Contrasting+Levels+of+Development

__**A Tale of Two Countries: Niger and Norway**__

I believe that by now most if not all of you can see that there are patterns to why some nations develop and others do not. Sometimes it can be explained in human terms. That is political and social issues impact negatively on a country's ability to prosper in the world. This can be due to political stagnation or corruption. Other times it might be due to its culture having placed a large value on hard work, diligence and education. As some of you may have learned by reading the book, //[|Guns, Germs and Steel]// by Jared Diamond, sometimes it can be just a matter of luck or even history. Whatever the case may be we should be able to look at case studies (here it is Niger and Norway) and contrast each to find just how markedly different they are in terms of economic and social indicators as well as in their respective stages of development. For starters see what is meant by the term [|Human Development Index]. See what it means and what it does not measure. The official site for this organization is [|United Nations Human Development Report].


 * Your Assignment (this is a minor project grade). Note that the knowledge and skills learned doing this exercise will be utilized for your final essay exam. [[file:A Tale of Two Countries-Norway and Niger Part I.pages]]**



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