Activity One - Natural Resources

You now know that we are living in a time in which we are the most connected with each other. Whether we connect via the internet, travel, consumerism or by what we watch on TV. But that does not mean that all countries are as connected as we and some attempt to use their natural resources availability to become connected. While this syllabus point does not ask or you to explore how the natural resource availability influences global interactions by using a specific case study we are going to look at through examples of place.  For each of the countries below you need to focus on the following points:

• • • • • • What resource do they have?

          • How has it helped the country to become connected?

Useful Resources

Pages 38-39  ' Geography Global Interactions. Study and Revision Guide. HL Core Extension' by Simon Oakes

Activity Two - Isolation

We have already discussed the concept of isolated areas when we explored Extreme Environments but lets remind ourselves of what that actually means. Areas can be perceived as isolated if they are physically inaccessibly - polar regions, mountainous or tropical areas for example. But this can be extended to landlocked countries as ports have been critical in the past in developing a country's ability to trade.  We are going to focus on landlocked countries as well as island nations (which are situated in geographically isolated areas such as in the South Atlantic Ocean).

Remote Island Nations

Remote islands are often classified as areas that are take a large amount of time to travel to by plane or by boat. Some are fortunate to be beneath a major flight path that connect continents which has allowed them to become more connected. We are going to focus on Iceland and St Helena.

Useful Resources

Page 40  ' Geography Global Interactions. Study and Revision Guide. HL Core Extension' by Simon Oakes

Landlocked Countries

As the name suggests these are countries that are surrounded by other countries and are therefore reliant on trade deals with their neighbours to import or export goods. Generally the worlds landlocked countries are the poorest in the world but they do not have to be. We are going to focus on Nepal and Switzerland to uncover what helps and hinders these global connections (you can also use Botswana and Niger and how they have used their minerals to become connected). 

1. Using the Oakes textbook on Page 40, bullet point how being a landlocked country can lower your connectivity.

Useful Resources

UN - Landlocked countries 

Page 40  ' Geography Global Interactions. Study and Revision Guide. HL Core Extension' by Simon Oakes