Economic Geography Flashcards

Flashcards about the primary sector, agriculture, livestock farming, fishing, forestry, environmental issues and sustainable solutions.

Agriculture

The cultivation of land to produce food, fodder, and raw materials for industry.

Subsistence Agriculture

Produce is mainly consumed by the farmer, their family, or local community, with little surplus for trade, often using simple tools and traditional methods.

Market-Oriented Agriculture

Commercial agriculture intended for sale in local or international markets, characterized by monoculture, high inputs, capital, technology, and chemical fertilizers.

Extensive Agriculture

Involves large areas with low input and low productivity per hectare.

Intensive Agriculture

Aims for maximum productivity from limited land, often using greenhouses, drip irrigation, and advanced seed varieties.

Livestock Farming

The breeding and raising of animals to obtain food and industrial products like meat, milk, wool, and leather.

Nomadic Herding

Moving animals constantly in search of pasture.

Transhumance

A seasonal movement between fixed summer and winter pastures.

Fishing

An activity in the primary sector, providing protein to millions of people worldwide. Includes coastal, offshore, deep-sea, and aquaculture.

Aquaculture

Fish farming; offers an alternative to wild capture but presents problems like antibiotic use and water contamination.

Forestry

Involves the management and harvesting of forests for products such as wood, rubber, resins, and medicinal substances.

Deforestation

A pressing global environmental problem contributing to climate change, loss of biodiversity, and soil degradation.

Silviculture

Sustainable forest management, combining exploitation with reforestation to ensure forest resources remain renewable.

Slash-and-burn Agriculture

Cutting and burning vegetation to clear land for short-term cultivation, typically found in tropical rainforests.

Dry Sedentary Agriculture

Practiced in savannah regions where farmers remain in one place, use natural manure, and rotate crops without irrigation.

Monsoon Agriculture

Common in South and Southeast Asia, using flooded fields (paddies) to grow rice; intensive and highly productive.

New World Agriculture

Large-scale mechanized farming in countries like the U.S., Canada, and Argentina; market-driven and technology-based.

Plantation Agriculture

Large estates in tropical regions, often managed by multinational corporations, producing cash crops like coffee, cocoa, or sugar cane for export.

Organic Farming

Farming that avoids synthetic inputs and focuses on ecological balance, biodiversity, and sustainability, using natural fertilizers and biological pest control.

Food Sovereignty

Advocates for local production and control over food systems to reduce dependence on international markets and support local farmers.

Secondary Sector

Includes all economic activities involved in transforming raw materials into finished or semi-finished products.

Traditional Energy Sources

Non-renewable sources such as coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear energy that dominate current usage but have environmental impacts and limited supply.

Renewable Energy Sources

Alternative energy sources such as solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal that offer sustainable solutions with less pollution and are not exhaustible.

Heavy Industries

Industries that consume a lot of energy and raw materials, such as steel and cement production.

Light Industries

Industries that consume less energy and are easier to install, such as textiles and food processing.

Basic Industries

Industries that produce semi-finished products like steel or chemicals, usually located near raw materials and ports.

Capital Goods Industries

Industries that manufacture machinery and equipment for other industries, often located near cities and basic industries.

Consumer Goods Industries

Industries that make products for direct use, such as clothes and food, often found near markets and in areas with cheap labor.

High-Tech Industries

Industries that create products like microchips and medical devices, usually found in science parks near universities.

Industrial Reconversion

A process of modernizing surviving industries, closing uncompetitive ones, and investing in research and new technologies, significant in many Western countries after the 1970s energy crisis.

Tertiary Sector

The sector of the economy that encompasses all activities that provide services rather than material goods.

Servitization

The shift where many traditional industrial processes are now part of the service economy, goods are bundled with services like marketing, design, maintenance, and finance.

Tourism

The movement of people for leisure, business, or cultural reasons, also refers to the industries that support tourists.

Water Tourism

Beach holidays, spas, nautical activities.

Mountain Tourism

Skiing, hiking, climbing.

Rural Tourism

Experiencing local traditions, crafts, and food in countryside settings.

Transport

The movement of people and goods.

Nodes

Places like airports or train stations within transport networks.

Lines

The routes connecting nodes in transport networks.

Commerce and Trade

The exchange of goods and services, central to economic growth and employment.

Wholesalers

Buy in bulk from producers and sell to retailers.

Retailers

Sell directly to consumers.

Balance of Trade

The difference between the value of exports and imports (surplus if exports are higher, deficit if the reverse).