Geography - Changing economic world

• Development is an improvement in living standards through better use of resources.
• When a country develops it gets better for the people living there - their quality of life improves (e.g. their wealth, health and safety).
• Economic development is the progress in economic growth through levels of industrialisation and use of technology.
• Social development is an improvement in people's standard of living.
• Environmental development involves advances in the management and protection of the environment.
• The level of development is different in different countries.
• The difference in development between more and less developed countries is called the global development gap.
• Measures of development (development indicators) can be used to compare the development of different countries.
• Gross National Income (GNI) is the total value of goods and services produced by a country in a year, including income from overseas. It's a measure of wealth and as a country develops, it gets higher.
• GNI per capita is the GNI divided by the population of the country. It's a measure of wealth and as a country develops, it gets higher.
• Birth rate is the number of live births per thousand of the population per year. It's a measure of education and as a country develops, it gets lower.
• Death rate is the number of deaths per thousand of the population per year. It's a measure of health and as a country develops, it gets lower.
• Infant mortality rate is the number of babies who die before they are 1 year old, per thousand babies born. It's a measure of health and as a country develops, it gets lower.
• People per doctor is the average number of people for each doctor. It's a measure of health and as a country develops, it gets lower.
• Literacy rate is the percentage of adults who can read and write. It's a measure of education and as a country develops, it gets higher.
• Access to safe water is the percentage of people who can get clean drinking water. It's a measure of health and as a country develops, it gets higher.
• Life expectancy is the average age a person can expect to live to. It's a measure of health and as a country develops, it gets higher.
• Development indicators aren't always accurate. For example, GNI usually misses out informal employment, which can account for a large proportion of national income.
• GNI per capita can be misleading when used on its own because it's an average - variations within the country don't show up. For example, the GNI per capita 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.
• Social indicators can be misleading if they are used on their own because, as a country develops, some aspects develop before others, meaning a country can seem more developed than it actually is. For example, Cuba has a low birth rate, which suggests it's more developed, but a relatively high death rate, which suggests it's less developed.
• High income countries (HICs)


  The wealthiest countries in the world, where the GNI per capita and standards of living are high. These countries can spend money on services.
• Low income countries (LICs)


  The poorest countries in the world, where the GNI per capita is low and most citizens have a low standard of living.
• Newly Emerging Economies (NEEs)


  Countries that are getting richer as their economy is progressing from the primary industry to the secondary industry. Greater exports leads to better wages.
• Human Development Index (HDI)


  A value (from 0 - 1) that uses life expectancy, education level and income per person to measure development. The combination of measures means that a country's HDI shows both the level of economic development and the quality of life.
• The classification of countries by HDI looks similar to GNI but there are some differences, e.g. Nigeria is an NEE according to its wealth, but has a low HDI.
• The Demographic Transition Model (DTM) shows how birth rates and death rates affect population growth.
• Natural increase is when the birth rate is higher than the death rate, so the population grows.
• Natural decrease is when the death rate is higher than the birth rate.
• Population pyramids show the population of a country by age. The number of men and women goes on the horizontal axis and their age group goes on the vertical axis.
• Stage 1 of the DTM


  Birth rate: high and fluctuating.

  Death rate: high and fluctuating.

  Population growth rate: zero.

  Population size: low and steady.

  Example countries: tribes
• Stage 2 of the DTM


  Birth rate: high and steady.

  Death rate: rapidly falling.

  Population growth rate: very high.

  Population size: rapidly increasing.

  Example countries: Nigeria (HDI = 0.5)
• Stage 3 of the DTM


  Birth rate: rapidly falling.

  Death rate: slowly falling.

  Population growth rate: high.

  Population size: increasing.

  Example countries: India (HDI = 0.6)
• Stage 4 of the DTM


  Birth rate: low and fluctuating.

  Death rate: low and fluctuating.

  Population growth rate: zero.

  Population size: high and steady.

  Example countries: UK (HDI = 0.9)
• Stage 5 of the DTM


  Birth rate: slowly falling.

  Death rate: low and steady.

  Population growth rate: negative.

  Population size: slowly falling.

  Example countries: Japan (HDI = 0.9)
• Stage 1 of the DTM is the least developed - very few places are at stage 1 now. The birth rate is high because there's no use of contraception. People also 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.
• Stage 2 of the DTM is not very developed - many LICs are in stage 2. The birth rate is high - the economy is based on agriculture, so people have lots of children to work on farms. Better healthcare increases life expectancy, so death rates fall.
• Stage 3 of the DTM is more developed - most NEEs are at stage 3. The birth rates fall rapidly as the use of contraception 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 rates fall and life expectancy increases.
• Stage 4 and 5 of the DTM are the most developed - most HICs are at one of these stages. Birth rates are low - 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 the death rate is low and life expectancy is high.
• Physical factors that make a country more likely to be less developed:

  • A poor climate.
  • Poor farming land.
  • Few raw materials.
  • Lots of natural disasters.
• A poor climate (physical factor that impacts development)

  • Really hot, really cold or really dry climates means not much will grow. This means not much can be produced, which can lead to malnutrition (e.g. Chad and Ethiopia). This leads to a low quality of life.
  • Fewer crops to sell means they have less money to spend on goods and services. As less is sold and bought, the government gets less money from taxes. This means there's less money to spend on developing the country, e.g. improving healthcare and education