Development Classifications
- Low-income developing countries (LIDCs) are countries that are poor and have a narrow range of jobs and few services
- Their GNI per capita is low
- Their economy tends to be based on primary industry (natural commodities) and they don’t export many goods
- They don’t have enough money to spend on development, so the level stays low
- For most citizens, the standard of living is low
- LIDCs are found in the majority of Africa, apart from the North and South tips and in some parts of Asia
- Examples are Afghanistan, Somalia, Mali and Nepal
- Emerging and developing countries (EDCs) are countries that are in transition from being LIDCs to ACs
- Their economy tends to be moving from primary industry to secondary industry and exports of manufactured goods are generally high
- Exports and increasing wages mean more money is available to spend on developing the country
- For most citizens, the standard of living is improving
- EDCs are found in South America, Asia and the Northern and Southern tips of Africa
- Examples are China, Brazil, Russia and India
- Advanced countries (ACs) are countries that are wealthy and have a broad range of jobs and many services
- The GNI per capita is high
- Their economy tends to be based on tertiary and quaternary industry
- For most citizens, the standard of living is high, and people tend to be well-educated and have a high life expectancy
- ACs are found in North America, Europe and Australasia
- Examples are France, Canada, Australia, the UK and the USA
Development Measures
- Development of a country is difficult to measure as it includes so many things but there are ways of measuring different areas of development
- Economic measures
- Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the total value of goods and services a country produces in a year
- GDP per capita is the GDP divided by the population of a country
- Gross National Income (GNI) is the total value of goods and services produced by a country in a year, including income from overseas
- GNI per capita is the GNI divided by the population of a country
- GNI/capita at purchasing power parity (PPP) takes the cost of living into account
- Social measures
- Birth rate is the number of live babies born per thousand of the population per year
- Death rate is the number of deaths per thousand of the population per year
- Infant mortality rate is the number of babies who die under one year old per thousand babies born
- Literacy rate is the percentage of adults who can read and write
- Mixed measures
- Happy index is a combination of life-expectancy, well-being and level of inequality divided by its environmental impact
- Countries are rated red, amber or green
- Human Development Index
- It includes wealth by GDP/capita, health by life expectancy and education by adult literacy rate and percentage of children in education
- Countries are values between 0 and 1
Uneven Development
- There was a North-South divide of development known as the Brandt line in 1980, dividing developed countries in the North and undeveloped countries in the South
- However, as the world develops two classifications are no longer possible and the world is divided into ACs, EDCs and LIDCs
- In 2001, BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) were identified as having the potential to be the world’s largest economies by 2050 due to their rapidly growing economies as measured by GDP
- In 2014, MINTs (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey) were identified to have the same potential
- The GNI per capita and the HDI illustrate the consequences of uneven development as in LIDCs the numbers would be lower whilst in ACs the numbers would be higher
Factors Affecting Global Uneven Development
- The history of colonialism causes the same issues post-independence as it did during the period because the colonies that supplied Europe and North America with natural commodities were unable to develop themselves
- The patterns of trade established during the colonial period continue today, and the debt they may be in also prevents development
- Educated people produce a more skilled workforce and earn more
- This increases the number of goods available to trade and the number of investment opportunities
- The government gets more money by taxes to spend on development
- As more people tour in a country, the government gets richer through all the resources they pay to use, this money can be spent on development
- The lack of sanitation, clean water and good healthcare mean a larger number of people suffer from diseases such as malaria, diarrhoea and cholera
- The sick people are unable to work so aren’t contributing to the economy and may even be taking from it due to expensive treatments
- A country given aid can develop from there
- However, if countries come to rely on aid it might stop them from developing trade links that could be a better way of developing
- Corrupt governments can use monetary aid for the wrong purposes
- A good climate would be warm and moist with seasons that are not too extreme
- Crops could be farmed, and people would be comfortable
- A poor climate would be extreme temperatures or seasons
- Food production would be reduced, causing malnutrition, reducing life-expectancy and quality of life
- People have fewer crops to sell, so less money to spend on goods and services which limits other industries
- The government gets less money in taxes meaning they do not have money to spend on development
- As climate change continues to occur, this can limit development
- Melting glaciers in mountain ranges will initially cause flooding but later, they will reduce river flow and there will be water shortages
- Coastal flooding will cause small islands to disappear and major coastline cities could also be at major risk
- As temperatures rise, bacteria multiply, increasing disease in countries
- Urban temperature rise could make life in LIDCs unbearable
- Crop yields will fall due to increased water loss from plants and reduced levels of soil moisture
- More weather disasters like tropical storms and droughts will occur
- A large population is necessary to develop as there are more people to perform more jobs and to pay more taxes which can be spend on development
- A small population would be less beneficial as there would be less money in circulation and the government would not get a lot of taxes
- An ideal location would be bordering many countries and with access to seas to make exportation easier
- A poor location would be landlocked, making it more difficult to export goods which would bring in income and more difficult to import goods which would be good to improve industries
- A country with abundant natural resources would mean there are more goods to export and sell, increasing the income to individuals and the government
- Some countries do not have the infrastructure to harbour the resources
- A country with few natural resources doesn’t have a lot to sell and therefore the government does not get additional income
- A country with few or no natural hazards is beneficial as the government can spend money on development because they do not need to budget money for the occurrence of a natural disaster
- A country with lots of natural hazards is bad for the people as if a natural disaster occurs, they could suffer injury or death and property and possessions are destroyed
- The government also must spend a lot of money on repairing the damage caused by a natural disaster
Factors Making it Hard to Break out of Poverty
- Debt is a problem for any country that borrows money to pay for goods and services
- The money must be paid back, usually with interest, so the country has no money left to spent on development
- The impact of debt is worse for LIDCs with a smaller GNI
- The IMF lends money for development on strict conditions of repaid debts and spending cuts
- Since 2000, over 30 countries have benefited from international debt relief, giving them more money to spend on essential services
- Countries that are not in debt are in surplus
- Countries that export goods and services of a greater value than those which they import are in trade surplus
- Most trade is between ACs, and dominated by Europe and partly by China
- Countries that export goods and services of a lesser value than those which they import have a trade deficit
- World trade patterns influence a country’s economy as if it has poor trade links it won’t make a lot of money
- Countries which sell primary products are less profitable than those who sell manufactured goods which keeps the cycle of a low level of development going
- The price of natural commodities fluctuates with demand, while the price of manufactured goods is generally increasing
- TNCs are often based in ACs, so the money goes back there rather than to LIDCs
- Political unrest happens when there is a widespread dissatisfaction with the government in a country
- Political unrest can escalate into civil war which displaces people, increases deaths and disrupts services and production
- Countries spend money on the resources and arms necessary for war rather than spending money on development, and after the war, the government must spend a lot of money on repair
- Corrupt governments can hinder development by allocating funds to the wrong areas
- They could also prevent a fair election
- If the government or general political situation is unstable, the country will have a bad reputation and others won’t want to trade with it
