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

by the
  tourist sector, which employs about 30% of the labor force and
  provides more than 70% of hard currency earnings, and by tuna
  fishing. In recent years, the government has encouraged foreign
  investment to upgrade hotels and other services. At the same time,
  the government has moved to reduce the dependence on tourism by
  promoting the development of farming, fishing, and small-scale
  manufacturing. Sharp drops illustrated the vulnerability of the
  tourist sector in 1991-92 due largely to the Gulf War and once again
  following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on the US.
  Economic growth slowed in 1998-2002 and fell in 2003-04, due to
  sluggish tourist and tuna sectors, but resumed in 2005-07. Real GDP
  grew by 5.8% in 2007, driven by tourism and a boom in
  tourism-related construction. The Seychelles rupee was allowed to
  depreciate in 2006 after being overvalued for years and fell by 10%
  in the first 9 months of 2007.

Sierra Leone
  Sierra Leone is an extremely poor nation with
  tremendous inequality in income distribution. While it possesses
  substantial mineral, agricultural, and fishery resources, its
  physical and social infrastructure is not well developed, and
  serious social disorders continue to hamper economic development.
  Nearly half of the working-age population engages in subsistence
  agriculture. Manufacturing consists mainly of the processing of raw
  materials and of light manufacturing for the domestic market.
  Alluvial diamond mining remains the major source of hard currency
  earnings accounting for nearly half of Sierra Leone's exports. The
  fate of the economy depends upon the maintenance of domestic peace
  and the continued receipt of substantial aid from abroad, which is
  essential to offset the severe trade imbalance and supplement
  government revenues. The IMF has completed a Poverty Reduction and
  Growth Facility program that helped stabilize economic growth and
  reduce inflation. A recent increase in political stability has led
  to a revival of economic activity such as the rehabilitation of
  bauxite and rutile mining.

Singapore
  Singapore has a highly developed and successful
  free-market economy. It enjoys a remarkably open and corruption-free
  environment, stable prices, and a per capita GDP equal to that of
  the four largest West European countries. The economy depends
  heavily on exports, particularly in consumer electronics and
  information technology products. It was hard hit from 2001-03 by the
  global recession, by the slump in the technology sector, and by an
  outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003, which
  curbed tourism and consumer spending. Fiscal stimulus, low interest
  rates, a surge in exports, and internal flexibility led to vigorous
  growth in 2004-07 with real GDP growth averaging 7% annually. The
  government hopes to establish a new growth path that will be less
  vulnerable to the global demand cycle for information technology
  products - it has attracted major investments in pharmaceuticals and
  medical technology production - and will continue efforts to
  establish Singapore as Southeast Asia's financial and high-tech hub.

Slovakia
  Slovakia has mastered much of the difficult transition from
  a centrally planned economy to a modern market economy. The DZURINDA
  government made excellent progress during 2001-04 in macroeconomic
  stabilization and structural reform. Major privatizations are nearly
  complete, the banking sector is almost completely in foreign hands,
  and the government has helped facilitate a foreign investment boom
  with business friendly policies such as labor market liberalization
  and a 19% flat tax. Foreign investment in the automotive sector has
  been strong. Slovakia's economic growth exceeded expectations in
  2001-07 despite the general European slowdown. Unemployment, at an
  unacceptable 18% in 2003-04, dropped to 8.6% in 2007 but remains the
  economy's Achilles heel. Slovakia joined the EU on 1 May 2004 and
  will be the second of the new EU member states to adopt the euro in
  2009 if it continues to meet euro adoption criteria in 2008. Despite
  its 2006 pre-election promises to loosen fiscal policy and reverse
  the previous DZURINDA government's pro-market reforms, FICO's
  cabinet has thus far been careful to keep a lid on spending in order
  to meet euro adoption criteria. The FICO government is pursuing a
  state-interventionist economic policy, however, and has pushed to
  regulate energy and food prices.

Slovenia
  Slovenia, which on 1 January 2007 became the first 2004
  European Union entrant to adopt the euro, is a model of economic
  success and stability for the region. With the highest per capita
  GDP in Central Europe, Slovenia has excellent infrastructure, a
  well-educated work force, and a strategic location between the
  Balkans and Western Europe. Privatization has lagged since 2002, and
  the economy has one of highest levels of state control in the EU.
  Structural reforms to improve the business environment have allowed
  for somewhat greater foreign participation in Slovenia's economy and
  have helped to lower unemployment. In March 2004, Slovenia became
  the first transition country to graduate from borrower status to
  donor partner at the World Bank. In December 2007, Slovenia was
  invited to begin the accession process for joining the OECD. Despite
  its economic success, foreign direct investment (FDI) in Slovenia
  has lagged behind the region average, and taxes remain relatively
  high. Furthermore, the labor market is often seen as inflexible, and
  legacy industries are losing sales to more competitive firms in
  China, India, and elsewhere.

Solomon Islands
  The bulk of the population depends on agriculture,
  fishing, and forestry for at least part of its livelihood. Most
  manufactured goods and petroleum products must be imported. The
  islands are rich in undeveloped mineral resources such as lead,
  zinc, nickel, and gold. Prior to the arrival of the Regional
  Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI), severe ethnic
  violence, the closing of key businesses, and an empty government
  treasury culminated in economic collapse. RAMSI's efforts to restore
  law and order and economic stability have led to modest growth as
  the economy rebuilds.

Somalia
  Despite the lack of effective national governance, Somalia
  has maintained a healthy informal economy, largely based on
  livestock, remittance/money transfer companies, and
  telecommunications. Agriculture is the most important sector, with
  livestock normally accounting for about 40% of GDP and about 65% of
  export earnings. Nomads and semi-pastoralists, who are dependent
  upon livestock for their livelihood, make up a large portion of the
  population. Livestock, hides, fish, charcoal, and bananas are
  Somalia's principal exports, while sugar, sorghum, corn, qat, and
  machined goods are the principal imports. Somalia's small industrial
  sector, based on the processing of agricultural products, has
  largely been looted and sold as scrap metal. Somalia's service
  sector also has grown. Telecommunication firms provide wireless
  services in most major cities and offer the lowest international
  call rates on the continent. In the absence of a formal banking
  sector, money exchange services have sprouted throughout the
  country, handling between $500 million and $1 billion in remittances
  annually. Mogadishu's main market offers a variety of goods from
  food to the newest electronic gadgets. Hotels continue to operate
  and are supported with private-security militias. Somalia's arrears
  to the IMF continued to grow in 2006-07. Statistics on Somalia's
  GDP, growth, per capita income, and inflation should be viewed
  skeptically. In late December 2004, a major tsunami caused an
  estimated 150 deaths and resulted in destruction of property in
  coastal areas.

South Africa
  South Africa is a middle-income, emerging market with
  an abundant supply of natural resources; well-developed financial,
  legal, communications, energy, and transport sectors; a stock
  exchange that is 17th largest in the world; and modern
  infrastructure supporting an efficient distribution of goods to
  major urban centers throughout the region. Growth has been robust
  since 2004, as South Africa has reaped the benefits of macroeconomic
  stability and a global commodities boom. However, unemployment
  remains high and outdated infrastructure has constrained growth. At
  the end of 2007, South Africa began to experience an electricity
  crisis because state power supplier Eskom suffered supply problems
  with aged plants, necessitating "load-shedding" cuts to residents
  and businesses in the major cities. Daunting economic problems
  remain from the apartheid era - especially poverty, lack of economic
  empowerment among the disadvantaged groups, and a shortage of public
  transportation. South African economic policy is fiscally
  conservative but pragmatic, focusing on controlling inflation,
  maintaining a budget surplus, and using state-owned enterprises to
  deliver basic services to low-income areas as a means to increase
  job growth and household income.

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
  Some fishing takes
  place in adjacent waters. There is a potential source of income from
  harvesting finfish and krill. The islands receive income from
  postage stamps produced in the UK, sale of fishing licenses, and
  harbor and landing fees from tourist vessels. Tourism from
  specialized cruise ships is increasing rapidly.

Southern Ocean
  Fisheries in 2005-06 landed 128,081 metric tons, of
  which 83% (106,591 tons) was krill (Euphausia superba) and 9.7%
  (12,364 tons) Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides),
  compared to 147,506 tons in 2004-05 of which 86% (127,035 tons) was
  krill and 8% (11,821 tons) Patagonian toothfish (estimated fishing
  from the area covered by the Convention of the Conservation of
  Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), which extends slightly
  beyond the Southern Ocean area). International agreements were
  adopted in late 1999 to reduce illegal, unreported, and unregulated
  fishing, which in the 2000-01 season landed, by one estimate, 8,376
  metric tons of Patagonian and Antarctic toothfish. In the 2006-07
  Antarctic summer, 35,552 tourists visited the Southern Ocean,
  compared to 29,799 in 2005-2006 (estimates provided to the Antarctic
  Treaty by the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators
  (IAATO), and does not include passengers on overflights and those
  flying directly in and out of Antarctica).

Spain
  The Spanish economy boomed from 1986 to 1990 averaging 5%
  annual growth. After a European-wide recession in the early 1990s,
  the Spanish economy resumed moderate growth starting in 1994.
  Spain's mixed capitalist economy supports a GDP that on a per capita
  basis is equal to that of the leading West European economies. The
  center-right government of former President Jose Maria AZNAR
  successfully worked to gain admission to the first group of
  countries launching the European single currency (the euro) on 1
  January 1999. The AZNAR administration continued to advocate
  liberalization, privatization, and deregulation of the economy and
  introduced some tax reforms to that end. Unemployment fell steadily
  under the AZNAR administration but remains high at 7.6%. Growth
  averaging more than 3% annually during 2003-07 was satisfactory
  given the background of a faltering European economy. The Socialist
  president, Jose Luis Rodriguez ZAPATERO, has made mixed progress in
  carrying out key structural reforms, which need to be accelerated
  and deepened to sustain Spain's economic growth. Despite the
  economy's relative solid footing significant downside risks remain
  including Spain's continued loss of competitiveness, the potential
  for a housing market collapse, the country's changing demographic
  profile, and a decline in EU structural funds.

Spratly Islands
  Economic activity is limited to commercial fishing.
  The proximity to nearby oil- and gas-producing sedimentary basins
  suggests the potential for oil and gas deposits, but the region is
  largely unexplored. There are no reliable estimates of potential
  reserves. Commercial exploitation has yet to be developed.

Sri Lanka In 1977, Colombo abandoned statist economic policies and its import substitution trade policy for more market-oriented policies, export-oriented trade, and encouragement of foreign investment. Recent changes in government, however, have brought some policy reversals. Currently, the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party has a more statist economic approach, which seeks to reduce poverty by steering investment to disadvantaged areas, developing small and medium enterprises, promoting agriculture, and expanding the already enormous civil service. The government has halted privatizations. Although suffering a brutal civil war that began in 1983, Sri Lanka saw GDP growth average 4.5% in the last 10 years with the exception of a recession in 2001. In late December 2004, a major tsunami took about 31,000 lives, left more than 6,300 missing and 443,000 displaced, and destroyed an estimated $1.5 billion worth of property. Government spending and reconstruction drove growth to more than 7% in 2006 but reduced agriculture output probably slowed growth to about 6 percent in 2007. Government spending and loose monetary policy drove inflation to nearly 16% in 2007. Sri Lanka's most dynamic sectors now are food processing, textiles and apparel, food and beverages, port construction, telecommunications, and insurance and banking. In 2006, plantation crops made up only about 15% of exports (compared with more than 90% in 1970), while textiles and garments accounted for more than 60%. About 800,000 Sri Lankans work abroad, 90% of them in the Middle East. They send home more than $1 billion a year. The struggle by the Tamil Tigers of the north and east for an independent homeland continues to cast a shadow over the economy.

Sudan
  Sudan's economy is booming on the back of increases in oil
  production, high oil prices, and large inflows of foreign direct
  investment. GDP growth registered more than 10% per year in 2006 and
  2007. From 1997 to date, Sudan has been working with the IMF to
  implement macroeconomic reforms, including a managed float of the
  exchange rate. Sudan began exporting crude oil in the last quarter
  of 1999. Agricultural production remains important, because it
  employs 80% of the work force and contributes a third of GDP. The
  Darfur