page_title: Geography and wealth
hierarchical_section_title: Geography and wealth
caption_attribution_description: English: GDP per capita 2015 &#160;&#160; over $64,000 &#160;&#160; $32,000–64,000 &#160;&#160; $16,000–32,000 &#160;&#160; $8,000–16,000 &#160;&#160; $4,000–8,000&#160;&#160; $2,000–4,000 &#160;&#160; $1,000–2,000 &#160;&#160; $500–1,000 &#160;&#160; below $500 &#160;&#160; unavailable
context_page_description: Geography and wealth have long been perceived as correlated attributes of nations. Scholars such as Jeffrey D. Sachs argue that geography has a key role in the development of a nation's economic growth. For instance, nations that reside along coastal regions, or those who have access to a nearby water source, are more plentiful and able to trade with neighboring nations. In addition, countries that have a tropical climate face a significant amount of difficulties such as disease, intense weather patterns, and lower agricultural productivity. The correlation between geography and a nation's wealth can be observed by examining a country's GDP per capita, which takes into account a nation's economic output and population. The continents along the equator, Africa and countries like India, are the poorest. Even within Africa this effect can be seen, as the nations farthest from the equator are wealthier. In Africa, the wealthiest nations are the three on the southern tip of the continent, South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia, and the countries of North Africa. Similarly, in South America, Argentina, Southern Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay have long been the wealthiest.
context_section_description: Geography and wealth have long been perceived as correlated attributes of nations. Scholars such as Jeffrey D. Sachs argue that geography has a key role in the development of a nation's economic growth. For instance, nations that reside along coastal regions, or those who have access to a nearby water source, are more plentiful and able to trade with neighboring nations. In addition, countries that have a tropical climate face a significant amount of difficulties such as disease, intense weather patterns, and lower agricultural productivity. The correlation between geography and a nation's wealth can be observed by examining a country's GDP (gross national product) per capita, which takes into account a nation's economic output and population. The continents along the equator, Africa and countries like India, are the poorest. Even within Africa this effect can be seen, as the nations farthest from the equator are wealthier.  In Africa, the wealthiest nations are the three on the southern tip of the continent, South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia, and the countries of North Africa.  Similarly, in South America, Argentina, Southern Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay have long been the wealthiest. Within Asia, Indonesia, located on the equator, is among the poorest. Within Central Asia, Kazakhstan is wealthier than other former Soviet Republics which border it to the south, like Uzbekistan.  The wealthiest nations of the world with the highest standard of living tend to be those at the northern extreme of areas open to human habitation--including Northern Europe, the United States, and Canada.  Within prosperous nations, wealth often increases with distance from the equator; for example, the Northeast United States has long been wealthier than its southern counterpart and northern Italy wealthier than southern regions of the country.
  Researchers at Harvard's Center for International Development found in 2001 that only three tropical economies — Hong Kong, Singapore, and part of Taiwan — were classified as high-income by the World Bank, while all countries within regions zoned as temperate had either middle- or high-income economies.
  There are exceptions. For example, Russia is not as well off as the United States or even Australia; the latter is wealthier than Southern Europe. Also, within Russia, Moscow and especially St. Petersburg are wealthier than, for example, Siberia. Similarly, Germany's poorest regions are situated in the northeast. The wealthiest nations of Central America are generally those closest to the equator, namely Panama and Costa Rica, and Mongolia is poorer than China. Also, mainland United States is richer than Alaska and Canada. In Canada, the poorest region is in the North. In China, the poorest regions are in the West. In Indonesia, the poorer regions are at the west while the Eastern region is generally richer. And in southeast Asia, the richest nations are Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore, straddling the equator.
caption: Gross domestic product (nominal per capita) in 2015
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