Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 10.11
Tamolo, India.
Tamolo is on the Car Nicobar
islands off the coast of India. After the 2004 tsunami,
the wetlands became breeding grounds for the mos-
quitoes that carry malaria. This baby sleeps under
a mosquito net distributed to villagers by United
Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) workers. These
efforts are having some dramatic impacts in parts of
Africa, but malaria remains a scourge of the poorer
peoples living in low latitudes, which is an impediment
to economic development.
© Pallava Bagla/Corbis.
when this type of aid reaches its intended benefi ciaries, it
is rarely suffi cient to meet basic needs or reverse the tra-
jectory of hardship in the country.
in Chapter 9). Governments locate such zones in places
with easy access to export markets. Thus, the maquila-
dora zone in Mexico is situated directly across the border
from the United States, and the special economic zones
of China are located near major ports. These zones typi-
cally attract a mix of manufacturing operations, depend-
ing on the skill levels of the labor force and the available
infrastructure.
The maquiladora program started in 1965 when the
Mexican government designated the region of nort
Costs of Economic Development
Economic development changes a place. To increase
productivity, whether industrial or agricultural, peo-
ple transform the environment. When a country goes
through intensifi cation of industrial production, air
and surface water are often polluted. Pollution is not
confi ned to industry. With intensifi cation of agricul-
tural production, the introduction of pesticides and
herbicides can have deleterious impacts on the soil and
groundwater. Tourism can be just as diffi cult on the
environment—taxing the existing infrastructure beyond
its capacities. The costs of tourism often stretch far
beyond the environment, affecting ways of life and fun-
damentally altering the cultural landscape.
hern
Mexico as a maquiladora district, making it a place where
raw materials could be shipped into Mexico, manufactured
into goods, and then sent back to the United States free of
import tariffs. U.S. corporations rel
ocated manufacturing
plants to Mexico to take advantage of the program.
Although the maquiladora phenomenon started in
1965, it did not really take off until the 1980s. During the
1980s, American companies recognized the expanding
wage and benefi t differences between the United States
and Mexican worker and began relocating to the maqui-
ladora district in northern Mexico. Although competition
from other parts of the world has led to the closing of some
plants, today some 3000 maquiladoras continue to func-
tion, employing 1 million workers and accounting for 50
percent of Mexico's exports. The maquiladora plants pro-
duce goods such as electronic equipment, electrical appli-
ances, automobiles, textiles, plastics, and furniture. The
plants are controversial both in Mexico and the United
States, as corporations that have relocated there avoid the
employment and environmental regulations that are in
force just a few miles to the north. Many maquiladora fac-
tories hire young women and men for low pay and few if
Industrialization
In their efforts to attract new industries, the governments
of many countries in the global periphery and semipe-
riphery have set up special manufacturing export zones
called
export processing zones (EPZs),
which offer
favorable tax, regulatory, and trade arrangements to for-
eign fi rms. By the early 2000s, more than 60 countries had
established such zones, and many of these had become
major manufacturing centers (Fig. 10.12). Two of the
best known of these zones are the Mexican
maquilado-
ras
and the
special economic zones
of China (discussed
