Showing posts with label Natural Resources. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Natural Resources. Show all posts

Friday, February 23, 2018

Qatar



Qatar has a population of 2.6 million of which 313,000 are citizens, and the rest are expatriates. An Expatriate is someone temporarily or permanently living outside of their native country. I am not sure what the difference is from an Immigrant, other than perhaps intent. Is the relationship of an Expat purely commercial? With 90% of the population Expats, Qatar has the highest GDP per capita in the world at about $125,000 per person. Although a small country by population and size, it has the world's third-largest reserves of natural-gas. Qatar took part in the Arab Revolt that helped defeat the Ottoman Empire in World War I. The United Kingdom then gave recognition to the hereditary title of Sheikh Abdullah as leader of a 'Trucial State'. The area had previously been known as the Pirate Coast. The British controlled foreign policy, defence, and arbitration. Independence came in 1971. Qatar did not join the also newly formed federation of the United Arab Emirates.


Thursday, February 22, 2018

Peru



The first city in Peru is estimated to have been built in around 3,500 BCE at Huaricanga. From about 3,100 - 1,800 BCE, there is evidence of large-scale human settlement along three river valleys. This was roughly at the same time as the pyramids were being built in Egypt. Fast forward to independence in 1824 and the neighbouring countries didn't all perform as well economically. From 1879-1884, 'The War of The Pacific' saw Peru ally with Bolivia against Chile. Vague boundaries, differing prospects and competition for resources saw fights over what got dug up, and how it got where it had to go. Tax was the trigger for war. Not dissimilar to today's ambiguity over where 'value is added' and who it belongs to. Throughout the C20th, Peru flipped between periods of stability and growth, and periods of coups, social unrest and internal conflict. Today, it is a upper middle income country with GDP per capita similar to South Africa (92nd and 90th in the world), but lower inequality and less poverty. It is one of 'The Pacific Pumas', a term given to a group of four larger Latin American countries that are showing common signs of growth, stable institutions, improved governance and global integration. We can try do it on our own, in competition and far apart, or we can do it together. 

Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru