Page 148 - ABCTE Study Guide_Neat

This diverse subcontinent is home to the second most populous
nation on earth. India has been an independent country since the
British withdrew in 1947. Although around two-thirds of the population
supports itself by farming, India is also increasingly important in
technology and services. It boasts a wealth of cosmopolitan, highly
educated inhabitants who, along with the low cost of operating in
India, have begun to attract multinational corporations. Despite this
success, India suffers from endemic poverty, overpopulation, and
environmental problems.

Modern Japan is a land that has experienced rapid transformation. In
the past century, it has gone from a feudal country, to a powerful
empire, to an industrial and economic powerhouse. Japan has one of
the highest standards of living in the world, although its economy, the
world's second largest, has been in recession since the 1990s. Like
the United Kingdom, Japan is a parliamentary democracy with a
hereditary symbolic head of state, a position currently held by the
Emperor Akihito.

Kenya is the most prosperous nation in east Africa. Its plains are
home to a rich diversity of wildlife, but only the southwestern
highlands contain arable land. Kenya produces corn, coffee, tea, sisal,
and pyrethrum. A former English colony, Kenya became a republic
shortly after gaining its independence in 1963. Tourism is an
important component of the economy of this staggeringly beautiful
country.