Introduction to Natural Resources

This book deals in a simplified way with part of the natural resources that meet human needs as they represent the source of a state’s strength, and on them, society is dependent on its progress and prosperity. Their abundance or scarcity severely impacts a state’s standing in strength or weakness. The disparity in the distribution of resources among people around the world has led to the unfolding of violent conflicts throughout history. Rapid population growth is a major and fundamental cause of environmental problems.

The book contends with the theoretical concepts of resources, their importance, and their connection with humans. It includes types of resources such as forests, pastures, water, soil, and its classification, land division at the local, Arab, and global levels, renewable and non-renewable types of energy, metallic and non-metallic mineral resources, and a discussion of their future and relative lifespan. It reviews human resources in the world in terms of their development, age and gender composition, labour force, and population density, and how all of this is tied to the natural resources on the African continent and the impact of migration, concluding its pages by talking about studying the economic feasibility of natural resources, how to preserve and maintain them, the factors affecting them, and measures for their optimal use.