Economic
Development
Mastering the TEKS in World
Geography
Chapter 18
Student Expectations
• WG5B – Interpret political, economic, social,
and demographic indicators (gross domestic
product per capita, life expectancy, literacy,
and infant mortality) to determine the level of
development and standard of living in nations
using the terms Human Development Index –
less developed, newly industrialized and more
developed.
Here’s what you will be
learning…
• You will learn how various indicators
are used to describe how developed
a nation’s economy is.
• You will also learn how these same
indicators are also used to measure
the level of a country’s standards of
living.
Essential Questions
• How do economists
measure a country’s
level of economic
development?
Create a Circle Map with words
to describe economics.
Important Ideas
• Various indicators are used to
determine the level of development
and standards of living of a country,
including Gross Domestic Product
(G.D.P.) per capita, life expectancy,
infant mortality, and literacy rate.
• The type of economic activities in a
country influence its level of
development.
Geographic Terminology
• Human Development
•Infant Mortality
Index
•Less Developed
•Literacy
•Newly Industrialized
•Primary Activities
•More Developed
•Secondary Activities
•G.D.P.
•Tertiary Activities
•G.D.P. per Capita
•Quaternary
Activities
Do you consider the United
States to be a less developed
country or a more developed
country?
Explain your answer.
•What is an example of a
developing country?
•What factors do you think
make a country developing?
Economic Development
• Economic development refers to how
advanced an economy is.
• More Developed Nations – countries
with advanced economies
• Less Developed Nations – countries
with lower standards of living and less
advanced technologies
• “Newly industrialized” or
“emerging economies” – are
countries that are moving from less
developed to more developed
Newly Industrialized
Countries
What level of economic development do you
think the countries on the map are in? Why?
Newly Industrialized Countries
Newly industrialized
countries are those that
are moving from less to
more developed
economies.
Newly industrialized
countries can also be
called emerging
economies or developing
economies.
What does emerging
mean?
How does this relate to
economics?
An easy way to know the 4 major newly
industrialized countries is to remember this …
What countries do you think BRIC is referring to?
Don’t forget, we are talking about emerging economies.
Russia
China
India
What common characteristics do the BRIC
countries share regarding their economies?
Where do you think the main source of
income comes from for these countries?
What do you think the majority of people in
these countries do for work?
More Developed Countries
What level of economic development do you
think the countries on the map are in? Why?
Indicators of
Development
Now you will need the chart called
“Case Study of Various Countries.”
Fill in the chart as you view the maps. You may
need an atlas to identify where each country on
the chart is located and to choose a country of
your choice.
Human Development Index
Developed by the
United Nations in 1990
as a tool for ranking
countries based on
their level of economic
development.
What indicators do you think
the United Nations took into
account when deciding how
to determine the level of
economic development?
•Demographic Indicators
•Economic Indicators
•Social Indicators
•Political Indicators
Demographic
Indicators
Demographic
Indicators
Life Expectancy
The average number of years
an individual in the country is
expected to live.
What are some factors
that could affect life
expectancy?
Life Expectancy Map, 2011
Life Expectancy
Demographic
Indicators
Birth and Death
Rates
They are normally
measured by how
many people are born
or die for every 1,000
people in that nation
for a given year.
What is another
name for the
death rate?
Why does a high
mortality rate
generally mean a
country is less
developed?
Mortality Rate per 1,000 People
per Year
Birth Rate per 1,000 People
per Year
Demographic Indicators
What factors
could directly
influence infant
mortality rates?
Infant Mortality
The number of
infants who die for
every thousand
births.
The most common causes of infant deaths
in the world has traditionally been
dehydration, diarrhea, malnutrition,
malaria, and lack of prenatal care.
Infant Deaths per 1,000
(under 1 year)
Economic
Indicators
Economic indicators tell how
well an economy is
performing.
Economic Indicators
The Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) is the
total value of all goods
and services produced
by a nation in a year.
The Gross Domestic Product
per capita (GDP/# of people)
is the value of goods and
services produced in a year
in a nation by an average
person.
Is it better for a country to have a
high GDP or low GDP? Why?
Economic Indicators
What are some other economic indicators of
a country’s wealth or lack thereof?
What countries have the highest GDP?
What color are they?
Does the geographic
location of a country
have any bearing on its
What countries
theyour
lowest GDP?
GDP? have
Explain
answer.
What color
are they?
Social
Indicators
Social Indicators
Because more developed nations are wealthier,
they are able to provide more social services to
their citizens. People are healthier, better
educated and more productive than the citizens of
less developed nations.
Some of the social indicators that economists consider
include:
• literacy rates
•The percentage of people attending colleges and
universities
•The number of professional people – such as doctors and
lawyers
•Housing
•Water supply
•Sanitation
Political
Indicators
Political indicators include the freedoms
people enjoy, the degree of democracy
and voting rights, the level of human
rights, the degree of government
oppression, and the tolerance for
different points of view.
One way the political indicators are measured is by using a
democracy index.
A group called the Economist Intelligence Unit has put together 5
indicators of democracy which can be used to rate countries on
their level of democracy.
1. Electoral process and pluralism
Think of a country you have
2. Civil liberties
learned about. How would you
3. Functioning of government
rate that country on each of these
4. Political participation
five points? Use a scale of 1 to 10
5. Political culture
and explain your answers.
The democracy index measures democracy (or lack of) in 167 countries, of which 165 are
sovereign nations and 165 are UN members.
Doesn’t it seem like countries would only increase their democratic index every year?
Well, between 2010 and 2011 a few countries actually regressed and went backwards on
the democratic scale. Any guess as to which ones?
Russia and Portugal were downgraded. What could have caused this?
Norway has a
democratic
index of 9.80,
the highest in
the world.
Which country
do you think has
the highest
democracy index
rating in the
world?
How about
now?
Know what it is
yet?
Norway
Know what it is yet?
Which country
has the lowest
rating on the
democracy index?
What about
now?
North Korea has the
lowest rating on the
democracy index.
Their rating is a
1.08.
Democracy Index, 2010
Government’s
Relation to
Economic
Development
IS there a
connection?
True or False
There is no direct
relationship between
economic development and
a nation’s system of
government.
Some more developed economies have been
ruled by dictators, while some democracies
are less developed nations.
How can a democratic system lead to faster economic growth?
Democratic provides
Government
A system of
laws
which
allows
People the freedom
to start their own
businesses
All of this contributes to a
Faster growing
economy aided
by…
Freedom of
expression
Checks and
balances
Can a nation’s economic system help
transform its political system?
Why or why not?
Some economists believe that the economic system can change a country’s political
system.
• Economic development promotes a strong middle class , the basis of
democracy.
• Economic development also promotes a strong sense of independence and
personal freedom
• Greater wealth allows individuals and businesses to strengthen their
independence from the government.
Some experts even believe that China may gradually become more democratic as
their economy continues to prosper.