development

• What is development?


  The progress in economic growth, use of technology, and improving welfare that a country has made. When a country it develops it gets better for the people living there - their quality of life improves.
• Give examples of economic & social measures of development.


  Gross national income (GNI), GNI per head, birth and death rates, infant mortality, life expectancy, people per doctor, literacy rates, access to safe water, Human Development Index (HDI).
• What is GNI?


  The total value of goods and services produced by a country in a year, including income from overseas.
• What is GNI per head?


  The GNI divided by the population of a country.
• What is infant morality rate?

  The number of babies who die before they are 1 year old, per thousand babies born.
• What is literacy rate?


  The percentage of adults that can read and write.
• What are the limitations of GNI?


  GNI usually misses out informal employment, which can account for a large proportion of national income.
• What are the limitations of GNI per head?


  It can be misleading when used on its own because it is an average - variations within the country don't show up.
• Give an example of GNI per head being misleading.


  The GNI per person in Qatar is as high as some HICs, but Qatar actually has a small number of extremely wealthy people and a lot of relatively poor people.
• Why can social indicators be misleading?


  As a country develops, some aspects develop before others so it might seem like a country is more developed than it actually is.
• Give an example of a misleading social indicator.


  Cuba has a low birth rate, which suggests that it is more developed, but a relatively high death rate, which suggests that it is less developed.
• Give examples of HICs.


  UK, USA, Canada, France.
• Give examples of LICs.


  Afghanistan, Somalia, Uganda.
• What are NEEs?


  Countries that are getting rapidly richer as their economy moves from being based on primary industry (e.g. agriculture) to secondary industry (manufacturing).
• Give examples of NEEs.


  BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) and MINT countries (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey).
• How is the Human Development Index for a country calculated?


  Using income, life expectancy and education level - every country has an HDI level between 0 and 1.
• What is the benefit of HDI?


  The value tells you about both the country's level of economic development and the quality of life for people who live there.
• What does the Demographic Transition Model show?


  How birth rates and death rates affect the population growth at 5 different stages.
• What happens at stage 1 of the demographic transition model and why?


  • Very least developed stage - few places are at stage 1 now.

  • Birth rate is high because there's no use of contraception and people have lots of children because infant mortality rates are high.

  • The death rate is high due to poor healthcare or famine, and life expectancy is low.
• What happens at stage 2 of the demographic transition model and why?


  • Not very developed - many LICs are in stage 2.

  • The birth rate is high because the economy is agriculture-based so people have lots of children to work on farms.

  • Better healthcare increases life expectancy so death rates fall.
• What happens at stage 3 of the demographic transition model and why?


  • Stage 3 is more developed - most NEEs are at this stage.

  • The birth rate falls rapidly as contraception use increases and more women work instead of having children. The economy changes from farming to manufacturing, so fewer children are needed to work on farms.

  • Improved healthcare means that the death rate falls and life expectancy increases.
• What happens at stages 4 & 5 of the demographic transition model and why?


  • Stages 4 and 5 are the most developed - most HICs are at one of these stages.

  • Birth rates are low because people expect a high standard of living, and may have dependent elderly relatives, so there is less money available for having children.

  • Healthcare is good, so death rate is low and life expectancy is high.
• What physical factors can impact development of a country?


  Poor climate, poor farming land, few raw materials, lots of natural disasters.
• How does a poor climate impact the development of a country?


  • Some countries are very hot, very cold or very dry where not as much will grow. This means not much food can be produced, leading to malnutrition (e.g. Chad and Ethiopia). People who are malnourished have a low quality of life.

  • This also means people have fewer crops to sell, so they have less money to spend on goods and services. As less is sold and brought, the government gets less money from taxes meaning there's less money to spend on developing the country.
• How does poor farming land impact the development of a country?


  If the land in a country is steep or has poor soil then it will be difficult to grow crops or graze animals to produce food. This can have the same effects as a poor climate.
• How does having few raw materials impact the development of a country?


  • Countries without many raw materials (e.g. coal, oil, metal ores) have fewer products to export to other countries.

  • This means they will tend to make less money, and so they aren't able to spend as much on development projects.

  • Some developing countries have lots of raw materials but can't afford to develop the infrastructure needed to exploit them (e.g. roads and ports).
• How does having lots of natural disasters impact the development of a country?


  • Countries that have lots of natural disasters (e.g. Bangladesh that often has floods) have to spend a lot of money rebuilding after disasters occur.

  • Natural disasters reduce the quality of life of the people affected, and reduce the amount of money the government has to spend on development projects.
• What economic factors can impact the development of a country?


  Poor trade links, lots of debt, an economy based on primary products.
• Why do poor trade links make a country more likely to be at a lower level of development?


  • Trade is the exchange of goods and services between countries

  • If a country has poor trade links it won't be able to make a lot of money, so they'll be less to spend on development.
• Why does lots of debt make a country more likely to be at a lower level of development?


  • Very poor countries borrow money from other countries and international organisations (e.g. to help cope with the aftermath of a natural disaster)

  • This money has to be paid back so there's less for development.
• Why is a country with an economy based on primary products more likely to be at a lower level of development?


  • Countries that export primary products tend to be less developed than countries that export manufactured goods. This is because primary products are sold for less profit than manufactured goods.

  • The prices of primary products fluctuate - sometimes the price falls below the cost of production. Wealthy countries can also force down the prices of the raw materials they buy from poorer countries.
• What historical factors can impact the development of a country?


  Colonisation and conflict.
• How does colonisation cause uneven development?


  • Countries that were colonised are often at a lower development level when they gain independence than they would be if they hadn't been colonised.

  • European countries colonised many countries around the world between the 16th and 20th century.

  • Colonisers removed raw materials and sold back manufactured goods. This meant that profits went back to the colonisers rather than the colonised countries, increasing inequality.

  • Colonisation also prevented the colonised countries from developing their own industries.
• How does conflict cause uneven development?


  • War, especially civil war, can slow/ reduce development.

  • Money is spent on weaponry and training soldiers instead of development

  • People are killed and damage is done to infrastructure and property. Important services such as healthcare and education are disrupted which can lead to an increase in infant morality rates and a decline in literacy rates.

  • Example: Syria had a HDI value of 0.65 before 5 years of war and dropped to 0.54 afterwards.
• What are the consequences of uneven development on wealth?


  • People in more developed countries have a higher income than those in less developed countries - e.g. GNI per head in the UK is over 40 times higher than in Chad.

  • Uneven development can lead to big inequalities in wealth within countries e.g. in 2017 the richest 10% of Kenya's population earned on average 23 times more than the poorest 10%.

  • Wealth can impact people's standard of living - the wealthy can afford goods and services that make their lives more comfortable and convenient (e.g. cars).
• What are the consequences of uneven development on health?


  • Healthcare in more developed countries is usually better than in less developed countries.

  • People in HICs live longer - e.g. the UK's life expectancy is 81 but in Chad it's only 53.

  • Infant mortality is much higher than in less developed countries - e.g. it's 73 per 1000 births in Chad compared to 3.7 per 1000 births in the UK.

  • In LICs and NEEs, the lack of adequate healthcare can mean that people die from diseases that could be easily transferred in HICs - e.g. in 2016 diarrhoea is estimated to have killed over 1.4 million people in Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
• What are the consequences of uneven development on international migration?


  • Many people from LICs and NEEs move to HICs to escape conflict or to improve their quality of life.

  • Example: over 130,000 people move from Mexico to the USA legally each year as ell as thousands illegally in search of better paid jobs and a higher quality of life.

  • Migrant workers contribute to the economies of HICs they move to instead of the LICs they leave, which further increases the development gap.