NCERT Class 12 Geography Secondary Activities

Secondary Activities

All economic activities namely primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary, revolve around obtaining and utilising resources necessary for survival.

Secondary activities add value to natural resources by transforming raw materials into valuable products. Cotton in the boll has limited use but after 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 of 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 are the application of power, mass production of identical products and specialised labour in factory settings for the production of standardised 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: Specialisation 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 standardised parts by each worker performing only one task repeatedly.

Mechanisation

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

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.

Organisational Structure and Stratification

Modern manufacturing is characterised by:

(i) a complex machine technology

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

(iii) vast capital

(iv) large organisations

(v) executive bureaucracy.

Uneven Geographic Distribution

Major concentrations of modern manufacturing have flourished in a few number of 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.

EXERCISES

1. 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                                                              (c) Socialist

         (b) Mixed                                                                   (d) None

    (iii) Which one of the following types of industries produces raw materials for other industries?

        (a) Cottage Industries                                                  (c) Basic Industries

        (b) Small-scale 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

        (d) Iron and Steel industry … Pittsburgh

2. Write a short note on the following in about 30 words.

   (i) High-Tech industry

   (ii) Manufacturing

   (iii) Footloose industries

3. 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 mos backward continent. 

Please refer to attached file for NCERT Class 12 Geography Secondary Activities