Blog Topic #5

The United Nations produces the Human Development Index (HDI) through its Human Development Program. Each year it produces a Human Development Report that lists the countires of the world in relation to several indices. All of the countries ranked as Low Human Development are loctaed within Sub-Saharan Africa.

Go to http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/ to access a variety of information about Human Development (HD). Select the HD World Map link to examine the spatial distribution of HD. Zoom into Africa and mouse over countries to see their HDI and to access additional information. You can also select different years, back to 1980, to see how HD is improving throughout the world.

Also select the HDI Rankings link to see the high, medium, and low ranking countries in the world. Make sure you select some individual countries from Sub-Saharan Africa and some outside the region for comparison. You will also want to visit the Frequently Asked Questions link to learn more.

Questions to blog about:
- What variables are used to calculate HDI?
- What is the geographic pattern of HDI in the world?
- Provide some thoughts as to why Sub-Saharan Africa is ranked so low in HDI?