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Uneven Development » Why Development Is Uneven

What you'll learn this session

Study time: 30 minutes

Cambridge spec: 8.2.1

What the development gap is
The social, economic and environmental reasons countries develop at different speeds
How political and historical factors add to the problem
How the factors link together in a cycle of poverty

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The development gap

Development is not the same everywhere. Some countries have long life expectancy, good schools and strong economies. Others have far lower levels on the same indicators. Geographers call this difference the development gap.

Key terms:

Development gap: the difference in levels of development between the richest and poorest countries, or between richer and poorer groups of people.
Uneven development: when development is not shared equally between countries or between places inside a country.
Cycle of poverty: a loop in which poverty causes problems that keep people and places poor.

The gap exists because many different factors act together. They are usually sorted into social, economic and environmental factors, plus political and historical ones.

Social factors

These are about people and how they live. They affect how healthy, skilled and productive a population is.

🎓 Education

Where few children finish school, there are fewer skilled workers, such as engineers and nurses. Businesses find it hard to grow and wages stay low.

🏥 Health

Poor healthcare and unsafe water mean more illness. Sick people cannot work or study, and families spend their money on treatment.

👩 Gender inequality

Where girls and women are kept out of school or paid jobs, half the population cannot use its skills. Less money and less education also mean larger families.

👶 Population growth

Very fast growth can mean there are not enough jobs, schools, homes and clinics for everyone. Resources are spread more thinly.

Economic factors

These are about how a country earns money and what it does with it.

🌾 Dependence on primary products

Some countries earn most of their money by selling raw materials such as coffee, cotton or copper. Their prices change a lot and are low compared with manufactured goods. One bad year can wreck the economy.

💳 Debt

Countries borrow money to build roads and schools. If a large part of their income goes on repaying loans and interest, there is little left to spend on services.

🏭 Lack of industry

Without factories, countries sell raw materials cheaply and buy finished goods at a higher price. There are fewer well-paid jobs and less tax income.

💰 Corruption

When officials take bribes or steal public money, it does not reach schools, hospitals or roads. Companies may also stay away, so fewer jobs are created.

Environmental factors

These are about the physical setting of a country.

Natural hazards. Earthquakes, tropical storms, floods and droughts destroy homes, crops and roads. Poorer countries struggle to pay for rebuilding, so each disaster sets them back.
Climate. Very dry, very hot or unreliable rainfall makes farming difficult. Crops fail and food is short.
Landlocked location. A country with no coast has no ports of its own. It must pay its neighbours to move goods, so trade is slower and dearer. Chad and Mali are landlocked.
Disease. Illnesses such as malaria are common in many tropical countries. They kill and weaken workers and cost the economy a great deal.
Lack of resources. Countries with little fuel, minerals, fertile soil or fresh water have fewer things to sell or use.

Political and historical factors

Some reasons for the gap come from the past, or from how countries are run.

Colonialism. Many countries in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean were once ruled by European powers. Colonial rulers often took raw materials out of the country and built railways and ports for that purpose, not to help local industry. When these countries became independent, they were left with few factories, few skilled workers and an economy built on exporting raw materials.
Conflict. War and civil war kill people, destroy buildings and force families to flee. Money is spent on weapons instead of schools. Investors stay away. Countries such as Syria and South Sudan have suffered badly.

How the factors combine: the cycle of poverty

The factors do not act alone. They feed into each other and trap people in a loop. Here is one example of the cycle of poverty, step by step:

A family has a very low income.
They cannot afford enough food, clean water or medicines, so they are often ill.
Children miss school or leave early to work, so they have few skills.
As adults, they can only get low-paid jobs.
Their income stays very low, and the cycle repeats with the next generation.

The same thing happens to a whole country. Low income means low tax. Low tax means little money for schools, hospitals and roads. Poor services mean a less healthy and less skilled workforce. This produces less income, so the country stays poor. Add debt, a natural disaster or a war, and the cycle becomes harder to break.

Common mistakes

1. Writing only a list of factors. Always say how each one holds back development, using "because" or "so". 2. Saying that poor countries are poor because people there are lazy. The reasons are about education, health, trade, history and environment. 3. Forgetting that the factors link together. A top answer shows how one factor leads to another.

Exam-style question

Fig. 1.1 shows made-up data for two countries.

Feature	Country A	Country B
Main export	Raw cotton (about 80% of exports)	Cars and machinery
Coast and ports	None (landlocked)	Several large ports
Girls completing secondary school	Fewer than 3 in 10	More than 9 in 10
Share of income used to repay debt	Very high	Low

(a) Define the term development gap. [2 marks]

(b) Identify one environmental factor shown in Fig. 1.1 that may hold back Country A. [1 mark]

(d) Discuss the reasons why some countries develop more slowly than others. [6 marks]

Model answer

(a) The development gap is the difference in levels of development (1) between richer and poorer countries (1).

(b) Landlocked location (1).

(c) A large share of income goes on repaying loans and interest (1). This leaves less money for schools, hospitals and roads (1). Poorer services mean a less healthy and skilled workforce, so the economy grows more slowly (1).

(d) Level 3 answer: Several factors slow development, and they often link together. Economic factors matter. Country A depends on raw cotton, whose price changes and is low, and it has a high level of debt, so there is little money for services. A lack of industry means few well-paid jobs. Social factors also matter. In Country A fewer girls finish secondary school, so many women cannot use their skills, and there are fewer skilled workers overall. Environmental factors add to this. Country A is landlocked, so trade is more expensive because goods must cross other countries to reach a port. Other factors such as natural hazards, disease, corruption and conflict can also cause damage. Historical factors such as colonialism may have left an economy built on exporting raw materials. These factors form a cycle of poverty: low income means less spending on education and health, which keeps income low. Overall, no single factor is the cause. It is the combination, and the way they reinforce each other, that makes it hard for some countries to catch up.

Exam tip

In a "Discuss" question, cover social, economic and environmental factors, use the data in Fig. 1.1, and show how at least two factors link together.

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