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africa_continent_inneed.sPubDate = "7/26/2005 9:25:40 PM GMT";
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africa_continent_inneed.appHeader = "Fact File|A continent in need";
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africa_continent_inneed.appFooter = "Source: wikipedia.org, www.cia.gov, www.phrasebase.com, news.bbc.co.uk, clubdeparis.org";
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africa_continent_inneed[i-1].body = "Africa, the world&#146;s second-largest continent, is home to 800 million people and widespread instability, corruption and violence. Poverty, drug trafficking, HIV/AIDS, and civil wars are regular parts of life for many Africans. Many countries rely on the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the G-8 and other groups for aid to provide the barest essentials for their people. <p><b>Click a country to see a photograph and learn more about its economy and debt problems.</b><p><p>";

africa_continent_inneed[i++] = new Array("","Algeria","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "267", "416", "", "", "", "", "");
africa_continent_inneed[i-1].body = "<headline/><br>Algeria, the second-largest country in Africa, has the fifth-largest reserves of natural gas in the world and is one of the main suppliers of gas to Europe. Its finances have improved as a result of support from the International Monetary Fund and increases in oil prices. In the 1990s, Islamic militants struggled to dominate the country and its population of 32.9 million. Civil war broke out and more than 150,000 people were killed. A state of emergency remains in place, even after a 1999 amnesty that ended much of the fighting.<p>";

africa_continent_inneed[i++] = new Array("","Angola","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
africa_continent_inneed[i-1].body = "<headline/><br>Angola has been mired in nearly continuous warfare, which has ruined its economy. Oil production makes up about 45 percent of the country&#146;s gross domestic product. Seventy percent of the nation&#146;s 11 million people live in poverty. Angola is frequently used as a transshipment point for drugs such as cocaine en route to other African countries and Europe. Currently, the country owes 10.45 billion in debt.";

africa_continent_inneed[i++] = new Array("","Benin","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
africa_continent_inneed[i-1].body = "<headline/><br>Benin has an underdeveloped economy that relies primarily on subsistence agriculture and cotton production. The country&#146;s population boom has counteracted its economic growth over the past six years. The Paris Club &#151; an informal group of official creditors &#151; is currently helping Benin with its debt. Benin is a transshipment point for narcotics associated with Nigerian traffickers moving their products to Europe and America. <p>";

africa_continent_inneed[i++] = new Array("","Democratic Republic of Congo","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
africa_continent_inneed[i-1].body = "<headline/><br>The Democratic Republic of Congo&#146;s economy is based largely on petroleum and has been successfully reformed with help from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Since 1997, the country has been plagued by ethnic strife and civil war, provoked largely by the arrival in 1994 of thousands of refugees fleeing fighting in Rwanda and Burundi. The Democratic Republic of Congo owes $11.6 billion in debt.";

africa_continent_inneed[i++] = new Array("","Ethiopia","<br>","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
africa_continent_inneed[i-1].body = "<headline/><br>Ethiopia is home to 7.3 million people, half of whom live below the poverty level. Agriculture accounts for over half of the country&#146;s gross domestic product, which hasn&#146;t brought in enough money to offset its $2.9 billion foreign debt. Many Ethiopians rely on food aid from international sources. In 2004, as a proposed solution to food shortages, the government began relocating more than 2 million people away from the arid highlands of the east, where drought and famine were worst.";

africa_continent_inneed[i++] = new Array("","Ghana","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
africa_continent_inneed[i-1].body = "<headline/><br>Ghana relies on subsistence agriculture for 40 percent of its gross domestic product. Natural resources are plentiful, but Ghana is heavily dependent on foreign aid. AIDS plagues the country, and 340,000 people out of a population of 21.8 million have the disease. Ghana is a major producer of cannabis for the international drug trade and a transit hub for heroin and cocaine destined for the United States and Europe. The country plays a large role in peacekeeping for other African countries: Its troops have been deployed in Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo.<p>";

africa_continent_inneed[i++] = new Array("","Ivory Coast","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
africa_continent_inneed[i-1].body = "<headline/><br>Ivory Coast (now officially recognized by its French name, Cote d&#146;Ivoire) has maintained close ties to France since gaining independence in 1960. It is one of the most prosperous tropical African states and among the world&#146;s largest producers and exporters of coffee, cocoa beans and palm oil. Ivory Coast has a population of 17 million. The country&#146;s foreign debt is $12 billion and it faces drug and money-laundering problems.";

africa_continent_inneed[i++] = new Array("","Lesotho","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
africa_continent_inneed[i-1].body = "<headline/><br>Lesotho&#146;s economy is based on water and electricity exports to South Africa. Water is its only significant natural resource, but the country also exports diamonds, wool and mohair. Almost half the population earns some income through farming or raising animals. Lesotho has received economic aid from the United States, the World Bank, Ireland, the United Kingdom, the European Union and Germany. Nearly 30 percent of Lesotho&#146;s population of about 1.9 million has HIV/AIDS, one of the highest rates in the world, and the United Nations anticipates that it will rise to 36 percent in the next 15 years. <p>";

africa_continent_inneed[i++] = new Array("","Liberia","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
africa_continent_inneed[i-1].body = "<headline/><br>Liberia has an unemployment rate of 85 percent. Its political system and economy were ruined by a 14-year civil war that ended in 2003.  Since then, the United Nations has maintained about 18,000 peacekeepers in Liberia to quell persistent civil unrest. Liberia has a population of 3.5 million and a climate favorable to agriculture, a large amount of water, mineral resources and forests. The country is a transshipment point for heroin and cocaine en route to Europe and the United States. ";

africa_continent_inneed[i++] = new Array("","Madagascar","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
africa_continent_inneed[i-1].body = "<headline/><br>Madagascar has been under pressure since the 1980s, mainly from the World Bank, to reform is economy.<br>Poverty overwhelms the country and reached an all-time high in 2002, when the economy practically came to a standstill. Despite continuing aid from the World Bank and help from the International Monetary Fund, 70 percent of the nation&#146;s 18.4 million people subsist on less than a dollar a day. As an island country, Madagascar is home to many wildlife species unique to the country, but competition for agricultural land has put pressure on the country&#146;s forests. It is the world&#146;s leading producer of vanilla, accounting for about half of the export market. Madagascar&#146;s foreign debt is $4.6 billion.";

africa_continent_inneed[i++] = new Array("","Malawi","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
africa_continent_inneed[i-1].body = "<headline/><br>Malawi is one of the world&#146;s least developed countries. Agriculture accounts for 37 percent of the gross domestic product. The economy depends on substantial economic assistance from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Malawi&#146;s foreign debt is $3.129 billion. Educational and health facilities need major improvements and HIV/AIDS is a rapidly growing problem. Malawi has 12 million people, at least 900,000 of whom have HIV/AIDS. Fifty-five percent of the population lives in poverty.";

africa_continent_inneed[i++] = new Array("","Nigeria","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
africa_continent_inneed[i-1].body = "<headline/><br>Nigeria, with 129,000,000 people, is Africa&#146;s most populous country. When the World Health Organization began its campaign to eradicate polio worldwide, efforts focused on northern Nigeria, where half of all polio cases in 2003 were reported. But Muslim clerics criticized the efforts of Westerners to vaccinate Nigerian Muslim girls, saying it was an effort to sterilize them. As a result, vaccinations were suspended and the disease nearly quintupled in 2004 alone. <p>Nigeria is rich in oil, but its economy is in bad shape because of political instability and corruption. Since 2000, it has received aid from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank numerous times, but 60 percent of the population still lives below the poverty line.<p>";

africa_continent_inneed[i++] = new Array("","Rwanda","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
africa_continent_inneed[i-1].body = "<headline/><br>Rwanda, with 8.6 million people, is one of the most densely populated countries in Africa, even after the 1994 ethnic tribal genocide that resulted in 800,000 deaths. It has few natural resources and minimal industry. Primary exports are coffee and tea. About 90 percent of the population engages in subsistence agriculture and 11.21 percent has HIV/AIDS.<p>The genocide ruined the country&#146;s economy. Rwanda has received substantial international assistance, but still struggles to boost investment and agricultural output. Its involvement in two wars with neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo also has caused instability.<br>";

africa_continent_inneed[i++] = new Array("","Sierra Leone","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
africa_continent_inneed[i-1].body = "<headline/><br>Sierra Leone&#146;s 5.6 million people suffered a decade-long civil war that ended in 2002. During that time, thousands were killed, thousands more were maimed by rebels whose trademark was to hack off their victims&#146; hands or arms, and 2 million were displaced. The civil war ended with the help of Britain and the United Nations. The country has a poorly developed economic and social infrastructure, and an external debt of $1.3 billion. It has mineral, agricultural and fishery resources. The major source of hard currency consists of diamond mining and the economy is dependent upon aid from abroad. <p>";

africa_continent_inneed[i++] = new Array("","Somalia","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
africa_continent_inneed[i-1].body = "<headline/><br>Somalia suffered from famine in the early 1990s, and the United Nations launched a two-year humanitarian effort to stave off hunger. Today Somalia has a population of 8.5 million and is one of the fastest growing countries in the world. If current trends continue, Somalia could have nearly 40 million people by 2050. It is one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world. Livestock accounts for about 40 percent of its gross domestic product. ";

africa_continent_inneed[i++] = new Array("","South Africa","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
africa_continent_inneed[i-1].body = "<headline/><br>South Africa is a well-developed country with a stock exchange that ranks among the 10 largest in the world. Still, its unemployment rate is at 40 percent and economic problems persist from the apartheid era, especially poverty among blacks. Some 5.2 million of the nation&#146;s 42.8 million people suffer from HIV/AIDS. Drugs are trafficked through South Africa, the world&#146;s fourth-largest producer of marijuana.  <p>";

africa_continent_inneed[i++] = new Array("","Sudan","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "267", "416", "", "", "", "", "");
africa_continent_inneed[i-1].body = "<headline/><br>Sudan has had a troubled relationship with the international community, particularly its neighbors, due to its militant Islamic stance. Since gaining independence in 1956, it has been in a civil war for all but 10 years. Since 1983, war and famine have killed more than 2 million of Sudan&#146;s 40 million people and displaced more than 4 million. It has improved its economy with the help of the International Monetary Fund and economic reforms. In 1999, Sudan began exporting crude oil and recorded its first trade surplus. Its foreign debt is $21 billion. ";

africa_continent_inneed[i++] = new Array("","Tanzania","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
africa_continent_inneed[i-1].body = "<headline/><br>Tanzania is among the poorest countries in the world. The economy depends on agriculture, which accounts for half of the nation&#146;s gross domestic product, but only 4 percent of the land area can be farmed. The World Bank and International Monetary Fund have aided Tanzania in the past.  The nation&#146;s foreign debt is $7.3 billion. The country has 36.7 million people, at least 9 percent of whom have HIV/AIDS. ";

africa_continent_inneed[i++] = new Array("","Uganda","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
africa_continent_inneed[i-1].body = "<headline/><br>Uganda owes more than $3.8 billion in debt. Civil rights have improved greatly over the past two decades, but political organizations other than the National Resistance Movement are forbidden and reports of abuse, torture and attacks on political freedom are widespread. Those problems led Britain to withhold part of its aid to Uganda in May 2005. Coffee is the country&#146;s leading export. Eighty percent of the population of 27 million works in agriculture and 35 percent live in poverty. ";

africa_continent_inneed[i++] = new Array("","Zambia","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
africa_continent_inneed[i-1].body = "<headline/><br>Zambia&#146;s life expectancy rate is 37 years and more than 70 percent of Zambians live in poverty. It has 11 million people and at least 17 percent have HIV/AIDS. Zambia&#146;s foreign debt is $5.3 billion.";

africa_continent_inneed[i++] = new Array("","Zimbabwe","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "");
africa_continent_inneed[i-1].body = "<headline/><br>Zimbabwe has a population of 12.7 million people, 25 percent of whom have HIV/AIDS. The country&#146;s involvement in the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo from 1998 to 2002 cost millions of dollars, and financial support from the International Monetary Fund has been suspended due to the country&#146;s failure to meet budget goals. From 1998 to 2004, the exchange rate fell from 24 Zimbabwean dollars per U.S. dollar to 6,200. Seventy percent of the population lives in poverty. Neighboring Botswana has built electric fences and South Africa has lined its border with military troops to prevent Zimbabweans from entering their countries to find work.";

	// END editorial data