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3.07 LAC Countries vs. Industrial Market Economies. If one compares the group of LAC countries with the twenty industrial market economies of the WDR,-<sup>1</sup> one notes first the cleavage that tells LAC countries apart in terms of GNP per capita (Venezuela, which is the richest is about four times poorer than the average of the second group and the poorest, Bolivia, is twenty five times below that level) (Table 3.7). Moreover, their income distribution is such that only about 20 percent of the combined income of households accrues to those in the bottom six deciles, against 37 percent in the more affluent countries. The largest part of these poor households is rural, and their low income can be explained by the comparatively lower remuneration of agricultural labor in most LAC countries and by the fact that cropland per head of farm population is only 1.7 ha. in LatJ.n America compared to 2.2 in the developed countries.3" Yet, one cannot say that Latin America is comparatively overpopulated, since its average territorial density is of 18 people per kM<sup>2</sup> , i.e., 25 percent below the 24 people per km2 average of the developed countries, although the LAC value is strongly influenced by the vast uninhabited regions of Brazil and Argentina.

3.08 Relative Urbanization and Industrialization. In fact, LAC countries are relatively urbanized, with Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Venezuela showing a higher proportion of urban to total population than the average developed country. Their urban population is also concentrated in cities of sufficient size to yield considerable economies of agglomeration. Ten countries (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa RJ>a, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Jamaica, Mexico, Paraguay and Peru) have nearly half their urban population living in cities with more than 500,000 inhabitants, if that is taken as the average measure of the

- 26/ Obviously, substantial country differences exist within the generalized scenarios traced here. These differences can best be gleaned from the attached Table 3.7, which shows the characteristics taken into conside:ation for a sample of LAC countries for which the central/local government breakdown is available from the IMF. The sample includes eight countries of South America and five in Central America and the Caribbean, giving a fairly wide representation of general conditions. It includes all major countries of Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Venezuela) and a few smaller economies (Bolivia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay and Uruguay). Together they account for 84.0 percent of Latin America population, 88 percent of its land area, 91 percent of its GDP, 88 percent of its urban population and 92 percent of the population in cities over 500,000 inhabitants. The Industrial Market Economies considered are listed on Table 1.2.

- / Only Argentina, Uruguay and Chile, with 7.6, 3.1 and 2.8 ha per farmer respectively supercede the average ratio of the developed countries. The reported averages refer to 19 Industrial market economies and to 13 LAC countries. If all Latin America is considered the corresponding average would be of 1.41 ha/farmhead.