Saturday, October 4, 2014

Top 10 Richest Countries of 2014

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According to leading global political economists, countries are considered rich only when their citizens earn enough money to support all of their needs. These top ten richest countries in the world are among the few countries who have the highest GDP per capita, with the GDP value calculated and measured in US dollars. In addition, several aspects were taken into consideration in the ranking, including the income value, output value,  and the expenditure value.

أغنى 10 دول في العالم
يمكننا أن نعتبر أن دولة ما غنيّة إذا كان مواطنوا هذه الدولة يكسبون مايكفي من المال لدعم جميع احتياجاتهم، ووفقاً لقيمة الناتج المحلّي الإجمالي مع الأخذ بعين الاعتبار لعوامل أخرى مثل متوسط الدخل، قيمة الإنتاج، التضخم، ومعدلّات الإنفاق

أعدّ باحثون اقتصاديون هذه القائمة بأغنى 10 دول في العالم والتي تضمنت وجود 3 دول عربية

10. Kuwait

This country, located in the Persian Gulf, has an average GDP of $43,700. This makes it  one of the most prosperous nations in the Middle East. As with other rich countries on this list, Kuwait is reliant on its petroleum deposits for the majority of its revenue. In fact, crude oil makes up a large percentage of its exported goods. As much as this country is rich, its population is rather small with a population of 2.8 million people.

المرتبة العاشرة | الكويت
يبلغ متوسط الناتج المحلي في الكويت 43700 دولار، وتعتمد الدولة العربية الصغيرة ذات الـ 2.8 مليون نسمة بشكل رئيسي على الودائع النفطية حيث يشكل النفط الخام الجزء الأكبر من صادراتها الضخمة

Petroleum was what started the war between Kuwait and Iraq. In 1990, Iraq accused Kuwait of stealing Iraqi petroleum through slant drilling, although some Iraqi sources argue that Hussein’s decision to attack Kuwait was made only a few months before the actual invasion. Some scholars also believe there were several reasons for the Iraqi move, including Iraq’s inability to pay more than $80 billion that had been borrowed to finance the Iran–Iraq war and Kuwaiti overproduction of petroleum which kept revenues low for Iraq.


 9. Switzerland

Home to the world’s richest bank, which is The Swiss Bank, Switzerland, is also one of the world’s richest countries. This is mainly due to its extremely efficient banking system. Along with it, Geneva in Switzerland is home to some of the world’s biggest agencies’ headquarters. This has a large impact the policy-making of the Swiss government and makes sure that its citizens are given the utmost importance. Apart from these, its liberal taxation policies have ensured that the county’s GDP is on the rise, despite  the European economic crisis. The current GDP of Switzerland is $45,285.8 and it is expected to rise by $54,000 by 2018.

المرتبة التاسعة | سويسرا
واحدة من الدول الأكثر ازدهاراً في العالم، تتباهى باقتصادها المتنوع والمستقر، وتمكّنت من الحفاظ على سجلاتها الممتازة من حيث الناتج المحلي الإجمالي
إضافة إلى أنّها مهد صناعة الساعات الراقية فإن ما يجعل سويسرا واحدة من أغنى دول العالم هو اقتصادها المتنوع والذي يشمل الزراعة، السياحة، والقطاع المصرفي

This information is not surprising considering that eight Swiss citizens figured in the 2007 list of the 500 richest people in the world drawn up by the US magazine Forbes. However, only one – Ernesto Bertarelli – made the top hundred (in 76th place), with a fortune of 8.8 billion dollars. The Forbes  list also included 15 foreign residents of Switzerland, eight of them from Germany. The richest person in Switzerland, however, was Ingvar Kamprad, the Swedish head of the IKEA furniture giant, whose fortune was put at 33 billion dollars, making him the fourth richest man in the world.

 8. United Arab Emirates

With an annual GDP of over $48,400, UAE deserves a spot on this list of top 10 wealthiest countries in the world. The small country  is made up of 7 independent Emirates that are ruled by their own monarchs. As of 2014, it is one of the richest Arab nation because its GDP is the third-largest in the Middle East. Among its sources of income include natural gas and oil exports, dates, and dried fish. Since there was a depletion of oil reserves in the country, it explored other options for revenue. Experts believe that new oil finds in Coober Pedy, Australia, could wipe out UAE’s oil industry. Whether that will happen, we’ll have to wait and see.

المرتبة الثامنة | الإمارات العربية المتحدة
تتألف البلاد من 7 إمارات مستقلة شكّلت فيما بينها اتحاداً فيدرالياً، وتعتبر واحدة من أغنى البلاد العربية بسبب متوسط ناتجها المحلّي الذي يبلغ 48400 دولار، والذي يصنّف كثالث أكبر ناتج محلّي في الشرق الأوسط

تعتمد في صادراتها على النفط، الغاز الطبيعي، التمور، والسمك المجفف. ورغم نضوب احتياطيات النفط في البلاد بشكل نسبي مؤخراً إلّا أنّ عقلية الحكومة التجارية مهدّ الطريق لتصبح واحدة من أكثر البلاد ازدهاراً في المنطقة



7. United States of America

The United States is one of the most powerful countries in the world, despite several natural calamities and political issues that shook its economy in the past few years. What makes the country among the world’s richest is its exported goods that include, but are not limited to, cars, technology, and a few other services and products. In addition, the United States is considered as the largest manufacturer and financial nation worldwide.

المرتبة السابعة | الولايات المتحدة الإمريكية
رغم الأزمة المالية الأخيرة والكوارث الطبيعية التي تضرب البلاد من حين لآخر، إلّا أنّ بلاد العم سام ما زالت تعتبر واحدة من أقوى دول العالم وأكثرها نفوذاً وهو ما أثرّ إيجاباً على مكانتها الاقتصادية

وربما ما يجعل الولايات المتحدة ضمن هذه القائمة هو صادراتها من الأسلحة والتكنولوجيا

Its economy experienced its worst crisis since the Great Depression in 2007, and then again in 2009. The crisis started in the home mortgage market, especially the market for so-called “subprime” mortgages, and soon spread beyond to prime mortgages, commercial real estate, corporate junk bonds, and other forms of debt. Total losses of U.S. banks reached as high as one-third of the total bank capital. The crisis has led to a sharp reduction in bank lending, which in turn, caused a severe recession.

6. Brunei Darussalam

Brunei Darussalam is known to the general public as just Brunei. This small country in in the south-east region of Asia is located off the north coast of the island of Borneo and has a GDP of $50,526.35.. Brunei Darussalam’s economy has been dominated by the oil and gas industry for the past 80 years, and hydrocarbon resources account for over 90% of its exports and more than half its GDP. Brunei currently has the second highest GDP per capita in the Southeast Asian region and is the fourth largest oil producer in the region and ninth largest exporter of LNG (liquefied natural gas) in the world. In 2011, Brunei was one of the two countries which had 0% public debt. Such a feature in today’s world is extremely unlikely.

المرتبة السادسة | سلطنة بروناي
واحدة من أغنى الدول في جنوب شرق آسيا، يبلغ متوسط الناتج المحلي فيها 50400 دولار سنوياً، تعتمد بشكل رئيسي على صادراتها من الغاز الطبيعي والنفط الخام، في حين لا يتجاوز عدد سكانها النصف مليون نسمة

5. Hong Kong

Situated on the southern coast of China, Hong Kong is considered as the fifth richest nation in terms of its GDP. In fact, the city-state is among the leading financial destinations of investors not only in Asia, but in the world as well. While it has its own currency, the defense services of Hong Kong is provided by China.

المرتبة الخامسة | هونج كونج
تقع على الساحل الجنوبي للصين، وتعتبر من الوجهات المالية الجذابة لملايين المستثمرين حول العالم

4. Norway

With about 5 million people living in this country and a relatively high GDP, Norway is evidently among the wealthiest countries in the planet. This land of the rising sun, holding its place firmly, has the world’s best social welfare system, where every individual gets to pay if he/she does their bit of work. The extensive natural and fishing reserves has brought the country in the rich list and keeping the healthy and wealthy lifestyle of people.

المرتبة الرابعة | النرويج
مع 5 ملايين شخص يقطنون فيها وبناتج محلي إجمالي مرتفع نسبياً يمكننا أن نعتبرها واحدة من أغنى دول العالم، ويعتمد اقتصادها على احتياطيات النفط والغاز بشكل كبير



3. Singapore

Singapore is the third richest country in the world, ranking behind Qatar and Luxembourg. Using the most recent International Monetary Fund data available, academic argue that Singapore thrives as a technology, manufacturing and finance hub with a GDP per capita of nearly US$56,700. The population of this small country is about 5.5 million, and a big chunk of its population is Buddhist.

المرتبة الثالثة | سنغافورة
دولة صغيرة تتكوّن من 63 جزيرة صغيرة في جنوب شرق آسيا، واحدة من أكبر المراكز المالية في المنطقة رفقة كوريا الجنوبية، هونغ كونغ، وتايوان


2. Luxemberg

Luxembourg is the second richest country in the world, according to the latest World Bank reports. Luxembourg has the top position partly thanks to a large number of cross-border workers, who contribute to the country’s GDP but are not counted into the population because they live in neighbouring countries: Germany, France or Belgium. The main source of income for people is the Oil Industry. Luxembourg tops the list of the richest countries in the  European Union and Bulgaria, despite some improvement over the last three years, is still the poorest.


المرتبة الثانية | لوكسمبورغ
واحدة من أكثر الدول ازدهاراً في القارة الأوروبية وتُعرف بـ “جنّة الضرائب”، تُعدّ مقصداً لأصحاب المليارات في العالم ليحرّروا أنفسهم من الضرائب الباهظة في بلدانهم الأصلية، وتعتمد في مصادر دخلها على الاتصالات وصناعة الصلب



1. Qatar

With less than 2 million residents and about $182 billion GDP, Qatar is the most improving as well as the most resourceful country in the world . Their main focuses are the commercial and  tourist industries. They plan to build a hotel that exceeds the expectations of tourists far more than than the Burj Al Arab in Dubai.  Qatar also plans to be the host of the 2018 Fifa World Cup . Qatar also has the lowest rate of unemployment in the GCC region at 0.5 percent but experts warn that future trends point towards an escalation rather than a decline. Whether it will keep its No.1 spot in 2015, we’ll have to wait ans see. The potential is there.

المرتبة الأولى | قطر
شبه جزيرة تقع فيالخليج العربي، يبلغ الناتج المحلّي الإجمالي فيها حوالي 182 مليار دولار، وتعتمد الإمارة التي لا يكاد يصل عدد سكانها إلى 2 مليون نسمة على صادراتها من النفط الذي يشكّل 85% من صادراتها

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