Facts and Figures
From US State Department
Land area:
70,282 sq. km
Population:
3.7 million
Annual growth Rate:
Not Available
Infant mortality rate:
5.5/1000
Literacy rate:
98.5%
Life expectancy:
75.8 Years
Government type:
Parliamentary republic
Trade:
Exports - $70.2 billion
$46.3 billion
Per capita income:
$21,887
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People couldn't afford to pay their rents anymore and were evicted by their landlords. They were forced to move to disease-infested workhouses or to emigrate to other countries. But even emigration was no solution for many of people - they were crowded into little ships, later also labeled "coffin ships", and many of them died on the way due to hunger, disease and other causes. Usually just over half of the emigrants survived the long journeys.
Other people, who could not afford to buy other food, were forced to eat the rotten potatoes, contracted diseases such as typhoid, and passed these on in their entire villages. Since not even the priests could afford to buy coffins for the dead, they were either not buried or just buried wearing the clothes that had died in, so no one was really safe of disease.
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