>Also -- is Argentina really that small of a country?
Its GDP is about 3% of the US's, and less than 1% of the world's, which puts it on a par with Belgium. Brazil is three times larger; China more than three. It has 0.6% of the world's population. I'd say that's small.
Speaking of population, while figuring out those numbers, I reacquainted myself with the World Bank's numbers on the percent of populations that are female. Women aren't the majority of the world's population; they're 49.6% of it, because they are neglected and aborted in many of the poorer countries. (In the FSU, though, the men do themselves in at an early age.) In the U.S., they're 50.7% of the population; in high-income countries in general, 50.3%; in the euro area, 51.1%. If the female share of the world's population were the same as the euro area, there'd be 88 million more in the world.
For the data-minded, here's a summary and a ranking, for the year 2000.
Doug
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FEMALE POPULATION, % of total, 2000
01 World 49.6 02 Low income 49.5 03 Middle income 49.6 04 Lower middle income 49.3 05 Upper middle income 50.6 06 Low & middle income 49.6 07 East Asia & Pacific 49.0 08 Europe & Central Asia 52.0 09 Latin America & Caribbean 50.6 10 Middle East & North Africa 49.4 11 South Asia 48.6 12 Sub-Saharan Africa 50.5 13 High income 50.1 14 European Monetary Union 51.1 15 High income: OECD 50.3 16 High income: nonOECD 47.2 17 Heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) 50.4 18 Least developed countries: UN classificat 50.1
Antigua and Barbuda 54.4 Latvia 54.0 St. Lucia 53.9 Ukraine 53.5 Russian Federation 53.2 Estonia 53.0 Belarus 53.0 Cape Verde 52.9 Lithuania 52.8 Moldova 52.5 Georgia 52.2 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 52.2 Hungary 52.2 Virgin Islands (U.S.) 52.1 Portugal 52.1 Swaziland 51.9 South Africa 51.8 Puerto Rico 51.8 Croatia 51.7 Netherlands Antilles 51.6 Kazakhstan 51.6 Uruguay 51.5 Mozambique 51.5 Barbados 51.5 Italy 51.5 Slovenia 51.4 Central African Republic 51.4 Armenia 51.4 Poland 51.4 Cambodia 51.3 Equatorial Guinea 51.3 France 51.3 Finland 51.3 Bulgaria 51.3 Slovak Republic 51.3 St. Kitts and Nevis 51.2 Czech Republic 51.2 Spain 51.1 Burundi 51.1 New Zealand 51.1 Japan 51.1 Congo, Rep. 51.1 Macao, China 51.0 Grenada 51.0 Channel Islands 51.0 Kyrgyz Republic 51.0 Belgium 51.0 Romania 51.0 Germany 50.9 Azerbaijan 50.9 Argentina 50.9 Sierra Leone 50.9 Haiti 50.9 Djibouti 50.9 Botswana 50.9 United Kingdom 50.9 El Salvador 50.9 Lebanon 50.8 Greece 50.8 Austria 50.8 Lesotho 50.7 United States 50.7 Benin 50.7 Nigeria 50.7 Dominica 50.7 Mali 50.7 Guyana 50.6 Niger 50.6 Vietnam 50.6 Guinea-Bissau 50.6 Gambia 50.6 Brazil 50.6 Chad 50.6 Angola 50.6 Colombia 50.6 Gabon 50.5 Denmark 50.5 Sri Lanka 50.5 Mexico 50.5 Malawi 50.5 Congo, Dem. Rep. 50.5 Burkina Faso 50.5 Bosnia and Herzegovina 50.5 Rwanda 50.5 Chile 50.5 Norway 50.5 Lao PDR 50.5 Turkmenistan 50.5 Mauritania 50.5 Netherlands 50.4 Togo 50.4 Tanzania 50.4 Canada 50.4 Zimbabwe 50.4 Jamaica 50.4 Switzerland 50.4 Sweden 50.4 Eritrea 50.4 Malta 50.4 Israel 50.4 Somalia 50.4 Suriname 50.4 Luxembourg 50.3 Uzbekistan 50.3 Ireland 50.3 Peru 50.3 Ghana 50.3 Cameroon 50.3 Bolivia 50.3 Zambia 50.3 Nicaragua 50.2 Yugoslavia, Fed. Rep. 50.2 Myanmar 50.2 Belize 50.2 Comoros 50.2 Tajikistan 50.2 Senegal 50.2 Trinidad and Tobago 50.1 Namibia 50.1 Madagascar 50.1 Indonesia 50.1 Australia 50.1 Mauritius 50.0 Uganda 50.0 Thailand 50.0 Macedonia, FYR 50.0 Sao Tome and Principe 50.0 Cyprus 50.0 Bahamas 50.0 Hong Kong, China 50.0 Mongolia 50.0 Morocco 50.0 Korea, Dem. Rep. 49.9 Cuba 49.9 Kenya 49.9 Sudan 49.8 Iran, Islamic Rep. 49.8 Ethiopia 49.8 Ecuador 49.8 Singapore 49.7 Guinea 49.7 Venezuela, RB 49.7 Liberia 49.7 Guatemala 49.6 Korea, Rep. 49.6 Honduras 49.6 Bangladesh 49.6 Philippines 49.6 Paraguay 49.6 Panama 49.6 Tonga 49.5 Turkey 49.5 Syrian Arab Republic 49.5 Tunisia 49.5 Kiribati 49.5 Bhutan 49.4 Malaysia 49.4 Algeria 49.4 Seychelles 49.4 Costa Rica 49.4 Nepal 49.3 Dominican Republic 49.3 West Bank and Gaza 49.3 Fiji 49.3 Micronesia, Fed. Sts. 49.2 French Polynesia 49.2 Cote d'Ivoire 49.1 Iraq 49.1 Egypt, Arab Rep. 49.1 Yemen, Rep. 49.0 Afghanistan 49.0 Iceland 48.9 Maldives 48.9 Albania 48.7 Samoa 48.5 Papua New Guinea 48.5 Libya 48.5 Solomon Islands 48.4 China 48.4 India 48.4 Jordan 48.2 Pakistan 48.2 New Caledonia 48.2 Guam 48.1 Brunei 47.9 Oman 47.4 Kuwait 46.9 Vanuatu 46.7 Saudi Arabia 44.5 Bahrain 44.1 Qatar 34.7 United Arab Emirates 34.0