Nature has not scattered coal, iron, copper and sugarland over the earth in the same lavish way that she has distributed air and sunshine. On the contrary, the important resources from which industry derives its raw materials and its fuels are found within very limited areas to which the remainder of the world must go for the commodities that supply its basic industries. Within each country raw materials are produced at one point and shipped elsewhere. Ore, coal, grain and meat-animals make up the bulk of the freight tonnage in Europe, in America and in Australia. A similar economic relation exists between the various countries, some of which produce far more than their proportionate share of minerals and fuels. Thus, in 1913, the United States, with but 7 per cent of the world's population, produced 36 per cent and consumed 37 per cent of the world's iron ore supply. The figures for the other important nations were: ("World Atlas of Commercial Geology," Dept. of the Interior, Washington, 1921, p. 27) Per Cent Per Cent Produced Consumed Germany 20 27 Britain 9 14 France 12 7 Russia 5 5 Belgium 0 4 Spain 6 1 Only in France and Spain did production exceed consumption. Four of the remaining countries used more iron ore than they produced, which meant that they were forced to depend upon some other country for their supply. Belgium, with her many industries, imported practically all of the iron ore that she used. Coal furnishes an even more striking illustration of the economic dependence of one part of the world upon another. The production and consumption of coal, for 1913, in millions of tons, were as follows: Tons Tons Produced Consumed United States 517 495 Britain 292 217 Germany 191 167 France 40 60 Italy 1 10 Austria-Hungary 17 30 The United States, Britain and Germany produced, in this one year, 121 millions of tons of coal that were either stored or exported. France, Italy and Austria, together with many of the smaller industrial countries of Europe were forced to depend upon their neighbors for coal. In the case of Italy, practically all of the coal used was imported. Again, the United States and Spain are alone among the principal countries producing a surplus of copper. Out of a consumption (1913) of 127,000 tons, Britain imported 126,572; France imported 91,437 of the 91,486 tons consumed, and Germany, out of 259,300 tons consumed, imported 234,000 tons.