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Causes of uneven development - Coggle Diagram
Causes of uneven development
Physical factors
The most landlocked countries on Earth are in Africa. With no access to the seas, a country is cut off from seaborne trade, which is important for economic growth
Tropical Africa, South America and Asia have more climate-related diseases and pests than cooler parts of the world (e.g mosquitoes which spread malaria). Disease affects the ability of the population to stay healthy enough to work
Extreme weather (e.g cyclones, droughts and floods) often hits tropical regions - Africa in particular is badly affected. An extreme weather season can slow down development and it can be costly to repair damaged infrastructure
The lack of adequate supplies of safer water is a barrier to economic development
Countries find it difficult to develop when they: are landlocked and can't benefit from trade by sea, are blighted by tropical diseases which affect people's ability to work, have poor soils and arid conditions, suffer from natural hazards (e.g earthquakes, and do not have the money to repair all the damage caused)
Of the 54 countries in Africa, 16 are landlocked, including Mali, Central African Republic, Zambia and the continent's newest country South Sudan - South Sudan can only sell its oil if North Sudan cooperates over the pipeline to the coast. From January 2012 to March 2013, South Sudan halted its oil production in a dispute over the amount of money it had to pay North Sudan to move its crude oil through North Sudan's pipeline. This act damaged the economies of both countries and nearly brought them to war
Climate change is a threat to food production in many countries, particularly those in drier and warmer parts of the world. Wheat is a staple crop grown around the world but it is sensitive to heat. It is estimated that because of global warming, wheat yields could drop by 2% every decade. Declining crop yields mean that food prices rise, which can lead to poverty and political instability
Economic factors
Trade
Most of the world's trade is only between richer countries
Rich countries and large international companies
have a lot of power (e.g USA). They want to pay as little as possible for their raw materials, many of which come from LIC's (e.g Bangladesh). Supply of raw materials is usually more than actual demands therefore, which keeps prices low. Processing, which adds value, takes place in the richer and more developed countries. Because of this, rich countries keep getting richer whilst the poorer countries are not able to develop as they do not gain a lot from this.
LIC's and NEE's (e.g Bangladesh) have traditionally exported primary products such as minerals and agricultural products. In the last 20 years many of these countries have developed manufacturing. Manufactured products now make up about 80% of the exports of NEE's. Some countries have trade surpluses, whilst others have trade deficits. This often leads to a 'debt trap' that makes further development difficult.
Countries find it more difficult develop when: global trade favours already developed countries, tariffs make trade more expensive, they produce mainly primary products which don't make much money, when they are in debt and have to spend money on interest payments rather than development
Historical factors
Many richer countries have a long history of industrial and economic development. This contrasts with other countries, particularly in Asia and South America (e.g China, Malaysia and Mexico) which have only recently emerged as industrialised nations, therefore have yet to experience any significant economic growth
From the years 1650 to 1900 over 10 million were transported from Africa to North America to work as slaves on plantations. Almost all of the wealth produced in this time period went to European powers.
By the end of the nineteenth century much of Africa and parts of South America and Asia had been divided up between the European superpowers. Countries such as the UK, Germany, Spain and France had powerful empires and colonies. Since the year 1950, former European colonies have gained independence. In many cases this has been a difficult process, resulting in civil wars and political struggles for power. Money has been spent on armaments and some governments have been corrupted. This political instability has held back the development of some countries
Countries find it difficult to develop when they: were colonised by European countries in the 19th and 20th centuries: this meant that their economies were developed just to produce raw materials for manufacturing in European countries, have long histories of conflict (e.g civil war within the country) wars mean no stability for economic development refugee crises and governments spending what money a country has on arms and soldiers
In 2013, an estimated 28.5 million primary school aged children living in conflict-affected areas were unable to attend school. This disruption of children's education limits the opportunities of people long after the conflict has ended, therefore the consequences are more long term