The Democratic Republic of Congo Compared to the United States of America

In a war torn country, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa, there are a number of complex reasons why it is still to this day a poor nation. The central African country is bordered by numerous nations with whom it has had conflicts. There have been a number of complex reasons, including conflicts over basic resources such as water, access and control over rich minerals and other resources like oil, and various political agendas. This has been fueled and supported by various national and international corporations and other regimes which have an interest in the outcome of the conflict. There are clear statistical differences in why the Democratic Republic of Congo (D.R.C.) is so much the opposite of the United States (U.S.). Comparing these two places will show just how poor and conflicted the DRC is to the U.S. The D.R.C. and the U.S. have relatively high foreign external debts, but the U.S. is especially higher. According to the Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A.) website on country statistics, the U.S. owes roughly $17 trillion today, whereas the D.R.C., as of December 31st, 2012 only owes $6 billion. The United States provides approximately $428 million dollars a year to the D.R.C in economic and military assistance. In comparing their Gross Domestic Products (GDP) and Gross National Product (GNI, formally GNP) with the U.S., there is a significant difference. GDP at purchaser's prices is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy, plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products. Even though the D.R.C. has a huge total GDP of $27.53 billion USD, their GDP per capita that is spent on each person a year is only $271.97 USD (World Bank). The U.S. has a total GDP of $15.94 trillion with the GDP per capita at $50,700 (C.I.A.). GNI is the sum of value added by all resident producers, plus any product taxes not included in the valuation of output, plus net