Question

What are the bottom billion? Provide two examples. In your own words, describe the four traps that the bottom billion tend to experience.

Answer 1

The Bottom Billion refers to the approximately one billion people who live in the world's poorest countries and face severe economic and social challenges. They tend to experience four traps, including the conflict trap, natural resource trap, landlocked trap, and bad governance trap.

Step-by-step explanation:

The Bottom Billion refers to the approximately one billion people who live in the world's poorest countries and face severe economic and social challenges. They are often trapped in a cycle of poverty due to various reasons. Here are four traps that the Bottom Billion tend to experience:

1. Conflict trap: Many of the bottom-billion countries have a history of conflict and political instability, which hinders economic development and perpetuates poverty.
2. Natural resource trap: Some countries rich in natural resources tend to suffer from a 'resource curse,' where the abundance of resources leads to corruption, inequality, and dependence on volatile commodity prices.
3. Landlocked trap: Landlocked countries face significant challenges in terms of transportation, trade, and accessing markets, limiting their economic growth.
4. Bad governance trap: Weak institutions, corruption, and lack of accountability contribute to poor governance, which obstructs economic progress.

Two examples of countries that represent the Bottom Billion are Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. These countries have faced challenges such as conflict, political instability, resource mismanagement, and poor governance, which have hindered their development and perpetuated poverty.