Some Aspects of the Geography of International Trade

I N recent years many geographers have come to appreciate how greatly regional understanding can be advanced by the study of man's functional organization of space. Nations are the most commonly recognized and among the most clearly defined units of man's spatial organization; they are connected economically by international trade. The geography of international trade, as the present writer sees it, focuses on the exchange of goods among nations and other territorial divisions for which international trade statistics are reported. The basic facts are the size of trade (in terms of value or quantity), its commodity composition, and its direction. By this definition the geography of international trade is virtually a virgin field of inquiry. In view of the great number of studies by American geographers dealing with the functional areal organization of commercial activities within nations it is surprising how little effort has been directed toward studying the commercial connections among nations.The geography of international trade deals with the most important aspect of the world's economic organization. Other aspects-such as the international exchange of shipping and insurance services, the transfer of capital, the mi

Economic geography · Economics · Geography · International trade · Regional science · Global Trade and Competitiveness · Global trade and economics

• What Geographers Require of International Trade Statistics

  Andreas Grotewold•Annals of the Association of…•1963

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