Typology of countries of the world
Typology of countries of the world: common features and differences between countries of the world; classification of countries into various categories; composition, subgroups, characteristics and role in the global economy.
Description of countries is possible from different points of view. Studying them from the point of view of recreational geography is just one of many approaches. The essence of recreational regional geography is that countries are described, first of all, from the point of view of the degree of development of international tourism in them and how interesting a particular country is for international tourism, as well as what standards of recreational activity have developed among the local population. The first aspect is mainly of an applied nature. The second is more related to fundamental research and largely intersects with the geography of culture. The time scale of the first aspect is usually limited to the period after the end of the Second World War; the scale of the second aspect can cover very significant periods of time (up to several millennia).
Recreational regional studies practically did not develop in the USSR. It is difficult to clearly determine the reason for this situation. Probably partly because foreign tourism was one of the components of state ideology and was regulated, first of all, on the basis of ideological goals and standards. The bulk of foreign tourists in the USSR were focused on organized trips. In general, foreign tourism was not fully developed. Another reason we see is that a small number of specialists in recreational geography were busy with other work, so there was no one to do recreational regional geography, and there was no need.
Within the CIS, the situation has changed dramatically. Firstly, the Russian SCS itself began to act not as one, but as 15 states, where foreign tourism should flourish thanks to long-established ties. Secondly, the closedness of the USSR was replaced by the openness of many new CIS states and the tossing of some of them between the Russian and Western SCS. In such conditions, the development of foreign tourism and related recreational regional studies becomes a really important task.
An additional important source for the development of recreational regional studies is the dramatically changed dominant theoretical framework. Within the framework of Marxism-Leninism, the prevailing attitude was to perceive the world as a fairly monotonous space in which there is a struggle between two forces - socialism and capitalism. Naturally, differences between countries were recognized and celebrated, but the struggle between capitalism and socialism remained clearly dominant - everything else receded into the background. In such conditions, the study of the characteristics of recreation in different cultures and countries was not considered a very important topic.
The currently dominant philosophical, methodological and theoretical views proceed mainly from the idea of the diversity of the world and the presence in it of a large number of constants, independent of too changeable political and economic standards. In particular, socio-cultural systems theory focuses on this. Such a theoretical basis is much more favorable for the development of recreational regional studies.
However, before speaking on a given topic, it is necessary to define its most basic concept, that is, the typology of countries.
“A typology of countries is the identification of groups of countries in the world that are similar in level, nature and type of socio-economic and historical development. The first stage of any typology is the classification of countries according to a set of demographic, economic, social and other development indicators. The second stage is the identification of typological features of countries with a similar level of development and their grouping. The typologies of developing countries by B. M. Bolotin, V. L. Sheinis, V. V. Volsky, Ya. G. Mashbits and other geographers and economists are widely known" http://rgo.ru/geography/econom_geography/slovar/tipols1.
A country, a state, is the main object of the political map of the world. The total number of countries on this map during the 20th century. increased noticeably. Firstly, as a result of changes associated with the results of the First World War. Secondly, as a result of the changes that followed the Second World War, expressed in the collapse of the colonial system of imperialism, when during 1945 - 1993. 102 countries achieved political independence. Thirdly, in the early 90s. as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia.
There are about 230 countries on the modern political map. This quantitative growth is followed by important qualitative shifts. This is reflected in the fact that out of 230 states, 193 are sovereign states. The rest falls on the so-called non-self-governing territories.
“With such a large number of countries, there is a need to group them, which is carried out primarily on the basis of various quantitative criteria. The most common grouping of countries is based on the size of their territory and population. Countries are often grouped according to their geographic location.
For example, sovereign, independent countries (about 193 out of 230) and dependent countries and territories are distinguished. Dependent countries and territories can have different names: possessions - the term “colonies” has not been used since 1971 (there are very few of them left), overseas departments and territories, self-governing territories. Thus, Gibraltar is a possession of Great Britain; Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean, the country of Guiana in South America - overseas departments of France; The island country of Puerto Rico is declared a “freely acceded state to the United States.”
1. Grouping countries by territory size- the largest countries (territory more than 3 million km2) (see Appendix 2). “These include states of different regions. Half of the dozen participants were delegated by the New World, four countries are located in Eurasia, one is in Africa. Moreover, only Russia can be considered a European country. The most common language in the largest countries of the world is English. It is spoken in the USA, Canada, Australia and a little in India. The Russian language is widely used in Russia and Kazakhstan.
The top ten is dominated by multinational countries. The country with the most diverse ethnic composition is India. Over 500 peoples, nationalities and tribes live here. Many ethnic groups live in Sudan, Russia, Canada, Kazakhstan, China, and the USA. But the populations of Argentina, Brazil and Australia mostly belong to the same ethnic group.
If we take into account not the total area of the territory, but the land area, then China will come in second place, after Russia, and Canada will become the “bronze medalist”. The fact is that the territory of Canada includes many inland bodies of water - primarily Hudson Bay, as well as lakes Manitoba, Winnipeg, Athabasca, Great Slave, etc. China does not have extensive inland water basins.
In the ten largest countries in the world, serious contrasts can be observed in the degree of population of the territory. High population density (more than 100 people/km2) in India and China. At the same time, in four countries (Russia, Kazakhstan, Canada, Australia) the average population density does not reach 10 people/km2.
Despite the fact that Russia is the largest country in the world by territory, the length of land borders (but not the number of neighboring countries) is greater in China, and the length of the coastline is greater in Canada. The numerous islands of the Canadian Arctic archipelago and the heavily indented coasts of this country are to blame for the fact that the length of the coasts is so significant (six equators!)” http://geo.1september.ru/2002/21/5.htm.
- - large countries (have an area of more than 1 million km2): Algeria, Libya, Iran, Mongolia, Argentina, etc.;
- - medium and small countries: these include most countries in the world - Italy, Vietnam, Germany, etc.
- - microstates: Andorra - 446 km2, Vatican City - 0.44 km2, Liechtenstein - 160 km2, Monaco - 1.95 km2, San Marino - 61 km2. These also include Singapore and the island states of the Caribbean and Oceania.
- 2. Grouping by political system, forms of government and administrative-territorial structure of the countries of the world.
Countries of the world also differ in forms of government and in forms of territorial government. There are two main forms of government: a republic, where legislative power usually belongs to parliament, and executive power to the government (USA, Germany), and a monarchy, where power belongs to the monarch and is inherited (Brunei, UK).
Most countries in the world have a republican form of government. In republics, the highest state power belongs to an elected representative body; The head of state is elected by the population of the country. There are presidential republics, where the president heads the government and has great powers (USA, Guinea, Argentina, etc.) and parliamentary republics, where the role of the president is smaller, and the head of the executive branch is the prime minister appointed by the president. There are currently 30 monarchies.
Monarchies are divided into constitutional and absolute. In a constitutional monarchy, the power of the monarch is limited by the constitution and the activities of parliament: real legislative power usually belongs to parliament, and executive power to the government. At the same time, the monarch “reigns, but does not rule,” although his political influence is quite large. Such monarchies include Great Britain, the Netherlands, Spain, Japan, etc. In an absolute monarchy, the power of the ruler is not limited in any way. There are now only six states with this form of government in the world: Brunei, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the Vatican.
Particularly distinguished are the so-called theocratic monarchies, i.e. countries where the head of state is also its religious head (Vatican and Saudi Arabia).
There are countries that have a specific form of government. These include states that are part of the so-called Commonwealth (until 1947 it was called the “British Commonwealth of Nations”). The Commonwealth is an association of countries that includes Great Britain and many of its former colonies, dominions and dependent territories (50 states in total). Initially created by Great Britain to preserve its economic and military-political positions in previously owned territories and countries. In 16 Commonwealth countries, the British Queen is formally considered the head of state." The largest of them include Canada, Australia, New Zealand. In them, the head of state is the Queen of Great Britain, represented by the Governor-General, and the legislative body is Parliament.
- 3. According to forms of government There are unitary and federal countries. In a unitary state there is a single constitution, a single executive and legislative power, and administrative-territorial units are vested with minor powers and report directly to the central government (France, Hungary). In a federal state, along with unified laws and authorities, there are other state entities - republics, states, provinces, etc., which adopt their own laws and have their own authorities, i.e. members of the federation have a certain political and economic independence. But their activities should not contradict federal laws (India, Russia, USA). Most countries in the world are unitary; there are now just over 20 federal states in the world. The federal form of the state is typical both for multinational countries (Pakistan, Russia) and for countries with a relatively homogeneous national composition of the population (Germany).
- 4. By population size.
“The State Statistics Committee of Russia calculated the results of the 2002 All-Russian Population Census on the population size for the Russian Federation, the constituent entities of the Russian Federation with the distribution of the population into urban and rural and by gender, as well as the population size for cities with a population of 100 thousand inhabitants or more.
According to the total data, during the 2002 All-Russian Population Census, 145,537 thousand people were counted.
The Russian Federation ranks seventh in the world in terms of population (MS. Appendix 1) after China (1285 million people), India (1025 million people), USA (286 million people), Indonesia (215 million people), Brazil (173 million people) and Pakistan (146.0 million people).
The permanent population of the Russian Federation amounted to 145,182 thousand people” http://www.gks.ru/PEREPIS/predv.htm.
- 4. By population size.
- - coastal countries;
- - peninsular;
- - island;
- - archipelagic countries;
- - countries occupying an inland position" http://geo-pk19.3dn.ru/publ/4-1-0-4.
In other words, “when grouping countries by geographic location, landlocked countries (Chad, Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, Slovakia, etc. - a total of 42 countries in the world) and coastal countries (India, Colombia) are usually distinguished. Among the coastal ones, there are island (Sri Lanka), peninsular (Spain) and archipelagic countries (Japan, Indonesia)” http://info.territory.ru/univer/geo.htm.
6. In contrast to the classification (grouping) of countries, which is based primarily on quantitative indicators, the typology is based on qualitative characteristics that determine the place of a particular country on the political and economic map of the world. These signs can be different and take into account the level of socio-economic development of countries, their political orientation, the degree of democratization of power, inclusion in the world economy, etc. Therefore, further we will talk about grouping countries into subgroups and according to their role in the world economy.
Until the beginning of the 90s. All countries of the world were divided into three types: socialist, developed capitalist and developing. After the actual collapse of the world socialist system, this typology was replaced by others. One of them, also three-membered, divides all countries of the world into economically developed, developing and countries with economies in transition, i.e. making the transition from a centrally planned to a market economy.
A two-member typology is widely used, dividing all countries into economically developed and developing. The main criterion for this typology is the level of socio-economic development of the state, expressed through the gross domestic product per capita.
To the number economically developed countries the UN currently lists approximately 60 countries in Europe, Asia, North America, Australia and Oceania. All of them are characterized by a higher level of economic and social development and, accordingly, GDP per capita. However, this group of countries is characterized by quite significant internal heterogeneity and four subgroups can be distinguished within its composition.
“The IMF lists developed countries as Western Europe (except Turkey), the USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Since 1997, this includes countries such as Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Israel. The UN adds South Africa to these countries. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development also includes among the developed countries Mexico (under US pressure), Turkey, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic (on a geographical basis). When Cyprus and Estonia join the EU, they will also be classified as developed countries” file://localhost/C:/DOCUME~1/366C~1/LOCALS~1/Temp/Rar$EX00.937/35346.htm.
In other words, the number of economically developed countries includes mainly: “Big Seven” (GDP per capita 20-30 thousand dollars) - Japan, USA, Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Canada; countries of Western Europe; countries of settler capitalism - Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Israel" http://www.hiv-aids-epidemic.com.ua/past-0071.htm.
As you can see, the boundaries are blurry. Without Turkey and Mexico, this is approximately 30 developed countries, which account for 53% of global GDP. (USA - 21%, Japan - 8%, Germany - 5%, the EU falls to approximately 20.5%). NAFTA is about 24%.
First subgroup form the G7 countries (USA, Canada, UK, France, Japan, Germany and Italy). These leading countries of the Western world are distinguished by the largest scale of economic and political activity. They have a pronounced post-industrial economic structure and a high level of development of market relations. The G7 countries account for about 50% of the world's GNP and industrial production, over 25% of agricultural products, and their per capita GDP ranges from 20 to 30 thousand dollars.
Co. second subgroup can be attributed to smaller, but also highly developed countries of Western Europe (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, etc.). Despite the fact that the political and economic power of each of these countries is small, as a whole they play an ever-increasing role in world affairs. They actively participate in the global system of territorial division of labor. Most of them have the same GDP per capita as the G7 countries.
The third subgroup form non-European countries - Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. These are former settler colonies of Great Britain that practically did not know feudalism. Currently, they are distinguished by some originality of political and economic development. Recently, Israel has also been included in this group.
Fourth subgroup is still in its formation stage. It was formed in 1997, after such Asian countries and territories as the Republic of Korea, Singapore and Taiwan were transferred to the category of economically developed countries. These states have come very close to other economically developed countries in terms of GDP per capita. They have a broad and diverse economic structure, including a rapidly growing service sector, and actively participate in global trade.
TO developing countries There are about 150 countries and territories, which together occupy more than half the earth's land area and concentrate about 3/5 of the world's population. On the political map, these countries cover a vast belt stretching across Asia, Africa, Latin America and Oceania north and especially south of the equator. Some of them (Iran, Thailand, Ethiopia, Egypt, Latin American countries, etc.) had independence long before the Second World War. But most of them won independence only in the post-war period.
Developing countries can be divided into six subgroups.
First subgroup form key countries - India, Brazil and Mexico, which have very large natural, human and economic potential and in many respects are leaders of the developing world. These three countries produce almost as much industrial output as all other developing countries combined. But their per capita GDP is significantly lower than in economically developed countries.
In second subgroup includes some developing countries that have also achieved a relatively high level of socio-economic development and have a per capita GDP indicator exceeding 1 thousand dollars. Most of these countries are in Latin America (Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Venezuela, etc.), but they are also in Asia and North America.
TO third subgroup Newly industrialized countries (NICs) specialize in a number of labor-intensive manufacturing sectors. In the 80s and 90s. XX century They made such a leap that they were nicknamed the “Asian Tigers.” “In these countries, the economy over the past 20 years has developed at an exceptionally high pace due to foreign investment, the introduction of new technologies and the availability of cheap and qualified local labor” http://info.territory.ru/univer/geo.htm. The “first echelon” of such countries included the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The “second echelon” usually includes Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia.
Fourth subgroup form oil-exporting countries. Thanks to the influx of “petrodollars,” per capita GDP reaches from 10 to 20 thousand dollars. These are primarily the Gulf countries (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Iran), as well as Libya, Brunei and some other countries. These countries have very high GDP per capita due to oil sales. Rapid development of countries - the emergence of powerful banks, companies, modern cities, water and energy supply systems; raising the standard of living of the population is often combined in these countries with the old social life, which is primarily determined by Islam.
IN fifth, the largest subgroup includes the majority of “classical” developing countries with a GDP per capita of less than 1 thousand dollars per year. The characteristic features of these countries are a backward, multi-structured economy. These are countries lagging behind in their development, with a per capita GDP of less than 1 thousand dollars. They are dominated by a rather backward mixed economy with strong feudal remnants. Most of these countries are in Africa, but they also exist in Asia and Latin America. This subgroup includes the states of concessional development of capitalism, which have become rich from the development of tourism (Jamaica, Bohamy, etc.).
Sixth subgroup form approximately 40 countries (with a total population of 600 million people), which according to the UN classification belong to the least developed countries. They are dominated by consumer agriculture, there is almost no manufacturing industry, 2/3 of the adult population is illiterate, and the average per capita GDP is $100-300 per year. These countries are characterized by a low level and pace of socio-economic development; high birth and death rates, economic dependence on agriculture. These countries receive special attention from the world community; the global problems of humanity are most clearly manifested in them.
The place of any country in the typology is not constant and may change over time. This subgroup includes countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan, Mali, Ethiopia, Haiti, etc.
Inclusion of post-socialist countries with transition economies into this two-member typology presents certain difficulties. In terms of their socio-economic indicators, most countries of Eastern Europe and the Baltic countries, of course, are economically developed. Among the CIS countries there are both economically developed and countries occupying an intermediate position between developed and developing. China occupies the same contradictory position, which has its own characteristics both in its political system and in its socio-economic development.
7. You can also group countries by national composition. “The population of the Earth belongs to 4 main and several intermediate and mixed racial groups.
Race is a historically established group of people connected by a common origin, which is expressed in common morphological and physiological characteristics.
- 70% of the world's population is made up of four main races: 43% Caucasian; 19% - Mongoloid race; 7% - Negroid race; 1% - Australoid race.
- 30% of the population belongs to intermediate (Ethiopians, Malagasy, Polynesians) and mixed racial groups - mestizos (Caucasian and Mongoloid); mulattoes (Caucasian and Negroid); sambo (Negroid and Mongoloid). Mestizos, Sambos and mulattoes live mainly in Latin American countries.
“There are about 3 thousand peoples in the world. Most of them are small in number, and 57% of the Earth’s population falls on large nations, whose number is more than 50 million each” http://www.gks.ru/PEREPIS/predv.htm. The largest nations in the world with a population of over 100 million people. are Chinese, Hindustani, US Americans, Bengalis, Russians, Brazilians and Japanese. Peoples are classified according to language. Peoples with related languages are united into language groups, and groups into language families. The largest language family is Indo-European, whose languages are spoken by 150 peoples of Europe, Asia, America and Australia with a total population of about 2.5 billion people. This family includes such large groups of languages as Slavic, Romance, Germanic and Indo-Aryan. Over 1 billion people speaks languages of the Sino-Tibetan family.
Depending on whether ethnic borders coincide with state borders or not, countries of the world are divided into single-national and multinational.
The world is dominated by multinational countries, within whose state borders several ethnic groups live, for example India, Russia, China, the USA, Indonesia.
Binational - Canada, Belgium. Examples of single-national countries are Poland, Germany, Argentina, Australia, Japan.
country world territory system
CALCULATION PART OF THE CONTROL WORK
In this part of the test, we need to provide the conditions of the problem being solved, the calculation methodology, the calculation itself, and draw conclusions on these problematic issues based on the data obtained.
Task No. 1
The countries of Arica and Britica produce only two goods - steel and flour, the level of costs for their production is characterized by the data given in Table 1, the marginal costs of substitution remain unchanged for any volume of production.
Table 1 - Costs of steel and flour production in Arica and Britik:
Define:
Describe how in this situation, according to A. Smith’s theory, trade between these countries will be structured. What is the disadvantage of this theory?
What goods will Arica and Britica export and import under free trade?
Initial data on the options are presented in Table 2 of the guidelines.
The option number corresponds to the last grade book number. The solution method can be illustrated with the following example.
The level of costs for steel and flour in Arica and Britik is characterized by the data given in Table 3; marginal replacement costs remain unchanged for any production volume.
Table 3 - Steel and flour production costs in Arica and Britik
Define:
In the production of which product and which country has an absolute advantage?
For which product does each country have a comparative advantage?
A comparison of absolute costs, that is, the costs of producing steel and flour in each country, indicates that Britica has lower costs for both goods. Consequently, this country has an absolute advantage in both flour and steel.
Based on the data obtained, it is necessary to draw a conclusion about how, in this situation, according to the theory of absolute advantage, trade between these countries will be structured. Indicate the disadvantage of this theory.
To determine the comparative advantage of each country, it is necessary to calculate comparative advantage ratios.
Calculation of coefficients for steel is carried out as follows:
for Arika 180:157=1.15;
for Britika 163:136=1.2.
Consequently, Arica has a comparative advantage in steel production (since 1.15<1,2).
Calculation of comparative advantage coefficients for flour is carried out in a similar way.
for Arika 157/180=0.87;
for Britika 136/163=0.83.
Accordingly, Britika has a comparative advantage in flour production (since 0.83<0,87).
It is necessary to indicate areas of specialization for each country
based on identified relative advantages.
Thus, we can conclude that Britika should sell flour, and Arika should sell steel.
Problem No. 2
If the demand function for wheat in country X has the form O x =A x -b xX P, and the supply function is 8 x =C x +c1 x xP, and in country Y the demand is expressed by the dependence B y =A y - b yX P, and the function of the sentence 8 U = C U + c! y xP, determine what the price of wheat will be in each country in the absence of foreign trade? What will be the trade volumes? At a world price level of 6.4 dollars, what will be the volumes of exports and imports? Present the equilibrium in the national markets of countries X and Y, the volumes of exports and imports graphically.
Initial data on the options are presented in Table 4 of the guidelines.
From the condition of equilibrium in the domestic markets of countries, the price level and sales volume within each country are determined. The situation on the wheat market in countries X and Y is presented graphically.
The resulting graphs display the world price level, which clearly shows which country will be an importer and which will be an exporter of wheat. If the level of demand in a country at a given price level exceeds supply, then the country will import this product. Accordingly, if the supply at the world price level is greater than the demand, the country will export the product.
Import and export volumes are also displayed on the graphs.
To determine the price of wheat and trade volumes in each country in the absence of foreign trade, we perform the following steps:
The demand function for wheat in country X is:
Dx=365-8p, and the supply function accordingly: Sx=160+17p.
In country Y, demand is expressed by the dependence:
Dу=220-15p, and the supply function accordingly: Sу=70+15p.
Let us determine the equilibrium price and sales volume in country X:
Dx=Sx, that is 365-8р=160+17p,
р=8.2 (currency units).
Dx(8.2)=365-8*8.2=299.4 (tons).
Similarly, we determine the equilibrium price and sales volume in country Y:
Dу=Sу, that is 220-15r=70+15r,
p=5 (currency units).
Dу(5)=70+15*5=70+75=145 (tons).
Next, we need to determine which country is an exporter and which is an importer. To do this, we need to graphically represent the equilibrium in national markets X and Y, which will also allow the volumes of exports and imports.
Let's compile the following tables for countries X and Y, respectively:
Having analyzed the graphs, we can conclude that country X is an importer, since Sx(5)
To determine the volume of exports and imports at a world price level of 6.4 dollars, it is necessary to substitute this exchange rate into the previous equations: 1) volume of imports: Dx(6.4)- Sx(6.4) =313.8 -268.8= 45 (tons); 2) export volume: Sу(6.4)-Dу(6.4)= 166-124=42 (tons).
Problem No. 3
VAZ exports cars to Ukraine. Calculations are carried out in hard currency, the price of one car is R dollars. Exchange rate $1=X rubles. Production costs per car amount to C thousand rubles.
How will VAZ’s profit from the export of each car change if:
the ruble exchange rate will increase by Y%;
the ruble exchange rate will decrease by 0%.
The initial data for the task are presented in Table 5.
Table 5 Initial data for task No. 3
It is necessary to determine the revenue and profit from the sale of one car in rubles at the current exchange rate.
A comparison is made of revenue and profit before and after the exchange rate change, provided that:
when the exchange rate of the national currency increases, the cost of one dollar will decrease by Y% of rubles;
when the national currency depreciates, the value of one dollar will increase by 0% rubles.
Let's calculate the price of one car: p=4000+2*250=$4500.
Let's determine the profit from the sale of one car before the exchange rate changes, but the first step is to determine the exchange rate of 1 $: 27.5+2/5=27.9 (rubles) and production costs for one car: 90000+2*500=91000 (rubles) :
Pr = 27.9*4500-91000=125550-91000=34550 (rubles) - profit from the sale of one car at the current exchange rate.
Let's determine how profit will change if the exchange rate increases by 1%:
1$=27.9-0.01*27.9=27.621 (rubles), Pr=4500*27.621-91000=33294.5 (rubles),
Pr=Pr0-Pr1=33294.5-34550=-1255.5 (rubles). Thus, we see that profit decreased by 1255.5 (rubles), that is, this is not profitable for exporters.
Let's determine how profit will change if the exchange rate decreases by 1%:
1$=27.9+0.01*27.9=28.179 (rubles), Pr=4500*28.179-91000=35805.5 (rubles),
Pr=Pr0-Pr1=35805.5-34550=1255.5 (rubles). That is, we can observe that profit increased by 1255.5 rubles, which means this is beneficial for exporters.
Bibliography
- 1. http://rgo.ru/geography/econom_geography/slovar/tipols1
- 2. http://geo.1september.ru/2002/21/5.htm
- 3. http://www.gks.ru/PEREPIS/predv.htm
- 4. http://geo-pk19.3dn.ru/publ/4-1-0-4
- 5. http://info.territory.ru/univer/geo.htm
- 6. file://localhost/C:/DOCUME~1/366C~1/LOCALS~1/Temp/Rar$EX00.937/35346.htm
- 7. http://www.hiv-aids-epidemic.com.ua/past-0071.htm
- 8. http://info.territory.ru/univer/geo.htm
Each country in the world has its own unique characteristics, but the presence of features common to other states is the basis for identifying certain types of countries. Country type – an objectively formed and relatively stable complex with its inherent conditions and developmental features that characterize its role and place in the world community at a certain stage of development. The existence of types of countries, their historical evolution is a consequence of the fact that countries develop at different rates, under different conditions and in different directions. Depending on the characteristics underlying the typology, the following are distinguished: main classifications of countries : by area; by population; by form of government; according to the form of government; by ideological orientation; according to the form of the state regime; by political structure; by the level of development of science and technology; by level of socio-economic development. In addition to the above main types of typologies, there are classifications based on distance from the sea, natural resource potential, type of population reproduction, level of urbanization, national composition of the population, etc.
Classification of countries by area . This classification is based on the territorial size of the country. It distinguishes between giant countries, large, significant, medium, small, small countries and microstates. The largest country in the world by area is the Russian Federation, occupying 11.5% of dry land, and the smallest is the dwarf state of the Vatican, occupying an area of 0.44 hectares within several blocks of the capital of Italy - Rome.
Classification of countries by population. According to this classification, countries are distinguished as large, significant, medium, small and small.
The largest country in the world in terms of population is China, in which at the beginning of the 21st century. lived over 1 billion 275 million people, and the smallest (as in area) is the Vatican, where a little more than 1 thousand people are officially citizens.
The USA, Great Britain, France, Russia and China are called “great states”. They are the winners of the Second World War, have powerful armies, founders of the UN and permanent members of the UN Security Council. In the last years of the twentieth century. The question arose about including Japan and Germany, which rank 2nd and 3rd in the world in terms of military-industrial potential.
Classification of countries by form of government . The state order of any country is characterized by its form of government.
Table 1 – Distribution of countries by form of government
Form of government - organization of the supreme state power, the procedure for the formation of its bodies and their interaction with the population. The form of government influences the socio-political life of countries, traditions, and sometimes the mentality of the population, but does not determine either the level of socio-economic development or the peculiarities of the internal political state of countries: for example, monarchies (for example, in Europe) are often more democratic than some republics. There are four in the world forms of government : republic, monarchy, Commonwealth countries and Jamahiriya (Table 1).
Republic (public) – a form of government in which the sovereign right to power belongs either to all capable citizens or to a majority of them. According to the republican structure, government is carried out by representative bodies on behalf of the people, who are elected either by direct voting or on the basis of procedures for indirect expression of the people's will (through proxies, electors, etc.).
Types of republics are as follows: parliamentary – Parliament has supremacy, before which the government is collectively responsible for its actions, the role of the president in public administration is inferior to the role of parliament, and the government is headed by the prime minister; presidential-parliamentary - the role of the president and parliament is balanced. In the world, ¾ of the countries are republics. This form of government is considered the most progressive and democratic. Most countries in Latin America, almost all former colonies in Asia, 49 out of 52 countries in Africa, etc. are republics.
The oldest form of government, inherent in the first states of the world, is monarchy. Monarchy (unity) – a form of government in which the supreme state power is formally (in whole or in part) concentrated in the hands of the sole head of the state - the monarch. As a rule, the power of the monarch is for life and is inherited, but there are two monarchies that have elements of a republic : Malaysia is a federal constitutional monarchy, where the monarch is elected for 5 years by the sultans of the sultanates that are part of the state; The UAE is a federal absolute monarchy, in which the head of state, the president, is elected by the Supreme Council of Emirs for a 5-year term.
The title of the monarch is different in different countries: Sultan (Brunei, Oman), Pope (Vatican), Emir (Kuwait, Bahrain), Duke (Luxembourg), Emperor (Japan), King (in most monarchies), Prince (Monaco, Liechtenstein). Monarchies vary in their form : absolute monarchy (unlimited) – a form of government in which the head of state, the monarch, is the main source of legislative and executive power (the latter is exercised by an apparatus dependent on the monarch). The monarch mostly sets taxes and manages finances. In some cases, parliament is absent altogether or is an advisory body. There are 5 absolute monarchies in the world: Brunei, Bhutan, Qatar, UAE, Oman .
Constitutional monarchy (limited)- a form of government in which the power of the monarch is limited by the constitution, legislative functions are transferred to parliament, and executive functions are transferred to the government. The monarch is legally the supreme head of the executive branch, the head of the judicial system, formally appoints the government, replaces ministers, commands troops, can repeal laws passed by parliament and dissolve parliament. But in fact these powers belong to the government. There are 23 constitutional monarchies in the world.
Theocratic monarchy (power of God) is a form of government in which political and spiritual power is in the hands of the church. There are two such monarchies in the world - the Vatican and Saudi Arabia.
States within the commonwealth. These include 14 countries - former colonies of Great Britain, in which the formal head of state is the British Queen, represented in the country by the governor-general (necessarily a native of this country). Such countries have their own parliament and government.
Jamahiriya - This is a unique form of government in which the leaders of the state demand its international recognition precisely in the understanding as it is inherent in the Arabic language - “democracy”, “state of the masses”. Jamahiriya - a form of government in which there are no traditional institutions of power; it is believed that all government decisions are made by all the people, represented by one country in the world - Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiya.
Classification of countries by form of government. Form of government - the territorial and organizational structure of the state, which establishes the order of dividing the country into parts and the relationship between central and local authorities. Her the main functions are: stepped placement of authorities and public administration; ensuring tax and information collection; control of the center over places; implementation of flexible economic, social and regional policies; conducting election campaigns, etc. According to this classification, the following are distinguished: forms of government: unitary state, federal state, confederal state.
Unitary state (unity) – a form of government in which the territory of the state does not include federal units (states, lands, etc.), but is divided into administrative-territorial units (departments, regions, districts, etc.). In a unitary state: a single constitution for the entire country; unified system of authorities; social processes are managed centrally. 168 countries of the world have this form of government.
Federal state (union, association) – a form of government in which several state entities that legally have a certain independence are united into a single union state. Confederate state (union, association) – a permanent union of sovereign states created to achieve political or military goals. The Confederation forms central bodies that have powers delegated to them by the member states of the union. These bodies do not have direct power over the states that are part of the confederation.
Classification of countries by ideological orientation. According to this classification, countries are divided into pluralistic and clerical. Signs of pluralistic states: lack of advantage of any church (denomination); recognition of religion as a private matter of citizens; the right of people of any religion to hold public office; non-celebration of religious holidays by the state.
Clericalism (church) – socio-political practice Signs of clerical states: the presence of a religion that has state status; compulsory study of religious dogmas in schools; the highest positions are necessarily occupied by persons who are followers of the dominant religion in the country; participation of government bodies in religious ceremonies; the dependence of the conditions and safety of living of people of other faiths in these countries on the general culture of a particular people and the ruling regime.
Classification of countries according to the form of government regime. Any regime is determined by the procedures and methods of organizing government bodies and exercising power functions, relations between the state and citizens, and the means of making government decisions. Form of government regime – a set of means and methods for exercising power by the state. There are democratic and anti-democratic regimes.
Democracy (people + power) – a form of state-political structure of society, based on the recognition of the people as the source of power and their right to take part in solving public affairs. Democratic states are the countries of Western Europe, the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, etc.
Totalitarianism (whole, whole, complete) – one of the forms of the state (totalitarian state), which is characterized by its complete (total) control over all spheres of social life, the actual elimination of constitutional rights and freedoms, repression of the opposition and dissidents. Various forms of totalitarianism were inherent in fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, former and present socialist states (Stalin's regime, the communist regime in the DPRK, Cuba, etc.).
Dictatorship – (unlimited power) – a term that characterizes a system of exercising unlimited power of a person, class or other social groups in a state, region, based on force. It means, on the one hand, the essence of state power, providing political planning to a certain class, and on the other, a means of exercising state power, a political regime, for example, a personal dictatorship. The main personal dictatorships in the 20th century. were: in Italy in 1922-1945. - dictatorship of Mussolini, in Spain in 1939 - 1975. - Franco's dictatorship, in the USSR - in 1930-1953. – dictatorship of Stalin, etc..
Authoritarianism (power, influence) – a political concept and political practice based on the concentration of monopoly or majority power in the hands of one person or group of persons; a political regime established or imposed by a form of government that reduces or eliminates the role of representative institutions of government. Historical forms of authoritarianism include Asian despotism, tyrannical and absolute forms of government of antiquity, military-police and fascist regimes, and various variants of totalitarianism.
Apartheid (separation) – an extreme form of racial discrimination, which means the deprivation of certain groups of the population, depending on their race, of political, socio-economic and civil rights, up to territorial isolation. Under modern international law, apartheid is a crime against humanity. The apartheid policy was carried out by the South African government from 1948-1991. Some acts of apartheid may constitute genocide.
Genocide (clan, tribe, kill) – one of the most prominent crimes against humanity, which involves the extermination of certain groups of the population on racial, national, ethnic or religious grounds, as well as the deliberate creation of living conditions designed for the complete or partial physical destruction of these groups. Such crimes were carried out on a massive scale by the Turkish state against the Armenian people in 1915, this is the Holodomor of the Ukrainian people in 1930-1933. in the former USSR, Hitler's crimes during World War II, especially against the Slavic and Jewish populations, genocide against the Kampuchean people by the Pol Pot clique in 1970-1979. and so on.
Classification of countries by political structure. By In this classification, states are divided into single-party and multi-party. One-party countries have a non-competitive type of party system, which consists of representatives or members of one political party. They are typical for the Chinese, Orthodox and Muslim world: China, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Algeria, the former USSR. One-party regimes often degenerate into dictatorships.
U multiparty countries The political system is multi-party and is formed on the basis of established ties between parties, which differ in program settings, tactics, and internal structure. Among multiparty countries, three subgroups are distinguished: bipartisan (two-party) countries – two parties form a competing oligarchy, and democratic elections give the population the opportunity to change leaders; countries of “two and a half parties” – in them, none of the two largest parties can obtain a majority in parliament and one of them forms a coalition with the third to form a government; multi-party countries - have three or more parties with approximately the same size electorate, none of which is able to gain the support of a majority in parliament for a long time and is forced to form government coalitions. Such party systems exist in Italy, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Ukraine, Russia, etc.
Classification of countries according to the level of development of science and technology. A feature of scientific activity in the era of scientific and technological revolution was the transformation of its achievements into a new type of resource. Select 4 type of countries: with highly developed, developed, undeveloped science and technology and backward in scientific, technical and economic terms.
Countries with highly developed science and technology scientific achievements are being introduced into the economy on a large scale (USA, Japan, Western European countries). It was in these countries, especially in the USA, that such entities as technopolises and technoparks first appeared. The name of one of the world’s first technopolises “Silicon Valley” (USA, California) has even become common for identifying similar entities in other countries.
Countries with developed science and technology scientific discoveries and technical inventions are slowly being introduced into the economy (Ukraine, Russia, the Baltic countries, the Czech Republic, etc.).
Countries with undeveloped science and technology– intensively assimilating imported scientific and technological achievements (South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Brazil). Gradually, they are creating a fairly powerful scientific, technical and educational base.
TO scientifically, technically and economically backward countries belongs to the majority of developing countries. Their general socio-economic backwardness is the reason for their underdeveloped scientific and technical base.
Classification of countries by level of socio-economic development. This classification of countries of the world is one of the most important tasks of socio-geographical studies of the world and its regions.
Typology of countries by GNP level. The main criterion of this classification is the indicator of domestic national product (GNP), the absolute level of which reflects the economic development of the country and its share in the world economic space.
In Ukrainian economic and social geography, the traditional approach to principles for the formation of groups of states: economically highly developed countries; countries with an average level of economic development; countries that have embarked on the path of market reforms; countries with planned economies (socialist countries); developing countries.
Economically highly developed countries include: USA, Canada, some Western European countries, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa. They occupy 24% of the earth's land area and are home to 15% of the world's population. Economically highly developed countries are characterized by a high level of concentration of economic, technological and scientific potential. These countries are characterized by a high standard of living and social protection, the rapid growth of science, the development of knowledge-intensive industries and advanced technologies, and the transition from the production of goods to the production of services. Currently, the service sector accounts for more than 50% of total production and continues to grow.
In small economically developed countries – The Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Finland, Switzerland, Austria and some others are home to 7% of the population and account for 8% of the world's GNP. Moreover, the average GNP per capita is 80% of the US level. These countries do not own raw materials, so they work for the foreign market and export their products. Holland exports flowers, meat, cheeses; Switzerland - watches, etc. In these countries, banking and tourism are well developed, and a modern merchant fleet has been created.
Countries of the “resettlement type”- these are Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Israel. In the past, the first three were colonies. These countries (except Israel) have large territories inhabited by a small population of Europeans. Countries of the “resettlement type” create 30% of world GNP, and GNP per capita is 70% of the US level. The economies of these countries are characterized by the development of export-oriented raw materials industries.
IN countries with an average level of economic development A modern mechanism of a market economy has formed, but the economic indicators of their farms are still more modest in comparison with economically highly developed countries. Among them, two subgroups of countries are distinguished. The first is the countries that belatedly embarked on the path of capitalist development: Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Turkey and others. The second subgroup is the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Chile and others. These countries account for 8% of the population and create 3.8% of the world's GNP, which per capita is 50% of the US level. The main feature of these countries is their financial and technological dependence on economically highly developed countries.
TO countries that have embarked on the path of market reforms include: independent countries of the former USSR, as well as countries of the former socialist community - Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, the republics of the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Macedonia, Croatia), Albania. These countries occupy 18% of the earth's land area and are home to 7.5% of the world's population. At the beginning of 1990, the share of these countries in the creation of GNP was 3.5%. In these countries, market reforms are carried out with great difficulty, so most of them have economies in crisis. The standard of living and social security of the population is low, which is reflected in the ratio of the exchange rates of national currencies and the US dollar.
TO countries with planned economies (socialist countries) include the People's Republic of China (PRC), the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Laos, and the Republic of Cuba. Socialist countries occupy 7.8% of the earth's landmass and are home to over 25% of the world's population. At the beginning of the 90s. XX century their GNP was 2.5% of the world's. Socialist countries are characterized mainly by a low level of socio-economic development. GNP per capita here averages 1% of the US level. China and Vietnam are building a market economy in an evolutionary manner, maintaining the socialist system and tirelessly raising the living standards of the population.
Today in There are 132 developing countries in the world. They occupy 50% of the earth's land area and are home to almost half the world's population. They develop the production of agricultural products and raw materials, which are mainly exported. Agriculture is of a natural or semi-natural nature and is located throughout the territory. The internal resources of most countries are insufficient for independent economic development, so they are forced to take cash loans from highly developed countries. This leads to an increase in debt, which currently accounts for a third of these countries' GNP. Interest on loans “eats up” investment resources, and these countries are economically dependent on developed countries.
You can select several subtypes developing countries. First of all, these are countries with a relatively mature economic structure, for example, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Venezuela, Colombia, Tunisia, Egypt and others. A unique subtype is formed by the so-called oil-producing countries (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, etc.). The most numerous subtype is the least developed countries. The category of the poorest includes two to three dozen developing countries, primarily Angola, Ethiopia, Chad, Bangladesh, Yemen, Afghanistan, etc. In addition to the groups considered, newly industrialized countries, oil exporting countries, small island states and others are also distinguished.
Towards Newly Industrialized Countries (NICs) since 1975 these include the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand; since 1980 - Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Indonesia and India, later Turkey, Malaysia and the Philippines were included in this group. NIS are distinguished by significant changes in the structure of the economy and the highest growth rates of GNP in recent decades (9-10%). Investments from highly developed countries, especially the USA, played a major role in the development of the NIS economies. Since the mid-80s. The economic development of the countries of this group is based on the formation of their own scientific and technical potential, the creation of knowledge-intensive areas of industry, microelectronics, computer science, and biotechnology. Science and technology parks are being created where new technologies are developed and implemented.
Oil exporting countries include: Brunei, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Iraq, Iran. They occupy 9.8% of the land area and are home to 27.8% of the population. These countries are characterized by high rates of economic development, a diversified structure of GDP and exports, and also a high dependence on the foreign market. The industry structure is dominated by the oil industry; the bulk of GDP is formed through the sale of oil. These states have a high level of socio-economic development. Thus, Kuwait is among the top ten countries in the world in terms of GNP per capita. In the Gulf countries, only a small part of profits goes to the development of the national economy, and the main part is exported to the international capital market. A new financial center of the world is emerging in this region.
TO group of small island states with high profits includes nine countries - Barbados, Bahrain, Seychelles, etc. The main sectors of the economy are banking and tourism. GDP per capita ranges from 6 to 12 thousand dollars. In particular, there are 350 branches of foreign banks located in the Bahamas.
TO group of countries with medium capabilities includes 60 states. The main occupation of the population of these countries is agriculture.
Least developed countries(Mozambique, Tanzania, Cambodia, etc.) occupy 29% of the territory, 13% of the population of developing countries lives in them. GNP per inhabitant is $500-800.
There are almost 35 in the world dependent countries. The sovereignty of their territory is ensured by other states. For example, Gibraltar is a British overseas department. In practice, these states still have colonial status.
The level of economic development of countries is assessed based on the value of GNP per capita. The main criterion for classifying countries of the world is the annual production of relatively net products per person employed in the national economy. In accordance with this criterion, countries are divided into the following groups.
The most developed countries (from 50,000 to 40,000 dollars)(descending) per person employed in the national economy): USA – $51,000; Switzerland, Luxembourg, Canada, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Japan, Australia, France, Norway – $40,000.
To developed countries (from 40,000 to 20,000 dollars) include Great Britain, Italy, Austria, Germany, Finland, Spain, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, etc.
To the group of moderately developed countries the annual production of conditionally pure products per person employed in the national economy ranges from 20,000 to 10,000 dollars. The countries of this group occupy from 35th to 70th place. These include Russia and Ukraine.
TO group of less developed countries include countries with an indicator from 10,000 to 8,000 dollars (71-87 places) - Yugoslavia, Iran, Cuba, Arsenia, Georgia, etc.
TO undeveloped countries with an indicator from 8000 to 5000 dollars (88-107 places) include China, Indonesia, Pakistan, etc.
The most backward countries(from 108 onwards) – India, Vietnam, Bangladesh and a number of African countries (from 5000 to 500 dollars).
One of the important indicators of the state of the country’s economy is degree of investment risk, or so called investment climate. According to this indicator, out of 178 countries, the top five included Luxembourg, Switzerland, the USA, the Netherlands and the UK. Other developed countries are in the top twenty. Of the former socialist countries, Slovenia rose the highest - 34th place, Czech Republic - 35th, China - 40th, Hungary - 44th. Ukraine in this indicator ranks 83rd, Russia - 86th, Moldova - 125th, Tajikistan - 173rd.
The level of economic development of a country quite accurately reflects employment structure of the population. This indicator, as a rule, is directly proportional to the number of the country’s economically active population employed in the service sector, and inversely proportional to the number of the population employed in agriculture. In economically developed countries, the share of the population employed in industry is 25%, in developing countries - 13%, in Russia - 43%, in Ukraine - 45%, in Rwanda (Africa) - 3%. In less developed countries, the share of the population employed in agriculture is quite significant - on average up to 60%; in economically highly developed countries this figure is only 2-8% (for example, in Rwanda - 91%, Great Britain - 2%). In economically highly developed countries, a large percentage of the population is employed in the service sector (on average 55%). In moderately developed countries this figure is lower and amounts to 30-40%, in less developed countries it is only 22%. In the XXI century. The problem of real improvement in people's lives as a result of economic growth in the state has not lost its urgency.
Nowadays, there are many variants of typologies of countries according to the level of socio-economic development. They use different methods and various categories for combining countries into typological groups. Scientifically based classifications of countries according to the level of socio-economic development include the typologies proposed by V. Volsky, B. Zimin, P. Maslyak, Y. Oleynik, A. Stepanenko, V. Maksakovsky, V. Dronov, V. Rom and others.
Typology of V. Volsky . According to this typology, all countries of the world, in accordance with their place in the system of the world economy and international relations, are divided into several groups.
1. Economically highly developed countries:
1.1. The main capitalist countries (large states): USA, Japan, Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Canada.
1.2. Economically highly developed small countries of Western Europe (“privileged small nations”): Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Iceland.
2. Countries with an average level of capitalist development:
2.1. Moderately developed countries of Western Europe: Spain, Portugal, Greece, Ireland.
2.2. Moderately developed countries of Central-Eastern Europe: Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Poland, Slovakia.
3. Economically underdeveloped (developing countries):
3.1. “Key countries”: Brazil, Mexico, India, China.
3.2. Countries of relatively mature capitalism:
3.2.1. Migrant countries of early development of dependent capitalism: Argentina and Uruguay.
3.2.2. Countries of “great enclave development” of capitalism: Venezuela, Chile, Iran, Iraq, Algeria.
3.2.3. Countries of externally oriented “accommodative development” of capitalism: Bolivia, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru, Ecuador, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, Philippines, South Korea, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia.
3.2.4. Small dependent plantation economies: Nicaragua, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, Sri Lanka.
3.2.5. Small countries of “concession development” of capitalism: Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Papua New Guinea, Gabon, Botswana.
3.2.6. Small states: Malta, Cyprus, Panama, Liberia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Singapore, Hong Kong, Bermuda, Barbados, etc.
3.2.7. Small countries are financially surplus significant oil exporters: UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Brunei, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Libya.
3.2.8. Significant low-profit countries: Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Vietnam.
3.3. Young Liberated States (nations in the making): Almost 60 least developed countries in Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Typology of B. Zimin. 1. Developed capitalist countries :
1.1. "Big Seven": USA, Japan, Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Canada.
1.2. Small European countries: Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Denmark.
1.3. Countries of “settler capitalism”: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Israel.
1.4. Moderately developed countries: Spain, Portugal, Greece, Ireland.
2. Developing countries:
2.1. Newly Industrialized Countries (NIEs):
Asian tigers" or "dragons", NIS of the "first wave": South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore;
Research vessels of the “second wave” (Asia): Thailand, Malaysia, Türkiye;
NIS “first wave” (Latin America): Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Brazil;
NIS “second wave” (Latin America): Uruguay, Venezuela;
2.2. Newly industrialized countries (have large labor and natural resources): Indonesia, Caribbean countries.
2.3. Oil countries: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, etc.
2.4. Countries that live off natural resources, agriculture, tourism: Egypt, Morocco, Pakistan, Ecuador, etc.
3. Countries of socialist industrialization:
3.1. Countries of Eastern Europe.
3.2. China.
3.3. Other former and current socialist countries.
4. CIS countries:
4.1. The most developed region; the European part of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Transcaucasian countries.
4.2. Middle region: Kazakhstan and Siberia of Russia.
4.3. Countries of Central Asia.
4.4. The Russian Far East with special EGP and natural resources.
Publication date: 2014-11-28; Read: 18134 | Page copyright infringement
website - Studopedia.Org - 2014-2020. Studiopedia is not the author of the materials posted. But it provides free useIn a certain sense, the typology of countries is a historical category. Until the beginning of the 90s. 20th century It was customary to divide all countries of the world into three main types: socialist, capitalist and developing. After the collapse of the world socialist system, a different, less politicized typology of countries emerged. The UN has adopted two classifications of countries.
In the first, all countries of the world are divided into three types:
1) economically developed countries;
2) developing countries;
3) countries with economies in transition.
According to the second UN classification, there are two large groups of countries:
1) economically developed;
2) developing.
As a generalizing, synthetic indicator, the gross domestic product (GDP) indicator is usually used - the cost of all final products of material production and non-production spheres produced in the territory of a given country in one year per capita. This important indicator is not only used to classify countries into these two types, but also gives a clear picture of the huge gap between the most and least developed countries in the world (Table 2).
Table 2.
Countries in the world with the highest and lowest GDP per capita
| Countries in the world with the highest rates | GDP, dollars | Countries in the world with the lowest rates | GDP, dollars |
| Luxembourg | Democratic Republic of the Congo | ||
| Switzerland | Sudan | ||
| Norway | Guinea-Bissau | ||
| Japan | Mozambique | ||
| Denmark | Madagascar | ||
| Singapore | Burundi | ||
| USA | Chad | ||
| Sweden | Burkina Faso | ||
| Germany | Cambodia | ||
| Austria | Somalia |
Source: V. P. Maksakovsky, 2003.
The UN classifies about 60 countries as economically developed countries: all of Western Europe, the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Israel. These countries, as a rule, are characterized by a high level of economic development, the predominance of manufacturing and service sectors in GDP, and a high standard of living of the population. But this same group includes Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, countries of Eastern Europe and some other former socialist state entities. Due to heterogeneity, economically developed countries are divided into several subtypes:
1. Economically highly developed countries:
a) the main countries are the USA, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Great Britain. They provide more than 50% of all industrial production and more than 25% of agricultural production in the world. These countries form three main centers of the world economy - Western European with its center in Germany, American with its center in the USA and Asian with its center in Japan. Recent decades suggest a trend of the center of the world economy moving from the United States to Japan, which is constantly expanding its influence not only in East and Southeast Asia, but also in Latin America and the Middle East. The major countries and Canada are often referred to as the “G7 countries.” In 1997, Russia was admitted to the G7, which became the G8.
b) economically highly developed countries of Western Europe - Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Luxembourg, Iceland, Scandinavian countries, etc. these countries are characterized by political stability, a high standard of living of the population, high GDP and the highest rates of export and import per capita population. Unlike the main countries, they have a much narrower specialization in the international division of labor. Their economy largely depends on income generated from banking, tourism, intermediary trade, etc.
c) countries of “settler capitalism” - Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa - former colonies of Great Britain - and the state of Israel, formed in 1948 by decision of the UN General Assembly. The characteristic features of these countries (except Israel) are their focus on the economy of the former metropolis or other more developed countries and the preservation of international specialization in the export of raw materials and agricultural products. Unlike developing countries, this agricultural and raw materials specialization is based on high national labor productivity and is combined with a developed domestic economy.
2. Countries with an average level of development:
a) moderately developed countries of Western Europe: Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland. In terms of the level of development of productive forces, they lag somewhat behind modern world technical progress. Spain and Portugal were the largest colonial empires in the past and played a big role in world history. But the loss of the colonies led to the loss of political influence and the weakening of the economy, which had previously been based on the wealth of the colonies;
b) countries with economies in transition - 12 CIS countries, 15 countries of Central-Eastern Europe, Mongolia, China. They make the transition from the previous administrative-command (socialist) economy to a market economy, which is why they are also called post-socialist. Some sources, including statistical ones, also include Vietnam in this type of country, although this state has not officially abandoned its previous, socialist path of development.
The UN classification includes all other countries in the world as developing countries. Almost all of them are located in Asia, Africa and Latin America. They are home to more than ¾ of the world's population, occupy more than ½ of the land area, but account for less than 20% of the manufacturing industry and only 30% of the agricultural output of the foreign world. Developing countries are characterized by an export-oriented economy, which makes the national economy of the countries dependent on the world market; diversity of the economy; special territorial structure of the economy, scientific and technological dependence on developed countries, sharp social contrasts. Developing countries are very diverse. There are several approaches for identifying subtypes within this group of countries.
According to one of them, six subgroups are considered among developing countries:
a) key countries: India, Brazil, Mexico (some authors include China in this group). Each of these countries has rich and diverse natural resources, abundant and cheap labor, and a capacious and promising domestic market. Each country in its region is of key importance. These countries produce almost as much industrial output as all other developing countries combined. The sectoral structure of the economy is similar to the structure of developed countries (for example, the share of mechanical engineering exceeds 20%);
b) developing countries with per capita GDP above 1 thousand dollars (Argentina, Chile, etc.);
c) newly industrialized countries: Republic of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia. These countries have experienced exceptional economic growth over the past 20 years, driven by foreign investment, the introduction of new technologies and the availability of cheap and skilled local labour.
d) oil-exporting countries: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Bahrain, Oman, Libya, Brunei and some others. These countries have very high GDP per capita due to oil sales. Rapid development of countries - the emergence of powerful banks, companies, modern cities, water and energy supply systems; an increase in the standard of living of the population - often combined in these countries with the previous social life, which is primarily determined by Islam;
e) “classical” developing countries with a GDP per capita of less than 1 thousand dollars per year. The characteristic features of these countries are a backward, multi-structured economy.
f) least developed countries. These, according to the UN classification, include countries in which per capita income is 100-300 dollars per year; The country's literate population makes up 20% of the total; the share of the manufacturing industry in GDP is less than 10%; consumer agriculture predominates. These countries are characterized by a low level and pace of socio-economic development; high birth and death rates, economic dependence on agriculture. These countries receive special attention from the world community; the global problems of humanity are most clearly manifested in them.
The UN included 32 African countries among them (Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Zambia, Cape Verde, Comoros, Lesotho, Liberia, Mauritania, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia), 9 Asian countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Yemen, Laos, Cambodia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal), 5 Oceania countries (Vanuatu, Western Samoa, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu) and Haiti in Latin America.
The per capita GDP indicator does not allow us to absolutely clearly define the line between developed and developing countries. For example, some international organizations use $6,000 per capita as such a quantitative threshold. But if we take it as the basis of a two-part typology, it turns out that virtually all post-socialist countries with transition economies, including Russia, fall into the category of developing countries, while Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE, Brunei. Bahrain, Barbados, Bahamas - in the group of economically developed ones.
Geographers have long been working to create more advanced typologies of countries in the world, which would also take into account the nature of development of each country and the structure of its GDP, share in world production, the degree of involvement in the international geographical division of labor, and some indicators characterizing its population. Representatives of the economic-geographical school of Moscow State University have worked and are working especially hard to create such typologies. M. V. Lomonosov, first of all V. V. Volsky, L. V. Smirnyagin, V. S. Tikunov, A. S. Fetisov.
V.V. Volsky’s typology has widely entered scientific use (Appendix 1). This applies, for example, to the identification of the main economically developed countries, key developing countries, rich oil-exporting countries, as well as the least developed countries. However, this typology also raises some questions. The lack of a generally accepted subtype of industrial countries (IECs) raises doubts. The typology seems to have dissolved the largest group of “classical” developing countries, which are far behind in their development.
WEALTH AND POVERTY
GEOGRAPHICAL TYPOLOGY OF COUNTRIES
Types of economically developed countries
These countries are characterized by high per capita indicators of GNI, energy consumption, high average life expectancy, the predominance of the service sector in the economic structure of the economy, and a low share of agriculture. All of them are members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development*.
Major capitalist countries- This USA, Canada, Japan, Germany, France, Italy and Great Britain. They occupy leading places in the world in terms of GDP. They and Canada are called the G7 countries. They account for more than half of the world's total industrial output and the bulk of foreign investment. They form the three main economic “poles” of the modern world: Western European with a “core” in Germany, American (USA) and Asian (Japan). Over the past decades, the role of these states in the global economy has changed significantly. The role and influence of Japan in the Asia-Pacific region and in the world as a whole is growing; over the past decades, Japan's share in global GDP has almost doubled, Japanese high-tech goods are conquering markets in other regions.
Economically highly developed small countries of Western Europe
(Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, San Marino, Andorra) characterized by high per capita income, high quality of life, and political stability.
Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Many of them are neutral states with the lowest defense spending in the world. The high-tech industry of these countries operates primarily on imported raw materials, and most of the products produced are exported. In GDP, a large share of income received from the service sector - banking and tourism.
Countries of settler capitalism- these are mainly former colonies of Great Britain, some of them still recognize the English Queen as the head of their state, Australia, Canada, South Africa. The population of these countries was formed with the determining role of migrations from the metropolises. The indigenous population has been placed on reservations and has significantly lower income levels and quality of life. In the economy of these countries, the leading role is played by companies of the former metropolis or neighboring countries - economic giants. Compared to other developed countries, the mining industry is of great importance in their economy.
This type of country also includes Israel , formed by decision of the UN in 1948. Its population was formed through aliyah - the return of Jews to the land of Palestine. The first stream of immigrants consisted of immigrants from Eastern Europe (second half of the 1940s); the bulk of the second stream of repatriates were citizens of the USSR (in the 1960s-1980s).
The port city of Barcelona was built up with pompous buildings emphasizing the wealth of Spain
Countries with an average level of economic development in the past they possessed huge colonial empires and lived through the exploitation of overseas colonies and unequal exchanges with them. The loss of the colonies led to a weakening of their economic power and loss of political influence in Europe. During the twentieth century. Almost all of these countries were ruled by military and fascist dictatorships, which also affected their lag behind other economically developed countries. Accession to the European Union, the signing of the Schengen agreements and entry into the euro zone contributed to an increase in economic growth and a rise in living standards in these countries. This group includes Greece and Ireland,
for a long time dependent on Great Britain, Spain and Portugal.
Developing countries
Outskirts of Mumbai (India)
This type includes states with a market economy and a low level of socio-economic development. The differences between industrialized countries and developing countries lie not so much in the field of economics as in the peculiarities of the territorial structure of the economy. Some states that, according to the currently accepted classification, belong to the category of developing countries, according to a number of indicators (GDP per capita, development of pioneer industries), not only approach developed countries, but sometimes even surpass them. However, the main characteristics of the socio-economic development of developing countries - dependence on foreign capital, the amount of external debt, the territorial structure of the economy - allow us to classify them as developing countries.
Within the boundaries of the territory of developing countries, as a rule, areas with different socio-economic structures coexist - from primitive appropriating economies, subsistence economies to modern industrial ones. Moreover, natural and semi-natural lifestyles occupy significant areas, but are practically excluded from general economic life. Commodity structures are associated primarily with the foreign market. Many developing countries have not yet identified their “face” in international economics and politics.
Modern neighborhoods in Shanghai (China)
Key countries(countries of great potential). This group includes China, India, Brazil, Mexico, occupying respectively the second, fourth, ninth and fourteenth places in the world in terms of GDP. They have the most significant human potential in the developing world, cheap labor, diverse mineral reserves of global importance; A number of manufacturing industries produce high-tech and high-quality products. India and China are the world leaders in terms of population; These countries are characterized by low per capita GNI indicators, a low share of the urban population, and low quality of life indicators.
Landless peasant camp in Brazil
Brazil and Mexico have been politically independent states since the first quarter of the 19th century. They have achieved a high level of development through the use of foreign investment. Within these countries there are sharp contrasts between poor and rich areas, between poor and rich groups of the population.
Highly urbanized migrant countries with rich agricultural resources and high standard of living - Argentina and Uruguay are allocated to a separate group of countries. The lack of significant mineral reserves hampered the development of the industries that usually started industrialization, and European Union bans on the import of cheap agricultural products to support farmers, introduced in the 1970s, began to constrain the development of their agricultural sector.
Countries of enclave development. The main distinguishing feature of the economy of many countries of this type is existence of export-oriented mining enclaves that are controlled by foreign capital and are poorly connected with the national economy. Venezuela, Chile, Iran, Iraq receive their main income from the development of deposits and the export of minerals (oil in Venezuela, Iran and Iraq; copper and saltpeter in Chile).
Phosphate mining in the desert areas of Tunisia
Countries of externally oriented development. This type includes the average population and resource potential of the country - Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay (in Latin America), Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia (in Africa), Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand (in Asia). The economies of these countries are focused on export of minerals, light industry products, agricultural products. For some countries - Colombia and Bolivia - drug production and illegal transactions, illegal political movements and labor immigration to richer countries are important.
This group of countries includes those whose economies have developed in recent decades and newly industrialized countries (NICs) at an exceptionally high pace due to foreign investment, imported technology and the availability of cheap and relatively skilled labor. The development of knowledge-intensive industries (electronics, electrical engineering) has made these countries among the world leaders in the export of consumer goods (clothing, consumer electronics) to developed countries.
NIS of the first wave - Republic of Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong (SAR of China) and Taiwan Island were able to reduce their gap with economically developed countries. The classification of the International Monetary Fund since 1997 classifies them as economically developed countries. Newly industrialized countries also include Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines (NIS of the second wave). Newly industrialized countries are playing an increasingly important role in the export of knowledge-intensive industrial goods to developed countries.
Oil exporting countries They owe their modern development to the influx of petrodollars. Oil export, whose fountains flowed in desert areas previously known only to nomads, radically transformed the economies of these countries, allowed the creation of modern cities, and the development of education and healthcare. It is interesting that economic growth has changed little the traditional social institutions of oil-exporting states: the majority have retained the monarchical system, the norms of everyday life and even laws are based on the commandments of Islam. This type includes the oil-producing monarchies of the Persian Gulf. (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain) , which over the past decades have transformed from a backward nomadic periphery of the Arab world into major oil exporters. Some of these countries have begun, at the expense of petrodollars, the formation of “funds for future generations,” the funds of which are spent on the creation of manufacturing industries and irrigated agriculture.
Plantation countries("banana republics") do not have large human and resource potential. This type includes Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba (in Latin America), Sri Lanka (in Asia), Ivory Coast and Kenya (in Africa).
Banana plantation. Favorable agroclimatic conditions are the basis for the development of plantation farming. Bananas, coffee, and sugar cane are grown. In some countries, plantations are owned by foreign capital, primarily American.
The ethnic composition of the population of Latin American countries was formed under the influence of the slave trade. The political life of all countries, with the exception of Costa Rica, where the Creole population predominates, is characterized by political instability, frequent military coups and guerrilla movements. The low standard of living of the population, the dominance of foreign capital, and dependent national policies contribute to the growth of social contrasts, which in turn give rise to frequent military coups and revolutions.
Concession development countries.
These are Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Gabon, Botswana, Papua New Guinea. These countries have recently gained political independence, have world-class mineral reserves. The extraction and export of mineral resources, on the one hand, provides the bulk of foreign exchange earnings; on the other, it makes the economies of these countries dependent on price fluctuations on world markets.
"Apartment-leasing" countries- small island and coastal independent states and colonial possessions located at the crossroads of the most important international transport routes. The advantageous geographical location and preferential tax policy have turned their territory into locations for the headquarters of the largest transnational corporations and banks. Some countries, thanks to extremely favorable conditions for freight and insurance of ships, have become “home ports” of huge fleets, collecting merchant ships from all over the world (
Leading countries by population, comparing 1975 and 2005, million people.
Typology of countries– identifying groups of countries with a similar type and level of socio-economic development. The type of a country is formed objectively; it is a relatively stable set of development features inherent to it, characterizing its role and place in the world community at a given stage of world history. To determine the type of state means to assign it to one or another socio-economic category.
To identify types of countries, the indicator is gross domestic product(GDP) is the cost of all final products of material production and non-production spheres produced in the territory of a given country in one year per capita. The criteria for identifying types of countries are the level of economic development, the country’s share in world production, the structure of the economy, and the degree of participation in the MGRT.
The UN has currently adopted two country classifications n. IN first all countries of the world are divided into three type – 1) economically highly developed countries; 2) developing countries; 3) countries with economies in transition (from planned to market). Moreover, the third type actually includes former socialist countries that are carrying out economic transformations to build a market economy.
According to second UN classifications highlight two large groups of countries: 1) economically developed countries and 2) developing ones. With this division, extremely different states are combined into one group of countries. Therefore, within each type of country, smaller groups – subtypes – are distinguished.
TO economically developed UN countries account for about 60 states: all of Europe, USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Israel. These countries, as a rule, are characterized by a high level of economic development, the predominance of manufacturing and service sectors in GDP, and a high standard of living of the population. But this same group includes Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Czech Republic, etc. Due to heterogeneity, economically developed countries are divided into several subtypes:
Economically highly developed countries:
A) main countries – USA, Japan, France, Italy, UK. They provide more than 50% of all industrial production and more than 25% of agricultural production in the world. The major countries and Canada are often referred to as the "G7 countries". (In 1997, Russia was admitted to the G7, which became the G8.)
b) economically highly developed European countries - Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Scandinavian countries, etc. These countries are characterized by political stability, a high standard of living of the population, high GDP and the highest rates of exports and imports per capita. Unlike the main countries, they have a much narrower specialization in the international division of labor. Their economy is largely dependent on income received from banking, tourism, intermediary trade, etc.;
c) countries "settler capitalism" – Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa – former colonies of Great Britain – and the state of Israel, formed in 1948 by decision of the UN General Assembly. A characteristic feature of these countries (except Israel) is the preservation of international specialization in the export of raw materials and agricultural products. Unlike developing countries, this agricultural and raw materials specialization is based on high labor productivity and is combined with a developed domestic economy.
Countries with an average level of development:
A) moderately developed countries Europe: Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland. In terms of the level of development of productive forces, they lag somewhat behind modern world technical progress. Spain and Portugal were the largest colonial empires in the past and played a big role in world history. But the loss of the colonies led to the loss of political influence and the weakening of the economy, which had previously been based on the wealth of the colonies;
b) countries with economies in transition – CIS countries, Eastern European countries, China. They carry out reforms aimed at developing market relations in the economy instead of centralized planning. This subgroup of countries emerged in the 1990s due to the collapse of the world socialist system. The subgroup includes countries that differ significantly from each other.
TO developing The UN classification includes all other countries of the world as countries. Almost all of them are located in Asia, Africa and Latin America. They are home to more than 3/4 of the world's population and occupy more than 1/2 of the area. Including former socialist countries in the two-member typology is quite difficult. The level of their socio-economic development is different: most countries, for example Eastern Europe, the Baltics, Russia, Ukraine, are economically developed, but other countries occupy an intermediate position between developed and developing.
China can also be classified as both developed and developing countries according to different criteria. Developing countries are characterized by an export-oriented economy, which makes the national economy of the countries dependent on the world market; diversity of the economy; special territorial structure of the economy, scientific and technological dependence on developed countries, sharp social contrasts. Developing countries are very diverse. There are several approaches to identifying subtypes within this group of countries. The place of any country in the typology is not constant and may change over time.
Problems of distinguishing between developed and developing countries.
UN experts usually determine the border between developed and developing countries according to the criterion $6,000 per capita per year in the country. However, this indicator does not always allow for an objective classification of countries. Some states classified by the UN as developing countries have come close to economically developed countries or have already surpassed them in a number of indicators (GDP per capita, level of development of advanced high-tech industries).
So, in 1997 Singapore, Taiwan And The Republic of Korea were officially transferred from the group of developing countries to the group of developed countries. But at the same time, other indicators of the socio-economic and political development of these countries - the sectoral and territorial structure of the economy, dependence on foreign capital - still remain more characteristic of developing countries. Russia with this classification, having a per capita GDP of about $2500 per year, formally falls into the group of developing countries.
Given such difficulties with classifying countries of the world by GDP, they are now trying to identify other, more objective criteria for determining the level of socio-economic development of countries.
For example, based on the average life expectancy, level of education, and the real value of the average income of the population, they determine human development index (HDI). Using this criterion, UN experts divide the countries of the world into three groups - with high, medium and low HDI. Then the top ten most developed countries in the world turn out to be different than when taking into account GDP per capita per year, and Russia and the CIS countries fall into the second group, while Russia finds itself in 67th place between Suriname and Brazil.
Lesson summary "The main types of countries in the modern world".
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