The purpose of this lesson is to be able to distinguish the characteristics that determine the level of development in countries. The level of development refers to the standard of living in a country - the type of lives the citizens in these countries live. You will examine three levels of development in this lesson:

Less Developed Countries: Countries showing evidence of low or slow economic, social, and political progress are termed developing countries.
Newly Industrialized Countries: There are several newly industrialized countries around the world. These countries are characterized as countries with rapid economic growth and growing industrialization.
More Developed Countries: Countries with high levels of urbanization and industrialization that enjoy high material standards of living are referred to as more developed countries.

These are the factors that determine the level of development in a country:


Life Expectancy

GDP

Literacy rate

Infant Mortality

The overall standard of living of a country can help determine the level of development of a nation. The more developed a nation is, the higher its standard of living. Indicators of a standard of living include the factors you have just studied among other factors.

The Human Development Index (HDI) is currently used to measure level of development. The HDI was created by the United Nations Development Programme to provide the most updated information about the development status on countries. The Human Development Index (HDI) is a comparative measure of life expectancy, literacy, education and standards of living for countries worldwide.

[There is a massive amount of information on the Human Development Index Report. To explore all of the information in the Human Development Index, click this link: Human Development Report ]

This activity might not be viewable on your mobile device.Video segment. Assistance may be required. Watch the following video; it is based upon the information from the 2010 Human Development Index Report. Answer the questions that follow in your notes.

Source: Human Development Report 2010, United Nations Development Programme

  1. What changes did Brazil experience? Were these changes positive or negative? How did these changes occur?
  2. Was there progress made in the Congo? Explain your answer by providing examples from the interviews.
  3. What changes did Indonesia experience? What gender group benefited the most from these changes? Explain your answer.
  4. Kenya experienced progress in 2010. What sector of the population benefited from this progress the most?
  5. Which of these countries do you think has the highest standard of living? Which one has the lowest? Explain your answers.