| | I don't think that there actually is an agreed definition of what constitutes and LEDC. The most common interpretation applies thie label LEDC to countries that were identified in the Brandt Report on international development and trade as being in "The South" - that is central & South America, Africa, and Asia (except USSR & Japan). This division is now out-dated for a number of reasons. Firstly, some of these countries no longer exist - for example, the USSR has broken up and there are huge variations in the level of development of the smaller countries that have replaced it, so their classification might be different from 1980 when the Brandt report was published. Secondly, the level of development in countries varies over time - there are countries that have developed very rapidly, such as South Korea, and others, which for the first time in hidtory, appear to have declined in their level of development (particularly in eastern Europe and some parts of the former USSR). In light of this, the clear development gap that did exist in the 1970s and 1980s is no longer so clear. A simple division into MEDCs and LEDCs is less easy as a consequence. The United Nations annual development report uses a more refined categorisation - you may like to look into this interpretation of levels of development. |