Countries throughout the world differ in their level of development; they are classified within a range of the two extremes as either LEDC (Least Economically Developed Countries) or MEDC (More Economically Developed Countries). The Variety of economies, cultures and people make it impossible to use a single indicator of development. Geographers use diverse Development Indicators to compare regions against each other, such indicators include:
LEDCs exhibit the lowest socioeconomic indicators and meet the criteria of poverty, human resource weakness (nutrition, health, literacy and education) and economic vulnerability.
On the other hand, MEDCs, also known as Developed or Industrialized countries, have high economic levels and advanced technological infrastructure. MEDCs are usually advanced industrial countries where they but raw material from other LEDCs to produce high-tech products. Moreover, MEDCs general have good health care for their citizens.
The CIA fact book was referred to for obtaining general statistics describing two LEDCs (Togo and Madagascar) and two MEDCs (Canada and United States of America) in terms of Population growth, health and education.
A comparison was made between one MEDC (Canada) and one LEDC (Madagascar) to show the difference between the different indicators that are used to compare countries’ development, the comparison was made as a graphical representation.
From the above graphs it can be concluded that MEDCs have lower Birth rates; due to families tend to be smaller as individuals invest more in few children in order to give them a better chance in life and families in MEDCs have less time to spend on raising children because women also contribute in the societies’ work.
Moreover, Literacy...
... middle of paper ...
...ng the development gap between countries. Unfair trade between developed and undeveloped countries has decreased the undeveloped countries share in the world trade and has increased the effect of globalization on such countries. Other economic factors include over reliance on farming, Lack of technological resources and debts to other countries which will prevent any money that a country under debt makes to go towards developing the country as it will be used to pay back the debt.
In many countries the Socio-Economic factors have a greatly impeded development, this is when the country spend too much money on things that the society doesn’t really need.
Cultural factors also has an effect on development, some native tribes refuse the idea of development and choose the traditional way of life and other societies (e.g. Tibet) do not see value in material goods.
Assess the causes of absolute poverty in a developing country of your choice (20 marks)
"World Bank, World Development Indicators-Google Public Data Explorer." Google. World Bank, World Development Indicators, 28 July 2011. Web. 19 Sept. 2011. .
Poverty in Developing and Less Developed Countries The world includes less developed countries and developing countries. Less developed countries are countries considered to be poor and often contain many people who are in absolute poverty. Developing countries are countries like India, which are gaining in wealth. There are two types of poverty within the world.
In today’s world poverty is not only viewed in terms of average income/wealth, but as the lower end of distribution regarding income, education, health accessibility, nutrition, productivity, participation in politics, etc. Thus, poverty is defined as the “economic condition in which people lack sufficient income to obtain certain minimal levels of health services, food, housing, clothing, and education generally recognized as necessary to ensure an adequate standard of living” (Funk & Wagnall 1). Adequate, however, depends on the standard of living for each country.
Our global world is becoming more connected as we become integrated politically, socially and even economically. Due to the Bretton Woods agreement, different countries have been economically dependent on each other in fear of war to erupt. From then on, different organizations and policies tied more countries into being economic globalized. This economic globalization has then given us many opportunities in trade and more access to natural resources in other countries. Unfortunately, there are some negative effects that are brought to less developed countries.
The IMR “reflects the economic and social conditions of the community, as well as the effectiveness of health systems. It also indicates health disparities between different populations, both within and between countries. Furthermore, IMR is strongly correlated to economic development, general living conditions, social wellbeing, and the quality of the environment, that affect the health of entire populations.” (Infant Mortality, 2012)
According to this concept despite the end of colonialism, the underlying economic relations of the modern world system had not changed. The economic system of developed countries is still structured to extract resources from less developed countries .Theorists believe that poor countries are not poor because of some fundamental structural flaw ( such as inadequate natural resources) , but because participation in the global economy which left them under
In international parlance, development encompasses the need and the means by which to provide better life for people in poor countries and it includes not only economic growth, although that is crucial, but also human development like...
Forest destruction, human rights abuses, poverty creation is the local part of the equation. On the other side there is wealth creation for transnationals and local elites and an abundant supply of cheap --though very valuable-- raw material to provide rich consumers with elegant toilet seats, sumptuous coffins and other equally "important" symbols of wealth.
In order for any country to survive in comparison to another developed country they must be able to grow and sustain a healthy and flourishing economy. This paper is designed to give a detailed insight of economic growth and the sectors that influence economic growth. Economic growth in a country is essential to the reduction of poverty, without such reduction; poverty would continue to increase therefore economic growth is inevitable. Through economic growth, it is also an aid in the reduction of the unemployment rate and it also helps to reduce the budget deficit of the government. Economic growth can also encourage better living standards for all it is citizens because with economic growth there are improvements in the public sectors, educational and healthcare facilities. Through economic growth social spending can also be increased without an increase of taxes.
When looking through the topic of development, two drastically different ways to assess it arise. The majority of the western world looks at development in terms of per capita GNP. This means each country is evaluated on a level playing field, comparing the production of each country in economic value. Opposite this style of evaluation is that of the alternative view, which measures a country’s development on its ability to fulfill basic material and non-material needs. Cultural ties are strong in this case as most of the population does not produce for wealth but merely survival and tradition.
...economic, political, agricultural or any other area of a country and determine how developed it is. However, this way of looking at development gives us a skewed, unfinished view. In order for us to truly be able to measure development, we need to first ensure that we are measuring only sustainable development that does not hurt the potential development of generations to come.
There are many reasons why poverty is an increasing problem. The first is delayed modernization. These less-developed countries barely have enough skilled workers and managers and technology. Industrialized countries have four times as many managers and workers as the less-developed countries, also known as LDC's. It is almost impossible for the lower-developed countries to catch up or even compete with the industrialized countries....
The objective of this paper is to make an economic development and economic growth comparison of these four countries. The comparison will be multi-faceted. It will compare monetary perform...
Economic development typically involves improvements in a variety of indicators such as literacy rates, life expectancy, and poverty rates. Due to the fact that GDP alone does not take into account other aspects such as leisure time, environmental quality, freedom, or social justice; alternative measures of economic well-being have been proposed. Essentially, a country’s economic development is related to its human development, which encompasses, among other things, health and education. These factors are, however, closely related to economic growth so that development and growth often go together.