Economic Geography: Systems, Activities, and Resources

1. Chapter 4, Section 5 Economic Geography

2. Economic Geography 4.5 • An economy consists of the production and exchange of goods and services among a group of people • The way people choose to produce and exchange goods is called as economic system • Traditional Economy - trade without money, or “barter” • Command Economy – production determined by government, who also owns the means of production, and does not necessarily reflect the consumer demand: communism • Market Economy – Production of goods and services follows consumer demand: capitalism, free enterprise • Socialism – where government may own major means of production, but market consumer demand is followed

3. Economic Activities • Subsistence Agriculture – just enough to feed the family • Commercial Agriculture – producing a surplus for the market • Cottage Industry – on a small scale, often family-owned and operating out of the home • Commercial Industry – serving the needs of people in a large area • Primary Activities – taking raw materials from the environment: forestry, fisheries, mining • Secondary Activities – changing the form of the raw materials: manufacturing, food processing and packing • Tertiary Activities - providing business or personal services: education, healthcare, lawyers, retailers • Quaternary Activities – providing information, management and research services by highly-trained persons: web services, think-tanks, research universities • The more developed the economy, the greater the number and variety of activities

4. Natural Resources are materials on or near the earth • These materials only become resources when society has a use for them: cultural definition of resources • Like everything, they are unevenly distributed around the earth • Usually divided into three groups • Renewable – can be replaced through nature: trees, seafood • Non-renewable – cannot be replaced once they are removed from the earth: iron and other ores, fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, coal) • Inexhaustible Energy Sources – unlimited in quantity: sunlight, geothermal heat, winds, tides

5. Developed economies require basic support systems called infrastructure Transportation: roads, railways, ports and airports Communications systems: Strong economies are linked internally and externally by Internet and satellite communications Water, sanitation, electricity and gas networks, and education systems

6. Geographers compare economies using a variety of statistics Per-capita Income – the average amount of money earned by each person in a political unit Gross National Product(GNP) – the total of goods and services divided by the number of citizens Gross Domestic Product(GDP) – the total of goods and services divided by the number of people within the boundaries

7. Development Levels Developing Nations – have low GDP, lack an industrial base and struggle to meet their people’s basic needs Developed Nations – have high GDPs, a varied economy, especially with quaternary activities

8. Mali

9. India

10. China

11. Japan

12. USA