Kappa Geography '13

Friday, 13 September 2013

Sectors of the Economy

There are 4 types of sectors :

~ Primary

~ Secondary

~ Tertiary

~ Quaternary

Primary Sector

- The primary sector of the economy extracts or harvests products from the earth.

- The primary sector includes the production of raw material and basic foods.

- Activities associated with the primary sector include agriculture (both subsistence and commercial),mining, forestry, farming, grazing, hunting and gathering, fishing, and quarrying.

- The packaging and processing of the raw material associated with this sector is also considered to be part of this sector.

- In MEDC's, the number of primary workers are rapidly decreasing.

- In LEDC's, the number of primary workers remains the same.

Secondary Sector

- The secondary sector of the economy manufactures finished products.

- All of manufacturing, processing, and construction lies within the secondary sector.

- Activities associated with the secondary sector include metal working and smelting, automobile production, textile production, chemical and engineering industries, aerospace manufacturing, energy utilities, engineering, breweries and bottlers, construction, and shipbuilding.

- Many of these industries consume large amounts of energy and require factories and machinery to convert the raw materials into goods and products.

- They also produce waste materials and waste heat that may pose environmental problems or cause pollution.

Tertiary Sector

- The tertiary sector of the economy is the service industry.

- This sector provides services to the general population and to businesses.

- Activities associated with this sector include retail and wholesale sales, transportation and distribution, entertainment (movies, television, radio, music, theatre, etc.), restaurants, clerical services, media, tourism, insurance, banking, healthcare, and law.

- In MEDC's, the number of tertiary workers are gradually increasing.

- In LEDC's, there are very little tertiary workers.

Quaternary sector

- The quaternary sector of the economy consists of intellectual activities.

- Activities associated with this sector include government, culture, libraries, scientific research, education, and information technology.

- There are some quaternary workers appears in MEDC's.

- There are almost none quaternary workers in LEDC's.