Primary, Secondary and Tertiary activities
The geography of the economy is a very important topic,
and covers a wide rang of areas. From the food we eat, to the poverty some
people live in, to the industrial pollution created the economy affects people
in many ways. You have already looked at some elements of this topic in the
Development topic in year 9.
An employment structure of a place or country simply
looks at the percentage of working age people employed in primary, secondary and
tertiary industries.
Primary activities involve taking raw materials directly from the ground, they
remain unaltered. Activities include farming, fishing, mining and logging.
Secondary industries (also called manufacturing industries) involve processing
the raw materials into other products. For example, latex can be made into
rubber which can be used for tyres.
Tertiary industries are service industries, such as teachers, nurses and shop
assistants.
The definition does not take into account a new branch of industries called
Quaternary industries, which are modern high tech service industries involving
research activities and computing.
