Some steel centers have also developed near the ore producing centres or at intermediate centres between coal and iron ore. This is because the railway trains or boats carrying iron-ore to the coal areas have to return empty. To avoid this loss the carriers charge lower freight rates for their return journey with coal. The ore-carrying railway trains or boats, therefore, on their return journey carry coal to the ore centres. Thus, at a later stage, steel industries with lesser momentum of production have developed at iron ore centres on the basis of exchange between coal and iron-ore, or at intermediate centres (en route) where coal and iron-ore can meet together conveniently.
Iron and steel centres have developed at Metz, Nancy, Longwy in the Lorraine (France) ore-fields where trains carrying iron-ore to the Ruhr basin steel towns (West Germany) come back filled-up with coal. In the same way, steel plants have developed at Krivoi Rog (iron mining centre of the Ukraine) having the Donetz basin steel towns (near coal) at the other end. Such coal-iron combines having steel plants at both the ends may be noticed in many regions of the world. Again, Cleveland and Buffalo on the Lake Erie (USA) are typical examples where steel plants have cropped up on the routes of coal and iron-ore between Pittsburgh and the Mesabi Range. At these lake ports coal and iron-ore are unloaded and reloaded regularly.
Due to technological improvements and continued in-crease in fuel efficiency about 1 ton of coal is now needed for smelting 1 ton of ore. Coal has therefore lost much of its previous predominance as a locational factor. On the other hand the importance of market has increased. In influencing the localization of steel plants, nowadays, each of the three factors, namely, coal, iron-ore and the market, has almost however, easily determines the steel plant site.
In fact, market has become so important that nowadays, lack of local coal or iron-ore is no handicap for the development of steel plant, but want of local market becomes a major barrier for large-scale development of iron and steel industry in many parts of the world. Tremendous growth of iron and steel industry in raw material poor Japan and Italy in recent years illustrates the importance of market.
Locals hypothesize that the legacy of Italian blood and culture in Cologne, colonized by the Romans more than 1500 years ago, makes the people more jovial and lighthearted. Cologne is the largest city on the Rhine.
Kolsch is not only the dialect spoken here but, also the name of their own top-fermented beer. There are more than 4,000 pubs, restaurant's and brewery taverns in Cologne.
Unlike many of the world's large cities, Cologne, with a population of over a million, gets better every day, there are more things to do and see, more new and innovative buildings... more
Travel is an opportunity to learn, whether geography, languages, history or other subjects.
Cologne is situated on the beautiful Rhine River.