A few more comments on your table design.
Stefan Schwarzer skrev:
> So, instead of the earlier mentioned database design, I would have
> something like this:
>
> - one table for the country names/ids/etc. (Afghanistan, 1; Albania,
> 2....)
There is a well-established natural key for countries - ISO 3166. Use
that instead of "id".
> - one table for the variable names/ids/etc. (GDP, 1; Population, 2;
> Fish Catch, 3;....)
> - one table for the years names/ids/etc. (1970, 1; 1971, 2; 1973, 3;
> ....)
No need for an ID column on this one. Just use the year as the primary key.
Nis