A View of Developing Countries
Meaning of Third World Practical definition – poor developing countries Has lost some meaning –1 st World – Rich, non-communist market economies –2 nd World – Communist countries (they have practically disappeared) –3 rd World – non-communist poor countries with “immature” economies
A More Realistic Approach Developed Countries (formerly 1 st World) Developing Countries (all the other countries) What about the former 2 nd World? –They are divided between the two groups – i.e. the Czech Rep. is in the developed group, whereas Vietnam is in the developing group.
Latin America
AD The Roman Empire was already declining. Land of the Maya
Mezoamerican Art
Housing much like that of the Pre-Colombian Maya
1st step in milpa agriculture - clearing
2nd step -- burning
Ashes serve as fertilizer
Will produce a decent harvest for several years only.
Typical rural town or village market.
About 50 percent of Guatemala's 11 million people are Indians, who speak 24 indigenous languages. Some are descended from the Maya
1% of the population owns 80% of the land. 20% of “white” men own cars; only 5% of Indian men do.
99 percent of the population owns 20 percent of the land. Copal, resin collected from pine trees in the surrounding mountains, is burned in the Roman Catholic church.
Belize
Spanish cultural influence - architecture
1 Pepsi = 1 peso OR 1 peso = 20 kg. of corn for a family for a week. Comparative Values
The Cathedral in Mexico City is the largest in Latin America. It took 300 years to build. The Zocalo (plaza) in front of it is the largest in the world.
lDeforestation results from high prices paid for tropical hardwoods.
Lumberjacks averaged $10-15 per week; food for a family of six cost $6.
In the 19 th century the Yucatan was an informal colony of Chicago’s International Harvester, which turned the sisal into bailer twine for Midwestern farmers. The planters built wedding-cake mansions in Merida and sent their children to schools in New Orleans and Havana.
Sisal Plants
Sisal cut & bundled for shipping
Sisal fibers drying
Loading primary products for export
Rainfall variations in Central America
Checking coffee beans
Fields of cash crops for export
Raw latex?
Exposing poor, red lateritic soil
Tourism does little for the poor.
West Africa
350 years of slave trade here million slaves Portuguese Fort 1482 Dutch Fort 1637
South Asia
Galle, Sri Lanka Portuguese Dutch British Independence 1948
Tea is grown in the Hill Country, above 1,220 meters.
British colonials brought the Tamil Hindu (from India) minority to pick tea.
The British established coffee (until 1870s), and later, tea plantations; in 1948 the socialist government nationalized most of these private estates.
3 billion people in the world depend on rice for their food!
Sinhalese Buddhist are the majority in Sri Lanka.
What food is being sold at this roadside shop?
The bounty of the tropics. Why would people being hungry?
Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka's first capital in the 4th century BC.
A Buddhist statute
The rock fortress of Sigiriya, the Lion Rock was built by King Kashyapa, in the last quarter of the 5th Century to fend off the persistent South Indian invaders. People climb up the 200-meter precarious metal steps to see the temple dancers painted in the caves 1,500 years ago.
And you think studying is hard work?