In the Basque Country this activity is divided into the following sub-sectors: shallow-water, deep sea-fresh water, cod fishing boats, tuna fishing-freezer boats and trawler-freezers. In the Basque Autonomous Community, the number of boats dedicated to these sub-sectors has suffered a clear drop after 1990, except in the tuna fishing-freezer boats, which has stayed the same. The most important deep-sea fishing ports are Ondarroa (Biscay) and Pasaia (Gipuzkoa). The shallow-water fishing, on the other hand, is an activity which is present in all the ports of Biscay, Gipuzkoa and Lapurdi.
Category: Social Sciences
Economic sectors in the Basque Country: primary sector
The primary sector takes natural resources directly from the land or sea and satisfies many of our most basic needs.
The good of the primary sector can be used for nutrition, for food, or can be raw materials to make other products , for example wool to make pullovers, or coal for energy .
The sector involves many different activities such as agriculture and livestock farming, fishing, mining and forestry.
Commercial farming
Regions sustained by commercial farming specialise in certain crops.
Most European farms are medium-sized family enterprises that require large capital investments. High standards of living mean that farms employ temporary labour.
In the part of Europe with an oceanic climate, meadow lands are exploited under intensive cattle raising. Cattle raising is found in all landscapes, especially when in the past the cattle was essential for fertilising fields. They are privately owned lands, and exploitation may be direct or indirect. In warmer regions, we may find vineyards and orchards.
In other regions there is no change and traditional farming is maintained: olives, wheat and vineyards.
In urban areas, vegetables and fruits for town markets are the main products and usually are multi-crop farmings.
In some areas such as United Stated or some regions of Russia, this commercial farming is done in large areas. These farms are family businesses that do not require a large workforce but are managed as companies.
Crops are produced for the market, not for home consumption.
In North America farming is extensive with complete mechanisation. It covers wide areas and cultivates crops appropriate to each region: what, maize, cotton, tobacco. Land productivity is not high but production is cheap, because they use little labour and a lot of machinery.
Property is privately owned and cultivation is direct. Agriculture uses all the mechanical, technical and scientific advances required by the green revolution. They achieve great profitability although they make the biggest money investments in the world to attain it.
Single-crop cultivation predominates.
The Russians regions show a similar landscape. They are large exploitations with a lot of mechanisation. Single-crop farming is specialised region by region.
Capital goods industry
It transforms semi-finished products done by heavy industry into finished goods and products for use in other industries.
Characteristics:
- The most important raw materials they use are iron, steel and other metals produced by basic industry.
- Construction materials, industrial and agricultural machinery, transport materials (airplanes, ships, trains…) , paper or aerospace are examples of this.
- Transformation metallurgy and mechanical construction are very important, especially in states with a high standard of living: this includes railway material, car manufacture, etc.
- A specialised chemical industry is only found in countries possessing advanced scientific expertise and research, i.e. mainly the United States, Western Europe, Russia and Japan.
Business location factors
There are different reasons for locating industry in a specific place, and these vary depending on the type of business and their characteristics.
Raw materials: If an industry needs many raw material to be near them can be very important especially to some basic industries that use lots of mineral.
- Workforce: Depending of the production the company will need many or few employees and these can be skilled or unskilled. If the company produces clothes for example they will need many unskilled workers so would be better to be near a big city, if it is a high-tech company will need few but skilled workers so it’s better if they are located near research centre.
- Market: Nowadays as the transport is cheaper is not so important to be near a great market but anyway if we produced perishable foods or cheap goods, could be cheaper if we produce them near a big city and don´t waste money in transport.
- Energy: Centuries ago it was more important than nowadays so they need to be near a river for example to have the energy. Anyway is the industry needs a lot of energy usually they contrast energy tariffs of different countries for example, or the type of energy they are going to use (wind, hydroelectric, solar…).
- Transport: Transport is basic to take materials and employees to the factory and also to take the goods to the market, so depending of the size and weight of the goods, the importance of been near a good transport network would be very important.
- Government aid: The money or support that a government gives to a business in order to determine the location of a factory in a certain place or country is very important in the beginning. This aid help the owner finance the project by finding a cheaper site or pay lower taxes.
Business location factors: workforce
These are the people who intervene in business.
Depending on the quantity and quality of the employees a business need this can be an important factor in order to decide where to locate a factory.
Some industries, for example High-technology industries, needs highly qualified and skilled workers and that’s why are located near to research facilities in universities.
Other industries like textiles need many unskilled workers, so nowadays most of these factories are located in countries where the salaries and rights are lower.
In developed countries working hours are controlled, and workers’ rights, like the freedom of association and the right to strike, are recognized. Workers enjoy paid holidays, unemployment benefits, and health insurance.
In developing countries working days are very long; there are very few breaks, and minimum health and safety standards are not respected. Also, salaries are very low and workers do not normally receive unemployment benefits or health insurance.
The countries of Eastern Europe (Romania, Poland, Slovenia, Czech Republic and Slovakia) for example, after 2004 have benefited from joining the EU. At the same time their wages are lower but the labour is highly skilled, due to the good education level of their countries.
China and India have around 25% lower operating costs than the UK. Nowadays there is growing demand for cheap manufactured goods such as clothing and electronics, while China and India have a large labour force to provide workers for the factory.
Business location factors: transport and communications
Depending on the type of industry, it will be necessary to transport more quantity of heavy/light raw materials to the company and also to the market, so to be nearer a good transport net or nearer to a market can be an important location factor.
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- The goods, once produced have to be marketed and sold, and transport costs may become very high. The market may be far away or the means of transport used may add significantly to the price of a product (products with big volume: furniture…)
- Transporting some products such as sulphuric acid may be potentially dangerous.
- High-tech industries, those are the most important industries nowadays, like to be located near to motorways or good roads. And also near to an airport for international links.
Business location factors: raw materials
Industries need certain resources such as raw materials, machines, and electricity, to run the machines which can them make their products. In the age of coal and iron, the industrialization of a country depended on the availability of raw materials.
Raw materials are the basis of industrial transformation. Materials have different origins which may be vegetable (such as flax, cotton, and rubber), animal (e.g. wool and silk) or mineral, the source of most common industrial materials.
The most important minerals are bauxite, zinc, copper, iron, phosphates, gold, steel, sulphuric acid, cement.
Minerals are used for producing different type of things:
- Bauxite: used in the aviation industry for the construction of wings and also in the food industry for wrapping food and for protecting it from heat.
- Zinc: it is used for galvanising (protecting it from oxidising) iron and steel.
- Copper: used in electric Resources, especially conductors and cables.
- Phosphates: also used for making detergents for cleaning kitchens and washing-up.
- Iron: used for making alloys (mixture of metals) and strong tools for industrial and domestic use.
- Gold: this is used in the covering of coins and d in aeronautical engineering, but mainly in jewellery for commercial sales.
- Lead: toxic effects of X-Rays and radiation.
- Steel: this is very important for the construction.)
- Sulphuric acid: it helps to make fertilisers and compost that stimulate the growth of crops.
- Cement: this is fundamental to the construction industry buildings.
| Raw Resources | Producing Countries |
| Bauxite (Aluminium) | Australia |
| Zinc | Canada, Austria, Russia |
| Copper | Chile, USA, Canada |
| Phosphates | USA, Russia, Morocco |
| Iron | Brazil, China, Australia |
| Gold | South Africa, USA, Russia |
| Lead | Australia, USA, Russia |
| Steel | Japan, USA, Russia |
| Sulphuric Acid | USA, Japan, China |
| Cement | China, Japan, Russian Federation |
When industrialisation began, about 200 years ago, the transport system was very poor. There were no lorries or trains, no motorways or railways. Raw materials were heavy and expensive to move, so most early industries grew up on coalfields where iron or were found nearby. Nowadays that most of mineral such as iron ore had run out, and the raw materials are brought in from abroad by sea, these factories are changed to near important ports.
Business location factors: market
For centuries to be near the market where the company would sell the goods was one of the most important location factors for example for perishable goods. Now, to be near a market continues being important but less than before due to the improvement of transports that now are cheaper and quicker.
Anyway some modern factories tend to locate in areas where many people live. This is mainly because present-day industries need large markets in which to sell their goods.
Some kinds of industry are located near the consumer for different reasons.
- Some kinds of merchandise (fresh bread for example) are perishable.
- Some (textile, furniture making) could be located anywhere so location close to cities are chosen to take advantage of the availability of labour and a bigger consumer market.
Business location factors: government aid
The government can help a company finance the project, support in setting up the factory and provide training for the new workforce, help to obtain cheaper loans or lower tax rates (for the land, profits….) or asked for fewer regulation (less environmental laws…).
When there have been large numbers of job losses in an area which has undergone deindustrialization, the government and the EU for example, will often intervene to improve the environment and quality of life for local people. In those cases, industry is actively encouraged to locate in areas of low employment with incentives such as grants, subsidies, and low rents.
The countries of Eastern Europe (Romania, Poland, Slovenia, Czech Republic and Slovakia) for example, after 2004 have benefited from joining the EU. They are technologically undeveloped industries are receiving substantial aid to restructure and become more competitive.