Let’s begin with a simple question. Imagine a country. How do you know where it begins and ends? The answer lies in two important concepts—Boundary and Frontier. Both help us understand how countries define their area, how they relate to their neighbours, and how they grow. But these two terms—although often used interchangeably in casual…
“All geography should be read historically and all history should be read geographically.” This quote by Herodotus (3rd century BC) sets the philosophical foundation for understanding the Rimland Theory, proposed by Nicholas Spykman in 1944 in his book ‘The Geography of Peace’ — right in the midst of World War II. Where Mackinder spoke of…
Let us begin with a small historical context. During World War I, Halford Mackinder gave us the famous Heartland Theory, where he emphasized land power — especially the vast landmass of Central Eurasia — as the key to global dominance. But by 1943, the world was no longer the same. In this new geopolitical environment,…
Let’s begin by asking a simple question:In international politics, who holds power — those who control the seas or those who control the land? This question lies at the heart of Halford Mackinder’s famous Heartland Theory, one of the foundational theories in Geopolitics, proposed in 1904. 🧠 Basic Premise of Mackinder’s Theory Mackinder viewed world…
📚 Introduction to Rostow’s Model In Human Geography, particularly when we study development, we often classify countries as: But then a crucial question arises:What does it really mean for a country to be ‘developed’? And why do some nations reach that stage while others lag behind? To address this, several scholars have proposed development models….
(Locational Cost Analysis Theory) 👤 Who was Rawstron? E. M. Rawstron proposed a theory focusing on practical cost calculations in industrial location. His approach is grounded in geographical realism, avoiding abstract assumptions and highlighting real-world cost dynamics. 🔑 Core Idea: Location of Minimum Cost → Maximum Profit Rawstron’s theory revolves around a simple yet fundamental…
👤 Who was Renner? George T. Renner was a notable geographer who tried to explain where and why industries are located, not just with one or two dominant factors (like Weber’s emphasis on transport), but by considering multiple interrelated factors. His model is known as a “factor-oriented theory”, and it adds depth to earlier theories…
👨🏫 Who was Frank A. Fetter? Frank A. Fetter was an American economist who proposed this law in 1924. His contribution is often seen as a bridge between earlier cost-based theories like Weber’s and the more market-focused ones like Lösch’s. He made a key realization: “Industries locate not just where cost is low, but where…
(Also known as the Revenue Maximization Model) 🧠 Context and Background 🔹 August Lösch, a German economist, gave this theory in 1954 (much after Weber) in his book “The Economics of Location”.🔹 Unlike Weber, Lösch did not idealize the world with perfect conditions like isotropic surface or perfect competition. Instead, he said: “Perfect competition is…
Imagine you are a businessman in the early 1900s, planning to set up an industry. The biggest question before you is: Where should I locate my factory so that the cost is minimum and profit is maximum? This was the precise question that Alfred Weber, a German regional economist, attempted to answer in 1909 through…
