By Julia Cosgrove  February 17th, 2010 3:43 pm  |  Comments (0)

Janera Soerel, who appears in an upcoming issue of Afar, is the founder and publisher of Janera, an organization that takes “global affairs out of academic and activist circles.” Through salons, workshops, film screenings, and meetups, Janera encourages conversation between global citizens. Next week at the Andaz Hotel in Manhattan, the group is hosting an event on Haiti. The topic, “Haiti’s Reconstruction & the Geopolitical Implications of a Permanent U.S. Presence,” is sure to spur lively debate.

Featured speakers include Bob Maguire, director of the Haiti program at Trinity Washington University in D.C.; Nikolas Kozloff, author of Hugo Chavez, Oil, Politics, and the Challenge to the U.S.; and François Pierre-Louis, an associate professor at CUNY who specializes in Caribbean and Haitian politics. Lenelle Moise, a Haitian-American poet and performance artist, will recite a few of her poems to open the program.

Tickets are $40 in advance and $60 at the door.

By Jeremy Saum  January 27th, 2010 8:15 am  |  Comments (16)

Malaysia: Home of world's tallest twin towers. And fifth-friendliest people?

I recently got a press release that trumpeted, “Malaysia Ranks 5th Amongst World’s Friendliest Countries.”

The first thing that struck me was how un-American it was to tout being fifth at anything. When was the last time you heard a crowd chanting, “We’re number five! We’re number five!” But ranking fifth among all the countries in the world is pretty good, I’d say. So, go Malaysia!

Then I wondered how “friendliness” was determined. As a traveler, that’s an issue that’s always puzzled me. I’m always suspicious when people come back from a trip raving, “and the people were so friendly.” It’s hard to say this without sounding grumpy, but it bugs me for a couple reasons. First, it’s a stereotype, even if it’s a positive one. You wouldn’t say, “and the people were so ugly.” I’m betting that anywhere you go, there are friendly people and unfriendly people. Second, in many cases, we travelers deal with people who are supposed to be friendly. They work at hotels or restaurants or drive cabs or lead hiking trips. It’s in their interest to be friendly. But I am willing to admit that people in certain countries do give off a warmer vibe than those in other countries. Hence my puzzlement.

Turns out the release was referring to the Expat Explorer Survey conducted by the bank HSBC, which asks expatriates to rate their adopted countries on a range of quality-of-life issues. It’s got some interesting stuff in there. For instance, most expats say their quality of life is better than it would be in their home country. And that while half of expats in Thailand say that they have they found love, only 4 percent of expats in India or Qatar have.

And it turns out things get complicated on the friendliness front. Malaysia actually ranks fourth (not fifth) in “Making Friends” but 14th in “Making Local Friends.” So it’s a good place for expats to make friends with each other–and it’s the best place in the world for finding a school for your expat kids, apparently–but not as good for making friends with Malaysians. Brazil and South Africa are tops on the local friend front.

If you had to rank the friendliest places you’ve been, who wins? Why?

Photo by Ramil Sagun.

By Nicole Solis  August 31st, 2009 11:59 am  |  Comments (5)

I always assumed the male-to-female population ratio in most countries was roughly 1:1. But while digging around the CIA World Factbook, I stumbled across some surprising data on the gender breakdown of countries around the world.

Here are the countries at the extreme ends of the scale, looking at the overall population ratio (ratios are expressed as the number of males to one female).

More women than men

Northern Mariana Islands

• at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
• under 15 years: 1.1 male(s)/female
• 15-64 years: 0.67 male(s)/female
• 65 years and over: 1.08 male(s)/female
• total population: 0.74 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

Ukraine

• at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
• under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
• 15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female
• 65 years and over: 0.5 male(s)/female
• total population: 0.86 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

Latvia

• at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
• under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
• 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female
• 65 years and over: 0.49 male(s)/female
• total population: 0.86 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

Russia

• at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
• under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
• 15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female
• 65 years and over: 0.44 male(s)/female
• total population: 0.86 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

More men than women

United Arab Emirates

• at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
• under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
• 15-64 years: 2.74 male(s)/female
• 65 years and over: 1.82 male(s)/female
• total population: 2.19 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

Qatar

• at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
• under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
• 15-64 years: 2.46 male(s)/female
• 65 years and over: 1.38 male(s)/female
• total population: 2 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

Kuwait

• at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female
• under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
• 15-64 years: 1.78 male(s)/female
• 65 years and over: 1.66 male(s)/female
• total population: 1.54 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

Maldives

• at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
• under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
• 15-64 years: 1.62 male(s)/female
• 65 years and over: 1 male(s)/female
• total population: 1.44 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

For my dime-store analysis, I’d guess that the influx of male guest workers to Middle Eastern countries causes the imbalance in the 15-64 year age range. But I would assume that the guest workers would return to their countries of origin as they got older, balancing the ratio out in the 65 and over range.

No country, that I found, had fewer than 1 male per female at birth. Only Albania, Azerbaijan, China, Georgia, and India have more than 1.1 males for each female at birth.

Source: CIA World Factbook.

Photo by Helga’s Lobster Stew. CC 2.0.