OTHER 1 — Taiwan
DEPENDENT AREAS
6 — Australia—Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Christmas Island, Cocos
(Keeling) Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Heard Island and McDonald
Islands, Norfolk Island
2 — Denmark—Faroe Islands, Greenland
16 — France—Bassas da India, Clipperton Island, Europa Island,
French Guiana, French Polynesia, French Southern and Antarctic
Lands, Glorioso Islands, Guadeloupe, Juan de Nova Island,
Martinique, Mayotte, New Caledonia, Reunion, Saint Pierre and
Miquelon, Tromelin Island, Wallis and Futuna
2 — Netherlands—Aruba, Netherlands Antilles
3 — New Zealand—Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau
3 — Norway—Bouvet Island, Jan Mayen, Svalbard
1 — Portugal—Macau
16 — United Kingdom—Anguilla, Bermuda, British Indian Ocean
Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland
Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Jersey, Isle of Man,
Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, Saint Helena, South Georgia and the
South Sandwich Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands
14 — United States—American Samoa, Baker Island, Guam, Howland
Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway
Islands, Navassa Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palmyra Atoll,
Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Wake Island
MISCELLANEOUS 6 — Antarctica, Gaza Strip, Paracel Islands, Spratly Islands, West Bank, Western Sahara
OTHER ENTITIES 4 — oceans—Arctic Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean
1 — World 266 — total
Exchange rate: The official value of a nation's monetary unit at a given date or over a given period of time, as expressed in units of local currency per US dollar and as determined by international market forces or official fiat.
GDP methodology: In the "Economy" section, GDP dollar estimates for all countries are derived from purchasing power parity (PPP) calculations rather than from conversions at official currency exchange rates. The PPP method normally involves the use of international dollar price weights, which are applied to the quantities of goods and services produced in a given economy. In addition to the lack of reliable data from the majority of countries, the statistician faces a major difficulty in specifying, identifying, and allowing for the quality of goods and services. The division of a GDP estimate in local currency by the corresponding PPP estimate in dollars gives the PPP conversion rate. On average, one thousand dollars will buy the same market basket of goods in the US as one thousand dollars - converted to the local currency at the PPP conversion rate - will buy in the other country. Whereas PPP estimates for OECD countries are quite reliable, PPP estimates for developing countries are often rough approximations. Most of the GDP estimates are based on extrapolation of numbers published by the UN International Comparison Program and by Professors Robert Summers and Alan Heston of the University of Pennsylvania and their colleagues. Currency exchange rates depend on a variety of international and domestic financial forces that often have little relation to domestic output. In developing countries with weak currencies the exchange rate estimate of GDP in dollars is typically one-fourth to one-half the PPP estimate. Furthermore, exchange rates may suddenly go up or down by 10% or more because of market forces or official fiat whereas real output has remained unchanged. On 12 January 1994, for example, the 14 countries of the African Financial Community (whose currencies are tied to the French franc) devalued their currencies by 50%. This move, of course, did not cut the real output of these countries by half. One important caution: the proportion of, say, defense expenditures as a percentage of GDP in local currency accounts may differ substantially from the proportion when GDP accounts are expressed in PPP terms, as, for example, when an observer tries to estimate the dollar level of Russian or Japanese military expenditures. Note: The numbers for GDP and other economic data can not be chained together from successive volumes of the Factbook because of changes in the US dollar measuring rod, revisions of data by statistical agencies, use of new or different sources of information, and changes in national statistical methods and practices.
Gross domestic product (GDP): The value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year.
Gross national product (GNP): The value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year, plus income earned abroad, minus income earned by foreigners from domestic production.
Gross world product (GWP): The aggregate value of all goods and services produced worldwide in a given year.