paper 2, section b, the changing economic world Flashcards
what factors affect a country’s level and speed of development?
- environmental
- economic
- social
- political
what are examples of environmental factors that affect a country’s level and speed of development?
natural hazards
what are examples of economic factors that affect a country’s level and speed of development?
- trade
- debt
what are examples of social factors that affect a country’s level and speed of development?
- access to safe water
- education
what are examples of political factors that affect a country’s level and speed of development?
- stable government
- civil war
what is the development gap?
the difference in standards of living between the world’s richest and poorest countries
what is HDI?
- HDI links wealth to health and education
- it aims to show how far people are benefitting from a country’s economic growth
- it’s a social measure
what are the measures used to produce HDI?
- life expectancy at birth
- number of years of education
- GNI per head
what is an advantage of HDI?
due to combining different measures it’s very representative
what is a disadvantage of HDI?
if any data is inaccurate, the measure is invalid
what is GNI?
- wealth and income can be used to describe a country’s level of economic development
- GNI is the total value of goods and services produced by a country, plus money earned from and paid to other countries
- expressed as per capita of population
what is an advantage of GNI?
economic indicator is one way of showing development
what is a disadvantage of GNI?
some countries seem to have high GNI as relatively wealthy with small population but not necessarily good quality of life
why might HDI be the most effective measure of development?
it combines 3 different measures in order to calculate the overall score, so it’s very representative
what are some general negatives for measuring development?
- data from some developing countries may not be very reliable and may be difficult to confirm
- measures chosen may seem very arbitrary
- GNIs don’t measure unequal distribution within the country
- no indication in the education index about access to education for all groups in society
what are some general positives of HDI?
- widespread use of HDI
- reveals clear global patterns
- doesn’t only concentrate on economic development; also includes more social ways to measure human development
what are the 5 stages of population?
- high fluctuating
- early expanding
- late expanding
- low fluctuating
- natural decrease
describe the high fluctuating stage/stage 1
- birth and death rates are both high and fluctuating
how does the high fluctuating stage/stage 1 link to development?
- high birth rate due to high infant mortality rate
give an example of a country in the high fluctuating stage/stage 1
no countries are in stage 1
- some small tribal groups have high birth and death rates
what does the pyramid look like for a country in stage 1?
- very wide base
- very narrow peak
- narrow working population
describe the early expanding stage/stage 2
- birth rate is high/children may be needed if economy based on agriculture
- gap between birth rate and death rate leads to high natural increase in total population
how does the early expanding stage/stage 2 link to development?
- improved standards of living, hygiene and access to healthcare reduce death rate so life expectancy increases
- no access to contraception
give an example of a country in the early expanding stage/stage 2
Afghanistan
- extremely poor due to war and instability
- birth rate 46.2
- death rate 20
what does the pyramid look like for a country in stage 2?
- young dependents = very wide base
- working age and elderly dependents widening but still narrow
describe the late expanding stage/stage 3
- death rate continues to slowly fall and birth rate falls quickly
how does the late expanding stage/stage 3 link to development?
- medical advances and birth control available
- economy moving away from farming and more secondary industry
- women having more equal place in society
- children more expensive
give an example of a country in the late expanding stage/stage 3
Brazil
- roman catholic so high birth rate but falling as improved living shows benefits of smaller families
what does the pyramid look like for a country in stage 3?
- working age much wider
- base beginning to narrow
- peak slowly widening
describe the low fluctuating stage/stage 4
- low birth and death rates will fluctuate
- overall birth rate falling rapidly
- death rate low and fluctuating
- population growth rate is zero and overall high life expectancy
how does the low fluctuating stage/stage 4 link to development?
- fluctuation with economic situation
- women more equal in society
- people want to spend money on possessions instead of children
- money for medical research
- problem = aging population
give an example of a country in the low fluctuating stage/stage 4
USA
- richest country in the world
- population growth due to immigration
what does the pyramid look like for a country in stage 4?
- much wider peak
- narrowing young dependents
- most of the population = working age
- very wide
describe the natural decrease stage/stage 5
- death rate remains constant (low and fluctuating) but birth rate dips below so higher death rate than 4
- birth rates fall
- negative population growth rate as birth rate<death rate
how does the natural decrease stage/stage 5 link to development?
- people choose careers over family
- economic uncertainty puts people off having children or as they have elderly relatives
give an example of a country in the natural decrease stage/stage 5
germany
- is highly developed
- women high achievers and aging population causes low birth rates
- government deals with elderly
what does the pyramid look like for a country in stage 5?
- wide working population
- very wide peak
- narrow base
what age group are young dependents?
0-16
what age group are elderly dependents?
65+
what three sections cause uneven development?
- physical
- economic
- historical
what physical factors cause uneven development?
- landlocked countries
- climate-related diseases and pests
- extreme climate
- lack of adequate supplies of safer water
how does being landlocked cause uneven development?
- with no access to seas, countries are cut off from seaborne trade
give a statistic that demonstrates how being landlocked is a cause of uneven development
of the 15 lowest ranked HDI countries, 8 have no coastline
how do climate-related diseases and pests cause uneven development?
- affect the ability of the population to stay healthy enough to be able to work e.g. in tropical Africa, South America and Asia
how does extreme climate cause uneven development?
- such as cyclones, droughts and floods (in tropical regions)
- can slow development and can be costly to repair damaged infrastructure
how does a lack of adequate supplies of safe water cause uneven development?
- drought affects many of the world’s poorer countries particularly in Africa
- clean water is essential to ensure good health and enable people to work effectively
- poor irrigation limits development of commercial farming
- many counties lack money to develop water storage and distribution systems
- people can waste several hours a day walking to collect water
what economic factors cause uneven development?
trade
how does trade cause uneven development?
- rich countries and large TNCs want to pay as little as possible for their raw materials (from LICs)
- supply of raw materials often outstrips demand, which keeps prices low
- raw materials are often processed in richer countries, adding value
(rich get richer, poor struggle to develop)
give an example of a country which trades a lot of copper
Zambia
- copper accounts for over 60% of total value of exports
- main trading partner is Switzerland
- price of copper fluctuated since 2000
- HDI of 0.39, Zambia described as having ‘low human development’
what historical factors cause uneven development?
colonialism
how does colonialism cause uneven development?
- almost all of the wealth produced during the colonial period (1650-1950) went to European powers
- since 1950 former European colonies have gained independence
- independence has often been a difficult process resulting in civil wars and political struggles for power which has continued to hold back development
in 2014, where was the fastest growth of wealth?
in north America
- now holds 35% of total global wealth but only 5% of the population
what does Africa’s share of global wealth look like?
1% but with 12% of population
give some statistics about health in low income countries
- 4 in every 10 deaths among children <15 and 2 in 10 deaths people 70<
- complications of childbirth are main cause of death among children <5
- infectious diseases main cause of death e.g. lung infections, HIV/AIDS, diarrhoea-related diseases, malaria and tuberculosis together account for 1/3 of deaths
give some statistics about health in high income countries
- 7 in 10 deaths people 70<
- main causes of death = chronic diseases e.g. cancer, dementia, diabetes, heart and lung diseases
- 1 in 100 deaths among children <15
- lung infections only main infectious cause of death
what is malaria?
a life threatening disease caused by mosquitoes transmitting parasites to people
give some statistics about malaria
- in Africa, every minute a child dies of malaria
- in 2013, there were half a million deaths from malaria; Africa accounted for 80% of these
how can malaria be combatted?
- vaccination programmes in some of Africa’s more wealthy countries have lead to rapid decline in deaths and reported cases of malaria
- mosquito nets widely used as cheaper alternative
what is migration?
the movement of people from place to place, voluntarily or forced
what is an immigrant?
a person who move into a country
what is an emigrant?
a person who moves out of a country
what is an economic migrant?
a person who moves voluntarily to seek a better life, such as a better paid job or benefits like healthcare and education
what is a refugee?
a person forced to move from their country of origin often as a result of civil war or a natural disaster e.g. an earthquake
what is a displaced person?
a person forced to move from their home but who stays in their country of origin
when was the Middle East refugee crisis?
2015
what did the Middle East refugee crisis consist of?
- hundreds of thousands of people fled their homes in syria, Afghanistan and Iraq to Europe
- thousands make journey across mediterranean in overcrowded/unsafe boats
- 4 million have fled syria to temporary camps in turkey, Jordan and Lebanon
- some boats capsize or are lost
- some people make journey by land through turkey
why did people flee syria?
- civil war since 2011
- war had claimed 470,000 in 5 years and 11.5% of population killed or injured
how many migrants entered Germany in 2015?
1.1 million
describe some features of economic migration to the UK
- UK has long history of accepting migrants
- since 2004 over 1.5 million economic migrants have moved to the UK
- most migrants pay tax
- pressure on services like health and education
what are some methods for reducing the development gap?
- debt relief
- fair trade
- aid
- tourism
- industrial development
- micro-finance loans
- investment
- intermediate technology
what is debt relief?
forgiving a debt in part or in total, i.e. writing it off
what is fair trade?
a system whereby agricultural producers in countries at lesser stages of development are paid a fair price for their produce; this helps them to attain a reasonable standard of living
what is aid?
transfer of resources from a HIC to a LIC; aid includes money, equipment, food, training, skilled people and loans
what is tourism?
the movement of people to places outside their normal places of work/community, the activities carried out during their holiday, and the facilities created to meet their needs
what is industrial development?
the development of industry, such as factories or infrastructure
what are micro-finance loans?
the provision of financial help (mainly money) to small businesses and private enterprises which do not have access to banking services
what is investment?
the action or process of investing money for profit; usually from a HIC to a LIC
what is intermediate technology?
technology that the local community can use relatively easily and without much cost
how can investment reduce the development gap?
- jobs are created and income received from abroad
- economies grow, poverty decreases, education improves, people become more politically involved (leading to a better government)
give an example of how investment can be used to reduce the development gap
Chinese companies have invested billions of dollars in Africa
- power plant in Zimbabwe
- railway construction in Sudan
how can industrial development reduce the development gap?
- increased individual wealth leads to improvements in health, education and service provision through the payment of more taxes
give an example of how industrial development can be used to reduce the development gap
Malaysia: dramatic growth in it’s wealth and quality of life since 1970s
- made use of foreign investment to exploit it’s natural resources (e.g. oil, palm oil, rubber) and develop a thriving manufacturing sector
- today, Malaysia has a highly developed mixed economy with growing financial and service sectors as well as trade links globally
how can tourism reduce the development gap?
- brings in valuable foreign currency and brings a range of improvements including to the infrastructure, healthcare and education
- tourism brings employment opportunities in the service sector and raises incomes
give an example of how tourism can be used to reduce the development gap
caribbean islands: Bahamas, Jamaica, British Virgin Islands
indian ocean: seychelles, Maldives
- dependent on tourism
- generates a lot of income but vulnerable in times of economic recession
how can aid reduce the development gap?
- long-term aid is what best addresses development gap; can enable countries to invest in development projects e.g. improving sanitation, water supply and education
- quality of life is improved when focused on healthcare, education and services
give an example of how aid can be used to reduce the development gap
goat aid from Oxfam; helps families in Malawi
- one goat will produce milk, butter and meat for that family
- benefits community as manure for fertiliser
- milk and cheese can be sold to pay for education
- care for goat builds community spirit
how can intermediate technology reduce the development gap?
- improvements at local level as involves local communities, making a real difference to quality of people’s lives
give an example of how intermediate technology can be used to reduce the development gap
irrigation at Adis Nifas, Ethiopia
- small dam built
- appropriate machinery and money given to locals; village locals provided labour
- elephant grass grown; divides fields and prevents erosion
how can fair trade reduce the development gap?
- encourages trade between member countries
- members can get greater share of market
- members able to get higher prices for goods
give an example of how fair trade can be used to reduce the development gap
cocoa from Ghana
- world’s largest producer of cocoa beans
- most packaging/processing done in Europe (EU charges 7.7% on cocoa powder, 15% on chocolate and nothing on raw cocoa beans)
how can debt relief reduce the development gap?
- helps LICs invest money in development projects, like industry, resources, infrastructure
- after debt is cancelled, countries can use money to improve quality of life
give an example of how debt relief can be used to reduce the development gap
ghana
- saved money used to build new infrastructure and improve education and healthcare
how can micro-finance loans reduce the development gap?
- if businesses successful, they will create jobs and increase people’s income
give an example of how micro-finance loans can be used to reduce the development gap
Grameen bank in Bangladesh
- set up in 1976
- used to support locals, esp. women, to develop skills in small businesses
- loans often <$100 with low interest
- >$11 billion lent to over 7 million members
why does Jamaica need tourism?
- Jamaica is one of largest islands in Caribbean
- population of 2.9 million
- economy based on range of materials, agricultural products and some manufacturing
- classed as ‘upper middle income country’
- slow growth, debt and high unemployment over long period
how is tourism helping Jamaica develop?
- Jamaica enjoys good international air communications
- tourism and bauxite energy are growth sectors of economy
- country become popular as beautiful beaches, warm climate and rich heritage
- tourism helped raise level of development and reduce development gap
- generates tax, employment and income
- hub for cruise ships
what is the impact of tourism on Jamaica’s economy?
- in 2019, contributed 35% of GDP; one of highest proportions in the world and expected to rise
- non-cruise ship visitors spend average of $120 per day
- annual 1.5 million cruise passengers
- tourism increase brings benefits
- income and taxes help reduce development gap
- taxes help development
- tourism income $2 billion per year
how has tourism improved quality of life and the environment in Jamaica?
- areas that have benefitted from tourist industry can have wealthy Jamaican in high quality housing etc but there are also many in poor housing, limited food supply etc
- mass tourism can be problematic e.g. footpath erosion, excessive waste, harmful emissions; also environmental benefits like conservation, landscaping projects which provide jobs and encourage more tourism
what impacts has tourism had on employment and infrastructure in Jamaica?
- tourism main source of employment
- jobs for 200,000 people in hotels, transport, attractions, shops, manufacturing, banking; in/around tourist towns
- income boosts local economies
- those in employment learn new skills; helps prospects
- tourism led to high investment on north coast where tourism centred
- new port/cruise liner facilities, hotel accommodation etc
- but improvements in roads/airports slower and some parts of land still isolated
key features of Nigeria?
- located in West Africa
- borders Benin, Chad, Niger and Cameroon
- capital is abuja
- borders sea at Gulf of Guinea in south and the sanel in north
- directly south of uk
- tropical climate; variable rainy/dry seasons
- south = mostly hot and wet
- inland = long and dry season
what is the global importance of Nigeria?
- in 2020, ranked 27th globally by GDP
- supplies 2.2% of world’s oil; 15th largest producer
- developed diverse economy including financial services, telecommunications and media
- Nigeria is 5th largest contributor to UN global peacekeeping missions
what is the regional importance of Nigeria?
- one of the fastest growing economies in Africa
- in 2020, had highest GDP in Africa and third largest manufacturing sector
- Africa’s largest population; over 200 million
- highest farm output in Africa; 35% employed in agriculture
- huge potential despite issues with potential corruption and poor infrastructure
political features of Nigeria
- 1880s; during colonial period, Africa exploited for resources and people
- 1960s; many African countries gained independence, Nigeria fully independent from Britain in 1960
- 1967-1970; political instability e.g. civil war/dictatorships affected development and led to widespread corruption
- 1999; government becomes more stable, free/fair elections in 2015 and 2019
who’s investing in Nigeria as a result of political stability?
- china investing in construction in capital, abuja
- General Electric investing in new power plants
- American corporations e.g. Wal-Mart and IT giants IBM, Microsoft and Oracle operating
- South Africa; investing in business and banking
social features of Nigeria
- multi-ethnic, multi-faith
- social diversity is strength but can be source of conflict
- civil war 1967-70; Biafra (Igbo) in SE defeated
- recently economic inequality between islamic north and christian south created religious/ethnic tensions
- rise of islamic fundamentalist group Boko Haram
- created unstable situation with negative impact on economy; less foreign investment, more unemployment
cultural features of Nigeria
- nigerian music very popular across Africa and beyond e.g. Fela Kuti, Afrobeat
- nigerian cinema, known as ‘Nollywood’ is 2nd largest film industry in world; ahead of US and behind India
- in literature, well-known nigerian writers include Wole Soyinka
- in sport, nigerian football team has won African cup of nations 3 times; several nigerian football players have played in the Premier League e.g. Victor Moses and Kanu
environmental features of Nigeria
- huge regional variations across country so many environments with various opportunities/challenges:
- Northern Nigeria = far NE; semi-arid desert, further south; tropical grassland, used for cattle grazing/crops
- Jos Plateau = upland, wet and cooler than surrounding savanna; densely populated farmland and woodland
- Southern Nigeria = high temperatures and rainfall; forested with crops e.g. cocoa, palm oil, rubber; hard to keep cattle due to parasite (tsetse fly) - recent deforestation resulted in loss of 14% of TRF between 2005 and 2020; largely due to pop. growth, agri. expansion of cocoa cultivation, logging and mining
- oil industry responsible for considerable environmental degradation as result of forest fires and oil spillage
what are some of Nigeria’s main political links?
- Commonwealth
- African Union
- UN
- ECOWAS
- CEN-SAD
- OPEC
what does the African Union do?
- economic planning/peacekeeping group
- nigeria in alliance with niger, chad, Benin and Cameroon to provide troops
what does the UN do?
- recently, Nigeria given special award for contribution to UN peacekeeping movements
what does ECOWAS do?
economic community of west African states
- trading group made of countries in west Africa; headquarters in abuja
what does CEN-SAD do?
community of Sahel-saharan states
- similar aims to ECOWAS
- also seeks to develop sporting links
what does OPEC do?
organisation of petroleum exporting countries
- aims to stabilise price of oil to ensure regular supply
how is Nigeria a major global trading nation?
- main exports are crude and refined petroleum, natural gas, rubber, cocoa and cotton; main export partners are EU and India (>50% of export value)
- main imports are cars from Brazil, rice and wheat and mobile phones from china; main import partners are EU and china (>50%nof import value)
- nigeria ranks 7th in world for no. of mobile phone users (growing population)
describe crude oil in Nigeria
- main export
- vital source of income and economy relies heavily on it
- ‘sweet oil’; less than 42% sulphur; higher quality than Middle Eastern oil
- india main customer
- until 2013, USA was main customer but they made developments in shale oil/fracking and have relied less on Nigeria
describe agriculture in Nigeria
- reliance on crude petroleum reduced importance of agri. products; even though 36% of pop. employed in sector
- top destinations of Nigerian agri. products; Vietnam, India, USA, Russia, Netherlands
- top agri. exports; sesame seeds, cocoa beans, cashew nuts, ginger, soya beans, frozen prawns, palm kernel oil
what are the four sectors of industry?
- primary
- secondary
- tertiary
- quaternary
describe the primary sector
extracts or harvests products from earth such as raw materials and basic foods
describe the secondary sector
produces finished goods from raw materials extracted by primary economy
describe the tertiary sector
sells goods produced by secondary sector and provides commercial services
describe the quaternary sector
involves intellectual services; research, development and information
how has Nigeria’s industry changed?
- primary production was main source of income; cocoa, timber, oil palm, groundnuts, cotton (main exports)
- discovery of oil in niger delta in 1956 changed industrial sector; created more high end jobs/trading opportunities
- oil accounts for 9% of GDP and 90% of export earnings; Nigeria has world’s 10th largest oil reserve
does Nigeria have a balanced economy?
- growth of communications, retail and finance in tertiary sector; now employs 53% of workers and accounts for 50% GDP
- whilst industrial sector now accounts for about 27% GDP, Nigeria has fastest growing industrial sector in Africa (overtaking South Africa)
- employment in agriculture fallen as increase in mechanisation and better pay/conditions in other sectors
- agriculture contributes to 22% GDP
- because of reliance on oil, doesn’t have balanced economy yet
why is Nigeria’s economy developing?
- investment in science and technology training (due to large pop.)
- rapid advances in technology
- increased use of telecommunications, Nigeria is able to benefit from global finance and trade
describe nigeria’s manufacturing/secondary sector
- growing faster than all other sectors including oil/agri
- due to growing home market, cheap labour force, improving infrastructure
- goods e.g. processed food, leather items, textiles, soaps
how is manufacturing affecting economic development?
- more people employed means increased revenue from taxes
- manufacturing stimulates growth of supply chain industry e.g. car parts for Volkswagen and Peugeot
- oil processing creates chemical by-products; growth in chemical industries like soaps, detergents and plastics
