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AP Human Geography
Chapter 11, Industry
Introduction
1. Describe the changes in geographic location of Huffy bicycle production from the
1950s to today.
2. Why is the changing geography of manufacturing ultimately a consequence of
consumer demand? Give an example.
Case Study / Maquiladoras in Mexico
3. What is a maquiladora, and what role does geography play in their location?
4. How many maquiladoras are there in Mexico, and how many people do they employ?
5. How does manufacturing create value?
6. What three aspects help determine the geography of industrial location?
7. Why are connections important for determining the geography of industries? What
are the two main concerns with regard to connections?
8. Describe the changing geography of industrial location from a generation ago to
today.
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9. Why are manufacturing jobs considered so critical for economic health of a country or
region? What countries/regions have lost considerable manufacturing jobs in the last
decade?
10. How do trans-national-corporations (TNCs) use globalization to their advantage with
respect to industrial location decisions? What comparative advantages do LDCs have
over MDCs?
Key Issue I
Where is Industry Distributed?
11. What is the modern concept of industry, and where did it start?
A. Origin of Industry
12. Define the Industrial Revolution, and what was the geography of industry prior to
this transformation?
13. Why is the term Industrial Revolution misleading?
14. What was at the root of the Industrial Revolution, and where two basic results?
15. How did the steam engine revolutionize the industrial process?
16. How did the iron industry benefit from Watt’s steam engine?
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17. Why was coal a preferred heat source to wood? How did this influence the location
of industries in England?
18. What two transportation innovations help diffuse the Industrial Revolution?
19. How did the Industrial Revolution change the geography of the textile industry?
20. What is the relationship between the textile and chemical industry
21. Why was the development of the food processing industry so important?
B. Industrial Regions
1. Europe’s Industrial Areas
22. Describe the geographic distribution of industrial areas in Europe during the 19th and
early 20th centuries.
23. What industries did the UK dominate in the 19th century? How did this early
industrial expansion become a liability by the late 20th century? What steps did the UK
take to become industrially competitive again?
24. Why is the Rhine-Ruhr Valley Europe’s most important industrial area?
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25. Even though the Mid-Rhine lacks important natural resources, why is it the second
most important industrial region in Europe?
26. What two key assets does the Po Basin have with respect to industrial production?
How does this impact Italy’s distribution of wealth?
27. Why is Catalonia the fastest growing industrial region in Europe in the early 21st
century? What impact does this have on devolutionary forces in Spain?
2. North America’s Industrial Areas
28. When and where did the first textile mill open in the United States? Where did
industry generally tend to locate in North America?
29. Describe the environment and historical reasons for the geography of industry in
North America.
30. How did transportation impact the geography of industry during the 1800s?
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31. Fill in the chart with appropriate information.
Region
New England
Major Cities
Characteristics
Middle
Atlantic
Mohawk
Valley
PittsburghLake Erie
Western
Great Lakes
Southern
California
Southeastern
Ontario
3. East Asia’s Industrial Areas
32. What are East Asia’s advantages and disadvantages with respect to industrial output?
33. Describe the geographic locations of industrial clusters in East Asia.
34. Describe in detail how Japan became a world leader in industrial production after
WWII. How did they reinvent themselves given the recent competition from South
Korea and Taiwan?
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35. Describe China’s industrial production advantages. What are they the world’s
largest producer of?
36. What are the tree main areas for industrial production in China? How do these areas
influence China’s economy and distribution of wealth?
Key Issue II.
Why Are Situation Factors Important?
37. What are the two basic situational factors important for industrial location.
A. Proximity to Inputs
38. What is a bulk-reducing industry, and where do they prefer to locate?
1. Copper: A Bulk-Reducing Industry
39. Describe why copper is the classic bulk-reducing industry.
2. Steel: Changing Importance of Inputs
40. What are the two principle inputs for making steel, and how has this influenced the
location of steel mills in the United States?
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41. Fill in the chart for the changing location of steel production.
Era
Mid 19th
century
Location(s)
Reason(s)
Late 19th
century
Early 20th
century
Mid 20th
century
Late 20th
century
B. Proximity to Markets
1. Bulk-Gaining Industries
42. What is the definition of a bulk-gaining industry, and why do they locate close to the
consumer?
a. Fabricated Metals
43. What is the connection between fabricated metals operations and location of auto
assembly plants?
44. What is “auto alley”, and why are the majority of auto factories located between
Michigan and Alabama?
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Contemporary Geographic Tools
Honda Selects a Factory Location
45. Fill in the appropriate information for each column. In other words, list and explain
the situational and site factors Honda considered when deciding on a new location for an
assembly plant.
Situational Factors
Site Factors
b. Beverage Production
46. Why are beverages a bulk-gaining industry, and how does this help explain the
distribution of major breweries in Figure 11-12?
2. Single-Market Manufacturers
47. What is “just-in-time” delivery, and how does this influence location of auto parts
manufacturing?
3. Perishable Products
48. Describe a few perishable products that locate near consumers. What can a producer
of a perishable product do if they want to expand their market?
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C. Ship, Rail, Truck, or Air?
49. Fill in the chart with the cost characteristics for each form of transportation.
Type
Ships
Characteristics
Trains
Trucks
Air
50. How and why do air-freight companies mix modes of transportation?
Key Issue III.
Why Are Site Factors Important?
A. Labor
51. Describe the cost of labor from a global perspective.
1. Labor Intensive Industries
52. What is the difference between a labor vs. capital intensive industry?
53. What is the difference between a labor-intensive industry vs. a high wage industry?
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2. Textiles: Labor-Intensive
54. Fill in the appropriate information regarding the textile industry.
Geography
Characteristics
Textile and
Apparel
Spinning
Textile and
Apparel
Weaving
Textile and
Apparel
Assembly
B. Land
1. Rural Sites
55. What factors contributed to factories locating in urban areas during the 19th and
early 20th centuries?
56. How have the interstate highway systems and the trucking industry changed the
geography of factories?
2. Environmental Factors
57. Name a number of environmental factors that influence industrial location. How do
you think these other factors make Connecticut a popular location for European firms
locating facilities in the Untied States?
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58. Describe the changing geography of industrial location prior to the Industrial
Revolution and after the revolution. What were the main considerations for locating
industries during these different times?
59. How has inexpensive electricity influenced industrial location? Give examples.
C. Capital
60. Why is the availability of capital so important for industrial expansion and growth?
Give examples.
Key Issue IV.
Why Are Location Factors Changing?
A. Attraction of New Industrial Regions
1. Changing Industrial Distribution Within MDCs
61. Where have industries shifted to in North America and Europe?
2. Interregional Shift in the United States
62. What factors contributed to helping the South industrialized since the 1930s?
a. Right-To-Work Laws
63. How have right-to-work laws helped the South gain more manufacturing jobs?
Where in the South do factories tend to locate?
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b. Textile Production
64. In the past why where a majority of textile manufacturers located in New York City?
Why did many of them move to the South in the mid 20th century? Where in the South
did they locate? What made these marginal locations now attractive to manufacturers?
c. Interregional Shifts in Europe
65. What is a convergence zone? Why is the EU encouraging growth in these peripheral
locations?
66. What type of assistance do you think competitive and employment regions need from
the EU?
67. What countries constitute Central Europe? Why does this make sense given the
changing geography of the European economy?
3. International Shifts in Industry
68. Describe how the geography of industrial workers has changed since 1970.
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69. Fill in some important details for each region.
East Asia
South Asia
Latin
America
a. Changing Distributions
70. Fill in information regarding how the steel and textile industries have changed from
1980 to 2008.
Industry
MDC
LDC
Steel
Textiles
b. Outsourcing
71. What is the new international division of labor and how does this influence
outsourcing?
72. What is the difference between vertical integration and outsourcing?
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73. How has outsourcing influenced the geography of manufacturing?
B. Renewed Attraction of Traditional Industrial Regions
1. Proximity to Skilled Labor
74. What is the definition of post-Fordist lean production?
75. Describe how Toyota’s lean production works?
2. Just-in-Time Delivery
76. Fill in the chart for the advantages and disadvantages for Just-in-Time Delivery.
Advantages
Disadvantages
Global Forces, Local Impacts
What Is an American Car?
77. What are the three criteria for whether or not a car is domestic or foreign?
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78. What factors contributed to the narrowing gap of domestic content between
domestic and foreign automakers?
Case Study Revisited / throwing BRIC at NAFTA
79. What are the major concerns of North American manufacturing integration?
80. What does BRIC stand for, and how are these countries competing with NAFTA
countries?