Uneven Geographic Distribution

The world’s manufacturing activity is not spread evenly across the globe. In fact, it is heavily concentrated in a small number of places. These major manufacturing regions cover less than 10 per cent of the world’s total land area. Yet, because of the economic and political power concentrated there, these nations dominate global affairs.

Why is the geographic spread so uneven? The reason lies in the intensity of the manufacturing process. A factory uses a given piece of land much more intensively than a farm does. To see this clearly, consider a comparison given in the textbook. An area of 2.5 square kilometres in the American corn belt typically contains about four large farms. Those farms employ roughly 10 to 20 workers and support 50 to 100 people. Now imagine the same 2.5 square kilometres used for industry. That same area could hold several large, integrated factories and employ thousands of workers. …