You Are More Indebted Than You Know

You probably have stereotyped ideas about which countries are important, and which countries we could do without. Nobody would miss Bolivia, you think. We'd all get by okay if a bottomless pit opened up there tomorrow. Well think again. Those countries are important sources for important elements:

Bolivia -- tungsten
Turkey -- osmium
Mozambique -- tantalum
Kazakhstan -- bismuth
Burkina Faso -- manganese
Madagascar -- scandium
Afghanistan -- yttrium

Not sneering now, are you?