RAS question
Which of the following statements about the Ruhr Valley industrial region is NOT correct?
Correct answer: (D) The Ruhr region has remained the most dominant steel-producing region in Europe throughout the 21st century..
The Ruhr region did not remain Europe's dominant steel-producing region throughout the 21st century, because it shifted away from its old coal-and-steel base towards a more diversified service economy.
Explanation
Statement D is the one that is not correct. The Ruhr was historically a coal-and-steel heartland, but the OECD describes a dramatic restructuring over the last five decades from coal and steel specialisation to a more diversified service economy. In the mid-1950s, coal alone employed nearly half a million people in the Ruhr, and coal plus steel made up about 70% of regional employment; by 2015, the two sectors employed just under 95,000 people. The OECD also notes the final phase-out of subsidies to underground hard-coal mining by 2018 and the reuse of industrial sites as part of the region's industrial culture. Ruhr is therefore no longer the dominant steel hub it once was.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) This statement is correct, as the Ruhr Valley is in western Germany along the Ruhr River, a tributary of the Rhine.
- (B) This statement is correct because the Ruhr is Europe's historic heavy-industry heartland, with coal and steel once accounting for about 70% of regional employment.
- (C) This statement is correct because Dortmund, Essen, and Bochum are key cities of the Ruhr industrial conurbation.
Concept
This tests the World Geography theme of industrial regions and their structural transformation. RAS repeats such examples because they link resource-based industrial location with deindustrialisation, services-led change, and regional planning.