WORLD ECONOMIC
ACTIVITY
SECTION 2
TEXT SUMMARY
People acquire things needed to survive
and luxuries they desire by earning a living. Geographers and economists classify
these economic activities into four categories.
Primary economic activities rely
directly upon natural resources, such as
farming and mining. (See chart
T H E BIG I D E A
below.) Farming methods differ
Economic activities
around the world. In less prosperare the ways people
ous countries, farmers practice
earn their living.
subsistence farming. They
Countries are at
grow only enough for their own
different stages
family or village. In countries
of economic
with more advanced economies,
development.
farmers practice commercial
farming. These farmers raise
crops and animals to be sold for profit.
When people use raw materials to produce new products, such as processing
wheat into flour, they are engaging in
secondary economic activities. Tertiary activities refer to service indus-
tries, such as health care. Quaternary
economic activities focus on the acquisition, processing, and sharing of information, as in education.
Nations establish trading networks
when they do not have the resources and
goods they want. The goods that are sent
out of a country are called exports. The
goods that are brought into a country are
called imports.
Economic activities and trade patterns
influence a country’s level of development. Modern industrial societies are considered developed countries, whereas
countries with lower levels of prosperity
are considered underdeveloped. Nations
showing evidence of progress are considered developing. One way to measure a
country’s level of development is to look
at the per capita gross domestic product
(GDP), the total value of goods and services produced in a country within a year
divided by the total population.
GRAPHIC SUMMARY: Four Levels of Economic Activities
PRIMARY
ACTIVITIES
SECONDARY
ACTIVITIES
TERTIARY
ACTIVITIES
QUATERNARY
ACTIVITIES
LINK TO
NATURAL
RESOURCES
• Use natural
resources
directly
• Process natural
resources
• Do not directly
gather or process
raw materials
• Do not need to
be located near
resources or a
market
EXAMPLES
• Farming
• Fishing
• Mining
• Forestry
• Processing flour
from wheat
• Making lumber
from trees
• Producing electrical
power
• Doctors
• Salespeople
• Firefighters
• Truck drivers
• Education
• Government
• Information
Processing
• Research
Economic activities can be grouped by how and if they use natural resources.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. How does subsistence farming differ from commercial farming?
16
CHAPTER 4
Guide to the Essentials
2. Diagram Skills What type of
economic activity is firefighting?
© Prentice-Hall, Inc.
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Section 2 Guided Reading and Review
World Economic Activity
A. As You Read
Directions: As you read Section 2, complete the following charts.
Economic Activities
Types
Examples
Primary
1.
Secondary
2.
Tertiary
3.
Quaternary
4.
Economic Development
Type of Country
Characteristics
Developed
5.
Underdeveloped
6.
Developing
7.
B. Reviewing Vocabulary
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Directions: Define the following terms.
8. primary economic activity
9. subsistence farming
10. commercial farming
11. secondary economic activity
12. cottage industry
13. commercial industry
14. tertiary economic activity
15. quaternary economic activity
16. export
17. import
Guided Reading and Review
Chapter 4
Section 2 45
CHAPTER 4
Name
Date
Class
Regional Atlas Database Skills
Comparing Economies
As you learned in your textbook, GDP per capita is the total value of goods and services
produced in a country in a year, divided by the country’s total population. For this
reason it is a good measure to use when comparing the economies of several countries.
Directions: Use the data from the Regional Atlas Database on pp. 216–217 in your
textbook to create a bar graph showing the GDP per capita of the four Latin American
countries discussed. After you have completed the bar graph, give it a title. Then answer
the questions that follow based on your graph and the information in the database.
Title:
12,000
11,000
10,000
GDP Per Capita, in U.S. Dollars
CHAPTER 9
Name
9,000
8,000
7,000
6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
Mexico
Cuba
Brazil
Honduras
1. What label(s) appears on the x-axis?
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2. What label(s) appears on the y-axis?
3. What title did you select for your graph?
4. Which country has the greatest GDP per capita?
5. Which country has the lowest GDP per capita?
6. Why do you think there is such a great difference between the country with the
highest GDP per capita and the two countries with the lowest GDP per capita?
UF03-01 p.4
New 8/23/01
7. Would you be able to add the United States to your graph with the scale that was used?
Explain.
4 Chapter 9
Database Skills
CHAPTER 13
Name
UF03-12 p.58
Date
Class
Map/Graph Skills
Analyzing a Pictograph
Directions: Study the pictograph below. Then, complete the activities that follow.
Selected South American Countries: Imports and Exports
Argentina
Chile
Key
Colombia
Imports ($1 billion)
Exports ($1 billion)
Peru
Venezuela
Source: CIA, The World Factbook.
1. What does each symbol on the pictograph represent?
2. Which country shown has an unfavorable balance of trade, importing more than it
exports?
4. How does the value of Argentina’s exports compare with the value of its imports?
Challenge: The value of Ecuador’s imports in the same year was $1.6 billion and the
value of its exports, $2.2 billion. The value of Uruguay’s imports was $1.1 billion, while
its exports totaled $1.5 billion. Add these countries to the pictograph in the spaces
provided.
58 Chapter 13
Map/Graph Skills
© Prentice-Hall, Inc.
3. How does the value of Peru’s exports compare with the value of Venezuela’s
exports?
Name: ______________________ Class: _________________ Date: _________
ID: A
Central American and Caribbean Economics Map AND Central American Population
Statistics Table (Geography Standard 1: 2010)
Short Answer
1. Where does most commercial farming take place in Central America?
2. How many manufacturing centers does each country tend to have?
3. What is the major economic activity in the northernmost Caribbean islands?
4. Off which coast of Central America does most commercial fishing take place?
5. Describe where most of Central America’s subsistence farming take place?
6. What is the greatest land use on the Caribbean islands?
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Name: ______________________
ID: A
7. What is the greatest land use in the southernmost part of Central America?
Population, Wealth, and Literacy for Four Countries
Population
Infant Mortality Rate
(per 1,000 births)
Per Capita GDP*
Literacy Rate
Costa Rica
Guatemala
Belize
Panama
3,600,000
12,000,000
200,000
2,700,000
13
48
32
24
$7,100
$3,900
$2,830
$7,600
95%
56%
93%
91%
Source: The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 2001; CIA World Factbook, 2001.
*Gross Domestic Product in U.S. dollars
8. Which nation has the lowest literacy rate AND the highest infant mortality rate?
9. List the nations in order from lowest to highest infant mortality rate.
10. In most cases, higher literacy rates are associated with higher per capita GDP. Which country is an
exception to this relationship?
11. List the nations in order from lowest to highest per capita GDP.
12. Which nation has the highest literacy rate?
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