human enviroment Flashcards
development in a country
what is development?
Any improvement that is made in the standard of living of people is called development. Some countries have developed more than others so have a higher standard of living. These are
Developed countries. Those that have not developed as much as called Developing countries.
how is development measured?
It is very difficult to work out one person’s standard of living. To try and measure precisely the standard of living of all the people in a country is impossible. The best that can be done is to select a few indicators of development and measure them. Three types of development indicators are studied here.
how can gross domestic product (gdp) measure the level of development?
It is very difficult to work out one person’s standard of living. To try and measure precisely the standard of living of all the people in a country is impossible. The best that can be done is to select a few indicators of development and measure them. Three types of development indicators are studied here.
how can gross domestic national (gnp) measure the level of development?
The gross national product is similar to the GDP, but it also included services earned
abroad.
how can the energy used per person measure the level of development?
The amount of energy that is used in a country can also indicate economic
development. Countries with a lot of industries producing much wealth will also use a lot of energy.
how does people employed in agriculture affect the level of development?
A country with a high proportion of its people in agriculture will have little industry to produce wealth. In addition, farms are likely to be small and unprofitable. So, a high percentage of people in agriculture are a good indicator of a less developed country and vice versa.
what are the problems with economic indicators?
Although a country may produce a lot of wealth, it may not be spread out amongst its entire people. A small number may be extremely wealthy while the vast majority remain poor. The amount of wealth does not give enough information on people’s quality of life. For example how wealthy they are and how well educated.
The amount of income and wealth does not even show how well off people are. This needs to be compared with prices to find out what people can buy with that amount of money.
what are social indicators of developments?
Social indicators show how a country uses its wealth to improve the quality of life of its people.
What do social indicators measure in: health, diet and enducation
Those measure health include:
– Population per doctor per 1000
– Infant mortality (the no. of children who die before they are 1 year old) per 1000
– Life expectancy at birth in years
Those that measure diet include:
– Calories per person per day
– Protein per person per day
Those that measure education include:
– Percentage of children attending secondary school
– Percentage of Adult literacy
what are the problems with social indicators?
They also use averages, so they do not tell us the differences within a country. For example, the average number of calories per person might be 2500 per day but half of the people might only
receive 2000 calories and be severely undernourished, while the other half has 3000 calories and be well-fed. One indicator on its own does not give enough information on quality of life. Although people may be well-fed, we do not know how healthy or well educated they are.
