Industrial geography is a branch of economic geography that studies the location of industrial production, its factors and patterns, conditions and features of the development and location of industry in various countries and regions.

For industrial geography, the following important features of industrial production are most significant:

• a clear and far-reaching division into industries, the number of which is constantly increasing, especially during the period of the modern scientific and technological revolution;
• the exceptional complexity of production, technological and economic relations, due to the versatility of types of industrial enterprises;
• variety of forms of social organization of production (combination, specialization, cooperation);
• the formation of local and regional production-territorial combinations (in socialist conditions, systematically, mainly in the form of complexes);
• high degree of production and territorial concentration (of all types of material production, industry is the least evenly distributed across the earth's territory), associated with the need for certain conditions for this type of production (availability of raw materials, energy, personnel, need for products, favorable economic and geographical location, provision of infrastructure etc.).

Industry (from Russian promyshlyat, trade) is a set of enterprises engaged in the production of tools, extraction of raw materials, materials, fuel, energy production and further processing of products. In geography it is considered as a branch of the economy.

Industry consists of two large groups of industries:

1. Mining.
2. Processing.

Since the 19th century, industry has been the basis for the development of society. And although today only about one in six workers works in industry, this is still a lot - approximately 17%. Industry is a vital part of the world economy, and at the national economic level it is an industry on which the achievements of the entire national economy of any state depend.

Depending on the time of their origin, all industries are usually divided into three groups: old, new and new industries.

Old industries: coal, iron ore, metallurgical, textile, shipbuilding.

New industries: automotive industry, aluminum industry, plastics production.

Latest industries(emerged in the era of scientific and technological revolution): microelectronics, nuclear and aerospace production, chemistry of organic synthesis, microbiological industry, robotics.

Currently, the role of new and innovative branches of industrial production is increasing. Leading countries in terms of total industrial production: USA, China, India, Germany, Brazil, Russia, Japan, France, Indonesia, Australia, Italy, etc.

Natural Gas Industry

By 1990, Eastern Europe became the leader in production, with the USSR playing a leading role. Significant gas production emerged in Western Europe and Asia. The result was a change in the geography of the world gas industry. The USA lost its monopoly position, and its share decreased to 1/4, and the USSR became the leader (now Russia has retained its leadership). Russia and the United States concentrate half of the world's natural gas. Russia remains stable and the world's most important gas exporter.

Coal industry

Coal is mined in more than 60 countries of the world, but over 10 million tons of them. 11 countries produce annually - China (Fu-Shun deposit), USA, Russia (Kuzbass), Germany (Ruhr), Poland, Ukraine, Kazakhstan (Karaganda).

Coal exporters are the USA, Australia, South Africa.

Importers - Japan, Western Europe.

Oil industry

Oil is produced in 75 countries of the world, the leaders are Saudi Arabia, Russia, the USA, Mexico, the UAE, Iran, Iraq, and China.

Electric power industry of the world

The role of the electric power industry is to provide electricity to other sectors of the economy. And its significance in the era of scientific and technological revolution, especially with the development of electronicization and complex automation, is especially great.

Over 100 billion kilowatts per hour are generated in 13 countries - the USA, Russia, Japan, Germany, Canada, Italy, Poland, Norway and India.

In terms of electricity generation per capita, the leaders are: Norway (29 thousand kWh), Canada (20), Sweden (17), USA (13), Finland (11 thousand kWh), with a world average of 2 thousand kW h.

Metallurgical industry of the world

Metallurgy is one of the main basic industries, providing other industries with structural materials (ferrous and non-ferrous metals).

For quite a long time, the size of metal smelting almost primarily determined the economic power of any country. And all over the world they were growing rapidly. But in the 70s of the 20th century, the growth rate of metallurgy slowed down. But steel remains the main structural material in the global economy.

Forestry and wood processing industry of the world

The timber and wood processing industry is one of the oldest industries. For a long time, it has provided other industries with construction materials and raw materials. The main importers of wood are Japan, Western European countries, and partly the USA.

Includes: logging, primary forest processing, pulp and paper industry and furniture manufacturing

Light industry of the world

Light industry meets the population's needs for fabrics, clothing, footwear, as well as other industries with specialized materials.

Light industry includes 30 large industries, which are combined into groups:

• primary processing of raw materials;
• textile industry;
• clothing industry;
• shoe industry.

The main exporters are Hong Kong, Pakistan, India, Egypt, Brazil.

Mechanical engineering

Mechanical engineering is one of the oldest industries. But in terms of the number of employees and the value of products, it still ranks first among all sectors of world industry. Mechanical engineering determines the sectoral and territorial structure of industry and provides machinery and equipment to all sectors of the economy.

North America. Produces about 30% of all engineering products. Almost all types of products are present, but especially worth mentioning is the production of rocket and space technology and computers.

Foreign Europe. The volume of production is approximately the same as in North America. Produces mass production, machine tool and automotive products.

East and Southeast Asia. It stands out for its precision engineering products and precision technology products.

CIS. 10% of the total volume is allocated to heavy engineering.

Chemical industry of the world

The chemical industry is one of the vanguard industries that ensures economic development in the era of scientific and technological revolution.

There are 4 large regions of the chemical industry:

1. Foreign Europe (Germany leads);
2. North America (USA);
3. East and Southeast Asia (Japan, China, Newly Industrialized Countries);
4. CIS (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus).

The chemical industry has a significant impact on nature. On the one hand, the chemical industry has a wide raw material base that allows it to recycle waste and actively use secondary raw materials, which contributes to a more economical use of natural resources. In addition, it creates substances that are used for chemical purification of water and air, plant protection, and soil restoration.

On the other hand, it itself is one of the most “dirty” industries that affects all components of the natural environment, which requires regular environmental protection measures.

If we look at the political or economic map of the world, we can trace one significant pattern in the placement of countries with economic development indicators above the statistical average. These countries create several groups whose territories are located closely. And this is not just an interesting geographical fact, but an important pattern in the geography of the modern world economy.

Industry is the most important sector of the production sector. And although in the era of scientific and technological revolution the share of industry in the structure of employment of the population decreased due to the non-production sphere, this speaks more about the success of automation and robotization of industrial production.

Conventionally, industry is divided into mining and manufacturing industries. The share of these industries in the country's economy indicates the level of its economic development. The more developed a country's economy is, the more manufacturing industries are represented there. Nowadays, about $80\%$ of manufacturing output comes from countries with a high level of development - Japan, the USA, and Western European countries. The share of extractive industries in their economy is insignificant (up to $6\%$). The role of developing countries in industrial development is gradually increasing. And in certain modern industries, some developing countries have taken leading positions (countries of new industrialization).

In the structure of manufacturing industries, the chemical industry, mechanical engineering, electric power industry, and non-ferrous metallurgy play a dominant role. Each of these industries has its own characteristics of location and development. Let's look at these questions in more detail.

Energy

Definition 1

Energy – a complex set of interconnected industries that provide extraction and processing of energy resources, generation and transmission of electricity.

The energy industry includes the fuel industry and electric power. Recently, significant changes have occurred in the structure of the fuel industry. Instead of coal, oil and gas began to be used more widely.

Today the oil industry is developed in $75$ countries of the world. Thanks to oil resources, the Middle East has become the world's main fuel and energy base. The highest oil production rates are in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, the UAE, and Kuwait.

Middle Eastern fields provide about $30\%$ of global oil production. $20\%$ of oil is produced by North American countries. Among the oil-producing countries of South America, Venezuela is the leader. In Europe, the UK and Norway are producing oil on the North Sea shelf. Offshore oil fields are also being developed by Denmark, Spain, and the Netherlands. Among the CIS countries, Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have high oil production rates.

The oil refining industry is concentrated in economically developed countries of the world.

The role of the gas industry is increasing. Gas is not only a fuel, but also a valuable chemical raw material. The main gas producing countries in the world are:

• Russia,
• Turkmenistan,
• Iran,
• Indonesia,
• Qatar,
• Great Britain,
• Canada.

Note 1

Electric power industry is one of the most leading branches of scientific and technological revolution. Developed countries of the world stand out in the production and consumption of electricity. Among them are the USA, China, Japan, Germany, Canada, France, Russia, and the UK. Most of the electricity is produced at thermal power plants ($75\%$). Hydroelectric power stations are built in areas with turbulent rivers - in Northern Europe and South America. Today hydroelectric power plants provide about $17\%$ of electricity. The role of nuclear power plants has increased. Nowadays they produce almost $7\%$ of global electricity. France, Belgium and Sweden are leading here. They also use non-traditional energy sources - the Sun, wind, internal energy of the Earth.

Metallurgy

The mining industry is located in places where industrial reserves of raw materials are concentrated. China, Australia, Brazil, Sweden, Ukraine, Canada, Russia, USA, Kazakhstan famous for its iron ore deposits. Famous for copper ores Chile, USA Canada. These same countries are leaders in the world non-ferrous and ferrous metallurgy. Ferrous metallurgy using imported raw materials is developed in Japan. Recently, powder metallurgy has been rapidly developing in developed countries.

Mechanical engineering

World mechanical engineering consists of approximately $70$ industries and provides $37\%$ of the value of global industrial production. Currently, the percentage of knowledge-intensive branches of mechanical engineering is increasing. The mechanical engineering complex is conventionally divided into general mechanical engineering, precision engineering and transport.

• General mechanical engineering, which is based on a metallurgical base and raw materials, is located in the Lake region of the USA, in the Ruhr basin of Germany, in the Upper Silesian basin of Poland, in the Urals and in northeastern China.
• Transport engineering especially developed in countries such as the USA, Japan, Germany, France and South Korea. The USA, Russia, France, and China are famous for aircraft and rocket science. Rocket science is also being developed in the DPRK.
• Precision engineering developed at the end of the twentieth century, with the development of scientific and technological revolution. Along with traditionally highly developed countries (USA, Japan, Germany), competitive high-tech products began to be massively supplied to the world market by China, India and the countries of “new industrialization” - South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia.

Today, on the economic map of the world, three main world centers of mechanical engineering stand out: North America, Western Europe, East Asia, and Southeast Asia.

Chemical industry

The chemical industry is also considered one of the leading branches of scientific and technological revolution. Currently, more than $400$ thousand of chemicals are used in the world. They often displace natural materials from consumption and production. The success of the chemical industry is facilitated by the fact that it has a wide raw material base.

Traditionally, Western Europe remains the leading region for the development of the chemical industry. The countries of this region account for about $40\%$ of global chemical production. The championship here is occupied by Germany, Italy and France. Traditional production of basic chemistry is based on its own raw materials, and the chemistry of organic synthesis is focused on imported raw materials.

The US chemical industry, developing on the basis of ferrous metallurgy waste from Priozerye and oil from the South. In terms of volume, it is not inferior to European production. And the products of the chemical industry are widely used by the population, both in production and in everyday life.

In the countries of East and Southeast Asia (Japan, China, countries of “new industrialization”), the chemistry of organic synthesis using imported (with the exception of China and Indonesia) raw materials is developing rapidly.

Forestry and wood processing industry

In the forest zone there are countries such as the USA, Canada, Russia, the countries of the Scandinavian Peninsula, and Brazil. It is there that the largest centers for the timber, woodworking and pulp and paper industries are located. Enterprises gravitate towards sources of raw materials, water and consumers.

Light industry

Note 2

The light industry sector is considered one of the oldest sectors of the world economy. Its sub-sectors are the textile, clothing, fur, footwear and leather goods industries.

The main producers of fabric are the USA, China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina.
The clothing industry is developed in Italy, France, India, and South Korea.
Paris, Vienna and New York are considered centers of world fashion.

Recently, the geography of light industry has seen a gradual shift towards developing countries.

Industry- the main, leading branch of material production, in which the predominant part of the gross domestic product and national income is created. For example, in modern conditions the share of industry in the total GDP of developed countries is about 40%. The leading role of industry is also due to the fact that the degree of satisfaction of society's needs for high-quality products, ensuring technical re-equipment and intensification of production depends on success in its development.

Modern industry consists of many independent branches of production, each of which includes a large group of related enterprises and production associations, located in some cases at a considerable territorial distance from each other.

Developed countries today are characterized by the saturation of production with technology and skilled labor, the presence of a capacious effective demand for goods and services for a wide variety of purposes. Therefore, to increase the production of finished products, there is no need to increase the production of metal, components, etc.

The leading branch of material production remains industry and, above all, mechanical engineering, where scientific and technical achievements are accumulated. Therefore, it is here that the most noticeable trend is towards a decrease in the share of raw materials, energy resources, and living labor; the share of the latest knowledge-intensive industries in the industrial structure is rapidly growing. The trend towards a reduction in the share of the extractive industry continues (with increasing costs for exploration, drilling and production of gas, oil, etc.). At the same time, the latest progressive technological processes are increasingly penetrating into it, microprocessors and microcircuits are being introduced, which have a huge impact on the structure of production and contribute to the massive release of labor from the production process.

Chemical industry- one of the vanguard branches of the scientific and technological revolution, along with mechanical engineering, it is the most dynamic branch of modern industry.

The main features of the location are similar to the features of the location of mechanical engineering: 4 main regions have emerged in the global chemical industry.

The largest of them is foreign Europe (produces about 2/5 of the industry's products). The chemical industry began to develop at a particularly rapid pace in many countries of the region after World War II, when petrochemicals began to lead in the structure of the industry. As a result, petrochemical and oil refining centers are located in seaports and along the routes of main oil pipelines.

The 2nd most important region is the USA, where the chemical industry is characterized by great diversity. The main factor in the location of enterprises was the raw material factor, which largely contributed to the territorial concentration of chemical production.

Region 3 - East and Southeast Asia, Japan plays a particularly important role (with powerful petrochemicals based on imported oil). The importance of China and the newly industrialized countries, which specialize mainly in the production of synthetic products and semi-finished products, is also growing.

Region 4 - CIS countries, which have a diverse chemical industry focused on both raw materials and energy factors.

The energy and raw materials crises of the mid-70s greatly changed the chemical industry. They also contributed to further industrial concentration, leading to the closure of small enterprises and an increase in the capacity of large enterprises. Its territorial concentration has also increased and new industry centers have formed, primarily in developing countries rich in oil and gas. First of all, this applies to the countries of the Persian Gulf, where a new petrochemical region of global importance has emerged. New centers have also emerged in Latin America.

The development of the chemical industry is characterized by a deepening of the international division of labor, which is reflected in the growth of exports of its products. With this division of labor, the production of basic organic synthesis products and polymer materials is increasingly concentrated in developing countries, while the production of complex, high-tech products of the “upper floors” is concentrated in the USA, Western Europe and Japan.

Mechanical engineering

Among the engineering industries, the aerospace industry (ARKI), microelectronics and automotive industry are at the center of modern state industrial policy in the countries under consideration. It is these industries that play and, most likely, will retain in the foreseeable future a key role in the development of not only mechanical engineering, but also the entire economy of the leading Western countries as the most important “suppliers” of basic technologies (microelectronics and ARCP) and the center of concentration of the broadest cooperation ties in the economies of the countries in general (automotive industry).

Currently, the ARCP and electrical engineering (including radio electronics) industries account for 44 and 28% in the USA, respectively, in Japan - 25% (electrical engineering), in Germany - 47 and 29%, in France - 50 and 43%, in the UK - 45 and 40%, in Italy - 30% (for each industry) of total government spending on R&D in the manufacturing industry.

If in microelectronics and ARKP government regulation is carried out in almost all countries in two ways - both through foreign trade protection and by taking measures to directly stimulate national firms (in the US ARKP - through government orders for weapons), support for the automotive industry in all countries is mainly provided through foreign economic instruments. For example, the very formation of the Japanese auto industry was largely ensured by the support of the government, until 1988, by the almost complete closure of the country's domestic market from American and Western European competitors, including a ban on foreign investment in this key sector of the economy.

Currently, the share of exports in the production of machinery and equipment in leading industrialized countries is more than 30% and tends to grow. The expansion of exports of mechanical engineering products is directly influenced by the further deepening of the international division of labor and the high pace of scientific and technical progress.

The international market for machinery and equipment is characterized by the predominant development of trade in goods and machine-technical complexes for production purposes. Trade in mechanical and technical goods for cultural and household purposes is developing more slowly, and this trend, according to experts, will continue in the foreseeable future.

More than 80% of world trade in machinery and equipment occurs in industrialized countries.

Russian mechanical engineering is, to a certain extent, an integral part of global engineering production, while the composition of the main suppliers of mechanical and technical products to the world market has not undergone significant changes for a long time. It is headed by such major countries as the USA, Japan, and Germany. At the same time, it should be noted that in recent years there has been a tendency towards a relatively rapid increase in the export of machinery and technical products from developing countries. According to available estimates, their share in global exports of machinery and equipment will increase to 8-10% in the coming years.

Russia's share in world exports of machinery and equipment is now less than 1%, and in the total volume of Russian exports of machinery and technical products to industrialized countries of the West, the share of machinery and equipment is estimated at only 2-2.5%.

When assessing the development of Russia's foreign economic relations in the medium term, one should keep in mind the general economic situation in the country, especially in mechanical engineering, as well as the expected situation on world markets. The situation is such that during the specified forecast period, the crisis phenomena in the Russian mechanical engineering will not be completely overcome, and therefore, a significant increase in the share of exports of machinery and equipment in its total volume will not occur in the near future.

Metallurgical industry- a branch of heavy industry that produces a variety of metals. It includes two industries: ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy.

Ferrous metallurgy is one of the main basic industries. Its significance is determined primarily by the fact that rolled steel is the main structural material.

An assessment of the general geological reserves of iron ore allows us to say that the CIS countries are the richest in iron ore, in second place is Foreign Asia, where the resources of China and India are especially prominent, in third place is Latin America with huge reserves of Brazil, in fourth place is Africa, where large reserves South Africa, Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Liberia are in fifth place, North America is in fifth place, and Australia is in sixth place. World production of iron ore in 1990 for the first time reached the level of 1 billion tons, but the total production of the CIS countries, China, Brazil, and Australia alone is 2/3 of the global total. Moreover, if 30 - 40 years ago almost all production was concentrated in economically developed countries, now the industry is growing faster in developing countries. Brazil and the Republic of Korea, for example, began to overtake the UK and France in steel production.

The main countries exporting iron ore are Brazil, Australia, and India, and the first two of them account for 1/2 of all world exports.

The main importers of iron ore are EU countries, Japan, and the Republic of Korea.

The main steel-producing countries in the world are now Japan, Russia, the USA, China, Ukraine, and Germany.

Non-ferrous metallurgy is approximately 20 times smaller in production than ferrous metallurgy. It is also one of the old industries, and with the beginning of the scientific and technological revolution it experienced a great renewal, primarily in the structure of production. Thus, if before the Second World War the smelting of heavy non-ferrous metals prevailed - copper, lead, zinc, tin, then in the 60-70s aluminum moved into first place, and the production of “metals of the 20th century” began to expand - cobalt, titanium, lithium, beryllium, etc. Now non-ferrous metallurgy meets the needs for approximately 70 different metals.

In the modern world it is difficult to underestimate, because it is this sector of production that determines the level and quality of our life. Industry is a vital part of the world economy, and at the national economic level it is an industry on which the achievements of the entire national economy of any state depend.

With the development of industry, human lifestyle has changed dramatically.

It was the industrial revolution of the second half of the 17th century. marked the transition from an agrarian type of society to an industrial one. Labor productivity in material production, as the main indicator of the fruitfulness of people's economic activity, is significantly higher than in agriculture or the service sector. All industries are characterized by stable growth in production volumes. At the same time, in highly developed countries the number of workers employed in industrial production is declining. This effect of the development of modern industry is designated by the term “deserted growth”.

Such a high importance of industry is understandable and justified: it is one of the main customers of all other sectors of the economy, as well as a force capable of driving technological research of varying degrees of complexity. It is in this sphere of human activity that all the latest developments and achievements of scientific and technological progress are first introduced. In this regard, the main feature of the industrial world today is the stable growth of industries with a high degree of knowledge intensity, which create expensive and, as a rule, innovative products. Small businesses and medium-sized businesses play a big role here, providing the population with new jobs and increasing their share in the creation of gross domestic product from year to year.

The impetus for the arrival and strong foundation of private business in industry was its comprehensive support from the states of economically highly developed countries, which was reflected primarily in the creation of the most favorable environment for doing business.
Despite the announced transition to a post-industrial society, in which the primary role is given to the service sector, the expected decline in the importance of industry has not occurred.

And although the world's gross domestic product largely forms the services sector, trade on international markets is still represented by industrial products. In addition, some types of economic activities classified as services according to the accepted classification are in fact closely related to industry. For example, production services provided by maintenance companies or commissioning services.
Thus, it is industry that is the main factor in the development of human society, the importance of which will only increase with the growth of the population and its needs.

>> General characteristics of world industry

Chapter 5

Geography of world industry

§ 1. General characteristics of world industry

With the transition from the industrial to the post-industrial stage of development of the world economy, the growth rate of industrial production began to decline. As a result, its share in the structure of the high-volume MP decreased from 38% in 1980 to 32% in 2008. Nevertheless industry remains the leading branch of material production. It (including construction) employs 500 million people. Manufactured products account for 80-90% of all world trade in goods.

In the sectoral structure of the world industry, three groups of industries can be distinguished. Firstly, the old industries that arose in the 19th century - coal, iron ore, metallurgy, shipbuilding, textiles. Secondly, new industries that determined scientific and technological progress in the first half of the 20th century - automotive, aluminum, and some sub-sectors of the chemical industry. Thirdly, the newest industries that emerged already in the era of scientific and technological revolution and mostly related to knowledge-intensive industries or high technology industries are microelectronics, Computer Engineering, robotics, computer science industry, nuclear and aerospace production, chemistry of organic synthesis, microbiological industry - genuine “catalysts” of scientific and technological revolution. They are generally growing at the fastest and most consistent rates these days. Therefore, their share in world industrial production is increasing, while the share of new and especially old industries is decreasing.

Changes have also come in geography industry of the world. They are associated primarily with the changing relationship between the countries of the North and the South. Over the past two to three decades, industry in developing countries has been growing at a much higher rate than in economically developed countries, especially those that have entered the post-industrial stage of development. Therefore, the share of developing countries in world industrial production increased from 15% in 1950 to 40% in 2005. Nevertheless, the leading positions remain with economically developed countries (Table 26).

Table 26

Ten countries leading in global industrial production (2006)

From the table data it follows that the top ten countries in global industrial production account for 47% of all products. But so far it includes only two developing countries, which together account for about 11% of global industrial output.

It should also be borne in mind that the countries of the North occupy an uncompetitive first place in the output of knowledge-intensive industries, while in the countries of the South (with the exception of the newly industrialized and four key developing countries) the mining, oil refining, light and food industries predominate. The majority of the world's industrial regions, which determine the territorial structure, are located in the countries of the North. world economy. In the countries of the South, industrial areas with a leading role of mining industries predominate.

Maksakovsky V.P., Petrova N.N., Physical and economic geography of the world. - M.: Iris-press, 2010. - 368 pp.: ill.

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