Question

who classifies nations as developed developing and underdeveloped?

Answer 1

All countries in the world fall into three major groups.

The first group is called developed countries. Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations, defined a developing country as a country in which its citizens are allowed to enjoy a free and healthy life in a safe environment. To make it more comprehensive, the development of a country is measured by Human Development Index (HDI), a compound indicator that consist of gross domestic product, life expectancy, the rate of literacy, and many other statistics. Thus, countries with high level of HDI like The Unites States, Canada, Japan, et cetera are classified as developed countries. The second group is called developing countries. These countries are in general countries which have not achieved a significant degree of industrialization compared to their population, and in most cases these countries have medium to low standards of living. Having said that, it’s very hard to have a single definition for the term “developing countries” since the level of development may vary widely within such countries. Some of developing countries have high average standards of living and can be classified neither developed nor developing. So, they are referred as “newly industrialized countries”. Ukraine, Iran, and Chile are examples of developing countries, and China, Turkey, India, and Malaysia are examples of so-called newly industrialized countries, according to a list published International Monetary Fund. The third group of countries is called underdeveloped countries. Symptoms of which include lack of access to job opportunities, health care, drinkable water, food, education and housing. Examples of such countries are some poor African countries in which so many people live in deprived cities.