Access to safe water
Measured by the number of people who have a reasonable means of getting and adequate amount of clean water, expressed as a percentage of the total population. It reflects the health of a country's people and the country's ability to collect, clean, and distribute water. In urban areas "reasonable" access means there is a public fountain or water spigot located within 200 meters of the household. In rural areas, it implies that members of the household do not have to spend excessive time each day fetching water. Water is safe or unsafe depending on the amount of bacteria in it. An adequate amount of water is enough to satisfy metabolic, hygienic, and domestic requirements, usually about 20 liters (about 4 gallons) per person per day.

Access to sanitation
Refers to the share of the population with at least adequate excreta disposal facilities that can effectively prevent human, animal, and insect contact with excreta. Suitable facilities range from simple but protected pit latrines to flush toilets with sewerage. To be effective, all facilities must be correctly constructed and maintained.

Adult illiteracy rate
The proportion of the population over age fifteen who cannot, with understanding, read and write a simple statement about their everyday life and do simple mathematical calculations.

Agricultural subsidies
Monetary assistance a government gives to a person or group to support production of farm products. Subsidies are given for enterprises the government considers to be in the public interest.

AIDS (Acquired ImmunoDeficiency Syndrome)
The late stage of infection caused by a virus, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). See HIV below.

Annual
It means yearly, every year.

Anthropologist
A person who studies the origin, the behavior, and the physical, social, and cultural development of humans.

Bilharzia
A life-threatening parasitic disease caused by a worm that lives in a host snail. Humans can become infected when they come in contact with water in ponds and rivers where the snail lives. Occurs most often in tropical regions. Also called schistosomiasis.

Billion
One billion equals 1,000,000,000 or one thousand million.

Biodiversity
The variability among living organisms from all sources, including land based and aquatic ecosystems, and the ecosystems of which they are part. These include diversity within species, between species, and of ecosystems. Diversity is the key to ensuring the continuance of life on Earth. It is also a fundamental requirement for adaptation and survival and continued evolution of species.

Birth rate
The number of births in a year per 1,000 population.

Capital
The money or wealth needed to produce goods and services. See also human capital and physical capital.

Carrying capacity
The population that an area will support without undergoing environmental deterioration.

Census
A counting of the population (as of a country, city, or town) and a gathering of related statistics done by a government every so often.

Child mortality rate
The probability of dying between the ages of one and five, if subject to current age-specific mortality rates.

Cholera
Any of several diseases of man and domestic animals usually marked by severe gastrointestinal symptoms.

Chronic disease
An illness, such as heart disease or asthma, that is ongoing or recurring but is not caused by infection and is not passed on by contact.

Civil society
Civil society refers to a wide array of non-governmental and not-for-profit organizations who participate in public or community public life, expressing the interests and values of their members or others, based on ethical, cultural, political, scientific, religious or philanthropic considerations. Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) include community groups, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), labor unions, indigenous groups, charitable organizations, faith-based organizations, professional associations, and foundations.

Commodity
See primary goods or products.

Creditor
A person, institution or country that lends money, and to whom a debt must be repaid.

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D · E

Death rate
The number of deaths in a year per 1,000 population.

Debtor
A person, institution, or country that borrows money, and now owes a debt that must be paid to its creditor(s).

Deforestation
The process of clearing of forests. Since trees root systems are essential for keeping top soil in place, deforestation can bring about soil erosion. In addition, loss of trees is said to contribute to global warming because trees reduce greenhouse gases and provide shade.

Demography
The statistical study of human populations, especially with reference to size and density, distribution and vital statistics.

Desertification
The process of becoming desert (as from land management or climate change).

Developing country
Low- and middle-income countries in which most people have a lower standard of living with access to fewer goods and services than do most people in high-income countries. There are currently about 125 developing countries with populations over 1 million; in 1997, their total population was more than 4.89 billion.

Diphtheria
An infectious disease caused by a bacteria which produces a poison that affects the tonsils, nose and/or skin. The symptoms include difficulty in breathing, high fever, and weakness. The poison also damages the heart and central nervous system, and can be fatal.

Disabled
When a person's physical or mental condition keeps them from being able to function in an expected manner. Disability may result from illness, injury, or wounds.

Diarrheal illness
A disease that affects the intestines. The victims of this disease, frequently children in low- and middle-income countries, may die from the resulting dehydration.

Discrimination
Treating people in a different, usually bad, manner because of their class, race, gender or some other category instead of who they are as individuals.

Economic depression
A period marked by low production and sales and a high rate of business failures and unemployment.

Economic growth/development
The process by which a country increases its ability to produce goods and services.

Ecosystem
A community of plants and animals existing in an environment that supplies them with water, air, and other elements they need for life.

Ecosystem integrity
The extent to which the interrelationships among and within ecosystems remain intact so that the number and variety of living organisms can be maintained.

Election integrity
ACE Electoral Knowledge Network defines election integrity as a set of standards based on democratic principles, measures and mechanisms for protecting free and fair elections.

Elephantiasis
A disease, often found in tropical countries, in which parts of the human body become enlarged. It is caused by small roundworms that are injected into the body by mosquitoes.

Environment
The complex set of physical, geographic, biological, social, cultural and political conditions that surround an individual or organism and that ultimately determines its form and nature of its survival.

Epidemic
An outbreak of a contagious disease that spreads rapidly and widely.

Export
To sell goods or services to a buyer outside your country.

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F · G · H

Factors of production
Input used to produce goods and services, for example, capital or labor.

Family planning
A health service that helps couples decide whether to have children, and if so, when and how many.

Fertility rate (total)
The average number of children a woman will have during her lifetime. The total fertility rate in developing countries is between three and four; in industrial countries it is less than two.

Fossil Fuels
Carbon-based sources of energy such as coal, oil, and natural gas.

G8
The Group of Eight (G8) consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Together, these countries represent about 65% of the world economy. The hallmark of the G8 is an annual political summit meeting of the heads of government with international officials, though there are numerous smaller meetings and policy research. The Presidency of the group rotates every year. For 2006 it was held by Russia.

Gender inequality
Giving men and women different opportunities because of their gender.

Goods and services
Things that are produced by a country's economy. Examples of goods include food, clothing, machines, and new roads. Examples of services include those of doctors, teachers, merchants, tourist agents, construction workers, and government officials.

GDP (Gross domestic product)
The value of all final goods and services produced in a country in one year. GDP can be measured by adding up all of an economy's incomes (wages, interest, profits) or expenditures (consumption, investment, government purchases and net exports)—exports minus imports.

GNP (gross national product) or Gross national income (GNI)
The value (in U.S. dollars) of a country's final output of goods and services in a year. The value of GNP can be calculated by adding up the amount of money spent on a country's final output of goods and services, or by totaling the income of all citizens of a country including the income from factors of production used abroad.

GNP per capita
The dollar value of a country's final output of goods and services in a year (its GNP), divided by its population. It reflects the average income of a country's citizens. Knowing a country's GNP per capita is a good first step toward understanding the country's economic strengths and needs.

GNP per capita growth rate
The change in GNP per capita over a period, expressed as a percentage of GNP per capita at the start of the period.

Gross national income (GNI)
See GNP (gross national product) definition.

Growth rate
The change (increase, decrease, or no change) in an indicator over a period of time, expressed as a percentage of the indicator at the start of the period. Growth rates contain several sets of information. The first is whether there is any change at all; the second is what direction the change is going in (increasing or decreasing); and the third is how rapidly that change is occurring. For example, if a country's GNP growth rate for a particular year is more or less than zero, there has been a change in the amount of goods and services produced in that year. If the GNP growth rate is positive, the country is producing more goods and services at the end of the year than at the beginning. If the GNP growth rate is negative, the country is producing fewer goods and services than at the beginning of the year. Note that a change in GNP growth rate from 2% one year to 1% the next year does not mean that the total production of goods and services has decreased. As long as the growth rate is positive, the GNP is growing. The only time the production of goods and services has actually decreased is when the GNP growth rate is negative.

High-income country
A country having an Gross national income (GNI) per capita equivalent to $9,266 or more in 1999.* Most high-income countries have an industrial economy. There are currently 50 high-income countries in the world. Their combined population is about 0.9 billion, less than one-sixth of the world's population. See the Country Classification page.

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus)
A virus that steadily weakens the body's defense (immune) system until it can no longer fight off infections such as pneumonia, diarrhea, tumors and other illnesses. All of which can be part of AIDS (Acquired ImmunoDeficiency Syndrome). Unable to fight back, most people die within three years of the first signs of AIDS appearing. Most of all HIV infections have been transmitted through unprotected sexual intercourse with someone who is already infected with HIV. HIV can also be transmitted by infected blood or blood products (as in blood transfusions), by the sharing of contaminated needles, and from an infected woman to her baby before birth, during delivery, or through breast-feeding. HIV is not transmitted through normal, day-to-day contact. (Source: UNAIDS)

Hookworm
An intestinal parasite found in tropical and subtropical regions. It passes through the skin, especially bare feet, and is spread by unsanitary conditions.

Human capital
People and their ability to be economically productive. Education, training, and health care can help increase human capital. See also capital and physical capital.

Human development
The United Nations Development Programme defines human development as expanding the choices for all people in society in four key areas: livelihood, health, food security and vulnerability to natural disasters. This makes the central purpose of development the creation of an enabling environment in which all can enjoy long, healthy and creative lives.

Hygiene
Practices, such as frequent hand washing, that help ensure cleanliness and good health.

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I · J · K · L

Import
To buy goods and services from another country.

Indicator
A numerical measure of quality of life in a country. Indicators are used to illustrate progress of a country in meeting a range of economic, social, and environmental goals. Since indicators represent data that have been collected by a variety of agencies using different collection methods, there may be inconsistencies among them.

Industrial country
A country in which historically the greatest part of output has been accounted for by industry. However, the term is widely used to signify high-income economies.

Industrial waste
Material-for example, certain chemicals or even very hot water-left over from a manufacturing process. It can be harmful sometimes and may pollute the water and the environment if not treated and/or disposed of properly.

Infant mortality rate
The number of infants, out of every 1,000 babies born in a given year, who die before reaching age 1. The lower the rate, the fewer the infant deaths, and generally the greater the level of health care available in a country.

Informal economy
The process of income generation that is unregulated by the institutions of society, in a legal and social environment in which similar activities are regulated. It's the exchange of goods and services which aren't accurately recorded in government figures and accounting. The informal economy is generally untaxed, commonly includes goods and services including day care, tutoring, or black market exchanges. Workers usually aren't protected by pensions, safety regulations and health benefits. Although informal economy is often associated with developing countries, where up to 60% of the labor force works informally, it exists in all countries. On the contrary, the formal economy is officially regulated and protected work is not part of the informal economy.

Infrastructure
The basic facilities, services, and installations needed for the functioning of a community or society, such as transportation and communications systems, water and power lines, and public institutions including schools, post offices, and prisons.

International Development Organization
Organizations that were established by two or more countries to work together on problems that affect the world. They are set up in a manner that extends beyond the borders of one country and the work they do reaches people in many countries.

Investment
Money spent now in order to make the economy grow and have more money-or goods and services-later.

Land mine
An explosive mine hidden underground; it explodes when stepped on or driven over.

Life expectancy at birth
The average number of years newborn babies can be expected to live based on current health conditions. This indicator reflects environmental conditions in a country, the health of its people, the quality of care they receive when they are sick, and their living conditions.

Literacy
The ability to read and write a simple statement about one's everyday life and do simple mathematical calculations.

Long-term debt
Debt that has an original or extended maturity of more than one year. It has three components: public, publicly guaranteed and private non-guaranteed debt.

Lobbying
The process of trying to influence policy makers in favor of a specific cause.

Low-income country
A country having a gross national income (GNI) per capita equivalent to $755 or less in 1999.* The standard of living is lower in low income countries. There are few goods and services; and many people cannot meet their basic needs. There are currently about 64 low-income countries. Their combined population is more than 2.4 billion.

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M · N · O

Malnutrition
Not having enough nourishing food with the adequate amounts of protein, vitamins, minerals, calories, etc. to support growth and development.

Manufactured products
Goods—for example, shoes, trucks, paper, radios, electric motors, and canned fruit-that are produced from raw materials by hand or by machine.

Media
Media has traditionally referred to the press, and include news gathering organizations who work in broadcast, print and radio. Just as traditional media organizations are now using the Internet to share information with their audiences, so too are individuals like you. For that reason, many believe the definition for media includes individuals who gather and disseminate information informally on the Web. The explosion of personal blogs is the perfect example of how individuals are using the Web to raise awareness of the issues that impact us all.

Media freedom
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights holds that: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers.

The degree to which each country permits the free flow of information determines the classification of its media as free, partly free or not free. Three broad categories are often used to determine the "flow": the legal environment in which media operate, political influences on reporting and access to information, and economic pressures on content and the dissemination of news.

The World Bank believes an independent press is essential to sound and equitable economic development. The media helps to give a voice to the poor and the disenfranchised. An independent press also provides a solid foundation for a free and transparent society.

Microfinance
Small loans to start or expand small businesses given to poor people who are usually not able to borrow money from commercial banks because the amount of money is too small.

Middle-income country
Gross national income (GNI) per capita equivalent to more than $756 but less than $9,265 in 1999.* Middle-income countries are divided into lower-middle-income, $756–$2,995; and upper-middle-income, $2,996–$9,265 countries. The standard of living is higher than in low-income countries, and people have access to more goods and services, but many people still cannot meet their basic needs. There are currently about 93 middle-income countries. Their combined population is more than 2.7 billion. See the Country Classification page.

Misconception
A mistaken thought, idea, or notion; a misunderstanding.

Multilateral institutions
Organizations that are owned by more than two countries. The word multilateral means having many sides.

Natural resource accounting
The process of adjusting national accounts such as GNP to reflect the environmental costs of economic production. Although methods are still being developed, natural resource accounting strives to determine the costs of depleting natural resources and damaging the environment.

Natural resources
Materials that occur in nature and are essential or useful to humans, such as water, air, land, forests, fish and wildlife, topsoil, and minerals.

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
Private or nonprofit organizations that are not affiliated with a governmental body or institution.

Official development assistance
Grants and loans that donors (the governments of rich countries) give to developing countries. According to a United Nations agreement, these donor governments agreed to contribute of 0.7 percent of their gross national product.

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P · Q · R

Physical capital
Things, such as machinery, tools, equipment, furniture, parts, and buildings, that are needed to produce goods and services. See also capital and human capital.

Policy
A plan or course of action, as of a government, political party, or business, intended to influence and determine decisions, actions, and other matters.

Policy maker
Someone who makes high level laws and regulations, usually for the government.

Polio
An infectious disease caused by a virus. It can strike at any age, but usually affects children under three years old. The disease causes paralysis, the inability to move a body part.

Population growth rate (average annual)
The increase in a country's population during one year, divided by the population at the start of that year. It reflects the number of births and deaths during the period and the number of people moving to and from a country. The average annual population growth rates for a period of years provide a better picture than do rates for a single year. In 1997 total world population was more that 5.8 billion, and the average world population growth rate was between 1980 and 1997 1.6.

Population momentum
The tendency for population growth to continue beyond the time that replacement-level fertility has been achieved because of a relatively high concentration of people in the childbearing years. For example, the absolute numbers of people in developing countries will continue to increase over the next several decades even as the rates of population growth will decline. This phenomenon is due to past high fertility rates which results in a large number of young people. As these youth grow older and move through reproductive ages, the greater number of births will exceed the number of deaths in the older populations.

Population projections
Demographers make predictions about future population based on trends in fertility, mortality, and migration.

Prevalence of malnutrition under age 5
The percentage of children under five years of age whose health and growth are jeopardized by lack of proper food.

Prenatal care
Medical care that women receive while pregnant to help make sure that they and their babies are healthy.

Primary goods or products
Goods—for example, iron ore, diamonds, wheat, copper, oil, or coffee—that are used or sold as they are found in nature. They are also called commodities.

Primary health care
Health services, including family planning, clean water supply, sanitation, immunization, and nutrition education, that are designed to be affordable for both the poor people who receive the services and the governments that provide them; the emphasis is on preventing disease as well as curing it.

Private non-guaranteed external debt
Consists of the long-term external obligations of private debtors that are not guaranteed for repayment by a public entity.

Privatization
Privatization is a transfer of ownership or voting rights from the "State" to the private sector. The State includes the central or local government, ministries, bodies of the public administration, and companies where the central or local government acts as a shareholder. The private sector comprises private individuals and economic entities with private shareholders. Transfers of ownership or voting rights to economic entities fully owned by the State is considered privatizations.

Protectionism
Protecting domestic producers by impeding or limiting the importation of foreign goods and services. This is done through tariffs or quotas.

Public and publicly guaranteed debt
Comprises the long-term external obligation of public debtors, including the national government and political subdivision (or an agency of either) and autonomous public bodies and the external obligations of private debtors that are guaranteed for repayment by a public entity.

Purchasing power parity (PPP)
A method of measuring the relative purchasing power of different countries' currencies over the same types of goods and services. Because goods and services may cost more in one country than in another, PPP allows us to make more accurate comparisons of standards of living across countries. PPP estimates use price comparisons of comparable items but since not all items can be matched exactly across countries and time, the estimates are not always "robust."

Quotas
The amount or the number of goods that can be imported or exported.

Refugees
Where there is a war in a country, many people flee from the area that is in the middle of war. They are called refugees. People's houses (or entire villages or towns) get destroyed or taken over by the opposite side, so people don't have a place to live and must look for a new place. Often, other countries let people from the war-torn area come to their country and live there until the war is over.

Remittances
Earnings that migrants send from abroad to their families in their country of origin to help them financially and economically.

Renewable
Able to be replaced or replenished, either by the earth's natural processes or by human action. Air, water, and forests are often considered to be example of renewable resources. However, due to local geographic conditions and costs involved, strong arguments can be made that water may not be a completely renewable resource in some parts of the world, especially in developing countries or in areas with limited groundwater supplies. Minerals and fossil fuels are examples of non-renewable resources.

Replacement level
The fertility level at which couples have the number of children required to replace themselves, this is about two children. When the replacement level is reached, population growth will stabilize in time. (See definitions for Population Momentum and Transition.)

Resources
The machines, workers, money, land, raw materials, and other things that a country can use to produce goods and services and to make its economy grow. Resources may be renewable or nonrenewable. Countries must use their resources wisely to ensure long term prosperity.

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S · T

Sanctions
There are three types of international sanctions, which are actions taken by countries against others for political reasons, either unilaterally or multilaterally:

• Diplomatic sanctions are the reduction or removal of diplomatic ties, such as embassies.
• Economic sanctions are typically a ban on trade, possibly limited to certain sectors such as armaments, or with certain exceptions (such as food and medicine).
• Military sanctions are military intervention.

Economic sanctions are distinguished from trade sanctions, which are applied for purely economic reasons, and typically take the form of tariffs or similar measures, rather than bans on trade.

Sanitation
Maintaining clean, hygienic conditions that help prevent disease through services such as garbage collection and wastewater disposal.

Sanitation facilities
Basic sewerage and drainage systems that collect waste water and then clean and redistribute it.

Sewage
Refuse liquids or waste matter carried off by sewers.

Sewerage
A system of sewers or drainage pipes.

Silting
The process whereby waterways become choked by mud and soil that has washed off the land through erosion.

Slum
A heavily populated urban area characterized by substandard and poor housing and squalor

Social services
Services generally provided by the government that help improve people's standard of living; examples are public hospitals and clinics, good roads, clean water supply, garbage collection, electricity, and telecommunications.

Sources of water
House connection/yard tap: Piped water from the public water distribution system that reaches the home or yard. When people have house connections, they usually have indoor plumbing as well; if they have yard taps, they have to go outside to get water.
Shallow well: A well dug on public or private property for public consumption. Public wells usually provide water for little or no cost; water from private wells is usually more expensive. Shallow wells are not always reliable sources of water because they can become contaminated by run off in the rainy season or dry up in the dry season.
Yard well: A shallow well in a yard usually intended for private use.
Stand post: An outside tap to which a number of households can go to get water. Public standposts are connected to the public water distribution system and controlled by the water company. Private standposts are not connected to the public water distribution system nor controlled by the water company.
Private borehole and electric pump: A very deep well drilled into the ground using specialized machinery. Bore holes are used when the water is far below the surface or when the ground is too hard to dig a well by conventional means. Because they are so deep, they require an electric pump to bring water to the surface.

Sterilize
To make something as clean as possible. Free from live bacteria or other microorganisms.

Stigmatize
To single a person out as someone to be ashamed of.

Subsidies
Governments giving money to local producers to make the cost of their goods artificially low.

Sustainable development
Development that meets the needs of the people today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Taboo
A topic that a society doesn't want to discuss because it goes against their cultural and societal norms.

Tariff
A list of taxes placed by a government on imported or exported goods.

Total external debt
Debt owed to nonresidents repayable in foreign currency, goods or services. It is the sum of public, publicly guaranteed and private non-guaranteed long-term debt, use of IMF credit and short-term debt. Short-term debt includes all debt having an original maturity of one year or less and interest in arrears on long-term debt.

Total fertility rate
See fertility rate (total).

Transfusion
To transfer blood from one individual to another.

Transition
Refers to the demographic change that is occurring in developing countries as they move to lower rates of fertility and mortality. Many factors contribute to transition including: improved health services, greater access to education and improved social and economic conditions. Several developing countries in Asia are now in the later stages of transition, while many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are in the early stages of transition. Demographic transition is complete when fertility has reached replacement level, which is the case in most industrial countries.

Transitional economies
Countries whose economies used to be centrally planned by the government but are now changing—or "transitioning"—to base their economies on the market.

Transmit
To send from one person to another. To transmit an infection: to cause to spread; pass on.

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U·V·W·X·Y·Z

UNICEF
A part of the United Nations system whose task is to help children living in poverty in developing countries.

Urbanization
The process by which a country's population changes from primarily rural to urban. It is caused by the migration of people from the countryside to the city in search of better jobs and living conditions.

Vaccine
A shot that helps your body build protection against disease.

Wastewater
Water that has been used and is no longer clean.

Wastewater treatment
The process of removing pollutants from water that has been used. There are different stages of treatment. Primary sewage treatment involves screening the water to remove the largest solids from wastewater and then letting the water sit in settling tanks so that the smaller solids and particles sink to the bottom. Secondary treatment involves another stage in which microbes added to the wastewater to eat the biological pollutants, or the wastewater is put through another filter. Then the treated water is disinfected and released back into nature. The more steps included in the treatment, the more expensive the process.

Water borne disease
Diseases that spread through contaminated or dirty water. Many of these diseases are highly infectious and include cholera, diarrhea, hepatitis and typhoid fever among others.

Watershed
The specific land area that drains water into a river system or other body of water.

Youth
Time in a person's life between childhood and adulthood. The term "youth" in general refers to those who are between the ages of 15 to 25.

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