The physical character and distribution of natural resources at the face of the Earth. No section of the Earth is exactly like any other in its resource endowment. Combinations of land and ocean, latitudinal differences in insolation, variations in receipt of precipitation, patterns of geology, and deformation of the Earth's crust all converge to create different resources in various regions of the world. Nevertheless, there is some repetition in these natural features and forces of nature across the Earth. These similarities that exist from place to place distinguish regional patterns in the availability of resources on a global scale.