Superpower Geographies

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USA

  • $16 trillion GDP (2012)
  • There is a labour force of 155M people.
  • 132 TNC's in the Fortune 500. (1st in the world)
  • $711 billion spent on military services (1st in the world, under 50% of global spending)
  • 1.3M active personnel (2nd in the world)
  • Active military bases all across the world, in every continent bar Antarctica.
  • Between 1880-1920, the US refined up to 442M barrels of oil per year.
  • Reached peak oil in 1970, and now rely on imports form other countries (3B barrels per annum)
  • Focus turned to biofuels, where a bill was passed to produce 36B gallons of petrol by 2022.
  • The American ideologies of Capitalism & Democracy have spread across the Western World.
  • McDonalds in 116 countries worldwide.
  • 7 of the 10 most viewed T.V. progams are American.
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China

  • $8 trillion GDP (2012)
  • Economic growth of 7.8%.
  • China manufactures more than 40 times as many personal computers per person than the rest of the world.
  • $132 billion spent on military services (2nd in the world)
  • 2.3M active personnel (1st in the world)
  • China in recent years has bought eight Russian-made non-nuclear submarines, adding to four bought in the 1990s.
  • China has rich land resources due it size - The country's farmland covers 122,400 sq. km, about 10% of its total land area.
  • China's coal consumption is under 50% of global coal consumption (2009)
  • China have taken strides in securing oil supplies from developing African nations.
  • The People’s Republic of China is the only emerging superpower still under communist rule.
  • The Chinese Communist Party's more than 80m-strong membership makes it the biggest political party in the world.
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Russia

  • $2 trillion GDP (2012)
  • Economic growth of 3.1%, which was on a downside due to the 2013 economic downturn.
  • $64 billion spent on military services.
  • 1.2M active personnel.
  • The Federation of American Scientists estimates that Russia possesses 4,650 active nuclear warheads, while the U.S. has 2,468.
  • The state-run gas monopoly Gazprom is the world's largest producer and exporter, and supplies a growing share of Europe's needs.
  • Russia depends on European market to buy 80% of its oil exports.
  • Russian gas supplies to Ukraine & the EU were cut off in 2008-09, which affected German and French supplies by 20-30%.
  • During Mr Putin's presidency Russia's booming economy and assertive foreign policy bolstered national pride, but fueled tensions with the western world post-Cold War.
  • The Winter Olympics 2014 was seen as a chance for the world to see Russia in a better light, but much of the western world were outraged by Putin's anti-gay propaganda policy.
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India

  • $1.842 trillion GDP (2012). It's GDP per capita is $1,491, 141st in the world.
  • Economic growth of 5%.
  • Although Mumbai is one of the top 5 ‘billionaire cities’ in the world (30 billionaires in 2013), over 77% of the country’s population live below the poverty line.
  • $46.1 billion spent on military services (2.5% of GDP, compared to 5% in the USA)
  • 1.3M active personnel (3rd in the world)
  • The Indian Armed Forces are currently the world's largest arms importer, with Russia, Israel, France and United States being the primary foreign suppliers of military equipment.
  • India has a large amount of energy reserves such as oil and natural gas and India has a large amount of land and water area.
  • India is the 7th largest producer of hydroelectric power with 114,000 GW hours.
  • India's large population is a major source of outsourcing (call centres, sweatshops etc.)
  • Indian lifestyle and culture has become so big it has been incorporated into British culture.
  • Bollywood is one of the largest film industries in the world ($3.4B revenue in 2010).
  • The Indian ideology appears to be compromised by its origins in an anti colonial struggle led by “slow changing Hindu” Congress party.
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Brazil

  • $2 trillion GDP (2012)
  • In 2012, Brazil was the largest economy in Latin America and the 6th largest in the world.
  • Brazil's economy is expected to increase by 7.5% per year due to the World Cup and Olympics.
  • $28 billion spent on military services.
  • 371,199 active personnel, largest in Latin America.
  • Brazil is known for its exporting in Natural resources, such as: Gold, iron ore, nickel, uranium, petroleum, hydropower and timber.
  • With its ideal agricultural climate, Brazil boasts a healthy export trade in coffee, sugar, soya beans, textiles and electrical equipment
  • Recent discoveries of oil sources that could potentially hold more than 9 billion barrels of oil is helping to confirm Brazil as a major new oil exploration frontier.
  • Brazilians have a strong national ideology that their land is a "racial democracy," one without prejudice towards its darker skinned citizens.
  • Unlike in the States, there is no "one drop rule".
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maria

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good case studies

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