Here are notes on development, for Elective Geography.Reasons for uneven development.
1. Historical Reason - Colonialism
- Colonialism is domination of more powerful country over another country
* Colony = dominated country ; colonial power = more powerful country
- Colonialism affected way in which many countries develop
Case study #1 - Colonised in the past à Former colonies remained lowly developed
- One reason for colonialism was colonial powers wanted to obtain valuable raw materials which could not be found or grown in own countries
- Portuguese colonized Angola in 15th Century and set up plantations to exploit favourable physical conditions and availability of labour à climate and soil conditions suitable for growing cash crops
- Cash crops would fetch high price in Europe and exported them for sale à strong trading relationship between colonial powers and colonies
- Advancements in technology allowed Portuguese to add value to raw materials by converting them into useful products and sold for higher profit à Colonial powers able to achieve DC status quickly
- Development slow in colonies as other aspects of development like education and environmental sustainability not developed à colonies remained poor
- Disparity in development continued to widen
o DCs continued to develop technology and industrialise further, former colonies continued to export low-value raw materials and gained little profit
- Former colonies earn less $$ à low GDP per capita à low standard of living and quality of life à indicating low level of development
Case study #2 - Colonised in the past à Former colonies prosper & highly developed
- Colonial powers brought technology and skills to the colony, allowing them to advance and enable economy to prosper
- Singapore was colonized by British in the past due to its strategic location
- British built infrastructures and improved port to enable trade and allow Singapore to be self-reliant in future
- Singapore now able to continue to prosper and not only focus on trade but also other aspects of development like education [2nd highest spender in Singapore’s GDP]
- With higher education level à more emphasis on tertiary and manufacturing industries à higher GDP per capita à High standard of living and quality of life à indicating high level of development