To What Extent Does The Geography of Resources Affect a Country’s Development?

Secondly, countries with an ideal geography resources are more likely to grow better because their geographical locations provide them with lots of advantages and opportunities when progressing. For example, a country’s geography has a deep connection with its climate since where the country is located on the world's map can affect its "distance from the equator, elevation above sea level, distance from water and topography, or the relief of the landscape" (Becker), which are vital components determining the climate of that nation. Specifically, China, one of the world’s biggest agricultural production, has its agriculture depends largely on the climate to develop. This is one of the most substantial industry sectors of this nation, contributing 7. 3% to the country's GDP in 2021 (China Agriculture). This industry is largely distributed by the government to the provinces in the nation's Southern region like Guangdong Province, Lower Yangtze River Valley, Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, . . . where the climate is humid sub-tropical with a high annual precipitation of 80 inches (2032 mm), and a mild temperature ranging between 26-32°C in the summer to 16-21°C during the winter, suitable for cultivation (Harris). With such ideal climate, the Southern side of China has produced over 501 millions metric tons of essential crops such as tuber roots, soybeans, wheat, rice, . . . and these commodities together have grossed approximately 84. 4 billion USD for China through agricultural export. Conversely, countries that are situated in disadvantegous regions will hinder in developing because they are not capable to access the same advantages that other nations are endowed with, and this has been agreed upon by lots of prominent economists (Williams). For instance, Jeffrey Sachs, a world-reowned professor of economic and an American academic, once mentioned in his famous book, “The End of Poverty: ” that countries that are limited by their geographies will struggle in progressing, and he took an example of landlocked countries, nations that are “surrounded on all sides by one or more other countries and therefore has no immediate coastline providing access to the oceans” (Dempsey) to prove his point. He said “Many of the world’s poorest countries are severely hindered because they are landlocked; situated in high mountain ranges; or lack navigable rivers, long coastlines, or good natural horbors” (Williams). This statement is reasonable, since out of 44 countries that are landlocked (), 30 of them are not located within Europe (Stats for Country Grouping: Landlocked Countries). And out of these 30 nations, only 3 have their GDP per capita above the average ($10, 926), which are Azerbaijan (10, 019 USD), Kazakhstan ($11, 0004), and Botswana ($14, 755). Conversely, the other 27 countries have their per capita between $ 687 to $ 7, 2666, with 16 of them are among the poorest & least developed nations in the world (Stats for Country Grouping: Landlocked Countries). Due to the geographical remoteness, these countries are lacking direct territorial access to the sea, preventing them from approaching marine resources that can develop the country like fish & seafood supplies, renewable energy sources, rich natural resources (oil, natural gas, petroleum, . . . ), . . . (Wood) Additionally, these geographical disadvantages also reduce the countries’ chances of accessing maritime trade, a very wide network of trading that is highly crucial to lots of developing countries, since they can’t build ports along the coastlines (Williams). With this, these landlocked countries have to depend on ports of other countries, charging them even more fees when exporting their goods (Wood). These two examples emphasize the significance of a country's geographical location on its growth because the geography directly influences important factors of a country's economy (in this case, terrains and climates), that if the natural factors become more favorable then the country will progresss better through receiving supporting from its own geographical location, vice versa. On the other hand, not all countries can utilize the advantages provided by their geographies well, but in fact, they negatively degrade and diminish those resources. An accurate illustration to prove this point is the deforestation in Brazil, one of the five best geographical countries in the world. Here, the Amazon rainforest, one of the country's most precious natural resources formed by the warm climate provided by the Atlantic Ocean (Burnham), occupies 40% of the country's land area (Sources of Comparative Advantage), and is considered the lung of our planet, as the rainforest "provides roughly 6 percent of the world's oxygen, and has long been thought to act as a carbon sink by asorbing large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere" (Leman). However, this important resource is rapidly disappearing due to government mismanagement, resulting in deforestation to makes way for industry. From 1965, "about 17 percent, or 3. 75 million of the Amazonian rainforest has been destroyed" (Nunez) for economic purposes like cattle ranching hectares, cultivation, timber extraction, mining, . . . (Amazon Rainforest), and it is estimated that this will continue to increase quickly in the future. Such severe deforestation comes from Brazil's president, Jair Bolsonaro's decision of weakening the environmental protections policies after he was elected in 2019. and he argued that "more farming and mining in the Amazon will reduce poverty in the region" ('Record after Record'). These examples above clearly illustrate the impact of a country's geography on its growth, that they can be a great assistance by providing significant advantages that lead the country to advancement, but on the contrary, those advantages can be damaged and negatively affect the economy if no strict management measures are enacted by the government.