The Challenges of Industrialization in Papua New Guinea and Lebanon
The country of Papua New Guinea, an IHS, is an Oceanic country located in the eastern half of the New Guinea island, and in the Southwestern part of Pacific ocean. Most people in the country live in the rural area with only 18% residing in urban centers.
Comparing Papua New Guinea, Lebanon, and the United States
Lebanon, an IAS is a sovereign state found in Western Asia. It is at the crossroads of the Arabian hinterland and Mediterranean Basin, a location which facilitate its rich history, thus shaping its cultural identity of ethnic and religious diversity. By comparing, making a comparison between, Lebanon, Papua New Guinea and the United States using data from CIA World Fact Book, it is possible to understand the challenges that these two countries undergo in their industrialization.
Population and Dependency Ratio in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea has a population close to 7 million, with the population growth rate of 2.1% which is three times higher than that of the USA whose growth rate is 0.78%. Which such a high population growth rate, the country’s total dependency ratio stood at 64.4% while the dependency ratio of the young adults, standing at 61.3%. Such high dependency ratio means that few people engage themselves in actual economic activities which promote industrialization.
Population and Dependency Ratio in the United States
This can be compared with the USA, whose youth dependency ratio is 29%. This variation in dependency ratio means that more people in the USA participate in economic production leading to industrialization compared to Papua New Guinea. The other challenge that may face industrialization in Papua New Guinea is the small number of people available in the urban center, which stands at 13.1 percent compared to the USA with 82%. Urbanization is closely linked with industrialization since in urban area there is sufficient supply of labor to be used in industries. However, the higher GDP growth rate of 3.1% is as a result of higher Gross national savings of 40.8%, compared that of USA at 17.5%. This can also explain the high industrial production growth rate which stands at 3.3%, compared to the USA at 1.8% (Buneman et al.).
Population and Dependency Ratio in Lebanon
Lebanon has a population of 6.2 million inhabitants, whose number increase by 2.6% annually, which is slightly bit higher than that of Papua New Guinea, but more than three times higher than that of USA. The total dependency ratio stands at 36.7 percent, with youth dependency ratio at 19%, which 10% lower that of USA. This means that the government spends a small percentage of their GDP of youth-related facilities such as education, while a larger share is channeled to economic development. The GDP growth rate of the country is 1.5% compared to USA whose GDP growth rate stands at 2.2% (Buneman et al.). The variation between these two countries which can explain the challenges faced by Lebanon in industrialization is that there is high saving in the USA compared to Lebanon. The amount saved can be channeled back to industrialization. The Gross national savings in the USA is 17.5% while that of Lebanon is as low as 3.3%.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it the problems facing industrialization in Lebanon and Papua New Guinea can be attributed to some of their social practice. For example, the rate of population growth in both countries is more almost three times that of USA. This means that the government would be spending a significant amount of its revenues on facilities to cater for little children who are not economically productive at the expense of investment in economically productive facilities such as roads and industries.
Works Cited
Buneman, P., et al. "Curating the CIA World Factbook." International Journal of Digital Curation, vol. 4, no. 3, 2017, pp. 29-43, doi:10.2218/ijdc.v4i3.126.
