3 ms·
That is a good question. I think of the huge countries, Brazil is probably the one with less useless land? Brazil harshest environment is the quasi-desert pla
by speeder 13y ago
That is a good question.
I think of the huge countries, Brazil is probably the one with less useless land?
Brazil harshest environment is the quasi-desert plains in the northeast non-coastal region, it rarely rains there because the coast has lots of hills high enough to block rain (thus the coast is very rainy too), but it is not a complete desert (yet... overuse of land in agriculture is slowly transforming it in a desert).
Brazil has no crazy areas of desert, tundra, or other non-fertile areas, the only parts "hard" to live as human are the rainforest (because it is too dense, nothing you cannot fix by making your own clearing) and the marshy area (because to live there you need to figure how to make a floating house or a house that don't flood).
US has the Arizona desert, and some snowy mountains, Canada half of it is just ice, Russia too, half of it is ice, China has a huge desert plus the himalaias, and the largest countries in Africa usually are large because they extend the border to the middle of Sahara because of natural resources, it is not really useful land.
And Australia has that very dry outback where you cannot have proper farming.
- a8da6b0c91d 13y agoNavigable rivers is the big problem. Extensive navigable rivers is what made and continues to make Europe and North America such premium pieces of land. Siberia, Brazil, and Africa have all had the problem that moving stuff in and out is super energy intensive.
- beloch 13y agoHow land is utilized has a huge impact. You'd think Brazil's rainforests would be on incredibly fertile land, but the soil actually stinks for agriculture. Brazilian farmers use Swidden (a.k.a. Slash-and-Burn) agriculture. They clear the land and generally only get a few useful growing seasons before the soil is infertile. Then they move on. Land has more uses than agriculture of course. Forestry is huge. The amazon, were it sustainably logged instead of hastily burned, could supply a tremendous amount of lumber. Canada and Russia do have a lot of perma-frost in the far North, but an even larger portion of their uninhabited land is boreal forest. This land is far from useless even if much of it is not suitable for agriculture.