Comparing Rich and Poor 01

This KS3 Geography quiz is about comparing rich and poor. GDP stands for Gross Domestic Product and is used to compare the wealth of different countries. The richer countries can afford better facilities like schools, hospitals and proper roads. In the world's poorest countries, most of the roads are just dirt tracks and few people outside of the big cities have any access to education or regular health care. In order to be able to directly compare the GDP of different countries, it is given in United States Dollars instead of the country's own currency.

Poor countries are often described as LEDCs. This stands for Less Economically Developed Countries. The majority of LEDCs are in tropical areas, which includes sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). GDP isn't the only way of comparing the rich countries to the poor countries. The Human Development Index (HDI) is also used. As well as taking into account the number of people per doctor and access to education, it looks also at literacy rates and life expectancy. LEDCs usually have an economy based on agriculture, with many of the poorest people being subsistence farmers whose families have to survive on a low calorie diet.