On the basis of economic, social, demographic characteristics, the countries of the world may be divided into eleven regions.
1. Anglo-America:
The two important countries of North America, i.e., Canada and United States of America are known as Anglo-America. According to the various socio-economic and demographic characteristics, these are considered as the most advanced countries of the world.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Only 5 per cent of the Anglo-American population is engaged in agriculture and yet it is the world’s most important food exporting region.
Moreover, its economy has a high percentage of the tertiary and quaternary sectors. The Anglo-America region is the leading provider of information, word processing, media, computer analysis, and information monitoring.
Image Source: upload.wikimedia.org
The region is also the leading provider of leisure activities entertainment, mass media, sports, and recreation equipment.
The Anglo-America region is well-endowed with most minerals needed for industry, with a notable shortage of oil.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
With 5 per cent of world’s population it consumes one-third of oil and imports nearly half of requirements. Coal and natural gas, the other important energy sources, are abundant.
Compared to other regions, the Anglo-America region is characterized by relative linguistic and religious unity. Nearly 95 per cent of the total population speaks English, and 70 per cent are Protestants by faith.
Canada’s Quebec province contains predominantly French-speaking Catholics, a source of national tension. The relative cultural homogeneity of Anglo-America reduces the possibility of a large group of people being excluded from participating in the national economy.
2. Western Europe:
Western Europe is also one of the most economically developed regions of the world. Its core area, comprising Germany, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, Norway, Swedan and Luxemburg, is particularly highly industrialized and urbanized.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
The West European region, however, lacks in raw materials. Historically, Western Europe obtained resources by colonizing other regions of the world.
Now that most colonies have achieved independence, the Western Europeans must buy raw materials from the developing and other countries. To pay for the import of raw materials, the Europeans provide goods and services to other regions.
On a worldwide scale, most of Western Europe has a homogenous language family (Indo-European) and religion (Christianity).
However, the division of Christianity into Catholic and Protestant sects and Indo-European language into several dozen distinct languages has resulted in lack of unity within Europe. Cooperation in European countries has increased only after the Second World War. Now they have gone for a common currency known as ‘Euro-currency’.
3. Eastern Europe and the Erstwhile Soviet Union:
Eastern Europe includes eight relatively small countries, namely, Russia and the republics of erstwhile Soviet Union (Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan). Russia has strong political, economic, social and cultural links with these countries.
These countries have socialist governments in which there is no free market and the economy is controlled by the government.
The East European countries have communist forms of government. The governments take decision concerning investment, wages, production and distribution. Further, it is the government which decides how much will be manufactured, by whom, and where.
The major asset of the region is the wealth of raw materials which has the world’s most extensive supply.
The agriculture, however, is not efficient. After the disintegration of Soviet Union, the economy of these countries is in great turmoil. There are inflationary conditions, the rate of crime has gone up and the cost of living is too high.
4. Japan:
Japan is one of the leading developed countries of Asia. Japan’s development is especially remarkable because of its paucity of raw materials compared to its population of 12.6 million (1998). Japan lacks the raw material needed for basic industry. The main resource of Japan is its population and workforce.
The labour is willing to work hard and learn skills. Japan now specializes in industries that demand skilled labour, such as electronics, finished metals (like car manufacturing), cameras, televisions, telephones and surgical and clinical instruments.
The country is dependent on selling its products overseas, either to consumers in the United States and Europe or to people in less developed countries which do not manufacture the desired goods.
5. The South Pacific Countries of Australia and New Zealand:
The South Pacific region includes two relatively developed countries, i.e., Australia and New Zealand. These two countries, formerly British colonies, have per capita GNPs comparable to Western Europe.
Over 90 per cent of the residents are descendants of the 19th century British settlers, although indigenous population still survive, their number is decreasing fast.
The countries share cultural characteristics with the British and are closely tied economically to Western Europe and Anglo-America.
The overall ratio of people to resources is favourable in Australia, although much of the country is desert. Australia and New Zealand are net exporters of resources, especially, food, milk and milk products.
6. The Middle East:
A summary of Middle East development encompasses just two words—oil and Islam. The Middle East lacks an adequate supply of virtually every raw material.
Most land in the region, which is predominantly hot, dry desert, is unsuitable for intensive agriculture. Virtually all resources needed for industrial production must be imported except oil.
However, the export of petroleum is so large that the Middle East is the only one of the eleven regions of the world with a trade surplus. Every other region imports oil from the Middle East in large quantities to produce a trade deficit.
The government officials in the oil-rich states, such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iraq, Iran and Kuwait, are trying to use the billions of dollars generated from oil sales to finance development.
The Middle East is the only region in the world where development is not hindered by lack of capital to finance new construction.
To the contrary, many Middle East governments have more money than they can use to finance economic development.
On the other hand, not every Middle East country has abundant oil reserves. Development possibilities are less hopeful for these countries with limited oil reserves, such as Syria, Jordan, Yemen and Egypt.
The challenge for Middle East governments is to develop the countries without abandoning traditional cultural values, many of which are not compatible with a modern economy.
Some Muslim rituals and taboos contradict western business practices. Middle East leaders generally consider that economic development does not require conformance to western social customs, but the people are divided.
Some wish to use their wealth to buy fashionable dresses and colour television and want access to contemporary leisure activities, such as gambling, movies, parties, club life and alcohol. Others decry this consumption as contradicting the tenets of Islam.
Complicating development in the Middle East is the presence of the state of Israel. Despite its small size, Israel has incurred the wrath of other states in the region, because it is controlled by Jews rather than Muslims. Refusing to recognize the existence of the state, Israel’s neighbors have unsuccessfully attacked on several occasions.
The wars have resulted in an extension of Israeli control into captured territory, compounding the difficulties in finding a peaceful settlement. Money that could be used for economic development is diverted to military purposes.
7. Latin America:
Latin America is a relatively homogenous region from a cultural viewpoint, with the population predominantly Roman Catholic in religion and Spanish- or Portuguese-speaking.
The region had a large indigenous population and generally achieved independence from Spain and Portugal in the early 19th century.
Underlying the appearance of cultural unity is considerable diversity in the level of economic development.
Parts of Latin America display a relatively high level of development, notably the fertile South Atlantic coast of South America, which runs from the vicinity of Curitiba, Brazil, to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and oil-rich Venezuela in the north of the continent.
On the other hand, much of the tropical interior of Brazil is lacking in resources needed for development, although the land is very sparsely inhabited.
The west and east coasts of South America and much of Central America are in a less favourable position. Agricultural productivity is lower than in the south-eastern part of South America, while population density is relatively high.
In addition to the considerable spatial variations, economic development is also hindered by inequitable income distribution.
Latin American countries are characterized by a relatively large spread between the richest and poorest families. Many farmers are tenants of large property owners, growing luxury crops for export rather than for domestic consumption.
Latin American governments place a high priority on redistribution of land to peasants, but the process is slow, because most countries do not wish to alienate the large property owners, who contribute to the national income.
Development problems in Latin America are exacerbated by the large population increase. Excluding the South-West Asia, where the increase is attributable to oil prices, Latin American countries achieved the highest growth rate of GNP in the 1970s. However, the population increase in Latin America was also among the highest in the world.
For every dollar of additional wealth produced in Latin America, approximately 50 cents goes for inflation and 25 cents for feeding, clothing, housing, and educating the new people added to the population. If the region lowers its crude birth rate, the prospect for further economic development will be better.
8. Tropical Africa:
From the point of view of economic development, the African continent comprises part of three regions. North of the Sahara desert is part of the Arab world already considered?
South Africa has a minority white population that operates an outpost of the European society and has achieved a higher level of economic development than other African nationals. Tropical Africa comprises the portion of the continent between the Sahara and South Africa.
Tropical Africa is characterized by relative cultural diversity. Classification and generalization are difficult because of the wide variety of local practices and relative unimportance of the world’s largest religions and languages in Africa. Scarcity of records also retards systematic classification and replication.
Subsistence farming, forestry, and mining dominate Africa’s economy. The overwhelming majority of Africans are subsistence farmers, growing barely enough food for themselves, with little, if any, surplus.
Farming for production of exports has been encouraged by some governments in order to stimulate income with which the country can buy needed industrial products. But as more farmers grow for export, less food for domestic consumption can be grown, which increases the need for food imports.
Some African states have an abundance of minerals, including precious metals and stones—for example, gold and diamonds, copper, phosphate, and uranium.
The mines, generally owned or financed by European and American investors, employ a large number of workers, who may be recruited from their tribal lands for temporary work and then transported home again. The mining companies provide relatively high wages for the imported workers and are a major force in the diffusion of western social customs to Africa.
The political fragmentation of Africa into a large number of small states impedes development. Few countries are large enough to raise the needed capital and market for a steel mill.
Competition among countries for control of territory and resources drains scarce capital into unproductive military activities.
On the other hand, the relatively sparse population of tropical Africa places less pressure on existing resources than do the larger population of other less developed regions.
9. East Asia:
China, the world’s most populous state, with nearly one-fourth of the world’s population (1,255 million, 1998), is the most important country in the East Asia region.
Throughout history, the Chinese people, primarily subsistence farmers, were vulnerable to disasters, such as famines, epidemics, and floods. Much of the agricultural land in China was traditionally owned by landlords, who received a large percentage of profits through high rents and crop shares. Exploitation of Chinese resources by Europe and Japan compounded the problem.
On October 1, 1949, the Communist Party declared the creation of the People’s Republic of China. Since then, dramatic changes have been made in the country’s economy.
Agricultural land must be worked intensively in order to produce enough food for the large population. Rice, the most important food, especially in South China, requires considerable time and effort. Few mechanical aids are available to supplement human labour.
In order to assure the production and distribution of enough food for everyone, land was nationalized. Villagers now work collectively in the fields. Each family receives a supply of food, with the surplus sold to urban residents in exchange for manufactured goods.
China has developed basic industries, which, like the farms, are owned by the state. These industries produce steel, machinery, and power.
Some consumer goods, such as clothes and bicycles, are also manufactured, but less priority is placed on these items than in Western Europe and Anglo-America.
The success of China is based on the willingness of the people to support the collectivization concept, with the knowledge that they are better-off now than before the revolution.
The people are subject to considerable discipline in daily activities, but in exchange they have less fear of the catastrophic events that have historically plagued the country.
Consumer goods are scarce, and many necessities are distributed according to minimum needs. Government policy changes have periodically disrupted daily life, as new educational, social, and economic beliefs replace old ones.
10. South-East Asia:
The South-East Asia region comprises eleven countries with diverse social customs. Five of the countries Myanmar (Burma), Kampuchia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam are situated entirely on the Asian mainland, while the others include thousands of islands scattered in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
The predominant form of economy in South-East Asia is subsistence agriculture, as the tropical climates make settled productive agriculture difficult.
The heat is nearly continuous, the rainfall abundant, and the vegetation dense. Soils are generally poor, and nutrients are rapidly destroyed by the heat and humidity when land is cleared for cultivation.
Other environmental obstacles to productive economic activity include a high percentage of mountainous land, active volcanoes, and typhoons.
As a result of inhospitable environment, population was traditionally low in South-East Asia. The injection of western medicine and technology has resulted in one of the most rapid rates of population increase in the world, approximately 2.5 per cent per year since Second World War.
The most populous country in South-East Asia is Indonesia. Encompassing several thousand islands, it is the fifth most populous country in the world.
Nearly two-thirds of the Indonesian population is concentrated in the island of Java, which has one of the highest arithmetic densities in the world.
The population concentration is due in part to the relative fertility of the soil, derived from volcanic ash. In addition, Java was the centre of Dutch colonial activities in the region. However, development suffers because of Indonesia’s relatively low supply of resources compared to population.
South-East Asia has been characterized by political instability. The region has been subjected to nearly a half century of continuous war against colonial powers and because of internal disputes. The withdrawal by the United States from South-East Asia during the 1970s followed similar pullouts by the Japanese, Dutch, French, and British.
With colonial powers gone, the South-East Asian countries are fighting among themselves for control of territory. Decades of war have devastated the region’s natural resources and economic potential.
11. South Asia:
South Asia is characterized by a relatively low level of economic development, compounded by a large population concentration, which strains existing resources. The region’s three populous states India, Pakistan and Bangladesh rank among the world’s lowest in per capita GNP.
The region displays considerable cultural diversity, fragmented by differences in language, religion, and social customs that retard adoption of economic practices essential for improving the level of development.
South Asia is not lacking in resources, but the resources need to be utilized judiciously to meet the needs of the region’s over 1.25 billion inhabitants.
Most South Asians are subsistence farmers, growing primarily rice or wheat, or are nomadic herders. Agricultural productivity in the region has increased considerably, primarily through the introduction of new high-yield seeds from Mexico, Manila and USA, permitting a reduction in grain imports.
However, with the population rapidly rising, little surplus is produced to free more people for factory employment. Industrial development is further hampered by a lack of funds to pay for the import of needed equipment, experts, and some raw materials.
Some 19th century geographers argued that the physical and cultural characteristics of a region such as South Asia caused the lower level of economic development. The contrasting industriousness of Anglo-Americans and Northern Europeans was attributed to the moderate climate they lived in.
Anglo-Americans and Northern Europeans did not require an unproductive mid-day siesta because of the hot sun, as did people in other regions.
One of the most eminent social scientists of all times, Max Weber attempted to document the relationship between Protestantism and the development of relatively advanced economies. He considered capitalism to have developed from Protestant ethics.
Is there any truth to these theories? Contemporary geographers reject the assertions of environmental determinism but recognize that certain social, physical, and economic characteristics coincide even if causal relationships should not be asserted.
The division of the world into relatively developed and less developed regions does coincide with the distribution of some physical and cultural characteristics.
The division of the earth’s surface into eleven regions based on a combination of economic, physical, and cultural characteristics demonstrates that while every country’s level of economic development is at some point on a continuum, in reality, regions of the world tend to cluster toward the extreme points on the continuum.
The regions can be grouped into the relatively developed and the less developed, and by many measures the gap on the continuum between the two groups is increasing.
Thus, while development has been considered a relative concept here, many observers argue that the earth’s surface can just as legitimately be divided simply into the rich and poor or the haves and have-nots countries.
In addition to seeing an increasing contrast in development between rich and poor countries, geographers also observe that the gap has a spatial dimension.
Most of the relatively developed countries are concentrated in more northern latitudes, and the less developed countries tend to be further south, a split that makes the development gap appear to be between north and south as well as haves and have-nots.
Until recently, the potential of less developed countries to improve their economy appeared bright. The level of development of a country was considered a stage in a process, and those at an early stage could be expected to follow certain steps to reach an advanced level. This optimism was reflected in a number of models, including Rostow’s.