Demographic Indicators

Standard of living is also influenced by the life expectancy of the country. Simply put, life expectancy is how long you are expected to live a natural life in your country. Life expectancy refers to the average number of years to be lived by a group of people born in the same year, if mortality at each age remains constant. As you are conducting your research consider factors that improve the life expectancy of a country.

A country that has a good healthcare system and access to medicine and medical services will have a higher life expectancy that a country with no access to medicine or medical services. The map below illustrates life expectancy rates across the world. Answer the questions that follow in your Tool.

Life Expectancy Rates 2011

Source: Life Expectancy 2011 Estimates CIA World Factbook

Activity:
Carefully analyze the map above. If a child is born in East Asia and Sub Saharan Africa on the same day in 2011, which child has the best chances of living longer? Support your answer.

Click in the link below to locate the life expectancy rate of the countries on your chart. Record your findings on your chart.

Life Expectancy at Birth

Life expectancy is increased with improved access to medical care. Click the link below to determine the number of physicians per 1000 in each country. Locate the information and record your findings on your chart.

Physicians per 1000 People

The factors from the previous sections are used to determine the standard of living of a country, but they are not the only factors. Standard of living also takes into account other factors such as personal income; this is related to the amount of money that people make overall. The level of education of the population also plays a role in determining whether a country has a low or high standard of living.

Now it is time for you to put your research skills to work. Use your completed chart to answer the following questions in your Tool. (Note: if you need to conduct further research on your countries use the CIA World Factbook at The World Factbook)

1. Based on the information that you gathered, which country had the lowest standard of living? Explain your answer.
2. Based on the information that you gathered, which country had the highest standard of living? Explain your answer.
3. Rank the countries in your chart in order from lowest to highest standard of living. Give a brief explanation of why each country holds the position that you assigned it.