brandt line

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The Brandt Line, also known as the North-South divide, it is a divisionary line which simply separates the rich countries in the North from the poor countries in the South. It encircles the world at latitude of 30°N. It crosses North and Central America, North of Africa and India, and then it goes down towards the South, placing Australia and New Zealand above the line. The Brandt line does take into account different development factors such as health care facilities, gross domestic product, education levels etc.

How was the Brandt Line formed?

Over thirty years ago, a commissioned chaired by Willy Brandt, former chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, published a report “North-South; A programme for survival” in 1980. The whole point of the report was to create a boundary line between the North and the South.

Not all countries have developed at the same rate and globally there is an unequal distribution of wealth. Most economically developed countries (MEDCs) cover only 20% of the world’s population but have 80% of the world’s wealth, and are located in the northern hemisphere and include countries like USA, Canada, Britain, Germany, Japan etc. the southern hemisphere with African countries, for example.

There are a lot of arguments put forward regarding the location of the Brandt Line. The line portrayed the lack of industrial development in South America and Africa, firstly because of their demographics and secondly, due to their exploitation as colonies by Europe’s countries from the 16th to 19th centuries.

It is critical to understand that the status of some countries is static and that the pattern is likely to distort due to the fast development of some of the Southern countries, many of them newly indu...

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...ne countries at a fixed position, as was shown in the Brandt Line in 1981 by Will Brandt. The line should include China, Brazil, South Korea, Argentina, India, Saudi Arabia and South Africa above the line along with the rich north as their economies have developed at a faster rate over the period of time, who knows other economies around the world also change over the course of time and then again the Brandt Line could become invalid.

Works Cited

wikipedia.com

http://school.edturtle.co.uk/inequality.htm

http://saopaulo2011.ipsa.org/sites/default/files/papers/paper-817.pdf

http://www.geographyalltheway.com/ib_geography/ib-patterns-change/disparities-change.htm

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_the_brandt_line_still_relevant_today

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Development_geography

http://www.slideshare.net/geographyalltheway/ib-geography-development-brandt-line

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