Geography and wealth

Gross domestic product (nominal per capita) in 2015
  over $64,000
  $32,000–64,000
  $16,000–32,000
  $8,000–16,000
  $4,000–8,000
  $2,000–4,000
  $1,000–2,000
  $500–1,000
  below $500
  unavailable

Geography and wealth have long been perceived as correlated attributes of nations.[1] Scholars such as Jeffrey D. Sachs argue that geography has a key role in the development of a nation's economic growth.[2]

For instance, nations that reside along coastal regions, or those who have access to a nearby water source, are more plentiful and able to trade with neighboring nations. In addition, countries that have a tropical climate face a significant amount of difficulties such as disease, intense weather patterns, and lower agricultural productivity.

This thesis is supported by the fact that the volumes of UV radiation have a negative impact on economic activity.[3] There are a number of studies confirming that spatial development in countries with higher levels of economic development differs from countries with lower levels of development.[4] The correlation between geography and a nation's wealth can be observed by examining a country's GDP (gross national product) per capita, which takes into account a nation's economic output and population.[5]

The wealthiest nations of the world with the highest standard of living tend to be those at the northern extreme of areas open to human habitation—including Northern Europe, the United States, and Canada. Within prosperous nations, wealth often increases with distance from the equator.

Researchers at Harvard's Center for International Development found in 2001 that only two tropical economies — Singapore and Hong Kong — are classified as high-income by the World Bank, while all countries within regions zoned as temperate had either middle- or high-income economies.[6]

  1. ^ The Income-Temperature Relationship in a Cross-Section of Countries and its Implications for Global Warming[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ Gallup, John Luke; Sachs, Jeffrey D.; Mellinger, Andrew D. (August 1999). "Geography and Economic Development". International Regional Science Review. 22 (2): 179–232. doi:10.1177/016001799761012334. ISSN 0160-0176. S2CID 11559764.
  3. ^ Andersen, Thomas Barnebeck; Dalgaard, Carl-Johan; Selaya, Pablo (2016-02-23). "Climate and the Emergence of Global Income Differences". The Review of Economic Studies. 83 (4): 1334–1363. doi:10.1093/restud/rdw006. ISSN 0034-6527.
  4. ^ Henderson, J Vernon; Squires, Tim; Storeygard, Adam; Weil, David (2017-09-11). "The Global Distribution of Economic Activity: Nature, History, and the Role of Trade1". The Quarterly Journal of Economics. 133 (1): 357–406. doi:10.1093/qje/qjx030. ISSN 0033-5533. PMC 6889963. PMID 31798191.
  5. ^ Sachs, Jeffrey D. (2001). "The Geography of Poverty and Wealth". Scientific American. 284 (3): 70–5. Bibcode:2001SciAm.284c..70S. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0301-70. PMID 11234509.
  6. ^ Sachs, Jeffrey (February 2001). "Tropical Underdevelopment". NBER Working Paper Series. Cambridge, MA. doi:10.3386/w8119. S2CID 346806.