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.
Sign up for E-News.
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
United States
Both the third largest and third most populous country in the world, the United States exercises unparalleled economic, political and cultural influence around the globe. Yet American hegemony only dates back to the aftermath of World War II, and many observers are already speculating about the eminent decline of the country's power. While per-capita GDP and purchasing power remain among the highest in the world, the US is far behind other developed countries in tackling social issues like poverty alleviation and implementing universal health care, partly thanks to a strident devotion to free market principles and the influence of large corporations in politics, the media, and most other facets of public life.
Size: The US is about the size of China or Brazil.
Population: Just over 300 million.
Languages Spoken: English is the most commonly spoken language, though there is no official language. Spanish and Chinese are the second and third most widely spoken languages, with 29.7 and 2.2 million speakers respectively.
Type of Government: Constitution-based federal republic with a strong democratic tradition.
Religion: 76.7 % of Americans identify as Christian, the majority of those being Protestant. A combination of immigration and enshrined religious freedom means that virtually every religion in the world is practiced in the US. The American population is far more religious than that of most other developed nations.
Gender and Health Issues: Recent studies have shown the income gap between men and women is actually growing. Abortion is officially legal on request, though 87% of the counties in the nation don't have an abortion provider. Infant mortality rates are comparatively high for a developed country (6.43 per 1000 live births), and the US is unique amongst developed countries in not providing universal health care.
Environment and Resources: The US is the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels. Air pollution resulting in acid rain, water pollution from runoff of pesticides and fertilizers, limited natural fresh water resources and desertification are all environmental issues. Still, the country's rich resource deposits and comparatively low population density mean that the repercussions of environmental issues are not yet directly impacting public health.
Economy: The US economy is the world's largest, constituting over one fifth of the global economy, though the great disparity of wealth between the richest 10% of the population and the poorest 10% is closer to that of Sub-Saharan African countries than other developed nations.
International Aid: Donates $6.9 billion annually, though countries like Japan and the UK donate more despite having considerably smaller economies and populations.
Death Penalty: In use for ordinary crimes
Top Five Industries: Petroleum, steel, motor vehicles, aerospace, telecommunications
Poverty Rate: 12.7% live under the official poverty line, set at $20,000/year for a family of four. Many advocates argue that the amount families need to live comfortably in the US is much higher; many federal assistance programs determine eligibility based on up to 150% of the poverty line.
Military Spending: Spending: 4.06% of GDP – 30th highest rate worldwide.
McDonald's Restaurants: Since 1940 – the first McDonald's opened in 1940 in California. There are now over 30,000 outlets with over 1.5 million employees worldwide.
Currency: US Dollar. The words "In God We Trust" printed on US currency were only adopted as the national motto in 1956, inspired by anti-communist fervor at the time.
Media: Corporate media consolidation is a major issue in the country, with only six corporations controlling over 90% of media sources. The US ranks 53rd out of 168 on the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, having dropped 36 spots since 2002, partly due to legal moves undermining the privacy of journalistic sources and the imprisonment of New York Times reporter Judith Miller. The rank for US press freedom inside of Iraq is 119th, close to the bottom of the list. About two-thirds of Americans are internet users, the largest population thereof in the world.
Posted: 2007
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.