1. The problem asks us to determine which statement about the correlation coefficients between average access to basic water services and Annual Rates of Change (ARC) in rural and urban areas is true. 2. Correlation coefficients range from -1 to 1, where values closer to -1 or 1 indicate stronger negative or positive relationships, respectively. 3. We analyze the given table for the strongest and weakest correlations: - South Asia rural: -0.9306 (strong negative) - North America urban: 0.6217 (strong positive) - Sub-Saharan Africa rural: 0.2376 (positive but weaker) 4. Statement 1: "The correlation between average rural access and ARC in South Asia is less than any other region, both rural and urban." - The value is -0.9306, which is the lowest (most negative) in the table. - This means it is indeed less than all other correlations. 5. Statement 2: "The correlation between average urban access and ARC in North America is greater than any other region, both rural and urban." - The value is 0.6217, which is the highest positive correlation in the table. - This statement is also true. 6. Statement 3: "The correlation between average rural access and ARC in South Asia is greater than any other region." - This is false because -0.9306 is very low (negative), not greater. 7. Statement 4: "The correlation between average rural access and ARC in Sub-Saharan Africa is greater than any other region." - The value is 0.2376, which is not the greatest. 8. Both statements 1 and 2 are true, but since the question asks which statement is true (singular), the strongest true statement is statement 1 about South Asia having the lowest correlation. Final answer: The correlation between the average rural access to basic water services and the Annual Rates of Change in South Asia is less than the correlation observed in any other region, both rural and urban.