independence, Nicaragua has undergone periods of political unrest, dictatorship, and fiscal crisis—the most notable causes that led to the Nicaraguan Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s and the Contra War of the 1980s. Nicaragua is a representative democratic republic.The mixture of cultural traditions has generated substantial diversity in folklore, cuisine, music, and literature, particularly the latter given the literary contributions of Nicaraguan poets and writers, such as Rubén Darío. Known as the "land of lakes and volcano, Nicaragua is also home to the second-largest rainforest of the Americas. The country has set a goal for itself to have 90% renewable energy by the year 2020. The biological diversity, warm tropical climate and active volcanoes make Nicaragua an increasingly popular tourist destination.

POLITICAL STRUCTURE
Politics of Nicaragua takes place in a framework of a presidentialrepresentative democratic republic, whereby the President of Nicaragua is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system.
In the late 1970s, the Sandinista National Liberation Front, led by Daniel Ortega, overthrew the authoritarian Somoza political dynasty. Ortega became de facto ruler of a provisional FSLN-led government before free and fair elections in 1990, 1996, and 2001. Ortega lost all of these elections but was finally elected to a five-year presidential term with 38 percent of the vote in 2006. Since then, he has been reelected twice and has engineered constitutional changes that may permit him to retain power indefinitely. Despite his revolutionary rhetoric, Ortega has governed fairly pragmatically, accepting billions in subsidized oil shipments from Venezuela while embracing the U.S.–Central America–Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement.

Ethnic and Region Composition
Azerbaijan is an overwhelmingly Muslim country. Estimates include 96.9% 93.4% of the population identifying as Muslim. Most are adherents of Shia branch (approximately 85% Shi'a according to Berkley Center, 2012); with a minority (15%) being Sunni
Muslim. Differences traditionally have not been defined sharply. Most Shi'a are adherents of orthodox IthnaAshari school of Shi'a Islam. Following many decades of Soviet atheist policy, religious affiliation is nominal in Azerbaijan and Muslim identity tends to be based more on culture and ethnicity than religion. Traditionally villages around Baku and Lenkoran region are considered stronghold of Shi'ism. In some northern regions, populated by Dagestani (Lezghian) people, Sunni Islam is dominant. Folk Islam is widely practiced but there is little evidence of an organized Sufi movement.
The rest of the population adheres to other faiths or are non-religious, although they are not officially represented. Other traditional religions or beliefs that are followed by many in the country are the Armenian Apostolic Church (in Nagorno-Karabakh ), the Russian Orthodox Church, and various other Christian denominations.

References
1. Jump up^ "Maltese sign language to be recognized as an official language of Malta". The Malta Independent.
2. ^ Jump up to:a b c d Census 2011. National Statistics Office, Malta
3. ^ Jump up to:a b Zammit, Andre (1986). "Valletta and the system of human settlements in the Maltese Islands". Ekistics. Athens Center of Ekistics. 53 (316/317): 89–95.JSTOR 43620704.
4. ^ Jump up to:a b "Estimated Population by Locality 31st March, 2014". Government of Malta. 16 May 2014. Archived from the original on 21 June 2015.
5. ^ Jump up to:a b c d "Malta". International Monetary Fund.
6. Jump up^ "Gini coefficient of equivalised disposable income (source: SILC)". Eurostat Data Explorer. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
7. Jump up^ "2016 Human Development Report". United Nations Development Programme. 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
8. Jump up^ Lesley, Anne Rose (15 April 2009). Frommer's Malta and Gozo Day by Day. John Wiley & Sons. p. 139. ISBN 0470746106.
9. Jump up^ Chapman, David; Cassar, Godwin (October 2004). "Valletta". Cities. 21 (5): 451–463.doi:10.1016/j.cities.2004.07.001.
10. ^ Jump up to:a b c Ashby, Thomas (1915). "Roman Malta". 5. Journal of Roman Studies: 23–80.doi:10.2307/296290. JSTOR 296290. Archived from the original on 5 November 2016.
11. Jump up^ Bonanno, Anthony (ed.). Malta and Sicily: Miscellaneous research projects (PDF). Palermo: Officina di Studi Medievali. ISBN 8888615830.

MALTA
(/ˈmɒltə/ ( listen); Maltese: [ˈmɐltɐ]), officially known as the Republic of Malta (Maltese: Repubblika ta' Malta), is a Southern European island country consisting of an archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea.[9] It lies 80 km (50 mi) south of Italy, 284 km (176 mi) east of Tunisia,[10] and 333 km (207 mi) north of Libya.[11] The country covers just over 316 km2 (122 sq mi),[3] with a population of just under 450,000,[4] making it one of the world's smallest[12][13][14] and most densely populated countries. The capital of Malta is Valletta, which at 0.8 km2, is the smallest national capital in the European Union by area.[15] Malta has two official languages which are Maltese and English. However, the Maltese language is also regarded as the national language of the island.
Malta's location in the middle of the Mediterranean[16] has historically given it great strategic importance as a naval base, and a succession of powers, including the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Sicilians, Spanish,Knights of St. John, French, and British have ruled the islands.[17]
King George VI of the United Kingdom awarded the George Cross to Malta in 1942 for the then British colony's bravery in theSecond World War.[18] The George Cross continues to appear on Malta's national flag.[19] Under the Malta Independence Act, passed by the British Parliament in 1964, Malta gained independence from the United Kingdom as an independent sovereignCommonwealth realm, officially known from 1964 to 1974 as the State of Malta, with Elizabeth II as its head of state.[20] The country became a republic in 1974, and although no longer a Commonwealth realm, remains a member state of the Commonwealth of Nations. Malta was admitted to the United Nations in 1964 and to the European Union in 2004; in 2008, it became part of theEurozone.

Civil War
On January 18, 1861, Georgia seceded from the Union, keeping the name "State of Georgia" and joining the newly formed Confederacy in February. White solidarity was strong in 1861-63, as the planters in the Black Belt formed a common cause with upcountry yeomen farmers in defense of the Confederacy against the Yankees.[28] However disillusionment set in by 1863, with class tensions becoming more serious, with food riots, desertions, and growing Unionist activity in the northern mountain region.[29]Approximately 5,000 Georgians served in the union army in units including the 1st Georgia Infantry Battalion, the 1st Alabama Cavalry Regiment, and a number of East Tennessean regiments.[30] Governor Joseph E. Brown tried to divert attention by blaming the Confederate officials in Richmond, especially President Jefferson Davis, and insisting that many Georgia troops be kept at home.[31] Brown was by the Augusta Chronicle and Sentinel, an influential weekly newspaper that repeatedly attacked the Davis administration, especially after the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus on 15 February 1864.[32]

Military history[edit]
Georgia sent one hundred thousand soldiers to the Confederacy, mostly to the armies in Virginia.
The first major battle in Georgia was a Confederate victory at the Battle of Chickamauga in 1863. It was the last major Confederate victory in the west. Following President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of January 1863, slaves began to leave plantations to join Union lines and gain freedom. In 1864, William T. Sherman's armies invaded Georgia as part of the Atlanta Campaign. Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston fought a series of

Following a series of land scandals, Georgia ceded its claims in 1802, fixing its present western boundary. In 1804, the federal government added the cession to the Mississippi Territory.
The Treaty of 1816 fixed the present-day northern boundary between Georgia and South Carolina at the Chattooga River, proceeding northwest from the lake.[19] The Mississippi Territory was split on December 10, 1817, to form the U.S. state of Mississippi and the Alabama Territory for 2 years;[20] then in December 1819, the new state of Alabama became the western boundary of Georgia.

Land allocations[edit]
In 1829, gold was discovered in the north Georgia mountains, resulting in the Georgia Gold Rush, the second gold rush in U.S. history. A federal mint was established inDahlonega, Georgia, and continued to operate until 1861. During the early 1800s, Cherokee Indians owned their ancestral land, operated their own government with a written constitution, and did not recognize the authority of the state of Georgia. An influx of white settlers pressured the U.S. government to expel them. The dispute culminated in theIndian Removal Act of 1830, under which all eastern tribes were sent west to Indian reservations in present-day Oklahoma. In Worcester v. Georgia, the Supreme Court in 1832 ruled that states were not permitted to redraw the boundaries of Indian lands, but President Andrew Jackson and the state of Georgia ignored the ruling. In 1838, his successor, President Martin van Buren dispatched federal troops to round up the Cherokee and deport them west of the Mississippi. This forced relocation, beginning in White County, became known as the Trail of Tears and led to the death of over 4,000 Cherokees.

wrote Wright to Lord Dartmouth on September 16, 1775, "the whole Executive Power is Assumed by them, and the King's Governor remains little Else than Nominally so."
In February 1776, Wright fled to a British warship and the patriots controlled all of Georgia. The new Congress adopted "Rules and Regulations" on April 15, 1776, which can be considered the Constitution of 1776. (Along with the other 12 colonies, Georgia declared independence in 1776 when its delegates approved and signed the joint Declaration of Independence.) With that declaration, Georgia ceased to be a colony. It was a state with a weak chief executive, the "President and Commander-in-Chief," who was elected by the state Congress for a term of only six months. Archibald Bulloch, President of the two previous Congresses, was elected first President. He bent his efforts to mobilizing and training the militia. The Constitution of 1777 put power in the hands of the elected House of Assembly, which chose the governor; there was no senate and the franchise was open to nearly all white men.
The new state's exposed seaboard position made it a tempting target for the British Navy. Savannah was captured by British and Loyalist forces in 1778, along with some of its hinterland. Enslaved Africans and African Americans chose their independence by escaping to British lines, where they were promised freedom. About one-third of Georgia's 15,000 slaves escaped during the Revolution.[17]
The patriots moved to Augusta. At the Siege of Savannah in 1779, American and French troops (the latter including a company of free men of color from Saint-Domingue, who were mixed race) fought unsuccessfully to retake the city. During the final years of the American Revolution, Georgia had a functioning Loyalist colonial government along the coast. Together with New York City, it was the last Loyalist bastion.
An early historian reported:

staple cotton in the inland and upcountry. This stimulated the cotton boom in Georgia and much of the Deep South, promoting a cotton-based economy dependent on slave labor. Most of the whites, however, owned no slaves and tended their own small farms. Full suffrage for white men led to a highly competitive political system.
After the war, Georgians endured a period of economic hardship. Reconstruction was a period of military occupation and biracial Radical Republican rule that established public education and welfare institutions, and instituted economic initiatives. Reconstruction ended in 1875 with the return of white Democratic rule. Black citizens lost most of their political power and became second class citizens in the Jim Crow era from the 1880s to 1964. The state was heavily rural with an economy still based on cotton and residents suffered in the Great Depression of the 1930s. The many training bases and munitions plants in World War II stimulated the economy. During the broad-based activism of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s, Georgia was the base for African-American leader Martin Luther King, Jr.. After 1950 the economy grew, with cotton becoming far less important. Atlanta became a major regional city and transportation hub, expanding into neighboring communities by the fast-growing suburbs. Georgia was part of the Solid South until 1964, when it voted for a Republican president. Democratic candidates continued to receive majority-white support in state and local elections until the 1990s, when the realignment of whites shifted to Republicans. Since 2000 the white majority has supported the Republican Party, which generally dominates politics in the 21st century.
Capitals
Georgia has had five different capitals in its history. The first was Savannah, the seat of government during British colonial rule, followed by Augusta, Louisville, Milledgeville, andAtlanta, the capital city from 1868 to the present day. The state legislature has gathered

ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS COMPOSITIN
The Slovak constitution guarantees freedom of religion. In 2011, 62.0% of Slovaks identified themselves as Roman Catholics, 8.9% as Protestants, 3.8% as Greek Catholics, 0.9% as Orthodox, 13.4% identified themselves as atheists or non-religious, and 10.6% did not answer the question about their belief. In 2004, about one third of the then church members regularly attended church services. The Slovak Greek Catholic Church is an Eastern rite sui iuris Catholic Church. The pre–World War II population of the country included an estimated 90,000 Jews (1.6% of the population). After the genocidal policies of the Nazi era, only about 2,300 Jews remain today (0.04% of the population).
In 2010, there were an estimated 5,000 Muslims in Slovakia representing less than 0.1% of the country's population. Slovakia is the last member state of the European Union without a mosque.

INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE
Slovakia is an attractive country for foreign investors mainly because of its low wages, low tax rates and well educated labour force. In recent years, Slovakia has been pursuing a policy of encouraging foreign investment. FDI inflow grew more than 600% from 2000 and cumulatively reached an all-time high of $17.3 billion in 2006, or around $22,000 per capita by the end of 2008.
In March 2008, the Ministry of Finance announced that Slovakia's economy is developed enough to stop being an aid receiver from the World Bank. Slovakia became an aid provider at the end of 2008.
Although Slovakia's GDP comes mainly from the tertiary (services) sector, the industrial sector also plays an important role within its economy. The main industry sectors are car manufacturing and electrical engineering. Since 2007, Slovakia has been the world's largest producer of cars per capita, with a total of 1.040.000 cars manufactured in the country in 2016 alone.
From electrical engineering companies, Foxconn has a factory at Nitra for LCD TV manufacturing, Samsung at Galanta for computer monitors and television sets manufacturing.
ESET is an IT security company from Bratislava with more than 1,000 employees worldwide at present.
PHYSICAL AND HUMAN RESOSURCES
According to the 2011 census, the majority of the inhabitants of Slovakia are Slovaks (80.7%). Hungarians are the largest ethnic minority (8.5%). Other ethnic groups include Roma (2%), Czechs(0.6%), Rusyns (0.6%) and others or unspecified (7.6%). Unofficial estimates on the Roma population are much higher, around 5.6%.
In 2007 Slovakia was estimated to have a total fertility rate of 1.33 (i.e., the average woman will have 1.33 children in her lifetime), which is significantly below the replacement level and is one of the lowest rates among EU countries.
The largest waves of Slovak emigration occurred in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In the 1990 US census, 1.8 million people self-identified as having Slovak ancestry.

See also: List of ancient cities in Thrace and Dacia, Odrysian state, Thracians § Archaic_period, Prehistory of the Balkans, Paleolithic Europe, and Neolithic Europe
The Thracians (Ancient Greek: Θρᾷκες, Latin: Thraci) were a group of Indo-European tribes inhabiting a large area in Central and Southeastern Europe.[5] They were bordered by the Scythians to the north, the Celts and the Illyrians to the west, the Ancient Greeks to the south and the Black Sea to the east. They spoke the Thracian language – a scarcely attested branch of the Indo-European language family. The study of Thracians and Thracian culture is known as Thracology.
Starting around 1200 BC, the western coast of Anatolia was heavily settled by Aeolian and Ionian Greeks. Numerous important cities were founded by these colonists, such as Miletus, Ephesus, Smyrna and Byzantium, the latter founded by Greek colonists fromMegara in 657 BC. All of Thrace, and the native Thracian peoples were conquered by Darius the Great in the late 6th century BC, and were re-subjugated into the empire in 492 BC following Mardonius' campaign during the First Persian invasion of Greece.[6] The territory of Thrace later became unified by the Odrysian kingdom, founded by Teres I,[7] probably after the Persian defeat in Greece.[8]
By the 5th century BC, the Thracian presence was pervasive enough to have made Herodotus[9] call them the second-most numerous people in the part of the world known by him (after the Indians), and potentially the most powerful, if not for their lack of unity. The Thracians in classical times were broken up into a large number of groups and tribes, though a number of powerful Thracian states were organized, such as the Odrysian kingdom of Thrace and the Dacian kingdom of Burebista. A type of soldier of this period called the Peltast probably originated in Thrace.

neighbouring peoples was the state of the Armenian Orontid dynasty, which included parts of eastern Turkey beginning in the 6th century BC, which became the Satrapy of Armenia under Achaemenid rule. Some of the satraps revolted periodically but did not pose a serious threat. In the 5th century BC, Darius I built the Royal Road, which linked the principal city of Susa with the west Anatolian city of Sardis.[3]Anatolia played a pivotal role in Achaemenid history. In the earliest 5th century BC, some of the Ionian cities under Persian rule revolted, which culminated into the Ionian Revolt. This revolt, after being easily suppressed by the Persian authority, laid the direct uplead for the Greco-Persian Wars, which turned out to be one of the most crucial wars in European history. After Achaemenid Persian rule, the Greek Alexander the Great finally wrested control of the whole region from Persia in successive battles, proving victorious over the Persian Darius III. After Alexander's death, his conquests were split amongst several of his trusted generals, but were under constant threat of invasion from both theGauls and other powerful rulers in Pergamon, Pontus, and Egypt. The Seleucid Empire, the largest of Alexander's territories, and which included Anatolia, became involved in a disastrous war with Rome culminating in the battles of Thermopylae and Magnesia. The resulting Treaty of Apamea in (188 BC) saw the Seleucids retreat from Anatolia. TheKingdom of Pergamum and the Republic of Rhodes, Rome's allies in the war, were granted the former Seleucid lands in Anatolia.
Roman control of Anatolia was strengthened by a 'hands off' approach by Rome, allowing local control to govern effectively and providing military protection. In the early 4th century, Constantine the Great established a new administrative centre at Constantinople, and by the end of the 4th century the Roman empire split into two parts, the Eastern part (Romania) with Constantinople as its capital, referred to by historians as the Byzantine Empire from the original name, Byzantium.[4]
Thrace[edit]

History of Turkey
The history of Turkey, understood as the history of the region now forming the territory of the Republic of Turkey, includes the history of both Anatolia (the Asian part of Turkey) and Eastern Thrace (the European part of Turkey).
For times predating the Ottoman period, a distinction must be made between the history of the Turkish peoples, and the history of the territories now forming the Republic of Turkey, essentially the histories of ancient Anatolia and Thrace.[1][2]
The name Turkey is derived from Middle Latin Turchia, i.e. the "land of the Turks", historically referring to an entirely different territory of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, which fell under the control of Turkic peoples in the early medieval period.
From the time when parts of what is now Turkey was conquered by Turks, the history of Turkey spans the medieval history of theSeljuk Empire, the medieval to modern history of the Ottoman Empire, and the history of the Republic of Turkey since the 1920s.
Anatolia and Thrace in antiquity
The earliest representations of culture in Anatolia were Stone Age artifacts. The remnants of Bronze Age civilizations such as the Hattian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Hittite peoples provide us with many examples of the daily lives of its citizens and their trade. After the fall of the Hittites, the new states of Phrygia and Lydia stood strong on the western coast as Greek civilization began to flourish. They, and all the rest of Anatolia were relatively soon after incorporated into the Achaemenid Persian Empire. As Persia grew in strength, their system of local government in Anatolia allowed many port cities to grow and to become wealthy. All of Anatolia got divided into various satrapies, ruled by satraps (governors) appointed by the central Persian rulers. The first state that was called Armenia by

Malaysia
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Malaysia is a federal constitutional monarchy located in Southeast Asia. It consists of thirteen states and three federal territories and has a total landmass of 330,803 square kilometers (127,720 sq mi) separated by the South China Sea into two similarly sized regions, Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia (Malaysian Borneo).
Malaysia has its origins in the Malay kingdoms present in the area which, from the 18th century, became subject to the British Empire. The first British territories were known as the Straits Settlements, whose establishment was followed by the Malay kingdoms becoming British protectorates. The territories on Peninsular Malaysia were first unified as the Malayan Union in 1946. Malaya was restructured as the Federation of Malaya in 1948, and achieved independence on 31 August 1957. Malaya united with North Borneo, Sarawak, and Singapore on 16 September 1963 to become Malaysia. Less than two years later in 1965, Singapore was expelled from the federation. The constitution grants freedom of religion but recognizes Islam as the established religion of the state. The government system is closely modelled on the Westminster parliamentary system and the legal system is based on common law. The head of state is the king, known as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. He is an elected monarch chosen from the hereditary rulers of the nine Malay states every five years. The head of government is the Prime Minister. The country official language is Bahasa Melayu or commonly known as Malay language. English remains as an active second language. English proficiency in Malaysia has been highly ranked as the second best in Asia after Singapore and 13th best in the world as of 2017.
Since its independence, Malaysia has had one of the best economic records in Asia, with its GDP growing at an average of 6.5% per annum for almost 50 years. The economy has traditionally been fuelled by its natural resources, but is expanding in the sectors of science, tourism, commerce and medical tourism. It is also one of the few developing countries to subsidize heavily on education and healthcare. Its citizens are entitled to free public education up to secondary education level and public tertiary education fees are subsidized as much as 90%. Basic healthcare services at government run clinics with prescription cost RM1. Disabled, senior citizens and public school students are entitled to free healthcare. Its healthcare services have been highly regarded as one the best in the world and the UN Development Program has called Malaysia healthcare system "a model to other developing countries".
Malaysia's unprecedented and recent rapid development has attracted millions of migrant workers from across Asia in the recent years. Today, Malaysia has a newly industrialized market economy, ranked 4th largest in Southeast Asia and 38th largest in the world. With a GDP per capita of $9,766 and an HDI of 0.78 currently, Malaysia is classified as an emerging economy by the World Bank. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) also classifies Malaysia as an emerging and developing country. It is a founding member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the East Asia Summit, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Malaysia is also a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Commonwealth of Nations, and the Non-Aligned Movement. In 2017, Malaysian citizens had visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 164 countries and territories, ranking the Malaysian passport 5th most powerful in the world.

Saint Lucia
Is a sovereign island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 617 km2 (238.23 sq mi) and reported a population of 165,595 in the 2010 census. Its capital is Castries.
The French were the island's first European settlers. They signed a treaty with the native Carib Indians in 1660. England took control of the island from 1663 to 1667. In ensuing years, it was at war with France 14 times, and rule of the island changed frequently (it was ruled seven times each by the French and British). In 1814, the British took definitive control of the island. Because it switched so often between British and French control, Saint Lucia was also known as the "Helen of the West Indies".
Representative government came about in 1840 (with universal suffrage from 1953). From 1958 to 1962, the island was a member of the Federation of the West Indies. On 22 February 1979, Saint Lucia became an independent state of the Commonwealth of Nations associated with the United Kingdom. Saint Lucia is a mixed jurisdiction, meaning that it has a legal system based in part on both the civil law and English common law.
HISTORY
In the mid-twentieth century, Saint Lucia joined the West Indies Federation (1958 – 1962) when the colony was dissolved. In 1967, Saint Lucia became one of the six members of the West Indies Associated States, with internal self-government. In 1979 it gained full independence under Sir John Compton of the conservative United Workers party (UWP), who served as prime minister from 1982 to 1996, after which he was succeeded by Vaughan Lewis.
Dr. Kenny Davis Anthony of the Labour Party was prime minister from 1997 to 2006. In 2006, the UWP, again led by Compton, won control of parliament. In May 2007, after Compton suffered a series of small strokes, Finance and External Affairs Minister Stephenson King became acting prime minister and succeeded Compton as prime minister when the latter died in September 2007. In November 2011, Anthony was re-elected as prime minister for a third time. In the June 2016 elections the UWP assumed power again, under Prime Minister Allen Chastanet.
PHYSICAL AND HUMAN RESOURCES
The volcanic island of Saint Lucia is more mountainous than most Caribbean islands, with the highest point being Mount Gimie, at 950 metres (3,120 feet) above sea level. Two other mountains, the Pitons, form the island's most famous landmark. They are located between Soufrière and Choiseul on the western side of the island. Saint Lucia is also one of the few islands in the world that contains a drive-in volcano.
The capital city of Saint Lucia is Castries (population 60,263) where 32.4% of the population lives. Major towns include Gros Islet, Soufrière, and Vieux Fort.
POLITICAL STRUCTURE
Saint Lucia is a Commonwealth realm. Queen Elizabeth II is the Head of State, represented on the island by a Governor-General. The prime minister is normally the head of the party commanding the support of the majority of the members of the House of Assembly, which has 17 seats. The other chamber of Parliament, the Senate, has 11 appointed members.
Saint Lucia is a two-party parliamentary democracy. Three political parties participated in the 6 June 2016 General Election. Allen Chastanet of the United Workers Party won eleven of the seventeen seats.

Physical and human resources
Azerbaijan inherited an extensive network of health facilities both in the
hospital and the ambulatory sector, and the excess capacity has been retained.
However, Azerbaijan also has a very low admission rate, which may indicate
access problems. Coupled with this and the overcapacity, there is a very low
bed occupancy rate, which has fluctuated around 25–30% since the late 1990s.
In recent years, the government has started to allocate increasing resources for
capital investment, primarily for the renovation or building of hospitals and for
new expensive diagnostic equipment. The health infrastructure in Azerbaijan
suffered significantly from a very low level of capital investment through the
1990s.
The number of doctors per capita has fallen since independence – most rapidly
in the late 1990s – and there has been a significant reduction in the number of
nurses per capita. The Ministry of Health has found it difficult to obtain the
right mix of medical specialties in the state sector and an adequate geographical
distribution of staff. Recruitment and retention of medical staff in rural areas
are long-standing issues, and the flourishing private sector in Baku has also
attracted many experienced health care professionals, thus draining the public
sector
Political Structure
Azerbaijan is a Presidential Republic; its constitution was adopted by
referendum on 12 November 1995. President Ilham Aliyev has headed the
executive branch since 31 October 2003, succeeding his father Heydar Aliyev,
who had been president since 1993. The president is elected by popular vote
for a five-year term; elections were last held on 15 October 2008 and saw
Ilham Aliyev re-elected for a second term. The head of the executive, currently
Prime Minister Artur Rasizade, is appointed by the president and confirmed
by the National Assembly (Milli Mejlis), as is the Cabinet of Ministers. The
National Assembly has 125 members elected for a five-year term; since reforms
in 2002, members are elected by a majority vote rather than by proportional
representation. This change has served to consolidate the position of the larger
parties, and in the most recent parliamentary elections, 200 candidates from
48 parties or blocs contended for the 125 seats; the ruling New Azerbaijan Party
(YAP) retained its control of the National Assembly with a reduced majority,
and the next biggest ‘group’ were the self-proclaimed independent candidates
(Kara, 2007)..

RELIGION
According to the results of the census of 2015 more than half of the South Korean population (56.9%) declared themselves not affiliated with any religious organizations . Korean shamanism (also known as Sindo or Muism) is the native religion of the Koreans, and it may represent a large part of the unaffiliated. Indeed, according to a 2012 survey, only 15% of the population declared themselves not religious in the sense of "atheism". Of the people who are affiliated with a religious organization, most are Christians and Buddhists . According to the 2015 census, 27.6% of the population were Christians (19.7% identified themselves as Protestants, 7.9% as Roman Catholics), and 15.5% were Buddhists. Other religions include Islam (130,000 Muslims, mostly migrant workers from Pakistan and Bangladesh but including some 35,000 Korean Muslims,) the homegrown sect of Wonbuddhism, and a variety of indigenous religions, including Cheondoism (a Confucianizing religion), Jeungsanism ,

Foreign relations
South Korea maintains diplomatic relations with more than 188 countries. The country has also been a member of the United Nations since 1991, when it became a member state at the same time as North Korea. On January 1, 2007, Former South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon served as UN Secretary-General from 2007 to 2016. It has also developed links with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as both a member of ASEAN Plus three, a body of observers, and the East Asia Summit (EAS).
South Korea's export-focused economy was hit hard by the 2008 global economic downturn, but quickly rebounded in subsequent years, reaching over 6% growth in 2010. The US-Korea Free Trade Agreement was ratified by both governments in 2011 and went into effect in March 2012. Between 2012 and 2016, the economy experienced slow growth – 2%-3% per year – due to sluggish domestic consumption, a drop in foreign demand for South Korean exports, increased competition from regional rivals such as China and Japan, and declining investment. The administration in 2016 faced the challenge of balancing heavy reliance on exports with domestic restructuring efforts in the country’s shipbuilding and shipping industries.

In 2010, South Korea and the European Union concluded a free trade agreement (FTA) to reduce trade barriers. South Korea is also negotiating a Free Trade Agreement with Canada, and another with New Zealand In November 2009 South Korea joined the OECD Development Assistance Committee, marking the first time a former aid recipient country joined the group as a donor member. South Korea hosted the G-20 Summit in Seoul in November 2010.

SOUTH KOREA
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (abbreviated ROK), is a sovereign state in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. South Koreans lead a distinctive urban lifestyle. The earliest Neolithic Korean pottery dates to 8000 BC, with three kingdoms flourishing in the 1st century BC.
The name Korea is derived from one of them, Goguryeo, which was one of the great powers in East Asia during its time ruling most of the Korean Peninsula, Manchuria , some parts of the Russian Far East and Inner Mongolia, under Gwanggaeto the Great . Since thFactbBication of the Korean kingdoms into Unified Silla and Balhae in the 7th century, Korea enjoyed over a millennium of relative tranquility under long-lasting dynasties. Koreans developed improved versions of many advanced innovations such as the metal movable type printing press, which used to print and publish the Jikji, the world's oldest extant movable metal type printed paper book in 1377. In the 15th century, Koreans had one of the highest living standards in the world, and Sejong the Great invented Hangul to promote literacy amongst the general Korean population, enabling anyone to easily learn to read and write and transfer written information rather than spend years in learning complicated Hanja. Its rich and vibrant culture left 19 UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritages of Humanity, the third largest in the world, along with 12 World Heritage Sites.

3.5 ECONOMIC ADJUSTMENTS AND INVESTMENTS STRATEGIES
As trade and investment patterns respond to these reciprocal needs, the economic landscapes of these various economies will adjust in ways that surely will provide signals for long-term investing. Opportunities will appear in both developed and developing economies according to their comparative advantages.
The developed economies will need to relinquish direct competition in these areas, where increasingly their high-cost, relatively scarce labor supply will put them at a disadvantage. To sustain their position, they will have to cultivate the greater sophistication of their workforce and rely on the more advanced capital and technological infrastructure available to them. That effort should lead them toward processes that are capital-intensive instead of labor-intensive and that focus on more complex economic activities, what economists refer to as high-value-added. These might include precision machine tools, other specialized machinery, metallurgy, sophisticated services, and, of course, technology, not so much the manufacture of equipment as innovation and development. The world's economic portfolio, as a consequence, and accordingly an investor's equity portfolio would do best, then, to draw on such activities from the developed economies in a mix with the labor-intensive, low-value-added investments from the developing economies
 
CHAPTER FOUR
4.1 ICELAND ECONOMY
Iceland’s modern and competitive economy benefits from a strong commitment to open-market policies that facilitate dynamic flows of trade and investment. Transparent and efficient regulations are applied evenly in most cases and encourage vigorous private-sector entrepreneurial activity. Measures to lift capital controls imposed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis are underway.
The strength of Iceland’s economic and social institutions is reinforced by robust protection of property rights and an independent judiciary that enforces anticorruption measures. Management of public finance has been comparatively prudent, with continued attention to the size and scope of government. Monetary stability has been well maintained.

4.2 GOVERNMENT SIZE
The top personal income tax rate is 31.8 percent, and the flat corporate rate is 20 percent. Other taxes include a value-added tax and an estate tax. The overall tax burden equals 38.7 percent of total domestic income. Government spending has amounted to 44.3 percent of total output (GDP) over the past three years, and budget deficits have averaged 0.4 percent of GDP. Public debt is equivalent to 67.6 percent of GDP.
 
4.3 CONCLUSION
For many years, the developed world encouraged the developing world to grow, implicitly assuming, we suppose, either that progress for developing countries would be beneficial to all, or that it would never be important enough to matter. For an unfortunately long time, due to misguided policies, growth of developing countries was indeed too slow to matter much for world markets. But in recent years, that has ceased to be true, and many of those in developed countries suddenly find themselves threatened, or perceived to be, by growth in the developing world. This concern is often attributed more to globalization´ than to developing-country growth, but in fact the two go hand in hand. Resistance to globalization in the developed world, now that developing countries are finally themselves globalizing and growing, is bound at best to slow down the progress that is finally being made in the developing world.

2.6 ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS COMPOSITION
The greater the income inequality in a country, the more religious are its inhabitants. This is not the same as GDP, of course, but it answers similar questions, and it also helps explain why the United Kingdom is such an outlier—it’s a wealthy country, yet highly religious…but although wealthy, it does have a
very great deal of income inequality.
The time factor in the data can also help us consider a follow-up question: If there is a correlation between income inequality and religiosity, is it that religion makes people less fair, or that inequality makes people more religious? The latter appears to be the case, it seems that when people are faced with inequalities that they cannot do anything about, because the wealthy elite is too entrenched—regardless of whether this is between minimum wage earners and the Wall Street 1%, or starving peasants versus their dictator and his cronies, they turn to the balm of religion to comfort themselves.

2.7 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DEVELOPED AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Exceeding even the $12,000 GDP does not automatically qualify a country as being developed. Developed countries share several other characteristics:
• They are highly industrialized.
• Their birth and death rates are stable. They do not have excessively high birth rates because, thanks to quality medical care and high living standards, infant mortality rates are low. Families do not feel the need to have high numbers of children with the expectation that some will not survive. No developed country has an infant mortality rate higher than 10 per 1,000 live births. In terms of life expectancy, all developed countries boast numbers greater than 70 years; many average 80.
• They have more women working, particularly in high-ranking executive positions. These career-oriented women frequently choose to have smaller families or eschew having children altogether.
• They use a disproportionate amount of the world's resources, such as oil. In developed countries, more people drive cars, fly on airplanes, and power their homes with electricity and gas. Inhabitants of developing countries often do not have access to technologies that require the use of these resources.
Another measuring device: the human development index (HDI), developed by the United Nations as a metric to assess the social and economic development levels of countries. It quantifies life expectancy, educational attainment and income into a standardized number between 0 and 1; the closer to 1, the more developed the country. No minimum requirement exists for developed status, but most developed countries have HDIs of 0.8 or higher.
It's important to remember no set minimums or maximums exist for these metrics. Economists look at the totality of a country's situation before rendering judgment, and they do not always agree on a country's development status. For example, countries such as Mexico, Greece and Turkey are considered developed by some organizations and developing by others.

ODOGWU CHUKWUDALU PETER
2015/203571
C.S.S. [ECONOMICS/POLITICAL SCIENCE]
TWILIGHT.BLOGSPOT.COM

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
1.2.1 BRIEF HISTORY OF UGANDA
The history of Uganda from 1962 through 1971 comprises the history of Uganda from Ugandan independence from the United Kingdom to the rise of the dictator Idi Amin. Early independent Uganda during this period was dominated by the regime of Milton Obote, Uganda's first Prime Minister and subsequently President, who after being deposed by Amin returned to power in the 1980s.
Uganda's approach to independence was unlike that of most other colonial territories where political parties had been organized to force self-rule or independence from a reluctant colonial government. In Uganda there had been some demands for greater autonomy, but these were mostly expressed by local nationalisms surrounding the five constituent kingdoms of the colony. One exception was the long-lived Uganda National Congress, based on the Congress Party of India.
Uganda was greatly divided along national, religious, and ethnic lines. The national divisions were the most apparent. The country was dominated by Buganda, much to the annoyance of the other four kingdoms. The kingdom of Bunyoro felt especially aggrieved having been deprived of its "lost counties" when Uganda became a British protectorate.
Deep religious divisions had developed. The British-linked and British-supported elite had largely converted to Protestantism. The majority of the population, were Catholic and they were excluded from power by the Protestants. Ethnic divisions were just as important.

1.3 BRIEF HISTORY OF PANAMA
The History of Panama is about the Isthmus of Panama region's long history that occurred in Central America, from Pre-Columbian cultures, during the Spanish colonial era, through independence and the current country of Panama.
Pre-Columbian history
The earliest artifacts discovered in Panama have included Paleo-Indians projectile points. Later central Panama was home to some of the first pottery-making in the Americas, such as the Monagrillo cultures dating to about 2500–1700 BC. These evolved into significant populations that are best known through the spectacular burials (dating to c. 500–900 AD) at the Monagrillo archaeological site, and the beautiful polychrome pottery of the Gran Coclé style. The monumental monolithic sculptures at the Barriles (Chiriqui) site are other important evidence of the ancient isthmian cultures.
Prior to the arrival of Europeans, Panama was widely settled by Chibchan, Chocoan, and Cueva peoples, among whom the largest group were the Cueva (whose specific language affiliation is poorly documented). There is no accurate knowledge of the size of the Pre-Columbian indigenous population of the isthmus at the time of the European conquest. Estimates range as high as two million people, but more recent studies place that number closer to 200,000. Archaeological finds, as well as testimonials by early European explorers, describe diverse native isthmian groups exhibiting cultural variety and already experienced in using regional trade routes.

1.4 BRIEF HISTORY OF ICELAND
Iceland Icelandic: Ísland, pronounced [ˈistlant]) is a Nordic island country of Europe located in the North Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of 332,529 and an area of 103,000 km2 (40,000 sq mi), making it the most sparsely populated country in Europe. The capital and largest city is Reykjavík. Reykjavík and the surrounding areas in the southwest of the country are home to over two-thirds of the population.
Iceland is volcanically and geologically active. The interior consists of a plateau characterized by sand and lava fields, mountains, and glaciers, while many glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Iceland is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a temperate climate, despite a high latitude just outside the Arctic Circle. Its high latitude and marine influence keep summers chilly, with most of the archipelago having a tundra climate.

Science and technology: In 2011, Cape Verde devoted just 0.07% of its GDP to research and development, among the lowest rates in West Africa. The Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Culture plans to strengthen the research and academic sectors by placing emphasis on greater mobility, through exchange programmes and international co-operation agreements. As part of this strategy, Cape Verde is participating in the Ibero-American academic mobility programme that expects to mobilize 200 000 academics between 2015 and 2020.

In 2015, the government was planning to build a ‘cyber-island’ which would develop and offer services that include software development, computer maintenance and back office operations. Approved in 2013, the Praia Technology Park is a step in this direction. Financed by the African Development Bank, it is expected to be operational by 2018.
Culture: In all its aspects, the culture of Cape Verde is characterized by a mixture of European and African elements. This is not a sum of two cultures, living side by side, but a third product, totally new, resulting from an exchange that began five hundred years ago. Much similar to some parts of Brazil.
The Cape Verdean case may be situated in the common context of African nations, in which elites, who questioned European racial and cultural superiority and who in some cases undertook a long armed struggle against European imperialism and national liberation, use the rule of Western codes as the main instrument of internal domination.
Cape Verdean social and cultural patterns are similar to those of rural Portugal. Football (futebol) games and church activities are typical sources of social interaction and entertainment. The traditional walk around the praça (town square) to meet friends is practiced regularly in Cape Verde towns.

Economy: Cape Verde's notable economic growth and improvement in living conditions despite a lack of natural resources has garnered international recognition, with other countries and international organizations often providing development aid. Since 2007, the UN has classified it as a developing nation rather than a least developed country.Cape Verde has few natural resources. Only five of the ten main islands (Santiago, Santo Antão, São Nicolau, Fogo, and Brava) normally support significant agricultural production,[37] and over 90% of all food consumed in Cape Verde is imported. Mineral resources include salt, pozzolana (a volcanic rock used in cement production), and limestone.[14] Its small number of wineries making Portuguese-style wines have traditionally focused on the domestic market, but have recently met with some international acclaim. A number of wine tours of Cape Verde's various microclimates began to be offered in spring 2010 and can be arranged through the tourism office.
The economy of Cape Verde is service-oriented, with commerce, transport, and public services accounting for more than 70% of GDP. Although nearly 35% of the population lives in rural areas, agriculture and fishing contribute only about 9% of GDP. Light manufacturing accounts for most of the remainder. Fish and shellfish are plentiful, and small quantities are exported. Cape Verde has cold storage and freezing facilities and fish processing plants in Mindelo, Praia, and on Sal. Expatriate Cape Verdeans contribute an amount estimated at about 20% of GDP to the domestic economy through remittances. In spite of having few natural resources and being semi-desert, the country boasts the highest living standards in the region, and has attracted thousands of immigrants of different nationalities.
Since 1991, the government has pursued market-oriented economic policies, including an open welcome to foreign investors and a far-reaching privatization programme. It established as top development priorities the promotion of a market economy and of the private sector; the development of tourism, light manufacturing industries, and fisheries; and the development of transport, communications, and energy facilities. From 1994 to 2000 about $407 million in foreign investments were made or planned, of which 58% were in tourism, 17% in industry, 4% in infrastructure, and 21% in fisheries and services.
In 2011, on four islands a wind farm was built that supplies about 30% of the electricity of the country. It is one of the top countries for renewable energy.
Cape Verde has significant cooperation with Portugal at every level of the economy, which has led it to link its currency first to the Portuguese escudo and, in 1999, to the euro. On 23 June 2008 Cape Verde became the 153rd member of the WTO.
The national minimum wage was set for the first time in August 2013, at 11,000.00 CVE per month (equivalent to US$110 or €100), effective in January 2014. In January 2018, the government announced the minimum wage would be raised to 13,000 CVE.
Development: The European Commission's total allocation for the period of 2008–2013 foreseen for Cape Verde to address "poverty reduction, in particular in rural and periurban areas where women are heading the households, as well as good governance" amounts to €54.1 million.

Cape Verde
Capital: Praia, Population: 531,000, Surface Area: 4,030 km2, Currency: Cape Verdean escudos, Religion: Mostly, Belongs to: ACP, ECOWAS, IMF, UN, AU
History: Before the arrival of Europeans, the Cape Verde Islands were uninhabited.[12] The islands of the Cape Verde archipelago were discovered by Genoese and Portuguese navigators around 1456. According to Portuguese official records,[13] the first discoveries were made by Genoa-born António de Noli, who was afterwards appointed governor of Cape Verde by Portuguese King Afonso V. Other navigators mentioned as contributing to discoveries in the Cape Verde archipelago are Diogo Gomes (who was with António de Noli and claimed to have been the first to land on and name Santiago island), Diogo Dias, Diogo Afonso and the Italian (Venice-born) Alvise Cadamosto.
In 1462, Portuguese settlers arrived at Santiago and founded a settlement they called Ribeira Grande (now called Cidade Velha, to avoid being confused with the town of Ribeira Grande on the Santo Antão island). Ribeira Grande was the first permanent European settlement in the tropics.
In the 16th century, the archipelago prospered from the Atlantic slave trade.[14] Pirates occasionally attacked the Portuguese settlements. Sir Francis Drake, an English corsair privateering under a letter of marque granted by the English crown, twice sacked the (then) capital Ribeira Grande in 1585 when it was a part of the Iberian Union.[14] After a French attack in 1712, the town declined in importance relative to nearby Praia, which became the capital in 1770.
Decline in the slave trade in the 19th century resulted in an economic crisis. Cape Verde's early prosperity slowly vanished. However, the islands' position astride mid-Atlantic shipping lanes made Cape Verde an ideal location for re-supplying ships. Because of its excellent harbour, the city of Mindelo, located on the island of São Vicente, became an important commercial centre during the 19th century.[14] Diplomat Edmund Roberts visited Cape Verde in 1832.
With few natural resources and inadequate sustainable investment from the Portuguese, the citizens grew increasingly discontented with the colonial masters, who nevertheless refused to provide the local authorities with more autonomy. In 1951, Portugal changed Cape Verde's status from a colony to an overseas province in an attempt to blunt growing nationalism. In 1956, Amílcar Cabral and a group of fellow Cape Verdeans and Guineans organised (in Portuguese Guinea) the clandestine African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC).[14]
Independence (1975): Following the April 1974 revolution in Portugal, the PAIGC became an active political movement in Cape Verde. In December 1974, the PAIGC and Portugal signed an agreement providing for a transitional government composed of Portuguese and Cape Verdeans. On 30 June 1975, Cape Verdeans elected a National Assembly which received the instruments of independence from Portugal on 5 July 1975. In the late 1970s and 1980s, most African countries prohibited South African Airways from overflights but Cape Verde allowed them and became a centre of activity for the airline's flights to Europe and the United States.

In 1978, the six-year plan was revised, and 12 new infrastructural projects were added, including completion of the round-the-island railroad, construction of three cross-island highways, expansion of T'aichung Port's harbor, and expansion of steel and nuclear energy facilities. A subsequent four-year plan (1986–89), designed to supplement a longer-range 10-year plan (1980–89), had as a target average annual GNP increase of 6.5%. Among its goals were price stability, annual growth of 7.5% in the service sector, trade liberalization, encouragement of balanced regional development, and redirection of new industrial growth into such high-technology industries as computers, robotics, and bio-engineering. In response to flagging export growth and a slowdown in private investment following a stock market collapse in 1990, the government devised a six-year plan for 1991–97 aimed at economic revitalization. This plan targeted investment mainly in transportation, telecommunications, power generation, and pollution control. A "Statute for Upgrading Industries" enacted in early 1991 continued the government's efforts to provide incentives for private investment in research and development and high-technology sectors of the economy. Economic development in the late 1990s focused on a continuing privatization of government enterprises, the opening of the Taiwan market to foreigners, and high investment in the technological sector.
Taiwan's six-year national development plan for 2002–08 is titled "Challenge 2008." It is estimated to cost $75 billion and has seven specified goals: 1) expanding the number of products and technologies that meet the world's highest standards; 2) doubling the number of foreign visitors; 3) increasing expenditures on research and development to 3% GDP; 4) reducing unemployment to less than 4%; 5) increasing the average growth rate to over 5%; 6) increasing number of broadband internet users to over six million; and 7) creating about 700,000 jobs. There are 10 major areas of emphasis, including cultivating talent for the E-generation (with a special emphasis on mastering English); developing the cultural arts industry; developing a digital Taiwan, using information technologies to make government more efficient and industries more competitive; developing Taiwan as a regional headquarters for multinational corporations; and constructing culturally rich hometown communities as a means of retaining talent, in addition to more standard goals of increasing value-added, improving the transportation infrastructure, conserving water resources and doubling the number of tourists.
Taiwan's economy is estimated to grow by 3.7% in 2005, a clear set-back from the 5.7% growth rate registered in the previous year. Reason for this is the weaker growth in the demand for the country's key manufactured exports.

PUBLIC FINANCE: Central government revenues come mostly from taxation, customs and duties, and income from government monopolies on tobacco and wines; other revenues are derived from profits realized by government enterprises. Government accounts showed surpluses through the early 1980s. Public authorities anticipated a growing fiscal deficit throughout the 1990s as Taiwan's six-year development plan required over $300 billion of investment in public infrastructural construction projects and in upgrading industries. In 1996, the government's deficit was equal to 4% of GDP. Growing demands for social welfare spending and increased defense spending (up 20% in 1996/97, the largest rise in over a decade) continued to put pressure on the budget. Outstanding debt reached 16% of GDP in 1998, up from 6% in 1991, and debt service payments consumed 15% of the central budget in 1999. The government was committed to balancing the budget by 2001. Austerity measures included controlling public sector consumption expenditures, limiting expansion of government expenditures, freezing government employment, limiting public employee pay raises, and encouraging private participation in major public projects. National defense expenditures as a portion of the central budget dropped from over 40% in 1960 to 20% in 1999, and were set to fall to 15% in 2000.
The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) estimated that in 2005 Taiwan's central government took in revenues of approximately $70.9 billion and had expenditures of $80.1 billion. Revenues minus expenditures totaled approximately -$9.2 billion. Public debt in 2005 amounted to 33.3% of GDP. Total external debt was $81.64 billion.
FOREIGN INVESTMENT: From 1952 to 2000 cumulative foreign direct investment approvals came to $44.8 billion of which 24% was in the electronics and electrical industries. Other industries attracting relatively heavy foreign investment include banking and insurance services, chemicals, trade and basic metals. The government reported Taiwan received $3.27 billion in foreign investments in 2002, and had received an average of $2.7 billion a year 1991 to 1999. The rate of foreign investment has been rapidly accelerating as in preparation for its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Taiwan has liberalized its economy and improve its investment environment. Foreign firms are generally accorded national treatment and trade-related capital flows are unrestricted. In January 2001 the 50% foreign ownership limit was lifted with exceptions in a few designated industries. Most limits on the amount of portfolio investment in companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE) were also lifted. Investment incentives are offered for investments in emerging or strategic industries, pollution control systems, production automation, and energy conservation. Since the goal was first announced in 1995, increasing effort has been put in making Taiwan an Asia-Pacific Regional Operations Center (APROC). A goal is to have about 1,000 corporations establish headquarters in Taiwan by 2011.

Rice, the principal food crop, is grown along the western plain and in the south. In 2004, paddy rice production was 1,433,611 tons; brown rice, 1,164,580 tons. Taiwan's annual rice production exceeds demand; the island's per capita rice consumption has declined by over 50% since the mid-1970s due to changing diet preferences. Other food crops include sweet potatoes, bananas, peanuts, soybeans, and wheat. Sugar, pineapples, citrus fruits, crude tea, and asparagus are plantation-grown and are the principal cash and export crops. Small amounts of Taiwan's world-famous oolong tea, cotton, tobacco, jute, and sisal are also produced.
Generally, Taiwanese agriculture is characterized by high yields, irrigation, terracing, multiple cropping, intertillage, and extensive use of fertilizers. Farms are small, averaging 1.1 hectares (2.7 acres) of cultivable land per farm family. Mechanization, once confined largely to sugarcane and rice production, is increasing rapidly as a result of government subsidies and other incentives. Since there is an oversupply of rice, the government has encouraged farmers to grow soybeans, wheat, and corn, which are more profitable. The growing scarcity of land on Taiwan is causing serious disagreements over land resources between agricultural, industrial, and housing interests.
They also involved in animal husbandry, fishing, forestry, mining, energy and power etc.
INDUSTRY: Under the Japanese, about 90% of the industrial enterprises were owned by the government or by Japanese corporations with government assistance. After the restoration of Taiwan to China in 1945, the ROC government took over these enterprises. Some were sold to private owners, and the rest were grouped under the management of 18 public corporations, operated either by the national government or by the provincial government, or by both. As a result, government-operated enterprises came to dominate Taiwanese industry. Although the proportion accounted for by these enterprises in the production value of manufacturing industries has been falling in recent years in contrast to the private sector, it still accounts for a significant amount of value added. Beginning in 1992, Taiwan authorities have made efforts to reduce the size of the public sector. These efforts have gained momentum after democratization in 1996. In heavy industry, Taiwan has 10 manufacturing companies, most of them contractual joint ventures with Japan. The production value of the automotive industry reached $10 billion in 2000, about 4% of its aggregate manufacturing. Taiwan's small size and the availability of efficient MRT lines limits the demand for automobiles. Domestic demand for vehicles fell from 542,000 in 1995 to 420,000 in 2000. Textiles were the leading export until the 1980s when labor costs, land prices and environmental protection concerns led to a relocation of much of the industry to Southeast Asia and China. The domestic industry is based on man-made fibers. In 2000, Taiwan was third in the world in the production of man-made fibers, and second in the production of polyester, which constitutes 80% of its output. Overall industrial production fell 2.6% in 1998 from an increase of 7.4% in 1997, due largely to the effects of the Asian financial crisis. Industrial production recovered quickly to growth rates of 7.5% and 7.4% in 1999 and 2000, but then slid 10.4% in 2001 in the wake of the dot.com bust. In 2002, the economy recovered, registering a 3.3% growth rate, and in the first quarter of 2003, industrial production had risen 6.4%. In 2004, the industrial production growth rate was 12.2%, well above the overall growth of the economy. Industry made up 30.9% of the economy, and employed 35% of the working population. Agriculture is an insignificant part of the economy, but services seem to be the main driving force, with 67.4% participation in the GDP and 57% representation in the labor force.

ECONOMY: Under the Japanese, the island was developed as a major source of foodstuffs for Japan. Production of rice and sugar increased rapidly, but little effort was directed toward industrialization until after 1937. Immediately after World War II, a number of factors—including repatriation of Japanese technicians, dismantling of industrial plants, and lack of fertilizer for agriculture—caused a rapid deterioration of the economy, which was aggravated by the influx of refugees from the mainland. The situation improved after 1949 with the removal of the ROC government to Taiwan. The arrival of technical and experienced personnel and capital equipment from the mainland facilitated the island's economic rehabilitation. Currency and tax reforms stabilized the monetary situation. The supply of fertilizer from the United States and a land reform program aided the revival of agricultural production.
The decade 1971–80 saw the development of such capital-intensive industries as steel, machinery, machine tools, and motor vehicle assembly. Such industries, based on imports of raw materials, were encouraged through massive government support for major infrastructural improvements in roads, railroads, ports, and electricity. During the 1980s, emphasis was placed on the development of high-technology industries. As a result, between 1981 and 1991, the share of high-technology industries in total manufactures increased from 20% to 29%, making Taiwan the seventh-largest producer of computer hardware on the global market. The 1990s brought an influx of capital-rich investment, especially after 1996 when the first democratic elections were held. High-technology industries accounted for over 73% of total manufacturing, and 67% of exports in 1999. Growth accelerated in the late 1990s, measuring 4.6% in 1998, 5.4% in 1999 and 6% in 2000, spurred by the boom in the PC and IT industries. Exports played an increasing role, accounting for 47.8% of GDP in 1998, 48.3% in 1999 and 54% in 2000. Growth in high-tech exports peaked at 54% in the third quarter of 2000.
Taiwan's GNP advanced at an average annual rate of 9% in real terms between 1952 and 1980. In contrast to Taiwan's industryled economic growth of previous decades, since the late 1980s the country has undergone a shift towards a services-dominated economy. As of 2000, services made up about 66% of the GDP, compared to less than 50% in the mid-1980s and 44% in the early 1960s. Taiwan has the world's third-largest foreign exchange reserves and over $230 billion in two-way trade. Though still expanding in absolute terms, industry's share of the GDP declined from 52% in 1986 to 32% in 2000. Agriculture has continued to claim only a small share of the economy, making up 2% of the GDP in 2000. A lack of domestic resources hampers the development of agriculture and primary industries. An earthquake in September of 1999 caused major damages to Taiwanese lives and property, but reconstruction was complete by 2000. What affected the economy was the burst of the dot.com bubble beginning in late 2000, and the global slowdown in 2001, aggravated by the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. Taiwan experienced its first recorded decline in real GDP, -2.2%. Recovery began in the last quarter of 2001, and in 2002 real growth of 3.2% was recorded. Inflation has been generally falling in the late 1990s, from 3.1% in 1996 to 0% in 2001 and a slightly negative -0.2% in 2002. Unemployment, by contrast, has increased steadily, from 2.6% in 1996 to 5.2% in 2002.
The economy grew by 5.7% in 2004, up from 3.3% in 2003; in 2005, the GDP growth rate was expected to be 3.7%. Inflation remains at negligible levels, and unemployment seems to have been brought under control, decreasing from a rate of 5.2% in 2002 to 4.4% in 2004, and an expected 4.2% in 2005. Increasing trade with China has contributed significantly to the country's economic recovery.

As of early 2003, there were four significant political parties operating in Taiwan. The DPP, which won the presidential and legislative elections of 2000 and 2001, respectively, was the largest party. It took 87 seats in the Legislative Yuan in December 2001 election. The KMT took 68 seats, and was the second-largest party in the Legislative Yuan. The People First Party (PFP), founded by James Soong following his second-place finish in the 2000 presidential election, was the third-largest party with 46 seats. The fourth major political party, based on its membership in the Legislative Yuan, was the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), winning 13 seats. As of June 2002, a total of 99 political parties had registered with the Ministry of the Interior.
The 2004 elections of the Legislative Yuan resulted in the DPP retaining the largest number of seats with 89; the KMT gained 11 seats to secure 79 overall; the PFP continued to place in third with 34 seats; and the TSU lost one to emerge with 12 seats; other parties and independents retain 11 seats.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT: The Taiwan provincial government holds jurisdiction over the main island of Taiwan, 21 smaller islands in adjacent waters, and the 64 islands of the Penghu (Pescadores) group. The provincial capital is located at T'aichung. The province is divided into 16 county (hsien) administrative areas and 5 municipalities under the direct jurisdiction of the provincial government. In addition, T'aipei (since 1967) and Kaohsiung (since 1979) are self-governing "special" municipalities. Subdivisions of the county are the township (chen ), the rural district or group of villages (hsiang ), and the precinct. Quemoy and Matsu are administered by the military. At the local level and under the Taiwan Provincial Government, there are five cities—Chilung, Hsinchu, T'aichung, Chiai, and T'ainan—and 16 counties, and under each county there are county municipalities. The province is headed by a governor who is nominated by the president of the executive yuan and appointed by the president of the republic. The governor is the ex officio chairman of the appointed provincial council, the policy making body, and holds veto power over its resolutions. The provincial government can issue ordinances and regulations for the administration of the province as long as they do not conflict with laws of the central government. The mayors and city councils of T'aipei and Kaohsiung are elected.
At the end of 1996, the National Development Conference was convened to streamline local government operations. The county government is headed by an elected magistrate (hsien-chang ) and the municipal government by a mayor (shih-chang ). Each county or municipality has a representative body called the hsien, or municipal assembly. Further down are the councils and assemblies of townships and rural districts, each headed by a chief officer. All of these officials are elected by universal suffrage of citizens over age 20.

HISTORY: Although Taiwan can be seen on a clear day from the China mainland, ancient Chinese accounts contain few references to the island. The earliest inhabitants were Malayo-Polynesian aborigines. Historians have surmised from the brief information available in the early dynastic histories that Chinese emigration to Taiwan began as early as the T'ang dynasty (618–907). In 1517, the Portuguese sighted the island and named it Ilha Formosa (Beautiful Island). The Dutch, who were disputing the monopoly of Far Eastern trade held by the Portuguese, captured the Pescadores in 1622 and used them as a base for harassing commerce between China, Japan, and the Philippines. Two years later, the Chinese offered the Dutch a treaty that gave them certain commercial privileges if they withdrew from the Pescadores and occupied instead a trading post on Taiwan. The Dutch complied by building Fort Zeelandia and Fort Providentia in the southwestern part of the island. The Spaniards, wishing to compete, seized the northern part of Chilung in 1626 and later extended their domain to nearby Tanshui. The Japanese, constrained by the policy of national seclusion adopted by the Tokugawa Shogunate, withdrew voluntarily in 1628. The Dutch captured the Spanish settlement in 1642 and, after putting down a Chinese uprising in 1656 with the aid of the aborigines, gained complete control of the island.
While the Dutch were consolidating their hold on Taiwan, the Ming dynasty on the China mainland was overthrown by the Manchus, who established the Qing (Ch'ing) dynasty (1644–1912). Remnants of the Ming forces, led by Zheng Chenggong (Cheng Ch'eng-kung Koxinga, 1624–62), son of a Chinese pirate and a Japanese mother, decided to establish an overseas base in Taiwan. They landed on the island in 1661 and ousted the Dutch in the following year. It was not until 1683 that the Manchus succeeded in wresting Taiwan from Zheng Chenggong's successors.
From 1683 to 1885, Taiwan was administered as a part of Fujian Province. During this period, Chinese colonization proceeded steadily, as the aborigines were either assimilated into the Chinese population or pushed back into the mountains. The imperial government, however, paid scant attention to the island administration. As a result, official corruption and inefficiency often provoked armed rebellions. In the latter part of the 19th century, the strategic importance of Taiwan for the defense of the South China coast was recognized by the authorities, particularly after the French bombardment and blockade of the island in 1884 during the Sino-French War over Annam. The local administration was reorganized, and the island was made into a separate province in 1885.
Upon the conclusion of the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895, Taiwan was ceded to Japan. Refusing to submit to Japanese rule, the islanders declared their independence and established a republic, although organized resistance against the Japanese lasted only a few months. Ineffective armed resistance, chiefly by aborigines, continued. Under the Japanese, the island's agricultural resources were developed rapidly to supply the needs of the home islands and the transportation infrastructure experienced modernization. A policy of Japanization of the Taiwan population was adopted and, by 1944, 71% of children attended primary school. During World War II, Japanese administrators began to orchestrate the island's industrializ

Although the visit mostly went well, a few embarrassing events occurred such as the White House's official website (www.whitehouse.gov) accidentally depicting the flag of South Vietnam in its official announcement of the visit. This provoked dismay and hostile comments from the Vietnamese government until the White House officially apologized and corrected the webpage. In addition, a crowd of hostile protesters gathered outside the White House during Phan's meeting with President Bush denouncing the Vietnamese Communist Party and waving South Vietnamese flags.

Taiwan
TOPOGRAPHY: Taiwan perches on the margin of the continental shelf. Along the west coast the sea is rather shallow, averaging 90 m (300 ft) and not exceeding 210 m (690 ft) at the deepest point; however, it deepens abruptly along the east coast, dropping to a depth of 4,000 m (13,000 ft) only 50 km (31 mi) offshore. The west coast is marked by wide tidal flats. Kaohsiung, the southern port, is situated in a long lagoon called Haochiung Bay. The north coast with its many inlets provides Taiwan with its best harbor, Chilung (Keelung).
The eastern two-thirds of the island are composed of rugged foothill ranges and massive mountain chains. A low, flat coastal plain, extending from north to south, occupies the western third. Yü Shan, with an elevation of 3,997 m (13,113 ft), is the highest peak on the island. Located on the Eurasian tectonic Plate near the border of the Philippine Plate, Taiwan is part of the "Ring of Fire," a seismically active band surrounding the Pacific Ocean. Mild to moderate earthquake tremors are common, with over 200 minor shocks recorded each year. All the rivers originate in the mountains in the central part of the island. They have short courses and rapid streams. The longest river, Choshui, draining westward, is only 190 km (118 mi) long. Only the Tanshui, which flows past T'aipei in the north, is navigable.
POPULATION: The population of Taiwan in 2005 was estimated by the United Nations (UN) at 22,731,000, which placed it at number 48 in population among the 193 nations of the world. In 2005, approximately 9% of the population was over 65 years of age, with another 19% of the population under 15 years of age. The projected population for the year 2025 was 23,625,000. The population density was 628 per sq km (1,627 per sq mi), one of the highest in the world. Approximately 90% of the inhabitants live west of the Central Range.
The UN estimated that 78% of the population lived in urban areas in 2005, and that urban areas were growing at an annual rate of %. The capital city, T'aipei, had a population of approximately 2,700,000 in that year. Other large cities (with their estimated populations) include Kaohsiung (1,600,000), T'aichung (1,114,080), T'ainan (755,800), and Panch'iao (589,700).

IKEOTUONYE OGECHUKWU BLESSING (2016/238232)
ECONOMICS EDUCATION.

Vietnam:
Capital: Hanoi
Surface Area: 330,967 km2
Religion: Mostly President: President Tran Dai Quang (since April 2016)
Prime Minister: Nguyen Xuan Phuc (since April 2016)
Land area: 125,622 sq mi (325,361 sq km); total area: 127,244 sq mi (329,560 sq km)
Population (2017 est.): 96,160,163 (growth rate: 1%); birth rate: 16.26/1000; infant mortality rate: 18.99/1000; life expectancy: 72.91; density per sq mi: 703
Capital (2013 est.): Hanoi, 7.1 million (metro. area), 2.955 million (city proper)
Largest cities: Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), 8,190,775; Haiphong 925,000; Da Nang 834,000
Monetary unit: Dong
Belongs to: ACD, ASEAN, IMF, MGC, UN

Birth of the republic (1945)

The Japanese occupied Vietnam during World War II but allowed the French to remain and exert some influence. At the war's end in August 1945, a power vacuum was created in Vietnam. Capitalizing on this, the Việt Minh launched the "August Revolution" across the country to seize government offices. Emperor Bảo Đại abdicated on August 25, 1945, ending the Nguyễn dynasty. On September 2, 1945, at Duc Anh Ba Đình Square, Ho Chi Minh, leader of the Viet Minh organization, declared Vietnam's independence under the new name of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRVN) in a speech that invoked the United States Declaration of Independence and the French Revolution's Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. Ho sent several letters to the US government asking to be recognised as the government of Vietnam and offering friendship to America, but none were ever answered.[2][3]

Communist North and capitalist South (1945–75)

There was Indochina War in (1945–54), North Vietnam War in (1954–75) and the South Vietnam War in (1954–75) also Socialist Republic (1976–1991).
Government and economy 1975-1991: Vietnam's third Constitution, based on that of the USSR, was written in 1980. The Communist Party was stated by the Constitution to be the only party to represent the people and to lead the country. In 1980, cosmonaut Phạm Tuân became the first Vietnamese and the first Asian to go into space, traveling on the Soviet Soyuz 37 to service the Salyut 6 space station. During the early 1980s, a number of overseas Vietnamese organizations were created with the aim of overthrowing the Vietnamese Communist government through armed struggle. Most groups attempted to infiltrate Vietnam but eventually were eliminated by Vietnamese security and armed forces.
Overall, the first decade after reunification was not a happy time for the country. Nonstop warfare consumed large amounts of Vietnam's resources, both financially and by depleting the labor force of young men. The country remained internationally isolated, having little contact with nations outside COMECON members, and faced with a huge, hostile neighbor to the north. Despite repeated overtures to the United States, attempts to reestablish diplomatic relation were hampered by the question of missing US soldiers from the war and President Ronald Reagan's vocal hostility towards the country's principle benefactor in Moscow. In a 1981 interview with American journalist Stanley Karnow, Premier Phạm Văn Đồng remarked "Yes, we defeated the United States, but now we are a poor undeveloped nation and barely have enough to eat. Hence the saying that waging war is easy, but running a country is hard."
Compounding all this was the complete failure of the Five-Year Plan adopted in 1976, as Vietnam remained one of the world's poorest countries with a per-capita GDP of less than 300 USD and almost totally dependent on Soviet aid, which reached as much as 3 billion USD a year by 1982.

GDP (official exchange rate): $824.5 billion (2016 est.)
GDP – per capita (PPP): $53,600 (2017 est.)
$52,100 (2016 est.)
$51,300 (2015 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
3. PHYSICAL AND HUMAN RESOURCES:
Labor force: 7.969 million (2017 est.)
Labor force – by occupation: agriculture: 1.2%
industry: 17.2%
services: 81.6% (2015 est.).

4. ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS COMPOSITION:
Ethnic groups: Dutch 77.4%, EU 6.2%, Turkish 2.3%, Moroccan 2.3%, Indonesian
Religions: Roman Catholic 23.7%, Protestant 15.5% (includes Dutch Reformed 6.5%, Protestant Church of The Netherlands 5.7%, Calvinist 3.3%), Islam 4.9%, other 5.7% (includes Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish), none 50.1% (2015 est.)
5. RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS
The enumerated sectors in this country (both public and private sectors) are as follows: Transportation, Energy, agriculture, Telecommunication, e.t.c, and these in their individual contributions have helped to boost the economy of the country. Part of their contributions is in
the GDP, categorizing the country as a developed country.
6. INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE :
Industries: agroindustries, metal and engineering products, electrical machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum, construction, microelectronics, fishing
Industrial production growth rate: 2.5% (2017 est.)
7. EXTERNAL DEPENDENCE
Imports: $435.4 billion (2017 est.)
$402.9 billion (2016 est.)
Imports – commodities: machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, fuels, foodstuffs, clothing
Imports – partners: Germany 15.3%, China 14.1%, Belgium 8.4%, US 7.9%, UK 5.3%, Russia 4.1% (2016)

8. POLITICAL SRUCTURE, POWER AND INTEREST GROUPS:
Government type: parliamentary constitutional monarchy; part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Constitution: history: previous 1597, 1798; latest adopted 24 August 1815 (substantially revised in 1848)
amendments: proposed as an “Act of Parliament” by or on behalf of the king or by the Second Chamber of the States General; the Second Chamber is dissolved after its first reading of the “Act”; passage requires a second reading by both the First Chamber and newly elected Second Chamber, followed by at least two-thirds majority vote of both chambers, and ratification by the king; amended many times, last in 2010 (2016)
Legal system: civil law system based on the French system; constitution does not permit judicial review of acts of the States General
Political parties and leaders: Christian Democratic Appeal or CDA [Sybrand VAN HAERSMA BUMA]
Christian Union or CU [Gert-Jan SEGERS]
Democrats 66 or D66 [Alexander PECHTOLD]
Denk [Tunahan KUZU]
50 Plus [Henk KROL]
For the Netherlands or VNL [Jan ROOS]
Forum for Democracy or FvD [Thierry BAUDET]
Green Left or GL [Jesse KLAVER]
Labor Party or PvdA [Lodewijk ASSCHER]
Party for Freedom or PVV [Geert WILDERS]
Party for the Animals or PvdD [Marianne THIEME]
People's Party for Freedom and Democracy or VVD [Mark RUTTE]
Reformed Political Party or SGP [Kees VAN DER STAAIJ]
Socialist Party or SP [Emile ROEMER]
plus a few minor parties
Political pressure groups and leaders: Christian Trade Union Federation or CNV [Maurice LIMMEN]
Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers or VNO-NCW [Hans DE BOER]
Federation for Small and Medium-sized Businesses or MKB [Michael VAN STRAALEN]
Netherlands Trade Union Federation or FNV [Han BUSKER]
Social Economic Council or SER [Mariette HAMER]
Trade Union Professionals or VDP [Nic VAN HOLSTEIN].

CHAPTER THREE
DEVELOPED COUNTRY- NETHERLANDS
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
The Dutch United Provinces declared their independence from Spain in 1579; during the 17th century, they became a leading seafaring and commercial power, with settlements and colonies around the world. After a 20-year French occupation, a Kingdom of the Netherlands was formed in 1815. In 1830, Belgium seceded and formed a separate kingdom. The Netherlands remained neutral in World War I, but suffered German invasion and occupation in World War II. A modern, industrialized nation, the Netherlands is also a large exporter of agricultural products. The country was a founding member of NATO and the EEC (now the EU) and participated in the introduction of the euro in 1999. In October 2010, the former Netherlands Antilles was dissolved and the three smallest islands – Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba – became special municipalities in the Netherlands administrative structure. The larger islands of Sint Maarten and Curacao joined the Netherlands and Aruba as constituent countries forming the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
2. SIZE AND INCOME LEVEL:
Economy – overview: The Netherlands, the sixth-largest economy in the European Union, plays an important role as a European transportation hub, with a persistently high trade surplus, stable industrial relations, and low unemployment. Industry focuses on food processing, chemicals, petroleum refining, and electrical machinery. A highly mechanized agricultural sector employs only 2% of the labor force but provides large surpluses for food-processing and underpins the country’s status as the world’s second largest agricultural exporter.

The Netherlands is part of the euro zone, and as such, its monetary policy is controlled by the European Central Bank. The Dutch financial sector is highly concentrated, with four commercial banks possessing over 80% of banking assets, and is four times the size of Dutch GDP.

In 2008, during the financial crisis, the government budget deficit hit 5.3% of GDP. Following a protracted recession from 2009 to 2013, during which unemployment doubled to 7.4% and household consumption contracted for four consecutive years, economic growth began inching forward in 2014. Since 2010, Prime Minister Mark RUTTE’s government has implemented significant austerity measures to improve public finances and has instituted broad structural reforms in key policy areas, including the labor market, the housing sector, the energy market, and the pension system. In 2016, the government budget returned to a surplus of 0.3% of GDP, with economic growth of 2.1%, and GDP per capita finally surpassed pre-crisis levels. The Netherlands achieved growth of 3.1% in 2017, with unemployment decreasing to 5.1%
GDP (purchasing power parity): $915.2 billion (2017 est.)
$888 billion (2016 est.)
$868.8 billion (2015 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars

CHAPTER TWO
DEVELOPING COUNTRY 2 – COTE D’IVOIRE
1. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: Close ties to France following independence in 1960, the development of cocoa production for export, and foreign investment all made Cote d'Ivoire one of the most prosperous of the West African states but did not protect it from political turmoil. In December 1999, a military coup – the first ever in Cote d'Ivoire's history – overthrew the government. Junta leader Robert GUEI blatantly rigged elections held in late 2000 and declared himself the winner. Popular protest forced him to step aside and an election brought Laurent GBAGBO into power. Ivoirian dissidents and disaffected members of the military launched a failed coup attempt in September 2002 that developed into a rebellion and then a civil war. In 2003, a cease-fire resulted in the country being divided with the rebels holding the north, the government the south, and peacekeeping forces a buffer zone between the two. In March 2007, President GBAGBO and former New Forces rebel leader Guillaume SORO signed an agreement in which SORO joined GBAGBO's government as prime minister and the two agreed to reunite the country by dismantling the buffer zone, integrating rebel forces into the national armed forces, and holding elections. Difficulties in preparing electoral registers delayed balloting until 2010. In November 2010, Alassane Dramane OUATTARA won the presidential election over GBAGBO, but GBAGBO refused to hand over power, resulting in a five-month resumption of violent conflict. In April 2011, after widespread fighting, GBAGBO was formally forced from office by armed OUATTARA supporters with the help of UN and French forces. The UN peacekeeping mission departed in June 2017. OUATTARA is focused on rebuilding the country's economy and infrastructure while rebuilding the security forces. GBAGBO is in The Hague on trial for crimes against humanity.
2. SIZE AND INCOME LEVEL
Economy – overview: Cote d'Ivoire is heavily dependent on agriculture and related activities, which engage roughly two-thirds of the population. Cote d'Ivoire is the world's largest producer and exporter of cocoa beans and a significant producer and exporter of coffee and palm oil. Consequently, the economy is highly sensitive to fluctuations in international prices for these products and to climatic conditions. Cocoa, oil, and coffee are the country's top export revenue earners, but the country has targeted agricultural processing of cocoa, cashews, mangoes, and other commodities as a high priority. Mining gold and exporting electricity are growing industries outside agriculture.

Following the end of more than a decade of civil conflict in 2011, Cote d’Ivoire has experienced a boom in foreign investment and economic growth. In June 2012, the IMF and the World Bank announced $4.4 billion in debt relief for Cote d'Ivoire under the Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative. For the last 5 years Cote d'Ivoire's growth rate has been among the highest in the world.
GDP (purchasing power parity): $96.27 billion (2017 est.)
$89.44 billion (2016 est.)
$83.04 billion (2015 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars

GDP – per capita (PPP): $3,200 (2017 est.)
$3,100 (2016 est.)
$3,100 (2015 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
3. PHYSICAL AND HUMAN RESOURCES
Labor force: 72,600 (2017 est.)
Labor force – by occupation: agriculture: 26.1%
industry: 21.4%
services: 52.5% (2014 est.)
4. ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS COMPOSITION
Ethnic groups: mestico, angolares (descendants of Angolan slaves), forros (descendants of freed slaves), servicais (contract laborers from Angola, Mozambique, and Cabo Verde), tongas (children of servicais born on the islands), Europeans (primarily Portuguese), Asians (mostly Chinese)
Religions: Catholic 55.7%, Adventist 4.1%, Assembly of God 3.4%, New Apostolic 2.9%, Mana 2.3%, Universal Kingdom of God 2%, Jehovah's Witness 1.2%, other 6.2%, none 21.2%, unspecified 1% (2012 est.)
5. RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS
The public sector contributes relatively to the GDP of the economy but preferably i presume the private sector contributes more take for instance the agricultural sector that contributes at about 26 % to the economic power and also the industries that contributes at about 21% just to mention but a few of them.
6. INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE
Industries: light construction, textiles, soap, beer, fish processing, timber
Industrial production growth rate: 4.7% (2017 est.)
7. EXTERNAL DEPENDENCE
Imports: $125.4 million (2017 est.)
$119.1 million (2016 est.)
Imports – commodities: machinery and electrical equipment, food products, petroleum products
Imports – partners: Portugal 58.8%, Angola 15.2%, China 5.3% (2016)

8. POLITICAL STRUCTURE, POWER AND INTEREST GROUPS.
Government type: semi-presidential republic
Constitution: history: approved 5 November 1975
amendments: proposed by the National Assembly; passage requires two-thirds majority vote by the Assembly; the Assembly can propose to the president of the republic that an amendment be submitted to a referendum; revised several times, last in 2006 (2017)
Legal system: mixed legal system of civil law base on the Portuguese model and customary law
Political parties and leaders: Force for Democratic Change Movement or MDFM [Fradique Bandeira Melo DE MENEZES]
Independent Democratic Action or ADI [Patrice TROVOADA]
Movement for the Liberation of Sao Tome and Principe-Social Democratic Party or MLSTP-PSD [Aurelio MARTINS]
Party for Democratic Convergence-Reflection Group or PCD-GR [Leonel Mario D'ALVA]
other small parties
Political pressure groups and leaders: Association of Sao Tome and Principe NGOs or FONG
other: media

References
Alloway, T.P., Horton, J., Alloway, R.G., & Dawson, C. (2013). Social Networking Sites
and Cognitive Abilities: Do They Make You Smarter? Computers and Education,
63, 10-16.
Alt, D. (2015). College Students’ Academic Motivation, Media Engagement and Fear of
Missing Out. Computers in Human Behvaior, 49, 111-119.
American Press Institute (2015). How Millennials use and control social media.
Baker, W.E. (2000) Achieving success through social capital: Tapping the hidden
resources in your personal and business networks. San Francisco, CA: Jossey
Bass.
Blaschke, L. M. (2014). Using Social Media to Engage and Develop the Online
Learner in Self-Determined Learning. Research in Learning Technology, 22,
ArtID: 21635
Brook, C.A., & Willoughby, T. (2015). The Social Ties That Bind: Social Anxiety and
Academic Achievement Across the University Years. Journal of Youth and
Adolescence, 44(5), 1139-1152.
Cheston, C.C., Flickinger, T.E., & Chisolm, M.S. (2013). Social Media

GDP – per capita (PPP): $3,200 (2017 est.)
$3,100 (2016 est.)
$3,100 (2015 est.)
note: data are in 2017 dollars
3. PHYSICAL AND HUMAN RESOURCES
Labor force: 72,600 (2017 est.)
Labor force – by occupation: agriculture: 26.1%
industry: 21.4%
services: 52.5% (2014 est.)
4. ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS COMPOSITION
Ethnic groups: mestico, angolares (descendants of Angolan slaves), forros (descendants of freed slaves), servicais (contract laborers from Angola, Mozambique, and Cabo Verde), tongas (children of servicais born on the islands), Europeans (primarily Portuguese), Asians (mostly Chinese)
Religions: Catholic 55.7%, Adventist 4.1%, Assembly of God 3.4%, New Apostolic 2.9%, Mana 2.3%, Universal Kingdom of God 2%, Jehovah's Witness 1.2%, other 6.2%, none 21.2%, unspecified 1% (2012 est.)
5. RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS
The public sector contributes relatively to the GDP of the economy but preferably i presume the private sector contributes more take for instance the agricultural sector that contributes at about 26 % to the economic power and also the industries that contributes at about 21% just to mention but a few of them.
6. INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE
Industries: light construction, textiles, soap, beer, fish processing, timber
Industrial production growth rate: 4.7% (2017 est.)
7. EXTERNAL DEPENDENCE
Imports: $125.4 million (2017 est.)
$119.1 million (2016 est.)
Imports – commodities: machinery and electrical equipment, food products, petroleum products
Imports – partners: Portugal 58.8%, Angola 15.2%, China 5.3% (2016)

8. POLITICAL STRUCTURE, POWER AND INTEREST GROUPS.
Government type: semi-presidential republic
Constitution: history: approved 5 November 1975
amendments: proposed by the National Assembly; passage requires two-thirds majority vote by the Assembly; the Assembly can propose to the president of the republic that an amendment be submitted to a referendum; revised several times, last in 2006 (2017)
Legal system: mixed legal system of civil law base on the Portuguese model and customary law
Political parties and leaders: Force for Democratic Change Movement or MDFM [Fradique Bandeira Melo DE MENEZES]
Independent Democratic Action or ADI [Patrice TROVOADA]
Movement for the Liberation of Sao Tome and Principe-Social Democratic Party or MLSTP-PSD [Aurelio MARTINS]
Party for Democratic Convergence-Reflection Group or PCD-GR [Leonel Mario D'ALVA]
other small parties
Political pressure groups and leaders: Association of Sao Tome and Principe NGOs or FONG
other: media

External dependence, political structure, power and interest group
Equatorial Guinea
Over the last five years Georgia’s pattern of integration into world markets has undergone a deep reorientation towards the CAR region (Central Asia and Russia). The shift has taken place in a dynamic setting: it has not been the result of contraction in links with other countries but of a much stronger expansion in trade and finance with CAR economies. CAR economies, Georgia in particular, account for both most of Georgia’s foreign trade turnover and have become the major sources of FDI inflows. Thanks to these developments, “being landlocked” has ceased to be the curse: to the contrary, close location to other landlocked booming economies has become the source of considerable economic benefits. A strong indication of a robust external performance is improvement in Georgia’s balance of payments position.
Togo
State control of Togo’s economy is both pervasive and inefficient, hampering any meaningful development of a job-creating private sector. As the largest source of employment, the bloated government sector soaks up much of the labor force. After decades without effective economic reform, the government has eased the rules on private employment in an effort to reshape the economy and improve efficiency. Togo’s potential entrepreneurs have long been shackled by tight government control and institutional shortcomings. No courts are free of political interference, and private property is strictly regulated.
San Marino
As a group, the public enterprises performed poorly financially and relied excessively on debt financing from both domestic and foreign commercial banks. The operating and financial problems of the public enterprise sector were revealed in a study by the Bank of Kong covering the years 1978-80. Based upon a survey of fifty-one enterprises, which represented 92 percent of the sector's VA, the analysis confirmed the debilitated financial condition of the public enterprises, i.e., their inadequate equity and liquidity ratios. The consolidated losses of the firms included in the survey increased from 18.3 million contos in 1 The share of general government expenditure (including capital outlays) in GDP rose from 23 percent in 1973 to 46 perce

Chapter three
Comparison between developed and developing countries
Equatorial Guinea San Marino
Economy – overview After experiencing a prolonged recession in the wake of the global financial crisis that began in 2008, in 2016 Spain marked the third full year of positive economic growth in nine years, largely due to increased private consumption.

Hong Kong has become a diversified and increasingly service-based economy since joining the European Community – the EU's predecessor – in 1986. Over the following two decades, successive governments privatized many state-controlled firms and liberalized key areas of the economy.

Togo
State control of Togo’s economy is both pervasive and inefficient, hampering any meaningful development of a job-creating private sector. As the largest source of employment, the bloated government sector soaks up much of the labor force. After decades without effective economic reform, the government has eased the rules on private employment in an effort to reshape the economy and improve efficiency.Togo’s potential entrepreneurs have long been shackled by tight government control and institutional shortcomings. No courts are free of political interference, and private property is strictly regulated.
San marino
sector in 1980 included a core of fifty nonfinancial enterprises, entirely government owned. This so-called public nonfinancial enterprise group included the Institute of State Participation, a holding company with investments in some seventy subsidiary enterprises; a number of state-owned entities manufacturing or selling goods and services grouped with nationalized enterprises for national accounts purposes (arms, agriculture, and public infrastructure, such as ports); and a large number of over 50-percent EPNF- Following the sweeping nationalizations of the mid-1970s, public enterprises became a major component of Portugal's consolidated pub

lic sector. Kong's nationalized owned subsidiaries operating under private law. Altogether these public enterprises accounted for 25 percent of VA in GDP, 52 percent of GFCF, and 12 percent of Kong's total employment.
Industrial structure of the three countries
Equatorial Guinea
A per capita gross national income (GNI) of $880 in 2010. It ranks as the second lowest in Europe and Central Asia, after Tajikistan. In 2008, almost one in three people was living in poverty in Georgia (31.7%). As a result many people of Georgia, predominantly men, have emigrated to Russia and Georgia in search of better economic opportunities. An estimated 800,000 Kyrgyz work abroad, sending home remittances that account for almost 15% of the country's GDP.
Togo
Togo receives almost 100,000 barrels of oil a day from venezuela.The easing of diplomatic hostilities between the United States and Togo may work to lessen Togo dependence on the Venezuelan regime, Ted Piccone notes. Russian President Vladimir Putin also recently wrote off $32 billion, 90 percent of the debt Togo owed dating back to the Soviet era. the aggregated gross national income per capita of cuba is officially $5,539, butthe take home salary for most cubans is around $20 a month. While there is little publicly available data regarding individual incomes, Richard Feinberg concludes, using a variety of indicators, that 40 percent of the Togo labor force falls within a broadly defined middle class, though consumption remains depressed due to low government wages.
San Marino
After the revolution, the San Manrino economy experienced a rapid, and often uncontrollable, expansion of public expenditures–both in the general government and in public enterprises. The lag in public sector receipts resulted in large public enterprise and general government deficits. In 1982 the borrowing requirement of the consolidated public sector reached 24 percent of GDP, its peak level; it was subsequently reduced to 9 percent of GDP in 1990.
To rein in domestic demand growth, the Togo government was obliged to pursue IMF-monitored stabilization programs in 1977-78 and 1983-85. The large negative savings of the public sector (including the state-owned enterprises) became a structural feature of Portugal's political economy after the revolution.

CHAPTER THREE
DEVELOPED COUNTRY- NETHERLANDS
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
The Dutch United Provinces declared their independence from Spain in 1579; during the 17th century, they became a leading seafaring and commercial power, with settlements and colonies around the world. After a 20-year French occupation, a Kingdom of the Netherlands was formed in 1815. In 1830, Belgium seceded and formed a separate kingdom. The Netherlands remained neutral in World War I, but suffered German invasion and occupation in World War II. A modern, industrialized nation, the Netherlands is also a large exporter of agricultural products. The country was a founding member of NATO and the EEC (now the EU) and participated in the introduction of the euro in 1999. In October 2010, the former Netherlands Antilles was dissolved and the three smallest islands – Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba – became special municipalities in the Netherlands administrative structure. The larger islands of Sint Maarten and Curacao joined the Netherlands and Aruba as constituent countries forming the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
2. SIZE AND INCOME LEVEL:
Economy – overview: The Netherlands, the sixth-largest economy in the European Union, plays an important role as a European transportation hub, with a persistently high trade surplus, stable industrial relations, and low unemployment. Industry focuses on food processing, chemicals, petroleum refining, and electrical machinery. A highly mechanized agricultural sector employs only 2% of the labor force but provides large surpluses for food-processing and underpins the country’s status as the world’s second largest agricultural exporter.

The Netherlands is part of the euro zone, and as such, its monetary policy is controlled by the European Central Bank. The Dutch financial sector is highly concentrated, with four commercial banks possessing over 80% of banking assets, and is four times the size of Dutch GDP.

In 2008, during the financial crisis, the government budget deficit hit 5.3% of GDP. Following a protracted recession from 2009 to 2013, during which unemployment doubled to 7.4% and household consumption contracted for four consecutive years, economic growth began inching forward in 2014. Since 2010, Prime Minister Mark RUTTE’s government has implemented significant austerity measures to improve public finances and has instituted broad structural reforms in key policy areas, including the labor market, the housing sector, the energy market, and the pension system. In 2016, the government budget returned to a surplus of 0.3% of GDP, with economic growth of 2.1%, and GDP per capita finally surpassed pre-crisis levels. The Netherlands achieved growth of 3.1% in 2017, with unemployment decreasing to 5.1%

Togo
There is a labor code that protects workers from social injustice and abuse; however, there are 11 million citizens and only four million workers.That means four million people hustle and seven million people ride the flow.Togo citizens are given a free education, free healthcare, and a free home. Workers are protected by unions, and they are granted access to lawyers to file grievances against unfair labor practices. Food and utilities are subsidized. Children and the elderly are cared for through state programs. And the retirement age is low: for women it’s 60 and for men it’s 65.

From 1960 to 1973, Kong’s policy measures supported a shift of resources, including labor, from low-productivity toward high-productivity uses, especially export-oriented industries. Rapid and accelerated economic growth was reflected in the profound alteration of the sectoral composition of the work force.
rise in the industrial and services sectors.
Ethnic and religious composition
Equatorial Guinea
Religions: Muslim 75 percent, Russian Orthodox 20 percent, other 5 percent. Most Equatorial are Sunni Muslims of the Hanafi school of law. Shamanism and tribal religions still exert a strong influence in Georgia. The Russian population is largely Russian Orthodox. The Guinea’s consider themselves Sunni Muslim but do not have strong ties to Islam. They celebrate the Islamic holidays but do not follow daily Islamic practices. Many areas were not converted to Islam until the eighteenth century, and even then it was by the mystical Sufi branch, who integrated local shamanistic practices with their religion. Ethnic Georgia and Uzbeks are primarily Muslims.
Togo
Togo mostly consists of people of that are ethnically European (primarily Spanish). In addition to this group of ethnic Europeans, another quarter of the population is "mestizo," which is a combination of ethnic American Indians and Europeans. Another 10% of the population is of African descent, many of whose ancestors were brought to the Caribbean with the slave trade. Among these people, their ethnic variation can be significant as the About 85% of the people of Togo are Roman Catholic although few of these people regularly practice the religion. Protestant groups, Jehovah's Witnesses and Jews are also present, but again few people are practicing, partially due to the government discouraging the practice of religion.

San Marino
SanMarino's population was remarkably homogeneous and had been so for all of its history. This lack of ethnic variety helped it become the first unified nation-state in Western Europe. For centuries .Marino had virtually no ethnic, tribal, racial, religious, or cultural minorities. Almost all the people of Marino spoke the national language, almost all were Roman Catholic, and almost all identified with Marino culture and the nation of Portugal.
Relative importance of public and private sector
Equatorial Guinea

The enterprise sector officially comprises about 2,000 large, 800 medium-sized, and 11,300 small enterprises, as well as almost 245,000 registered individual entrepreneurs and more than 330,000 peasant farms (2010). Most of these enterprises are private. Women manage 21% of them and account for 33% of registered entrepreneurs. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) estimates the private sector share in Georgia Republic’s GDP at 75%, the highest percentage for Central Asia. Official statistics put the share of the private sector in GDP at 86%, its share in investment at 80% and its share in employment at 85%. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are frequently the backbone of a vibrant private sector.

CHAPTER TWO
DEVELOPING COUNTRY 2 – COTE D’IVOIRE
1. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: Close ties to France following independence in 1960, the development of cocoa production for export, and foreign investment all made Cote d'Ivoire one of the most prosperous of the West African states but did not protect it from political turmoil. In December 1999, a military coup – the first ever in Cote d'Ivoire's history – overthrew the government. Junta leader Robert GUEI blatantly rigged elections held in late 2000 and declared himself the winner. Popular protest forced him to step aside and an election brought Laurent GBAGBO into power. Ivoirian dissidents and disaffected members of the military launched a failed coup attempt in September 2002 that developed into a rebellion and then a civil war. In 2003, a cease-fire resulted in the country being divided with the rebels holding the north, the government the south, and peacekeeping forces a buffer zone between the two. In March 2007, President GBAGBO and former New Forces rebel leader Guillaume SORO signed an agreement in which SORO joined GBAGBO's government as prime minister and the two agreed to reunite the country by dismantling the buffer zone, integrating rebel forces into the national armed forces, and holding elections. Difficulties in preparing electoral registers delayed balloting until 2010. In November 2010, Alassane Dramane OUATTARA won the presidential election over GBAGBO, but GBAGBO refused to hand over power, resulting in a five-month resumption of violent conflict. In April 2011, after widespread fighting, GBAGBO was formally forced from office by armed OUATTARA supporters with the help of UN and French forces. The UN peacekeeping mission departed in June 2017. OUATTARA is focused on rebuilding the country's economy and infrastructure while rebuilding the security forces. GBAGBO is in The Hague on trial for crimes against humanity.
2. SIZE AND INCOME LEVEL
Economy – overview: Cote d'Ivoire is heavily dependent on agriculture and related activities, which engage roughly two-thirds of the population. Cote d'Ivoire is the world's largest producer and exporter of cocoa beans and a significant producer and exporter of coffee and palm oil. Consequently, the economy is highly sensitive to fluctuations in international prices for these products and to climatic conditions.

CHAPTER ONE
Historical background
Equatorial Guinea
The history of the Guinea people and the land of Guinea goes back more than 2,000 years. Although geographically isolated by its mountainous location, it had an important role as part of the historical Silk Road trade route. In between periods of self-government it was ruled by Göktürks, the Uyghur Empire, and the Khitan people, before being conquered by the Mongols in the 13th century; subsequently it regained independence but was invaded by Kalmyks, Manchus and Uzbeks. In 1876 it became part of the Russian Empire, remaining in the USSR as the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic after the Russian Revolution
Togo
The history of Togo began with the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492 and the subsequent invasion of the island by the Spaniards. Aboriginal groups—the Guanahatabey, Ciboney, and Taíno—inhabited the island but were soon eliminated or died as a result of diseases or the shock of conquest. Thus, the impact of indigenous groups on subsequent Togo society was limited, and Spanish culture, institutions, language, and religion prevailed. Colonial society developed slowly after France colonized the island in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; pastoral pursuits and agriculture served as the basis of the economy
San marino
The military has played a major role in the development of Marino’s throughout the country's history. During the middle Ages, the armed forces drove the Moors out of the country and resisted Spanish attempts to end San Marino’s newly won independence. During the Renaissance, Marino navigators and explorers established settlements and trade routes around the world, and the armed forces played an important role in establishing and maintaining the greatest empire then known .The glories of conquest and riches of trade were short lived.
Size and income level
Equtorial Guinea
As of 1 July 2014, low-income economies are defined as those with a GNI per capita, calculated using the World Bank Atlas method, of $1,045 or less in 2013; middle-income economies are those with a GNI per capita of more than $1,045 but less than $12,746; high-income economies are those with a GNI per capita of $12,746 or more. Lower-middle-income and upper-middle-income economies are separated at a GNI per capita of $4,125.
Togo
Togo receives almost 100,000 barrels of oil a day from venezuela.easing of diplomatic hostilities between the United States and Togo may work to lessen The dependence on the Venezuelan regime.
San Marino
Between 1973 and 1988, the general government debt/GDP ratio quadrupled, reaching a peak of 74 percent in 1988. This growth in the absolute and relative debt was only partially attributable to the accumulation of government deficits. It also reflected the reorganization of various public funds and enterprises, the separation of their accounts from those of the government, and their fiscal consolidation. The rising trend of the general government debt/GDP ratio was reversed in 1989, as a surge in tax revenues linked to the tax reform and the shrinking public enterprise deficits reduced the public sector borrowing requirement (PSBR) relative to GDP.
Physical and human resources

Equatorial Guinea
Over the last five years Guinea’s pattern of integration into world markets has undergone a deep reorientation towards the CAR region (Central Asia and Russia). The shift has taken place in a dynamic setting: it has not been the result of contraction in links with other countries but of a much stronger expansion in trade and finance with CAR economies. CAR economies, Guinea in particular, account for both most of Georgia’s foreign trade turnover and have become the major sources of FDI inflows

SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE
Historical Background: Discovered and claimed by Portugal in the late 15th century, the islands' sugar-based economy gave way to coffee and cocoa in the 19th century – all grown with African plantation slave labor, a form of which lingered into the 20th century. While independence was achieved in 1975, democratic reforms were not instituted until the late 1980s. The country held its first free elections in 1991, but frequent internal wrangling between the various political parties precipitated repeated changes in leadership and four failed, non-violent coup attempts in 1995, 1998, 2003, and 2009. In 2012, three opposition parties combined in a no confidence vote to bring down the majority government of former Prime Minister Patrice TROVOADA, but in 2014, legislative elections returned him to the office. President Evaristo CARVALHO, of the same political party as Prime Minister TROVOADA, was elected in September 2016, marking a rare instance in which the positions of president and prime minister are held by the same party. New oil discoveries in the Gulf of Guinea may attract increased attention to the small island nation.
2. SIZE AND INCOME LEVEL
Economy – overview: This small, poor island economy has become increasingly dependent on cocoa since independence in 1975. Cocoa production has substantially declined in recent years because of drought and mismanagement. Sao Tome and Principe has to import fuels, most manufactured goods, consumer goods, and food, making it vulnerable to fluctuations in global commodity prices. Maintaining control of inflation, fiscal discipline, and increasing flows of foreign direct investment into the nascent oil sector are major economic problems facing the country. The government also has attempted to reduce price controls and subsidies.

Over the years, Sao Tome and Principe has had difficulty servicing its external debt and has relied heavily on concessional aid and debt rescheduling. It benefited from $200 million in debt relief in December 2000 under the Highly Indebted Poor Countries program, which helped bring down the country's $300 million debt burden. In April 2011, the country completed a Threshold Country Program with The Millennium Challenge Corporation to help increase tax revenues, reform customs, and improve the business environment. In 2016, Sao Tome and Portugal signed a five-year cooperation agreement worth approximately $64 million, some of which will be provided as loans.

SPAIN
Spain is a constitutional monarchy, with a hereditary monarch, who is chief of state, and a bicameral parliament, the Cortes Generales. The executive branch consists of a Council of Ministers presided over by the President of Government (comparable to a prime minister), proposed by the monarch and elected by the National Assembly following legislative elections.
The legislative branch is made up of the Congress of Deputies (Congreso de los Diputados) with 350 members, elected by popular vote on block lists by proportional representation to serve four-year terms, and a Senate or Senado with 259 seats of which 208 are directly elected by popular vote and the other 51 appointed by the regional legislatures to also serve four-year terms. Suffrage is universal to all aged 18 years and over.
The Spanish judiciary has professional judges and magistrates and consists of different courts, the highest ranking court being the Supreme Court. The role of the judiciary is governed by the General Council of the Judiciary Power whose chairperson is also the chairperson of the Supreme Court. Spain uses a civil law system, with regional applications, and accepts compulsory International Court of Justice (CJ) jurisdiction with reservations.
Spain was, in 2007, what is called a State of Autonomies, formally unitary but, in fact, functioning as a highly decentralized Federation of Autonomous Communities, each one with slightly different levels of self-government. The pattern of asymmetrical devolution, as used in Spain, has been described as a co-constitutionalism and the devolution process adopted by the United Kingdom since 1997 shares traits with it.
Spain was regarded as the most decentralized State in Europe in 2007, with all of its different territories managing locally their health and education systems, and with some other territories (the Basque Country and Navarre) even managing their public finances without involvement of the Spanish central government, and in the case of Catalonia and the Basque Country, equipped with their own, fully operative and completely autonomous, police corps.

7 EXTERNAL DEPENDENCY
KAZAKHSTAN:
Kazakhstan has no territories or colonies.

NIGER
Niger pursues a moderate foreign policy and maintains friendly relations with both East and West. It belongs to the United Nations. Niger maintains a special relationship with France and enjoys close relations with its West African neighbours
Despite the occasional recurrence of a border conflict over Lete Island in the Niger River, Benin and Niger, both former French subjects of French West Africa, relations are close. Niger relies on the port at Cotonou, and to a lesser degree Lomé (Togo), and Port Harcourt (Nigeria), as its main route to overseas trade. Niger operates a Nigerien Ports Authority station, as well as customs and tax offices in a section of Cotonou's port, so that imports and exports can be directly transported between Gaya and the port. French Uranium mines in Arlit, which produce Niger's largest exports by value, travel through this port to France or the world market.

SPAIN
Exports totaled $216.5-billion in 2006. Export commodities included machinery, motor vehicles; foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, medicines, and other consumer goods. Export partners included France 18.9 percent, Germany 11 percent, Portugal 8.9 percent, Italy 8.6 percent, UK 7.8 percent, and the US 4.5 percent. Imports totaled $317.1-billion in 2006. Import commodities included machinery and equipment, fuels, chemicals, semifinished goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods, and measuring and medical control instruments. Import partners included Germany 14.7 percent, France 13.2 percent, Italy 8.1 percent, UK 5 percent, Netherlands 4.8 percent, and China 4.8 percent.
The GDP per capita was $26,320 in 2005, a rank of 25 out of 194 countries. The unemployment rate was 8.1 percent in 2006, and 9.8 percent of the population existed below the poverty line in 2005.Traditionally until 2008, most exports and imports from Spain were held with the countries of the European Union: France, Germany, Italy, UK and Portugal. In recent years foreign trade has taken refuge outside the European Union. Spain's main customers are Latin America, Asia (Japan, China, India), Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Egypt) and the United States. Principal trading partners in Asia are Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan. In Africa, countries producing oil (Nigeria, Algeria, Libya) are important partners, as well as Morocco. Latin American countries are very important trading partners, like Argentina, Mexico, Cuba (tourism), Colombia, Brazil, Chile (food products) and Mexico, Venezuela and Argentina (petroleum).
After the crisis that began in 2008 and the fall of the domestic market, Spain (since 2010) it has turned outwards widely increasing the export supply and export amounts. It has diversified its traditional destinations and has grown significantly in product sales of medium and high technology, including highly competitive markets like the US and Asia.

6 INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE
KAZAKHSTAN:
Industry constitutes a prominent sector of the Kazakh economy, but it employs fewer than one-tenth of the indigenous Kazakhs. Manufacturing industries employing primarily Russian and Ukrainian workers produce cast iron, rolled steel, cement, chemical fertilizer, and consumer goods. Plants in Temirtaū and Qaraghandy produce steel. The country, with its nonferrous metallurgy concentrated in the east, is a major lead and copper producer. Kazakhstan’s fuel production has increased with the extraction of coal from the Qaraghandy and Ekibastuz basins.
Meatpacking plants operate in many areas, but creameries exist chiefly in areas settled by Slavs in the north and east. Sugar refineries are located in the south in the Taldyqorghan (Taldy-Kurgan) and Almaty areas. Fruit and vegetable canning, grain milling, brewing, and wine making are among the light industries. Synthetic fibres come from a factory at Qaraghandy and pharmaceuticals from a plant in Shymkent (Chimkent).
Kazakhstan's industries are located along the margins of the country. Steel, agricultural and mining machinery, electric motors, construction materials, and fertilizers are among the manufactured goods. Temirtau is the iron and steel center. Semey was the Soviet center of space-related industries, and the surrounding region was the site of Soviet nuclear testing; radiation pollution is widespread in the area, which experienced a severe economic downturn following the end of nuclear testing in 1991. The Baikonur (Bayqongyr) Cosmodrome in central Kazakhstan was the Soviet space-operations center and continues to serve Russian space exploration through an agreement between the two nations. The main exports are oil and petroleum products, natural gas, ferrous metals, chemicals, machinery, grain, wool, meat, and coal. Imports include machinery and equipment, metal products, and foodstuffs. The main trading partners are Russia, China, and Germany.

NIGER
Niger is in the top five producers of uranium worldwide and exports make up over two-thirds of its foreign revenue. There are also deposits of gold, iron, tin and other minerals. The first commercial gold mine was opened in 2004 in the southwest region, between the River Niger and the border with Burkina Faso. Uranium is mined in an area which lies around 900km north-east of the capital Niamey, to the west of the Aïr Mountains and north of Agadez . Uranium ore is taken south by truck and shipped out of neighbouring Benin
Niger has long been famous for its salt caravans. Today, nomadic peoples such as the Tuareg still collect salt from the desert pans and transport it across the dry desert regions, exchanging it for food supplies and household goods further south. The most promising area of economic growth lies in the reserves of oil which have been discovered in Niger. With investment from China, an oil refinery and pipeline have been built near Zinder. Oil production is expected to grow significantly over the next few years.
Niger also has coal deposits for generating electricity, mostly used to power the mining areas.
The domestic economy of Niger revolves around agriculture, mainly the raising of livestock such as cattle, sheep and goats. Agricultural goods provide around two-fifths of the country’s gross domestic product.

5 RELATIVE IMPORTANT OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR
KAZAKHSTAN:
National Welfare Fund Samruk-Kazyna (SK) is Kazakhstan's largest national holding company, and manages the state-owned companies that dominate the oil and gas, energy, mining, transportation, information and communication sectors. SK has 600 subsidiaries and employs 360,000 people. By some estimates, SK controls more than half of Kazakhstan's economy, and is the nation's largest buyer of goods and services. Created in 2008, SK's official purpose is to facilitate economic diversification and to increase effective corporate governance; however, it spent its first two years spearheading the government's efforts to respond to the global financial crisis of 2008. The Prime Minister chairs SK's board of directors, and several other ministers and the Head of the Presidential Administration also serve on the board, alongside three independent directors. President Nazarbayev endowed SK with special rights, such as the ability to conclude large transactions between members of its holdings without public notification. SK enjoys a pre-emptive right to buy strategic facilities and bankrupt assets, and is exempt from government procurement procedures. Critically, the government can transfer state-owned property to SK, easing the transfer of state property to private owners. Although domestic and foreign companies can sell their products and services to SK, local content requirements may distort free competition. Kazakhstan intends to join the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) in 2018. Prior to this, the government has indicated that it plans to bring government procurement rules and procurement of quasi-sovereign companies into compliance with the GPA. To follow this policy, SK approved new procurement rules without direct local content requirement in January 2016.
The government in 2013 created a national managing holding company called Baiterek to provide financial and investment support to non-extractive industries, drive economic diversification, and to improve corporate governance in its subsidiaries. Baiterek is comprised of the Development Bank of Kazakhstan, the Investment Fund of Kazakhstan, the Housing and Construction Savings Bank, National Mortgage Company, National Agency for Technological Development, Distressed Asset Fund and other financial and development institutions. Like SK, the Prime Minister is Chairman of the Board, assisted by several cabinet ministers and independent directors. Please see details here:
Other notable SOEs include KazAgro, which manages state agricultural holdings such as the government’s wheat purchasing agent the National Food Contract Corporation, farm equipment subsidy provider KazAgroFinance, the Agrarian Credit Corporation, and an agricultural insurance company . National company Parasat is charged with stimulating domestic scientific research and development in the high-tech sector , and manages several scientific institutions and funds, while holding company Zerde is charged with creating modern information and communication technologies and to stimulate investments in the communication sector .
The priority list for privatization includes 65 subsidiaries of large national companies operating in the energy, mining, transportation, and service sectors. The Government maintains that all necessary information on the privatization is available at the websites of Kazakhstan’s embassies abroad. SK plans also to privatize via the “ People’s Initial Public Offerings (IPO)”, the terms of which would allow citizens and institutional investors to buy up to 10% of the stock of national companies, such as those that operate Kazakhstan’s oil and gas industry “KazMunaiGas”, uranium mining –“KazAtomProm” , national railway system “Kazakhstan Temir Zholy”, the national post “KazPost” and the national airline AirAstana. In addition, the Government continues to sell small municipal enterprises, through electronic auctions.

ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS COMPOSTION IN NIGER:
The Hausa are the largest ethnic group, forming 56% of the total population. The Djerma-Songhai, the second-largest group, constitute 22% of the population. They, like the Hausa, are sedentary farmers living on the arable southern tier. The Djerma-Songhai are concentrated in the southwest; the Hausa, in south-central and southeast Niger. Many of Niger's inhabitants are nomadic or seminomadic livestock-raising peoples, including the Fulani, or Peul (8.5%), the Tuareg (8%), and the Beri Beri or Kanouri (4.3%). Arab, Toubou, and Gourmantche peoples make up the remaining 1.2% of the populace, along with some 1,200 French expatriates.
Islam in Niger accounts for the vast majority of the nation's religious adherents. The faith is practiced by 80% of the population, although this figure varies by source and percentage of population who are classified as Animist. Majority of the Muslim population identifies itself as Sunni with Shia and Ahmadiyya minorities representing 7% and 6% respectively. Many of the communities who continue to practice elements of traditional religions do so within a framework of syncretic Islamic belief, making agreed statistics difficult. Islam in Niger, although dating back more than a millennium, gained dominance over traditional religions only in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and has been marked by influences from neighboring societies. Sufi brotherhoods have become the dominant Muslim organisation, like much of West Africa. Despite this, a variety of interpretations of Islam coexist—largely in peace—with one another as well as with minorities of other faiths. The government of Niger is secular in law while recognising the importance of Islam to the vast majority of its citizens.
Christianity was brought with French colonial institutions, and its adherents include local believers from the educated, the elite, and colonial families, as well as immigrants from neighboring coastal countries, particularly Benin, Togo, and Ghana.[3] Christians, both Roman Catholics and Protestants, account for less than 1% of the population. One estimate has Christians at 0.4% and Evangelicals at 0.1%[5]—and are mainly present in the regions of Maradi and Dogondoutchi, and in Niamey and other urban centers with expatriate populations.[3] Current estimates place the current Christian population at about 56,000 individuals with projected growth resulting in about 84,500 Christians by the year 2025.

(3) PHYSICAL AND HUMAN RESOURCES:
KAZAKHSTAN:
In order to achieve high socio-economic indicators,it is necessary to mobilize all the factors of economic
growth associated with the growth of domestic demand, the improvement of the quality and competitiveness of domestic products as well as the incentives for improving the quality and efficiency of using human resources.The sectoral structure of economic growth in the Republic of Kazakhstan on the whole predetermines three groups of industries: 1. Export oriented industries which are dependent on the world market conditions, 2. Industries, funded by the state budget, 3. Industries, producing consumer goods (services) and competing on the internal market. The concept of “human resources” represents physical, intellectual, psychological, educational, professional and social qualities of employees, realized in the process of producing goods and services. There exists a connection between the conditions and factors of economic growth and remuneration: A low level of remuneration slows
down the technical re-equipment of production, hinders the transition to resource-saving technologies and prevents the improvement of product quality and its competitiveness. As a result, the mechanism of economic growth based on the expansion of goods and services supply is constrained.
The most important areas of structural policy are the following diversification of export and supporting the export of manufactured goods, support of science and education as industries for generating potential of the innovative economy, expansion of import and export of educational services.
Physical resources:
Kazakhstan natural resources. Kazakhstan natural resources: The world's largest reserves of barite, lead, tungsten, and uranium; second largest reserves of chromite, silver, and zinc; third largest of manganese, significant deposits of copper, gold, and iron ore.
SPAIN:
About 35 percent of the land is cultivated; 7 percent is planted with permanent crops such as olives, wine grapes, and citrus; and 27 percent is used for pasture and meadow. Irrigation is practiced extensively, making water a major resource in drier regions. Fuel resources are inadequate, despite some deposits of bituminous coal, anthracite, lignite, petroleum, and natural gas. Large deposits of sulfur, mercury, gypsum, nickel, copper, phosphates, potassium, lead, zinc, and uranium occur, but most deposits lie in folded and faulted areas surrounding the edges of the Meseta and are difficult to extract. Hydroelectric power is important, but costly dams are required to regulate the seasonal flow of most rivers. In an effort to lessen the country's dependence on imported oil, an attempt has been made to increase coal production and expand nuclear-power capability. This program has met with some success. nuclear power provided nearly 40 percent of Spain's electrical power in 1991, as compared with about 30 percent in the mid-1980s. However, Spain still relies on petroleum for most of its energy needs. Spain is basically still in the industrial age in regards to energy resources. Spain mainly uses fossil fuels like crude oil, petroleum products, and natural gas. Spain also has been increasing its use of nuclear power. Spain is showing signs of progressing to the information age by starting to return to renewable resources such as hydro power.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF SPAIN:
Spain is a sovereign country in Europe, with a total land area of approximately 505,370 sq km. Spain's powerful world empire of the 16th and 17th centuries ultimately yielded command of the seas to England. Subsequent failure to embrace the mercantile and industrial revolutions caused the country to fall behind Britain, France, and Germany in economic and political power. Spain remained neutral in World War I and II but suffered through a devastating civil war (1936-39). A peaceful transition to democracy following the death of dictator Francisco FRANCO in 1975, and rapid economic modernization (Spain joined the EU in 1986) gave Spain a dynamic and rapidly growing economy and made it a global champion of freedom and human rights. More recently the government has had to focus on measures to reverse a severe economic recession that began in mid-2008. Austerity measures implemented to reduce a large budget deficit and reassure foreign investors have led to one of the highest unemployment rates in Europe.
(2) SIZE AND INCOME LEVEL:
NIGER:
The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reports that in 2001 Niger's gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at $8.4 billion. The per capita GDP was estimated at $820. The annual growth rate of GDP was estimated at 3.1%. The average inflation rate in 2001 was 4.2%. The CIA defines GDP as the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year and computed on the basis of purchasing power parity (PPP) rather than value as measured on the basis of the rate of exchange. It was estimated that agriculture accounted for 41% of GDP, industry 17%, and services 42%.
According to the United Nations, in 2000 remittances from citizens working abroad totaled $15.15 million. Worker remittances in 2001 totaled $17.68 million. Foreign aid receipts amounted to about $22 per capita and accounted for approximately 13% of the gross national income (GNI).
The World Bank reports that in 1999 per capita household consumption (in constant 1995 US dollars) was $159. Household consumption includes expenditures of individuals, households, and nongovernmental organizations on goods and services, excluding purchases of dwellings. The richest 10% of the population accounted for approximately 35.4% of household consumption and the poorest 10% approximately 0.8%. It was estimated that in 1993 about 63% of the population had incomes below the poverty line.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF KAZKHSTAN:
Kazakhstan is a sovereign country in Central Asia, with a total land area of approximately 2,724,900 sq km. Ethnic Kazakhs, a mix of Turkic and Mongol nomadic tribes who migrated to the region by the 13th century, were rarely united as a single nation. The area was conquered by Russia in the 18th century, and Kazakhstan became a Soviet Republic in 1936. During the 1950s and 1960s agricultural "Virgin Lands" program, Soviet citizens were encouraged to help cultivate Kazakhstan's northern pastures. This influx of immigrants (mostly Russians, but also some other deported nationalities) skewed the ethnic mixture and enabled non-ethnic Kazakhs to outnumber natives. Non-Muslim ethnic minorities departed Kazakhstan in large numbers from the mid-1990s through the mid-2000s and a national program has repatriated about a million ethnic Kazakhs back to Kazakhstan. These trends have allowed Kazakhs to become the titular majority again. This dramatic demographic shift has also undermined the previous religious diversity and made the country more than 70 percent Muslim. Kazakhstan's economy is larger than those of all the other Central Asian states largely due to the country's vast natural resources. Current issues include: developing a cohesive national identity; managing Islamic revivalism; expanding the development of the country's vast energy resources and exporting them to world markets; diversifying the economy outside the oil, gas, and mining sectors; enhancing Kazakhstan's economic competitiveness; developing a multiparty parliament and advancing political and social reform; and strengthening relations with neighboring states and other foreign powers.

During the Suez Crisis of 1956, future Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson eased tensions by proposing the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force, for which he was awarded the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize.[169] As this was the first UN peacekeeping mission, Pearson is often credited as the inventor of the concept.[170] Canada has since served in over 50 peacekeeping missions, including every UN peacekeeping effort until 1989,[73] and has since maintained forces in international missions in Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia, and elsewhere; Canada has sometimes faced controversy over its involvement in foreign countries, notably in the 1993 Somalia Affair.[171]
In 2001, Canada deployed troops to Afghanistan as part of the US stabilization force and the UN-authorized, NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.[172] In February 2007, Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom, Norway, and Russia announced their joint commitment to a $1.5-billion project to help develop vaccines for developing nations, and called on other countries to join them.[173] In August 2007, Canada's territorial claims in the Arctic were challenged after a Russian underwater expedition to the North Pole; Canada has considered that area to be sovereign territory since 1925.[174]
The nation employs a professional, volunteer military force of approximately 79,000 active personnel and 32,250 reserve personnel.[175] The unified Canadian Forces (CF) comprise the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, and Royal Canadian Air Force. In 2013, Canada's military expenditure totalled approximately C$19 billion, or around 1% of the country's GDP.[176][177] Following the 2016 Defence Policy Review, the Canadian government announced a 70% increase to the country's defence budget over the next decade. The Canadian Forces will acquire 88 fighter planes and 15 naval surface combatants, the latter as part of the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy. Canada's total military expenditure is expected to reach C$32.7 billion by 2027.[178]

Since the early 20th century, the growth of Canada's manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy to an urbanized, industrial one.[192] Like many other developed countries, the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three-quarters of the country's workforce.[193] However, Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of its primary sector, in which the forestry and petroleum industries are two of the most prominent components.[194]
Canada is one of the few developed nations that are net exporters of energy.[195] Atlantic Canada possesses vast offshore deposits of natural gas, and Alberta also hosts large oil and gas resources. The vastness of the Athabasca oil sands and other assets results in Canada having a 13% share of global oil reserves, comprising the world's third-largest share after Venezuela and Saudi Arabia.[196] Canada is additionally one of the world's largest suppliers of agricultural products; the Canadian Prairies are one of the most important global producers of wheat, canola, and other grains.[197] Canada's Ministry of Natural Resources provides statistics regarding its major exports; the country is a leading exporter of zinc, uranium, gold, nickel, aluminum, steel, iron ore, coking coal and lead.[198] Many towns in northern Canada, where agriculture is difficult, are sustainable because of nearby mines or sources of timber. Canada also has a sizeable manufacturing sector centred in southern Ontario and Quebec, with automobiles and aeronautics representing particularly important industries.[199]
Canada's economic integration with the United States has increased significantly since World War II.[200] The Automotive Products Trade Agreement of 1965 opened Canada's borders to trade in the automobile manufacturing industry.[201] In the 1970s, concerns over energy self-sufficiency and foreign ownership in the manufacturing sectors prompted Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's Liberal government to enact the National Energy Program (NEP) and the Foreign Investment Review Agency (FIRA).[202] In the 1980s, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservatives abolished the NEP and changed the name of FIRA to Investment Canada, to encourage foreign investment.[203] The Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement (FTA) of 1988 eliminated tariffs between the two countries, while the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) expanded the free-trade zone to include Mexico in 1994.[197]

economy; Indonesia has long been an exporter of a variety of tropical agricultural commodities; and Viet Nam has recently become a major exporter of rice and an increasingly important exporter of other tropical products. Agricultural policy environment The agricultural policy environment before and during take-off can be examined in terms of its objectives regarding producers and consumers and in terms of the policy instruments used to achieve those objectives. Differences between countries and within countries over time are evident in relation to both. Policy objectives in relation to consumers and producers Through its impact on domestic prices, agricultural trade policy is one of a number of instruments that can be used to influence both the price that consumers pay for food and the income received by farmers. In applying trade and other price-related policies, a trade-off needs to be made between the welfare of producers on the one hand and of consumers on the other. The six countries have approached this dilemma in different ways. At the early stages of its development, South Korea favoured consumers over producers. Cheap food imports kept rural incomes low, thereby stimulating rural–urban migration and enhancing the supply of cheap labour that was integral to the success of exportoriented industrialisation. The government subsequently reversed this policy, using the proceeds of industrial growth for agricultural investment, and raising import barriers to lift domestic agricultural prices. In Malaysia and Indonesia, policies have been generally supportive of rice producers, who represent the most sizeable and politically influential socio-economic group in each of these countries. However, in Indonesia in particular, efforts have been made to achieve a balance between the interests of producers and consumers – neither has been especially favoured over the other. Both Malaysia and Indonesia are net importers of rice (although in the mid-1980s Indonesia did temporarily achieve food self-sufficiency). Control over imports has given governments in both countries considerable influence over domestic prices, allowing them to pursue domestic price stability which, as in other Asian countries, has been a priority concern (see discussion below). In Viet Nam, a natural exporter of rice, producers were originally penalised by the government’s trade policy, as export restraints depressed the domestic price of rice in the interests of consumers. These restraints have now been lifted, to the benefit of most Vietnamese farmers. In Chile, before economic take-off, producers were implicitly taxed, despite the existence of agricultural import barriers. This implicit taxation arose largely as a result of agricultural export restraints and the bias towards the industrial sector, which reduced the ratio of agricultural prices to non-agricultural prices and kept a cap on domestic food prices. Economic

These differences are informative and add value to the lessons that might be learned. Whilst the title of this study emphasises agricultural trade policy, it is necessary to stress at this point that agricultural trade policy and its effects cannot be examined in isolation from the wider policy environment of which it is a part. Intervention in trade is one of a number of instruments used by governments to meet their agricultural policy objectives. However, many policy instruments that do not relate directly to trade do, nevertheless, affect a country’s international competitiveness and therefore have important implications for agricultural trade. Indeed, the WTO’s agricultural negotiating agenda specifically addresses many of these instruments, in addition to those that affect trade directly, such as tariffs and other border controls. Thus, it is within the context of the broader agricultural policy environment that the objectives and outcomes of trade policy in the case studies are examined. Finally, it should be noted that agricultural policy is itself part of a larger policy environment that includes macro-economic policy and government policy relating to other sectors of the economy. Whilst there is little scope for a detailed exploration of these wider policy areas in a study as short as this, they

revenues for public spending – in contrast with developed countries, which enjoy more sophisticated methods of tax collection. Therefore, whilst agricultural sector intervention in developing countries is also highly political, its implications for the growth of the domestic economy and for the reduction of poverty are far greater than is the case in developed countries. Unfortunately, there is as yet no broad consensus about the precise nature of these implications. In the neoliberal economic view that informs the policies of the WTO, IMF, World Bank, and other international financial institutions, the drawbacks of government intervention are greater than the economic benefits of liberalising international and domestic markets. Yet many economists disagree, contending that agriculture is too important, and market failures too great, for developing country governments to take a laissez-faire approach towards the sector.

Case studies
There is a large body of literature covering these opposing views and related issues, which this study does not endeavour to examine. What this study does instead is to look very briefly at the experiences of six different countries, each of which stand out amongst developing countries as having enjoyed unusually high rates of economic growth and development. The chosen countries are:
• Viet Nam
• Botswana.
Four of these countries are located in East Asia, where most of the economic success stories are concentrated. In Africa there have been very few examples of sustained economic growth, though Botswana is a notable exception. Chile is included because it stands out as one of Latin America’s fastest-growing economies in recent decades. The case studies illustrate government policy on agriculture and agricultural trade at the time when the economies of these countries were beginning to take off. They shed some light on whether agriculture and the associated

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The Belgian Constitution (PDF). Brussels, Belgium: Belgian House of Representatives. May
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Wood, James (1907). "Nuttall Encyclopaedia of General Knowledge—Cockpit of Europe".
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World Bank Data & Statistics for Uganda

World Bank Summary Trade Statistics Brasil

10 co-opted senators. Prior to 2014, most of the Senate's members were directly elected. The Chamber's 150 representatives are elected under a proportional voting system from 11 electoral districts. Belgium has compulsory voting and thus maintains one of the highest rates of voter turnout in the world. The King (currently Philippe) is the head of state, though with limited prerogatives. He appoints ministers, including a Prime Minister, that have the confidence of the Chamber of Representatives to form the federal government. The Council of Ministers is composed of no more than fifteen members. With the possible exception of the Prime Minister, the Council of Ministers is composed of an equal number of Dutch-speaking members and French-speaking members. The judicial system is based on civil law and originates from the Napoleonic code. The Court of Cassation is the court of last resort, with the Court of Appeal one level below.
Belgium's political institutions are complex; most political power is organized around the need to represent the main cultural communities. Since about 1970, the significant national Belgian political parties have split into distinct components that mainly represent the political and linguistic interests of these communities. The major parties in each community, though close to the political centre, belong to three main groups: Christian Democrats, Liberals, and Social Democrats. Further notable parties came into being well after the middle of last century, mainly around linguistic, nationalist, or environmental themes and recently smaller ones of some specific liberal nature. After Herman Van Rompuy was designated the first permanent President of the European Council on 19 November 2009, he offered the resignation of his government to King Albert II on 25 November 2009. A few hours later, the new government under Prime Minister Yves Leterme was sworn in. On 22 April 2010, Leterme again offered the resignation of his cabinet to the king after one of the coalition partners, the OpenVLD, withdrew from the government, and on 26 April 2010 King Albert officially accepted the resignation.
The Parliamentary elections in Belgium on 13 June 2010 saw the Flemish nationalist N-VA become the largest party in Flanders, and the Socialist Party PS the largest party in Wallonia. Until December 2011, Belgium was governed by Leterme's caretaker government awaiting the end of the deadlocked negotiations for formation of a new government. By 30 March 2011 this set a new world record for the elapsed time without an official government, previously held by war-torn Iraq. Finally, in December 2011 the Di Rupo Government led by Walloon socialist Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo was sworn in.
ECONOMY OVERVIEW
(SIZE AND INCOME LEVEL, RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS, INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE AND EXTERNAL DEPENDENCE) OF BELGIUM
Belgium's strongly globalized economy and its transport infrastructure are integrated with the rest of Europe. Its location at the heart of a highly industrialized region helped make it the world's 15th largest trading nation in 2007. The economy is characterized by a highly productive work force, high GNP and high exports per capita. Belgium's main imports are raw materials, machinery and equipment, chemicals, raw diamonds, pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, transportation equipment, and oil products. Its main exports are machinery and equipment, chemicals, finished diamonds, metals and metal products, and foodstuffs.
The Belgian economy is heavily service-oriented and shows a dual nature: a dynamic Flemish economy and a Walloon economy that lags behind. One of the founding members of the European Union, Belgium strongly supports an open economy and the extension of the powers of EU institutions to integrate member economies. Since 1922, through the Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union, Belgium and Luxembourg

Uganda has a large diaspora, residing mainly in the United States and the United Kingdom. This diaspora has contributed enormously to Uganda's economic growth through remittances and other investments (especially property). According to the World Bank, Uganda received in 2016 an estimated US $1.099 billion in remittances from abroad, second only to Kenya (US $1.574 billion) in the East African Community. Uganda also serves as an economic hub for a number of neighbouring countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, and Rwanda.
The Ugandan Bureau of Statistics announced inflation was 4.6 percent in November 2016. Uganda is one of the poorest nations in the world. In 2012, 37.8 percent of the population lived on less than $1.25 a day. Despite making enormous progress in reducing the countrywide poverty incidence from 56 percent of the population in 1992 to 24.5 percent in 2009, poverty remains deep-rooted in the country's rural areas, which are home to 84 percent of Ugandans.
People in rural areas of Uganda depend on farming as the main source of income and 90 per cent of all rural women work in the agricultural sector. In addition to agricultural work, rural women are responsible for the caretaking of their families. The average Ugandan woman spends 9 hours a day on domestic tasks, such as preparing food and clothing, fetching water and firewood, and caring for the elderly, the sick as well as orphans. As such, women on average work longer hours than men, between 12 and 18 hours per day, with a mean of 15 hours, as compared to men, who work between 8 and 10 hours a day. In the 1980s, the majority of energy in Uganda came from charcoal and wood. However, oil was found in the Lake Albert area, totaling an estimated 95,000,000 m3 (3.354893339×109 cu ft) barrels of crude. Heritage Oil discovered one of the largest crude oil finds in Uganda, and continues operations there. According to a 2006 published report, the Ugandan water supply and sanitation sector had made substantial progress in urban areas since the mid-1990s, with substantial increases in coverage as well as in operational and commercial performance. Sector reforms in the period 1998–2003 included the commercialization and modernization of the National Water and Sewerage Corporation operating in cities and larger towns, as well as decentralization and private sector participation in small towns.
DEVELOPED COUNTRY
BRIEF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF BELGIUM
Belgium officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a sovereign state in Western Europe bordered by France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and the North Sea.
Historically, Belgium lay in the area known as the Low Countries, a somewhat larger area than the current Benelux group of states that also included parts of Northern France and Western Germany. The region was called Belgica in Latin, after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, the area of Belgium was a prosperous and cosmopolitan centre of commerce and culture. From the 16th century until the Belgian Revolution in 1830, when Belgium seceded from the Netherlands, the area of Belgium served as the battleground between many European powers, causing it to be dubbed the "Battlefield of Europe",a reputation strengthened by both world wars. Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution and, during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies in Africa. The second half of the 20th century was marked by rising tensions between the Dutch-speaking and the French-speaking citizens fueled by differences in language and culture and the unequal economic development of Flanders and Wallonia.

Uganda's population grew from 9.5 million people in 1969 to 34.9 million in 2014. With respect to the last inter-censal period (September 2002), the population increased by 10.6 million people in the past 12 years.[152] Uganda's median age of 15 years is the lowest in the world.[3] Uganda has the fifth highest total fertility rate in the world, at 5.97 children born per woman (2014 estimates).[3]
There were about 80,000 Indians in Uganda before Idi Amin required the expulsion of Ugandan-Asians (mostly of Indian origin) in 1972, which reduced the population to as low as 7,000. Many Indians, however, returned to Uganda after Amin's fall ouster in 1979. Around 90 percent of Ugandan Indians reside in Kampala.
ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS COMPOSITION OF UGANDA
Swahili, a widely used language throughout the African Great Lakes region, was approved as the country's second official national language in 2005. English was the only official language until the constitution was amended in 2005. According to the 2002 census, Christians made up about 85 percent of Uganda's population. The Roman Catholic Church had the largest number of adherents (41.9 percent), followed by the Anglican Church of Uganda (35.9 percent). Adventist, Evangelical, Pentecostal, and other Protestant churches claimed most of the remaining Christians, although there was also a small Eastern Orthodox community. The next most reported religion of Uganda was Islam, with Muslims representing 12.1 percent of the population.
POLITICAL STRUCTURE, POWER, AND INTEREST GROUPS OF
UGANDA
The President of Uganda is both head of state and head of government. The president appoints a vice-president and a prime minister to aid him in governing. U.S. President George W. Bush met with President Yoweri Museveni in Entebbe, Uganda, July 11, 2003.
The parliament is formed by the National Assembly, which has 449 members. These include; 290 constituency representatives, 116 district woman representatives, 10 representatives of the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces, 5 representatives of the youth, 5 representatives of workers, 5 representatives of persons with disabilities and 18 ex-official members. As of 2017, Uganda is divided into 121 districts. Rural areas of districts are subdivided into sub-counties, parishes, and villages. Municipal and town councils are designated in urban areas of districts.
Political subdivisions in Uganda are officially served and united by the Uganda Local Governments Association (ULGA), a voluntary and non-profit body which also serves as a forum for support and guidance for Ugandan sub-national governments.
Transparency International has rated Uganda's public sector as one of the most corrupt in the world. In 2016, Uganda ranked 151st worst out of 176 and had a score of 25 on a scale from 0 (perceived as most corrupt) to 100 (perceived as clean).
The World Bank's 2015 Worldwide Governance Indicators ranked Uganda in the worst 12 percentile of all countries. According to the United States Department of State's 2012 Human Rights Report on Uganda, "The World Bank's most recent Worldwide Governance Indicators reflected corruption was a severe problem" and that "the country annually loses 768.9 billion shillings ($286 million) to corruption."
Ugandan parliamentarians in 2014 were earning 60 times what was being earned by most state employees and they were seeking a major increase. This was causing widespread criticism and protests, including the smuggling of two piglets into the parliament in June 2014 to highlight corruption amongst members of parliament. The protesters, who were arrested, were using the word "MPigs" to highlight their grievance. A specific scandal, which had significant international consequences and highlighted the presence of corruption in high-level government offices, was the embezzlement of $12.6 million of donor funds from the Office of the Prime Minister in 2012.

All members of the executive and legislative branches are directly elected. Judges and other judicial officials are appointed after passing entry exams.[178] For most of its democratic history, Brazil has had a multi-party system, proportional representation. Voting is compulsory for the literate between 18 and 70 years old and optional for illiterates and those between 16 and 18 or beyond 70.
Together with several smaller parties, four political parties stand out: Workers' Party (PT), Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) and Democrats (DEM). Fifteen political parties are represented in Congress. It is common for politicians to switch parties, and thus the proportion of congressional seats held by particular parties changes regularly. Almost all governmental and administrative functions are exercised by authorities and agencies affiliated to the Executive.

ECONOMY OVERVIEW
(SIZE AND INCOME LEVEL, RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS, INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE AND EXTERNAL DEPENDENCE) OF BRASIL
Brazil is the largest national economy in Latin America, the world's ninth largest economy and the eighth largest in purchasing power parity (PPP) according to the 2017 estimates. Brazil has a mixed economy with abundant natural resources. After rapid growth in preceding decades, the country entered an ongoing recession in 2014 amid a political corruption scandal and nationwide protests.
Its GDP (PPP) per capita was $15,048 in 2016 putting Brazil in the 77th position according to IMF data. Active in agricultural, mining, manufacturing and service sectors Brazil has a labor force of over a 107 million (ranking 6th worldwide) and unemployment of 6.2% (ranking 64th worldwide). The country has been expanding its presence in international financial and commodities markets, and is one of a group of four emerging economies called the BRIC countries. Brazil has been the world's largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years. Combine harvester in a rice plantation in Santa Catarina. Brazil is the third largest exporter of agricultural products in the world. Brazil has become the fourth largest car market in the world. Major export products include aircraft, electrical equipment, automobiles, ethanol, textiles, footwear, iron ore, steel, coffee, orange juice, soybeans and corned beef. In total, Brazil ranks 23rd worldwide in value of exports. Brazil pegged its currency, the real, to the U.S. dollar in 1994. However, after the East Asian financial crisis, the Russian default in 1998 and the series of adverse financial events that followed it, the Central Bank of Brazil temporarily changed its monetary policy to a managed-float scheme while undergoing a currency crisis, until definitively changing the exchange regime to free-float in January 1999.
Brazil received an International Monetary Fund rescue package in mid-2002 of $30.4 billion, then a record sum. Brazil's central bank paid back the IMF loan in 2005, although it was not due to be repaid until 2006. One of the issues the Central Bank of Brazil recently dealt with was an excess of speculative short-term capital inflows to the country, which may have contributed to a fall in the value of the U.S. dollar against the real during that period. Nonetheless, foreign direct investment (FDI), related to long-term, less speculative investment in production, is estimated to be $193.8 billion for 2007. Inflation monitoring and control currently plays a major part in the Central bank's role of setting out short-term interest rates as a monetary policy measure.
Between 1993 and 2010, 7012 mergers & acquisitions with a total known value of $707 billion with the involvement of Brazilian firms have been announced. The year 2010 was a new record in terms of value with 115 billion USD of transactions. The largest transaction with involvement of

COMPARE AND DISCUSS TWO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES (UGANDA AND BELGIUM) AND A DEVELOPED COUNTRY (BRASIL)
BRASIL
Brazil officially the Federative Republic of Brazil is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing in 1500 of explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral, who claimed the area for the Portuguese Empire. Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808, when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro. In 1815, the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Independence was achieved in 1822 with the creation of the Empire of Brazil, a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system. The ratification of the first constitution in 1824 led to the formation of a bicameral legislature, now called the National Congress. The country became a presidential republic in 1889 following a military coup d'état. An authoritarian military junta came to power in 1964 and ruled until 1985, after which civilian governance resumed. Brazil's current constitution, formulated in 1988, defines it as a democratic federal republic. The federation is composed of the union of the Federal District, the 26 states, and the 5,570 municipalities. It is likely that the word "Brazil" comes from the Portuguese word for brazilwood, a tree that once grew plentifully along the Brazilian coast. In Portuguese, brazilwood is called pau-brasil, with the word brasil commonly given the etymology "red like an ember", formed from Latin brasa ("ember") and the suffix -il (from -iculum or -ilium). The capital is Brasília, and the most-populated city is São Paulo. It is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language and the only one in the Americas. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Brazil has a coastline of 7,491 kilometers (4,655 mi).
PHYSICAL AND HUMAN RESOURCES OF BRASIL
Brazil occupies a large area along the eastern coast of South America and includes much of the continent's interior, sharing land borders with Uruguay to the south; Argentina and Paraguay to the southwest; Bolivia and Peru to the west; Colombia to the northwest; and Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and France (French overseas region of French Guiana) to the north. It shares a border with every South American country except Ecuador and Chile. It also encompasses a number of oceanic archipelagos, such as Fernando de Noronha, Rocas Atoll, Saint Peter and Paul Rocks, and Trindade and Martim Vaz. Its size, relief, climate, and natural resources make Brazil geographically diverse. Including its Atlantic islands, Brazil lies between latitudes 6°N and 34°S, and longitudes 28° and 74°W. Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world, and third largest in the Americas, with a total area of 8,515,767.049 km2 (3,287,956 sq mi), including 55,455 km2 (21,411 sq mi) of water.[15] It spans four time zones; from UTC−5 comprising the state of Acre and the westernmost portion of Amazonas, to UTC−4 in the western states, to UTC−3 in the eastern states (the national time) and UTC−2 in the Atlantic islands.
Brazil is the only country in the world that has the equator and the Tropic of Capricorn running through it. It is also the only country to have contiguous territory both inside and outside the tropics

To rein in domestic demand growth, the Portuguese government was obliged to pursue IMF-monitored stabilization programs in 1977-78 and 1983-85. The large negative savings of the public sector (including the state-owned enterprises) became a structural feature of Luxembourg's political economy after the revolution.
External dependence, political structure, power and interest group
Belarilus
Over the last five years Belarilus’ pattern of integration into world markets has undergone a deep reorientation towards the CAR region (Central Asia and Russia). The shift has taken place in a dynamic setting: it has not been the result of contraction in links with other countries but of a much stronger expansion in trade and finance with CAR economies. CAR economies, Belarilus in particular, account for both most of Belarilus’ foreign trade turnover and have become the major sources of FDI inflows. Thanks to these developments, “being landlocked” has ceased to be the curse: to the contrary, close location to other landlocked booming economies has become the source of considerable economic benefits. A strong indication of a robust external performance is improvement in Belarilus’ balance of payments position.
Gabon
State control of Gabon’s economy is both pervasive and inefficient, hampering any meaningful development of a job-creating private sector. As the largest source of employment, the bloated government sector soaks up much of the labor force. After decades without effective economic reform, the government has eased the rules on private employment in an effort to reshape the economy and improve efficiency. Gabon’s potential entrepreneurs have long been shackled by tight government control and institutional shortcomings. No courts are free of political interference, and private property is strictly regulated.
Luxembourg
As a group, the public enterprises performed poorly financially and relied excessively on debt financing from both domestic and foreign commercial banks. The operating and financial problems of the public enterprise sector were revealed in a study by the Bank of Luxembourg covering the years 1978-80. Based upon a survey of fifty-one enterprises, which represented 92 percent of the sector's VA, the analysis confirmed the debilitated financial condition of the public enterprises, i.e., their inadequate equity and liquidity ratios.

Comparison between developed and developing countries
Luxembourg Belarilus

Luxembourg Gabon

GDP (purchasing power parity) $1.69 trillion (2016 est.)
$1.64 trillion (2015 est.)
$1.589 trillion (2014 est.)
note: data are in 2016 dollars $297.1 billion (2016 est.)
$294.1 billion (2015 est.)
$289.9 billion (2014 est.)
note: data are in 2016 dollars
GDP – real growth rate 3.1% (2016 est.)
3.2% (2015 est.)
1.4% (2014 est.) 1% (2016 est.)
1.5% (2015 est.)
0.9% (2014 est.)
GDP – per capita (PPP) $36,500 (2016 est.)
$35,300 (2015 est.)
$34,200 (2014 est.)
note: data are in 2016 dollars $28,500 (2016 est.)
$28,300 (2015 est.)
$27,900 (2014 est.)
note: data are in 2016 dollars
GDP – composition by sector agriculture: 2.5%
industry: 22.4%
services: 75.1% (2016 est.) agriculture: 2.4%
industry: 21.9%
services: 75.9% (2016 est.)
Population below poverty line 21.1% (2012 est.) 19% (2015 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices) -0.3% (2016 est.)
-0.6% (2015 est.) 0.8% (2016 est.)
0.5% (2015 est.)
Labor force 22.89 million (2016 est.) 5.167 million (2016 est.)
Labor force – by occupation agriculture: 4.2%
industry: 24%
services: 71.7% (2009) agriculture: 8.6%
industry: 23.9%
services: 67.5% (2014 est.)

Physical and human resources

Belarilus
Over the last five years Belarilus’ pattern of integration into world markets has undergone a deep reorientation towards the CAR region (Central Asia and Russia). The shift has taken place in a dynamic setting: it has not been the result of contraction in links with other countries but of a much stronger expansion in trade and finance with CAR economies. CAR economies, Kazakhstan in particular, account for both most of Belarilus’ foreign trade turnover and have become the major sources of FDI inflows.
Gabon
There is a labor code that protects workers from social injustice and abuse; however, there are 11 million citizens and only four million workers. That means four million people hustle and seven million people ride the flow. Gabon citizens are given a free education, free healthcare, and a free home. Workers are protected by unions, and they are granted access to lawyers to file grievances against unfair labor practices. Food and utilities are subsidized. Children and the elderly are cared for through state programs. And the retirement age is low: for women it’s 60 and for men it’s 65.

Luxembourg
From 1960 to 1973, Portuguese policy measures supported a shift of resources, including labor, from low-productivity toward high-productivity uses, especially export-oriented industries. Rapid and accelerated economic growth was reflected in the profound alteration of the sect oral composition of the work force.
rise in the industrial and services sectors.
Ethnic and religious composition of Belarilus, Gabon and Luxembourg
Belarilus
Religions: Muslim 75 percent, Russian Orthodox 20 percent, other 5 percent. Most Belarilus are Sunni Muslims of the Hanafi school of law. Shamanism and tribal religions still exert a strong influence in Belarilus. The Russian population is largely Russian Orthodox. The Belarilus consider themselves Sunni Muslim but do not have strong ties to Islam. They celebrate the Islamic holidays but do not follow daily Islamic practices. Many areas were not converted to Islam until the eighteenth century, and even then it was by the mystical Sufi branch, who integrated local shamanistic practices with their religion. Ethnic Uzbeks are primarily Muslims.
Gabon
Gabon mostly consists of people of that are ethnically European (primarily Spanish). In addition to this group of ethnic Europeans, another quarter of the population is "mestizo," which is a combination of ethnic American Indians and Europeans. Another 10% of the population is of African descent, many of whose ancestors were brought to the Caribbean with the slave trade. Among these people, their ethnic variation can be significant as the About 85% of the people of Gabon are Roman Catholic although few of these people regularly practice the religion. Protestant groups, Jehovah's Witnesses and Jews are also present, but again few people are practicing, partially due to the government discouraging the practice of religion.

Luxembourg
Luxembourg's population was remarkably homogeneous and had been so for all of its history. This lack of ethnic variety helped it become the first unified nation-state in Western Europe. For centuries Portugal had virtually no ethnic, tribal, racial, religious, or cultural minorities. Almost all Portuguese spoke the national language, almost all were Roman Catholic, and almost all identified with Luxembourg culture and the nation of Luxembourg.
Relative importance of public and private sector in the three countries
Belarilus
The enterprise sector officially comprises about 2,000 large, 800 medium-sized, and 11,300 small enterprises, as well as almost 245,000 registered individual entrepreneurs and more than 330,000

Languages
Both English and French are official languages, although French is by far the most understood language (more than 80%).German, the language of the original colonisers, has long since been displaced by French and English. Cameroonian Pidgin English is the lingua franca in the formerly British-administered territories. A mixture of English, French, and Pidgin called FrancAnglais has been gaining popularity in urban centres since the mid-1970s
In addition to the colonial languages, there are approximately 250 other languages spoken by nearly 20 million Cameroonians
Religion
predominant faith is Christianity, practised by about two-thirds of the population, while Islam is a significant minority faith, adhered to by about one-fifth. In addition, traditional faiths are practised by many. Muslims are Cameroon has a high level of religious freedom and diversity.[41] The most concentrated in the north, while Christians are concentrated primarily in the southern and western regions, but practitioners of both faiths can be found throughout the country.[140] Large cities have significant populations of both groups. Muslims in Cameroon are divided into Sufis (and Salafis), Shias, and non-denominational Muslims.
People from the North-West and South-West provinces, which used to be a part of British Cameroons, are largely Protestant. The French-speaking regions of the southern and western regions are largely Catholic. Southern ethnic groups predominantly follow Christian or traditional African animist beliefs, or a syncretic combination of the two. People widely believe in witchcraft, and the government outlaws such practices.
culture
Music and dance are an integral part of Cameroonian ceremonies, festivals, social gatherings, and storytelling. Traditional dances are highly choreographed and separate men and women or forbid participation by one sex altogether. The goals of dances range from pure entertainment to religious devotion.[146] Traditionally, music is transmitted orally. In a typical performance, a chorus of singers echoes a soloist.
Musical accompaniment may be as simple as clapping hands and stomping feet, but traditional instruments include bells worn by dancers, clappers, drums and talking drums, flutes, horns, rattles, scrapers, stringed instruments, whistles, and xylophones;

Education
The Education Act provides for free and compulsory education in Saint Lucia from the ages of 5 to 15.[42][48] Public spending on education was at 5.8% among the 2002–2005 GDP.[42]
Saint Lucia has one university, the University of the West Indies Open Campus and a few medical schools – American International Medical University, International American University − College of Medicine, Destiny University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, and the oldest of which is Spartan Health Sciences University.

Cameroon
officially the Republic of Cameroon (French: République du Cameroun), is a country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the Bight of Biafra, part of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean.
French and English are the official languages of Cameroon. The country is often referred to as "Africa in miniature" for its geological and cultural diversity. Natural features include beaches, deserts, mountains, rainforests, and savannas. The highest point at almost 4,100 metres (13,500 ft) is Mount Cameroon in the Southwest Region of the country, and the largest cities in population-terms are Douala on the Wouri river, its economic capital and main seaport, Yaoundé, its political capital, and Garoua. The country is well known for its native styles of music, particularly makossa and bikutsi, and for its successful national football team.
Early inhabitants of the territory included the

HISTORY
The territory of present-day Cameroon was first settled during the Neolithic Era. The longest continuous inhabitants are groups such as the Baka (Pygmies). From here, Bantu migrations into eastern, southern, and central Africa are believed to have originated about 2,000 years ago. The Sao culture arose around Lake Chad c. AD 500 and gave way to the Kanem and its successor state, the Bornu Empire. Kingdoms, fondoms, and chiefdoms arose in the west.
Independence (1960)[
On 1 January 1960 French Cameroun gained independence from France under President Ahmadou Ahidjo. On 1 October 1961, the formerly British Southern Cameroons united with French Cameroun to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. Ahidjo used the ongoing war with the UPC to concentrate power in the presidency, continuing with this even after the suppression of the UPC in 1971.

HISTORY

In the late 1550s the French pirate François le Clerc (known as Jambe de Bois, due to his wooden leg) set up a camp on Pigeon Island, from where he attacked passing Spanish ships. In 1605, an English vessel called the Oliphe Blossome was blown off-course on its way to Guyana, and the 67 colonists started a settlement on Saint Lucia, after initially being welcomed by the Carib chief Anthonie. By 26 Sept. 1605, only 19 survived, after continued attack by the Carib chief Augraumart, so they fled the island.
POLITICS
Saint Lucia is a Commonwealth realm. Queen Elizabeth II is the Head of State, represented on the island by a Governor-General. The prime minister[23] is normally the head of the party commanding the support of the majority of the members of the House of Assembly, which has 17 seats.[24] The other chamber of Parliament, the Senate, has 11 appointed members.
Saint Lucia is a two-party parliamentary democracy. Three political parties participated in the 6 June 2016 General Election. Allen Chastanet of the United Workers Party won eleven of the seventeen seats.

Foreign relations

Saint Lucia maintains friendly relations with the major powers active in the Caribbean, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and France. Saint Lucia has no extant international disputes.
Saint Lucia is a full and participating member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and La Francophonie. Saint Lucia is a Commonwealth Realm.
Saint Lucia became the 152nd member of the United Nations on December 9, 1979. As of January 2018, Cosmos Richardson, who presented his credentials on February 22, 2017, was Saint Lucia’s representative to the United Nations.
Administrative divisions

The districts of the island, established by the French colonial government and continued by the British, are:
Anse la Raye, 31.0 km²
Canaries
Castries, 79.5 km²
Choiseul, 31.3 km²
Dauphin
Dennery, 69.7 km²
Gros Islet
Laborie, 37.8 km²
Micoud, 77.7 km²
Soufrière, 50.5 km²
Vieux Fort, 43.8 km²
An additional area is the Forest Reserve Area Quarter (78.3 km²).

ECONOMY
An educated workforce and improvements in roads, communications, water supply, sewerage, and port facilities have attracted foreign investment in tourism and in petroleum storage and transshipment. However, with the US, Canada, and Europe in recession, tourism declined by double digits in early 2009. The recent change in the European Union import preference regime and the increased competition from Latin American bananas have made economic diversification increasingly important in Saint Lucia.
Saint Lucia has been able to attract foreign business and investment, especially in its offshore banking and tourism industries, which is Saint Lucia's main source of revenue. The manufacturing sector is the most diverse in the Eastern Caribbean area, and the government is trying to revitalise the banana industry. Despite negative growth in 2011, economic fundamentals remain solid, and GDP growth should recover in the future.
Inflation has been relatively low, averaging 5.5 percent between 2006 and 2008. Saint Lucia's currency is the East Caribbean Dollar (EC$), a regional currency shared among members of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECU). The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCL) issues the EC$, manages monetary policy, and regulates and supervises commercial banking activities in member countries. In 2003, the government began a comprehensive restructuring of the economy, including elimination of price controls and privatisation of the state banana company.

Ethnicity
The people of Luxembourg are called Luxembourgers. The immigrant population increased in the 20th century due to the arrival of immigrants from Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, and Portugal, with the majority coming from the latter: in 2013 there were about 88,000 inhabitants with Portuguese nationality.[126] In 2013, there were 537,039 permanent residents, 44.5% of which were of foreign background or foreign nationals; the largest foreign ethnic groups were the Portuguese, comprising 16.4% of the total population, followed by the French (6.6%), Italians (3.4%), Belgians (3.3%) and Germans (2.3%). Another 6.4% were of other EU background, while the remaining 6.1% were of other non-EU, but largely other European, background.[2]
Since the beginning of the Yugoslav wars, Luxembourg has seen many immigrants from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia. Annually, over 10,000 new immigrants arrive in Luxembourg, mostly from the EU states, as well as Eastern Europe. In 2000 there were 162,000 immigrants in Luxembourg, accounting for 37% of the total population. There were an estimated 5,000 illegal immigrants in Luxembourg in 1999.[127]
Language
Three languages are recognised as official in Luxembourg: German, French, and Luxembourgish, a Franconian language of the Moselle region that is also spoken in neighbouring parts of Belgium, Germany and France. Though Luxembourgish is part of the West Central German group of High German languages, more than 5,000 words in the language are of French origin. The first printed sentences in Luxembourgish appeared in a weekly journal, the 'Luxemburger Wochenblatt', in the second edition on 14 April 1821.
Apart from being one of the three official languages, Luxembourgish is also considered the national language of the Grand Duchy; it is the mother tongue or "language of the heart" for nearly all Luxembourgers.
Religion
Luxembourg is a secular state, but the state recognises certain religions as officially mandated religions. This gives the state a hand in religious administration and appointment of clergy, in exchange for which the state pays certain running costs and wages. Currently, religions covered by such arrangements are Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Greek Orthodoxy, Anglicanism, Russian Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, Calvinism, Mennonitism and Islam.
Since 1980 it has been illegal for the government to collect statistics on religious beliefs or practices. An estimation by the CIA Factbook for the year 2000 is that 87% of Luxembourgers are Catholic, including the royal family, the remaining 13% being made up of Protestants, Orthodox Christians, Jews, Muslims, and those of other or no religion. According to a 2010 Pew Research Center study 70.4% are Christian, 2.3% Muslim, 26.8% unaffiliated and 0.5% other religions.
According to a 2005 Eurobarometer poll, 44% of Luxembourg citizens responded that "they believe there is a God", whereas 28% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" and 22% that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, god, or life force".

LUXEMBOURG
officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France to the south. Its capital, Luxembourg City, together with Brussels and Strasbourg, is one of the three official capitals of the European Union[7] and the seat of the European Court of Justice, the highest judicial authority in the EU. Its culture, people and languages are highly intertwined with its neighbours, making it essentially a mixture of French and Germanic cultures. This is emphasised by the three official languages, Luxembourgish, French, and German. The repeated invasions by Germany, especially in World War II, resulted in the country's strong will for mediation between France and Germany and, among other things, led to the foundation of the European Union.
With an area of 2,586 square kilometres (998 sq mi), it is one of the smallest sovereign states in Europe, about the same size as the US state of Rhode Island or the English county of Northamptonshire. In 2016, Luxembourg had a population of 576,249, which makes it one of the least-populous countries in Europe, but by far the one with the highest population growth rate.[] Foreigners account for nearly half of Luxembourg's population. As a representative democracy with a constitutional monarch, it is headed by Grand Duke Henri and is the world's only remaining grand duchy. Luxembourg is a developed country, with an advanced economy and one of the world's highest GDP (PPP) per capita. The City of Luxembourg with its old quarters and fortifications was declared a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site in 1994 due to the exceptional preservation of the vast fortifications and the old city.
The history of Luxembourg is considered to begin in 963, when count Siegfried I acquired a rocky promontory and its Roman-era fortifications known as Lucilinburhuc, ′little castle′, and the surrounding area from the Imperial Abbey of St. Maximin in nearby Trier. Siegfried's descendants increased their territory through marriage, war and vassal relations. At the end of the 13th century, the Counts of Luxembourg reigned over a considerable territory. In 1308, Henry VII, Count of Luxembourg became King of the Germans and Holy Roman Emperor. The House of Luxembourg produced four Holy Roman Emperors at the high time of the Middle Ages. In 1354, Charles IV elevated the County to the Duchy of Luxembourg. Since Sigismund had no male heir, the Duchy became part of the Burgundian Circle and then one of the Seventeen Provinces of the Habsburg Netherlands.[17] Over the centuries, the City and Fortress of Luxembourg, of great strategic importance situated between the Kingdom of France and the Habsburg territories, was gradually built up to be one of the most reputed fortifications in Europe. After belonging to both the

GERMANY
Germany is a federal, parliamentary, representative democratic republic. The German political system operates under a framework laid out in the 1949 constitutional document known as the Grundgesetz (Basic Law). Amendments generally require a two-thirds majority of both chambers of parliament; the fundamental principles of the constitution, as expressed in the articles guaranteeing human dignity, the separation of powers, the federal structure, and the rule of law are valid in perpetuity.
The president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier (19 March 2017–present), is the head of state and invested primarily with representative responsibilities and powers. He is elected by the Bundesversammlung (federal convention), an institution consisting of the members of the Bundestag and an equal number of state delegates. The second-highest official in the German order of precedence is the Bundestagspräsident (President of the Bundestag), who is elected by the Bundestag and responsible for overseeing the daily sessions of the body. The third-highest official and the head of government is the Chancellor, who is appointed by the Bundespräsident after being elected by the Bundestag.
The chancellor, Angela Merkel (22 November 2005–present), is the head of government and exercises executive power, similar to the role of a Prime Minister in other parliamentary democracies. Federal legislative power is vested in the parliament consisting of the Bundestag (Federal Diet) and Bundesrat (Federal Council), which together form the legislative body. The Bundestag is elected through direct elections, by proportional representation (mixed-member). The members of the Bundesrat represent the governments of the sixteen federated states and are members of the state cabinets.
Since 1949, the party system has been dominated by the Christian Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party of Germany. So far every chancellor has been a member of one of these parties. However, the smaller liberal Free Democratic Party (in parliament from 1949 to 2013) and the Alliance '90/The Greens (in parliament since 1983) have also played important roles. In the German federal election, 2017, Alternative for Germany gained enough votes to attain representation in the parliament for the first time.

EXTERNAL DEPENDENCE
TAJIKISTAN
In FY 2000, international assistance remained an essential source of support for rehabilitation programs that reintegrated former civil war combatants into the civilian economy, which helped keep the peace. International assistance also was necessary to address the second year of severe drought that resulted in a continued shortfall of food production. On 21 August 2001, the Red Cross announced that a famine was striking Tajikistan, and called for international aid for Tajikistan and Uzbekistan;
The country is dependent on foreign aids mostly from WHO, and other international bodies but in recent times it has learnt to depend solely on its comparative advantage: provision of cheap labour.
SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE
The São Toméan Government has traditionally obtained foreign assistance from various donors, including the UN Development Programme, the World Bank, the European Union (EU), Portugal, Taiwan, and the African Development Bank. In April 2000, in association with the Banco Central de São Tomé e Príncipe, the IMF approved a poverty reduction and growth facility for São Tomé aimed at reducing inflation to 3% for 2001, raising ideal growth to 4%, and reducing the fiscal deficit.
In late 2000, São Tomé qualified for significant debt reduction under the IMF–World Bank's Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. The reduction is being reevaluated by the IMF, due to the attempted coup d'état in July 2003 and subsequent emergency spending. Following the truce, the IMF decided to send a mission to São Tomé to evaluate the macroeconomic state of the country. This evaluation is ongoing, reportedly pending oil legislation to determine how the government will manage incoming oil revenues which are still poorly defined, but in any case expected to change the economic situation dramatically.
Thus the country is still dependent on foreign aids and foreign interventions both in its economy and its political sectors too.
GERMANY
Germany has a network of 227 diplomatic missions abroad and maintains relations with more than 190 countries. As of 2011, Germany is the largest contributor to the budget of the European Union (providing 20%) and the third largest contributor to the UN (providing 8%). Germany is a member of NATO, the OECD, the G8, the G20, the World Bank and the IMF. It has played an influential role in the European Union since its inception and has maintained a strong alliance with France and all neighbouring countries since 1990. Germany promotes the creation of a more unified European political, economic and security apparatus

SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE
Sao tome and principe is made up of mainly unskilled and semi-skilled population with a mostly youthful population. The lack of skilled of workers is due to the deficient education system in the country. They are mainly agriculturalist as it employs majority of the population.
Since the 1800s, the economy of São Tomé and Príncipe has been based on plantation agriculture. At the time of independence, Portuguese-owned plantations occupied 90% of the cultivated area. After independence, control of these plantations passed to various state-owned agricultural enterprises. The dominant crop on São Tomé is cocoa, representing about 95% of exports. Other export crops include copra, palm kernels, and coffee.
Geologists estimate that the Gulf of Guinea zone (Niger Delta province) holds more than 10 billion barrels (1.6 km³) of oil, although no reserves have yet been proved. A joint oil project with Nigeria in 2005 is likely to contribute $50 million of revenues to the government from the exploration licence signing fees. This represents four times government revenues in 2004. São Tomé is optimistic that significant petroleum discoveries under the exploration licence are forthcoming.
GERMANY

RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR
TAJIKISTAN
The public sector is the majority sector in this country. It is a socialist country and as such the government controls most of the economic activities in the country. The private sector is mostly made up of small scale businesses and agriculture while the government controls the majority of economic activities.
Thus the private sector is of little importance in Tajikistan and compared to the public sector. The public sector is the major employer of labour after agriculture and reparated income from workers that go outside the country looking for greener Pasteur especially Russia and neighbouring countries. In 2009 nearly one million Tajiks worked abroad (mainly in Russia).
SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE
The private sector in Sao Tome and Principe is quite small and made up of mostly agricultural workers. Government employs majority of the population and is the major controller of the economy. There is lack of employment opportunities in the private sector due to the lack of investment in the country.
GERMANY
The private sector in Germany is quite big and accounts for majority of employment in the country. it is made up of big companies like Volkswagen, Siemens etc. The public sector acts are a regulator of the private market but yet it doesn’t always intervene in the market. Below is a table of the biggest companies located in germany.

The united Germany is considered to be the enlarged continuation of the Federal Republic of Germany and not a successor state. As such, it retained all of West Germany's memberships in international organisations. Based on the Berlin/Bonn Act, adopted in 1994, Berlin once again became the capital of the reunified Germany, while Bonn obtained the unique status of a Bundesstadt (federal city) retaining some federal ministries. The relocation of the government was completed in 1999. Following the 1998 elections, SPD politician Gerhard Schröder became the first Chancellor of a red–green coalition with the Alliance '90/The Greens party. Among the major projects of the two Schröder legislatures was the Agenda 2010 to reform the labour market to become more flexible and reduce unemployment.
SIZE AND INCOME LEVEL
TAJIKISTAN
Total area: 143,100 km2 (55,300 sq mi)
Population size: 8,734,951 (2017 estimate)
GDP (PPP): $27.802 billion (2017 estimate)
GDP per capita (PPP): $3,146
GDP (nominal): $7.242 billion (2017 estimate)
GDP per capita: $819
Income level: lower middle income (world bank)
Tajikistan has a population of about 8,734,951 according to 2017 estimate placing it as 97th on the world population list. With a GDP of $27.802 billion and a per capita of $3,146, it is 128th on the GDP list and as such is considered a lower middle income country.
SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE
Total area: 1,001 km2 (386 sq mi)
Population size: 192,993 ( 2013 census), 199,910 (2017 estimate)
GDP (PPP): $685 million (2017 estimate)
GDP per capita: $3,220 (2017 estimate)
GDP (nominal): $355 million (2017 estimate)
GDP per capita: $1,668 (2017 estimate)
Income level: lower middle income (World bank)
Sao tome and principe has a population of about 192, 993 according to the census on 2013 conducted in the country but by world bank estimate the population is 199,910 (2017) making it 174th in the world population list. With a GDP of $685 million and a per capita of $3,220, it is considered a lower middle income country by the World Bank.

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LUXEMBOURG
Luxembourg has long been a prominent supporter of European political and economic integration. In efforts foreshadowing European integration, Luxembourg and Belgium in 1921 formed the Belgium–Luxembourg Economic Union (BLEU) to create a regime of inter-exchangeable currency and a common customs. Luxembourg is a member of the Benelux Economic Union and was one of the founding members of the European Economic Community (now the European Union). It also participates in the Schengen Group (named after the Luxembourg village of Schengen where the agreements were signed), whose goal is the free movement of citizens among member states. At the same time, the majority of Luxembourgers have consistently believed that European unity makes sense only in the context of a dynamic transatlantic relationship, and thus have traditionally pursued a pro-NATO, pro-US foreign policy
1.8 GOVERNMENT, POWER AND INTEREST GROUPS
MAURITIUS
Mauritius became independent on March 12, 1968. Under the constitution adopted that year, the country was a constitutional monarchy with the British monarch as head of state. In 1991 a constitutional amendment was passed providing for a republican form of government, with a president as head of state; the amendment went into effect in 1992. Legislative power is vested in a National Assembly, elected every five years and consisting of 62 elected members and up to an additional 8 members drawn from the pool of candidates who were not elected but who may be appointed to broaden representation among minorities or underrepresented parties. Executive power is exercised by a Council of Ministers headed by a prime minister (appointed by the president), who assembles a government from members of the National Assembly. The president and vice president are elected by the National Assembly for a term of five years.
SAINT VINCENT AND GRENADINES
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary form of government. The British monarch is the head of state and is represented by an appointed governor-general. A prime minister, the leader of the majority party, is the head of government. The unicameral legislature is the House of Assembly. It is composed of 15 members (called representatives) elected to five-year terms by universal adult suffrage, along with six nonelected members (called senators) who are appointed by the governor-general—four on the advice of the prime minister and two on the advice of the leader of the opposition. Two additional seats in the legislature are designated for the attorney general and the speaker. The number of members of the House of Assembly may vary between 21 and 23, depending on whether the attorney general and the speaker are elected from inside or outside the House.

CONCLUSION

From the data and information available above, it goes to show the huge gap between developed nation and developing nations. Developing nations are import-dependent and their manufacturing sector is quite moribund or still underdeveloped compared to their extractive sector. Thus they end up importing finished goods and exporting raw materials.
The widening gap between the developed world and the developing world is obviously due to the acute corruption witnessed in developing nations coupled with their lack of macro-economic policy outlook. Their population grows geometrically unlike their economy that grows arithmetically.
The answer begins with fighting endemic corruption in these developing countries, so that policies can be fully implemented. Also there should be macroeconomic policies to grow the manufacturing sector so that it takes preeminence over the extractive sector (As seen in Luxembourg with the service sector accounting for over 35% of its GDP).

SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE
The islands of São Tomé and Príncipe were uninhabited when the Portuguese arrived sometime around 1470. The islands were discovered by João de Santarém and Pêro Escobar. Portuguese navigators explored the islands and decided that they would be good locations for bases to trade with the mainland.
The dates of discovery are sometimes given as 21 December (St Thomas's Day) 1471, for São Tomé; and 17 January (St Anthony's Day) 1472, for Príncipe, though other sources cite different years around that time. Príncipe was initially named Santo Antão ("Saint Anthony"), changing its name in 1502 to Ilha do Príncipe ("Prince's Island"), in reference to the Prince of Portugal to whom duties on the island's sugar crop were paid.
The first successful settlement of São Tomé was established in 1493 by Álvaro Caminha, who received the land as a grant from the crown. Príncipe was settled in 1500 under a similar arrangement. Attracting settlers proved difficult, however, and most of the earliest inhabitants were "undesirables" sent from Portugal, mostly Jews. In time these settlers found the volcanic soil of the region suitable for agriculture, especially the growing of sugar.
The cultivation of sugar was a labour-intensive process and the Portuguese began to enslave large numbers of Africans from the mainland. By the mid-16th century the Portuguese settlers had turned the islands into Africa's foremost exporter of sugar. São Tomé and Príncipe were taken over and administered by the Portuguese crown in 1522 and 1573, respectively.
However, competition from sugar-producing colonies in the Western Hemisphere began to hurt the islands. The large enslaved population also proved difficult to oppress, with Portugal unable to invest many resources in the effort. Sugar cultivation thus declined over the next 100 years, and by the mid-17th century, the economy of São Tomé had changed. It was now primarily a transit point for ships engaged in the slave trade between the West and continental Africa.
In the early 19th century, two new cash crops, coffee and cocoa, were introduced. The rich volcanic soils proved well suited to the new cash crop industry and soon extensive plantations (known as “roças”), owned by Portuguese companies or absentee landlords, and occupied almost all of the good farmland. By 1908, São Tomé had become the world's largest producer of cocoa, which remains the country's most important crop.
By the late 1950s, when other emerging nations across the African Continent demanded their independence, a small group of São Toméans had formed the Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe (MLSTP), which eventually established its base in nearby Gabon. Picking up momentum in the 1960s, events moved quickly after the overthrow of the Caetano dictatorship in Portugal in April 1974.
The new Portuguese regime was committed to the dissolution of its overseas colonies. In November 1974, their representatives met with the MLSTP in Algiers and worked out an agreement for the transfer of sovereignty. After a period of transitional government, São Tomé and Príncipe achieved independence on 12 July 1975, choosing as the first president the MLSTP Secretary General Manuel Pinto da Costa.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
TAJIKISTAN
The earliest recorded history of the region dates back to about 500 BCE when much, if not all, of modern Tajikistan was part of the Achaemenid Empire. Some authors have also suggested that in the 7th and 6th century BCE parts of modern Tajikistan, including territories in the Zeravshan valley, formed part of Kambojas before it became part of the Achaemenid Empire. After the region's conquest by Alexander the Great it became part of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, a successor state of Alexander's empire.
After the Russian Revolution of 1917 guerrillas throughout Central Asia, known as basmachi, waged a war against Bolshevik armies in a futile attempt to maintain independence. The Bolsheviks prevailed after a four-year war, in which mosques and villages were burned down and the population heavily suppressed. Soviet authorities started a campaign of secularisation, practising Islam, Judaism, and Christianity was discouraged and repressed, and many mosques, churches, and synagogues were closed. As a consequence of the conflict and Soviet agriculture policies, Central Asia, Tajikistan included, suffered a famine that claimed many lives.
In 1924, the Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was created as a part of Uzbekistan, but in 1929 the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic (Tajik SSR) was made a separate constituent republic; however, the predominantly ethnic Tajik cities of Samarkand and Bukhara remained in the Uzbek SSR. Between 1927 and 1934, collectivisation of agriculture and a rapid expansion of cotton production took place, especially in the southern region. Soviet collectivisation policy brought violence against peasants and forced resettlement occurred throughout Tajikistan. Consequently, some peasants fought collectivisation and revived the Basmachi movement. Some small scale industrial development also occurred during this time along with the expansion of irrigation infrastructure.
Two rounds of Soviet purges directed by Moscow (1927–1934 and 1937–1938) resulted in the expulsion of nearly 10,000 people, from all levels of the Communist Party of Tajikistan. Ethnic Russians were sent in to replace those expelled and subsequently Russians dominated party positions at all levels, including the top position of first secretary. Between 1926 and 1959 the proportion of Russians among Tajikistan's population grew from less than 1% to 13%. Bobojon Ghafurov, Tajikistan's First Secretary of the Communist Party of Tajikistan from 1946–1956 was the only Tajikistani politician of significance outside of the country during the Soviet Era. He was followed in office by Tursun Uljabayev (1956–61), Jabbor Rasulov (1961–1982), and Rahmon Nabiyev (1982–1985, 1991–1992)

UCHECHUKWU NWACHUKWU ANTHONY 2015/201612 ECONOMICS/SOCIOLOGY
1.4 ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS COMPOSITION
MAURITINUS
Approximately two-thirds of the population is of Indo-Pakistani origin, most of whom are descendants of indentured laborers brought to work in the sugar industry during the 19th and early 20th centuries. About one-fourth of the population is Creole (of mixed French and African descent), and there are small numbers of people of Chinese and Franco-Mauritian descent.
Religious affiliation varies: about half of the population is Hindu, about one-third is Christian (the majority of whom are Roman Catholic), and—with the exception of a small group of Buddhists—the majority of the remainder are Muslims.
SAINT VINCENT AND GRENADINES
Some two-thirds of the inhabitants are descended from Africans who were enslaved and brought to work on the sugar plantations; another one-fifth of the population is of mixed African-European ancestry. There are small minorities of people of South Asian, European, Carib, and mixed African and Carib descent; the latter are known as the Garifuna. English is the official language. An English patois is commonly spoken and referred to in some academic quarters as “nation language” (that is, a postcolonial version of a language that was imposed by colonizers—in this case, English—that incorporates underground language codes from formerly suppressed languages, in this case the African languages of the slaves).
Nearly half the population is Protestant, and another one-third is independent or unaffiliated Christian. Less than one-tenth of the population is Roman Catholic. The Spiritual Baptist, or Shaker (as it was known in Saint Vincent), church, a syncretic Protestant-African faith, was banned from 1912 to the 1960s; in the late 20th century the church began a significant resurgence. There are also branches of North American Evangelical churches, and there are smaller numbers of Hindus and Muslims.
This gives the state a hand in religious administration and appointment of clergy, in exchange for which the state pays certain running costs and wages. Currently, religions covered by such arrangements are Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Greek Orthodoxy, Anglicanism, Russian Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, Calvinism, Mennonitism and Islam.

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ECONOMICS/SOCIOLOGY

1.2 INCOME AND SIZE LEVEL
MAURITIUS
Population Size: 1,356,388 (July 2017 est.)
Land size: 2,040 sq km
GDP (PPP): $25.96 billion (2016 est.)
GDP – per capital (PPP): $20,500 (2016 est.)
GDP (Nominal): $13, 551
GDP – per capital (Nominal): $11, 763
Upper- Middle income Economy
Mauritius has a land size of about 2,040 sq km with the population of about 1,356,388. It is located at Southern Africa, island in the Indian Ocean, about 800 km (500 mi) east of Madagascar
SAINT VINCENT AND GRENADINES
Population Size: 102,089 (July 2017 est.)
Land size: 389 sq km
GDP (PPP): $1.232 billion (2016 est.)
GDP – per capital (PPP): $11,200 (2016 est.)
GDP (Nominal): $784 million
GDP – per capital (Nominal): $7,123
Low-Middle income Economy
Saint Vincent and Grenadines has a land size of about 389 sq km with a population of about 102,089. It is located at Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, north of Trinidad and Tobago.
LUXEMBOURG
Population: 590,667
Size: 2,586.4 km2 (998.6 sq mi)
GDP (PPP): $63.549 billion
Per capita: $107,736
GDP (nominal): $59.997 billion
Per capita: $101,715
Income level: high income economy
1.3 PHYSICAL AND HUMAN RESOURES
MAURITIUS
0-14 years: 21.3% (male 10,970/female 10,779)
15-24 years: 15.97% (male 8,226/female 8,080)
25-54 years: 42.66% (male 22,608/female 20,939)
55-64 years: 10.64% (male 5,595/female 5,272)
65 years and over: 9.42% (male 4,515/female 5,105) (2017 est.)

This goes to show that Mauritius has a majorly youthful population. It has a high educational level with majority of the population able to read and write. Since independence in 1968, Mauritius has undergone a remarkable economic transformation from a low-income, agriculturally based economy to a diversified, upper middle-income economy with growing industrial, financial, and tourist sectors. Mauritius agricultural products like sugarcane, tea, corn, potatoes, bananas, pulses; cattle, goats; fish.
SAINT VINCENT AND GRENADINES
0-14 years: 21.3% (male 10,970/female 10,779)
15-24 years: 15.97% (male 8,226/female 8,080)
25-54 years: 42.66% (male 22,608/female 20,939)
55-64 years: 10.64% (male 5,595/female 5,272)
65 years and over: 9.42% (male 4,515/female 5,105) (2017 est.)

This goes to show that Saint Vincent and Grenadines has a majorly youthful population. It has a high educational level with majority of the population able to read and write.
Success of the economy hinges upon seasonal variations in agriculture, tourism, and construction activity, as well as remittances. Much of the workforce is employed in banana production and tourism. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is home to a small offshore banking sector and continues to fully adopt international regulatory standards.

The President of Venezuela is elected for a six-year term by direct election plurality voting and is eligible for re-election since the Venezuelan constitutional referendum, 2009) The National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional) has 165 members (diputados), elected for five-year terms. Elections also take place at state level and local level.
SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as head of state, bearing the title Queen of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The Queen does not reside in the islands and is represented in the country by the Governor General of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.The office of Governor General has mostly ceremonial functions including the opening of the islands' House of Assembly and the appointment of various government officials. Control of the government rests with the elected Prime Minister and his or her cabinet. The current Prime Minister is Ralph Gonsalves, elected in 2001 as head of the Party. The legislative branch of government is the unicameral House of Assembly of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, seating 15 elected members representing single-member constituencies and six appointed members known as Senators. The parliamentary term of office is five years, although the Prime Minister may call elections at any time.
The judicial branch of government is divided into district courts, the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court and the Privy Council in London being the court of last resort.
MALTA
The politics of Malta takes place within a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Malta is the constitutional head of state. Executive Authority is vested in the President of Malta with the general direction and control of the Government of Malta remaining with the Prime Minister of Malta who is the head of government and the cabinet. Legislative power is vested in the Parliament of Malta which consists of the President of Malta and the unicameral House of Representatives of Malta with the Speaker presiding officer of the legislative body. Judicial power remains with the Chief Justice and the Judiciary of Malta. Since Independence, the party electoral system has been dominated by the Christian democratic Nationalist Party (Partit Nazzjonalista) and the social democratic Labour Party (Partit Laburista).

CONCLUSION
The widening gap between the developed world and the developing world is obviously due to the acute corruption witnessed in developing nations coupled with their lack of macro-economic policy outlook. Their population grows geometrically unlike their economy that grows arithmetically. Low industrial activities are very much measure up for developing countries while developed countries have high industrial growth rate low Agricultural activities.
Based on political structure for developed countries have an organised political system which attributes to stability of the country’s economy unlike the developing countries. They are faced with the problem corruption.

Catholicism is a Christian religion that is one of the first Christian religions (founded after the death of Jesus in about 30-33 AD). Catholicism believes that there is a single God who created everything, a savior, the son of God, Jesus Christ who is the forgiver of sins, and there is the Holy Spirit, which makes up the last part of the Holy Trinity. Catholics follow the teachings of the Bible, consisting of the Old and New Testaments. Much of the faith is based on the life and teachings of Jesus, which is found in the gospels (in the New Testament).

1.5 RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR
VENEZUELA
From the beginning of the past decade until late 2014, Venezuela has benefited from historically high oil prices, which enabled increased public spending on ambitious programs.  The government established a variety of public companies and nationalized many private firms in sectors such as oil and gas, mining and metallurgy, cement, banking and telecommunications. Large social programs called Misiones were implemented to deliver basic services and transfer resources to previously excluded parts of the population. Economic growth and redistribution policies led to a significant decline in poverty, from 50 percent in 1998 to approximately 30 percent in 2013, according to official figures. Inequality also decreased, as reflected in the decrease in the Gini Index, from 0.49 in 1998 to 0.40 in 2012, among the lowest rates in the region.
SAINT VINCENT OF GRENADINES
Success of the economy hinges upon seasonal variations in The public sector and private sector agriculture, tourism, and construction activity, as well as remittances. Much of the workforce is employed in banana production and tourism. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is home to a small offshore banking sector and continues to fully adopt international regulatory standards
MALTA
Equality and justice in public life are the backbone of a functioning democracy. The Public Sector in Malta refers to all government organisations and their employees, which are distinct from the private sector which encompasses various private companies, NGOs and their employees. Thus, the role of our Public Sector team is to provide the specialist knowledge and skills of our professionals in the legal field to support under-represented groups and services and provide important expertise in the functioning of government.
In addition to the civil code and the constitution, Malta has been rapidly transposing EU directives in housing law, employment and industrial relations, financial services and taxation, consumer protection, equal opportunities and discrimination and is a member of the European Convention of Human Rights. As such, the onus on Maltese Authorities to provide these services requires a presence within public sector as a means of checks and balances

1.6 INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE
VENEZUELA
agricultural products, livestock, raw materials, machinery and equipment, transport equipment, construction materials, medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, iron and steel products, crude oil and petroleum product.The major industry in Venezuela is the oil industry, between 1974 and 1982 Venezuela enjoyed windfall oil revenues supplemented with foreign borrowing. The government sought to diversify the industrial base, reserving for itself the "strategic sectors" or "basic industries". Private investors were encouraged to develop activities which would substitute for imports and which were downstream from the basic industries and import substitution was encouraged by protection through tariffs and licenses. When oil prices dropped in the 1980s, the bolivar became overvalued, but it could not be maintained. In 1983 the bolivar was devalued and a multiple exchange rate system was introduced. Exchange controls, which were changed frequently, added more discretionary incentives. Price controls were applied throughout the economy. Many privat

In 1947 the British granted Malta another constitution together with £30 million to help repair war damage. Nevertheless the Maltese pressed for independence, which they gained on 21 September 1964. At first the Queen was head of state but in 1974 Malta became a republic. Meanwhile Dominic (Dom) Mintoff of the Labour Party became prime minister in 1971.
Malta joined the EU in 2004 and in 2008 Malta joined the Euro. Today the main industry in Malta is tourism although there is also an electronics and a pharmaceuticals industry. Malta suffered in the economic downturn of 2008-2009. However Malta soon recovered. Today Malta is flourishing and its economy is growing strongly.
1.2 SIZE AND INCOME
VENEZUELA
Population:
Size: 916,445 km2 (353,841 sq mi)
GDP (PPP): $404.109 billion
Per capita: $12,859
GDP (nominal income): $251.589 billion
Per capita: $8,004
Income Level: low middle economy

SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES
Population: 109,643
Size:
GDP (PPP) : $1.243 billion
Per capita: $11,291
GDP (nominal income): $784 million
Per capita: $7,123
Income Level: low middle economy
MALTA:
Population: 436,947
Size: 316 sq km
GDP (PPP):$17.32billion
Per capita: $25058.17
GDP (nominal income): $11billion
Per capita: $26577.45
Income Level: High middle economy
1.3 PHYSICAL AND HUMAN RESOURCE
VENEZUELA
0-14 years: 27.36% (male 4,390,773/female 4,175,080)
15-24 years: 17.03% (male 2,707,934/female 2,624,031)
25-54 years: 40.53% (male 6,289,673/female 6,398,217)
55-64 years: 7.98% (male 1,198,525/female 1,299,498)
65 years and over: 7.09% (male 1,003,534/female 1,216,751)
Venezuela has rich resources of gold, nickel, iron ore, steel, diamond, alumina, coal, bauxite, asphalt, natural gas, and petroleum. Venezuela has about 11 metric tons (Mt) of gold was produced by Venezuela. The country has 365.8 Mt of gold reserves, which makes it the world’s 15th largest gold producer according to a report by the World Gold Council published in August 2011. Gold reserves in the country account for nearly 61% of the country’s total mineral reserves. The Las Cristinas mine of Venezuela has gold reserves of 27 million ounces. In 2009, the mine was estimated to have 464.4 million Mt of gold.Paso Diablo coal mine of Venezuela produces 7.5 million metric tons per year (Mt/yr) of pulverized coal injection (PCI) coal. The Guasare coal basin has allowed the Carbones del Guasare Company to access nearly 175 Mt of coal reserves. Mina Norte coal mine is another mine in the country which has considerable amount of coal.
SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES
0-14 years: 21.3% (male 10,970/female 10,779)
15-24 years: 15.97% (male 8,226/female 8,080)
25-54 years: 42.66% (male 22,608/female 20,939)
55-64 years: 10.64% (male 5,595/female 5,272)
65 years and over: 9.42% (male 4,515/female 5,105) (2017 est.)
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island state in the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, an island arc of the Caribbean Sea in North America. Natural resources: hydropower, cropland
MALTA
0-14 years: 15.04% (male 32,128/female 30,490)
15-24 years: 11.44% (male 24,471/female 23,142)
25-54 years: 39.98% (male 85,158/female 81,303)
55-64 years: 13.98% (male 28,919/female 29,298)
65 years and over: 19.56% (male 36,743/female 44,686)
The entire archipelago is made up of three main islands Malta, the largest; Gozo, and Comino, the smallest. Natural resources are few and a high population density means that a great deal of pressure is placed on the little that is provided. Natural resources include limestone that is extracted to be used in the construction industry; lots of sunshine that has a good potential for providing solar energy and, wind which is also considered to be potentially exploitable for renewable purposes; and finally fresh water which is very scarce.

Columbus and the Spanish conquistadors largely ignored St. Vincent and the smaller Grenadine islands nearby, but focused instead on the pursuit of gold and silver in Central and South America. They did embark on slaving expeditions in and around St. Vincent following royal sanction in 1511, driving the Carib inhabitants to the rugged interior, but the Spanish made no attempt to settle the island. Carib Indians aggressively prevented European settlement on St. Vincent until the 18th century. African slaves, whether shipwrecked or escaped from St. Lucia or Grenada and seeking refuge in St. Vincent, intermarried with the Caribs and became known as "black Caribs". Now those of mixed African-Carib ancestry are known as Garifuna. Established date is around 1511, over 444 years later.
The southern portion of the island was under British control, and the northern portion was under the control of the Black Caribs.The first Europeans to occupy St. Vincent were the French. However, following a series of wars and peace treaties, the islands were eventually ceded to the British. While the English were the first to lay claim to St. Vincent in 1627, the French (centered on the island of Martinique) would be the first European settlers on the island when they established their first colony at Barrouallie on the Leeward side of St. Vincent in 1719. The French settlers cultivated coffee, tobacco, indigo, corn, and sugar on plantations worked by African slaves. St. Vincent was ceded to Britain by the Treaty of Paris (1763). From 1763 until independence, St. Vincent passed through various stages of colonial status under the British.
Frustrated by what they saw as intransigence, the British commissioners launched a full-scale military assault on the Caribs in 1772 with the objective of subjugating and deporting them from the island. British unfamiliarity with the windward lands of the island and effective Carib defence of the island's difficult mountain terrain blunted the British advance, and political opposition to the expedition in London prompted an enquiry and calls for it to be ended. With military matters at a stalemate, a peace agreement was signed in 1773 that delineated boundaries between British and a Carib area of the island.A representative assembly was authorized by the British in 1776.
France captured Saint Vincent in 1779 during the American War of Independence, but it was restored to Britain by the Treaty of Versailles (1783). The economy then went into a period of decline with many landowners abandoning their estates and leaving the land to be cultivated by liberated slaves. The resulting labour shortages on the plantations attracted Portuguese immigrants in the 1840s and East Indians in the 1860s as laborers. Conditions remained harsh for both former slaves and immigrant agricultural workers, as depressed world sugar prices kept the economy stagnant until the turn of the 20th century.
A Crown Colony government was installed in 1877, a Legislative Council created in 1925, and universal adult suffrage granted in 1951. During this period, the British made several unsuccessful attempts to affiliate St. Vincent with other Windward Islands in order to govern the region through a unified administration. The most notable was the West Indies Federation, which collapsed in 1962.The La Soufriere volcano erupted in 1812 and 1902 when much of the island was destroyed and many people were killed. In 1979 it erupted again, this time with no fatalities. In the same year, St Vincent and The Grenadines gained full independence from Britain, while remaining a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

The president is the head of state and of the Executive Yuan, which functions as a cabinet. Previously, the National Assembly chose the president. After amendments to the constitution in 1992, however, citizens now elect the president by direct popular vote. The president may serve a maximum of two consecutive four-year terms. Under the president, there are five government branches known as yuans (councils or departments): legislative, executive, control, examination, and judicial. The legislative yuan, elected by popular vote, is the highest lawmaking body. As in the National Assembly, many members of the 1948 legislative yuan held their seats until 1991.

Reference
http://www.studycountry/Macedonia.com
http://www.historyofmacedonia.org
https://en.m.encyclopedia/economyoftaiwan.com
https://en.m.encyclopedia/historyofoman.com
https://fanack.com>oman>economy

RELIGIONS
The Chinese are traditionally eclectic in their religious beliefs. The Taiwan folk religion is a fluid mixture of shamanism, ancestor worship, magic, ghosts and spirits, and aspects of animism. commonly overlap with an individual's belief in Buddhism, Confucianism,
Taoism , or other traditional Chinese religions. Natural phenomena have been deified, and ancestors, sages, virtuous women, and historical personalities have been given the status of gods. In 2003, registered organizations estimated that about 33% of the population were Taoists, 23.9% were Buddhists, 2.6% were I Kuan Taoist, and 1.2% were Protestant.
The first Westerners to bring Christianity to Taiwan were the Dutch (1624). However, a great persecution of Christians took place when the island was lost to Cheng Ch'eng-kung in 1662. Christianity made another beginning in 1860, when a missionary from Scotland came to the island. The English Presbyterian Mission started its work in the southern part of Taiwan about 100 years ago. Since the end of World War II, more than 80 Protestant denominations have been established on the island, and the activities of Christian missions, many coming over from the mainland, have become widespread. Christians constitute about 4.5% of the total population. Denominations represented include Roman Catholic, Presbyterians, Mormons, Baptists, Lutherans, Seventh-Day Adventists, Episcopalians, and Jehovah 's Witnesses.
Other faiths include Tien Ti Chiao (Heaven Emperor Religion), Tien Te Chiao (Heaven Virtue Religion), Li-Ism, Hsuan Yuan Chiao (Yellow Emperor Religion), Maitraya Great Tao, Chinese Holy Religion, Hai Tzu Tao (Innocent Child Religion), Tien Li Chiao (Heaven Reason Religion), the Baha'i Faith, Mahikari, and Judaism. About 14% of the population are atheists.
INDUSTRY
Under the Japanese, about 90% of the industrial enterprises were owned by the government or by Japanese corporations with govvernment assistance. After the restoration of Taiwan to China in 1945, the ROC government took over these enterprises. Some were sold to private owners, and the rest were grouped under the management of 18 public corporations, operated either by the national government or by the provincial government, or by both. Added to the confiscated enemy properties were public enterprises evacuated from the mainland. As a result, government-operated enterprises came to dominate Taiwanese industry. Although the proportion accounted for by these enterprises in the production value of manufacturing industries has been falling in recent years in contrast to the private sector, it still accounts for a significant amount of value added. Beginning in 1992, Taiwan authorities have made efforts to reduce the size of the public sector. These efforts have gained momentum after democratization in 1996. By 2002, the government had sold equity shares and reduced public ownership to below 50% in 23 state-owned enterprises (SOEs), mostly banks and insurance companies, but including a steel mill and one fertilizer company. In 1998 and 1999 privatization announcements included the Chinese Petroleum Corp., Chunghwa Telecom Corp., and Taiwan Power Corp. Plans for privatization have been announced for SOEs involved in power, oil, tobacco, wine, railway transport, mining and telecommunications. Since 1998, also, a number of construction projects—the north-south high speed railway, the mass rapid transit (MRT) systems in Kaohsiung (KMRT) and the between T'aipei and the CKS Airport—were given to private firms, including many foreign companies, on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis.
The average annual growth rate in manufacturing was 13% during 1953–62, 20% during 1963–72, 9.6% during 1973–85 and 5.9% for 1986–92.

DEVELOPED COUNTRY
HISTORY
Although Taiwan can be seen on a clear day from the China mainland, ancient Chinese accounts contain few references to the island. The earliest inhabitants were Malayo-Polynesian aborigines. Historians have surmised from the brief information available in the early dynastic histories that Chinese emigration to Taiwan began as early as the T'ang dynasty (618–907). During the reign of Kublai Khan (1263–
94), the first civil administration was established in the neighboring Pescadores. Taiwan itself, however, remained outside the jurisdiction of the Mongol Empire. During the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), Japanese pirates and Chinese outlaws and refugees wrested the coastal areas from the native aborigines. The Chinese settled in the southwest region, while the Japanese occupied the northern tip of the island. Significant Chinese settlement, by immigrants from Fujian and Guangdong, began in the 17th century.
In 1517, the Portuguese sighted the island and named it Ilha Formosa (Beautiful Island). The Dutch, who were disputing the monopoly of Far Eastern trade held by the Portuguese, captured the Pescadores in 1622 and used them as a base for harassing commerce between China,
Japan, and the Philippines. Two years later, the Chinese offered the Dutch a treaty that gave them certain commercial privileges if they withdrew from the Pescadores and occupied instead a trading post on Taiwan. The Dutch complied by building Fort Zeelandia and Fort Providentia in the southwestern part of the island. The Spaniards, wishing to compete, seized the northern part of Chilung in 1626 and later extended their domain to nearby Tanshui. The Japanese, constrained by the policy of national seclusion adopted by the Tokugawa Shogunate, withdrew voluntarily in 1628. The Dutch captured the Spanish settlement in 1642 and, after putting down a Chinese uprising in 1656 with the aid of the aborigines, gained complete control of the island.
LOCATION, SIZE, AND EXTENT
Taiwan, the seat of the Republic of China, lies in the western Pacific Ocean astride the Tropic of Cancer, less than 161 km (100 mi) from the southeast coast of mainland China, from which it is separated by the Taiwan (Formosa) Strait. To the ne, less than 129 km (80 mi) away, is the w end of the Japanese Ryukyu Islands; to the e is the Pacific Ocean; the Philippine island of Luzon lies 370 km (230 mi) to the s.
Besides the island proper, Taiwan comprises 21 small islands in the Taiwan group and 64 islands in the Penghu (Pescadores) group; the total area is 35,980 sq km (13,892 sq mi). Comparatively, the area occupied by Taiwan is slightly larger than the states of
Maryland and Delaware combined. Leaf-shaped Taiwan island extends 394 km (245 mi) nne–ssw and 144 km (89 mi) ese–wnw; it has a coastline of 1,566 km (973 mi). The Penghu group, lying 40 km (25 mi) west of Taiwan island, has a total area of 127 sq km (49 sq mi).
Also under the control of the Taiwan government are Quemoy (Chinmen) and Matsu, two island groups located strategically close to the mainland Chinese province of Fujian (Fukien). Quemoy is the biggest of a group of six islands, two of which are occupied by the People's Republic of China; it is situated in
Xiamen (Amoy) Bay at 118°23e and 24°27n and has a total area of 176 sq km (68 sq mi). The Matsu group, consisting of Nankan (the largest), Peikan, Tungyin, and about 10 small islets, is located at 119°56 e and 26°9 n, 30.6 km (19 mi) off the mainland port city of Fuzhou ; it has a total area of 28.8 sq km (11.1 sq mi).
The capital city of T'aipei is located on northern Taiwan.

According to the World Bank, in 2003 remittances from citizens working abroad totaled $39 million or about $15 per capita and accounted for approximately 0.2% of GDP. Foreign aid receipts amounted to $45 million or about $17 per capita.
The World Bank reports that in 2003 household consumption in Oman totaled $8.75 billion or about $3,368 per capita based on a GDP of $21.7 billion, measured in current dollars rather than PPP. Household consumption includes expenditures of individuals, households, and nongovernmental organizations on goods and services, excluding purchases of dwellings.
In 2001 it was estimated that approximately 22% of household consumption was spent on food, 25% on fuel, 13% on health care, and 21% on education.
LABOR
The estimated workforce of Oman was 920,000 in 2002. As of 2000, the services sector accounted for 82.1% of the labor force, with industry accounting for 11.2%, agriculture 6.4%, and the remaining 0.4% in undefined occupations. As of 2004, the country's unemployment rate was estimated at 15%.
Omani law does not provide the right of union formation. The law forbids a strike for any reason. Collective bargaining is not permitted, however there exist labor-management committees in firms with more than 50 workers. These committees are not authorized to discuss conditions of employment, including hours and wages. The Labor Welfare Board provides a venue for grievances.
The minimum working age is 13, but this provision is not enforced against the employment of children in family businesses or on family farms. The minimum wage for nonprofessional workers was $260 per month in 2002. However, many classes of workers (domestic servants, farmers, government employees) are not required to receive the minimum wage and the government is not consistent in its enforcement of the minimum wage law. The private sector workweek is 40 to 45 hours long, while government officials have a 35-hour workweek.
ETHNIC GROUPS
The indigenous population is predominantly Arab except on the Batinah coast, where there is significant Baluchi, Iranian, and African representation, and in Muscat and Matrah, where there are Khojas and other Indians, Baluchis, and Pakistanis. Tribal groups are estimated to number over 200.
RELIGIONS
The state religion is Islam, with most of the population adhering to the Ibadhi or Sunni sects. Tribes in the north are mainly Sunni Muslims of the Hanbali, Shafai, and
Wahhabi rites. A minority of the population is Shia Muslim. There is a small community of Indian Hindu citizens and there is reportedly a very small number of
Christians . Non-Muslims, the majority of whom are noncitizen immigrant workers from South Asia, are free to worship at churches and temples, some of which are built on land donated by the Sultan.
The Basic Statute of the State allows for the freedom to practice religious rites as long as these rites do not breach public order. In practice, the government has reserved the right to place some restrictions on non-Muslim faiths. Non-Muslims may not proselytize to Muslims and non-Muslim groups may not publish religious materials within the country. Certain Muslim holidays are celebrated as national holidays.
INDUSTRY
Besides oil, industry in Oman still consists largely of small-scale food-processing enterprises. Many new industries were set up in the 1980s, including a cement plant with an annual capacity of 609,000 tons. In 1995, Oman's cement production totaled 1.4 million tons. The majority of these manufacture nonmetallic mineral products followed by wood and wood products, and fabricated metal products. The Rusail industrial estate had 81 working factories by 1996, with 15 more under construction. The $250 million Salalah Container Port opened in 1998 as a magnet for value-added manufacturing enterprises. Another $250 industrial port in the Sohar on which construction began in 1999 was expected to be operational in 2003. By the latest available estimate, industry comprised 40% of the GDP in 1999.

INDUSTRY
Macedonia's industries are centered around Skopje. Steel and chemical production, along with buses, textiles, food processing, tobacco, furniture, and ceramics are important industries. In 1995, the government began privatizing its 25 largest public industries. Industry accounted for 31% of GDP in 2001. The Kosovo crisis of 1999 severely disrupted the Macedonian economy, as did the ethnic Albanian armed insurgency in Macedonia in 2001.
In 2004, industry made up 26% of the GDP, down from 32.8% in 2003. Services benefited from this loss, growing from a 55.5% participation in the GDP in 2003, to 62.8% in 2004. Agriculture remained relatively stable, at about 11%. The industrial production growth rate in 2004 was consequently 0%, indicating a loss of momentum for the industrial sector. Main industries were resource based and included coal, metallic chromium, lead, zinc, ferronickel, textiles, wood products, tobacco, food processing, buses, and steel. By 2005, industry showed signs of recovery, with the industrial output growth jumping to 8.2% in the first nine months of the year.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was admitted to the United Nations on 8 April 1993; it is a part of ECE and a member of several nonregional specialized agencies, such as FAO, IAEA, IMF, UNESCO, UNIDO, WHO, and the World Bank. Macedonia is also a member of the Council of Europe, the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the NATO Partnership for Peace, and the OSCE.
In February 1994 Macedonia's sovereignty was recognized by the United States and EU countries. Greece objected to the use of the name Macedonia by the nation and imposed a trade embargo for this and other issues. Greece and Macedonia signed an interim agreement in 1995 ending the embargo and opening negotiations for diplomatic recognition. Also in 1995, Macedonia ratified the European Convention on Human Rights and accepted the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights. The convention includes several Eastern and Central European nations that see membership as a precursor to possible admission to the European Union in the future.
In environmental cooperation, Macedonia is part of the Basel Convention, Conventions on Biological Diversity and Air Pollution, Ramsar, CITES, the Kyoto Protocol, the Montréal Protocol, and the UN Conventions on the Law of the Sea and Climate Change.
GOVERNMENT
Macedonia achieved its independence from the former Yugoslavia on 20 November 1991, having adopted its constitution on 17 November 1991. Macedonia's unicameral assembly of 120 seats is called the Sobranje. Eighty-five members are elected in single-seat constituencies, and 35 are elected by proportional representation. The executive branch consists of the president (elected by popular vote for a five-year term) and the Council of Ministers (elected by the majority vote of all the deputies in the Sobranje). The prime minister is elected by the assembly. In November 2001, parliament amended the constitution to include greater recognition of ethnic Albanian political, religious, and cultural rights. In October 2005, the president of Macedonia was Branko Crvenkovski, while Vlado Buckovski—the leader of the Social Democratic Union—occupied the prime minister post.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF MECEDONIA
Origin and Middle Ages
Macedonia is an ancient name, historically related to Philip II of Macedon, whose son became Alexander the Great, founder of one of the great empires of the ancient world. As a regional name, Macedonia, the land of the Macedons, has been used since ancient Greek times for the territory extending north of Thessaly and into the Vardar River Valley and between Epirus on the west and Thrace on the east. In Alexander the Great's time, Macedonia extended west to the Adriatic Sea over the area then called Illyris, part of today's Albania. Under the Roman Empire , Macedonia was extended south over Thessaly and Achaia.
Beginning in the 5th century ad Slavic tribes began settling in the Balkan area, and by 700 they controlled most of the Central and Peloponnesian Greek lands. The Slavic conquerors were mostly assimilated into Greek culture except in the northern Greek area of Macedonia proper and the areas of northern Thrace populated by "Bulgarian" Slavs. That is how St. Cyril and Methodius, two Greek brothers and scholars who grew up in the Macedonian city of Salonika, were able to become the "Apostles of the Slavs," having first translated Holy Scriptures in 863 into the common Slavic language they had learned in the Macedonian area.
Through most of the later Middle Ages, Macedonia was an area contested by the
Byzantine Empire , with its Greek culture and Orthodox Christianity , the Bulgarian Kingdom, and particularly the 14th century Serbian empire of Dušan the Great. The Bulgarian and Serbian empires contributed to the spread of Christianity through the establishment of the Old Church Slavic liturgy.
After Dušan's death in 1355 his empire collapsed, partly due to the struggle for power among his heirs and partly to the advances of the Ottoman Turks. Following the defeat of the Serbs at the Kosovo Field in 1389, the Turks conquered the Macedonian area over the next half century and kept it under their control until the 1912 Balkan war.
LOCATION, SIZE, AND EXTENT
Macedonia is a landlocked nation located in southeastern Europe. Macedonia is slightly larger than the state of Vermont with a total area of 25,333 sq km (9,781 sq mi). Macedonia shares boundaries with
Serbia to the n, Bulgaria to the e, Greece to the s, and Albania to the w, and has a total boundary length of 766 km (476 mi). Macedonia's capital city, Skopje, is located in the northwestern part of the country
. INCOME
The US Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ) reports that in 2005 Macedonia's gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at $15.6 billion. The CIA defines GDP as the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year and computed on the basis of purchasing power parity (PPP) rather than value as measured on the basis of the rate of exchange based on current dollars. The per capita GDP was estimated at $7,400. The annual growth rate of GDP was estimated at 4%. The average inflation rate in 2005 was 1%. It was estimated that agriculture accounted for 11.7% of GDP, industry 32.1%, and services 56.2%.

Physical and Human Resources
Oil shale mining and related power plants and chemical factories have altered vast areas in Northeast Estonia, including eastern parts of the North-Estonian Coastal Plain and the Viru Plateau and the northern part of Alutaguse. Industrial outlets influence neighbouring areas and water bodies: Lake Peipsi, the Narva River and the Gulf of Finland. Solid waste hills are distinct landscape features in Northeast Estonia.
The most important among the natural resources of the area is oil shale. The dark side of oil shale mining is its damage to nature. The mining and benefication of oil shale and its use in the energy and chemical industry have damaged the Earth´s structure, landscape, surface and ground water, atmosphere, plant cover and animal life, and human health and living conditions. The area, damaged or strongly influenced by mining, exceeds 300 square km, and is continuously growing.
Western European and American toiletries, cosmetics, and feminine personal supplies are available in Tallinn as are cleaning supplies, food products, items for pets, clothes washing needs, contact lens supplies, and basic first-aid items.
Ethnic and religious compositions
i. Ethnic Compositions
In 1998, Estonians made up about 65% of the population, Russians 28.1%, Ukrainians 2.5%, Belarussians 1.5%, Finns 1%, and others 1.6%. Non-Estonians were found chiefly in the northeastern industrial towns, while rural areas were 87% Estonian. Citizenship is by birth only if at least one parent is an Estonian citizen. Naturalization requires three years' residence and competence in Estonian.
After the breakup of the Soviet Union, Estonia reinstituted its pre World War II citizenship laws, which set conditions for non-Estonians to become citizens. Those who are neither Estonian nor Russian citizens are considered resident aliens.
ii. Religious compositions
There is no state religion in Estonia. Currently, major denominations include Lutheran, Russian Orthodox, Baptist, and Catholic. The small Jewish community consists mainly of native Russian speakers. Tallinn has Lutheran, Catholic, Baptist, and Russian Orthodox churches. There is a service in English once a month and on holidays at a Lutheran church. The Catholic church holds services in English the first Sunday of every month. A Jewish community center, with a provisional synagogue, holds services in Russian on Saturdays and Jewish holidays.