Secondary Activities Class 12 Notes Geography Chapter 6 - CBSE

Chapter : 6

What Are Secondary Activities ?

  • All the economic activities performed by humans can be categorized into three categories-Primary, Secondary and Tertiary.
  • Secondary activities take raw material, process it with the help of labour and machinery and prepare more  valuable products. For E.g., Wood is a raw material and furniture is a more valuable product.
  • With the application of power, mass production and specialized labour in factory settings; manufacturing produces wide array of products ranging from handicrafts to Iron and steel.
  • Characteristics of Modern Large-Scale Manufacturing:
  • a) To produce at a mass level, workers perform single task which bring more expertise and more output.
  • b) Industrial automation is the use of control systems, such as computers or robots, and information technologies for handling different processes and machineries in an industry.
  • c) Latest innovation through R&D helps modern manufacturing in controlling waste, tackling pollution, increasing productivity and checking the quality of products.
  • d)The structure of organisation involves executive bureaucracy, division of labour, capital, complex machine technology etc.
  • The modern large-scale industries enjoy the benefit of location factors. Thus, less than 10% of world’s geographical area cover most of the modern large-scale industries. Some of the factors influencing industrial location are:
  • a) The industry should be located in the close vicinity to its market (Area od demand) to reduce the transportation cost. For e.g. Agro based industry should be close to densely populated areas.
  • b) Industries should be located close to the area of raw material supply. For e.g., perishable goods or heavy raw material like iron and steel.
  • c) An Industry should be located at a place where both skilled and unskilled labour is available.
  • d) Industries which use more power are located close to the source of the energy supply such as the aluminium industry.
  • e) Modern industry is inseparably tied to transportation systems. Fast and efficient transport and communication system not only reduce the time and energy but also helps in expanding the network of market. For e.g. Western Europe and North America enjoys these benefits.
  • f) The supportive government policies promote balance economic development in a state.
  • The industries when come together to prevail the benefits of nearness to a leader industry is called as Agglomeration Economies.
  • On the basis of size, industries can be divided as:

a) Cottage/Household Industries: In these industries family members of a family work together within their home, buy locally available raw material and supply leather products, pottery products etc. within their close network.

b) Small Scale Industries: In this category semi-skilled labourers are hired; basic machinery is used and locally available raw material is purchased to manufacture items like sports good etc. This system is in vogue in high populated countries like India, China, Indonesia, Bangladesh etc.

c) Large Scale Industries: This style of manufacturing involves a large market, various raw materials, enormous energy, specialised workers, advanced technology, assembly-line mass production and large capital. Large scale manufacturing can further be classified as traditional large scale and high technology large scale.

  • On the basis of raw material, Industries can be divided as:
  • a) Agro based Industries: Industries which procure its raw material from agriculture and its allied activities are termed as Agro based industries. For e.g., food processing, sugar, pickles, fruits juices, beverages (tea, coffee and cocoa), spices and oils fats and textiles (cotton, jute, silk), rubber, etc.
  • b) Mineral based industries: These industries take different variety of minerals as a raw material. For e.g., Iron and, Automobile Industry
  • c) Chemical Industries: Industries which depends upon chemicals as their raw material is called as Chemical Industries. Foe e.g., Paint Industries.
  • d) Forest Based Industries: Industries which depends on forest products like wood, paper, bamboo, grass etc. for their raw material are termed as Forests based industries.
  • e) Animal Based Industries: Foe e.g., Leather and Wool industries, which depend on animal products for their raw material are called as animal based industries.
  • Industries based on output are classified as:
  • a) Basic Industries: The output products of this industry are used by other industries as a raw material. Foe E.g., Iron and Steel industry produces iron and steel sheets and rods used in other industries like automobile industry.
  • b) Consumer Goods Industry: This industry produces goods which are consumed by consumers directly. Foe e.g., Food and beverage industry, Jewelry etc.
  • Industries based on ownership are:
  • a) Public Sector: Industries which are owned and controlled by government falls in this category.
  • b) Private Sector: These industries are owned and operated by private persons.
  • c) Joint Sector: When government and private players come together to run an industry are called as Joint Sector.
  • Traditional large scale Industrial regions: The traditional large-scale industries like metal, chemical and textile industries used to be labour intensive with conventional manufacturing style and with least environmental concern. One such example is uh Coal-fields of Germany.
  • This region produces 80% of Germanys total steel. With the advancement in industrial structure, this industry is at the verge of decay and is now replaced by new industries like Opel Car assemble, chemical plants, universities and shopping center. Etc.
  • Iron and Steel Industry falls in the category of large-scale basic industry.
  • This industry on the scale of its production can be divided into Integrated steel plants, which are bigger, more complex and takes more capital. Thus, are located close to raw material. On the other hand, mini steel plants use pig iron or leftovers from integrated steel plants to make alloys.
  • Iron and steel industry is distributed all over the world.
  • Cotton textile industry has three sub-sectors i.e., handloom, power loom and mill sectors. Handloom sector is labour-intensive and provides employment to semi-skilled workers.
  • Industry is located at a place where your cotton is easily available.
  • Among all the continents Europe produces the biggest share in cotton production.
  • The Modern industries are based on hi-tech in production activity.
  • For example, Electronics industry hires educated employees, robotics on the assembly line, computer-aided design (CAD).
  • High-tech industries which are regionally concentrated, self-sustained and highly specialised are called Technopolis.
  • Manufacturing industries like Iron and steel, textiles, automobiles and electronics contributes largely in world economy.