Organization of the World Economy - AP Human Geography

The world’s biggest port in contemporary times is Shanghai. Shanghai is a port city in eastern China. In the last few decades China’s trade, particularly its exports, have grown dramatically. Rapid industrialization and immense government spending have contributed to this and China is now the biggest trading partner for the majority of countries in the world (overtaking the United States).

The Law of Retail Gravitation states that large cities exert a natural gravitational pull on the people who live near them (and sometimes even people who live very far away). Accordingly people are naturally drawn to large cities because cities represent economic opportunity.

Quinary economic activities are sometimes considered to be a subset of quaternary economic activities, and sometimes considered their own separate category - it largely depends on which economist or geographer you ask. The primary difference between quinary and quaternary is that quinary involves high-level thinking and policy-making based on a large quantity of research and data. Something like ecotourism, that combines environmental conservatism with the industry of tourism, is an example of a quinary economic activity.

Four of these answer choices make up the top 5 World Cities (the missing city is Paris) except for Berlin, which is considered a second-tier or third-tier World City, depending on which study you adhere to.

Primary economic activities include anything to do with the harvesting or mining of raw materials. Fishing is an example of a primary economic activity that goes on throughout the world and has been part of the human economy for thousands of years. Other examples include farming, hunting, mining, and wood chopping.

The evolution of western economies can be mapped to the growth from primary economic activities to quaternary and quinary economic activities. It is often assumed that this process can be transferred to the developing world, but there have been some notable exceptions that suggest that not all countries will experience the same manner of progression. Primary economic activities are concerned with the harvesting of raw materials - industries like agriculture and mining.

The generation of knowledge and the sharing of research are associated with quaternary economic activities. Examples of this include teaching, tourism, and customer service. As the economies of Europe and North America have transitioned away from primary and secondary economic activities the majority of the population has become employed in quaternary or tertiary economic activities.

“Bulk-gaining industries” are so named because they make products that weigh more after they are assembled from their composite parts than they weigh before they are assembled. For “bulk-reducing industries” the opposite is true - their products weigh less after assembly. Because it costs more to transport something the heavier it is (as a general rule) “bulk-reducing industries” usually have their manufacturing centers close to the sources of raw materials, whereas “bulk-gaining industries” usually have their manufacturing centers close to the source of various large markets.

Tertiary economic activities include anything that has to do with the sale or exchange of goods. Retail, or the business of selling things, is one of the biggest areas of tertiary economic activity. Other examples include cab driving, real estate, and entertainment.

“World Cities” are so-named because they are global centers of economic activity. They are generally also centers of cultural diffusion and are extremely diverse, but this is not what makes them “World Cities.” Many are capital cities of major economic countries, but many are not, such as New York City and Los Angeles. the key to this question was narrowing the possibilities down to the most specific, and most significant, reason for the appellation.

Secondary economic activities include anything that involves the assembly of raw materials. Manufacturing constitutes the majority of what could be considered a secondary economic activity. It is currently the biggest part of the economy in much of the semi-developed world.

Tertiary economic activities are associated with the sale and exchange of manufactured products and raw materials. Examples of this include retail and marketing. In the past hundred years the majority of people living in the developed world have become associated with tertiary economic activities.

A “break-bulk point” is the name given to an economic center, like a dockyard, where a manufactured product is assembled and then separated into various shipments ready to be transported to a wide range of markets.

Secondary economic activities are areas of business concerned with the manufacturing or assembly of raw materials into products that can be sold on the mass-market. During the Industrial Revolution most of Europe and the United States of America was engaged in secondary economic activities.

Quinary economic activities are sometimes considered as a subset of quaternary economic activities. Other times, they are considered to be an independent group of economic activity. Quinary economics are separate from quaternary because they use collaborative research projects, data analysis, and scientific inquiry designed to improve policy-making of governments and decision-making of corporations. It is an extremely modern branch of economic activity and one that is still being defined.

Quaternary economic activities include anything that has to do with research, teaching, and development. Other examples include computer and information work, consultancy, and scientific inquiry.

Countries in the “periphery” are countries that have a very low standard of living and low levels of industrial productivity. Bolivia is in the Andean region of South America, which is mostly comprised of “periphery” countries. Afghanistan is in the Middle East, which is mostly comprised of “periphery” countries. Ethiopia is in Africa, which is almost entirely comprised of “periphery” countries with a couple of notable exceptions (like South Africa and Nigeria). Albania is in Southeastern Europe and is easily one of the poorest countries in Europe.

The term “agglomeration” is used to describe the process by which a certain region becomes known for producing a certain product. Examples of this include Los Angeles for movies, Houston for energy, or Silicon Valley for computer technology. “Agglomeration” occurs when many different companies, within the same industry, set up their offices in the same area. This leads to a concentration of talent and resources and further exacerbates the “agglomeration.”

Despite having the world’s second largest economy, China is not considered one of the “core” countries in the Core-Periphery Model. This is because standards of living and levels of product consumption are still quite low for a large majority of Chinese citizens. China’s economy is heavily driven by its manufacturing and exporting, which is a characteristic of a “semi-peripheral” country.