Geography summary 4.1-4.4
Geo guides
G178:means of production
You need 3 means of productions when you manufacture things:
1. Labour = paid work that people do to produce goods or provide services (primary, secondary,
tertiary sector)
2. Capital = all the buildings, machinery, equipment and vehicles that are needed for production
3. Natural resources = elements in the natural environment that are needed for production
(land, minerals, water)
- People who do paid work belong to the working population, even if you’re unemployed you
still belong there
G179: raw materials
Raw materials are used at the start of the production process, you can slipt them in 2 groups
1. Unprocessed raw materials: come from the primary sector (milk, pelts, wool, grain)
2. Semi-manufactured products: are already processed (from other industries) (like batteries)
Minerals = resources and fuel that are extracted from the earth
The extraction of minerals is called mining
1. Surface mining: minerals that lie on the surface are extracted with machinery (creates large,
deep quarries)
2. Subsurface mining: minerals that lie deep underground are extracted with a system of
vertical shafts and horizontal corridors which are built underground and minerals are send to
the surface
G192: raw materials or the market
Location factors= reasons for choosing a location for companies
One of the most important is a location with access to raw materials and access to the
market
Companies that use a lot of raw materials choose a location at which they are available or
can be delivered cheaply (these are resource-dependent companies) (heavy industry)
Market-dependent businesses look for a location near the market: the people or companies
that want to buy their product. Usually a densely populated, metropolitan region
G193 the labour market
Labour market = where the supply and demand for labour meet
A clothing company needs a lot of people to sew, so looks for a location where wages are low
Labour-intensive businesses are often located in low-wage countries
Other businesses need workers with specialised technological knowledge like computer
chips. These businesses need very few raw materials. They look near a university with people
of right knowledge
Businesses choose locations in attractive environments like in a city with plenty of facilities or
nice landscapes to tempt people to work for them
G194: infrastructure
Infrastructure = everything you need to transport people, goods and information
Motorways, railways, waterways, airports
Railway infrastructure includes everything a train needs except the train itself
, It includes rails, overhead lines, stations, repair yards and even the telephone network
G195: economies of agglomeration
Businesses prefer to locate together in the same district, they benefit from each other
For example because they share a training centre or experienced people live near each other
Economies of agglomeration = the benefits that businesses get from locating in the same
area
You see this most clearly in metropolitan regions
G150: states and borders
A state is a region with 2 characteristics
- It has clear borders
- It has its own government (sovereign state)
There are 2 kinds of state borders
1. Natural border: a border along a natural obstacle such as a river or mountain range
2. Artificial border: a man-made border marked by signs and boundary posts
at sea there are also borders. An area belongs to the continent but is under water. It is called
the continental shelf. On the continental shelf are artificial borders
G151: people, nation, state
A people is a group of humans who have lived together for centuries and share the same
culture
They have a lot in common such as language, religion, music and clothing
If only one people lives in a state it is called a nation (or nation state)
The homeland of a people is not always defined by state borders, sometimes a state has
more than a 100 different peoples and sometimes it extends over more than one state
G152: culture
Culture describes the beliefs and customs that we learn when we are growing up
You can recognize a culture by elements of the spatial planning
There are 7 cultural regions in the world but if you zoom in you see major differences within
a cultural region
Diffusion = the spreading of elements of a culture from one region to another
G145: Immigration and emigration
Geo guides
G178:means of production
You need 3 means of productions when you manufacture things:
1. Labour = paid work that people do to produce goods or provide services (primary, secondary,
tertiary sector)
2. Capital = all the buildings, machinery, equipment and vehicles that are needed for production
3. Natural resources = elements in the natural environment that are needed for production
(land, minerals, water)
- People who do paid work belong to the working population, even if you’re unemployed you
still belong there
G179: raw materials
Raw materials are used at the start of the production process, you can slipt them in 2 groups
1. Unprocessed raw materials: come from the primary sector (milk, pelts, wool, grain)
2. Semi-manufactured products: are already processed (from other industries) (like batteries)
Minerals = resources and fuel that are extracted from the earth
The extraction of minerals is called mining
1. Surface mining: minerals that lie on the surface are extracted with machinery (creates large,
deep quarries)
2. Subsurface mining: minerals that lie deep underground are extracted with a system of
vertical shafts and horizontal corridors which are built underground and minerals are send to
the surface
G192: raw materials or the market
Location factors= reasons for choosing a location for companies
One of the most important is a location with access to raw materials and access to the
market
Companies that use a lot of raw materials choose a location at which they are available or
can be delivered cheaply (these are resource-dependent companies) (heavy industry)
Market-dependent businesses look for a location near the market: the people or companies
that want to buy their product. Usually a densely populated, metropolitan region
G193 the labour market
Labour market = where the supply and demand for labour meet
A clothing company needs a lot of people to sew, so looks for a location where wages are low
Labour-intensive businesses are often located in low-wage countries
Other businesses need workers with specialised technological knowledge like computer
chips. These businesses need very few raw materials. They look near a university with people
of right knowledge
Businesses choose locations in attractive environments like in a city with plenty of facilities or
nice landscapes to tempt people to work for them
G194: infrastructure
Infrastructure = everything you need to transport people, goods and information
Motorways, railways, waterways, airports
Railway infrastructure includes everything a train needs except the train itself
, It includes rails, overhead lines, stations, repair yards and even the telephone network
G195: economies of agglomeration
Businesses prefer to locate together in the same district, they benefit from each other
For example because they share a training centre or experienced people live near each other
Economies of agglomeration = the benefits that businesses get from locating in the same
area
You see this most clearly in metropolitan regions
G150: states and borders
A state is a region with 2 characteristics
- It has clear borders
- It has its own government (sovereign state)
There are 2 kinds of state borders
1. Natural border: a border along a natural obstacle such as a river or mountain range
2. Artificial border: a man-made border marked by signs and boundary posts
at sea there are also borders. An area belongs to the continent but is under water. It is called
the continental shelf. On the continental shelf are artificial borders
G151: people, nation, state
A people is a group of humans who have lived together for centuries and share the same
culture
They have a lot in common such as language, religion, music and clothing
If only one people lives in a state it is called a nation (or nation state)
The homeland of a people is not always defined by state borders, sometimes a state has
more than a 100 different peoples and sometimes it extends over more than one state
G152: culture
Culture describes the beliefs and customs that we learn when we are growing up
You can recognize a culture by elements of the spatial planning
There are 7 cultural regions in the world but if you zoom in you see major differences within
a cultural region
Diffusion = the spreading of elements of a culture from one region to another
G145: Immigration and emigration
