Geog Paper 2

• AC


  Advanced Country
• EDC


  Emerging + Developing Country
• LIDC


  Low Income Developing Country
• The DRC is an LIDC, it was colonised in the past by Belgium who exploited the DRC's natural resources such as copper, gold and diamonds for profit and did not allow Congolese people the right to vote or get more than a very basic education
• After independence, the DRC struggled with political instability, poor leadership, corruption and relying on natural resources as its main export which was a problem economically because the price of raw materials fluctuated a lot, never bringing the country a stable income
• The DRC has had civil war and corruption led to poor education and healthcare, which limited development
• 90% of the DRC's exports are raw materials which are sold unprocessed- other countries process the raw materials and add value to them, selling them at a higher, more stable price than the raw materials sell for (gaining more value from trade than the DRC), as the DRC is an LIDC, it cannot afford to process the materials themselves
• Although the DRC has increased its trading partners and trade volume in the last 15 years, not many TNCs want to locate there
• Two TNCs in the DRC


  • Banro
  • Anglo American
• These TNCs bring in investment to the DRC, helping to improve infrastructure like transport or local markets and bringing jobs. However, these jobs are low paid, low skilled and dangerous jobs, the higher paid management jobs are filled by foreign workers and the TNC takes their profit back to their country of origin instead of the DRC
• Reasons for different level of development


  • Human Reasons
  • Physical reasons
• Colonialism


  Europeans invaded + ruled countries in Asia, Africa and S America, exploiting resources from the colonies to the benefit of the ACs- keeping LIDCs poor
• Unfair Trade


  ACs set unfair trade conditions that help them get resources for low prices, to the disadvantage of LIDCs developing
• War/conflict


  Countries at war develop slower due to instability, disruption to services (education/healthcare), damaged infrastructure and money not used for development
• War/conflict


  • Afghanistan
• Landlocked


  When a country has no access to the sea it cannot easily trade with other countries, limiting its ability to make money
• Natural Resources


  Lots of natural resources like gold or oil earns a country money, which can be used to develop
• Natural hazards


  Countries with lots of natural hazards like earthquakes, tropical storms or floods can suffer frequent damage, money is needed to rebuild infrastructure and services, this disrupts development
• Natural hazards


  • Haiti
• The United Nations (UN) developed 8 global goals to help countries develop in 2000, such as reducing poverty + hunger and providing universal education- the DRC signed up to these goals
• MDG 1: reducing poverty and hunger. MIXED PROGRESS: poverty reduced from 71% in 2005 to 63% in 2012 but more people suffering from malnutrition- from 51% in 2000 to 66% in 2015
• MDG 2: education for all. MIXED PROGRESS: The percentage of children completing primary school doubled from 35% in 1999 to 72% in 2013 but more boys complete than girls
• MDG 3: gender equality. UNSUCCESSFUL: More boys in school than girls, more men in employment than women, women paid less for doing the same job as men
• MDG 6: reduce disease. SUCCESS: HIV/AIDS rates fallen from 5% to 1% due to better education + access to contraception. Malaria rates halved fallen due to more mosquito nets
• Aid


  When a country gives ££ or resources to another, either directly or through international organisations (World Bank) for either long term projects or short term disaster relief
• The DRC receives billions of $ in aid annually. Aid has helped the DRC because it has helped to improve living conditions, health and education- the UK has funded 1700km of new roads and emergency aid has provided food and shelter for those affected by conflict in the DRC
• Aid is not always helpful because some aid in the past has been in the form of weapons, not $, which didn't help people. Some give aid but demand it is spend on certain things- China gave $9 billion in 2008 but this had to be spent on mining and associated infrastructure not on the needs of the country
• If a country is in a lot of debt and unlikely to ever be able to pay it back, it qualifies for debt relief as an HIPC (Heavily Indebted Poor Countries). Countries such as the DRC have had a lot of their debt cancelled to help them spend more on developing their country
• Barriers to Development


  • Trade
  • Debt
  • Political unrest
• Trade


  ACs trade in high value finished goods, LIDCs trade in raw resources, the price of these fluctuates and is lower than finished goods- so LIDCs get less £ from trade. ACs trade in blocs (groups) for lower prices and have good trade links, unlike LIDCs
• Debt


  LIDCs are often in debt (owe money) from loans or in interest on their loans, income is spent paying back the loans instead of investing in their country
• Political Unrest


  Slows development as infrastructure is destroyed, population is displaced to areas with more pressure on food and supplies, services like healthcare, education and food production are disrupted, affecting a country's development
• Rostow (an economist) came up with a model of how countries develop economically over time. There are 5 stages: 1. Traditional Society, 2. Pre-conditions for economic take off, 3. Economic take off, 4. Drive to maturity, 5. Age of High Mass consumption. The DRC is at stage 2, to develop further and become a stage 3 country it needs to develop its industries to make more ££ and use the ££ to build better infrastructure (transport especially) and improve quality of life for its people
• Indicators of Development


  • GDP (per capita)
  • Life expectancy
  • Literacy Rate
  • Infant mortality
  • Human Development Index (HDI)
• GDP (per capita)


  £ made by a country annually through goods and services, divided by the country's population
• Life expectancy


  Average age a person can expect to live to from birth
• Literacy Rate


  No of people aged 15 and over who can read + write
• Infant mortality


  No of babies who die before they reach 1st birthday
• Human Development Index (HDI)

  Combination of wealth, health + education, makes a score between 0 and 1. The close the score is to 1, the better the HDI
• The Grand Inga Dam is a large hydro electric power dam built on the Congo River funded by aid. Advantages: generated cheap hydro electric power, helping the country to develop its industries like metals processing to increase its income. Disadvantages: 30,000 local people in the Bundi Valley forced to move for dam construction to other rural areas, these poor rural areas got no access to the electricity generated by the dam