Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
income (-4). The high income of Qatar is offset by a somewhat lower life
expectancy at 75.5 years and an educational enrolment of 80.4 per cent.
Qatar, therefore, shows a 30 place differential between its HDI rank
and its GDP rank. Australia, the nation with the second highest HDI
score in the world, is shown to be characterized by the reverse: it has a
higher HDI rank than income rank by some 20 places. Barbados has a
much lower GDP per capita at $17,956 than other countries in this
class, but is ranked 37 in the world on the HDI by virtue of its enhanced
rates of literacy and educational enrolment, both of which are higher
than those recorded by Qatar. An argument that is quite often put for-
ward is that countries which show relatively high incomes along with
marked inequalities in income distribution (that is, high inequalities),
often show lower levels of life expectancy and a range of social problems
(see Chapter 1.3).
This is further implied when we look at the 'high' human develop-
ment category. Nations here generally show life expectancies of
between 69 and 76 years and educational enrolments of 60-90 per cent.
Cuba is an interesting case, however, having a very low GDP per capita
for this class at $6,876 per annum; however, its very good health and
educational records are reflected in a life expectancy of 78.5 years and
a gross educational enrolment of 100.8 - levels more typical of a very
highly developed nation. Thereby, Cuba's HDI rank is some 44 places
higher than its rank according to GDP per capita.
Turning to the 'middle' human development group of countries, the
case of South Africa shows a reverse situation to that of Cuba. South
Africa shows a massive 51 difference in rank according HDI as opposed
to GDP per capita. While its GDP per capita is relatively high for the
category, standing at $9,757, it records a life expectancy as low as 51.5
years, again pointing to massive socio-economic inequalities.
As would be expected, there is a greater overall agreement between
GDP per capita and life expectancy and educational enrolment in
respect of the 'low' human development grouping. The terrible reality
is that virtually all the nations falling into this category are to be
found in Africa. For the nations in this group, life expectancy at birth
hovers around 50 years and is as low as 43.6 years in the case of
Afghanistan. Gross educational enrolment levels of around 50 per
cent are also typical of this category and are as low as 27.23 per cent
in the case of Niger, the world's least developed nation according to its
overall HDI score.
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