4 Main Activities that Generate Income | Population | Geography

In this article we will discuss about the four main activities that generate income. The activities are: 1. Primary Activities 2. Secondary Activities 3. Tertiary Activities 4. Quaternary Activities.

1. Primary Activities:

Primary activities are directly dependent on environment as these refer to utilization of earth’s resources such as land, water, vegetation, building materials and minerals. Thus, it includes, hunting and gathering, pastoral activities, fishing, forestry, agriculture, mining and quarrying.

(i) Hunting and Gathering:

Earliest human beings depended on their immediate environment for their sustenance.

They sustained on:

(a) animals which they hunted; and

(b) the edible plants which they gathered from the forests in the vicinity.

Primitive societies depended on wild animals. People located in very cold and extremely hot climates survived on hunting. The people in the coastal areas still catch fish though fishing has experienced modernization due to technological progress. Many species, now have become extinct or endangered due to illegal hunting (poaching).

The early hunters used primitive tools made of stones, twigs or arrows so the number of animals killed were limited. Gathering and hunting are the oldest economic activities known. These are carried out at different levels with different orientations.

Gathering is practised in regions with harsh climatic conditions. It often involves primitive societies, who extract both plants and animals to satisfy their needs for food, shelter and clothing. This type of activity requires a small amount of capital investment and operates at a very low level of technology. The yield per person is very low thus, little or no surplus is produced.

Gathering is practised in:

(i) High latitude zones which include northern Canada, northern Eurasia and southern Chile;

(ii) Low latitude zones such as the Amazon Basin, Tropical Africa, Northern fringe of Australia and the interior parts of Southeast Asia.

In modern times some gathering is market- oriented and has become commercial. Gatherers collect valuable plants such as leaves, barks of trees and medicinal plants, followed by simple processing sell the products in the market.

They use various parts of the plants, for example, the bark is used for quinine, tanin extract and cork—leaves supply materials for beverages, drugs, cosmetics, fibres, thatch and fabrics; nuts for food and oils and tree trunk yield rubber, balata, gums and resins.

Gathering has little chance of becoming important at the global level. Products of such an activity cannot compete in the world market. Moreover, synthetic products often of better quality and at lower prices, have replaced many items supplied by the gatherers in tropical forests.

(ii) Co-Operative Farming:

A group of farmers form a co-operative society by pooling in their resources voluntarily for more efficient and profitable farming. Individual farms remain intact and farming is a matter of co-operative initiative.

Co-operative societies help farmers to procure all important inputs of farming, sell the products at the most favourable terms and help in processing of quality products at cheaper rates.

Co-operative movement originated over a cen­tury ago and has been successful in many western

European countries like Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Italy etc. In Denmark, the move­ment has been so successful that practically every farmer is a member of a co-operative.

(iii) Agriculture:

Agriculture is practised under multiple combi­nations of physical and socio-economic conditions, which gives rise to different types of agricultural systems. Based on methods of farming, different types of crops are grown and livestock raised.

The following are the main agricultural systems:

a. Subsistence Agriculture:

Subsistence agriculture is the one in which the farming areas consume almost all of the products locally grown. It can be grouped in two categories—Primitive Subsistence Agriculture and Intensive Subsistence Agriculture.

b. Primitive Subsistence Agriculture:

Primitive subsistence agriculture or shifting cultivation is widely practised by many tribes in the tropics, especially in Africa, south and central America and south-east Asia.

c. Intensive Subsistence Agriculture:

This type of agriculture is largely found in densely pop­ulated regions of monsoon Asia.

Basically, there are two types of intensive subsistence agriculture:

(i) Intensive subsistence agriculture dom­inated by wet paddy cultivation:

This type of agriculture is characterized by dominance of the rice crop. Land hold­ings are very small due to the high den­sity of population. Farmers work with the help of family labour leading to intensive use of land.

Use of machinery is limited and most of the agricultural operations are done by manual labour. Farm yard manure is used to maintain the fertility of the soil. In this type of agriculture, the yield per unit area is high but per labour productivity is low.

(ii) Intensive subsistence agriculture domi­nated by crops other than paddy:

Due to the difference in relief, climate, soil and some of the other geographical fac­tors, it is not practical to grow paddy in many parts of monsoon Asia. Wheat, soy­abean, barley and sorghum are grown in northern China, Manchuria, North Korea and North Japan.

In India wheat is grown in western parts of the Indo-Gangetic plains and millets are grown in dry parts of western and southern India. Most of the characteristics of this type of agriculture are similar to those dominated by wet paddy except that irrigation is often used.

The Europeans colonized many parts in the world and they introduced some other forms of agriculture such as plantations which were mainly profit-oriented large scale production systems.

The vegetation is usually cleared by fire, and the ashes add to the fertility of the soil. Shifting cultivation is thus, also called slash and burn agriculture. The cultivated patches are very small and cultivation is done with very primitive tools such as sticks and hoes. After sometime (3 to 5 years) the soil loses its fertility and the farmer shifts to another part and clears other patch of the forest for cultivation. The farmer may return to the earlier patch after some time.

One of the major problems of shifting cultivation is that the cycle of jhum becomes less and less due to loss of fertility in different parcels. It is prevalent in tropical region by different names, e.g. Jhuming in North-eastern states of India, Milpa in central America and Mexico and Ladang in Indonesia and Malaysia.

(iv) Commercial Livestock Rearing:

Unlike nomadic herding, commercial livestock rearing is more organized and capital intensive. Commercial livestock ranching is essentially associated with western cultures and is practised on permanent ranches. These ranches cover large areas and are divided into a number of parcels, which are fenced to regulate the grazing. When the grass of one parcel is grazed, animals are moved to another parcel. The number of animals in a pasture is kept according to the carrying capacity of the pasture.

This is a specialized activity in which only one type of animal is reared. Important animals include sheep, cattle, goats and horses. Products such as meat, wool, hides and skin are processed and packed scientifically and exported to different world markets.

Rearing of animals in ranching is organized on a scientific basis. The main emphasis is on breeding, genetic improvement, disease control and health care of the animals.

New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, Uruguay and United States of America are important countries where commercial livestock rearing is practised.

(v) Plantation Agriculture:

Plantation agriculture was introduced by the Europeans in colonies situated in the tropics. Some of the important plantation crops are tea, coffee, cocoa, rubber, cotton, oil palm, sugarcane, bananas and pineapples.

The characteristic features of this type of farming are large estates or plantations, large capital investment, managerial and technical support, scientific methods of cultivation, single crop specialization, cheap labour, and a good system of transportation which links the estates to the factories and markets for the export of the products.

The French established cocoa and coffee plantations in west Africa. The British set up large tea gardens in India and Sri Lanka, rubber plantations in Malaysia and sugarcane and banana plantations in West Indies. Spanish and Americans invested heavily in coconut and sugarcane plantations in the Philippines. The Dutch once had monopoly over sugarcane plantation in Indonesia. Some coffee fazendas (large plantations) in Brazil are still managed by Europeans.

Today, ownership of the majority of plantations has passed into the hands of the government or the nationals of the countries concerned.

(vi) Extensive Commercial Grain Cultivation:

Commercial grain cultivation is practised in the interior parts of semi-arid lands of the mid-latitudes. Wheat is the principal crop, though other crops like corn, barley, oats and rye are also grown. The size of the farm is very large, therefore, entire opera­tions of cultivation from ploughing to harvesting are mechanized. There is low yield per acre but high yield per person.

This type of agriculture is best developed in Eurasian steppes, the Canadian and American Prairies, the Pampas of Argentina, the Velds of South Africa, the Australian Downs and the Canterbury Plains of New Zealand Southern continents. Mixed farms are moderate in size and usually the crops associated with it are wheat, barley, oats, rye, maize, fodder and root crops.

Fodder crops are an important component of mixed farming. Crop rotation and intercropping play an important role in maintaining soil fertility. Equal emphasis is laid on crop cultivation and animal hus­bandry. Animals like cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry provide the main income along with crops.

Mixed farming is characterized by high capital expenditure on farm machinery and building, exten­sive use of chemical fertilisers and green manures and also by the skill and expertise of the farmers.

(vii) Mining:

The discovery of minerals in the history of human development, is reflected in many stages in terms of copper age, bronze age and iron age. The use of miner­als in ancient times was largely confined to the making of tools, utensils and weapons. The actual development of mining began with the industrial revolution and its importance is continuously increasing.

Factors Affecting Mining Activity:

The profitability of mining operations thus, depends on two main factors:

(i) Physical factors include the size, grade and the mode of occurrence of the deposits,

(ii) Economic factors such as the demand for the min­eral, technology available and used, capital to develop infrastructure and the labour and transport costs.

(viii) Dairy Farming:

Dairy is the most advanced and efficient type of rearing of milch animals. It is highly capital intensive. Animal sheds, storage facilities for fodder, feeding and milching machines add to the cost of dairy farming. Special emphasis is laid on cattle breeding, health care and veterinary services.

It is highly labour intensive as it involves rigorous fare in feeding and milching. There is no off season during the year as in the case of crop raising. It is practised mainly near urban and industrial centres which provide neighbourhood market for fresh milk and dairy products. The development of transportation, refrigeration, pasteurization and other preservation processes have increased the duration of storage of various dairy products.

There are three main regions of commercial dairy farming. The largest is North Western Europe the second is Canada and the third belt includes South Eastern Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania.

(ix) Mediterranean Agriculture:

Mediterranean agriculture is highly specialized commercial agriculture. It is practised in the countries on either side of the Mediterranean sea in Europe and in north Africa from Tunisia to Atlantic coast, southern California, central Chile, south-western parts of South Africa and south and south-western parts of Australia. This region is an important supplier of citrus fruits.

Viticulture or grape cultivation is a speciality of the Mediterranean region. Best quality wines in the world with distinctive flavours are produced from high quality grapes in various countries of this region. The inferior grapes are dried into raisins and currants.

This region also produces olives and figs. The advantage of Mediterranean agriculture is that more valuable crops such as fruits and vegetables are grown in winters when there is great demand in European and North American markets.

(x) Market Gardening and Horticulture:

Market gardening and horticulture specialize in the cul­tivation of high value crops such as vegetables, fruits and flowers, solely for the urban markets. Farms are small and are located where transportation links arc good with the urban centre where high income group of consumers is located. It is both labour and capital intensive and lays emphasis on the use of irrigation, HYV seeds, fertilisers, insecticides, greenhouses and artificial heating in colder regions.

This type of agriculture is well developed in densely populated industrial districts of north-west Europe, north­eastern United States of America and the Mediterranean regions. The Netherlands specializes in growing flowers and horticulture crops especially tulips, which are flown to all major cities of Europe.

The regions where farmers specialize in vegetables only, the farming is known as truck farming. The distance of truck farms from the market is governed by the distance that a truck can cover overnight, hence the name truck farming.

In addition to market gardening, a modern development in the industrial regions of Western Europe and North America is factory farming. Livestock, particularly poultry and cattle rearing, is done in stalls and pens, fed on manufactured feedstuff and carefully supervised against diseases. This requires heavy capital investment in terms of building, machinery for various operations, veterinary services and heating and lighting. One of the important features of poultry farming and cattle rearing is breed selection and scientific breeding.

Types of farming can also be categorized according to the farming organization. Farming organization is affected by the way in which farmers own their farms and various policies of the government which help to run these farms.

(xi) Collective Farming:

The basic principle behind this type of farming is based on social ownership of the means of pro­duction and collective labour. Collective farming or the model of Kolkhoz was introduced in erstwhile Soviet Union to improve upon the inefficiency of the previous methods of agriculture and to boost agricultural production for self-sufficiency.

The farmers used to pool in all their resources like land, livestock and labour. However, they were allowed to retain very small plots to grow crops in order to meet their daily requirements. Yearly targets were set by the government and the product was also sold to the state at fixed prices. Product in excess of the fixed amount was distributed among the mem­bers or sold in the market.

The farmers had to pay taxes on the farm products, hired machinery etc. Members were paid according to the nature of the work allotted to them by the farm management. Exceptional work was rewarded in cash or kind. This type of farming was introduced in for­mer Soviet Union under the socialist regime which was adopted by the socialist countries. After its collapse, these have already been modified.

2. Secondary Activities:

All economic activities namely primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary, revolve around obtaining and utilizing resources necessary for survival. Secondary activities add value to natural resources by transforming raw materials into valuable products. Cotton in the ball has limited use but once it is transformed into yarn, becomes more valuable and can be used for making clothes.

Iron ore cannot be used directly from the mines, but after being converted into steel it gets its value and can be used for making many valuable machines, tools, etc. The same is true for most of the materials from the farm, forest, mine and the sea. Secondary activities, therefore, are concerned with manufacturing, processing and construction (infrastructure) industries.

Manufacturing:

Manufacturing involves a full array of production from handicrafts to moulding iron and steel and stamping out plastic toys to assembling delicate computer components or space vehicles. In each of these processes, the common characteristics is the application of power, mass production of identical products and specialized labour in factory settings for the production of -standardized commodities.

Manufacturing may be done with modern power and machinery or it may still be very primitive. Most of the Third World countries still ‘manufacture’ in the literal sense of the term. It is difficult to present a full picture of all the manufacturers in these countries. More emphasis is given to the kind of ‘industrial’ activity which involves less complicated systems of production.

Characteristics of Modern Large Scale Manufacturing:

Modern large scale manufacturing has the fol­lowing characteristics:

1. Specialization of Skills/Methods of Production:

Under the ‘craft’ method factories produce only a few pieces which are made-to-order. So the costs are high. On the other hand, mass pro­duction involves production of large quantities of standardized parts by each worker perform­ing only one task repeatedly.

2. Mechanization:

Mechanization refers to using gadgets which accomplish tasks. Automation (without the aid of human thinking during the manufacturing process) is the advanced stage of mechanization. Automatic factories with feedback and closedloop computer control systems where machines are developed to ‘think’, have sprung up all over the world.

3. Technological Innovation:

Technological innovations through research and development strategy are an important aspect of modern manufacturing for quality control, eliminating waste and inefficiency, and combating pollution.

Reasons for Concentration of these Industries:

Major reasons for concentration of manufacturing industries are summed up in the following paragraphs:

a. Uneven Geographic Distribution:

Major concentrations of modern manufacturing have flourished in a few places. These cover less than 10 per cent of the world’s land area. These nations have become the centres of economic and political power. However, in terms of the total area covered manufacturing sites are much less conspicuous and concentrated on much smaller areas than that of agriculture due to greater intensity of processes.

For example, 2.5 sq km of the American corn belt usually includes about four large farms employing about 10-20 workers supporting 50-100 persons. But this same area could contain several large integrated factories and employ thousands of workers.

Industries maximise profits by reducing costs. Therefore, industries should be located at points where the production costs are minimum. Some of the factors influencing industrial locations are as under:

b. Access to Market:

The existence of a market for manufactured goods is the most important factor in the location of industries. ‘Market’ means people who have a demand for these goods and also have the purchasing power (ability to purchase) to be able to purchase from the sellers at a place. Remote areas inhabited by a few people offer small markets.

The developed regions of Europe, North America, Japan and Australia provide large global markets as the purchasing power of the people is very high. The densely populated regions of South and South-east Asia also provide large markets. Some industries, such as aircraft manufacturing, have a global market. The arms industry also have global market.

c. Access to Raw Material:

Raw material used by industries should be cheap and easy to transport. Industries based on cheap, bulky and weight-losing material (ores) are located close to the sources of raw material such as steel, sugar, and cement industries. Perishability is a vital factor for the industry to be located closer to the source of the raw material. Agro-processing and dairy products are processed close to the sources of farm produce or milk supply respectively.

e. Access to Labour Supply:

Labour supply is an important factor in the location of industries. Some type of manufacturing still required skilled labour. Increasing mechanization, automation and flexibility of industrial processes have reduced the dependency of industry upon the labours.

f. Access to Sources of Energy:

Industries which use more power are located close to the source of the energy supply such as the aluminium industry. Earlier coal was the main source of energy, today hydroelectricity and petroleum are also important sources of energy for many industries.

g. Access to Transportation and Communication Facilities:

Speedy and efficient transport facilities to carry raw materials to the factory and to move finished goods to the market are essential for the development of industries. The cost of transport plays an important role in the location of industrial units. Western Europe and eastern North America have a highly developed transport system which has always induced the concentration of industries in these areas. Modern industry is inseparably tied to transportation systems. Improvements in transportation led to integrated economic development and regional specialization of manufacturing.

Communication is also an important need for industries for the exchange and management of information.

h. Government Policy:

Governments adopt ‘regional policies’ to promote ‘balanced’ economic development and hence set up industries in particular areas.

i. Access to Agglomeration Economies/Links between Industries:

Many industries benefit from neighbourhood to a leader-industry and other industries. These benefits are termed as agglomeration economies. Savings are derived from the linkages which exist between different industries. These factors operate together to determine industrial location.

Organisational Structure and Stratification:

Modern manufacturing is characterized by:

(i) A complex machine technology

(ii) Extreme specialization and division of labour , for producing more goods with less effort, and low costs

(iii) Vast capital

(iv) Large organizations

(v) Executive bureaucracy.

Classification of Manufacturing Industries:

Manufacturing industries are classified on the basis of their size, inputs/raw materials, output/products and ownership.

Industries based on Size:

The amount of capital invested, number of workers employed and volume of production determine the size of industry.

Accordingly, industries may be classified into:

a. Small scale

b. Large scale

c. Household or cottage.  

a. Small Scale Manufacturing:

Small scale manufacturing is distinguished from household industries by its production techniques and place of manufacture (a workshop outside the home/ cottage of the producer). This type of manufacturing uses local raw material, simple power-driven machines and semi-skilled labour.

It provides employment and increases local purchasing power. Therefore, countries like India, China, Indonesia and Brazil, etc. have developed labour-intensive small scale manufacturing in order to provide employment to their population.

b. Large Scale Manufacturing:

Large scale manufacturing involves a large market, various raw materials, enormous energy, specialized workers, advanced technology, assembly- line mass production and large capital. This kind of manufacturing developed in the last 200 years, in the United Kingdom, north-eastern U.S.A. and Europe. Now it has diffused all over the world.

On the basis of the system of large scale manu­facturing, the world’s major industrial regions may be grouped under two broad types, namely:

(i) Traditional large-scale industrial regions which are thickly clustered in a few more developed countries.

(ii) High-technology large scale industrial regions which have diffused to less developed coun­tries.

Traditional Large Scale Industrial Regions:

These are based on heavy industry, often located near coal-fields and engaged in metal smelting, heavy engi­neering, chemical manufacture or textile production. These industries are now known as smokestack indus­tries.

Traditional industrial regions can be recognized by:

i. High proportion of employment in manufacturing industry.

ii. High-density housing, often of inferior type, and poor services.

iii. Unattractive environment, for example, pollution, waste heaps, and so on.

iv. Problems of unemployment, emigration and derelict land areas caused by closure of factories because of a worldwide fall in demand.

c. Household Industries or Cottage Manufacturing:

It is the smallest manufacturing unit. The artisans use local raw materials and simple tools to produce everyday goods in their homes with the help of their family members or part-time labour. Finished products may be for consumption in the same household or, for sale in local (village) markets, or, for barter.

Capital and transportation do not wield much influence as this type of manufacturing has low commercial significance and most of the tools are devised locally.

Some common everyday products produced in this sector include foodstuffs, fabrics, mats, containers, tools, furniture, shoes, and figurines from wood lot and forest, shoes, thongs and other articles from leather; pottery and bricks from clays and stones. Goldsmiths make jewellery of gold silver and bronze. Some artefacts and crafts are made out of bamboo, wood obtained locally from the forests.

Industries based on Inputs/Raw Materials:

On the basis of the raw materials used, the industries are classified as:

(a) Agro-based;

(b) Mineral-based;

(c) Chemical-based;

(d) Forest-based; and

(e) Animal- based.

A brief description of the above has been laid down below:

(a) Agro-based Industries:

Agro processing involves the processing of raw materials from the field and the farm into finished products for rural and urban markets. Major agro-processing industries are food processing, sugar, pickles, fruits juices, beverages (tea, coffee and cocoa), spices, oils fats and textiles (cotton, jute, silk), rubber, etc.

Food Processing: Agro processing includes canning, pro­ducing cream, fruit processing and confectionery. While some preserving techniques, such as drying, fermenting and pickling, have been known since ancient times, these had limited applications to cater to the pre-Industrial revolution demands.

(b) Mineral-based Industries:

These industries use minerals as a raw material. Some industries use ferrous metallic minerals which contain ferrous (iron), such as iron and steel industries but some use non-ferrous metallic minerals, such as aluminium, copper and jewellery industries. Many industries use non- metallic minerals such as cement and pottery industries.

(c) Chemical-based Industries:

Such industries use natural chemical minerals, e.g. mineral-oil (petroleum) used in petrochemical industry. Salts, sulphur and potash industries also use natural minerals. Chemical industries are also based on raw materials obtained from wood and coal. Synthetic fibre, plastic, etc. are other examples of chemical-based industries.

(d) Forest-based Raw Material using Industries:

The forests provide many major and minor products which are used as raw material. Timber for furniture industry, wood, bamboo and grass for paper industry, lac for lac industries come from forests.

(e) Animal-based Industries:

Leather for leather industry and wool for woollen textiles are obtained from animals. Besides, ivory is also obtained from elephant’s tusks.

Industries based on Ownership:

i. Public Sector Industries are owned and man­aged by governments. In India, there were a number of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs). Socialist countries have many state owned industries. Mixed economies have both Public and Private sector enterprises.

ii. Private Sector Industries are owned by individual investors. These are managed by private organizations. In capitalist countries, industries are generally owned privately.

iii. Joint Sector Industries are managed by joint stock companies or sometimes the private and public sectors together establish and manage the industries.

The Ruhr Coal-Field, Germany:

This has been one of the major industrial regions of Europe for a long time. Coal, iron and steel formed the basis of the economy, but as the demand for coal declined, the industry started shrinking. Even after the iron ore was exhausted, the industry remained, using imported ore brought by waterways to the Ruhr. The Ruhr region is responsible for 80 per cent of Germany’s total steel production.

Changes in the industrial structure have led to the decay of some areas, and there are problems of industrial waste and pollution. The future prosperity of the Ruhr is based less on the products of coal and steel, for which it was initially famous, and more on the new industries like the huge Opel car assembly plant, new chemical plants, universities. Out-of-town shopping centres have appeared resulting in a ‘New Ruhr’ landscape.

Concept of High Technology Industry:

High technology, or simply high-tech, is the latest generation of manufacturing activities. It is best understood as the application of intensive research and development (R and D) efforts leading to the manufacture of products of an advanced scientific and engineering character. Professional (white collar) workers make up a large share to the total workforce.

These highly skilled specialists greatly outnumber the actual production (blue collar) workers. Robotics on the assembly line, computer-aided design (CAD) and man­ufacturing, electronic controls of smelting and refining processes, and the constant development of new chemi­cal and pharmaceutical products are notable examples of a high-tech industry.

Neatly spaced, low, modern, dispersed, office-plant- lab buildings rather than massive assembly structures, factories and storage areas mark the high-tech industrial landscape. Planned business parks for high-tech start­ups have become part of regional and local development schemes.

High-tech industries which are regionally concentrated, self-sustained and highly specialized are called technopolies. The Silicon Valley near San Francisco and Silicon Forest near Seattle are examples of technopolies.

Manufacturing contributes significantly to the world economy. Iron and steel, textiles, automobiles, petro­chemicals and electronics are some of the world’s most important manufacturing industries.

Iron and Steel Industry:

The iron and steel industry forms the basis of all other industries and, therefore, it is called a basic industry. It is basic because it provides raw material for other industries such as machine tools used for further production. It may also be known as heavy industry because it uses large quantities of bulky raw materials and its products are also heavy.

Iron is extracted from iron ore by smelting in a blast furnace with carbon (coke) and limestone. The molten iron is cooled and moulded to form pig iron which is used for converting into steel by adding strengthening materials like manganese.

The large integrated steel industry is traditionally located close to the sources of raw materials—iron ore, coal, manganese and limestone—or at places where these could be easily brought, e.g., near ports. But in mini steel mills access to markets is more important than inputs. These are less expensive to build and operate and can be located near markets because of the abundance of scrap metal, which is the main input.

Traditionally, most of the steel was produced at large integrated plants, but mini mills are limited to just one-step process—steel making—and are gain­ing ground.

Distribution:

The industry is one of the most complex and capital-intensive industry and is concen­trated in the advanced countries of North America, Europe and Asia. In U.S.A. most of the production comes from the north Appalachian region (Pittsburgh), Great Lake region (Chicago-Gary, Erie, Cleveland, Lorain, Buffalo and Duluth) and the Atlantic Coast (Sparrows Point and Morisville). The industry has also moved towards the southern state of Alabama. Pittsburg area is now losing ground.

It has now become the ‘rust bowl’ of U.S.A. In Europe, U.K., Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourgh, the Netherlands and Russia are the leading producers. The important steel centres are Scun Thorpe, Port Talbot, Birmingham and Sheffield in the U.K.; Duisburg, Dortmund, Dusseldorf and Essen in Germany; Le Creusot and St. Ettienne in France; and Moscow, St. Petersburgh, Lipetsk, Tula, in Russia and Krivoi Rog, and Donetsk in Ukraine. In Asia, the important centres include Nagasaki and Tokyo- Yokohama in Japan; Shanghai, Tienstin and Wuhan in China; and Jamshedpur, Kulti-Burnpur, Durgapur, Rourkela, Bhilai, Bokaro, Salem, Visakhapatnam and Bhadravati in India.

Cotton Textile Industry:

Cotton textile industry has three sub-sectors i.e. handloom, powerloom and mill sectors. Handloom sector is labour-intensive and provides employment to semi-skilled workers. It requires small capital investment

This sector involves spinning, weaving and finishing of the fabrics. The powerloom sector introduces machines and becomes less labour-intensive and the volume of production increases. Cotton textile mill sector is highly capital-intensive and produces fine clothes in bulk.

Cotton textile manufacturing requires good qual­ity cotton as raw material. India, China, U.S.A. Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Egypt produce more than half of the world’s raw cotton. The U.K. N-W European countries and Japan also produce cotton textile made from imported yarn. Europe alone accounts for nearly half of the world’s cotton imports.

The industry has to face very stiff competition from synthetic fibres hence, it has now shown a declining trend in many countries. With the scientific advancement and technological improvements the structure of industries change. For example, Germany recorded constant growth in cotton textile industry since Second World War till the seventies but now it has declined. It has shifted to less developed countries where labour costs are low.

3. Tertiary Activities:

Tertiary activities are related to the service sector. Manpower is an important component of the service sector as most of the tertiary activities are performed by skilled labour, professionally trained experts and consultants. In the initial stages of economic development, large proportion of people worked in the primary sector. In a developed economy, the majority of workers get employment in tertiary activity and a moderate proportion is employed in the secondary sector.

Tertiary activities include both production and exchange. The production involves the ‘provision’ of services that are ‘consumed’. The output is indirectly measured in terms of wages and salaries. Exchange involves trade, transport and communication facili­ties that are used to overcome distance.

Tertiary activities, therefore, involve the com­mercial output of services rather than the production of tangible goods. They are not directly involved in the processing of physical raw materials. Common examples are the work of a plumber, electrician, technician, launderer, barber, shopkeeper, driver, cashier, teacher, doctor, lawyer and publisher etc.

Types of Tertiary Activities:

(i) Trade and Commerce:

Trade is essentially buying and selling of items produced elsewhere. All the services in retail and wholesale trading or commerce are specifically intended to profit. The towns and cities where all these works take place are known as trading centres.

The rise of trading from barter at the local level to money-exchange of international scale has produced many centres and institutions such as trading centres or collection and distribution points. Trading centres may be divided into rural and urban marketing centres.

Rural marketing centres cater to nearby settle­ments. These are quasi-urban, centres. They serve as trading centres of the most rudimentary type. Here personal and professional services are not well-developed.

These form local collecting and distributing centres. Most of these have mandis (wholesale markets) and also retailing areas. They are not urban centres per se but are significant centres for making goods and services available which are most frequently demanded by rural folk.

Periodic markets in rural areas are found where there are no regular markets and local periodic markets are organized at different temporal inter­vals. These may be weekly, biweekly markets from where people from the surrounding areas meet their temporally accumulated demand. These markets are held on specified dates and move from one place to another. The shopkeepers thus, remain busy on all the days while a large area is served by them.

Urban marketing centres have more widely spe­cialized urban services. They provide ordinary goods and services as well as many of the specialized goods and services required by the people. Urban centres, therefore, offer manufactured goods as well as developed many specialized markets e.g. markets for labour, housing, semi or finished products. Ser­vices of educational institutions and professionals such as teachers, lawyers, consultants, physicians, dentists and veterinary doctors are available.

(ii) Transport:

Transport is a service or facility by which peo­ple, materials and manufactured goods are physi­cally carried from one location to the other. It is an organized industry created to satisfy man’s basic need of mobility. Modern society requires speedy and efficient transport systems to assist in the pro­duction, distribution and consumption of goods. At every stage in this complex system, the value of the material is significantly enhanced by transportation.

Transport distance can be measured as: km distance or actual distance of route length; time distance or the time taken to travel on a particular route; and cost distance or the expense of travelling on a route. In selecting the mode of transport, distance, in terms of time or cost, is the determining factor. Isochrone lines are drawn on a map to join places equal in terms of the time taken to reach them.

Factors Affecting Transport:

Demand for transport is influenced by the size of the population. The larger the population, the greater is the demand for transport. Routes depend on: location of cities, towns, villages, industrial centres and raw materials, pattern of trade between them, nature of the landscape between them, type of climate, and funds available for overcoming obstacles along the length of the route.

(iii) Communication:

Communication services involve the transmission of words and messages, facts and ideas. The invention of writing preserved messages and helped to make communication dependent on means of transport. These were actually carried by hand, animals, boat, road, rail and air. That is why all forms of transport are also referred to as lines of communication.

Where the transport network is efficient, communications are easily disseminated. Certain developments, such as mobile telephony and satellites, have made communications independent of transport. All forms are not fully disassociated because of the cheap availability of the older systems. Thus, very large volumes of mail continue to be handled by post offices all over the world.

(iv) Telecommunications:

The use of telecommunications is linked to the development of modern technology. It has revolutionized communications because of the speed with which messages are sent. The time reduced is from weeks to minutes. Besides, the recent advancements like mobile telephony have made communications direct and instantaneous at any time and from anywhere.

The telegraph, morse code and telex have almost become things of the past. Radio and television also help to relay news, pictures, and telephone calls to the vast audiences around the world and hence they are termed as mass media.

They are vital for advertising and entertainment. Newspapers are able to cover events in all corners of the world. Satellite communication relays infor­mation of the earth and from space. The internet has truly revolutionized the global communication system.

(v) Services:

Services occur at many different levels. Some are geared to industry, some to people, and some to both industry and people, e.g. the transport systems. Low- order services, such as grocery shops and laundries, are more common and widespread than high-order services or more specialized ones like those of accountants, consultants and physicians. Services are provided to individual consumers who can afford to pay for them. For example, the gardener, the launderers and the barber do primary physical labour. Teachers, lawyers, physicians, musicians and others perform mental labour.

Many services have now been regulated. Making and maintaining highways and bridges, maintaining fire fighting departments and supplying or supervising education and customer care are among the important services most often supervised or performed by governments or companies.

State and union legislations have established corporations to supersize and control the marketing of such services as transport, telecommunication, energy and water supply. Professional services are primarily health care, engineering, law and management. The location of recreational and entertainment services depends on the market.

Multiplexes and restaurants might find location within or near the Central Business District (CBD), whereas a golf course would choose a site where land costs are lower than in the CBD. Personal services are made available to the people to facilitate their work in daily life.

The workers migrate from rural areas in search of employment and are unskilled. They are employed in domestic services such as housekeepers, cooks and gardeners. This segment of workers is generally unorganized. One such example in India is Mumbai’s dabbawala (Tiffin) service provided to about 1,75,000 customers all over the city.

People Engaged in Tertiary Activities:

Today most people are service workers. Services are provided in all societies. But in more developed countries a higher percentage of workers are employed in providing services as compared to less developed countries. The trend in employment in this sector has been increasing while it has remained unchanged or decreasing in the primary and secondary activities.

Some Selected Examples:

Tourism:

Tourism is travel undertaken for purposes of recreation rather than business. It has become the world’s single largest tertiary activity in total registered jobs (250 million) and total revenue (40 per cent of the total GDP). Besides, many local persons are employed to provide services like accommodation, meals, transport, entertainment and special shops serving the tourists. Tourism fosters the growth of infrastructure industries, retail trading, and craft industries (souvenirs). In some regions, tourism is seasonal because the vacation period is dependent on favourable weather conditions, but many regions attract visitors all the year round.

Tourist Regions:

The warmer places around the Mediterranean Coast and the West Coast of India are some of the popular tourist destinations in the world. Others include winter sports regions, found mainly in mountainous areas, and various scenic landscapes and national parks, which are scattered. Historic towns also attract tourists, because of the monument, heritage sites and cultural activities.

Factors Affecting Tourism:

a. Demand:

Since the last century, the demand for holi­days has increased rapidly. Improvements in the stand­ard of living and increased leisure time, permit many more people to go on holidays for leisure.

b. Transport:

The opening-up of tourist areas has been aided by improvement in transport facilities. Travel is easier by car, with better road systems. More significant in recent years has been the expansion in air transport. For example, air travel allows one to travel anywhere in the world in a few hours of flying time from their homes. The advent of package holidays has reduced the costs.

c. Climate:

Most people from colder regions expect to have warm, sunny weather for beach holidays. This is one of the main reasons for the importance of tourism in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean lands. The Mediterranean climate offers almost consistently higher temperatures, than in other parts of Europe, long hours of sunshine and low rainfall throughout the peak holi­day season. People taking winter holidays have specific climatic requirements, either higher temperatures than their own homelands, or snow cover suitable for skiing.

d. Landscape:

Many people like to spend their holidays in an attractive environment, which often means moun­tains, lakes, spectacular sea coasts and landscapes not completely altered by man.

e. History and Art:

The history and art of an area have potential attractiveness. People visit ancient or pictur­esque towns and archaeological sites, and enjoy explor­ing castles, palaces and churches.

f. Culture and Economy:

These attract tourists with a pen­chant for experiencing ethnic and local customs. Besides, if a region provides for the needs of tourists at a cheaper cost, it is likely to become very popular. Home-stay has emerged as a profitable business such as heritage homes in Goa, Madikere and Coorg in Karnataka.

4. Quaternary Activities:

What do a CEO of an MNC in Copenhagen, at New York and a medical transcriptionist at Bengaluru have in common? All these people work in a segment of the service sector that is knowledge oriented. This sector can be divided into quaternary and quinary activities.

Quaternary activities involve some of the following: the collection, production and dissemination of information or even the production of information. Quaternary activities centre around research, development and may be seen as an advanced form of services involving specialized knowledge and technical skills.

Quinary Activities:

The highest level of decision-makers or policy­makers performs quinary activities. These are subtly different from the knowledge-based industries that the quinary sector in general deals with.

Outsourcing has resulted in the opening up of a large number of call centres in India, China, Eastern Europe, Israel, Philippines and Costa Rica. It has cre­ated new jobs in these countries. Outsourcing is com­ing to those countries where cheap and skilled workers are available. These are also out-migrating countries.

With the work available through outsourcing, the migration in these countries may come down. Outsourcing countries are facing resistance from job-seeking youths in their respective countries. The comparative advantage is the main reason for continuing outsourcing. New trends in quinary services include knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) and ‘home shoring’, the latter as an alternative to outsourcing.

The KPO industry is distinct from Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) as it involves highly skilled workers. It is information driven knowledge outsourcing. KPO enables companies to create additional business opportunities. Examples of KPOs include research and development (R and D) activities, e-learning, business research, intellectual property (IP) research, legal profession and the banking sector.