| Impact of Wealth and Population on International Sports Results |
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There are several factors that determine a country's potential in any sport; these could be wealth, population amount, cultural traits, diet, genetics, and geography. In most cases, wealth and population amount are the biggest factors. These factors do not decide how good a nation is in a sport but determine the potential of how good a nation can possibly be in a sport. The end result of this is that countries with higher wealth and population amounts generally perform better in sports. This holds true not only in sports but in any other field as well. This doesn't mean that smaller and/or poorer countries can't perform well in particular sports, but they will always be fighting an uphill battle overall and will usually be able to only overachieve in a smaller number of sports. The data below shows what an extreme impact wealth and population differences can have. Wealth and population amount aren't merely correlated with more success in sports; they are 2 of the main causes. Even in examples with little data, the evidence shows this. Due to the law of large numbers, the more data available, the more this principle tends to reveal itself. The data below uses 2 simple methods to quantify wealth and population as one; these are called available population and e-determinant. View Quantifying Combined Wealth and Population for details on them. It should be made clear that results similar to those below will be found in any sport from any year, with the exception of the rare and explainable anomolies (usually due to limited data, limited competitors, or other extreme circumstances). Spreadsheets (LibreOffice recommended for viewing)
Wealth and population combined are the root factors in determining a country's potential to develop skilled labourers, professionals, and talented entertainers. For example, a country with only 100 people who live in cardboard boxes is not going to be capable of creating a good soccer team or a highly educated group of doctors. However, other factors can also have a big impact on a country's potential to produce. It is important to note that many types of factors can have crossovers with other factors. For example, a country's diet might be impacted by both wealth and geography, rather than being a completely separate factor. On a related topic, some might argue that a country's wealth is their own responsibility, and to some extent, this can be true. However, there are too many external factors that can be largely beyond a country's control in creating its own wealth. A country's wealth is not only a matter of their own policies and behaviours, but is also dependent on natural resources, political situations with foreign countries, and historic events that shaped current conditions (this particularly affects technological levels and industrialization). For this reason, wealth must be accounted for when judging a country's performance in sports. Culture Cultural interests and cultural behaviours can be important factors as well. After all, a country must first be interested in a sport before it can excel in it. But wealth and population amount are also big factors in determining the potential for a culture to be interested in a sport. For example, the larger the population the more of a chance there is for interest in a higher number of sports. Though the same could be said about wealth. Determination is also an important aspect of excelling at anything. Determination itself is influenced both by natural processes and cultural behaviours. Likewise, the ability to organize properly is also important in team sports (not only directly in sports but also within sports infrastructure and organizations). Success in this can also be largely attributed not only as a result of wealth, but also cultural behaviour. Diet and Healthcare Diet can also highly impact a country's potential in sports. This element has crossover with both wealth and culture. Regarding wealth, any portion of a population that does not receive adequate nutrition and healthcare will have their potential in sports reduced. Regarding culture, certain diets may limit a population from regularly achieving certain body types needed for specific sports. The best example of this is with many traditional Asian diets that often lack calcium and/or protein which inhibits their population's average height. However, this is slowly becoming less common in contemporary times as Asian countries have begun adopting more varied diets. Genetics Some countries may have certain subgroups of populations with genetic characteristics that assist or be detrimental to them in certain sports. Geography and Climate Countries in certain regions may be inclined to play certain sports more than others due to their natural environment. The most obvious example of this is the success of northern countries in winter sports. Artificial Intelligence (AI feedback)
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