Causes of uneven development
Physical Factors
Historical factors
Economic factors
Countries find it harder to develop after being affected by events in the past such as colonialism or conflict.
Wars can disrupt development in a country by destroying infrastructure and service and causing potential loss of population.
2013 an estimated 28.5 million primary school age children living in conflict-affected areas wee unable to attend school
Disruption to education can limit the opportunities of people long after the conflict has ended
Colonialism has had both positive and negative effects on developments of some countries.
Between 1870s and 1900 many European countries began to take control of areas in Africa and Asia in order to gain access to abundant natural resources.
Positive - This necessitated the building of infrastructure in colonies including railways, roads and port facilities. Local population benefited from colonisation as hospitals and schools were also built for them. Negative - Wealth that derived from raw materials was mainly claimed by the colonial powers, leaving little to none for the colonies leaving them to remain poor.
Niger is a former French colony and in 2014 was the least developed country in the world. After it's independence in 1960 Niger had experienced severe political instability.
These countries still have economies based around raw materials rather than manufacturing.
The geographical location of some countries does not favor development.
Not having a coastline makes trade difficult.
Land-locked countries depend on neighbours to import/export goods.
South Sudan can only sell its oil if North Sudan cooperates over the pipeline to the coast.
Trade
Countries are cut off from seaborne trade which is uimportant fro economic growth.
Climate-related diseases
Can affect the ability of the population to stay healthy enough to work.
Tropical Africa, South America and Asia have more climate-related diseases and pests than cooler parts of the world (such as mosquitoes which can spread malaria)
Extreme weather
Extreme weather season can slow development and it can be costly to repair damaged infrastructure
Tropical regions are frequently hit by extreme weather such as cyclones, droughts and floods. Africa is badly affected.
Lack of adequate supplies of safe water
Barrier to economic development
Natural Hazards
Countries may not have the money to repair all the damage caused by natural hazards such as earthquakes so are therefore stunted in their economic growth and development.
Rich countries and larger international companies have a lot of power
North America and Europe dominate world trade.
They want to pay as little as possible for their raw materials, many of which come from Low Income Countries.
Often more supple than demand for raw materials so prices remain low.
Processing, which adds value, takes place in richer, developed countries
Rich countries get richer and prevent the poorer countries from developing.
Favors already developed countries
Tariffs set by richer countries make trade more expensive.
Debt
If a country is in debt they struggle to develop as they have to spend the country's money on interest payments.
Low prices set by richer countries jeopardise low income countries economic development