Countries That Send The Most Visitors to US

Fannie Barnes is not one to be afraid of a steep challenge. No thanks to most of her male co-workers, she's now the first female "gripman" in the history of San Francisco's cable-car system.

Despite her six years as a ticket-taker, few of the men would help her learn the responsibilities involved in wrestling an eight-ton car up and down the city's famous hills. But she went ahead anyway. "The guys who were against me," she says, "gave me even more inspiration. No way I was going to let 2000 come and not have a woman [in] this job."

Three patrons at an Urbana, Ill., restaurant didn't exactly start the day off right when they tried to skip out without paying for the breakfast they'd just eaten. Also dining there were members of a police SWAT team. The cops followed them outside and arrested each on misdemeanor theft charges. Countries That Send The Most Visitors to US

If nothing else, the North American Free Trade Agreement has ensured that more visitors to the US continue to come from Canada and Mexico than from any other country. The Commerce Department's International Trade Administration ranking of the top 10 source countries for such visitors in 1996 (the most recent year for which statistics are available) and the number of visitors from each (in millions):

1. Canada 15.3
2. Mexico 8.5
3. Japan 5.0
4. United Kingdom 3.1
5. Germany 2.0
6. France 1.0
7. Brazil 0.9
8. South Korea 0.8
9. Italy 0.6 10. Australia 0.5