Water Wars: Ethiopia and Kenya
Notable Entry, Interactive Narratives. 2008 Knight-Batten Awards for Innovations in Journalism.
Pulitzer Gateway: Water Wars
Visit the interactive Water Wars Web Portal, sponsored by the Pulitzer Center On Crisis Reporting.
Kibera: Not a Drop to Drink
The long rainy season in Kenya has begun and sudden storms regularly burst over Nairobi. Many welcome the downpours, which signal the end of another dry summer and wash the steamy crowded capital clean each morning.
As featured in Women's eNews, 1h2o.org, and Living on Earth. Produced in association with the Pulitzer Center On Crisis Reporting.
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Country Fact Sheets from the CLP
Because we believe that good journalism must be contextualized, we've decided to share with our readers some of the more interesting and lesser known facts about the countries we've reported on. While these are in no way comprehensive descriptions of these complex places, this is the information that we've found most helpful in placing these countries in a global framework and underscoring the broader implications of the issues we've covered. In developing these Fact Sheets, we've worked to incorporate both the official facts and statistics reported by government sources as well as our own observations through reporting in each country. If you have any suggestions or requests for information you'd like to see included, write to us at info@clpmag.org
Thailand
Thailand is in many ways a success story in Southeast Asia, having avoided colonial occupation and direct involvement in Indo-Chinese wars and building a strong tourism-based global economy in recent decades. Its constitutional figurehead monarchy has provided it with a benevolent counterbalance to a series of authoritarian leaders, and in Spring 2006, following a series of popular protests, King Bhumibol Adulyadej pressured the powerful business-minded Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to step down.
Size: About twice the size of Wyoming.
Population: About 64 million, with a relatively slow growth rate of 0.68%. Thailand's population is expected to grow by almost 10 million within 20 years.
Languages Spoken: Thai is the official language. Tribal peoples, especially in northern Thailand also speak tribal languages such as Akha, Lahu, Karen and Hmong. Their culture is endangered and they are overrepresented among the country's most impoverished people.
Type of Government: Constitutional monarchy. Thailand has only recently established a strong democracy after years of dictatorial rule. Thailand's figurehead king is highly revered by the populace, while the elected government is held responsible for managing the country's politics and economy. Thailand ranks about a third of the way down the list on the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions index, sharing rank 59 of 158 with Cuba and Trinidad & Tobago.
Religion: Thailand is 94.6% Buddhist, with a 4.6% Muslim minority that is largely concentrated in the south.
Gender and Health Issues: Overall literacy in Thailand is high, at 92%, with a 4% gap between men and women. Abortion is legal but available only under restricted circumstances, i.e. only if needed to save the woman's life or in cases of rape or incest. 69.8% of women of childbearing age use a modern form of contraception - just barely below the US's own usage rate of 70.5%. Thailand's fertility rate of 1.9 births per woman is even lower than the US's 2.1. Life expectancy is 72 years - just five under that of the US. However, prevalence of HIV/AIDS is high, with 1.5% of the adult population affected (as compared to 0.6% in the US or 0.9% in India), and infant mortality is more than three times higher in Thailand than in the United States.
Environment and Resources: Thailand's impressive economic success has come largely at the expense of its environment. Air and water pollution from vehicle emissions and factory waste, soil erosion, and deforestation are all major environmental problems for the country.
GDP: $560.7 billion
International Aid Received: $72 million
Receives US Counterterrorism Assistance: Yes
Death Penalty: In use for ordinary crimes
Top Five Industries: Tourism, textiles and garments, agricultural processing, beverages, tobacco
Poverty Rate: 10% of Thais live below the official poverty line, defined at about $40 per month or $1.32 per day.
McDonald's Restaurants: Present in the country since 1985.
Currency: Thai Baht - about 40 to the dollar
Media: Thailand ranks only 107th out of 167 on the Reporters without Borders Press Freedom Index. 13% of the population are internet users.
Posted: 2006
Country Fact Sheet Sources
- General Statistics - CIA World Factbook: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/
- Abortion Legal Status, Maternal Mortality, Infant Mortality, Contraception: http://www.medicationabortion.com
- Abortion Legal Status: http://www.crlp.org/pub_fac_abortion_laws.htm
- Contraceptive Use: http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/contraceptive2005/WCU2005.htm
- Maternal Mortality: http://www.childinfo.org/areas/maternalmortality/countrydata.php
- McDonald’s Country List: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_McDonald%27s_franchises
- Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=19388
- The Economist Intelligence Unit Quality of Life Index: http://www.economist.com/media/pdf/QUALITY_OF_LIFE.pdf
- Human Development Index: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Index
- 2005 Environmental Sustainability Index: www.yale.edu/esi/
- General Statistics - World Atlas: http://www.geographyiq.com
- Counterterrorism Funding Information - State Dept. Country Reports: http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt
- Death Penalty Status: http://web.amnesty.org/pages/deathpenalty-countries-eng
- Human Trafficking information: http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2006/
- BBC Country Profiles: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/country_profiles/default.stm
- Department For International Development: http://www.dfid.gov.uk/countries/allcountries.asp?view=region
- United Nations Development Programme: http://www.undp.org/
- The World Bank: http://www.worldbank.org/
Note: Population growth projections are often controversial. To calculate them for these fact sheets, we simply used the current population and population growth rate provided by the CIA World Factbook.