An Analysis of Factors in the Location of Primary Processing

An analysis of locational factors in the distribution of primary processing industries of the USSR seeks to determine the relative significance of resource location and nonphysical factors such as labor supply, level of industrial development and availability of transportation. Although it is commonly assumed that primary processing industry tends to be oriented toward resource sites, as much as 43 percent of the output of Soviet primary processing originates outside areas of resource extraction. In examining the pull of resource sites, the analysis distinguishes types of spatial processing complexes that are subject to strong, moderate and slight resource orientation. Measures are then developed for the impact of nonphysical factors. Finally, the 129 major civil divisions of the Soviet Union are grouped in a spatial classification of primary processing industry that combines the varying effects of resource location and the nonphysical factors. It is concluded that favorable resource base and favorable nonphysical factors tend to reinforce each other in determining location, but that favorable nonphysical factors may give rise to large-scale primary processing even in absence of a significant resource base.