Download Classifying Countries

CLASSIFYING
COUNTRIES
PUT THE FOLLOWING COUNTRIES INTO 3
GROUPS (ANY 3 GROUPS)
 USA
 Russia
 Spain
 Argentina
 Mexico
 Brazil
 China
 South Africa
 Greece
 Dem. Rep. Congo
 Finland
 Germany
 Jamaica
 Cuba
 Ethiopia
 Japan
 Ukraine
 Iraq
 India
 South Sudan
Give each group a title and briefly explain your reasoning
for grouping each country as you did
 The easiest way to classify countries is to
group them according to their levels of social
and economic development
 Social Development – refers to the level of
education, healthcare, jurisprudence (legal
rights), life expectancy, and rate of infant
mortality of a country’s population
 Economic Development – refers to the level
of material wealth and trade in a country.
This depends on per capita GDP (Gross
domestic product), ratio of cars to people,
and per capita electric power capacity
METHODS OF GROUPING
(1) Developed/Developing Worlds
this dated model grouped countries according to
its level of economic development
A developed nation would include Canada and a
developing nation may include China
This model does not allow for change in status for
a nation
(2) North – South
- this simple model groups countries into
temperate and tropical
- This model is based on the premise that
developed countries are located in
temperate regions of globe and developing
countries being located in the more
tropical regions
- This model is inaccurate because many
nations like Argentina, Australia and even
South Africa do not fit neatly into its
parameters
(3) First/Second/Third World
- this model was first used in the 1950’s
- First world nations included capitalists
countries like the USA, Canada, Britain
- Second world nations were any communist
country (USSR, Cuba, China)
- Countries from the third world were all
considered “developing” such as those in
Africa, South America and parts of Asia
- This model was entirely economic in
nature and did not account for cultural
development
(4) The Five-World Model
First World – countries include those with
the highest level of social and economic
development, such as Canada, Japan and
France
Second World – countries include those
that were or are still communist such as
China, Cuba and Russia
Third World – countries are those in
transition to economic and social
development and include Brazil and
Mexico
Fourth World – countries that are in early stages of
transition towards development
Eg. Nigeria, Ecuador, Kenya
Fifth World – countries that show little evidence of
starting a transition towards development
Eg. Bangladesh, Somalia, Haiti, Democratic Republic of
Congo
BUT… THE LEVEL OF DEVELOPMENT IN THE
WORLD IS CHANGING FAST
 Things have actually never been better!!!!!!!
 Hans Rosling
 http://www.gapminder.org/videos/200 -years-that-changedthe-world-bbc/
 The River of Myth