First, the impact of natural geographical environment on international trade
The natural geographical environment includes latitude, land and sea distribution, topographic features, climatic conditions, hydrological conditions, richness and distribution of natural resources, etc. The combination of these factors will have a great influence on the formation of long-term trade policy and short-term trade behavior of a country and region. Island countries in mid-latitude areas, such as Japan, have mild climate and convenient shipping, which are favorable conditions for their trade development. However, narrow territory, hilly terrain and extremely poor mineral resources are unfavorable factors restricting its industrial and agricultural production. Weighing the pros and cons, the Japanese formulated the basic national policy of "education, science and technology, trade" as early as the Meiji Restoration. Especially for a long time after World War II, we implemented the policy of sacrificing agriculture and developing industry, especially heavy chemical industry. Taking advantage of its convenient shipping (Sanwan-Haiqu has concentrated 1 085 ports, of which more than 1 000 are foreign trade ports, often important industrial centers and big cities), it has formed a "coastal" industrial layout. A large number of primary products such as raw materials and fuels are imported, and high-tech industrial products are exported, which makes its "export-oriented" economic and trade strategy a great success. By the end of 1960s, Japan's national economy was second only to the United States and the former Soviet Union. By the early 1980s, it surpassed the former Soviet Union and was second only to the United States, and it has remained so far. The fact that Japan has become an economic power fully shows that on the basis of correctly understanding its own geographical conditions, the Japanese have successfully applied the basic national policy of building a country through trade, and organically combined the two to create a brilliant economic miracle.
On the contrary, in the inland mountainous areas with high latitudes and low latitudes, due to bad weather and traffic congestion, economy and trade often lag behind for a long time. For example, Zaire, a big African country across the equator, and Mongolia, an inland country in Asia with high latitude, have long been backward in economy despite their vast territory and rich resources. After the disintegration of the former Soviet Union, the traditional transportation links between economically developed countries were interrupted. The railway from Transcaucasia (Georgia, Estonia, Armenia) to Russia via the North Caucasus is almost interrupted, and some barely available roads cannot guarantee transportation safety. The five Central Asian countries are vast and rich in oil and natural gas resources, but the traffic is not smooth and the economy is difficult to develop. In order to push resources to the international market, develop economy and trade, and solve traffic problems, it is urgent. 1In May, 1993, representatives of the above eight countries gathered in Brussels, where the EU headquarters is located, to discuss the regional traffic development and adopted the "Eurasian Transport Corridor" plan (TRACECA) for Europe to cross the Caspian Sea and Caucasus to Central Asia. The implementation of the plan has benefited the participating countries greatly, so the membership has been continuously expanded. 1998 Baku International Conference, marked by the revival of the ancient Silk Road, expanded the trace plan, strengthened the transportation and trade cooperation between Eurasia, and laid a good foundation for the economic and trade development of countries in the central part of Eurasia.
The different climate types in the world's sea areas directly affect the commodity transportation in international trade. Some ports in various countries can be navigable all year round, and some are frozen in winter, making it impossible for ships to dock. For example, although Russia has a vast sea area and a long coastline, it has a long freezing period and extremely low utilization rate due to its high latitude (except the Black Sea coast and the South Pacific coast and the special Murmansk port). Most countries in Indo-China Peninsula and Indian Peninsula have tropical monsoon climate with obvious dry and wet seasons. Therefore, when signing a commercial contract and determining the date of shipment, we should choose the season according to the nature of the goods. If the rainy season is not suitable for shipment of goods susceptible to moisture and mildew; Summer is not suitable for transporting easily-melted items, such as asphalt, pickled sheepskin, etc. Otherwise, it will cause undue losses. One summer, a company in China exported a batch of asphalt to West Africa, packed it with multi-layer kraft paper and took the Suez Canal route. When the ship sailed to the Red Sea, the asphalt began to melt. The Red Sea has high temperature and high salinity. The surface water temperature reaches 32℃ and the salinity is about 40%, which is one of the highest temperatures and salinities in the world. The high temperature makes the melted asphalt stick to the warehouse through paper bags. When the ship entered the Mediterranean Sea and reached the Atlantic Ocean through the Strait of Gibraltar, the temperature dropped along the way, causing the asphalt stuck in the warehouse to solidify again. At the destination, it is very difficult to unload, and it is even more difficult to clean the ship's cabin. It had to hire a lot of labor and finally settle accounts, making ends meet and trade failed. The reason is that the tourist season is not suitable and I don't know much about the temperature changes along the selected route. If barrels are used, the above situation can be avoided.
During the global climate anomalies such as El Ni? o and La Ni? a, droughts and floods around the world are abnormal, and disastrous weather such as strong wind, high tide and low temperature is induced at the same time, which has a great impact on industry, transportation and international trade, among which agricultural production is the first to be seriously affected. Because climate will affect agricultural products, especially grain output, the resulting price fluctuation will directly affect the grain trade in the world market.
Second, the influence of human geographical environment on international trade.
The content of human geographical environment is extensive, mainly referring to social, political, economic, population, cultural geographical environment and so on. Among them, the political and geographical environment is the most active factor affecting international trade, and the environment of war and peace has a great influence on world trade. The former destroys the economies of the warring parties and stops trade, while the latter can provide conditions for the rapid development of the world economy. Before the 1960s, the Middle East was one of the poorest regions in the world, with backward economy. Since then, with the massive exploitation and export of oil and the huge oil trade surplus, the economy here has undergone earth-shaking changes, and it has become a high-income region of developing countries in one fell swoop (the per capita annual income of members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is more than 65,438 US dollars+0,000 US dollars). However, the Iran-Iraq war in 1980s dealt a heavy blow to the economies of the two countries, which not only completely interrupted the trade between the two countries, but also spread to other regions and countries. In the Gulf War of 1990s, the economies of Kuwait and Iraq suffered a devastating blow. After the war, the long-term economic sanctions imposed by the United Nations on Iraq made the originally rich Iraq lack food and clothing, medicine and medicine, and the national economy was on the verge of collapse. Singapore (with an area of 632 square kilometers and a population of 2.8 million), which became independent in the mid-1960s, is a small country that even needs to import fresh water. However, after independence, due to political harmony, strengths and weaknesses were avoided. In a short period of time, its economy has developed rapidly, and it ranks among the emerging industrial countries and is known as one of the "four little dragons" in Asia.
Western Europe is the birthplace of the industrial revolution and a densely populated area of developed capitalist countries. Its economy occupies a decisive position in the world, but it suffered serious losses after the two world wars and its international status plummeted. On the premise of summing up historical experience, after the war, Western Europe made use of the foundation and potential of material, technology and culture, and relied on the support of the United States to turn enemies into friends, ending the long-term hostile state in history and actively taking the road of economic integration, especially the signing of the Maastricht Treaty, the start and use of the euro, and the free flow of goods, capital, people and services, which made it become the United States in terms of total industrial output value, total foreign trade volume and international reserves.
In addition, the population, age structure, ethnic customs, religious beliefs, language, consumption habits and the level of cultural and geographical environment also affect the import and export commodity structure in international trade to varying degrees. For example, Islamic countries do not worship idols, so it is forbidden to import statues, portraits and dolls. Indians regard cows as gods, and no one can infringe them, so they cannot export cow products and their trademarks to them; Europeans taboo "13" and "Friday"; The British avoid using trademarks and patterns such as portraits, goats and elephants, calling them "British" people, and avoiding calling them (because the British only refer to the British): the French are enthusiastic, humorous and funny, but they have a high artistic accomplishment, but they have a strong sense of hierarchy. They like to drink, drink raw water, eat snails and love blue. The rooster is their national bird, and the French are hardworking, neat and clean. Drinking beer is the common hobby of Germans, and the annual per capita beer consumption ranks first in the world, so the world-famous Oktoberfest is held every year; Italians are more casual, have a weak sense of time, are often late for appointments, don't start meetings on time, and are inefficient. They generally like singing and often use songs to express their feelings. They are addicted to alcohol and like pasta. It is said that there are more than 700 ways to eat pasta. Wearing a light-colored shirt, purple is considered as a negative color, and chrysanthemums are mourning flowers. Japanese people don't like "9" and "4" because "9" is homophonic with bitterness and "4" is homophonic with death. So the Japanese don't give four kinds of gifts, and there is no ward 4. They like duck, turtle, pine, bamboo and other patterns, and it is forbidden to use lotus flowers and chrysanthemums as trademarks and patterns.
In short, the content of geographical environment is extremely rich, which often affects international trade from different aspects, in different ways and to different degrees at the same time, especially in today's increasingly fierce competition in the world market, which shows the profound and extensive influence of geographical environment on international trade.