Geography of World Natural Resources (table)

The theme "Geography of World Natural Resources" is one of the central themes in the school course of geography. What is natural resources? What are their different types, and how are they distributed around the planet? What factors determine the geography of the world's natural resources? Read about this in the article.

What is natural resources?

The geography of the world's natural resources is extremely important for understanding the development of the world economy and the economies of individual countries. This concept can be interpreted in different ways. In the broadest sense - this is the whole complex of natural goods needed by man. In a narrow sense, natural resources include a combination of natural goods that can serve as sources for production.

Natural resources are not just used in economic activities. Without them, in fact, the existence of human society as such is impossible. One of the most important and urgent problems of modern geographic science is the geography of the world's natural resources (grade 10 of the secondary school). Both geographers and economists are studying this question.

Classification of natural resources of the Earth

The planet's natural resources are classified according to various criteria. So, allocate resources exhaustible and inexhaustible, renewable, non-renewable, and also partially renewable. On the promising application of natural resources are divided into industrial, agricultural, energy, recreational and tourist, etc.

According to the genetic classification, natural resources include:

• Mineral;
• Land;
• Water;
• Forest;
• Biological (including resources of the World Ocean);
• Power;
• Climatic;
• Recreational.

Features of planetary distribution of natural resources

What are the features of the geography of the world's natural resources? How are they distributed around the planet?

It should be noted right away that the world's natural resources are distributed extremely unevenly between states. Thus, several countries (such as Russia, the United States or Australia) have given nature a wide range of minerals. Other (for example, Japan or Moldova) have only two or three kinds of mineral raw materials.

In terms of consumption, about 70% of the world's natural resources are used by countries in Western Europe, the United States, Canada and Japan, in which no more than nine percent of the world's population lives. But a group of developing countries, which account for about 60% of the world's population, consume only 15% of the world's natural resources.

The geography of the world's natural resources is uneven not only in relation to minerals. According to the reserves of forest, land and water resources, the countries and continents are also very different from each other. Thus, most of the fresh water of the planet is concentrated in glaciers of the Antarctic and Greenland - regions with a minimum population. At the same time, dozens of African countries experience an acute shortage of drinking water.

Such an uneven geography of the world's natural resources forces many countries to solve the problem of their shortage in various ways. Some do it with the help of active financing of geological exploration activities, others introduce the newest technologies of energy saving, as much as possible reduce the material intensity of their production.

World natural resources (mineral) and their distribution

Mineral raw materials are natural components (substances) that are used by a person in production or for generating electricity. Mineral resources are important for the economy of any state. The earth's crust of our planet contains about two hundred minerals. 160 of them are actively mined by man. Depending on the method and scope of use, mineral resources are divided into several types:

• Fuel-energy (for example, oil, coal, peat);
• Ore (nickel, tin, iron ore and others);
• Non-metallic (raw materials for the chemical industry, metallurgy, construction, etc.).

Today, oil is hardly the most important mineral resource. It is fairly called "black gold", for which major wars have been fought (and are still in progress). As a rule, oil lies together with the associated natural gas. The main regions for the extraction of these resources in the world are Western Siberia, Alaska, Texas, the Middle East, and Mexico. Another fuel resource is coal (stone and brown). It is mined in many countries (more than 70).

Ore mineral resources include ores of black, non-ferrous and precious metals. Geological deposits of these minerals often have a clear link to the zones of the crystalline shields - the protrusions of the basement of the platforms.

Nonmetallic mineral resources find completely different applications. So, granite and asbestos are used in the construction industry, potassium salts - in the production of fertilizers, graphite - in nuclear power engineering, etc. Below the geography of the world's natural resources is presented in more detail. The table includes a list of the most important and sought-after minerals.

Land resources and their geography

Land resources - one of the most important wealth of the planet and any country in the world. By this concept is meant a part of the Earth's surface, suitable for life, construction and agriculture. The world land fund is about 13 billion hectares of area. It includes:

• Forests and shrub thickets (31%);
• Meadows, pastures (24%);
• Arable land and plantations (11%);
• Land occupied by cities, roads and other structures (3%);
• Unproductive land (about 28%).

Different countries have different land resources. Some have at their disposal a vast expanse of free land (Russia, Ukraine), while others feel an acute shortage of free space (Japan, Denmark). Agricultural lands are extremely unevenly distributed: about 60% of the world's arable land falls to Eurasia, whereas to Australia - only 3%.

Water resources and their geography

Water is the most abundant and most important mineral on Earth. It was in her that earthly life was born, and it is water that is necessary for each of the living organisms. Under the planet's water resources are meant all surface, as well as groundwater, that are used by humans or can be used in the future. Particularly in demand is fresh water. It is used in everyday life, in industry and in the agricultural sector. The maximum reserves of fresh river flow fall on Asia and Latin America, while the minimum reserves for Australia and Africa. And on one third of the world's land the problem with fresh water is particularly acute.

Among the world's most affluent countries, Brazil, Russia, Canada, China and the United States are among the world's freshwater reserves. And here the five of the least provided with fresh water states is: Kuwait, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Jordan.

Forest resources and their geography

Forests are often called the "lungs" of our planet. And completely justified. After all, they play an important climate-forming, water-protective, recreational role. The forest resources include the forests themselves, as well as all their useful qualities - protective, recreational, medicinal, etc.

According to statistics, about 25% of terrestrial land is covered with forests. Most of them are in the so-called "northern forest belt", which includes such states as Russia, Canada, USA, Sweden, Finland.

The table below shows the countries that are leaders in terms of the forest cover of their territories:

Biological resources of the planet

Biological resources are all plant and animal organisms that are used by humans for various purposes. More in demand in the modern world is the floristic resources. In total there are about six thousand species of cultivated plants on the planet. However, only one hundred of them are widely distributed around the world. In addition to cultivated plants, a person actively breeds livestock and poultry, uses strains of bacteria in agriculture and industry.

Biological resources are referred to as renewable. Nevertheless, with modern, sometimes predatory and unreasoned use of them, some of them are threatened with destruction.

Geography of the world's natural resources: environmental problems

Modern nature management is characterized by a number of serious environmental problems. Active extraction of minerals not only pollutes the atmosphere and soil, but also significantly changes the surface of our planet, changing some landscapes beyond recognition.

What words are associated with the modern geography of the world's natural resources? Pollution, exhaustion, destruction ... Unfortunately, this is true. Thousands of acres of secular forests disappear every year from the face of our planet. Poaching destroys rare and endangered species of animals. Heavy industry pollutes the soil with metals and other harmful substances.

It is urgent and at a global level to change the concept of human behavior in the natural environment. Otherwise, the future of world civilization will not look very rosy.

The phenomenon of "resource curse"

"Paradox of abundance", or "raw curse" - the so-called phenomenon in the economy, which was first formulated in 1993 by Richard Auty. The essence of this phenomenon is as follows: states that have significant natural and resource potential tend to be characterized by low economic growth and development. In turn, the "poor" on the country's natural resources achieve great economic success.

There are many examples of this conclusion in the modern world. For the first time, they started talking about the "resource curse" of countries back in the 1980s. Some researchers already traced this tendency in their works.

Economists identify several main reasons that explain this phenomenon:

• Lack of desire of the authorities to implement effective and necessary reforms;
• The development of corruption in the state apparatus on the basis of "easy money";
• Decrease in the competitiveness of other sectors of the economy, which are not so much "tied" with natural resources.

Conclusion

The geography of the world's natural resources is characterized by extreme unevenness. This applies to virtually all their types - mineral, energy, land, water, forest.

Some states own large reserves of mineral resources, but the mineral and raw materials potential of other countries is substantially limited to just a few of their types. True, exceptional supply of natural resources does not always guarantee a high standard of living, the development of the economy of a particular state. A vivid example of this are such countries as Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and others. This phenomenon already even got its name in the economy - a "resource curse".