GROUP A
France
Population: 63.4 million
Climate: Temperate
Economy: GDP is 1.948 trillion and the country's major trading partners are the US and European markets.
Government: Republic government led by President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Famous for: Wine, Cheese, Eiffel Tower, Romance
Star Player: France Telecom
Top IT industry: Telecoms
Major IT contributions: France Telecom, owner of Orange, is one of France's largest companies and the third largest telecoms provider in Europe.
Mexico
Population: 111 million
Climate: Tropical to temperate
Economy: GDP is $1.559 billion and the country's major trading partner is the US.
Government: Federal constitutional republic led by Felipe Caldern.
Famous for: Aztecs, Tequila, Mariachi music
Star Player: JackBe
Top IT industry: Telecoms
Major IT contributions: The country is putting a lot of investment into Wi-Fi, with more than 72 million subscribers over 20 million fixed lines.
South Africa
Population: 48.7 million
Climate: Temperate
Economy: GDP is $276.5 billion and the country's major trading partners are the US, UK, Germany and Japan.
Government: Constitutional democracy led by President Jacob Zuma.
Famous for: Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a number of cricket players who now play for England and the Springboks rugby team.
Star Player: Thawte
Top IT industry: Security
Major IT contributions: Early internet security company Thawte was founded in South Africa and eventually bought out by VeriSign. From a science perspective, the first human to human heart transplant was performed in the country back in 1967.
Uruguay
Population: 3.5 million
Climate: Mild
Economy: GDP is $30.8 billion and the country's major trading partners are Brazil, the US, China, Argentina and Venezuela.
Government: Presidential Republic led by Jos Mujica.
Famous for: Tango, 1811 revolution against Spain
Star Player: IdeaSoft
Top IT industry: Telecoms
Major IT contributions: Uruguay is known for having the best communications network of all the Latin American countries, being the first to achieve full coverage with a telephone network back in 1997.
