This document discusses key concepts in economic geography. It describes four basic types of economic systems - traditional, command, market, and mixed - and explains characteristics of different types of agriculture, industries, and economic activities. Natural resources are divided into renewable, nonrenewable, and inexhaustible categories. The document also outlines indicators used to classify countries as more developed, newly industrialized, or less developed based on factors like income levels and industrialization.

1. Economic
Geography

2. Economy
• Economic systems can vary from nation to
nation and/or from region to region.
• An economy consists of the production
and exchange of goods and services
among a group of people.
• Geographers study economic geography
by looking at the economic actives in a
region.

3. Economic Systems are the way people produce and exchange goods.
There are fourbasic types of economic systems.
• Traditional Economy- Goods
and services are traded.
Money is not
exchanged…
• Command Economy-
Production of goods and
services is decided by a
central government. The
government usually owns
the means of production.
• Market Economy- Production of
goods and services is
decided by the demand
from consumers.
• Mixed Economy- A
combination of command
and market economies. It
is set up to provide goods
and services to benefit all
people.

4. Subsistence Agriculture
• A type of farming in which
most of the produce is
consumed by the farmer
and his family
• People meet their needs in
a variety of ways. Some
groups raise just enough
food or animals to meet
their own needs.
• This is called subsistence
agriculture.
• In other areas people
produce crops or animals to
meet a demand in a larger
market.

5. Commercial/ Market Oriented Agriculture
• Is a type of farming in
which the produce is
meant for public sale

6. Cottage Industry
• Small Scale industry
that can be carried on
at home by family
members using their
own equipment

7. Commercial/Manufacturing Industries
• The mass production of
goods, typically driven by
supply and demand
– Commercial industries meet the
needs of people in a very large
area.
• No matter how small or large a
business is, it operates at one of
four economic levels.

8. Service Industry
• Any kind of economic
activity that produces
a service rather than
a product

9. Primary Activities
• Primary Activities involve gathering raw materials, for
immediate use or to use in the making of the final
product.

10. Secondary Activities
• Secondary Activities involve adding
value to materials by changing their
form.

11. Tertiary Activities
• Tertiary
Activities furnish
personal or
professional
services.
Provides
business or
professional
services, such
as a teacher,
sales person, or
doctor.

12. Quaternary Activities
• Quaternary Activities provide
information management, and research
services.

13. Natural Resources
• An important part of
economic geography
is knowing which
resources a nation
has.
• Natural resources are
materials on or in the
earth that have
economic value.

14. Natural Resources
• Natural resources are not distributed equally around the world.
• When geographers study a country’s economy, they look closely at
the location of the resources.
• They also look at the quality and quantity of the natural resources.

15. 2
RESOURCES
They also divide natural
resources into three basic
types:
• Renewable-these
resources, such as trees,
can be replaced through
natural processes.
Examples are trees.
• Nonrenewable-these
resources cannot be
replaced once they have
been removed from the
ground—metals and
fossil fuels.

16. Resources
• Inexhaustible energy
sources-these power
producing resources are
the result of solar or Earth
processes. The include
sunlight, geothermal heat,
winds, and tides.
• Recyclable Resources- is
one that can be used over
and over…It must first go
through a process for
reuse. It can be human
driven or naturally
occuring

17. SCARCITY
• The condition of something being scarce or
deficient; an inadequate amount of something.

18. Free Enterprise (Free Market/Capitalism)
• Decisions are determined by individuals and are
based on trade.
• Economic choices are determined through
competition and by supply and demand with profit
as a motive
• Private property is protected by law
• In theory, there is no government interference with
these decisions.
• There is no pure free market economy anywhere in
the world
• Countries with largely free market systems include
Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, the
United States, ect.

19. Socialist (Mixed Economy)
• Belief that society should democratically distribute
wealth evenly throughout a society. Mixed
Economies generally blend the principles of free
market and command economies
• Individuals are free to make economic choices, but
the government plays a significant role in
determining how wealth is distributed
• Without government involvement in the economy,
private property rights would not be protected, nor
would services requiring vast amounts of capital be
feasible-mass transportation, public education, ect.
• Most of the world’s countries have varying degrees
of a mixed economy

20. Command (Communist/Centrally Planned Economy)
• The central government alone plans and decides how to
answer all three economic questions to further social goals.
• Private property is restricted-the state controls industry,
capital, and wealth, thus stifling private competition
• Incentives for entrepreneurship are few: there is no
guarantee that the individual will profit from innovative ideas
or the development of new technologies
• Economic freedom is not a valued principle-the state
determines how the factors of production will be allocated
• Examples: North Korea, China, Iran
• Not all centrally planned economies are properly referred to
as ‘communist.’

21. Infrastructure
• Consist of the basic support systems
needed to keep an economy going
including power, communication,
transportation, water, sanitation, and
education systems.

22. Infrastructure

23. Infrastructure

24. Infrastructure

25. • Per capita income-the amount of money the
average person makes each year in a
country. Generally, this statistic is generated
by dividing a country’s GDP by its population
• Gross National Product (GNP)-the total value
of all goods and services produced by a
country over a year.
• Gross Domestic Product (GDP)-the total
value of all goods and services produced
with in a given period of time
Economic Indicators

26. • Aka Developed
• A high income country with a mature
industrial sector and whose residents
enjoy a relatively high standard of living.
• Primary industries tend to be highly
mechanized
More Developed Country

27. • Aka Developing
• Usually a low or middle income country
whose economy is either mostly agrarian
or only partially industrialized
Newly Industrialized Country

28. • Aka underdeveloped
• A low income country that is unable to
provide basic necessities, such as job
opportunities, health care, drinkable water,
food, education, and housing
Less Developed