Belgium’s Industrial Revolution: Key Factors
Belgium was the first continental European region to fully adopt the model of British industrialization. Despite frequent political changes, Belgium showed a remarkable degree of continuity in its economic development model.
Several factors contributed to this early industrialization:
- Firstly, the region had a long industrial tradition.
- Secondly, Belgium had natural resources similar to those of Britain. Its coal deposits were readily accessible, and even after 1850, its production was greater than
Population Geography of Spain: Sources and Distribution
Demographic Sources in Population Geography
Population Geography studies the relationships between population and space. It relies on various sources:
Key Demographic Sources
Census: An individualized count of a country’s population at a specific time. It collects demographic, economic, and social data (total population de facto and de jure, gender, age, marital status, etc.). The census has been conducted every 10 years since 1981 (in years ending in 1).
Municipal Register (Padrón Municipal): A register
16th Century Society, Economy, and Demographics
16th Century Society and Economy
16th Century Demographics
Positive aspects: Abundant demographic sources were available, used by the state for purposes such as identifying taxpayers, controlling local resources, or managing the army and population.
Organizational precision: Church parish censuses were considered more reliable for smaller areas.
Census Data and Challenges
Several complete censuses were conducted in 16th-century Spain (1528-30, 1591). France and England also had censuses, for example:
Read MoreUnderstanding the Widening Bourgeois and Spanish Urban Hierarchy
The Widening Bourgeois
The widening bourgeois is a new space that meets the demands of urban growth of the bourgeoisie. Therefore, their ideas of order (in its orthogonal plane), health (paving, sewage, and green spaces), and profit.
The plot was in blocks with large open spaces occupied by gardens. The dominant land use was residential bourgeois.
The first extensions were made in Barcelona, designed by Cerdá (1859), and Madrid, by Castro (1860). Then it spread to other cities.
With the passage of
Read MoreCatholic Monarchs: Formation of Spain
Isabel of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon married in 1469. This marriage marked the beginning of a new state called the Hispanic Monarchy. It covered the crowns of both kingdoms, although each maintained its own institutions of government.
Internal Policy
Castile was the most powerful territory. Its new additions were easier to control, which explains the monarchs’ preference for this kingdom. On the other hand, in the Crown of Aragon, the king’s power was more limited.
Internal policy had the objective
Read MoreEurope in the 18th Century: Society & Politics
Primary Sector in the 18th Century
In the eighteenth century, most of the population worked in agriculture. In general, it was subsistence production on unproductive dry lands, and most of the land was devoted to growing cereals, which were the staple diet, but products for trade were also grown.
Land Ownership and Privilege
Land ownership was fundamentally in the hands of the clearly privileged.
The land of the nobility was never divided because of primogeniture, a law requiring all property to be
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