how can geography hurt an economy? give some specific examples.?

Answer 1

If a country is in a place where there's a lot of natural catastrophes happening, then that can definitely affect its economy. For example, the countries that were affected by the 2004 tsunami...those countries' economic growth was stopped by the disaster because those less economically developed countries (or LEDCs) rely mostly on tourism and trade.

Another example are the countries in Africa; those countries included in the "4th world". Although an absurd idea of explicitly naming them 4th world, it is true...because 1st world refers to more economically developed countries, 2nd world refers to newly industrializing countries, 3rd world refers to less economically developed countries and last but not least, 4th world refers to "least less economically developed countries". Back to the point...countries like Tanzania, Chad, etc are in direct conflict with the geography because they have scarce natural resources. The people in those countries rely on working in the cities to feed their families. These countries rely on tourism and aid, as opposed to 3rd world countries referring to tourism and trade. They cannot rely on their own natural resources because more than half of the time, their geography, which practically lies on the equator, stops them from doing so.

Answer 2

Think about where New Orleans is located geographically. By being on the gulf, lower than sea level, in the path of a hurricane, the entire city and their economy was wiped out in one storm!

Think about where San Francisco is located... Right on the earthquake fault lines. When the earthquake of 1989 happened, the entire city was paralyzed. The international banks were closed. The city lost millions and so did the world.

Hawaii, California & Florida have warm, sunny climates year round. This means they can have two or three times the tourist trade that other states have.

Get the idea? Think about why a geographic location would draw someone and figure out how it relates to people spending money.

Good luck!

Answer 3

If you think about way back before automobiles or locomotives or things like that, the best way to get an economy thriving was through trade (and also the barter system). So, if a small town in Idaho didn't have access to people to trade with, then their economy would probably suffer (unless they could find another small town in a similar situation to trade with but then their economy couldn't expand much more than the other's could.).

I hope that helps.