Written Assignment !!!

The following summary provides information to help interpret the data you collected for the country you were assigned.

GEOGRAPHY

Landlocked countries are at a disadvantage because there is no direct access to the ocean. Transportation costs are higher and the countries surrounding them will want to charge money for the landlocked country to import or export goods.

Climate can pose a problem for agriculture (extensive forms have low yields per land area):

· Too dry only extensive agriculture can be practiced

· Too cold and or dry – extensive

· Too wet (tropical rainforest) – extensive

· Tropical Climates also have more potential for chronic diseases

Mountainous Terrain can pose a problem for agriculture (colder temperatures and terracing) and also make the construction of transportation facilities (Roads, Railroads, and airports) more difficult and expensive.

Arable Land: less than 5%; could be a hurdle, 5 – 10% could be OK, over 10% should not be a problem.

The shape of your country can have an effect on the politics. Elongated, fragmented, and prorupted shapes can make communication and effective political control difficult. Compact states are easier to keep control of and defend from outside or internal enemies.

DEMOGRAPHICS

Over 50% of people engaged in agriculture indicates a poor country with a subsistence economy.

Over 40% of the population 15 or under = dependents who are not yet working and need food, medical care, housing, and education. Money spent that is not available for other investments is a problem in poor countries. Many countries have gone into crippling debt to try to provide these services, but had to cut back because of SAPs.

A high incidence of HIV can be a drag on the economy and the social structure. People living with HIV (or other endemic diseases) will not be as productive. The orphans left behind by HIV victims will need to be taken care of.

Elevated rates of Infant Mortality may indicate a healthcare system that is underfunded and is not functioning very well.

A primate city is when there is one very large (at least twice or more, larger than the 2nd largest city) and very important city in a country.

A TFR over 4 indicates a society engaged in agriculture. A TFR between 2.5 and 4 indicates a possible transition away from agriculture. When a poor country has a TFR of below 2.5 it may indicate disruption (war, famine, political and economic unrest).

It could be a hurdle to further economic development when there are a large number of different ethnic groups and languages spoken (religions also). This may cause centrifugal forces which can lead to political disruption (see below). Outside investors (banks and global corporations) are reluctant to invest in countries that have political unrest and this can be a hurdle to a better economy.

POLITICS

Political disruption may occur when there are a large number of different ethnic groups and languages spoken. Conflict can also occur between different religions. This may cause centrifugal forces and each group will fight for power.

Trying to bring democracy to places like this will be difficult. The presence of a “minority elite”, an ethnic group from outside the country that has powerful economic influence can also be disruptive to the political process. In African Countries you should try to find out if there are any White Europeans (former colonists), Hindus (from India), Lebanese, and/or Syrians. You should note the presence or absence of any of these groups in your country. Their presence may indicate that there is a minority elite who may control a large percentage of the economy.

Core-Periphery

One way to look at development is to look at the history of a place. Core-periphery models are based on the observation within many spatial systems sharp territorial contrasts exist in wealth, economic advancement, and growth between economic heartlands (urban cores) and outlying subordinate zones (periphery). The growth of the core is at the expense of the periphery. There are three stages to the core periphery model which correspond to the three designations offered below related to levels of economic development.

We can break the countries of the world down into 3 groups:

· Least Developed = Stage 1

· Developing = Stage 2

· Most Developed = Stage 3

Stage #1

On the international scene, core-periphery contrasts are discerned between prosperous core areas (U.S., Western Europe, and Japan) and the least developed periphery.

The least developed areas provide the raw materials (at low prices set by the markets in the core countries) and the core areas produce the finished goods which have much higher profit margins.

This is an example of circular and cumulative causation and describes Stage #1 of the Core-Periphery Model on a global scale.

In many cases the least developed countries of the world are former colonies which were used to extract raw materials for the industrialized countries of the world while under the rule of the colonial power.

While almost all of these former colonies are now self ruled they still provide the raw materials to the developed part of the world – thus the term neocolonialism.

Stage #2

Stage 2 is called the trickle-down or spread effect stage.

As regions reach higher levels of economic development the benefits (innovations, capital) of the core spread out (trickle-down) or diffuse into the periphery.

The spread of benefits (investments) is based on locational decisions that will earn more money for the core. It may be to save costs based on transportation of raw materials, but in most current situations it is to take advantage of low cost labor found in least developed and developing countries. Once industry is established it allows some countries to move to Stage #2 and become a developing country.

Stage #3

Once the spread effects have taken hold wages rise and more people can afford more consumer goods until a point is reached when you have a fully functional and prosperous economy. Places like the U.S., Canada, Japan, Western Europe, and Australia have reached stage 3 and are now the global core. Most of these countries were able to move to fully integrated economies after massive government investments in infrastructure (electricity, water, sewage), transportation (highways and airports) and military (bases, science and technology). In the U.S. these huge investments started during the 1930s depression.