Homework Task 2 Due 3rd October

Social Science 1 (SOC 103)

HOMEWORK EXERCISE 2 (DUE ON 3RD OCTOBER)
Task One: Human-Environmental Interaction
Pretend that you are describing Maldives to a friend who has never been
here.
o What physical characteristics would you tell him/her about?
o What human characteristics would you tell him/her about?
o What would you tell him/her about the interaction of physical and
human characteristics in Maldives
Dear Frank,
Im sorry that I havent been in touch for the past few weeks. I guess I
was just busy with work. Anyway, I thought I would drop a line to tell you all about
my home country since youre so eager to get to know where Im from.
As you know, Maldives is an island country and archipelago consisting
of several coral islands. It would look like a string of pearls stretched across the
Indian Ocean if you are to look it up on a map. For administrative purposes, the
islands are grouped into 26 atolls. Geographically, Maldives is located southwest of
India and Sri Lanka. We have a tropical-monsoon climate so we get plenty of
sunshine down here. Thats why our country is often hailed as the sunny side of
life. And did you know that the Maldives is the worlds lowest country? The average
ground level is just 1.5 meters! It is also the smallest Asian country in both land area
and population. Maldives is also wildly popular among tourists for its white sandy
beaches, shimmering sapphire waters and exotic coral reefs. It is quite the perfect holiday
destination. So if youre wondering where to spend your vacation this year, be sure to choose
this wonderful tropical island paradise.
Maldives is a Muslim-majority country. We take great pride and honor for
the fact that we are an independent Islamic nation. The local language is called
Dhivehi although English is widely used in commerce and government schools. Our
economy is dominated by tourism and fishing mainly due to the fact that we are
surrounded by the ocean. This may also be the reason why our cuisines are mostly
based on fish. The most common Maldivian dishes consist of spicy curries using
coconut milk and fish as the main staples and roshi (a thin flatbread) as a popular
accompaniment. A fish soup called garudhiya and rihaakuru (fish sauce) is also found on
almost every household dining table.

Because of the tropical climate, Maldivians wear very light clothing;

usually consisting of t-shirts and cotton clothes in contrast with what you folks
might wear at home which would suit the cold climate in your country. And since the
Maldivian islands are surrounded by the sea, our most common mode of transport is
mostly via speed launches and ferry boats. As Ive already mention earlier, Maldives
is very close to South Asia. Hence Maldivian culture is heavily influenced by geographical
proximity to Sri Lanka and southern India.
So I hope youve got an idea about where I live now. Waiting for your
reply.

With love
Ihsana

Task 2: Economic Activities

Choose any ONE primary economic activity such as fishing, mining,
agriculture or forestry, and find the secondary, tertiary and quaternary
activities related to the selected primary economic activity. Explain how the
different sectors are linked to each other with examples.
Human activities which generate income are known as economic activities.
Economic activities are broadly grouped into 3 major sectors:

extraction of raw materials (primary)

manufacturing (secondary)
services (tertiary)

Higher services under tertiary activities are again classified into quaternary and quinary
activities.
Primary economic activities
The production of goods that we use every day begins with the extraction
(obtaining) of some basic materials such as wood, mineral ores and oil. The
extraction of these basic materials is known as primary economic activity. Primary
economic activities are directly dependent on the environment as these refer to the utilization
of earths resources.
Fishing has historically been the most important primary economic activity in the
Maldives. People of a region or country can get involved in a particular primary
economic activity only if the environment around them allows that type of activity.
In the Maldives we are involved in fishing because we are surrounded by the ocean
and we depend on it for food. The most common type of fishing is probably done by
using a pole and line. This process leads to the extraction of fish, which is known as
the primary product.
Secondary economic activities
Secondary economic activities begin when people transform the raw materials
obtained from the primary economic activities (primary product) into valuable

products. The fishing industry in the Maldives was only a primary economic industry
in the past. Now fish is processed and canned, dried and/or salted. Therefore fishing
has developed into a secondary economic activity. The Maldives Industrial fisheries
company, MIFCO is a public company engaged in the production, processing and
marketing of fish and fisheryproducts

Tertiary economic activities

Primary and secondary economic industries make use of the service industries.
Production cannot take place properly without the help of communication and
administration. Primary products need to be transported to factories before they can
be used for manufacturing. Activities such as administration, transportation,
insurance, wholesaling, retailing, advertising and communication are known as
tertiary economic activities. In Maldives, secondary products in the fishing industry
are exported. Advertisements related to the products are also seen in newspapers,
radios
and
TVs.

Quaternary economic activities

Quaternary activities are specialized tertiary activities in the Knowledge Sector which demands
a separate classification. There has been a very high growth in demand for and consumption of
information based services from mutual fund managers to tax consultants, software developers
and statisticians. Personnel working in office buildings, elementary schools and
university classrooms, hospitals and doctors offices, theatres, accounting and brokerage firms
all belong to this category of services.