How Geography Affects Economic

Growth

GDP • The total amount of stuff produced by a country in a year.

Per Capita GDP • The total amount of stuff produced by a country in a year divided by the total

population

So why is there a relationship between temperature and economic growth?

Physical Characteristics

• Rainfall: helps to grow food • Landlocked countries: access to water helps to buy/sell products

Disease

= people in warmer climates tend to get sick more often

Diseases in equatorial Africa: Malaria (300 million cases a year), African Sleeping Sickness, Dengue Fever, West Nile Virus, and Yellow Fever

More sickness means people are less productive

Bacteria and viruses thrive in warm temperatures all year

long

Disease transmitting mosquitoes which

survive all year long

Why did Europe conquer Africa & Latin America and not the other way around?By the 1700, most all of humanity's greatest accomplishments, including mathematics, the compass, the printing press, gun powder, and magnets, had come from the continents of Europe and Asia (Eurasia) while the other regions of the world produced a disproportionately low amount of technological innovations.

This technological superiority eventually allowed the Europeans to conquer and enslave much of Africa and South America.

Why did Eurasia have more technological advancements?

It’s all about geography

1. Plants • The plant species in Eurasia were easier to grow and more nutritious• Example: • Europe: Wheat and Barley• Latin America – corn which is not as nutritious and harder to grow

2. Climate - Water• Rain falls consistently in Europe unlike Africa where rain is infrequent. • Europe has easy access to water, but much of Africa is not close to a coast or

large river

3. Animals that could be domesticated• Eurasians had access to a wide variety of docile animals perfect for

domestication including chickens, sheep, bulls, horses and donkeys to plow the fields or to eat the meat • Eurasia as a whole was home to 13 species of large domesticable animals

(over 100lb). • N. & S. America had one animal over 100 lbs – the llama• Africa has rhinoceros, elephants, and zebra- all of these species were either

impossible to tame or incredibly difficult to breed in captivity.

3. Animals continued

• Euroasians lived in close contact with animals who also carry disease. • People were exposed to diseases and developed immunities to

diseases like small pox.

4. Specialized jobs• More food could be produced for Eurasian population so not as many

people needed to be farmers. • Had domesticated animals so they didn’t need people to hunt

• They could become doctors, blacksmiths, mathematicians, scientists• These are the people who are most likely to create new technologies

Most famous African civilization with advanced technology? • Ancient Egypt – why were they able

to develop more? Why didn’t they take over the world?