Posted
on December 18, 2013
Today
is Republic Day in Niger and the Official National Day in Qatar.
Both
of these nations are largely desert and mostly Islamic, but otherwise
they're pretty different. One of these nations is in the Middle East,
and people speak Arabic. The other is in Western Africa, and people
speak French and a variety of African languages. One nation is very
poor. The other is the richest nation in the world—with the highest
GDP per capita, one of the lowest tax rates, and almost 15% of the
population being millionaires (in the worth of local money expressed
as U.S. dollars)! One has one of the world's largest uranium
deposits, and the other has oil and one of the largest natural gas
reserves in the world. One is an absolute monarchy, and the other is
a democratic, multi-party nation.
Do
you know which is which?
Niger
is the West African nation, named for the Niger River that also
inspired the name of one of its neighbors, Nigeria. It is landlocked
and mostly covered by the Sahara Desert. It has a lot of uranium, but
the world market for uranium has fallen as people have turned away
from nuclear power plants. Landlocked, arid, falling market for its
product—these are some of the reasons that Niger is so poor. Niger
was colonized by the French; after independence the nation was ruled
by a few different military governments, but it has now taken steps
to becoming a democratic republic.
Qatar
is a nation on a peninsula in the Persian Gulf—it has only a small
border with Saudi Arabia. Although most of the land is a barren,
sand-covered plain, there are so much oil and natural gas resources
that the nation has become #1 wealthiest in the world, if wealth is
considered per person (that's what per capita means). Qatar
was colonized by Britain, but since independence the nation has been
ruled by a king (called the Emir) with complete (absolute) power.
Since 1995 that king has been liberalizing his nation. He launched a
TV station that wasn't just his own propaganda, and he endorsed
women's right to vote in city elections, and he encouraged the
writing of the nation's first constitution. The Emir said that there
would be an elected legislature to make laws starting this year...but
I cannot see that it has happened yet. Hurry, Qatar! There's not much
more of 2013 to go!
Celebrate
Niger by checking
out this short video about Niger's Dinosaur Graveyard!
Celebrate
Qatar by enjoying
a video about its growth and development. I admire
the fact that the nation is trying really hard to invest some of its
wealth in knowledge and infrastructure and diversification.
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