Authors
Dr. DeWayne Derryberry
Idaho State University
Objective
Use data from the World Factbook to explore wealth disparities between different regions of the world and identify those with the highest and lowest wealth.
Background
Which countries are the richest? Which are the poorest? Are there wealth disparities between the different regions of the world? A common measure of the wealth of a nation is per capita income. Data on per capita income, in US dollars, is readily available for countries around the world.
Per capita income data for a subset of nations was taken from The World Factbook
(cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2004rank.html).
The Task
Answer the following questions: Do regions differ in overall wealth? Which regions are richest and which are poorest?