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A developed country is a term used to categorise countries with developed economies, ones in which the tertiary and quaternary sectors of industry dominate. This level of economic development usually translates into a high income per capita, and a high Human Development Index (HDI). Countries with high gross domestic product (GDP) per capita often fit the previous description of a developed economy; however, anomalies exist when determining "developed" status by the factor GDP/cap alone. Synonyms Modern terms synonymous with the term developed country include industrialised countries, more developed countries (MDC) and more economically developed countries (MEDC). The term industrialised country may be ambiguous, as industrialisation is an ongoing process that is hard to define. The term MEDC is one used by modern geographers to specifically describe the status of the countries referred to: more economically developed. Outdated terms that are sometimes still used to describe the developed/developing country dichotomy are First World/Third World (the term Second World refers to communist states during and since the Cold War); and North/South. The term Western countries has a similar meaning, but its connotations restrict its usage, especially in Asia Pacific. Definition According to the United Nations definition there is no established convention for the designation of "developed" and "developing" countries or areas. In common practice, Japan in Asia, Canada and the United States in North America, Australia and New Zealand in Oceania, and Europe are considered "developed" regions or areas. In international trade statistics, the Southern African Customs Union is also treated as a developed region and Israel as a developed country; and countries of eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union ( U.S.S.R.) countries in Europe are not included under either developed or developing regions. Nowadays this group would presumably also cover the East Asian Tigers (South Korea, the Republic of China Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore) in the more comprehensive group of "developed countries". When using GDP/cap to define "developed" status, one must take into account how some countries have achieved a (usually temporarily) high GDP/cap through natural resource exploitation (e.g., Nauru through phosphate extraction and Equatorial Guinea) without developing the diverse industrial and service-based economy necessary for "developed" status — similarly, the Bahamas, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis depend overwhelmingly on the tourist industry. Despite their high per capita GDP, the GCC countries in the Middle East, Brunei and Trinidad and Tobago are generally not considered developed countries because their economies depend overwhelmingly on oil production and export; in many cases (notably Saudi Arabia), per capita GDP is also skewed by an unequal distribution of wealth. Some of these countries, especially Bahrain, and Trinidad and Tobago have begun to diversify their economies. Reasons for High Level of Economic Development Different observers and theorists often see different reasons for why certain countries (and not others) enjoy a high level of economic development. Many argue that economic development requires some combination of representative government (or democracy), a free market economic model, and a general lack of corruption. Many hold that rich countries grew wealthy by exploitation of poorer countries in the past, through imperialism and colonialism, or in the present, through the process of globalization. Comprehensive List of Developed Countries and Entities
Other Cases European Union members Some organizations consider the remaining countries of the European Union — those which joined the body in 2004, especially the Czech Republic and Slovakia — as well as Romania and Bulgaria that will join the EU in 2007; among the developed countries, but these mostly former-Eastern bloc countries are rather newly industrialised nations, and some of them (such as Latvia, Lithuania and Poland) remain significantly less affluent than EU-15 countries. All European Union members, however, have a GDP per capita greater than the global average and high human development according to the HDI. Other parts of the world Quality-of-life Survey Another relative research about standard of living by Economist Intelligence Unit or EIU Quality-of-life Survey refers the top thirty countries with best quality of life include: Ireland, Switzerland, Norway, Luxembourg, Sweden, Australia , Iceland, Italy, Denmark, Spain, Singapore, Finland, United States, Canada, New Zealand, Netherlands, Japan, Hong Kong (SAR of People's Republic of China), Portugal, Austria, Republic of China (Taiwan), Greece, Cyprus, Belgium, France, Germany, Slovenia, Malta, United Kingdom and South Korea. Human Development Index The UN HDI is a statistical measure that gauges a country's level of human development. Countries with an HDI of 0.8 or more — largely corresponding to what the conventional definition of being a "developed" country is — exhibit high development, and those with an HDI between 0.5 and 0.8 (including many of the former Soviet and Eastern Bloc states) exhibit moderate development. All countries listed here as "developed" posses an HDI over 0.9. See also | |||||||||
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