Djibouti

Week 4: Djibouti (Official name: The Republic of Djibouti) Independence from France 1977.

2009 Est Population: 864,000 (Similar to the amount in San Jose California). Its density is relatively low due to the vast amount of desert in the country.

Size: 8958 sq. miles (Same size as New Jersey)

Largest Cities: Djibouti 624,000. A port city on the Gulf of Aden at the base of the Red Sea.

Ethnicity: Somali people (60%) distant immigrants from neighboring Somalia and Afar people (35%) native to the land of Djibouti. The rest of the population is mixed European from the days of French occupation.

Location:



Djibouti is located in Northeastern Africa. It borders the Gulf of Aden near the Arabian Sea. Border countries include; Somali, Eretria and Ethiopia. Djibouti serves as the countries main access for trade as it is a port town. The country is mainly a stony desert, with scattered plateaus and highlands.

Capital: Djibouti, a French Hong Kong, which hold more than half of the country’s small population.

Language: The official Language is French but Arabic, Somali, and Afar are also recognized.

Religion: While geographically in Africa, the country has social and political ties to the Arab world. As a result 94% of the population is Muslim, and 6% are Christian.

Demographic Conflict:

The Djibouti population has grown by nearly 100% in the past decade, due largely to immigrants and refugees from its neighboring countries. This population increase further fuels the conflict between the native Afarian people and the Somali Issa clan.


The Somali clan has a major influence with executive power in the government. While peace has been made, residual unrest continues to be an issue in Djibouti. However, Djibouti has cooperated with the U.S. and the UN in launching anti-terrorist and anti-pirate attacks in Somali waters.


The ethnic divide between the Somali Issa clan and the Afar dominates the social and political landscapes. It is the cause of political hostilities and the root of what some at one time called Djibouti's 'boiling cauldron.' In the political sphere there have been attempts at power sharing to try to quell the conflict, though the political dominance of the Issa continues to be a source of Afar resentment and periodic unrest. In the social sphere, the divide looms large.

Economy



Djibouti has few natural resources to offer beyond low profit-yielding salt. The arid soils provide little agricultural opportunity, there is little or no mineral wealth, and there is no oil known off the coast. The people, while more educated than many of their regional counterparts, are not well trained enough to offer international business skills. Infrastructure does not provide the requirements for attracting significant international business. Djibouti's main advantages have been its strategic position. It has a vibrant port in a region of large land-locked country.

An unemployment rate of 40% to 50% continues to be a major problem. Inflation is not a concern, however, because of the fixed tie of the franc to the U.S. dollar. Per capita consumption dropped an estimated 35% (and you thought we had it bad) over the last seven years because of recession, civil war, and a high population growth rate (including immigrants and refugees). Renewed fighting between Ethiopia and Eritrea has been beneficial to Djibouti, the Port of Djibouti now serving as landlocked Ethiopia's primary link to the sea.



Source: Wikipedia.org and CNN.com

Cambodia

Week 3: Cambodia (Official name: The Kingdom of Cambodia)

2009 Est Population: 14.8 million (Slightly greater than the state of Illinois). Similar density to that of Costa Rica or Spain.

Size: 69898 sq. miles (Slightly larger than Southern California)

Largest Cities: Phnom Penh (pronounced Pnom Pen “previously known as the Pearl of Asia” 2.0 million

Ethnicity: Khmer people (90%) native to this part of Indochina. Also there are significant Vietnamese and Chinese populations in the country.

Location:



Cambodia is located in South East Asia. It shares borders with Thailand, Vietnam and Laos. The borders between Cambodia and Laos are officially closed due to conflicting government structure, however passage between the two countries is possible.

Capital: Phnom Penh, located on the Mekong river, south central Cambodia.

Language: Khmer (similar to Vietnamese) is the official language. However, due to French rule many of the older generation speaks this language. Amid the rising popularity of English, many aspiring young people are learning it.

Religion: 95% Buddhism, 3% Islam and 2% Christian.


History:

The ancient Khmer Empire, controlled most of what is now Vietnam, Thailand and Laos. The Khmer headquarters was located in Angkor, Cambodia. and remained a dominate regional power until the 15th century, when it fell to Thai invaders. At that time Angkor supported more than one million citizens and was arguably the largest pre-industrial civilization.



Cambodia functioned as a protectorate of France from 1863 to 1953, although it was occupied by the Japanese from 1941 to 1945.

The government of Cambodia vied and won its independence in 1955 and began a long era of civil unrest and domesticated war. Conflicted by Western sympathies and Eastern proximity the Khmer Rouge regime, heavily influenced and backed by China seized power through ruthless bloodletting. The Khmer Rouge took power in 1975. Estimates as to how many people were killed by the Khmer Rouge regime range from approximately one to three million. This era gave rise to the term Killing Fields, and the prison Tuol Sleng became notorious for its history of mass killing.

Peace eluded Cambodia until the early 1990’s when U.N. was given permission to enforce a ceasefire and deal with domestic refugees and disarmament of the government.

Economy

Per capita income is rapidly increasing, but is low compared with other countries in the region. Most rural households depend on agriculture and its related sub-sectors. Rice, fish, timber, garments and rubber are Cambodia's major exports.

The recovery of Cambodia's economy slowed dramatically in 1997–98, due to the regional economic crisis, civil violence, and political infighting. Foreign investment and tourism also fell off drastically. Since then however, growth has been steady. In 1999, the first full year of peace in 30 years, progress was made on economic reforms and growth resumed at 5.0%.

Tourism play a major role in the recent development and support of the Cambodian economy. Second only to Textiles, tourism attract more that 4 million visitors a year to the Southeast Asian country which is noted for its historical sites and excellent beaches.



Source: Wikipedia.org and CNN.com

Bangladesh

Week 2: Bangladesh (Official name is People’s Republic of Bangladesh 1971 from West Pakistan)

2009 Est Population: 162,221,000 (Slightly Greater than Russia). Highest Density Country of any where in the world (minus several city-states).

Size: 55,599 sq. miles (About the same size as Southern California)

Largest Cities: Metro Dhaka 12.3 Million, Chittagong 3.7 Million, Kaulna 1.4 Million

Ethnicity: Bengali people (98%). Derivative from the Indian people but separate now by class, religion and language.

Location:

Bangladesh is located in South Central Asia. It is completely surrounded by India, except for a small eastern border with Myanmar (Burma).

Capital: Dhaka, located on the Ganges river, central Bangladesh.

Language: Bengali. However, English is used by the middle and upper classes as well.

Religion: 89.7% Islamic (96% Sunni, 3% Shi'a) There is a significant population of Hindu (9.2%) as well. 0.3% Christian.

The UN has declared Bangladesh as a moderate Muslim country with a functioning democracy.

Economy:

The Bangladesh Economy is also one of the lowest in the world. Despite the United Nations efforts over the last decade to increase the country’s economy average citizen makes less than $1500 per year. This represents the third lowest amount in all of Asia.

The main exports of Bangladesh include: Rice, Tea, Mustard and various garments. Previously, Bangladesh was the highest producer of Jute (plant used to make Burlap) in the world. However, synthetic material and low-wages have varied the garment industry.

Bangladesh has suffered many economic setbacks on account of frequent cyclones, floods and mismanaged or poor governed public facilities. While the Bangladesh Economy has been stifled by these controllable and uncontrollable events, it has recently been listed among the “up and coming” nations and has perked interest among international investors.

Geography:

Located in the low-lying area of the Ganges River Delta, Bangladesh has unique advantages and disadvantages surrounding the countries dependence and interconnectedness with these vast water sources. The average height of Bangladesh is less than 40 feet above sea level. This makes the area highly susceptible to flooding.

In September 1998, Bangladesh saw the most severe flooding in modern world history. As the Brahmaputra, Ganges and Meghna rivers spilt over and swallowed 300,000 houses, 9,700 kilometres (6,000 mi) of road and 2,700 kilometres (1,700 mi) of embankment 1,000 people were killed and 30 million more were made homeless with 135,000 cattle killed. Two-thirds of the country was underwater.

Bangladesh is now widely recognized to be one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change. Natural hazards that come from increased rainfall, rising sea levels, and tropical cyclones are expected to increase as climate change, each seriously affecting agriculture, water & food security, human health and shelter.
It is believed that in the coming decades the rising sea level alone will create more than 25 million climate refugees.

History

Bangladesh shares most of its history with the many pre-historical Indian states and has ties to central Asia and the ancient Chinese as well. Islam spread throughout the region in the 12th century and a great deal of Muslim historical artifacts and edifices can be found in Bangladesh. European influence came in the 15th century and there was a great struggle for control of the trade and political influences, including the Battle of Plassey. (East) Pakistan took political control in 1953 after the British did little to stifle the Bengal famine that led to the 3 million deaths in 1945. East Pakistan also failed to provide adequate relief from a catastrophic flood in 1970 and a bloody revolution ensued.

As a result of the poorly issued aid from East Pakistan, the Bengali political group, Awami League, gathered support and voted the Pakistani government out of the political office. In response the Pakistani leaders began a massive genocide that ranks among the bloodiest of the Post WWII era. Pakistani President Yahya Khan was quoted saying “kill three million of them and the rest will come and eat out of our hands”. Nearly 3 million Bengali people died in less than a year while at least 10 million fled to India. With Pakistan militarily weakend and India struggling to support the massive exodus, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi launched a full scale military effort to crush the East Pakistan rule and return the refugies to their native land. Outnumber and overmatched, the Pakistani leaders surrendered in less than a month and Bangladesh began its first autonomous government since before Christ


Currently Bangladesh has its own armed forces including a fully functional navy and air force supplied through its good relations with China.

Source: Wikipedia.org, Gendercide.org, CNN.com

Afghanistan

Week 1: Afghanistan (Official name is Islamic Republic of Afghanistan 2002)

2009 Est Population: 28.2 Million (roughly the same amount of people as Southern California)

Size: 251,000 sq. miles (1.75 times as large as California) No lakes, Seas or major water sources.

Largest Cities: The only city over one million is Kabul.

Ethnicity: The two major races are Pushtan and Tajik

Location: Afghanistan is located in South Central Asia. It's neighbors with Iran, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan,

Capital: Kabul

Language: Persian

Religion: 99% Muslim (75% Sunni, 20% Shi'a, 5% other) Shi'a is the major Muslim sect in Iran and Iraq. Sunni is the major Muslim sect around the world.


Sunni rulers around the world have marginalize the Shia minority and imprisoned, persecuted, and killed Shias. The persecution of Shias throughout history by Sunni co-religionists has often been characterized by brutal and genocidal acts.

Historically is Afghanistan the Shi'a held political power until U.S. invasion.

Saddam Hussein pursecuted Shi'a in Iraq.

Osoma Bin Ladin is the leader of a smaller sect of Islam dedicated to purifying the Islam community and establishing Afghanistan as the "True Islamic Country". He despises Shi'a Muslims.

al-Qaeda is a fundamental Sunni-Muslim Group. Founders of al-Qaeda were members of a group of Afghanistan resistance, that fought and defeated the Soviet Union in the late 80's. Surprisingly, the U.S. was among the first financial supporters of this group, along with Saudi Arabia and individual Muslim supporters. al-Qaeda was founded in Pakistan but most active in Afghanistan until recently.

Taliban was the government of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 which supported al-Qaeda and its fundamental view of Muslim. They were removed from power by the U.S. in 2001 but are still an influencial power in Afghanistan and operate several civic courts currently. Most of the leaders were trained in Pakistan and continue to receive support by the Pakistani government.

Economy:
The Afghanistan economy is one of the lowest in the world. They have been ravaged by civil war since 1979 and remain one of the least developed and poorest nations in the world. 65% of the population lives on less than 2 U.S. dollars a day.

Since 2001 the economy has shown signs of growth and the general livelihood has improved. Unemployment was 40% in 2007.
The drug/Opium industry produces as much as 35% of the National Product. The trade and opium industry has increase over the past decade and grew by 20% in 2007 alone.

One of the main drivers for the current economic recovery is the return of over 4 million refugees from neighboring countries and the West, who brought with them fresh energy, entrepreneurship and wealth-creating skills as well as much needed funds to start up businesses. What is also helping is the estimated US 2–3 billion dollars in international assistance every year, the partial recovery of the agricultural sector, and the reestablishment of market institutions.



Source: Wikipedia.org and CNN.com