LATIN AMERICA AND THE LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN CARIBBEAN

Demographics Background Demographics Background

LATIN AMERICA AND THE LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN CARIBBEAN

Demographics Background Demographics Background

Jesus Lau, Ph.D.Jesus Lau, Ph.D.jlaujlau@@uvuv..mxmx

Universidad Veracruzana Universidad Veracruzana

World Library and Information Congress, 69th IFLA General World Library and Information Congress, 69th IFLA General Conference and Council,Conference and Council,

Africa, Asia & Oceania, and Latin America & Caribbean Africa, Asia & Oceania, and Latin America & Caribbean WorkshopWorkshop

Berlin, Germany, Berlin, Germany,

August 7, 2003, Thursday, 13:30-17:30August 7, 2003, Thursday, 13:30-17:30

DEMOGRAPHICS OF LATIN AMERICA

• Countries• Population • Demographic growth • Languages

• Share more similarities than differences

20472 million2%Spanish, Portuguese,

French

History, culture, religion

SOCIO-ECONOMIC OVERVIEW

• Undergoing economic structural reforms

• Market oriented measures• Enjoys economic growth• 4.1% expected growth - 1997-2001• Close trade links with North America• GDP related to size of territory

Countries Population ´000

Area - ´000 Square miles

m

GDP Parity Purchasing

Power Brazil 154 3,286 1.022 trillion

Mexico 97 756 390 billion

Argentina 36 1,073 278 billion

Colombia 37 440 201 billion

Venezuela 22 352 195 billion

Chile 14 2,921 120 billion

Total 361 8,830 2.208 trillion

LARGE GDP COUNTRIES

MID-SIZE GDPCOUNTRIES

Countries Population´000

Area´000

(Square miles)

GDPParity

PurchasingPower

Peru 25 496 92 billionEcuador 12 105 44 billionGuatemala 12 42 39 billionDominican R. 8 18 29 billionUruguay 3 68 24 billion

Total 60 730 228 billion

Countries Population Area(Square iles)

GDPParity Purchasing Power /

billions

Bolivia 8 424 20Costa Rica 3 20 19Paraguay 6 157 17Cuba 11 43 16Panama 3 29 13El Salvador 6 8 12Honduras 6 43 11Nicaragua 4 51 7Haiti 7 11 7Total 54 786 122 billion

SMALL GDP COUNTRIES

TELECOMM PROGRESS

• Telephones• Cellular phones• Satellites

32 million24 million34

Countries Telephones(000)

Satellites TVbroadcaststations

TVs(000)

Argentina 2,700 2 231 7,165

Brazil 13,426 3 112 30,000Chile 1,500 2 131 2,850Colombia 1,890 2 33 5,500Mexico 11,890 5 238 13,100

Venezuela 1,440 1 59 3,300

Total 32,847 15 804 61,915

TELECOMM LARGE LA COUNTRIES

TELECOMMMID-SIZE COUNTRIES

COUNTRIES PHONES SATELLITES TV TV

´000 BROADCAST SETS STATIONS “000

Dominican R 190 1 18 728Ecuador 585 1 33 940Guatemala 210 1 25 475Peru 772 2 140 2,000Uruguay 451 2 26 725

Total 2,215 7 242 4,868

TELECOMM SMALL LA COUNTRIES

Countries Telephones´000

Satellites TVBroadcastStations

TV´s´000

Bolivia 144 1 43 500Costa Rica 281,042 1 18 340Cuba 430 1 58 2,500Haiti 50 1 4 32Honduras 105 2 28 400El Salvador 116 1 25 475Nicaragua 66,810 1 7 260Panama 273 2 23 420Paraguay 88.730 1 5 370

Total 1,554.882 11 211 5,297

CYBER PROGRESS

• Users• Web pages• Internet nodes• Internet

growth

5-8 million150 thousand191,129 788% Btwn

1995-7

GLOBAL REACH• Internet integrates Latin America• Communication is easier and

cheaper• Creates greater information

awareness• Makes more information services

available• Contributes to have world class

information users

LIBRARY DEVELOPMENT

• Countries have made library progress• Academic libraries are the best• Internet is more used at academic

libraries• School and public libraries are scarce• Information is still paper-based

LIBRARY PICTURE

• Libraries• Librarians• LIS Schools• Journals Published• Newspapers

40,00030,0008716,000 1,000

INFORMATION USERS´

BACKGROUNG

• Middle to upper class• Urban • Young• Usually a student or college graduate• Lower income stratas (largest

segment of population) are out of library reach

CHALLENGE: INCREASE LOCAL TOUCH

• Provide services to the illiterate population

• Gather and organize local information• Join efforts or face mass media

overpower• Define national information policies• Increase information awareness among

population

CONCLUSIONS• Latin America enjoys economic growth• Telecommunications are growing• Libraries have improved • Global reach: Internet makes LA libraries part

of the world• Local reach: LA libraries require better access

to local data• Challenge: how to meet info demands of lower

income sectors of society

Let’s plan a more inclusive information future for

all groups of society. Thanks!Jesús Lau

Presentation available at:http://bivir.uacj.mx/lau

*Data comes from different statistical sources used for a paper presented at ALA

Conference, please see full paper for bibliographic details.