I was curious if and why Egypt was a developing country... A quick research on the internet gives the following interesting details...
Developing country is a term generally used to describe a nation with a low level of material well being. There is no single internationally-recognized definition of developed country, and the levels of development may vary widely within so-called developing countries, with some developing countries having high average standards of living."
Some international organizations like the World Bank use strictly numerical classifications. The World Bank considers all low- and middle- income countries as "developing". In its most recent classification, economies are divided using 2008 Gross National Income per capita. In 2008, countries with GNI per capita below US$11,905 were considered developing.
Egypt had a GNI per capita (US$) of 1580 in 2007 and Norway one of the highest ( 76450 dollars), Liberia one of poorest countries a GNI per capita (US$) of 150.
Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations, defined a developed country as follows. "A developed country is one that allows all its citizens to enjoy a free and healthy life in a safe environment."
There is criticism of the use of the term ‘developing country’. The term implies inferiority of a 'developing country' compared to a 'developed country', which many such countries dislike. It assumes a desire to ‘develop’ along the traditional 'Western' model of economic development which many countries, such as Cuba, have chosen not to follow. Thus Cuba remains classed as 'developing' due to its low gross national income but has a lower infant mortality rate and higher literacy rate than the USA.
The development of a country is measured with statistical indexes such as income per capita (per person) (GDP), life expectancy, the rate of literacy, et cetera.
The UN has developed the HDI, a compound indicator of the above statistics, to gauge the level of human development for countries where data is available.
Developing countries are in general countries which have not achieved a significant degree of industrialization relative to their populations, and which have, in most cases a medium to low standard of living. There is a strong correlation between low income and high population growth.
Life expectancy at birth, as an index of population health and longevity
Egypt: 70-72.5 yrs versus 77.5n to 80 yrs in Norway and in Liberia only 45 years!
So Egypt scores not bad at all with its life expectancy...
Knowledge and education, as measured by the adult literacy rate (with two-thirds weighting) and the combined primary, secondary, and tertiary gross enrollment ratio (with one-third weighting). For Egypt these figures vary from 72 to 90 %, this is also quiet good compared to other countries
