What Do I Need to Know About Economic Geography?
What do I need to know about economic geography?
Use of Energy Resources / Resources- Wood – deforestation
- Coal – pollution, mining problems, competition with oil and gas
- Petroleum – transportation
- Nuclear – contamination/waste
- Solar, wind – coast/aesthetics
- Primary – Dealing directly with resources (fishing, farming, forestry, mining)
- Secondary – Manufacturing and processing (steel mills, automobile assembly, sawmills)
- Tertiary – Services (transportation, retail trade, informational technology services
Effects of Unequal Distribution of Resources
- Interdependence of nations/trade in goods, services, and capital resources
- Uneven economic development – Some countries are rich and some are poor
- Energy produces and consumers – Some countries have oil and coal and some must buy it
- Conflict over control of resources – Countries will fight for resources such as fresh water, gold, oil, etc…
Social and economic priorities that influence a culture’s perspective on resources
- Economic development priorities (China values economic development over saving the environment)
- Environmental conservation priorities
- Priorities of indigenous minorities
- Urban/rural ratio – developed countries have more people living in cities
- Labor force characteristics – in developing countries more people work in primary and secondary activity
- GDP per capita – developed countries have a high GDP
- Educational achievement
- Population growth rate – developing countries have a higher growth rate
- Population age distribution – developing countries have younger populations
- Literacy rate (who can read and write)
- Life expectancy
- Infant mortality
- Percentage of urban population
- Industrial labor systems (factories replaced cottage industries)
- Migration from rural to urban areas
- Industrialized countries export labor intensive work to developing nations
- Growth of trade alliances
- Growth of service industry
- Growth of financial services networks and international banks
- Internationalization of product assembly
- Technology that allows instant communication among people in different countries
- Modern transportation networks that allow rapid and efficient exchange of goods and materials
- Widespread marketing of products (Nike, Coke)
Natural Resources
- Renewable – soil, water, forests
- Nonrenewable – Fossil fuels (oil, coal, natural gas) and metals (gold, iron, copper, bauxite)
- Level of education
- Skilled and unskilled workers
- Entrepreneurial and managerial abilities
- Availability of money for investment
- Level of infrastructure
- Availability and use of tools, machines, and technologies
- Resource depletion
- Environmental degradation
- Health problems
- Production of goods and services
- Employment opportunities
- Development of technologies
- Proximity of economic activity and natural resources
- Steel mills are located next to coal deposits
- Cattle ranches are located near sources of grain
- Fishing is located near the ocean
- Aluminum smelting is located near hydroelectric power plants because it takes a lot of electricity to extract aluminum from bauxite ore
- Non-proximity of economic activity and natural resources
- Japan – limited natural resources; major manufacturing region
- United Arab Emirates – oil; lack of industry
- Steam engine – demand for coal
- Internal combustion engine – petroleum
- Computer chips – demand for skilled labor
- Access to natural resources
- Access to capital resources
- Numbers and skills of human resources
- Levels of economic development
- Standards of living and quality of life
- Relationship between economic development and quality of life
- Comparative advantage: countries will export goods and services that they can produce at lower relative costs than other countries
- Specialization of goods and services that a country can market for a profit
- Japan – Highly industrialized nation despite limited natural resources
- Russia – Numerous resources many of which are not economically profitable to develop
- United States – Diversified economy, abundant natural resources, specialized industries
- Cote D’Ivoire – Limited natural resources, cash crops in exchange for manufactured goods
- Switzerland – Limited natural resources
- EU – European Union
- NAFTA – North American Free Trade Agreement
- ASEAN – Association of Southeast Asian Nations
- OPEC – Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
- More efficient industries
- Access to larger markets
- Access to natural, human, and capital resources without restrictions
- Greater influence on the world market
- Closing of some industries
- Concentration of some industries in certain countries
- Agribusiness replacing family farms
- Difficulty in agreeing on common economic policies