ATTIYA REHMAN

Why, as societies become more interconnected, do some places show extreme wealth or poverty?
Globalisation is the concept of the world becoming increasingly interconnected and interdependent, meaning countries are becoming more connected and dependent on each other. Factors which have contributed to globalisation are colonialism, new technologies, transnational companies, new markets, decreasing cost of transport and communication and also international agencies. Some places such as China may benefit from globalisation, becoming wealthier however other places such as Gambia may not. Colonialism was the first form of globalisation. In the nineteenth century many countries from Europe went across to Africa to colonise them. They wanted raw materials for the industrial revolution that was taking place in their countries. This meant that the materials from Africa were used to increase the wealth of the countries in Europe, slowing down the African countries chances of generating great wealth. This was a huge environmental and economic factor for the interconnectedness of Europe as it could get these raw materials for a low cost and use them or sell them, increasing profits [1]. This led to a new pattern of trade and development shaping the global economy forming some early connections. Colonialism led to the core and periphery. The core owns and consumes 80% of global goods and services; earns the highest incomes; makes the most decisions about the global economy and provides most global investment. The periphery owns and consumes 20% of global goods, despite having 75% of global population. This clearly shows some societies becoming interconnected and having extreme wealth whilst others losing out, suffering from intense poverty. Furthermore, new technologies from the development of the jet aircraft to the internet have lead to the concept of the shrinking world. In 1998, 2.3million households had access to internet whilst in 2006 this had risen to 14.3million. This is a huge economic factor as transnational companies and many different countries can easily contact each other creating more links and increasing profits and trade. Also the decreasing cost of transport has meant trade costs have decreased which has a positive impact on the economies of many LEDC and MEDC countries. Also international agencies which have been established since world war two e.g. World Bank, world trade organisation, and United Nations have promoted free trade and economic interdependency thus creating many connections between countries. China is a country in East Asia with a population of over 1.3 billion making it the worlds most populated country. Chinas economic development is relatively recent phenomenon. In 1995 Chinas GNP per capita was $620 but by 2005 it had risen to $1,700. Chinas development is aided by natural and human resources. It has many natural resources which is a huge environmental factor for its interconnectedness. It has vast reserves of coal, oil and natural gas used to fuel the industrial development of the country. These natural resources can also be exported to many different countries creating trade links between various countries and also contributing to Chinas economy and creating more jobs.

ATTIYA REHMAN Furthermore China also has a great human resource in its vast population. China trains 600,000 new engineers every year however, the millions of rural labourers who are fuelling Chinas economic growth are not treated well by their employers. They are shut out of the health care system and state education, living in appalling overcrowded conditions and are routinely exposed to some of the most exploitive working conditions. This provides cheap labour for companies and, managers withhold pay for 2/3 months to ensure they hold on to their workers, therefore increasing their profits and contributing more to the economy. China has also recently reached another milestone becoming the worlds biggest trader. The total value of its imports and exports of goods reached $3.87trn in 2012. The American merchandise trade total was $3.82trn [2]. China is now the leading trading partner for 124 countries. At this rate by 2020, many European countries will be doing more bilateral trade with China than with their European partners thus bringing in more money to the country, becoming extremely wealthy.

From 1980 the GDP of China started rising at a slow rate however from 1995 to 2005 it started rising faster. This could be because cheap airline tickets were introduced and trade was a lot easier therefore increasing GDP

From 2005, Chinas GDP started increasing exponentially from around $2.3trn to over $7trn in 2011. This could be due the increased trade links and industry creating more jobs, reducing the employment rate so more people are working and contributing more to the economy- an economic impact on the GDP as well as a social impact.

21.8% of exports from China are to Europe this contributing to 5.6% of the economy. This shows quite a lot of GDP is due to exports to many different countries.

ATTIYA REHMAN The Gambia is a country in West Africa with a population of 1.7million. The Gambia is one of Africa's smallest and poorest nations, ranking 168th out of 187 countries in the United Nations Development Programme's 2011 human development index. It is one of the loser countries which remains poorly connected. It is not developing at the same rate as China because it lacks physical and human resources. Between 1995 and 2005, Gambias GNP per capita dropped from $320 to $290 however from 2006-2012, the Gambian economy grew annually at a pace of 5-6% GDP [3]. It is not developing at the same rate of China because it lacks physical and human resources.

The Gambia is one of Africa's smallest and poorest nations, ranking 168th out of 187 countries in the United Nations Development Programme's 2011 human development index.

GDP has been fluctuating in Gambia. This could be due to the amount of peanut exports varying from year to year. However there has been a significant rise in GDP from 1970 to 2011.

Gambia has no confirmed mineral or natural resource deposits and has a limited agricultural base due to the fact that only one-sixth of the land is arable [4], and poor soil quality has led to the predominance of one crop - peanuts. This has made The Gambia heavily dependent on peanut exports - and a hostage to fluctuations in the production and world prices of the crop. It cannot therefore gain much profit from exporting natural resources or crops. This is a huge physical and environmental factor slowing down the economic growth of Gambia. Also as trade and natural resources are lacking, there wouldnt be many jobs available in the secondary industry, so many people would have to rely on agriculture 75% of people in Gambia depend on crops and livestock

ATTIYA REHMAN for their livelihood. At least half of the country's poor population is composed of farmers and agricultural workers. This may lead to poverty as much of the land is not arable so profits may be low. Furthermore, many poor rural households do not generate sufficient income from their farming activities, to feed themselves and maintain a decent standard of living to progress from subsistence to more productive, sustainable farming systems so they are not contributing to the economy or exports, pushing them further into poverty. Poverty in The Gambia is widespread, pervasive and largely rural. Approximately three quarters of the rural population is classified as poor [5]. Underlying the high poverty rates is the country's relatively lack of economic diversity, which makes The Gambia highly vulnerable to increasingly erratic rainfall, food price volatility and financial crises. As it lacks connectivity with other countries, it may not get as much aid needed to fuel its development and due to its poor economy it cannot cope with any natural disasters or climate change. To add to this, recent crises, including the global
economic downturn and rising food and fuel prices, have deeply affected The Gambia's economy, forcing many more people into extreme poverty.

Other reasons for the lack of interconnectedness and poverty of Gambia include [5]:

Low and decreasing soil fertility. Low agricultural and labour productivity. Poor access to productive assets (land and water). Inefficient management of available agricultural water from rainfall and river flooding. Emerging but still poorly functioning input and output markets. Insufficient income to ensure food security from prevalent low-input and low-output farming activities. Lack of regular access to affordable, quality seeds. Low prices on world markets for products such as groundnuts and certain types of rice. Irregular rains that frequently cause crop losses and yields that fluctuate as much as 40 per cent from one harvest to the next.

There are many various factors which lead to the interconnectedness of some places and extreme wealth or poverty. China has benefited from many natural and human resources which has led to extreme wealth from globalisation, however other places like Gambia have lost out as societies become more interconnected due to its lack of human and natural resources. Gambia therefore suffers from extreme poverty as it lacks trade links and exports, causing less money to come into the country and less income.

ATTIYA REHMAN

Bibliography
[1] http://www.s-cool.co.uk/a-level/geography/world-development/revise-it/global-inequalities [2] The Money Week (22/02/13) [3] http://observer.gm/africa/gambia/article/gambia-to-commence-rail-system-in-2013-disclosespresident-jammeh-as-he-opens-parliament [4] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13376517 [5] http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/country/home/tags/gambia