The economic development is an objective that all countries of the world seek to achieve. Therefore, it has received great attention in the economic studies, whether by the geographers or others, due to its prominent role in improving the individual’s livelihood by providing job opportunities and services and improving their health, educational and cultural levels. Geography of the economic development in the study area is concerned with studying the various economic activities such as agriculture, industry and tourism in order to highlight the most important natural, human and economic potentials for the purpose of making developmental changes towards the establishment of the modern and advanced agricultural, industrial and tourist projects in the study area, through the proper investment and optimal use to achieve the economic development. The thesis dealt with the study of the natural factors affecting the economic development in the First Chapter, so that it outlined the geographical location, spatial relations, geological characteristics, surface features, climatic and human characteristics and water resources. The Second Chapter discussed the human factors affecting the economic development, the population and their role in the economic development, the manpower, the educational status, means of transportation, the market, the technological advancement and the government orientation. The Third Chapter studied the agricultural development in the governorates of the Middle Euphrates, and it has highlighted the agricultural control, crop area, crop structure, reclaimed agricultural lands, livestock, and the most important elements of the livestock development. The Fourth Chapter discussed the industrial development in the governorates of the Middle Euphrates through studying the geographical components of the industry and the geographical distribution of the industry and the most significant features of the industry represented by the strength of the industry, concentration of the industry and the relative importance of the industry. The Fifth Chapter studied the tourism development in the governorates of the Middle Euphrates through studying the tourism patterns and the geographical distribution of tourist attractions, tourist accommodation and tourism movement. The Sixth Chapter discussed problems of the economic development and the future visions, as it dealt with the agricultural development problems, industrial development problems, tourism development problems, future of the economic development, and role of the geographic information systems in the economic development. The thesis recommends several proposals, including expansion in the agricultural land reclamation, rehabilitation of the irrigation projects, and adoption of the modern irrigation methods such as drip irrigation and sprinkler irrigation in a manner that serves the agricultural development process; supporting the farmers and developing their agricultural reality through developing the Agricultural Bank and providing soft agricultural loans for the farmers; the optimal utilization of the mineral raw materials by providing the investment for them and establishing industrial projects near them; establishing advanced governmental or private training centers with the aim of graduating skilled labor trained in all areas of the economic activities ; the necessity of paying attention to the tourist existing patterns in the study area through diversity of the tourist, recreational and service activities to attract the largest possible number of the tourists ; paying attention to the tourist education as a basic pillar of the tourist development ; the necessity of making use of the geographic information systems in managing the economic development process through preparing the maps, schedules and statistical reports based on the information and data inputs and analyzing them to set the developmental plans |
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