Infrastructure

Definition: a country’s basic support facilities that are the foundation of the society: urban centers, transport networks, communications, energy distribution systems, farms, factories, mines, and such facilities as schools, hospitals, postal services, and police and armed forces.


Countries, states, or communities that are concerned with economic growth, focus on improving their infrastructure first. There is a direct relationship between a country’s GNI and their infrastructure.


There are six factors that contribute to the quality of a country’s infrastructure:


1. Location: climate, nearness to water, type of land (i.e. desert, fertile soil, rocky......), urban vs. rural, resources.

2. Topography: mountains, water (too much or too little), physical barriers, elevation.
Definition: configuration of a surface including its relief and the position of its natural and man-made features.

3. Resources: availability, location of, amount, energy sources.

4. Economy: this is directly affected by the amount / availability of resources. This is the most important aspect. There is a direct relationship between the quality of a country’s infrastructure and it’s economy (tax base).

5. Technology: also tied to the strength of the economy. The more developed a country is, the wiser the use of its resources for technology. Technology is tied to literacy rate / education.

6. Cultural Heritage: traditions, isolationism, religion, attitude barriers.