Results and analysis
This graph shows the Gdp per capita in US$ for each country. The country with the highest Gdp is the United Kingdom. It has a Gdp of 24323$. Slovakia could not give any information about their Gdp. This may be because they do not have the equipment or knowledge to find out. Sierra Leone has the next lowest with 159$. The UK has about 15 times the amount of Gdp per capita more than Sierra Leone. This graph shows that the UK is the most developed country in terms of their Gdp per capita to the rest of the countries. I expected the UK’s Gdp to be the highest because the UK has a very strong economy. Sierra Leone is at the bottom because they have a very bad government. Brunei is very rich because they have a lot of oil and oil is ‘black gold’.
This graph shows us that the Czech Republic has the most energy consumption per capita out of the ten countries. I thought that the UK, Italy and the Brunei to be way ahead of the rest because they would use cars more. I think they would use cars more because they are the three richest countries. Cars are a big source of energy. However most the energy consumption is mostly raised by secondary jobs. Countries in the middle of the economy usually have a lot of secondary jobs. The Czech Republic population is well educated and has cheap labour. The UK do use a lot of energy but Czech Republic use more per capita. Brunei and Sierra Leone could not provide sufficient evidence. This would be because of they do not have good equipment to find out. Czech Republic and Slovakia are in the middle of the economy and they are near the top of the energy consumption because they have a lot of secondary jobs.
This graph shows the birth rate per 1000 people. Sierra Leone has the highest birthrate and Italy have the lowest. There are many reasons for this. One factor is the sex-age limit there is not one in Sierra Leone but in Italy you must be 16. This increases the chance of younger people to have children. Also social and religious beliefs can affect the birth rate. This is because Italy the UK and Slovakia are mainly Christian countries and the bible discourages sex before marriage. Another reason that the birth rate is higher in Sierra Leone is that they have no ways of using a condom to prevent a baby. They also do not have much equipment for abortion. Female literacy rates affect the birth rate as well. As a more educated woman would not have children because of financial difficulties. A less educated woman would not know of financial implications. Economical levels also affect birth rate because less economically developed countries are more likely to have a higher birth rate. The more poverty in a country the more likely it is to have a higher birth rate. Children are seen as an economic resource in developing countries as they can earn money. Infant mortality rates affect the birth rate too. If a country has a high infant mortality rate like Sierra Leone then it will be more likely have a high birth rate because a child could die and then the mother would want another child to replace it. If a country is mostly urban then woman are more likely to meet men and have children. Marriage age also affects the birth rate in catholic countries mostly. However in less economically developed countries there are not many marriages but still a lot of births. This is because there are no places to learn about marriage and also religion. Conflicts also affect birth rates. If a country is at war then people will want new soldiers which mean getting new children. LEDC’s are more likely to have a high birth rate.
This graph shows Sierra Leone at the top of the death rate list. This is not surprising but I am surprised that the UK and Italy are at near the top. There are many factors affecting death rate. One is the average age of the population. A country with a high age group will have higher death rate because when you are older you have a less active immune system and are more likely to die. Clean water will also affect death rate. A country with poor water supply like Sierra Leone would have a higher death rate. Levels of infectious diseases affect death rate. Sierra Leone has a huge level of HIV this dramatically puts the death rate up. The UK is quite high in death rate because although hospitals are extremely good cigarettes are easily bought. Cigarettes give people heart diseases and this would put the death rate higher. Conflicts affect death rate because many young people die in battles and wars. There are conflicts in Sierra Leone and young people are dying along with elderly. Health care is a factor too. Sierra Leone has a bad health care system and is therefore at the top of the death rate. Brunei is at the bottom because there is not many diseases but and young population.
The internet user’s indicator is a good indicator of development because it shows how many people have money to use the internet. The United Kingdom is way ahead of the rest because the population is relatively rich and there is loads of electricity that is easily accessible. Also the population is quite young and countries with an older population will have less of an interest in the internet. Four countries do not show any internet users because there either isn’t many or they have no money to find out.
Infant mortality rate shows how many children die before the age of one per 1000 births. The most common reason why countries have a high mortality rate is from pneumonia. The second common reason why there is a high infant mortality rate is from dehydration or diarrhea. Sierra Leone has the second highest infant mortality rate and the highest child mortality rate (death of children under 5 per 1000 people of 284) in the world. However IMR can be unreliable on what is a still birth varies in different countries. Poor medical equipment and low education affect the infant mortality rate because around 55% of children who die in Sierra Leone could be saved if they were born in the UK. Illness also affects infant mortality rates. Sierra Leone has a huge illness problem whilst the UK and Italy do not have many infectious diseases.
Conclusion
For all my graphs I have given each a country a score from 1 to 10. 10 are the worst which indicates less development. For my first graph the country with the lowest Gdp will get a 10 and the highest will get 1. The energy consumption is the same. For the birth rate the highest country will get a 10 with the lowest getting a 1. The same for death rate and infant mortality rate. The highest amount of internet users will get a 1 with the lowest amount of internet users would get a 10.
This table shows that the UK is the most developed country and Sierra Leone is the least developed country. This table is more reliable than all of the graphs. It actually shows everything across the board. Slovakia had a bad Gdp but it was good at most other things so one indicator should not be relied on too much.
28/05/2009 William Rainbow