The Relevancy of the Heartland :: essays research papers fc

The Relevancy of the Heartland - Hinterland Distinction in Canadas EconomicGeographyUntil the early 20th century, Canada was primarily an agricultural nation.Since then it has become one of the approximately highly industrialized countries in theworld as a direct result of the development of the heartland. To a largeextent the manufacturing industries present in the heartland argon supplied withraw materials produced by the agricultural, mining, forestry, and fishingsectors of the Canadian economy, a region known as the hinterland. The heartland-hinterland concept in Canada describes patterns of stinting power,namely, where economic power and control resides at heart the nation. Thus, theheartland-hinterland concept distinguishes raw-material and staple-producinghinterlands from the capital service industrial heartland and reveals themetropolis or dominating city of the system. At a national scale, the Canadianmetropolis is Toronto, and the region with the near influence is the G reatLakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands. But while immense influence radiates outward fromthe metropolis located in the heartland, the relationship between hinterland andheartland is one of well-read mutual dependency. In modern Canadian economics,neither region can exist without each other, and the well-being of one directlyaffects the other. These two regions show rum contrasts, yet they atomic number 18 toa large extent interdependent on each other, clearly suggesting that theheartland-hinterland distinction is quite relevant in terms of Canadas economicgeography.Upon discussing the importance of the heartland-hinterland in Canada, it isnecessary to discuss what each term refers to. According to McCann theheartland is an area " which possesses favourable physical qualities and grantfood accessibility to markets they display a diversified profile of secondary,tertiary, and quaternary industries they are characterized by a highlyurbanized and concentrated population which participat es in a well-integratedurban system they are well advanced along the development path and possess thecapacity for innovative change." Literally, hinterland means the land behind,the area from which a heartland draws its raw materials and which, in turn,serves as a market for the heartlands manufactured goods.The demographic and economic characteristics of Canadas heartland are that itcontains over 50% of the nations population and 70% of its manufacturingindustries in only 14% of the nations area. Canadas heartland is greyOntario and Quebec stretching from Quebec City to Windsor. This heartland,occupying the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands, coincides with severalfavourable physical characteristics such as fertile Class 1 and 2 soils inaddition to wet continental climate for optimal agricultural conditions.However, the "hinterland regions display harsher or more limiting physicalcharacteristics. The Cordillera, Interior Plains, Canadian Shield, andAppalachian regions yiel d wicked resource wealth, but their soils,