How Geography Affects Economic Growth

GDP The total amount of stuff produced by a country in a year. Per Capita GDP The total amount of stuff produced by a country in a year divided by the total population

So why is there a relationship between temperature and economic growth?

Physical Characteristics Rainfall: helps to grow food Landlocked countries: access to water helps to buy/sell products

Disease = people in warmer climates tend to get sick more often Diseases in equatorial Africa: Malaria (300 million cases a year), African Sleeping Sickness, Dengue Fever, West Nile Virus, and Yellow Fever More sickness means people are less productive Bacteria and viruses thrive in warm temperatures all year long Disease transmitting mosquitoes which survive all year long

Why did Europe conquer Africa & Latin America and not the other way around? By the 1700, most all of humanity's greatest accomplishments, including mathematics, the compass, the printing press, gun powder, and magnets, had come from the continents of Europe and Asia (Eurasia) while the other regions of the world produced a disproportionately low amount of technological innovations. This technological superiority eventually allowed the Europeans to conquer and enslave much of Africa and South America.

Why did Eurasia have more technological advancements? It’s all about geography

1. Plants The plant species in Eurasia were easier to grow and more nutritious Example: Europe: Wheat and Barley Latin America – corn which is not as nutritious and harder to grow

2. Climate - Water Rain falls consistently in Europe unlike Africa where rain is infrequent. Europe has easy access to water, but much of Africa is not close to a coast or large river

3. Animals that could be domesticated Eurasians had access to a wide variety of docile animals perfect for domestication including chickens, sheep, bulls, horses and donkeys to plow the fields or to eat the meat Eurasia as a whole was home to 13 species of large domesticable animals (over 100lb). N. & S. America had one animal over 100 lbs – the llama Africa has rhinoceros, elephants, and zebra- all of these species were either impossible to tame or incredibly difficult to breed in captivity.

3. Animals continued Euroasians lived in close contact with animals who also carry disease. People were exposed to diseases and developed immunities to diseases like small pox.

4. Specialized jobs More food could be produced for Eurasian population so not as many people needed to be farmers. Had domesticated animals so they didn’t need people to hunt They could become doctors, blacksmiths, mathematicians, scientists These are the people who are most likely to create new technologies

Most famous African civilization with advanced technology? Ancient Egypt – why were they able to develop more? Why didn’t they take over the world?