Primary Economic Activities
Introduction
Primary economic activities involve the direct extraction or use of natural resources. These activities depend on nature and include hunting, gathering, animal husbandry, agriculture, fishing, lumbering, and mining. Their distribution varies across the world due to physical and human factors like climate, topography, technology, and market availability.
1. Hunting
Definition: Hunting is a primitive activity to obtain food by killing animals. It was essential for early humans but has led to the extinction or endangerment of many species.
Current Status: Commercial hunting is banned globally, and laws protect wildlife. Some tribes still hunt for subsistence.
Distribution:
- Bushmen in Kalahari Desert (South Africa)
- Pygmies in Equatorial Selvas
- Boras, Eskimos in Tundra
- Sentinels, Jarawahs, Onges in Andaman Islands
Impact: Overhunting causes loss of biodiversity and disrupts ecosystems.
2. Gathering
- Definition: Gathering involves collecting forest products like fruits, roots, leaves, flowers, medicinal plants, gum, lac, honey, wax, and rubber for livelihood.
- Nature: Practiced in forested regions, often on a commercial scale due to high market demand for products like kath (from Khair trees in monsoon forests).
- Distribution: Found in all forest-covered regions, but less in equatorial forests due to dense vegetation, humid climate, and disturbances from reptiles/insects.
- Challenges: Dense equatorial forests limit large-scale gathering.
3. Lumbering
Definition: Lumbering is the cutting of trees for timber, a key forest-based activity.
Distribution:
- Practiced widely in coniferous forests (e.g., Canada, Russia) due to uniform tree species and tall trees suitable for commercial use.
- Monsoon regions (e.g., India, Thailand) have some lumbering.
- In Australia, lumbering is concentrated in the southeast.
Why Not in Some Areas?:
- Northern Africa lacks lumbering due to arid conditions and sparse vegetation.
- Equatorial forests have hardwood and dense vegetation, making commercial lumbering difficult.
- Latitudinal Relation: Lumbering is prominent in temperate latitudes (30°N–60°N and 30°S–55°S) where coniferous forests dominate.
Impact: Deforestation from lumbering causes environmental hazards like soil erosion and climate change.
4. Fishing
Definition: Fishing involves catching fish from oceans, seas, or rivers, either for subsistence or commercial purposes.
Distribution:
- Major fishing areas: North-West Pacific (near Japan), Dogger Bank (North Sea), Grand Bank (North America’s east coast), South-West Atlantic, and southern Greenland.
- Western African coast has more fishing than the eastern coast due to favorable conditions.
- In Australia, fishing is developed along the southeast coast.
Factors Favoring Fishing:
- Wide continental shelves with shallow waters (e.g., Okhotsk Sea).
- Confluence of warm and cold currents (e.g., Kuroshio and Oyashio near Japan) promotes plankton growth, attracting fish.
- Traditional fishing skills (e.g., Japanese, Chinese).
- Large populations in island nations (e.g., Japan, Philippines) rely on fish as a staple food.
- Broken coastlines provide ports, and cold climates aid natural fish preservation.
- Technology and nearby forests for shipbuilding enhance fishing.
Why Limited in Some Areas?: Fishing is restricted to specific ocean areas due to the availability of fish, influenced by currents, plankton, and coastal geography.
Pisciculture vs. Fishing: Pisciculture is fish farming in controlled environments, while fishing involves catching wild fish.
5. Animal Husbandry
Definition: Animal husbandry is the rearing of animals for meat, milk, wool, and other products.
Distribution:
- Found between 30°N–60°N and 30°S–55°S latitudes, especially in grasslands.
- Prominent in North America, South America, and Australia, often on a commercial scale with advanced technology.
- In Australia, concentrated in the eastern part due to grasslands.
- Less developed in equatorial regions due to dense forests, poor fodder, and inhospitable climates.
- Relation to Grasslands: Animal husbandry is closely linked to grasslands, which provide natural grazing areas.
- Allied with Agriculture: Often practiced alongside agriculture in mixed farming systems.
- Why in Arid Regions?: Arid interiors of continents have vast open spaces suitable for grazing.
- Challenges: Overexploitation of animal resources harms ecosystems and human livelihoods.
6. Mining
Definition: Mining involves extracting naturally occurring minerals (e.g., coal, oil, gold) from the earth’s crust.
Distribution:
- North America: Mainly in the western and central parts.
- South America: Along the western coast.
- Arabian Sea: Offshore oil and gas extraction.
- Not found in Antarctica due to extreme conditions and international agreements.
Factors Affecting Mining:
- Presence of minerals (geology-driven, not latitude-specific).
- Value of minerals, climate, capital, technology, and skilled labor.
- Improved transportation and proximity to industries boost mining.
Impact: Mining causes air, water, land, and noise pollution (e.g., coal mining pollutes air with dust, oil spills harm water).
Relation to Economic Development: Countries with significant mining (e.g., USA, Australia) often have advanced economies due to industrial growth.
7. Agriculture
Definition: Agriculture is the cultivation of crops and rearing of livestock for food and other products.
Distribution:
- Highest population engagement in Africa and Asia (developing regions).
- Extensive in Europe, Americas, and Australia, but with fewer people involved due to mechanization (developed regions).
- South of Tropic of Capricorn: Agriculture and animal husbandry dominate.
- In Southeast Asian islands: Plantation agriculture (e.g., rubber, tea).
- Least practiced in Australia due to arid conditions and low population.
Factors Affecting Agriculture:
- Physical: Climate, topography, soils, biotic factors.
- Human: Labor, market, capital, transportation, storage, government policies, land ownership.
Types of Agriculture:
- Plantation Agriculture: Monoculture (e.g., tea, rubber), tropical, labor-intensive.
- Extensive Commercial Agriculture: Monoculture, mechanized, temperate, cereal production.
- Intensive Subsistence Agriculture: Small plots, labor-intensive, high yield, practiced in Asia.
- Market Gardening: High-value crops (e.g., vegetables, fruits), near urban areas, intensive.
Latitudinal Relation to Climate:
- Tropical regions (0°–30°N/S): Warm, humid climates support crops like rice, sugarcane, and plantation crops.
- Temperate regions (30°–60°N/S): Cooler climates favor cereals like wheat, barley, and mixed farming.
- Polar regions: Limited agriculture due to extreme cold, though greenhouses/polyhouses enable cultivation in snow-covered areas.
Technological Advances: High-yielding seeds, fertilizers, insecticides, greenhouses, and polyhouses increase production.
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