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Given below is a survey of important industrial complexes of the world.
1. Europe:
Europe is the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. The industries are concentrated in the north and the west here (Fig. 10.28).
United Kingdom:
The industries include mainly coal and iron and other metal-based manufacturing industries—metallurgy, heavy engineering, transport equipment, ship-building, textiles, chemicals, glassware, printing, oil refining etc.
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The Midlands is the most important industrial complex which is centred around Birmingham, Coventry, Nottingham and Staffordshire coalfields. Other complexes are North-East, Yorkshire- Derbyshire, Lancashire-Liverpool (around Manchester), Greater London, Central Scotland and Belfast.
France:
The industries include iron and steel, engineering, textiles, dairy processing and musical and scientific instruments. Major industrial complexes include the north-east region which has iron and steel centres in Metz and Nancy, Lorraine- Saar which is another iron and steel centre and the Greater Paris regions.
Germany:
The industries Include automobiles, ship-building, chemicals, musical and scientific instruments and optical. The largest industrial complex is the Ruhr-Westphalia region, the others being the Mid-Rhine area, and Dresden and Leipzig in the eastern part of Germany.
Belgium:
The industries mainly relate to armaments, engineering, glassworks and textiles in the Sambre-Meuse region and around Antwerp (noted for diamond cutting and ship-building).
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The Netherlands:
It has ship-building industry around Rotterdam and diamond cutting industry around Amsterdam.
Sweden:
Industries here are based on its large iron ore reserves; it also has automobiles, arms, ship-building and paper industry centred around the Central Lake Depression Region.
Denmark:
It is marked for dairy and agro- based industry.
Switzerland:
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Being a landlocked country, it specialises in high value, small bulk items like watches, textiles and chemicals.
Italy:
It has automobiles, textiles and machine- making industry centred in the Lombardy Plains in the North. Turin, Milan, Genoa, Venice and Trieste are important manufacturing centres here. The south has mainly agro-based industry centred around Naples.
Poland:
It has metallurgy and textiles industry centred around the Silesian coalfields in Wroclaw, Katowice and Krakow.
2. North America:
Though industrial development started quite late in North America when compared to Europe, North America achieved great industrial and technological development in a short time. Its vast size and varied climate and relief proved advantageous in producing a variety of raw materials which formed the base for many industries.
Its rich mineral resources also helped industrialisation. Moreover, a steady influx of immigrants, mostly from Europe, provided skill and the experience culled from their parent lands. They formed a stable base for industrialisation besides creating a domestic market, so necessary for industrial development.
USA:
The maritime ring of USA is a highly industrialised zone. The industries include automobiles, aircraft, rail transport equipment, ship-building, engineering, armaments, textiles, oil refining, oil based synthetics and agro- processing.
The’ major industrial complexes are New England (Springfield, Hartford, Boston); the mid- Atlantic states (New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Megalopolis); the Pittsburg-Lake Erie region which is known as the ‘Iron and Steel Capital of the World’; Detroit; Lake Michigan region which includes Chicago which is a major transport equipment manufacturing centre; southern Appalachian region which includes Birmingham and Atlanta. The southern states mainly have oil based industry centred around Dallas-Fort worth, Houston and New Orleans. The Pacific Coast has lumbering, fish-canning, oil refining, film making and food processing industry (Fig. 10.29).
Canada:
Even though coming under the influence of the tundra climate and hence rendered barren in the north, and heavily forested in the south, Canada has shown good industrial development. It has engineering, automobiles, and paper, textiles, and wood products, chemical and agro-processing industries based in the St. Lawrence Valley (which is a continuation of the Great Lakes region industrial belt of USAT. Industries are also located in the continental interior around Winnipeg, Edminton, and Vancouver.
Commonwealth of Independent States:
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In the period before the Russian Revolution, the industries were located in the European part (even now home to 75 per cent of industries). In the post-Second War period, efforts were made, through successive Five-Year Plans to industrialise the Asiatic parts. The industries include mainly those based on coal and iron, metallurgy, engineering, textiles, oil-based synthetics, armaments, automobiles, agroprocessing and paper industry.
The major industrial complexes include the Moscow-Gorky region; Ukraine; the Ural region which is rich in iron ore deposits and linked to the Kuzbas coal region by the Trans-Siberian railway; the Kuzbas region; Volvograd, which has efficient transport and availability of electricity; Karganda; Baikal region (famous for fur products); Central Asia which produces cotton textiles and handicrafts and the Far East, which has ship-building and fishing industry centred around Khabarovsk and Vladivostok (Fig. 10.30).
3. Asia:
Asia shows uneven levels of industrialisation.
Japan:
In Japan, industrialisation began in the late 19th century, but after the devastation wrought on the country in the Second World War, it showed a remarkable resilience, mainly due to a high level of cooperation between its people and its government. Considering its small size and spread over islands with active volcanoes, with a shortage of level land, Japan’s industrial development is remarkable.
Of course, post-War assistance from the US in the form of financial aid and an open-door policy for Japanese exports to the US, helped Japan tremendously. Before the War, Japan’s industries were dominated by textiles and coal-based heavy industries. After the War, new industries were set up and Japan has now become a leading industrialised country of the world.
Japan’s industrial growth was influenced by some factors: development of hydro-electricity to supplement coal; nuclear energy accounts for some 25 per cent of its power generation; large ports could be developed along the indented coastline; densely populated regions around Asia provide a ready market for manufactured goods; the existence of a large skilled workforce and technological innovation.
Japan has electronics, automobiles, photographic equipment, textiles, porcelain, shipbuilding, opticals and petro-chemical industry based in four regions—Kanshin region which includes Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto; Ise Bay-Nagoya region; Kitakyushu conurbation and the Keihin region which includes Tokyo, Yokohama, Kawasaki and Chiba.
China:
The development of modern industries in China is mainly a phenomenon that happened after the communists came to power. The industries include iron and steel, engineering, textiles, factory and farm equipment, ship-building, oil refining, handicrafts—and entertainment electronics.
After Mao, a carefully graded liberalisation has marked China’s development. Private sector has been given a role in the economy since 1999. The efforts at developing infrastructure have led to significant foreign investment in Chinese industrial projects.
The major industrial complexes are the Manchuria region; Tianjin-Beijing region; Shansi- Paotow region; Lower Yangtse Kiang which is centred around Shanghai and has large cotton textile mills; Wuhan region or Central Yangtse Kiang; Sikiang delta which has the Canton port and Chengdu region.
The Asian Tigers:
One of the fastest rates of industrialisation occurred in the late 20th century across four countries in East Asia, popularly known as the Asian tigers. This came about mainly due to the existence of stable governments and well- structured societies, strategic locations, heavy foreign investments, a low cost skilled and motivated workforce, a competitive exchange rate, and low custom duties.
In the case of South Korea, the largest of the four Asian tigers, a very fast paced industrialisation took place as it quickly moved away from the manufacturing of value added goods in the 1950s and 1960s into the more advanced steel, shipbuilding and automobile industry in the 1970s and 1980s, focusing on the high-tech and electronics and service industry in the 1990s and 2000s. As a result, South Korea became a major economic power and one of the wealthiest countries in Asia.
Other larger eastern and South Asian countries including communist ones, followed this model. The other countries in this group are Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. These countries pursued an export-driven model, developing goods for exports to highly industrialised countries. Closely associated with these four countries and also considered to be ‘Asian Tigers’ are Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. The success of this phenomenon led, to a huge wave of offshoring—i.e., Western factories or tertiary corporations choosing to move their activities to countries where the workforce was less expensive and less collectively organised.
Singapore has had an export-oriented industrial growth centred around agro-processing, shipbuilding and printing.
India has textiles, engineering, handicrafts and machinery in Damodar Valley region, Mumbai- Ahmedabad region, Kolkata-Howrah region, Coimbatore-Madurai region and many cities in the northern plains.
In recent times, India has invested in specific vanguard economic sectors such as bioengineering, nuclear technology, pharmaceutics, informatics, and technologically-oriented higher education, with the goal of creating several specialisation poles able to conquer foreign markets.
Pakistan has agro-based and textiles industry in Karachi, Hyderabad, Multan, Lahore and Rawalpindi.
4. Australia:
Australia has machinery, metallurgy, agro and dairy processing and transport and rail equipment industry in Mellbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth (Fig. 10.32).
5. South America:
Parts of South America show high degree of industrialisation.
Brazil:
It is the most industrialised country in Latin America. The industry in Brazil is mainly concentrated in the south-east and includes automobiles, paper, agroprocessing and shipbuilding. The major industrial complexes are Sao Paolo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte (Fig. 10.32).
Argentina-Uruguay:
These countries have industries along Plate Estuary region upto Rosario and in La Plata.
Besides these countries, there are primary and secondary industries in Chile, Venezuela and Colombia.
Mexico:
Mexico’s economy is rapidly developing modern industrial and service sectors, with increasing private ownership. Among the most important industrial manufacturers in Mexico is the automotive industry. The industry produces technologically complex components and does research and development. Other large industries include cement, alcoholic beverage, and food processing. Mexico is also developing an aerospace industry.
6. Africa:
Africa is the least industrialised continent. The industries mainly comprise agro-based ones which are concentrated in capital cities like Harare (Zimbabwe), Dar-es-Salam (Tanzania) and Nairobi (Kenya). South Africa is the most industrialised country in Africa; the industries are mainly located in Witwaterstandt region where work is centred around gold, coal, iron and other metal reserves, besides chemicals, textiles and foodstuffs.
Botswana launched a major industrialisation drive in 1997 based partly on value-added industries in the cattle sector such as meat and hide processing and the production of cattle and chicken feed. Mauritius is another African country that has developed some manufacturing and a vibrant tourism industry besides sugar industry. It also has export-processing zones and duty-free industrial areas to encourage industrial development.
Many countries in Africa are in the midst of civil war or some conflict, and this hinders industrial development.
Recent Trends:
Some recent trends in the pattern of industrialisation are: (i) move towards market orientation, especially in the case of service industry and industries processing semi-manufactured raw materials; (ii) relocation of industries on the peripherals of large urban areas so as to escape congestion and high land prices in central locations; (iii) development of high-tech industries such as microelectronics, robotics and bioengineering instrumentation, which require rapid innovations and constant research.
In the 1970s, the term newly industrialised country (NIC) began to be used,” when the Asian Tigers came into prominence. The term now applies to some of the Central and South American nations as well.
NICs are countries whose economies have not yet reached First World status but have, in a macroeconomic sense, outpaced their developing counterparts. Another characterisation of NICs is that of nations undergoing rapid economic growth (usually export-oriented). Incipient or ongoing industrialisation is an important indicator of an NIC. In many NICs, social upheaval can occur as primarily rural, or agricultural, populations migrate to the cities, where the growth of manufacturing concerns and factories can draw many thousands of labourers.
Problems:
The process of industrialisation depends on a fragile balance of unpredictable factors which in general are as follows:
1. Uncertainties related to availability and prices of raw materials, supply of fuel and power and the related problems of transport Services can affect production.
2. An ever-changing technology has an impact on supply and demand.
3. Problems related to supply of labour force can affect the industry—there is shortage in some countries (e.g. Brazil) and surplus in some other countries. Industrial unrest also has an adverse effect on industrial production.
4. Demand levels may not always be sustainable.
5. Environmental problems like pollution, disposal of toxic wastes and scarcity of water dampen the pace of industrialisation.
There are some problems specific to developed countries. The industrialised world has negligible population growth and because of economic recession, demand for industrial products has stagnated, even decreased. Even as world capacity has increased, demand has decreased. Economic disparities exist even within developed countries. Unemployment rates have increased.
Developing countries face their own set of problems. Their industrial products do not find a market easily as world demand for goods is saturated. Capital is Scarce, and cannot be turned to industry when the social sector needs it. The level of infrastructure in most cases does not match the demands of industrialisation.
Even as multinational companies take advantage of the cheap labour in developing countries, domestic industries find it difficult to compete against the capital-rich MNCs which also command the service of highly trained/skilled professionals.