If you'd like to print out this page, click the Print button above. Alternatively, you may click the printer icon on your browser's toolbar, or choose File>Print from the menu.     Developing World 1 Let’s begin our study of developing nations by examining what they are and the labels that have been used to define this category of countries. There is some dispute about what they should be called, but several commonly used labels have been applied. One effort was to call them "Third World" countries. "First World" countries were defined as those aligned with the United States during the Cold War. "Second World" countries consisted of the Communist states of the world, and "Third World" states were those that did not fit into either of the first two categories. CLICK DATA FILE: GLOBAL04 CLICK TASK: Mapping SELECT VARIABLE 1: THREEWORLD CLICK VIEW: Map CLICK VIEW: [Continue] 1. How many of the world’s countries are classified as "Third World?" (Correct Answer: 115) 2. True or False: The majority of the world’s countries are "Third World" states. (Correct Answer: True) 3. True or False: There are more "Third World" states in the Western Hemisphere than in the Eastern Hemisphere. (Correct Answer: False) Another label that has been applied to these countries is the "South." This label was applied because many analysts argued that, geographically, the poorer states of the world were located to the "South" of the wealthier states. Let’s explore this claim. 4. How many Third World states are located in Europe? (Correct Answer: none) 5. True or False: The majority of Third World States are located to the South of Europe (Correct Answer: True) 6. True or False: All of the "First World" states are located to the "North" of the "Third World States." (Correct Answer: False) Other, often controversial, labels have sometimes been applied to these states, such as "Less-Developed," or "underdeveloped," relative to the advanced, industrial democracies of the world. The previous labels clearly have negative connotations and, subsequently, a more commonly applied label has been "Developing World." Regardless of the label, there are relative differences between "First World" and "Developing World" states along a number of important social and economic measures. Let’s examine the gross domestic product per capita, an indicator of the standard of living within countries. CLICK: VARIABLES SELECT VARIABLE 1: GDP/CAP CLICK VIEW: Map CLICK: [Continue] 7. True or False: Relative to the North (e.g., Western Europe, U.S., Canada), countries in the "South" typically have relatively lower GDPs/capita. (Correct Answer: True) 8. True or False: Within the "Developing World" South America has the highest concentration of countries with GDPs/capita of less than $2400/person (Correct Answer: False) CLICK: VARIABLES SELECT VARIABLE 1: GDP/CAP CLICK VIEW: Map CLICK: [Continue] 9. Which country has the lowest GDP/capita? (Correct Answer: Sierra Leone) 10. What is the GDP/capita of that country? (Correct Answer: $500/person) 11. Obviously, the GPD/capita that you just identified would not provide adequate housing, a reasonable diet, clothing, health care, and other needs of a typical American. Given this observation, what might explain the fact that many people survive in "Developing States" on such limited income? Another way to examine differences in GDPs is to compare the shares of world GDP earned by "Developing States" and both First and Second World countries. CLICK: DATA FILES CLICK DATA FILE: WORLD SHARES CLICK TASK: Univariate SELECT PRIMARY VARIABLE: GDP SHARES CLICK: [Continue] 12. What percentage of world GDP is earned by Third World States? (Correct Answer: 31.2 percent) 13. What percentage of world GDP is earned by First World States? (Correct Answer: 62.8 percent) Now let’s explore whether or not the shares of GDP earned by First and Third World states are proportionate to the percentage of the world’s population living in these countries. CLICK: VARIABLES SELECT PRIMARY VARIABLE: POP SHARES CLICK: [Continue] 14. What percentage of the world’s population resides in Third World States? (Correct Answer: 56.1 percent) 15. What percentage of the world’s population resides in First World States? (Correct Answer: 14.2 percent) 16. True or False: The percentage of the world’s population living in the Third World is proportionate to the Third World’s share of world GDP. (Correct Answer: False) 17. True or False: The First World’s share of global GDP is significantly greater than its share of world population. (Correct Answer: True) Let’s turn our attention to economic diversity within the "Developing States." CLICK: DATA FILES CLICK DATA FILE: GLOBAL04 CLICK TASK: Mapping SELECT VARIABLE 1: GDP/CAP CLICK VIEW: Alphabetical Table CLICK: [Continue] 18. Identify the GPD/Capita and world rank for each of the following countries Country GDP/Capita World Rank Answers Ethiopia $560 (169) Kuwait $22,500 (15) Saudi Arabia $9,000 (42) Tanzania $550 (170) 19. What factor (s) might explain the significant differences that exist between these countries? External debt is also a critically important issue for many states, particularly "Developing States." Let’s examine this. CLICK: VARIABLES SELECT VARIABLE 1: EXT. DEBT CLICK VIEW: Map CLICK: [Continue] 20. True or False: Countries carrying the highest levels of external debt ($30 billion or more) are clustered primarily in Africa. (Correct Answer: False) CLICK: BACK (use your browser’s back button) SELECT VARIABLE 1: EXT. DEBT CLICK VIEW: Rank Table CLICK: [Continue] 21. Identify the country with the most external debt. (Correct Answer: United States) 22. True or False: Brazil and Mexico are both carrying more external debt than Germany. (Correct Answer: True) Now let’s examine the ability of countries to service their debt by evaluating their debt relative to their GDP. In other words, the higher their Debt/GDP ratio, the more difficulty they should have paying back the debt, all other things being held constant. CLICK: VARIABLES SELECT VARIABLE 1: DEBT/GDP CLICK VIEW: Map CLICK: [Continue] 23. True or False: There are more countries carrying the highest levels of Debt/GDP in Africa (0.36 or greater), than in North American and Europe, combined. (Correct Answer: True) CLICK: BACK (use your browser’s back button) SELECT VARIABLE 1: DEBT/GDP CLICK VIEW: Rank Table CLICK: [Continue] 24. Which country is carrying the most Debt/GDP? (Correct Answer: Iraq) 25. Where does the United States rank on the Debt/GDP list of countries? (Correct Answer: 131) Clearly both the income and debt carried by a country will influence its ability to provide education, health care, a healthy diet, and so on. Let’s examine a measure that includes many of these factors, called the physical quality of life index. CLICK: VARIABLES SELECT PRIMARY VARIABLE 1: QUAL. LIFE CLICK VIEW: Map CLICK: [Continue] 26. True or False: Most of the countries with the highest quality of life rating (93-100) are located either in North America or Europe. (Correct Answer: True) 27. True or False: Neither Africa nor South America has even one country with a quality of life rating of 93 or more. (Correct Answer: True) 28. Given what you’ve observed about Developing Nations, identify some of the political consequences and challenges that are likely to confront governments that face high debt levels, low GDPs, and generally lower standards of living than those faced by Industrialized Democracies.