Classifying Countries Measuring Development

Grouping Countries Why? To help you organize your knowledge of the more than 190 countries in the world What? Measuring the degree to which a country actively participates in the globalized world Three major areas for consideration: 1) Economic Development – a country’s material wealth and trade, which is determined by its GDP/capita, ratios of cars to people, and per capita electrical power capacity.

2) Social Development – level of education, healthcare, life expectancy, and rate of infant mortality in society. 3) Political Maturity – measured by considering factors such as whether a country is democratic, has a low level of corruption, a functioning and established electoral system and rule of law. What problems can you see with these indicators?

Core/Periphery Model Video: World Systems Theory: Core vs. Peripheral Societies (youtube ~5:30mins)

Developed vs Underdeveloped Worlds Economically developed and underdeveloped nations. Does not take into account cultural development. Eg. India and China are not as economically developed as other nations, however they are quite culturally advanced.

North/South Grouping Most advanced countries are located above the equator (with some exceptions)

Three World Model 1st, 2nd, 3rd World Countries Based on political alignments First World = capitalist nations Second World = communist Third World = other, non-aligned

Developed/Newly Industrialized/Developing Based on economics Assumes that countries can transition up through the various stages.

Measuring Social and Economic Development The UN Human Development Index (HDI) Identify the top 10 countries with the highest HDI and the bottom 10 with the lowest What patterns do you observe on the HDI ranking list?

Other Indicators At your table, choose 3 other indicators from the list of examples on page 42 of your textbook. Discuss the following: What the indicator might reveal about the social and economic development of the country and how/why; What the indicator does NOT tell us about the country’s level of development

Canadian Geographic ASSIGNMENT – On-Line Go to our class website and down load the work sheet entitled: “A Developing World_HDI numbers analysis assignment” Complete the on-line investigation. Record your answers electronically and SAVE YOUR WORK to your school file. Print your work when complete and hand in.