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World Economic Geography - Short Trick

Farming, crops, minerals, industry, railways and canals — one sentence each

20 trick sentences32 pairs5 parts
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How to read
  • Guru Ram Each coloured word = one name in the list, shown below in the same colour
  • Panda Two colours in one word = two names
  • ➜ Order the numbered order matters · ⇄ Any order no order
1

Occupations, Peoples and Fishing

The collars of the five sectors, the peoples who live by hunting and herding, and the top capture-fishing countries.

Trick 1

Five sectors — the workers’ collars

➜ primary to quinary

Rita blended a pink and white shake for Golu.

  1. 1Red collar — primarygathering, hunting, herding, primitive farming and mining
  2. 2Blue collar — secondarymanufacturing, advanced mining
  3. 3Pink collar — tertiarytransport, trade, banking, communication
  4. 4White collar — quaternaryIT, research, management, education
  5. 5Gold collar — quinarytop specialists, senior consultants
Pairs

Peoples who live by hunting, gathering or herding — where

6 sentences

Esha feeds the cat in the snow.

Eskimo=Tundra and taiga of Canada, Alaska — hunting

Pinky plays with Coco.

Pygmies=Congo Basin (hot, wet forest) — hunting

Bush shirts sell in Kanpur.

Bushmen=Kalahari — both gathering and hunting

Seema and Sakshi ate malai.

Semang · Sakai=Forests of Malaya — both gathering and hunting

Jiva orders from Amazon.

Jivaro and Yagua (Amerindians)=Amazon Basin — hunting (the Boro there gather)

Masala tea with cow’s milk

Masai=East African plateau — keep cattle and live on their meat, milk and blood

Samoyed, Chukchi, Tungus and Koryak of Siberia — reindeer · yak on the Tibetan plateau · best pastures — steppe, veld, llanos, pampas, campos, downs.

Trick 2

Capture fisheries — top producers (2024, FAO SOFIA 2026)

➜ first to third

Chilli from Indore spiced the Indian curry.

  1. 1China14.1%
  2. 2Indonesia8.4%
  3. 3India6.8%

Counting farming plus capture, India is second in aquatic output (about 9%) and first in inland capture · largest fishing ground: the north-west Pacific · the only big one in the southern hemisphere: off Peru.

2

Types of Farming

The local names of shifting cultivation and the special commercial “cultures”.

Pairs

Shifting cultivation — its name in each country

12 sentences

A lady buys malai in Indore.

Ladang=Malaysia, Indonesia

The milkman won a medal.

Milpa=Mexico, Central America

Rocky eats bread.

Roca=Brazil

A cone ice cream for Venu

Conuco=Venezuela (not Madagascar — the exam trap)

Jhumkas from the north-east

Jhum=North-east India

A taxi carries mangoes.

Tavy=Madagascar

Cane juice at a film show

Caingin=Philippines

A mason built Zara’s house.

Masole=Zaire (Congo) and Central Africa

Huma loves jalebi.

Huma=Java (Indonesia)

Tara plays with Mya.

Taungya=Myanmar

Chetan brings tea for Sri.

Chena=Sri Lanka

Log cabins face west.

Logan=West Africa

Slash and burn — in hot, wet forests; farmed 3–4 years, then a new patch · main areas: the Amazon Basin, Congo Basin and South-East Asia.

Pairs

Special “cultures” — commercial production of

7 sentences

Vitamin C in grapes

Viticulture=Grapes

The Pisces sign shows two fish.

Pisciculture=Fish farming

A serial star wears silk.

Sericulture=Silk

A horn honks for the fruit seller.

Horticulture=Fruit

An apron stained with honey

Apiculture=Honey (bee-keeping)

A floor covered with flowers

Floriculture=Flowers

Olive oil on vegetables

Olericulture=Vegetables grown on the ground

Mixed farming = crops + livestock (not mixed cropping) · market gardening of vegetables in the USA = truck farming.

3

Crops — Top Producers Today

The top producers of wheat, maize, cotton, tea, sugarcane, palm oil and rubber, in order — the same country words in every sentence.

Trick 3

Wheat (FAOSTAT 2023)

➜ first to fourth

Chilli pickle reached Indian Ruby’s uncle.

  1. 1China137 Mt
  2. 2India111
  3. 3Russia92
  4. 4USA49

Wheat is grown on the largest area of any crop · 10–20 °C, 50–80 cm · in rice India is now first and China second (USDA, from 2024/25).

Trick 4

Maize (FAO 2023)

➜ first to third

Uncle put chilli on bread.

  1. 1USACorn Belt
  2. 2China
  3. 3Brazil

By tonnage maize is now the largest cereal (about 1.2 billion tonnes) · oats: Russia and Canada lead, barley: Russia, rye: Germany.

Trick 5

Cotton (USDA 2024/25)

➜ first to fourth

Chilli on Indian bread suits uncle.

  1. 1China
  2. 2India
  3. 3Brazillargest exporter since 2024
  4. 4USA

Cotton grows between 40° N and 30° S · Egypt — long-staple · Sudan (Gezira) — Sakel cotton · about 98% of jute comes from India and Bangladesh.

Trick 6

Tea (FAO 2023)

➜ first to fifth

Chilli Indian kebabs filled Sri’s tummy.

  1. 1China
  2. 2Indiabiggest centre of CTC tea
  3. 3Kenyalargest exporter of black tea
  4. 4Sri Lanka
  5. 5Turkey

In coffee Brazil is first (Santos — “the coffee port”, estates = fazendas), then Vietnam, Colombia, Ethiopia, Indonesia.

Trick 7

Sugarcane (FAOSTAT 2023)

➜ first to fifth

Bread and Indian chilli thali pleased papa.

  1. 1Brazillargest sugar exporter
  2. 2Indiasecond in both cane and sugar
  3. 3China
  4. 4Thailand
  5. 5Pakistan
Trick 8

Palm oil (USDA 2024/25)

➜ first to third

Indore serves a malai thali.

  1. 1Indonesiaabout 57%
  2. 2Malaysiaabout 25%
  3. 3Thailandabout 5%
Trick 9

Natural rubber

➜ first to fourth

A thali at Indore came on an ivory plate for Vicky.

  1. 1Thailandlargest producer and exporter
  2. 2Indonesia
  3. 3Ivory Coastthird since 2023 — first in Africa
  4. 4Vietnamaround fourth

India is around fifth or sixth — about 78% of India’s rubber comes from Kerala · rubber’s home is the Amazon valley · 27–29 °C, over 200 cm of rain.

4

Minerals and Energy

Kinds of iron ore and coal, and the top producers of iron ore, copper, bauxite, coal, steel, uranium, gold and silver.

Trick 10

Kinds of iron ore — iron content

➜ highest to lowest

Maggie helped Lily sing.

  1. 1Magnetiteabout 72% — the best, black, magnetic
  2. 2Hematiteabout 70% — the most important source, reddish-brown
  3. 3Limoniteup to about 60% — yellowish-brown
  4. 4Sideriteabout 48% — the poorest
Trick 11

Kinds of coal — carbon

➜ highest to lowest

Ants bite little Pete.

  1. 1Anthraciteabout 90% — the best
  2. 2Bituminousabout 70–80% — the most common, used for coke
  3. 3Lignite (brown coal)about 40–55%
  4. 4Peatlowest — the first stage
Trick 12

Iron ore (USGS 2025)

➜ first to fifth

Aunty served bread with Indian chilli and Irani chai.

  1. 1Australiaalso the largest reserves
  2. 2Brazil
  3. 3Indiapassed China in 2025
  4. 4Chinalargest importer
  5. 5Iran

Manganese — South Africa first, Gabon second · nickel — Indonesia (about 2/3) · cobalt — DR Congo about 3/4.

Trick 13

Copper mining (USGS 2025)

➜ first to third

Chintu gave Coco pedas.

  1. 1ChileChuquicamata
  2. 2Congo (DR)
  3. 3Peru

China (4th) and Russia (5th) follow; China leads in refined copper · copper + tin = bronze · copper + zinc = brass.

Trick 14

Bauxite (USGS 2025)

➜ first to fifth

Guava aunty sprinkled chilli on bread for Indian friends.

  1. 1Guineaalso the largest reserves
  2. 2Australia
  3. 3China
  4. 4Brazil
  5. 5India
Trick 15

Coal production (IEA 2024)

➜ first to third

Chilli Indian snacks are sold at Indore.

  1. 1China
  2. 2Indiaover 1 billion tonnes for the first time in 2024-25
  3. 3Indonesialargest exporter
Trick 16

Crude steel (worldsteel 2025)

➜ first to fifth

Chilli Indian uncle wore a jacket for Ruby.

  1. 1China
  2. 2Indiasecond since 2018
  3. 3USApassed Japan in 2025
  4. 4Japan
  5. 5Russia

Iron and steel = the “basic industry” · four raw materials — iron ore, coal, limestone, manganese · weight-losing, so plants sit near raw materials.

Trick 17

Uranium mining (2024)

➜ first to fourth

Kazim’s cat ate naan with aunty.

  1. 1Kazakhstan39%
  2. 2Canada24%
  3. 3Namibia12%
  4. 4Australia8% — but the largest reserves (about 28%)
Trick 18

Gold and silver (USGS 2025)

➜ first to third

GoldChilli made Ruby aunty sneeze.

SilverMedal winners got pedas and chilli chips.

  1. 1China (gold)about 380 t
  2. 2Russia (gold)
  3. 3Australia (gold)largest gold reserves
  4. 4Mexico (silver)about 6,300 t
  5. 5Peru (silver)
  6. 6China (silver)

Diamonds (carats, 2024) — Russia first, Botswana second · Surat leads in diamond cutting.

5

Railways and Canals

What the transcontinental railways join, the Suez and Panama canals, and other ship canals.

Pairs

Transcontinental railways — from where to where

3 sentences

A sibling named Mohan posts a vlog.

Trans-Siberian=Moscow to Vladivostok — the world’s longest (about 9,289 km)

Candy and halwa went in the van.

Canadian Pacific=Halifax (Atlantic) to Vancouver

Aunty gave Sid a purse.

Australian transcontinental=Sydney to Perth

First underlined word = the start, second = the end · the Orient Express runs Paris to Istanbul · the Trans-Andean, Valparaíso (Chile) to Buenos Aires · the busiest sea route is the North Atlantic.

Pairs

The Suez and Panama canals

2 sentences

Sunita wears lace on a red saree.

Suez Canal=French engineer Ferdinand de Lesseps · opened 1869 · Mediterranean ↔ Red Sea · about 193 km · no locks

Paneer served on fifteen August by uncle

Panama Canal=First ship on 15 August 1914 · built by the USA (from 1904) · Atlantic ↔ Pacific · about 82 km, lock system

Port Said at Suez’s northern end, Suez port at the southern end · Panama’s new locks of 2016 — Agua Clara and Cocolí.

Trick 19

Lakes along the Suez Canal

➜ north to south

Manju gave Tim a biscuit.

  1. 1Manzala
  2. 2Timsah
  3. 3Great Bitter Lake
Trick 20

The three original Panama locks

➜ Atlantic to Pacific

Gary pedalled to Mira.

  1. 1GatunAtlantic side
  2. 2Pedro Miguel
  3. 3MirafloresPacific side

The cutting through the hills between is the Gaillard (Culebra) Cut.

Pairs

Other ship canals — what they join

2 sentences

Kiran kicked a ball north.

Kiel Canal (Germany)=North Sea ↔ Baltic Sea

Soon Supriya will meet Hari.

Sault Ste Marie (Soo Canal)=Lake Superior ↔ Lake Huron — US–Canada border

Göta Canal — Stockholm and Gothenburg (Sweden) · Volga–Don Canal — near Volgograd · Manchester Ship Canal — Manchester to the Mersey estuary.

Read the full chapter for the complete notes — a trick helps you remember the list; understanding comes from the notes.