World Studies Hybrid 2/6 Due 2/9

1. Visit the site Gapminder.org and explore the Gapminder World tab. Select 5
countries (each from a different continent) and compare their position on the graph.
2. Do some background research on the countries to explain their level of
development as indicated by life expectancy and income per person. In other
words, explain 2 possible reasons for each countrys level of development.
a. United States
a. The industrial revolution allowed many new technologies to come into
the country, growing the size.
b. Immigrants from Europe coming the US allowed development to
progress at a rapid speed.
b. Zimbabwe
a. Being in such a rural area of Africa, its hard for the country to become
developed.
b. There arent many people in Zimbabwe, so its difficult to develop when
not many ideas are being passed around.
c. India
a. Development in India is helped by the large population, but also
hindered. There are many intellectual people helping out, but
overpopulation makes it difficult.
b. Many people still work in poor conditions, and without people
attempting to fix them, development has taken a hit.
d. China
a. China is still developing, but thanks to high levels of intellect,
development has been sped up.
b. Due to communistic leadership, the Chinese do not have very many
options for variations in development.
e. Qatar
a. Qatar has a very high level of development thanks to their being the
richest country per capita in the world.
b. Although Qatar has a relatively small population, many people are
seeking to move there, increasing population and cause for more
progressive development.
3. Screenshot the graph with your 5 selected countries displayed, type up your
reasons for their position on the graph.

a. The United States has a very sophisticated and well-developed medical

system, which is one of the reasons the life expectancy is so high. As for
income per person, US citizens have been taught in school that continuing
education and becoming successful is an important thing in life. Because of
this, more people are led down the path to success and getting a solid job,
which will lead to a higher income per person.
b. Zimbabwe is one of the countries with the lowest life expectancy and income
per person. Due to their highly undeveloped location in Africa, the life
expectancy is awfully low. The income per person is low because its a rural
area and their government is not very successful.
c. India is about in the middle in both life expectancy and income. Due to
relatively poor living conditions they are unable to raise their life expectancy
any higher. There are so many people in India that its hard for the income
per person to be any higher than it currently is, because there arent many
open jobs and many people are out of work because of the overpopulation.
d. China has so many people, similar to India, but they are more sophisticated
and civilized. Thanks to a very good healthcare system, China has one of the
highest life expectancies. The income per person is relatively high because
the Chinese are brought up with the mentality where anything but success is
failure.
e. Qatar has the highest income per person out of any other country in the
world because its a desirable, civilized location for the wealthy to set up
shop. Thanks to that wealth, people are able to live longer, which is why the
life expectancy is very high as well.

4. Watch this video produced by Gapminder, 200 countries, 200 years, 4 minutes.
List three important facts you learned about the development of the world.
1. All countries were below 40 in life expectancy in 1810

2. The industrial revolution makes countries like Europe and the US move away
from the rest, but the colonized countries in Europe and Asia stay near the
bottom.
3. Japan was catching up on the US in 1948, and Iran was just beginning to
make money from oil.
4. In the 70s Asian and African countries were catching up with the west.
5. Add these items to the Unit 2 Population & Migration page of your Google Site by
Tuesday, 2/9.