The southern continents have traditionally depended on agriculture and primary extractive industries, especially mining, more than manufacturing industries. The sparse population and the underdevelopment of many parts of the southern continents, have prevented large areas from being industrialized. However, some countries, especially Australia, South Africa and Brazil are undertaking industrial development.
In Australia the main industrial area is the South-east where the concentration of early settlement, the favorable climate, the presence of coalfields around Sydney, and of iron ore resources, led to the establishment of the iron and steel industry, especially a Weweastle and Port Kemola. There are also many engineering industries, including the manufacture of cars, locomotives and aircraft, cement works chemicals and shipbuilding.
Melbourne has also developed many industries similar to those of Sydney, but based on the Gippsland lignite deposits and the hydro-electrical power from the Snowy river scheme. Melbourne has chemicals, shipbuilding, aircraft engineering, railway equipment and motor vehicles industries. Adelaide, has well-developed agricultural industries such as fruit canning, flour-milling, dairy industries and woolen textiles. It also has iron and steel and engineering industries. Locomotives are made at Brisbane, Ipswich, Marlborough and Mackay. Along the coast of Queensland many towns deal with cane sugar refining like. Cairns, Mackay and Bundaberg dairying and tanning industries are well represented. In western Australia, Perth is the main industrial city dealing with the agricultural products of swan land and mineral resources e.g. iron and aluminium of the interior. The large cities, housing the vast majority of the Australian population have all the usual light industries and consumer goods industries associated with a large market.
South America: The rate of economic development of the different countries varies tremendously. Argentina and Brazil are probably the best developed. In Argentina and Uruguay the main industrial region is along the shores of the Plate estuary extending inland as far as Rosaric. The main industries are shipbuilding at Buenos Aires, Rosario, Cordoba and General Pacheco. The La Plata urban districts have chemicals, textiles, aircraft engineering and steel industries. Meat packing, dairying and flour-milling are the dominant industries of the Pampas lands.
Brazil is the most industrialized of Latin American countries. The chief industrial region is the south-east and the city of San Paulo has diverse industrial activities including steel mills, chemical plants, motor vehicles assembly plants, paper, cement and beer industries. Rio-De Janeiro has similar industries with shipbuilding and aircraft engineering in addition. Belo Horizonte is the major metallurgical centre with iron and steel and other metal industries based on hydro-electrical power and the rich mineral resources of Minas Gerais.
Chile's main industries are found in Santiago Valparaiso and Conception. Elsewhere in South America industries are concentrated in the capital cities of the various States, e.g. Lima, Caracas, Bogota and in certain other large towns.
Africa is the least developed of all the Southern, continents. The main industries are those connected with either mining or agriculture, e.g. smelting and refining of copper in Zambia and Zaire and processing of rubber, oil plain fruits, etc., in West Africa. Nigeria also has petrochemical industries. South Africa is, however, an industrially developed country. The main industrial region is the Witwaterstrand, where there is not only gold but coal, iron and a range of ferrous and non-ferrous metal deposits, which from the basis of iron and steel, engineering, locomotives and other industries. Chemicals, textiles cement and light industries are also fairly important. Elsewhere in Africa the main industrial development has been in capital cities such as Salisbury, Dar-es-Salam, and Nairobi. A few such cities have cement, brewing, food processing and light industries mainly geared to import substitution.
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