How do you know how developed a country is?
Eg. – which is more developed – the UK or Ethiopia?
Average Income
Employed in Agriculture
People per doctor
Adults with HIV/AIDS
Access to clean water
Calories per person
Average number of children
Children in primary education
Literacy rates
UK
$32,602
1%
610
0.2%
100%
3,412
1.84
99%
99%
Ethiopia
$108
93%
37,397
4.4%
22%
1,857
6
43%
35.9%
A country’s level of development can be worked out by looking at a range of key indicators eg.
the amount of wealth in a country (GDP) and the % of people who have access to clean water,
can read and write etc.
There are basically two groups of indicators:
 Economic indicators which tell you how much wealth there is in a country
 Social indicators – which tell you the quality of life eg. healthcare, literacy, access to clean
water etc.
The next two table are some of the indicators:
Economic Indicators
GDP or GNP:
Gross Domestic /National Product: The total
wealth of a country
GDP or GNP per
The total wealth of a country divided up per
capita:
person, usually measured in US dollars.
LEDCs have low GNP/capita
% of people on less - The % of people in a country who have to
than 2 dollars a day try and survive on a very small amount of
money
See below for the table of Social Indicators
Social Indicators
Birth Rate:
The number of births per 1000 people per year in a
population. LEDCs have high birth rates
Death rate:
The number of deaths per 1000 people per year in a
population. LEDCs have high death rates.
Life
Average age reached by people in a country, measured in
Expectancy:
years. In LEDCs, life expectancy is low.
Infant
Usually measured as the number of infants who die before
Mortality:
their fifth birthday, this is high in many LEDCs
People per
The total population of a country divided by the number of
Doctor:
doctors to go around. This indicates the general access to
health care. LEDCs usually have high numbers of people
per doctor.
Adult Literacy: The % of people in a population who can read and write,
this measures access to education. Low in LEDCs.
Access to
% of a population with safe drinking water, this is low in
clean water:
LEDCs
Daily Calorie
The average calorie intake by a population, this is low in
Intake:
LEDCs.
% of
This reflects how industrialised a country is. In LEDCs
population
many people are still employed in agriculture. (High).
employed in
Agriculture:
Human Development Index: Each of these indicators provide insight to a countries
development, however, they do not give an overall picture of a countries development. The UN
created the Human Development Index to compensate for this.
The HDI combines the following development indicators:
· Life expectancy: As a population indicator for the country.
· Literacy rate: As an education indictor for the country.
· Standard of Living: Worked out using the country’s GDP and Purchasing Power (PPP)
HDI then creates a ranking of the different countries around the world.
Causes of global inequality
These can be broken down into into 4 groups.
D
E
B
T
Debt burden
Many MEDC countries had spare money during the 1970’s and 1980’s. They loaned this money
to LEDCs but charged them interest. This has meant LEDC countries have paid back the
original loans but are still paying back the interest. They therefore have no spare money to
develop their own countries.
Environmental
Environmental crises may occur in any country. Some are man made, e.g. deforestation and
desertification whilst others are down to the natural environment. For example earthquakes in
Japan, Floods in Bangladesh.
Because of Colonialism
This is a historical cause. It is due to MEDCs exploiting former colonies for their natural
resources. Many LEDCs were invaded by rich countries.
Terms of Trade
Many LEDC countries rely on primary products e.g. coffee or copper. Countries trade with each
other but conditions of trade can be very unfair on LEDCs. Tariffs, quotas and subsidies are the
main issues.