Geography: Population Distribution & economic development

North-South Divide/Bradnt line

Increasing inequality in levels of development between the North and the South/HICs vs LICs

(misconception as there is so much land remaining in the North + Australia in the South)

Development Gap

Difference in wealth between the developed world (North) and the developing world (South)

OPEC

Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries - represents the interest of oil producers by managing global oil supply. Challenged by oil-producing countries such as the UK, which does not agree with OPEC controlled oil prices.

G7/8

Group of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful countries.

Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the US, and the UK.

Russia was a member from 1997-2014 (suspended).

G10/Paris Club

G10:

• Formed in 1962 to support the IMF (International Monetary Fund) with extra money.

• 11 countries: Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the US. (BGFGI J NETH SWE SWIT UKUS)

Paris Club:

• Formed 1956 to help countries in debt

• 22 permanent member countries such as the US, Japan and UK

• Meets in Paris to find ways to lower/change payment times for money which is owned between governments.

Age dependency ratio

Sum of the young population (under 15) and elderly population (65+) relative to the working age population (15-64)

Core

Central region in an economy with good communications and high population density = conduces (brings about) to its prosperity

Demographic dividend

Accelerated economic growth which may result from a decline in a country’s birth and death rates, and the subsequent change in the age structure of the population.

Fewer births: young dependent population declines in relation to the working age population.

Fewer people to support = a country has a window of opportunity for rapid economic growth if the right social and economic policies are developed and investments made.

Economic development

Process where simple, low-income national economies are transformed into modern industrial economies.

Economic migrant

A person who leaves their country of origin purely for economic reasons which are not related to the refugee definition, in order to seek material improvements in their livelihood.

Emerging economies

IMF World Economic Outlook classifies 39 economies as advanced, based on such factors as higher per capita income, exports of diversified goods and services, and greater integration into the global financial system.

Emerging: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Egypt, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, and the UAE.

Environmental push factors

Environmental (relating to the natural world and the impact of human activity on its condition) factors which initiate and influence the decision to migrate by impelling/stimulating emigration (eg. environmental disasters such as floods, wildfires)

Forced migrant

A person subject to a migratory movement in which an element of coercion exists, including threats to life and livelihood, whether arising from natural/man-made causes (eg. movements of refugees and internally displaced persons as well as people displaced by natural or environmental disasters, chemical or nuclear disasters, famine or development projects).

Internally displaced person

A person who is forced or obliged to flee their home due to armed conflict, generalised violence, human rights violations or natural/human-made disasters but stays within their country’s barriers.

Gender equality

When people or all genders have equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities.

Household/family size

A group of persons who make common provision of food, shelter and other essentials for living - a fundamental socioeconomic unit in human societies

Family size = number of persons in the family

Economic family = 2+ people who live in the same dwelling, and are related by blood, marriage, common-law union (partners who live together without a formal marriage licence/civil ceremony), adoption or a foster relationship.

Life expectancy at birth

Number of years a newborn infant would live in prevailing patterns of morality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life.

Megacity

Urban area with a population with at least 10 million people.

Multi-governmental organizations

Organisations comprised of the governments of multiple countries such as the UN/European Union

Periphery

Outlying regions with poor communications and sparse population.

Political push factors

Political (relating to the government/public affairs of a country) factors which initiate and influence the decision to migrate by impelling/stimulating emigration.

Population Aging

Process by which older individuals become a proportionally larger share of the total population.

Pro-natalist

Population policy which aims to encourage more births through the use of incentives.

Rate of natural increase

Birth rate minus death rate (expressed as a percentage).

Represents the estimated rate of population growth without regard for migration.

Refugee

Either:

• a person who, owning to a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group, is unwilling to avail themselves to the protection of that country

• a stateless person who, being outside of the country of former habitual residence for the same reasons as mentioned before, is unable, or owing to such fear, unwilling to return to it.

Sex ratio

Number of males per 100 females in the population.

Total fertility rate

Number of children who would be born to a woman if she were to live to the end of her childbearing years, and bear children in accordance with age-specific fertility rates of the specified year.

Urbanization

The process by which an increasing percentage of a country’s population comes to live in towns and cities. It may involve both rural and urban migration, and natural increase.

How does population vary between places?

• Physical and human factors affecting population distribution at the global scale

• Global patterns and classification of economic development in low-income countries (LICs), middle-income countries (MICs), high-income countries (HICs) and emerging economies (developing nations bridging the gap towards rapid growth, industrialisation and expanding global trade).

• Population distribution and economic development at the national scale, including voluntary internal migration, core-periphery patterns and megacity growth.

Factors affecting population distribution at the global scale

• 75% of the population lives 1000km of the sea

• 85% live in areas less than 500m high

• 85% live between latitudes 68°N and 20°N

• Less than 10% live in the southern hemisphere.

Favoured locations:

• Fertile (fruitful production of crops/vegetation) valleys, such as the Nile valley

• Places with a regular supply of water, such as temperate climates —> landlocked countries in difficult positions as oceans are global (container ships) + and people need access to rivers for water

• A climate which is not too extreme (eg a temperate climate)

• Places with good communications

Physical factors - Factors affecting population distribution

Climate

• People prefer temperate climates (usual conditions of an area - no extremes of temperature/rainfall/snowfall) - enough rainfall, no extremes of temperature

• A lack of freshwater for drinking or irrigation stops people from living in an area

• High temperatures = dehydration + heat stroke = makes farming difficult

• High humidity = uncomfortable to live; affected by diseases eg. malaria

• Cold temps = difficult to grow crops, build houses or transport links

• Frostbite makes it difficult to work outside for any length of time

Relief

• Steep slopes make the use of machinery difficult + difficult to build houses, roads and railways

• High, mountainous areas are too cold, making it difficult to grow crops + remote, which makes them difficult to access

• Flat, low-lying areas have deeper soil, which makes it easier to grow crops

Natural resources

• Few natural resources (eg. coal) in an area = lack of industry & employment opportunities

• Scenery is a resource and can attract tourists = job opportunities

Soils

• Areas with fertile soils (eg. river deltas) are good for growing crops to feed the population

• Poor soils with few nutrients = low agricultural output

Human factors - Factors affecting population distribution

• Jobs (eg. manufacturing & service industries) = encourage people to move to find work

• Tourism can attract visitors to an area and provide locals with jobs

• Areas with good transport links, such as roads and railways, will attract people and industry which creates employment opportunities

• Remote areas which are isolated and have poor transport links do not attract people.

Global patterns

• Per capita annual income of a HIC was over $12,535 in 2014

• HIC = used interchangeably with “developed”, “more developed” or “advanced”

• LICs = per capita income of less than $1,023

• MICs = between $1,026-$12,475

• Distinction between lower middle-income countries ($1,026-$4,035) and upper-middle income countries ($4,036-$12,475)

• 5 billion people live in middle-income countries - one third of global GDP is produced in MICs

• % of people living in LICs fell by 80% between 1994-2014. 1994 - 3.1 billion people in 64 LICs; 2014 - 600 million people in 30 LICs.

• Bangladesh, India, Kenya = moved from the LIC to the lower MIC category

• Argentina, Venezuela and Hungary = moved from the upper MIC to the HIC category

• Mexico and China - upper-middle income countries

• LIC countries eg. Malawi - GNI per capita (total money earned by the people and buisnesses divided by number of people) - rise slowly between 1994 and 2014

• HICs income increased massively: Norway rising from $26,010 tp $103,050 between 1994-2014

Economic classifications (pt 1)

• Brandt line/North-South Divide

• First world - Western Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand and Japan

• Second world - state-controlled communist countries, eg. the Soviet Union

• Third world - developing world; less developed countries

• Consider economic groupings as a continuum - range of development from least to most developed rather than “either” - poor or rich.

• Refers to economic and human development, including economic growth, stable population growth, standards of living, levels of technology, employment health, nutrition, literacy and GNI per capita

Economic classifications (pt 2)

• MEDCs - more economically developed countries (eg. UK, USA - most developed countries and have a high standard of living = now refered to as HICs.

• NICs - newly industrializing countries (eg. South Korea, Taiwan). Countries that have experienced rapid industrial, social, and economic growth since 1960. Four Asian Tigers - SK, Taiwan (electronics, heavy manufacturing, information tech), Singapore, HK (international financial & commercial hubs)

• LEDCs - less economically developed countries - Namibia and Egypt - lower stage of development + have a lower quality of life. Subdivided into middle-income and low-income LEDCs - refered to as LICs.

• LDC - least developed countries - Afghanistan and much of sub-Saharan Africa (area which is south of the Sahara Desert) - low standards of living, as well as many inidcators of development

NIC countries

• BRICs - Brazil, Russia, India, China + South Africa in 2010 —> BRIC.S

• MINT - Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey

• CIVETS - Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey, South Africa

• Next 11 (N11) - Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Turkey, South Korea, and Vietnam - countries with the potentially fastest growing economies in the 21st century

• CPEs - centrally planned economies, such as North Korea and Cuba - socialist (public or democratic state owns the main means of production) countries under strict government control and limited freedom of speech

• Oil-rich countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Libya - rich in terms of GNP per head; may not be distributed very evenly.

• RICs - recently industrializing countries such as Chile

HDI

Human Development Index — created by the UN to measure the social & economic progress of countries

Scores a country from 0-1 based on:

• Health - life expectancy

• Education - how many school years adults have finished and children are expected to get

• Standard of Living - average GNI - gross national income per person, adjusted for the standard of living