3º ESO.

María López Cabrera

UNIT 7. SECONDARY SECTOR ACTIVITIES

6. TYPES OF INDUSTRY AND INDUSTRIAL SPACES

6.1. TYPES OF INDUSTRY

We classify industry according to the energy it uses, the raw materials and machinery it needs, and
the size of its factories or infrastructure. We can divide the industrial sector into three types:

• Basic industries:
• manufacture semi-finished products:
• Iron and steel industry (most important traditional industry)
• petrochemical industry (creates products from oil)
• heavy industries:
• use a lot of raw materials and energy
• Capital goods industries

• use products from basic industries to manufacture articles for industry and
transportation: machinery, industrial equipment, railway materials, naval materials,
construction materials.
• also considered heavy industries.
• Consumer goods industries:

• make finished products meant for the consumer: food, textiles, chemical products.
• light industries, consume less energy and raw materials
• easier to create
• don't require large investments
• profit is obtained in the short or medium term
• smaller companies: employ a lot of workers

6.2. INDUSTRIAL SPACES

We tend to find industry in industrial clusters, areas dedicated to different kinds of industry.

• Industrial estates (Polígonos industriales):

• traditional industry
• equipped with infrastructure and services for industry (rail and road links)
• located on the outskirts of cities
• companies given land and tax advantages to move to industrial estates

• Technology parks:
• similar to industrial estates, but contain high-tech industries
• located near cities with universities and investigation centers

• High tech zones:

• Large areas with high concentration of high-tech industries

• related to innovation and R&D (research and development)
• found near large cities with advanced high-tech infrastructure
3º ESO. María López Cabrera

• related to sectors capable of attracting capital: telecommunications, information technology,

electronics, biotechnology.

7. INDUSTRY IN THE AGE OF GLOBALISATION

Industry is not evenly distributed around the world. It has undergone transformations over time. The
current trend in industry is:

• the consolidation of large multinationals

• the internationalisation of the economy

7.1. Industrial regions

• High concentrations of industry:

◦ High concentrations of industry with advanced technology: USA, Japan, European Union.
◦ High levels of industry due to the exploitation of natural resources: Russia, Australia, New
Zealand, South Africa, Oil exporting countries (Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Venezuela).

◦ High levels due to globalisation (low labour costs, new markets): China, South Korea, India,
Brazil, Mexico.
Least industrialised countries:

• Developing countries:
• lack resources or capital to exploit them
• lack of markets to sell goods
• poor transport and communications infrastructure

7.2. International division of work

• Poor countries: provide cheap labour as well as ficscal and economic advantages to locate
factories.
• Rich countries: control production, technology, capital and decision making of companies.

ACTIVITIES

1. Complete the table:

TYPE OF INDUSTRY PRODUCTS HEAVY / LIGHT

3º ESO. María López Cabrera

2. Is there and industrial era near the place where you live? What types of industries does it have?

3. Many of the products that we buy today are made in China or Taiwan. Can you explain the reason
for this?

4. Where are the main industrial concentrations?

5. Which is the least industrialised continent? Why?

6. Write a definition for: INDUSTRY, MINING, SOURCE OF ENERGY, RAW MATERIALS, ENERGY
PROBLEMS.

7. Match the following sentences with an industrial region of the world:

- They have advanced technology:

- Lack of markets:

- China and India:

- Japan:

- Sudan:

- Extraction of abundant natural resources and capital:

- Large market for its products:

- They have cheap labour:

8. Differentiate between the following pairs of concepts:

- TRADITIONAL ENERGIES / ALTERNATIVE ENERGIES

- MANUAL INDUSTRY / MODERN INDUSTRY

- HEAVY INDUSTRY / LIGHT INDUSTRY

9. If you worked for the secondary sector, would you prefer to work in a factory, in construction or in
a mine? Explain why.

10. Are you in favour of using renewable energy resources, even if they are more expensive, or do
you think it is better to have cheaper energy, even thought it causes pollution?