The Land on which we live has always shaped
us.
From Food we eat to clothes we wear, everything
is influenced by the geography around us.
Our Choices are shaped by the rivers mountains
deserts lakes, seas and even the soil of our
country.
And believe me, I am not exaggerating at all.
Throughout our history, powerful empires have
fought bloody battles to conquer more and
more lands so that they can exploit the natural
richness of new lands or use those lands for
strategic military planning.
However, in the 21st century, Going to War
for conquering more land is no longer an option.
The only way for countries to increase their
influence is by being part of the world trade.
It all comes down to how a country can position
itself into the world trade.
I mean look at the most powerful and successful
countries of the world.
They are like shopping malls.
Everything is for sale.
Technology, Arms, natural resources You name
it they sell it.
In the 21st century to become successful,
countries have to think like businesspersons.
And for a businessman location of his business
always matters.
The borders are set the trade rules are well
defined and now it all comes down to successful
use of geography, diplomacy, and Trade.
And for that same reason today you and I are
going to explore five reasons why the location
of your country matters more than 
you think.
The climate and soil.
Oh yeah, that is so obvious and easy you would
say.
But anyway it has its importance.
Soil and Climate of your country define what
you can grow in your country.
There are countries which are mostly dependent
on other countries to have food.
And too much dependence is never good for
any country.
Most countries, which are located in the tropical
region, are underdeveloped.
Because these countries suffer from temperature,
tropical diseases, and bad soil quality.
We humans became civilized because we started
doing agriculture.
Trade and commerce became possible because
of the agricultural products we produced.
The most developed countries in the world
typically have a temperate climate, without
extremes of temperature and with fairly consistent
weather patterns.
This makes for reliable, and sustainable agriculture
so the country can provide for itself and
have excess to trade.
Successful Trade equals power and political
influence.
For example, have look at America and most
European countries.
Ok now let us assume you have a good amount
of agricultural products ready to sell.
But hey wait not everyone wants to be a farmer
and do agriculture some people want to exploit
the natural resources and manufacture things.
Natural resources seems a very obvious factor.
But this factor gives countries like china
a power to disrupt the world trade.
To countries Russia, it can give power over
other countries.
You don’t believe me let me tell you how.
Rare earth elements are very crucial for manufacturing
electronics but they are mostly found in China.
Rare earth elements are located everywhere
in small quantities, but the Chinese rare
earth industry makes up 97% of the world trade.
China alone has roughly 30 percent of the
world’s rare earth elements reserves.
A few years ago, an international trade war
almost erupted when Chinese suppliers abruptly
raised prices on these key elements and the
world suddenly realized that china has a monopoly
over the rare earth elements.
trade war is ramping up with China over
something called rare earth minerals
rare earths 17 minerals you may barely
remember from high school chemistry or
geology they've got funny sounding names
like praseodymium dysprosium neodymium
and europium they look like little more
than sand but they are perhaps the most
strategically important minerals in the
world right now if you want a cell phone
computer screen electric car or
rechargeable battery you need these
minerals they're also critical in the
production of magnets necessary for
building renewable energy projects now
the United States used to be a world
leader but 20 years ago China figured
out how important rare earths would be
and boosted supply prices crashed soon
it was no longer profitable to operate
mines in the United States
the last major rare earth
but in North America malee Corp filed
for bankruptcy four years ago we now
rely on China for more than 90% of rare
earth production or processing creating
a big problem and not just a problem for
consumer technology but for national
security many of these elements are
critical components and defense systems
the long term concern is that China will
end up controlling so much rare earth
mining and refining that it will be able
to dictate price and availability around the
world
In Russia’s case, Russia supplies most of
Europe with gas and oil - it has a lot of
influence over some European countries, as
they are very dependent on Russia for these
energy resources.
In the Middle East, Arab countries have become
so rich by exploiting oil reserves.
They even use oil as a political weapon.
Do you ever get this question that why Saudi
Arabia has so many American weapons?
The answer is oil.
US is the biggest arms dealer in the world
and Saudi Arabia is its number one customer.
If the United States somehow decides not to
sell weapons to Saudi Arabia then Saudi Arabia
threatens to cut off oil supplies.
And everyone knows how much important oil
is to the United States Economy.
Anyway, let us not go deeper into the world
of politics the point here is that natural
resources have the power to make any country
wealthy and powerful.
OK Now we can assume that farmers, manufacturers,
mining corporations have done their part and
now want to make some money and are ready
to sell sell sell, and just sell.
But hey wait for a second, you cannot sell
all of your products at one place you gotta
move them from place to place, you have to
explore new markets for making more profits.
Countries need to be internally connected
for having profitable trade and commerce no
problem here comes the next factor the navigable
rivers.
For transporting and moving your product from
one place to another, you need a good infrastructure,
good transportation facilities.
While we can always blame our governments
for bad transportation routes but still the
natural infrastructure also plays an important
role here.
Water transportation is the cheapest mode
of transportation.
And to get benefit from that you need navigable
rivers in your country.
What is navigability?
A body of water such as river, canal, or a
lake is navigable if it is deep, wide, and
slow enough for a ship to pass or walk.
If a country has good navigable rivers that
connect small villages and towns to urban
areas and coastal cities then it becomes much
easier to move and transport your product
throughout your country.
Africa has a wide variety of natural resources
but the region is still poor because of lack
of navigable rivers.
Rivers in Africa are full of obstructions
such as rocks and other things and that’s
why these rivers cannot be used for transportation.
Brazil is another example.
Brazil is the 5th most populous country in
the world.
90% of Brazil comes under tropical region
and as I already said tropical region means
bad climate and bad soil quality for agriculture.
However, Brazil did not give up.
They started using scientific methods for
increasing soil fertility and fight the bad
climate but still when it comes to transportation,
they are suffering from lack of navigable
rivers in the country.
Government is doing all it can to build roads
to connects inland to coastal areas but hey
it would have been much better if brazil could
have got some help from the geography and
nature.
Now let us assume you have successfully transported
your product to urban areas and coastal cities.
Now, why should you sell only to people of
your country why not selling your product
to countries throughout the world?
To make more profit you know.
And here comes
The international trade routes
And they all start from having coastal cities
and ports.
Trade connecting routes have always been important
for all the countries since the very beginning
of world trade and commerce.
This is the list of the top 10 richest cities
in the world.
And believe me, all of them are coastal cities.
They have a perfect geographical positioning.
All these cities have access to the ocean
and hence they are able to move products in
and out of the country frequently.
Now because coastal cities can easily move
products in and out of the country most of
the industrial development occurs in these
cities and industrialization generates employment
and job opportunities and hence people migrate
from inland from villages from towns to theses
big coastal cities for employment and other
business opportunities.
That is the reason why most of the coastal
cities of the world are densely populated.
Now after all these manufacturing selling
and generating a huge amount of profits what
would a country do?
How would they spend money?
Got it- they spend on weapons and arms after
all everyone has to protect their territory.
As of 2018 United States, China, and Saudi
Arabia are among top countries who spend loads
of money on their military.
But nature also has its own way to protect
countries.
That brings us to our last factor the geographical
protection.
There is a reason why Alexander the great
could not invade India.
He could not do it because of Hindu kush mountains
and the fact that his soldiers could not adapt
to the atmosphere.
If you feel That’s too old example and does
not apply to the new technological world.
Take for example China and India.
Two massive countries with a huge population
that share a very long border but are not
politically or culturally aligned.
It would not be surprising if these two giants
had fought each other in several wars, but
in fact, apart from one monthlong battle in
1962, they never have fought each other.
Want to know why, because between them is
the highest mountain range in the world and
it is practically impossible to advance large
military columns through or over the Himalayas.
As technology becomes more sophisticated of
course countries will try to overcome these
natural physical obstacles, but as of now,
the physical barrier remains deterrent and
so both countries focus their foreign policy
on other regions and keep a sharp eye on each
other.
The position of a country can influence the
security of it’s borders.
For example, the UK is an island.
This means it does not share borders with
other countries (apart from Northern Ireland
and Ireland, more recently).
This means that historically the UK’s borders
have been much easier to defend, and it has
not experienced the same level of invasion
or conflict with neighbouring armies, compared
to a mainland country, such as Germany, Poland,
or Slovakia.
Having Friendly neighbors also helps many
countries.
Many European countries belong to the European
Union (the EU).
The EU was formed shortly after World War
II to form alliances between European countries
to promote peace, interdependence, trade,
tourism etc. leaders, ideas, technology, and
other factors all play a role in shaping events,
but they are temporary.
Each new generation will still face the physical
obstruction created by the Hindu Kush and
the Himalayas, the challenges created by atmosphere
and the disadvantages of limited access to
natural minerals or food resources.
Nonetheless, Rich countries like the United
States are trying to break the geographical
prison with money and by forging strategic
alliances.
And that topic deserves a new video.
So - Is your country perfectly positioned?
Think about it.
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