Where we live is a great determinant of many things but one thing not many of us think about is the implication of environment around us and the economic impact that has on our lives. Recently I have been read economist Thomas Sowell’s newest book Wealth, Poverty ,and Politics. Which has really opened my mind to the great effects of geography on economic development. From mountains to river everything can have its impact on how markets develop especially in emerging nations.
Sub-Saharan African is an amazing example of geographies effects on economies. For many years these countries have lagged behind and experience great poverty. The geography of these places plays a great role in this lagging. Unlike the US and much of Europe , Sub-Saharan Africa’s water ways are not the most navigable , which makes just getting things up river very hard. As compared to Rivers like the Mississippi , many rivers in this part of Africa flow to sea downward very sharply. The Zaire River for example begins at an altitude 4,700 feet, creating many waterfalls and rapids on its way to the sea. The river is broken up by these naturally occurring features making it extremely hard and expensive to make it up the river. Either one must go up to a certain point move the items by land then take smaller vessels the rest of the way which can be easily moved when one must go around such features as waterfalls or rapids. Or take all items by land , both are expensive and time consuming. Though many rivers in this part of Africa are larger than many rivers like the Yangtze or the Rhine , these rivers are not nearly as navigable putting a burden on the movement of goods.
The Sahara desert also creates a great set back for the people of mid Africa. Unlike its counter parts to the north for many years the central part of Africa was completely isolated from the world itself. This also caused not only by the desert but many coastal Sub-Saharan African countries have no natural ports and non-geographically medicine had no real way to fight many of the tropical diseases that plagued early explorers of place like the Congo. These factors have helped cause this area to fall far behind the rest of the world and make it hard to catch up.
Like rivers and deserts ,mountains also have a great effect on economic development. Mountains in general are known for breading poverty and generally poverty due too the great isolation that living in on a mountain comes with. For example some of the most impoverished areas in America are found in the Appalachian Mountains. Place in Kentucky and other southern states have place nicknamed pauper counties because of the extreme rate of poverty. Outside of the US place like Nepal and India face the same issues. The Himalayas are a great economic barrier for the people that live in and around them. In many communities the best bet for the children is too go down the mountain to the lower areas to find work or become educated .Though geography is not the only factor that effects people economically it is one that is very over looked by many. It is easy to look past it because something like geography can be very trivial but it is one of the most important real factors that can effect economic outcomes. In a world were many blame others for the misfortunes of the poor pr disadvantaged around the world . It is good too look at the real reasons why these people lag behind. Next week we will look at the cultural factors for economic development and poverty.
