Development, Geography, and Migration

Developed vs. Developing Countries

  • Geoguesser: Using visual cues to determine if a country is developed or developing.
    • Type of housing.
    • Infrastructure.

Human Development Index (HDI)

  • High HDI Indicators:
    • Education for women.
    • Clean water.
    • Political stability.
    • Low infant mortality rate.
    • Low maternal mortality rate.
    • Long lifespans.
    • Developed economy (quaternary, quinary, tertiary sectors).
    • High levels of education, universities, research.
    • Government representation.
    • Democracy.
  • Democracy vs. Autocracy
    • Autocracy: Monarchy, totalitarian rule, lack of freedoms.
    • Examples: Russian Federation, China, North Korea (censorship, lack of free speech, elections).
  • Outliers: Countries with high HDI factors but lacking democratic freedoms (e.g., China).
    • Historical example: Nazis - Stability and order but with mass human rights abuses.
  • Measurements of National Strength:
    • Education.
    • Government.
    • Healthcare access.
    • Social literacy rates.
    • Labor force participation (men and women).
  • Demographic Transition: Highly developed countries are in stage four.
  • Epidemiological Transition: Stage four is also an indicator.

Rostow's Stages of Development

  • Predicting a country's development based on stages.
    • Stage 1: Traditional medieval village, subsistence farming.
    • Stage 2: Trade with bigger places, improved transportation, globalization begins.
    • Final Stage: Mass consumption (e.g., shops around Costco).
  • Application: Can Rostow's model predict development in Afghanistan?
    • No, due to lack of education for women, poor infrastructure, isolation.
  • Interaction and Development: More world interaction leads to higher likelihood of development.
  • Economic Interdependence: Trading with countries may promote democracy and prevent war.

Supernational Organizations

  • Examples:
    • NATO (military).
    • United Nations (political).
    • EU (economic, political).
    • African Union (political).
    • OPEC (economic).
    • Paris Climate Accords (environmental).
  • Impact: States lose some sovereignty when joining treaties.

Devolution

  • Decentralization of power; opposite of evolution.
  • Federalized System: Power decentralized (e.g., USA).
    • 50 separate governments
  • Unitary System: Power centralized (e.g., UK).
  • Devolution: Power goes back out and is decentralized.
  • State vs. National Level: Debate on where power should reside.

Irredentism

  • Unifying people of the same ethnicity across borders.
    • Example: Ethnic Russians in Ukraine wanting to join Russia.

Maps

  • Types:
    • Reference maps: Showing locations.
    • Thematic maps: Showing data (e.g., coffee consumption, tractors).
  • Thematic Maps:
    • Cartograms.
    • Chloroplasts.
    • Dot distributions.
    • Dot density.
  • Topographical Maps: Isolines showing elevation (mountainous vs. flat).
  • Distortion: All maps are distorted because they project a round surface onto a flat plane.
  • Mercator Maps: Used for navigation; good for distance and direction but bad for size and area.
  • Robinson Projections: Distorted at the sides (elongated shape).
  • Interrupted Maps: Good at size and shape but terrible for distance and direction.
  • Scale: Large scale maps show more detail.
  • Wine Production Map (Page 121):
    • Shows countries that produce the most wine.
    • Small scale map - doesn't show exact locations within countries.
  • Examples:
    • California: Produces a lot of wine; seventh-largest economy.
    • South Africa, Italy, Greece: Mediterranean climate, produce a lot of wine.

Agriculture

  • Climate and Food: Food matches climate.
    • Wheat: Grown in cold, less water areas (Nebraska, Minnesota, Russia).
    • Bananas, coffee, chocolate: Grown in tropical locations.
  • Types of Agriculture:
    • Intensive: Commercial plantation (bananas, coffee, chocolate).
    • Extensive: Slash and burn (subsistence farming), nomadic herding (subsistence farming).
    • Mixed grain and livestock: Commercial; maybe subsistence.

Migration

  • Ravenstein's Laws of Migration:
    • Most people travel short distances.
    • Young single men are most likely to travel long distances.
    • Women and children move shorter distances.
    • Rural to urban; developing to developed.
  • Step Migration: Migration occurs in steps.
    • Example of Kamal's Family: Pakistan -> Uganda -> Canada.
    • British Empire, jobs, opportunities, push factor of Idi Amin.
  • Obstacles: Barriers that keep people from moving (e.g., Trump's wall).
  • Rural to Urban: People move for economic opportunity or to flee civil war.
  • Counter Migration: Migration causes a counter migration.
  • Push Factors: Environmental, political, suppression of religion or gender, war.
  • Current Conflicts: Middle East, Russia and Ukraine.