Economic Activities, Trade, and Urban Geography: Key Concepts and Definitions

Primary Economic Activity

The collection and extraction of raw materials: Agriculture, gathering industries, and extractive industries.

Secondary Economic Activity

The manufacturing and processing of raw materials: Manufacturing, processing, construction, and power production.

Tertiary Economic Activity

Service-based activities involving the exchange and sale of goods and services (e.g., wholesale/retail trade, transportation, healthcare, education).

Quaternary Services

Advanced services focusing on information handling, management, and research (e.g., high-tech skills, national accounting firms).

Quinary Services

Executive decision-making and high-level management by top executives who often locate in places with the finest amenities.

Service Sector Trend

The growing sector in older, industrialized economies (e.g., it replaced secondary activities as the largest sector in the U.S. economy).

Characteristics of Services

Services are: Intangible (cannot be held), hard to separate production and consumption, variable, and perishable (cannot be stored).

Global Economic Shift

Globally, as countries develop, they shift toward tertiary production. Poorer countries tend to have more of their economy based in primary and secondary production.

Trade-to-GDP Ratio

(Imports + Exports) / GDP. It indicates the relative importance of international trade to a nation's economy. A high ratio means a country mostly produces for export and imports (e.g., Singapore).

Trade Surplus

A country exports more value than it imports (e.g., China, Japan, Germany today).

Trade Deficit

A country imports more value than it exports (e.g., the U.S. since the 1960s).

Global Division of Labor

The current system where production work is split across countries to take advantage of comparative advantages, driven by cheap transportation costs.

Transnational Corporation (TNC)

A private firm with established branch operations in foreign nations outside of its headquarters' country.

TNC Headquarters Location

90% of the largest 100 TNCs have headquarters in the USA, Japan, or European Union.

Outsourcing

Subcontracting production or service tasks to an outside, independent company to gain flexibility and save costs.

Offshoring

The practice of either hiring people in other countries or moving in-house operations overseas.

World Trade Organization (WTO)

Established in 1995 to reduce trade barriers and inequities between wealthy and poor countries.

Puget Sound Formation

The once-valley, now underwater, was most likely formed by a glacier (based on its bathymetry/underwater topography).

Net Primary Productivity (NPP)

NPP is primarily dependent on both Latitude and Precipitation.

Fastest Wind Speeds

Expected around 55 degrees latitude.

Methane (CH4)

A greenhouse gas that has increased by a greater percentage (140%) than $\text{CO}_2$. Largely from factory farming/cattle, it has a strong heating effect but lasts only about 12 years in the atmosphere.

CO2 Increase

Has increased by over 40% since preindustrial times (1750), largely from the burning of fossil fuels.

Gerrymandering: Cracking

Dividing a population among multiple districts (splintering) to dilute their voting impact.

Gerrymandering: Packing

Concentrating a population into a single district to minimize their impact elsewhere.

Universalizing Religions

Claim applicability to all persons and seek to spread through missionary work (e.g., Christianity, Islam).

Ethnic Religions

Spread primarily through migration and cultural exchange, rather than religious conversion (e.g., Hinduism, Judaism).

Urbanized Area vs. Metropolitan Area

Urbanized Area is continuously built-up with no reference to political boundaries. Metropolitan Area is a large-scale functional economic entity that can be discontinuously built up.

Site

The exact location of a place, usually defined by physical characteristics or coordinates.

Urban Growth Boundary

A tool used by cities (e.g., Portland, OR) to prohibit urban conversion of surrounding open space and agricultural land.

Migration Goal

Migrants aim to minimize uncertainty and risk.