Economy of Uruguay - Economy of Uruguay Uruguay's economy remains dependent on agriculture. Although agricultural production accounts for only 9% of the gross domestic product (GDP), agricultural-related products make up more than half of the country's exports. The industrial sector, which produces 16% of GDP, is largely based on the transformation of agricultural products. Leading economic sectors include meat processing, agribusiness, wool, leather production and apparel, textiles, and chemicals. The Batlle administration has been confronted with serious economic problems. Devaluation in Brazil in 1999 made Uruguayan goods less competitive, and an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in 2001 curtailed beef exports to North America. Starting in late 2001, an economic crisis in Argentina undermined Uruguay's economy. Exports to Argentina and tourist revenues fell dramatically. In mid-2002 Argentine withdrawals from.
History of Uruguay - History of Uruguay The only inhabitants of Uruguay before European colonization of the area were the Charrua Indians, a small tribe driven south by the Guarani Indians of Paraguay. The Spanish discovered the territory of present-day Uruguay in 1516, but the Indians' fierce resistance to conquest, combined with the absence of gold and silver, limited settlement in the region during the 16th and 17th centuries. The Spanish introduced cattle, which became a source of wealth in the region. Spanish colonization increased as Spain sought to limit Portugal's expansion of Brazil's frontiers. Montevideo was founded by the Spanish in the early 18th century as a military stronghold; its natural harbor soon developed into a commercial center competing with Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires. Uruguay's early 19th century history was.
Economy of Chile - Economy of Chile Economy - overview: Chile has a market-oriented economy characterized by a high level of foreign trade. During the early 1990s, Chile's reputation as a role model for economic reform was strengthened when the democratic government of Patricio Aylwin - which took over from the military in 1990 - deepened the economic reform initiated by the military government. Growth in real GDP averaged 8% during the period 1991-1997, but fell to half that level in 1998 because of tight monetary policies implemented to keep the current account deficit in check and lower export earnings - the latter a product of the global financial crisis. After a decade of highly impressive growth rates, Chile experienced a moderate recession in 1999 brought on by the global.
Economy of Namibia - Economy of Namibia Economy - overview The economy of Namibia is heavily dependent on the extraction and processing of minerals for export. Mining accounts for 20% of GDP. Rich alluvial diamond deposits make Namibia a primary source for gem-quality diamonds. Namibia is the fourth-largest exporter of nonfuel minerals in Africa, the world's fifth-largest producer of uranium, and the producer of large quantities of lead, zinc, tin, silver, and tungsten. The mining sector employs only about 3% of the population while about half of the population depends on subsistence agriculture for its livelihood. Namibia normally imports about 50% of its cereal requirements; in drought years food shortages are a major problem in rural areas. A high per capita GDP, relative to the region, hides the great inequality.
Economy of New Zealand - Economy of New Zealand Economy - overview: Since 1984 the government of New Zealand has accomplished major economic restructuring, moving an agrarian economy dependent on concessionary British market access toward a more industrialized, free market economy that can compete globally. This dynamic growth has boosted real incomes, broadened and deepened the technological capabilities of the industrial sector, and contained inflationary pressures. Inflation remains among the lowest in the industrial world. Per capita GDP has been moving up toward the levels of the big West European economies. New Zealand's heavy dependence on trade leaves its growth prospects vulnerable to economic performance in Asia, Europe, and the United States. Moderate growth probably will characterize 2000. New Zealand's economy has traditionally been based on a foundation of exports from.
Economy of Paraguay - Economy of Paraguay Economy - overview: Paraguay has a market economy marked by a large informal sector. The informal sector features both reexport of imported consumer goods to neighboring countries as well as the activities of thousands of microenterprises and urban street vendors. Because of the importance of the informal sector, accurate economic measures are difficult to obtain. A large percentage of the population derive their living from agricultural activity, often on a subsistence basis. The formal economy grew by an average of about 3% annually in 1995-97, but gross domestic product declined slightly in 1998 and 1999. On a per capita basis, real income has stagnated at 1980 levels. Most observers attribute Paraguay's poor economic performance to political uncertainty, corruption, lack of progress on structural.
Economy of Iceland - Economy of Iceland Marine products account for more than 60% of Iceland's total export earnings. Other important exports include aluminum, ferro-silicon, equipment and electronic machinery for fishing and fish processing, and woolen goods. Foreign trade plays an important role in the Icelandic economy. Exports and imports each account for one-third of GDP. Most of Iceland's exports go to the EU and EFTA countries, the United States, and Japan. Iceland's relatively liberal trading policy has been strengthened by accession to the European Economic Area in 1993 and by the Uruguay Round agreement, which also brought significantly improved market access for Iceland's exports, particularly seafood products. However, the agricultural sector remains heavily subsidized and protected; some tariffs range as high as 700%. Iceland's economy is prone to inflation.
Economy of Argentina - Economy of Argentina Economy - overview: Argentina benefits from rich natural resources, a highly literate population, an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a diversified industrial base. However, when President Carlos Menem took office in 1989, the country had piled up huge external debts, inflation had reached 200% per month, and output was plummeting. To combat the economic crisis, the government embarked on a path of trade liberalization, deregulation, and privatization. In 1991, it implemented radical monetary reforms which pegged the peso to the US dollar and limited the growth in the monetary base by law to the growth in reserves. Inflation fell sharply in subsequent years. The 1991 convertibility law established a quasicurrency board, which has been a pillar of price stability. The government privatized most state-controlled.
Economy of France - Economy of France With a GDP of $1.4 trillion, France is the fourth-largest Western industrialized economy. It has substantial agricultural resources, a large industrial base, and a highly skilled work force. A dynamic services sector accounts for an increasingly large share of economic activity (72% in 1997) and is responsible for nearly all job creation in recent years. GDP growth averaged 2% between 1994 and 1998, with 3% recorded in 2000. Government economic policy aims to promote investment and domestic growth in a stable fiscal and monetary environment. Creating jobs and reducing the high unemployment rate has been a top priority. The Government of France has successfully reduced a double-digit unemployment rate in excess of 10% to 8%-9%, recently. France joined 10 other European Union countries.
Uruguay - Uruguay The Oriental Republic of Uruguay is a country in southern South America, bordered by Brazil to the north, the Uruguay River to the west, the estuary of the Rio de la Plata (River Plate) to the southwest, with Argentina on the other bank of both, and finally the South Atlantic Ocean to the southeast. República Oriental del Uruguay (In Detail) National motto: "Libertad o Muerte" (Spanish; Liberty or Death) Official language Spanish Capital Montevideo President Jorge Batlle Area - Total - % water Ranked 88th 176,220 km² 1.5% Population - Total (2000) - Density Ranked 127th 3,360,105 19/km² Independence - Declared - Recognised From Brazil August 25, 1825 August 27, 1828 Currency Uruguayan peso Time zone UTC -3 National anthem Orientales, la Patria o la.
International Socialist Tendency - the IST are similar to the politics of many Trotskyist Internationals. Where it differs with many is on the question of Soviet Union, the IST adopting the position that it was state capitalist, rather than a degenerate worker's state, and the theories of the permanent arms economy and deflected permanent revolution. Unlike many international tendencies the IST has no formal organisational structures and has only ever made one publically known decision, which was to expell the American ISO from its ranks. However the antecedents of the ISt go back to the 1950s when the founders of the British Socialist Review Group, around Tony Cliff, were expelled from The Club and thus from the Fourth International. Through the 1950s the SRG had a loose relationship with the American ISL until it dissolved.
History of Argentina - farther east. Spanish colonial era Europeans arrived in the region with the 1502 voyage of Amerigo Vespucci. Spanish navigator Juan Diaz de Solís visited what is now Argentina in 1516. Spain established a permanent colony on the site of Buenos Aires in 1580 as part of the Viceroyalty of Peru; initial settlement was primarily overland from Peru. The Spanish raised the status of this region in 1717 by establishing the Viceroyalty of Río de la Plata in 1776. This viceroyalty embraced what are now Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay, as well as much of present-day Bolivia. During this era, Buenos Aires became a flourishing port. Growth of a nation state News of the French Revolution and the American Revolutionary War brought liberal ideas to Latin America. An 1810 declaration of independence in.
Geography of Brazil - 1,644 km, French Guiana 655 km, Guyana 1,298 km, Paraguay 1,339 km, Peru 2,995 km, Suriname 593 km, Uruguay 1,003 km, Venezuela 1,819 km Coastline: 7,367 km Maritime claims: contiguous zone: 24 nautical miles continental shelf: 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zone: 200 nautical miles territorial sea: 12 nautical miles Climate: mostly tropical, but temperate in south Terrain: mostly flat to rolling lowlands in north; some plains, hills, mountains, and narrow coastal belt Vegetation: Cerrado, Atlantic Forest Elevation extremes: lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Pico da Neblina 3,014 m Natural resources: bauxite, gold, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, platinum, tin, uranium, petroleum, hydropower, timber Land use: arable land: 5% permanent crops: 1% permanent pastures: 22% forests and woodland: 58% other: 14% (1993 est.) Irrigated land: 28,000 km² (1993.
Geography of Argentina - bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Chile and Uruguay Geographic coordinates: 34 00 S, 64 00 W Map references: South America Area: total: 2,766,890 sq km land: 2,736,690 sq km water: 30,200 sq km Area - comparative: slightly less than three-tenths the size of the US Land boundaries: total: 9,665 km border countries: Bolivia 832 km, Brazil 1,224 km, Chile 5,150 km, Paraguay 1,880 km, Uruguay 579 km Coastline: 4,989 km Maritime claims: contiguous zone: 24 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm Climate: mostly temperate; arid in southeast; subantarctic in southwest Terrain: rich plains of the Pampas in northern half, flat to rolling plateau of Patagonia in south, rugged Andes along western border Elevation extremes:.
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change - Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia and Montenegro, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe observers - (6) Andorra, Brunei, Holy See, Iraq, Somalia, Turkey Annex I and Annex II Countries, and Developing Countries Signatories to the UNFCCC are split into three groups: Annex I countries (industrialised countries) Annex II countries (developed countries which pay for costs of developing countries) Developing countries. Annex I countries agree to reduce their emissions (particularly carbon dioxide) to target levels below their 1990.
Foreign relations of Brazil - of American States (OAS). Recently, Brazil has given high priority to expanding relations with its South American neighbors and is a founding member of the Amazon Pact, the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI), and Mercosul (Mercosur in Spanish), an imperfect customs union including Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Brazil. Along with Argentina, Chile, and the United States, Brazil is one of the guarantors of the Peru-Ecuador peace process. Brazil is a charter member of the United Nations and participates in many of its specialized agencies. It has contributed troops to UN peacekeeping efforts in the Middle East, the former Belgian Congo, Cyprus, Mozambique, Angola, and most recently East Timor. Brazil has been a member of the UN Security Council four times, most recently 1998-2000. As Brazil's domestic economy has grown and diversified,.
European colonization of the Americas - and mining industry) decimated the Amerindian population. African Negro slaves were introduced to substitute the Amerindian. On the other hand, the Spaniards will not impose their language in the same measurement and the Catholic Church even evangelized in Quechua, Nahuatl and Guarani, contributing to the expansion of these Amerindian languages and equipping them with a writing system. One of the first school for amerindians was founded by Fray Pedro de Gante en 1523. The Portuguese switched from an initial plan of trading posts to an extensive colonization of what is now Brazil. (See also: Conquistador, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, Hernán Cortés, Francisco Pizarro, Spanish Conquest of Yucatan, Treaty of Tordesillas, Treaty of Alcaçovas) In the British and French regions, the focus of economy soon shifted from resource extraction to trading with.
1930 - lands in Darwin, Australia becoming the first woman to fly from England to Australia (she left on May 5 for the 11,000 mile flight). July 7 - Building of the Boulder Dam (now known as Hoover Dam) is started. July 31 - The radio mystery program The Shadow airs for the first time. August 7 - Richard Bedford Bennett becomes Canada's eleventh prime minister. August 9 - Betty Boop premiers in the animated film Dizzy Dishes. October 5 - British Airship R101 crashed in France en-route to India on its maiden voyage. November 2 - Haile Selassie is crowned emperor of Ethiopia. December 2 - Great Depression: US President Herbert Hoover goes before Congress and asks for a US$150 million public works program to help generate jobs and stimulate the economy..
Table of historical exchange rates - or weakness of a particular currency. For example the U.S. Dollar could be rebased tomorrow so that 1 new dollar was worth 100 old dollars. Then all the numbers in the table would be multiplied by one hundred, but it does not mean all the world's currencies just got weaker. However it is useful to look at the variation over time of a particular exchange rate. If the number consistly increases through time, then it is a strong indication that the economy of the country or countries using that currency are in a less robust state than that of the United States (see e.g. the Turkish Lira). The exchange rates of advanced economies such as that Japan or Hong Kong against the dollar tend to fluctuate up and down, representing much.
Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights - of whether it is in the public interest to do so). Exceptions to patent law must be limited almost as stricly as those to copyright law. In each state, intellectual property laws may not offer any benefits to local citizens which are not availble to citizens of other TRIPs signatories (this is called "national treatment"). TRIPs also has a most favoured nation clause. Many of the TRIPs provisions on copyright were imported from the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. Background and History TRIPs was added to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) at the end of the Uruguay round of trade negotiations in 1994. Its inclusion was the culmination of a program of intense lobbying by the United States, supported by the EU, Japan.
