Once self-sufficient in oil, it has been a net importer since 1993 and today faces a widening oil deficit as demand outstrips supply.

CNN: THE BIG OIL SHOCK

In a generation or two, the Zulus were farmers and herders no more, no longer proudly self-sufficient, and their families, once the very soul of their tribe, quickly began to crumble.

NPR: One Boy's Heroism in the Face of AIDS

Indonesia, self-sufficient in rice a decade ago, will once again be the world's biggest importer this year.

FORBES: What devaluation hath wrought

Indonesia, self-sufficient in rice a decade ago, will once again be the world's top importer this year.

FORBES: What devaluation hath wrought

There can't be many self-sufficient drunks in the world, autarkic alcoholics who never once have to burden the off-license but who simply press whatever fruit, flowers or vegetables are growing in their gardens and transform the juices into alcohol.

BBC: CLOUD ATLAS, BY DAVID MITCHELL