Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Living Standards What is a standard of living? • A standard of living is a measure that geographers use to compare, contrast, and rank nations of the world • It allows geographers to say that this country has a high standard of living and is one of the best places in the world to live • Conversely, it also allows them to say that another country has a low standard of living and is one of worst places in the world to live How is standard of living measured? • A country’s standard of living is measured according to three criteria: • Life expectancy • Literacy rate • Per capita gross domestic product Life expectancy • Life expectancy is the average number of years that an individual is expected to live in a particular nation or region • For example, people born in Canada have a life expectancy of 81 years • However, a person born in the African country of Burkina Faso has a life expectancy of 56 years Literacy rates • Literacy rates are the number of people who can read and write in a country per 1000 of population of that country Differences in literacy rates • Literacy rates are high in North America and Western Europe • Well over 90% of both men and women are literate • This is not true of other parts of the world – for example, in parts of Asia and Africa, only about 70% of men and 50% of women are literate Gross domestic product (GDP) • GDP is the total value of all goods and services produced in a country in one year • GDP is one way of measuring a country’s wealth compared to other nations, as well as a growth rate of an economy • If you divide the GDP by the number of people in a country, you get the average GDP per person, or per capita • The U.S. has a per capita GDP of $52, 308 while Liberia has a per capita GDP of $752 United Nations Human Development Index • The United Nations was set up after World War II – it is made up of many of the world’s nations • The UN monitors and reports on standards of living around the world • Each year, the UN publishes a Human Development report that ranks the world’s countries according to life expectancy, literacy rate, and per capita GDP Human Development Index • UN index gives a crude indication of the different levels of economic and social development among the countries of the world • Once data on life expectancy, literacy rates, and per capita GDP are collected, the UN Human Development Index classifies countries into three broad categories Three categories of development • High human development – countries with low population growth, but high levels of economic growth and technological developments • Medium human development – countries with growing population, with medium levels of economic and human development • Low human development – countries with high levels of population growth, low levels of economic and technological development 2014 Human Development Index rankings • In the category of High Human Development, the country that was ranked #1 in the world was …. • Norway • In the category of Low Human Development, the country that ranked last in the world (#187) was • Niger