Development and inequality · KS3 Geography

Measuring development

Development means improvements in people's lives: wealth, health, education and quality of life.
GNI per head is the average income per person. The Human Development Index (HDI) combines life expectancy, education and income into a score from 0 to 1.
Other indicators: life expectancy, literacy rate, infant mortality (deaths of babies under 1 per 1000 live births), access to clean water, and doctors per 1000 people.
Countries are grouped as high-income countries (HICs, such as the UK and Japan), newly emerging economies (NEEs, such as China, India and Brazil) and low-income countries (LICs, such as Chad and Malawi).

Physical causes: natural hazards, a difficult climate, poor soils, diseases such as malaria, and being landlocked.
Economic causes: exporting cheap raw materials rather than manufactured goods, and debt.
Historical causes: colonialism, which took resources and wealth, and conflict.
The development gap is the difference between the richest and poorest countries.

Aid: emergency aid (food, water and shelter after a disaster) and long-term development aid (schools, wells, clinics). It can come from governments or NGOs (charities).
Fairtrade gives farmers a fair, stable price, plus extra money for community projects.
Other ways: debt relief, investment by companies, microfinance (small loans to start businesses), tourism, and intermediate technology (simple tools local people can use and repair).

Development: Improvements in people's wealth, health, education and quality of life.
GNI per head: The average income of a country's people.
HDI: The Human Development Index: life expectancy, education and income combined.
Life expectancy: The average number of years a person is expected to live.
Infant mortality: The number of babies who die before age 1 per 1000 live births.
Development gap: The difference in development between the richest and poorest countries.
Aid: Help given by one country or organisation to another.
NGO: A non-governmental organisation, such as a charity.
Fairtrade: A scheme that pays farmers a fair price and a premium for community projects.
Intermediate technology: Simple, affordable technology that local people can use and repair.
Microfinance: Small loans to help people start businesses.