for marine species. A total of 13,193
tourists visited in the 1999-2000 summer, up from the 10,013 who
visited the previous year. Nearly all of them were passengers on 24
commercial (nongovernmental) ships and several yachts that made 143
trips during the summer. Most tourist trips lasted approximately two
weeks.

Antigua and Barbuda:
Tourism continues to be the dominant activity
in the economy accounting directly or indirectly for more than half
of GDP. The budding offshore financial sector has been seriously
hurt by financial sanctions imposed by the US and UK as a result of
the loosening of its money-laundering controls. The government has
made efforts to comply with international demands in order to get
the sanctions lifted. Antigua and Barbuda was listed as a tax haven
by the OECD in 2000. The dual island nation's agricultural
production is mainly directed to the domestic market; the sector is
constrained by the limited water supply and labor shortages that
reflect the pull of higher wages in tourism and construction.
Manufacturing comprises enclave-type assembly for export with major
products being bedding, handicrafts, and electronic components.
Prospects for economic growth in the medium term will continue to
depend on income growth in the industrialized world, especially in
the US, which accounts for about one-third of all tourist arrivals.

Arctic Ocean:
Economic activity is limited to the exploitation of
natural resources, including petroleum, natural gas, fish, and seals.

Argentina:
Argentina benefits from rich natural resources, a highly
literate population, an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a
diversified industrial base. However, when President Carlos MENEM
took office in 1989, the country had piled up huge external debts,
inflation had reached 200% per month, and output was plummeting. To
combat the economic crisis, the government embarked on a path of
trade liberalization, deregulation, and privatization. In 1991, it
implemented radical monetary reforms which pegged the peso to the US
dollar and limited the growth in the monetary base by law to the
growth in reserves. Inflation fell sharply in subsequent years. In
1995, the Mexican peso crisis produced capital flight, the loss of
banking system deposits, and a severe, but short-lived, recession; a
series of reforms to bolster the domestic banking system followed.
R