Economy & TradeThe 1950s

Economy & Trade in the 1950s

Every event in the Terralore archive tagged economy and trade — trade, currency, industry and resources, narrowed to the 1950s — 7 of them, drawn from 7 nations, running from 1950 to 1959. Each entry keeps the sources it was verified against and links back to the chronicle it came from.

Events
7
Nations
7
Earliest
1950
Latest
1959
Africa
2
Asia
2
South America
2
Europe
1

Every entry below is the same record, with the same sources, as the one on its nation’s chronicle.

  1. South America

    Ecuador

    The banana boom

    Ecuador becomes the world's largest banana exporter, the fruit replacing cacao as the leading crop and renewing coastal prosperity.

    Era: Cacao, Liberals and Bananas

    Sources: History of Ecuador · Encyclopaedia Britannica

  2. South America

    Bolivia

    Tin nationalised, suffrage and land reform

    The revolutionary government nationalises the tin mines, grants universal suffrage to the indigenous majority, and decrees a sweeping agrarian reform.

    Era: The National Revolution and Military Rule

    Sources: Victor Paz Estenssoro · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Bolivia: A Country Study · Library of Congress, Federal Research Division

  3. Asia

    Turkmenistan

    The Kara-Kum Canal

    Construction began on the Kara-Kum Canal, which carried water from the Amu Darya across the desert to irrigate the cotton lands — a vast project that opened new farmland at heavy environmental cost.

    Era: Soviet Turkmenistan

    Sources: Turkmenistan · Encyclopædia Britannica, Turkmenistan: A Country Study (in 'Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan: Country Studies') · Library of Congress, Federal Research Division

  4. Asia

    Lebanon

    Beirut, the Paris of the Middle East

    Lebanon's golden age makes Beirut the banking, commercial and cultural capital of the region, renowned for its cosmopolitan prosperity.

    Era: Independence and the Golden Age

    Sources: Lebanon · Encyclopaedia Britannica, History of Lebanon · Encyclopaedia Britannica

  5. Africa

    Gabon

    Oil discovered near Port-Gentil

    Oil was discovered offshore at the Ozouri field near Port-Gentil in 1956; petroleum would become the foundation of independent Gabon's economy and a key source of state revenue.

    Era: Colonial Gabon and the road to independence

    Sources: Gabon — Economy · Encyclopædia Britannica, Gabon's Experience Managing Oil Wealth (Oil Wealth in Central Africa) · International Monetary Fund

  6. Europe

    France

    Founding member of the EEC

    France signs the Treaty of Rome, beginning European integration.

    Era: The Republics & the Modern Nation

    Sources: France · Encyclopædia Britannica

  7. Africa

    Libya

    Commercial oil discovered

    The discovery of oil in commercial quantities at the Zelten field transforms Libya's prospects; exports begin in 1961.

    Era: Independence, Monarchy and the Coming of Oil

    Sources: Libya: The discovery of oil · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Zelten oil field · Wikipedia