Human Geography
By James Rubenstein
Chapter 9
Key Issue 1
Why Does Development Vary
Among Countries?
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The world is divided between
relatively rich and relatively poor
countries.
Geographers try to understand the
reasons for this division and learn
what can be done about it.
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More Developed Country
(MDC)
Also known as a relatively
developed country or a developed
country, a country that has
progressed relatively far along a
continuum of development.
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Less Developed Country
(LDC)
Also known as a developing country,
a country that is at a relatively
early stage in the process of
economic development.
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Human Development Index
(HDI)
Indicator of level of
development for each country,
constructed by United Nations,
combining income, literacy,
education, and life expectancy.
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Human Development Index
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Three Factors of
Development
 Economic (Gross domestic
product per capita)
 Social (Literacy rate and
amount of education)
 Demographic (Life expectancy)
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Economic Indicators
of Development
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Economic Indicators of
Development
Besides per capita GDP, 4 other
economic factors distinguish
MDCs from LDCs;
Economic structure,
Worker productivity,
Access to raw materials, and
Availability of consumer goods.
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Gross Domestic Product
(GDP)
The value of the total output of
goods and services produced in
a country in a given time
period (normally a year).
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Per Capita GDP
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Gross National Product
(GNP)
Similar to GDP, except that it
includes income that people
earn abroad, such as a
Canadian working in the United
States.
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The world’s lowest per capita
GDP are found in sub-Sahara
Africa, South Asia, and
Southeast Asia.
The gap in per capita GDP
between MDCs and LDCs has
been widening during the past
quarter century.
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Per capita GDP, or any other
single indicator, cannot
measure perfectly the level of
a country’s development.
Per capita GDP measures
average (mean) wealth, not its
distribution.
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Types of Jobs
All jobs fall into one of three
categories;
Primary (including agriculture),
Secondary (including
manufacturing), and
Tertiary (including services).
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Primary Sector
The portion of the economy
concerned with the direct
extraction of materials from
Earth’s surface, generally
through agriculture, although
sometimes by mining, fishing,
and forestry.
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Secondary Sector
The portion of the economy
concerned with manufacturing
useful products through
processing, transforming, and
assembling raw materials.
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Tertiary Sector
The portion of the economy
concerned with transportation,
communications, and utilities,
sometimes extended to the
provision of all goods and
services to people in exchange
for payment.
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Quaternary Sector
The portion of the economy
concerned with business
services, such as trade,
insurance, banking, advertising,
and wholesaling.
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Quinary Sector
The portion of the economy
concerned with health, education,
research, government, retailing,
tourism, and recreation.
Current practice is to include
quaternary and quinary sectors in
the tertiary sector
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The % of people working in
agriculture exceeds 75% in
many LDCs, compared to less
than 5% in many MDCs.
A high % of agricultural workers
in a country indicates that most
of its people are spending their
days producing food for their
own survival.
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Within MDCs, primary and
secondary sector jobs have
decreased.
Decline in manufacturing jobs
reflects greater efficiency
inside the factories and
increased global competition.
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Relationship
between
type of jobs
and
development
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Productivity
The value of a particular
product compared to the
amount of labor needed to
make it.
Production in LDCs must rely
more on human and animal
power.
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Value Added
The gross value of the product
minus the costs of raw
materials and energy.
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Raw Materials
Development requires access to
raw materials and energy.
In Europe, countries took
advantage of domestic coal and
iron ore to promote industrial
development throughout the 19th
century.
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European Colonies
Created to ensure adequate
supply of raw materials.
As colonies of Africa and Asia
gained independence, they
continued to supply the raw
materials used in European
industry.
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As prices for raw materials
decline due to global supply,
LDCs have had difficulty
achieving development.
In a global economy, availability
of raw materials and energy
resources measures a country’s
development potential rather
than its actual development.
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Consumer Goods
*Important*
The wealth used to buy
nonessentials promotes
expansion of manufacturing,
which in turn generates
additional wealth in the society.
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Quantity and type of goods and
services is a good measure of
the level of development.
Particularly good indicators are
motor vehicles, telephones, and
televisions.
The number of individuals per
telephone and motor vehicles
exceeds 100 in most LDCs.
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Telephone Lines per 1000 Persons
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In LDCs, the minority who own
consumer goods, such as
telephones, motor vehicles, and
televisions, are government
officials, landowners, and other
elites.
As a result of greater exposure
to cultural diversity, people in
MDCs display different social
characteristics from people in
LDCs.
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Social Indicators of
Development
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Social Indicators of
Development
MDCs use part of their greater
wealth to provide schools,
hospitals, and welfare services.
Infants survive, and adults live
longer. Well educated, healthy,
and secure populations can be
more economically productive.
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Education and Literacy
The assumption; no matter how
poor the school, the longer the
pupils attend, the more likely
they are to learn.-The reality; quality of education is
measured by student/teacher
ratio and literacy rate.
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Student/Teacher Ratio
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The average pupil attends school
for about 10 years in MDCs,
compared to only a couple of
years in LDCs.
LDCs must learn technical
information from books that
usually are not in their native
language, but in English,
German, Russian, or French.
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Literacy Rate
The percentage of a country’s
people who can read and write.
It exceeds 95% in MDCs,
compared to less than 1/3rd in
many LDCs.
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Health and Welfare
When people get sick, MDCs
possess the resources to care for
them.
In many wealthier countries, health
care is a public service for little
or no cost.
The United States is an exception.
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Persons per Physician
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People in MDCs receive more
calories and proteins daily than
they need.
In LDCs of Africa and Asia,
most people receive less than
the daily minimum allowance of
calories and proteins
recommended by the United
Nations.
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Daily Available Calories per Capita
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Demographic
Indicators of
Development
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Life Expectancy
Babies born today can expect to
live into their early forties in
LDCs and mid-seventies in MDCs.
Males live 9 years longer in MDCs
than in LDCs.
Females live 13 years longer.
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Infant Mortality Rate
In LDCs, 90% of infants survive,
while 99% of infants survive in
MDCs.
Babies die of malnutrition and
dehydration from diarrhea.
Some die from poor medical
practices, such as umbilical cords
cut with dirty knives.
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Crude Birth Rate
Annual CBR exceeds 40 per 1000 in
LDCs, while it is less than 15 per
1000 in MDCs.
CBR does not indicate a society’s
level of development.
The mortality rate for women in
childbirth is significantly higher in
LDCs.
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