Industrialization and Economic Sectors (AP Human Geography Unit 7)

Industrial Revolution

A major shift from hand production in homes/small workshops to machine-powered manufacturing concentrated in factories, fundamentally changing production systems.

Industrialization

The process of developing machine-based manufacturing, including changes in energy use, labor organization, transportation, and the spatial pattern of industry.

Mechanization of production

Using machines to increase output per worker, often accompanied by specialized tasks rather than one artisan making an entire product.

Energy transition (industrialization)

A shift from human/animal power or water power toward dense energy sources like coal (and later oil and electricity), altering where factories can locate.

Factory system

Centralized production in a single workplace where owners concentrate machinery, coordinate labor, and standardize output.

Transportation revolution

Improvements such as canals, better roads, and especially railroads that lowered transport costs, expanded markets, and enabled wider distribution of goods.

Capital investment and finance

The funding (often via banking/credit systems) needed for expensive industrial machinery and infrastructure, enabling faster industrial expansion.

Diffusion (of industrialization)

The spread of industrialization from early core regions (e.g., Great Britain) to other regions, dependent on capital, resources, infrastructure, and stability.

Foreign direct investment (FDI)

Outside firms investing in another country/region, for example by building factories, often contributing to industrial diffusion.

Technology transfer

The movement of machinery, technical knowledge, or production methods from one place to another, helping late-industrializing regions develop manufacturing.

Export-oriented industrialization

An industrial strategy focused on manufacturing goods for global markets rather than primarily for domestic consumption.

Urbanization (industrial context)

Rapid growth of cities driven in part by factory job concentration and the development of transportation hubs as centers of production and exchange.

Rural-to-urban migration

Population movement from countryside to cities, often accelerated by industrial job opportunities and urban economic growth.

International division of labor

A global pattern where some places specialize in primary raw-material production while others specialize in higher-value manufacturing and, later, services/innovation.

Environmental externalities (industrialization)

Negative side effects of industrial growth—such as pollution from fossil fuels and heavy industry—that often cluster in industrial zones.

Economic sector

A broad category of economic activity based on what is produced and how it is produced, used to interpret development patterns.

Primary sector

Economic activities that extract natural resources (e.g., farming, fishing, mining, forestry).

Secondary sector

Economic activities that transform raw materials into manufactured goods (e.g., manufacturing, construction).

Tertiary sector

Service-providing activities (e.g., retail, healthcare, transportation, education), ranging from informal low-wage work to formal professional services.

Quaternary sector

Knowledge-based services such as research, IT, data analysis, and design.

Quinary sector

High-level decision-making and advanced services (e.g., top executives, government leadership, major institutional management).

Deindustrialization

A decline in manufacturing employment (and sometimes output) relative to services in a place, often linked to outsourcing/relocation and productivity changes.

Weber’s Model of Industrial Location (least-cost theory)

A model explaining manufacturing location choices by minimizing total costs, especially transportation, labor, and agglomeration/deglomeration forces.

Bulk-reducing industry

An industry in which inputs lose weight/volume during production (waste removed), so firms often locate near raw materials to avoid transporting waste.

Bulk-gaining industry

An industry in which the finished product gains weight/volume (e.g., bottling), so firms often locate near the market to avoid shipping heavier outputs long distances.