GCSE Geography - The changing economic world.

Development

A process of change and improvement for people and the economy.

Development Gap

The difference in living standards between wealthy and poor nations, regions and communities

Economic indicator

Indicators linked to money, the economy and people’s standard of living

GNI per capita

Value of everything produced by a country inside and outside its borders divide by the country’s population

Least developed continent

Africa

What, in theory, happens as countries develop?

Quality of life and standard of living improve

Social indicator

Indicators that show people’s quality of life

Examples of social indicators

Life expectancy, infant mortality and adult literacy rate

Composite measure

A measure which takes more than one indicator into account

Human Development Index

A measure of how developed an country is based off of life expectancy, number of years in education, and GNI per capita to give a score between 0 and 1

Where is child labour still a major issue?

Asia and Africa

Topological map

A map that works by drawing the size of each country in proportion to the thing being measured

Single measure

An indicator of development in one specific area

Problem with single measures

They are a mean average and so hide inequalities between places and people

Problems with collecting data

It’s costly and time consuming especially in low income countries and newly emerging economies

What does a low birth rate suggest?

Women are pursuing a career first and delaying childbirth as a result.

What does low birth rate suggest 2?

Women are in countries where laws against child labour are enforced and contraception is available and affordable

Why is death rate unreliable as an indicator of development?

Developed nations have an aging population and might have a higher death rate than one with a youthful population but it doesn’t make us less developed

Demographic Transition Model

A graph showing how a country’s population should change as it develops

Stage 1 of DTM

High birth and death rates, population fluctuates but stays low and relatively stable

Stage 2 of DTM

Birth rate stays high but death rates significantly fall off and population rises with natural increase

Stage 3 of DTM

Birth rate starts to drop while death rate continues to fall and population keeps rising

Stage 4 of DTM

Death rate flattens off to a slight downhill with birth rate just above it and the population levels of with a little bit of growth

Stage 5 of DTM

Birth rate dips below death rate and population decreases slowly

Why do HICs have low birth rates?

Women choose to follow career paths instead of or before having children, giving them lest time to have children

Why do HICs have low birth rates 2?

The cost of raising children puts some adults off all together

Population structure

The breakdown of a population by age and gender

5 reasons for high birth rate in LICS

1. No access to, knowledge of or can’t afford contraception

2. Parents need children to be sent out to work and earn money

3. Parent need their children to look after them in old age

4. Girls rarely complete education so have little control or understanding of family planning

5. Girls often get married young as their lack of education means they can’t pursue careers and so have more time they are fertile in to have children

Colonialism

Countries controlling others

Environmental barriers to development

Harsh climates, pests, poor soils, disease, being landlocked

Historical barriers to development 2

When countries finally gained their independence many got into debt borrowing money to develop or made poor decisions as they had never governed themselves before

Health problems of HICs

Diseases of wealth like diabetes and heart disease and ailments of old age like dementia

Health problems of LICs and why they have high infant and maternal mortality and low life expectancy

General lack of wealth to invest in healthcare, people still live in isolated rural areas far away from essential services to keep them healthy, poor, extreme or unpredictable climates can negatively impact farming thus food provision and so health via mal-nutrition, hot, humid environments are perfect for disease like malaria carried by mosquitoes which cause serious illness

Migration

Movement of people from one place to another for more than a year

Factors triggering migration

War, climatic, instability, natural hazards and political persecution

Refugees

People leaving their country in search of safety and a better life

Investment to close development gap

Countries and TNCs putting resources into a country to create a factory that provides taxable employment which sparks PMEs and development

Debt relief

Cancelling debt so countries have more to spend on developing

Micro finance

Banks set up to help the local community (especially women) that lend small amounts of money to help people start small businesses

Aid to close the development gap

Countries getting sent resources, expertise and infrastructure for free to help them start developing

Fair trade

A company that makes sure all the products they have their sticker on send more back to the farmer so the farmer can have a guaranteed living wage to plan ahead in life

Intermediate technology

Tech that suits the skill level of local people and fulfils a needs of theirs to help them develop