But he says they also act as representations of a country's wealth and geopolitical power.

VOA: special.2010.03.31

Owning such protective armor helped show a ruler's wealth and power.

VOA: special.2010.08.04

Not only did the gold show off a family's wealth and status, it was portable and easily sold in a crisis.

VOA: standard.2010.07.21

This year's Forbes magazine list of the world's richest people estimated her wealth at almost two and a half billion dollars.

VOA: special.2010.04.16

They wanted producers to get a fairer share of the nation's increasing wealth.

VOA: special.2010.06.10

Arguments over the details of how to spend East Timor's newfound wealth, continues to slow the pace of economic progress.

VOA: standard.2009.08.28

"Ted Kennedy's life's work was not to champion the causes of those with wealth or power or special connections.

VOA: standard.2009.08.29

Human rights activists said the benefits of Angola's vast oil and diamond wealth is not being equitably distributed.

VOA: standard.2009.03.20

Ordinary Venezuelans have mixed feelings about how their nation's oil wealth is managed.

VOA: standard.2010.08.06

The vast reddish desert that covers much of Somalia's central Mudug region has always been a source of wealth, as well as calamity, for thousands of pastoral families.

VOA: standard.2009.10.06

Mr.Gadhafi has ruthlessly crushed any opposition, while claiming his government is run directly by the people a people who have so far seen little of the nation's massive oil wealth.

VOA: standard.2009.08.29

The militant group, which says it is fighting for a fairer share of the region's oil wealth, crippled daily oil production with series of attacks on oil facilities and personnel since early 2006.

VOA: standard.2009.12.21