Is geography important? I will advance the argument that geography is a significant factor in economic development. By saying that geography matters, I mean that an economy is highly dependent on its geography because it explains why some economies prosper, while others, on the contrary, struggle. I have two reasons for stating my thesis that geography is a significant factor in economic development. First, there is a strong correlation between geography and productivity (McArthur, Sachs 2001, p. 3). Second, geography directly shapes the type of institutions that evolve and thus indirectly influence economic development (Engerman, Sokoloff 2002, p. 3). As mentioned above, my thesis highlights the importance of geography and related variables in economic development; since, although there are many different attributes that contribute to economic development, it is, without a doubt, obvious that geography plays the most significant role in determining the success of an economy, so I will illustrate that geography shapes the performance and establishment of economies , which, in turn, means that it heavily influences economic development and, consequently, concludes that geography matters. In common parlance, geography is a rather controversial concept, so for this purpose I use the most widely accepted definition of the term, taken from the Oxford Dictionary, defining it as "the nature and relative arrangement of places and physical features" (Simpson, Weiner, Proffitt, Oxford English Dictionary).” With this clarification, I will begin by presenting theories and evidence that illustrate why geography matters. The most obvious factor to analyze is physical location, and therefore what location means with respect to an economy and its productivity. In general, “coastal economies have higher income than landlocked economies (Gallup, Sachs, Mellinger 1999 p.173)”, which