10.1 Why Does Development Vary Among Countries?

Why Does Development Vary Among Countries? 

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Earths nearly 200 countries can be classified according

to their level of development. The development process is

continuous, involving never-ending actions to constantly

improve the health and prosperity of people.

Development

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is the process ofimproving the conditions of

people through diffusion of knowledge and technology. The

U.N. defines development as a process of enlarging peoples

ability to lead along and healthy life, to acquire knowledge,

and to have accessto resources needed for a decent standard of

living (Figure 10-1). With accessto these three elements, people

have greater opportunities to becreative and productive and

to enjoy personal self-respect and guaranteed human rights. 

(Where countried have 3 elements and why/where they dont) 

developed country

(354) 

Every place lies at some point along a continuum of

development. Because manycountries cluster at the high

and low ends of the continuum of development, they can

be divided into two groups:

A developed country also known asa more devel-oped

country (MDC) and referred to by the U.N. as a

very high developed country, has progressed further

along the development continuum.

developing country

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also frequently calledaless

developed country (LDC), has madesome progress

toward development, though less than the developed

countries. Recognizing that progress has varied widely

among developing countries, the U.N.divides them

into high, medium, and low developing.

FIGURE 10-1 DEVELOPED AND DEVELOPING

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Ecotourists from developed countries visit La Amistad International Park in Costa Rica. A developing country like Costa Rica can use its natural resources to promost development by attracting foreign investment. 

Human Development Index (HDI)

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To determine the level of development of every country,

the U.N. created the Human Development Index (HDI).

The HDI measures the level of development for a country

through a combination of three factors: a decent standard

ofliving, along and healthy life, and access to knowledge.

Each country gets an overall HDI score based on combining

the three factors. The highest HDI possible is 1.0, or 100 per-cent

(Figure 10-2).The U.N.hascomputed HDIsfor countries

every year since 1980, although it has occasionally modified

the method of computation.

Development Regions

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Geographers refer to the HDI scores to divide the world

into two developed regions and seven developing regions

(Figure 10-3). North America and Europe are the two developed

regions. Theseven developing regions are Latin America,(carriebian, mexico, ) 

East Asia (china), South Asia(India)  Southeast Asia (Thailand) Central Asia (any country that ends in stan), Southwest Asia (Middle East) & North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa (Black africa ) (everything south of the Africa coutnry ex. below Arab Africa ) (northern africa). Each region has

an overall HDIscore,shown in Figure10-3.Sub-SaharanAfrica

and South Asia are the regions with the two lowest HDI scores.

As we will see in this chapter, regions sometimes have unex-pectedly

high orlow scoresin particular factors.

FIGURE 10-3 DEVELOPMENT REGIONS

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The nine world regions are shown with their regional HDI score. 

• North America HDI = .92

• Europe HDI = .88 

• Southwest Asia/North Africa HDI. 70 

• Central Asia HDI =.72 

• Sao Paulo Brazil, Latin America HDI =.76 

• Sub-Saharan Africa HDI = .54

• South Asia HDI = .64 

• Southeast Asia HDI = .69 

• East Asia HDI - .75 

PAUSE & REFLECT 10.1.1 QUESTION:

 Which Developing regions

appear to have relatively high diversity in the HDIs of

individual countries?

PAUSE & REFLECT 10.1.1 YOUR ANSWER:

Southwest Asia and Central Asia have high diversity in the HDI’s of individual countries. Because both Southwest and Central Asia have a range of medium to high HDI by the individual countries. 

A Decent Standard of Living

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Having enough wealth for a decent standard of living is key

to development. The average individual in a developed coun-try

earns a much higher income than the average individual

in a developing one. Geographers observe that people gen-erate

and spend their wealth in different ways in developed

countries than in developing countries.

Income

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The U.N. measures the standard of living in countries

through a complex index called annual gross (total profit/as a whole w/o taxes) national

income per capita (per person) at purchasing power parity (Figure 10-4).

Gross national income (GNI)

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Gross national income (GNI) is the value of the output of

goods and services produced in a country in a year, includ-ing

money that leaves and enters the country (the first of the moneth you get your check and see gross income and net income which is 2 different vaulutes dues to taxes) (Figure 10-5).

Purchasing power parity (PPP)

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Purchasing power parity (PPP) is an adjustment made to

the GNI to account for differences among countries in the

cost of goods. For example, if a resident of country A has the

same income as a resident of country B but must pay more

for a Big Mac or a Starbucks latte, the resident of country B

is better off. 

By dividing GNI by total population, it is possible to mea-sure

the contribution made by the average individual toward

generating a countrys wealth in a year. For example, GNI

in the United States was approximately $22 trillion in 2018,

and the population was approximately 330 million, so GNI

per capita was approximately $60,000. In 2018, per capita

GNI was approximately $44,000 in developed countries com-pared

to approximately $12,000 in developing countrie

gross domestic product (GDP)

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Some studies refer to gross domestic product (GDP),

which is also the value of the output of goods and services

produced in a country in a year. GDPdoes not account for

money that leaves and enters the country.

(money that does not leave country = exports) 

(money that leaves the country = imports)

► FIGURE 10-4 GNI PER  CAPITA 

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PPP, 2017 GNI per capita

PPP is highest in developed

countries. The lowest figures

are in sub-Saharan Africa

and portions of Asia.

FIGURE 10-5 GNI BY REGION 

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GNI BY REGION Developed and developing

countries each have around half the world's total GNI.

Economic Structure

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Average per capitaincome is higher in developed countries

because people typically earn their living by different means

than in developing countries. Jobs fall into three categories:

primary sector

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The primary sectorincludes activitiesthat directly

extract materials from Earth through agriculture (as

discussedin Chapter 9) and sometimes by mining,

fishing, and forestry. (People working to extract materials) (agriculture=developing country) 

secondary sector

(357) 

The Secondary sector includes manufacturers that

process, transform, and assemble raw materials into

useful products as well asindustries that fabricate

manufactured goods into finished consumer goods

(discussed in Chapter 1

(Turning it into consumer goods) (taking place in East Asia as manufacturers) 

tertiary sector

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Thetertiary sector involvesthe provision of goods

and services to people in exchange for payment, such

as retailing, banking, law, education, and government

(discussed in Chapters 12 and 13

(people provide service + consumers being able to pay for service) (Noth America + Europe + Japan//well developed) 

Productivity

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Workers in developed countries (North America/Europe) are more productive than

those in developing countries (south sub Africa) . Productivity is the value of a

particular product compared to the amount of labor needed

to makeit. The World Bank measuresa country's produc-tivity

by dividing the total GDP by the number of persons

employed. GDP per employee exceeds $100,000 in North

America and Europe, compared with around $10,000in sub-Saharan

Africa (Figure 10-7).

((North america = us and canada (do not include mexico))

PAUSE & REFLECT 10.1.2 QUESTION:

 Figure 9-20 showsthe percentage

of workers engaged in agriculture. Does acountry with a high

percentage of agricultural workers,as shownin Figure 9-20,

typically have a high HDI or low HDI

PAUSE & REFLECT 10.1.2 YOUR ANSWER:

Access to knowledge impacts the percentage of working in agriculture.  High percentage of agricultural workers show to be in countries that have low HDI in 2017.  Due tot their being little to no access to public education in developing countries. 

Developing countries focus on the primary sector of agriculture where developed countries lean towards commercial and the tertiary sector.

Access to Knowledge

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Development is about more than wealth. The U.N. believes 

that development is about people becoming healthier and 

wiser, not just wealthier. 

The U.N. considers years of schooling to be the most critical 

measure of the ability of an individual to gain access to knowl￾edge needed for development. The assumption is that no matter 

how poor the school, the longer the pupils attend, the more 

likely they are to learn skills that will help them earn a living. 

HDI Education Measures

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Toform the accessto knowledge component of HDI,the U.N.

combines two measures of years of schooling:

Years of schooling for today's adults

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This

measures the number of years that the average person

aged 25 or older in a country hasspent in school

(Figure 10-8). Adults have spent an average of 12.2 years

in school in developed countries, compared to only

7.3 yearsin developing countries.

Expected years of schooling for today's youth

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This measures the number of years that

the U.N. forecasts an average 5-year-old will spend

in school (Figure 10-9).The U.N.expects that 5-year-olds

in developed countries will spend an average of

16.4 years in school; in other words, roughly half

of todays 5-year-olds will graduate from college in

developed countries. Onthe other hand,

the expected average is only

10.1yearsin sub-Saharan Africa

FIGURE 10-8 MEAN YEARS OF SCHOOLING

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The highest

number of years of schooling is in North America, and the lowest

numbers are in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa

FIGURE 10-9 EXPECTED YEARS OF SCHOOLING

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The highest number of expected years of school-ing

is in North America

and Europe, and the lowest

numbers are in South Asia

and sub-Saharan Africa.

Other Education Indicators  

pupil/teacher ratio

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Other indicators can measureregional variations in access

to knowledge:

The pupil/teacher ratio is the number of enrolled

students divided by the number of teachers. The fewer

pupils ateacher has,the morelikely that each student

will receive effective instruction (Figure 10-10).

Theliteracy rate is the percentageof acountrys

people who can read and write (Figure 10-11).

Improved education is a major goal of many develop-ing

countries, but funds arescarce. Education mayreceive a

higher percentage of GNIin developing countries, but those

countries GNIis far lower to begin with, so they spend far

less per pupil than do developed countries. Manydeveloping countries are unable to fund free public schools, forcing par-ents

to pay high fees for their childrens education.

literacy rate

(158) 

Theliteracy rate is the percentageof acountrys

people who can read and write (Figure 10-11)

PAUSE & REFLECT 10.1.3 QUESTION:

The United States has alower

pupil/teacher ratio than Mexico. Does that mean that the

pupil/teacher ratio in the United States is more favorable or

less favorable than in Mexico

PAUSE & REFLECT 10.1.3 YOUR ANSWER: 

The pupil/teacher ratio in the United States is more favorable than Mexico due to students receiving greater effective instruction in the U.S. compared to Mexico, that has more pupils per teacher. Meaning students in the United States receive more help than students in Mexico affecting the education.

Health & Welfare

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The U.N. considers good health to be as an important a mea-sure

of development as wealth and knowledge. A goal of

development is to provide the nutrition and medical services (helthcare) 

needed for people to lead long and healthy lives. Chapter 2

discussed in detail the many differences worldwide in health

and medical services.

A Long & Healthy Life

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From the many health and medical indicators, the U.N. has

selected life expectancy at birth as the contributor to the

HDI (Figure 10-12). Life expectancy at birth was defined in

Chapter 2 as the average number of years a newborn infant

can expect to live at current mortality levels. A baby born

in 2018 is expected to live on average to age 72 worldwide,

to 80 in developed countries, and to only 61in sub-Saharan

Africa (refer to Figure 2-37).

FIGURE 10-12 LIFE EXPECTANCY AT BIRTH, 2018

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expectancy at birth averages 79in developed countries and 71in

developing countries.

FIGURE 10-13 MEDICAL SERVICES

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MEDICAL SERVICES (a) in Sweden, a developed country; (b) in Togo, a developing country

Consumer Goods  

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Part ofthe wealth generated in developed countries is used

to purchase goods and services. Especially important are

goods and services related to transportation and communica-tions,

including motor vehicles, telephones, and computers.

FIGURE 10-14 CONSUMER GOODS: MOTOR VEHICLE

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The highest level of motor vehicle

ownership is in North America, and

the lowest is in South Asia.

FIGURE 10-15 CONSUMER GOODS: INTERNET USERS

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FIGURE 10-15 CONSUMER GOODS:INTERNET USERS Developed

countries have much higher percentages of the population using the

Internet than do developing countries.

PAUSE & REFLECT 10.1.4 QUESTION:

 In addition to cell phones, what

other electronic devices might diffuse rapidly to developing

countries because of decreasing cost of equipment and lack

of need for costly infrastructu

PAUSE & REFLECT 10.1.4 YOUR ANSWER:

Laptops and tablets might diffuse rapidly to developing countries because buying technology has become easier and better accessible worldwide, causing  a decreasing cost of equipment and lock of need for costly infrastructure like cell towers and landlines. 

THINKING GEOGRAPHICALLY 10.1

QUESTION # 1  PAGE 384: 

1. What economic, demographic, and literacy measures presented

in this chapter or in

earlier chapters do

you feel would be

better measures of

a countrys level of

development? Why?

THINKING GEOGRAPHICALLY 10.1 YOUR ANSWER:

1. Measuring a country's level  development in 3 different ways, such as the economic measure, is collecting data from the economic structure divided by 3 job sectors, primary, secondary and tertiary. Finding specific data of what countries accel in all 3 sectors  determine the development of the country. Demographic measures would be collecting data of populations by using census, to calculate the different distriubutions of cultures, as well as including their income. Developed countries may have a higher income compared to developing countries. Literacy measure data can be collected by the years of schooling. Countries years of schooling reflect on the countries development, so 7-10+ years of schooling would trend to be in developed countries compared to developing countries with below 7 years of schooling.