Economic Sectors, Industries, and Tourism
Economic Sectors
Primary Sector
Activities involved in obtaining resources directly from raw materials, including agriculture, livestock, fishing, forestry, and mining. This sector provides food and raw materials.
Tertiary Sector
Activities that don’t produce material products. This sector provides individuals, companies, and governments with services.
Trade Balance
- Positive: Exports are greater than imports.
- Negative: Imports are greater than exports.
- Balanced: No difference between imports and exports.
GDP (Gross Domestic Product)
The value of goods and services produced by a country in one year.
Fishing Grounds
Areas rich in fish.
Agriculture
Traditional Agriculture
Involves traditional, non-mechanized production methods, requires many workers, and produces a low yield. It represents a tiny percentage of global production.
- Subsistence Farming: Practiced in underdeveloped areas, primarily in tropical rainforests, producing just enough to survive. One technique involves burning a section of forest, but it doesn’t produce a high yield.
- Self-Consumption Farming: Provides food for the farmer and their animals. More productive and sedentary than subsistence farming, it uses animals for labor and minimal mechanization. Common in Mediterranean and mountainous areas, where it’s gradually being replaced by modern farming techniques.
- Rice Terraces: Created by local farmers in mountainous areas to provide the flat ground needed for rice cultivation.
Modern Agriculture
Farming that is highly technological or mechanized.
- Commercial Agriculture: Targets national and international markets, utilizes advanced technology, chemical products, and specialized machinery, applying industrial production techniques. It’s adequately financed, marketed, and often focuses on single crops. Examples include extensive mechanized agriculture (cereals), plantations (fruit), and greenhouse crops (hydroponic, which don’t need soil).
- Ecological Agriculture: Avoids chemical products and creates higher-quality products, albeit at a higher cost. This natural approach is gaining popularity among individuals who prefer avoiding artificial products.
Industrial Activities
- Base Industries: Perform the first changes to raw materials, providing energy or semi-finished materials used for producing other products, such as energy, steel, or iron.
- Capital Goods Industries: Process materials further to create products that supply tools to companies, such as machinery, electrical equipment, and technology.
- Consumer Goods Industries: Manufacture products sold directly to consumers, such as food, textiles, pharmaceuticals, and footwear.
Light Industry & Heavy Industry
Categorized by the volume of raw materials and the number of employees: small (less than 50), medium (50-100), and large (more than 100).
Great Industrial Areas
- Original Industrial Areas: Central Germany, Northern France, and Central U.K. These areas, where the industrial revolution emerged, were located near abundant coal and iron deposits. Production initially focused on domestic development and colonies but has since decreased.
- Modern Industrial Areas: Developed later, including the Ural Mountains, Catalonia, Madrid, and the Basque Country. These areas initially relied heavily on raw materials and labor, locating near big cities. Now, they are smaller but technologically advanced and rely on the foreign market.
- New Industrial Areas: Emerged in the last 20 years, including areas in America, Asia, South Africa, and Australia. These very modern industries focus on advanced electronic development and innovation, exporting consumer goods like cars worldwide.
Tourism
The movement of people from their regular home or place of residence to another area for leisure, for a period longer than a day. It’s a social, cultural, and economic activity that’s growing due to increased cultural awareness and provides an important source of income.
Types of Tourism
- Cultural Tourism: Attracted by cultural and historical wealth, such as important museums like the Prado or places like the Great Wall of China, as well as big concerts, sporting events, and globally renowned celebrations.
- Ecotourism: Explores the natural world.
- Rural Tourism: Focuses on natural landscapes and traditional lifestyles.
- Nature Tourism: Centers on natural landscapes and spaces for adventure sports, studying local wildlife, or admiring scenery.
- Nature-Based Sports Tourism: Involves adventure sports like skiing.
- Sun and Beach Tourism: The most profitable type due to the duration of stay, attracting a large volume of tourists and providing a good source of income. It impacts the landscape and requires advanced infrastructural support (hotels, airports, etc.).
- Other Types: Theme parks like Disney World or sea and river cruises, such as routes around the Caribbean or Mediterranean seas.