Industrial Revolution
The radical change in manufacturing methods that began in Great Britain in the mid-18th century and was marked by the shift from small-scale, hand-crafted, muscle-powered production to power-driven mass production.
Industrialization
The process in which the interaction of social and economic factors causes the development of industries on a wide scale.
Colonialism
The practice of claiming and dominating overseas territories
Imperialism
The push to create an empire by exercising force or influence to control other nations or people.
Primary
Economic sector associated with removing or harvesting products from the earth; includes agriculture, fishing, forestry, mining or quarrying, and extracting liquids or gas.
Secondary
Economic sector associated with the production of goods from raw materials; includes manufacturing, processing, and construction.
Tertiary
Economic sector that includes a host of activities that involve the transport, storage, marketing, and selling of goods or services; also called the service sector.
Quaternary
Economic sector that is a subset of tertiary sector activities that requires workers to process and handle information and environmental technology.
Quinary
Economic sector that is a subset of the quaternary sector; involves the very top leaders in government, science, universities, nonprofits, health care, culture, and media.
Least Cost Theory
Industrial location theory suggesting that businesses locate their facilities in a particular place because that location minimizes the costs of production.
Core
Classification of a country or region that has wealth, higher education levels, more advanced technologies, many resources, strong militaries, and powerful allies
Semi-periphery
Classification of a country or region that has qualities of both core and peripheral areas and is often in the process of industrializing.
Periphery
Classification of a country or region that has less wealth, lower education levels, and less sophisticated technologies and also tends to have an unstable government and poor healthcare system.