THE CULTURAL EBOOK

372 THECULTURALLANDSCAPE

LIVESTOCK RANCHING .Nu,ton

Learning Outcome 10.3.9 ~t • cardwtll • \VlcMa
Describe how livestock ranching works.

Ranching is the commercial grazing of livestock over an
extensive area (Figure 10-42). This form of agriculture is
adapted to semiarid or arid land and is practiced in devel•
oped countries where the vegetation is too sparse and the
soil too poor to support crops.

CATTLE RANCHING IN THE UNITED STATES. The • Austin
importance of ranching in the United States extends

beyond the people who choose this form of commercial

farming. Its prominence in popular culture, especially in Gulf of
Hollywood films and television, has not only helped to Mexico
draw attention to this form of commercial farming but has

also served to illustrate, albeit in sometimes romanticized

ways, the crucial role that ranching played in the history

and settlement of areas of the United States. Cattle ranching 4 FIGURE 10-43 CHISHOLMTRAIL TheChisholmTrailwasusedto move
in Texas, as glamorized in popular culture, did actually cattlefromTexasto railroadstationsin Kansasduringthe 1860sand 1870s.
dominate commercial agriculture, but only for a short

period-from 1867 to 1885. driven north on trails from Texas. The most famous routi:

Cattle ranching expanded in the United States during from Texas northward to the rail line was the Chisholrr

the 1860s because of the demand for beef in East Coast Trail, which began near Brownsville at the Mexican bor•
cities. If they could get their cattle to Chicago, ranchers der and extended northward through Texas (Figure 10-43)

were paid $30 to S40 per head, compared to only $3 or Cattle ranching declined in importance during th,

$4 per head in Texas. Once in Chicago, the cattle could 1880s, after it came into conflict with sedentary agricul

be slaughtered and processed by meat-packing companies ture. Most early U.S. ranchers adhered to "the Code of th,

and shipped in packages to consumers in the East. To reach West," although the system had no official legal status

Chicago, cattle were driven on hoof by cowboys over trails Under the code, ranchers had range rights-that is, thei

from Texas to the nearest railhead. There the cattle were cattle could graze on any open land and had access to scam

driven into cattle cars for the rest of their journey. The water sources and grasslands. The early cattle rancher

western terminus of the rail line reached Abilene, Kansas, in the West owned little land, only cattle. The U.S. go..,

in 1867. Wichita, Caldwell, Dodge City, and other towns ernment, which owned most of the land used for opei

in Kansas took their turns as the main destination for cattle grazing, began to sell it to farmers to grow crops, leavin

'Y FIGURE 10-42 RANCHING Cattleon a westTexasranchare roundedupfor shipping. cattle ranchers with no leg,
claim to it. For a few years th

ranchers tried to drive out th

farmers by cutting fences an

then illegally erecting the

own fences on public land, an

"range wars" flared. The fam

ers' most potent weapon prove

to be barbed wire, first con

mercially produced in 187

The farmers eventually won tt

battle, and ranchers were con

pelled to buy or lease land to a

commodate their cattle. Lari

cattle ranches were establishe

primarily on land that was tc

dry to support crops. Ironical!

60 percent of cattle grazi1

today takes place on land leasr

from the U.S. government.

Chapter 10: Food and Agriculture 373

160"~,~....,~ ~-,w~. . / ,, -=w·:..-.----_si--•r·.-r2~0- ,;()' set
80" . ;;#. =;45---;1-~8'..1.... ◄ FIGURE 10-44 MEAT PRODUCTION
China is now the world's largest me;it
. ;_.e,_:;,"Jr~,,;r,<,~;;.~~- I • ,_,,_- 80" producer.

,.........,.f""-___..60'

100' 140' 120' c1.0-1-C-an-c,e2l 11"

Meatproduction ih-,-----'----L--:x~~-,:..~~r-hr\ "1CIFIC
(million metrictons) EAN I
fqu:tlllf t C1'
• 20 andabove
1-10 1~
0.1-0.9
Below0.1 40''---'-ii: -F---+----:--->---.....---'----, 0 , '·"!"' s~ -40'
nodata

~ Ranchinagreas w80" 60' 0 ..-.z.ooo,,ooo

I

100' 211' 60' 80" 100' 120' 140' 160' 180"

With the spread of irrigation techniques and hardier farming by dividing the open land into ranches. When
crops, land in the United States has been converted from many of the farms converted to growing crops, ranching
ranching to crop growing. Ranching generates lower in- was confined to the drier lands. To survive, the remain-
come per area of land, although it has lower operating ing ranches experimented with new methods of breeding
costs. Cattle are still raised on ranches but are frequently and sources of water and feed. Ranching has become part
sent for fattening to farms or to local feed lots along major of the meat-processing industry rather than an economic
railroad and highway routes rather than directly to meat activity carried out on isolated farms. In this way, commer-
processors. cial ranching differs from pastoral nomadism, the form of
animal herding practiced in less developed regions.
COMMERCIAL RANCHING IN OTHER REGIONS.
Pause and Reflect 10.3.9
Commercial ranching is conducted in several developed
countries besides the United States and, increasingly, in What are the two most important ranched animals,
developing countries. The interior of Australia was opened according to Figure 10-45?
for grazing in the nineteenth century, although sheep
are more common there than cattle. Ranching is rare in CHECK-IN: KEY ISSUE 3
Europe, except in Spain and Portugal. In South America, a
large portion of the pampas of Argentina, southern Brazil, Where Is Agriculture Distributed?
and Uruguay is devoted to grazing cattle and sheep. The
cattle industry grew rapidly in Argentina in part because ✓ Agriculture can be divided into 11 major
the land devoted to ranching was relatively accessible to regions, including 5 in developing regions and 6
the ocean, making it possible for meat to be transported to in developed regions.
overseas markets.
✓ In developing regions, pastoral nomadism is
As with other forms of commercial agriculture, the prevalent in drylands, shifting cultivation in
growth in ranching has been in developing countries. tropical forests, and intensive subsistence in
China is the leading producer of meat, ahead of the United regions with high population concentrations.
States, and Brazil is third (Figure 10-44). China passed the
United States as the world's leading meat producer in 1990 ✓ In developed regions, mixed crop and livestock
and now produces twice as much. Developed countries is the most common form of agriculture. Dairy,
were responsible for only one-third of world meat produc- commercial gardening, grain, Mediterranean,
tion in 2010, compared to two-thirds in 1980. and livestock ranching are also important.

Ranching has followed similar stages around the world.
First was the herding of animals over open ranges, in a sem-
inomadic style. Then ranching was transformed into fixed

374 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

For hundreds if not thousands of years, subsistence

KEY ISSUE4 farming in developing countries yielded enough food fot
people living in rural villages to survive, assuming that nG
Why Do Farmers Face drought, flood, or other natural disaster occurred. Sud.
denly In the late twentieth century, developing countrie:
Economic Difficulties? needed to provide enough food for a rapidly increasini
population as well as for the growing number of urbar
■ Challenges for Farmers in Developing residents who cannot grow their own food. According ti
Countries Boserup, subsistence farmers increase the supply of fooi
through intensification of production, achieved in tw,
■ Challenges for Farmers in Developed
Countries ways:
• New farming methods are adopted. Plows replace axe
■ Strategies to Increase the World's
Food Supply and sticks. More weeding is done, more manure is at
plied, more terraces are carved out of hillsides, and mo1
■ Sustainable Agriculture irrigation ditches are dug (Figure 10-45). The addition;
labor needed to perform these operations comes fro1
the population growth. The farmland yields more foe
per area of land, but with the growing population, m1

put per person remains about the same.

Learning Outcome 10.4.1 • Land is left fallow for shorter periods. This expands tl
Describe the impact of population growth and trade amount of land area devoted to growing crops at a.i
on farming in developing countries.
given time. Boserup identified five basic stages in t
Commercial fa1mers in developed countries and subsis-
tence farmers in developing countries face comparable intensification of farmland:
challenges. Farmers in both developing and developed • Forest fallow. Fields are cleared and utilized for
countries have difficulty generating enough income to
continue farming. The underlying reasons, though, are to 2 years and left fallow for more than 20 yea
different. Commercial farmers can produce a surplus of long enough for the forest to grow back.
food, whereas many subsistence farmers are barely able to • Bush fallow. Fields are cleared and utilized for up
produce enough food to survive. 8 years and left fallow for up to 10 years, long enou
for small trees and bushes to grow back.

T FIGURE 10•45 INTENSIVE FARMING METHODS Hillsidesin Radi,
Bhutan,areterracedinto fieldsfor intensiveplantingof rice.

Challenges for Farmers in
Developing Countries

Two issues discussed in earlier chapters influence the
choice of crops planted by subsistence farmers in develop-

'mg countries:
• Subsistence farmers must feed an increasing number of

people because of rapid population growth in develop-
ing countries (discussed in Chapter 2).

• Farmers who have traditionally practiced subsistence
farming are pressured to grow food for export instead of
for direct consumption due to the adoption of the in-
ternational trade approach to development (discussed

in Chapter 9).

SUBSISTENCEFARMING
AND POPULATIONGROWTH

Population growth influences the distribution of types of
subsistence farming, according to economist Ester Boserup.
It compels subsistence farmers to consider new farming
approaches that produce enough food to take care of the

additional people.

Chapter 10: Food and Agriculture 375

• Short fallow. Fields are cleared and utilized for per- The sale of export crops brings a developing country for-
haps 2 years (Boserup was uncertain) and left fallow eign currency, a portion of which can be used to buy agri-
for up to 2 years, long enough for wild grasses to cultural supplies. But governments in developing countries
grow back. face a dilemma: The more land that is devoted to growing
export crops, the less that is available to grow crops for do-
• Annual cropping. Fields are used every year and ro- mestic consumption. Rather than help to increase produc-
tated between legumes and roots. tiVity, the funds generated through the sale of export crops
may be needed to feed the people who switched from sub-
• Multi-cropping. Fields are used several times a year sistence farming to growing export crops.
and never left fallow.
Pause and Reflect 10.4. 1
Contrast shifting cultivation, practiced in regions of low
population density, such as sub-Saharan Africa, with inten- What is an example of a product available in
sive subsistence agriculture, practiced in regions of high pop- supermarkets in the United States that was exported
ulation density, such as East Asia. Under shifting cultivation, from a developing country?
cleared fields are utilized for a couple years and then left fal-
low for 20 years or more. This type of agriculture supports AFRICA'S FOOD-SUPPLY STRUGGLE
a small population living at low density. As the number of
people living in an area increases (that is, as the population Sub-Saharan Africa is struggling to keep food production
density increases) and more food must be grown, fields will ahead of population growth. Since 1961, food production
be left fallow for shorter periods of time. Eventually, farmers has increased substantially in sub-Saharan Africa, but so
achieve the very intensive use of farmland characteristic of has population (Figure 10-46). As a result, food production
areas of high population density. per capita has changed little in a half-century.

SUBSISTENCE FARMING AND The threat of famine is particularly severe in the Horn
of Africa and the Sahel. Traditionally, this region sup-
INTERNATIONAL TRADE ported limited agriculture. With rapid population growth,
farmers overplanted, and herd size increased beyond the
To expand production, subsistence farmers need higher- capacity of the land to support the animals. Animals over-
yield seeds, fertilizer, pesticides, and machinery. Some grazed the limited vegetation and clustered at scarce water
needed supplies can be secured by trading food with urban sources.
dwellers. For many African and Asian countries, though,
the main way to obtain agricultural supplies is to import Government policies have aggravated the food-shortage
them from other countries. However, subsistence farmers crisis. To make food affordable for urban residents, govern-
lack the money to buy agricultural equipment and materi- ments keep agricultural prices low. Constrained by price
als from developed countries. controls, farmers are unable to sell their commodities
at a profit and therefore have little incentive to increase
To generate the funds they need to buy agricultural sup- production.
plies, developing countries must produce something they
can sell in developed countries. The developing countries 120 1200
sell some manufactured goods (see Chapter 11), but most
raise funds through the sale of crops in developed coun- "lOti~ 100 1000
tries. Consumers in developed countries are willing to pay
high prices for fruits and vegetables that would otherwise c<I! 800 1g:-.gc
be out of season or for crops such as coffee and tea that
cannot be grown in developed countries because of the •gog:t<:.J 80 ::, C
climate. "O ...
E 8. "Om
In a developing country such as Kenya, families may di- 60
vide by gender between traditional subsistence agriculture a. "O 600 g:5'
and contributing to international trade. Women practice 'tl:;
most of the subsistence agriculture-that is, growing food "O 0 - FoodProduction
for their families to consume-in addition to the tasks of ifOo -!
cooking, cleaning, and carrying water from wells. Men may I.I. 40 - food PerCapita 400
work for wages, either growing crops for export or at jobs in
distant cities. Becausemen in Kenya frequently do not share - Population
the wages with their families, many women try to gener-
ate income for the household by making clothes, jewelry, 20 1970 1980 1990 2000
baked goods, and other objects for sale in local markets. 1960 Year

A FIGURE 10-46 POPULATION AND FOOD IN AFRICA Foodproduction
isincreasinagt aboutthesamerateas populatioinnAfricaA. sa result,food
productiopnercapitais stayingaboutthesame.

376 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

DRUG CROPS

Learning Outcome 10.4.2
Understand distinctive challenges for developing
countries to increase food supply.

The export crops grown in some developing countries, es- "'- FIGURE 10-47 POPPY FIELD Afghanistanis the leadingproducerof po~
pecially in Latin America and Asia, are those that can be pies.whicharecultivatedfor opiumproduction.
converted to drugs. Cocaine and heroin, the two leading,
especially dangerous drugs, are abused by 16 to 17 million FOOD PRICES
people each, and marijuana, the most popular drug, is esti-
mated to be used by 140 million worldwide: The greatest challenge to world food supply in the twent
first century has been food prices rather than food suppl
• Cocaine is derived from coca leaf, most of which is Food prices more than doubled between 2006 and 200
grown in Colombia or the neighboring countries Peru and they have remained at record high levels since th<
and Bolivia. Most consumers are located in developed (Figure 10-49). The UN attributes the record high f0<
countries, especially in North America. The principal prices to four factors:
shipping route is from Colombia by sea to Mexico or • Poor weather, especially in major crop-growing regio
other Central American countries and then by land
through Mexico to the United States (Figure 10-47). of the South Pacific and North America
• Higher demand, especially in China and India
• Heroin is derived from raw opium gum, which is pro- • Smaller growth Ln productivity, especially withe
duced by the opium poppy plant. Afghanistan is the
source of nearly 90 percent of the world's opium; most major new "miracle" breakthroughs
of the remainder is grown in Myanmar (Burma) and • Use of crops as biofuels instead of food, especially
Laos. Most traffic flows from Afghanistan through lran,
Turkey, and the Balkans to Western Europe, where the Latin America
largest numbers of the world's users live. A second route On the other side of the coin, record high food pri<
goes through Central Asia to Russia (Figure 10-48). have stimulated record high prices for prime agricultu
land. Adjusting for inflation, the price of farmland
• Marijuana, produced from the Cannabis sativa plant, is Iowa doubled from around $2,500 per acre in 2000
cultivated widely around the world. The overwhelm- $5,000 in 2010.
ing majority of the marijuana that reaches the United
States is grown in Mexico. Cultivation of C. sativa is not
thought to be expanding worldwide, whereas cultiva-
tion of opium poppies and coca leaf are.

Pause and Reflect 10.4.2

Why does most consumption of cocaine and heroin
occur in developed countries?

MEXICO 17' Herointrafficking ◄ FIGURE 10-48
(metrictons) INTERNATIONAL ORI
Cocainetrafficking - 38 -6-10
(metrictons) -11 -1-5 TRAFFICKING Them,
• Mainproduters routestor heroinarefr<
.140 Heroinandopium Afghanistanthrough
lmetrlctons) SouthwesAt siato Euro
.-iso and throughCentral
Myanmar Asiato RussiaT. hemai
... 15 routesfor cocaineare
-6 .....-sooopium from Colombiato Nert
Mainprooucers AmericathroughMexi1
4 Consumption l.:i-450heroin andto Europebysea.
(metrictons)
}IQLIVIA r
-.,
Southern
u' Afrtcac f---,---'-2.000 ....-.,--..:...,••OOOMlt,,

Z,000 4,000KJtomete1i

Chapter 10: Food and Agriculture 377

250

)(

.~s
~ 200

a'I:.

C

a0 _150
.E:,,

C

8 100

iv

D
0

a so~----~----~----~----~--
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

Year

A FIGURE10-49FOODPRICEINDEXWorldwidefoodpricesroserapidly
between2006and2008andhaveremainedhighsincethen.

SUSTAINABILITAYND INEQUALITYIN OURGLOBALVILLAGE

AsianCarpand Chicago'sEconomy

The growth of aquaculture has led nineteenth century. The U.S. Army United States as a whole. Barges carry
to the farming of nonnative spe- Corp~ of Engineers has installed elec- petroleum, coal, and other important
cies. One example is th.e Asian carp, tric barriers to try to keep the Asian raw materials (rom domestic and in-
which were imported to the United carp from traveling through the ca- ternational sources to factories. Shut-
States i.n the 1970s to stock a fish nals to Lake Michigan. However, in ting the canals could devastate the
farm in Arkansas. Flooding allowed the long run, the only effective way region's economy; estimates of the
the carp to escape the farm and enter to keep the carp out of the Great impact on Chicago's economy range
U.S. wilterways. Fast-growing and vo- Lakes is to shut the canals. However, from $70 million to $235 million
racious eaters, Asian carp can grow to the canals play a major role in the per year.
over 45 kilograms (100 pounds) (Fi.g- economy uf lhe Chicago area anu U1e
ure 10-50). Once in the waterways,
the extremely aggressive Asian carp • FIGURE10-50 ASIAN CARP Asiancarparein theIllinoisRiverand threatento reach theGreat
have competed successfully with LakesthroughChicago·arecaanals.
native fish for food and habitat, and
they have even attacked people fish-
ing in small boats. Asian carp have
traveled up the Mississippi and Illi-
nois rivers, and they now constitute
97 percent of the fish in these rivers.
Now the Asian carp threaten to reach
lhe Great Lakes.

The most likely point of entry into
the Great Lakes for the Asian carp is
through Chicago-area waterways.
To connect Lake Michigan and the
rest of the Great Lakes with the in-
land waterways of the United States,
canals were constructed during the

378 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Challenges for Farmers Flakes if the price of corn falls more rapidly than doe
in Devefoped Countries price of wheat. Demand is also stagnant for most
cultural products in developed countries because of
Learning Outcome 10.4.3 population growth.
Explain the impact of overproduction and market
access on farming in developed countries. The U.S. government has three policies that are
posed to address the problem of excess productive cap,
Commercial farmers in developed countries are in some
ways victims of their own succe'ss. Having figured out how • Farmers are encouraged to avoid producing crops
to produce large quantities of food, they face low prices
for their output. Government subsidies help prop up farm are in excess supply. Because soil erosion is a con:
income, but many believe that the future health of com- threat, the government encourages planting f,
mercial farming depends on embracing more sustainable crops, such as clover, to restore nutrients to the soi
practices. to help hold the soil in place. These crops can be
for hay or forage for pigs, or to produce seeds for s
OVERPRODUCTION IN COMMERCIAL
• The government pays farmers when certain com,
FARMING
ity pricesare low. The government sets a target pri1
Commercial farmers suffer from low incomes because a commodity and pays farmers the difference beti
they are capable of producing much more food than is de- the price they receive in the market and the target
manded by consumers in developed countries. A surplus of set by the government as a fair level for the commc
food can be produced because of widespread adoption of The target prices are calculated to give farmers the
efficient agricultural practices. New seeds, fertilizers, pesti- price for the commodity today as in the past, ,
cides, mechanical equipment, and management practices compared to other consumer goods and services.
have enabled farmers to obtain greatly increased yields per
area of land. • The government buys surplus production and se
donates it to foreign governments. In addition,
The experience of dairy farming in the United States income Americans receive food stamps in part to st
demonstrates the growth in productivity. The number of late their purchase of additional food.
dairy cows in the United States decreased from 10.8 million
to 9.1 million between 1980 and 2010. But milk produc- The United States has averaged about $20 billion a
tion increased horn 58 to 87 million metric tons. Thus, on farm subsidies in recent years. Annual spending,
yield per cow increased 78 percent during this 30-year pe- considerably from one year to the next. Subsidy payn
riod, from 5.37 to 9.56 metric tons per cow (Figure 10-51). are lower in years when market prices rise and produ
is down, typically as a result of poor weather condltio
Although the food supply has increased in developed the United States or political problems in other coun
countries, demand has remained constant because the Farming in Europe is subsidized even more than ir
market for most products is already saturated. ln devel- United States. More farmers receive subsidies in Eu
oped countries, consumption of a particular commodity and they receive more than American farmers. The
may not change significantly if the price changes. Ameri- subsidies are a legacy of a long-standing commitme·
cans, for example, do not switch from Wheaties to Com the European Union to maintain agriculture in its me
states, especially in France. Supporters point to the p
T FIGURE 10-51 U.S. DAIRY PRODUCTIVITY The amount of milk vation of rural village life in parts of Europe, while c
charge that Europeans pay needlessly high prices for
produced per cow has increased rapidly in the United States, especially as a result of the subsidies.
sincethe 1980s.
Government policies in developed countries poir.
90 18 a fundamental irony in worldwide agricultural pat·
In developed regions such as North America and Eu
iii 80 -Herd 16 farmers are encouraged to grow less food, whereas c
-Yield oping countries struggle to increase food producti<
...C: '[ match the rate of growth in the population.

0 !a.14 a:,':x: IMPORTANCE OF ACCESS TO MARKEl
0
'"C 70 12 Because the purpose of commercial farming is to sel
:E duce off the farm, the distance from the farm to the rr
- a, (') influences the farmer's choice of crop to plant. Gt
phers use the von Thlinen model to help explain th
~E 0 portance of proximity to market in the choice of cro
C: 60 ~ commercial farms.

~ 10 .!a. Johann Heinrich von Thunen, an estate own
I so northern Germany, first proposed the model in 18:

40 1970 1980 1990 2000 8
1960 2010

Year

Chapter 10: Food and Agriculture 379

the rings because transportation

costs change when products are

shipped by water routes rather

than over roads. The model also

failed to consider that social cus-

toms and government policies

influence the attractiveness of

plants and animals for a commer-

cial farmer.

Although von Thunen devel-

oped the model for a small re-

0 25 SOMilles gion with a single market center,
0 25 SOKilometers
the model is also applicable on
VonThiinenMogel Modeml odifiedbyriver a national or global scale. Farm-
ers in relatively remote locations

J,. FIGURE10-52 VON THONEN MODEL (left)Accordintgo thevon who wish to sell their output in
Thilnenmodel,inthe absenceoftopographicfactors,differentypesof the major markets of Western Europe and North America,
farmingareconductedat differentdistancesfroma city,dependingonthecost for example, are less likely to grow highly perishable and
oftransportationandthevalueof theproduct.(right)vonThunenrecognized bulky products.
thathismodelwouldbe modifiedbysitefactors,suchas a riverinthissketch,
whichchangesthe accessibilitoyfdifferenltandparcelsto themarketcenter. The followLng example illustrates the influence of
Agriculturaulsesthat seekhighlyaccessiblelocationsneedto locatenearer transportation cost on the profitability of growing wheat:
the river.
• Gross profit from sale of wheat grown on l hectare of

land not including transportation costs:

a. Wheat can be sold for $250 per metric ton.

a book titled The Isolated State (Figure 10-52). According b. Yield per hectare of wheat is 4 tons.
to this model, which geographers later modified, a com-
mercial farmer initially considers which crops to cultivate c. Gross profit is $1,000 per hectare ($250 per ton x 4 tons).
and which animals to raise based on market location. ln
choosing an enterprise, the farmer compares two costs: the • Net profit from sale of wheat grown on 1 hectare of
cost of the land and the cost of transporting products to land including transportation costs:
market.
a. Cost of transporting 4 tons of wheat to market is
Von Thi.inen based his general model of the spatial $0.10 per kilometer.
arrangement of different crops on his experience as the
owner of a large estate in northern Germany during the b. Net profit from the sale of 4 tons of wheat grown on
early nineteenth century. He found that specific crops a farm located 1,000 kilometers from the market is
were grown in different rings around the cities in the area: $900 ($1,000 gross profit- $100 for 1,000 kilometers
of transport costs).
• First ring. Market-oriented gardens and milk producers
were located in the first ring out from the cities. These c. Net profit from sale of 1,000 kilograms of wheat
products are expensive to deliver and must reach the grown on a farm located 10,000 kilometers from the
market quickly because they are perishable. market is $0 ($1,000 gross profit - $1,000 for 10,000
kilometers of transport costs).
• Second ring. The next ring out from the cities con-
tained wood lots, where timber was cut for construc- This example shows that a farmer would make a profit by
tion and fuel; closeness to market is important for this growing wheat on land located less than 10,000 kilome-
commodity because of its weight. ters from the market. Beyond 10,000 kilometers, wheat is
not profitable because the cost of transporting it exceeds
• Third ring. The next ring was used for various crops and the gross profit. These calculations demonstrate that farms
for pasture; the specific commodity was rotated from located closer to market tend to select crops with higher
one year to the next. transportation costs per hectare of output, whereas more
distant farms are more likely to select crops that can be
• Fourth ring. The outermost ring was devoted exclu- transported less expensively.
sively to animal grazing, which requires lots of space.

The model assumed that all land in a study area had Pause and Reflect 10.4.3

similar site characteristics and was of uniform quality, al- If the price of wheat dropped to $200 per ton, what
though von Thunen recognized that the model could vary would be the maximum distance that the wheat

according to topography and other distinctive physical could be profitably shipped?

conditions. For example, a river might modify the shape of

380 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Strategies to Increase 1200
the World's Food Supply
1000
Learning Outcome 10.4.4
Explain the contribution of expanding exports and ~~ 800
farmland to world food supply. &'.is

ag~ 'O 600

'ti

iOf: 400

200

Whereas developed countries often produce more food 1970 1980 1990 2010
than they need, many developing countries struggle to
produce enough to feed their rapidly growing populations. Year
Four strategies are being employed to distribute food to
everyone in the world: .t. FIGURE 10-53 GROWTH IN AGRICULTURAL EXPORTS
• Increasing exports from countries with surpluses Agricultural tradeincreasedfrom S400billion in 2000to $1trillion in 2010.

• Expanding the land area used for agriculture Asia as net food importers were Southwest Asia and Ne
Africa during the 1970s, South Asia and sub-Saharan Af
• Expanding fishing during the l 980s, and Central Asia in 2008. Food proc
• Increasing the productivity of land now used for tion was unable to keep up with rapid population gro,
in these regions, and as they embraced the internatic
agriculture trade path of development, agriculture was increasir
Challenges underlie each of these strategies. devoted to grnwing export crops for sale in develo
countries. Japan is by far the leading importer of food,
INCREASING EXPORTS FROM COUNTRIES lowed by the United Kingdom, China, and Russia.

WITH SURPLUSES In response to the increasing global demand for f
imports, the United States passed Public Law 480,
Trade in food has increased rapidly, especially since 2000, Agricultural, Trade, and Assistance Act of 1954 (refe·
exceeding $1 billion for the first time in 2008 (Figure 10-53). to as P.L.-480). Title I of the act provided for the
On a global scale, agricultural products are moving pri- of grain at low interest rates, and Title II gave grant
marily from the Western Hemisphere to the Eastern Hemi- needy groups of people. The United States remains
sphere. Latin America, led by Brazil and Argentina, is the world's leading exporter of grain, including nearly <
by far the leading region for export of agricultural prod- half of the world's maize exports. But the overall sha1
ucts; North America, Southeast Asia, and the South Pacific exports accounted for by the United States has ded
are the other major exporting regions (Figure 10-54). rapidly, from 18 to 19 percent of the world total in
1970s to 10 to 11 percent in the twenty-first century.
Prior to the 1980s, the only major food importing re- ricultural exports from the United States have contir
gions were Europe, East Asia, and the former Soviet Union. to increase rapidly, but developing regions-espec
Historically, European countries used their colonies as Latin America and Southeast Asia-have had more r
suppliers of food; after they became independent coun-
tries, the former colonies sold food to Europe. Joining East increases.

T FIGURE 10-54 TRADE IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS The principal flow of agriculture in the world is from EXPANDING

the WesternHemisphereto EuropeandAsia. AGRICULTURAL LAI

I• ,w 1~-1·•iiiI'ii-,~tif- 1~o--"1"-"wWA·'R-:io'o->2'0' - 40' _s,O..r' o.-l00'--::;2~6il' 180'

80' _.,. Historically, world food pre

-I - '"""-~'-- tion has increased prirnari.

~. . -w expanding the amount of

\_ devoted to agriculture. V

-----~-•ao the world's population t

T1QP('!£I_~~ __ to increase more rapidly i1

~'F-'.:----t--- .....2.0' late eighteenth and early

I\ PACIFIC teenth centuries, during n
OCEAN
dustrial Revolution, pio
'C':, IEqtJAll)(_r,
Netexporter \\-.-.. ~I I . :..-+20t'erritory and cultivate the
• $10billionandabove could migrate to uninha
• Lessthan$10billion ~r,.~_..·9, .: able for agriculture was
Sparsely inhabited land
Netimporter
Lessthan$1billion

$1-9 billion i,. ·2.ob"o•#KJ,_.;/... / able in western North Arn
S10billionandabove ~ll' 20' 1 central Russia, and Argen
pampas.
nodata 60' 80' 100' 120' 140' 160' \80'

Chapter 10: Food and Agriculture 381

....

Two centuries ago, people believed that 7.0 7.0

good agricultural land would always be ~f 6.5 6.5
available for willing pioneers. Today few sci-
entists believe that further expansion of ag- 'C~ 6.0
ricultural land can feed the growing world
population. At first glance, new agricultural =~~ (I) 5.5
land appears to be available because only 11
percent of the world's land area is currently .;! .c 5.0
cultivated. However, in recent decades, pop-
---~:.~~;._::::::.,,,,.~~~~-:~~~-:-:-a-c
o 4.5
- AgriculturLaalnd 6.0 'S'
- Population
5.5 5;;;·,.:,g

:IC
a5.o

4.5
~'i g·
<·~ei§. 40
4,0 ~

3.5 3.5

3.0 L.-=c ___ _.._ ____ .,__ ___ __,_ ____ ..._ ___ __, 3,0

ulation has increased much more rapidly 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
than agricultural land (Figure 10-55).
Year

1n some regions, farmland is abandoned 4 FIGURE 10-55 AGRICULTURAL LAND ANO POPULATION GROWTH land devotedto

for lack of water. Especially in semiarid re- agriculturehasremainedvirtuallyunchangedsince1990, whereaspopulationhasincreasedby

gions, human actions are causing land to de- morethan50percent.

teriorate to a desertlike condition, a process

called desertification (or, more precisely, semiarid land Urbanization can also contribute to reducing agricul-

degradation). Semiarid lands that can support only a hand- tural land. As urban areas grow in population and land

ful of pastoral nomads are overused because of rapid popu- area, farms on the periphery are replaced by homes, roads,

lation growth. Excessive crop planting, animal grazing, and shops, and other urban land uses. In North America, farms
tree cutting exhaust the soil's nutrients and preclude agri- outside urban areas are left idle until the speculators who

culture. The Earth Policy Institute estimates that 2 billion own them can sell them at a profit to builders and de-
hectares (5 million acres) of land have been degraded velopers, who convert the land to urban uses. A serious

around the world (Figure 10-56). Overgrazing is thought to problem in the United States has been the loss of 200,000
be responsible for 34 percent of the total, deforestation for hectares (500,000 acres) of the most productive farmland,
30 percent, and agricultural use for 28 percent. The UN known as prime agricultural land, as urban areas sprawl
estimates that desertification removes 27 million hectares into the surrounding countryside (see the Contemporary

(70 million acres) of land from agricultural production Geographic Tools feature).

each year, an area roughly equivalent to Colorado.

Excessive water threatens other agricultural areas, es-

pecially drier lands that receive water from human-built Pause and Reflect 10.4.4
irrigation systems. If the irrigated land has inadequate

drainage, the underground water level rises to the point By itself, GIS can't rank the relative importance of the

where roots become waterlogged. The UN estimates that various factors in protecting farmland. Policymakers

10 percent of all irrigated land is waterlogged, mostly and the public must make these value judgments. Do

in Asia and South America. If the water is salty, it can you think that prime soils, significant environmental

damage plants. The ancient civilization of Mesopotamia features, and high population growth should be

may have collapsed in part because of waterlogging and valued the same or differently in deciding which

excessive salinity in its agricultural lands near the Tigris farmland to protect?

and Euphrates rivers.

◄ FIGURE 10-56
DESERTIFICATION (SEMIARID

411' ATLANTIC LANO DEGRADATION)
PACIFIC OCEAN
OCEAN Themostsevereproblemsare in
northernAfricac, entralAustralia,
160' 140' 120' and the southwesternpartsof
Degreeof hazard AfricaA, sia,NorthAmericaa.nd
SouthAmerica.
-Very high
High ~-;.:~~-=---.::.-_J~ ~~·\ 20'
Moderate
Low PACIFIC
Aridland
Non-andland \'~ OCEAN I

l'.--oc;,o,J,..::~__,',,. R;'~h-,.L. Eliu!ID11r'
IND/AN <f 1 i, -.~-? \

~--,----l--l--+-----,-J-- - ~,;,, -111'

0 2,~ •.apGMlles ,;T

b1 • zdoo ,,ool<oiiom.t.~

'100' 60' 411' '/ff 11' 20' 411' 60' 80" 100" 120' 140' 160' 180'

382 THECULTURALLANDSCAPE

150

EXPANDING FISHING ~ 120 Capture
Aquaculture
Learning Outcome 10.4.5 ~ Total

Describe the contribution of fishing to world food ~ 90
supply.
.;
A third alternative for increasing the world's food supply
is to expand fishing. The agriculture discussed thus far in ~
this chapter is land based. At first glance, increased use
of food from the sea is attractive. Oceans are vast, cover- c: 60
ing nearly three-fourths of Earth's surface and lying near
most population concentrations. Historically the sea has ~
provided only a small percentage of the world food supply. i 30

Food acquired from Earth's waters includes fish, crus- 0 ..______ _.__~_ ......_. _._ ......____ ~-------, 2010
taceans (such as shrimp and crabs), mollusks (such as 1970 1980
clams and oysters), and aquatic plants (such as watercress). 1950 1960 1990 2000
Water-based food is acquired in two ways: Vear

• Fishing, which is the capture of wild fish and other sea- J.. FIGURE10-58 GROWTHIN FISHPRODUCTION
food living in the waters. Increasedfishproductionhascomeprimarilyfrom aquacultureratherthanwild
captureof fish.
• Aquaculture, or aquafarming, which is the cultiva-
tion of seafood under controlled conditions. (See the FISH PRODUCTION. During the past half-century, global
Sustainability and Inequality in Our Global ViJlage fish production has increased from approximately 36 to
feature.) 145 million metric tons (Figure 10-58). The growth result~
entirely from expansion of aquaculture (Figure 10-59). The
FISH CONSUMPTION. Human consumption of fish and capture of wild fish in the oceans and lakes has stagnated
seafood has increased from 27 million metric tons in since the 1990s, despite population growth and increased
1960 to 110 million metric tons in 2010 (Figure 10-57). demand to consume fish. The reason that production is
Developing countries are responsible for five-sixths of the higher than human consumption is that a large portion of
increase. Fish consumption has increased more rapidly the fish that is caught is converted to fish meal and fed to
than population growth. During the past half-century, per poultry and hogs. Only two-thirds of the fish caught from
capita consumption of fish has nearly doubled in both the ocean is consumed directly by humans.
developed and developing countries, from 17 kcal per
person per day in 1960 to 30 kcal per person per day in The world's oceans are divided into 18 major fishing
2010. Still, fish and seafood account for only 1 percent of regions, including seven each in the Atlantic and Pacific
all calories consumed by humans (refer to Figure 10-13). oceans, three in the Indian Ocean, and the Mediterranean
(Figure 10-60). Fishing is also conducted in inland water-
ways, such as lakes and rivers. The areas with the largest
yields are the Pacific Northwest and Asia's inland water-
ways. China is responsible for one-third of the world's
yield of fish (Figure 10-61). The other leading countries are
naturally those with extensive ocean boundaries, such a!
Chile, Indonesia, and Peru.

't' FIGURE10-57 GROWTHIN HUMAN CONSUMPTIONOF FISH 't' FIGURE10-59 AQUACULTUREFishareraisedinsidethe containersat
Humanconsumptionof fish hasincreasedin both developedanddeveloping this fish farm in Corfu,Greece.
regions.

120

C: 100 - World
0 Developincgountries
.:I
0._ - Oeve!oJ)ceoduntries

8i~E C"': 80

c"' - 0 60
"O EIll

o
,2 C
a, 0
40Ill ;::

1/) ::
Olli

~

i"i:' 20

0 1990 2000
1960 Year

Chapter 10: Food and Agriculture 383

~~?.... ~~-..- &:~-:,;~V~~. -~~# ~ ◄ FIGURE10-60 MAJOR FISHINGREGIONS
Thelargestyieldsare in the PacificandAsia.

~---\o\ ~_,.-,c:
~f---•:->~~ \./ ,,5!;:, I Atlantic,

,-.,7,-, ~Northe~
;' r" '\ - , .~'Atlantic
' Pecinc, ' Ji.; Noifti,wes! ~; /. Europe
<•~:inland
Inland~ '.11-.:,! ManeddBltel)rIrCtr.ea~n \~~~
t( N~~•st NortM~st ;, ,

\ No,;tAhmerl V (ATLANTIC ' j

• PACIFIC OCEAN OCEAN Atlantic, ~,J
', A\lantlc, Eastern
. Pacific, Paclfic, Inland
Western EasternCentral Centr~· Africa
...\._ ru.- Cenlral r:il~~ln
~ j), 1-1 •
' . \~
', I~ lnlandJ,.,. ,
\It -•~ 'soulhAmerica r,
,I,~.. \ndlantcc~ao,
.•
W~t•~

lndlon , J. Pac111c, ,,_ Atlantic, IND/AN
Ocean, southeast Southwest OCEAN
Eastern
Allo,ntic,
Pacific, Southeast
Southwest

IndianOcean, --APanctaifricct,ic ~-,.
Antarctic ~
~~
Lessthan1 .......,\r

• Inlandwater "-'-:E.. GallPfo/ac#on

• Openocean

- Fishingareas

OVERFISHING. Hope grew during the mid-twentieth have been overfished and one-half fully exploited, leaving
century that increased fish consumption could meet the only one-fourth underfished. Consequently, the total
needs of a rapidly growing global population. However, world fish catch has remained relatively constant since the
the population of some fish species declined because 1980s, despite population growth.
they were harvested faster than they could reproduce.
Overfishing has been particularly acute in the North Pause and Reflect 10.4.5
Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Because of overfishing, the Should Chicago's canals be shut to protect the Great
population of large predatory fish, such as tuna and Lakes from Asian carp? Why or why not?
swordfish, has declined by 90 percent in the past half-
century. The UN estimates that one-quarter of fish stocks

.- :;.,, - - ◄ FIGURE10-61 FISH PRODUCTION Chinais the
lllO' 140' 120' 100' 80' 60' 40' 20' O' 20' "D' 60' 60' 100' 120' l,LQ'100' 180' leadingfishingcountry,followedby Chile,Peru,and
- __., .. -..!-.-..._ --.-- ~ Indonesia.
....-~RC 80'
oc 60'
-'

40" 2
PACIFIC
OCEAN IAC/FIC I 0'

20' • OCf=AN
flll.CltorO'
160' 140' 120' 100'
''t
Fish production
(metrictons) -~-~I If
12,0?J ' 4,<,p0Miie5/iii
• 60 millionandabove
• HD million '60' ..~.obo4,DlK)Oiklmrr,

100,000-999,999 Cl' 20' 40' 60' 80' 100' 120' 140' 160'
Below100,000
nodata

180'

384 THECULTURALLANDSCAPE

INCREASING PRODUCTIVITY

Learning Outcome 10A.6

Describe the contribution of higher productivity to
world food supply.

Population grew at the fastest rate in human history dur-

ing the second half of the twentieth century, as discussed

in Chapter 2. Many experts forecast massive global fam-

ine, but these dire predictions did not come true. Instead,

new agricultural practices have permitted farmers world-

wide to achieve much greater yields from the same amount

of land. Worldwide; obtaining more food from the same

amount of land has been the leading source of increasing

the food supply. .A.FIGURE10-63 INTERNATIONALRICERESEARCHINSTITUTE,HOME

THE GREEN REVOLUTION. The invention and rapid OF THE GREENREVOLUTION"Miracle" high-yieldseedshavebeen
diffusion of more productive agricultural techniques producedthroughlaboratoryexperimentsat the InternationalRiceResearch
during the 1970s and 1980s is called the green revolution.
Institute(IRRI)T. heIRRIis testingricevarietiesinthe Philippines.

The green revolution involves two main practices: the The new miracle seeds were diffused rapidly around th,
introduction of new higher-yield seeds and the expanded world. India's wheat production, for example, more that
use of fertilizers. Because of the green revolution, agri- doubled in five years. After importing 10 million tons o
cultural productivity at a global scale has increased faster wheat annually in the mid-1960s, India had a surplus o
than population growth (Figure 10-62). several million tons by 1971. Other Asian and Latin Amer
ican countries recorded similar productivity increases. Thi
Scientists began an intensive series of experiments dur- green revolution was largely responsible for preventing,
ing the l 950s to develop a higher-yield form of wheat. A food crisis in these regions during the 1970s and 19801
decade later, the "miracle wheat seed" was ready. Shorter But will these scientific breakthroughs continue in th
and stiffer than traditional breeds, the new wheat was twenty-first century?
less sensitive to variation in day length, responded bet-
ter to fertilizers, and matured faster. The Rockefeller and To take full advantage of the new miracle seeds, farm
Ford foundations sponsored many of the studies, and the ers must use more fertilizer and machinery. Farmers hav
program's director, Dr. Norman Borlaug, won the Nobel known for thousands of years that application of manurE
Peace Prize in 1970. The International Rice Research In- bones, and ashes somehow increases, or at least maintain!
stitute, established in the Philippines by the Rockefeller the fertility of the land. Not until the nineteenth centur
and Ford foundations, worked to create a miracle rice seed did scientists identify nitrogen, phosphorus, and potai
(Figure 10-63). During the 1960s, their scientists intro- sium (potash) as the critical elements in these substance
duced a hybrid of Indonesian rice and Tajwan dwarf rice that improve fertility. Today these three elements form th
that was hardier and that increased yields. More recently, basis for fertilizers-products that farmers apply to thei
scientists have developed new high-yield maize (com). fields to enrich the soil by restoring lost nutrients.

Nitrogen, the most important fertilizer, is a ubiquitou

T FIGURE10-62 POPULATIONAND FOOD PRODUCTIONWorld substance. China ls the leading producer of nitrogen ferti'
populationhasincreasedlessrapidlythan food production. izer. Europeans most commonly produce a fertilizer know1
as urea, which contains 46 percent nitrogen. In Nort'.

12 America, nitrogen is available as ammonia gas, which i
82 percent nitrogen but more awkward than urea to tran!
i::, ><10 - FoodProduction port and store. Both urea and ammonia gas combine nitre
- Population gen and hydrogen. The problem is that the cheapest wa
C Ill to produce both types of nitrogen-based fertilizers is toot
tain hydrogen from natural gas or petroleum. As fossil fm
.,,c"g'·'"g=C a prices increase, so do the prices for nitrogen-based fertili,

:: ers, which then become too expensive for many farmers i
developing countries. In contrast to nitrogen, phosphorL
a. g 6 and potash reserves are not distributed uniformly aero!
e.Ce"C

-; n. 4
:i "C
Cl. 0
n0. 0
II. 2

0 L___._---1, _ _..__.....1..._....__......__~___,--------:--:- Earth's surface. Phosphate rock reserves are clustered i

19so 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 China, Morocco, and the United States. Proven potash n

Year serves are concentrated in Canada, Russia, and Ukraine.

Chapter 10: Food and Agriculture 385

Farmers need tractors, irrigation pumps, and other ma- positives of GM are higher yields, increased nutrition, and
chinery to make the most effective use of the new miracle more resistance to pests. Genetically modified foods are also
seeds. In developing countries, farmers cannot afford such better tasting, at least to some palates. Despite these bene-
equipment and cannot, in view of high energy costs, buy fits, opposition to GM is strong in Africa for several reasons:
fuel to operate the equipment. To maintain the green revo-
lution, governments in developing countries must allocate • Health problems. Consuming large quantities of genet-
scarce funds to subsidize the cost of seeds, fertilizers, and ically modified foods may reduce the effectiveness of
machinery. antibiotics and could destroy long-standing ecological
balances in local agriculture.
GENETICALLY MOOIFIED FOODS. Farmers have been
manipulating crops and livestock for thousands of years. • Export problems. European countries, the main mar-
The very nature of agriculture is to deliberately manipulate kets for Africa's agricultural exports, require genetically
nature. Humans control selective reproduction of plants modified foods to be labeled. Europeans are especially
and animals in order to produce a larger number of strongly opposed to GM because they believe geneti-
cally modified food is not as nutritious as food from
5tronger,hardier survivors. Beginning in the nineteenth traditionally bred crops and livestock. Because Euro-
pean consumers shun genetically modified food, Afri-
;;entury, the science of genetics expanded understanding can farmers fear that if they are no longer able to certify
Jf how to manipulate plants and animals to secure their exports as being not genetically modified, Euro-
:iominance of the most favorable traits. However, genetic pean customers will stop buying them (Figure 10-65).
modification (GM), which became widespread in the
late twentieth century, marks a sharp break with the • Increased dependence on the United States. U.S.-based
1gricultural practices of the past several thousand years. transnational corporations, such as Monsanto, man-
Under GM, the genetic composition of an organism is not ufacture most of the GM seeds. Africans fear that the
'.Ilerely studied, it is actually altered; GM involves mixing biotech companies could-and would-introduce a so-
5enetic material of two or more species that would not called "terminator" gene in the GM seeds to prevent
)therwise mix in nature. farmers from replanting them after harvest and require
them to continue to purchase seeds year after year from
Worldwide, 160 million hectares-10 percent of all the transnational corporations.
'armland-were devoted to genetically modified crops in
WlO; 77 percent of the world's soybeans, 49 percent of "We don't want to create a habit of using genetically
:otton, and 26 percent of maize were genetically modified modified maize that the country cannot maintain," ex-
n 2010. GM is especially widespread in the United States: plained Mozambique's prime minister. If agriculture is re-
14 percent of soybeans, 90 percent of cotton, and 88 percent garded as a way of life, not just a food production business,
Jf maize; usage increased rapidly during the first decade GM represents for many Africans an unhealthy level of
>fthe twenty-first century (Figure 10-64). Three-fourths of dependency on developed countries.
he processed food that Americans consume has at least
me GM ingredient. North America was responsible for Pause and Reflect 10.4.6
me-half of the world's genetically modified foods, and
ieveloping countries-especially in Latin America-were What are the benefits and drawbacks for sub-
esponsible for the other one-half. Saharan Africa to plant more genetically modified
crops?
The United States has urged sub-Saharan African coun-
ries to increase their food supply in part through increased T FIGURE 10-65 GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD Geneticallymodified
1se of GM of crops and livestock. Africans are divided on food iswidespreadin the UnitedStatesbut shunnedbymostconsumersin
vhether to accept genetically modified organisms. The Europe.

'FIGURE 10-64 GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROPS IN THE UNITED STATES

,pproximately90 percentof major cropsin the UnitedStatesare genetically
1odified.

100

80

60 Soybeans
Colton
40 Corn

2~ooo 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010

Year

386 THECULTURALLANDSCAPE

. Sustainable Agriculture other machinery than conventional planting. An area
that would be prepared for planting under conven.
Learning Outcome 10.4.7 tional farming with three to five tractors can be pre.
Describe the role of sustainable agriculture in world pared for ridge tillage with only one or two tractors.
food supply. The primary tillage tool is a row-crop cultivator that
can form ridges. There is no need for a plow, or a field
Some commercial farmers are converting their operations cultivator, or a 300-horsepower four-wheel-drive trac-
to sustainable agriculture, agricultural practices that tor. With ridge tillage, the space between rows needs.
preserve and enhance environmental quality. Farmers to match the distance between wheels of the machin-
practicing sustainable agriculture typically generate ery. Cf 75 centimeters (30 inches) are left between
lower revenues than do conventional farmers, but they rows, tractor tires will typically be on 150-centimeter
also have lower costs. (60-inch) centers and combine wheels on 300-centime-
ter (120-inch) centers. Wheel spacers are available from
An increasingly popular form of sustainable agriculture most manufacturers to fit the required spacing.
is organic farming. Worldwide, the UN c)ass\fied 37 million
hectares (75 million acres), or 0.6 percent of farmland, as Ridge tillage features a minimum of soil disturbance
organic in 2009. Australia was the leader, with 12 million from harvest to the next planting. A compaction-free
of the hectares, or 32 percent of the worldwide total
(Figure 10-66). Argentina accounted for 12 percent of the zone is created under each ridge and in some row middles.
worldwide total, and the United States, China, and Brazil Keeping the trafficked area separate from the crop-growing
for 5 percent each. Three principal practices distinguish area improves soil properties. Over several years, the soil
sustainable agriculture (and, at its best, organic farming) will tend to have increased organic matter, greater water-
from conventional agriculture: holding capacity, and more earthworms. The channels left
by earthworms and decaying roots enhance drainage.
• Sensitive land management
Ridge tillage compares favorably with conventional
• Limited use of chemicals farming for yields while lowering the cost of production.
Although more labor intensive than other systems, it is prof-
• Better integration of crops and livestock itable on a per-acre basis. In Iowa, for example, ridge tillage
has gained favor for production- of organic and herbicide-
free soybeans, which sell for more than regular soybeans.

SENSITIVE LAND MANAGEMENT LIMITED USE OF CHEMICALS

Sustainable agriculture protects soil in part through ridge In conventional agriculture, seeds are often geneticall)
tillage, which is a system of planting crops on ridge tops. modified to survive when herbicides and insecticide~
Crops are planted on 10- to 20-centimeter (4- to 8-inch) are sprayed on fields to kill weeds and insects. These an
ridges that are formed during cultivation or after harvest. known as "Roundup Ready" seeds because their creator
A crop is planted on the same ridges, in the same rows, Monsanto, sells its weed killers under the brand namt
year after year. Ridge tillage is attractive for two main rea- Roundup. Roundup Ready seeds were planted in 90 per-
sons: lower production costs and greater soil conservation. cent of all soybean fields and 70 percent of all cotton anc
maize (corn) fields in the United States in 2010. In addi
Production costs are lower with ridge tillage in part
because it requires less investment in tractors and tion to the adverse impacts of herbicides on soi

T FIGURE10-66 DISTRIBUTION OF ORGANIC FARMING Australiaaccounts and water quality, widespread use of RounduI
for nearlyone-third of the world's organicfarming. Ready seeds is causing some weeds to become re
sistant to herbicides.

Moredevelopecdountries Australia 32.23/o Sustainable agriculture, on the other hand
involves application of limited if any herbicide
Ill Lessdevelopecdountries I to control weeds. In principle, farmers can con

Other DevelopingCountries 1.3% _...United states s.2% trol weeds without chemicals, although doing sc
Sub-Saharan Africa 1.9% "- -Canada 1.9% requires additional time and expense that fe\l
Southwest Asia '-
& North Africa 1.7%--.. farmers can afford. Researchers have found tha
combining mechanical weed control with som,
China5.0¾- chemicals yields higher returns per acre than re

lndia3.2%- -spain3.6¾ lying solely on one of the two methods.

Other Latin ...--- --Italy 3.0% Ridge tillage also promotes decreased use o
America 3.7% chemicals, which can be applied only to th
'-Germany 2.5% ridges and not the entire field. Combining he1
/ '-."-united Kingdom , .9% bicide banding-which applies chemicals in na1
Uruguay 2.5% row bands over crop rows-with cultivating ma
France 1.8% be the best option for many farmers.
/
\
Brazil4.7% Other Europe 11.0%

I

Argentina 11.8%

INTEGRATED CROP AND LIVESTOCK A FIGURE 10-67 (TOP) CONVENTIONAL VERSUS (BOTTOM) ORGANIC
FARMING Chickensarenot pennedupin cageson an organicfarm.
Mixed crop and livestock is a common form of farming in
the United States, as discussed earlier in the chapter. But may come from other enterprises on a ranch, though
many farmers in the mixed crop and livestock region actu- some is usually purchased off the farm. Feed costs can
ally choose to only grow crops or raise more animals than be kept to a minimum by monitoring animal condition
the crops they grow can feed. They sell their crops off the and performance and understanding seasonal variations
in feed and forage quality on the farm.
farmor purchase feed for their animals from outside suppli-
Pause and Reflect 10.4.7
ers. Sustainable agriculture attempts to integrate the grow- Are you willing to pay more for food that is
ing of crops and the raising of livestock as much as possible organically produced? Why or why not?
at the level of the individual farm. Animals consume crops
grown on the farm and are not confined to small pens. CHECK-IN: KEY ISSUE 4

Integration of crops and livestock reflects a return to Why Do Farmers Face Economic
the historical practice of mixed crop and livestock farm- Difficulties?
ing, in which growing crops and raising animals were re-
garded as complementary activities on the farm. This was ✓ Farmers in developing countries face challenges
the common practice for centuries, until the mid-1900s, of meeting the needs of rapid population
when technology, government policy, and economics en- growth and growing food for export.
couraged farmers to become more specialized.
✓ Farmers in developed countries face challenges
Sustainable agriculture is sensitive to the complexities of overproduction and access to markets.
of biological and economic interdependencies between
crops and livestock: ✓ Four strategies for increasing the world's food
supplies include increasing exports, expanding
• Number of livestock. The correct number, as well as agricultural land, expanding fishing, and
the distribution, of livestock for an area is determined increasing productivity of land.
based on the landscape and forage sources. Prolonged
concentration of livestock in a specific location can re- ✓ Sustainable agriculture involves sensitive land
sult in permanent loss of vegetative cover, so a farmer management, limited use of chemicals, and
needs to move the animals to reduce overuse in some better integration of crops and livestock.
areas. Growing row crops on the more level land while
confining pastures to steeper slopes will reduce soil
erosion, so it may be necessary to tolerate some loss of
vegetation in specific locations.

• Animal confinement. The moral and ethical debate
over animal welfare is particularly intense regarding
confined livestock production systems (Figure 10-67).
Confining livestock leads to surface and ground water
pollution, particularly where the density of animals is
high. Expensive waste management facilities are a nec-
essary cost of confined production systems. If animals
are not confined, manure can contribute to soil fertil-
ity. However, quality of life in nearby communities may
be adversely affected by the smell.

• Management of extreme weather conditions. Herd size
may need to be reduced during periods of short- and
long-term drought. On the other hand, livestock can
buffer the negative impacts of low rainfall periods by
consuming crops that in conventional farming would
be left as failures. Especially in Mediterranean climates
such as California's, properly managed grazing signifi-
cantly reduces fire hazards by reducing fuel buildup in
grasslands and brushlands.

• Flexible feeding and marketing. Flexibility in feeding

livestock and sending livestock to market can help cush-
ion farmers against trade and price fluctuations and, in
conjunction with cropping operations, make more effi-
cient use of farm labor. Feed costs are the largest single
variable cost in any livestock operation. Most of the feed

387

388 THE CULTURAL 1:ANDSCAPE

Summary

1KEY ISSUE

Where Did Agriculture Originate? GOOGLE EARTH 10.1: Little Andaman Island is home to approxi

Pr,ior to t'he development of agriculture, people survived by matelJ 100 Onge people, who traditionally live by hunting and
hunting animals, gathering wild vegetation, and fishing. Current gathering. Mote than 90 percent of the land area of the islan
agricultural practices vary between developed and C,eveloping
countries. appeats to be dense fmests. Why is this type of land cover es
cially suitable habitat for animals being hunted?
LEARNING OUTCOME 10.1.1: Identify the major crop
and livesfocl<he~rths.

• Agriculture was invented approximately 10,000
years ago in multiple hearths of crops and livestock.

LEARNING OUTCOME 10.1.2: Describe the major differ-
ences between subsistence and commercial agriculture.

• Sub$istence agriculture, practiced in developing
countries, is characterized by a high percentage of
farmers in the labor force, limited use oJ machin-
ery, and small average farm size.

• Commercial agriculture, practiced i'.n developed
countries, is characterized by a small percentage of
farmers in the labor force, heavy use of machinery,
and large average farm size.

THINKINGGEOGRAPHICALLY 10.1: Compare agricultutal
hearths with the origin of Indo-f,uropean (Figures 5-18
and 5-19). What similarities appear between the diffu-
sion of language and of agriculture?

Key Terms animal gra,:ing, and tree cutting. Also known as semi~rid land
degradation.
Agribusiness (p. 366) Conunercial agriculnire characterized by Lhe in- Dietary energy consumption (p. 352) The amount ot food that <111in
tegfation of diUerent steps in the food-processmg industry, us11~lly dividual consumes, measured in kilocalorles (Calories in lhe United
through ownership by large rnrporaLiorts. Slates).
Agrkullnral revolution (p. 348) The Limewhen human beings firsl do- Dooble cropping (p. 363) Harvesting twice a year from tl1esame fie!(
me,ticatcd plants and animals and no longer relied entirely on hunt- Food security (p. 354) rhysKal, social, and economic access at all tlm(
ing and gathering. to safe and nu!Tilious food sufficient to meet dietary needs and food
Agriculture (p. 347) The deliberate effort to modify a portion of Earth's preferences for an active and hec1ithy life.
surface through the culti\'ation of crops und the rnising oi livestock
for sustenance or economic gain. Grain (p. 352) Seed of a cerea I grass.
Aquaculture (oraquafarrning) (p. 382) TheCliltivation of seafood under Green revolution (p. 384) Rapid diffusion of new agricultural Lechno
controlleu conditions. ogy, especially new high-yield ~eeds and ierlilizers.
Cereal g.rain (or cereal) (p. 352) A grass that yield, grnin for food. Horticulture (p. 371) '!he growmg of fruits, vegetables, and flower,.
Chaff (p. 361) Husks of grain separated from the seed by threshing
Hull (p. 363) The outer covering or a seed.
Combine (p. 370) A machine that reaps, lhreshe5, and cleans grain while
Intensive subsistence agriculture (p. 362) A form of subsistenceagrict
moving over a field. ture in which farmers must expend a relatively large amount ot effor

Commercial agriculture (p. 350) Agriculture undertaken primarily to to produce the maximum feasible yield from a parcel of land.
generate products for sale off the farm.
Crop (p. 34 7) Any plant gathered from a field a5 a harvest during a par- Milkshed (p. 368) The area surrounding a city from which milk is

ticular season. supplied.
Crop rotation (p. 364/ The practice of rotating use of different fields Paddy (p. 363) The Malay word for wet rice, commonly but inwrrect
from crop to crop each year to avoid exhausting the soil.
used to describe a sawah.
Desertification (p. 381) Degradation of land, especially in semiarid areas, Pastoral nomadism (p. 358) Aform of subsistenceagriculturebased(
primarily because of human actions such a, excessive crop planting,
herding domesticated animals.

Chapter 1-0:Food and Agrfcultwe 389

KEY ISSUE2

Why Do People Consume Different Foods? GOOGLE EARTH 10.2; Fly to Jungle Jim's in Fairfield, Ohio, at
30,000 sq\lare meters, posslbly the largest supermarket in the
Everyone needs food to survive. The amount of food and the tlnited States. Under Find lfos!nes.ses, type Kr0ger. Move to the
dietary composition of the food vary between developed and
developing countries. nearest Kroger to the west of Jungle Jim's. H0w many square

LEARNINGOUTCOME 10.2.1: Explain differences tietween devel- meters is it?
oped and developing countries in food consumption.

• Most humans derive most of their dieta-ry el'\,ergy
through cereal grains, especially wheat, rice, and
maize.

• The primary source of prot'ein is meat products
in developed countries and grain jn developing
countrles.

LEARNING OUTCOME 10.2.2: Explain the global distri-
bution of undernourishment.

• Tbe average individual consumes 50 percent more
calories than the recommended minimum, but
many in sub-Saharan Africa are getting less than the
recommended minimum.

• Worldwide, an estimated 850 million people are
undernourished, nearly all of them in developing
countries.

THINKING GEOGRAPHICALLY 10.2: Compare world dis-
tributions of wheat, rice, and maize p,roduction. To
what extent do differences derive from environmental
conditions and to what extent from food preferences
and other social customs'/

Pasture (p.359) Grassor other plantsgto\vn for feeding grazing animals, Sustainable agriculture (p. 386)Farming methods that preserve long-
as well as land used for grazing. term productivity of land and minimize pollution, typically by rotat-
Plantation (p. 364) A large farm in tropical and subtropical climates that ing soil-restoring crops with cash crops and reducing inputs of fertil-
specializes In the production of one or two crops for sale, usually to a izer and pesticides.
more developed country. Swidden (p. 360) A patch of !and d.:~red for planting through slashing
Prime agricultural land (p. 381) Th~ most productive farmland.
and burning.
Ranching (p. 37Z) A form of commercial agriculture in which livestock Thresh (p. 363) To beat o~tt grain from stalks.
graze over a11 extensive area. Transh\lIDance (p. 359) The seasonal migration of livestock between
Reaper (.p.370) A machine that cuts cereal grain standing in a field. mountains and lowland pastures.
Truck farming (p. 367) CoQ1mer<;iaglardening and fruit farming, so
Ridge tillage (p. 386) A system of planting crops on ridge tops ln named because tmck was a Middle English word meaning "bartering"
order to reduce farm production costs a{l.dpromote greater soil or "exchange of commodities."
conservation. Undernourishment (p. 354) Dietary energy consumption that is con-
Sawah (p. 363) A flooded field for growing rice. tinuously below the minimum requirement for maintaining a healthy
life and car(ying out light physical activity.
Shifting cultivation (p. 360) A form of subsistence agrlcultme in which
people shi~ activity from ooe field to another; each field is used for Wet rice (p. 362) Riceplanted on dry land in a nursery and then moved
crops for a relatively few years and left fallow for a relatively long period. to a deliberately flooded field to promote growth.

Slash-and-bum agriculture (p. 360) Another name for shifting cultiva- Winnow (p.363) Toremove chaff by allowing it to be blown awayby the
tion, so named because fields are cleared by slashing lhe vegetation
wind.
and burning the debris. Winter wheat (p. 370) vVheat planted in the autumn and harvested in
Spring wheat (p.370) Wheat planted i.nthe spring and harvested in the
the early summer.
late summer.

Subsistence agriculture (p. 350) Agricultured~signedprimarilyto provide
food Eordirect consumptlon by the farmer and the farmer's family.

'l I'tq1r.11n'.: 1,;1;11:11:111.r11 ·:11 ]Ill,''
-L I I · ., I I,, · I I I'i1 1 I II lIi'l.I1'1l l'111I I~T'T'1l''i1,Ii'I"'1, tIliIf,lj•l'\fI I
l '• ~, I
· l 1 •, •
1I ,

390 THE CULTURAL ~ANQSCAPE

KEY ISSUE3

Where Is Agriculture Distributed? LEARNING OUTCOME 10.3.7: Describe how dairy farming and
commercial gardening wmk.
Most peo-plein developing countri.es are subsls-tencefarmers, growing
crops primarily to feed themselves. Important types of subsistence • Dairy farming is especially imp0rtant near maior population
agriculture include shifting cultivation, pastoral nomadism, and concentrations in developed countries.
intensi:ve {arming. The most <mmmon type of farm in developed
countries is mixed crop and livestock. Where mixed crop and • Commercial gardening is the predominant fotm of agricul-
livest0ck farming is not suitable, commercial farmers practice other ture in the- southeastern United States. These farms speciallz
types of agriculture, including dairy farming, commercial gardening, in fruits and vegetables preferred by relatively wealthy con
grain, Mediterranean, and ranching. sumers in developed countries.

LEARNING OUTCOME 10.3.1: Identify the 11 major agricultural LEARNING OUTCOME 10.3.8: Describe how grain and Mediterra-
regions. nean farming work.

• The most widely used map of agriculture divides the world • Gnain, especially wheat, is grown in areas that are too dry for
into 11 major regions, including 5 in developing countries mixed crop and livestock farming.
and 6 in developed countries.
• Mediterranean agricuJture specializes in crops such as grapes
LEARNING OUTCOME 10.3.2: Explain how pastoral nomadism and olives.
works in the dry lands of developing regions.
LEARNING OUTCOME 10.3.9: Describe how livestock ranchin
• Pastoral nomadism, which is the herding of animals, is the works.
principal form of agriculture adapted to the dry lands of de-
veloping countries. • Livestock is raised on land that is too dry for growing CfOps.

LEARNING OUTCOME 10.3.3: Explain how shifting cultivati.on THINKING GEOGRAPHICALLY10.3: Review the concept of over-
works in the tropics of developing regions. population (the number of people in an area exceeding the ca
paclty of the environment to support life at a decent standard of
• Distinctive features of shifting cultivation include the clear- Jiving). What agricultural regions have relatively limited capaci-
ing of land through slashing and burning and the use of fields ties to support intensive food production? Which of these regions
for only a few years. face rapid population growth?

LEARNING OUTCOME 10.3.4: !~plain how intensive subsistence GOOGLEEARTH10.3: Terraces for planting rice are carved into the
hillsides surrounding the village of Banaue, Philippines. What
farming works in the high population concentrations of develop- step in growing rice, as described in Learning Outcome 10.3.4,
makes it necessary to terrace the hillsides?
ing regions.
• The principal crop in the intensive subsistence region is wet
rice.

• Growing rice is an intensive operation that depends
prlmarily on abundant labor.

LEARNINGOUTCOME10.3.5: Describe reasons for grow-
ing crops other than wet rice in intensive subsistence
regions.

• In intensive subsistence areas where the climate is
unsuitable for rice, hardier crops are grown, such as
wheat and barley.

• Plantation farming is a form of commercial agri-
culture conducted in developing regions. Planta-
tions grow crops primarily for export to developed
countries.

LEARNING OUTCOME 10.3.6: Describe how mixed crop
and livestock farming works.

• Mixed crop and livestock is the most common form
of agriculture in the center of the United States.

• Crops, especially maize and soybeans, are grown
primarily to feed animals.

Chapter 10: Food and Agriwlture 391

KEY ISSUE4

Why Do Farmers Face Economic Difficulties? LEARNINGOUTCOME10.4.5: DesHibe the contribution of fi'shing
to world food supply.
Agriculture in developing countries faces diStinctive economic
pcoblen:rs resulting from rapjd popwlation growth and pressure • Fish consumption is in~reasing but acc.ounts for a small per-
to adopt international trade strategies to promote development. Gentage of the average human's djet.
Agriculture in developed nations fates problems resulting from
access to markeM and overproduction. • Fish produttion has increased primar:ily through aquaculture
rathet than catching of wild fish.
LEARNINGOUTCOME10.4.1: Des.cribe the impact of population
growth and trade on farming in developing countries. LEARNINGOUTCOME10.4,6; Describe the contdbution of hlgher
productivity to world food sup,ply.
• Due to rapid population growth, subsistence farmers must
feed more people. • Agricultural pIOductivity has increased sharply, especially
through the im1ention of bighei:-yleld seeds anc) expanded
• Pressure to contribute to international trade means that sub- use of fertilizers.
sistence farmers increasingly grow cr0ps to export rather than
to consume at home. • Despite advances, foamprie:esin the early twenty•first century
hav-e been at a record high.
LEARNINGOUTCOME10.4.2 Understand distinctive challenges
for developing countries to increase food supply. LEARNINGOUTCOME10.4.7: Describe the role of sustaifiable agri-
culture in world food supply.
• Africa faces the greatest challenge in providing enoug,h food
for a growing population. • Sustainable agriculture involves sensitive land management,
limited use of chemicals, and better integration of crops and
• £..xportcrops such as drugs are increasingly been grown in livestock.
.some developing c;ountries.
• Sustainable agriculture accounts for a small but increasing
LEARNINGOUTCOME10.4.3: Explain the impact of overproduc- share of world agriculture.
tion and market access on farming in developed countries.
THINKING GEOGRAPHICALLY10.4: New Zealand once sold nearly
• Because of their efficiency, commercial farmers produce more all its dairy products to fhe British, but since the United King-
food than can be consumed in developed ·countries. dom joined the European Union in .1973, New Zealand has been
forced to find other markets. What are some other examples of
LEARNINGOUTCOME10.4.4: Explain the contribution of expand- countries that have restructured their agricultural production
ing exports and farmland to world food supply. in the face of increased global interdependence and regional
cooperation?
• Export of food has increased rapidly, although only a handful
of countries produce enough to be major exporters. GOOGLE EARTH 10.4: The eastern end of the Chicago Sanitary
and Ship Canal joins with the Chicago River near the center of
• Historically, agricultural output was increased by expanding Chicago. The canal was constructed to provide the only water
the amount of land that is farmed, but expansion of farmland link between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. If Asian
has slowed in recent decades. carp now migrating up the Mississippi River are to be prevented
from reaching Lake Michigan, the canal will have to be blocked.
What is the approximate distance between the end of the canal
at the Chicago River and Lake Michigan?

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Industry and
Manufacturing

Whyare mos-tpotato chipsmanufacturednear their Whyare mostfabricsmade inAsia?Page411
consumers?Page 401

1KEY ISSUE Clt IN A KEY ISSUE 2

Where Is Industry JAPAN
Distributed?
Why Are Situation
and Site Factors
Important?

FactoriesPastandPresentp. 395 Factorsof Productionp. 398

Muchof the world's industryis clusteredin three regions. Geographerscanexplainreasonsfor the locationof factories.

392

Nort.hAmerica • Foxconnmay not be a familiarbrand name,
lndustrtal Region, p. 397 but it is-the world'slargest manufacturerof elec-
tronic components.Ownedby HonHaiPrecision
Kiribati, p.413 lnd.ustryCo.,Foxconnis the largest exporter of
productsfrom China.Its largest mainfactory in
Shenzhen,China,employsseveralhundredthou-
sand people, Foxconnhas become the world's
dominant electronks manufacturer because it
does the actual manufacturingfor several well•
knownproducts,includingthe iPad,iPhone,Kin-
dle, PlayStation3, and Xbox 360. Geographers
studywhy·a companylikeApple,whichis based
inthe UnitedStates,choosesto have its products
made byanother companyinanother countcy.

KEY ISSUE 3 KEY ISSUE4

Where Does Why Are Situation
Industry Cause and Site Factors
Pollution? Changing?

FactoriesCleanand Dirty p. 412 I------.-.,_._._i-I••ooo'"".,. 1
UIO).I.M'I .....,.tp):I
Somefactories pollute our air, land, and water.
Industryon the Move p. 418

Manufacturing is expanding into new regions.

393

Introducing engine, which could pump water far more efficiently th
the watermills then in common use, let alone human
Industry and animal power. The large supply of steam power availa
Manufacturing from James Watt's steam engines induced firms to conce
·trate all their process steps in one building attached to
The title of this chapter refers to the manu- single power source. Watt's engine and other inventio
facturing of goods in a factory. The word in- enabled the United Kingdom to become the world's dom
nant industrial power during the nineteenth century.
dustry is appropriate because it also means
Until the late twentieth century, industry was s
persistence or diligence in creating value. A highly clustered in a handful of communities within
factory utilizes a large number of people, handful of developed countries, but industry has diffus
machinery, and money to turn out valuable to many communities in many developing countries. T1
products. United States lost one-third of its manufactming jobs d
ing the first decade of the twenty-first century.
In the previous chapter, we looked at agriculture, prac-
ticed throughout the Lnhabiled world because the need for Today, as countries seek to counter the trend tow
food is universal. Industry is much more highly clustered deindustrialization, government officials everywhere r
in space than is agriculture. in this chapter, we look at the ognize the powerful role of industry in the econo
regions where factories are located and why. A parlicular health of a community. Communities around the wo
place may be ,veil suited or poorly suited for industry, de- view manufacturing jobs as a special asset, and Lh
pending on the distinctive characteristics of land, labor, mourn when factories close and rejoice when they ope
and capital there. To attract and retain factories, government officials o
financial support that, when scrutinized by independe
Geographers also recognize that co11nectlons with the analysts, is considered e.""<cessive.
rest of the world are critical in determining whether a
particular place is suitable for industry. Two connections Transnational corporations operate al a global scale
arc critical in determining the be~t location for a factory: the distribution of markets and resources. Raw materi
where the markets tor the product are located and where may be collected from many places, sent to factories
the resources needed to make the product are located. cated in several olher places for a succession of specializ
manufacturing procedures, and shipped to consumers I
The invention most important to the development of cated in yet other places.
factories was the steam engine, paLented in 1769 by James
Watt, a maker of mathematical instmments in Glasgow, • KEYISSUE 1 looks at wl,ere indu'itry originated ar
Scotland (Figure 11-1). Watt built the first useful steam
diffused, as well c1sits current distdbutlon.

• KEYISSUE2 examines factors underlying wlly ind

try is distributed in a distinctive pattern. factors
lale to a combination of the unique characteristics o
place and the connections between places.

• 3KEY ISSUE looks at environmental issues generat

by industry, especially of air, water, and land.

• 4KEY ISSUE looks at changes in the factors resu

ing in changes in distribution. Until the late twen
eth century, industry was still highly clustered i
handful of communities within a handful of develop
countries, but industry has diffused to many com
nities in many developing countries. With globali1•
tio11 of competition to attract new industries-or,
many places, to retain existing ones-each place pl
sesses distinctive location characteristics. Geograph
identify the local diversity in assets that enables so
communities to compete successfully for industries,
well as handicaps communities must overcome to

taln older companies.

A FIGURE11-1 JAMESWATT'SSTEAMENGINEThisWattsteamengine
inWolverhamptoEnn, glandS.teaminjectedina cylinde(rinsidethebrick
housingp)ushesa pistonattachedto a crankshaftthatdrivesmachiner{yrigh,
sideofengine).

394

Chapter 11: Industry and Manufacturing 395

1KEY ISSUE ships, buildings, and furniture, as well as for heat. Man-
ufacturers turned to coal, which was then plentiful in
Where Is Industry England. It became the principal source of energy to
operate the ovens and the steam engines.
Distributed?
• Transportation. First canals and then railroads enabled
■ The Industrial Revolution factories to attract large numbers of workers, bring in
bulky raw materials such as iron ore and coal, and ship
■ Industrial Regions finished goods to consumers (Figure 11-2).

The modem concept of industry-meaning the manu- • Textiles. Textile production was transformed from a
facturing of goods in a factory-originated in northern dispersed cottage industry to a concentrated factory
England and southern Scotland during the second half of system during the late eighteenth century. In 1768,
the eighteenth century. From there, industry diffused to Richard Arkwright, a barber and wigmaker in Preston,
Europe and to North America in the nineteenth century England, invented machines to untangle cotton prior
and to other regions in the twentieth century. to spinning. Too large to fit inside a cottage, spinning
frames were placed inside factories near sources of
The Industrial Revolution rapidly flowing water, which supplled the power.

The Industrial Revolution was a series of improvements • Chemicals. The chemical industry was created to bleach
in industrial technology that transformed the process of and dye cloth. In 1746,John Roebuck and Samuel Garbett
manufacturing goods. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, established a factory to bleach cotton with sulfuric acid
industry was geographically dispersed across the landscape. obtained from burning coal. When combined with vari-
People made household tools and agricultural equipment ous metals, sulfuric acid produced another acid called
in their own homes or obtained them in the local village. vitriol, which was useful for dying clothing.
Home-based manufacturing was known as the cottage in-
dustry system. • Food processing. In 1810, French confectioner Nicolas
Appert started canning food in glass bottles sterilized
The catalyst of the Industrial Revolution was technol- in boiling water. Canned food was essential to feed the
ogy, with several inventions transforming the way in which factory workers who no longer lived on farms.
goods were manufactured, beginning with the steam engine,
an example of which is shown in Figure 11-1.The revolution Firstrailwayopenedby
in industrial technology created an unprecedented expan-
sion in productivity, resulting in substantially higher stan- -1826 1856
dards of living. In Chapter 2, the Industrial Revolution 1836 1876
was cited as a principal cause of population growth in 1846 Alter1876
stage 2 of the demographic transition.
- Ralllinesconstructe~oY1848
The term Industrial Revolution is somewhat misleading:
I C' -l
• The transformation was far more than industrial; it re-
sulted in new social, economic, and political inven- I f! I
tions, not just industrial ones. Jr .~~1'

• The changes involved a gradual diffusion of new ideas S<tt, ., ~
and techniques over decades rather than an instanta-
neous revolution. -. ~ -

Nonetheless, the term is commonly used to define ATLANTIC
the process that began in the United Kingdom in the late OCEAN
1700s. Among the first industries impacted by the Indus-
trial Revolution were: if! 'D'Hi?',

• Iron. The first industry to benefit from Watt's steam en- - '-
gine was the iron tool industry. The usefulness of iron
had been known for centuries, but it was difficult to Moditerranoan IO'E
produce because ovens had to be constantly heated,
something the steam engine could do. f,..,.. ~-:,

• Coal. Wood, the main energy source prior to the A FIGURE11-2 DIFFUSIONOF THE INDUSTRIALREVOLUTIONThe
Industrial Revolution, was becoming scarce in England constructioonfrailroadisnthe UnitedKingdomandon the Europeacnontinent
because it was in heavy demand for construction of reflecttshe diffusioonftheIndustriaRl evolutioEn.urope'psoliticaplroblems

impededthediffusioonftherailroadC. ooperatioanmongsmallneighboring
stateswasessentiatlobuildan efficienrtailnetworkandto raisemoneyfor
constructinagndoperatingthesystemB. ecausseuchcooperatiocnouldnotbe

attainedr,ailroadisnsomepartsofEuropeweredelayed50yearsaftertheir
debutin Britain.

~ I' I

396 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Industrial Regions • The Po Basin has attracted textiles and other industrie
because of two key assets, compared to Europe's othe
Learning Outcome 11.1.1 industrial regions: numerous workers willing to accep
Describethe locations of the principal industrial lower wages and inexpensive hydroelectricity from th,
regions. nearby Alps.

Industry is concentrated in three of the nine world re- • Northeastern Spain was Europe's fastest-growing manu
gions discussed in Chapter 9 regions of the world: Europe facturing area during the late twentieth century. Spain'
(Figure 11-3), North America (Figure 11-4), and East Asia leading industrial area, Catalonia, centered on the cit
(Figure 11-5). Each of the three regions accounts for of Barcelona, is the center of Spain's textile industry ani
roughly one-fourth of the world's total industrial output. the country's largest motor-vehicle plant.
Outside these three regions, the leading industrial pro-
ducers are Brazil and India. • Moscow is Russia's oldest industrial region, centere,
around the country's capital and largest city.

• St. Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city, specializes iJ
shipbuilding and other industries serving Russia's nav
and ports in the Baltic Sea.

EUROPE'S INDUSTRIAL AREAS • The Urals, contain the world's most varied collection c
minerals. Proximity to these minerals has attracted ifO'
Major industrial areas in Europe include: and steel, chemicals, machinery, and metal fabricatin
plants.
• The United Kingdom dominated world production of
steel and textiles during the nineteenth century. These in- • Volga is the region containing Russia'slargest petroleur
dustries have declined, but the country has attracted in- and natural gas fields.To the northeast, the Ural mountai
ternational investment through new high-tech industries range contains more than 1,000 types of minerals, the mo:
that serve the European market. varied collection found in any mining region in the world.

• The Rhine-Ruhr Valley has a concentration of iron and • Kuznetsk is Russia's most important manufacturing di:
steel manufacturing because of proximity to large coal- trict east of the Ural Mountains, with the country's large:
fields. Rotterdam, the world's largest port, lies at the reserves of coal and an abundant supply of iron ore.
mouth of several branches of the Rhine River as it flows
into the North Sea. • Donetsk, in Eastern Ukraine, has one of the world's laq
est coal reserves.

• The Mid-Rhine is Europe's most centrally located indus- • Silesia, Europe's most rapidly growing industrial are;
trial area. Frankfurt is a financial and commercial center takes advantage of a skilled but low-paid workforce an
and the hub of Germany's transport network. Stuttgart proximity to wealthy markets in Western Europe.
specializes in high-value goods that require skilled labor.
Mannheim, an inland port along the Rhine, has a large NORTH AMERICA'S INDUSTRIAL AREAS
chemical industry that manufactures synthetic fibers, Major industrial areas in North America include:
dyes, and pharmaceuticals.

Industriaclenters • New England was a cotton texti
K~tsk center in the early nineteenth centur
'r
Cotton was imported from southe1
states, and finished cotton produc
were shipped to Europe.

United •st hP,e.,ters~bu·rg • The Middle Atlantic is the largest U.
market, so the region attracts industri,
........,Kingdom.i,- M(!SC<s>,W,,Vio.Jl · that need proximity to a large numb
,:;;_ .- of consumers and depend on forei~
·~· ,....,. -~ trade through one of this region's laq
ports.
A ..-. • Donetsk
• The Mohawk Valley, a linear indu
,.,.-.;-.e~-~'N trial belt in upper New YorkState, tak
LIYC!!poot-.!J"MC-hesttr advantage of inexpensive electrici
generated at nearby Niagara Falls.
~hlr\e-Rohr
• Pittsburgh-Lake Erie was the lea
• :valley
~-Im
Mld-R~ _

?,M"'"',.'"1"~ PoB'asin -
•a..,,...
Northeastern
Spain

ing steel-producing area in the nin

.& FIGURE11-3 EUROPE'SINDUSTRIALAREAS Europewasthefirstregionto industrializdeuring teenth century because of its proxir
thenineteentchenturyN. umerouisndustriacl entersemergedin Europeascountriescompetedwith ity to Appalachian coal and iron orE
eachotherforsupremacy.

Chapter 11: Industry and Manufacturing 397

..,.._;--.;__ CANADA ~Southeastern ◄ FIGURE11-4 NORTH AMERICA'S
Ontario INDUSTRIAL AREAS Industryarri11eadbit
------- __....! ..................... laterin NorthAmericathanin Europeb, ut it
grew muchfasterin the nineteenthcentury.
M6hawk England NorthAmerica'smanufacturingwas traditionally
highlyconcentratedin the northeasternUnited
Western Valley ~Boston StatesandsoutheasternCanadaI.n recentyears,
manufacturinghasrelocatedto the South,lured
Great Lakes 0 9uffalo by lowerwagesandlegislationthat hasmadeit
0 111,wYorltCity difficultfor unionsto organizefactoryworkers,
Mllwau.k.. Deln>llo

(lhlcago• f111s1>urg•hPllllaoelphla

NORTH Pittsburgh- •eattlmore

AMERICA Lake Erie Middle
Atlantic

•.:oAsngtfe,

Southern

California~~

N

~. • Industrciaelnters ASIA'S INDUSTRIAL AREAS

MEXICO Major industrial areas in Asia include:

Tianjin, Beijing,, -~ • Japan became an industrial power
& Shenyaj.19 KOREA in the 1950s and 1960s, initially
by producing goods that could
Beijing. So~~ul' ~g~1~ JAPAN be sold in large quantity at cut-
rate prices to consumers in other
Bo •Tapgu countries. Manufacturing is con-
Hal .-8usan centrated in the central region, be-
tween Tokyo and Nagasaki.
Tokyo-Yokohama
• China has the world's largest sup-
Nagoya l7•k-to ply of low-cost labor and is the
Kyoto0 ),• world's largest market for many
Kobe'••clsaka Yokhea.ma consumer products. Manufactur-
ers cluster in three areas along the
CH IN A Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto east coast: near Guangdong and
Hong Kong, in the Yangtze River
Nanjing• valley between Shanghai and
Wuhan, and along the Gulf of Bo
'..,wuna•n ,shanghai Hai, from Tianjin and Beijing to
Shenyang.
Yangtze
River Valley

\ Guangdong Pro11ince Industriacl enters A • South Korea followed Japan's lead
in focusing on export-oriented
.--.~& Hong Kong N manufacturers. The country is a
HongKong leading producer of ocean-going
ships. Manufacturing is centered
4 FIGURE11-5 EASTASIA'S INDUSTRIALAREAS EastAsiabecame along the rim of the country be-
an importantindustrialregionin the secondhalf of the twentiethcentury, tween the capital and largest city
beginningwith Japan.Intothe twenty-firstcentury,Chinahasemergedasthe Seoul and Busan, the largest port.
world'sleadingmanufacturingcountryby mostmeasures.

CHECK-IN: KEY ISSUE 1

• The Western Great Lakes, centered on Chicago, is the Where Is Industry Distributed?
hub of the nation's transportation network and is now
the center of steel production. ✓ The Industrial Revolution was a series of
improvements that transformed manufacturing.
• Southern California is now the country's largest area of Most of the improvements occurred first in the
clothing and textile production, the second-largest fur- United Kingdom.
niture producer, and a major food-processing center.
✓ The world's three principal industrial regions
• Southeastern Ontario, Canada's most important indus- are Europe, North America, and EastAsia.
trial area, is central to the Canadian and U.S. markets
and near the Great Lakes and Niagara Falls.

398 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

KEY ISSUE 2 or they may be parts or materials made by other compa-
nies. An industry in which the inputs weigh more than the
Why Are Situation and final products is a bulk-reducing industry. To minimize
Site Factors Important? transport costs, a bulk-reducing industry locates near its
sources of inputs.
■ Situation Factors: Proximity to Inputs
■ Situation Factors: Proximity to Minerals are especially important inputs for many in-
dustries. Earth has 92 natural elements, but about 99 per-
Markets cent of the crust is composed of 8 of them (Figure 11-6).
The eight most common elements combine with thou-
• Changing Situation Factors in Key sands of rare ones to form approximately 3,000 different
Industries minerals, all with their own properties of hardness, color,
and density, as well as spatial distribution. Many of these
■ Site Factors minerals have important industrial uses.

Learning Outcome 11.2.1 Like energy, mineral resources are not distributed uni-
Identify the two types of situation factors and formly across Earth. Countries with important mineral re-
explain why some industries locate near inputs. sources are shown in orange in figure 11-7. Few important
minerals are found in Europe, Central Asia, and Southwest
Having looked at the "where" question for industrial loca- Asia & North Africa.
tion, we can next consider the "why" question: Why are
industries located where they are? Geographers try to ex- NONMETALLIC MINERALS
plain why one location may prove more profitable for a
factory than others. A company ordinarily faces two geo- Minerals are either nonmetallic or metallic. In weight,
graphic costs-situation and site: more than 90 percent of the minerals that humans use
• Situation factors involve transporting materials to and are nonmetallic. Important nonmetallic minerals include
building stones, gemstones such as diamonds, and miner-
from a factory. A firm seeks a location that minimizes als used in the manufacture of fertilizers such as nitrogen,
the cost of transporting inputs to the factory and fin- phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and sulfur.
ished goods to consumers.
• Site factors result from the unique characteristics of a METALLIC MINERALS
location.
Metallic minerals have properties that are especially valu-
Situation Factors: Proximity able for fashioning machinery, vehicles, and other essen-
to Inputs tialllements of contemporary society. They are to varying
degrees malleable (able to be hammered into thin plates)
Manufacturers buy from companies and individuals who and ductile (able to be drawn into fine wire) and are good
supply inputs, such as minerals, materials, energy, ma- conductors of heat and electricity. Each metal possesses
chinery, and supporting services. They sell to companies these qualities in different combinations and degrees and
and individuals who purchase the product. The farther therefore has a distinctive set of uses.
something is transported, the higher the cost, so a manu-
facturer tries to locate its factory as close as possible to its Many metals are capable of combining with other met-
inputs and markets: als to form alloys with distinctive properties important for
• Proximity to inputs. The optimal plant location is as industry. Alloys are known as ferrous or nonferrous.

close as possible to inputs if the cost of transporting raw FERROUS ALLOYS. A ferrous alloy contains iron, and a
materials to the factory is greater than the cost of trans- nonferrous one does not. The word ferrouscomes from the
porting the product to consumers.
s,1,con ◄ FIGURE 11-6 ELEMENTS
• Proximity to markets. The optimal plant location is as 27.7% IN EARTH'S CRUST Oxygen,
close as possible to the customer if the cost of transport- silicon,andaluminumarethe
o~ygen mostcommonelementsin Earth's
ing raw materials to the factory is lessthan the cost of 46.6% crust.

transporting the product to consumers. __J.Others 1.5% Sodium 2.8%
Potassium2.6%
Every industry uses some inputs. The inputs may be re- Magnesium2.1%
sources from the physical environment, such as minerals,

Chapter 11: Industry and Manufacturing 399

40" Nonmetallicmlnerals P Phosphorus
D a Diamonds s SuHur
N n Nitrogen

Ferrousmetals

FE te Ironore NI ol Nickel

CR er Chromium SN lll Tin

116mg Magnesium Tl d Titanium

MN mn Manganese w • Tungsten

MOmo Molybdenum

Nonferroums etals

8 b Bauxite PTP1 Platinum
AG '"l Silver
cucu Copper

I 0 -21000 ,1,0K9i0lom~leff AU au Gold ZH zn Zinc

80'160' 140' 120' I 00' 80' i's Pil Lead
20' 4{)' 60' 100' 120' 14{)' 160' 111<)'

.i. FIGURE 11-7 DISTRIBUTION Of MINERALS lX represent1s5o/a,ndabove
AustraliaandChinaareespeciallywell endowedwith mineralsthat areimportantfor industry. of worl<pI ,-oduclion

o represenlS5-15% or""rld producMn

Latin for "iron." Iron is extracted from iron ore, by far the • Copper is valued for its high ductility, malleability,
world's most widely used ore. Humans began fashioning thermal and electrical conductivity, and resistance to
tools and weapons from iron 4,000 years ago. Important corrosion. It is used primarily in electronics and con-
metals used to make ferrous alloys include: structing buildings. Chile is the leading producer.

• Chromium is a principal component of stainless steel, • Lead is has been used for thousands of years, first in
extracted from chromite ore, one-half of which is building materials and pipes; then In ammunition,
mined in South Africa. brass, glass, and crystal; and now primarily in motor-
vehicle batteries. Australia and China are the leading
• Manganese imparts toughness and carries off undesir- producers.
able sulfur and oxygen during the smelting process. Bra-
zil, Gabon, and South Africa are the leading producers. • Lithium is used in batteries for a wide variety of devices
such as cell phones, laptop computers, and hybrid and
• Molybdenum imparts toughness and resilience to steel. electric-powered vehicles. Chile and Australia each pro-
The United States is the leading producer. duce about one-third of global output.

• Nickel is used primarily for stainless steel and high- • Magnesium is relatively light yet strong, so it is used
temperature and electrical alloys. Russia, Australia, and to produce lightweight, corrosion-resistant alloys, es-
Canada are the leading producers. pecially with aluminum to make beverage cans. China
supplies three-fourths of the world's magnesium.
• Tin is valued for its corrosion-resistant properties and
is used for plating iron and steel. China is the leading • Zinc is primarily used as a coating to protect iron and
producer. steel from corrosion, and it is also used as an alloy to
make bronze and brass. China is the leading producer.
• Titanium ls used as white pigment in paint. It is ex-
tracted primarily from the mineral ilmenite, and • Precious metals include silver, gold, and the platinum
Australia is the leading producer. group. Silver and gold have been prized since ancient
times for their beauty and durability. Platinum is used
• Tungsten is used to manufacture tungsten carbide for in motor vehicles for catalytic converters and fuel cells.
cutting tools. China is responsible for 90 percent of
world production. • Rare earth metals comprise 17 elements, 15 of which
are lanthanides, such as cerium. They are called
NONFERROUS METALS. Important metals utilized to "rare" because only a few deposits in the world are
manufacture products that don't contain iron and steel economically profitable to mine, nearly all of them
include: in China. Rare earth metals are used in electronics
and motors.
• Aluminum is the most abundant nonferrous metal.
Lighter, stronger, and more resistant to corrosion than Pauseand Reflect11.2.1
iron and steel, aluminum is obtained primarily through
extraction from bauxite ore. Australia is the leading North America isa leading sourceof which minerals?
producer.

400 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Situation Factors: Proximity
to Markets

Learning Outcome 11.2.2
Explain why some industries locate near markets.

For many firms, the optimal location is close to custom- A FIGURE 11-9 BULK-GAINING: BEVERAGE PRODUCTION Beeris a
ers. Proximity to markets is a critical locational factor
for three types of industries: bulk-gaining industries, bulk•gainingindustryT. hecansor bottlesarefilled mostlywith water.Most
single-market manufacturers, and perishable products
companies. beeris bottlednearmajormetropolitanareasw, heremostof theconsumers

BULK-GAINING INDUSTRIES areclusteredadd to caption:Theareasin coloron the maphaverelativelyhi1

A bulk-gaining industry makes something that gains vol- populationdensity. ·
ume or weight during production. To minimize transport
costs, a bulk-gaining industry needs to locate near where bending, forging (hammering or rolling metal betwe1
the product is sold. two dies), stamping (pressing metal between two dies), a,
forming (pressing metal against one die). Separate parts a
FABRICATED METALS. A prominent example of a buJk- joined together through welding, bonding, and fasten.ii
gaining industry is the fabrication of parts and machinery with bolts and rivets.
from steel and other metals (Figure 11-8). A fabricated-
metal factory brings together metals such as steel and Because fabricated and machined products typical
previously manufactured parts as the main inputs and occupy a larger volume than the sum of their individt
transforms them into a more complex product. Fabricators parts and metals, the cost of shipping the final prodL
shape individual pieces of metal using such processes as to consumers is usually the most critical factor. Where
steelmakers have traditionally located near raw materia
,. FIGURE 11-8 BULK-GAINING: FABRICATED METAL PRODUCTION steel fabricators have traditionally located near marke
Machinery is fabricated for use in farms, factories, offic,
Motorcyclewheels are fabricated at the Harley-Davidsonfactory in York, and homes. Common fabricated goods include mic1
Pennsylvania. wave ovens, televisions, refrigerators, and air conditione
Machine shops also transform metal into useful prodw
such as structural metal for buildings and bridges.

BEVERAGE PRODUCTION. Beverage bottling is anott
good example of an industry that adds bulk (Figure 11-'
Empty cans or bottles are brought to the bottler, fill
with the soft drink or beer, and shipped to consume
The principal input placed in a beverage container
water, which is relatively bulky, heavy, and expensive
transport. Major soft-drink companies add syrups, a.
beer companies add barley, hops, and yeast, accordi
to proprietary recipes. These added ingredients are mu
less bulky than the water and much easier to transpo;

If water were only available in a few locations arou
the country, then bottlers might cluster near the sou.
of such a scarce, bulky input. But because water is av,
able where people live, bottlers can minimize costs by p
ducing beverages near their consumers instead of shippi
water (their heaviest and bulkiest input) long distances
filled container has the same volume as an empty one, t
it is much heavier. Therefore, shipping filled container:
more expensive than shipping empty ones, and bottl
locate near their customers rather than the manufactur

of the containers.

Chapter 11: Industry and Manufacturing 401

used, often within minutes, rather than weeks or months
in advance. For some parts makers, just-in-time delivery
dictates that they build their factories as close as possible
to their customers, the final assembly plants. Most en-
gines, transmissions, seats, and metal body parts are pro-
duced at locations only a couple of hours away from an
assembly plant.

A FIGURE 11-10 SINGLE-MARKET MANUFACTURER YKK,theworld's PERISHABLE PRODUCTS
largestmanufactureorfzippersh,asfactoriesin68countriesi,norderto serve To deliver their products to consumers as rapidly as pos-
itssinglemarketc:lothingmanufacturers. sible, perishable-product industries must be located near
their markets. Because few people want stale bread or
Pause and Reflect 11.2.2 sour milk, food producers such as bakers and milk bot-
tlers must locate near their customers to assure rapid de-
Why isn't wine bottled near the market, like beer livery (Figure 11-11). Processors of fresh food into frozen,
and soft drinks? canned, and preserved products can, however, locate far
from their customers. Cheese and butter, for example, are
SINGLE-MARKET MANUFACTURERS manufactured in Wisconsin because rapid delivery to the
urban markets is not critical for products with a long shelf
Single-market manufacturers are specialized manufactur- life, and the area is well suited agriculturally for raising
ers with only one or two customers. The optimal loca- dairy cows.
tion for these factories is often in close proximity to the
customers. The daily newspaper is an example of a product other
than food that is highly perishable because it contains
An example of a single-market manufacturer is a producer dated information. People demand their newspaper as soon
of buttons, zippers, clips, pins, or other specialized compo- after its printing as possible. Therefore, newspaper pub-
nents attached to clothing (Figure 11-10).The clothing man- lishers must locate near markets to minimize transporta-
ufacturer may need additional supplies of these tion cost. Difficulty with timely delivery is one of the main
pieces on very short notice. The world's largest factors in the decline of printed and home-delivered daily
manufacturer of zippers, YKK,for example, has newspapers. Electronic devices-computers and handheld
factories in 68 countries, in order to be near its devices-can deliver news more quickly than a printed
customers1 the manufacturers of clothing. newspaper. Little wonder that during the first decade of
the twenty-first century, print publishing jobs declined
The makers of parts for motor vehicles are from 1 million to 800,000 in the United States, whereas
another example of specialized manufactur- Jnternet publishing jobs increased from 70,000 to 80,000.
ers with only one or two customers-the major
motor vehicle producers, such as GM and Toy- .6. FIGURE 11-11 PERISHABLEPRODUCTS
ota. In the past, most motor vehicle parts were
made in Michigan and shipped to nearby ware- Potatochipsare bestconsumedwhenfresh,andtheyare muchbulkierafter
houses and distribution centers maintained in
that state by the major producers. From the ~hehyav•ebeenslicedf,rieduntiltheycurl,andplacedinlargeair-fillebdags.As
warehouses, the producers sent the parts to
plants around the country where the vehicles a result,mostarep.roducerdelativelcyloseto themarket.
were assembled. Parts makers now ship most of
their products directly to assembly plants.

Proximity to the assembly plant is increas-
ingly important for parts producers because
of the diffusion of "just-in-time" delivery (see
Key Issue 4). Under just-in-time, parts are de-
livered to the assembly plant just ln time to be

' I ', I "' Ii r •:

I

402 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

SHIP, RAIL, TRUCK, OR AIR? • Air is most expensive for all distances so is usually 1
served for speedy delivery of small-bulk, high-vali
Learning Outcome 11.2.3 packages.

Explain why industries use different types of Modes of delivery are often mixed. For example, a,
transportation. freight companies pick up packages in the afternoon ar
transport them by truck to the nearest airport. Late
Inputs and products are transported in one of four ways: night, planes filled with packages are flown to a cent1
via ship, rail, truck, or air. Firms seek the lowest-cost mode hub airport in the interior of the country, such as Mer
of transport, but which of the four alternatives is cheapest phis, Tennessee, or Louisville, Kentucky. The packages a
changes with the distance that goods are being sent. transferred to other planes, flown to airports nearest th1
destination, transferred to trucks, and delivered the ne
The farther something is transported, the lower is the cost morning.
per kilometer (or mile). Longer-distance transportation is
cheaper per kilometer in part because firms must pay work- Containerization has facilitated transfer of packages t
ers to load goods on and off vehicles, whether the material
travels 10 kilometers or 10,000. The cost per kilometer de- tween modes. Containers may be packed into a rail c:
creases at different rates for each of the four modes because transferred quickly to a container ship to cross the ocea
the loading and unloading expenses differ for each mode: and unloaded onto trucks at the other end. Large shi
have been specially built to accommodate large numbE
• Trucks are most often used for short-distance delivery, of rectangular box-like containers.
because they can be loaded and unloaded quickly and
cheaply. Truck delivery is especially advantageous if the Regardless of transportation mode, cost rises each tir:
driver can reach the destination within one day, before inputs or products are transferred from one mode to a
having to stop for an extended rest. other. For example, workers must unload goods from
truck and then reload them onto a plane. The compa1
• Trains are often used to ship to destinations that take may need to build or rent a warehouse to store goods te1
longer than one day to reach, such as between the East porarily after unloading from one mode and before loa
and West coasts of the United States. Trains take longer ing to another mode. Some companies may calculate th
than trucks to load, but once under way, they aren't re- the cost of one mode is lower for some inputs and pro
quired to make daily rest stops like trucks. ucts, whereas another mode may be cheaper for oth
goods. Many companies that use multiple transport mod
• Ships are attractive for transport over very long dis- locate at a break-of-bulk point, which is a location wh1:
tances because the cost per kilometer is very low. Ships transfer among transportation modes is possible. rmpc
arc slower than land-based transportation, but unlike tant break-of-bulk points include seaports and airports. F
trains or trucks, they can cross oceans, such as to North example, a steel mill near the port of Baltimore receh
America from Europe or Asia (Figure 11-12). iron ore by ship from South America and coal by tra
from Appalachia.

◄ FIGURE 11-12 WORLD

SHIPPING ROUTES Theheaviest

shippingtraffic is acrosstheAtiant,

and Pacificoceansto NorthAmeric

.,.

0 1.000 tooOMila
O 1,00IH',000KMffiften (_

Chapter 11: Industry and Manufacturing 403

Changing Situation Factors
in Key lnaustries

Each step in the production process can result in a differ-
ent combination of situation factors. As a result, the op-
timal locations for the different steps can vary. In other
cases, the relative importance of various situation factors
can change over time, or their costs can change. If the mix
of situation factors changes, the optimal location for an
individual factory, or for an entire industry, can change.

COPPER: PROXIMITY TO INPUTS A FIGURE 11-14 COPPER MINING AND CONCENTRATION Morenci
Mine,Arizona,isthelargestcopperminein theUnitedStatesN. earbyareother
OR MARKETS? bulk-reducingfacilitiesi,ncludingtheconcentratosrhownhere.

Copper production involves several steps. The first chemicals, and filter and dry them. Copper concen-
three steps are good examples of bulk-reducing activi- trate is about 25 percent copper. Concentration mills
ties that need to be located near their sources of inputs are always near the mines because concentration
(Figure 11-13). The fourth step is not bulk reducing, so transforms the heavy, bulky copper ore into a product
does not need to be near inputs: of much higher value per weight (Figure 11-14).

1. Mining. The first step in copper production is min- 3. Smelting. The concentrated copper becomes the input
ing the copper ore. Mining in general is bulk reducing for smelters, which remove more impurities. Smelt-
because the heavy, bulky ore extracted from mines ers produce copper matte (about 60 percent copper),
is mostly waste, known as gangue.Copper ore mined blister copper (about 97 percent copper), and anode
in North America is especially low grade, less than copper (about 99 percent copper). As another bulk-
0. 7 percent copper. reducing industry, smelters are built near their main
inputs-the concentration mills-again to minimize
2. Concentration. Concentration mills crush and grind transportation cost.
the ore into fine particles, mix them with water and
4. Refining. The purified copper produced by smelters
Numbero! coppertoundries Minacapacity(thousandsof metrictons) is treated at refineries to produce copper cathodes,
about 99.99 percent pure copper. Most refineries are
20-27 5-9 300 ormore O 100-200 a Less u,an 100 located near smelters.
11-16 0-4
Another important locational consideration is the
source of energy to power these energy-demanding opera-
tions. In general, metal processors such as the copper in-
dustry try to locate near economical electrical sources and
to negotiate favorable rates from power companies.

Figure 11-13 shows the distribution of the U.S. cop-
per industry. Two-thirds of U.S. copper is mined in Ari-
zona, so the state also has most of the concentration
mills and smelters. Most foundries, where copper is
manufactured, are located near markets on the East and
West coasts.

A FIGURE 11-13 U.S. COPPER INDUSTRY Coppemr ining,concentrating, Pause and Reflect 11 .2.3
andsmeltingareexampleosf bulk-reducinigndustriesI.ntheUnitedStates,
mostplantsthatconcentrates,melt,andrefinecopperarein or nearArizona, What is an example of a product purchased by
wheremostcopperminesarelocatedI.ncontrastm, ostfoundriesw, here consumers that is made of copper?

copperproductsaremanufactureda,relocatednearmarketsin theEasat nd
Westcoasts.

404 THECULTURALLANDSCAPE

STEEL: CHANGING INPUTS

Learning Outcome 11.2.4
Describe how the optimal location for steel
production has changed.

Steel is an alloy of iron that is manufactured by remov- • Integratsetdeelmills
ing impurities in iron, such as silicon, phosphorus, sulfur,
and oxygen, and adding desirable elements, such as man- • Historicalol cation
ganese and chromium. Steel was a luxury item until Henry of steelindustry
Bessemer (1813-1898) patented an efficient process for
casting steel in 1855. The Bessemer process remained the • Majoiroooredeposit
most common method of manufacturing steel until the Majorbituminous
mid-twentieth century. ~oaldeposit

Steelmaking is an example of a bulk-reducing industry .t. FIGURE11-15 INTEGRATEDSTEELMILLS IN THE UNITED
that traditionally located its facilities because of situation STATESIntegratedsteelmillsarehighlyclusterednearthe southernGreat
factors. Two changes in situation factors have influenced Lakese, speciallyLakeErieandLakeMichigan.Historicallyt,he mostcritical
changes in the distribution of steel mills within the United factorin situatinga steelmill wasto minimizetransportationcostfor raw
States and worldwide: materialse, speciallyheavyb, ulkyironoreandcoal.In recentyears,many
integratedsteelmills haveclosed.Most survivingmillsarein the Midwestto
• Changes in the relative importance of the main inputs. maximizeaccessto consumers.

• Increasing importance of proximity to markets rather • Mid-twentieth century: East and West coasts. Most ne1
than proximity to inputs. U.S. steel mills were located in communities near th
East and West coasts, including Baltimore, Los Angele:
CHANGING DISTRIBUTION OF THE U.S. STEEL INDUSTRY. and Trenton, New Jersey. These coastal locations part!
reflected further changes in transportation cost. Jro.
The two principal inputs in steel production are iron ore ore increasingly came from other countries, especiall
and coal. Because of the need for large quantities of bulky, Canada and Venezuela, and locations near the Atlanti
heavy iron ore and coal, steelmaking traditionally clustered and Pacific oceans were more accessible to those fo1
near sources of the two key raw materials. Within the United eign sources. Further, scrap iron and steel-wide!
States, the distribution of steel production changed several available in the large metropolitan areas of the East an
times because of changing inputs (Figure 11-15): West coasts-became an important input in the stee
production process.
• Mid-nineteenth century: Southwestern Pennsylvania.
The U.S. steel industry concentrated around Pittsburgh • Late twentieth century: Proximity to markets. Most ste<
in southwestern Pennsylvania because iron ore and mills in the United States closed. Most of the survivoi
coal were both mined there. The area no longer has were around southern Lake Michigan and along th
steel mills, but it remains the center for research and East Coast. Proximity to markets has become more irr
administration. portant than the traditional situation factor of proidn
ity to inputs. Coastal plants provide steel to large Ea:
• Late nineteenth century: Lake Erie. Steel mills were Coast population centers, and southern Lake Michiga
built around Lake Erie, in the Ohio cities of Cleveland, plants are centrally located to distribute their produc
Youngstown, and Toledo, and near Detroit. The countrywide.
locational shift was largely influenced by the discovery
of rich iron ore in the Mesabi Range, a series of low The increasing importance of proximity to marke·
mountains in northern Minnesota. This area soon is also demonstrated by the recent growth of steel mir
became the source for virtually all iron ore used in the imills, which have captured one-fourth of the U.S. ste1
U.S. steel industry. The ore was transported by way of market (Figure 11-16). Rather than iron ore and coal, tr
Lake Superior, Lake Huron, and Lake Erie. Coal was main input into minimill production is scrap metal. In tr
shipped from Appalachia by train. past, most steel was produced at large integrated mill con
plexes. They processed iron ore, converted coal into cok•
• Early twentieth century: Southern Lake Michigan. Most converted the iron into steel, and formed the steel int
new steel mills were located near the southern end of sheets, beams, rods, or other shapes. Minimills, general!
Lake Michigan-in Gary, Indiana, Chicago, and other limited to one step in the process-steel production-a1
communities. The main raw materials continued to be
iron ore and coal, but changes in steelmaking required
more iron ore in proportion to coal. Thus, new steel
mills were built closer to the Mesabi Range to minimize
transportation cost. Coal was available from nearby
southern Illinois, as well as from Appalachia.

Chapter 11: Industry and Manufacturing 405

NucorCorporationminlmills CHANGING DISTRIBUTIONOFTHE WORLD STEELINDUSTRY.
The shift of world manufacturing to new industrial regions
• HeadquartersO Buildingsistems 9 Sheets can be seen clearly in steel production. In 1980, 80 percent
of world steel was produced in developed countries and
• Bars O Joists t, other 20 percent in developing countries (Figure 11-17, top).
Between 1980 and 2010, the share of world steel production
A FIGURE11-16 MINIMILLS Minimills,whichproducesteelfromscrap declined to 37 percent in developed countries and increased
metal,are morenumerousthanintegratedsteelmills,andtheyaredistributed to 68 percent in developing countries (Figure11-17, bottom).
aroundthe countrynearlocalmarketsS. hownarethe plantsof Nucort,he
largestminimill operatorin the UnitedStates. World steel production doubled between 1980 and 2010,
from around 700 million to around 1,400 million metric
less expensive than integrated mills to build and operate, tons. China was responsible for 600 million of the 700 mil-
and they can locate near their markets because their main lion metric ton increase, and other developing countries
input-scrap metal-is widely available. (primarily India and South Korea) for the other 100 million
(Figure 11-18). Production in developed countries remained
unchanged, at approximately 100 million metric tons.

China's steel industry has grown in part because of ac-
cess to the primary inputs iron ore and coal. However; the
principal factor in recent years has been increased demand
by growing industries in China that use a lot of steel, such
as motor vehicles.

Pause and Reflect 11.2.4

Although Pittsburgh's football team is named
"Steelers," based on Figure 11-15, what city's team
might be more appropriately given this nickname?

,.,._ ~;,;...;_.----- rrtirii.::c.tCMl•«I
·- 20"
PACIFIC
OCEAN PACtFTC
20" , .._._ -_, -~-11,.!r;;.I---; OCE"AN

0 Developecdountries il' EQ!Jl!Ot"
0 Developingcountries 100'
"':" '}

Steel produc~on 2f1' fr~~ofC.X:tfttl ~--r-~
(million metrictons}
,o- 0 t---- 2.000 •.wJ M11l1 V I
• Ioo,ooabovo ' ...;;:,-;- ~O"

• ,0-99 D •2,000 ,,,xoKMJffletOr1

1-9 ii'" 2V' ·W" W' 91)" 100' 120' 140" HU tSD"

belowI
nodata

~ '11'

0 Developedcountries :___,__"""c;__-.,.l,,.,l.O<!' .
0 Developincgountries
PACIFIC
A FIGURE11-17 SHARE OF GLOBAL -,. odEAN
STEELPRODUCTION, 1980 AND
2010 Theshareof world steelproduced t;: I E,ua,.. O'
in developingcountriesincreasedfrom21 l'-,.~ I

percentin 1980to 68 percentin 2010. f I TrllO<oT~ I' •' 20'

•-

''
I f O l2P')O I ,:ot...~-1
·2.rz4r,~~I,-•-,.I),...:.,.~~ .tO"

\' Kltomf\trt

\ O' lO' ~ IO' IO' ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

,w ""' 120' 100' IO' IO' ~ 20'

A FIGURE11-18 WORLD STEELPRODUCTION,1980 AND 2010 Theleadingsteelproducer
in 1980wasthe UnitedStates,and in 2010it wasChina.

··,rr1iT'I'\I I 1'jl I . l'Ii"I Iii,r ': r. 1I'I'
1I 1' 1I•111II 1 ,I'llI< ,, I',I •·,i1~I I~ ,, ,11IrI1,1' 1I 1I 1I11'l',iIl',;1",Iii
I II -- : I
L •
:I I I ' •: I J f I I fI I II I ' :I I

406 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

MOTOR VEHICLES: CHANGING MARKETS assembled in Japan, and most vehicles sold in China a
assembled in China.
Learning Outcome 11.2.5
Explain the distribution of motor vehicle production. Carmakers' assembly plants account for only arou,
30 percent of the value of the vehicles that bear th
The motor vehicle is a prominent example of a fabricated names. Independent parts makers supply the oth
metal product, described earlier as one of the main types of 70 percent of the value. The typical passenger car weig.
bulk-gaining industries. Motor vehicles are therefore built about 1,600 kilograms (3,500 pounds) and contains abo
near their markets. Asthe markets for new cars change, the 45 percent steel, 13 percent iron, 11 percent each alun
distribution of factories changes. num and plastic, 7 percent fluids and lubricants, 4 perce
rubber, 2 percent glass, and 7 percent other materials.
GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION OF VEHICLE PRODUCTION.
Many parts makers are examples of single-market ma
Carmakers manufacture vehicles at final assembly ufacturers because they ship most of their products to 01
plants, using thousands of parts supplied by independent or perhaps a handful of final assembly plants. As sing.
companies. The world's three major industrial regions market manufacturers, parts makers cluster near the fir
house 80 percent of the world's final assembly production, assembly plants. Motor vehicle seats, for example, are i
including 40 percent in East Asia, 25 percent in Europe,
and 15 percent in North America (Figure 11-19). Most variably manufactured within an hour of the final asse1
assembly plants are clustered in these three regions because bly plant. A seat is an especially large and bulky obje,
most of the world's car buyers are there. and carmakers do not want to waste valuable space in th1
assembly plants by piling up an inventory of them.
Ten carmakers control 85 percent of the world's sales:
On the other hand, some parts do not need to be man
factured close to the customer. For them, changing site f,
tors are more important, discussed beginning on them
page. Some locate in countries that have relatively le
labor costs, such as Mexico, China, and Czech Republic

• Two based in North America: Ford and GM. Pause and Reflect 11.2.5

• Four based in Europe: Germany's Volkswagen, Italy's Why is the percentage of steel in vehicles declining,
Fiat (which controls Chrysler), France's Renault (which while the percentage of aluminum and plastic is
controls Nissan) and Peugeot. increasing?

• Four based in East Asia: Japan's Toyota, Honda, and
Suzuki and South Korea's Hyundai.

These carmakers operate assembly plants in at least two of REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF VEHICLE PRODUCTIO
the three major industrial regions (Figure 11-20). Three-
fourths of vehicles sold in North America are assembled Within each of the three major industrial regions, mol
in North America. Similarly, most vehicles sold in Europe vehicle production is highly clustered. Because a fu
are assembled in Europe, most vehicles sold in Japan are assembly plant is a bulk-gaining operation, its criti,
location factor is minimizing transportation to the mark

• North America. Most of the assembly and parts pla1

T FIGURE 11-19 MOTOR VEHICLE PRODUCTION are located in the interior of the United States, betwe
Chinais the world's leadingproducerof cars,followedby the UnitedStates, Michigan and Alabama, centered in a corridor kno,
Japana, ndGermany. as "auto alley," formed by north-south interstate hif

ways 65 and 75, with an extensi

into southwestern Ontario (Fig1

11-21). The principal cluster of

-_ 60' sembly plants outside auto al.
is in central Mexico. Within a1

alley, U.S.-owned carmakers a

0 suppliers have clustered in Mi<
~,

Trt>p'e_OI=! igan and nearby northern stat
whereas foreign-owned carm
PACIFIC 20' ers and parts suppliers have cl
tered in the southern portion
• OCEAN
auto alley.
-'f, t.?\)•/-P:~· - -fl?Jato<
IND/AN --0'
OCEAN l~_J;..."',";
/J"?,, f , . .

' 7"

Tropeof capr£Om,

2,000 I 4,000Mltes . i.J
0 "2,000 4,000IO!ometlrs
60' 80' 100" l'ZO" 140' 160' 180"

Chapter 11: Industry and Manufacturing 407

◄ FIGURE11-20 ASSEMBLYPLANT IN
EUROPE Toyota'sfactorynearSumastoni,n the
UnitedKingdomi,s surroundedbyfarmland.

• Europe. Most plants are clustered in an east-west corridor Assemblpylants,
between the United Kingdom and Russia (Figure 11-22). scaledby2011 _,, •
Germany is the leading producer of vehicles in Europe. car production
Since the end of communism in Eastern Europe in the
early 1990s, that region has had most of the growth in • 750,000 "' •
vehicle production. The large carmakers have modern-
ized inefficient Communist-era factories or built en- e 350,000 ••
tirely new ones in Eastern Europe. Labor costs are lower
there than in Western Europe, and demand for vehicles 100
has increased with the end of Communist restrictions
on the ability of private individuals to buy consumer ' ,.-
goods such as cars.
. ,,.. ~·' ~,-,.L,(;:~:-;~_.')7.~{"
• East Asia. China's assembly plants are clustered in the
east in order to be near the major population centers ('_
(Figure 11-23). Most car buyers in China are located in
the large cities, such as Shanghai and Beijing.

2SO SDOMI.S

o 2.50 SOOl<i.Ornetus

• FIGURE11-22 MOTOR VEHICLEPRODUCTIONIN EUROPEWithinEurope,
mostvehiclesareproducedin an east-westcorridorcenteredon Germany.

Assemblpylants, I PACIFIC A
scaledby2011 OCEAN
carproduction N

• 500,000 South 250 SOOM!lfll
0 250 50011il0rpt!m
e 250,000 China
Sea
• 100
.A FIGURE11-23 MOTORVEHICLEPRODUCTIONIN EASTASIA Most
._ FIGURE11-21 MOTOR VEHICLEPRODUCTION IN NORTH AMERICA vehiclesareproducednearmajormetropolitanarease, specialliynwesternChina.
Mostvehiclesareproducedin autoalley.MostU.S.-ownecdompaniesareclus-
teredin thenorth,andmostforeign-ownedonesin the south.

408 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Site Factors A labor-intensive industry is not the same as a high.
wage industry. "Labor-intensive" is measured as a percent-
Learning Outcome 11.2.6 age, whereas "high-wage" is measured in dollars or other
List the three types of site factors. currencies. For example, motor-vehicle workers are paid
much higher hourly wages than textile workers, yet the
Firms take into consideration site factors as well as situa- textile industry is labor intensive, and the auto industry
tion factors (see the Contemporary Geography Tools fea- is not. Although auto workers earn relatively high wages,
ture). Labor, capital, and land are the three traditional pro- most of the value of a car is accounted for by the parts and
duction factors that may vary among locations. the machinery needed to put together the parts. On the
other hand, labor accounts for a large percentage of the
cost of producing a towel or shirt compared with materials
and machinery.

Pause and Reflect 11.2.6

LABOR Labor accounts for around 5 percent of the cost of

The most important site factor on a global scale is labor. manufacturing a car. Does this mean that motor
Minimizing labor costs is important for some industries, vehicle manufacturing is a labor-intensive industry?
and the variation of labor costs around the world is large. Explain.

Worldwide, around one-half billion workers are engaged

in industry, according to the UN International Labor Orga- CAPITAL
nization (ILO). China has around one-fourth of the world's

manufacturing workers, India around one-fifth, and all de- Manufacturers typically borrow capital-the funds to es-

veloped countries combined around one-fifth. tablish new factories or expand existing ones. The U.S

A labor-intensive industry Is an industry In which motor-vehicle industry concentrated in Michigan earl)

wages and other compensation paid to employees constitute in the twentieth century largely because that region's fi

a high percentage of expenses. Labor constitutes an average nancial institutions were more willing than eastern bank

of 11 percent of overall manufacturing costs in the United to lend money to the industry's pioneers. The most im

States, so a labor-intensive industry in the United States portant factor in the clustering of high-tech industries iT

would have a much higher percentage than that. The reverse California's Silicon Valley-even more important tha1

case, an industry with a much lower-than-average percent- proximity to skilled labor-was the availability of capita

age of expenditures on labor, is considered capital intensive. Banks in Silicon Valley have long been willing to provid

The average wage paid to manufacturing workers is money for new software and communications firms, eve

approximately $35 per hour in developed countries and though lenders elsewhere have hesitated. High-tech indu•

exceeds $40 per hour in parts of Europe (Figure 11-24). tries have been risky propositions-roughly t we-thirds c

Health-care, retirement pensions, and other benefits add them fail-but Silicon Valley financial institutions ha,

substantially to the compensation. In China and India, av- continued to lend money to engineers who have goo

erage wages are approximately $1 per hour and include ideas so that they can buy the software, communication

limited additional benefits. For some manufacturers-but and networks they need to get started (Figure 11-25). On

not all-the difference between paying workers $1 and fourth of all capital in the United States is spent on ne

$35 per hour ls critical. industries in Silicon Valley.

The ability to borrow money has become a critical fa

T FIGURE 11-24 LABOR AS A SITE FACTOR: MANUFACTURING WAGES The chart tor in the distribution of industry in developir
countries. Financial institutions in many develo
showsaveragehourlywagesforworkersinmanufacturinignthe 14 countrieswiththe ing countries are short of funds, so new industri
largestindustriapl roductionin 2010. must seek loans from banks in developed cou

United States tries. But enterprises may not get loans if they a
located in a country that is perceived to have;
Canada unstable political system, a high debt level, or i
advised economic policies.
France

Germany

Italy

Spain

United Klngdom LAND
Japan

South Korea Land suitable for constructing a factory can
Russia

Brazil - Developecdountry found in many places. If considered to enco
Mexico - Developincgountry pass natural and human resources in addition
terra firma, "land" is a critical site factor.
China ___ __,
Early factories located inside cities due t◄
India c....----''------'-----'----__,_ $30 $40 $50

$0 $10 $20

HourlyWages (USdollars) combination of situation and site factors. A c

Chapter 11: Industry and Manufacturing 409

• FIGURE11-25 CAPITAL AS A SITE FACTOR: SILICON VALLEY abundant land. To get the necessary space in cities, early
A Googleemployeebicyclesto work pasttheGreenAndroidstatueat Google- factories were typically multistory buildings. Raw materi-
plex,Google'sworldheadquarterisn MountainView,Californiai,n theheartof als were hoisted to the upper floors to make smaller parts,
SiliconValley. which were then sent downstairs on chutes and pulleys
for final assembly and shipment. Water was stored in
offered an attractive situation-proximity to a large tanks on the roof.
local market and convenience in shipping to a national
market by rail. A city also offered an attractive site- Contemporary factories operate most efficiently when
proximity to a large supply of labor as well as to sources laid out in one-story buildings (see for example,Figure 11-20).
of capital. The site factor that cities have always lacked is Raw materials are typically delivered at one end and moved
through the factory on conveyors or forklift trucks. Prod-
ucts are assembled in logical order and shipped out at the
other end. The land needed to build one-story factories is
now more likely to be available in suburban and rural lo-
cations. Also, land is much cheaper in suburban and rural

locations than near the center of a city.
In addition to providing enough space for one-story

buildings, locations outside cities are also attractive be-
cause they facilitate delivery of inputs and shipment of
products. In the past, when most material moved in and
out of a factory by rail, a central location was attractive
because rail lines converged there. With trucks now re-
sponsible for transporting most inputs and products,
proximity to major highways is more important for a fac-
tory. Especially attractive is the proximity to the junction
of a long-distance route and the beltway, or ring road,
that encircles most cities. Thus, factories cluster in indus-
trial parks located near suburban highway ;unctions.

CONTEMPORARYGEOGRAPHICTOOLS

HondaSelectsa FactoryLocation

When Honda deci.ded that it needed interstate highway and a rail C::::,Alawr• Honda'sassembly
another assembly plant in the line. plantsarelabeled
United States, it applied situation • Labor. Honda needed a large market
and site factors to select a location labor supply with.in a one-hour • Othercarmakers'
for the factory: commuting range, bul it didn't
want to compete for workers assemblpylanl
• Situation factors were considered with existing assembly plants.
That could lead to a shortage • FIGURE11-26 HONDA PICKSAN
first: of skilled workers and push ASSEMBLYPLANT SITEAnassemblpylant
up wages. So Honda looked drawsitsworkforcefromwithina radiusof
• Proximity to markets. To mini- for areas outside the one-hour roughlyonehour.Newplantshavebeenlocated
mize the cost of shipping vehi- commuting range around ex- outsidethelabormarketareasof existingplants
cles, Honda looked for locations isting assembly plants. to minimizecompetitionforworkers.
within auto alley (Figure l 1-26).
Honda's short list of locations
• Proximity to inputs. Honda's included Decatur in eastern Illinois,
most important inputs, the en- Greem;burg in southwestern Indi-
gine and transmission, were to ana, and unnamed communities in
come from existing factories west-central Ohio. Honda consid-
in western Ohio. That guided ered Indiana the safest choice, be-
Honda to the portion of auto cause the governors of the other two
alley encompassing lllinois, states at the time were involved in
Indiana, and Ohio. financial scandals.

• Site factors helped Honda find

specific locations within auto

alley:
• Land. Honda wanted a large

tract of land near at leas; one

410 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

TEXTILES AND APPAREL: CHANGING TEXTILE AND APPAREL WEAVING. For thousanc
INPUTS
of years, fabric has been woven or laced together t
Learning Outcome 11.2.7
Explain the distribution of textile and apparel hand on a loom, which Is a frame on which two sets 1
production. threads are placed at right angles to each other. One s
of threads, called the warp, is strung lengthwise. A secor
Production of textiles (woven fabrics) and apparel (cloth- set of threads, called the weft, is carried in a shuttle th
ing) Is a prominent example of an industry that generally re- is inserted over and under the warp. Because the proce
quires less-skilled, low-cost workers. The textile and apparel of weaving by hand is physically hard work, weavers we
industry accounts for 6 percent of the dollar value of world traditionally men.
manufacturing but a much higher 14 percent of world
manufacturing employment, an indicator that it is a labor- For mechanized weaving, labor constitutes a high p1
intensive industry. The percentage of the world's women centage of the total production cost. Consequently, wea
employed in this type of manufacturing is even higher. ing is highly clustered in low-wage countries (Figure 11-21
Despite their remoteness from European and North Ame
Textile and apparel production involves three principal can markets, China and India have become the domina
steps: fabric producers because their lower labor costs offset t
expense of shipping inputs and products long distanc,
• Spinning of fibers and other preparatory work to make China accounts for nearly 60 percent of the world's wov
yarn from natural or human-made materials cotton fabric production and India another 30 percent.

• Weaving or knitting of yarn into fabric (as well as fin- TEXTILEAND APPARELASSEMBLY. Sewing is probably
ishing of fabric by bleaching or dyeing) even older human activity than spinning and weavir
Needles made from animal horns or bones date back tc
• Cutting and sewing of fabric for assembling into cloth- of thousands of years, and iron needles date from t
ing and other products fourteenth century.

Spinning, weaving, and sewing are all labor intensive com- The first functional sewing machine was invented
pared to other industries, but the importance of labor var- French tailor Barthelemy Thimonnier in 1830. In 18·
ies somewhat among them. As a result, their global distri- Thimonnier installed 80 sewing machines in a factory
butions are not identical because the three steps are not St-Etienne, France, to sew uniforms for the French arr
equally labor intensive. However, Parisian tailors, fearing that the machines wo1
put them out of work, stormed the factory and destro)
SPINNING. Fibers can be spun from natural or synthetic the machines. Isaac Singer manufactured the first cc
elements. The principal natural fiber is cotton. Synthetics mercially successful sewing machine in the United St,
now account for three-fourths and natural fibers only one-
fourth of world thread production. Because it is a labor- during the 1850s, but he was convicted of infringing a r
intensive industry, spinning Is done primarily in low-wage
countries (Figure 11-27). China produces two-thirds of the ent filed by Elias Howe in 1846.
world's cotton thread. Textiles are assembled into four main types of produ

garments, carpets, home products such as bed linens ,
curtains, and industrial items such as headliners for im
motor vehicles. Developed countries play a larger role

T FIGURE 11-27 COTTON SPINNING Two•thirdosfworldcottonyarnisproducedinChlna,Including
bythiswoman.

1-9.999

,. I

4D' 20' r, 20' 40' 60' er, 100' 120' 11r, 160' 1eo-

40' '
PACIFIC
OCEAN

2-,,:5---1"-

i II

160' 1~0' 1211'

Cottonwovenfabric
(squaremeters)

- 20billionandabove
• 1 billion-3billion

0.1 billion-0.9 billion
Below0.1 billion
nodata

O'

A FIGURE 11-28 COTTON WEAVING Chinaand Indiatogetheraccountfor nearly90 percentof theworld's
wovencottonproduction.In theimage,cottonis beingwovenin China,

assembly than in spinning and weaving because most of CHECK-IN: KEY ISSUE 2
the consumers of assembled products are located in devel-
oped countries (Figure 11-29). For example, two-thirds of Why Are Situation and Site Factors
the women's blouses sold worldwide in a year are sewn in Important?
developed countries.
✓ Situation factors involve transl)orting materials
Pause and Reflect 11.2.7 to and from a factory.
Check the labels on the clothes you are wearing.
Where were they made? ✓ Bulk-reducing industries are located near their
sources of inputs.

✓ Bulk-gaining, single-market, and perishable
industries locate near their markets.

✓ Site factors derive from distinctive features of
a particular place, including labor, capital, and
land.

T FIGURE 11-29 DISTRIBUTION OF WOMEN'S BLOUSE PRODUCTION TheUnitedStatesis the leading
producerof women'sblousesT. hesewomenaresewingblousesin China,whichis the leadingproduceramong
developingcountries.

~rYf"· ,
PACIFIC

OCEAN

20" ~ t

I 4' 0' 20" O" ,000
160' tW
~1 •2,r/lf
Productioonf ,s6-40' 60' W 100" 120' 140' 160"
women'sblouses

10millionandabO'le
1 million-9 million
100,000-999,999
Below100,000
nodata

412 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

KEY ISSUE 3 S 25
·a
Where Does Industry "~' 20
Cause Pollution?
~
■ Air Pollution
■ Solid Waste Pollution "£C 15
■ Water Pollution
0

i

.§. 10

C

"0
.,'iii 5

'e o'---,,===-----~--------~

~
8 $1,000 $10,000 $100,000

GNI per capita

A FIGURE 11-30 GNI AND POLLUTION Carbondioxide missions

generalliyncreasewithrisingincomeT.heprincipaelxceptionisinEuropew; here

Learning Outcome 11.3.1 somerelativelwy ealthycountriehs avecurbedemissions.

Describe causes and effects of global warming and

damage to the ozone layer. Human actions, especially the burning of fossil fuels in

factories and vehicles, may have caused this.

Industry is a major polluter of air, water, and land. People Earth is warmed by sunlight that passes through the at-
rely on air, water, and land to remove and disperse waste mosphere, strikes the surface, and is converted to heat. When
from factories as well as from other human activities. Pol- the heat tries to pass back through the atmosphere to space,
lution occurs when more waste is added than air, water, some gets through and some is trapped. This process keeps
Earth's temperatures moderate and allows life to flourish on
and land resources can handle. the planet. A concentration of trace gases in the atmosphere
As a country's per capita income increases, its per cap-

ita carbon dioxide emissions also increase. Some of the can block or delay the return of some of the heat leaving the

wealthiest countries, located primarily in Europe, with surface heading for space, thereby raising Earth's tempera-
gross national income (Gl\11)per capita between $30,000 tures. When fossil fuels are burned, one of the trace gases,

and $50,000, show declines in po1Jution. However, the carbon dioxide, is discharged into the atmosphere. Plants

world's richest countries, including the United States and and oceans absorb much of the discharges, but increased

several countries in Southwest Asia, display the highest fossil fuel burning during the past 200 years, as shown in
pollution levels (Figure 11-30). Figure 11-30, has caused the level of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere to rise by more than one-fourth, according to

Air Pollution the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The anticipated increase in Earth's temperature, caused

At ground level, Earth's average atmosphere is made up by carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases trapping
of about 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen, and less some of the radiation emitted by the surface, is called the
than 1 percent argon. The remaining 0.04 percent includes greenhouse effect. The term is somewhat misleading be-
several trace gases, some of which are critical. Air pollu- cause a greenhouse does not work in the same way as do
tion is concentration of trace substances at a greater level trace gases in the atmosphere. In a real greenhouse, the in-
than occurs in average air. Concentrations of these trace terior gets very warm when the windows remain closed on
gases in the air can damage property and adversely affect a sunny day. The Sun's light energy passes through the glass

the health of people, other animals, and plants. 14.8 400
Most air pollution is generated from factories and power
u 14.6 - Airtemperature (')
plants, as well as from motor vehicles. Factories and power !;.... 14.4 - Carbotnlioxide
plants produce sulfur dioxides and solid particulates, pri- a-375 Ill
marily from burning coal. Burning petroleum in motor ve- 1900 1920 1940 1960 0
hicles produces carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and ni- f Year 350 ::,
trogen oxides.
..::, 14.2 0.
GLOBAL-SCALE AIR POLLUTION
~ 325 ~-
Air pollution concerns geographers at three scales-global, 4) 14.0
regional, and local. At the global scale, air pollution may 0. a
contribute to global warming. It may also damage the at- 300 _!
mosphere's ozone layer. ..E 13.8 "Cl
"Cl
~
275 ~
< 13.6
13.4

13.2 1980 250
1880 2000

.l FIGURE 11-31 GLOBAL-SCALEAIR POLLUTION: GLOBALWARMINC:
AND CARBON DIOXIDE CONCENTRATIONS, 1880-2010 Since1880,

GLOBAL WARMING. The average temperature of Earth's carbondioxideconcentratiohnas increasedbymorethanone-thirda, nd Earth
surface has increased by 1°C (2°F) since 1880 (Figure 11-31).
haswarmedbyabout1°c(2°F).

Chapter 11: Industry and Manufacturing 413

into the greenhouse and is converted to heat, and the heat ◄ FIGURE11-32 RECEDING
trapped inside the building is unable to escape out through NORTH POLAR ICE SHEET These
the glass. Although this is an imprecise analogy, 11green- imagestakenby NASAshowthat
house effect" is a term that has been widely adopted to de- between1979(top)and 2005
scribe the anticipated warming of Earth's surface when trace (bottom)t,he northpolaricesheet
gases block some of the heat trying to escape into space.
meltedvisibly.
Regardless of what it is called, global warming of only
a few degrees could melt the polar ice sheets and raise the Earth's protective ozone
level of the oceans many meters (Figure 11-32). Coastal layer is threatened by pol-
cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro, and lutants called chlorofluo-
Hong Kong would flood (see the Sustainability and In- rocarbons (CFCs). CFCs
equality in Our Global Village feature). Global patterns of such as Freon were once
precipitation could shift: Some deserts could receive more widely used as coolants in
rainfall, and currently productive agricultural regions, such refrigerators and air con-
as the U.S. Midwest, could become too dry for farming. ditioners. When they leak
Humans can adapt to a warmer planet, but the shifts in from these appliances, the
coastlines and precipitation patterns could require massive CFCs are carried into the
migration and could be accompanied by political disputes. stratosphere, where they break down Earth's protective
layer of ozone gas. In 2007, virtually all countries of the
GLOBAL-SCALE OZONE DAMAGE. Earth's atmosphere world agreed to cease using CFCs, by 2020 in developed
has zones with distinct characteristics. The stratosphere- countries and by 2030 in developing countries.
the zone 15 to SO kilometers (9 to 30 miles) above Earth's
surface-contains a concentration of ozone gas. The ozone Pause and Reflect 11.3.1
layer absorbs dangerous.ultraviolet (UV) rays from the Sun.
Were it not for the ozone in the stratosphere, UVrays would What gas is now most commonly used as a coolant
damage plants, cause skin cancer, and disrupt food chains. instead of CFC?Google "what replaced CFCs?"

SUSTAINABILITAYND INEQUALITYIN OURGLOBALVILLAGE

ClimateChangein the SouthPacific

One consequence of global warming world's most isolated countries (Fig- made of coral reefs. A coral is a small
is a rise in the level of the oceans. ure 11-33). Despite its extreme isola- sedentary marine animal that has a
The large percentage of the world's lion, global forces threaten Kiribati's horny or calcareous skeleton. Cor-
population-including one-half of existence. Rising sea levels due to als form colonies, and the skeletons
Americans-who live near the sea global warming threaten Kiribati build up to form coral reefs. Coral is
face increased threat of flooding. The because the entire country is within very fragile. Humans are attracted to
threat is especially severe for island a few meters of sea level. Two of coral for its beauty and the diversity
countries in the Pacific Ocean; they Kiribati's islands-Tebua Tarawa and of species it supports, but handling
could be wiped off the map entirely. Abanuea-have already disappeared. coral can kill it. The threat of global
warming to coral is especially severe:
Kiribati is a collection of approxi- Kiribati and other Pacific island Coral stay~ alive in only a narrow
mately 32 small islands, one of the microstates are atolls-that is, islands range of ocean temperatures, be-
tween 23°C and 25°C (between 73°F
and 77°F), so global warming threat-
ens the ecology of Kiribati, even if it
remains above sea level.

Kiribati has an emergency re-
sponse to rising sea levels. The gov-
ernment has negotiated with Fiji to

purchase 2,000 hectares {5,000 acres)

of land on the island of Vanua Levu to
relocate people from Kiribatisomeday.

◄ FIGURE11-33 KIRIBATI Globawl arming

maycausetheoceansto rise,submerginsgmall
islandcountriesuchasKiribati.

.11,!:-rIi' ·'·1,,I ' ''I" 11r 1I 1I11,1111,11,,lI.I \ I'I ,,HI I 111 II,,I, I I' 111'I·I' I' .; .,;·•·
'I', I I 1. I I I I; I 11: I':
I: JI" I ,,
I I I l, I I I I I' ' I .
I I I' .,, •. '

II I• LI

414 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

REGIONAL-SCALE AIR POLLUTION

Learning Outcome 11.3.2

Describe causes and effects of regional and
local-scale air pollution and solid waste pollution.

At the regional scale, air pollution may damage a region's .AFIGURE 11-34 REGIONAL-SCALE AIR POLLUTION: ACID
vegetation and water supply through acid deposition. The
world's three principal industrial regions are especially af- DEPOSITION IN THE UNITED STATES As a resultofemissionscontrolst,h
fected by acid deposition.
rate of acid depositionhas declined.
Sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides, emitted by burning
fossil fuels, enter the atmosphere, where they combine elevations, but during temperature inversions-in whic
with oxygen and water. Tiny droplets of sulfuric acid and air is warmer at higher elevations-pollutants are trappe
nitric acid form and return to Earth's surface as acid de- near the ground.
position. When dissolved in water, the acids may fall as
acid precipitation-rain, snow, or fog. The acids can also According to the American Lung Association, the wor
be deposited in dust. Before they reach the surface, these area in the United States for concentrations of particulat,
acidic droplets might be carried hundreds of kilometers. is in southern California, including Los Angeles and neart
communities. Worldwide, according to the World Heall
Acid precipitation damages lakes, killing fish and plants. Organization, the 10 most polluted cities are all in develo;
On land, concentrations of acid in the soil can injure plants ing regions, including 4 each in Iran and South Asia. Mexic
by depriving them of nutrients and can harm worms and City is an example of a city in a developing country th
insects. Buildings and monuments made of marble and has improved its air quality since the 1990s (Figure 11-35
limestone have suffered corrosion from acid rain.
Pause and Reflect 11.3.2
Geographers are particularly interested in the effects of What environmental features can be seen in Mexico
acid precipitation because the worst damage is not experi- City on a clear day but not during smog periods?
enced at the same location as the emission of the pollut- What is their role in the city's air pollution problem?
ants. Within the United States the major generators of acid
deposition are in Ohio and other industrial states along Progress in controlling urban air pollution is mixed.
the southern Great Lakes. However, the severest effects of developed countries, air has improved where strict clean-,
acid rain are felt in several areas farther east. The United regulations are enforced. Limited emission controls in d
States reduced sulfur dioxide emissions significantly dur- veloping countries are contributing to severe urban air pc
ing the late twentieth century (Figure 11-34). lution. Changes in manufacturing processes, motor vehlc
engines, and electric generation have all helped. For exa.1
LOCAL-SCALE AIR POLLUTION pie, since the 1970s, when the U.S. government began
require catalytic converters on motor vehicles, carbon mo
At the local scale, air pollution is especially severe in places oxide emissions have been reduced by more than thr,
where emission sources are concentrated, such as in urban fourths, and nitrogen oxide and hydrocarbon emissio
areas. The air above urban areas may be polluted because have been reduced by more than 95 percent. But more pe
a large number of factories, motor vehicles, and other pol- pie are driving, offsetting gains made by emission control
luters emit residuals in a concentrated area. Urban air pol-
lution has three basic components: Solid Waste Pollution

• Carbon monoxide. Breathing carbon monoxide reduces About 2 kilograms (4 pounds) of solid waste per person
the oxygen level in blood, impairs vision and alertness, generated daily in the United States, about 60 percent frc
and threatens those with breathing problems. residences and 40 percent from businesses. Paper produc
such as corrugated cardboard and newspapers, account J
• Hydrocarbons. In the presence of sunlight, hydrocar- the largest percentage of solid waste in the United Stat
bons, as well as nitrogen oxides, form photochemical especially among residences and retailers. Manufacturi
smog, which causes respiratory problems, stinging in discard large quantities of metals as well as paper.
the eyes, and an ugly haze over cities.
SANITARY LANDFILL
• Particulates.They include dust and smoke particles. The
dark plume of smoke from a factory stack and the exhaust Using a sanitary landfill is by far the most common str
of a diesel truck are examples of particulate emission. egy for disposal of solid waste in the United States: Mc
than one-half of the country's waste is trucked to landf
The worst urban air pollution occurs when winds are
slight, skies are clear, and a temperature inversion exists.
When the wind blows, it disperses pollutants; when it is
calm, pollutants build. Sunlight provides the energy for
the formation of smog. Air is normally cooler at higher

Chapter 11; Industry and Manufacturing 415

~ FIGURE 11-35 LOCAL-SCALE AIR POLLUTION: MEXICOCITY SMOG Downtown Mexico City without
smog(left)andwith smog(right).

and buried under soil. But the number of landfills in the cyanides, strong solvents, acids, and caustics. These may
United States has declined by three-fourths since 1990. be unwanted by-products generated in manufacturing or
waste to be discarded after usage.
Given the sho1tage of space in landfills, alternatives
have been sought to disposal of solid waste. A rapidly According to the toxic waste inventory published by the
growing alternative is incineration. Burning trash reduces U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),1.78 billion
its bulk by about three-fourths, and the remaining ash de- kilograms (3.93 billion pounds) of toxic chemicals were
mands less landfill space. Incineration also provides en- released into the environment in 2010. Mining oper-
ergy: The incinerator's heat can boil water to produce ations were the largest polluters. Ohio had 10 of the
steam heat or operate a turbine that generates electricity. 100 largest polluting firms (Figure 11-36).

HAZARDOUS WASTE If poisonous industrial residuals are not carefully placed
in protective containers, the chemicals may leach into the
Disposing of hazardous waste is especially difficult. soil and contaminate groundwater or escape into the at-
Hazardous wastes include heavy metals (including mercury, mosphere. Breathing air or consuming water contaminated
cadmium, and zinc), PCB oils from electrical equipment, with toxic wastes can cause cancer, mutations, chronic ail-
ments, and even immediate death.

◄ FIGURE 11-36 TOXIC

CHEMICAL RELEASE
SITES Ohio has the most

sites, although the largest
sitesareminesin theWest.

Toxicwastechemicarlelease
(pounds)
.100 millionandabove

0 10-99million
o 5-10million

i ,,

416 THECULTURALLANDSCAPE

Water Pollution body of water at a specific location, whereas nonpoint-
source pollution comes from a large, diffuse area.
learning Outcome 11.3.3
Compare and contrast point and nonpoint sources POINT SOURCES. Point-source pollutants are usually
of water pollution. smaller ln quantity and much easier to control than
nonpoint-source pollutants. Point-source water pollution
Some manufacturers are heavy users of water. One exam- originates from a specific point, such as a pipe from a
ple is the aluminum industry. Aluminum producers lo- wastewater treatment plant. The two main point sources of
cate near dams to take advantage of cheap hydroelectric pollution are manufacturers and municipal sewage systems:
power. A large amount of electricity is needed to separate
pure aluminum from bauxite ore (Figure 11-37). Alcoa, the • Water-using manufacturers. Steel, chemicals, paper
world's largest aluminum producer, even owns dams in products, and food processing are major industrial pol-
North Carolina and Tennessee. luters of water. Each requires a large amount of water in
the manufacturing process and generates a lot of waste-
Water also serves many human purposes: water. Food processors, for example, wash pesticides
and chemicals from fruit and vegetables. They also use
• It must be drunk to survive. water to remove skins, stems, and other parts. Water
can also be polluted by industrial accidents, such as pe-
• It is used for cooking. troleum spills from ocean tankers and leaks from un-
derground tanks at gasoline stations.
• It is used for bathing.
• Municipal sewage. In developed countries, sewers carry
• It provides a location for boating, swimming, fishing, wastewater from sinks, bathtubs, and toilets to a munic-
and other recreation activities. ipal treatment plant, where most-but not all-of the
pollutants are removed. The treated wastewater is then
• It is home to fish and other edible aquatic life. typically dumped back into a river or lake. Since pas-
sage of the U.S. Clean Water Act and equivalent laws in
When all these uses are totaled, the average American other developed countries, most treatment plants meel
consumes 5,300 liters (1,400 gallons) of water per day, in- high water-quality standards. In developing countries,
cluding 680 liters (180 gallons) for drinking, cooking, and sewer systems are rare, and wastewater usually drains,
bathing. These uses require fresh, clean, unpolluted water. untreated, into rivers and lakes. The drinking water, usu-
ally removed from the same rivers, may be inadequately
But clean water is not always available because people treated as well. The combination of untreated water and
and industries also use water for purposes that pollute it. poor sanitation makes drinking water deadly in develop-
Pollution is widespread because it is easy to dump waste ing countries. Waterborne diseases such as cholera, ty-
into a river and let the water carry it downstream, where it phoid, and dysentery are major causes of death.
becomes someone else's problem. By polluting water, hu-
mans harm the health of aquatic life and the health of
land-based life (including humans themselves).

WATER POLLUTION SOURCES NONPOINT SOURCES. Nonpoint sources usually pollute
The sources of pollution can be divided Into point sources in greater quantities and are much harder to control than
and nonpoint sources. Point-source pollution enters a point sources of pollution. The principal nonpoint source
is agriculture. Fertilizers and pesticides spread on fields to
T FIGURE11-37 HYDROELECTRICPOWER TheCheoahDamin Tapoco, increase agricultural productivity are carried into rivers and
lakes by irrigation systems or natuial runoff. Expanded use
Tennesseep,rovideselectricityfor Alcoa'snearbyaluminumfactory. of these products may help to avoid a global food crisis,
but they destroy aquatic life by polluting rivers and lakes.

One of the world's most extreme instances of nonpoint
water pollution is the Aral Sea in the former Soviet Union,
now divided between the countries of Kazakhstan and
Uzbekistan. The Aral Sea was the world's fourth-largest lake
in 1960, at 68,000 square kilometers (26,000 square miles).
lt had shrunk to approximately 5,000 square kilometer<
(2,000 square miles) in 2010, and it could disappear alto•
gether by 2020 (Figure 11-38). The shrinking has been cap
tured in air photos and satellite imagery:

• 1975. In 1975, the Aral Sea was in the early stages of de

struction. Small islands are barely visible in the cente
of the sea (Figure 11-38, upper left).

• 1989. A large island had formed in the middle of these
by 1989 {Figure 11-38, upper right).

Chapter 11: Industry and Manufacturing 417

4 FIGURE11-38 THE DISAPPEARINGARAL SEA In 1975(upperleh), IMPACT OF WATER POLLUTION
1989(upperright), 2003 (lower left), and 2009 (lower right).
ON AQUATIC LIFE

Polluted water can harm aquatic life. Aquatic plants and
animals consume oxygen, and so does the decomposing
organic waste that humans dump in the water. The oxy-
gen consumed by the decomposing organic waste con-
stitutes the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). If too
much waste is discharged into water, the water becomes
oxygen starved and fish die.

This condition is typical when water becomes loaded
with municipal sewage or industrial waste. The sewage
and industrial pollutants consume so much oxygen that
the water can become unlivable for normal plants and
animals, creating a "dead" stream or lake. Similarly, when
runoff carries fertilizer from farm fields into streams or
lakes, the fertilizer nourishes excessive aquatic plant
production-a "pond scum" of algae-that consumes
too much oxygen. Either type of pollution reduces the
normal oxygen level, threatening aquatic plants and an-
imals. Some of the residuals may become concentrated
in the fish, making them unsafe for human consump-
tion. For example, salmon from the Great Lakes became
unfit to eat because of high concentrations of the pesti-
cide DDT, which washed into streams from farm fields.

Many factories and power plants use water for cool-
ing and then discharge the warm water back into the
river or lake. The warm water may not be polluted with
chemicals, but it raises the temperature of the body
of water it enters. Fish adapted to cold water, such as
salmon and trout, might not be able to survive in the
warmer water.

• 2003. By 2003, the sea was divided into two portions, CHECKIN:KEYISSU3E
western and eastern (Figure 11-38, lower left).
Where Does Industry Cause Pollution?
• 2009. In 2009, the western portion had not changed
much, but the eastern portion had dried up into a waste- ti✓ Industry is a major polluter of air, land, and
land of salt. A small northern lake also remained (Figure water.
11-38, lower right).
✓ Air pollution can occur at global, regional, and
The Aral Sea died because beginning in 1954, the Soviet local scales.
Union diverted its tributary rivers, the Amu Dar'ya and the
Syr Dar'ya, to irrigate cotton fields. Ironically, the cotton now ✓ Solid waste that is not recycled is either
is withering because winds pick up salt from the exposed transported to landfills or incinerated; some of
lakebed and deposit it on the cotton fields. Carp, sturgeon, it is hazardous.
and other fish species have disappeared; the last fish died in
1983. Largeships lie aground in salt flats that were once the ✓ Water pollution can have point or nonpoint
lakebed, outside abandoned fishing villages that now lay tens sources.
of kilometers from the rapidly receding shore.

Pause and Reflect 11.3.3

How might sustainable agriculture practices , as
discussed in Chapter 10, help to improve water

quality?

418 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE 1950

KEY ISSUE4

Why Are Situation and
Site Factors Changing?

■ Changes within Developed Regions
■ Emerging Industrial Regions
■ Renewed Attraction of Traditional

Industrial Regions

Learning Outcome 11.4.1
Explain reasons for changing distribution of industry
within the United States.

Industry is on the move around the world. Changing site
factors have been especially important in stimulating in-
dustrial growth in new regions internationally and within
developed countries. At the same time, some industries
remain in the traditional regions, primarily because of
changing situation factors.

Changes within Developed Manufacluringemployment
Regions
• Morethan 1 mlll!on 100,000-499,999 ♦ R,g!ltlD'l'lollc
Within developed countries, industry is shifting away
from the traditional industrial areas of northwestern 500,000-999.999 Below100,000 stale
Europe and the northeastern United States. In the United
States, industry has shifted from the Northeast toward the 4 FIGURE11-39 CHANGING U.S. MANUFACTURING Manufacturinghas
South and West. In Europe, government policies have en-
couraged relocation toward economically distressed pe- decreasedin the Northeast.
ripheral areas.
to reduce historical disparities. The Tennessee Valley Au-
SHIFTS WITHIN THE UNITED STATES thority brought electricity to much of the rural South, and
roads were constructed in previously inaccessible sections
The northeastern United States lost 6 million jobs in man- of the Appalachians, the Piedmont, and the Ozarks. Air·
ufacturing between 1950 and 2010 (Figure 11-39). £spe- conditioning made living and working in the South more
cially large declines were recorded by New York State and tolerable during the summer.
Pennsylvania, states that once served as centers for clothing,
textile, steel, and fabricated metal manufacturing. Mean- Steel, textiles, tobacco products, and furniture indus
while, 2 million manufacturing jobs were added in the South tries have become dispersed through smaller communitie
and West between 1950 and 2009. California and Texas had in the South, many in search of a labor force willing t
the largest increases. work for less pay than in the North and forgo joining
union. The Gulf Coast has become an important industri
Industrialization during the late nineteenth and early area because of its access to oil and natural gas. Along tt
twentieth centuries largely bypassed the South, which had Gulf Coast are oil refining, petrochemical manufacturin
not recovered from losing the Civil War. The South lacked food processing, and aerospace product manufacturing.
the infrastructure needed for industrial development:
Road and rail networks were less intensively developed in RIGHT-TO-WORK LAWS. The principal lure for ma
the South, and electricity was less common than in the manufacturers has been right-to-work laws. A right-
North. As a result, the South was the poorest region of work law requires a factory to maintain a so-called "or
the United States. Industrial growth in the South since the shop" and prohibits a "closed shop.'' In a "dosed shop.
1930s has been stimulated in part by government policies company and a union agree that everyone must join
union to work in the factory. In an "open shop," a un
and a company may not negotiate a contract that requ
workers to join a union as a condition of employment

Chapter 11: Industry and Manufacturing 419

Twenty-three U.S. states (refer to Figure 11-39) have f Europeanr911ional
right-to-work laws that make it much more difficult for developmenfut nds
unions to organize factory workers, collect dues, and bar-
gain with employers from a position of strength. Right-to- Convergence
work laws send a powerful signal that antiunion attitudes regions
will be tolerated and perhaps even actively supported. As
a result, the percentage of workers who are members of a Ccmpelhiveness
union is much lower in the South than elsewhere in the andemploy11en1
United States. More importantly, the region has been es- rejjions
pedally attractive for companies working hard to keep out
unions altogether. ATLANTIC
OCEAN

Pause and Reflect 11.4.1 Black Sea

Laws to curb unions have been enacted or proposed ~
in several U.S. states in the past few years. What
are the arguments in favor of and against restricting .p·SPAIN
unions?
IO"E INJ.TA Med,terranott,11Sea •[
TEXTILEPRODUCTION. The textile and apparel industry Z'.'[
has been especially prominent in opening production in J
lower-wage locations while shutting down production
in higher-wage locations. The U.S. textile and apparel .A FIGURE 11-40 EUROPEAN UNION STRUCTURAL FUNDS The
industry was heavily concentrated in the Northeast during EuropeanUnionprovidesubsidiesto regionswitheconomicdifficulties
the early twentieth century, and then it shifted to the becauseofdecliningindustriesa,s wellas to regionsthat havelower-than·
South and West. averageincomes.

Most textile and apparel production in the United States The Western European country with the most rapid
moved from the >lortheast to the Southeast during the manufacturing growth during the late twentieth century
mid-twentieth century. Favored sites were small towns was Spain, especially after its admission to the European
in the Appalachian, Piedmont, and Ozark mountains, es- Union in 1986. Until then, Spain's manufacturing growth
pecially western North and South Carolina and northern had been impeded by physical and political isolation.
Georgia and Alabama. The area is home to 99 percent of Spain's motor-vehicle mdustry has grown into the sec-
U.S. hosiery and sock producers, half of them in f\:orth ond largest in Europe, behind only Germany's, although
Carolina. it is entirely foreign owned. Spain's leading industrial
area is Catalonia, in the northeast, centered on the city
In the mid-twentieth century, prevailing wage rates of Barcelona. The region has the country's largest motor-
were much lower in the Southeast than elsewhere in the vehicle plant and is the center of Spain's textile industry
United States. Even more important for manufacturers, as well. Spain's industry, though, has been especially hard
workers in the Southeast showed little interest in joining hit by the severe recession of the early twenty-first century.
the unions established by Kortheastern textile and apparel
workers to bargain for higher wages and safer working Several European countries situated east of Germany
conditions. and we5t of Russia have become major centers of indus-
trial investment since the fall of communism in the early
INTERREGIONAL SHIFTS IN EUROPE 1990s. Poland, Czech Republic, and Hungary have had the
most industrial development, though other countries in
:vtanufacturing has diffused from traditional industrial cen- the region have shared in the growth. The region prefers to
ters in northwestern Europe toward Southern and Eastern be called CentralEurope,r~verting to a common pre-Cold
Europe. In contrast to the United States, European gov- War term, to' signify its more central location in Europe's
ernment policies have explicitly encouraged this industrial changing economy. Central Europe offers manufacturers
relocation (Figure 11-40). The European Union Structural an attractive combination of two important site and situa-
Funds provide assistance to what it calls convergence re-
gions and competitive and employment regions: tion factors: labor and market proximity. Central Europe's

• Convergence regions are primarily in Eastern and workers offer manufacturers good value for money; they
Southern Europe, where incomes lag behind Europe's
average. are less skilled but much cheaper than in Western Europe,

• Competitive and employment regions are primarily and they are more expensive but much more skilled than
Western Europe's traditional core industrial areas,
which have experienced substantial manufacturing job in Asia and Latin America. At the same time, the region
losses in recent years.
offers closer proximity to the wealthy markets of Western

Europe than other emerging industrial centers.

420 THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

70

Emerging Industrial Regions 60 Underwear
- Bras
learning Outcome 11.4.2 ~.,,50 - Trousers
Explain reasons for the emergence of new industrial - Blouse&s Shirts
regions. E

In 1970, nearly one-half of world industry was in Europe :"J ' 40
and nearly one-third was in North America; now these two c., 30
regions account for only one-fourth each. Industry's share
~

CD

Q. 20

10

of total economic output has steadily declined in devel- 0 2000 2005 2010
oped countries since the 1970s (Figure 11-41). The share of 1995
world industry in other regions has increased-from one-
Year

sixth in 1970 to one-half in 2010. A FIGURE11-42 U.S.CLOTHINGThepercentagoefclothingmadeintheUnited

Labor is the site factor that is changing especially dra- Statesdeclinedfromaround50percenitnthe1990sto around2 percenttoday.

matically in the twenty-first century. To minimize labor

costs, some manufacturers are locating in places where to developing countries, given their substantially !owe:
prevalling wage rates are lower than in traditional indus- wages compared to those in developed countries. At thi
trial regions. Labor-intensive industries have been espe- same time, operations that require highly skilled worker
cially attracted to emerging industrial regions. remain in factories in developed countries. This selectiv1
transfer of some jobs to developing countries is known a
Forexample, the number of apparel workers in the United the new international division of labor.
States declined from 900,000 in 1990 to 500,000 in 2000 and
to 150,000 in 2010. During this period, most apparel sold in Transnational corporations allocate production to lo\.\
the United States switched from being domestically made wage countries through outsourcing, which is turnin
to being foreign made (Figure 11-42). As apparel from other over much of the responsibility for production to indeper
countries has become less expensive and less complicated dent suppliers. Outsourcing contrasts with the approac
to import into the United States, mills in the Southeast pay- typical of traditional mass production, called vertical it
ing wages of $10 to $15 per hour have been unable to com- tegration, in which a company controls all phases of
pete with manufacturers in countries paying less than $1 per highly complex production process. Vertical integratio
hour. European countries have been even harder hit by in- was traditionally regarded as a source of strength for ma1
ternational competition. Compensation for manufacturing ufacturers because it gave them the ability to do and co
employees exceeds $30 per hour in much of Europe. trol everything. Carmakers once made nearly all their O½
parts, for example, but now most of this operation is Ol
OUTSOURCING sourced to other companies that are able to make the pa1

Transnational corporations have been especially aggressive cheaper and better. As another example, the parts in ;

in using low-cost labor in developing countries. To remain iPhone are made by independent companies.

competitive in the global economy, they carefully review Outsourcing has had a major impact on the distrit

their production processes to identify steps that can be tion of manufacturing because each step in the prod1

performed by low-paid, low-skilled workers in developing tion process is now scrutinized closely in order to det

countries. Despite the greater transportation cost, trans- mine the optimal location. For example, most of the c1

national corporations can profitably transfer some work of an iPhone is in the parts, which are made by relativ,

skilled workers in Japan, Germany, and South Korea. M

40 of the profits go to the United States, where Apple is bas
But one step in the production process is especially !al

z 35 intensive-snapping all the parts together at an assem
(!) plant-and this step is done in China, by relatively le
wage, low-skilled workers (Figure 11-43).
1.,: 30
.~, MEXICO AND NAFTA
a.
Manufacturing has been increasing in Mexico. The Ne
25 - Developecdountries
- Developincgountries

20 American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), effective
1970
1980 1990 2000 2010 1994, eliminated most barriers to moving goods am

Year Mexico, the United States, and Canada. Because it is

A FIGURE11-41 MANUFACTURINGVALUE AS A PERCENTAGOEFGNI nearest low-wage country to the United States, Mexicc
Manufacturinghasaccountedfora muchhighershareof GNIindevelopingcoun- tracts labor-intensive industries that also need proxir

triesthanin developedcountriessincethe 1990s. to the U.S. market.

Chapter 11: Industry and Manufacturing 421

AppleU.Sd. i<tributlon, BRIC AND BRICS
mark•ting,ndnetprofit ------------
Much of the world's future growth in manufacturing is
Japan $61 expected to locate outside the principal industrial regions
described earlier. The investment banking firm Goldman
South Korea Sachs coined the acronym BRICto indicate the countries
it expects to dominate global manufacturing during the
Europe twenty-first century: Brazil, Russia, India, and China. The
foreign ministers of these four countries started meet-
United States ing in 2006. The four BRIC countries together currently
control one-fourth of the world's land area and contain
Unknown 3 billion of the world's 7 billion inhabitants, but the
four countries combined account for only one-sixth of
China Assembly world GDP (Figure 11-44). Their economies rank second
(China), seventh (Brazil), ninth (Russia), and eleventh
sso $100 $150 S2CO mo $JOO (India) in the world.

J,. FIGURE11·43 iPHONEPRODUCTIONiPhonesareassembledin China China is expected to pass the United States as the world's
frompartsmadein theUnitedStates,Europea, ndEastAsia. largest economy around 2020, and India is expected to be-
come second around 2035. Jn 2050, Brazil and Russia are
Plants in Mexico near the U.S. border are known as expected to rank sixth and seventh. Two other developing
maquiladoras. The term originally applied to a tax when countries, Indonesia and Nigeria, are expected to be fourth
Mexico was a Spanish colony. Under U.S. and Mexican and fifth. Thus, in 2050 the United States would be the
laws, companies receive tax breaks if they ship materials only developed country to rank among the world's seven
from the United States, assemble components at a maqui- largest economies.
ladora plant in Mexico, and export the finished product
back to the United States. More than 1 million Mexicans China and India have the two largest labor forces, whereas
are employed at over 3,000 maqui/adoras. Russia and Brazil are especially rich in inputs critical for in-
dustry. As an industrial region, BRIChas the obvious draw-
Integration of North American industry has generated back of Brazil'sbeing on the other side of the planet from the
fear in the United States and Canada: other three. China, India, and Russia could form a contigu-
ous region, but long-standing animosity among them has
• labor leaders fear that more manufacturers relocate limited their economic interaction so far. Still, the BRICcon-
production to Mexico to take advantage of lower wage cept is that if the four giants work together, they can be the
rates. Labor-intensive industries such as food process- world's dominant industrial bloc in the twenty-first century.
ing and textile manufacturing are especially attracted
to regions where prevailing wage rates are lower. In 2010, South Africa was invited to join a meeting
with the other four emerging countries, and the group ad-
• Environmentalists fear that NAFTAencourages firms to opted the acronym BR[CS.Although South Africa has the
move production to Mexico because laws governing air• largest economy, population, and land area in the south-
and water-quality standards are less stringent than in the ern portion of sub-Saharan Africa, it is much smaller by all
United States and Canada. Mexico has adopted regula- of these measures than the four original BRIC members.
tions to reduce air pollution in Mexico City; catalytic con-
verters have been required on Mexican automobiles since 80
1991. But environmentalists charge that environmental
protection laws are still not strictly enforced in Mexico. 70

Mexico faces its own challenges: It lost a quarter-million 60
maquiladora jobs dwing the first decade of the twenty-first
century. Electronics firms were especially likely to pull out of e
Mexico. The reason: Although much lower than in the United
States, Mexican wages at $6 an hour were higher than $1 !a 50
wages in China and India. Despite the higher site costs, how- 0
ever, Mexico still competes effectively with China because of
situation factors. Because of its proximity, Mexico has much 'C
lower shipping costs to the United States than does China.
o 40
Pauseand Reflect11.4.2 "C:'

Canyou identifyany products in your housethat 0
were made in Mexico?
~ 30

>'-

20

10

0L11111:==:1:::::c::::::.._....:::::~~~::::::~~

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050
Year

J,. FIGURE11-44 GDPFORBRICCOUNTRIESTheBRICcountriesare

expectedto increaseGDPrelativelyrapidlyduringthetwenty-firstcentury.

,, '