1. The Where,
What and Why
of Global
Disparities
today
Content here

2. What are Disparities?
Disparities refer to differences  57% of the
world’s total
wealth is
These differences may result from different levels of held by just
access to social, economic, environmental, political 1% of the
or other resources. world’s
people.
Why?
Both Natural and Cultural factors can contribute to
disparities.
Are there disparities within your school? Your class?
What are some disparities that exist in your life?

3. Disparities are not always what they
seem…
Both these people
work hard.
One of them has a lot
of financial wealth, the
other doesn’t.
Who looks happier?
Disparities are about differences, which
can be good or bad or neutral.
Differences will always exist; think about
what causes them and the effect they
have on people and the environment

4. Contributing Factors
Natural Factors Cultural Factors
 Natural Resources Colonisation
 Climate Conditions Disparities  Human Assets
 Soil Conditions Can be caused  Capital Assets
by differences in
 Location these factors  Trade Opportunities
 Extreme Natural Events  Access to technology
 Economic and Political
Systems
These two lists are not necessarily complete. Can you think of other
factors which may cause disparities?

5. Global Disparities
The world is definitely not an equal place. Resources and minerals are
not spread evenly; climate conditions are favourable in some places and
not in others. Over history, as both natural and cultural factors have
affected people, the world has become a very unequal planet for people.
Some people live very well, whilst others barely survive.
“The world is like a table. Twenty percent live on the table and eighty
percent survive underneath it. Our work cannot be to move a few from
under the table onto the table or vice versa. Our task is to move the table,
to change its position if necessary, and all to sit together around the
table.” Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti
Both these
photos are taken
of places in
Africa
(www.bigfoto.com)

6. Comparison of Wealth
This map shows regions of the world drawn to the scale of how much they earn, the Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) from what they produce.
What strikes you about this map?

7. The North/South Divide
For many years, economists divided the world into two halves, the
prosperous North and the developing South.
This is what their map looked like:
However,
today many
people do not
agree with this
divide.
What do you
think of it?

8. Global Disparities Today
 Today many people refer to the rich world and the poor world,
but the two worlds are not necessarily divided by geography.
 If we consider wealth as an example of disparity, rich people
are concentrated in just a handful of countries, whilst global
poverty is concentrated in South Asia, China and sub-Saharan
Africa.
 As a rough guide, the North/South division still works, but there
are disparities within each country. For example, there are over
45 000 millionaires in Hong Kong alone, but according to the
North/South Divide, Hong Kong is in the poor South. Also,
there are approximately 11 million people living below the
poverty line in the world’s richest country, the USA.

9. Global Improvements
Today, there are less people living in poverty
than there were fifty years ago: there has
been progress!
Much of this improvement has been due to the
remarkable success of China, lifting almost
700 million people above the poverty line.
This image of the Chinese city of Chengdu
shows the growth in China. Forty years
ago it was just a small rural town.
There are increasing inequalities in other
areas, as a few rich people become even
richer and areas like sub-Saharan Africa
have struggled under the combined
impacts of conflicts, droughts and
HIV/AIDS. The situation there is almost
worse than fifty years ago. ©Kevin Cook

10. Closing Gaps in global disparities
This figure compares
several development
indicators between the
North and the South.
There have been several
advances by the South in
closing some of the gaps.
However, gaps still
remain
From The Atlas of Inequality,
University of California

11. Widening Gaps in global disparities
This figure shows that
there have been widening
gaps between the North
and the South.
What might be some of
the reasons behind the
South not catching up to
the North?
From The Atlas of Inequality,
University of California

12. Global Disparities
Example 1: Access to the Internet
Access to technology is
important for economic
progress and having
good access to the
Internet is an important
goal for many countries,
including New Zealand.
Take a close look at this
map. How does it
compare to the North
and South divide?
From The Atlas of Inequality,
University of California

13. Global Disparities
Example 2: Trade
Being able to trade your
products on the
world market can
greatly increase
your wealth. As
these next two maps
show, trade flows
are not always even.
This map show trade flows between the USA and other countries. The
thicker the arrow, the greater the volume of trade.
From (UC Atlas of Inequality)

14. Trade Flows
Map of trade flows with Africa and the rest of the World
What are the main
differences
between this map
and the previous
map?

15. Global Disparities
Example 3: Arable Land
New Zealand is a good example of how good soil conditions, and
a temperate climate can create a sound base for agriculture.
The wealth of this country has largely been a result of
favourable natural conditions for agriculture.
Other countries have not been so fortunate.
Extremes of weather, causing floods, drought and hurricanes
have a negative impact on the ability of a country or region to
farm profitably.
Three years of drought
in the Sahel causes
farmers to move their
stock for feed

16. Global Disparities
Example 4: Health and Education
 Between the world’s regions,
there is a huge gap between
rich countries and poor
countries particularly in
health. There have been
increases in life expectancy,
largely due to increasing
immunisation programs and
access to clean water.
However, in places like sub-
Saharan Africa, diseases like
HIV/AIDS and malaria have
increased and life expectancy
has actually lowered.

17. Education
 The importance of an educated population to development is critical. One of
the main reasons that China and India have improved in their level of
development is that they have concentrated on improving education
 Unfortunately in many countries, even primary education is still a luxury

18. Disparities can cause trouble
 There are always going to be differences in the world,
between the regions and between people. If the world was all
the same it would be a very boring place.
 Disparities can be caused by both cultural and natural
factors. Some factors are caused or aggravated by people.
The Chinese have a saying:
"Inequality, rather than want, is the cause of trouble."
What do you think of this saying?
Do you think conflicts are caused by envy?

19. Disparities in real life
Have a close look at
this aerial photo. It
shows a slum area
(called a favela)
next to a wealthy
suburb in Brazil’s
Rio de Janeiro.
What potential
problems could
come from such a
disparity in living
conditions?

20. New Zealand’s Place
 The gap between countries will
probably always be there. As New
Zealanders we live in the 20% of the
world that consumes 80% of the
world’s resources. We are a rich
country.
1. What factors, both natural and
cultural have helped us become a Queenstown: Playground of the
rich country today? rich, or typical New Zealand town?
2. What events or factors could cause
us in the future to lose our position as
a wealthy, fair country?
3. How can we help other countries not
so fortunate as ourselves?

21. Revision
1. What factors cause global disparities to occur?
2. Describe two global disparities
3. Discuss what is the ‘rich world’ and the ‘poor world’ and where
it is spatially
4. Describe some of the narrowing of gaps between the rich
world and the poor world
5. Discuss how people might cause or contribute to disparities on
a global level