Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Gapminder Screencast and Analysis
Variable Set 1- As life expectancy rises so does GDP per capita
Variable Set 2- As life expectancy rises children per woman declines.
Part 1
a. In set 1 life expectancy in years rises as the gross domestic income per capita in dollars, which is the total value of goods and services produced in a country divided by it's population, rises. In set 2 Life expectancy in years rises as the average number of children per woman declines.
b. Life expectancy provides insight into economic development because, as shown in the Demographic Transition model, when countries go through the industrial revolution and people start to make more money the life expectancy goes up also. GDP per capita directly gives insight into economic development because if the GDP goes up people have to be making more money on average. The Demographic Transition model also displays why children per woman would provide insight to economic development because in the model as the country experiences economic development the average number of children per woman goes down. Also if there are fewer people fighting for jobs and resources more money will be made.
Part 2
a. North America, Western Europe since 1800 have been two of the most developed regions with Asia following close behind. Africa since 1800 for the most part has always been last in development. As far as the most developed country the U.K. initially was the leader until the U.S. passed it, only to be passed by Kuwait and Qatar in the 1940's. In recent years China has made great leaps from being near the African in the early 1900's to now being close to the far more developed South America countries. Every Continent has it's outlier though. Africa has Seychelles which is fairly close to the top and the Middle East has Qatar which has the highest GDP per capita.
b. One of the main reasons for the economic development of a country is whether or not they are resource rich. An example of this is Qatar. The had a relatively low GDP per capita until oil became an important resource. They then rapidly moved from from the bottom of the pack to having the highest GDP per capita where they remain today. As the amount of interconnectedness a place has increases they will generally have more income from trade and learn about new innovations faster causing them to develop more rapidly. One regional disparity is Africa. Some reasons for this are because they have relatively few resources, they were colonized, and are not connected to the rest of the world. There are many theories for why certain countries are more developed which shows that there is no simple explanation for economic development of a country.
Variable Set 2- As life expectancy rises children per woman declines.
Part 1
a. In set 1 life expectancy in years rises as the gross domestic income per capita in dollars, which is the total value of goods and services produced in a country divided by it's population, rises. In set 2 Life expectancy in years rises as the average number of children per woman declines.
b. Life expectancy provides insight into economic development because, as shown in the Demographic Transition model, when countries go through the industrial revolution and people start to make more money the life expectancy goes up also. GDP per capita directly gives insight into economic development because if the GDP goes up people have to be making more money on average. The Demographic Transition model also displays why children per woman would provide insight to economic development because in the model as the country experiences economic development the average number of children per woman goes down. Also if there are fewer people fighting for jobs and resources more money will be made.
Part 2
a. North America, Western Europe since 1800 have been two of the most developed regions with Asia following close behind. Africa since 1800 for the most part has always been last in development. As far as the most developed country the U.K. initially was the leader until the U.S. passed it, only to be passed by Kuwait and Qatar in the 1940's. In recent years China has made great leaps from being near the African in the early 1900's to now being close to the far more developed South America countries. Every Continent has it's outlier though. Africa has Seychelles which is fairly close to the top and the Middle East has Qatar which has the highest GDP per capita.
b. One of the main reasons for the economic development of a country is whether or not they are resource rich. An example of this is Qatar. The had a relatively low GDP per capita until oil became an important resource. They then rapidly moved from from the bottom of the pack to having the highest GDP per capita where they remain today. As the amount of interconnectedness a place has increases they will generally have more income from trade and learn about new innovations faster causing them to develop more rapidly. One regional disparity is Africa. Some reasons for this are because they have relatively few resources, they were colonized, and are not connected to the rest of the world. There are many theories for why certain countries are more developed which shows that there is no simple explanation for economic development of a country.
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Crossing the Line GIS Activity
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Where is it?
My First new country, Korea, is in South Western Asia. It is west of Japan and east of China. It covers the area currently known as North and South Korea. My second new countries, East Congo and West Congo, are in Central Africa. They are north of Angola and west of Tanzania. They are in the current state of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. West Congo is south and west of the Congo and Lualaba Rivers. East Congo is north and east of these two rivers.
WHY are they there?
If or when the North Korean regime collapses, it would lead to the probability of the military boundary opening up. The two country's populations already are of the same ethnic group and speak the same language, so they most likely would like to be united. The two countries were once a nation-state, but due to governmental differences they broke up. This means that the two populations are similar and share common ancestry which is a centripetal force. The reason my second countries could possibly be created is mainly because the Democratic Republic of the Congo should never have been created. It currently has distant, outsiders trying to join up with more prosperous countries which is a major centrifugal force. There are also numerous culture groups within the country which is also a centrifugal force. Finally, it's borders were drawn as a geometric boundary by the French, which means that they weren't looking at the population inside. This makes the country unstable.
Why are they THERE?
For Korea I chose to use a cultural boundary. The culture traits I went off of were race and language.
For East and West Congo I used a physical boundary. I used the Congo and Lualaba Rivers, which are both part of the Congo River system, to separate the country into an east and a west.
What difference will it make?
If North Korea and South Korea joined together it would create an economic change, especially in the poorer North Korea. This could cause some conflict, but I believe that having a nation-state and being reunited with family would outweigh it. It would ultimately create a more peaceful environment in what is now North Korea (assuming they take on South Korea's current government). Overall, I think Korea would be better off than it is now. I also think the Democratic of the Congo would be better if it split up. Currently it is comprised of multiple different groups of people with different economic levels. If it splits up there will be less reason for conflict and the country will start to become more developed.
Sunday, January 12, 2014
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