NATURAL RESOURCES and population Robert Malthus natural resources

NATURAL RESOURCES (and population) • Robert Malthus: natural resources and population limiting economic growth • 19 th and 20 th centuries: economic growth and technology End of 20 th century: environment and natural resource problems (oil)

SPAIN • • • Mineral resources Agriculture Tourism Physical position Water Environment

Mineral resources • Very important in Spanish history: – Greek and Roman civilizations – American silver – Coal in the 19 th century • Nowadays there are few mineral resources

Agriculture • Historically: bad quality of ground and of climatic conditions • Nowadays: economic and technological development to overcome these problems

Tourism • Very important since 1960: – Job creation – Foreign currencies (balance the deficit in the commercial balance) • Dynamic resource: – Demand starts in 1960 – Nowadays: environment demand – Supply must adapt to demand (biodiversity)

Physical position • Periphery of Europe: – Backwardness in 19 th century after Industrial Revolution – Convergence after Cold War (towards south) • The “fall of the Berlin Wall” modified this physical position, but Spain has completed the economic convergence

Water • Scarcity: demand > supply • Supply. Climate and orography provoke: – Temporal imbalance (irregular rain) – Spatial imbalance (drought in south) Solutions: – Dams and marshes – Transfers • Demand: – 70 % consumption is agricultural – Very low price

Environment • • • Ground erosion Biodiversity protection Resource management International problems World problems

CONCLUSIONS • NEGATIVE characteristics: orography, drought • POSITIVE characteristics: – Spatial position – Climate – Seaboard – Biodiversity