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Factors influencing development
The factors influencing a country’s development are social, historical, economic and political. Understanding reasons why
a country may be in poverty is a way to help with its development.
Physical factors
Climate
The Sahel region in Africa suffers from a lack of rainfall. This means that droughts are
common. The result is that crops may suffer. There are certain diseases which thrive in tropical
climates, such as malaria and yellow fever, because of the hot and humid conditions.
Natural hazards
Floods, droughts and tectonic activity can limit future growth and destroy buildings and
agricultural areas. This also means a country may divert income to help recover from these
events.
Landlocked countries
16 countries in Africa are landlocked. This means it is more difficult to trade as goods have to
be driven through other countries to get to the coast for shipping. It is also more difficult for new
technology to reach a landlocked country, as the fibre optic cables are laid under the ocean.
Natural resources
Natural resources such as minerals, gas and oil can help improve a country's level of
development. However this is closely tied in with the ability to exploit the resource for the
benefit of the country. There are also countries, such as Japan, which are low in natural
resources, but have based their development on human factors such as education and skills.
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Human factors
Historical development
Colonialism hindered a developing country's level of development. A colony helped supply food
and minerals to countries like Britain and France. There was investment in colonies, but this was
focused on things that would help the trade between the countries.
Borders of some colonial countries were set without attention to tribal and cultural differences,
causing tensions and instability.
Political factors
Poor governance does not help a country to develop. Money that could be spent on development
may be used to fund military weapons or an affluent lifestyle of an elite group of people.
Economic factors
World trade is often not fair. LEDCs tend to sell primary produce. LEDCs have to compete
with each other to win the trade - which lowers the prices farmers get. A poor harvest means less
income. There is more money to be made in processing goods, which MEDCs tend to do.
Foreign investment can help a country to develop. Africa receives less than 5 per cent foreign
direct investment. It has 15 per cent of the world's population. Europe receives 45 per cent of
foreign direct investment, and only has 7 per cent of the world's population. Who controls world
trade is also important, and it is developed countries that control the most trade.
Many LEDCs are in debt to MEDCs. Some of their income has to pay off these debts.
Social factors
A poorer country finds it more difficult to invest in education. The problem is made worse
because many countries have a high dependency ratio. Having money to invest in a healthcare
system is important for a country to develop. That is because it is difficult for sick people to
work hard.
Clean water is essential for health. One in six people do not have access to safe water. If water is
not safe, people may be unable to work or care for their families because of illness.
Measuring development
Studying development is about measuring how developed one country is compared to other
countries, or to the same country in the past. Development measures how economically, socially,
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culturally or technologically advanced a country is. The two most important ways of measuring
development are economic development and human development.
Economic development is a measure of a country's wealth and how it is generated (for example
agriculture is considered less economically advanced then banking).
Human development measures the access the population has to wealth, jobs, education,
nutrition, health, leisure and safety - as well as political and cultural freedom. Material elements,
such as wealth and nutrition, are described as the standard of living. Health and leisure are often
referred to as quality of life.
Development indicators
There is no single way to calculate the level of development because of the variety of economies,
cultures and peoples. Geographers use a series of development indicators to compare the
development of one region against another. For example:
Health. Do the population have access to medical care? What level of healthcare is available -
basic or advanced? Is it free?
Industry. What type of industry dominates? LEDCs focus on primary industries, such as farming,
fishing and mining. MEDCs focus on secondary industries, such as manufacturing. The most advanced
countries tend to focus more on tertiary or service industries, such as banking and information
technology.
Education. Do the population have access to education? Is it free? What level of education is
available (ie primary, secondary or further/higher education)?
The North South Divide
MEDCs are countries which have a high standard of living and a large GDP. LEDCs are
countries with a low standard of living and a much lower GDP.
Economic development indicators
To assess the economic development of a country, geographers use economic
indicators including:
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the total value of goods and services produced by a country in
a year.
Gross National Product (GNP) measures the total economic output of a country, including
earnings from foreign investments.
GNP per capita is a country's GNP divided by its population. (Per capita means per person.)
Economic growth measures the annual increase in GDP, GNP, GDP per capita, or GNP per capita.
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Inequality of wealth is the gap in income between a country's richest and poorest people. It can
be measured in many ways, (eg the proportion of a country's wealth owned by the richest 10 per
cent of the population, compared with the proportion owned by the remaining 90 per cent).
Inflation measures how much the prices of goods, services and wages increase each year. High
inflation (above a few percent) can be a bad thing, and suggests a government lacks control over the
economy.
Unemployment is the number of people who cannot find work.
Economic structure shows the division of a country's economy
between primary, secondary and tertiary industries.
Demographics study population growth and structure. It compares birth rates to death rates,
life expectancy and urban and rural ratios. Many LEDCs have a younger, faster-growing population
than MEDCs, with more people living in the countryside than in towns. The birth rate in the UK is 11
per 1,000, whereas in Kenya it is 40.
Human development indicators
Development often takes place in an uneven way. A country may have a very high GDP -
derived, for example, from the exploitation of rich oil reserves - while segments of the
population live in poverty and lack access to basic education, health and decent housing.
Hence the importance of human development indicators, measuring the non-economic aspects
of a country's development.
Human development indicators include:
Life expectancy - the average age to which a person lives, eg this is 79 in the UK and 48 in Kenya.
Infant mortality rate - counts the number of babies, per 1000 live births, who die under the age
of one. This is 5 in the UK and 61 in Kenya.
Poverty - indices count the percentage of people living below the poverty level, or on very small
incomes (eg under £1 per day).
Access to basic services - the availability of services necessary for a healthy life, such as clean
water and sanitation.
Access to healthcare - takes into account statistics such as how many doctors there are for
every patient.
Risk of disease - calculates the percentage of people with diseases such as AIDS, malaria and
tuberculosis.
Access to education - measures how many people attend primary school, secondary school and
higher education.
Literacy rate - is the percentage of adults who can read and write. This is 99 per cent in the UK,
85 per cent in Kenya and 60 per cent in India.
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Access to technology - includes statistics such as the percentage of people with access to
phones, mobile phones, television and the internet.
Male/female equality - compares statistics such as the literacy rates and employment between
the sexes.
Government spending priorities - compares health and education expenditure with military
expenditure and paying off debts.
Development statistics and correlations
Geographers compare the statistics for different countries to see if there is a relationship or
correlation between the data for different countries. A correlation helps to show what factors
contribute to development.
The example below compares GDP per capita to adult literacy rate in a scatter graph. The
plotting for each country does not show much on its own, but together they show a pattern. This
scatter graph shows that there is a correlation between the wealth of a country and their adult
literacy rate.
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UN DP, 2013
Development indices
A development index measures a country's performance according to specific development indicators. Some
countries may appear to be developed according to some indices, but not according to others.
Development indicators
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Vietnam and Pakistan have a similar per capita GDP. However, life expectancy and literacy are
considerably higher in Vietnam than they are in Pakistan.
Saudi Arabia has a per capita GDP comparable to that of Croatia. However, in Saudi Arabia there is
greater inequality between men and women when considering access to education and political power. So,
although they are equal on an economic development index - Saudi Arabia is less developed on a human
development index.
Problems with indices
Development indices can be misleading and need to be used with care. For example:
Many indices are averages for the whole population of a country. This means that indices do not
always reveal substantial inequalities between different segments of society. For example, a portion of the
population of a highly developed country could be living below the poverty line.
In some countries, the data used in indices could be out of date or hard to collect. Some countries do
not wish to have certain index data collected - for example, many countries do not publish statistics about
the number of immigrants and migrants.
To balance inaccuracies, indices tend to be an amalgamation of many different indicators. The United
Nations Human Development Index (HDI) is a weighted mix of indices that show life expectancy, knowledge
(adult literacy and education) and standard of living (GDP per capita). As Vietnam has a higher literacy rate
and life expectancy than Pakistan, it has much higher HDI value even though it has a similar per capita GDP.
HDI is measured between 0 and 1. The USA has an HDI of 0.994 whereas Kenya has an HDI of 0.474.
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