Economic Geography

Economic Geography……deals with how people earn a living and use resources and with the links among economic activities.

Economic geographers group money-making activities into four categories.

Economic ActivitiesPrimary Activities

Use natural resources directly.

Examples: farming, mining

Tertiary ActivitiesProvide services to ppl

and businesses.Examples: teaching,

nursing, sales, etc…

Secondary ActivitiesUse raw materials to

manufacture something new

Examples: factories (food, steel, furniture)

Quaternary ActivitiesProcess and distribute

informationEx: genetics research,

computer programming

Level of Development

Development: Steady improvements in a country’s economy and in people’s quality of life.

Geographers use measures of development to analyze progress among different nations.

Measures of Development1. Gross National Product

(GNP)-total value of goods & services a country produces in a year.

Includes U.S. companies located in foreign countries

2. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – Includes only goods and services created within the country.

3. Per Capita GDP – GDP divided by the number people living in a country. Useful for comparing income levels in different countries.

Ex: US - $42,000Haiti - $1,600

4. Level of industrialization –

Industrialized means there is widespread machine power and manufacturing. If not, mostly manual labor and subsistence farming.

Additional Measures5. Energy Use6. Transportation Systems7. Communications Systems (TVs, phones,

Internet)

Ex: United States –844 televisions per 1,000 pplHaiti – 5 televisions per 1,000 ppl

8. Infrastructure – A system of roads, ports, and other facilities needed by a modern economy.

Standard of Living

Measured by factors like amount of personal income, levels of education, and food consumption.

Literacy Rate: the % of people who can read and write.

Quality of healthcare, technology level, and life expectancy.

Ex: Ethiopia (Africa) US

-life expectancy: 49 yrs 78 yrs

-infant mortality rate: 93.6 6.4

-literacy rate: 42.7% 99%

-daily caloric intake: 1,858 3,754