The North-South Gap and Classification of Countries

							The North-South Gap and
Classification of Countries
         The North-South Gap
   The 20% of the world’s population
    that controls nearly 85% of the total
    wealth of the world lives almost
    exclusively in the industrialized
    nations of the Northern Hemisphere
    (in addition to Australia and New
    Zealand)
   However the POOREST 20 per cent of
    people in the world are concentrated
    in the southern hemisphere.
       The North-South Gap

   Because of the great
    discrepancy between the
    “have” and have-not” nations
    of the world, this is often
    referred to as the:
      North-South Gap
      The North-South Gap
 The Northern countries have the
  majority of the wealth, the highest
  standard of living, and the greatest
  industrial development, BUT less of
  the population.
 In comparison, the Southern
  countries have the bulk of the
  population, BUT less wealth,
  standard of living, and far less
  industrial development.
    Something to think about?
 Consider what your life would be
  like if you were born in another
  part of the world?
 What types of things do we rely

  and use on a daily basis?
 Are these necessities or luxuries?

 How would your daily routine

  compare to someone living in a
  “have not” country?
          Classifying Countries
   Over the years geographers have used a
    number of systems to classify countries in
    terms of their social, economic, or political
    structures.
   One of the earlier systems used the terms
    first world, second world, and third world.
   Today, the most common way of
    categorizing countries is to refer to
    them as more developed countries
    (MDCs), less developed countries
    (LDCs) or as least developed
    countries (LLDCs).
      Classifying Countries
 MDCs are the richest of the
  industrialized and democratic
  nations of the world.
 LDCs are those countries with
  little industrial development,
  little wealth, and high population
  growth.
 LLDCs typically have a very low
  per capita income, low literacy
  rates, and very little in the way
  of manufacturing industries.
          Classifying Countries
   We can also classify countries as
    developed and less developed.
Developed Country            Developing Country
Rich                         Poor
North                        South
Industrial                   Agricultural
Good roads, transportation   Poor roads, transportation
High Energy Consumption      Little Energy
Oil, coal, nuclear           Wood, wind, animal, human
                             energy
Good health care
                             Disease and Famine
Clean Water
                             Polluted or little water