Geography key terms

• Birth rate

  the number of live births per year per 1000 people
• Death rate

  the number of deaths per year per 1000 people
• access to an improved water supply

  the percentage of the population that has access to drinking water that is unpolluted, disease free, and safe to drink
• Life expectancy

  the average age that a person is expected to live to
• People per doctor

  the average number of patients that each available doctor is responsible for
• Literacy rate

  the percentage of the population that can read or write over the age of 15
• Infant mortality rate

  the number of children who die before the age of 1 per 1000 live births
• GDP

  the total value of all goods and services produced by a country in a year including income from overseas investment
• GNI per capita

  the total value of the goods and services produced by a country divided by the population
• HDI (human development index)

  a score from 0 to 1 that includes life expectancy, access to education, and GNI per capita
• Quality of life (QOL)

  a qualitative measure of a country's development that is subjective and based on life satisfaction and people's access to facilities which make their life more enjoyable
• Immigrant


  a person who moves to a country
• Emigrant


  a person who moves out of a country
• economic migrant


  a person who moves for better life such as work or education
• refugee

  a person who is forced to migrate from their country due to war or natural disaster
• brain drain


  highly skilled workers leaving a country in search of higher wages
• international aid

  the giving of money, goods, or services to a country that does not need to be returned
• emergency aid


  money, food, goods, and services given at times of dire need
• food aid

  edible commodities donated to needy populations
• multilateral aid

  aid given by a number of countries and organisations like the UN or WHO
• Tied aid


  foreign aid that must be used in the donor country to buy goods and services from the country giving aid
• sustainable development

  development that meets the needs of the people today without harming the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
• non-governmental organisation (NGO)

  an independent charitable organisation that provides aid
• bilateral aid


  aid from one country to another
• voluntary aid

  money collected from the public (and sometimes governements) by NGOs
• short-term aid

  aid that provides support for a short time, sometimes when there is an immediate need
• long-term aid

  aid that provides support over a long period of time to make the changes last
• top-down development

  development projects that are imposed in people from above
• bottom-up development

  development projects that start work form the 'grass roots' level
• multiplier effect


  ensures money gets recycled through the local economy
• de-industrialisation

  the decline of a country's industry due to exhaustion of raw materials, loss of markets, and competition from NEEs