In the early 1900s Argentina was one of the richest countries in the world by income per person. Its economy boomed on exports of beef, wheat and maize to Britain and Europe, financed by British investment and fuelled by immigration from Italy and Spain. Buenos Aires built grand boulevards and opera houses, including the Teatro Colón, which opened in 1908, so the city came to look much like Paris. Later, economic shocks, political instability and policy choices reduced the country's relative standing, and its income today is closer to Colombia's than to France's.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.