Secondary ActivitiesClass 12 Fundamentals of Human Geography NCERT Solutions
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Q1EXERCISES
Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.
(i)
Which one of the following statements is wrong?
(a)
Cheap water transport has facilitated the jute mill industry along the Hugli.
(b)
Sugar, cotton textiles and vegetable oils are footloose industries.
(c)
The development of hydro-electricity and petroleum reduced, to a great extent, the importance of coal energy as a locational factor for industry.
(d)
Port towns in India have attracted industries.
(ii)
In which one of the following types of economy are the factors of production owned individually ?
(a)
Capitalist
(b)
Mixed
(c)
Socialist
(d)
None
(iii)
Which one of the following types of industries produces raw materials for other industries?
(a)
Cottage Industries
(b)
Small-scale Industries
(c)
Basic Industries
(d)
Footloose Industries
(iv)
Which one of the following pairs is correctly matched ?
(a)
Automobile industry ... Los Angeles
(b)
Shipbuilding industry ... Lusaka
(c)
Aircraft industry ... Florence
Solution
(i) (b) Sugar, cotton textiles and vegetable oils are footloose industries.
This statement is wrong because sugar manufacturing is a weight-losing industry that is located close to the source of raw material (sugarcane) to minimize transport costs. It is not a footloose industry.
(ii) (a) Capitalist
In a capitalist economy, the factors of production are owned and managed by private individuals or investors. The chapter states that in capitalist countries, industries are generally owned privately.
(iii) (c) Basic Industries
Basic industries are those whose products are used as raw materials to manufacture other goods. For example, the iron and steel industry produces steel which is then used to make machinery for other industries.
(iv) (a) Automobile industry ... Los Angeles
This pair is correctly matched. Los Angeles is a major center for the automobile industry. Lusaka (Zambia) is landlocked, so it cannot have a shipbuilding industry, and Florence (Italy) is not known for its aircraft industry.
Q2EXERCISES
Write a short note on the following in about 30 words.
(i)
High-Tech industry
(ii)
Manufacturing
(iii)
Footloose industries
Solution
(i) High-Tech Industry
High-technology industry is the latest generation of manufacturing. It involves intensive research and development (R&D) to produce advanced scientific and engineering products. It employs a large share of professional, white-collar workers.
(ii) Manufacturing
Manufacturing is a secondary activity that involves transforming raw materials into finished goods of higher value. While it literally means 'to make by hand', it now predominantly includes production using machines in factories.
(iii) Footloose Industries
Footloose industries are not dependent on any specific raw material and can be located in a wide variety of places. They depend on component parts, employ a small labour force, and are generally non-polluting.
Q3EXERCISES
Answer the following in not more than 150 words.
(i)
Differentiate between primary and secondary activities.
(ii)
Discuss the major trends of modern industrial activities especially in the developed countries of the world.
(iii)
Explain why high-tech industries in many countries are being attracted to the peripheral areas of major metropolitan centres.
(iv)
Africa has immense natural resources and yet it is industrially the most backward continent. Comment.
Solution
(i) Differentiate between primary and secondary activities.
Primary and secondary activities are two fundamental stages of economic processes. The key differences are:
- Focus: Primary activities are concerned with the direct extraction and utilisation of natural resources from the earth. This includes agriculture, mining, fishing, and forestry. Secondary activities, on the other hand, involve the processing of these raw materials.
- Value Addition: Secondary activities add value to natural resources by transforming them into more useful and valuable products. For example, cotton from a farm (primary) has limited use, but when transformed into yarn and cloth (secondary), its value increases significantly.
- Examples: Primary activities include farming, hunting, and mining iron ore. Secondary activities include manufacturing steel from iron ore, producing bread from wheat, and making furniture from wood. In essence, primary activities provide the raw materials that secondary activities use to create finished goods.
(ii) Discuss the major trends of modern industrial activities especially in the developed countries of the world.
Modern industrial activities in developed countries are characterised by several distinct trends:
- Specialisation and Mass Production: Industries focus on producing large quantities of standardised parts, with each worker performing a single repetitive task. This assembly-line method increases efficiency and output.
- Mechanisation and Automation: There is a heavy reliance on machines to perform tasks. The advanced stage is automation, where computer-controlled systems and robotics manage production processes with minimal human intervention.
- Technological Innovation: Continuous research and development (R&D) is a key aspect. It aims to improve quality control, reduce waste and inefficiency, and combat pollution, leading to the development of new products and processes.
- Complex Organisation: Large-scale manufacturing requires vast capital, large organisations, and a stratified management structure (executive bureaucracy) to oversee complex operations.
- Rise of High-Tech Industries: There is a shift towards high-technology industries that are less dependent on heavy raw materials and more on R&D, skilled professionals, and information technology.
(iii) Explain why high-tech industries in many countries are being attracted to the peripheral areas of major metropolitan centres.
High-tech industries are increasingly locating in the peripheral areas of major cities for several reasons:
- Space and Landscape: High-tech industrial landscapes consist of modern, low-rise, dispersed office-plant-lab buildings, often in planned business parks. These require significant space which is more readily available and affordable on the outskirts of cities compared to the congested and expensive city centres.
- Accessibility: These peripheral locations are often well-connected by road networks, which is crucial for the movement of component parts and finished products. As high-tech industries are often footloose, they prioritize accessibility over proximity to raw materials.
- Environment: The cleaner, less congested environment of the periphery offers a better quality of life, which helps in attracting and retaining a highly skilled professional workforce (white-collar workers).
- Agglomeration: Planned business parks and 'technopolies' on the periphery encourage the clustering of high-tech firms, allowing them to share knowledge, infrastructure, and a skilled labour pool, leading to self-sustained growth.
(iv) Africa has immense natural resources and yet it is industrially the most backward continent. Comment.
While Africa is rich in natural resources such as minerals and potential energy sources, several factors have hindered its industrial development. The presence of raw materials is only one of many requirements for industrialisation. Other critical factors are lacking in many parts of the continent:
- Access to Market: The purchasing power of the population is low in many regions, resulting in a small domestic market for manufactured goods.
- Capital: There is a significant lack of capital for investment in large-scale manufacturing, which requires enormous financial resources.
- Infrastructure: Inadequate and inefficient transportation and communication networks make it expensive to move raw materials to factories and finished goods to markets.
- Skilled Labour: A shortage of skilled and specialised labour, along with limited access to advanced technology, hampers the growth of modern industries.
- Government Policy and Stability: Political instability, corruption, and inconsistent government policies in some countries discourage both domestic and foreign investment in the industrial sector.
Therefore, despite its resource wealth, Africa's industrialisation is constrained by the absence of a comprehensive ecosystem of capital, infrastructure, skilled labour, and stable governance.