Higher Geography – Development and Health

1. Higher Geography – Development and Health Differences in Level of Developmentbetween ELDCsor…why some poor countries are more developed than others…

2. Contrasts in Development Why the huge difference?

3. LOCATION, CLIMATE AND LANDSCAPE (Afghanistan – landlocked, mountainous, harsh climate; Thailand – low lying and fertile, long coastline NATURAL RESOURCES (Saudi Arabia –resource rich; Afghanistan – resource poor) NATURAL DISASTERS (Bangladesh – cyclones; Sudan – drought) WAR Iraq / U.S (war); Afghanistan (civil war) DEBT World Bank, IMF (Brazil) HISTORY / COLONISATION (India (Britain), Brazil (Portugal, Peru (Spain) most African countries (European powers) POLITICS North Korea / South Korea, Zimbabwe (politics); INDUSTRY AND TRADE Asian tiger economies -S.Korea, Singapore, China ELDCs – Differences in Development between countries

4. Natural Resources

5. Saudi Arabia, and neighbouring Gulf states, such as Oman, Dubai and Qatar have exploited their oil wealth to build modern cities and industries in what were barren desert countries until the 1930s.

6. Offshore oil production platform in the Persian Gulf

7. Oil money has led to enormous industrial investment, such as here at the Yanpet Ethylene PlantSaudi Arabia

8. Location – good and bad

9. Good location – e.g. on natural trade routes

10. Imports and exports, the lifeblood of world trade, move by sea.

11. The container terminal at Singapore docks, one of the busiest in the world.

12. It is their strategic position on international shipping routes and prime coastal locations which have led to the fantastic growth of cities such as Singapore…

13. …Hong Kong…

14. …and Shanghai, China’s fastest growing port city. None of these buildings existed twenty years ago.

15. Bad location - there are 44 landlocked countries in the world – and two double landlocked - hindering their international trade.

17. To avoid being landlocked, some countries have gone to court, even war, to preserve access to the sea - such as the middle eastern country of Jordan, which has the shortest coastline of any major country - at 16 miles.

18. Natural Disasters • Flooding in Bangladesh

19. Bangladesh’s position at the head of the Bay of Bengal and its flat, low-lying relief, make it vulnerable to flooding from the frequent cyclones (hurricanes) which blow in from the Indian Ocean and from the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers whose delta form the country.

20. Loss of life, homelessness and farmland ruined by floodwaters are common problems facing Bangladeshies

21. Disease from contaminated water supplies spreads easily, industry and transport is badly affected.

22. Despite this, life goes on in these fertile delta lands.

23. Natural Disasters 2. Drought and famine in Sudan

24. Hit by frequent droughts and subsequent famine, Sudan also suffers from internal conflicts, particularly in the Darfur region, which worsen the problems posed by nature.

25. The youngest are the most helpless when famine strikes.

28. Politics – 1. North and South Korea

29. North Korea – ruthlessly ruled by a family dictatorship. South Korea - a modern, progressive, westernised country. The two countries came into being after the Korean War in the early 1950s

31. Viewed from space, at night, the contrast in development between North and South Korea is starkly illustrated.

32. One of hundreds of statues to Kim Il Sung, the Great Leader, who died in 1994, but is still officially eternal president! The country is run on the basis of a personality cult, with his son, Kim Jong-il, now in power.

33. Kim Jong-il, the leader of North Korea since the death of his father in 1994.

34. Mass public displays of support and adulation of the leadership are frequently held, especially in the capital, Pyongyang…

35. Mass propaganda, North Korean style…

36. …the population are indoctrinated to fear imminent attack by the west…

37. …so a very large part of North Korea’s GNP is spent on the military - and North Korea is a nuclear power…

38. There are some signs of a very slight easing of NK’s closed door policy, but it still remains a country shut off from the rest of the world. Full democracy is a long way off… and China holds the key.

39. Press, radio, T.V. and internet censorship ensures the population are kept in ignorance.

40. …meanwhile, millions are starving, hundreds of thousands are in labour camps and the country has seen little in the way of industrial or technological progress. Millions have probably died over the last fifty years as a result of the way the country is ruled, although the full extent of its situation is unknown…

41. …as the border between North and South Korea remains the most tightly closed in the world.

42. South Korea, by contrast, has forged ahead, becoming one of the main Asian tiger economies, also known as NICs (Newly Industrialising Countries), with a high standard of living and huge industrial output and wealth from exports - this for a country with fewer natural resources than the north. Seen here are the opening celebrations of the recent World Cup, held jointly in Japan and South Korea

43. The capital, Seoul, is similar to many modern western cities…

44. …with high levels of car ownership and an efficient motorway network. South Korea’s health and education systems are as good as in most western countries.

45. Major South Korean industrial giants DAEWOO SAMSUNG L.G. (Lucky Goldstar or Life is Good!) KIA HYUNDAI

46. Politics – 2. Zimbabwe

47. Zimbabwe, one of Africa’s many landlocked countries.

48. Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe, whose policies and brutal regime turned one of the most productive and fertile countries in Africa into a failed state, with millions starving, mass unemployment and with inflation currently running out of control. He ignored the results of an election in 2008 which had come out in favour of his main opponent.

49. With British press banned, it is difficult to see the full picture from outside its borders.

50. …although what figures are known are likely to be underestimates…