Income Disparities at Borders - a source of tension

Income Disparities at Borders - a source of tension

Here are four regions where personal incomes show large across border differences. Such borders have fostered economic migration - and violence where the border is a land one. Where there is not a significant racial difference (as in the neighbors of Israel and Greece), corruption is a major cause of the income disparity. Palestinian incomes are lower than in all but two African countries (Sierra Leone and Somalia).

Rank	Country	GDP - per capita adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity	Date of Information
228	Gaza Strip	$ 600	2003 est.
217	West Bank	$ 800	2002 est.
41	Israel	$ 19,700	2003 est.
149	Syria	$ 3,300	2003 est.

231	East Timor (poorest country listed)	$ 500	2001 est.
14	Australia	$ 28,900	2003 est.
166	Papua New Guinea	$ 2,200	2003 est.

185	Haiti	$ 1,600	2003 est.
2	United States	$ 37,800	2003 est.
85	Mexico	$ 9,000	2003 est.

133	Albania	$ 4,500	2003 est.
40	Greece	$ 19,900	2003 est.
105	Turkey	$ 6,700	2003 est.

Data from http://www.worldfactsandfigures.com/gdp_country_desc.php

The Gaza/ Israel border is the biggest percent drop-off in income in the world. There was fighting and mistrust there even in Biblical times. Gaza was then the rich city of the Philistines (source of the name Palestine). Their opponents were the rag-tag Israelites like muscleman Samson, who mostly lived in the still poor West Bank area. Will hatreds ever change in this region?

Go to: Causes of IQ differences among races and nations

Go to: IQ, income per person, and corruption index for 127 nations,

Go to: Success of Nations - causes besides IQ

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