Good afternoon, my reader. Today I will tell you about what the largest mineral deposits exist in the world and separately in our country. First, let me remind you what minerals are.
Minerals throughout the world are considered to be organic and mineral formations found in earth's crust, the composition and properties of which can be effectively used in the national economy.
One of the types of natural resources is mineral resources– rocks and minerals used in mineral resource base world economy.
Today world economy uses over 200 types of ore, fuel, energy and mineral resources.
In the distant past, our Earth has experienced numerous natural disasters, one of which was volcanic eruptions. Hot magma from the crater of the volcano spread over the surface of our planet and then cooled, flowing into deep crevices, where it crystallized over time.
Magmatic activity was most evident in areas of seismically active zones, where over a long period of time the development of the earth's crust formed useful resources, which are distributed relatively evenly throughout the planet. The main continents for the distribution of raw materials are South and North America, Eurasia and Africa, Asia and Australia.
As is known, different metals different temperatures melting, and the composition and location of ore accumulations depend on temperature.
The location of these deposits had its own certain patterns, depending on geological features and weather factors:
- the time of the appearance of the earth,
- structure of the earth's crust,
- type and terrain,
- shape, size and geological structure territories,
- climatic conditions,
- atmospheric phenomena,
- water balance.
Mineral resource areas are characterized by a closed area of concentration of local mineral deposits and are called basins. They are characterized by common formations rocks, single process accumulation of sediments in a tectonic structure.
Large accumulations of minerals of industrial importance are called deposits, and closely located, closed groups of them are called basins.
Types of resources on our planet
The main resources on our planet are found on all continents - South and North America, Africa and Eurasia, Australia and Asia, are not evenly distributed and therefore different territories their set is different.
World industry annually requires more and more raw materials and energy, so geologists do not stop searching for new deposits for a minute, and scientists and industry specialists are developing modern technologies extraction and processing of extracted raw materials. 
This raw material is already mined not only, but also at the bottom of the seas and coastal oceans, in hard-to-reach areas of the earth and even in permafrost conditions.
The presence of proven reserves over time required specialists in this industry to record and classify them, so all minerals were divided according to physical properties into: solid, liquid and gaseous.
Examples of solid minerals include marble and granite, coal and peat, as well as ores of various metals. Accordingly, liquid - mineral water and oil. As well as gaseous ones - methane and helium, as well as various gases.
According to their origin, all fossils were divided into sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic.
Igneous fossils are classified as places that are superficial or close to the surface of the outcrop of the crystalline foundation of platforms during the period of activity of tectonic processes.
Sedimentary fossils are formed over many centuries and millennia from the remains of ancient plants and animals, and are used primarily as fuel.
Fuel minerals form the largest oil, gas and coal basins. Metamorphic fossils are formed by alteration of sedimentary and igneous rocks due to changes in physicochemical conditions. 
By area of use: combustible, ore and non-metallic, where precious and ornamental stones were designated as a separate group.
Fossil fuels are natural gas and oil, coal and peat. Ore minerals are rocks containing metal components. Non-metallic minerals are rocks of substances that do not contain metals - limestone and clay, sulfur and sand, various salts and apatites.
Availability of general mineral reserves
For industrial development, not all explored mineral deposits could be extracted by humanity due to their unfavorable and inaccessible conditions, therefore, in the world ranking for the extraction of reserves of natural raw materials, each country is retaining its specific place.
Every year, mining engineers and geologists continue to identify new reserves of underground wealth, which is why the leading positions of individual states change from year to year.
So it is believed that Russia is the richest country in the world in terms of natural resource production, namely 1/3 of the world's natural gas reserves are located here.
The largest gas fields in Russia are Urengoyskoye and Yamburgskoye, which is why our country ranks first in the world ranking for this raw material. Russia is in second place in terms of tungsten reserves and production.
Our largest coal basins are located not only in the Urals, but also in Eastern Siberia, on Far East and in Central Russia Therefore, Russia is in third place in the world ranking for coal. In fourth place - in gold, in seventh - in oil.
The main gas and oil fields on the continents are located in the foothills and depressions, but the world's largest deposits of this raw material are located on the seabed of the continental shelf. So in Africa and Australia, large reserves of oil and gas were found in the shelf zone of the mainland coast.
Latin America has huge reserves of colored and rare metals Therefore, this country ranks first in the world for this natural raw material. IN North America There are the largest coal basins, so these natural resources in terms of their reserves have brought this country to first place in the world. 
The Chinese platform, where fossil fuels such as oil and gas have been used for lighting and heating human homes since the 4th century BC, can be considered very promising in terms of oil reserves.
IN foreign Asia contains the richest variety of mineral resources, influenced by volcanic and seismic landforms, as well as activities permafrost, glaciers, wind and flowing waters.
Asia is famous all over the world for its reserves of precious and semi-precious stones, so this continent is very rich in a variety of minerals.
Tectonic structure in history geological development Such a continent as Eurasia has determined the diversity of the terrain, which is why it has the richest oil reserves in the world compared to other countries.
Large reserves of ore minerals in Eurasia are associated with the foundation of Mesozoic folding platforms.
In search of fuel and other raw materials, humanity is moving more and more confidently to where black gold and natural gas is produced at continental depths of over 3000 meters, because the bottom of this region of our planet has been little studied and definitely contains innumerable reserves of precious natural raw materials.
And that's all for today. I hope you liked my article about the largest mineral deposits in Russia and the world, and you learned a lot of useful things from it. Maybe you also had to engage in amateur mining of some of them, write about it in your comments, I will be interested in reading about it. Let me say goodbye to you and see you again.
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Mineral resources are usually called minerals extracted from the subsoil. Minerals are natural mineral substances in the earth's crust, which, given the state of technological development, can be sufficiently economic effect extracted and used in the national economy in their natural form or after preliminary processing.
Modern farming uses about 200 types of mineral raw materials. There is no single, generally accepted system for their classification. Depending on the physical or chemical properties of the extracted raw materials, from the sector of the economy where it is used, from the characteristics of its occurrence in the earth's crust, known minerals are divided into groups.
The classification of minerals based on the technology of their use is widely used: fuel and energy raw materials (oil, coal, gas, uranium), ferrous, alloying and refractory metals (ores of iron, manganese, chromium, nickel, cobalt, tungsten, etc.), non-ferrous metals (ores of aluminum, copper, lead, zinc, mercury, etc.), noble metals (gold, silver, platinoids), chemical and agronomic raw materials (potassium salts, phosphorites, apatites, etc.), technical raw materials (diamonds, asbestos, graphite, etc.), fluxes and refractories, cement raw materials.
World forecast geological reserves of mineral fuel exceed 12.5 trillion tons. modern level the extraction of these resources should be sufficient for 1000 years. These reserves consist of coal (up to 60%), oil and gas (about 27%), as well as shale and peat.
Among fuel and energy resources, the largest reserves in the world are in coal. The world's proven reserves of hard and brown coal are over 5 trillion tons, and reliable reserves are about 1.8 trillion tons.
Coal resources have been explored in 75 countries around the world. The largest coal deposits are concentrated in the USA (445 billion tons), China (272 billion tons), Russia (200 billion tons), South Africa (130 billion tons), Germany (100 billion tons), Australia (90 billion tons), Great Britain (50 billion tons), Canada (50 billion tons), India (29 billion tons) and Poland (25 billion tons).
In general, the world's coal resources are abundant, and their supply is much greater than other types of fuel. At the current level of global coal production (4.5 billion tons per year), the currently explored reserves may last for about 400 years.
In European countries, as well as in many coal basins in Russia, the upper layers of deposits have already been developed, and extracting coal from depths of over 1000 m is unprofitable with current equipment and technology. Only the development of coal deposits remains profitable open method(V Western Basin USA, Eastern Siberia, South Africa, Australia). Thus, mining 1 ton of anthracite in Germany costs three times more than importing from South Africa, including delivery costs.
Most of the oil fields are dispersed across six regions of the world and are confined to inland territories and continental margins: the Persian Gulf - North Africa; Gulf of Mexico- Caribbean Sea (including coastal areas Mexico, USA, Colombia, Venezuela and about. Trinidad); islands of the Malay archipelago and New Guinea; Western Siberia; northern Alaska; North Sea (mainly Norwegian and British sectors); O. Sakhalin with adjacent areas of the shelf.
World oil reserves amount to more than 132.7 billion tons. Of these, 74% are in Asia, including the Middle East (more than 66%). The largest oil reserves are in: Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, UAE, Kuwait, Iran, Venezuela.
The volume of world oil production is about 3.1 billion tons, i.e. almost 8.5 million tons per day. Production is carried out by 95 countries, with more than 77% of crude oil production coming from 15 of them, including Saudi Arabia (12.8%), USA (10.4%), Russia (9.7%), Iran (5.8 %), Mexico (4.8%), China (4.7%), Norway (4.4%), Venezuela (4.3%), Great Britain (4.1%), United United Arab Emirates(3.4%), Kuwait (3.3%), Nigeria (3.2%), Canada (2.8%), Indonesia (2.4%), Iraq (1.0%).
It should also be taken into account that with the current production technology, on average, only 30-35% of the oil lying in the depths is extracted to the surface.
Proven reserves of this type of fuel have grown over the past 15 years from 100 to 144 trillion m3. The increase is explained by the discovery of a number of new deposits (in particular, in Russia - in Western and Eastern Siberia, on the shelf Barents Sea), and by transferring part of the geological reserves to the explored category.
The largest proven reserves of natural gas are concentrated in Russia (39.2%), Western Asia (32%), they are also in North Africa(6.9%), Latin America (5.1%), North America (4.9%), Western Europe(3.8%). IN Lately significant reserves have been identified in Central Asia. At the beginning of 1998, natural gas reserves were: Russia - 47,600 billion m 3; Iran - 21,200 billion m 3; USA - 4654 billion m 3; Algeria - 3424 billion m 3; Turkmenistan - 2650 billion m3.
The supply of natural gas at the current level of its production (2.2 trillion m3 per year) is 71 years. In terms of fuel equivalent, gas reserves are close to proven oil reserves (270 billion tons).
Reserves are important for the production of ferrous metals iron ore. The world's predicted iron ore resources reach approximately 600 billion tons, and proven reserves reach 260 billion tons. The world's largest iron ore deposits are located in Brazil, Australia, Canada, Russia, China, the USA, India, and Sweden. Iron ore production in the world is 0.9-1.0 billion tons per year. The resource supply of the world economy with this type of raw material is approximately 250 years.
Of the raw materials for the production of non-ferrous metals, bauxite is in first place. The largest bauxite deposits are concentrated in Australia, Guinea, Brazil, Venezuela, and Jamaica. Bauxite production reaches 80 million tons per year, so current reserves should last for 250 years. In Russia, bauxite reserves are relatively small.
Geological reserves copper ores are estimated at 860 million tons, of which 450 million tons are explored (in India, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Congo, USA, Russia, Canada). At the current production volume - 8 million tons per year - the explored reserves of copper ore will last approximately 55 years.
The largest reserves of bauxite (the main raw material of the aluminum industry) are located in Guinea (42% of world reserves), Australia (18.5%), Brazil (6.3%), Jamaica (4.7%), Cameroon (3.8%) and India (2.8%). In terms of production scale (42.6 million tons), Australia ranks first.
The total volume of gold production in the world is 2200 tons. The first place in the world in gold production is occupied by South Africa (522 tons), the second place is by the USA (329 tons). The oldest and deepest gold mine in the United States is Homestake in the Black Hills (South Dakota); Gold mining has been going on there for over 100 years. Modern methods extraction (imitation) makes it profitable to extract gold from numerous poor and poor deposits.
Approximately 2/3 of the world's silver resources are associated with polymetallic copper, lead and zinc ores. Silver is extracted mainly as a by-product from galena (lead sulfide). The deposits are predominantly vein deposits. The largest silver producers are Mexico (2323 tons), Peru (1910 tons), USA (1550 tons), Canada (1207 tons) and Chile (1042 tons). The largest proven uranium reserves are found in Australia (more than 20% of the world's reserves), Kazakhstan (18%), Canada (12%), Uzbekistan (7.5%), Brazil and Niger (7% each). The large Shinkolobwe uranite deposit is located in Democratic Republic Congo. China, Germany and the Czech Republic also have significant reserves.
Another important mineral resource, table salt, is obtained from rock salt deposits and by evaporating water from salt lakes and sea water. World Resources table salt practically inexhaustible. Almost every country has either rock salt deposits or salt water evaporation plants. A colossal source of table salt is the World Ocean itself. The first place in the production of table salt is occupied by the USA (21%), followed by China (14%), Canada and Germany (6% each). Significant salt mining occurs in France, Great Britain, Australia and Poland.
Diamonds - the most famous of precious stones - play important role in industry due to their exceptionally high hardness. World production diamonds are 107.9 million carats (200 mg); including 91.2 million carats (84.5%) of industrial diamonds and 16.7 million carats (15.5%) of jewelry diamonds. In Australia and Congo the share jewelry diamonds is only 4-5%, in Russia - about 20%, in Botswana - 24-25%, South Africa - more than 35%, in Angola and the Central African Republic - 50-60%, in Namibia - 100%.
Russia, among other countries in the world, occupies a leading place in mineral reserves. What minerals are mined in the depths of the country in this moment? Everyone knows that currently more than 20,000 deposits have been discovered on the territory of the Russian Federation. various types. The country has large deposits of coal, gold, aluminum raw materials, tin, platinum, tungsten, graphite, nickel and other types of minerals. In this article, we will look in detail at what mineral resources there are in Russia and their types. Of course, the predominant mineral resources are solid ones, which are located almost throughout the entire territory of the country. We will also take a detailed look at which minerals are combustible, as well as the most important strategic raw materials that provide energy for our country - coal, oil, natural gas and peat.
Liquid minerals
Many people are interested in what liquid minerals are available in Russia? Let's try to answer:
Oil
Everyone knows that the country ranks fifth in oil production. These resources are mainly concentrated in the northern and eastern regions of Russia, western Siberia, as well as in Arctic shelves. At the moment, no more than half of all discovered reserves have been developed since the beginning of the 21st century. On average, exploited fields have a depleted reserve of no more than 45%. Oil deposits are mainly found in sedimentary rocks, ranging from the Vendian to the Neogene, as well as in Paleozoic and Mesozoic sediments.
At the moment, the main oil and gas provinces in Russia have been identified: the Volga-Ural, West Siberian, Caspian, Timan-Pechora, North Caucasus-Mangyshlak, Leno-Tungus, Okhotsk, Yenisei-Anabar, Leno-Vilyuy, as well as the Baltic, East Kamchatka and Anadyr oil and gas regions.
Ground, artesian and mineral waters
About 3,367 groundwater deposits are known on the territory of Russia. Of these, less than 50% are currently in operation.
Solid minerals
Coal
In terms of coal reserves, Russia is second only to the United States and China. Explored coal deposits have been established in Devonian and Pliocene deposits. The main coal basins are: Pechora, Kuznetsk, South Yakutsk and part of the Donetsk basin located in Russia.
In western Siberia, in the spurs of the Kuznetsk Alatau, there is one of the largest coal basins. It is the one that is currently the most used among all the others. Coal mining is also carried out in the Donetsk region in the southeast and northeast of the country, where the Donetsk and Pechersk coal basins are located.
There are also large reserves in the Central Siberian Plateau and Yakutia coal, but due to the poor development of the territory and difficult natural and climatic conditions, they are practically not used, being considered promising. The most famous and largest deposit of brown coal is Kansko-Anachinskoye, which is located in the Krasnoyarsk Territory.
Peat
Approximately 46,000 peat deposits have been identified on the territory of Russia, of which the largest percentage, namely 76%, is located in the Asian part of the republic, and the rest in the European part. The largest reserves of this mineral are located in the northwestern regions of the country, as well as in Siberia and the Urals. The largest deposit is considered to be Vasyuganskoye, which is located in Western Siberia.
Iron ores
Many are interested in which mineral resources in Russia rank first in the world in terms of confirmed total reserves - this is iron ore - (264 billion tons). Iron ore deposits differ great depth occurrence, as well as enhanced strength and complex mineral composition, which contains 16-32% iron.
The deposits are mainly concentrated in the European part of the country. One of largest basins in the world it is considered to be the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly. Russian deposits are represented by all genetic types and are characterized by industrial content of titanium, iron and vanadium, as well as low content of phosphorus and sulfur. Igneous deposits are located in the Urals, Karelia, Gorny Altai, Transbaikalia and the eastern Sayan Mountains.
Gold
On given time Russia ranks fourth in the world in terms of gold reserves, sharing it with Canada. There are five large deposits in the country, as well as more than 200 primary and more than one hundred complex deposits. The bulk of the gold reserves are concentrated in the Far Eastern and East Siberian regions. Approximately 80% of reserves are located in ore deposits, and the rest is in placers.
Titanium ores
This type of minerals is divided into two main types: placer and bedrock. Primary deposits contain low titanium dioxide content, inferior to Norway and Canada. Ore is mined from ancient coastal marine rocks, as well as aluminum ilmenite placers. These deposits are located in the Urals, on the East European Platform, in Transbaikalia, as well as in eastern and western Siberia.
Silver
It is believed that Russia occupies a leading place in the world in terms of silver reserves. 73% of the deposits are concentrated in complex ores of gold and non-ferrous metals. Largest quantity Silver among complex deposits can be distinguished: Uzelskoye, Gaiskoye and Podolskoye deposits, where the silver content is measured from 10-30 grams. About 98% of the main silver reserves in Russia are located in the East Sikhote-Alin and Okhotsk-Chukotka volcanic belts, located on the territory of the republic. All deposits belong to volcano-hydrothermal formations and are post-matic.
Gaseous minerals
Natural gas
Russia ranks first in the world in natural gas reserves. The country has 867 fields with free gas reserves on its balance sheet. They are concentrated mainly in Siberia and Eastern regions of Russia. The largest gas fields are concentrated here, such as Uregoiskoye, Yamburgskoye, Balakhninskoye, Medvezhye, Kharasaveyskoye and others.
In recent years, new natural gas fields have been discovered in Russia, namely the Shtokman field, located on the shelf of the Barents Sea, and the Leningrad gas condensate field, located on the shelf of the Red Sea.
The topic "Geography of the world's natural resources" is one of the central topics in the school geography course. What are natural resources? What types of them stand out, and how are they distributed across the planet? What factors determine geography? Read about this in the article.
What are natural resources?
The geography of the world's natural resources is extremely important for understanding the development of the world economy and the economies of individual states. This concept can be interpreted in different ways. In the very in a broad sense- this is the whole complex of natural benefits, necessary for a person. In a narrow sense, natural resources mean a set of goods natural origin, which can serve as sources for production.
Natural resources are not just used in economic activity. Without them, in fact, the existence of human society as such is impossible. One of the most important and current problems modern geographical science is the geography of world natural resources (grade 10 high school). Both geographers and economists study this issue.
Classification of the Earth's natural resources
The planet's natural resources are classified according to various criteria. Thus, they distinguish between exhaustible and inexhaustible resources, as well as partially renewable ones. According to the prospects for their use, natural resources are divided into industrial, agricultural, energy, recreational and tourist, etc.
According to genetic classification, natural resources include:
- mineral;
- land;
- aquatic;
- forest;
- biological (including resources of the World Ocean);
- energy;
- climatic;
- recreational.
Features of the planetary distribution of natural resources
What features does geography represent? How are they distributed across the planet?
It is immediately worth noting that the world's natural resources are distributed extremely unevenly between states. Thus, nature has endowed several countries (such as Russia, the USA or Australia) with a wide range of minerals. Others (for example, Japan or Moldova) have to be content with only two or three types of mineral raw materials.
As for consumption volumes, about 70% of the world's natural resources are used by the countries of the USA, Canada and Japan, where no more than nine percent of the world's population lives. And here is the group developing countries, which account for about 60% of the world's population, consume only 15% of the planet's natural resources.
The geography of the world's natural resources is uneven not only in relation to minerals. In terms of forest, land, and water resources, countries and continents also differ greatly from each other. So, most of The planet's fresh water is concentrated in the glaciers of Antarctica and Greenland - regions with minimal population. At the same time, dozens of African states are experiencing acute
Such an uneven geography of the world's natural resources forces many countries to solve the problem of their shortage different ways. Some do this through active financing of geological exploration activities, others implement Newest technologies energy saving, reduce the material consumption of their production as much as possible.
World natural resources (mineral) and their distribution
Mineral raw materials are natural ingredients(substances) that are used by humans in production or to generate electricity. Mineral resources have important for the economy of any state. Our planet's crust contains about two hundred minerals. 160 of them are actively mined by humans. Depending on the method and scope of use, mineral resources are divided into several types:
Perhaps the most important mineral resource today is oil. It is rightly called “black gold”; wars were fought for it (and are fought to this day). major wars. Typically, oil occurs along with associated natural gas. The main regions for the extraction of these resources in the world are Alaska, Texas, the Middle East, and Mexico. Another fuel resource is coal (hard and brown). It is mined in many countries (more than 70).
Ore mineral resources include ores of ferrous, non-ferrous and precious metals. Geological deposits of these minerals often have a clear connection to the zones of crystalline shields - protrusions of the platform foundations.
Non-metallic mineral resources have completely different uses. Thus, granite and asbestos are used in the construction industry, potassium salts - in the production of fertilizers, graphite - in nuclear energy, etc. The geography of the world's natural resources is presented in more detail below. The table includes a list of the most important and sought-after minerals.
Mineral resource | Leading countries in its production |
Saudi Arabia, Russia, China, USA, Iran |
|
Coal | USA, Russia, India, China, Australia |
Oil shale | China, USA, Estonia, Sweden, Germany |
Iron ore | Russia, China, Ukraine, Brazil, India |
Manganese ore | China, Australia, South Africa, Ukraine, Gabon |
Copper ores | Chile, USA, Peru, Zambia, DR Congo |
Uranium ores | Australia, Kazakhstan, Canada, Niger, Namibia |
Nickel ores | Canada, Russia, Australia, Philippines, New Caledonia |
Australia, Brazil, India, China, Guinea |
|
USA, South Africa, Canada, Russia, Australia |
|
South Africa, Australia, Russia, Namibia, Botswana |
|
Phosphorites | USA, Tunisia, Morocco, Senegal, Iraq |
France, Greece, Norway, Germany, Ukraine |
|
Potassium salt | Russia, Ukraine, Canada, Belarus, China |
Native sulfur | USA, Mexico, Iraq, Ukraine, Poland |
Land resources and their geography
Land resources are one of the most important resources of the planet and of any country in the world. This concept refers to the part of the Earth's surface suitable for life, construction and agriculture. The world land fund is about 13 billion hectares of area. It includes:
Different countries have different land resources. Some have vast expanses of free land at their disposal (Russia, Ukraine), while others experience an acute shortage of free space (Japan, Denmark). Agricultural land is extremely unevenly distributed: about 60% of the world's arable land is in Eurasia, while Australia has only 3%.
Water resources and their geography
Water is the most abundant and most important mineral on Earth. It was there that it was born earthly life, and it is water that is necessary for every living organism. Under water resources planets include all surface as well as underground water that is used by humans or can be used in the future. Fresh water is especially in demand. It is used in everyday life, in production and in the agricultural sector. The maximum reserves of fresh river flow fall in Asia and Latin America, and minimal ones - for Australia and Africa. Moreover, on one third of the world's landmass there is a problem with fresh water is particularly acute.
Among the richest countries in the world in terms of reserves fresh water includes Brazil, Russia, Canada, China and the USA. But the five countries least supplied with fresh water look like this: Kuwait, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Jordan.
Forest resources and their geography
Forests are often called the “lungs” of our planet. And completely justified. After all, they play an important climate-forming, water-protection, and recreational role. TO forest resources include forests themselves, as well as all of them useful qualities- protective, recreational, therapeutic, etc.
According to statistics, about 25% of the earth's land is covered by forests. The bulk of them are in the so-called “northern forest belt,” which includes countries such as Russia, Canada, the USA, Sweden, and Finland.
The table below shows the countries that are leaders in terms of forest cover in their territories:
Percentage of area covered by forests |
|
French Guiana | |
Mozambique | |
Biological resources of the planet
Biological resources are all plant and animal organisms that are used by humans in for various purposes. More in demand in modern world namely floristic resources. There are about six thousand species on the planet cultivated plants. However, only one hundred of them are widely distributed throughout the world. In addition to cultivated plants, people actively breed livestock and poultry, use strains of bacteria in agriculture and industry.
Biological resources are classified as renewable. Nevertheless, with their modern, sometimes predatory and ill-considered use, some of them are threatened with destruction.
Geography of the world's natural resources: environmental problems
Modern environmental management is characterized by a number of serious environmental problems. Active mining of minerals not only pollutes the atmosphere and soil, but also significantly alters the surface of our planet, changing some landscapes beyond recognition.
What words are associated with modern geography of world natural resources? Pollution, depletion, destruction... Unfortunately, it's true. Thousands of hectares of ancient forests disappear from the face of our planet every year. Poaching is destroying rare and endangered species of animals. Heavy industry pollutes soils with metals and other harmful substances.
There is an urgent need to change the concept of human behavior at a global level. natural environment. Otherwise, the future of world civilization will not look very bright.
The phenomenon of the “resource curse”
“The paradox of abundance”, or “the curse of raw materials”, is the name of a phenomenon in economics that was first formulated in 1993 by Richard Auty. The essence of this phenomenon is as follows: states with significant natural resource potential, as a rule, are characterized by low economic growth and development. In turn, countries “poor” in natural resources achieve great economic success.
There are indeed a lot of examples confirming this conclusion in the modern world. People first started talking about the “resource curse” of countries back in the 80s of the last century. Some researchers already traced this trend in their works.
Economists identify several main reasons explaining this phenomenon:
- lack of desire on the part of the authorities to carry out effective and necessary reforms;
- development of corruption based on “easy money”;
- a decrease in the competitiveness of other sectors of the economy that are not so heavily dependent on natural resources.
Conclusion
The geography of the world's natural resources is extremely uneven. This applies to almost all of their types - mineral, energy, land, water, forest.
Some states own large reserves of mineral resources, but the mineral resource potential of other countries is significantly limited to just a few types. True, exceptional availability of natural resources does not always guarantee high level life, economic development of a particular state. A striking example This includes countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and others. This phenomenon has even received its name in economics - the “resource curse.”
24/7 Wall Street conducted a detailed analysis of 10 countries with the largest and most valuable natural resources on Earth. Using estimates of total reserves in each country and market value of these resources, 10 countries have been identified that have the most valuable reserves of natural resources.
Some of these resources, including uranium, silver, and phosphates, are not as valuable as others due to low demand or due to their rarity. However, in the case of oil, natural gas, timber, coal, these natural resources can be worth tens of trillions of dollars, because the demand for them is high and these resources are relatively abundant.
1. Russia
total cost resources: $75.7 trillion.
Oil reserves (value): 60 billion barrels ($7.08 trillion)
Natural gas reserves (value): 1.680 trillion. cubic feet ($19 trillion)
Timber reserves (value): 1.95 billion acres ($28.4 trillion)
When it comes to natural resources, Russia is the richest country in the world. It leads among all countries in the world in terms of natural gas and timber reserves. Huge size country is both its blessing and its curse, since the construction of pipelines for gas transportation, as well as railways transportation of wood costs incredible sums.
In addition to having such large reserves of gas and timber, Russia has the second largest coal deposits in the world and the third largest gold deposits. In addition, it has the second largest deposits of rare earth minerals, although they are not currently mined.
2. United States
Total resource value: $45 trillion
Natural gas reserves (value): 272.5 trillion. cube m ($3.1 trillion)
Timber reserves (value): 750 million acres ($10.9 trillion)
The United States has 31.2% of the world's proven coal reserves. They are valued at 30 trillion dollars. Today they are the most valuable reserves on earth. The country has about 750 million acres forest plantations, which are worth about $11 trillion. Timber and coal together are worth approximately 89% of the total value of the country's natural resources. The US is also among the top five countries with global reserves of copper, gold and natural gas.
3. Saudi Arabia
Total resource value: $34.4 trillion
Oil reserves (value): 266.7 billion barrels ($31.5 trillion)
Natural gas reserves (value): 258.5 trillion. cubic meters ($2.9 trillion)
Saudi Arabia owns about 20% of the world's oil, the largest share of any country. All of the country's significant resources are in carbon - oil or gas. The Kingdom has the fifth largest natural gas reserves in the world. As these resources dwindle, Saudi Arabia will eventually lose high position on this list. However, this will not happen for several decades.
Total resource value: $33.2 trillion
Oil reserves (value): 178.1 billion barrels ($21 trillion)
Timber reserves (value): 775 million acres ($11.3 trillion)
Before the discovery of oil sands deposits, Canada's total mineral reserves likely would have kept it out of this list. The oil sands added about 150 billion barrels to Canada's oil supply in 2009 and 2010. The country also produces a decent amount of phosphate, although its phosphate rock deposits are not among the top 10 in the world. In addition, Canada has the world's second largest proven uranium reserves and the third largest timber reserves.
Total resource value: $27.3 trillion.
Oil reserves (value): 136.2 billion barrels ($16.1 trillion)
Natural gas reserves (value): 991600000000000 cubic meters. m ($11.2 trillion)
Wood reserves (value): not in the top 10
Iran shares with Qatar the giant South Pars/North Dome gas field in the Persian Gulf. The country has about 16% of the world's natural gas reserves. Iran also has the third largest proven amount of oil in the world. This is more than 10% of the world's oil reserves. At the moment, the country is experiencing problems in realizing its resources due to its alienation from international markets.
Total resource value: $23 trillion.
Oil reserves (value): not in the top 10
Natural gas reserves (value): not in the top 10
Timber reserves (value): 450 million acres ($6.5 trillion)
China's resource value is based largely on its reserves of coal and rare earth minerals. China has significant coal reserves, accounting for more than 13% of total number in the world. Recently, shale gas deposits were discovered here. Once assessed, China's status as a leader in natural resources will only improve.
7. Brazil
Total resource value: $21.8 trillion.
Oil reserves (value): not in the top 10
Natural gas reserves (value): not in the top 10
Timber reserves (value): 1.2 billion acres ($17.5 trillion)
Significant reserves of gold and uranium largely contributed to its place on this list. Brazil also owns 17% of the world's iron ore. Most Valuable natural resource, however, is wood. The country owns 12.3% of the world's timber reserves, valued at $17.45 trillion. To ensure consistency and accuracy of the study, recently discovered offshore oil reserves have not been included in this report. According to preliminary estimates, the field may contain 44 billion barrels of oil.
8. Australia
Total resource value: $19.9 trillion.
Oil reserves (value): not in the top 10
Natural gas reserves (value): not in the top 10
Timber reserves (value): 369 million acres ($5.3 trillion)
Australia's natural wealth lies in its a huge number timber, coal, copper and iron. The country is in the top three for total reserves of seven resources on this list. Australia has the largest reserves of gold in the world, with 14.3% of the world's reserves. It also supplies 46% of the world's uranium. In addition, the country has significant natural gas reserves offshore its northwest coast, which it shares with Indonesia.
Total resource value: $15.9 trillion. Z
Oil reserves (value): 115 billion barrels ($13.6 trillion)
Natural gas reserves (value): 111.9 trillion. cube ft ($1.3 trillion)
Wood reserves (value): not in the top 10
Iraq's greatest wealth is oil - 115 billion barrels of proven reserves. This represents almost 9% of the world's total oil. Despite being relatively easy to mine, most of these reserves remain untapped due to political differences between the central government and the Kurdistan Region regarding ownership of oil. Iraq also has one of the most significant phosphate rock reserves in the world, worth more than $1.1 trillion. However, these deposits have not been fully developed.
10. Venezuela
Total resource value: $14.3 trillion.
Oil reserves (value): 99.4 billion barrels ($11.7 trillion)
Natural gas reserves (value): 170.9 cubic meters ft ($1.9 trillion)
Wood reserves (value): not in the top 10
Venezuela is one of the 10 largest resource holders in terms of iron, natural gas and oil. Natural gas reserves in this South American country rank eighth in the world and amount to 179.9 cubic meters. lbs. These reserves represent just over 2.7% of global reserves. According to experts, Venezuela contains 99 billion barrels of oil, which is 7.4% total number reserves in the world.
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