The 2008 CIA World Factbook, United States. Central Intelligence Agency [primary phonics books .TXT] 📗

Anguilla
  Anguilla has few natural resources, and the economy depends
  heavily on luxury tourism, offshore banking, lobster fishing, and
  remittances from emigrants. Increased activity in the tourism
  industry has spurred the growth of the construction sector,
  contributing to economic growth. Anguillan officials have put
  substantial effort into developing the offshore financial sector,
  which is small, but growing. In the medium term, prospects for the
  economy will depend largely on the tourism sector and, therefore, on
  revived income growth in the industrialized nations as well as on
  favorable weather conditions.

Antarctica
  Fishing off the coast and tourism, both based abroad,
  account for Antarctica's limited economic activity. Antarctic
  fisheries in 2005-06 (1 July-30 June) reported landing 128,081
  metric tons (estimated fishing from the area covered by the
  Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources
  (CCAMLR), which extends slightly beyond the Antarctic Treaty area).
  Unregulated fishing, particularly of Patagonian toothfish
  (Dissostichus eleginoides), is a serious problem. The CCAMLR
  determines the recommended catch limits for marine species. A total
  of 36,460 tourists visited the Antarctic Treaty area in the 2006-07
  Antarctic summer, up from the 30,877 visitors the previous year
  (estimates provided to the Antarctic Treaty by the International
  Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO); this does not
  include passengers on overflights). Nearly all of them were
  passengers on commercial (nongovernmental) ships and several yachts
  that make trips during the summer. Most tourist trips last
  approximately two weeks.

Antigua and Barbuda
  Antigua has a relatively high GDP per capita in
  comparison to most other Caribbean nations. It has experienced solid
  growth since 2003, driven by a construction boom in hotels and
  housing that which should wind down in 2008. Tourism continues to
  dominate the economy, accounting for more than half of GDP. The
  dual-island nation's agricultural production is focused on the
  domestic market and constrained by a limited water supply and a
  labor shortage stemming from the lure of higher wages in tourism and
  construction. Manufacturing comprises enclave-type assembly for
  export with major products being bedding, handicrafts, and
  electronic components. Prospects for economic growth in the medium
  term will continue to depend on income growth in the industrialized
  world, especially in the US, which accounts for slightly more than
  one-third of tourist arrivals. Since taking office in 2004, the
  SPENCER government has adopted an ambitious fiscal reform program,
  but will continue to be saddled by its debt burden with a
  debt-to-GDP ratio exceeding 100%.

Arctic Ocean
  Economic activity is limited to the exploitation of
  natural resources, including petroleum, natural gas, fish, and seals.

Argentina
  Argentina benefits from rich natural resources, a highly
  literate population, an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a
  diversified industrial base. Although one of the world's wealthiest
  countries 100 years ago, Argentina suffered during most of the 20th
  century from recurring economic crises, persistent fiscal and
  current account deficits, high inflation, mounting external debt,
  and capital flight. A severe depression, growing public and external
  indebtedness, and a bank run culminated in 2001 in the most serious
  economic, social, and political crisis in the country's turbulent
  history. Interim President Adolfo RODRIGUEZ SAA declared a default -
  the largest in history - on the government's foreign debt in
  December of that year, and abruptly resigned only a few days after
  taking office. His successor, Eduardo DUHALDE, announced an end to
  the peso's decade-long 1-to-1 peg to the US dollar in early 2002.
  The economy bottomed out that year, with real GDP 18% smaller than
  in 1998 and almost 60% of Argentines under the poverty line. Real
  GDP rebounded to grow by an average 9% annually over the subsequent
  five years, taking advantage of previously idled industrial capacity
  and labor, an audacious debt restructuring and reduced debt burden,
  excellent international financial conditions, and expansionary
  monetary and fiscal policies. Inflation, however, reached
  double-digit levels in 2006 and the government of President Nestor
  KIRCHNER responded with "voluntary" price agreements with
  businesses, as well as export taxes and restraints. Multi-year price
  freezes on electricity and natural gas rates for residential users
  stoked consumption and kept private investment away, leading to
  restrictions on industrial use and blackouts in 2007.

Armenia Since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, Armenia has made progress in implementing many economic reforms including privatization, price reforms, and prudent fiscal policies. The conflict with Azerbaijan over the ethnic Armenian-dominated region of Nagorno-Karabakh contributed to a severe economic decline in the early 1990s. By 1994, however, the Armenian Government launched an ambitious IMF-sponsored economic liberalization program that resulted in positive growth rates. Economic growth has averaged over 13% in recent years. Armenia has managed to reduce poverty, slash inflation, stabilize its currency, and privatize most small- and medium-sized enterprises. Under the old Soviet central planning system, Armenia developed a modern industrial sector, supplying machine tools, textiles, and other manufactured goods to sister republics, in exchange for raw materials and energy. Armenia has since switched to small-scale agriculture and away from the large agroindustrial complexes of the Soviet era. Nuclear power plants built at Metsamor in the 1970s were closed following the 1988 Spitak Earthquake, though they sustained no damage. One of the two reactors was re-opened in 1995, but the Armenian government is under international pressure to close it due to concerns that the Soviet era design lacks important safeguards. Metsamor provides 40 percent of the country's electricity - hydropower accounts for about one-fourth. Economic ties with Russia remain close, especially in the energy sector. The electricity distribution system was privatized in 2002 and bought by Russia's RAO-UES in 2005. Construction of a pipeline to deliver natural gas from Iran to Armenia is halfway completed and is scheduled to be commissioned by January 2009. Armenia has some mineral deposits (copper, gold, bauxite). Pig iron, unwrought copper, and other nonferrous metals are Armenia's highest valued exports. Armenia's severe trade imbalance has been offset somewhat by international aid, remittances from Armenians working abroad, and foreign direct investment. Armenia joined the WTO in January 2003. The government made some improvements in tax and customs administration in recent years, but anti-corruption measures will be more difficult to implement. Despite strong economic growth, Armenia's unemployment rate remains high. Armenia will need to pursue additional economic reforms in order to improve its economic competitiveness and to build on recent improvements in poverty and unemployment, especially given its economic isolation from two of its nearest neighbors, Turkey and Azerbaijan.

Aruba
  Tourism is the mainstay of the small, open Aruban economy,
  with offshore banking and oil refining and storage also important.
  The rapid growth of the tourism sector over the last decade has
  resulted in a substantial expansion of other activities. Over 1.5
  million tourists per year visit Aruba, with 75% of those from the
  US. Construction continues to boom, with hotel capacity five times
  the 1985 level. In addition, the country's oil refinery reopened in
  1993, providing a major source of employment, foreign exchange
  earnings, and growth. Tourist arrivals have rebounded strongly
  following a dip after the 11 September 2001 attacks. The island
  experiences only a brief low season, and hotel occupancy in 2004
  averaged 80%, compared to 68% throughout the rest of the Caribbean.
  The government has made cutting the budget and trade deficits a high
  priority.

Ashmore and Cartier Islands
  no economic activity

Atlantic Ocean
  The Atlantic Ocean provides some of the world's most
  heavily trafficked sea routes, between and within the Eastern and
  Western Hemispheres. Other economic activity includes the
  exploitation of natural resources, e.g., fishing, dredging of
  aragonite sands (The Bahamas), and production of crude oil and
  natural gas (Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and North Sea).

Australia
  Australia has an enviable, strong economy with a per
  capita GDP on par with the four dominant West European economies.
  Robust business and consumer confidence and high export prices for
  raw materials and agricultural products are fueling the economy,
  particularly in mining states. Australia's emphasis on reforms, low
  inflation, a housing market boom, and growing ties with China have
  been key factors behind the economy's 16 solid years of expansion.
  Drought, robust import demand, and a strong currency have pushed the
  trade deficit up in recent years, while infrastructure bottlenecks
  and a tight labor market are constraining growth in export volumes
  and stoking inflation. Australia's budget has been in surplus since
  2002 due to strong revenue growth.

Austria
  Austria, with its well-developed market economy and high
  standard of living, is closely tied to other EU economies,
  especially Germany's. The Austrian economy also benefits greatly
  from strong commercial relations, especially in the banking and
  insurance sectors, with central, eastern, and southeastern Europe.
  The economy features a large service sector, a sound industrial
  sector, and a small, but highly developed agricultural sector.
  Membership in the EU has drawn an influx of foreign investors
  attracted by Austria's access to the single European market and
  proximity to the new EU economies. The outgoing government has
  successfully pursued a comprehensive economic reform program, aimed
  at streamlining government and creating a more competitive business
  environment, further strengthening Austria's attractiveness as an
  investment location. It has implemented effective pension reforms;
  however, lower taxes in 2005-06 led to a small budget deficit in
  2006 and 2007. Boosted by strong exports, growth nevertheless
  reached 3.3% in both 2006 and 2007, although the economy may slow in
  2008 because of the strong euro, high oil prices, and problems in
  international financial markets. To meet increased competition -
  especially from new EU members and Central European countries -
  Austria will need to continue restructuring, emphasizing
  knowledge-based sectors of the economy, and encouraging greater
  labor flexibility and greater labor participation by its aging
  population.

Azerbaijan
  Azerbaijan's high economic growth in 2006 and 2007 is
  attributable to large and growing oil exports. Azerbaijan's oil
  production declined through 1997, but has registered an increase
  every year since. Negotiation of production-sharing arrangements
  (PSAs) with foreign firms, which have committed $60 billion to
  long-term oilfield development, should generate the funds needed to
  spur future industrial development. Oil production under the first
  of these PSAs, with the Azerbaijan International Operating Company,
  began in November 1997. A consortium of Western oil companies began
  pumping 1 million barrels a day from a large offshore field in early
  2006, through a $4 billion pipeline it built from Baku to Turkey's
  Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. By 2010 revenues from this project
  will double the country's current GDP. Azerbaijan shares all the
  formidable problems of the former Soviet republics in making the
  transition from a command to a market economy, but its considerable
  energy resources brighten its long-term prospects. Baku has only
  recently begun making progress on economic reform, and old economic
  ties and structures are slowly being replaced. Several other
  obstacles impede Azerbaijan's economic progress: the need for
  stepped up foreign investment in the non-energy sector, the
  continuing conflict with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region,
  pervasive corruption, and elevated inflation. Trade with Russia and
  the other former Soviet republics is declining in importance, while
  trade is building with Turkey and the nations of Europe. Long-term
  prospects will depend on world oil prices, the location of new oil
  and gas pipelines in the region, and Azerbaijan's ability to manage
  its energy wealth.

Bahamas, The
  The Bahamas is one of the wealthiest Caribbean
  countries with an economy heavily dependent on tourism and offshore
  banking. Tourism together with tourism-driven construction and
  manufacturing accounts for approximately 60% of GDP and directly or
  indirectly employs half of the archipelago's labor force. Steady
  growth in tourism receipts and a boom in construction of new hotels,
  resorts, and residences had led to solid GDP growth in recent years,
  but tourist arrivals have been on the decline since 2006. Financial
  services constitute the second-most important sector of the Bahamian
  economy and, when combined with business services, account for about
  36% of GDP. However, since December 2000, when the government
  enacted new regulations on the financial sector, many international
  businesses have left The Bahamas. Manufacturing and agriculture
  combined contribute approximately a tenth of GDP and show little
  growth, despite government incentives aimed at those sectors.
  Overall growth prospects in the short run rest heavily on the
  fortunes of the tourism sector. Tourism, in turn, depends on growth
  in the US, the source of more than 80% of the visitors.

Bahrain
  With its highly developed communication and transport
  facilities, Bahrain is home to numerous multinational firms with
  business in the Gulf. Petroleum production and refining account for
  over 60% of Bahrain's export receipts, over 70% of government
  revenues, and 11% of GDP (exclusive of allied industries),
  underpinning Bahrain's strong economic growth in recent years.
  Aluminum is Bahrain's second major export after oil. Other major
  segments of Bahrain's economy are the financial and construction
  sectors. Bahrain is focused on Islamic banking and is competing on
  an international scale with Malaysia as a