Quinary economic activities are sometimes considered to be a subset of quaternary economic activities, and sometimes considered their own separate category - it largely depends on which economist or geographer you ask. The primary difference between quinary and quaternary is that quinary involves high-level thinking and policy-making based on a large quantity of research and data. Something like ecotourism, that combines environmental conservatism with the industry of tourism, is an example of a quinary economic activity.

The generation of knowledge and the sharing of research are associated with quaternary economic activities. Examples of this include teaching, tourism, and customer service. As the economies of Europe and North America have transitioned away from primary and secondary economic activities the majority of the population has become employed in quaternary or tertiary economic activities.

The world’s biggest port in contemporary times is Shanghai. Shanghai is a port city in eastern China. In the last few decades China’s trade, particularly its exports, have grown dramatically. Rapid industrialization and immense government spending have contributed to this and China is now the biggest trading partner for the majority of countries in the world (overtaking the United States).

Tertiary economic activities include anything that has to do with the sale or exchange of goods. Retail, or the business of selling things, is one of the biggest areas of tertiary economic activity. Other examples include cab driving, real estate, and entertainment.

The evolution of western economies can be mapped to the growth from primary economic activities to quaternary and quinary economic activities. It is often assumed that this process can be transferred to the developing world, but there have been some notable exceptions that suggest that not all countries will experience the same manner of progression. Primary economic activities are concerned with the harvesting of raw materials - industries like agriculture and mining.

The Law of Retail Gravitation states that large cities exert a natural gravitational pull on the people who live near them (and sometimes even people who live very far away). Accordingly people are naturally drawn to large cities because cities represent economic opportunity.

Primary economic activities include anything to do with the harvesting or mining of raw materials. Fishing is an example of a primary economic activity that goes on throughout the world and has been part of the human economy for thousands of years. Other examples include farming, hunting, mining, and wood chopping.

Secondary economic activities are areas of business concerned with the manufacturing or assembly of raw materials into products that can be sold on the mass-market. During the Industrial Revolution most of Europe and the United States of America was engaged in secondary economic activities.

Countries in the “periphery” are countries that have a very low standard of living and low levels of industrial productivity. Bolivia is in the Andean region of South America, which is mostly comprised of “periphery” countries. Afghanistan is in the Middle East, which is mostly comprised of “periphery” countries. Ethiopia is in Africa, which is almost entirely comprised of “periphery” countries with a couple of notable exceptions (like South Africa and Nigeria). Albania is in Southeastern Europe and is easily one of the poorest countries in Europe.  

The term “agglomeration” is used to describe the process by which a certain region becomes known for producing a certain product. Examples of this include Los Angeles for movies, Houston for energy, or Silicon Valley for computer technology. “Agglomeration” occurs when many different companies, within the same industry, set up their offices in the same area. This leads to a concentration of talent and resources and further exacerbates the “agglomeration.”