The Distribution of WealthIs money evenly distributed in the world?

The Distribution of WealthKey Questions:

Where is wealth distributed?What is the development gap?What are HICs/MICs/LICs?Can I draw and interpret choropleth maps?

So…which continents do you think have the most money? Try to rank them…

Let’s see… http://www.rgs.org/webcasts/activities/wherebillionaires.html

We are what we eat…The following ten pictures are in descending order of the price paid (measured in US dollars) of a family of four’s food consumption for a week.

Food as one of the basic staples of life is a good way of measuring the level and type of development that has been achieved around the world.

Guess which country each family comes from, and how much their weekly shopping bill was in $ (=6RMB)

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Source: ‘Hungry Planet: What the World Eats’ by Peter Menzel and Faith D’Aluisio (2005)

1. GERMANY - $5002. USA (North Carolina) - $342 3. ITALY - $2604. GREAT BRITAIN - $2535. MEXICO - $1896. CHINA - $1557. EGYPT - $68 8. ECUADOR - $319. BHUTAN - $510. REFUGEE CAMP Sudanese living in Chad - $1.23

So where do billionaires live…Look at your table – how are you going to

calculate the last column for each region? Copy out the table.Region Population

(millions)Billionaires total Billionaires per 100

million population

Africa 933 5

Asia 3700 142

Australia & New Zealand

25 13

Europe 810 265

Latin America 556 36

Middle East 193 193

North America 334 441

Create a choropleth map showing wealth distribution

1. Add a title to your world map2. Add a key for your map – Colour

each category and then the right regions

3. Describe the pattern of distribution4. Suggest reasons for this distribution

Economic Development

So what is the ‘development gap’?

In 1981, the West German Chancellor Brandt produced a landmark report on uneven global developmentThis became known as the north-south divide….divided by the ‘Brandt line’

North-South Divide

Brandt Commission in 1981

TASK: With help from a world map, name 5 countries north of the Brandt line and 5 south of it

Does the Brandt line still apply

today?

TASK: Using your map, try drawing your own Brandt line dividing MEDCs to LEDCs

Discuss: What’s changed today? Which countries have become more developed and why?!