Because of a boom in the mining sector, Mongolia had high growth rates in 2007 and 2008 (9.9% and 8.9%, respectively). In 2009, sharp drops in commodity prices and the effects of the global financial crisis caused the local currency to drop 40% against the U.S. dollar. Two of the 16 commercial banks were taken into receivership. In 2011, GDP growth was expected to reach 16.4%. However, inflation continued to erode GDP gains, with an average rate of 12.6% expected at the end of 2011. Although GDP has risen steadily since 2002 at the rate of 7.5% in an official 2006 estimate, the state is still working to overcome a sizable trade deficit. The Economist predicted this trade deficit of 14% of Mongolias GDP would transform into a surplus in 2013.

In which year did Mongolia have a lower grown rate, 2007 or 2008?
A: 2008

Along the Mediterranean coast is a strip of land, well-enough watered to support grazing for camels and sheep; digging for water generally succeeds but wells and cisterns are often far apart and sometimes unexpectedly dry. The earth is dusty in summer and glutinous in the rainy season from December to March, when the days are relatively cool and night bitter cold. South of the coastal strip is a bare limestone plateau, about 50mi wide at Dabaa and 150mi broad at Sollum. To the south lies the desert, with sand dunes for several hundred miles. Siwa Oasis, a Senussi stronghold, lies 160mi south of Sollum on the edge of the sand sea and to the east are a string of oases, some close enough to the Nile Valley to be in range of Senussi raiders mounted on camels. A standard-gauge railway ran along the coast from Alexandria, intended to terminate at Sollum, which in 1915 had reached Dabaa, from which ran a track, known as the Khedival Motor Road, which was motorable in dry weather, although when hostilities began the wet season was imminent. The western frontier of Egypt had not been defined in 1914 because negotiations with the Ottomans had been interrupted by the Italo-Turkish War and then negated by the cession of Tripoli to Italy. A notional frontier ran south from Sollum, to the east of which was an area of 200,000sqmi all desert south of the semi-desert coastal strip but with several oases, some quite big and supporting sizeable populations, administered by the Egyptian government. Bedouin lived a nomadic life between the oases, traded with the inhabitants and took refuge at them when wells ran dry.

How many miles broader is the Plateau than it is wide?
A: 100

Following the Mamluk victory over the Mongols in 1260 at the Battle of Ain Jalut by Qutuz and his general Baibars, Qutuz was assassinated, leaving Baibars to claim the sultanate for himself. As Sultan, Baibars proceeded to attack the Christian crusaders at Arsuf, Athlith, Haifa, Safad, Jaffa, Ascalon, and Caesarea. As the Crusader fortress cities fell one by one, the Christians sought help from Europe, but assistance was slow in coming. In 1268 Baibars captured Antioch, thereby destroying the last remnant of the Principality of Antioch, securing the Mamluk northern front and threatening the small Crusader County of Tripoli. Louis IX of France, having already organized a large crusader army with the intent of attacking Egypt, was diverted instead to Tunis, where Louis himself died in 1270. Prince Edward of England arrived in Tunis too late to contribute to the remainder of the crusade in Tunis. Instead, he continued on his way to the Holy Land to assist Bohemund VI, Prince of Antioch and Count of Tripoli, against the Mamluk threat to Tripoli and the remnant of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. On May 9, 1271, Edward finally arrived at Acre. He brought a small but not insignificant contingent of no more than 1,000 men, including 225 knights.

How many fortress cities were attacked by Baibars?
A:
7