Country Discussion

Pick a country (avoid the USA and Canada). For the main body of your paper you should research and discuss this country in the areas described below and explain any interrelationships (causes and effects) where possible.

For example, if you find out that your country of choice suffers from desertification, you may want to examine this in relation to methods of farming, public policy population growth and/or any impact this may be having upon a country’s economic development.

Research and discuss your country in the following areas:

Discussion of population data (population structure, IMR, CBR, position in the demographic transition etc.) and contemporary issues such as development, globalization, sustainability, and religious, social and ethnic conflict.
Discussion of environmental situation — include (lack of) natural resources, environmental issues and climate change. How are economic activities affected by globalization and climate change, such as agriculture and industry?
Discussion of interactions between environmental, demographic, socio-economic, political, and cultural issues in the context of deepening globalization.
Discussion of ethnic and religious components (Early origins? Multicultural? Pluralistic? Examples of conflict?).
Discussion of an ethical issue currently under debate within your country of choice;
To which of the geographic topics we have studied does this ethical issue relate?
What contrasting perspectives exist regarding this ethical issue?
What is your own personal stance/set of values pertaining to this issue?
Finally, in the conclusion, discuss any thoughts on why you would or would not consider living in this country, should you have to move from the US.

Your essay should be 2000 words (+/- 10%) and include a minimum of six academic and/or official sources in addition to the course text.

As such, you will not be able to write a fully comprehensive summary for your choice of country in each of these areas, but do your best to provide an overview for each of the topic areas, and choose the most significant interrelationships to discuss.

In your final assignment that you turn in on Canvas, be sure to cite your references, both in the body of your paper and in a bibliography at the end, and use (Author Year) for citations and (Author Year: Page) for quotations. No more than 10% of direct quotations in the essay.

Please note: Wikipedia, “some persons” website, and magazine and newspaper articles are not academic sources. You should be using journal articles, books, and websites from .edu and .gov sites, written by academics who are well recognized within their fields.

Please review the grading rubric below, for further information on the allocation of points.