5. Conclusion

Throughout history, transport has enabled the exchange of goods between human communities over short and sometimes long distances (as with salt caravans in some parts of the world). As navigation techniques improved, raw materials were exchanged, mainly of agricultural or fishery origin, followed by semi-finished or finished food products: textiles, wine for salt or barrels of herring, for example. The great discoveries and technical progress encouraged the great transoceanic trade, always with exchanges of products obtained in different parts of the world, all theorized at the beginning of the 19th century by Ricardo in his famous "comparative advantages" and advocating free trade. On land, the use of waterways and the digging of canals favored the transport of heavy loads before the advent of the railroad, which rapidly distributed products wherever it was built. Roads added another element,...