Final answer:
Heavily industrialized nations typically have an annual population growth rate of a) 1%, while less developed nations have a growth rate of about 2%. These rates have been affected by factors like access to healthcare, family planning, and education.
Step-by-step explanation:
Heavily industrialized nations have an annual population growth rate of approximately 1%; less developed nations have a rate of about 2%. The appropriate answer is option a) 1%; 2%.
This is understood considering the industrialized nations have lower birth rates due to various factors such as better access to health care, family planning, and higher levels of education, while less developed countries typically have higher birth rates and slightly improving death rates due to improvements in medical care and sanitation without a corresponding rapid decline in birth rates.
For instance, China experienced a significant decline in its population growth rate from 2.7% in the 1960s to about 1% in the early 21st-century due to aggressive family planning and economic policies.
Meanwhile, many countries in Africa and Asia, which are less economically developed, continue to experience higher rates of population growth.