Geography - Development Indicators

Development is progress; change for the better. There can be many different types, e.g. social, economic, environmental, political, cultural etc. Growth in one area can negatively effect growth in another area.

• Birth rate: number of births per 1000 of the population per annum
  
• Death rate: number of deaths per 1000 of the population per annum
• Infant Mortality rate: number of deaths per 1000 children under the age of 1 per annum
• Fertility rate: number of live births per 1000 women aged 15-49 per annum
  
• Life Expectancy: how long the average male or female in that society is expected to live for
• Dependency ratio: %under 15 + %65 and over / %15-64

The %under 15 are known as young dependents, the % 65 and over are known as old dependents and the %15-65 are the people of working age.

• Human Development Index
  

The Human Development Index is one of the development indicators previously mentioned. It takes into account the GDP ($) per capita, the Life expectancy, the Adult literacy rate and the Enrolment in education percentage. Each country gets a score between 0 and 1, with the more developed countries getting scores closer to 1.

There are many factors that can boost development in a country, these include:

• Wealth (faster development for MEDCs)
• Resources (e.g. water source, good land)
• Willing population and good leadership
• Political stability
• FDI (Foreign direct investment)
• Infrastructure (Communication, transport, buildings, government, roads)
• Lack of natural disasters

Countries always have different priorities when it comes to development.