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Countries like Saudi Arabia are rich because of mineral resources and countries with rich soil and dependable rainfall tend to be richer than desert lands or rocky soil. Also over-population relative to agricultural capacity makes a country poor.

A countries 'richness' is not entirely based on its natural resources (otherwise Brazil might be the richest country in the world today) but also with each country's history and culture. Through the centuries the richer countries often exploited the ones that are poor today. The poor ones were colonies where there were no structural investments, only things being taken away. So, without structure, they could not evolve as the rich ones did. They grew depending on the richer for basic things. They are still dependent nowadays, but in other senses. That's why former colonies are often poor countries.

However,some colonies such as the USA ,Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia were not used only to take resources away, but to be developed and that's why a good governmental structure evolved. A stable and honest government in which the leaders are public servants makes a country richer, but a corrupt government ,in which the leaders take all they can from the people, produces an environment that makes the country poor.

Cultural differences are very important, particularly a work ethic and educational development. Many of the rich countries became rich because of scientific discoveries , inventions , industrial processes and medical advances that greatly increased productivity. Most of the rich countries invested heavily in schools, roads, rail roads and medical facilities.

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14y ago

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