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 Activities Primary Activities Tertiary Activities Use natural resources directly. Examples: farming, mining Tertiary Activities Provide services to ppl and businesses. Examples: teaching, nursing, sales, etc… Secondary Activities Use raw materials to manufacture something new Examples: factories (food, steel, furniture) Quaternary Activities Process and distribute information Ex: 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 Development 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 - $42,000 Haiti - $1,600

4. Level of industrialization – Industrialized means there is widespread machine power and manufacturing. If not, mostly manual labor and subsistence farming.

Additional Measures 5. Energy Use 6. Transportation Systems 7. Communications Systems (TVs, phones, Internet) Ex: United States –844 televisions per 1,000 ppl Haiti – 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