Does Geography Matter? I shall advance the thesis that geography is a significant factor in economic development. By saying that geography matters, I mean that an economy is highly dependent on it’s geography because it explains why certain economies prosper, while others, in contrast, struggle. I have two reasons for asserting my thesis that geography is a significant factor in economic development. First, there is a strong correlation between geography and productivity (McArthur, Sachs 2001,p. 3). Second, geography directly shapes the sorts of institutions that evolve and thus indirectly affect economic development (Engerman, Sokoloff 2002, p. 3). As mentioned above, my thesis stresses the importance of geography and it’s related variables in economic development; for although there are many different attributes that contribute to economic development, it is, without a doubt, obvious that geography plays the most significant role in determining the success of an economy, thus I will illustrate that geography shapes the performance and institution of economies, which, in turn, means it heavily influences economic development, and accordingly concludes that geography matters. In ordinary discourse, geography is a rather contested concept, so for this purpose, I use the most widely accepted definition of the term, from the Oxford Dictionary, defining it as, “the nature and relative arrangement of places and physical features (Simpson, Weiner, Proffitt, Oxford English Dictionary).” With this clarification, I will begin by presenting the theories and evidence that illustrate why geography is important. The most obvious factor to analyze is the physical location, and thus what location means in regards to an economy and it’s productivity. Generally speaking, “coastal economies have a higher income than landlocked economies (Gallup, Sachs, Mellinger 1999 p.173),” which
“Could suburbs prosper independently of central cities? Probably. But would they prosper even more if they were a part of a better-integrated metropolis? The answer is almost certainly yes.” (p. 66)
One theme that is evident throughout Blij’s “Power of Place” is the concept of culture regions mainly his analysis of formal, core, and periphery areas. To introduce the idea of culture regions he mentions how the many of the world’s underdeveloped and poor nations are part of the world’s periphery. In particular, referring to Blij’s map on page 14 many of the developed countries are among the world’s core nations: Japan, Australia, United States, Canada, and Western Europe. Blij explains through his diagram that the peripheries are located in Southeast Asia, Africa, South America, and the Middle East (14). Blij des...
As Americans we live in isolation, surrounded by advertisements, electronic screens, fast food, the internet, etc. We live these lives while thousands scream out in hunger and thirst begging to nourish their families. Living lives in excess, often unknowingly supporting a system that is not sustainable, breeds capitalism, and unplugs us from the rest of the world. Having been raised in a typical suburban home my ideas of culture were going to Olive Garden or walking by Riverside in Minneapolis. However, Geography 111 has challenged what I believed, truly allowing me to grasp that I am not part of solution I am problem that spreads neocolonialism, capitalism, and western culture wherever a profit can be made. Learning about these topics and combining it with a geographical perspective I know will enable me to break from the molds and forge new paths.
Geographic factors often influence United States government actions, both foreign and domestic. Some of these factors include location, physical environment, movement of people, climate, and resources. Although these geographic factors can lead to increase in our countries land size and some positive outcomes, there are also chances for negative outcomes.
Throughout this unit, country and story have both played an important part in my development and understanding on Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders.
Silva, Julie A. and Robin M. Leichenko. Economic Geography. Vol. 80, No. 3 (Jul., 2004), pp. 261-
Geography is the study of the physical features of the earth and its atmosphere, and of human activity as it affects and is affected by it, including the distribution of populations and resources, land use, and industries. Environmental influences, such as cost, changing weather, climate patterns, their potential impacts, and the threat of spreading diseases, are of increasing concern. Geography allows us to participate and enjoy our planet. It gives us a sense of reference to where we live and where we may be going in relationship to where we have been, and the appreciation of the world we live in. Anthropology is the study of human kind and culture, everybody wants to know where and how humans came to be. Our daily lives such as family, friends, co-workers and the under...
The question that I will be answering for my coursework is which is best at protecting the Northumberland coastline – groynes or beach nourishment. I will be going to Blyth beach also I will be visiting Newbiggen beach I am investigating the Northumberland coastline as part of my geography coursework also because I live in the UK and I want to see how safe the people of the UK are with the safety of the coastline and its defences against coastal erosion. We will be visiting the Northumberland coastline on Thursday the 15th of May 2014.
In an increasingly global world geography matters now more than ever. With so many groundbreaking technological advances within the last 50 years the world is rapidly evolving into a more interconnected and codependent society. These strides of advancement not only allow for international business interactions, but it allows instant communication to make business more cohesive. As a more interconnected society it is important for every person to understand the locations and cultural motivations of the people they interact with. These subject matters are suggested and discussed in “Why Geography Matters…More Than Ever!”
The Five Themes of Geography are: Location – Absolute points on a map or grid or Relative to where something may be; Place – The physical and/or human characteristics of a locations; Human/Environment Interactions – How humans have impacted the landscape or environment; Relationship between places Movement – How humans interact on the earth (i.e. how they communicate over distance (short or long)) and Regions – a unit of space that has commonalities defined by physical, human and environmental geography. The Explorers of the New World may have not known what the Five Themes of Geography were but they quickly learned. Of the five themes the ones that they all took advantage of was the physical Location and Place as they learned to navigate to and from as well as through their new environments. Over Time the explorers began to discover the relationships within their environments and original occupants of the lands as well as the regions in which they now occupied.
All of them are in some way related to cities and, therefore, to the hypothesis in the title of this paper. Successful, widespread industrialization depends on the extent to which the above conditions exist in a given economy. Or, in other words, successful industrialization is not possible without a certain amount of capital, entrepreneurs who invest it in industrial manufacturing, technology to enable industrial production, skilled and less skilled labor to operate the machines, and sufficient transportation systems to make the purchase of raw materials and the sale of manufactured products profitable. As these conditions are less likely to develop in an agrarian economy, a certain level of urbanization was necessary to obtain them.” After reading this passage, it was clearer to see that a market was not developed in the District of Columbia, because there was no specific need for one.
Geographical concepts have been traced back to ancient days, geography is defining as the scientific study of the location of people and activity across earth and reasons for their distribution. It asks where and why things are where they are. Geographers organizes materials by the places they are located, thus being they have concluded that what happens in one place affects what happens in another place and can further affect conditions in the near future. Like any other subject geography has its own language and knowledge for better understanding of its concepts. Thinking geographically means learning the language, we need both geographical vocabulary and grammar in order to do this. Geography has concepts that enables us to have geographical
Human activity has major effects on geography. When studying the earth you can come to several conclusions about the geography of any particular civilization. Distribution of life in the civilization allows you to analyze whether their geography is their own destiny. Do people control their own destiny? Is geography something that people can control? Technology is really the key to why geography can be overcome by any people.
As stated before, spatial interaction is the movement of goods and services, people and information, between places and regions. In the instance of China, a certain “flow” has shown its relationship to the western world. Particularly, “heavily-conditioned” foreign investments has been pumped into that Southeast Asian country for a very long time now while China has given back lowball cheap materials for purchase in European and American markets. Initially, this idea doesn’t seem all that bad; after all, we,as in western cultures, have set up our production line in their country. But if we arent careful will this lead to western-style approaches to business management and even western technology (this technology to steady their own economy) be introduced? Unfortunately, the evidence is stacked heavily on the side that these facilities are not up to d...
Mainly advantages of location decide the structural growth of the industries in the economy. More number of states in the country faces the problem of advantage location. Similarly, the agriculture sector also suffers from natural calamities and other disturbances. The dependence on agriculture varies considerably across the states.