GDP per capita
The total goods and services produced by a country in a year per person.
GDP
The total goods and services produced by a country in a year.
GNI
All income of a countries residents and businesses, regardless of where it is produced.
PPP
Purchasing Power Parity per person. Allows us to compare currencies with US currencies and then to each other.
Life expectancy
The average number of years a person is expected to live at the year they are born if things remain constant in the future.
Literacy rates
A measure of the ability to read and write.
Infant mortality
Number of infant deaths under 1 year old in a given year per 1000 people.
Human Development Index
A measure of development combining life expectancy, education and standard of living by income to rank countries into four tiers of human development, higher is better.
Gini Coefficient
A measure of income inequality in a country, the lower the better.
Formal jobs
Contracted work and salary where the worker has rights.
Informal jobs
Unregistered work with no tax where the worker has no protection.
Primary sector
The businesses that extract and produce raw materials.
Secondary sector
Businesses that manufacture raw materials into finished goods.
Tertiary sector
Businesses that provides a service.
Quaternary sector
Firms that provide information and expertise using high technology.
Globalisation
The increasing interconnectedness and interdependence of the world economically, culturally and politically.
Arable farming
The growth of crops such as vegetables, fruits and grains.
Soil fertility
The capacity of a soil to provide crops with essential plant nutrients.
Pastoral farming
The rating of livestock like cattle or sheep.
Subsistence farming
Where most of the output is consumed by the family or people working the land with little or no profit.
Shifting cultivation
Burning the vegetation to create an area of clear fertile land and moving to a new area once the fertility has dropped.
Organic
Farming using natural alternatives instead of manufactured chemicals.
Cattle ranching
The rearing of cows along grazing landforms the purpose to produce beef and leather.
Deforestation
The felling of forest trees for non-forest use.
Slash and burn
Cutting and burning vegetation to add short term nutrients to the soil.
Inputs
Elements that are needed to begin the process of creating a product.
Outputs
The finished product that is ready to sell.
Processes
There activities required to create a product.
By-product
Other products that may be created in the manufacturing process that can be made use of or sold.
Waste
Left over material that is of no value and will be discarded.
Light industry
When the unit weight of the product is lower so production requires less energy.
Heavy industry
Unit weight of the product is greater so production requires more energy and heavy machinery.
National company
A company that is located in only one country.
Transnational company
A very large company that has operations in multiple countries.
Capital intensive
High rates of investment for little amount of machinery or labour.
Labour intensive
When there is low rate of capital to a high volume of labour. It is often done by TNC's in LEDC's.
Market oriented
When a firm is located close to their market for the convenience of sales.
Raw material orientated
When a firm is located close to ty raw materials they need to reduce manufacturing costs.
Processing
Making a raw material ready to use.
Assembly
Taking a range of raw materials and parts tone assembly point and putting them together.
Fordist
Named after Ford Motors, an assembly line of mass production.
Flexible
Specialist products that can be made to suit the request of the buyer.
Agglomeration
When multiple companies that are similar are located close to one another.
Growth pole
Tourism creating an economic centre increasing the income of those who live in that area.
Boreholes
Extracting groundwater with pressure created by a pump.
Desalinisation
Using reverse osmosis to separate salt from seawater.
Cloud seeding
Spray clouds with silver iodine forcing precipitation.
Water diversion
Divert water from an area with a water surplus to a place with a water deficit.
Water stress
Less than 1700m3 of drinkable water per person.
Water scarcity
Less than 1000m3 of drinkable water per person.
Particulate matter
Matter suspended in the air, its size usually under 0.1mm.
Environmental Kuznets Curve
Pollution shown on a graph against the state of economic development.
Sustained pollution
Consistent pollution over a long period of time.
Wet acid deposition
When acidic gases mix with water in the atmosphere creating acid rain.
Dry acid deposition
When the acidic pollutants don't mix with water and fall directly on the surface.
Retreating ice
When ice caps and glaciers retreat on average as they melt to much in summer and don't grow enough in winter.
El Nino
A weather system in the Pacific Ocean that acts differently due to sudden changes.
Permafrost
A permanently frozen layer on or under Earth's surface.
Sustainable development
Meeting the needs of today whilst ensuring that future generations can also meet their needs and have enough recourses left.