Homework #1: CIA Economic Data

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The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency maintains an online World Factbook Links to an external site. that is a convenient source of a wide variety of geographic, social, and economic information.  You may look up information by individual country (See drop down menu "Please select a country to view.") Or you may look up information by topic (See Guide to Country Profiles Links to an external site.).

Directions:  Find the following information. 

1. List the fifteen  (15) countries in the world with over 100 million population.  (Look under Guide to Country Comparisons, People and Society. 

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2. List the eight (8) countries in the world with a GDP over $3 trillion.   (Look under Guide to Country Comparisons, Economy.  Choose "GDP (Purchasing Power Parity)."  Purchasing Power Parity just means that some adjustments have been made to the GDP numbers to make them comparable. Note:  Do not list the European Union. Include only individual countries.

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3. An important indicator in making comparisons among countries is GDP per capita. This is a measure of GDP per person or  "per head."  It is useful in that it recognizes that countries with large populations need to have larger economies.  However, it is important to remember that GDP per person does not indicate the "typical" income of an individual in that country.   Find GDP per capita (PPP) for the following 6 countries: China, India, the United States, Mexico, Canada, and Russia.

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4. The CIA Factbook also includes a number of social measures that are an important indicator for a healthy economy. Find the life expectancy at birth for the following 6 countries:  China, India, the United States, Mexico, Canada, and Japan. 

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5. Another important measure is the age structure of the population.  For example, a country's prosperity often depends on the percent of the population that are children, individuals in their prime working years, or older individuals.  A basic measure of age structure is the median age.  Median means that half the population is younger, and half the population is older. Find the median age for the following 6 countries: China, India, the United States, Mexico, Canada and Afghanistan. 

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