world, which relies on the hydrocarbon resources of many Middle Eastern coun-
tries for energy. The complementarity between the regions of supply and those
of major demand in the economic geography of the global petroleum trade are
mirrored in the complementarity between the oil producers and the industrialized
world for manufactured goods, except that the supply and demand relationship is
reversed.Core and Periphery
A generalized, spatial relationship model that is a central component of many sub-
fields of human geography. The peripheral region, sometimes referred to as a
hinterland, is dependent on the centralized core region for the spatial dissemina-
tion of all, several or one of a variety of influences: economic, cultural, or political.
The core represents a base of power or a point of origin, the periphery represents a
surrounding region that is reliant on the core region. The core and periphery model
has applications in thegeography of economic development, the concept ofcul-
tural diffusion, and many other geographical theories. In addition, the core-
periphery approach may be applied at a variety of scales. For individual states
and small regions, the core may be represented by a well-developed coastal region
that holds most of the country’s economic and political influence. The periphery,
on the other hand, is an underdeveloped hinterland lying further inland. In eco-
nomic geography, classic growth pole theory is based on the theoretical assump-
tions inherent in the core-periphery model. At a much broader scale, theWorld
Systems Theoryarticulated by Immanuel Wallerstein also relies heavily on the
core-periphery model. In this context,the economically developed countries of
the world are the “core,” and the underdeveloped regions of the planet represent
the “periphery.” Several examples of how the core-periphery concept is applied
to some of the subfields of geography follow.
In economic geography, the core-periphery model lies at the heart of much of
the theoretical discussion regarding spatial interaction and economic develop-
ment. It is obvious to even the casual observer that at almost any scale, the attrib-
utes of economic space are unevenly distributed, which is a situation that
frequently results incomplementarityand subsequent economic exchange. Some
places exhibit higher rates of productivity, higher standards of living, greater per
capita income, etc., than adjacent locations. This uneven pattern may be observed
from the global scale to the local, as even within metropolitan areas such differen-
tial development is frequently apparent. Some view the economic relationship
between core and periphery as essentially antagonistic, and as an expression of72 Core and Periphery