2. ‘N’ Level Exam Topics
• Section A:
– Topics: Rivers and Coasts
– 2 questions, Choose 1 (25 marks each)
• Section B:
– Topics: (1) Geography of Food, (2) Development
– 2 questions, Choose 1 (1 will be set on a specific
topic, 1 question will be set on a topic or a
combination of topics) – 25 marks each
3.
4. What is development?
• Refers to improvements in Standard of Living
and Quality of Life
• Standard of Living (SOL) refers to the living
conditions in which people live in.
– Access to education, health services and basic
amenities (i.e. clean water supply and sanitation
system)
• Quality of Life (QOL) refers to the degree of
satisfaction that you have with your living
conditions and lifestyle.
14. How do you feel towards the
photographs you have seen Pit Stop
just now? 2 mins
Development is Uneven; Some places are more
developed than others.
1. How can we tell?
2. What caused these differences?
3. What can be done?
15. Essential Questions:
1. What is Development?
2. How do we measure the level of development in
a country?
3. Where are the DCs (Developed Countries) and
LDCs (Less Developed Countries) located?
4. Why is there uneven development?
5. What are the strategies to reduce uneven
development?
6. How does National Development alleviate
uneven development?
16. Strategies:
•Economic Effectiveness Standard of Quality of
•Education Good/ Bad? Living Life
•Social
What is
National Level How to Measure
Development?
Development?
How to bring
about
development? Development Indicators
1. Economic
2. Education
International Level
3. Health
Uneven development Reasons for
between & within Uneven
•International
countries Development
Organisations
Limitations
•International S.H.E.E.P
Core‐Periphery of each
Agreements Factors:
Model indicator
Social
Historical
Effectiveness •Spread effect Economic Tool:
Good/ Bad? •Backwash effect Environment HDI
•Cumulative causation Political 0<HDI<1
17. 1. What is development?
• Improvements in Standard of Living and Quality
of Life
• Standard of Living (SOL) refers to the living
conditions in which people live in.
– Access to education, health services and basic
amenities (i.e. clean water supply and sanitation
system)
• Quality of Life (QOL) refers to the degree of
satisfaction that you have with your living
conditions and lifestyle.
18. 2. How do we measure the level of development
in a country?
1. Economic 3. Education
• Income per capita • Literacy Rate
• Employment 2. Health
Structure • Life Expectancy
• Employment • Infant Mortality Rate
Opportunities • Availability of health
services
4. •Access to clean water
Level of Urbanisation supply & sanitation
19. 1. Economic indicators
i. Income per capita
• Income = Wealth of people in a country
= Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or Gross National Product (GNP)
• Per capita = Per person
• Income per capita refers to the average income earned by each
worker in a country in a year.
22. • Higher GDP or GNP means that a country is wealthier and
has more resources to develop.
• The same holds for countries with higher GDP per capita or GNP
per capita.
• Countries with low GDP/ GNP means that country is
undeveloped as there is little resources available for
development.
• The same holds for countries with lower GDP per capita or GNP
per capita.
• E.g. According to UNDP 2005, developed country, U.S.A, has a
GDP per capita of US$37 562, as compared to developing country,
Ethiopia, who only has a GDP per capita of US$711 in the same
year.
23. Limitations
1. GDP / GNP is a gross figure, it does not take into
account the population size of a country.
2. GDP per capita/ GNP per capita is an average figure, it
does not account for individual or regional differences
in income.
3. Does not reflect the local cost of living. I.e. a pen may
cost $0.50 in Cty A but $2 in Cty B.
4. Does not account for informal activities such as
hawking, tuition.
As a result, income/ income per capita may not be an
accurate measure of the level of development in a
country.
24. 1. Economic indicators
ii. Employment Structure
Primary e.g. logging,
farming, mining
Employment
Structure
Secondary
e.g. garment
manufacturing
Tertiary
e.g. services: banking, tourism
industry
27. • Primary industries contribute little wealth to
the country
• Jobs in primary industries are low paying
• Jobs in secondary & tertiary industries are
higher‐paying
• Hence, generally, most DCs have largest
proportion of workforce in tertiary, followed
by secondary, lastly, primary.
• On the other hand, LDCs have largest
proportion of workforce in primary, followed
by secondary, then tertiary.
28. Limitations
• Some countries may have a sizeable
proportion of workforce in the primary
industry and yet still be a DC.
• E.g. USA has a relatively balanced primary,
secondary and tertiary industry because of its
large domestic economy.
As a result, employment structure may not be an
accurate measure of the level of development in a
country.
32. Less Developed Countries (LDCs)
Few Employment
Opportunities
Low SOL & Low Income per
QOL capita
33. • Greater employment opportunities in DCs
allow its people to earn more income and
have higher SOL and QOL.
• Few employment opportunities in LDCs cause
its people to be poor and have higher SOL and
QOL.
34. 2. Health indicators
• Health conditions refer to the general well‐
being of a person with regard to his/ her
mental and physical conditions.
• It differs between DCs and LDCs.
• Determined by whether there is:
– Medical & healthcare is available and accessible
– Facilities such as hospitals and clinics
– Safe drinking water & proper sanitation
– Balanced diet
35. Definitions of terms:
i. Life expectancy refers to the average
number of years a person is expected to live.
ii. Infant Mortality Rate refers to the rate at
which the number of babies less than one
year of age dies, for every 1,000 live births,
in a year.
iii. Access to water supply & sanitation
facilities
36. ACTIVITY TIME
Life Infant Clean Proper
Expectancy Mortality Water Sanitation
Rate Supply Facilities
DC High/ Low High/ Low Yes/ No Yes/ No
LDC High/ Low High/ Low Yes/ No Yes/ No
Why?
37. • People in DCs have higher life expectancies than
LDCs because:
– Balanced diet
– Clean environment
– Access to leading medical services
– Afford medical treatment
– E.g. UNDP 2005: Japan has a high LE of 82 years as
compared to Ethiopia with 47.6 years.
38. • People in DCs have lower infant mortality
rates than LDCs because there is access to:
– Proper healthcare amenities such as clinics,
hospitals and medical research facilities
– E.g. DCs such as Norway and USA have lower IMR
(3 and 7 per 1000 live births respectively) than
LDCs such as Cambodia and Sierra Leone (97 and
166 per 1000 live births respectively).
39. • People in DCs have access to clean water
supply supplied by pipes to home
• People in LDCs do not have access to clean
water
• Unclean water is unsafe for drinking and will
cause water‐borne diseases such cholera &
polio.
• E.g. UNDP 2005: Access to clean water;
Norway (100%), Ethiopia (22%)
40. • DCs have proper sanitation facilities (i.e.
toilets with flush and waste disposal system)
• LDCs has poor/ no sanitation facilities (i.e.
human waste left in open ground) seep
into ground and contaminate groundwater
rivers contaminate water sources lead to
widespread of diseases such as dysentery.
• E.g. UNDP 2005: 100% Australians has access
to sanitation compared to only 6% in Ethiopia.
41. Hence,
• DCs: Access to medical facilities, clean water and
proper sanitation reflects High Standards of
Living & Quality of Life More developed
• LDCs: Lack of access to medical facilities, clean
water and proper sanitation reflects Low
Standards of Living & Quality of Life Less
developed
42. 3. Education indicators
• Literacy rate refers to the percentage of adults
(age 15 and above) in a country, who can read
and write.
• More developed a country is, the higher its
literacy rate
• More financial resources to build schools, train
teachers and subsidise education
• E.g. UNDP 2005: Italy has a high literacy rate of
98.5% as compared to Sierra Leone with 29.6%.
43. • Higher literacy rates means people have more
skills to work in the technology‐driven tertiary
industries higher pay higher SOL and
QOL
• Low literacy rates in LCDs hinder economic
development as industries will be focused on
low‐skilled primary and secondary sectors
lowly paid low SOL & QOL
44. Limitations
• Some countries can have a high literacy rate
and yet still classified as a LDC.
• E.g. Vietnam has a high literacy rate of 94% in
2004 despite being a LDC.
As a result, literacy rate may not be an accurate measure
of the level of development in a country.
46. Limitations
1. Rural‐urban migration: Movement of labour from
rural to urban areas in search of better jobs
• Rural farmers lack skills needed for well‐paid jobs in
urban areas unemployed/ lowly paid jobs in urban
areas
2. Counter‐urbanisation trend in DCs: People move out
of cities to the suburbs to avoid problems such as
overcrowding, high pollution in the cities.
As a result, % of urban population may not be an
accurate measure of the level of development in a
country.
49. Human Development Index (HDI)
2. Takes 3 key indicators:
• Economic indicators (Gross Domestic Product
per capita, Gross National Product per capita,
Employment structure and opportunities)
• Health indicators (i.e. Life expectancy, Infant
Mortality Rate)
• Education indicators (i.e. Literacy rate)
3. Value between 1 and 0.
50. Human Development Index (HDI)
Low Medium High
HDI 0.499 and below 0.500‐0.799 0.800‐1.00
0 ≤ HDI ≥ 1
Limitations:
1.Lack of complete data as economies in LDCs are in informal
trading
2.Failure to take into account human rights and freedom
3.Time lag between year of publish and time of data collection
(2 years)
