GEOGRAPHY IGCSE: CONTRASTS IN DEVELOPMENT
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This document discusses ways to measure development between countries, including economic development indicators like GDP and human development indicators like health, education, and quality of life. It provides examples of development data for different countries and notes that while some countries may appear developed based on economic statistics, human development indicators provide a more complete picture of overall societal progress. Development happens unevenly and indices must be used carefully as averages may mask inequalities within countries.
GEOGRAPHY IGCSE: CONTRASTS IN DEVELOPMENT
- 1. IGCSE GEOGRAPHY 25. DEVELOPMENT CONTRASTS IN DEVELOPMENT. MEASURING DEVELOPMENT.
- 3. Studying development is about measuring how developed one country is compared to other countries, or to the same country in the past. Development measures how economically, socially, culturally or technologically advanced a country is. The two most important ways of measuring development are economic development and human development.
- 4. Economic development is a measure of a country's wealth and how it is generated (for example agriculture is considered less economically advanced then banking). Human development measures the access the population has to wealth, jobs, education, nutrition, health, leisure and safety - as well as political and cultural freedom. Material elements, such as wealth and nutrition, are described as the standard of living. Health and leisure are often referred to as quality of life.
- 5. AN OPERATING THEATRE Regions with high levels of development can be recognised by a high availability of medicines, health technology and educated workers.
- 6. There is no single way to calculate the level of development because of the variety of economies, cultures and peoples. Geographers use a series of development indicators to compare the development of one region against another.
- 7. Health. Do the population have access to medical care? What level of healthcare is available - basic or advanced? Is it free? Industry. What type of industry dominates? LEDCs focus on primary industries, such as farming, fishing and mining. MEDCs focus on secondary industries, such as manufacturing. The most advanced countries tend to focus more on tertiary or service industries, such as banking and information technology. Education. Do the population have access to education? Is it free? What level of education is available (primary, secondary or further/higher education)?
- 8. MEDCs are countries which have a high standard of living and a large GDP. LEDCs are countries with a low standard of living and a much lower GDP. The next map shows the locations of LEDCs and MEDCs. Most of the southern hemisphere is less developed, while countries in the northern hemisphere are more developed.
- 10. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the total value of goods and services produced by a country in a year. Gross National Product (GNP) measures the total economic output of a country, including earnings from foreign investments. GNP per capita is a country's GNP divided by its population. (Per capita means per person.) Economic growth measures the annual increase in GDP, GNP, GDP per capita, or GNP per capita.
- 11. Inequality of wealth is the gap in income between a country's richest and poorest people. It can be measured in many ways, (the proportion of a country's wealth owned by the richest 10% of the population, compared with the proportion owned by the remaining 90%). Inflation measures how much the prices of goods, services and wages increase each year. High inflation (above a few percent) can be a bad thing, and suggests a government lacks control over the economy. Unemployment is the number of people who cannot find work.
- 12. Economic structure shows the division of a country's economy between primary, secondary and tertiary industries. Demographics study population growth and structure. It compares birth rates to death rates, life expectancy and urban and rural ratios. Many LEDCs have a younger, faster-growing population than MEDCs, with more people living in the countryside than in towns. The birth rate in the UK is 11 per 1,000, whereas in Kenya it is 40.
- 13. Development often takes place in an uneven way. A country may have a very high GDP - derived, for example, from the exploitation of rich oil reserves - while segments of the population live in poverty and lack access to basic education, health and decent housing. Hence the importance of human development indicators, measuring the non-economic aspects of a country's development.
- 14. Life expectancy - the average age to which a person lives, eg this is 79 in the UK and 48 in Kenya. Infant mortality rate - counts the number of babies, per 1000 live births, who die under the age of one. This is 5 in the UK and 61 in Kenya. Poverty - indices count the percentage of people living below the poverty level, or on very small incomes (eg under £1 per day). Access to basic services - the availability of services necessary for a healthy life, such as clean water and sanitation. Access to healthcare - takes into account statistics such as how many doctors there are for every patient.
- 15. Risk of disease - calculates the percentage of people with diseases such as AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. Access to education - measures how many people attend primary school, secondary school and higher education. Literacy rate - is the percentage of adults who can read and write. This is 99 per cent in the UK, 85 per cent in Kenya and 60 per cent in India.
- 16. Access to technology - includes statistics such as the percentage of people with access to phones, mobile phones, television and the internet. Male/female equality - compares statistics such as the literacy rates and employment between the sexes. Government spending priorities - compares health and education expenditure with military expenditure and paying off debts.
- 17. Geographers compare the statistics for different countries to see if there is a relationship or correlation between the data for different countries. A correlation helps to show what factors contribute to development. The next example compares GDP per capita to adult literacy rate in a scatter graph. The plotting for each country does not show much on its own, but together they show a pattern. This scatter graph shows that there is a correlation between the wealth of a country and their adult literacy rate.
- 19. A development index measures a country's performance according to specific development indicators. Some countries may appear to be developed according to some indices, but not according to others.
- 20. Vietnam and Pakistan have a similar per capita GDP. However, life expectancy and literacy are considerably higher in Vietnam than they are in Pakistan. Saudi Arabia has a per capita GDP comparable to that of Croatia. However, in Saudi Arabia there is greater inequality between men and women when considering access to education and political power. So, although they are equal on an economic development index - Saudi Arabia is less developed on a human development index.
- 21. Development indices can be misleading and need to be used with care. For example: Many indices are averages for the whole population of a country. This means that indices do not always reveal substantial inequalities between different segments of society. For example, a portion of the population of a highly developed country could be living below the poverty line. In some countries, the data used in indices could be out of date or hard to collect. Some countries do not wish to have certain index data collected - for example, many countries do not publish statistics about the number of immigrants and migrants.
- 22. In an exam you may be given some development indicators for different countries. Read the information for each country carefully. Always look at all the data presented. Don't jump to conclusions about a country on the basis of one or two indicators.