FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN

GEOGRAPHY

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Textbook for Class XII

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Acknowledgements
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
acknowledges the contribution of Rupa Das, PGT, DPS, R.K. Puram in the
development of this textbook. Special thanks are due to Savita Sinha,
Professor and Head, Department of Education in Social Sciences and
Humanities for her valuable support at every stage of preparation of this
textbook.
The Council is thankful to the Survey of India for certification of maps
given in the textbook. It also gratefully acknowledges the support of

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individuals and organisations as listed below for providing various
photographs and illustrations used in this textbook.
M.H. Qureshi, Professor, CSRD, JNU for Fig. 8.2 and 10.8; Seema Mathur,
Reader, Sri Aurobindo College (Evening), New Delhi for a photograph on page
1, Fig. 5.15(a) and 7.5; Krishan Sheoran from Austria for Fig. 5.13, 8.1, 8.4,

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8.15, 10.1 and 10.2; Arjun Singh, Student, Hindu College, University of Delhi
for a photograph on page 90 and Fig. 7.3; Nityanand Sharma, Professor and

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Head, Medical College, Rohtak for a photograph on page 55; Swagata Basu,

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Lecturer, SSV (PG) College, Hapur for Fig. 8.17, 9.2 and 10.9; Odilia Countinho,
Reader, R.P.D. College, Belgaum for Fig. 7.4; Abhimanyu Abrol for Fig. 5.10;
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Samiran Baruah for Fig. 9.1; Shveta Uppal, NCERT for Fig. 6.2(b), 6.3, 8.12
and 10.4; Kalyan Banerjee, NCERT for Fig. 10.3, 10.5 and 10.6; Y.K. Gupta

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and R.C. Das, CIET, NCERT for a photograph on page 65 and Fig. 5.17(a),
5.17(b) and 10.10; NCERT’s old collection of photographs for Fig. 5.5, 5.9,
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5.11, 5.15(b), 5.18, 6.4, 6.5, 6.6, 8.8, 8.13, 9.5, 9.6 and photographs on pages
1, 31, 46 and 81; Times of India, New Delhi for news items on pages 12, 63
and 69, ITDC/Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India for Fig. 5.1 and 6.2(a);
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National Highway Authority of India for Fig. 8.3; Business Standard for a news
item on pages 28 and 75; Practical Work in Geography, Part I, Class XI, NCERT
(2006) for photographs on page 23; Directorate of Extension, Ministry of
Agriculture for Fig. 5.3 and 7.2; The Hindu for a news item on page 75 and
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website: www.africa.upenn.edu for Fig. 10.7

The Council also gratefully acknowledges the contribution of
Anil Sharma, DTP Operator; Ajay Singh, Copy Editor; K.C. Patra, Proof Reader
and Dinesh Kumar, Computer Incharge who have helped in giving a final
shape to this book. The contribution of the Publication Department, NCERT
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is also duly acknowledged.

The following are applicable to all the maps of India used in

this textbook
1. © Government of India, Copyright 2006
2. The responsibility for the correctness of internal details rests with the publisher.
3. The territorial waters of India extend into the sea to a distance of twelve nautical
miles measured from the appropriate base line.
4. The administrative headquarters of Chandigarh, Haryana and Punjab are at
Chandigarh.
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5. The interstate boundaries amongst Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya

shown on this map are as interpreted from the “North-Eastern Areas
(Reorganisation) Act.1971,” but have yet to be verified.
6. The external boundaries and coastlines of India agree with the Record/Master
Copy certified by Survey of India.
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7. The state boundaries between Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and
Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh have not been verified by the
Governments concerned.
8. The spellings of names in this map have been taken from various sources.
Contents
FOREWORD iii

UNIT I 1-7

1. Human Geography
Nature and Scope 1

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UNIT II 8-30

2. The World Population

Distribution, Density and Growth 8

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3. Population Composition 17

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4. Human Development 22
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UNIT III 31-90

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5. Primary Activities 31
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6. Secondary Activities 45
7. Tertiary and Quaternary Activities 55
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8. Transport and Communication 65

9. International Trade 81
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UNIT IV 91-102

10. Human Settlements 90

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APPENDIX I 103
APPENDIX II 110
GLOSSARY 113
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 You have already studied ‘Geography as a
Unit-I Discipline’ in Chapter I of the book,
Chapter-1 Fundamentals of Physical Geography (NCERT,
2006). Do you recall the contents? This chapter
has broadly covered and introduced you to the
nature of geography. You are also acquainted
with the important branches that sprout from
the body of geography. If you re-read the
chapter you will be able to recall the link of
human geography with the mother discipline

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i.e. geography. As you know geography as a
field of study is integrative, empirical, and
practical. Thus, the reach of geography is
extensive and each and every event or
phenomenon which varies over space and time

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can be studied geographically. How do you see
Human Geography the earth’s surface? Do you realise that the earth

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comprises two major components: nature

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Nature and Scope (physical environment) and life forms including
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human components of your surroundings.

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Physical geography studies physical
environment and human geography studies
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“the relationship between the physical/natural
and the human worlds, the spatial distributions
of human phenomena and how they come
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about, the social and economic differences

between different parts of the world”.1
You are already aware of the fact that the
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core concern of geography as a discipline is to

understand the earth as home of human beings
and to study all those elements which have
sustained them. Thus, emphasis is on study of
nature and human beings. You will realise that
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geography got subjected to dualism and the

wide-ranging debates started whether
geography as a discipline should be a law
making/theorising (nomothetic) or
descriptive (idiographic). Whether its subject
matter should be organised and approach of
the study should be regional or systematic?
Whether geographical phenomena be
interpreted theoretically or through historic-
institutional approach? These have been issues
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for intellectual exercise but finally you will

appreciate that the dichotomy between physical
and human is not a very valid one because
nature and human are inseparable elements
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and should be seen holistically. It is interesting

to note that both physical and human
1
Agnew J. Livingstone, David N. and Rogers, A.; (1996) Blackwell
Publishing Limited, Malden, U.S.A. p. 1 and 2.
phenomena are described in metaphors using
symbols from the human anatomy.
We often talk of the ‘face’ of the earth, ‘eye’
of the storm, ‘mouth’ of the river, ‘snout’ (nose)
of the glacier, ‘neck’ of the isthmus and ‘profile’
of the soil. Similarly regions, villages, towns
have been described as ‘organisms’. German
geographers describe the ‘state/country’ as a
‘living organism’. Networks of road, railways
and water ways have often been described as
“arteries of circulation”. Can you collect such
terms and expressions from your own
language? The basic questions now arises, can
we separate nature and human when they are
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so intricately intertwined?
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Human Geography Defined
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• “Human geography is the synthetic study
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of relationship between human societies and
earth’s surface”. Ratzel
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Synthesis has been emphasised in the
above definition.
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• “Human geography is the study of “the
changing relationship between the unresting
man and the unstable earth.”
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Ellen C. Semple
Dynamism in the relationship is the keyword
in Semple’s definition.
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• “Conception resulting from a more
synthetic knowledge of thephysical laws
governing our earth and of the relations
between the living beings which inhabit it”.
Paul Vidal de la Blache
Human geography offers a new conception
of the interrelationships between earth and
human beings.
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NATURE OF HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
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Human geography studies the inter-relationship
between the physical environment and socio-
cultural environment created by human beings
through mutual interaction with each other. You
2 Fundamentals of Human Geography
have already studied the elements of physical
environment in class XI in the book entitled
Fundamentals of Physical Geography (NCERT
2006). You know that these elements are
landforms, soils, climate, water, natural vegetation
and diverse flora and fauna. Can you make a list
of elements which human beings have created
through their activities on the stage provided by
the physical environment? Houses, villages, cities,
road-rail networks, industries, farms, ports, items
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of our daily use and all other elements of material
culture have been created by human beings
using the resources provided by the physical
environment. While physical environment has
been greatly modified by human beings, it has
also, in turn, impacted human lives.
Naturalisation of Humans and
Humanisation of Nature
Human beings interact with their physical
environment with the help of technology. It is
not important what human beings produce and
create but it is extremely important ‘with the
help of what tools and techniques do they
produce and create’.
Technology indicates the level of cultural
development of society. Human beings were
able to develop technology after they developed
better understanding of natural laws. For
example, the understanding of concepts of
friction and heat helped us discover fire.
Similarly, understanding of the secrets of DNA
and genetics enabled us to conquer many
diseases. We use the laws of aerodynamics to
develop faster planes. You can see that
knowledge about Nature is extremely important
to develop technology and technology loosens
the shackles of environment on human beings.
In the early stages of their interaction with their
natural environment humans were greatly
influenced by it. They adapted to the dictates
of Nature. This is so because the level of
technology was very low and the stage of
human social development was also primitive.
This type of interaction between primitive
human society and strong forces of nature was
termed as environmental determinism. At
that stage of very low technological development
we can imagine the presence of a naturalised
human, who listened to Nature, was afraid of
its fury and worshipped it.

The Naturalisation of Humans
Benda lives in the wilds of the Abujh Maad
area of central India. His village consists of
three huts deep in the wilds. Not even birds
or stray dogs that usually crowd villages can
be seen in these areas. Wearing a small
loin cloth and armed with his axe he slowly
surveys the penda (forest) where his tribe
practices a primitive form of agriculture called
shifting cultivation. Benda and his friends
burn small patches of forest to clear them
for cultivation. The ash is used for making
the soil fertile. Benda is happy that the
Mahua trees around him are in bloom. How
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lucky I am to be a part of this beautiful
universe, he thinks as he looks up to see
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the Mahua, Palash and Sal trees that have
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sheltered him since childhood. Crossing the
penda in a gliding motion, Benda makes
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his way to a stream. As he bends down to
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scoop up a palmful of water, he remembers
to thank Loi-Lugi, the spirit of the forest for
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allowing him to quench his thirst. Moving
on with his friends, Benda chews on
succulent leaves and roots. The boys have
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been trying to collect Gajjhara and Kuchla,
from the forest. These are special plants
that Benda and his people use. He hopes
the spirits of the forest will be kind and lead
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him to these herbs. These are needed to
barter in the madhai or tribal fair coming up
the next full moon. He closes his eyes and
tries hard to recall what the elders had taught
him about these herbs and the places they
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are found in. He wishes he had listened more
carefully. Suddenly there is a rustling of
leaves. Benda and his friends know it is the
outsiders who have come searching for them
in the wilds. In a single fluid motion Benda
and his friends disappear behind the thick
canopy of trees and become one with the
spirit of the forest.
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The story in the box represents the direct
relationship of a household belonging to an
economically primitive society with nature. Read
about other primitive societies which live in
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complete harmony with their natural
environment. You will realise that in all such cases
nature is a powerful force, worshipped, revered
and conserved. There is direct dependence of
human beings on nature for resources which
sustain them. The physical environment for such
societies becomes the “Mother Nature”.
The people begin to understand their
environment and the forces of nature with the
passage of time. With social and cultural
development, humans develop better and more
efficient technology. They move from a state of
necessity to a state of freedom. They create
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possibilities with the resources obtained from
the environment. The human activities create
cultural landscape. The imprints of human
activities are created everywhere; health resorts
on highlands, huge urban sprawls, fields,
orchards and pastures in plains and rolling
hills, ports on the coasts, oceanic routes on the
oceanic surface and satellites in the space. The
earlier scholars termed this as possibilism.
Nature provides opportunities and human
being make use of these and slowly nature gets
humanised and starts bearing the imprints of
human endeavour.
Humanisation of Nature
Winters in the town of Trondheim mean fierce
winds and heavy snow. The skies are dark
for months. Kari drives to work in the dark at
8 am. She has special tyres for the winter
and keeps the headlights of her powerful car
switched on. Her office is artificially heated
at a comfortable 23 degrees Celsius. The
campus of the university she works in is built
under a huge glass dome. This dome keeps
the snow out in winter and lets in the sunshine
in the summer. The temperature is controlled
carefully and there is adequate lighting. Even
though fresh vegetables and plants don’t grow
in such harsh weather, Kari keeps an orchid
on her desk and enjoys eating tropical fruits
like banana and kiwi. These are flown in from
warmer areas regularly. With a click of the
mouse, Kari can network with colleagues in
New Delhi. She frequently takes a morning
flight to London and returns in the evening in
time to watch her favourite television serial.
Though Kari is fifty-eight years old, she is
fitter and looks younger than many thirty-
year- olds in other parts of the world.
Human Geography: Nature and Scope 3
 Can you imagine what has made such a
life style possible? It is technology that has
allowed the people of Trondheim and others to
overcome the constraints imposed by nature. Do
you know about some other such instances?
Such examples are not difficult to find.
A geographer, Griffith Taylor introduced
another concept which reflects a middle path
(Madhyam Marg) between the two ideas of
environmental determinism and possibilism.
He termed it as Neodeterminism or stop and
go determinism. Those of you who live in cities
and those who have visited a city, might have
seen that traffic is regulated by lights on the
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cross-roads. Red light means ‘stop’, amber light
provides a gap between red and green lights ‘to
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get set’ and green light means ‘go’. The concept
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shows that neither is there a situation of
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absolute necessity (environmental determinism)
nor is there a condition of absolute freedom
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(possibilism). It means that human beings can
conquer nature by obeying it. They have to
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respond to the red signals and can proceed in
their pursuits of development when nature
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permits the modifications. It means that
possibilities can be created within the limits
which do not damage the environment and there
is no free run without accidents. The free run
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which the developed economies attempted to
take has already resulted in the green house
effect, ozone layer depletion, global warming,
receding glaciers and degrading lands. The
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neo-determinism conceptually attempts to
bring a balance nullifying the ‘either’ ‘or’
dichotomy.
Human Geography through
the Corridors of Time
The process of adaptation, adjustment with and
modification of the environment started with the
appearance of human beings over the surface
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of the earth in different ecological niches. Thus,
if we imagine the beginning of human
geography with the interaction of environment
and human beings, it has its roots deep in
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history. Thus, the concerns of human
geography have a long temporal continuum
though the approaches to articulate them have
changed over time. This dynamism in
4 Fundamentals of Human Geography
approaches and thrusts shows the vibrant
nature of the discipline. Earlier there was little
interaction between different societies and the
knowledge about each other was limited.
Travellers and explorers used to disseminate
information about the areas of their visits.
Navigational skills were not developed and
voyages were fraught with dangers. The late
fifteenth century witnessed attempts of
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explorations in Europe and slowly the myths
and mysteries about countries and people
started to open up. The colonial period provided
impetus to further explorations in order to
access the resources of the regions and to obtain
inventorised information. The intention here is
not to present an in-depth historical account
but to make you aware of the processes of steady
development of human geography. The
summarised Table 1.1 will introduce you to the
broad stages and the thrust of human
geography as a sub-field of geography.
• Welfare or humanistic school of thought
in human geography was mainly concerned
with the different aspects of social well-being
of the people. These included aspects such
as housing, health and education.
Geographers have already introduced a
paper as Geography of Social well-being in
the Post Graduate curriculum’.
• Radical school of thought employed
Marxian theory to explain the basic cause
of poverty, deprivation and social inequality.
Contemporary social problems were related
to the development of capitalism.
• Behavioural school of thought laid great
emphasis on lived experience and also on
the perception of space by social categories
based on ethnicity, race and religion, etc.
Fields and Sub-fields of Human Geography
Human geography, as you have seen, attempts
to explain the relationship between all elements
of human life and the space they occur over.
Thus, human geography assumes a highly
inter-disciplinary nature. It develops close
 Table 1.1: Broad Stages and Thrust of Human Geography

Period Approaches Broad Features

Early Colonial Exploration and Imperial and trade interests prompted the discovery and
period description exploration of new areas. An encyclopaedic description of
the area formed an important aspect of the geographer’s
account.

Later Colonial Regional analysis Elaborate description of all aspects of a region were

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period undertaken. The idea was that all the regions were part of
a whole, i.e. (the earth); so, understanding the parts in
totality would lead to an understanding of the whole.

1930s through the Areal differentiation The focus was on identifying the uniqueness of any region

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inter-War period and understanding how and why it was different from

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others.

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Late 1950s to the Spatial organisation Marked by the use of computers and sophisticated
late 1960s re R statistical tools. Laws of physics were often applied to
map and analyse human phenomena. This phase was

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called the quantitative revolution. The main objective was
to identify mappable patterns for different human
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activities.

1970s Emergence of Discontentment with the quantitative revolution and its

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humanistic, radical dehumanised manner of doing geography led to the

and behavioural emergence of three new schools of thought of human
schools geography in the 1970s. Human geography was made more
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relevant to the socio-political reality by the emergence of

these schools of thought. Consult the box below to know
a little bit more about these schools of thought.

1990s Post-modernism in The grand generalisations and the applicability of universal

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geography theories to explain the human conditions were questioned.

The importance of understanding each local context in
its own right was emphasised.

interface with other sister disciplines in social
sciences in order to understand and explain
human elements on the surface of the earth.
With the expansion of knowledge, new sub-
fields emerge and it has also happened to
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expanding realm of human geography. The
boundaries between sub-fields often overlap.
What follows in this book in the form of
chapters will provide you a fairly widespread
coverage of different aspects of human

human geography. Let us examine these fields geography. The exercises, the activities and the
and sub-fields of Human Geography (Table 1.2). case studies will provide you with some
You would have noticed that the list is empirical instances so as to have a better
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large and comprehensive. It reflects the understanding of its subject matter.

Human Geography: Nature and Scope 5

 Table 1.2: Human Geography and Sister Disciplines of Social Sciences

Fields of Sub-fields Interface with Sister

Human Disciplines of Social Sciences
Geography
Social — Social Sciences – Sociology
Geography Behavioural Geography Psychology
Geography of Social Welfare Economics
Well-being

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Geography of Leisure Sociology
Cultural Geography Anthropology
Gender Geography Sociology, Anthropology, Women’s Studies
Historical Geography History
Medical Geography Epidemology

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Urban — Urban Studies and Planning

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Geography

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Political — Political Science
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Geography Electoral Geography Psephology

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Military Geography Military Science
Population — Demography
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Geography
Settlement — Urban/Rural Planning
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Geography
Economic — Economics
Geography Geography of Resources Resource Economics
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Geography of Agriculture Agricultural Sciences

Geography of Industries Industrial Economics
Geography of Marketing Business Studies, Economics, Commerce
Geography of Tourism Tourism and Travel Management
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Geography of International International Trade

Trade
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EXERCISES
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1. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.
(i) Which one of the following statements does not describe geography?
(a) an integrative discipline
(b) study of the inter-r elationship between humans and environment

6 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 (c) subjected to dualism
(d) not relevant in the present time due to the development of technology.
(ii) Which one of the following is not a source of geographical information?
(a) traveller’s accounts
(b) old maps
(c) samples of rock materials from the moon
(d) ancient epics
(iii) Which one of the following is the most important factor in the interaction
between people and environment?

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(a) human intelligence (c) technology
(b) people’s perception (d) human brotherhood
(iv) Which one of the following is not an approach in human geography?
(a) Areal differentiation (c) Quantitative revolution

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(b) Spatial organisation (d) Exploration and description

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2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.

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(i) Define human geography.
(ii) Name some sub-fields of human geography.
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(iii) How is human geography related to other social sciences?

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3. Answer the following questions in not more than 150 words.
(i) Explain naturalisation of humans.
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(ii) Write a note on the scope of human geography.
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Human Geography: Nature and Scope 7

 The people of a country are its real wealth. It
Unit-II is they who make use of the country’s resources
Chapter-2 and decide its policies. Ultimately a country is
known by its people.
It is important to know how many women
and men a country has, how many children are
born each year, how many people die and how?
Whether they live in cities or villages, can they
read or write and what work do they do? These
are what you will study about in this unit.

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The world at the beginning of 21st century
recorded the presence of over 6 billion
population. We shall discuss the patterns of
their distribution and density here.

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Why do people prefer to live in certain
The World Population

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regions and not in others?

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The population of the world is unevenly
Distribution, Density and
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Growth
distributed. The remark of George B. Cressey
about the population of Asia that “Asia has many

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places where people are few and few place where
people are very many” is true about the pattern
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of population distribution of the world also.

PATTERNS OF POPULATION
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DISTRIBUTION IN THE WORLD

Patterns of population distribution and density
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help us to understand the demographic

characteristics of any area. The term population
distribution refers to the way people are spaced
over the earth’s surface. Broadly, 90 per cent of
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the world population lives in about 10 per cent

of its land area.
The 10 most populous countries of the
world contribute about 60 per cent of the world’s
population. Of these 10 countries, 6 are located
in Asia. Identify these six countries of Asia.

Japan
Not gold but only (Wo)men can make
Russian Fed.
a people great and strong. Nigeria
Bangladesh
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(Wo)men who for truth and

Countries

Pakistan
honour’s sake, stand fast and suffer Brazil
long (Wo)men who toil while others Indonesia
U.S.A.
sleep – who dare while others flee –
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India
they build a nation’s pillars deep and China

lift it to the sky. 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600
Population in Million
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Fig. 2.1: Most Populous Countries
DENSITY OF POPUL
POPULAATION
Each unit of land has limited capacity to
support people living on it. Hence, it is
necessary to understand the ratio between the
numbers of people to the size of land. This ratio
is the density of population. It is usually
measured in persons per sq km
Population
Density of Population =
on every sq km. These are the North -Eastern
part of U.S.A., North-Western part of Europe,
South, South-East and East Asia.
Other areas like those near the North and
South Poles, the hot and the cold deserts and
high rainfall zones near the Equator have very
low density of population. These are the
sparsely populated regions of the world with
less than 01 person per sq km.
In between these two types are the areas

Area
For example, area of Region X is 100 sq
km and the population is 1,50,000 persons.
The density of population is calculated as:
1,50,000
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of medium density. There are 11 to 50 persons
per sq km in these areas. Western China,
Southern India in Asia, Norway, Sweden in
Europe are some examples. Look at the Fig. 2.2

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Density = and identify some other areas.
100

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= 1,500 person/sq km FACTORS INFLUENCING THE

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What does this tell you about Region X?
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Look at the map given below:
Do you observe that some areas are really I. Geographical Factors

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crowded? These are the densely populated (i) Availability of water: It is the most
parts of the world with more than 200 persons
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important factor for life. So, people prefer
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Fig. 2.2: World Density of Population, 2001

The World Population: Distribution, Density and Growth 9

 to live in areas where fresh water is easily
available. Water is used for drinking,
bathing and cooking – and also for cattle,
crops, industries and navigation. It is
because of this that river valleys are among
the most densely populated areas of the
world.
(ii) Landforms: People prefer living on flat
plains and gentle slopes. This is because
such areas are favourable for the
production of crops and to build roads and
industries. The mountainous and hilly
areas hinder the development of transport
network and hence initially do not favour
agricultural and industrial development.
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So, these areas tend to be less populated.
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The Ganga plains are among the most
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densely populated areas of the world while
the mountains zones in the Himalayas are
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scarcely populated.
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(iii) Climate: An extreme climate such as very
hot or cold deserts are uncomfortable for
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human habitation. Areas with a
comfortable climate, where there is not
much seasonal variation attract more
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people. Areas with very heavy rainfall or
extreme and harsh climates have low
population. Mediterranean regions were
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inhabited from early periods in history due
to their pleasant climate.
(iv) Soils: Fertile soils are important for
agricultural and allied activities. Therefore,
areas which have fertile loamy soils have
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more people living on them as these can
support intensive agriculture. Can you
name some areas in India which are thinly
populated due to poor soils?
II. Economic Factors
(i) Minerals: Areas with mineral deposits
attract industries. Mining and industrial
activities generate employment. So, skilled
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and semi–skilled workers move to these
areas and make them densely populated.
Katanga Zambia copper belt in Africa is
one such good example.
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(ii) Urbanisation: Cities offer better
employment opportunities, educational
and medical facilities, better means of
transport and communication. Good civic
10 Fundamentals of Human Geography
amenities and the attraction of city life draw
people to the cities. It leads to rural to
urban migration and cities grow in size.
Mega cities of the world continue to attract
large number of migrants every year.
Yet city life can be very taxing…. think
of some of the unpleasant aspects of city
life.
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(iii) Industrialisation: Industrial belts provide
job opportunities and attract large
numbers of people. These include not just
factory workers but also transport
operators, shopkeepers, bank employees,
doctors, teachers and other service
providers. The Kobe-Osaka region of
Japan is thickly populated because of the
presence of a number of industries.
III. Social and Cultural Factors
Some places attract more people because they
have religious or cultural significance. In the
same way – people tend to move away from
places where there is social and political
unrest. Many a times governments offer
incentives to people to live in sparsely
populated areas or move away from
overcrowded places. Can you think of some
examples from your region?
POPULATION GROWTH
The population growth or population change
refers to the change in number of inhabitants of
a territory during a specific period of time. This
change may be positive as well as negative. It
can be expressed either in terms of absolute
numbers or in terms of percentage. Population
change in an area is an important indicator of
economic development, social upliftment and
historical and cultural background of the region.
Some Basic Concepts of
Population Geography
Growth of Population : Change of
population in particular area between two
points of time is known as growth of
 population. For example, if we deduct the
population of India 2001 (102.70 crore) from
population of 2011 (121.02 crore) then we
shall get the growth of population (18.15
crores) in actual numbers.
Growth Rate of Population : This is the
change of population expressed in
percentage.
Natural Growth of Population: This is the
population increased by difference between
births and deaths in a particular region
between two points of time.
Natural Growth = Births – Deaths
Actual Growth of Population : This is
h
Births – Deaths + In Migration – Out
pu T
Migration
is
Positive Growth of Population: This
re R
happens when the birth rate is more than
the death rate between two points of time
bl
or when people from other countries migrate
E
permanently to a region.
Negative Growth of Population: If the
population decreases between two points
be C
of time it is known as negative growth of
population. It occurs when the birth rate falls
below the death rate or people migrate to
other countries.
o N
Components of Population Change
©
There are three components of population
change – births, deaths and migration.
The crude birth rate (CBR) is expressed as
number of live births in a year per thousand of
population. It is calculated as:
Bi
CBR = ¥1000
P
Here, CBR = Crude Birth Rate; Bi = live
births during the year; P=Mid year population
tt
of the area.
Death rate plays an active role in
population change. Population growth occurs
not only by increasing births rate but also due
no
to decreasing death rate. Crude Death Rate
(CDR) is a simple method of measuring
mortality of any area. CDR is expressed in terms
of number of deaths in a particular year per
The World Population: Distribution, Density and Growth
thousand of population in a particular region.
CDR is calculated as:
D
CDR = ¥ 1000
P
Here, CDR=Crude Death Rate; D= Number
of deaths; P=Estimated mid-year population of
that year.
By and large mortality rates are affected
ed
by the region’s demographic structure, social
advancement and levels of its economic
development.
Migration
Apart from birth and death there is another way
by which the population size changes.
When people move from one place to
another, the place they move from is called the
Place of Origin and the place they move to is
called the Place of Destination. The place of
origin shows a decrease in population while the
population increases in the place of destination.
Migration may be interpreted as a spontaneous
effort to achieve a better balance between
population and resources.
Migration may be permanent, temporary
or seasonal. It may take place from rural to
rural areas, rural to urban areas, urban to
urban areas and urban to rural areas.
Do you realise that the same person is both
an immigrant and an emigrant?
Immigration: Migrants who move into a new
place are called Immigrants.
Emigration: Migrants who move out of a
place are called Emigrants.
Can you think of reasons why people
migrate?
People migrate for a better economic and
social life. There are two sets of factors that
influence migration.
The Push factors make the place of origin
seem less attractive for reasons like
unemployment, poor living conditions, political
turmoil, unpleasant climate, natural disasters,
epidemics and socio-economic backwardness.
The Pull factors make the place of
destination seem more attractive than the place
11
 h ed
pu T
is
Observe the news items and think of some reasons why certain countries become attractive destinations for migrants.
re R
Migration to cities are traditionally age and sex selective i.e. more men of working age groups move to cities.

bl
Can you think of some reason why 22 per cent of migrants to Mumbai are kids?
E
of origin for reasons like better job opportunities grew very slowly. It is only during the last few
and living conditions, peace and stability, hundred years that population has increased
security of life and property and pleasant climate.
be C

at an alarming rate.
Fig. 2.3 tells the story of population
TRENDS IN POPULATION GROWTH growth. After the evolution and introduction
o N

The population on the earth is more than six of agriculture about 8,000 to 12,000 years
billion. It has grown to this size over centuries. ago, the size of population was small – roughly
In the early periods population of the world 8 million. In the first century A.D. it was below
tt ©
no

Fig. 2.3: Resource, Technology and Population Growth

12 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 Table 2.1: Doubling Time of World Population

Period Population Time in which

Population Doubles
10,000 B.C. 5 million
1650 A.D. 500 million 1,500 years
1804 A.D. 1,000 million 154 years
1927 A.D. 2,000 million 123 years
1974 A.D. 4,000 million 47 years
2025 A.D. 8,000 million projected figure 51 years

ed
Source: Demographic Year Book, 2009 –10

300 million. The expanding world trade during to 6 billion. See the Table 2.1 carefully which
the sixteenth and seventeenth century, set the shows that doubling time of world population
stage for rapid population growth. Around is reducing fast.

h
1750, at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, There is a great variation among regions

pu T
the world population was 550 million. World in doubling their population. Table 2.2 shows

is
population exploded in the eighteenth century that developed countries are taking more time
after the Industrial Revolution. Technological
re R
advancement achieved so far helped in the
to double their population as compared to
developing countries. Most of the population

bl
reduction of birth rate and provided a stage for
growth is taking place in the developing world,
accelerated population growth.
where population is exploding. Why is this so?
E
How Science and Technology Table 2.2: Population Growth Rates (%) 1995-2000
be C

helped Population Growth? High Low

The steam engine replaced human and Yemen 2.6 Latvia –1.5
animal energy and also provided Liberia* 8.2 Estonia –1.1
o N

mechanised energy of water and wind. This Somalia* 4.2 Russia, Ukraine –0.6
increased agricultural and industrial Saudi Arabia* 3.4 Albania, Bulgaria
production. Oman* 3.3 Croatia
Slovania, Czech Republic
Inoculation against epidemics and other Germany, Portugal –0.1
©

communicable diseases, improvement in Spain, Italy

medical facilities and sanitation contributed Denmark 0
to a rapid decline in death rates throughout * Data pertaining to 1995-2000
the world. Source: Demographic Year Book, 2009–10.

SPATIAL PATTERN OF POPULATION CHANGE

Population growth in different parts of the world
Human population increased more than ten times in can be compared. The growth of population is
the past 500 hundred years. low in developed countries as compared to
developing countries. There is negative
tt

In the twentieth century itself the population has correlation between economic development and
increased four times. population growth.
Although the annual rate of population
DOUBLING TIME OF WORLD POPULATION
no

change (1.4 per cent) seems to be low (Table

2.3), it is actually not so. This is because:
It took more than a million years for the human • When a small annual rate is applied to a
population to attain the one billion mark. But very large population, it will lead to a large
it took only 12 years for it to rise from 5 billion population change.

The World Population: Distribution, Density and Growth 13

 h ed
pu T
is
re R
bl
E
be C

Fig. 2.4: Population Doubling Time

o N

• Even if the growth rate continues to decline,
the total population grows each year. The
infant mortality rate may have increased
as has the death rate during childbirth.
©
beyond a certain level leads to problems. Of
these the depletion of resources is the most
serious. Population decline is also a matter of
concern. It indicates that resources that had
supported a population earlier are now

Table 2.3: Growth of Population 2004-05 over 1990-95 insufficient to maintain the population.
Growth Rate
The deadly HIV/AIDS epidemics in Africa and
some parts of the Commonwealth of Independent
Region 1990-95 2004-05
States (CIS) and Asia have pushed up death rates
World 1.6 1.4 and reduced average life expectancy. This has
Africa 2.4 2.6 slowed down population growth.
Europe 0.2 0.0
North & Central America 1.4 1.1
South America 1.7 1.4
Population Growth Rate
tt

Asia 1.6 1.4

Oceania 1.5 1.3 The annual population growth rate in India
(Australia, New Zealand and Fiji)
is 1.64 per cent. Some developed countries
Source: Demographic Year Book, 2009–2010. will take 318 years to double their population
no

whereas some countries still do not show

IMPACT OF POPULATION CHANGE symptoms of doubling their population.
A small increase in population is desirable in a
growing economy. However, population growth

14 Fundamentals of Human Geography

DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION
Demographic transition theory can be used to
describe and predict the future population of
any area. The theory tells us that population of
any region changes from high births and high
deaths to low births and low deaths as society
progresses from rural agrarian and illiterate to
urban industrial and literate society. These
changes occur in stages which are collectively
engaged in agriculture where large families are
an asset. Life expectancy is low, people are
mostly illiterate and have low levels of
technology. Two hundred years ago all the
countries of the world were in this stage.
Fertility remains high in the beginning of
second stage but it declines with time. This is
accompanied by reduced mortality rate.
Improvements in sanitation and health

known as the demographic cycle.
Rural, Demographic Urban,
Agrarian Transition Industrial
ed
conditions lead to decline in mortality. Because
of this gap the net addition to population is
high.
In the last stage, both fertility and mortality
decline considerably. The population is either

h
stable or grows slowly. The population becomes
urbanised, literate and has high technical know-

pu T
The Fig. 2.5 explains the three-staged how and deliberately controls the family size.

is
model of Demographic Transition Theory:
re R This shows that human beings are
extremely flexible and are able to adjust their
fertility.

bl
High Fluctuating
Stage Stage Stage
In the present day, different countries are
at different stages of demographic transition.
E
I II III
Expanding
BR
35
POPULATION CONTROL MEASURES
CBR/CDR

be C

Natural
Increase in Low Fluctuating
Family planning is the spacing or preventing
Population
the birth of children. Access to family planning
DR services is a significant factor in limiting
o N

15
population growth and improving women’s
health. Propaganda, free availability of
Bangladesh Peru Sri Lanka Canada contraceptives and tax disincentives for large
Present Rainforest Kenya Japan
World tribes USA families are some of the measures which can
©

examples Time help population control.

Fig. 2.5: Demographic Transition Theory
The first stage has high fertility and high
mortality because people reproduce more to
compensate for the deaths due to epidemics
and variable food supply. The population
growth is slow and most of the people are
tt
no
Thomas Malthus in his theory (1793)
stated that the number of people would
increase faster than the food supply. Any
further increase would result in a population
crash caused by famine, disease and war. The
preventive checks are better than the physical
checks. For the sustainability of our resources,
the world will have to control the rapid
population increase

The World Population: Distribution, Density and Growth 15

 EXERCISES
1. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.

ed
(i) Which one of the following continents has the highest growth of
population?
(a) Africa (c) Asia
(b) South America (d) North America
(ii) Which one of the following is not an area of sparse population?
(a) The Atacama (c) Equatorial region

h
(b) South-east Asia (d) Polar regions

pu T
(iii) Which one of the following is not a push factor ?
(a) Water shortage (c) Unemployment

is
re R (b) Medical/educational facilities (d) Epidemics
(iv) Which one of the following is not a fact ?
(a) Human population increased more than ten times during the past

bl
500 years.
(b) It took 100 years for the population to rise from 5 billion to 6 billion.
E
(c) Population growth is high in the first stage of demographic transition?
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) Name three geographical factors that influence the distribution of
be C

population.
(ii) There are a number of areas with high population density in the world.
Why does this happen?
o N

(iii) What are the three components of population change?

3. Distinguish between:
(i) Birth rate and death rate.
(ii) Push factors and pull factors of migration.
©

4. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.

(i) Discuss the factors influencing the distribution and density of population
in the world.
(ii) Discuss the three stages of demographic transition.

Map Skill
On the outline map of the world, show and name the following.
(i) Countries of Europe and Asia with negative growth rate of population.
(ii) African countries with growth rate of population more than three per
cent. (You may r efer to Appendix 1).
tt

Project/Activity
(i) Has someone in your family migrated? Write about her/his place of
no

destination. What made her/him migrate?

(ii) Write a brief report on the distribution and density of population in
your state.

16 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 People of any country are diverse in many
Unit-II respects. Each person is unique in her/his own
Chapter-3 way. People can be distinguished by their age,
sex and their place of residence. Some of the
other distinguishing attributes of the population
are occupation, education and life expectancy.

SEX COMPOSITION
The number of women and men in a country is

ed
an important demographic characteristic. The
ratio between the number of women and men in
the population is called the Sex Ratio. In some
countries it is calculated by using the formula:

h
Male Population
× 1000
Population

pu T
Female Population

is
or the number of males per thousand

Composition females.
re R
bl
In India, the sex ratio is worked out using the
formula:
E
Female Population
× 1000
Male Population
be C

or the number of females per thousand males.

The sex ratio is an important information

o N

about the status of women in a country.

In regions where gender discrimination is
rampant, the sex ratio is bound to be
unfavourable to women. Such areas are those
where the practice of female foeticide, female
©

infanticide and domestic violence against women

are prevalent. One of the reasons could be lower
socio-economic status of women in these areas.
You must remember that more women in the
population does not mean they have a better
status. It could be that the men might have
migrated to other areas for employment.

Natural Advantage v/s

tt

Social Disadvantage
Females have a biological advantage over
males as they tend to be more resilient than
no

males yet this advantage is cancelled out

by the social disadvantages and
discriminations that they face.
 On an average, the world population Expanding Populations
reflects a sex ratio of 102 males per 100 females.
The age-sex pyramid of Nigeria as you can see
The highest sex ratio in the world has been
is a triangular shaped pyramid with a wide
recorded in Latvia where there are 85 males per
base and is typical of less developed countries.
100 females. In contrast, in Qatar there are 311
These have larger populations in lower age
males per 100 females.
groups due to high birth rates. If you construct
The world pattern of sex ratio does not
the pyramids for Bangladesh and Mexico, it
exhibit variations in the developed regions of
would look the same.
the world. The sex ratio is favourable for females

ed
in 139 countries of the world and unfavourable
Nigeria
for them in the remaining 72 countries listed
by the United Nations.
In general, Asia has a low sex ratio.
Countries like China, India, Saudi Arabia,

h
Pakistan, Afghanistan have a lower sex ratio.
On the other extreme is greater part of

pu T
Europe (including Russia) where males are in

is
minority. A deficit of males in the populations
re R
of many European countries is attributed to
better status of women, and an excessively

bl
male-dominated out-migration to different
parts of the world in the past.
E
Per cent
Age Structure Source: Demographic Year Book, 2009-10
be C

Age structure represents the number of people Fig. 3.1: Expanding Population
of different age groups. This is an important
indicator of population composition, since a Constant Population
o N

large size of population in the age group of 15-

59 indicates a large working population. A
greater proportion of population above 60 years
represents an ageing population which requires
more expenditure on health care facilities.
©
Australia’s age-sex pyramid is bell shaped and
tapered towards the top. This shows birth and
death rates are almost equal leading to a near
constant population.

Similarly high proportion of young population

would mean that the region has a high birth
rate and the population is youthful.

Age-Sex Pyramid
The age-sex structure of a population refers
to the number of females and males in
different age groups. A population pyramid
is used to show the age-sex structure of the
tt

population.
The shape of the population pyramid
reflects the characteristics of the population.
The left side shows the percentage of males while
no

the right side shows the percentage of women

Per cent
in each age group.
Fig. 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3 show different types Source: Demographic Year Book, 2009-10
of population pyramids. Fig. 3.2: Constant Population

18 Fundamentals of Human Geography

Declining Populations
The Japan pyramid has a narrow base and a
tapered top showing low birth and death rates.
The population growth in developed countries
is usually zero or negative.
h
pu T
is
re R
Source: Demographic Year Book, 2009-10
bl
E
Fig. 3.3: Declining Population
be C
Draw a population pyramid of the children in your school
and describe its characteristics.
o N
Ageing Population
Population ageing is the process by which
©
the share of the older population becomes
proportionally larger. This is a new
phenomenon of the twentieth century. In most
of the developed countries of the world,
population in higher age groups has increased
due to increased life expectancy. With a
reduction in birth rates, the proportion of
children in the population has declined.
RURAL URBAN COMPOSITION
tt
The division of population into rural and urban
is based on the residence. This division is
necessary because rural and urban life styles
no
differ from each other in terms of their livelihood
and social conditions. The age-sex-occupational
structure, density of population and level of
development vary between rural and urban areas.
The criteria for differentiating rural and
urban population varies from country to country.
In general terms rural areas are those where
people are engaged in primary activities and urban
areas are those when majority of the working
population is engaged in non-primary activities.
Fig. 3.4 shows rural urban sex composition
of selected countries. The rural and urban
differences in sex ratio in Canada and West
ed
European countries like Finland are just the
opposite of those in African and Asian countries
like Zimbabwe and Nepal respectively. In
Western countries, males outnumber females
in rural areas and females outnumber the males
in urban areas. In countries like Nepal, Pakistan
and India the case is reverse. The excess of
females in urban areas of U.S.A., Canada and
Europe is the result of influx of females from
rural areas to avail of the vast job opportunities.
Farming in these developed countries is also
highly mechanised and remains largely a male
occupation. By contrast the sex ratio in Asian
urban areas remains male dominated due to
the predominance of male migration. It is also
worth noting that in countries like India, female
participation in farming activity in rural area is
fairly high. Shortage of housing, high cost of
living, paucity of job opportunities and lack of
security in cities, discourage women to migrate
from rural to urban areas.
Literacy
Proportion of literate population of a country
in an indicator of its socio-economic
development as it reveals the standard of living,
social status of females, availability of
educational facilities and policies of
government. Level of economic development is
both a cause and consequence of literacy. In
India – literacy rate denotes the percentage of
population above 7 years of age, who is able to
read, write and have the ability to do arithmetic
calculations with understanding.
Occupational Structure
The working population (i.e. women and men
of the age group – 15 to 59) take part in various
occupations ranging from agriculture, forestry,
Population Composition 19
 1200
1085 1063 1071 1060 1049
1027 1009
965 937 989 951
1000 900
Females per 1000 Males

800
Urban
600
Rural
400

ed
200

0
Zimbabwe Canada* Brazil Nepal * Finland New

h
Zealand

pu T
* 2006 Data Country

is
Sour ce: Demographic Year Book, 2011
re R Fig. 3.4: Rural Urban Sex Composition, 2003 (Selected Countries)

bl
fishing, manufacturing construction, sectors is a good indicator of the levels of
economic development of a nation. This is
E
commercial transport, services, communication
and other unclassified services. because only a developed economy with
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and mining industries and infrastructure can
be C

are classified as primary activities accommodate more workers in the secondary,

manufacturing as secondary, transport, tertiary and quaternary sector. If the economy
communication and other services as tertiary is still in the primitive stages, then the
proportion of people engaged in primary
o N

and the jobs related to research and developing

ideas as quaternary activities. The proportion activities world be high as it involves extraction
of working population engaged in these four of natural resources.
©

EXERCISES
1. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.
tt

(i) Which one of the following has caused the sex ratio of the United Arab
Emirates to be low?
(a) Selective migration of male working population
(b) High birth rate of males
no

(c) Low birth rate of females

(d) High out migration of females

20 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 (ii) Which one of the following figures represents the working age group of the
population?
(a) 15 to 65 years (c) 15 to 66 years
(b) 15 to 64 years (d) 15 to 59 years
(iii) Which one of the following countries has the highest sex ratio in the world?
(a) Latvia (c) Japan
(b) United Arab Emirates (d) France
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) What do you understand by population composition?

ed
(ii) What is the significance of age-structure?
(iii) How is sex-ratio measured?
3. Answer the following questions in not more than 150 words.
(i) Describe the rural-urban composition of the population.

h
(ii) Discuss the factors responsible for imbalances in the sex-age found in

pu T
different parts of the world and occupational structure.

is
re R Project/Activity
Construct an age-sex pyramid for your district/state.

bl
E
be C
o N
©
tt
no

Population Composition 21
 The people are very important component of a
Unit I country. India is the second most populous
Chapter 1 country after China in the world with its total
population of 1,028 million (2001). India’s
population is larger than the total population
of North America, South America and Australia
put together. More often, it is argued that such
a large population invariably puts pressure
on its limited resources and is also responsible
for many socio-economic problems in the
country.

How do you perceive the idea of India? Is

POPULATION it simply a territory? Does this signify an
amalgam of people? Is it a territory
Distribution, Density, Growth inhabited by people living under certain
institutions of governance?
and Composition
In this chapter, we will discuss the
patterns of distribution, density, growth and
composition of India’s population.

Sources of Population Data

Population data are collected through
Census operation held every 10 years in our
country. The first population Census in India
was conducted in 1872 but its first complete
Census was conducted only in 1881.

Distribution of P
Distribution opula
Population
opulation
Examine Fig. 1.1 and try to describe the
patterns of spatial distribution of population
shown on it. It is clear that India has a highly
uneven pattern of population distribution. The
percentage shares of population of the states
and Union Territories in the country (Appendix –
iA) show that Uttar Pradesh has the highest
population followed by Maharashtra, Bihar and
West Bengal.

Looking at the data in Appendix (i) and iA arrange the

Indian states and union territories according to their
sizes and population and find out :

2015-16
 Fig. 1.1 : India – Distribution of Population

2 India : People and Economy

2015-16
States/UTs of large size and large population
States/UTs of large size but small population
States/UTs of smaller size but larger population
Check from the table (Appendix–iA) that U.P.,
Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, Andhra
Pradesh along with Tamil Nadu, Madhya
Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Gujarat,
together account for about 76 per cent of the
total population of the country. On the other
hand, share of population is very small in the
states like Jammu & Kashmir (1.04%),
Arunachal Pradesh (0.11%) and Uttarakhand
(0.84%) inspite of theses states having fairly
large geographical area.
Such an uneven spatial distribution of
population in India suggests a close relationship
between population and physical, socio-
economic and historical factors. As far as the
physical factors are concerned, it is clear that
climate along with terrain and availability of
water largely determines the pattern of the
population distribution. Consequently, we
observe that the North Indian Plains, deltas and
Coastal Plains have higher proportion of
population than the interior districts of southern
and central Indian States, Himalayas, some of
the north eastern and the western states.
However, development of irrigation (Rajasthan),
availability of mineral and energy resources
(Jharkhand) and development of transport
network (Peninsular States) have resulted in
moderate to high concentration of population
in areas which were previously very thinly
populated.
Among the socio-economic and historical
factors of distribution of population, important
ones are evolution of settled agriculture and
agricultural development; pattern of human
settlement; development of transport network,
industrialisation and urbanisation. It is
observed that the regions falling in the river
plains and coastal areas of India have remained
the regions of larger population concentration.
Even though the uses of natural resources like
land and water in these regions have shown
the sign of degradation, the concentration of
population remains high because of an early
Population: Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition
history of human settlement and development
of transport network. On the other hand, the
urban regions of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata,
Bangalore, Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai and
Jaipur have high concentration of population
due to industrial development and
urbanisation drawing a large numbers of
rural-urban migrants.
Density of P opula
Popula tion
opulation
Density of population, is expressed as number
of persons per unit area. It helps in getting a
better understanding of the spatial distribution
of population in relation to land. The density of
population in India (2011) is 382 persons per
sq km. There has been a steady increase of more
than 200 persons per sq km over the last 50
years as the density of population increased
from 117 persons/ sq km in 1951 to 382
persons/sq km in 2011.
The data shown in Appendix (i)A give an
idea of spatial variation of population densities
in the country which ranges from as low as 17
persons per sq km in Arunachal Pradesh to
11,320 persons in the National Capital Territory
of Delhi. Among the northern Indian States,
Bihar (1106), West Bengal (1028) and and Uttar
Pradesh (829) have higher densities, while
Kerala (860) and Tamil Nadu (555) have higher
densities among the peninsular Indian states.
States like Assam, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh,
Haryana, Jharkhand, Odisha have moderate
densities. The hill states of the Himalayan region
and North eastern states of India (excluding
Assam) have relatively low densities while the
Union Territories (excluding Andaman and
Nicobar islands) have very high densities of
population (Appendix–iA).
The density of population, as discussed
in the earlier paragraph, is a crude measure
of human and land relationship. To get a better
insight into the human-land ratio in terms of
pressure of population on total cultivable land,
the physiological and the agricultural densities
should be found out which are significant for
a country like India having a large agricultural
population.
3
2015-16
 Fig. 1.2 : India – Density of Population
Activity: Construct a choropleth map to represent Density of population in India-2011 based on data given in
Appendix– iA and compare that with the above map.

4 India : People and Economy

2015-16

Physiological density = total population /
net cultivated area
Agricultural density = total agricultural
population / net cultivable area
Agricultural population includes cultivators
and agricultural labourers and their family
members.
assessing the crude birth and death rates, the
induced components are explained by the
volume of inward and outward movement of
people in any given area. However, in the
present chapter, we will only discuss the
natural growth of India’s population.
The decadal and annual growth rates of
population in India are both very high and
steadily increasing over time. The annual
growth rate of India’s population is 1.64 per
cent (2011).

With the help of data given in Appendix (ii), Calculate Population Doubling Time
the Physiological and Agricultural densities of
Population doubling time is the time taken
population of Indian States and Union Territories.
by any population to double itself at its
Compare them with density of population and see how
current annual growth rate.
are these different?

G rrowth
owth of P opula
Popula tion
opulation
Growth of population is the change in the
number of people living in a particular area
between two points of time. Its rate is expressed
in percentage. Population growth has two
components namely; natural and induced.
While the natural growth is analysed by
The growth rate of population in India over
the last one century has been caused by annual
birth rate and death rate and rate of migration
and thereby shows different trends. There are
four distinct phases of growth identified within
this period:

Table 1.1 : Decadal Growth Rates in India, 1901-2001

Census Total Population Growth Rate*

Years Absolute Number % of Growth

1901 238396327 ------------ ------------

1911 252093390 (+) 13697063 (+) 5.75
1921 251321213 (-) 772117 (-) 0.31
1931 278977238 (+) 27656025 (+) 11.60
1941 318660580 (+) 39683342 (+) 14.22
1951 361088090 (+) 42420485 (+) 13.31
1961 439234771 (+) 77682873 (+) 21.51
1971 548159652 (+) 108924881 (+) 24.80
1981 683329097 (+) 135169445 (+) 24.66
1991 846302688 (+) 162973591 (+) 23.85
2001 1028610328 (+) 182307640 (+) 21.54
2011** 1210193422 (+) 181583094 (+) 17.64
p2 -p1
* Decadal growth rate: g = ×100
p2
where P1 = population of the base year
P2 = population of the present year
** Source : Census of India, 2011(Provisional)

Population: Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition 5

2015-16
 Fig. 1.3 : India – Growth of Population
Activity: Construct a choropleth map to represent Growth of population in India (2001-2011) based on data given in
Appendix– iA and compare it with the above map.

6 India : People and Economy

2015-16
Phase I : The period from 1901-1921 is
referred to as a period of stagnant
or stationary phase of growth of
India’s population, since in this
period growth rate was very low,
even recording a negative growth
rate during 1911-1921. Both the
birth rate and death rate were high
keeping the rate of increase low
(Appendix–iii). Poor health and
medical services, illiteracy of people
at large and inefficient distribution
system of food and other basic
necessities were largely responsible
for a high birth and death rates in
this period.
Phase II : The decades 1921-1951 are
referred to as the period of steady
population growth. An overall
improvement in health and
sanitation throughout the country
brought down the mortality rate. At
the same time better transport and
communication system improved
distribution system. The crude
birth rate remained high in this
period leading to higher growth rate
than the previous phase. This is
impressive at the backdrop of Great
Economic Depression, 1920s and
World War II.
Phase III : The decades 1951-1981 are
referred to as the period of
population explosion in India,
which was caused by a rapid fall
in the mortality rate but a high
fertility rate of population in the
country. The average annual
growth rate was as high as 2.2 per
cent. It is in this period, after the
Independence, that developmental
activities were introduced through
a centralised planning process and
economy started showing up
ensuring the improvement of living
condition of people at large.
Consequently, there was a high
natural increase and higher growth
rate. Besides, increased
international migration bringing in
Population: Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition
Tibetans, Bangladeshis, Nepalies
and even people from Pakistan
contributed to the high growth rate.
Phase IV : In the post 1981 till present, the
growth rate of country’s population
though remained high, has started
slowing down gradually (Table 1.1).
A downward trend of crude birth
rate is held responsible for such a
population growth. This was, in
turn, affected by an increase in the
mean age at marriage, improved
quality of life particularly education
of females in the country.
The growth rate of population is, however,
still high in the country, and it has been
projected by World Development Report that
population of India will touch 1,350 million by
2025.
The analysis done so far shows the average
growth rate, but the country also has wide
variation (Appendix–iv) in growth rates from one
area to another which is discussed below.
R e gional Varia
Varia tion in
ariation
Popula tion Gr
opulation owth
Growth
The growth rate of population during 1991-
2001 in Indian States and Union Territories
shows very obvious pattern.
The States like Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil
Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Puducherry,
and Goa show a low rate of growth not exceeding
20 per cent over the decade. Kerala registered
the lowest growth rate (9.4) not only in this group
of states but also in the country as a whole.
A continuous belt of states from west to
east in the north-west, north, and north central
parts of the country has relatively high growth
rate than the southern states. It is in this belt
comprising Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan,
Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand,
Madhya Pradesh, Sikkim, Assam, West Bengal,
Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand, the growth
rate on the average remained 20-25 per cent.
During 2001-2011, the growth rates of
almost all States and Union Territories have
registered a lower figure compared to the
previous decade, namely, 1991-2001. The
percentage decadal growth rates of the six most
populous States, namely, Uttar Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Bihar, West Bengal, Andhra
7
2015-16
Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have all fallen
during 2001-2011 compared to 1991-2001,
the fall being the lowest for Andhra Pradesh
(3.5% percentage points) and highest for
Maharashtra (6.7 percentage points). Tamil
Nadu (3.9 percentage points) and Puducherry
(7.1 percentage points) have registered some
increase during 2001-2011 over the previous
decade.
With the help of data given in Appendix i and iA, compare
the growth rate of population of different States/UTs
between 1990-2001 and 2001-2011.
Take the population growth data of the districts/selected
districts of your respective state for total male and female
population and represent them with the help of
Composite Bar Graph.
An important aspect of population growth
in India is the growth of its adolescents. At
present the share of adolescents i.e., up to the
age group of 10-19 years is about 20.9 per cent
(201 1), among which male adolescents
constitute 52.7 per cent and female adolescents
constitute 47.3 per cent. The adolescent
population, though, regarded as the youthful
population having high potentials, but at the
same time they are quite vulnerable if not guided
and channelised properly. There are many
challenges for the society as far as these
adolescents are concerned, some of which are
lower age at marriage, illiteracy – particularly
female illiteracy, school dropouts, low intake of
nutrients, high rate of maternal mortality of
adolescent mothers, high rates of HIV/AIDS
infections, physical and mental disability or
retardedness, drug abuse and alcoholism, juvenile
delinquency and commitence of crimes, etc.
In view of these, the Government of India
has undertaken certain policies to impart
proper education to the adolescent groups so
that their talents are better channelised and
properly utilised. The National Youth Policy is
one example which has been designed to look
8 India : People and Economy
into the overall development of our large youth
and adolescent population.
The National Youth Policy of Government
of India, launched in 2003, stresses on an all-
round improvement of the youth and
adolescents enabling them to shoulder
responsibility towards constructive
development of the country. It also aims at
reinforcing the qualities of patriotism and
responsible citizenship.
The thrust of this policy is youth
empowerment in terms of their effective
participation in decision making and carrying
the responsibility of an able leader. Special
emphasis was given in empowering women and
girl child to bring parity in the male-female
status. Moreover, deliberate efforts were made
to look into youth health, sports and recreation,
creativity and awareness about new innovations
in the spheres of science and technology.
It appears from the above discussion that
the growth rate of population is widely variant
over space and time in the country and also
highlights various social problems related to the
growth of population. However, in order to have
a better insight into the growth pattern of
population it is also necessary to look into the
social composition of population.
Population Composition
opulation
Population composition is a distinct field of
study within population geography with a vast
coverage of analysis of age and sex, place of
residence, ethnic characteristics, tribes,
language, religion, marital status, literacy and
education, occupational characteristics, etc. In
this section, the composition of Indian
population with respect to their rural-urban
characteristics, language, religion and pattern
of occupation will be discussed.
Rural – Urban Composition
Composition of population by their respective
places of residence is an important indicator of
social and economic characteristics. This becomes
even more significant for a country where about
68.8 per cent of its total population lives in village
(2011).
2015-16

Compare the data given in Appendix (iv) and iv A
calculate the percentages of rural population of the
states in India and represent them cartographically on
a map of India.
Do you know that India has 640,867
villages according to the Census 2011 out of
which 597,608 (93.2 per cent) are inhabited
villages? However, the distribution of rural
population is not uniform throughout the
country. You might have noted that the states
like Bihar and Sikkim have very high
percentage of rural population. The states of
Goa and Maharashtra have only little over half
of their total population residing in villages.
The Union Territories, on the other hand,
have smaller proportion of rural population,
except Dadra and Nagar Haveli (53.38 per cent).
The size of villages also varies considerably. It
is less than 200 persons in the hill states of
north-eastern India, Western Rajasthan and
Rann of Kuchchh and as high as 17 thousand
persons in the states of Kerala and in parts of
Maharashtra. A thorough examination of the
pattern of distribution of rural population of
India reveals that both at intra-State and inter-
State levels, the relative degree of urbanisation
and extent of rural-urban migration regulate
the concentration of rural population.
You have noted that contrary to rural
population, the proportion of urban population
(31.16 per cent) in India is quite low but it is
showing a much faster rate of growth over the
decades. The growth rate of urban population
has accelerated due to enhanced economic
development and improvement in health and
hygienic conditions.
The distribution of urban population too,
as in the case of total population, has a wide
variation throughout the country (Appendix–iv).
Compare the data of Appendix (iv) and iv A and identify
the states/UTs with very high and very low proportion of
urban population.
It is, however, noticed that in almost all
the states and Union Territories, there has been
Population: Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition
a considerable increase of urban population.
This indicates both development of urban areas
in terms of socio-economic conditions and an
increased rate of rural-urban migration. The
rural-urban migration is conspicuous in the
case of urban areas along the main road links
and railroads in the North Indian Plains, the
industrial areas around Kolkata, Mumbai,
Bengaluru – Mysuru, Madurai – Coimbatore,
Ahmedabad – Surat, Delhi – Kanpur and
Ludhiana – Jalandhar. In the agriculturally
stagnant parts of the middle and lower Ganga
Plains, Telengana, non-irrigated Western
Rajasthan, remote hilly, tribal areas of north-
east, along the flood prone areas of Peninsular
India and along eastern part of Madhya
Pradesh, the degree of urbanisation has
remained low.
Linguistic Composition
India is a land of linguistic diversity. According
to Grierson (Linguistic Survey of India, 1903 –
1928) there were 179 languages and as many
as 544 dialects in the country. In the context of
modern India, there are about 22 scheduled
languages and a number of non-scheduled
languages. See how many languages appear
on a ten Rs note. Among the scheduled
languages, the speakers of Hindi have the
highest percentage. The smallest language
groups are Kashmiri and Sanskrit speakers.
However, it is noticed that the linguistic regions
in the country do not maintain a sharp and
distinct boundary, rather they gradually merge
and overlap in their respective border zones.
Linguistic Classification
The speakers of major Indian languages
belong to four language families, which have
their sub-families and branches or groups.
This can be better understood from Table 1.2.
Religious Composition
Religion is one of the most dominant forces
affecting the cultural and political life of the most
of Indians. Since religion virtually permeates
into almost all the aspects of people’s family and
community lives, it is important to study the
religious composition in detail.
9
2015-16
 Table 1.2 : Classification of Modern Indian Languages

Family Sub-Family Branch/Group Speech Areas

Austro-Asiatic Mon-Khmer Meghalaya, Nicobar Islands

Austric
(Nishada) Munda West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Assam,
1.38% Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra
Austro- Nesian Outside India

South-Dravidian Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala

Dravidian Central Dravidian Andhra Pradesh, M.P., Orissa,

(Dravida) Maharashtra
20% North Dravidian Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal,
Madhya Pradesh

Tibeto – Myanmari Tibeto-Himalayan Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh,

Sikkim
Sino-Tibetan
(Kirata) North Assam Arunachal Pradesh
0.85%
Siamese-Chinese Assam- Myanmari Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram,
Tripura, Meghalaya

Indo-Aryan Iranian Outside India

Indo – Dardic Jammu & Kashmir
European
(Aryan) 73% Indo-Aryan Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Himachal
Pradesh, U.P., Rajasthan, Haryana, M.P.,
Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal, Assam,
Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa.
Source : Ahmed, A. (1999) : Social Geography, Rawat Publication, New Delhi

Table 1.3 : Religious Communities of India, 2001

Look at Table 1.2 and prepare a pie diagram of linguistic Religious 2001
composition of India showing the sectoral shares of
Groups Population % of Total
each linguistic group. (in million)

Or Hindus 827.6 80.5

Muslims 138.2 13.5
Prepare a qualitative symbol map of India showing the Christians 24.1 2.3
distribution of different linguistic groups in the country.
Sikhs 19.2 1.9
The spatial distribution of religious
Buddhists 8.0 0.9
communities in the country (Appendix–v) shows
that there are certain states and districts having Jains 4.2 0.4
large numerical strength of one religion, while Others 6.6 0.6
the same may be very negligibly represented in
other states.
Hindus are distributed as a major group in Muslims, the largest religious minority, are
many states (ranging from 70 - 90 per cent and concentrated in Jammu & Kashmir, certain
above) except the districts of states along Indo- districts of West Bengal and Kerala, many
Bangladesh border, Indo-Pak border, Jammu & districts of Uttar Pradesh , in and around Delhi
Kashmir, Hill States of North-East and in scattered and in Lakshadweep. They form majority in
areas of Deccan Plateau and Ganga Plain. Kashmir valley and Lakshadweep.

10 India : People and Economy

2015-16

Religion and Landscape
Formal expression of religions on
landscape is manifested through sacred
structures, use of cemetries and
assemblages of plants and animals, groves
of trees for religious purposes. Sacred
structures are widely distributed throughout
the country. These may range from
inconspicuous village shrines to large Hindu
temples, monumental masjids or ornately
designed cathedrals in large metropolitan
cities. These temples, masjids, gurudwaras,
monastries and churches differ in size,
form, space – use and density, while
attributing a special dimension to the total
landscape of the area.
The Christian population is distributed
mostly in rural areas of the country. The main
concentration is observed along the Western
coast around Goa, Kerala and also in the hill
states of Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland,
Chotanagpur area and Hills of Manipur.
Sikhs are mostly concentrated in relatively
small area of the country, particularly in the
states of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi.
Jains and Buddhists, the smallest religious
groups in India have their concentration only
in selected areas of the country. Jains have
major concentration in the urban areas of
Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra, while the
Buddhists are concentrated mostly in
Maharashtra. The other areas of Buddhist
majority are Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh,
Ladakh in Jammu & Kashmir, Tripura, and
Lahul and Spiti in Himachal Pradesh.
The other religions of India include
Zoroastrians, tribal and other indigenous faiths
and beliefs. These groups are concentrated in
small pockets scattered throughout the country.
Composition of Working Population
The population of India according to their
economic status is divided into three groups,
namely; main workers, marginal workers and
non-workers.
It is observed that in India, the proportion
of workers (both main and marginal) is only 39.8
Population: Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition
Standard Census Definition
Main Worker is a person who works for
atleast 183 days ( or six months) in a year.
Marginal Worker is a person who works for
less than 183 days ( or six months) in a year.
per cent (2011) leaving a vast majority of about
60 per cent as non-workers. This indicates an
economic status in which there is a larger
proportion of dependent population, further
indicating possible existence of large number of
unemployed or under employed people.
What is work participation rate?
The proportion of working population, of
the states and Union Territories show a
moderate variation from about 39.6 per cent in
Goa to about 49.9 per cent in Daman and Diu.
The states with larger percentages of workers
are Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Chhattisgarh,
Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Arunachal
Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Meghalaya.
Among the Union Territories, Dadra and Nagar
Haveli and Daman and Diu have higher
participation rate. It is understood that, in the
context of a country like India, the work
participation rate tends to be higher in the areas
of lower levels of economic development since
number of manual workers are needed to
perform the subsistence or near subsistence
economic activities.
The occupational composition (see box)
of India’s population (which actually means
engagement of an individual in farming,
manufacturing trade, services or any kind of
professional activities) shows a large proportion
of primary sector workers compared to
secondary and tertiary sectors. About 54.6 per
cent of total working population are cultivators
and agricultural labourers, whereas only 3.8%
of workers are engaged in household industries
and 41.6 % are other workers including non-
household industries, trade, commerce,
construction and repair and other services. As
far as the occupation of country’s male and
female population is concerned, male workers
out-number female workers in all the three
sectors (Fig.1.4 and Table 1.4).
11
2015-16
 Fig. 1.4 : India – Occupational Structure, 2011

Identify some issues in which

India is ahead of or lagging
behind its neighbours.

12 India : People and Economy

2015-16
 The number of female workers is relatively
Occupational Categories high in primary sector, though in recent years
The 2001 Census has divided the working there has been some improvement in work
population of India into four major categories: participation of women in secondary and
tertiary sectors.
1. Cultivators It is important to note that the proportion
2. Agricultural Labourers of workers in agricultural sector in India has
3. Household Industrial Workers shown a decline over the last few decades (58.2%
4. Other Workers. in 2001 to 54.6% in 2011). Consequently, the
participation rate in secondary and tertiary sector
has registered an increase. This indicates a shift
of dependence of workers from farm-
Table 1.4 : Sectoral Composition of work force in India, 2011 based occupations to non-farm
based ones, indicating a sectoral shift
Categories Population in the economy of the country.
The spatial variation of work
Persons % to Male Female participation rate in different sectors
total
Workers
in the country (Appendix–v and vA)
is very wide. For instance, the states
Primary 26,30,22,473 54.6 16,54,47,075 9,75,75,398 like Himachal Pradesh and Nagaland
have very large shares of cultivators.
Secondary 1,83,36,307 3.8 97,75,635 85,60,672
On the other hand states like Bihar,
Tertiary 20,03,84,531 41.6 15,66,43,220 4,37,41,311 Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,
Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal
and Madhya Pradesh have higher proportion of
agricultural labourers. The highly urbanised
areas like Delhi, Chandigarh and Puducherry
have a very large proportion of workers being
Prepare composite bar graphs, one for India and the engaged in other services. This indicates not only
other for your respective states showing the proportion availability of limited farming land, but also large
of male and female workers in agriculture, household scale urbanisation and industrialisation
industries and other sectors, and compare. requiring more workers in non-farm sectors.

EXERCISES

1. Choose the right answers of the followings from the given options.
(i) India’s population as per 2011 census is :
(a) 1028 million (c) 3287 million
(b) 3182 million (d) 1210 million

Population: Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition 13

2015-16
 (ii) Which one of the following states has the highest density of population in
India?
(a) West Bengal (c) Uttar Pradesh
(b) Kerala (d) Punjab
(iii) Which one of the following states has the highest proportion of urban
population in India according to 2011 Census?
(a) Tamil Nadu (c) Kerala
(b) Maharashtra (d) Goa
(iv) Which one of the following is the largest linguistic group of India?
(a) Sino – Tibetan (c) Austric
(b) Indo – Aryan (d) Dravidian
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) Very hot and dry and very cold and wet regions of India have low density
of population. In this light, explain the role of climate on the distribution
of population.
(ii) Which states have large rural population in India? Give one reason for
such large rural population.
(iii) Why do some states of India have higher rates of work participation than
others?
(iv) ‘The agricultural sector has the largest share of Indian workers.’ – Explain.
3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.
(i) Discuss the spatial pattern of density of population in India.
(ii) Give an account of the occupational structure of India’s population.

14 India : People and Economy

2015-16
 Ram Babu, working as an engineer in Bhilai
Unit I Steel Plant, Chhattisgarh, was born in a small
Chapter 2 village of district Bhojpur, Bihar. At an early
age of twelve he moved to a nearby town Ara to
complete his intermediate level studies. He went
to Sindri, Jharkhand for his engineering degree
and he got a job at Bhilai, where he is living for
the last 31 years. His parents were illiterate and
the only source of their livelihood was meagre
income from agriculture. They spent their whole
life in that village.

d
Ram Babu has three children who got their

e
education up to the intermediate level at Bhilai
and then moved to different places for higher
MIGRATION

h
education. First one studied at Allahabad and
Mumbai and is presently working in Delhi as a

T s
Types, Causes and scientist. The second child got her higher

i
education from different universities in India

l
Consequences

R
and is now working in USA. The third one after
finishing her education settled at Surat after

E b
marriage.
This is not a story of only Ram Babu and

C u
his children but such movements are

p
increasingly becoming universal trend. People
have been moving from one village to another,

N re
from villages to towns, from smaller towns to
bigger towns and from one country to another.
In your Book Fundamentals of Human

© e
Geography you have already learnt about the
concept and definition of migration. Migration
has been an integral part and a very important

b
factor in redistributing population over time
and space. India has witnessed the waves of

o
migrants coming to the country from Central

t
and West Asia and also from Southeast Asia.
In fact, the history of India is a history of waves
of migrants coming and settling one after

t
another in different parts of the country. In the

o
words of a renowned poet Firaque Gorakhpuri;

n
SAR ZAMIN-E-HIND PAR AQWAM-E-ALAM KE
FIRAQUE
CARVAN BASTE GAYE, HINDOSTAN BANTA
GAYA

(The carvans of people from all parts of the

world kept on coming and settling in India and
led to the formation of India.)
Similarly, large numbers of people from
India too have been migrating to places in search
of better opportunities specially to the countries
of the Middle-East, Western Europe, America,
Australia and East and South East Asia.
Indian Diaspora
During colonial period (British period)
millions of the indentured labourers were
sent to Mauritius, Caribbean islands
(Trinidad, Tobago and Guyana), Fiji and
South Africa by British from Uttar Pradesh
Migration
You are familiar with Census in India. It contains
information about migration in the country.
Actually migration was recorded beginning
from the first Census of India conducted in
1881. This data were recorded on the basis of
place of birth. However, the first major
modification was introduced in 1961 Census
by bringing in two additional components viz;
place of birth i.e. village or town and duration

d
and Bihar; to Reunion Island, Guadeloupe, of residence (if born elsewhere). Further in
1971, additional information on place of last

e
Martinique and Surinam by French and
Dutch and by Portuguese from Goa, Daman residence and duration of stay at the place of
enumeration were incorporated. Information on

h
and Diu to Angola, Mozambique to work as
plantation workers. All such migrations were reasons for migration were incorporated in

T s
covered under the time-bound contract 1981 Census and modified in consecutive

i
known as Girmit Act (Indian Emigration Act). Censuses.

R l
However, the living conditions of these In the Census the following questions are
indentured labourers were not better than asked on migration :

b
the slaves. • Is the person born in this village or

E
The second wave of migrants ventured out into town? If no, then further information

u
the neighbouring countries in recent times as is taken on rural/urban status of the

C
professionals, artisans, traders and factory place of birth, name of district and state

p
workers, in search of economic opportunities and if outside India then name of the

N re
to Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, country of birth.
Brunei and African countries, etc. and the • Has the person come to this village or
trend still continues. There was a steady town from elsewhere? If yes, then

© e
outflow of India’s semi-skilled and skilled labour further questions are asked about the
in the wake of the oil boom in West Asia in
status (rural/urban) of previous place
the 1970s. There was also some outflow of
of residence, name of district and state

b
entrepreneurs, storeowners, professionals,
and if outside India then name of the
businessmen to Western Countries.
country.
Third wave, of migrant was comprised
In addition, reasons for migration from the

o
professionals like doctors, engineers (1960s
place of last residence and duration of residence

t
onwards), software engineers, management
consultants, financial experts, media
in place of enumeration are also asked.
In the Census of India migration is

t
persons (1980s onwards), and others
migrated to countries such as USA, Canada, enumerated on two bases : (i) place of birth, if
the place of birth is different from the place of

o
UK, Australia, New Zealand and Germany,
etc. These professional enjoy the distinction enumeration (known as life-time migrant);
(ii) place of residence, if the place of last

n
of being one of highly educated, the highest
earning and prospering groups. After
liberalisation, in the 90s education and
knowledge–based Indian emigration has
made Indian Diaspora one of the most
powerful diasporas in the world.
In all these countries, Indian diaspora has
been playing an important role in the
development of the respective countries.
residence is different from the place of
enumeration (known as migrant by place of last
residence). Can you imagine the proportion of
migrants in the population of India? As per
2001 census, out of 1,029 million people in the
country, 307 million (30 per cent) were reported
as migrants by place of birth. However, this
figure was 315 million (31 per cent) in case of
place of last residence.

16 India : People and Economy


Conduct a survey of five households in your
neighbourhood to find out their migration status. If
migrants, classify these on the basis of the two criteria
mentioned in the text.
Streams of Migration
A few facts pertaining to the internal
migration (within the country) and
The distribution of male and female
migrants in different streams of intra-state and
inter-state migration is presented in
Fig. 2.1 a and 2.1 b. It is clearly evident that
females predominate the streams of short
distance rural to rural migration in both types
of migration. Contrary to this, men predominate
the rural to urban stream of inter-state
migration due to economic reasons.
Apart from these streams of internal
migration, India also experiences immigration

d
international migration (out of the country from and emigration to the neighbouring

e
and into the country from other countries) countries. Table 2.1 presents the details of
are presented here. Under the internal migrants from neighbouring countries. Indian

T s h
R li
E u b
C
N re p
Fig. 2.1 a : Intra State Migration by Place of
Last Residence Indicating Migration Streams
(Duration 0-9 years), India, 2001
Fig. 2.1 b : Inter State Migration by Place of
Last Residence Indicating Migration Streams
(Duration 0-9 years), India, 2001

© e
Source: Census of India, 2001

b
Examine Fig. 2.1 a and 2.1 b showing intra-state and inter-state migration in India according to the Census 2001
and find out:

t o
(i) Why are the numbers of females migrating from rural to rural areas in both the diagrams higher?

t
(ii) Why is the male migration higher from rural to urban?

o
migration, four streams are identified: (a) Census 2001 has recorded that more than 5
rural to rural (R-R); (b) rural to urban (R-U); million person have migrated to India from

n
(c) urban to urban (U-U); and (d) urban to
rural (U-R). In India, during 2001, out of
315 million migrants, enumerated on the
basis of the last residence, 98 million had
changed their place of residence in the last
ten years. Out of these, 81 million were intra-
state migrants. The stream was dominated
by female migrants. Most of these were
migrants related to marriage.
other countries. Out of these, 96 per cent came
from the neighbouring countries: Bangladesh
(3.0 million) followed by Pakistan (0.9 million)
and Nepal (0.5 million). Included in this are 0.16
million refugees from T ibet, Sri Lanka,
Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and
Myanmar. As far as emigration from India is
concerned it is estimated that there are around
20 million people of Indian Diaspora, spread
across 110 countries.

Migration: Types, Causes and Consequences 17

 Table 2.1 : Immigrants by last residence
from neighbouring countries by all
Represent the data given in Table 2.1 by pie diagrams duration in India, 2001
assuming the migration from neighbouring countries Countries% No of % of
(4,918,266 persons as 100 per cent). immigrants total
immigrants
Spatial Variation in Migration Total international
Some states like Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat and migration 5,155,423 100
Haryana attract migrants from other states such Migration from
as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, etc. (see Appendix–vii for neighbouring
detail). Maharashtra occupied first place in the

d
countries 4,918,266 95.5
list with 2.3 million net in-migrants, followed by Afghanistan 9,194 0.2

e
Delhi, Gujarat and Haryana. On the other hand, Bangladesh 3,084,826 59.8
Uttar Pradesh (-2.6 million) and Bihar

h
Bhutan 8,337 0.2
(-1.7 million) were the states, which had the largest
number of net out-migrants from the state. China 23,721 0.5

T s
Among the urban agglomeration (UA), Myanmar 49,086 1.0

li
Greater Mumbai received the higher number of Nepal 596,696 11.6

R
in migrants. Intra-states migration constituted Pakistan 997,106 19.3

b
the largest share in it. These differences are Sri Lanka 149,300 2.9

E
largely due to the size of the state in which these

u
Urban Agglomeration are located. Source : Census of India, 2001

C
N re p
© e
b From the given news

o
items try to identify

t
the political and
economic causes of
migration.

o t
n
18 India : People and Economy

Statewise in-migration and out-migration data are given
in Appendix (vii). Calculate net migration for all the states
of India.
Causes of Migration
People, generally are emotionally attached to
their place of birth. But millions of people leave
their places of birth and residence. There could
be variety of reasons. These reasons can be put
into two broad categories : (i) push factor, these
cause people to leave their place of residence or
origin; and (ii) pull factors, which attract the
people from different places.
In India people migrate from rural to urban
areas mainly due to poverty, high population
pressure on the land, lack of basic infrastructural
facilities like health care, education, etc. Apart
from these factors, natural disasters such as,
flood, drought, cyclonic storms, earthquake,

e d
T s h
R li
E u b
C
N re p
© e
b
t o
o t
n
The four stories describe different situations of migrants.

Enumerate the push and pull factors for Aarif?

What are the pull factors for Mohan Singh?

Study the story of Subbalakshmi and Manish Gawarkar. Compare their cases on the basis of types of
migration, causes of migration and their living conditions.

Migration: Types, Causes and Consequences 19

tsunami, wars and local conflicts also give extra
push to migrate. On the other hand, there are
pull factors which attract people from rural areas
to cities. The most important pull factor for
majority of the rural migrants to urban areas is
the better opportunities, availability of regular
work and relatively higher wages. Better
opportunities for education, better health
facilities and sources of entertainment, etc. are
also quite important pull factors.
Examine the reasons for migration for
from their international migrants. The amount
of remittances sent by the internal migrants is
very meagre as compared to international
migrants, but it plays an important role in the
growth of economy of the source area.
Remittances are mainly used for food,
repayment of debts, treatment, marriages,
children’s education, agricultural inputs,
construction of houses, etc. For thousands of
the poor villages of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa,
Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, etc.

d
males and females separately in Fig. 2.2. On remittance works as life blood for their economy.
the basis of the figures, it can be seen that Migration from rural areas of Eastern Uttar

e
reason for migration of males and females are Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa
different. For example, work and employment to the rural areas of Punjab, Haryana, Western

h
have remained the main cause for male Uttar Pradesh accounted for the success of their

T s
migration (38 per cent) while it is only three per green revolution strategy for agricultural

i
cent for the females. Contrary to this, about 65 development. Besides this, unregulated

l
per cent of females move out from their parental migration to the metropolitan cities of India has

R
houses following their marriage. This is the caused overcrowding. Development of slums in

b
most important cause in the rural areas of India industrially developed states such as

E
except in Meghalaya where reverse is the case. Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu

u
and Delhi is a negative consequence of

C
unregulated migration within the country.

N re
in Meghalaya different?
p
Why is the female marriage migration law
Can you name some other positive and
negative consequences of migration?

© e
In comparison to these marriage migration
of the male, is only 2 per cent in the country.
Demographic Consequences

b
Consequences of Migration Migration leads to the redistribution of the
Migration is a response to the uneven population within a country. Rural urban
migration is one of the important factors

o
distribution of opportunities over space. People
contributing to the population growth of cities.

t
tend to move from place of low opportunity and
low safety to the place of higher opportunity Age and skill selective out migration from the
and better safety. This, in turn, creates both rural area have adverse effect on the rural

t
benefits and problems for the areas, people demographic structure. However, high out
migration from Uttaranchal, Rajasthan,

o
migrate from and migrate to. Consequences can
be observed in economic, social, cultural, Madhya Pradesh and Eastern Maharashtra
have brought serious imbalances in age and

n
political and demographic terms.
Economic Consequences
A major benefit for the source region is the
remittance sent by migrants. Remittances from
the international migrants are one of the major
sources of foreign exchange. In 2002, India
received US$ 11 billion as remittances from
international migrants. Punjab, Kerala and
Tamil Nadu receive very significant amount
sex composition in these states. Similar
imbalances are also brought in the recipients
states. What is the cause of imbalance in sex
ratio in the place of origin and destination of
the migrants?
Social Consequences
Migrants act as agents of social change. The
new ideas related to new technologies, family

20 India : People and Economy

 e d
T s h
R li
Fig. 2.2 a : Reasons for Male Migration by Last Fig. 2.2 b : Reasons for Female Migration by last

b
Residence with Duration (0-9 years), India, 2001 Residence with Duration (0-9 years), India, 2001

E u
planning, girl’s education, etc. get diffused from pollution, disposal of sewage and management

C
urban to rural areas through them. of solid wastes.

p
Migration leads to intermixing of people

N re
from diverse cultures. It has positive
contribution such as evolution of composite
culture and breaking through the narrow
considerations and widens up the mental
Others
Migration (even excluding the marriage
migration) affects the status of women directly

© e
horizon of the people at large. But it also has
serious negative consequences such as
or indirectly. In the rural areas, male selective
out migration leaving their wives behind puts
extra physical as well mental pressure on the

b
anonimity, which creates social vacuum and
sense of dejection among individuals.
Continued feeling of dejection may motivate
women. Migration of ‘women’ either for
education or employment enhances their
autonomy and role in the economy but also

o
people to fall in the trap of anti-social activities increases their vulnerability.

t
like crime and drug abuse.
If remittances are the major benefits of
migration from the point of view of the source

t
Environmental Consequences
region, the loss of human resources
Overcrowding of people due to rural-urban particularly highly skilled people is the most

o
migration has put pressure on the existing serious cost. The market for advanced skills
social and physical infrastructure in the urban has become truly a global market and the

n
areas. This ultimately leads to unplanned
growth of urban settlement and formation of
slums shanty colonies.
Apart from this, due to over-exploitation
of natural resources, cities are facing the acute
problem of depletion of ground water, air
most dynamic industrial economies are
admitting and recruiting significant
proportions of the highly trained professionals
from poor regions. Consequently, the existing
underdevelopment in the source region gets
reinforced.

Migration: Types, Causes and Consequences 21

 EXERCISES
1 . Choose the right answers of the following from the given options.
(i) Which one of the following is the main reason for male migration in India?
(a) Education (c) Work and employment

d
(b) Business (d) Marriage

e
(ii) Which one of the following states receives maximum number of
immigrants?

h
(a) Uttar Pradesh (c) Maharashtra

T s
(b) Delhi (d) Bihar

i
(iii) Which one of the following streams is dominated by male migrants in

R l
India?
(a) Rural-rural (c) Rural-urban

E b
(b) Urban-rural (d) Urban-Urban
(iv) Which one of the following urban agglomeration has the highest share of

C u
in migrant population?

p
(a) Mumbai UA (c) Bangalore UA

N re
(b) Delhi UA (d) Chennai UA
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) Differentiate between life-time migrant and migrant by last residence.

© e
(ii) Identify the main reason for male/female selective migration.
(iii) What is the impact of rural-urban migration on the age and sex structure
of the place of origin and destination?

b
3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.
(i) Discuss the consequences of international migration in India.

o
(ii) What are the socio demographic consequences of migration?

t t
no
22 India : People and Economy
 The words ‘growth’ and ‘development’ are not
Unit-II new to you. Look around you, almost everything
Chapter-4 that you can see (and many that you cannot)
grows and develops. These may be plants, cities,
ideas, nations, relationships or even you
yourself! What does this mean?

Do growth and development mean

ed
the same thing?
Do they accompany each other?

This chapter discusses the concept of

human development as it pertains to nations
and communities.

h
Human Development

pu T
GRO WTH AND DEVEL
GROWTH OPMENT
DEVELOPMENT

is
Both growth and development refer to changes
re R over a period of time. The difference is that
growth is quantitative and value neutral. It may

bl
have a positive or a negative sign. This means
E
that the change may be either positive (showing
an increase) or negative (indicating a decrease).
Development means a qualitative change
be C
which is always value positive. This means that
development cannot take place unless there is
an increment or addition to the existing
o N

conditions. Development occurs when positive

growth takes place. Yet, positive growth does
not always lead to development. Development
occurs when there is a positive change in
quality.
©

For example, if the population of a city

grows from one lakh to two lakhs over a period
of time, we say the city has grown. However, if a
facilities like housing, provision of basic services
and other characteristics remain the same, then
this growth has not been accompanied by
development.
Can you think of a few more examples to
differentiate between growth and development?
tt

Write a short essay or draw a set of pictures illustrating

no

growth without development and growth with

development.
For many decades, a country’s level of
development was measured only in terms of its
 Band Aceh, June, 2004 Band Aceh, December, 2004

ed
Do you know that cities can also grow negatively? Look at the photographs of this tsunami
affected city. Are natural disasters the only reasons for negative growth in a city’s size?

h
economic growth. This meant that the bigger The concept of human development was

pu T
the economy of the country, the more developed introduced by Dr Mahbub-ul-Haq. Dr Haq has

is
it was considered, even though this growth did described human development as development
not really mean much change in the lives of most that enlarges people’s choices and improves
people. re R their lives. People are central to all development

bl
The idea that the quality of life people enjoy
in a country, the opportunities they have and
E
freedoms they enjoy, are important aspects of
development, is not new.
These ideas were clearly spelt out for the
be C
first time in the late eighties and early nineties.
The works of two South Asian economists,
Mahbub-ul-Haq and Amartya Sen are
o N
under this concept. These choices are not fixed
but keep on changing. The basic goal of
development is to create conditions where
people can live meaningful lives.
A meaningful life is not just a long one. It
must be a life with some purpose. This means
that people must be healthy, be able to develop
their talents, participate in society and be free

important in this regard. to achieve their goals.

©

Dr Mahbub-ul-Haq and Prof Amartya Sen were close friends and have worked together under the leadership of Dr
Haq to bring out the initial Human Development Reports. Both these South Asian economists have been able to
provide an alternative view of development.

A man of vision and compassion, Pakistani economist Dr Mahbub-ul-Haq created the Human Development
Index in 1990. According to him, development is all about enlarging people’s choices in order to lead long,
healthy lives with dignity. The United Nations Development Programme has used his concept of human development
to publish the Human Development Report annually since 1990.

Dr Haq’s flexibility of mind and ability to think out of the box can be illustrated from one of his speeches where
he quoted Shaw saying, “‘You see things that are, and ask why? I dream of things that never were, and ask why
tt

not?’

Nobel Laureate Prof Amartya Sen saw an increase in freedom (or decrease in unfreedom) as the main objective
no

of development. Interestingly, increasing freedoms is also one of the most effective ways of bringing about
development. His work explores the role of social and political institutions and processes in increasing freedom.

The works of these economists are path breaking and have succeeded in bringing people to the centre of any
discussion on development.

Human Development 23
 What is a Meaningful Life?

h ed
pu T
is
re R
bl
E
be C
o N

Which of these lives is a meaningful life?

tt ©
no

Who do you think leads more meaningful life? What makes one of these more meaningful than the other?

24 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 Leading a long and healthy life, being able
to gain knowledge and having enough means
to be able to live a decent life are the most
important aspects of human development.
Therefore, access to resources, health and
education are the key areas in human
development. Suitable indicators have been
developed to measure each of these aspects. Can
you think of some?
Very often, people do not have the
capability and freedom to make even basic
choices. This may be due to their inability to
acquire knowledge, their material poverty,
social discrimination, inefficiency of institutions
h
and other reasons. This prevents them from
pu T
leading healthy lives, being able to get educated
or to have the means to live a decent life.
is
Building people’s capabilities in the areas
re R
of health, education and access to resources is
therefore, important in enlarging their choices.
bl
If people do not have capabilities in these areas,
E
their choices also get limited.
For example, an uneducated child cannot
make the choice to be a doctor because her
be C
choice has got limited by her lack of education.
Similarly, very often poor people cannot choose
to take medical treatment for disease because
o N
their choice is limited by their lack of resources.
©
Enact a five-minute play with your classmates showing
how choices are limited due to lack of capability in the
areas of either income, education or health.
THE FOUR PILLARS OF HUMAN
DEVELOPMENT
DEVELOPMENT
Just as any building is supported by pillars,
the idea of human development is supported
by the concepts of equity, sustainability,
tt
productivity and empowerment.
Equity refers to making equal access to
opportunities available to everybody. The
opportunities available to people must be equal
no
irrespective of their gender, race, income and
in the Indian case, caste. Yet this is very often
not the case and happens in almost every
society.
For example, in any country, it is interesting
to see which group the most of the school
dropouts belong to. This should then lead to an
understanding of the reasons for such behaviour.
In India, a large number of women and persons
belonging to socially and economically
backward groups drop out of school. This shows
how the choices of these groups get limited by
not having access to knowledge.
Sustainability means continuity in the
ed
availability of opportunities. To have
sustainable human development, each
generation must have the same opportunities.
All environmental, financial and human
resources must be used keeping in mind the
future. Misuse of any of these resources will
lead to fewer opportunities for future
generations.
A good example is about the importance
of sending girls to school. If a community does
not stress the importance of sending its girl
children to school, many opportunities will be
lost to these young women when they grow up.
Their career choices will be severely curtailed
and this would affect other aspects of their lives.
So each generation must ensure the availability
of choices and opportunities to its future
generations.
Productivity here means human labour
productivity or productivity in terms of human
work. Such productivity must be constantly
enriched by building capabilities in people.
Ultimately, it is people who are the real wealth
of nations. Therefore, efforts to increase their
knowledge, or provide better health facilities
ultimately leads to better work efficiency.
Empowerment means to have the power
to make choices. Such power comes from
increasing freedom and capability. Good
governance and people-oriented policies are
required to empower people. The empowerment
of socially and economically disadvantaged
groups is of special importance.
Talk to the vegetable vendor in your neighbourhood and
find out if she has gone to school. Did she drop out of
school? Why? What does this tell you about her choices
and the freedom she has? Note how her opportunities
were limited because of her gender, caste and income.
Human Development 25
 APPROACHES TO HUMAN
DEVELOPMENT
There are many ways of looking at the problem
of human development. Some of the important
approaches are: (a) The income approach; (b) The
welfare approach; (c) Minimum needs approach;
and (d) Capabilities approach (Table 4.1).
MEASURING HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
write and the number of children enrolled in
schools show how easy or difficult it is to access
knowledge in a particular country.
Access to resources is measured in terms
of purchasing power (in U.S. dollars).
Each of these dimensions is given a
weightage of 1/3. The human development
index is a sum total of the weights assigned to
all these dimensions.

The human development index (HDI) ranks the
countries based on their performance in the key
areas of health, education and access to
resources. These rankings are based on a score
ed
The closer a score is to one, the greater is
the level of human development. Therefore, a
score of 0.983 would be considered very high
while 0.268 would mean a very low level of
human development.

h
between 0 to 1 that a country earns from its The human development index measures

pu T
record in the key areas of human development. attainments in human development. It reflects

is
The indicator chosen to assess health is what has been achieved in the key areas of
the life expectancy at birth. A higher life human development. Yet it is not the most
re R
expectancy means that people have a greater
chance of living longer and healthier lives.
reliable measure. This is because it does not
say anything about the distribution.

bl
The adult literacy rate and the gross The human poverty index is related to the
E
enrolment ratio represent access to knowledge. human development index. This index
The number of adults who are able to read and measures the shortfall in human development.
be C
Table 4.1: Approaches to Human Development

(a) Income Approach This is one of the oldest approaches to human

development. Human development is seen as being
o N

linked to income. The idea is that the level of income

reflects the level of freedom an individual enjoys.
Higher the level of income, the higher is the level of
human development.
©

(b) Welfare Approach This approach looks at human beings as beneficiaries

or targets of all development activities. The approach
argues for higher government expenditure on
education, health, social secondary and amenities.
People are not participants in development but only
passive recipients. The government is responsible for
increasing levels of human development by
maximising expenditure on welfare.

(c) Basic Needs Approach This approach was initially proposed by the
International Labour Organisation (ILO). Six basic
tt

needs i.e.: health, education, food, water supply,

sanitation, and housing were identified. The question
of human choices is ignored and the emphasis is on
the provision of basic needs of defined sections.
no

(d) Capability Approach This approach is associated with Prof. Amartya Sen.
Building human capabilities in the areas of health,
education and access to resources is the key to
increasing human development.

26 Fundamentals of Human Geography


h
pu T
is
Since 1990, the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) has been
re R
publishing the Human Development Report
bl
every year. This report provides a rank-wise
list of all member countries according to the
E
level of human development. The Human
Development index and the Human Poverty
index are two important indices to measure
be C
human development used by the UNDP.
It is a non-income measure. The probability of
o N
not surviving till the age of 40, the adult illiteracy
rate, the number of people who do not have
access to clean water, and the number of small
children who are underweight are all taken into
©
account to show the shortfall in human
development in any region. Often the human
poverty index is more revealing than the human
development index.
Looking at both these measures of human
development together gives an accurate picture
of the human development situation in a
country.
The ways to measure human development
are constantly being refined and newer ways of
tt
capturing different elements of human
development are being researched. Researchers
have found links between the level of corruption
or political freedom in a particular region. There
no
is also a discussion regarding a political
freedom index and, a listing of the most corrupt
countries. Can you think of other links to the
level of human development?
Bhutan is the only country in the world to
officially proclaim the Gross National
Happiness (GNH) as the measure of the
country’s progress. Material progress and
technological developments are approached
more cautiously taking into consideration the
possible harm they might bring to the
environment or the other aspects of cultural
ed
and spiritual life of the Bhutanese. This simply
means material progress cannot come at the
cost of happiness. GNH encourages us to
think of the spiritual, non-material and
qualitative aspects of development.
INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS
International comparisons of human
development are interesting. Size of the territory
and per capita income are not directly related
to human development. Often smaller countries
have done better than larger ones in human
development. Similarly, relatively poorer nations
have been ranked higher than richer neighbours
in terms of human development.
For example, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and
Tobago have a higher rank than India in the
human development index despite having
smaller economies. Similarly, within India,
Kerala performs much better than Punjab and
Gujarat in human development despite having
lower per capita income.
Countries can be classified into four
groups on the basis of the human development
scores earned by them (Table 4.2).
Table 4.2: Human Development: Categories, Criteria
and Countries
Level of Human Score in Number of
Development Development Countries
Index
Very High above 0.793 47
High between 0.698 47
up to 0.793
Medium between 0.522 47
up to 0.698
Low below 0.522 46
Source: Human Development Report, 2011
Human Development 27
 Countries with very high human development Try to find out the percentage of the
index are those which have a score of over 0.793. country’s income spent on these sectors. Can
According to the Human Development Report you think of some other characteristics that
of 2011, this group includes 47 countries. Table these countries have in common?
4.3 shows the countries in this group.
You will notice that many of these countries
Table 4.3: Top Ten Countries with High Value Index have been the former imperial powers. The degree
of social diversity in these countries is not very
Sl. No. Country Sl. No. Country
high. Many of the countries with a high human
1. Norway 6. New Zealand
development score are located in Europe and

ed
2. Australia 7. Ireland
3. United States 7. Sweden represent the industrialised western world. Yet
4. Netherlands 9. Switzerland there are striking numbers of non-European
5. Germany 10. Japan countries also who have made it to this list.
Source: Human Development Report, 2013 Countries with medium levels of human
development form the largest group. There are

h
47 countries in the medium level of human

pu T
Try to locate these countries on a map. development. Most of these are countries which

is
Can you see what these countries have in have emerged in the period after the Second
common? To find out more visit the official
re R
government websites of these countries.
World War. Some countries from this group were
former colonies while many others have emerged

bl
High level of human development group
E
has 47 countries. Providing education and
healthcare is an important government priority.
Countries with higher human development are
be C
those where a lot of investment in the social
sector has taken place. Altogether, a higher
investment in people and good governance has
o N
after the break up of the erstwhile Soviet Union
in 1990. Many of these countries have been
rapidly improving their human development
score by adopting more people-oriented policies
and reducing social discrimination. Most of
these countries have a much higher social
diversity than the countries with higher human

set this group of countries apart from the others. development scores. Many in this group have
©

India was 126th

in Human
Development
Index as per
Human
Development
Report, 2006.
According to
HDI, 2013,
India’s rank has
tt

further gone
down to 136.
What could be
the reason for
no

India to be
behind 135
countries in
HDI?

28 Fundamentals of Human Geography

faced political instability and social uprisings
at some point of time in their recent history.
As many as 46 countries record low levels
of human development. A large proportion of
these are small countries which have been going
through political turmoil and social instability
in the form of civil war, famine or a high
incidence of diseases. There is an urgent need
to address the human development
To understand why a particular region
keeps reporting low or high levels of human
development it is important to look at the
pattern of government expenditure on the
social sector. The political environment of the
country and the amount of freedom people
have is also important. Countries with high
levels of human development invest more in
the social sectors and are generally free from

requirements of this group through well
thought out policies.
International comparisons of human
development can show some very interesting
results. Often people tend to blame low levels
ed
political turmoil and instability. Distribution
of the country’s resources is also far more
equitable.
On the other hand, places with low levels

h
of human development on the culture of the of human development tend to spend more on
people. For example, X country has lower defence rather than social sectors. This shows

pu T
human development because its people follow that these countries tend to be located in areas

is
Y religion, or belong to Z community. Such of political instability and have not been able
re R
statements are misleading. to initiate accelerated economic development.

bl
E
be C

EXERCISES
o N

1. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.
(i) Which one of the following best describes development?
(a) an increase in size (c) a positive change in quality
©

(b) a constant in size (d) a simple change in the quality

(ii) Which one of the following scholars introduced the concept of Human
Development?
(a) Prof. Amartya Sen (c) Dr Mahabub-ul-Haq
(b) Ellen C. Semple (d) Ratzel
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) What are the three basic areas of human development?
(ii) Name the four main components of human development?
(iii) How are countries classified on the basis of human development index?
tt

3. Answer the following questions in not more than 150 words.

(i) What do you understand by the term human development?
(ii) What do equity and sustainability refer to within the concept of human
no

development?

Human Development 29
 Project/Activity
Make a list of the ten most corrupt countries and ten least corrupt countries.
Compare their scores on the human development index. What inferences can
you draw?
Consult the latest Human Development Report for this.

h ed
pu T
is
re R
bl
E
be C
o N
©
tt
no

30 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 Sixty years ago, Rekha was born in a family of
Unit I small farmer in Uttarakhand. She helped her
Chapter 3 mother in household chores. While her brothers
went to school, she did not receive any
education. She was dependent on her in laws
after she was widowed immediately after
marriage. She could not be economically
independent and faced neglect. Her brother
helped her to migrate to Delhi.
For the first time, she travelled by bus and
train and was exposed to a large city like Delhi.

d
After a while, the same city which attracted her

e
with its buildings, roads, avenues and facilities
and amenities disillusioned her.
HUMAN

h
With greater familiarity of the city, she
could comprehend the paradoxes. The jhuggi

T s
DEVELOPMENT and slum clusters, traffic jams, congestion,

i
crimes, poverty, small children begging on

R l
traffic lights, people sleeping on footpaths,
polluted water and air revealed another face of

E b
development. She used to think whether
development and under-development coexist?

u
Whether development help some segments of

C
population more than the other? Does

p
development create haves and have nots? Let

N re
us examine these paradoxes and try to
understand the phenomena.
Of all the paradoxes of our times

© e
mentioned in the story, development is the most
significant one. Development of a few regions,
individuals brought about in a short span of

b
time leads to poverty and malnutrition for many
along with large scale ecological degradation.

o
Is development class biased?
Apparently, it is believed that

t
“Development is freedom” which is often
associated with modernisation, leisure, comfort

t
and affluence. In the present context,

o
computerisation, industrialisation, efficient
transport and communication network, large

n
education system, advanced and modern
medical facilities, safety and security of
individuals, etc. are considered as the symbols
of development. Every individual, community
and government measures its performance or
levels of development in relation to the
availability and access to some of these things.
But, this may be partial and one-sided view of
development. It is often called the western or
euro-centric view of development. For a
postcolonial country like India, colonisation,
marginalisation, social discrimination and
regional disparity, etc. show the other face of
development.
Thus, for India, development is a mixed
bag of opportunities as well as neglect and
deprivations. There are a few areas like the
metropolitan centres and other developed
enclaves that have all the modern facilities
available to a small section of its population. At
the other extreme of it, there are large rural
existence of our society. Consequently, the poor
are being subjected to three inter-related
processes of declining capabilities; i.e. (1) social
capabilities – due to displacement and
weakening social ties (social capital),
(2) environmental capabilities – due to pollution
and, (3) personal capabilities – due to
increasing incidence of diseases and accidents.
This, in turn, has adverse effects on their quality
of life and human development.
Based on the above experiences, it can be

d
areas and the slums in the urban areas that do said that the present development has not been

e
not have basic amenities like potable water, able to address the issues of social injustice,
education and health infrastructure available regional imbalances and environmental

h
to majority of this population. The situation is degradation. On the contrary, it is being widely
more alarming if one looks at the distribution considered as the prime cause of the social

T s
of the development opportunities among distributive injustices, deterioration in the

i
different sections of our society. It is a well-

l
quality of life and human development,

R
established fact that majority of the scheduled ecological crisis and social unrest. Does

b
castes, scheduled tribes, landless agricultural development create, reinforce and perpetuate

E
labourers, poor farmers and slums dwellers, etc. these crises? Thus, it was thought to take up

u
are the most marginalised lot. A large segment human development as a separate issue against

C
of female population is the worst sufferers the prevalent western views of development

p
among all. It is also equally true that the relative which considers development as the remedy to

N re
as well as absolute conditions of the majority
of these marginalised sections have worsened
with the development happening over the years.
Consequently, vast majority of people are
all the ills including human development,
regional disparities and environmental crisis.
Concerted efforts were made to look at

© e
development critically at various times in the
compelled to live under abject poverty and sub- past. But, most systematic effort towards this
human conditions. was the publication of the First Human

b
There is yet another inter-related aspect Development Report by United Nations
of development that has direct bearings on the Development Programme (UNDP) in 1990.
deteriorating human conditions. It pertains to Since then, this organisation has been bringing

o
the environmental pollution leading to out World Human Development Report every

t
ecological crisis. Air, soil, water and noise year. This report does not only define human
pollutions have not only led to the ‘tragedy of development, make amendments and changes

t
commons’ but these have also threatened the its indicators but also ranks all the countries

o
What is Human Development?

n
“Human development is a process of enlarging the range of people’s choices, increasing their
opportunities for education, health care, income and empowerment and covering the full range of
human choices from a sound physical environment to economic, social and political freedom.”
Thus, enlarging the range of people’s choices is the most significant aspect of human development.
People’s choices may involve a host of other issues, but, living a long and healthy life, to be educated
and have access to resources needed for a decent standard of living including political freedom,
guaranteed human rights and personal self-respect, etc. are considered some of the non-negotiable
aspects of the human development.

24 India : People and Economy

of the world based on the calculated scores.
According to the Human Development Report
1993, “progressive democratisation and
increasing empowerment of people are seen as
the minimum conditions for human
development”. Moreover, it also mentions that
“development must be woven around people,
not the people around development” as was the
case previously.
You have already studied the concepts,
indicators and approaches to human
Low scores in the HDI is a matter of serious
concern but, some reservations have been
expressed about the approach as well as
indicators selected to calculate the index values
and ranking of the states/countries. Lack of
sensitivity to the historical factors like
colonisation, imperialism and neo-imperialism,
socio-cultural factors like human rights
violation, social discrimination on the basis of
race, religion, gender and caste, social problems
like crimes, terrorism, and war and political

d
development and methods of calculating the factors like nature of the state, forms of the

e
index in your book, “Fundamentals of Human government (democracy or dictatorship) level
Geography.” In this chapter, let us try to of empowerment are some factors that are very

h
understand the applicability of these concepts crucial in determining the nature of human
and indicators to India. development. These aspects have special

T s
significance in case of India and many other

i
HumanDevelopmentinIndia developing countries.

R l
Using the indicators selected by the UNDP,
India with a population of over 1.09 billion is the Planning Commission of India also

E b
ranked 127 among 172 countries of the world prepared the Human Development Report for
in terms of the Human Development Index India. It used states and the Union Territories

u
(HDI). With the composite HDI value of O.602

C
as the units of analysis. Subsequently, each
India finds herself grouped with countries

p
state government also started preparing the
showing medium human development state level Human Development Reports, using

N re
(UNDP 2005). districts as the units of analysis. Although, the
final HDI by the Planning Commission of India
Table 3.1 : Human Development Index has been calculated by taking the three

© e
Values of India and some other Countries indicators as discussed in the book entitled,
“Fundamentals of Human Geography”, yet,
Country HDI value Country HDI value this report also discussed other indicators like

b
Norway 0.963 Thailand 0.778 economic attainment, social empowerment,
Australia 0.955 Sri Lanka 0.751 social distributive justice, accessibility, hygiene

o
and various welfare measures undertaken by
Sweden 0.949 Iran 0.736

t
the state. Some of the important indicators have
Switzerland 0.947 Indonesia 0.697 been discussed in the following pages.
Egypt 0.659

t
U.S.A. 0.944
India 0.602 Indicators of Economic Attainments
Japan 0.943

o
Myanmar 0.578 Rich resource base and access to these
U.K. 0.939 resources by all, particularly the poor, down
Pakistan 0.527

n
France 0.938 trodden and the marginalised is the key to
Nepal 0.526
productivity, well-being and human
Germany 0.93 Bangladesh 0.52 development. Gross National Product (GNP)
Argentina 0.863 Kenya 0.474 and its per capita availability are taken as
Cuba 0.817 Zambia 0.394 measures to assess the resource base/
Russia 0.795 Chad 0.341 endowment of any country. For India, it is
Niger 0.281
estimated that its GDP was Rs. 3200 thousand
Brazil 0.792
crores (at current Price) and accordingly, per
Source: UNDP Human Development Report 2005, Oxford capita income was Rs. 20,813 at current prices.
University Press. pp.219-222. Apparently, these figures indicate an impressive
Human Development 25
performance but, prevalence of poverty, Table 3.2 : Poverty in India, 1999-2000
deprivation, malnutrition, illiteracy, various
types of prejudices and above all social State % of Population
distributive injustices and large-scale regional below
poverty line
disparities belie all the so-called economic
achievements. Andhra Pradesh 15.77
There are a few developed States like Arunachal Pradesh 33.47
Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Assam 36.09
Delhi that have per capita income more than Bihar 42.60
Rs. 4,000 (figure at 1980-81 prices) per year Goa 4.40
and there are a large number of poorer States

d
Gujarat 14.07
like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Haryana 8.47

e
Pradesh, Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, etc. Himachal Pradesh 7.63
which have recorded per capita income less West Bengal 27.02

h
than Rs. 2,000. Corresponding to these Andaman & Nicobar 20.99
disparities, the developed states have higher per

s
Chandigarh 5.75

T
capita consumption expenditure as compared

i
Jammu & Kashmir 3.48
to the poorer states. It was estimated to be more

l
Karnataka 20.04

R
than Rs. 690 per capita per month in States Kerala 12.72
like Punjab, Haryana, Kerala, Maharashtra and

b
Madhya Pradesh 37.43

E
Gujarat and below Rs. 520 per capita per Maharashtra 25.02
month in States like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,

u
Manipur 28.54

C
Orissa and Madhya Pradesh, etc. These Meghalaya 33.87

p
variations are indicative of some other deep- Mizoram 19.47
seated economic problems like poverty,

N re
Dadra & Nagar Haveli 17.14
unemployment and under-employment.
Daman & Diu 4.44
The disaggregated data of poverty for Delhi 8.23
the states show that there are States like

© e
Nagaland 32.67
Orissa and Bihar which have recorded more
Orissa 47.15
than 40 per cent of their population living Punjab 6.16
below the poverty line. The States of Madhya

b
Rajasthan 15.28
Pradesh, Sikkim, Assam, Tripura, Arunachal
Sikkim 36.55
Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland have more Tamil Nadu 21.12

o
than 30 per cent of their population below
Tripura 34.44

t
poverty line. “Poverty is a state of
Uttar Pradesh 31.15
deprivation. In absolute terms it reflects the
Lakshadweep 15.60
inability of an individual to satisfy certain

t
Pondichery 21.67
basic needs for a sustained, healthy and
India 26.10

o
reasonably productive living.” Employment
rate for educated youth is 25 per cent. Jobless Source: Planning Commission of India, (2001): India

n
National Human Development Report, p.166.
growth and rampant unemployment are some

Which one of the states in India has the highest proportion of population below poverty line?

Arrange the states on the basis of their percentage of population below poverty line in ascending order.

Select 10 states which have the high proportion of population below poverty line and represent the data by bar
diagram.

26 India : People and Economy

of the important reasons for higher incidences Table 3.3 : India Literacy Rates, 2001
of poverty in India.
State Total Female
literacy literacy
IndicatorsofaHealthyLife
Andaman & Nicobar 81.18 75.29
Life free from illness and ailment and living a
Andhra Pradesh 61.11 51.17
reasonably long life span are indicative of a
healthy life. Availability of pre and post natal Arunachal Pradesh 54.74 44.24
health care facilities in order to reduce infant Assam 64.28 56.03
mortality and post delivery deaths among Bihar 47.53 33.57
mothers, old age health care, adequate nutrition Chandigarh 85.65 76.65

d
and safety of individual are some important Chhattisgarh 65.18 52.4
measures of a healthy and reasonably long life. Dadra & Nagar Haveli 60.03 42.99

e
India has done reasonably well in some of the Daman & Diu 81.09 70.37
health indicators like decline in death rate from

h
Delhi 81.82 75
25.1 per thousand in 1951 to 8.1 per thousand Goa 82.32 75.51

T s
in 1999 and infant mortality from 148 per Gujarat 69.97 58.6

i
thousand to 70 during the same period.

l
Haryana 68.59 56.31

R
Similarly, it also succeeded in increasing life
expectancy at birth from 37.1 years to 62.3 Himachal Pradesh 77.13 68.08

b
years for males and 36.2 to 65.3 years for Jammu & Kashmir 54.46 41.82

E
females from 1951 to 1999. Though, these are Jharkhand 54.13 39.38

u
great achievements, a lot needs to be done. Karnataka 67.04 57.45

C
Similarly, it has also done reasonably well in Kerala 90.92 87.86

p
bringing down birth rate from 40.8 to 26.1 Lakshadweep 87.52 81.56

N re
during the same years, but it still is much higher Madhya Pradesh 64.11 50.28
than many developed countries. Maharashtra 77.27 67.51
The situation is more alarming when seen Manipur 68.87 59.7

© e
in the context of gender specific and rural and Meghalaya 63.31 60.41
urban health indicators. India has recorded
Mizoram 88.49 86.13
declining female sex ratio. The findings of 2001

b
Nagaland 67.11 61.92
Census of India are very disturbing particularly
in case of child sex ratio between 0-6 age Orissa 63.61 50.97

groups. The other significant features of the Pondicherry 81.49 74.13

o
report are, with the exception of Kerala, the Punjab 69.95 63.55

t
child sex ratio has declined in all the states Rajasthan 61.03 44.34
and it is the most alarming in the developed Sikkim 69.68 61.46

t
state of Haryana and Punjab where it is Tamil Nadu 73.47 64.55
below 800 female children per thousand

o
Tripura 73.66 65.41
male children. What factors are responsible for Uttar Pradesh 57.36 42.98
it? Is it the social attitude or scientific methods

n
Uttaranchal 72.28 60.26
of sex-determination? West Bengal 69.22 60.22
Indicators of Social Empowerment India 65.38 54.16
Source: Census of India, 2001; Provisional Population
“Development is freedom”. Freedom from Tables Series -1, p.142.
hunger, poverty, servitude, bondage,
ignorance, illiteracy and any other forms of
domination is the key to human development. of the people in the exercise of their capabilities
Freedom in real sense of the term is possible and choices in the society. Access to knowledge
only with the empowerment and participation about the society and environment are

Human Development 27
fundamental to freedom. Literacy is the Table 3.4 : India – Human Development
beginning of access to such a world of Index-2001
knowledge and freedom.
State HDI Value

Andhra Pradesh 0.416

Assam 0.386
Represent the literacy rates for states having more than Bihar 0.367
the national average by bar diagram after arranging the Gujarat 0.479
data in descending order. Haryana 0.509
Karnataka 0.478
Why is the total literacy rates in Kerala, Mizoram,

d
Kerala 0.638
Lakshadweep and Goa are higher than other states?
Madhya Pradesh 0.394

e
Can literacy reflect the status of Human Developments? Maharashtra 0.523
Orissa 0.404

h
Debate.
Punjab 0.537
Table 3.3 showing the percentage of

T s
Rajasthan 0.424
literates in India reveals some interesting

i
Tamil Nadu 0.531

l
features:

R
Uttar Pradesh 0.388
• Overall literacy in India is West Bengal 0.472

b
approximately 65. 4 per cent (2001).

E
Source: Planning Commission of India (2001): India
while female literacy is 54.16 per cent. National Human Development Report 2001, p.25

u
• Total literacy as well as female literacy
India has been placed among the

C
is higher than the national average in
countries showing medium human

p
most of the states from south India.
development. What is the rank of India among

N re
• There are wide regional disparities in
literacy rate across the states of India.
There is a state like Bihar which has
very low (47.53 per cent) literacy and
the 172 countries of the world? As indicated
in table 3.4 Kerala with the composite index
value of 0.638 is placed at the top rank

© e
there are states like Kerala and followed by Punjab (0.537), Tamil Nadu (0.531)
Mizoram which have literacy rates of Maharashtra (0.523) and Haryana (0.509). As
expected, states like Bihar (0.367), Assam

b
90.92 and 88.49 per cent respectively.
Apart from the spatial variations, (0.386), Uttar Pradesh (0.388), Madhya
percentage of literates in the rural areas and Pradesh (0.394) and Orissa (0.404) are at the

o
among the marginalised sections of our society bottom among the 15 major states in India.

t
such as females, scheduled castes, scheduled There are several socio-political, economic
tribes, agricultural labourers, etc. is very low. and historical reasons for such a state of
affairs. Kerala is able to record the highest value

t
It is worth mentioning here that though, there
has been improvement in the percentage of in the HDI largely due to its impressive

o
literates among the marginalised section yet the performance in achieving near hundred per
gap between the richer and the marginalised cent literacy (90.92 per cent) in 2001. In a

n
sections of the population has increased over
the years.
HumanDevelopmentIndexinIndia
In the backdrop of the above-mentioned
important indicators the Planning Commission
calculated the human development index by
taking states and union territories as the unit
of analysis.
different scenario the states like Bihar, Madhya
Pradesh, Orissa, Assam and Uttar Pradesh
have very low literacy. For example, total
literacy rate for Bihar was as low as 60.32 per
cent during the same year. States showing
higher total literacy rates have less gaps
between the male and female literacy rates. For
Kerala, it is 6.34 per cent, while it is 26.75 per
cent in Bihar and 25.95 per cent in Madhya
Pradesh.

28 India : People and Economy

 e d
T s h
R li
E u b
Can you find out the
C
N re p
© e
causes of the above
problems?

b
Apart from the educational attainment, the PopulationE
, nvironmentandDevelopment

o
levels of economic development too play
significant impacts on HDI. Economically Development in general and human

t
developed states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu development in particular is a complex concept
and Punjab and Haryana have higher value of used in social sciences. It is complex because

t
HDI as compared to states like Assam, Bihar, for ages it was thought that development is a
substantive concept and once it is achieved it

o
Madhya Pradesh, etc.
Re gio nal d isto rtio ns and s o c i a l will address all the socio-cultural and
environmental ills of the society. Though,

n
disparities which developed during the
colonial period continue to play an important
role in the Indian economy, polity and society.
The Government of India has made concerted
efforts to institutionalise the balanced
development with its main focus on social
distributive justice through planned
development. It has made significant
achievements in most of the fields but, these
are still below the desired level.
development has brought in significant
improvement in the quality of life in more than
one way but increasing regional disparities,
social inequalities, discriminations, deprivations,
displacement of people, abuse of human rights
and undermining human values and
environmental degradation have also increased.
Considering the gravity and sensitivity of
the issues involved, the UNDP in its Human

Human Development 29
Development Report 1993, tried to amend some
of the implicit biases and prejudices which were
entrenched in the concept of development.
People’s participation and their security were the
major issues in the Human Development Report
of 1993. It also emphasised on progressive
democratisation and increasing empowerment
of people as minimum conditions for human
development. The report recognised greater
constructive role of ‘Civil Societies’ in bringing
about peace and human development. The civil
scarcity of resources as compared to the human
population. Apparently this argument looks
logical and convincing, but a critical look will
reveal certain intrinsic flaws such as resources
are not a neutral category. It is not the
availability of resources that is as important as
their social distribution. Resources everywhere
are unevenly distributed. Rich countries and
people have access to large resource baskets
while the poor find their resources shrinking.
Moreover, unending pursuit for the control of

d
society should work for building up opinion for more and more resources by the powerful and
use of the same for exhibiting ones prowess is

e
reduction in the military expenditure, de-
the prime cause of conflicts as well as the
mobilisation of armed forces, transition from
apparent contradictions between population-

h
defence to production of basic goods and services resource and development.
and particularly disarmament and reduction in

T s
Indian culture and civilisation have been
the nuclear warheads by the developed

i
very sensitive to the issues of population,

l
countries. In a nuclearised world, peace and

R
resource and development for a long time. It
well-being are major global concerns. would not be incorrect to say that the ancient

b
At the other extreme of this approach lie scriptures were essentially concerned about the

E
the views expressed by the Neo-Malthusians, balance and harmony among the elements of

u
environmentalists and radical ecologists. They nature. Mahatma Gandhi in the recent times

C
believe that for a happy and peaceful social life advocated the reinforcement of the harmony and

p
proper balance between population and balance between the two. He was quite

N re
resources is a necessary condition. According
to these thinkers, the gap between the resources
and population has widened after eighteenth
century. There have been marginal expansion
apprehensive about the on-going development
particularly the way industrialisation has
institutionalised the loss of morality, spirituality,

© e
self-reliance, non-violence and mutual co-
in the resources of the world in the last three operation and environment. In his opinion,
hundred years but there has been phenomenal austerity for individual, trusteeship of social

b
growth in the human population. Development wealth and non-violence are the key to attain
has only contributed in increasing the multiple higher goals in the life of an individual as well as
uses of the limited resources of the world while that of a nation. His views were also re-echoed

o
there has been enormous increase in the demand in the Club of Rome Report “Limits to Growth”

t
for these resources. Therefore, the prime task (1972), Schumacher’s book “Small is
before any development activity is to maintain Beautiful” (1974), Brundtland Commission’s

t
parity between population and resources. Report “Our Common Future” (1987) and
Scholar like Sir Robert Malthus was the first finally in the “Agenda-21 Report of the Rio

o
one to voice his concern about the growing Conference” (1993).

n
30 India : People and Economy
 EXERCISES
1 . Choose the right answers of the following from the given options.
(i) Which one of the following is India’s rank in terms of Human Development
Index among the countries of the world in 2005?

d
(a) 126 (c) 128

e
(b) 127 (d) 129
(ii) Which one of the following states of India has the highest rank in the

h
Human Development Index?
(a) Tamil Nadu (c) Kerala

T is
(b) Punjab (d) Haryana

R l
(iii) Which one of the following states of India has the lowest female literacy?
(a) Jamu and Kashmir (c) Jharkhand

E b
(b) Arunachal Pradesh (d) Bihar
(iv) Which one of the following states of India has the lowest female child sex

C u
ratio 0-6 years?

p
(a) Gujarat (c) Punjab

N re
(b) Haryana (d) Himachal Pradesh
(v) Which one of the following Union Territories of India has the highest
literacy rate?

© e
(a) Lakshadweep (c) Daman and Diu
(b) Chandigarh (d) Andaman and Nicobar Islands
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.

b
Define Human Development.
(i)
(ii)
Give two reasons for low levels of Human Development in most of the

o
Northern States of India.

t
(iii) Give two reasons for declining child sex ratio in India.
3 . Answer the following questions in about 150 words.

t
(i) Discuss the spatial patterns of female literacy in India in 2001 and bring
out the reasons responsible for it.

o
(ii) Which factors have caused spatial variations in the levels of Human
Development among the 15 major states in India?

n
Human Development 31
 Human activities which generate income are
Unit-III known as economic activities. Economic
Chapter-5 activities are broadly grouped into primary,
secondary, tertiary and quaternary activities.
Primary activities are directly dependent on
environment as these refer to utilisation of
earth’s resources such as land, water,
vegetation, building materials and minerals. It,
thus includes, hunting and gathering, pastoral

ed
activities, fishing, forestry, agriculture, and
mining and quarrying.

Why are the inhabitants of coastal and

plain regions engaged in fishing and

h
agriculture respectively? What are the
Primary Activities

pu T
physical and social factors which affect the

is
type of primary activities in different
regions?
re R
bl
E
People engaged in primary activities are called red-
collar workers due to the outdoor nature of their work.
be C

HUNTING AND GATHERING

GA
o N

The earliest human beings depended on their

immediate environment for their sustenance.
They subsisted on: (a) animals which they
hunted; and (b) the edible plants which they
©

gathered from forests in the vicinity.

Primitive societies depended on wild
animals. People located in very cold and
extremely hot climates survived on hunting. The
people in the coastal areas still catch fish though
fishing has experienced modernisation due to
technological progress. Many species, now have
become extinct or endangered due to illegal
hunting (poaching). The early hunters used
primitive tools made of stones, twigs or arrows
tt

so the number of animals killed was limited.

Why has hunting been banned in India?
Gathering and hunting are the oldest
economic activity known. These are carried out
no

at different levels with different orientations.

Gathering is practised in regions with
harsh climatic conditions. It often involves
primitive societies, who extract, both plants and
animals to satisfy their needs for food, shelter
and clothing. This type of activity requires a
small amount of capital investment and
operates at very low level of technology. The
yield per person is very low and little or no
surplus is produced.
Gathering is practised in: (i) high latitude
zones which include northern Canada, northern
Eurasia and southern Chile; (ii) Low latitude
zones such as the Amazon Basin, tropical
Africa, Northern fringe of Australia and the
interior parts of Southeast Asia (Fig. 5.2).
In modern times some gathering is market-
oriented and has become commercial. Gatherers
collect valuable plants such as leaves, barks of

ed
trees and medicinal plants and after simple
processing sell the products in the market. They
use various parts of the plants, for example,
the bark is used for quinine, tanin extract and
cork— leaves supply materials for beverages,

h
drugs, cosmetics, fibres, thatch and fabrics;
nuts for food and oils and tree trunk yield

pu T
rubber, balata, gums and resins.

is
re R
bl
The name of the part of the chewing gum after the flavour
E
is gone? It is called Chicle — it is made from the milky
juice of zapota tree.
be C

Gathering has little chance of becoming

Fig. 5.1: Women Gathering Oranges in Mizoram important at the global level. Products of such an
o N
©
tt
no

Fig. 5.2: Areas of Subsistence Gathering

32 Fundamentals of Human Geography

activity cannot compete in the world market.
Moreover, synthetic products often of better
quality and at lower prices, have replaced many
items supplied by the gatherers in tropical forests.
PASTORALISM
At some stage in history, with the realisation
that hunting is an unsustainable activity,
human beings might have thought of
domestication of animals. People living in
different climatic conditions selected and
domesticated animals found in those regions.
Depending on the geographical factors, and
technological development, animal rearing
h
today is practised either at the subsistence or
pu T
at the commercial level.
is
Nomadic Herding
re R
Nomadic herding or pastoral nomadism is a
primitive subsistence activity, in which the
bl
herders rely on animals for food, clothing, shelter,
E
tools and transport. They move from one place
to another along with their livestock, depending
on the amount and quality of pastures and
be C
water. Each nomadic community occupies a
well-identified territory as a matter of tradition.
o N
©
Fig. 5.3: Nomads taking their sheep up to the
Mountains at the onset of summer
tt
A wide variety of animals is kept in
different regions. In tropical Africa, cattle are
the most important livestock, while in Sahara
no
and Asiatic deserts, sheep, goats and camel
are reared. In the mountainous areas of Tibet
and Andes, yak and llamas and in the Arctic
and sub Arctic areas, reindeer are the most
important animals.
Pastoral nomadism is associated with
three important regions. The core region
extends from the Atlantic shores of North Africa
eastwards across the Arabian peninsula into
Mongolia and Central China. The second region
extends over the tundra region of Eurasia. In
the southern hemisphere there are small areas
in South-west Africa and on the island of
Madagascar (Fig. 5.4)
ed
Movement in search of pastures is
undertaken either over vast horizontal
distances or vertically from one elevation to
another in the mountainous regions. The
process of migration from plain areas to
pastures on mountains during summers and
again from mountain pastures to plain areas
during winters is known as transhumance. In
mountain regions, such as Himalayas, Gujjars,
Bakarwals, Gaddis and Bhotiyas migrate from
plains to the mountains in summers and to the
plains from the high altitude pastures in
winters. Similarly, in the tundra regions, the
nomadic herders move from south to north in
summers and from north to south in winters.
The number of pastoral nomads has been
decreasing and the areas operated by them
shrinking. This is due to (a) imposition of
political boundaries; (b) new settlement plans
by different countries.
Commercial Livestock Rearing
Unlike nomadic herding, commercial livestock
rearing is more organised and capital intensive.
Commercial livestock ranching is essentially
associated with western cultures and is practised
on permanent ranches. These ranches cover
large areas and are divided into a number of
parcels, which are fenced to regulate the grazing.
When the grass of one parcel is grazed, animals
are moved to another parcel. The number of
animals in a pasture is kept according to the
carrying capacity of the pasture.
This is a specialised activity in which only
one type of animal is reared. Important animals
include sheep, cattle, goats and horses.
Products such as meat, wool, hides and skin
are processed and packed scientifically and
exported to different world markets.
Rearing of animals in ranching is
organised on a scientific basis. The main
Primary Activities 33
 h ed
pu T
is
re R
bl
E
Fig. 5.4: Areas of Nomadic Herding
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AGRICULTURE
AGRICULTURE
o N

Agriculture is practised under multiple

combinations of physical and socio-economic
conditions, which gives rise to different types of
agricultural systems.
©

Based on methods of farming, different

types of crops are grown and livestock raised.
The following are the main agricultural systems.

Subsistence Agriculture
Subsistence agriculture is one in which the
farming areas consume all, or nearly so, of the
Fig. 5.5: Commercial Livestock Rearing products locally grown. It can be grouped in
two categories — Primitive Subsistence
Agriculture and Intensive Subsistence
tt

Reindeer rearing in the northern regions of Alaska where

most of the Eskimos own about two-third of the stock. Agriculture.
emphasis is on breeding, genetic improvement, Primitive Subsistence Agriculture
disease control and health care of the animals.
no

New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, Primitive subsistence agriculture or shifting

Uruguay and United States of America are cultivation is widely practised by many tribes
important countries where commercial livestock in the tropics, especially in Africa, south and
rearing is practised (Fig. 5.6). central America and south east Asia (Fig. 5.7).

34 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 h ed
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bl
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Fig. 5.6: Areas of Commercial Livestock Rearing
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Fig. 5.7: Areas of Primitive Subsistence Agriculture

Primary Activities 35
 The vegetation is usually cleared by fire,
and the ashes add to the fertility of the soil.
Shifting cultivation is thus, also called slash
and burn agriculture. The cultivated patches
are very small and cultivation is done with very
primitive tools such as sticks and hoes. After
sometime (3 to 5 years) the soil looses its fertility
and the farmer shifts to another parts and clears
other patch of the forest for cultivation. The
farmer may return to the earlier patch after
sometime. One of the major problems of shifting
cultivation is that the cycle of jhum becomes
less and less due to loss of fertility in different
parcels. It is prevalent in tropical region in
h
different names, e.g. Jhuming in North eastern
states of India, Milpa in central America and
pu T
Mexico and Ladang in Indonesia and Malaysia.
is
Find out other areas and the names with which
re R
shifting cultivation is done.
bl
Intensive Subsistence Agriculture
E
This type of agriculture is largely found in
densely populated regions of monsoon Asia.
be C
o N
©
tt
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Fig. 5.8: Areas of Intensive Subsistence Farming
36 Fundamentals of Human Geography
Basically, there are two types of intensive
subsistence agriculture.
(i) Intensive subsistence agriculture
dominated by wet paddy cultivation: This
type of agriculture is characterised by
dominance of the rice crop. Land holdings
are very small due to the high density of
population. Farmers work with the help
of family labour leading to intensive use of
ed
land. Use of machinery is limited and most
of the agricultural operations are done by
manual labour. Farm yard manure is used
to maintain the fertility of the soil. In this
type of agriculture, the yield per unit area
is high but per labour productivity is low.
(ii) Intensive subsidence agriculture
dominated by crops other than paddy:
Due to the difference in relief, climate, soil
and some of the other geographical factors,
it is not practical to grow paddy in many
parts of monsoon Asia. Wheat, soyabean,
barley and sorghum are grown in northern
China, Manchuria, North Korea and North
Japan. In India wheat is grown in western
 coconut and sugarcane plantations in the
Philippines. The Dutch once had monopoly
over sugarcane plantation in Indonesia. Some
coffee fazendas (large plantations) in Brazil are
still managed by Europeans.
Today, ownership of the majority of
plantations has passed into the hands of the
government or the nationals of the countries
concerned.

h ed
Fig. 5.9: Rice Transplantation

pu T
is
parts of the Indo-Gangetic plains and
millets are grown in dry parts of western
re R
and southern India. Most of the
characteristics of this type of agriculture

bl
are similar to those dominated by wet
E
paddy except that irrigation is often used.
Fig. 5.10: Tea Plantation
The Europeans colonised many parts in
The slopes of hills are used for tea plantations because
the world and they introduced some other forms
be C

of favourable geographical conditions.

of agriculture such as plantations which were
mainly profit-oriented large scale production
Extensive Commercial Grain Cultivation
systems.
o N

Commercial grain cultivation is practised in the

Plantation Agriculture interior parts of semi-arid lands of the mid-
latitudes. Wheat is the principal crop, though
Plantation agriculture as mentioned above was
other crops like corn, barley, oats and rye are
introduced by the Europeans in colonies
©

situated in the tropics. Some of the important also grown. The size of the farm is very large,
plantation crops are tea, coffee, cocoa, rubber, therefore entire operations of cultivation from
cotton, oil palm, sugarcane, bananas and ploughing to
pineapples. harvesting are
The characteristic features of this type of mechanised (Fig.
farming are large estates or plantations, large 5.11). There is low
capital investment, managerial and technical yield per acre but
support, scientific methods of cultivation, high yield per
single crop specialisation, cheap labour, and person. Why does
a good system of transportation which links this happen?
tt

the estates to the factories and markets for the

export of the products. Fig. 5.11: Mechanised
Grain Farming
The French established cocoa and coffee
Combine crews are
no

plantations in west Africa. The British set up

large tea gardens in India and Sri Lanka, capable of harvesting
rubber plantations in Malaysia and sugarcane grain over many
and banana plantations in West Indies. hectares in a single
Spanish and Americans invested heavily in day.

Primary Activities 37
 h ed
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is
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bl
E
Fig. 5.12: Areas of Extensive Commercial Grain Farming
be C

This type of agriculture is best developed building, extensive use of chemical fertilisers
in Eurasian steppes, the Canadian and and green manures and also by the skill and
American Prairies, the Pampas of Argentina, the expertise of the farmers.
o N

Velds of South Africa, the Australian Downs and

the Canterbury Plains of New Zealand. (Locate Dairy Farming
these areas on the world map). Dairy is the most advanced and efficient type of
rearing of milch animals. It is highly capital
Mixed Farming
©

intensive. Animal sheds, storage facilities for

This form of agriculture is found in the highly fodder, feeding and milching machines add to
developed parts of the world, e.g. North-western the cost of dairy farming. Special emphasis is
Europe, Eastern North America, parts of laid on cattle breeding, health care and
Eurasia and the temperate latitudes of veterinary services.
Southern continents (Fig. 5.14).
Mixed farms are moderate in size and
usually the crops associated with it are wheat,
barley, oats, rye, maize, fodder and root crops.
Fodder crops are an important component of
tt

mixed farming. Crop rotation and intercropping

play an important role in maintaining soil
fertility. Equal emphasis is laid on crop
cultivation and animal husbandry. Animals like
no

cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry provide the main

income along with crops.
Mixed farming is characterised by high
capital expenditure on farm machinery and Fig. 5.13: A Dairy Farm in Austria

38 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 h ed
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is
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bl
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Fig. 5.14: Areas of Mixed Farming
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It is highly labour intensive as it involves There are three main regions of commercial
rigorous care in feeding and milching. There is dairy farming. The largest is North Western
no off season during the year as in the case of Europe the second is Canada and the third belt
o N

crop raising. includes South Eastern Australia, New Zealand

It is practised mainly near urban and and Tasmania (Fig. 5.16).
industrial centres which provide
neighbourhood market for fresh milk and dairy
Mediterranean Agriculture
products. The development of transportation,
©

refrigeration, pasteurisation and other Mediterranean agriculture is highly specialised

preservation processes have increased the commercial agriculture. It is practised in the
duration of storage of various dairy products. countries on either side of the Mediterranean
tt
no

Fig. 5.15 (a): A vineyard in Switzerland Fig. 5.15 (b): Collection of

grapes in a collective farm of Kazakhstan

Primary Activities 39
 h ed
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is
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bl
E
Fig. 5.16: Areas of Dairy Farming
be C
sea in Europe and in north Africa from Tunisia
to Atlantic coast, southern California, central
Chile, south western parts of South Africa and
o N
south and south western parts of Australia.
This region is an important supplier of citrus
fruits.
Viticulture or grape cultivation is a
©
speciality of the Mediterranean region. Best
quality wines in the world with distinctive
flavours are produced from high quality grapes
in various countries of this region. The inferior
grapes are dried into raisins and currants. This
region also produces olives and figs. The
advantage of Mediterranean agriculture is that
more valuable crops such as fruits and
vegetables are grown in winters when there is
great demand in European and North American
tt
markets.
Market Gardening and Horticulture
no
Market gardening and horticulture specialise
in the cultivation of high value crops such as
vegetables, fruits and flowers, solely for the
urban markets. Farms are small and are
located where there are good transportation
40 Fundamentals of Human Geography
links with the urban centre where high income
group of consumers is located. It is both labour
and capital intensive and lays emphasis on the
use of irrigation, HYV seeds, fertilisers,
insecticides, greenhouses and artificial heating
in colder regions.
This type of agriculture is well developed
in densely populated industrial districts of
north west Europe, north eastern United States
of America and the Mediterranean regions. The
Netherlands specialises in growing flowers and
horticultural crops especially tulips, which are
flown to all major cities of Europe.
The regions where farmers specialise in
vegetables only, the farming is know as truck
farming. The distance of truck farms from the
market is governed by the distance that a truck
can cover overnight, hence the name truck
farming.
In addition to market gardening, a modern
development in the industrial regions of Western
Europe and North America is factory farming.
Livestock, particularly poultry and cattle
rearing, is done in stalls and pens, fed on
manufactured feedstuff and carefully

Figure 5.17 (a): Vegetables being grown in the
vicinity of the city
h
supervised against diseases. This requires heavy
pu T
capital investment in terms of building,
is
machinery for various operations, veterinary
re R
services and heating and lighting. One of the
important features of poultry farming and cattle
bl
rearing is breed selection and scientific
E
breeding.
Types of farming can also be categorised
according to the farming organisation. Farming
be C
organisation is affected by the way in which
farmers own their farms and various policies of
the government which help to run these farms.
o N
Co-operative Farming
A group of farmers form a co-operative society
by pooling in their resources voluntarily for
©
more efficient and profitable farming. Individual
farms remain intact and farming is a matter of
cooperative initiative.
Co-operative societies help farmers, to
procure all important inputs of farming, sell the
products at the most favourable terms and help
in processing of quality products at cheaper
rates.
Co-operative movement originated over a
century ago and has been successful in many
tt
western European countries like Denmark,
Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Italy etc. In
Denmark, the movement has been so successful
that practically every farmer is a member of a
no
co-operative.
Collective Farming
The basic principle behind this types of farming
ed
Figure 5.17 (b): Vegetables being loaded into a truck
and cycle carts for transporting to city markets
is based on social ownership of the means of
production and collective labour. Collective
farming or the model of Kolkhoz was
introduced in erstwhile Soviet Union to improve
upon the inefficiency of the previous methods
of agriculture and to boost agricultural
production for self-sufficiency.
The farmers used to pool in all their
resources like land, livestock and labour.
However, they were allowed to retain very small
plots to grow crops in order to meet their daily
requirements.
Yearly targets were set by the government
and the produce was also sold to the state at
fixed prices. Produce in excess of the fixed
amount was distributed among the members
or sold in the market. The farmers had to pay
taxes on the farm produces, hired machinery
etc. Members were paid according to the nature
of the work allotted to them by the farm
management. Exceptional work was rewarded
in cash or kind. This type of farming was
introduced in former Soviet Union under the
socialist regime which was adopted by the
socialist countries. After its collapse, these have
already been modified.
MINING
The discovery of minerals in the history of
human development, is reflected in many stages
in terms of copper age, bronze age and iron age.
The use of minerals in ancient times was largely
confined to the making of tools, utensils and
weapons. The actual development of mining
began with the industrial revolution and its
importance is continuously increasing.
Primary Activities 41

h ed
pu T
is
re R
bl
Fig. 5.18: Oil drilling operation
E
in the Gulf of Mexico
Factors Affecting Mining Activity
be C
The profitability of mining operations thus,
depends on two main factors:
(i) Physical factors include the size, grade and
o N
the mode of occurrence of the deposits.
(ii) Economic factors such as the demand for
the mineral, technology available and used,
capital to develop infrastructure and the
©
labour and transport costs.
Methods of Mining
Depending on the mode of occurrence and the
nature of the ore, mining is of two types: surface
and underground mining. The surface mining
also known as open-cast mining is the easiest
and the cheapest way of mining minerals that
occur close to the surface. Overhead costs such
tt
no
42 Fundamentals of Human Geography
as safety precautions and equipment is
relatively low in this method. The output is both
large and rapid.
SHAFT MINING
OPEN-CAST OR
(STRIP MINING)
Fig. 5.19: Methods of Mining
When the ore lies deep below the surface,
underground mining method (shaft method)
has to be used. In this method, vertical shafts
have to be sunk, from where underground
galleries radiate to reach the minerals.
Minerals are extracted and transported to the
surface through these passages. It requires
specially designed lifts, drills, haulage vehicles,
ventilation system for safety and efficient
movement of people and material. This method
is risky. Poisonous gases, fires, floods and
caving in lead to fatal accidents. Have you ever
read about mine fires and flooding of coal
mines in India?
The developed economies are retreating
from mining, processing and refining stages of
production due to high labour costs, while the
developing countries with large labour force and
striving for higher standard of living are
becoming more important. Several countries
of Africa and few of south America and Asia
have over fifty per cent of the earnings from
minerals alone.
 EXERCISES
1. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.
(i) Which one of the following is not a plantation crop?

ed
(a) Coffee (c) Wheat
(b) Sugarcane (d) Rubber
(ii) In which one of the following countries co-operative farming was the most
successful experiment?

h
(a) Russia (c) India

pu T
(b) Denmark (d) The Netherlands

is
(iii) Growing of flowers is called:
(a) Truck farming (c) Mixed farming
re R
(b) Factory farming (d) Floriculture

bl
(iv) Which one of the following types of cultivation was developed by European
colonists?
E
(a) Kolkoz (c) Mixed farming
(b) Viticulture (d) Plantation
be C

(v) In which one of the following regions is extensive commercial grain cultivation
not practised?
(a) American Canadian prairies (c) Pampas of Argentina
o N

(b) European Steppes (d) Amazon Basin

(vi) In which of the following types of agriculture is the farming of citrus fruit very
important?
(a) Market gardening (c) Mediterranean agriculture
©

(b) Plantation agriculture (d) Co-operative farming

(vii) Which one type of agriculture amongst the following is also called ‘slash and
burn agriculture’?
(a) Extensive subsistence agriculture
(b) Primitive subsistence agriculture
(c) Extensive commercial grain cultivation
(d) Mixed farming
(viii) Which one of the following does not follow monoculture?
(a) Dairy farming (c) Plantation agriculture
tt

(b) Mixed farming (d) Commercial grain farming

2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) Future of shifting cultivation is bleak. Discuss.
no

(ii) Market gardening is practised near urban areas. Why?

(iii) Large scale dairy farming is the result of the development of transportation
and refrigeration.

Primary Activities 43
 3. Answer the following questions in not more than 150 words.
(i) Differentiate between Nomadic Herding and Commercial Livestock Rearing.
(ii) Discuss the important characteristic features of plantation agriculture. Name
a few important plantation crops from different countries.

Project/Activity
Visit a nearby village and observe the cultivation of some crops. Ask
the farmers and list the various operations.

h ed
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E
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o N
©
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44 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 You must have observed that the land around
Unit III you is put to different uses. Some land is
Chapter 5 occupied by rivers, some may have trees and
on some parts roads and buildings have been
built. Different types of lands are suited to
different uses. Human beings thus, use land
as a resource for production as well as residence
and recreation. Thus, the building of your
school, roads on which you travel, parks in
which you play, fields in which crops are grown
and the pastures where animals graze represent
different uses to which land is put.

Land Use Categories

LAND RESOURCES Land-use records are maintained by land
AND AGRICULTURE revenue department. The land use categories
add up to reporting area, which is somewhat
different from the geographical area. The
Survey of India is responsible for measuring
geographical area of administrative units in
India. Have you ever used a map prepared by
Survey of India? The difference between the two
concepts are that while the former changes
somewhat depending on the estimates of the
land revenue records, the latter does not change
and stays fixed as per Survey of India
measurements. You may be familiar with land
use categories as they are also included in your
Social Science textbook of Class X.

The land-use categories as maintained in

the Land Revenue Records are as follows :
(i) Forests : It is important to note that
area under actual forest cover is
different from area classified as forest.
The latter is the area which the
Government has identified and
demarcated for forest growth. The land
revenue records are consistent with
the latter definition. Thus, there may
be an increase in this category without
any increase in the actual forest cover.
(ii) Land put to Non-agricultural Uses :
Land under settlements (rural and
urban), infrastructure (roads, canals,
etc.), industries, shops, etc. are
included in this category. An expansion
in the secondary and tertiary activities

2015-16
 would lead to an increase in this
category of land-use.
(iii) Barren and Wastelands : The land
which may be classified as a
wasteland such as barren hilly
terrains, desert lands, ravines, etc.
normally cannot be brought under
cultivation with the available
technology.
(iv) Area under Permanent Pastures and
Grazing Lands : Most of this type land
is owned by the village ‘Panchayat’ or
the Government. Only a small
proportion of this land is privately
owned. The land owned by the village
panchayat comes under ‘Common
Property Resources’.
(v) Area under Miscellaneous Tree
Crops and Groves(Not included is
Net sown Area) : The land under
orchards and fruit trees are included
in this category. Much of this land is
privately owned.
(vi) Culturable Waste-Land : Any land
which is left fallow (uncultivated) for
more than five years is included in this
category. It can be brought under
cultivation after improving it through
reclamation practices.
(vii) Current Fallow : This is the land
which is left without cultivation for one
or less than one agricultural year.
Fallowing is a cultural practice adopted
for giving the land rest. The land
recoups the lost fertility through natural
processes.
(viii) Fallow other than Current Fallow :
This is also a cultivable land which is
left uncultivated for more than a year
but less than five years. If the land is
left uncultivated for more than five
years, it would be categorised as
culturable wasteland.
(ix) Net Area Sown : The physical
extent of land on which crops are
sown and harvested is known as net
sown area.
Land-use Changes in India
Land-use in a region, to a large extent, is
influenced by the nature of economic
activities carried out in that region. However,
while economic activities change over time,
land, like many other natural resources, is
fixed in terms of its area. At this stage, one
needs to appreciate three types of changes
that an economy undergoes, which affect
land-use.
(i) The size of the economy (measured
in terms of value for all the goods and
services produced in the economy)
grows over time as a result of
increasing population, change in
income levels, available technology
and associated factors. As a result, the
pressure on land will increase with
time and marginal lands would come
under use.
(ii) Secondly, the composition of the
economy would undergo a change over
time. In other words, the secondary and
the tertiary sectors usually grow much
faster than the primary sector, specifically
the agricultural sector. This type of
change is common in developing
countries like India. This process would
result in a gradual shift of land from
agricultural uses to non-agricultural
uses. You would observe that such
changes are sharp around large urban
areas. The agricultural land is being used
for building purposes.
(iii) Thirdly, though the contribution of the
agricultural activities reduces over time,
the pressure on land for agricultural
activities does not decline. The reasons
for continued pressure on agricultural
land are:
(a) In developing countries, the
share of population dependent
on agriculture usually declines
much more slowly compared to
the decline in the sector’s share
in GDP.
(b) The number of people that the
agricultural sector has to feed is
increasing day by day.
Land Resources and Agriculture 41
2015-16
 Note : Categories (iv) and (v) of Section I have been clubbed together in the graph.
Fig. 5.1
Compare the change in shares of primary, secondary
and tertiary sectors in GDP between 1960-61 and 1999-
2000 with the changes of land-use between 1960-61
and 2008-09 using Appendix (vii) Tables 1 and 2.
India has undergone major changes within
the economy over the past four or five decades,
and this has influenced the land-use changes
in the country. These changes between 1960-
61 and 2008-09 have been shown in Fig. 5.1.
There are two points that you need to remember
before you derive some meaning from this
figure. Firstly, the percentages shown in the
figure have been derived with respect to the
reporting area. Secondly, since even the
reporting area has been relatively constant over
the years, a decline in one category usually
leads to an increase in some other category.
Four categories have undergone increases,
while four have registered declines. Share of
area under forest, area under non-agricultural
uses, current fallow lands and net area sown
have shown an increase. The following
observations can be made about these
increases:
(i) The rate of increase is the highest in case
of area under non-agricultural uses. This
is due to the changing structure of
Indian economy, which is increasingly
42 India : People and Economy
depending on the contribution from
industrial and services sectors and
expansion of related infrastructural
facilities. Also, an expansion of area
under both urban and rural settlements
has added to the increase. Thus, the area
under non-agricultural uses is
increasing at the expense of wastelands
and agricultural land.
(ii) The increase in the share under forest,
as explained before, can be accounted
for by increase in the demarcated area
under forest rather than an actual
increase in the forest cover in the country.
(iii) The increase in the current fallow cannot
be explained from information
pertaining to only two points. The trend
of current fallow fluctuates a great deal
over years, depending on the variability
of rainfall and cropping cycles.
(iv) The increase in net area sown is a recent
phenomenon due to use of culturable
waste land for agricultural pupose.
Before which it was registering a slow
decrease. There are indications that
most of the decline had occurred due to
the increases in area under non-
agricultural use. (Note : the expansion
of building activity on agricultural land
in your village and city).
2015-16
 The four categories that have registered a
decline are barren and wasteland, culturable
wasteland, area under pastures and tree crops
and fallow lands.
The following explanations can be given
for the declining trends:
(i) As the pressure on land increased, both
from the agricultural and non-
agricultural sectors, the wastelands and
culturable wastelands have witnessed
decline over time.
(ii) The decline in land under pastures and
grazing lands can be explained by
pressure from agricultural land. Illegal
encroachment due to expansion of
cultivation on common pasture lands is
largely responsible for this decline.
What is the difference between actual increase and
rate of increase? Work out the actual increase and
rate of increases for all the land use categories between
1960-61 and 2008-09 from the data given in the Appendix
(vii) (Table 1). Explain the results.
Note for Teacher
For calculating actual increase, the difference of the
land-use categories should be worked out over the two
periods.
For deriving the rate of increase, simple growth rate i.e.
(difference of values between the two time points i.e.
value of terminal year minus base year / base year or
1960-61 value) should be used, e.g.
Net sown Area in 2008-09 - Net sown A rea in 1960-61
´ 100
Net sown A rea in 1960-61
Common Proper
Proper ty R
operty esour
Resour ces
esources
Land, according to its ownership can broadly
be classified under two broad heads – private
land and common property resources (CPRs).
While the former is owned by an individual or a
group of individuals, the latter is owned by the
state meant for the use of the community. CPRs
provide fodder for the livestock and fuel for the
households along with other minor forest
products like fruits, nuts, fibre, medicinal
plants, etc. In rural areas, such land is of
particular relevance for the livelihood of the
landless and marginal farmers and other
weaker sections since many of them depend on
income from their livestock due to the fact that
they have limited access to land. CPRs also are
important for women as most of the fodder and
fuel collection is done by them in rural areas.
They have to devote long hours in collecting fuel
and fodder from a degraded area of CPR.
CPRs can be defined as community’s natural
resource, where every member has the right of
access and usage with specified obligations,
without anybody having property rights over
them. Community forests, pasture lands, village
water bodies and other public spaces where a
group larger than a household or family unit
exercises rights of use and carries responsibility
of management are examples of CPRs.
Agricultural Land Use in India
Land resource is more crucial to the livelihood
of the people depending on agriculture:
(i) Agriculture is a purely land based
activity unlike secondary and tertiary
activities. In other words, contribution
of land in agricultural output is more
compared to its contribution in the
outputs in the other sectors. Thus, lack
of access to land is directly correlated
with incidence of poverty in rural areas.
(ii) Quality of land has a direct bearing on
the productivity of agriculture, which is
not true for other activities.
(iii) In rural areas, aside from its value as a
productive factor, land ownership has
a social value and serves as a security
for credit, natural hazards or life
contingencies, and also adds to the social
status.
An estimation of the total stock of
agricultural land resources (i.e. total cultivable
land) can be arrived at by adding up net sown
area, all fallow lands and culturable wasteland.
It may be observed from Table 5.1 that over the
years, there has been a marginal decline in the
available total stock of cultivable land as a
percentage to total reporting area. There has been
a greater decline of cultivated land, in spite of a
corresponding decline of cultivable wasteland.
Land Resources and Agriculture 43
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 Table 5.1 : Composition of Total Cultivable Land
Agricultural Land-use As a percentage of As percentage of
Categories Reporting Area total cultivated land
1960-61 2008-09 1960-61 2008-09

Culturable Waste Land 6.23 4.17 10.61 7.14

Fallow other than Current Fallow 3.5 3.37 5.96 5.75
Current Fallow 3.73 4.76 6.35 8.13
Net Area Sown 45.26 46.24 77.08 78.98

Total Cultivable Land 58.72 58.54 100.00 100.00

It is clear from the above discussion that
the scope for bringing in additional land under
net sown area in India is limited. There is, thus,
an urgent need to evolve and adopt land-saving
technologies. Such technologies can be classified
under two heads – those which raise the yield
of any particular crop per unit area of land and
those which increase the total output per unit
area of land from all crops grown over one
agricultural year by increasing land-use
intensity. The advantage of the latter kind of
technology is that along with increasing output
from limited land, it also increases the demand
for labour significantly. For a land scarce but
labour abundant country like India, a high
cropping intensity is desirable not only for fuller
utilisation of land resource, but also for
reducing unemployment in the rural economy.
The cropping intensity (CI) is calculated as
follows :
GCA
Cropping Intensity in percentage = ´ 100
NSA
Cropping Seasons in India
There are three distinct crop Table 5.2 : Cropping Seasons in India
seasons in the northern and
interior parts of country, namely Cropping Season
kharif, rabi and zaid. The kharif
season largely coincides with
Southwest Monsoon under which Kharif
the cultivation of tropical crops June-September
such as rice, cotton, jute, jowar,
bajra and tur is possible. The rabi Rabi
October – March
season begins with the onset of
winter in October-November and Zaid
ends in March-April. The low April–June
temperature conditions during
this season facilitate the cultivation of temperate
and subtropical crops such as wheat, gram and
mustard. Zaid is a short duration summer
cropping season beginning after harvesting of
rabi crops. The cultivation of watermelons,
cucumbers, vegetables and fodder crops during
this season is done on irrigated lands. However,
this type of distinction in the cropping season
does not exist in southern parts of the country.
Here, the temperature is high enough to grow
tropical crops during any period in the year
provided the soil moisture is available.
Therefore, in this region same crops can be
grown thrice in an agricultural year provided
there is sufficient soil moisture.
Types of Farming
On the basis of main source of moisture for
crops, the farming can be classified as irrigated
and rainfed (barani). There is difference in the
nature of irrigated farming as well based on
objective of irrigation, i.e. protective or
productive. The objective of protective irrigation
Major Crops Cultivated
Northern States Southern States
Rice, Cotton, Bajra, Rice, Maize, Ragi,
Maize, Jowar, Tur Jowar, Groundnut
Wheat, Gram, Rapeseeds Rice, Maize, Ragi,
and Mustard, Barley Groundnut, Jowar
Vegetables, Fruits, Rice, Vegetables,
Fodder Fodder

44 India : People and Economy

2015-16
is to protect the crops from adverse effects of soil
moisture deficiency which often means that
irrigation acts as a supplementary source of water
over and above the rainfall. The strategy of this
kind of irrigation is to provide soil moisture to
maximum possible area. Productive irrigation is
meant to provide sufficient soil moisture in the
cropping season to achieve high productivity. In
such irrigation the water input per unit area of
cultivated land is higher than protective irrigation.
Rainfed farming is further classified on the basis
of adequacy of soil moisture during cropping
season into dryland and wetland farming. In
India, the dryland farming is largely confined
to the regions having annual rainfall less than 75
cm. These regions grow hardy and drought
resistant crops such as ragi, bajra, moong, gram
and guar (fodder crops) and practise various
measures of soil moisture conservation and rain
water harvesting. In wetland farming, the
rainfall is in excess of soil moisture requirement
of plants during rainy season. Such regions may
face flood and soil erosion hazards. These areas
grow various water intensive crops such as rice,
jute and sugarcane and practise aquaculture in
the fresh water bodies.
Foodgrains
The importance of foodgrains in Indian
agricultural economy may be gauged from the
fact these crops occupy about two-third of total
cropped area in the country. Foodgrains are
dominant crops in all parts of the country
whether they have subsistence or commercial
agricultural economy. On the basis of the
structure of grain the foodgrains are classified
as cereals and pulses.
Cereals
The cereals occupy about 54 per cent of total
cropped area in India. The country produces
about 11 per cent cereals of the world and ranks
third in production after China and U.S.A. India
produces a variety of cereals, which are
classified as fine grains (rice, wheat) and coarse
grains (jowar, bajra, maize, ragi), etc. Account
of important cereals has been given in the
following paragraphs :
Rice
Rice is a staple food for the overwhelming
majority of population in India. Though, it is
considered to be a crop of tropical humid areas,
it has about 3,000 varieties which are grown in
different agro-climatic regions. These are
successfully grown from sea level to about
2,000 m altitude and from humid areas in
eastern India to dry but irrigated areas of
Punjab, Haryana, western U.P. and northern
Rajasthan. In southern states and West Bengal
the climatic conditions allow the cultivation of
two or three crops of rice in an agricultural year.
In West Bengal farmers grow three crops of rice
called ‘aus’, ‘aman’ and ‘boro’. But in
Himalayas and northwestern parts of the
country, it is grown as a kharif crop during
southwest Monsoon season.
India contributes 21.6 per cent of rice
production in the world and ranked second
after China in 2008-09. About one-fourth of
the total cropped area in the country is under
rice cultivation. West Bengal, Punjab and
Uttar Pradesh were the leading rice producing
states in the country in 2009-10. The yield level
of rice is high in Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Haryana,
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal and
Kerala. In the first four of these states almost the
entire land under rice cultivation is irrigated.
Punjab and Haryana are not traditional rice
Fig. 5.2 : Rice transplantation in southern parts of India
growing areas. Rice cultivation in the irrigated
areas of Punjab and Haryana was introduced
in 1970s following the Green Revolution.
Genetically improved varieties of seed, relatively
high usage of fertilisers and pesticides and lower
levels of susceptibility of the crop to pests due
Land Resources and Agriculture 45
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 Fig. 5.3 : India – Distribution of Rice

46 India : People and Economy

2015-16
to dry climatic conditions are responsible for
higher yield of rice in this region. The yield of
this crop is very low in rainfed areas of Madhya
Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
Wheat
Wheat is the second most important cereal crop
in India after rice. India produces about 12 per
cent of total wheat production of world. It is
primarily a crop of temperate zone. Hence, its
cultivation in India is done during winter i.e.
rabi season. About 85 per cent of total area
under this crop is concentrated in north and
central regions of the country i.e. Indo-Gangetic
Plain, Malwa Plateau and Himalayas up to
2,700 m altitude. Being a rabi crop, it is mostly
grown under irrigated conditions. But it is a
rainfed crop in Himalayan highlands and parts
of Malwa plateau in Madhya Pradesh.
About 14 per cent of the total cropped area
in the country is under wheat cultivation. Uttar
Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and
Madhya Pradesh are five leading wheat
producing states. The yield level of wheat is
very high (above 4,000 k.g. per ha) in Punjab
and Haryana whereas, Uttar Pradesh,
Rajasthan and Bihar have moderate yields. The
states like Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh
and Jammu and Kashmir growing wheat under
rainfed conditions have low yield.
Jowar
The coarse cereals together occupy about
16.50 per cent of total cropped area in the
country. Among these, jowar or sorghum alone
accounts for about 5.3 per cent of total
cropped area. It is main food crop in semi-arid
areas of central and southern India.
Maharashtra alone produces more than half
of the total jowar production of the country.
Other leading producer states of jowar are
Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh
and Telangana. It is sown in both kharif and
rabi seasons in southern states. But it is a
kharif crop in northern India where it is mostly
grown as a fodder crop. South of Vindhyachal
it is a rainfed crop and its yield level is very
low in this region.
Bajra
Bajra is sown in hot and dry climatic conditions
in northwestern and western parts of the
country. It is a hardy crop which resists frequent
dry spells and drought in this region. It is
cultivated alone as well as part of mixed
cropping. This coarse cereal occupies about 5.2
per cent of total cropped area in the country.
Leading producers of bajra are the states of
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan
and Haryana. Being a rainfed crop, the yield level
of this crop is low in Rajasthan and fluctuates a
lot from year to year. Yield of this crop has
increased during recent years in Haryana and
Gujarat due to introduction of drought resistant
varieties and expansion of irrigation under it.
Maize
Maize is a food as well as fodder crop grown
under semi-arid climatic conditions and over
inferior soils. This crop occupies only about
3.6 per cent of total cropped area. Maize
cultivation is not concentrated in any specific
region. It is sown all over India except eastern
and north-eastern regions. The leading
producers of maize are the states of Madhya
Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana,
Karnataka, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Yield
level of maize is higher than other coarse cereals.
It is high in southern states and declines
towards central parts.
Pulses
Pulses are a very important ingredient of
vegetarian food as these are rich sources of
proteins. These are legume crops which
increase the natural fertility of soils through
nitrogen fixation. India is a leading producer of
pulses and accounts for about one-fifth of the
total production of pulses in the world. The
cultivation of pulses in the country is largely
concentrated in the drylands of Deccan and
central plateaus and northwestern parts of the
country. Pulses occupy about 11 per cent of
the total cropped area in the country. Being the
rainfed crops of drylands, the yields of pulses
are low and fluctuate from year to year. Gram
and tur are the main pulses cultivated in India.
Land Resources and Agriculture 47
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 Fig. 5.4 : India – Distribution of Wheat

48 India : People and Economy

2015-16
Gram
Gram is cultivated in subtropical areas. It is
mostly a rainfed crop cultivated during rabi
season in central, western and northwestern parts
of the country. Just one or two light showers or
irrigations are required to grow this crop
successfully. It has been displaced from the
cropping pattern by wheat in Haryana, Punjab
and northern Rajasthan following the green
revolution. At present, gram covers only about
2.8 per cent of the total cropped area in the
country. Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and
Rajasthan are the main producers of this pulse
crop. The yield of this crop continues to be low
and fluctuates from year to year even in irrigated
areas.
Tur (Arhar)
Tur is the second important pulse crop in the
country. It is also known as red gram or pigeon
pea. It is cultivated over marginal lands and
under rainfed conditions in the dry areas of
central and southern states of the country. This
crop occupies only about 2 per cent of total
cropped area of India. Maharashtra alone
contributes about one-third of the total
production of tur. Other leading producer states
are Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat and
Madhya Pradesh. Per hectare output of this crop
is very low and its performance is inconsistent.
Differentiate between different foodgrains. Mix grains of
various kinds and separate cereals from pulses. Also,
separate fine from coarse cereals.
Oilseeds
The oilseeds are produced for extracting edible
oils. Drylands of Malwa plateau, Marathwada,
Gujarat, Rajasthan, Telangana, Rayalseema
region of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka
plateau are oilseeds growing regions of India.
These crops together occupy about 14 per cent
of total cropped area in the country.
Groundnut, rapeseed and mustard, soyabean
and sunflower are the main oilseed crops grown
in India.
Groundnut
India produces about 18.8 per cent of the total
groundnut production in the world (2008-09).
It is largely a rainfed kharif crop of drylands.
But in southern India, it is cultivated during rabi
season as well. It covers about 3.6 per cent of
total cropped area in the country. Gujarat, Tamil
Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka
and Maharashtra are the leading producers.
Yield of groundnut is comparatively high in
Tamil Nadu where it is partly irrigated. But its
yield is low in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and
Karnataka.
Rapeseed and Mustard
Rapeseed and mustard comprise several oilseeds
as rai, sarson, toria and taramira. These are
subtropical crops cultivated during rabi season
in north-western and central parts of India.
These are frost sensitive crops and their yields
fluctuate from year to year. But with the
expansion of irrigation and improvement in seed
technology, their yields have improved and
stabilised to some extent. About two-third of the
cultivated area under these crops is irrigated.
These oilseeds together occupy only 2.5 per cent
of total cropped area in the country. Rajasthan
contributes about one-third production while
other leading producers are Uttar Pradesh,
Haryana, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh.
Yields of these crops are comparatively high in
Haryana and Rajasthan.
Other Oilseeds
Soyabean and sunflower are other important
oilseeds grown in India. Soyabean is mostly
grown in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Fig. 5.5 : Farmers sowing soyabean seeds in Amravati,
Maharashtra
Land Resources and Agriculture 49
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 Fig. 5.6 : India – Distribution of Cotton and Jute

50 India : People and Economy

2015-16
These two states together produce about 90 per
cent of total output of soyabean in the country.
Sunflower cultivation is concentrated in
Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and
adjoining areas of Maharashtra. It is a minor
crop in northern parts of the country where its
yield is high due to irrigation.
Fibre Crops
These crops provide us fibre for preparing cloth,
bags, sacks and a number of other items.
Cotton and jute are two main fibre crops grown
in India.
Cotton
Cotton is a tropical crop grown in kharif season
in semi-arid areas of the country. India lost a
large proportion of cotton growing area to
Pakistan during partition. However, its acreage
has increased considerably during the last 50
years. India grows both short staple (Indian)
cotton as well as long staple (American) cotton
called ‘narma’ in north-western parts of the
country. Cotton requires clear sky during
flowering stage.
Fig. 5.7 : Cotton Cultivation
India ranks fourth in the world in the
production of cotton after China, U.S.A. and
Pakistan and accounts for about 8.3 per cent
of production of cotton in the world. Cotton
occupies about 4.7 per cent of total cropped
area in the country. There are three cotton
growing areas, i.e. parts of Punjab, Haryana and
northern Rajasthan in north-west, Gujarat and
Maharashtra in the west and plateaus of
Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu
in south. Leading producers of this crop are
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh,
Punjab and Haryana. Per hectare output of
cotton is high under irrigated conditions in
north-western region of the country. Its yield
is very low in Maharashtra where it is grown
under rainfed conditions.
Jute
Jute is used for making coarse cloth, bags, sacks
and decorative items. It is a cash crop in West
Bengal and adjoining eastern parts of the
country. India lost large jute growing areas to
East Pakistan (Bangladesh) during partition. At
present, India produces about three-fifth of jute
production of the world. West Bengal accounts
for about three-fourth of the production in the
country. Bihar and Assam are other jute growing
areas. Being concentrated only in a few states,
this crop accounts for only about 0.5 per cent of
total cropped area in the country.
Other Crops
Sugarcane, tea and coffee are other important
crops grown in India.
Sugarcane
Sugarcane is a crop of tropical areas. Under
rainfed conditions, it is cultivated in sub-humid
and humid climates. But it is largely an irrigated
crop in India. In Indo-Gangetic plain, its
cultivation is largely concentrated in Uttar
Pradesh. Sugarcane growing area in western
India is spread over Maharashtra and Gujarat.
Fig. 5.8 : Sugarcane Cultivation
Land Resources and Agriculture 51
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 Fig. 5.9 : India – Distribution of Sugarcane

52 India : People and Economy

2015-16
In southern India, it is cultivated in irrigated
tracts of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana
and Andhra Pradesh.
India was the second largest producer of
sugarcane after Brazil in 2008-09. It accounts
for about 23 per cent of the world production
of sugarcane. But it occupies only 2.4 per cent
of total cropped area in the country. Uttar
Pradesh produces about two-fifth of sugarcane
of the country. Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil
Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are other
leading producers of this crop where yield level
of sugarcane is high. Its yield is low in northern
India.
Tea
Tea is a plantation crop used as beverage. Black
tea leaves are fermented whereas green tea leaves
are unfermented. Tea leaves have rich content of
caffeine and tannin. It is an indigenous crop of
hills in northern China. It is grown over
undulating topography of hilly areas and well-
drained soils in humid and sub-humid tropics
and sub-tropics. In India, tea plantation started
in 1840s in Brahmaputra valley of Assam which
still is a major tea growing area in the country.
Later on, its plantation was introduced in the
sub-Himalayan region of West Bengal (Darjiling,
Jalpaiguri and Cooch Bihar districts). Tea is also
cultivated on the lower slopes of Nilgiri and
Fig. 5.10 : Tea Farming
Cardamom hills in Western Ghats. India is a
leading producer of tea and accounts for about
28 per cent of total production in the world.
India’s share in the international market of tea
has declined substantially. At present, it ranks
third among tea exporting countries in the world
after Sri Lanka and China. Assam accounts for
about 53.2 per cent of the total cropped area and
contributes more than half of total production of
tea in the country. West Bengal and Tamil Nadu
are the other leading producers of tea.
Coffee
Coffee is a tropical plantation crop. Its seeds
are roasted, ground and are used for preparing
a beverage. There are three varieties of coffee
i.e. arabica, robusta and liberica. India mostly
grows superior quality coffee, arabica, which
is in great demand in International market. But
India produces only about 3.2 per cent coffee
of the world and ranks seventh after Brazil,
Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia, Ethopia and
Mexico in 2008-09. Coffee is cultivated in the
highlands of Western Ghats in Karnataka,
Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Karnataka alone
accounts for more than two-third of total
production of coffee in the country.
Agricultural Development in India
Agriculture continues to be an important sector
of Indian economy. In 2001 about 53 per cent
population of the country was dependent on it.
The importance of agricultural sector in India
can be gauged from the fact that about 57 per
cent of its land is devoted to crop cultivation,
whereas, in the world, the corresponding share
is only about 12 per cent. In spite of this, there
is tremendous pressure on agricultural land
in India, which is reflected from the fact that
the land-human ratio in the country is only 0.31
ha which is almost half of that of the world as a
whole (0.59 ha). Despite various constraints,
Indian agriculture has marched a long way
since Independence.
Strategy of Development
Indian agricultural economy was largely
subsistence in nature before Independence. It
had dismal performance in the first half of
twentieth century. This period witnessed severe
droughts and famines. During partition about
one-third of the irrigated land in undivided
India went to Pakistan. This reduced the
proportion of irrigated area in Independent
Land Resources and Agriculture 53
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 Fig. 5.11 : India – Distribution of Tea and Coffee

54 India : People and Economy

2015-16
India. After Independence, the immediate goal
of the Government was to increase foodgrains
production by (i) switching over from cash
crops to food crops; (ii) intensification of
cropping over already cultivated land; and (iii)
increasing cultivated area by bringing cultivable
and fallow land under plough. Initially, this
strategy helped in increasing foodgrains
production. But agricultural production
stagnated during late 1950s. To overcome this
problem, Intensive Agricultural District
Programme (IADP) and Intensive Agricultural
Area Programme (IAAP) were launched. But two
consecutive droughts during mid-1960s
resulted in food crisis in the country.
Consequently, the foodgrains were imported
from other countries.
New seed varieties of wheat (Mexico) and
rice (Philippines) known as high yielding
varieties (HYVs) were available for cultivation
by mid-1960s. India took advantage of this and
introduced package technology comprising
HYVs, along with chemical fertilizers in irrigated
areas of Punjab, Haryana, Western Uttar
Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. Assured
supply of soil moisture through irrigation was
a basic pre-requisite for the success of this new
agricultural technology. This strategy of
agricultural development paid dividends
instantly and increased the foodgrains
production at very fast rate. This spurt of
agricultural growth came to be known as
‘Green Revolution’. This also gave fillip to the
development of a large number of agro-inputs,
agro-processing industries and small-scale
industries. This strategy of agricultural
development made the country self-reliant in
foodgrain production. But green revolution was
initially confined to irrigated areas only. This
led to regional disparities in agricultural
development in the country till the seventies,
after which the technology spread to the Eastern
and Central parts of the country.
The Planning Commission of India
focused its attention on the problems of
agriculture in rainfed areas in 1980s. It
initiated agro-climatic planning in 1988 to
induce regionally balanced agricultural
development in the country. It also emphasised
the need for diversification of agriculture and
harnessing of resources for development of
dairy farming, poultry, horticulture, livestock
rearing and aquaculture.
Initiation of the policy of liberalisation and
free market economy in 1990s is likely to
influence the course of development of Indian
agriculture. Lack of development of rural
infrastructure, withdrawal of subsidies and
price support, and impediments in availing of
the rural credits may lead to inter-regional and
inter-personal disparities in rural areas.
Growth of Agricultural Output and Technology
There has been a significant increase in
agricultural output and improvement in
technology during the last fifty years.
• Production and yield of many crops
such as rice and wheat has increased at
an impressive rate. Among the other
crops, the production of sugarcane,
oilseeds and cotton has also increased
appreciably. India ranked first in the
p r o d u c t i o n o f p u l s e s and j u t e in
2008-09. It is the second largest-
producer of rice, wheat, groundnut,
sugarcane and vegetables.
• Expansion of irrigation has played a very
crucial role in enhancing agricultural
output in the country. It provided basis
for introduction of modern agricultural
technology such as high yielding varieties
of seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticides and
farm machinery. The net irrigated area in
the country has increased from 20.85 to
54.66 million ha over the period 1950-51
to 2000-01. Over these 50 years, area
irrigated more than once in an agricultural
year has increased from 1.71 to 20.46
million ha.
• Modern agricultural technology has
diffused very fast in various areas of the
country. Consumption of chemical
fertilizers has increased by 15 times since
mid-sixties. In 2001-02, per hectare
consumption of chemical fertilizers in India
was 91 kg which was equal to its average
consumption in the world (90 kg). But in
the irrigated areas of Punjab and Haryana,
Land Resources and Agriculture 55
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 the consumption of chemical fertilizers per
unit area is three to four times higher than
that of the national average. Since the high
yielding varieties are highly susceptible to
pests and diseases, the use of pesticides
has increased significantly since 1960s.
Fig. 5.12 : Roto Till Drill - A modern agricultural equipment
Pr
Proob lems of Indian Ag
blems ricultur
Agricultur e
riculture
The nature of problems faced by Indian
agriculture varies according to agro-ecological
and historical experiences of its different regions.
Hence, most of the agricultural problems in the
country are region specific. Yet, there are some
problems which are common and range from
physical constraints to institutional hindrances.
A detailed discussion on these problems follows:
Dependence on Erratic Monsoon
Irrigation covers only about 33 per cent of the
cultivated area in India. The crop production
in rest of the cultivated land directly depends
on rainfall. Poor performance of south-west
Monsoon also adversely affects the supply of
canal water for irrigation. On the other hand,
the rainfall in Rajasthan and other drought
prone areas is too meagre and highly unreliable.
Even the areas receiving high annual rainfall
experience considerable fluctuations. This
makes them vulnerable to both droughts and
floods. Drought is a common phenomenon in
the low rainfall areas which may also experience
occasional floods. The flash floods in drylands
of Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Rajasthan in
2006 are examples of this phenomenon.
Droughts and floods continue to be twin menace
in Indian agriculture.
56 India : People and Economy
Low productivity
The yield of the crops in the country is low in
comparison to the international level. Per
hectare output of most of the crops such as
rice, wheat, cotton and oilseeds in India is
much lower than that of U.S.A., Russia and
Japan. Because of the very high pressure on
the land resources, the labour productivity
in Indian agriculture is also very low in
comparison to international level. The vast
rainfed areas of the country, particularly
drylands which mostly grow coarse cereals,
pulses and oilseeds have very low yields.
Why is agricultural productivity low in dry
regions?
Constraints of Financial Resources and
Indebtedness
The inputs of modern agriculture are very
expensive. This resource intensive approach has
become unmanageable for marginal and small
farmers as they have very meagre or no saving
to invest in agriculture. To tide over these
difficulties, most of such farmers have resorted
to availing credit from various institutions and
money lenders. Crop failures and low returns
from agriculture have forced them to fall in the
trap of indebtedness.
What are the implications of severe
indebtedness? Do you feel that the recent
incidents of farmers’ suicides in different
states of the country are the result of
indebtedness?
Lack of Land Reforms
Indian peasantry had been exploited for a
long time as there had been unequal
distribution of land. Among the three
revenue systems operational during British
period i.e. Mahalwari, Ryotwari and
Zamindari, the last one was most exploitative
for the peasants. After independence, land
reforms were accorded priority, but these
2015-16
reforms were not implemented effectively due
to lack of strong political will. Most of the state
governments avoided taking politically tough
decisions which went against strong political
lobbies of landlords. Lack of implementation
of land reforms has resulted in continuation
of inequitous distribution of cultivable land
which is detrimental to agricultural
development.
Small Farm Size and Fragmentation of
Landholdings
There are a large number of marginal and small
farmers in the country. More than 60 per cent
of the ownership holdings have a size smaller
than one (ha). Furthermore, about 40 per cent
of the farmers have operational holding size
smaller than 0.5 hectare (ha). The average size
What changes have you noticed in
agricultural sector and cropping
pattern? Discuss in the class.
of land holding is shrinking further under
increasing population pressure. Furthermore,
in India, the land holdings are mostly
fragmented. There are some states where
consolidation of holding has not been carried
out even once. Even the states where it has been
carried out once, second consolidation is
required as land holdings have fragmented
again in the process of division of land among
the owners of next generations. The small size
fragmented landholdings are uneconomic.
Lack of Commercialisation
A large number of farmers produce crops for
self-consumption. These farmers do not have
enough land resources to produce more than
their requirement. Most of the small and
marginal farmers grow foodgrains, which are
Land Resources and Agriculture 57
2015-16
meant for their own family consumption.
Modernisation and commercialisation of
agriculture have however, taken place in the
irrigated areas.
Vast Under-employment
There is a massive under-employment in the
agricultural sector in India, particularly in the
un-irrigated tracts. In these areas, there is a
seasonal unemployment ranging from 4 to 8
months. Even in the cropping season work is
not available throughout, as agricultural
operations are not labour intensive. Hence, the
people engaged in agriculture do not have the
opportunity to work round the year.
Degradation of Cultivable Land
One of the serious problems that arises out of
faulty strategy of irrigation and agricultural
development is degradation of land resources.
This is serious because it may lead to
depletion of soil fertility. The situation is
particularly alarming in irrigated areas. A large
tract of agricultural land has lost its fertility
due to alkalisation and salinisation of soils and
waterlogging. Alkalinity and salinity have
already affected about 8 million ha land.
Another 7 million ha land in the country has
lost its fertility due to waterlogging. Excessive
use of chemicals such as insecticides and
pesticides has led to their concentration in toxic
amounts in the soil profile. Leguminous crops
have been displaced from the cropping pattern
in the irrigated areas and duration of fallow
has substantially reduced owing to multiple
cropping. This has obliterated the process of
natural fertilization such as nitrogen fixation.
Rainfed areas in humid and semi-arid tropics
also experience degradation of several types
like soil erosion by water and wind erosion
which are often induced by human activities.
Prepare a list of agricultural problems in your own
region. How similar or different are these problems
compared to the problems mentioned in this chapter?

EXERCISES

1. Choose the right answers of the following from the given options.
(i) Which one of the following is NOT a land-use category?
(a) Fallow land (c) Net Area Sown
(b) Marginal land (d) Culturable Wasteland
(ii) What one of the following is the main reason due to which share of forest
has shown an increase in the last forty years?
(a) Extensive and efficient efforts of afforestation
(b) Increase in community forest land
(c) Increase in notified area allocated for forest growth
(d) Better peoples’ participation in managing forest area.
(iii) Which one of the following is the main form of degradation in irrigated
areas?
(a) Gully erosion (c) Salinisation of soils
(b) Wind erosion (d) Siltation of land

58 India : People and Economy

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 (iv) Which one of the following crops is not cultivated under dryland farming?
(a) Ragi (c) Groundnut
(b) Jowar (d) Sugarcane
(v) In which of the following group of countries of the world, HYVs of wheat
and rice were developed?
(a) Japan and Australia (c) Mexico and Philippines
(b) U.S.A. and Japan (d) Mexico and Singapore
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) Differentiate between barren and wasteland and culturable wasteland.
(ii) How would you distinguish between net sown area and gross cropped
area?
(iii) Why is the strategy of increasing cropping intensity important in a
country like India?
(iv) How do you measure total cultivable land?
(v) What is the difference between dryland and wetland farming?
3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.
(i) What are the different types of environmental problems of land resources
in India?
(ii) What are the important strategies for agricultural development followed
in the post-independence period in India?

Land Resources and Agriculture 59

2015-16
 Do you think that what exists today will
Unit III continue to be so, or the future is going to be
Chapter 6 different in some respects? It can be said with
some certainty that the societies will witness
demographic transition, geographical shift of
population, technological advancement,
degradation of environment and water scarcity.
Water scarcity is possibly to pose the greatest
challenge on account of its increased demand
coupled with shrinking supplies due to over
utilisation and pollution. Water is a cyclic
resource with abundant supplies on the globe.
Approximately, 71 per cent of the earth’s
surface is covered with it but fresh water
WATER RESOURCES constitutes only about 3 per cent of the total
water. In fact, a very small proportion of fresh
water is effectively available for human use. The
availability of fresh water varies over space and
time. The tensions and disputes on sharing and
control of this scare resource are becoming
contested issues among communities, regions,
and states. The assessment, efficient use and
conservation of water, therefore, become
necessary to ensure development. In this
chapter, we shall discuss water resources in
India, its geographical distribution, sectoral
utilisation, and methods of its conservation and
management.

Water Resources of India

India accounts for about 2.45 per cent of world’s
surface area, 4 per cent of the world’s water
resources and about 16 per cent of world’s
population. The total water available from
precipitation in the country in a year is about
4,000 cubic km. The availability from surface
water and replenishable groundwater is 1,869
cubic km. Out of this only 60 per cent can be
put to beneficial uses. Thus, the total utilisable
water resource in the country is only 1,122
cubic km.

Surface Water Resources

There are four major sources of surface water.
These are rivers, lakes, ponds, and tanks. In
the country, there are about 10,360 rivers
and their tributaries longer than 1.6 km each.
The mean annual flow in all the river basins
in India is estimated to be 1,869 cubic km.

2015-16
However, due to topographical, hydrological
and other constraints, only about 690 cubic
km (32 per cent) of the available surface water
can be utilised. Water flow in a river depends
on size of its catchment area or river basin
and rainfall within its catchment area. You
have studied in your Class XI textbook “India
: Physical Environment” that precipitation in
India has very high spatial variation, and it is
mainly concentrated in Monsoon season. You
also have studied in the textbook that some
of the rivers in the country like the Ganga,
the Brahmaputra, and the Indus have huge
catchment areas. Given that precipitation is
relatively high in the catchment areas of the
Ganga, the Brahmaputra and the Barak
rivers, these rivers, although account for only
about one-third of the total area in the
country, have 60 per cent of the total surface
water resources. Much of the annual water
flow in south Indian rivers like the Godavari,
the Krishna, and the Kaveri has been
harnessed, but it is yet to be done in the
Brahmaputra and the Ganga basins.
Groundwater Resources
The total replenishable groundwater
resources in the country are about 432 cubic
km. Table 6.1 shows that the Ganga and the
Brahamaputra basins, have about 46 per
cent of the total replenishable groundwater
resources. The level of groundwater
utilisation is relatively high in the river basins
lying in north-western region and parts of
south India.
The groundwater utilisation is very high
in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan,
and Tamil Nadu. However, there are States like
Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Kerala, etc., which utilise
only a small proportion of their groundwater
potentials. States like Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar, Tripura and Maharashtra are utilising
their ground water resources at a moderate
rate. If the present trend continues, the

Table 6.1 : Basinwise Ground water Potential and Utilisation in India (Cubic Km/Year)

S. Name of Basin Total Replenishable Level of Groundwater

No. Ground Water Resources Utilisation (%)

1. Brahmani with Baitarni 4.05 8.45

2. Brahmaputra 26.55 3.37
3. Chambal Composite 7.19 40.09
4. Kaveri 12.3 55.33
5. Ganga 170.99 33.52
6. Godavari 40.65 19.53
7. Indus 26.49 77.71
8. Krishna 26.41 30.39
9. Kuchchh and Saurashtra including river Luni 11.23 51.14
10. Chennai and South Tamil Nadu 18.22 57.68
11. Mahanadi 16.46 6.95
12. Meghna (Barak & Others) 8.52 3.94
13. Narmada 10.83 21.74
14. Northeast Composite 18.84 17.2
15. Pennar 4.93 36.6
16. Subarnrekha 1.82 9.57
17. Tapi 8.27 33.05
18. Western Ghat 17.69 22.88
Total 431.42 31.97

Source: Ministry of Water Resources, Govt. of India, New Delhi;

http://wrmin.nic.in/resource/gwresource1.htm

Water Resources 61

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 Fig. 6.1 : India – River Basins

62 India : People and Economy

2015-16
demands for water would need the supplies.
And such situation, will be detrimental to
development, and can cause social upheaval
and disruptions.
Exercise based on Table 6.1 :
1. Which river basin has the highest total
replenishable ground water resource?
2. In which river basin is the level of ground
water utilisation the highest?
3. Which river basin has the lowest total
replenishable ground water resource?
4. In which river basin is the level of ground
water utilisation the lowest?
5. Draw a bar diagram to show the total
replenishable ground water resources
in 10 major river basins.
6. Draw a bar diagram to show the levels
of ground water utilisation of the same
10 major river basins for which you have
made the first bar diagram.
Lagoons and Backwaters
India has a vast coastline and the coast is very
indented in some states. Due to this, a number
of lagoons and lakes have formed. The States like
Source: Earth Trend 2001, World Resource Institute, as given in Govt. of India (2002) Report
Fig. 6.2 : Sectoral Usage of Surface Water
Kerala, Odisha and West Bengal have vast
surface water resources in these lagoons and
lakes. Although, water is generally brackish in
these water-bodies, it is used for fishing and
irrigating certain varieties of paddy crops,
coconut, etc.
Water Demand and Utilisation
India has traditionally been an agrarian
economy, and about two-third of its population
have been dependent on agriculture. Hence,
development of irrigation to increase agricultural
production has been assigned a very high
priority in the Five Year Plans, and multipurpose
river valleys projects like the Bhakra-Nangal,
Hirakud, Damodar Valley, Nagarjuna Sagar,
Indira Gandhi Canal Project, etc. have been taken
up. In fact, India’s water demand at present is
dominated by irrigational needs.
As shown in Fig. 6.2 and 6.3, agriculture
accounts for most of the surface and ground
water utilisation, it accounts for 89 per cent of
the surface water and 92 per cent of the
groundwater utilisation. While the share of
industrial sector is limited to 2 per cent of the
surface water utilisation and 5 per cent of the
ground-water, the share of domestic sector is
higher (9 per cent) in surface water utilisation
as compared to groundwater. The share of
Fig. 6.3 : Sectoral Usage of Groundwater
Water Resources 63
2015-16
agricultural sector in total water utilisation is
much higher than other sectors. However, in
future, with development, the shares of
industrial and domestic sectors in the country
are likely to increase.
Demand of Water for Irrigation
In agriculture, water is mainly used for
irrigation. Irrigation is needed because of
spatio-temporal variability in rainfall in the
country. The large tracts of the country are
deficient in rainfall and are drought prone.
North-western India and Deccan plateau
constitute such areas. Winter and summer
seasons are more or less dry in most part of
the country. Hence, it is difficult to practise
agriculture without assured irrigation during
dry seasons. Even in the areas of ample
Fig. 6.4 : The Ganga and its Tributaries and Towns Located on them
64 India : People and Economy
rainfall like West Bengal and Bihar, breaks
in monsoon or its failure creates dry spells
detrimental for agriculture. Water need of
certain crops also makes irrigation necessary.
For instance, water requirement of rice,
sugarcane, jute, etc. is very high which can
be met only through irrigation.
Provision of irrigation makes multiple
cropping possible. It has also been found that
irrigated lands have higher agricultural
productivity than unirrigated land. Further, the
high yielding varieties of crops need regular
moisture supply, which is made possible only
by a developed irrigation systems. In fact, this
is why that green revolution strategy of
agriculture development in the country has
largely been successful in Punjab, Haryana and
western Uttar Pradesh.
2015-16
 In Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar
Pradesh more than 85 per cent of their net
sown area is under irrigation. Wheat and rice
are grown mainly with the help of irrigation in
these states. Of the total net irrigated area 76.1
per cent in Punjab and 51.3 per cent in Haryana
are irrigated through wells and tube wells. This
shows that these states utilise large proportion
of their ground water potential which has
resulted in ground water depletion in these
states. The share of area irrigated through wells
and tube wells is also very high in the states
given in table 6.2.
Table 6.2 : Percentage of net irrigated area
to total by wells and Tube-wells
State Percentage
Gujarat 86.6
Rajasthan 77.2
Madhya Pradesh 66.5
Maharashtra 65
Uttar Pradesh 58.21
West Bengal 57.6
Tamil Nadu 54.7
What is the pattern of well and Tube-well
irrigation discernible from the above table?
What are the implications of using ground
water in drought prone area of Rajasthan,
Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu?
The over-use of ground water resources
has led to decline in ground water table in these
states. In fact, over withdrawals in some states
like Rajasthan, and Maharashtra has increased
fluoride concentration in ground-water, and this
practice has led to increase in concentration of
arsenic in parts of West Bengal and Bihar.
Intensive irrigation in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar
Pradesh is increasing salinity in the soil and depletion
of ground water irrigation. Discuss its likely impacts on
agriculture.
Emerging Water Problems
The per capita availability of water is dwindling
day by day due to increase in population. The
available water resources are also getting
polluted with industrial, agricultural and
domestic effluents, and this, in turn, is further
limiting the availability of usable water
resources.
Deterioration of Water Quality
Water quality refers to purity of water, or water
without unwanted foreign substances. Water
gets polluted by foreign matters such as micro-
organisms, chemicals, industrial and other
wastes. Such matters deteriorate the quality of
water and render it unfit for human use. When
toxic substances enter lakes, streams, rivers,
ocean and other water bodies, they get dissolved
or lie suspended in water. This results in pollution
of water whereby quality of water deteriorates
affecting aquatic systems. Sometimes, these
pollutants also seep down and pollute
groundwater. The Ganga and the Yamuna are
the two highly polluted rivers in the country.
Find out which are the major towns/cities located on
the bank of the Ganga and its tributaries and major
industries they have.
Water Conservation and Management
Since there is a declining availability of fresh
water and increasing demand, the need has
arisen to conserve and effectively manage this
precious life giving resource for sustainable
development. Given that water availability from
sea/ocean, due to high cost of desalinisation,
is considered negligible, India has to take quick
steps and make effective policies and laws, and
adopt effective measures for its conservation.
Besides developing water saving technologies
and methods, attempts are also to be made to
prevent the pollution. There is need to
encourage watershed development, rainwater
harvesting, water recycling and reuse, and
conjunctive use of water for sustaining water
supply in long run.
Water Resources 65
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 Discuss the issues highlighted in the
news items.
Prevention of Water Pollution
Available water resources are degrading
rapidly. The major rivers of the country
generally retain better water quality in less
densely populated upper stretches in hilly
areas. In plains, river water is used intensively
for irrigation, drinking, domestic and industrial
purposes. The drains carrying agricultural
(fertilisers and insecticides), domestic (solid and
liquid wastes), and industrial effluents join the
rivers. The concentration of pollutants in rivers,
especially remains very high during the summer
season when flow of water is low.
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)
in collaboration with State Pollution Control
Boards has been monitoring water quality of
national aquatic resources at 507 stations. The
66 India : People and Economy
data obtained from these stations show that
organic and bacterial contamination continues
to be the main source of pollution in rivers. The
Yamuna river is the most polluted river in the
country between Delhi and Etawah. Other
severely polluted rivers are: the Sabarmati at
Ahmedabad, the Gomti at Lucknow, the Kali, the
Adyar, the Cooum (entire stretches), the Vaigai
at Madurai and the Musi of Hyderabad and the
Ganga at Kanpur and Varanasi. Groundwater
pollution has occurred due to high
concentrations of heavy/toxic metals, fluoride
and nitrates at different parts of the country.
The legislative provisions such as the Water
(Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974,
and Environment Protection Act 1986 have not
been implemented effectively. The result is that
in 1997, 251 polluting industries were located
2015-16
along the rivers and lakes. The Water Cess Act,
1977, meant to reduce pollution has also made
marginal impacts. There is a strong need to
generate public awareness about importance of
water and impacts of water pollution. The public
awareness and action can be very effective in
reducing the pollutants from agricultural
activities, domestic and industrial discharges.
Recycle and Reuse of Water
Another way through which we can improve
fresh water availability is by recycle and reuse.
Use of water of lesser quality such as reclaimed
waste-water would be an attractive option for
industries for cooling and fire fighting to reduce
their water cost. Similarly, in urban areas water
after bathing and washing utensils can be used
for gardening. Water used for washing vehicle
can also be used for gardening. This would
conserve better quality of water for drinking
purposes. Currently, recycling of water is practised
on a limited scale. However, there is enormous
scope for replenishing water through recycling.
Observe the quantity of water used at your home in
various activities and enlist the ways in which the water
can be reused and recycled in various activities.
Class teachers should organise a discussion on recycle
and reuse of water.
Watershed Management
Watershed management basically refers to
efficient management and conservation of
surface and groundwater resources. It involves
prevention of runoff and storage and recharge
of groundwater through various methods like
percolation tanks, recharge wells, etc. However,
in broad sense watershed management includes
conservation, regeneration and judicious use of
all resources – natural (like land, water, plants
and animals) and human with in a watershed.
Watershed management aims at bringing about
balance between natural resources on the one
hand and society on the other. The success of
watershed development largely depends upon
community participation.
The Central and State Governments have
initiated many watershed development and
management programmes in the country. Some
of these are being implemented by non-
governmental organisations also. Haryali is a
watershed development project sponsored by
the Central Government which aims at enabling
the rural population to conserve water for
drinking, irrigation, fisheries and afforestation.
The Project is being executed by Gram
Panchayats with people’s participation.
Neeru-Meeru (Water and You) programme
(in Andhra Pradesh) and Arvary Pani Sansad
(in Alwar, Rajasthan) have taken up
constructions of various water-harvesting
structures such as percolation tanks, dug out
ponds (Johad), check dams, etc. through
people’s participation. Tamil Nadu has made
water harvesting structures in the houses
compulsory. No building can be constructed
without making structures for water harvesting.
Watershed development projects in some
areas have been successful in rejuvenating
environment and economy. However, there are
only a few success stories. In majority of cases,
the programme is still in its nascent stage. There
is a need to generate awareness regarding
benefits of watershed development and
management among people in the country, and
through this integrated water resource
management approach water availability can be
ensured on sustainable basis.
Rainwater Harvesting
Rain water harvesting is a method to capture
and store rainwater for various uses. It is also
used to recharge groundwater aquifers. It is a
low cost and eco-friendly technique for
preserving every drop of water by guiding the
rain water to bore well, pits and wells. Rainwater
harvesting increases water availability, checks
the declining ground water table, improves the
quality of groundwater through dilution of
contaminants like fluoride and nitrates,
prevents soil erosion, and flooding and arrests
salt water intrusion in coastal areas if used to
recharge aquifers.
Rainwater harvesting has been practised
through various methods by different
communities in the country for a long time.
Water Resources 67
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 Watershed Development in Ralegan Siddhi, Ahmadnagar, Maharashtra:
A Case Study
Ralegan Siddhi is a small village in the district of Ahmadnagar, Maharashtra. It has become an
example for watershed development throughout the country.
In 1975, this village was caught in a web of poverty and illicit liquor trade. The transformation took place
when a retired army personnel, settled down in the village and took up the task of watershed development.
He convinced villagers about the importance of family planning and voluntary labour; preventing open
grazing, felling trees, and liquor prohibition.
Voluntary labour was necessary to ensure minimum dependence on the government for financial
aids. “It socialised the costs of the projects.” explained the activist. Even those who were working
outside the village contributed to the development by committing a month’s salary every year.
Work began with the percolation tank constructed in the village. In 1975, the tank could not hold
water. The embankment wall leaked. People voluntarily repaired the embankment. The seven wells
below it swelled with water in summer for the first time in the living memory of the people. The people
reposed their faith in him and his visions.
A youth group called Tarun Mandal was formed. The group worked to ban the dowry system, caste
discrimination and untouchability. Liquor distilling units were removed and prohibition imposed. Open
grazing was completely banned with a new emphasis on stall-feeding. The cultivation of water-intensive
crops like sugarcane was banned. Crops such as pulses, oilseeds and certain cash crops with low
water requirements were encouraged.
All elections to local bodies began to be held
on the basis of consensus. “It made the
community leaders complete representatives
of the people.” A system of Nyay Panchayats
(informal courts) were also set up. Since then,
no case has been referred to the police.
A Rs.22 lakh school building was constructed
using only the resources of the village. No
donations were taken. Money, if needed, was
borrowed and paid back. The villagers took pride
in this self-reliance. A new system of sharing
Ralegan Siddhi before mitigation approach
labour grew out of this infusion of pride and
voluntary spirit. People volunteered to help each other in agricultural operation. Landless labourers also
gained employment. Today the village plans to
buy land for them in adjoining villages.
At present, water is adequate; agriculture is
flourishing, though the use of fertilisers and
pesticides is very high. The prosperity also brings
the question of ability of the present generation
to carry on the work after the leader of the
movement who declared that, “The process of
Ralegan’s evolution to an ideal village will not
stop. With changing times, people tend to evolve
new ways. In future, Ralegan might present a
Ralegan Siddhi after mitigation approach
different model to the country.”

What a mitigation approach can do? A success story.

68 India : People and Economy

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 Fig. 6.5 : Various Methods of Rainwater Harvesting
Traditional rain water harvesting in rural areas
is done by using surface storage bodies like
lakes, ponds, irrigation tanks, etc. In Rajasthan,
rainwater harvesting structures locally known
as Kund or Tanka (a covered underground
tank) are constructed near or in the house or
village to store harvested rainwater (see Fig. 6.5
to understand various ways of rainwater
harvesting).
There is a wide scope to use rainwater
harvesting technique to conserve precious
water resource. It can be done by harvesting
rainwater on rooftops and open spaces.
Harvesting rainwater also decreases the
Water Resources 69
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community dependence on groundwater for
domestic use. Besides bridging the demand-
supply gap, it can also save energy to pump
groundwater as recharge leads to rise in
groundwater table. These days rainwater
harvesting is being taken up on massive scale
in many states in the country. Urban areas
can specially benefit from rainwater
harvesting as water demand has already
outstripped supply in most of the cities and
towns.
Apart from the above mentioned factors,
the issue desalinisation of water particularly
in coastal areas and brackish water in arid and
semi-arid areas, transfer of water from water
surplus areas to water deficit areas through
inter linking of rivers can be important
remedies for solving water problem in India
(read more about inter linking of rivers).
However, the most important issue from the
point of view of individual users, household
and communities is pricing of water.

Highlights of India’s National Water Policy, 2002

The National Water Policy 2002 stipulates water allocation priorities broadly in the following order:
drinking water; irrigation, hydro-power, navigation, industrial and other uses. The policy stipulates
progressive new approaches to water management. Key features include:
• Irrigation and multi-purpose projects should invariably include drinking water component, wherever
there is no alternative source of drinking water.
• Providing drinking water to all human beings and animals should be the first priority.
• Measures should be taken to limit and regulate the exploitation of groundwater.
• Both surface and groundwater should be regularly monitored for quality. A phased programme
should be undertaken for improving water quality.
• The efficiency of utilisation in all the diverse uses of water should be improved.
• Awareness of water as a scarce resource should be fostered.
• Conservation consciousness should be promoted through education, regulation, incentives and
disincentives.

Source : Govt. of India (2002), ‘India’s Reform Initiatives in Water Sector’, Ministry for Rural Development, New Delhi

EXERCISES
1. Choose the right answers of the following from the given options.
(i) Which one of the following types describes water as a resource?
(a) Abiotic resource (c) Biotic Resource
(b) Non-renewable Resources (d) Cyclic Resource

70 India : People and Economy

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 (ii) Which one of the following rivers has the highest replenishable ground
water resource in the country?
(a) The Indus (c) The Ganga
(b) The Brahmaputra (d) The Godavari
(iii) Which of the following figures in cubic kilometres correctly shows the
total annual precipitation in India?
(a) 2,000 (c) 4,000
(b) 3,000 (d) 5,000
(iv) Which one of the following south Indian states has the highest
groundwater utilisation (in per cent) of its total ground water potential?
(a) Tamil Nadu (c) Andhra Pradesh
(b) Karnataka (d) Kerala
(v) The highest proportion of the total water used in the country is in which
one of the following sectors?
(a) Irrigation (c) Domestic use
(b) Industries (d) None of the above
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) It is said that the water resources in India have been depleting very fast.
Discuss the factors responsible for depletion of water resources?
(ii) What factors are responsible for the highest groundwater development
in the states of Punjab, Haryana, and Tamil Nadu?
(iii) Why the share of agricultural sector in total water used in the country is
expected to decline?
(iv) What can be possible impacts of consumption of contaminated/unclean
water on the people?
3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.
(i) Discuss the availability of water resources in the country and factors
that determine its spatial distribution?
(ii) The depleting water resources may lead to social conflicts and disputes.
Elaborate it with suitable examples?
(iii) What is watershed management? Do you think it can play an important
role in sustainable development?

Water Resources 71

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 India is endowed with a rich variety of mineral
Unit III resources due to its varied geological structure.
Chapter 7 Bulk of the valuable minerals are products of
pre-palaezoic age (Refer: Chapter 2 of Class XI,
Textbook: “Fundamentals of Physical
Geography” and are mainly associated with
metamorphic and igneous rocks of the
peninsular India. The vast alluvial plain tract
of north India is devoid of minerals of economic
use. The mineral resources provide the country
with the necessary base for industrial
development. In this chapter, we shall discuss
the availability of various types of mineral and
energy resources in the country.
MINERAL AND
ENERGY A mineral is a natural substance of organic
or inorganic origin with definite chemical and
RESOURCES physical properties.

Types of Mineral R
Mineral esour
Resources
esources
On the basis of chemical and physical
properties, minerals may be grouped under two
main categories of metallics and non-metallics
which may further be classified as follows :

Fig. 7.1 : Classification of Minerals

2015-16
 As, it is clear from the Fig. 7.1 metallic
minerals are the sources of metals. Iron ore,
copper, gold produce metal and are included
in this category. Metallic minerals are further
divided into ferrous and non-ferrous metallic
minerals. Ferrous, as you know, refers to iron.
All those minerals which have iron content are
ferrous such as iron ore itself and those which
do not have iron content are non-ferrous such
as copper, bauxite, etc.
Non-metallic minerals are either organic
in origin such as fossil fuels also known as mineral
fuels which are derived from the buried animal
and plant life such as coal and petroleum. Other
type of non-metallic minerals are inorganic in
origin such as mica, limestone and graphite, etc.
Minerals have certain characteristics. These
are unevenly distributed over space. There is
inverse relationship in quality and quantity of
minerals i.e. good quality minerals are less in
quantity as compared to low quality minerals.
The third main characteristic is that all minerals
are exhaustible over time. These take long to
develop geologically and they cannot be
replenished immediately at the time of need.
Thus, they have to be conserved and not
misused as they do not have the second crop.
Agencies involved in the
exploration of minerals
In India, systematic surveying, prospecting
and exploration for minerals is undertaken
by the Geological Survey of India (GSI), Oil
and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC),
Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd.
(MECL), National Mineral Development
Corporation (NMDC), Indian Bureau of Mines
(IBM), Bharat Gold Mines Ltd. (BGML),
Hindustan Copper Ltd. (HCL), National
Aluminium Company Ltd. (NALCO) and the
Departments of Mining and Geology in
various states.
Distribution of Minerals in India
Most of the metallic minerals in India occur in
the peninsular plateau region in the old
crystalline rocks. Over 97 per cent of coal
reserves occur in the valleys of Damodar, Sone,
Mahanadi and Godavari. Petroleum reserves
are located in the sedimentary basins of Assam,
Gujarat and Mumbai High i.e. off-shore region
in the Arabian Sea. New reserves have been
located in the Krishna-Godavari and Kaveri
basins. Most of the major mineral resources
occur to the east of a line linking Mangaluru
and Kanpur.
Minerals are generally concentrated in
three broad belts in India. There may be some
sporadic occurrences here and there in isolated
pockets. These belts are :
The North-Eastern Plateau Region
This belt covers Chhotanagpur (Jharkhand),
Odisha Plateau, West Bengal and parts of
Chhattisgarh. Have you ever thought about the
reason of major iron and steel industry being
located in this region? It has variety of minerals
viz. iron ore coal, manganese, bauxite, mica.
Find out the specific region where these
minerals are being extracted.
The South-Western Plateau Region
This belt extends over Karnataka, Goa and
contiguous Tamil Nadu uplands and Kerala.
This belt is rich in ferrous metals and bauxite.
It also contains high grade iron ore, manganese
and limestone. This belt packs in coal deposits
except Neyveli lignite.
This belt does not have as diversified
mineral deposits as the north-eastern belt.
Kerala has deposits of monazite and thorium,
bauxite clay. Goa has iron ore deposits.
The North-Western Region
This belt extends along Aravali in Rajasthan and
part of Gujarat and minerals are associated with
Dharwar system of rocks. Copper, zinc have
been major minerals. Rajasthan is rich in
building stones i.e. sandstone, granite, marble.
Gypsum and Fuller’s earth deposits are also
extensive. Dolomite and limestone provide raw
materials for cement industry. Gujarat is known
Mineral and Energy Resources 73
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for its petroleum deposits. You may be knowing
that Gujarat and Rajasthan both have rich
sources of salt.

Why and where Dandi March was

organised by Mahatma Gandhi?

The Himalayan belt is another mineral belt

where copper, lead, zinc, cobalt and tungsten
are known to occur. They occur on both the
eastern and western parts. Assam valley has
mineral oil deposits. Besides oil resources are
also found in off-shore-areas near Mumbai
Coast (Mumbai High).
In the following pages you will find the
spatial pattern of some of the important
minerals.

Ferrous Mineral
Ferrous minerals such as iron ore, manganese,
chromite, etc., provide a strong base for the
development of metallurgical industries. Our
country is well-placed in respect of ferrous
minerals both in reserves and production.
Iron Ore
India is endowed with fairly abundant
resources of iron ore. It has the largest reserve
of iron ore in Asia. The two main types of ore
found in our country are haematite and
magnetite. It has great demand in international
market due to its superior quality. The iron ore
mines occur in close proximity to the coal fields
in the north-eastern plateau region of the
country which adds to their advantage.
The total reserves of iron ore in the country
were about 20 billion tonnes in the year 2004-
05. About 95 per cent of total reserves of iron
ore is located in the States of Odisha,
Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Goa,
Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
In Odisha, iron ore occurs in a series of hill
ranges in Sundergarh, Mayurbhanj and Jhar.
The important mines are Gurumahisani,
Sulaipet, Badampahar (Mayurbhaj), Kiruburu
(Kendujhar) and Bonai (Sundergarh). Similar
hill ranges, Jharkhand has some of the oldest
iron ore mines and most of the iron and steel
Can you find out its reason?
plants are located around them. Most of the
important mines such as Noamundi and Gua
are located in Poorbi and Pashchimi
Singhbhum districts. This belt further extends
to Durg, Dantewara and Bailadila. Dalli, and
Rajhara in Durg are the important mines of
iron ore in the country. In Karnataka, iron ore
deposits occur in Sandur-Hospet area of
B allari district, Baba Budan hills and
Kudremukh in Chikkamagaluru district and
parts of Shivamogga, Chitradurg and
Tumakuru districts. The districts of
Chandrapur, Bhandara and Ratnagiri in
Maharashtra, Karimnagar and Warangal
district of Telangana, Kurnool, Cuddapah and
Anantapur districts of Andhra Pradesh, Salem
and Nilgiris districts of Tamil Nadu are other
iron mining regions. Goa has also emerged as
an important producer of iron ore.
Manganese
Manganese is an important raw material for
smelting of iron ore and also used for
manufacturing ferro alloys. Manganese
deposits are found in almost all geological

74 India : People and Economy

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Fig. 7.2 : India – Metallic Minerals (Ferrous)

Mineral and Energy Resources 75

2015-16
formations, however, it is mainly associated with
Dharwar system.
Odisha is the leading producer of
Manganese. Major mines in Odisha are located
in the central part of the iron ore belt of India,
particularly in Bonai, Kendujhar, Sundergarh,
Gangpur, Koraput, Kalahandi and Bolangir.
Karnataka is another major producer and
here the mines are located in Dharwar, Ballari,
Belagavi, North Canara, Chikkmagaluru,
Shivamogga, Chitradurg and Tumkur.
Maharashtra is also an important producer of
manganese which is mined in Nagpur,
Bhandara and Ratnagiri districts. The
disadvantage to these mines is that they are
located far from steel plants. The manganese
belt of Madhya Pradesh extends in a belt in
Balaghat-Chhindwara-Nimar-Mandla and
Jhabua districts.
Telangana, Goa, and Jharkhand are other
minor producers of manganese.
Non-Ferrous Minerals
India is poorly endowed with non-ferrous
metallic minerals except bauxite.
Bauxite
Bauxite is the ore which is used in
manufacturing of aluminium. Bauxite is found
mainly in tertiary deposits and is associated
with laterite rocks occurring extensively either
on the plateau or hill ranges of peninsular India
and also in the coastal tracts of the country.
Odisha happens to be the largest producer
of Bauxite. Kalahandi and Sambalpur are the
leading producers. The other two areas which
have been increasing their production are
Bolangir and Koraput. The patlands of
Jharkhand in Lohardaga have rich deposits.
Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and
Maharashtra are other major producers.
Bhavanagar, Jamnagar in Gujarat have the major
deposits. Chhattisgarh has bauxite deposits in
Amarkantak plateau while Katni-Jabalpur area
and Balaghat in M.P. have important deposits of
bauxite. Kolaba, Thane, Ratnagiri, Satara, Pune
and Kolhapur in Maharashtra are important
producers. Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Goa are
minor producers of bauxite.
76 India : People and Economy
Copper
Copper is an indispensable metal in the
electrical industry for making wires, electric
motors, transformers and generators. It is
alloyable, malleable and ductile. It is also mixed
with gold to provide strength to jewellery.
The Copper deposits mainly occur in
Singhbhum district in Jharkhand, Balaghat
district in Madhya Pradesh and Jhunjhunu and
Alwar districts in Rajasthan.
Minor producers of Copper are Agnigundala
in Guntur District (Andhra Pradesh), Chitradurg
and Hasan districts (Karnataka) and South Arcot
district (Tamil Nadu).
Non-metallic Minerals
Among the non-metallic minerals produced in
India, mica is the important one. The other
minerals extracted for local consumption are
limestone, dolomite and phosphate.
Mica
Mica is mainly used in the electrical and
electronic industries. It can be split into very thin
sheets which are tough and flexible. Mica in
India is produced in Jharkhand, Andhra
Pradesh, Telanganga and Rajasthan followed by
Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh.
In Jharkhand high quality mica is obtained in a
belt extending over a distance of about 150 km,
in length and about 22 km, in width in lower
Hazaribagh plateau. In Andhra Pradesh. Nellore
district produces the best quality mica. In
Rajasthan mica belt extends for about 320 kms
from Jaipur to Bhilwara and around Udaipur.
Mica deposits also occur in Mysore and Hasan
districts of Karanataka, Coimbatore,
Tiruchirapalli, Madurai and Kanniyakumari in
Tamil Nadu, Alleppey in Kerala, Ratnagiri in
Maharashtra, Purulia and Bankura in West
Bengal.
Energy Resources
Mineral fuels are essential for generation of power,
required by agriculture, industry, transport and
other sectors of the economy. Mineral fuels like
coal, petroleum and natural gas (known as fossil
fuels), nuclear energy minerals, are the
2015-16
Fig. 7.3 : India – Minerals (Non-Ferrous)

Mineral and Energy Resources 77

2015-16
conventional sources of energy. These
conventional sources are exhaustible resources.
Coal
Coal is a one of the important minerals which
is mainly used in the generation of thermal
power and smelting of iron ore. Coal occurs in
rock sequences mainly of two geological ages,
namely Gondwana and tertiary deposits.
About 80 per cent of the coal deposits in
India is of bituminous type and is of non-coking
grade. The most important Gondwana coal
fields of India are located in Damodar Valley.
They lie in Jharkhand-Bengal coal belt and the
important coal fields in this region are Raniganj,
Jharia, Bokaro, Giridih, Karanpura.
Jharia is the largest coal field followed by
Raniganj. The other river valleys associated
with coal are Godavari, Mahanadi and Sone.
The most important coal mining centres are
Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh (part of Singrauli
coal field lies in Uttar Pradesh), Korba in
Chhattisgarh, Talcher and Rampur in Odisha,
Chanda–Wardha, Kamptee and Bander in
Maharashtra and Singareni in Telangana and
Pandur in Andhra Pradesh.

At Singareni, Canaries to miners’ rescue

Singareni collieries, the country’s premier coal production company, still uses canaries to detect the
presence of deadly carbon monoxide in underground mines. Miners collapse and often die even if
small quantities of the highly poisonous CO are present in the air. Though, miners speak lovingly of
the canaries, the underground experience is not at all pleasant for the birds. When lowered into
mines with CO presence, the birds show distress symptoms such as ruffling of feathers, pronounced
chirping and loss of life. These reactions occur even if 0.15 per cent of CO is present in the air. If the
content is 0.3 per cent the bird shows immediate distress and falls off its perch in two to three
minutes. A cage of birds is a good indicator in air containing more than 0.15 per cent CO, said a coal
miner.
The sophisticated hand held CO detectors introduced by the company can detect CO concentrations
from as low as 10 ppm to as high as 1,000 ppm. But despite this, the miners trust the birds, who
have saved the lives of several of their predecessors.
Deccan Chronicle, 26.08.2006

Fig.7.4 : Neyveli Coalfield

78 India : People and Economy

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Fig. 7.5 : India – Conventional Energy Resources

Mineral and Energy Resources 79

2015-16
 Tertiary coals occur in Assam, Arunachal
Pradesh, Meghalaya and Nagaland. It is extracted
from Darangiri, Cherrapunji, Mewlong and
Langrin (Meghalaya); Makum, Jaipur and Nazira
in upper Assam, Namchik – Namphuk (Arunachal
Pradesh) and Kalakot (Jammu and Kashmir).
Besides, the brown coal or lignite occur in
the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry,
Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir.
Petroleum
Crude petroleum consists of hydrocarbons of
liquid and gaseous states varying in chemical
composition, colour and specific gravity. It is an
essential source of energy for all internal
combustion engines in automobiles, railways and
aircraft. Its numerous by-products are processed
in petrochemical industries such as fertiliser,
synthetic rubber, synthetic fibre, medicines,
vaseline, lubricants, wax, soap and cosmetics.
Petroleum is referred to as liquid gold
because of its scarcity and diversified uses.
Indications of huge gas reserves in Ramanathapuram (Tamil Nadu)
According to a newspaper report (The Hindu, 05.09.2006) the Oil and Natural Gas Commission has
found potential zones of natural gas reserves in Ramanathapuram district. The survey is still in the
initial stages. The exact quantity of gas reserves will be known only after the completion of the
survey. But the results are encouraging.
Crude petroleum occurs in sedimentary
rocks of the tertiary period. Oil exploration
and production was systematically taken up
after the Oil and Natural Gas Commission was
set up in 1956. Till then, the Digboi in Assam
was the only oil producing region but the
scenario has changed after 1956. In recent
years, new oil deposits have been found at the
extreme western and eastern parts of the
country. In Assam, Digboi, Naharkatiya and
Moran are important oil producing areas. The
major oil fields of Gujarat are Ankaleshwar,
Kalol, Mehsana, Nawagam, Kosamba and
80 India : People and Economy
Lunej. Mumbai High which lies 160 km off
Mumbai was discovered in 1973 and
production commenced in 1976. Oil and
natural gas have been found in exploratory
wells in Krishna-Godavari and Kaveri basin
on the east coast.
Oil extracted from the wells is crude oil
and contains many impurities. It cannot be
used directly. It needs to be refined. There are
two types of refineries in India: (a) field based
and (b) market based. Digboi is an example
of field based and Barauni is an example of
market based refinery.
There are 21 refineries in India as on
June 2011 (Fig. 7.6). Identify the States in
which these are located.
Natural Gas
The Gas Authority of India Limited was set
up in 1984 as a public sector undertaking to
transport and market natural gas. It is
obtained alongwith oil in all the oil fields but
exclusive reserves have been located along the
eastern coast as well as (Tamil Nadu, Odisha
and Andhra Pradesh), Tripura, Rajasthan and
off-shore wells in Gujarat and Maharashtra.
Non-Conventional Energy Sources
Fossil fuel sources, such as coal, petroleum,
natural gas and nuclear energy use
exhaustible raw materials. Sustainable
energy resources are only the renewable
energy sources like solar, wind, hydro-
geothermal and biomass. These energy
sources are more equitably distributed and
environmental friendly. The non-conventional
energy sources will provide more sustained,
eco-friendly cheaper energy after the initial
cost is taken care of.
2015-16
Fig. 7.6 : India – Oil Refineries

Mineral and Energy Resources 81

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Nuclear Energy Resources
Nuclear energy has emerged as a viable source
in recent times. Important minerals used for the
generation of nuclear energy are uranium and
thorium. Uranium deposits occur in the Dharwar
rocks. Geographically, uranium ores are known
to occur in several locations along the Singbhum
Copper belt. It is also found in Udaipur, Alwar
and Jhunjhunu districts of Rajasthan, Durg
district of Chhattisgarh, Bhandara district of
Maharashtra and Kullu district of Himachal
Pradesh. Thorium is mainly obtained from
monazite and ilmenite in the beach sands along
the coast of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. World’s
richest monazite deposits occur in Palakkad
and Kollam districts of Kerala, near
Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and
Mahanadi river delta in Odisha.
Atomic Energy Commission was
established in 1948, progress could be made
only after the establishment of the Atomic
Energy Institute at Trombay in 1954 which was
renamed as the Bhabha Atomic Research
Centre in 1967. The important nuclear power
projects are Tarapur (Maharashtra),
82 India : People and Economy
How are the developed
countries of the world
utilising non-conventional
energy resources? Discuss.
Rawatbhata near Kota (Rajasthan), Kalpakkam
(Tamil Nadu), Narora (Uttar Pradesh), Kaiga
(Karnataka) and Kakarapara (Gujarat).
Solar Energy
Sun rays tapped in photovoltaic cells can be
converted into energy, known as solar energy.
The two effective processes considered to be
very effective to tap solar energy are
photovoltaics and solar thermal technology.
Solar thermal technology has some relative
advantages over all other non-renewable
energy sources. It is cost competitive,
environment friendly and easy to construct.
Solar energy is 7 per cent more effective than
coal or oil based plants and 10 per cent more
effective than nuclear plants. It is generally
used more in appliances like heaters, crop
dryers, cookers, etc. The western part of India
has greater potential for the development of
solar energy in Gujarat and Rajasthan.
Wind Energy
Wind energy is absolutely pollution free,
inexhaustible source of energy. The mechanism
2015-16
of energy conversion from blowing wind is
simple. The kinetic energy of wind, through
turbines is converted into electrical energy. The
permanent wind systems such the trade winds,
westerlies and seasonal wind like monsoon have
been used as source of energy. Besides these,
local winds, land and sea breezes can also be
used to produce electricity.
India, already has started generating wind
energy. It has an ambitious programme to install
250 wind-driven turbines with a total capacity
of 45 megawatts, spread over 12 suitable
locations, specially in coastal areas. The Ministry
of Non-conventional Sources of Energy is
developing wind energy in India to lessen the
burden of oil import bill. The country’s potential
of wind power generation exceeds 50,000
megawatts, of which one fourth can be easily
harnessed. In Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra
and Karnataka, favourable conditions for wind
energy exist.
Tidal and Wave Energy
Ocean currents are the store-house of infinite
energy. Since the beginning of seventeenth and
eighteenth century, persistent efforts were made
to create a more efficient energy system from
the ceaseless tidal waves and ocean current.
Large tidal waves are known to occur
along the west coast of India. Hence, India has
great potential for the development of tidal
energy along the coasts but so far these have
not yet been utilised.
Geothermal Energy
When the magma from the interior of earth,
comes out on the surface, tremendous heat is
released. This heat energy can successfully be
tapped and converted to electrical energy. Apart
from this, the hot water that gushes out through
the gyser wells is also used in the generation of
thermal energy. It is popularly known as
Geothermal energy. This energy is now
considered to be one of the key energy sources
which can be developed as an alternate source.
The hot springs and geysers are being used
since medieval period. In India, a geothermal
energy plant has been commissioned at
Manikaran in Himachal Pradesh.
The first successful (1890) attempt to tap
the underground heat was made in the city
of Boise, Idaho (U.S.A.), where a hot water
pipe network was built to give heat to the
surrounding buildings. This plant is still
working.
Bio-energy
Bio-energy refers to energy derived from biological
products which includes agricultural residues,
municipal, industrial and other wastes. Bio-
energy is a potential source of energy conversion.
It can be converted into electrical energy, heat
energy or gas for cooking. It will also process the
waste and garbage and produce energy. This will
improve economic life of rural areas in developing
countries, reduce environmental pollution,
enhance self-reliance and reduce pressure on fuel
wood. One such project converting municipal
waste into energy is Okhla in Delhi.
Conservation of Mineral Resources
The challenge of sustainable development
requires integration of quest for economic
development with environmental concerns.
Traditional methods of resource use result into
generating enormous quantity of waste as well
as create other environmental problems. Hence,
for sustainable development calls for the
protection of resources for the future generations.
There is an urgent need to conserve the resources.
The alternative energy sources like solar power,
wind, wave, geothermal energy are inexhaustible
resource. These should be developed to replace
the exhaustible resources. In case of metallic
minerals, use of scrap metals will enable
recycling of metals. Use of scrap is specially
significant in metals like copper, lead and zinc
in which India’s reserves are meagre. Use of
substitutes for scarce metals may also reduce
their consumption. Export of strategic and scarce
minerals must be reduced, so that the existing
reserve may be used for a longer period.
Mineral and Energy Resources 83
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 EXERCISES
1. Choose the right answers of the following from the given options.
(i) In which one of the following States are the major oil fields located?
(a) Assam (c) Rajasthan
(b) Bihar (d) Tamil Nadu
(ii) At which one of the following places was the first atomic power station
started?
(a) Kalpakkam (c) Rana Pratap Sagar
(b) Narora (d) Tarapur
(iii) Which one of the following minerals is known as brown diamond?
(a) Iron (c) Manganese
(b) Lignite (d) Mica
(iv) Which one of the following is non-renewable source of energy?
(a) Hydel (c) Thermal
(b) Solar (d) Wind power
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) Give an account of the distribution of mica in India.
(ii) What is nuclear power? Mention the important nuclear power stations
in India.
(iii) Name non-ferrous metal. Discuss their spatial distribution.
(vi) What are non-conventional sources of energy?
3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.
(i) Write a detailed note on the Petroleum resources of India.
(ii) Write an essay on hydel power in India.

84 India : People and Economy

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 All economic activities namely primary,
Unit-III secondary, tertiary and quaternary, revolve
Chapter-6 around obtaining and utilising resources
necessary for survival.
Secondary activities add value to natural
resources by transforming raw materials into
valuable products. Cotton in the boll has limited
use but after it is transformed into yarn,
becomes more valuable and can be used for

ed
making clothes. Iron ore, cannot be used;
directly from the mines, but after being
converted into steel it gets its value and can be
used for making many valuable machines,
tools, etc. The same is true of most of the

h
materials from the farm, forest, mine and the
sea. Secondary activities, therefore, are
Secondary Activities

pu T
concerned with manufacturing, processing and

is
re R construction (infrastructure) industries.

MANUFACTURING
MANUFA

bl
Manufacturing involves a full array of
E
production from handicrafts to moulding iron
and steel and stamping out plastic toys to
assembling delicate computer components or
be C

space vehicles. In each of these processes, the

common characteristics are the application of
power, mass production of identical products
o N

and specialised labour in factory settings for

the production of standardised commodities.
Manufacturing may be done with modern
power and machinery or it may still be very
primitive. Most of the Third World countries still
©

‘manufacture’ in the literal sense of the term. It

is difficult to present a full picture of all the
manufacturers in these countries. More
emphasis is given to the kind of ‘industrial’
activity which involves less complicated systems
of production.

Characteristics of Modern Large Scale

Manufacturing
Modern large scale manufacturing has the
tt

following characteristics:

Specialisation of Skills/Methods of
no

Production
Under the ‘craft’ method factories produce only
a few pieces which are made-to-order. So the
costs are high. On the other hand, mass
production involves production of large
quantities of standardised parts by each worker
performing only one task repeatedly.
‘Manufacturing’ Industry and
‘Manufacturing Industry’
Manufacturing literally means ‘to
make by hand’. However, now it
includes goods ‘made by machines’.
It is essentially a process which
involves transforming raw materials
into finished goods of higher value
for sale in local or distant markets.
h
Conceptually, an industry is a
pu T
geographically located manufacturing
unit maintaining books of accounts
is
and, records under a management
re R
system. As the term industry is
comprehensive, it is also used as
bl
synonymous with ‘manufacturing’
When one uses terms like ‘steel
E
industry’ and ‘chemical industry’ one
thinks of factories and processes.
But there are many secondary
be C
activities which are not carried on in
factories such as what is now called
the ‘entertainment industry’ and
o N
Tourism industry, etc. So for clarity
the longer expression ‘manufacturing
industry’ is used.
©
Mechanisation
Mechanisation refers to using gadgets which
accomplish tasks. Automation (without aid of
human thinking during the manufacturing
process) is the advanced stage of mechanisation.
Automatic factories with feedback and closed-
loop computer control systems where machines
are developed to ‘think’, have sprung up all over
the world.
tt
Technological Innovation
Technological innovations through research
no
and development strategy are an important
aspect of modern manufacturing for quality
control, eliminating waste and inefficiency, and
combating pollution.
46 Fundamentals of Human Geography
Organisational Structure and Stratification
Modern manufacturing is characterised by:
(i) a complex machine technology
(ii) extreme specialisation and division of
labour for producing more goods with less
effort, and low costs
(iii) vast capital
(iv) large organisations
(v) executive bureaucracy.
ed
Uneven Geographic Distribution
Major concentrations of modern manufacturing
have flourished in a few number of places. These
cover less than 10 per cent of the world’s land
area. These nations have become the centres of
economic and political power. However, in terms
of the total area covered, manufacturing sites
are much less conspicuous and concentrated
on much smaller areas than that of agriculture
due to greater intensity of processes. For
example, 2.5 sq km of the American corn belt
usually includes about four large farms
employing about 10-20 workers supporting
50-100 persons. But this same area could
contain several large integrated factories and
employ thousands of workers.
Why do Large-scale Industries choose
different locations?
Industries maximise profits by reducing
costs. Therefore, industries should be located
at points where the production costs are
minimum. Some of the factors influencing
industrial locations are as under:
Access to Market
The existence of a market for manufactured
goods is the most important factor in the location
of industries. ‘Market’ means people who have a
demand for these goods and also have the
purchasing power (ability to purchase) to be able
to purchase from the sellers at a place. Remote
areas inhabited by a few people offer small
markets. The developed regions of Europe, North
America, Japan and Australia provide large
global markets as the purchasing power of the
people is very high. The densely populated
regions of South and South-east Asia also
provide large markets. Some industries, such
as aircraft manufacturing, have a global market.
The arms industry also has global markets.
Access to Raw Material
Raw material used by industries should be
cheap and easy to transport. Industries based
on cheap, bulky and weight-losing material
(ores) are located close to the sources of raw
material such as steel, sugar, and cement
industries. Perishability is a vital factor for the
industry to be located closer to the source of
the raw material. Agro-processing and dairy
products are processed close to the sources of
h
farm produce or milk supply respectively.
pu T
is
Access to Labour Supply
Labour supply is an important factor in the
re R
location of industries. Some types of
bl
manufacturing still require skilled labour.
Increasing mechanisation, automation and
E
flexibility of industrial processes have reduced
the dependence of industry upon the labours.
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Access to Sources of Energy
Industries which use more power are located
o N
close to the source of the energy supply such
as the aluminium industry.
Earlier coal was the main source of energy,
today hydroelectricity and petroleum are also
important sources of energy for many
©
industries.
Access to Transportation and
Communication Facilities
Speedy and efficient transport facilities to carry
raw materials to the factory and to move finished
goods to the market are essential for the
development of industries. The cost of transport
plays an important role in the location of
tt
industrial units. Western Europe and eastern
North America have a highly developed transport
system which has always induced the
concentration of industries in these areas. Modern
no
industry is inseparably tied to transportation
systems. Improvements in transportation led to
integrated economic development and regional
specialisation of manufacturing.
Communication is also an important need
for industries for the exchange and
management of information.
Government Policy
Governments adopt ‘regional policies’ to
promote ‘balanced’ economic development and
hence set up industries in particular areas.
ed
Access to Agglomeration Economies/
Links between Industries
Many industries benefit from nearness to a
leader-industry and other industries. These
benefits are termed as agglomeration
economies. Savings are derived from the
linkages which exist between different
industries.
These factors operate together to determine
industrial location.
Foot Loose Industries
Foot loose industries can be located
in a wide variety of places. They are
not dependent on any specific raw
material, weight losing or otherwise.
They largely depend on component
parts which can be obtained
anywhere. They produce in small
quantity and also employ a small
labour force. These are generally not
polluting industries. The important
factor in their location is accessibility
by road network.
Classification of Manufacturing Industries
Manufacturing industries are classified on the
basis of their size, inputs/raw materials,
output/products and ownership (Fig. 6.1).
Industries based on Size
The amount of capital invested, number of
workers employed and volume of production
determine the size of industry. Accordingly,
industries may be classified into household or
cottage, small-scale and large-scale.
Secondary Activities 47
48

ed
Fundamentals of Human Geography

h
pu T
is
re R
bl
E
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N
to ©

Fig. 6.1 : Classification of Industries

ot
HOUSEHOLD INDUSTRIES OR
COTT
COTTA GE MANUF
TTA ACTURING
MANUFA
It is the smallest manufacturing unit. The
artisans use local raw materials and simple
tools to produce everyday goods in their homes
with the help of their family members or part-
time labour. Finished products may be for
consumption in the same household or, for sale
in local (village) markets, or, for barter. Capital
Some common everyday products
produced in this sector of manufacturing
include foodstuffs, fabrics, mats, containers,
tools, furniture, shoes, and figurines from wood
lot and forest, shoes, thongs and other articles from
leather; pottery and bricks from clays and stones.
Goldsmiths make jewellery of gold, silver and
bronze. Some artefacts and crafts are made out of
bamboo, wood obtained locally from the forests.

and transportation do not wield much influence
as this type of manufacturing has low
commercial significance and most of the tools
are devised locally.
ed
Small Scale Manufacturing
Small scale manufacturing is distinguished
from household industries by its production
techniques and place of manufacture (a

h
workshop outside the home/cottage of the

pu T
producer). This type of manufacturing uses

is
local raw material, simple power-driven
machines and semi-skilled labour. It provides
re R employment and raises local purchasing power.

bl
Therefore, countries like India, China, Indonesia
and Brazil, etc. have developed labour-intensive
E
small scale manufacturing in order to provide
employment to their population.
be C
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©

Fig. 6.2 (a) : A man making pots in his courtyard-

example of household industry in Nagaland

Fig. 6.3: Products of cottage industry on sale

in Assam

Large Scale Manufacturing

tt

Large scale manufacturing involves a large

market, various raw materials, enormous
energy, specialised workers, advanced
technology, assembly-line mass production and
no

large capital. This kind of manufacturing

developed in the last 200 years, in the United
Fig. 6.2 (b) : A man weaving a bamboo basket by the
Kingdom, north-eastern U.S.A. and Europe. Now
roadside in Arunachal Pradesh it has diffused to almost all over the world.

Secondary Activities 49
 On the basis of the system of large scale
manufacturing, the world’s major industrial
regions may be grouped under two broad types,
namely
(i) traditional large-scale industrial regions
which are thickly clustered in a few more
developed countries.
(ii) high-technology large scale industrial
regions which have diffused to less
developed countries.

ed
Fig. 6.5: Tea Garden and a Tea Factory in the Nilgiri
Hills of Tamil Nadu

h
pu T
is
re R Agri-business is commercial farming
on an industrial scale often financed
by business whose main interests lie

bl
outside agriculture, for example, large
E
corporations in tea plantation
business. Agri-business farms are
mechanised, large in size, highly
be C

Fig. 6.4 : Passenger car assembly hires at a plant of structured, reliant on chemicals, and
the Motor Company in Japan
may be described as ‘agro-factories’.
o N

Industries based on Inputs/Raw Materials

On the basis of the raw materials used, the
industries are classified as: (a) agro-based; (b)
mineral based; (c) chemical based; (d) forest
based: and (e) animal based.
©
(b) Mineral based Industries
These industries use minerals as a raw material.
Some industries use ferrous metallic minerals

which contain ferrous (iron), such as iron and

(a) Agro based Industries
Agro processing involves the processing of raw
materials from the field and the farm into finished
products for rural and urban markets. Major
agro-processing industries are food processing,
sugar, pickles, fruits juices, beverages (tea, coffee
and cocoa), spices and oils fats and textiles
(cotton, jute, silk), rubber, etc.
tt
steel industries but some use non-ferrous
metallic minerals, such as aluminium, copper
and jewellery industries. Many industries use
non-metallic minerals such as cement and
pottery industries.
(c) Chemical based Industries
Such industries use natural chemical minerals,

Food Processing e.g. mineral-oil (petroleum) is used in petro-

chemical industry. Salts, sulphur and potash
Agro processing includes canning, producing
cream, fruit processing and confectionery. While industries also use natural minerals. Chemical
no

some preserving techniques, such as drying, industries are also based on raw materials
fermenting and pickling, have been known since obtained from wood and coal. Synthetic fibre,
ancient times, these had limited applications to plastic, etc. are other examples of chemical based
cater to the pre-Industrial Revolution demands. industries.

50 Fundamentals of Human Geography

(d) Forest based Raw Material using
Industries
The forests provide many major and minor
products which are used as raw material.
Timber for furniture industry, wood, bamboo
and grass for paper industry, lac for lac
industries come from forests.
h
pu T
is
re R
bl
E
Fig. 6.6: A pulp mill in the heart of the Ketchikan’s
timber area of Alaska
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(e) Animal based Industries
Leather for leather industry and wool for
o N
woollen textiles are obtained from animals.
Besides, ivory is also obtained from
elephant’s tusks.
©
Industries Based On Output/Product
You have seen some machines and tools made
of iron or steel. The raw material for such
machines and tools is iron and steel. Which is
itself an industry. The industry whose products
are used to make other goods by using them
as raw materials are basic industries. Can you
identify the links? Iron/steel machines
for textile industry clothes for use by
tt
consumers.
The consumer goods industries produced
goods which are consumed by consumers
no
directly. For example, industries producing
breads and biscuits, tea, soaps and toiletries,
paper for writing, televisions, etc. are consumer
goods or non-basic industries.
INDUSTRIES BASED ON OWNERSHIP
BASED
(a) Public Sector Industries are owned and
managed by governments. In India, there
were a number of Public Sector
Undertakings (PSUs). Socialist countries
have many state owned industries. Mixed
economies have both Public and Private
sector enterprises.
(b) Private Sector Industries are owned by
ed
individual investors. These are managed
by private organisations. In capitalist
countries, industries are generally owned
privately.
(c) Joint Sector Industries are managed by
joint stock companies or sometimes the
private and public sectors together
establish and manage the industries. Can
you make a list of such industries?
Traditional Large-Scale Industrial Regions
These are based on heavy industry, often
located near coal-fields and engaged in metal
smelting, heavy engineering, chemical
manufacture or textile production. These
industries are now known as smokestack
industries. Traditional industrial regions can
be recognised by:
• High proportion of employment in
manufacturing industry.
High-density housing, often of inferior
type, and poor services.
Unattractive environment, for example,
pollution, waste heaps, and so on.
• Problems of unemployment, emigration
and derelict land areas caused by closure
of factories because of a worldwide fall in
demand.
The Ruhr Coal-field, Germany
This has been one of the major industrial
regions of Europe for a long time. Coal and iron
and steel formed the basis of the economy, but
as the demand for coal declined, the industry
started shrinking. Even after the iron ore was
exhausted, the industry remained, using
imported ore brought by waterways to the Ruhr.
The Ruhr region is responsible for 80 per
cent of Germany’s total steel production.
Secondary Activities 51
Changes in the industrial structure have led to
the decay of some areas, and there are problems
of industrial waste and pollution. The future
prosperity of the Ruhr is based less on the
products of coal and steel, for which it was
initially famous, and more on the new
industries like the huge Opel car assembly
plant, new chemical plants, universities. Out-
of-town shopping centres have appeared
resulting in a ‘New Ruhr’ landscape.
Concept of High Technology Industry
High technology, or simply high-tech, is the
latest generation of manufacturing activities. It
h
is best understood as the application of
pu T
intensive research and development (R and D)
is
efforts leading to the manufacture of products
of an advanced scientific and engineering
re R
character. Professional (white collar) workers
bl
make up a large share of the total workforce.
These highly skilled specialists greatly
E
outnumber the actual production (blue collar)
workers. Robotics on the assembly line,
computer-aided design (CAD) and
be C
manufacturing, electronic controls of smelting
and refining processes, and the constant
development of new chemical and
o N
pharmaceutical products are notable examples
of a high-tech industry.
Neatly spaced, low, modern, dispersed,
office-plant-lab buildings rather than massive
©
assembly structures, factories and storage
areas mark the high-tech industrial landscape.
Planned business parks for high-tech start-ups
have become part of regional and local
development schemes.
High-tech industries which are regionally
concentrated, self-sustained and highly
specialised are called technopolies. The Silicon
Valley near San Francisco and Silicon Forest
tt
near Seattle are examples of technopolies. Are
some technopolies developing in India?
Manufacturing contributes significantly to
the world economy. Iron and steel, textiles,
no
automobiles, petrochemicals and electronics
are some of the world’s most important
manufacturing industries.
52 Fundamentals of Human Geography
Iron and Steel Industry
The iron and steel industry forms the base of
all other industries and, therefore, it is called a
basic industry. It is basic because it provides
raw material for other industries such as
machine tools used for further production. It
may also be called a heavy industry because it
uses large quantities of bulky raw materials and
its products are also heavy.
ed
Iron is extracted from iron ore by smelting
in a blast furnace with carbon (coke) and
limestone. The molten iron is cooled and
moulded to form pig iron which is used for
converting into steel by adding strengthening
materials like manganese.
The large integrated steel industry is
traditionally located close to the sources of raw
materials – iron ore, coal, manganese and
limestone – or at places where these could be
easily brought, e.g. near ports. But in mini steel
mills access to markets is more important than
inputs. These are less expensive to build and
operate and can be located near markets
because of the abundance of scrap metal, which
is the main input. Traditionally, most of the steel
was produced at large integrated plants, but
mini mills are limited to just one-step process –
steel making – and are gaining ground.
Distribution : The industry is one of the
most complex and capital-intensive industries
and is concentrated in the advanced countries
of North America, Europe and Asia. In U.S.A,
most of the production comes from the north
Appalachian region (Pittsburgh), Great Lake
region (Chicago-Gary, Erie, Cleveland, Lorain,
Buffalo and Duluth) and the Atlantic Coast
(Sparrows Point and Morisville). The industry
has also moved towards the southern state of
Alabama. Pittsburg area is now losing ground.
It has now become the “rust bowl” of U.S.A. In
Europe, U.K., Germany, France, Belgium,
Luxembourgh, the Netherlands and Russia are
the leading producers. The important steel
centres are Scun Thorpe, Port Talbot,
Birmingham and Sheffield in the U.K.;
Duisburg, Dortmund, Dusseldorf and Essen
in Germany; Le Creusot and St. Ettienne
in France; and Moscow, St. Petersburgh,
Lipetsk, Tula, in Russia and Krivoi Rog, and
Donetsk in Ukraine. In Asia, the important
centres include Nagasaki and Tokyo-Yokohama
in Japan; Shanghai, Tienstin and Wuhan in
China; and Jamshedpur, Kulti-Burnpur,
Durgapur, Rourkela, Bhilai, Bokaro, Salem,
Visakhapatnam and Bhadravati in India.
Consult your atlas to locate these places/
centres.
Cotton Textile Industry
and the volume of production increases. Cotton
textile mill sector is highly capital intensive and
produces fine clothes in bulk.
Cotton textile manufacturing requires good
quality cotton as raw material. India, China,
U.S.A, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Egypt produce
more than half of the world’s raw cotton. The
U.K, NW European countries and Japan also
produce cotton textile made from imported
yarn. Europe alone accounts for nearly half of

Cotton textile industry has three sub-sectors
i.e. handloom, powerloom and mill sectors.
Handloom sector is labour-intensive and
provides employment to semi-skilled workers.
ed
the world’s cotton imports. The industry has to
face very stiff competition with synthetic fibres
hence it has now shown a declining trend in
many countries. With the scientific advancement
and technological improvements the structure

h
It requires small capital investment. Why did of industries changes. For example, Germany

pu T
Mahatma Gandhi propagate Khadi as part of recorded constant growth in cotton textile
the independence movement? This sector

is
industry since Second World War till the
involves spinning, weaving and finishing of the seventies but now it has declined. It has shifted
re R
fabrics. The powerloom sector introduces
machines and becomes less labour intensive
to less developed countries where labour costs
are low.

bl
E
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o N

EXERCISES

1. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.
©

(i) Which one of the following statements is wrong?

(a) Cheap water transport has facilitated the jute mill industry along
the Hugli.
(b) Sugar, cotton textiles and vegetable oils are footloose industries.
(c) The development of hydro-electricity and petroleum reduced, to a great
extent, the importance of coal energy as a locational factor for
industry.
(d) Port towns in India have attracted industries.
(ii) In which one of the following types of economy are the factors of production
tt

owned individually ?
(a) Capitalist (c) Socialist
(b) Mixed (d) None
no

(iii) Which one of the following types of industries produces raw materials
for other industries?
(a) Cottage Industries (c) Basic Industries
(b) Small-scale Industries (d) Footloose Industries

Secondary Activities 53
 (iv) Which one of the following pairs is correctly matched ?
(a) Automobile industry … Los Angeles
(b) Shipbuilding industry … Lusaka
(c) Aircraft industry … Florence
(d) Iron and Steel industry … Pittsburgh
2. Write a short note on the following in about 30 words.
(i) High-Tech industry
(ii) Manufacturing

ed
(iii) Footloose industries
3. Answer the following in not more than 150 words.
(i) Differentiate between primary and secondary activities.
(ii) Discuss the major trends of modern industrial activities especially in
the developed countries of the world.

h
(iii) Explain why high-tech industries in many countries are being attracted

pu T
to the peripheral areas of major metropolitan centres.

is
(iv) Africa has immense natural resources and yet it is industrially the most
backward continent. Comment.
re R Project/Activity

bl
(i) Carry out a survey in your school premises of the factory-made goods
E
used by students and the staff.
(ii) Find out the meaning of the terms bio-degradable and non-
biodegradable. Which kind of material is better to use? Why?
be C

(iii) Look around and make a list of the global brands, their logos and
products.
o N
©
tt
no

54 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 We use various items to satisfy our needs.
Unit III Agricultural products like wheat, rice, etc. are
Chapter 8 to be processed into flour, husked rice before
we consume these. But besides bread and rice,
we also require clothes, books, fans, cars,
medicines, etc. and these are manufactured in
various industries. In modern times industries
have become very important part of an
economy. They provide employment to large
labour force and contribute significantly in the
total national wealth/income.

Types of Industries

MANUFACTURING Industries are classified in a number of ways.

On the basis of size, capital investment and
INDUSTRIES labour force employed, industries are
classified as large, medium, small scale, and
cottage industries. On the basis of ownership,
industries are categorised as :
(i) public sector, (ii) private sector, and (iii) joint
and cooperative sector, Public sector
enterprises are government/state controlled
companies or corporations funded by
governments. Industries of strategic and
national importance are usually in the public
sector. Industries are also classified on the
basis of the use of their products such as :
(i) basic goods industries, (ii) capital goods
industries (iii) intermediate goods industries,
and (iv) consumer goods industries.
Another method of classifying industries
is on the basis of raw materials used by them.
Accordingly, these can be : (i) agriculture-
based industries, (ii) forest-based industries,
(iii) mineral-based industries, and
(iv) industrially processed raw material-
based industries.
Another common classification of
industries is based on the nature of the
manufactured products. Eight classes of
industries, thus identified are : (1) Metallurgical
Industries, (2) Mechanical Engineering
Industries, (3) Chemical and Allied Industries,
(4) Textile Industries, (5) Food Processing
Industries, (6) Electricity Generation,
(7) Electronics and (8) Communication Industries.
Sometimes, you also read about foot loose
industries. What are these? Have they any
relationship with raw material location or not?

2015-16
Location of Industries
Can you guess the reasons for the location of
iron and steel industry in eastern and southern
India? Why is there no iron and steel industry
in U.P., Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and
Gujarat?
Location of industries is influenced by
several factors like access to raw materials,
power, market, capital, transport and labour,
etc. Relative significance of these factors varies
with time and place. There is strong relationship
between raw material and type of industry. It
is economical to locate the manufacturing
industries at a place where cost of production
and delivery cost of manufactured goods to
consumers are the least. Transport costs, to a
great extent, depend on the nature of raw
materials and manufactured products. A brief
description of factors influencing the location
of industries are given below:
Raw Materials
Industries using weight-losing raw materials are
located in the regions where raw materials are
located. Why are the sugar mills in India located
in sugarcane growing areas? Similarly, the
locations of pulp industry, copper smelting and
pig iron industries are located near their raw
materials. In iron and steel industries, iron ore
and coal both are weight-losing raw materials.
Therefore, an optimum location for iron and steel
industries should be near raw material sources.
This is why most of the iron and steel industries
are located either near coalfields (Bokaro,
Durgapur, etc.) or near sources of iron ore
(Bhadravati, Bhilai, and Rourkela). Similarly,
industries based on perishable raw materials are
also located close to raw material sources.
Power
Power provides the motive force for machines,
and therefore, its supply has to be ensured
before the location of any industry. However,
certain industries, like aluminium and
synthetic nitrogen manufacturing industries
tend to be located near sources of power
because they are power intensive and require
huge quantum of electricity.
86 India : People and Economy
Market
Markets provide the outlets for manufactured
products. Heavy machine, machine tools, heavy
chemicals are located near the high demand areas
as these are market orientated. Cotton textile
industry uses a non-weight-losing raw material
and is generally located in large urban centre,
e.g. Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Surat, etc. Petroleum
refineries are also located near the markets as the
transport of crude oil is easier and several
products derived from them are used as raw
material in other industries. Koyali, Mathura and
Barauni refineries are typical examples. Ports also
play a crucial role in the location of oil refineries.
Transport
Have you ever tried to find out the reasons
for the concentration of industries in Mumbai,
Chennai, Delhi and in and around Kolkata?
It was due to the fact that they initially
became the nodal point having transport
links. The industries shifted to interior
locations, only when railway lines were laid.
All major industrial plants are located on the
trunk rail routes.
Labour
Can we think of an industry without labour?
Industries require skilled labour. In India,
labour is quite mobile and is available in large
numbers due to our large population.
Historical Factors
Have you ever thought of the reasons for
emerging Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai as
industrial nodes? These locations were greatly
influenced by our colonial past. During the
initial phase of colonisation, manufacturing
activities received new impetus provided by the
European traders. Places like Murshidabad,
Dhaka, Bhadohi, Surat, Vadodara, Kozhikode,
Coimbatore, Mysuru etc., emerged as important
manufacturing centres. In the subsequent
industrial phase of colonialism, these
manufacturing centres experienced rapid
growth due to competition from the goods
manufactured in Britain and the discriminatory
policies of colonial power.
2015-16
 In the last phase of colonialism, the British
promoted few industries in selected areas. This
led to larger spatial coverage by different types
of industries in the country.
Industrial Policy
India, being a democratic country aims at
bringing about economic growth with balanced
regional development.
Establishment of iron and steel industry
in Bhilai and Rourkela were based on decision
to develop backward tribal areas of the
country. At present, government of India
provides lots of incentives to industries locating
in backward areas.
Major Industries
The iron and steel industry is basic to the
industrial development of any country. The
cotton textile Industry is one of our traditional
industries. The sugar Industry is based on local
raw materials which prospered even in the
British period. Besides the more recent
petrochemical Industry and the IT industry will
be discussed in this chapter.
The Iron and Steel Industry
The development of the iron and steel industry
opened the doors to rapid industrial
development in India. Almost all sectors of the
Indian industry depend heavily on the iron
and steel industry for their basic
infrastructure. Can we make tools to be used
in agriculture without iron?
The other raw materials besides iron ore
and coking coal, essential for iron and steel
industry are limestone, dolomite, manganese
and fire clay. All these raw materials are gross
(weight losing), therefore, the best location for
the iron and steel plants is near the source of
raw materials. In India, there is a crescent
shaped region comprising parts of
Chhattisgarh, Northern Odisha, Jharkhand and
western West Bengal, which is extremely rich
in high grade iron ore, good quality coking coal
and other supplementing raw materials.
The Indian iron and steel industry
consists of large integrated steel plants as
well as mini steel mills. It also includes
secondary producers, rolling mills and
ancillary industries.
Integrated Steel Plants
TISCO
The Tata Iron and Steel plant lies very close to
the Mumbai-Kolkata railway line and about
240 km away from Kolkata, which is the nearest
port for the export of steel. The rivers
Subarnarekha and Kharkai provide water to
the plant. The iron ore for the plant is obtained
from Noamundi and Badam Pahar and coal is
brought from Joda mines in Odisha. Coking coal
comes from Jharia and west Bokaro coalfields.
IISCO
The Indian Iron and Steel Company (IISCO) set
up its first factory at Hirapur and later on
another at Kulti. In 1937, the Steel corporation
of Bengal was constituted in association with
IISCO and set up another iron and steel producing
unit at Burnpur (West Bengal). All the three
plants under IISCO are located very close to
Damodar valley coal fields (Raniganj, Jharia, and
Ramgarh). Iron ore comes from Singhbhum in
Jharkhand. Water is obtained from the Barakar
River, a tributary of the Damodar. All the plants
are located along the Kolkata-Asansol railway
line. Unfortunately, steel production from IISCO
fell considerably in 1972-73 and the plants were
taken over by the government.
Visvesvaraiya Iron and Steel Works Ltd. (VISL)
The third integrated steel plant, the Visvesvaraiya
Iron and Steel Works, initially called the Mysore
Iron and Steel Works, is located close to an iron
ore producing area of Kemangundi in the
Bababudan hills. Limestone and manganese are
also locally available. But this region has no coal.
At the beginning, charcoal obtained by burning
wood from nearby forests was used as fuel till
1951. Afterwards, electric furnaces were installed
which use hydroelectricity from the Jog Falls
hydel power project. The Bhadravati river
supplies water to the plant. This plant produces
specialised steels and alloys.
Manufacturing Industries 87
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 Fig. 8.1 : India – Iron and Steel Plants

88 India : People and Economy

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 Fig. 8.2

Fig. 8.3

Fig. 8.4

Fig. 8.5

Fig. 8.6

Fig. 8.7

Fig. 8.8

Manufacturing Industries 89

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 After independence, during the Second
Five Year Plan (1956-61), three new integrated
steel plants were set up with foreign
collaboration: Rourkela in Odisha, Bhilai in
Chhattisgarh and Durgapur in West Bengal.
These were public sector plants under
Hindustan Steel Limited (HSL). In 1973, the
Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) was
created to manage these plants.
Rourkela Steel Plant
The Rourkela Steel plant was set up in 1959 in
the Sundargarh district of Odisha in
collaboration with Germany. The plant was
located on the basis of proximity to raw
materials, thus, minimising the cost of
transporting weight losing raw material. This
plant has a unique locational advantage, as it
receives coal from Jharia (Jharkhand) and iron
ore from Sundargarh and Kendujhar. The
Hirakud project supplies power for the electric
furnaces and water is obtained from the Koel
and Sankh rivers.
Bhilai Steel Plant
The Bhilai Steel Plant was established with
Russian collaboration in Durg District of
Chhattisgarh and started production in 1959.
The iron ore comes from Dalli-Rajhara mine
(Fig. 8.6), coal comes from Korba and Kargali
coal fields. The water comes from the
Tanduladam and the power from the Korba
Themal Power Station. This plant also lies on
the Kolkata-Mumbai railway route. The bulk
of the steel produced goes to the Hindustan
Shipyard at Vishakhapatnam.
Durgapur Steel Plant
Durgapur Steel Plant, in West Bengal, was set
up in collaboration with the government of the
United Kingdom and started production in
1962. This plant lies in Raniganj and Jharia
coal belt and gets iron ore from Noamundi (Fig.
8.7). Durgapur lies on the main Kolkata-Delhi
railway route. Hydel power and water is
90 India : People and Economy
obtained from the Damodar Valley Corporation
(DVC).
Bokaro Steel Plant
This steel plant was set up in 1964 at Bokaro
with Russian collaboration. This plant was set
up on the principle of transportation cost
minimisation by creating Bokaro-Rourkela
combine. It receives iron ore from the Rourkela
region and the wagons on return take coal to
Rourkela. Other raw materials come to Bokaro
from within a radius of about 350 km. Water
and Hydel power is supplied by the Damodar
Valley Corporation.
Other Steel Plants
New steel plants which were set up in the
Fourth Plan period are away from the main
raw material sources. All the three plants are
located in South India. The Vizag Steel Plant,
in Vishakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh is the
first port based plant which started operating
in 1992. Its port location is of advantage.
The Vijaynagar Steel Plant at Hosapete in
Karnataka was developed using indigenous
technology. This uses local iron ore and
limestone. The Salem Steel Plant in Tamil Nadu
was commissioned in 1982.
Source : Ministry of Steel, Government of India
Fig 8.9 : Production of Finished Steel
Apart from these major steel plants, there
are more than 206 units located in different
parts of the country. Most of these use scrap
iron as their main raw material, and process it
in electric furnaces.
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The Cotton Textile Industry
The cotton textile industry is one of the
traditional industries of India. In the ancient
and the medieval times, it used to be only a
cottage industry. India was famous worldwide
for the production of muslin, a very fine variety
of cotton cloth, calicos, chintz and other
different varieties of fine cotton cloth. The
development of this industry in India was due
to several factors. One, it is a tropical country
and cotton is the most comfortable fabric for a
hot and humid climate. Second, large quantity
of cotton was grown in India. Abundant skilled
labour required for this industry was available
in this country. In fact, in some areas the
people were producing cotton textiles for
generations and transferred the skill from one Fig 8.10 : Production of Cotton Textile

generation to the other and in the process

perfected their skills.
Initially, the British did not encourage the
development of the indigenous cotton textile
industry. They exported raw cotton to their mills
in Manchester and Liverpool and brought back
the finished products to be sold in India. This
cloth was cheaper because it was produced at
mass scale in factories in U.K. as compared to
the cottage based industries of India.
In 1854, the first modern cotton mill was
established in Mumbai. This city had several
advantages as a cotton textile manufacturing
centre. It was very close to the cotton producing
areas of Gujarat and Maharashtra. Raw cotton
used to be brought to Mumbai port to be
transported to England. Therefore, cotton was
available in Mumbai city itself. Moreover,
Mumbai even then was the financial centre and
the capital needed to start an industry was
available there. As a large town, providing
employment opportunities attracted labour in
large numbers. Hence, cheap and abundant
labour too was available locally. The machinery
required for a cotton textile mill could be directly

Spinning yarn in powerloom Handloom Cotton Textile Industry

Manufacturing Industries 91

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 Fig. 8.11 : Cotton Textile Industries

92 India : People and Economy

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imported from England. Subsequently, two
more mills, the Shahpur Mill and the Calico Mill
were established in Ahmedabad. By 1947, the
number of mills in India went up to 423 but
the scenario changed after partition, and this
industry suffered a major recession. This was
due to the fact that the most of the good quality
cotton growing areas had gone to West Pakistan
and India was left with 409 mills and only 29
per cent of the cotton producing area.
After Independence, this industry
gradually recovered and eventually flourished.
The cotton textile industry in India can be
broadly divided into two sectors, the organised
sector and the unorganised sector. The
decentralised sector includes cloth produced
in handlooms (including Khadi) and
powerlooms. The production of the organised
sector has drastically fallen from 81 per cent in
the mid-twentieth century to only about 6 per
cent in 2000. At present, the powerlooms on
the decentralised sector produce more than the
handloom sector.
Cotton is a “pure” raw material which does
not lose weight in the manufacturing process.
so other factors, like, power to drive the looms,
labour, capital or market may determine the
location of the industry. At present the trend is
to locate the industry at or close to markets, as
it is the market that decides what kind of cloth
is to be produced. Also the market for the
finished products is extremely variable,
therefore, it becomes important to locate the
mills close to the market.
After the first mills were set up in Mumbai
and Ahmedabad in the second half of the
nineteenth century, the cotton textile industry
expanded very rapidly. The number of units
increased dramatically. The Swadeshi
movement gave a major impetus to the industry
as there was a call for boycotting all British
made goods in favour of Indian goods. After
1921, with the development of the railway
network other cotton textile centres expanded
rapidly. In southern India, mills were set up
at Coimbatore, Madurai and Bengaluru. In
central India, Nagpur, Indore, Solapur and
Vadodara became cotton textile centres. Cotton
textile mills were set up at Kanpur based on
local investment. Mills were also set up at
Kolkata due to its port facilities. The
development of hydro-electricity also favoured
the location of the cotton textile mills away from
the cotton producing areas. The rapid
development of this industry in Tamil Nadu is
the result of the abundant availability of hydel
power for the mills. Lower labour costs at
centres like Ujjain, Bharuch, Agra, Hathras,
Coimbatore and Tirunelveli also caused
industries to be located away from cotton
producing areas.
Thus, the cotton textile industry is located
in almost every state in India, where one or more
of the locational factors have been favourable.
The importance of raw materials has given way
to market or to a cheaper local labour force or
it may be the availability of power.
Presently, the major centres of the cotton
textile industry are Ahmedabad, Bhiwandi,
Solapur, Kolhapur, Nagpur, Indore and Ujjain.
All these centres are the traditional centres and
are located close to the cotton producing
regions. Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu
are the leading cotton producing states. West
Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Punjab
are the other important cotton textile producers.
(Fig. 8.11)
Tamil Nadu has the largest number of
mills and most of them produce yarn rather
than cloth. Coimbatore has emerged as the
most important centre with nearly half the mills
located there. Chennai, Madurai, Tirunelveli,
Tuticorin, Thanjavur, Ramanathapuram and
Salem are the other important centres. In
Karnataka, the cotton textile industry has
developed in the cotton producing areas in the
north-eastern part of the state. Davangere,
Hubballi, Ballari, Mysuru and Bengaluru are
important centres. The cotton textile industry
is located in the cotton producing Telengana
region, where most of the mills are spinning
mills producing yarn. The important centres
are Hyderabad, Secunderabad and Warangal
in Telangana and Guntur in Andhra Pradesh.
In Uttar Pradesh, Kanpur is the largest
centre. Some of the other important centres are
Manufacturing Industries 93
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Modinagar, Hathras, Saharanpur, Agra and
Lucknow. In West Bengal, the cotton mills are
located in the Hugli region. Howrah,
Serampur, Kolkata and Shyamnagar are the
important centres.
Production of cotton cloth increased almost
five times since independence. Cotton textile has
been facing tough competition from synthetic
cloth. What are the other problems of cotton
textile industry in India?
Sugar Industry
The sugar industry is the second most important
agro-based industry in the country. India is the
largest producer of both sugarcane and cane
sugar and contributes about 8 per cent of the
total sugar production in the world. Besides,
khandasari and gur or jaggery are also prepared
from sugarcane. This industry provides
employment for more than 4 lakh persons
directly and a large number of farmers indirectly.
Sugar industry is a seasonal industry because
of the seasonality of raw materials.
Development of the industry on modern
lines dates back to 1903, when a sugar mill
was started in Bihar. Subsequently, sugar mills
were started in other parts of Bihar and Uttar
Pradesh. In 1950-51, 139 factories were in
operation. The number of sugar factories rose
to 662 in 2010-11.
Location of the Sugar Industry
Sugarcane is a weight-losing crop. The ratio of
sugar to sugarcane varies between 9 to 12 per
cent depending on its variety. Its sucrose
content begins to dry during haulage after it
has been harvested from the field. Better
recovery of sugar is dependent upon its being
crushed within 24 hours of its harvesting.
Sugar factories hence, are located within the
cane producing regions.
Maharashtra has emerged as a leading
sugar producer in the country and produces
more than one-third of the total production of
the sugar in the country.
94 India : People and Economy
Uttar Pradesh is the second largest
producer of sugar. The sugar factories are
concentrated in two belts – the Ganga-Yamuna
doab and the tarai region. The major sugar
producing centres in the Ganga -Yamuna doab
are Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut,
Ghaziabad, Baghpat and Bulandshahr
districts; while Kheri Lakhimpur, Basti, Gonda,
Gorakhpur, Bahraich are important sugar
producing districts in the Tarai region.
In Tamil Nadu, sugar factories are located
in Coimbatore, Vellore, Tiruvanamalai,
Villupuram and Tiruchchirappalli districts.
Belagavi, Ballari, Mandya, Shivamogga,
Vijayapura and Chitradurg districts are the
major producers in Karnataka. The industry is
distributed in the coastal regions i.e. East
Godavari, West Godavari, Vishakhapatnam
districts of Andhra Pradesh and Nizamabad and
Medak districts of Telangana.
The other States which produce sugar are
Bihar, Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and
Gujarat. Saran, Champaran, Muzaffarnagar,
Siwan, Darbhanga, and Gaya are the important
sugarcane producing districts in Bihar. The
relative significance of Punjab has declined,
although Gurdaspur, Jalandhar, Sangarur,
Patiala and Amritsar are major sugar
producers. In Haryana, sugar factories are
located in Yamuna Nagar, Rohtak, Hissar and
Faridabad districts. Sugar industry is
comparatively new in Gujarat. Sugar mills are
located in the cane growing tracts of Surat,
Junagarh, Rajkot, Amreli, Valsad and
Bhavnagar districts.
Petrochemical Industries
This group of industries has been growing very
fast in India. A variety of products come under
this category of industries. In 1960s, demand
for organic chemicals increased so fast that it
became difficult to meet this demand. At that
time, petroleum refining industry expanded
rapidly. Many items are derived from crude
petroleum, which provide raw materials for
many new industries, these are collectively
2015-16
known as petrochemical industries. This group
of industries is divided into four sub-groups:
(i) polymers, (ii) synthetic fibres, (iii) elastomers,
and (iv) surfactant intermediate. Mumbai is the
hub of the petrochemical industries. Cracker
units are also located in Auraiya (Uttar
Pradesh), Jamnagar, Gandhinagar and Hajira
(Gujarat), Nagothane, Ratnagiri (Maharashtra),
Haldia (West Bengal) and Vishakhapatnam
(Andhra Pradesh).
Three organisations are working in the
petrochemical sector under the administrative
control of the Department of Chemicals and
Petrochemicals. First is the Indian Petrochemical
Corporation Limited (IPCL), a public sector
undertaking. It is responsible for the manufacture
and distribution of the various petrochemicals like
polymers, chemicals, fibres and fibre
intermediates. Second is the Petrofils Cooperative
Limited (PCL), a joint venture of the Government
of India and Weaver’s Cooperative Societies. It
produces polyester filament yarn and nylon chips
at its two plants located at Vadodara and Naldhari
in Gujarat. Third is the Central Institute of Plastic
Engineering and Technology (CIPET), involved in
imparting training in petro-chemical industry.
Polymers are made from ethylene and
propylene. These materials are obtained in the
process of refining crude oil. Polymers are used
as raw materials in the plastic industry. Among
polymers, polyethylene is a widely used
thermoplastic. Plastic is first converted into
sheets, powder, resin and pellets, and then used
in manufacturing plastic products. Plastic
products are preferred because of their strength,
flexibility, water and chemical resistance and low
prices. Production of plastic polymers started in
India in the late fifties and the early sixties using
other organic chemicals. The National Organic
Chemicals Industries Limited (NOCIL),
established in private sector in 1961, started the
first naphtha based chemical industry in
Mumbai. Later, several other companies were
formed. The plants located at Mumbai, Barauni,
Mettur, Pimpri and Rishra are the major
producers of plastic materials.
About 75 per cent of these units are in
small scale sector. The industry also uses
recycled plastics, which constitutes about 30
per cent of the total production.
Synthetic fibres are widely used in the
manufacturing of fabrics because of their
inherent strength, durability, washability, and
resistance to shrinkage. Industries
manufacturing nylon and polyester yarns are
located at Kota, Pimpri, Mumbai, Modinagar,
Pune, Ujjain, Nagpur and Udhna. Acrylic staple
fibre is manufactured at Kota and Vadodara.
Manufacturing Industries 95
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 Though plastics have become inseparable
items in our daily use and they have affected
our life style. But due to its non-biodegradable
quality it has emerged as the greatest threat to
our environment. Hence, use of plastic is being
discouraged in different states of India. Do you
know how does plastic adversely affect our
environment?
Knowledge based Industries
The advancement in information technology has
had a profound influence on the country’s
economy. The Information Technology (IT)
revolution opened up new possibilities of
economic and social transformation. The IT and
IT enabled business process outsourcing (ITES-
BPO) services continue to be on a robust growth
path. Indian software industry has emerged as
one of the fastest growing sectors in the economy.
The software industry has surpassed electronic
hardware production. The Indian government
has created a number of software parks in the
country.
The IT software and services industry
account for almost 2 per cent of India’s GDP.
India’s software industry has achieved a
remarkable distinction for providing quality
products. A large number of Indian software
companies have acquired international quality
certification. A majority of the multinational
companies operating in the area of information
technology have either software development
centres or research development centres in
India. However, in the hardware development
sector, India is yet to make any remarkable
achievements.
A major impact of this growth has been on
employment creation, which is almost doubled
every year.
Liberalisation, Privatisation,
Globalisation (LPG) and Industrial
Development in India
The new Industrial Policy was announced in
1991. The major objectives of this policy were
to build on the gains already made, correct the
distortions or weaknesses that have crept in,
96 India : People and Economy
maintain a sustained growth in productivity
and gainful employment and attain
international competitiveness.
Within this policy, measures initiated are :
(1) abolition of industrial licensing, (2) free entry
to foreign technology, (3) foreign investment
policy, (4) access to capital market, (5) open
trade, (6) abolition of phased manufacturing
programme, and (7) liberalised industrial
location programme. The policy has three main
dimensions: liberalisation, privatisation and
globalisation.
The industrial licensing system has been
abolished for all except six industries related to
security, strategic or environmental concerns. At
the same time, the number of industries reserved
for public sector since 1956 have been reduced
from 17 to 4. Industries related to atomic energy,
substances specified in the Schedule of the
Department of Atomic Energy as well as Railways
have remained under the public sector. The
government also has decided to offer a part of
the shareholdings in the public enterprises to
financial institutions, general public and
workers. The threshold limits of assets have been
scrapped and no industry requires prior
approval for investing in the delicensed sector.
They only need to submit a memorandum in
the prescribed format.
In the new industrial policy, Foreign Direct
Investment (FDI) has been seen as a supplement
to the domestic investment for achieving a
higher level of economic development. FDI
benefits the domestic industry as well as the
consumers by providing technological
upgradation, access to global managerial skills
and practices, optimum use of natural and
human resources, etc. Keeping all this in mind,
foreign investment has been liberalised and the
government has permitted access to an
automatic route for Foreign Direct Investment.
The government has also announced changes
in the industrial location policies. Industries are
discouraged in or very close to large cities due
to environmental reasons.
The industrial policy has been liberalised
to attract private investor both domestic and
multi-nationals. New sectors like, mining,
telecommunications, highway construction and
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Fig. 8.12 : Software Technology Parks

Manufacturing Industries 97

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management have been thrown open to private
companies. In spite of all these concessions,
Foreign Direct Investment has not been up to
the expectation. There has been a big gap
between approved and actual foreign direct
investment, even though the numbers of foreign
collaborations are increasing. Larger parts of this
investment have gone to domestic appliances,
finance, services, electronics and electrical
equipment, and food and dairy products.
Globalisation means integrating the
economy of the country with the world
economy. Under this process, goods and
services along with capital, labour and
resources can move freely from one nation to
another. The thrust of globalisation has been
to increase the domestic and external
competition through extensive application of
market mechanism and facilitating dynamic
relationship with the foreign investors and
suppliers of technology. In Indian context, this
implies: (1) opening of the economy to foreign
direct investment by providing facilities to
foreign companies to invest in different fields of
economies activity in India; (2) removing
restrictions and obstacles to the entry of multi-
national companies in India; (3) allowing Indian
companies to enter into foreign collaboration
in India and also encouraging them to set up
joint ventures abroad; (4) carrying out massive
import liberalisation programmes by switching
over from quantitative restrictions to tariffs in
the first place, and then bringing down the level
of import duties considerably; and (5) instead
of a set of export incentives, opting for exchange
rate adjustments for promoting export.
A breakup of foreign collaboration
approval reveals that the major share went to
core, priority sectors while infrastructural sector
was untouched. Further, gap between
developed and developing states has become
wider. Major share of both domestic investment
as well as foreign direct investment went to
already developed states. For example, out of
the total proposed investment by the industrial
entrepreneurs during 1991-2000 nearly one-
fourth (23 per cent) was for industrially
developed Maharashtra, 17 per cent for
Gujarat, 7 per cent for Andhra Pradesh, and
about 6 per cent for Tamil Nadu while Uttar
Pradesh, the state with the largest population
has only 8 per cent. In spite of several
concessions, seven north-eastern states could
get less than 1 per cent of the proposed
investment. In fact, economically weaker states
could not compete with the developed states in
open market in attracting industrial investment
proposals and hence they are likely to suffer
from these processes.
Industrial Regions in India
Industries are not evenly distributed in the
country. They tend to concentrate on certain
locations because of the favourable locational
factors.

Industrial Regions and Districts

Major Industrial Regions (8)
1. Mumabi-Pune Region, 2. Hugli Region, 3. Bengaluru-Tamil Nadu Region, 4. Gujarat Region,
5. Chotanagpur Region, 6. Vishakhapatnam-Guntur Region, 7. Gurgaon-Delhi-Meerut Region, and
8. Kollam-Thiruvananthapuram Region.
Minor Industrial Regions (13)
1. Ambala-Amritsar, 2. Saharanpur-Muzaffarnagar-Bijnor, 3. Indore-Dewas-Uijjain, 4. Jaipur-Ajmer,
5. Kolhapur-South Kannada, 6. Northern Malabar, 7. Middle Malabar, 8. Adilabad-Nizamabad,
9. Allahabad-Varanasi-Mirzapur, 10. Bhojpur-Munger, 11. Durg-Raipur, 12. Bilaspur-Korba, and
13. Brahmaputra valley.
Industrial Districts (15)
1. Kanpur, 2. Hyderabad, 3. Agra, 4. Nagpur, 5. Gwalior, 6. Bhopal, 7. Lucknow, 8. Jalpaiguri,
9. Cuttack, 10. Gorakhpur, 11. Aligarh, 12. Kota, 13. Purnia, 14. Jabalpur, and 15. Bareilly.

98 India : People and Economy

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Fig. 8.13 : India – Major Industrial Region

Manufacturing Industries 99

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 Several indices are used to identify the
clustering of industries, important among them
are : (i) the number of industrial units, (ii)
number of industrial workers, (iii) quantum of
power used for industrial purposes, (iv) total
industrial output, and (v) value added by
manufacturing, etc.
Major industrial regions of the country are
given below in some details (Fig. 8.13).
Mumbai-Pune Industrial Region
It extends from Mumbai-Thane to Pune and
in adjoining districts of Nashik and Solapur.
Besides, industrial development has been
rapid in Kolaba, Ahmednagar, Satara, Sangli
and Jalgaon districts. Development of this
region started with the location of cotton
textile industry in Mumbai. Mumbai, with
cotton hinterland and moist climate favoured
the location of cotton textile industry.
Opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 provided
impetus to the growth of Mumbai port.
Machineries were imported through this port.
Hydro-electricity was developed in the
Western Ghat region to meet the requirements
of this industry.
With the development of cotton textile
industry, chemical industry also developed.
Opening of the Mumbai High petroleum field
and erection of nuclear energy plants added
additional pull to this region.
Besides, engineering goods, petroleum
refining, petrochemicals, leather, synthetic
and plastic goods, drugs, fertilisers,
electrical, shipbuilding, electronics, software,
transport equipments and food industries
also developed. Important industrial centres
are Mumbai, Kolaba, Kalyan, Thane,
Trombay, Pune, Pimpri, Nashik, Manmad,
Solapur, Kolhapur, Ahmednagar, Satara and
Sangli.
Hugli Industrial Region
Located along the Hugli river, this region
extends from Bansberia in the north to
Birlanagar in the south for a distance of about
100 km. Industries also have developed in
Mednipur in the west. Kolkata-Haora from the
nucleus of this industrial region. Historical,
100 India : People and Economy
geographical, economic and political factors
have contributed much to its development. It
developed with the opening of river port on
Hugli. Kolkata emerged as a leading centre of
the country. Later, Kolkata was connected with
interior parts by railway lines and road routes.
Development of tea plantations in Assam and
northern hills of West Bengal, the processing of
indigo earlier and jute later coupled with the
opening of coalfields of the Damodar Valley and
iron ore deposits of the Chotanagpur plateau,
contributed to the industrial development of the
region. Cheap labour available from thickly
populated part of Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh
and Odisha also contributed to its development.
Kolkata, being the capital city of British India
(1773-1911), attracted the British capital. The
establishment of first jute mill at Rishra in 1855
ushered in the era of modern industrial
clustering in this region.
The major concentration of jute industry
is at Haora and Bhatapara. The partition of the
country in 1947 adversely affected this
industrial region. Cotton textile industry also
grew along with jute industry, paper,
engineering, textile machinery, electrical,
chemical, pharmaceuticals, fertiliser and
petrochemical industries have also developed
within this region. Factory of the Hindustan
Motors Limited at Konnagar and diesel engine
factory at Chittaranjan are landmarks of this
region. Location of petroleum refinery at Haldia
has facilitated the development of a variety of
industries. Important industrial centres of this
region are Kolkata, Haora, Haldia, Serampur,
Rishra, Shibpur, Naihati, Kakinara,
Shamnagar, Titagarh, Sodepur, Budge Budge,
Birlanagar, Bansberia, Belgurriah, Triveni,
Hugli, Belur, etc. However, industrial growth of
this region has slowed down in comparison to
other regions. Decline of the jute industry is one
of the reasons.
Bengaluru-Chennai Industrial Region
This region witnessed most rapid industrial
growth in post-Independence period. Till 1960,
industries were confined to Bengaluru, Salem
and Madurai districts but now they have spread
over all the districts of Tamil Nadu except
Viluppuram. Since, this region is away from the
2015-16
coalfields, its development is dependent on the
Pykara hydroelectric plant, which was built in
1932. Cotton textile industry was the first to
take roots due to the presence of cotton growing
areas. Along with cotton mills, loom industry
spread very rapidly. Several heavy engineering
industries converged at Bengaluru. Aircraft
(HAL), machine tools, telephone (HTL) and
Bharat Electronics are industrial landmarks of
this region. Important industries are textiles,
rail wagons, diesel engines, radio, light
engineering goods, rubber goods, medicines,
aluminium, sugar, cement, glass, paper,
chemicals, film, cigarette, match box, leather
goods, etc. Petroleum refinery at Chennai, iron
and steel plant at Salem and fertiliser plants
are recent developments.
Gujarat Industrial Region
The nucleus of this region lies between
Ahmedabad and Vadodara but this region
extends upto Valsad and Surat in the south and
to Jamnagar in the west. Development of this
region is also associated with the location of the
cotton textile industry since 1860s. This region
became an important textile region with the
decline of the cotton textile industry at Mumbai.
Located in cotton growing area, this region has
double advantage of the proximity of raw
materials as well as of market. The discovery of
oil fields led to the establishment of petrochemical
industries around Ankleshwar, Vadodara and
Jamnagar. The port at Kandla helped in the rapid
growth of this region. Petroleum refinery at
Koyali provided raw materials to a host of
petrochemical industries. The industrial
structure is now diversified. Besides, textiles
(cotton, silk and synthetic fabrics) and
petrochemical industries, other industries are
heavy and basic chemicals, motor, tractor, diesel
engines, textile machinery, engineering,
pharmaceuticals, dyes, pesticides, sugar, dairy
products and food processing. Recently, largest
petroleum refinery has been set up at Jamnagar.
Important industrial centres of this region are
Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Bharuch, Koyali,
Anand, Khera, Surendranagar, Rajkot, Surat,
Valsad and Jamnagar.
Chotanagpur Region
This region extends over Jharkhand, northern
Orissa and western West Bengal and is known
for the heavy metallurgical industries. This
region owes its development to the discovery of
coal in the Damodar Valley and metallic and
non-metallic minerals in Jharkhand and
northern Orissa. Proximity of coal, iron ore and
other minerals facilitated the location of heavy
industries in this region. Six large integrated
iron and steel plants at Jamshedpur, Burnpur-
Kulti, Durgapur, Bokaro and Rourkela are
located within this region. To meet the power
requirement, thermal and hydroelectric plants
have been constructed in the Damodar Valley.
Densely populated surrounding regions
provide cheap labour and Hugli region provides
vast market for its industries. Heavy
engineering, machine tools, fertilisers, cement,
paper, locomotives and heavy electricals are some
of the important industries in this region.
Important centres are Ranchi, Dhanbad,
Chaibasa, Sindri, Hazaribag, Jamshedpur,
Bokaro, Rourkela, Durgapur, Asansol and
Dalmianagar.
Vishakhapatnam-Guntur Region
This industrial region extends from
Vishakhapatnam district to Kurnool and
Prakasam districts in the south. Industrial
development of this region hinges upon
Vishakhapatnam and Machilipatnam ports and
developed agriculture and rich reserves of
minerals in their hinterlands. Coalfields of the
Godavari basin provide energy. Ship building
industry was started at Vishakhapatnam in
1941. Petroleum refinery based on imported
petroleum facilitated the growth of several
petrochemical industries. Sugar, textile, jute,
paper, fertiliser, cement, aluminium and light
engineering are principal industries of this
region. One lead-zinc smelter is functioning in
Guntur district. Iron and steel plant at
Vishakhapatnam uses the Bailadila iron ore.
Vishakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Vijaynagar,
Rajahmundry, Guntur, Eluru and Kurnool are
important industrial centres.
Manufacturing Industries 101
2015-16
Gurgaon-Delhi-Meerut Region
Industries located in this region have shown
very fast growth in the recent past. This region
is located far away from the mineral and power
resources, and therefore, the industries are
light and market-oriented. Electronics, light
engineering and electrical goods are major
industries of this region. Besides, there are
cotton, woollen and synthetic fabrics, hosiery,
sugar, cement, machine tools, tractor, cycle,
agricultural implements, chemical and
vanaspati industries which have developed on
large scale. Software industry is a recent
addition. To the south lies the Agra-Mathura
industrial area which specialises in glass and
leather goods. Mathura with an oil refinery is
a petrochemical complex. Among industrial
centres, mention be made of Gurgaon, Delhi,
Shahdara, Faridabad, Meerut, Modinagar,
Ghaziabad, Ambala, Agra and Mathura.
Kollam-Thiruvananthapuram Region
This industrial region is spread over
Th iruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alwaye,
Ernakulam and Alappuzha districts.
Plantation agriculture and hydropower
provide industrial base to this region. Located
far away from the mineral belt of the country,
agricultural products processing and market
oriented light industries predominate the
region. Among them, cotton textile, sugar,
rubber, matchbox, glass, chemical fertiliser and
fish-based industries are important. Food
processing, paper, coconut coir products,
aluminium and cement industries are also
significant. Location of petroleum refinery at
Kochchi has added a vista of new industries to
this region. Important industrial centres are
Kollam, Thiruvananthapuram, Alluva, Kochchi,
Alappuzha, and Punalur.

EXERCISES
1. Choose the right answers of the following from the given options.
(i) Which is not a factor of industrial location?
(a) Market (c) Population Density
(b) Capital (d) Power
(ii) The earliest Iron and Steel Company to be established in India was:
(a) IISCO
(b) TISCO
(c) Visvesvaraiya Iron and Steel Works
(d) Mysore Iron and Steel Works.
(iii) The first modern cotton mill was established in Mumbai because:
(a) Mumbai is a port
(b) It is located near cotton growing area
(c) Mumbai was the financial centre
(d) All of the above.
(iv) The nucleus of the Hugli Industrial Region is:
(a) Kolkata-Haora (c) Kolkata-Medinipur
(b) Kolkata-Rishra (d) Kolkata-Konnagar

102 India : People and Economy

2015-16
 (v) Which one of the following is the second largest producer of sugar:
(a) Maharashtra (c) Punjab
(b) Uttar Pradesh (d) Tamil Nadu
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) Why do you think that the iron and steel industry is basic to the industrial
development of any country?
(ii) Name the two sectors of the cottage textile industries. How are they
different?
(iii) Why is the sugar industry a seasonal industry?
(iv) What is the raw material base for the petrochemical industry? Name some
of the products of this industry.
(v) What is the major impact of Information Technology (IT) revolution in India?
3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.
(i) How did the Swadeshi movement give a major impetus to the cotton textiles
industry?
(ii) What do you understand by liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation?
How have they helped industrial development in India?

Manufacturing Industries 103

2015-16
 When you fall ill you go to your family doctor
Unit-III or you call a doctor. Sometimes your parents
Chapter-7 take you to a hospital for treatment. While in
school, you are taught by your teachers. In the
event of any dispute, legal opinion is obtained
from a lawyer. Likewise, there are many
professionals who provide their services against
payment of their fee. Thus, all types of services
are special skills provided in exchange of

ed
payments. Health, education, law, governance
and recreation etc. require professional skills.
These services require other theoretical
knowledge and practical training. Tertiary
activities are related to the service sector.

h
Manpower is an important component of the
Tertiary and service sector as most of the tertiary activities

pu T
are performed by skilled labour, professionally

is
Quaternary Activities trained experts and consultants.
re R In the initial stages of economic
development, larger proportion of people

bl
worked in the primary sector. In a developed
economy, the majority of workers get
E
employment in tertiary activity and a moderate
proportion is employed in the secondary sector.
be C

Tertiary activities include both production

and exchange. The production involves the
‘provision’ of services that are ‘consumed’. The
output is indirectly measured in terms of wages
o N

and salaries. Exchange, involves trade,

transport and communication facilities that are
used to overcome distance. Tertiary activities,
therefore, involve the commercial output of
©

services rather than the production of tangible

goods. They are not directly involved in the
processing of physical raw materials. Common
examples are the work of a plumber, electrician,
technician, launderer, barber, shopkeeper,
driver, cashier, teacher, doctor, lawyer and
publisher etc. The main difference between
secondary activities and tertiary activities is that
the expertise provided by services relies more
heavily on specialised skills, experience and
tt

knowledge of the workers rather than on the

production techniques, machinery and factory
processes.
no

TYPES OF TERTIARY ACTIVITIES

By now you know that you purchase your
books, stationery from traders shop, travel by
56
no
tt ©
o N

Fundamentals of Human Geography

be C
re RE
pu T
bl
is
h
Fig. 7.1: Service Sector
ed
bus or rail, send letters, talk on telephone and
obtain services of teachers for studies and
doctors at the time of illness.
Thus, trade, transport, communication
and services are some of the tertiary activities
discussed in this section. The chart provides
the basis for classifying the tertiary activities.
Trade and commerce
Periodic markets in rural areas are found
where there are no regular markets and local
periodic markets are organised at different
temporal intervals. These may be weekly, bi-
weekly markets from where people from the
surrounding areas meet their temporally
accumulated demand. These markets are
held on specified dates and move from one
place to another. The shopkeepers thus,

Trade is essentially buying and selling of items
produced elsewhere. All the services in retail
and wholesale trading or commerce are
specifically intended for profit. The towns and
cities where all these works take place are
ed
remain busy on all the days while a large area
is served by them.
Urban marketing centres have more widely
specialised urban services. They provide
ordinary goods and services as well as many of

h
known us trading centres. the specialised goods and services required by
people. Urban centres, therefore, offer

pu T
The rise of trading from barter at the local
manufactured goods as well as many

is
level to money-exchange of international scale
has produced many centres and institutions
re R specialised markets develop, e.g. markets for
labour, housing, semi or finished products.
such as trading centres or collection and
distribution points. Services of educational institutions and

bl
professionals such as teachers, lawyers,
Trading centres may be divided into rural
consultants, physicians, dentists and veterinary
E
and urban marketing centres.
Rural marketing centres cater to nearby doctors are available.
settlements. These are quasi-urban centres.
be C

They serve as trading centres of the most

rudimentary type. Here personal and
professional services are not well-developed.
o N

These form local collecting and distributing

centres. Most of these have mandis (wholesale
markets) and also retailing areas. They are not
urban centres per se but are significant centres
for making available goods and services which
©

are most frequently demanded by rural folk.

Fig. 7.3: Packed Food Market in U.S.A.

Retail Trading
tt

This is the business activity concerned with the

sale of goods directly to the consumers. Most
of the retail trading takes place in fixed
establishments or stores solely devoted to
no

selling. Street peddling, handcarts, trucks,

door-to-door, mail-order, telephone, automatic
vending machines and internet are examples
Fig. 7.2: A Wholesale Vegetable Market of non-store retail trading.

Tertiary and Quaternary Activities 57


M ore on Stores
Consumer cooperatives were the first of
the large-scale innovations in retailing.
Departmental stores delegate the
responsibility and authority to departmental
heads for purchasing of commodities and
for overseeing the sale in different sections
of the stores.
Chain stores are able to purchase
merchandise most economically, often
going so far as to direct the goods to be
manufactured to their specification. They
h
employ highly skilled specialists in many
pu T
executive tasks. They have the ability to
experiment in one store and apply the
is
results to many.
re R
bl
E
Wholesale Trading
Wholesale trading constitutes bulk business
be C
through numerous intermediary merchants
and supply houses and not through retail
stores. Some large stores including chain stores
o N
are able to buy directly from the manufacturers.
However, most retail stores procure supplies
from an intermediary source. Wholesalers often
extend credit to retail stores to such an extent
that the retailer operates very largely on the
©
wholesaler’s capital.
Transport
Transport is a service or facility by which
people, materials and manufactured goods
are physically carried from one location to
another. It is an organised industry created
to satisfy man’s basic need of mobility.
Modern society requires speedy and efficient
tt
transport systems to assist in the production,
distribution and consumption of goods. At
every stage in this complex system, the value
of the material is significantly enhanced by
no
transportation.
Transport distance can be measured as:
km distance or actual distance of route length;
time distance or the time taken to travel on a
58 Fundamentals of Human Geography
particular route; and cost distance or the
expense of travelling on a route. In selecting the
mode of transport, distance, in terms of time or
cost, is the determining factor. Isochrone lines
are drawn on a map to join places equal in terms
of the time taken to reach them.
Network and Accessibility
ed
As transport systems develop, different
places are linked together to form a
network. Networks are made up of nodes
and links. A node is the meeting point of
two or more routes, a point of origin, a point
of destination or any sizeable town along a
route, Every road that joins two nodes is
called a link. A developed network has
many links, which means that places are
well-connected.
Factors Affecting Transport
Demand for transport is influenced by the size
of population. The larger the population size,
the greater is the demand for transport.
Routes depend on: location of cities,
towns, villages, industrial centres and raw
materials, pattern of trade between them, nature
of the landscape between them, type of climate,
and funds available for overcoming obstacles
along the length of the route.
Communication
Communication services involve the
transmission of words and messages, facts
and ideas. The invention of writing preserved
messages and helped to make communication
dependent on means of transport. These were
actually carried by hand, animals, boat, road,
rail and air. That is why all forms of transport
are also referred to as lines of communication.
Where the transport network is efficient,
communications are easily disseminated.
Certain developments, such as mobile
telephony and satellites, have made
communications independent of transport. All
forms are not fully disassociated because of the
cheapness of the older systems. Thus, very
large volumes of mail continue to be handled
by post offices all over the world.
Some of the communication services are
discussed below.
Telecommunications
The use of telecommunications is linked to the
development of modern technology. It has
revolutionised communications because of the
legislation have established corporations to
supervise and control the marketing of such
services as transport, telecommunication,
energy and water supply. Professional services
are primarily health care, engineering, law and
management. The location of recreational and
entertainment services depends on the market.
Multiplexes and restaurants might find location
within or near the Central Business District

speed with which messages are sent. The time
reduced is from weeks to minutes. Besides, the
recent advancements like mobile telephony
have made communications direct and
instantaneous at any time and from anywhere.
ed
(CBD), whereas a golf course would choose a
site where land costs are lower than in the CBD.
Personal services are made available to the
people to facilitate their work in daily life. The

h
workers migrate from rural areas in search of
The telegraph, morse code and telex have almost
employment and are unskilled. They are

pu T
become things of the past.
employed in domestic services as

is
Radio and television also help to relay
news, pictures, and telephone calls to vast
re R housekeepers, cooks, and gardeners. This
audiences around the world and hence they are segment of workers is generally unorganised.
termed as mass media. They are vital for One such example in India is Mumbai’s

bl
advertising and entertainment. Newspapers are dabbawala (Tiffin) service provided to about
E
able to cover events in all corners of the world. 1,75,000 customers all over the city.
Satellite communication relays information of
the earth and from space. The internet has truly
be C

revolutionised the global communication

system .
o N

Services
Services occur at many different levels. Some
are geared to industry, some to people, and some
to both industry and people, e.g. the transport
©

systems. Low-order services, such as grocery

shops and laundries, are more common and
widespread than high-order services or more
specialised ones like those of accountants,
consultants and physicians. Services are
provided to individual consumers who can Fig. 7.4: Dabbawala Service in Mumbai
afford to pay for them. For example, the
gardener, the launderers and the barber do
primarily physical labour. Teacher, lawyers,
physicians, musicians and others perform PEOPLE ENGAGED IN
tt

mental labour. TER TIAR

Many services have now been regulated.
Making and maintaining highways and
no
TERTIAR Y ACTIVITIES
TIARY
Today most people are service workers. Services
are provided in all societies. But in more

bridges, maintaining fire fighting departments developed countries a higher percentage of

and supplying or supervising education and workers is employed in providing services as
customer -care are among the important compared to less developed countries. The
services most often supervised or performed by trend in employment in this sector has been
governments or companies. State and union

Tertiary and Quaternary Activities 59

increasing while it has remained unchanged or
decreasing in the primary and secondary
activities.
SOME SELECTED EXAMPLES
Tourism
Tourism is travel undertaken for purposes of
recreation rather than business. It has become
the world’s single largest tertiary activity in total
registered jobs (250 million) and total revenue
(40 per cent of the total GDP). Besides, many
local persons, are employed to provide services
like accommodation, meals, transport,
h
entertainment and special shops serving the
pu T
tourists. Tourism fosters the growth of
is
infrastructure industries, retail trading, and
craft industries (souvenirs). In some regions,
re R
tourism is seasonal because the vacation period
is dependent on favourable weather conditions,
bl
but many regions attract visitors all the year
E
round.
be C
o N
©
Fig. 7.5: Tourists skiing in the snow capped
mountain slopes of Switzerland
tt
Tourist Regions
The warmer places around the Mediterranean
Coast and the West Coast of India are some of
no
the popular tourist destinations in the world.
Others include winter sports regions, found
mainly in mountainous areas, and various
scenic landscapes and national parks, which
60 Fundamentals of Human Geography
are scattered. Historic towns also attract
tourists, because of the monument, heritage
sites and cultural activities.
Factors Affecting Tourism
Demand : Since the last century, the demand
for holidays has increased rapidly.
Improvements in the standard of living and
increased leisure time, permit many more
ed
people to go on holidays for leisure.
Transport : The opening-up of tourist
areas has been aided by improvement in
transport facilities. Travel is easier by car, with
better road systems. More significant in recent
years has been the expansion in air transport.
For example, air travel allows one to travel
anywhere in the world in a few hours of flying-
time from their homes. The advent of package
holidays has reduced the costs.
Tourist Attractions
Climate: Most people from colder regions expect
to have warm, sunny weather for beach
holidays. This is one of the main reasons for
the importance of tourism in Southern Europe
and the Mediterranean lands. The
Mediterranean climate offers almost consistently
higher temperatures, than in other parts of
Europe, long hours of sunshine and low rainfall
throughout the peak holiday season. People
taking winter holidays have specific climatic
requirements, either higher temperatures than
their own homelands, or snow cover suitable
for skiing.
Landscape: Many people like to spend
their holidays in an attractive environment,
which often means mountains, lakes,
spectacular sea coasts and landscapes not
completely altered by man.
History and Art: The history and art of an
area have potential attractiveness. People visit
ancient or picturesque towns and
archaeological sites, and enjoy exploring
castles, palaces and churches.
Culture and Economy: These attract
tourists with a penchant for experiencing ethnic
and local customs. Besides, if a region provides
for the needs of tourists at a cheap cost, it is
likely to become very popular. Home-stay has
emerged as a profitable business such as
heritage homes in Goa, Madikere and Coorg
in Karnataka.
Medical Services for Overseas Patients in India
About 55,000 patients from U.S.A. visited India
in 2005 for treatment. This is still a small
number compared with the millions of surgeries
performed each year in the U.S. healthcare
system. India has emerged as the leading
country of medical tourism in the world. World
class hospitals located in metropolitan cities
cater to patients all over the world. Medical
tourism brings abundant benefits to developing
h
countries like India, Thailand, Singapore and
Malaysia. Beyond medical tourism, is the trend
pu T
of outsourcing of medical tests and data
is
interpretation. Hospitals in India, Switzerland
and Australia have been performing certain
re R
medical services – ranging from reading
bl
radiology images, to interpreting Magnetic
Resonance Images (MRIs) and ultrasound tests.
E
Outsourcing holds tremendous advantages for
patients, if it is focused on improving quality or
providing specialised care.
be C
Medical Tourism
o N
When medical treatment is combined with
international tourism activity, it lends itself
to what is commonly known as medical
tourism.
tt ©
no
Organise an informal debate session in your class about how could the
emerging medical industry of our country become a boom as well as doom?
QUATERN
QUA AR
TERNAR Y ACTIVITIES
ARY
What do a CEO of an MNC in Copenhagen, at
New York and a medical transcriptionist at
Bangalore have in common? All these people
work in a segment of the service sector that is
knowledge oriented. This sector can be divided
into quaternary and quinary activities.
Quaternary activities involve some of the
following: the collection, production and
dissemination of information or even the
ed
production of information. Quaternary activities
centre around research, development and may
be seen as an advanced form of services involving
specialised knowledge and technical skills.
The Quaternary Sector
The Quaternary Sector along with the Tertiary
Sector has replaced most of the primary and
secondary employment as the basis for
economic growth. Over half of all workers In
developed economies are in the ‘Knowledge
Sector’ and there has been a very high growth
in demand for and consumption of information-
based services from mutual fund managers
to tax consultants, software developers and
statisticians. Personnel working in office
buildings, elementary schools and university
classrooms, hospitals and doctors’ offices,
theatres, accounting and brokerage firms all
belong to this category of services.
Like some of the tertiary functions,
quaternary activities can also be outsourced.
They are not tied to resources, affected by
the environment, or necessarily localised by
market.
Tertiary and Quaternary Activities 61

Where Will it All Lead to?
h
pu T
is
re R
bl
E
be C
o N
QUINAR
QUINAR Y ACTIVITIES
ARY
The highest level of decision makers or policy
©
makers perform quinary activities. These are
subtly different from the knowledge based
industries that the quinary sector in general
deals with.
Quinary activities are services that focus on
the creation, re-arrangement and
interpretation of new and existing ideas; data
interpretation and the use and evaluation of
new technologies. Often referred to as ‘gold
tt
collar’ professions, they represent another
subdivision of the tertiary sector representing
special and highly paid skills of senior
business executives, government officials,
no
research scientists, financial and legal
consultants, etc. Their importance in the
structure of advanced economies far
outweighs their numbers.
62 Fundamentals of Human Geography
Outsourcing has resulted in the opening
up of a large number of call centres in India,
China, Eastern Europe, Israel, Philippines and
Costa Rica. It has created new jobs in these
countries. Outsourcing is coming to those
countries where cheap and skilled workers are
available. These are also out-migrating
countries. With the work available though
outsourcing, the migration in these countries
ed
may come down. Outsourcing countries are
facing resistance from job-seeking youths in
their respective countries. The comparative
advantage is the main reason for continuing
outsourcing. New trends in quinary services
include knowledge processing outsourcing
(KPO) and ‘home shoring’, the latter as an
alternative to outsourcing. The KPO industry
is distinct from Business Process Outsourcing
(BPO) as it involves highly skilled workers. It is
information driven knowledge outsourcing.
KPO enables companies to create additional
business opportunities. Examples of KPOs
include research and development (R and D)
activities, e-learning, business research,
intellectual property (IP) research, legal
profession and the banking sector.
Outsourcing
Outsourcing or contracting out is giving work
to an outside agency to improve efficiency
and to reduce costs. When outsourcing
involves transferring work to overseas
locations, it is described by the term off -
shoring, although both off - shoring and
outsourcing are used together. Business
activities that are outsourced include
information technology (IT), human
resources, customer support and call centre
services and at times also manufacturing
and engineering.
Data processing is an IT related service
easily be carried out in Asian, East
European and African countries, In these
countries IT skilled staff with good English
language skills are available at lower wages
than those in the developed countries. Thus,
a company in Hyderabad or Manila does
 work on a project based on GIS techniques
for a country like U.S.A or Japan. Overhead
costs are also much lower making it
profitable to get job-work carried out
overseas, whether it is in India, China or
even a less populous country like Botswana
in Africa.
T HE DIGITAL DIVIDE
DIGITAL
Opportunities emerging from the Information
and Communication Technology based
development is unevenly distributed across
the globe. There are wide ranging economic,
political and social differences among
countries. How quickly countries can provide
ICT access and benefits to its citizens is the

ed
deciding factor. While developed countries in
general have surged forward, the developing
Describe the nature of work against each colour-name
countries have lagged behind and this is
Colour of the collar Nature of work known as the digital divide. Similarly digital

h
Red ? divides exist within countries. For example,
Gold ? in a large country like India or Russia, it is

pu T
White ? inevitable that certain areas like metropolitan

is
Grey re R ? centres possess better connectivity and
Blue ?
access to the digital world versus peripheral
Pink ?

bl
rural areas.
E
be C
o N

EXERCISES
1. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.
(i) Which one of the following is a tertiary activity?
©

(a) Farming (c) Weaving

(b) Trading (d) Hunting
(ii) Which one of the following activities is NOT a secondary sector activity?
(a) Iron Smelting (c) Making garments
(b) Catching fish (d) Basket Weaving
(iii) Which one of the following sectors provides most of the employment in Delhi,
Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.
(a) Primary (c) Secondary
tt

(b) Quaternary (d) Service

(iv) Jobs that involve high degrees and level of innovations are known as:
(a) Secondary activities (c) Quinary activities
(b) Quaternary activities (d) Primary activities
no

(v) Which one of the following activities is related to quaternary sector?

(a) Manufacturing computers (c) University teaching
(b) Paper and Raw pulp production (d) Printing books

Tertiary and Quaternary Activities 63

 (vi) Which one out of the following statements is not true?
(a) Outsourcing reduces costs and increases efficiency.
(b) At times engineering and manufacturing jobs can also be outsourced.
(c) BPOs have better business opportunities as compared to KPOs.
(d) There may be dissatisfaction among job seekers in the countries that
outsource the job.
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) Explain retail trading service.
(ii) Describe quaternary services.

ed
(iii) Name the fast emerging countries of medical tourism in the world.
(iv) What is digital divide?
3. Answer the following questions in not more than 150 words.
(i) Discuss the significance and growth of the service sector in modern

h
economic development.

pu T
(ii) Explain in detail the significance of transport and communication

is
re R services.

Project/Activity

bl
(i) Find out the activities of BPO.
E
(ii) Find out from a travel agent the documents you need to travel abroad.
be C
o N
©
tt
no

64 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 The word ‘planning’ is not new to you as it is a
Unit III part of everyday usage. You must have used it
Chapter 9 with reference to preparation for your
examination or visit to a hill station. It involves
the process of thinking, formulation of a scheme
or programme and implementation of a set of
actions to achieve some goal. Though it is a
very broad term, in this chapter, it has been
used with reference to the process of economic
development. It is, thus different from the
traditional hit-and-miss methods by which

Overview of Planning
PLANNING AND Perspective in India

SUSTAINABLE India has centralised planning and the task

of planning in India has been entrusted to
DEVELOPMENT IN the Planning Commission. It is a statutory
body headed by the Prime Minister and has
INDIAN CONTEXT a Deputy Chairman and members. The
planning in the country is largely carried out
through Five Year Plans.
The First Five Year Plan was launched in
1951 and covered the period, 1951-52 to
1955-56. Second and Third Five Year Plans
covered the period from 1956-57 to 1960-61
and 1961-62 to 1965-66 respectively. Two
successive droughts during mid-sixties
(1965-66 and 1966-67) and war with
Pakistan in 1965 forced plan holiday in 1966-
67 and 1968-69. This period was covered
by annual plans, which are also termed as
rolling plans. The Fourth Five Year Plan
began in 1969-70 and ended in 1973-74.
Following this the Fifth Five Year Plan began
in 1974-75 but it was terminated by the then
government one year earlier i.e. in 1977-78.
The Sixth Five Year Plan took off in 1980.
The Seventh Five Year Plan covered the
period between 1985 and 1990. Once again
due to the political instability and initiation
of liberalisation policy, the Eighth Five Year
Plan got delayed. It covered the period, 1992
to 1997. The Ninth Five Year Plan covered
the period from 1997 to 2002. The Tenth Plan
covered the period from 2002 to 2007. The
Eleventh Plan covered the period from 2007
to 2012. The Twelfth Five Year Plan initiated
in 2012 with a focus on Faster More
inclusive and sustainable growth.

2015-16
reforms and reconstruction are often
undertaken. Generally, there are two
approaches to planning, i.e. sectoral planning
and regional planning. The sectoral planning
means formulation and implementation of the
sets of schemes or programmes aimed at
development of various sectors of the economy
such as agriculture, irrigation, manufacturing,
power, construction, transport, communication,
social infrastructure and services.
There is no uniform economic development
over space in any country. Some areas are more
developed and some lag behind. This uneven
pattern of development over space necessitates
that the planners have a spatial perspective
and draw the plans to reduce regional
imbalance in development. This type of
planning is termed as regional planning.
Target Area Planning
The planning process has to take special care
of those areas which have remained
economically backward. As you know, the
economic development of a region depends
upon its resource base. But sometimes
resource-rich region also remain backward.
The economic development also requires
technology as well as investment besides the
resource. With the planning experience of
about one and half decades, it was realised
that regional imbalances in economic
development were getting accentuated. In
order to arrest the accentuation of regional and
social disparties, the Planning Commission
introduced the ‘target area’ and target group
approaches to planning. Some of the examples
of programmes directed towards the
development of target areas are Command
Area Development Programme, Drought Prone
Area Development Programme, Desert
Development Programme, Hill Area
Development Programme. The Small Farmers
Development Agency (SFDA) and Marginal
Farmers Development Agency (MFDA) which
are the examples of target group programme.
In the 8th Five year Plan special area
programmes were designed to develop
infrastructure in hill areas, north-eastern
states, tribal areas and backward areas.
Planning and Sustainable Development in Indian Context
Hill Area Development Programme
Hill Area Development Programmes were
initiated during Fifth Five Year Plan covering 15
districts comprising all the hilly districts of Uttar
Pradesh (present Uttarakhand), Mikir Hill and
North Cachar hills of Assam, Darjiling district of
West Bengal and Nilgiri district of Tamil Nadu.
The National Committee on the Development of
Backward Area in 1981 recommended that all
the hill areas in the country having height above
600 m and not covered under tribal sub-plan
be treated as backward hill areas.
The detailed plans for the development of hill
areas were drawn keeping in view their
topographical, ecological, social and economic
conditions. These programmes aimed at
harnessing the indigenous resources of the hill
areas through development of horticulture,
plantation agriculture, animal husbandry, poultry,
forestry and small-scale and village industry.
Drought Prone Area Programme
This programme was initiated during the
Fourth Five Year Plan with the objectives of
providing employment to the people in
drought-prone areas and creating productive
assets. Initially this programme laid emphasis
on the construction of labour-intensive civil
works. But later on, it emphasised on irrigation
projects, land development programmes,
afforestation, grassland development and
creation of basic rural infrastructure such as
electricity, roads, market, credit and services.
National Committee on Development of
Backward Areas, reviewed the performance of
this programme. It has been observed that this
programme is largely confined to the
development of agriculture and allied sectors
with major focus on restoration of ecological
balance. Since growing population pressure is
forcing the society to utilise the marginal lands
for agriculture, and, thereby causing ecological
degradation, there is a need to create alternative
employment opportunities in the drought-
prone areas. The other strategies of
development of these areas include adoption of
integrated watershed development approach at
the micro-level. The restoration of ecological
balance between water, soil, plants, and human
105
2015-16
and animal population should be a basic
consideration in the strategy of development of
drought-prone areas.
Planning Commission of India (1967)
identified 67 districts (entire or partly) of the
country prone to drought. Irrigation
Commission (1972) introduced the criterion of
30 per cent irrigated area and demarcated the
drought prone areas. Broadly, the drought-
prone area in India spread over semi-arid and
arid tract of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Western
Madhya Pradesh, Marathwada region of
Maharashtra, Rayalseema and Telangana
plateaus of Andhra Pradesh, Karantka plateau
and highlands and interior parts of Tamil Nadu.
The drought prone areas of Punjab, Haryana
and north-Rajasthan are largely protected due
to spread of irrigation in these regions.
Case Study – Integrated Tribal Development
Project in Bharmaur* Region
Bharmaur tribal area comprises Bharmaur and
Holi tehsils of Chamba district of Himachal
Pradesh. It is a notified tribal area since
21 November 1975. Bharmaur is inhabited by
‘Gaddi’, a tribal community who have
maintained a distinct identity in the Himalayan
region as they practised transhumance and
conversed through Gaddiali dialect.
Fig. 9.1
* The name Bharmaur is derived from Sanskrit word Brahmaur. In this book Bharmaur has been used to
retain the colloquial flavour.
106 India : People and Economy
This region lies between 32° 11’ N and 32°41’
N latitudes and 76° 22’ E and 76° 53’E
longitudes. Spread over an area of about
1,818 sq km, the region mostly lies between
1,500 m to 3,700 m above the mean sea
level. This region popularly known as the
homeland of Gaddis is surrounded by lofty
mountains on all sides. It has Pir Panjal in
the north and Dhaula Dhar in the south. In
the east, the extension of Dhaula Dhar
converges with Pir Panjal near Rohtang
Pass. The river Ravi and its tributaries– the
Budhil and the Tundahen, drain this territory,
and carve out deep gorges. These rivers
divide the region into four physiographic
divisions called Holi, Khani, Kugti and
Tundah areas. Bharmaur experiences
freezing weather conditions and snowfall in
winter. Its mean monthly temperature in
January remains 4°C and in July 26°C.
Bharmaur tribal region has harsh climate
conditions, low resource base and fragile
environment. These factors have influenced the
society and Economy of the region. According
to the 2011 census, the total population of
Bharmaur sub-division was 39,113 i.e., 21
persons per sq km. It is one of the most
2015-16
 Fig. 9.2
The process of development of tribal area
(economically and socially) backward areas of
of Bharmaur started in 1970s when Gaddis
Himachal Pradesh. Historically, the Gaddis were included among ‘scheduled tribes’. Under
have experienced geographical and political the Fifth Five Year Plan, the tribal sub-plan was
isolation and socio-economic deprivation. The introduced in 1974 and Bharmaur was
economy is largely based on agriculture and designated as one of the five Integrated Tribal
allied activities such as sheep and goat rearing. Development Projects (ITDP) in Himachal

Planning and Sustainable Development in Indian Context 107

2015-16
Pradesh. This area development plan was aimed
at improving the quality of life of the Gaddis
and narrowing the gap in the level of
development between Bharmaur and other
areas of Himachal Pradesh. This plan laid the
highest priority on development of transport
and communications, agriculture and allied
activities, and social and community services.
The most significant contribution of tribal
sub plan in Bharmaur region is the development
of infrastructure in terms of schools, health care
facilities, potable water, roads, communications
and electricity. But the villages located along the
river Ravi in Holi and Khani areas are the main
beneficiaries of infrastructural development. The
remote villages in Tundah and Kugti areas still
do not have sufficient infrastructure.
The social benefits derived from ITDP
include tremendous increase in literacy rate,
improvement in sex ratio and decline in child
marriage. The female literacy rate in the region
increased from 1.88 per cent in 1971 to 65 per
cent in 2011. The difference between males and
females in literacy level i.e. gender inequality,
has also declined. Traditionally, the Gaddis had
subsistence agricultural-cum-pastoral
economy having emphasis on foodgrains and
livestock production. But during the last three
decades of twentieth century, the cultivation of
pulses and other cash crops has increased in
Bharmaur region. But the crop cultivation is
still done with traditional technology. The
declining importance of pastoralism in the
economy of the region can be gauged from the
fact that at present only about one-tenth of the
total households practise transhumance. But
the Gaddis are still very mobile as a sizeable
section of them migrate to Kangra and
surrounding areas during winter to earn their
livings from wage labour.
Sustainable Development
The term development is generally used to
describe the state of particular societies and the
process of changes experienced by them.
During a fairly large period of human history,
the state of the societies has largely been
determined by the interaction processes
between human societies and their bio-physical
108 India : People and Economy
environment. The processes of human-
environment interaction depend upon the level
of technology and institutions nurtured by a
society. While the technology and institutions
have helped in increasing the pace of human-
environment interaction, the momentum thus,
generated in return has accelerated
technological progress and transformation and
creation of institutions. Hence, development is
a multi-dimensional concept and signifies the
positive, irreversible transformation of the
economy, society and environment.
The concept of development is dynamic and
has evolved during the second half of twentieth
century. In the post World War II era, the concept
of development was synonymous to economic
growth which is measured in terms of temporal
increase in gross national product (GNP) and per
capita income/per capita consumption. But,
even the countries having high economic growth,
experienced speedy rise in poverty because of
its unequal distribution. So, in 1970s, the
phrases such as redistribution with growth and
growth and equity were incorporated in the
definition of development. While dealing with the
questions related to redistribution and equity,
it was realised that the concept of development
cannot be restricted to the economic sphere
alone. It also includes the issues such as
improving the well-being and living standard of
people, availing of the health, education and
equality of opportunity and ensuring political
and civil rights. By 1980s, development emerged
as a concept encapsulating wide-spread
improvement in social as well as material well-
being of all in a society.
The notion of sustainable development
emerged in the wake of general rise in the
awareness of environmental issues in the late
1960s in Western World. It reflected the concern
of people about undesirable effects of industrial
development on the environment. The
publication of ‘The Population Bomb’ by
Ehrlich in 1968 and ‘The Limits to Growth’
by Meadows and others in 1972 further raised
the level of fear among environmentalists in
particular and people in general. This sets the
scenario for the emergence of new models of
development under a broad phrase
‘sustainable development.’
2015-16
 Fig. 9.3

Concerned with the growing opinion of the United Nations established a World
world community on the environmental issues, Commission on Environment and Development

Planning and Sustainable Development in Indian Context 109

2015-16
(WCED) headed by the Norwegian Prime Minister
Gro Harlem Brundtland. The Commission gave
its report (also known as Brundtland Report)
entitled ‘Our Common Future’ in 1987. The
report defines sustainable development as a
“development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs.”
Fig. 9.4: Indira Gandhi Canal
Sustainable development takes care of
ecological, social and economic aspects of
development during the present times and
pleads for conservation of resources to enable
the future generations to use these resources.
It takes into account the development of whole
human kind which have common future.
Case Study
Indira Gandhi Canal (Nahar) Command
Area
Indira Gandhi Canal, previously known as the
Rajasthan Canal, is one of the largest canal
systems in India. Conceived by Kanwar Sain in
1948, the canal project was launched on 31
March, 1958. The canal originates at Harike
barrage in Punjab and runs parallel to Pakistan
border at an average distance of 40 km in Thar
Desert (Marusthali) of Rajasthan. The total
planned length of the system is 9,060 km
catering to the irrigation needs of a total
culturable command area of 19.63 lakh
hectares. Out of the total command area, about
70 per cent was envisaged to be irrigated by
flow system and the rest by lift system. The
construction work of the canal system has been
110 India : People and Economy
carried out through two stages. The command
area of Stage-I lies in Ganganagar,
Hanumangarh and northern part of Bikaner
districts. It has a gently undulating topography
and its culturable command area is 5.53 lakh
hectares. The command area of Stage-II is spread
over Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Jodhpur,
Nagaur and Churu districts covering culturable
command area of 14.10 lakh ha. It comprises
desert land dotted with shifting sand dunes and
temperature soaring to 50ºC in summers. In the
lift canal, the water is lifted up to make it to flow
against the slope of the land. All the lift canals
of Indira Gandhi Canal system originate at the
left bank of main canal while all the canals on
the right bank of main canal are flow channels.
Fig. 9.5 : Indira Gandhi Canal and its adjoining areas
Irrigation in Stage-I command area of
the canal was introduced in early 1960s,
whereas, the command area of Stage-II began
receiving irrigation in mid-1980s. The
introduction of canal irrigation in this dry
land has transformed its ecology, economy
a n d s o c i e t y . I t ha s i n f l u e n c e d t h e
environmental conditions of the region both
positively as well as negatively. The
availability of soil moisture for a longer
period of time and various afforestation and
pasture development programmes under
CAD have resulted in greening the land. This
has also helped in reducing wind erosion and
siltation of canal systems. But the intensive
irrigation and excessive use of water has led
to the emergence of twin environmental
problems of water logging and soil salinity.
Introduction of canal irrigation has
brought about a perceptible transformation
2015-16
in the agricultural economy of the region. Soil
moisture has been a limiting factor in
successful growing of crops in this area.
Spread of canal irrigation has led to increase
in cultivated area and intensity of cropping.
The traditional crops sown in the area, gram,
bajra and jowar have been replaced by wheat,
cotton, groundnut and rice. This is the result
of intensive irrigation. This intensive irrigation,
no doubt, initially has led to tremendous
increase in agricultural and livestock
productivity. This has also caused water logging
and soil salinity, and thus, in the long run, it
hampers the sustainability of agriculture.
Measures for Promotion of Sustainable
Development
The ecological sustainability of Indira Gandhi
Canal Project has been questioned by various
scholars. Their point of view has also largely
been validated by the course of development
this region has taken during the last four
decades, which has resulted in degradation of
physical environment. It is a hard fact that
attaining sustainable development in the
command area requires major thrust upon the
measures to achieve ecological sustainability.
Hence, five of the seven measures proposed to
promote sustainable development in the
command area are meant to restore ecological
balance.
(i) The first requirement is strict
implementation of water management
policy. The canal project envisages
protective irrigation in Stage-I and
Planning and Sustainable Development in Indian Context
extensive irrigation of crops and pasture
development in Stage-II.
(ii) In general, the cropping pattern shall not
include water intensive crops. It shall be
adhered to and people shall be
encouraged to grow plantation crops such
as citrus fruits.
(iii) The CAD programmes such as lining of
water courses, land development and
levelling and warabandi system (equal
distribution of canal water in the
command area of outlet) shall be effectively
implemented to reduce the conveyance
loss of water.
(iv) The areas affected by water logging and
soil salinity shall be reclaimed.
(v) The eco-development through afforestation,
shelterbelt plantation and pasture
development is necessary particularly in
the fragile environment of Stage-II.
(vi) The social sustainability in the region can
be achieved only if the land allottees having
poor economic background are provided
adequate financial and institutional
support for cultivation of land.
(vii) The economic sustainability in the region
cannot be attained only through
development of agriculture and animal
husbandry. The agricultural and allied
activities have to develop alongwith other
sectors of economy. This shall lead to
diversification of economic base and
establishment of functional linkages
between basic villages, agro-service centres
and market centres.
111
2015-16
 EXERCISES
1. Choose the right answers of the following from the given options.
(i) Regional planning relates to :
(a) Development of various sectors of economy.
(b) Area specific approach of development.
(c) Area differences in transportation network.
(d) Development of rural areas.
(ii) ITDP refers to which one of the following?
(a) Integrated Tourism Development Programme
(b) Integrated Travel Development Programme
(c) Integrated Tribal Development Programme
(d) Integrated Transport Development Programme
(iii) Which one of the following is the most crucial factor for sustainable
development in Indira Gandhi Canal Command Area?
(a) Agricultural development
(b) Eco-development
(c) Transport development
(d) Colonisation of land
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) What are the social benefits of ITDP in the Bharmaur tribal region?
(ii) Define the concept of sustainable development.
(iii) What are the positive impacts of irrigation on Indira Gandhi Canal
Command Area?
3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.
(i) Write short notes on drought-prone area programme. How does this
programme help in the development of dryland agriculture in India?
(ii) Suggest the measures of promotion of sustainability in Indira Gandhi
Canal Command Area.

Project
(i) Find out the area development programmes being implemented in your
region. Assess the impact of such programmes on the society and economy
in your locality.
(ii) Select your own area or identify an area facing severe environmental
and socio-economic problems. Make an assessment of its resources and
prepare their inventory. Suggest the measures for its sustainable
development as it has been done in the case of Indira Gandhi Canal
Command Area.

112 India : People and Economy

2015-16
 Natural resources, economic activities and
Unit-III markets are rarely found in one place.
Chapter-8 Transport, communication and trade establish
links between producing centres and
consuming centres. The system of mass
production and exchange is complex. Each
region produces the items for which it is best
suited. Trade or the exchange of such
commodities relies on transportation and

ed
communication. Likewise, the high living
standards and quality of life depend on efficient
transportation, communications and trade. In
earlier days, the means of transport and
communication were the same. But today both

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have acquired distinct and specialised forms.
Transport and Transport provides the network of links and

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carriers through which trade takes place.

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Communication
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TRANSPORTT

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Transport is a service or facility for the carriage
of persons and goods from one place to the other
E
using humans, animals and different kinds of
vehicles. Such movements take place over land,
water and air. Roads and railways form part of
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land transport; while shipping and waterways

and airways are the other two modes. Pipelines
carry materials like petroleum, natural gas, and
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ores in liquidified form.

Moreover, transportation is an organised
service industry created to satisfy the basic
needs of society. It includes transport arteries,
©

vehicles to carry people and goods, and the

organisation to maintain arteries, and to handle
loading, unloading and delivery. Every nation
has developed various kinds of transportation
for defence purposes. Assured and speedy
transportation, along with efficient
communication, promote cooperation and
unity among scattered peoples.

What is a Transport Network ?

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Several places (nodes) joined together by a

series of routes (links) to form a pattern.
no

MODES OF TRANSPORTATION
TRANSPORT
The principal modes of world transportation,
as already mentioned are land, water, air and
pipelines. These are used for inter-regional and
intra-regional transport, and each one (except
pipelines) carries both passengers and freight.
The significance of a mode depends on the type
of goods and services to be transported, costs
of transport and the mode available.
International movement of goods is handled by
ocean freighters. Road transport is cheaper and
faster over short distances and for door-to-

ed
door services. Railways are most suited for large
volumes of bulky materials over long distances
within a country. High-value, light and
Fig. 8.1: Ropeway and Cable cars in Austria
perishable goods are best moved by airways.
In a well-managed transport system, these This means of transport is usually found on steep
mountain slopes and mines which are not suitable for

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various modes complement each other.
building roads.

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Land Transport transportation and large freighters are the

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cheapest. They are important in supplementing
Most of the movement of goods and services
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takes place over land. In early days, humans modern channels and carriers which penetrate
the interiors in large countries. In the densely

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themselves were carriers. Have you ever seen a
populated districts of India and China, overland
bride being carried on a palanquin (palki/doli)
E
transport still takes place by human porters or
by four persons (Kahars in north India). Later
carts drawn or pushed by humans.
animals were used as beasts of burden. Have
you seen mules, horses and camels, carrying
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loads of cargo in rural areas? With the invention Pack Animals

of the wheel, the use of carts and wagons
became important. The revolution in transport Horses are used as a draught animal even
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in the Western countries. Dogs and

came about only after the invention of the steam
reindeer are used in North America, North
engine in the eighteenth century. Perhaps the
Europe and Siberia to draw sledges over
first public railway line was opened in 1825 snow-covered ground. Mules are preferred
between Stockton and Darlington in northern in the mountainous regions; while camels
©

England and then onwards, railways became are used for caravan movement in deserts.
the most popular and fastest form of transport In India, bullocks are used for pulling carts.
in the nineteenth century. It opened up
continental interiors for commercial grain
farming, mining and manufacturing in U.S.A.
The invention of the internal combustion engine
revolutionised road transport in terms of road
quality and vehicles (motor cars and trucks)
plying over them. Among the newer
developments in land transportation are
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pipelines, ropeways and cableways. Liquids like

mineral oil, water, sludge and sewers are
transported by pipelines. The great freight
carriers are the railways, ocean vessels, barges,
no

boats and motor trucks and pipelines.

In general, the old and elementary forms Fig. 8.2: A horse cart in a village Tefki,
like the human porter, pack animal, cart or in Ethiopia
wagon are the most expensive means of

66 Fundamentals of Human Geography

Roads
Road transport is the most economical for short
distances compared to railways. Freight
transport by road is gaining importance
because it offers door-to-door service. But
unmetalled roads, though simple in
construction, are not effective and serviceable
for all seasons. During the rainy season these
become unmotorable and even the metalled
the road network cannot cope with the demands
of traffic, congestion occurs. City roads suffer
from chronic traffic congestion. Peaks (high
points) and troughs (low points) of traffic flow
can be seen on roads at particular times of the
day, for example, peaks occurring during the
rush hour before and after work. Most of the
cities in the world have been facing the problem
of congestion.

ed
ones are seriously handicapped during heavy
rains and floods. In such conditions, the high Think on these lines for a
embankment of rail-tracks and the efficient better tomorrow . . .
maintenance of railway transport service, is an
URBAN TRANSPORT SOLUTIONS
effective solution. But the rail kilometrage being

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small cannot serve the needs of vast and Higher Parking Fee

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developing countries at a low cost. Roads, Mass Rapid Transit (MRT)

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therefore, play a vital role in a nation’s trade
and commerce and for promoting tourism. Improved Public Bus Service
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The quality of the roads varies greatly Expressways

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between developed and developing countries
because road construction and maintenance
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require heavy expenditure. In developed
countries good quality roads are universal and Highways
provide long-distance links in the form of
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motorways, autobahns (Germany), and inter– Highways are metalled roads connecting distant
state highways for speedy movement. Lorries, places. They are constructed in a manner for
of increasing size and power to carry heavy unobstructed vehicular movement. As such
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loads, are common. But unfortunately, the
world’s road system is not well developed.
The world’s total motorable road length
is only about 15 million km, of which North
©
these are 80 m wide, with separate traffic lanes,
bridges, flyovers and dual carriageways to
facilitate uninterrupted traffic flow. In developed
countries, every city and port town is linked
through highways.

America accounts for 33 per cent. The highest

road density and the highest number of
vehicles are registered in this continent
compared to Western Europe.
Table 8.1: Length of the Roads

Sl. Countries For every

No. 100 km2
area
1. India 105
2. Japan 327
tt

3. France 164
4. U.K. 162
5. U.S.A. 67
6. Spain 68
no

7. Sri Lanka 151

Source : Encyclopedia Britannica – Year Book, 2005.

Traffic Flows: Traffic on roads has

Fig. 8.3 : Dharmavaram Tuni National Highway,
increased dramatically in recent years. When India

Transport and Communication 67

 In North America, highway density is high,
about 0.65 km per sq km. Every place is within
20 km distance from a highway. Cities located
on the Pacific coast (west) are well-connected
with those of the Atlantic Coast (east). Likewise,
the cities of Canada in the north are linked with
those of Mexico in the south. The Trans-
Canadian Highway links Vancouver in British
Columbia(west coast) to St. John’s City in
Border Roads
Roads laid along international boundaries are
called border roads. They play an important
role in integrating people in remote areas with
major cities and providing defence. Almost all
countries have such roads to transport goods
to border villages and military camps.
Railways

Newfoundland (east coast) and the Alaskan
Highway links Edmonton (Canada) to
Anchorage (Alaska).
The Pan-American Highway, a large
portion of which has been constructed, will
ed
Railways are a mode of land transport for
bulky goods and passengers over long
distances. The railway gauges vary in different
countries and are roughly classified as broad

h
connect the countries of South America, Central (more than 1.5 m), standard (1.44 m), metre

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America and U.S.A.-Canada. The Trans- gauge (1 m) and smaller gauges. The standard
gauge is used in the U.K.

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Continental Stuart Highway connects Darwin
(north coast) and Melbourne via Tennant Creek Commuter trains are very popular in U.K.,
re R
and Alice Springs in Australia. U.S.A, Japan and India. These carry millions
of passengers daily to and fro in the city. There

bl
Europe has a large number of vehicles and
are about 13 lakh km of railways open for traffic
a well-developed highway network. But
E
in the world.
highways face a lot of competition from railways
and waterways.
In Russia, a dense highway network is
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developed in the industrialised region west of

the Urals with Moscow as the hub. The
important Moscow-Vladivostok Highway serves
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the region to the east. Due to the vast

geographical area, highways in Russia are not
as important as railways.
In China, highways criss-cross the country
©

connecting all major cities such as Tsungtso

(near Vietnam boundary), Shanghai (central
China), Guangzhou (south) and Beijing (north). Fig. 8.4: Tube Train in Vienna
A new highway links Chengdu with Lhasa in
Tibet. Table 8.2: Total Length of Railways in Selected
Countries (in 100 sq km)
In India, there are many highways
linking the major towns and cities. For Sl. Countries For every
example, National Highway No. 7 (NH 7), No. 100/km2 area

connecting Varanasi with Kanya Kumari, is 1. U.S.A. 278.3

2. Russia 160.8
tt

the longest in the country. The Golden

3. India 144.7
Quadrilateral (GQ) or Super Expressway is 4. Canada 93.5
underway to connect the four metropolitan 5. Germany 90.8
cities — New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, 6. China 70.1
no

Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad. 7. Australia 40.0

8. U.K. 37.9
In Africa, a highway joins Algiers in the 9. France 34.5
north to Conakry in Guinea. Similarly, Cairo 10. Brazil 30.1
is also connected to Cape Town. Source : Encyclopaedia Britanica – Year Book, 2005.

68 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 Europe has one of the most dense rail
networks in the world. There are about
4,40,000 km of railways, most of which is
double or multiple-tracked. Belgium has the
highest density of 1 km of railway for every 6.5
sq kms area. The industrial regions exhibit
some of the highest densities in the world. The
important rail heads are London, Paris,
Brussels, Milan, Berlin and Warsaw. Passenger
of South America’s total route length. Only Chile,
among the remaining countries has a
considerable route length linking coastal centres
with the mining sites in the interior. Peru, Bolivia,
Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela have short
single-track rail-lines from ports to the interior
with no inter-connecting links.
There is only one trans-continental rail
route linking Buenos Aires (Argentina) with
Valparaiso (Chile) across the Andes Mountains

transport is more important than freight in
many of these countries. Underground railways
are important in London and Paris. Channel
Tunnel, operated by Euro Tunnel Group
through England, connects London with Paris.
ed
through the Uspallatta Pass located at a height
of 3,900 m.
In Asia, rail network is the most dense in
the thickly populated areas of Japan, China and
India. Other countries have relatively few rail

h
Trans-continental railway lines have now lost
their importance to quicker and more flexible routes. West Asia is the least developed in rail

pu T
transport systems of airways and roadways. facilities because of vast deserts and sparsely

is
In Russia, railways account for about 90
re R populated regions.
per cent of the country’s total transport with a
very dense network west of the Urals. Moscow

bl
is the most important rail head with major lines
radiating to different parts of the country’s vast
E
geographical area. Underground railways and
commuter trains are also important in Moscow.
be C

North America has one of the most

extensive rail networks accounting for nearly
40 per cent of the world’s total? In contrast to
many European countries, the railways are
o N

used more for long-distance bulky freight like

ores, grains, timber and machinery than for
passengers. The most dense rail network is
found in the highly industrialised and Africa continent, despite being the
©

urbanised region of East Central U.S.A. and
adjoining Canada.
In Canada, railways are in the public
sector and distributed all over the sparsely
populated areas. The transcontinental railways
carry the bulk of wheat and coal tonnage.
Australia has about 40,000 km of
railways, of which 25 per cent are found in New
South Wales alone. The west-east Australian
National Railway line runs across the country
tt
second largest, has only 40,000 km of
railways with South Africa alone accounting
for 18,000 km due to the concentration of
gold, diamond and copper mining activities.
The important routes of the continent are: (i)
the Benguela Railway through Angola to
Katanga-Zambia Copper Belt; (ii) the Tanzania
Railway from the Zambian Copper Belt to
Dar-es-Salaam on the coast; (iii) the Railway
through Botswana and Zimbabwe linking the

from Perth to Sydney. New Zealand’s railways
are mainly in the North Island to serve the
farming areas.
In South America, the rail network is the
no
landlocked states to the South African
network; and (iv) the Blue Train from Cape
Town to Pretoria in the Republic of South
Africa. Elsewhere, as in Algeria, Senegal,

most dense in two regions, namely, the Pampas Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia, railway lines
of Argentina and the coffee growing region of connect port cities to interior centres but do
Brazil which together account for 40 per cent not form a good network with other countries.

Transport and Communication 69

Trans–Continental Railways
Trans–continental railways run across the
continent and link its two ends. They were
constructed for economic and political reasons
to facilitate long runs in different directions.
The following are the most important of these:
Trans–Siberian Railway
centre and Irkutsk, a fur centre. There are
connecting links to the south, namely, to Odessa
(Ukraine), Baku on the Caspian Coast,
Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Ulan Bator (Mongolia),
and Shenyang (Mukden) and Beijing in China.
Trans–Canadian Railways
This 7,050 km long rail-line in Canada runs from
Halifax in the east to Vancouver on the Pacific

This is a trans–siberian Railways major rail
route of Russia runs from St. Petersburg in the
west to Vladivostok on the Pacific Coast in the
east passing through Moscow, Ufa, Novosibirsk,
Irkutsk, Chita and Khabarovsk. It is the most
ed
Coast passing through Montreal, Ottawa,
Winnipeg and Calgary (Fig. 8.6). It was
constructed in 1886, initially as part of an
agreement to make British Columbia on the west
coast join the Federation of States. Later on, it

h
important route in Asia and the longest (9,332 gained economic significance because it
connected the Quebec-Montreal Industrial

pu T
km) double-tracked and electrified trans–
continental railway in the world. It has helped Region with the wheat belt of the Prairie Region

is
in opening up its Asian region to West European
re R
markets. It runs across the Ural Mountains Ob
and Yenisei rivers Chita is an important agro-
and the Coniferous Forest region in the north.
Thus each of these regions became
complementary to the other. A loop line from

bl
E
be C
o N
©
tt
no

Fig. 8.5: Trans–Siberian Railway

70 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 h ed
pu T
is
re R
bl
E
be C

Fig. 8.6: Trans–Canadian Railway

o N

Winnipeg to Thunder Bay (Lake Superior) Another major north-south line connects
connects this rail-line with one of the important Adelaide and Alice Spring and to be joined
waterways of the world. This line is the economic further to the Darwin–Birdum line.
artery of Canada. Wheat and meat are the
The Orient Express
important exports on this route.
©

This line runs from Paris to Istanbul passing

The Union and Pacific Railway
This rail-line connects New York on the Atlantic
Coast to San Francisco on the Pacific Coast
passing through Cleveland, Chicago, Omaha,
Evans, Ogden and Sacramento. The most
valuable exports on this route are ores, grain,
paper, chemicals and machinery.
tt
through Strasbourg, Munich, Vienna,
Budapest and Belgrade. The journey time from
London to Istanbul by this Express is now
reduced to 96 hours as against 10 days by the
sea-route. The chief exports on this rail-route
are cheese, bacon, oats, wine, fruits, and
machinery.
There is a proposal to build a Trans–Asiatic

Railway linking Istanbul with Bangkok via

The Australian Trans–Continental Iran, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and
Railway Myanmar.
This rail-line runs west-east across the southern
no

part of the continent from Perth on the west WATER TRANSPORT

coast, to Sydney on the east coast. passing
through Kalgoorlie, Broken Hill and Port
Augusta (Fig. 8.7).
One of the great advantages of water
transportation is that it does not require route
construction. The oceans are linked with each

Transport and Communication 71

 h ed
pu T
is
re R
bl
E
be C

Fig. 8.7: Australian Trans–Continental Railway

o N

other and are negotiable with ships of various Sea Routes

sizes. All that is needed is to provide port
facilities at the two ends. It is much cheaper
because the friction of water is far less than that
©
The oceans offer a smooth highway traversable
in all directions with no maintenance costs. Its
transformation into a routeway by sea-going

of land. The energy cost of water transportation
is lower. Water transport is divided into sea
routes and inland waterways.
tt
vessels is an important development in human
adaptation to the physical environment.
Compared to land and air, ocean transport is a
cheaper means of haulage (carrying of load) of
bulky material over long distances from one
continent to another.
Modern passenger liners (ships) and cargo
ships are equipped with radar, wireless and other
navigation aids. The development of refrigerated
chambers for perishable goods, tankers and

specialised ships has also improved cargo

transport. The use of containers has made cargo
handling at the world’s major ports easier.
no

Important Sea Routes

Fig. 8.8: The view of Seine River from the Eiffel Major sea routes are shown in the Fig. 8.9. Some
Tower (One can see how the river has become an important routes have been discussed in the
important Inland waterway) following pages.

72 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 h ed
pu T
is
re R
bl
E
Fig. 8.9: Major Sea Routes and Sea Ports
be C

The Northern Atlantic Sea Route of Suez canal has greatly reduced the distance
and time as compared to the earlier route
This links North-eastern U.S.A. and North-
o N

through the Cape of Good Hope.

western Europe, the two industrially developed
regions of the world. The foreign trade over this
route is greater than that of the rest of the world
combined. One fourth of the world’s foreign
©
This trade route connects the highly
industrialised Western European region with West
Africa, South Africa, South-east Asia and the

trade moves on this route. It is, therefore, the
busiest in the world and otherwise, called the
Big Trunk Route. Both the coasts have highly
advanced ports and harbour facilities.
Find out some of the important ports on the coast of
U.S.A. and Western Europe in your atlas.
tt
commercial agriculture and livestock economies
of Australia and New Zealand. Before the
construction of the Suez Canal this was the
route connecting Liverpool and Colombo which
was 6,400 km longer than the Suez Canal
route. The volume of trade and traffic between
both East and West Africa is on the increase
due to the development of the rich natural
resources such as gold, diamond, copper, tin,

groundnut, oil palm, coffee and fruits.

The Mediterranean–Indian Ocean Sea
Route The Cape of Good Hope Sea Route
This sea route passes through the heart of the This sea route is another important one across
no

Old World and serves more countries and people the Atlantic Ocean which connects West
than any other route. Port Said, Aden, Mumbai, European and West African countries with
Colombo and Singapore are some of the Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay in South
important ports on this route. The construction America. The traffic is far less on this route

Transport and Communication 73

compared to that of the North Atlantic Route
?
because of the limited development and The Suez Canal
population in South America and Africa. Only
This canal had been constructed in 1869 in
southeastern Brazil and Plata estuary and
Egypt between Port Said in the north and Port
parts of South Africa have large-scale industries.
Suez in the south linking the Mediterranean
There is also little traffic on the route between
Sea and the Red Sea. It gives Europe a new
Rio de Janeiro and Cape Town because both
gateway to the Indian Ocean and reduces direct
South America and Africa have similar
sea-route distance between Liverpool and
products and resources.
Colombo compared to the Cape of Good Hope
Trade across the vast North Pacific Ocean
route. It is a sea-level canal without locks

ed
moves by several routes which converge at
which is about 160 km and 11 to 15 m deep.
Honolulu. The direct route on the Great Circle
About 100 ships travel daily and each ship
links Vancouver and Yokohama and reduces
takes 10-12 hours to cross this canal. The tolls
the travelling distance (2,480 km) by half.
are so heavy that some find it cheaper to go by
the longer Cape Route whenever the

h
The North Pacific Sea Route
consequent delay is not important. A railway

pu T
This sea route links the ports on the west-coast follows the canal to Suez, and from Ismailia

is
of North America with those of Asia. These are there is a branch line to Cairo. A navigable
Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and fresh-water canal from the Nile also joins the
re R
Los Angeles on the American side and
Yokohama, Kobe, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Manila
Suez Canal in Ismailia to supply fresh-water to

bl
Port Said and Suez.
and Singapore on the Asian side.
E
The South Pacific Sea Route
This sea route connects Western Europe and
be C

North America with Australia, New Zealand and

the scattered Pacific islands via the Panama
Canal. This route is also used for reaching Hong
o N

Kong, Philippines and Indonesia. The distance

covered between Panama and Sydney is
12,000 km. Honolulu is an important port on
this route.
©

Coastal Shipping
It is obvious that water transport is a cheaper
mode. While oceanic routes connect different
countries, coastal shipping is a convenient
mode of transportation with long coastlines,
e.g. U.S.A, China and India. Shenzhen States
in Europe are most suitably placed for coastal
shipping connecting one member’s coast with
tt

the other. If properly developed, coastal shipping

can reduce the congestion on the land routes.

Shipping Canals Fig. 8.10 : Suez Canal

no

The Suez and the Panama Canals are two vital

man-made navigation canals or waterways The Panama Canal
which serve as gateways of commerce for both This canal connects the Atlantic Ocean in the
the eastern and western worlds. east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It has been

74 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 constructed across the Panama Isthmus
between Panama City and Colon by the U.S.
government which purchased 8 km of area on
either side and named it the Canal Zone. The
Canal is about 72 km. long and involves a very
deep cutting for a length of 12 km. It has a six-
lock system and ships cross the different levels
(26 m up and down) through these locks before
entering the Gulf of Panama.
It shortens the distance between New York

ed
and San Francisco by 13,000 km by sea.
Likewise the distance between Western Europe
and the West-coast of U.S.A.; and North-eastern
and Central U.S.A. and East and South-east
Asia is shortened. The economic significance of

h
this Canal is relatively less than that of the

pu T
Suez. However, it is vital to the economies of
Latin America.

is
re R Inland Waterways

bl
Rivers, canals, lakes and coastal areas have
been important waterways since time
E
Fig. 8.11 : The Panama Canal immemorial. Boats and steamers are used as
means of transport for cargo and passengers.
The development of inland waterways is
be C

dependent on the navigability width and depth

of the channel, continuity in the water flow,
and transport technology in use. Rivers are
the only means of transport in dense forests.
o N

Very heavy cargo like coal, cement, timber and

metallic ores can be transported through inland
waterways. In ancient times, riverways were the
main highways of transportation as in the case
©

of India. But they lost importance because of

competition from railways, lack of water due to
diversion for irrigation, and their poor
maintenance.
tt
no

Can you think of the impact on traffic in Panama Fig. 8.12: Inland waterways are a major source
canal after the Nicaraguan canal opens up? of transport wherever the river is wide, deep
and free of silt

Transport and Communication 75

 The significance of rivers as inland
waterways for domestic and international
transport and trade has been recognised
throughout the developed world. Despite
inherent limitations, many rivers have been
modified to enhance their navigability by
dredging, stabilising river banks, and building
dams and barrages for regulating the flow of
water. The following river waterways are some
of the world’s important highways of commerce.

ed
The Rhine Waterways
The Rhine flows through Germany and the
Netherlands. It is navigable for 700 km from
Rotterdam, at its mouth in the Netherlands to

h
Basel in Switzerland. Ocean-going vessels can

pu T
reach up to Cologne. The Ruhr river joins the

is
Rhine from the east. It flows through a rich
coalfield and the whole basin has become a
re R
prosperous manufacturing area. Dusseldorf is

bl
the Rhine port for this region. Huge tonnage
moves along the stretch south of the Ruhr. This
E
waterway is the world’s most heavily used. Each Fig. 8.14 : Rhine Waterway
year more than 20,000 ocean-going ships and
2,00,000 inland vessels exchange their cargoes.
The Volga Waterway
be C

It connects the industrial areas of Switzerland,

Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands Russia has a large number of developed
with the North Atlantic Sea Route. waterways, of which the Volga is one of the most
o N

important. It provides a navigable waterway of

11,200 km and drains into the Caspian Sea.
The Volga-Moscow Canal connects it with the
Moscow region and the Volga-Don Canal with
the Black Sea.
©

The Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Seaway

The Great Lakes of North America Superior,
Huron Erie and Ontario are connected by Soo
Canal and Welland Canal to form an inland
waterway. The estuary of St. Lawrence River,
along with the Great Lakes, forms a unique
commercial waterway in the northern part of
Fig. 8.13: The Rhine Waterway North America. The ports on this route like
tt

The Danube Waterway
This important inland waterway serves Eastern
Europe. The Danube river rises in the Black
no
Duluth and Buffalo are equipped with all
facilities of ocean ports. As such large ocean-
going vessels are able to navigate up the river
deep inside the continent to Montreal. But here

Forest and flows eastwards through many goods have to be trans-shipped to smaller
countries. It is navigable up to Taurna Severin. vessels due to the presence of rapids. Canals
The chief export items are wheat, maize, timber, have been constructed up to 3.5 m deep to
and machinery. avoid these.

76 Fundamentals of Human Geography

The Mississippi Waterways
The Mississippi-Ohio waterway connects the
interior part of U.S.A. with the Gulf of Mexico
in the south. Large steamers can go through
this route up to Minneapolis.
AIR TRANSPORT
Air transport is the fastest means of
transportation, but it is very costly. Being fast,
it is preferred by passengers for long-distance
travel. Valuable cargo can be moved rapidly on
a world-wide scale. It is often the only means
to reach inaccessible areas. Air transport has
h
brought about a connectivity revolution in the
world. The frictions created by mountainous
pu T
snow fields or inhospitable desert terrains have
is
been overcome. The accessibility has increased.
re R
The airplane brings varied articles to the
Eskimos in Northern Canada unhindered by
bl
the frozen ground. In the Himalayan region, the
E
routes are often obstructed due to landslides,
avalanches or heavy snow fall. At such times,
air travel is the only alternative to reach a place.
be C
Airways also have great strategic importance.
The air strikes by U.S. and British forces in Iraq
bears testimony to this fact. The airways
network is expanding very fast.
o N
©
Fig. 8.15: An Aeroplane at Salsburg Airport
tt
The manufacturing of aircrafts and their
operations require elaborate infrastructure like
hangars, landing, fuelling, and maintenance
no
facilities for the aircrafts. The construction of
airports is also very expensive and has developed
more in highly industrialised countries where
there is a large volume of traffic.
At present no place in the world is more
than 35 hours away. This startling fact has been
made possible due to people who build and fly
airplanes. Travel by air can now be measured
by hours and minutes instead of years and
months. Frequent air services are available to
many parts of the world. Although, U.K.
pioneered the use of commercial jet transport,
U.S.A. developed largely post-War international
ed
civil aviation. Today, more than 250
commercial airlines offer regular services to
different parts of the world. Recent
developments can change the future course of
air transport. Supersonic aircraft, cover the
distance between London and New York within
three and a half hours.
Inter-Continental Air Routes
In the Northern Hemisphere, there is a distinct
east-west belt of inter-continental air routes.
Dense network exists in Eastern U.S.A., Western
Europe and Southeast Asia. U.S.A. alone
accounts for 60 per cent of the airways of the
world. New York, London, Paris, Amsterdam,
Frankfurt Rome, Moscow, Karachi, New Delhi,
Mumbai, Bangkok, Singapore, Tokyo, San
Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago are the
nodal points where air routes converge or
radiate to all continents.
Africa, Asiatic part of Russia and South
America lack air services. There are limited air
services between 10-35 latitudes in the
Southern hemisphere due to sparser
population, limited landmass and economic
development.
PIPELINES
Pipelines are used extensively to transport
liquids and gases such as water, petroleum
and natural gas for an uninterrupted flow.
Water supplied through pipelines is familiar
to all. Cooking gas or LPG is supplied through
pipelines in many parts of the world. Pipelines
can also be used to transport liquidified coal.
In New Zealand, milk is being supplied through
pipelines from farms to factories.
In U.S.A. there is a dense network of oil
pipelines from the producing areas to the
Transport and Communication 77
 h ed
pu T
is
re R
bl
E
Fig. 8.16: Major Airports

consuming areas. Big Inch is one such famous

be C

The proposed Iran-India via Pakistan

pipeline, which carries petroleum from the oil international oil and natural gas pipeline will
wells of the Gulf of Mexico to the North-eastern be the longest in the world.
States. About 17 per cent of all freight per
o N

tonne-km. is carried through pipelines in U.S.A.

COMMUNICATIONS
Human beings have used different methods
long-distance communications of which the
©

telegraph and the telephone were important.

The telegraph was instrumental in the
colonisation of the American West. During the
early and mid-twentieth century, the American
Telegraph and Telephone Company (AT&T)
enjoyed a monopoly over U.S.A.’s telephone
industry. In fact, the telephone became a critical
factor in the urbanisation of America. Firms
centralised their functioning at city-
headquarters and located their branch offices
tt

in smaller towns. Even today, the telephone is

Fig. 8.17: Pipelines transporting natural gas the most commonly used mode. In developing
in Ukraine countries, the use of cell phones, made possible
In Europe, Russia, West Asia and India by satellites, is important for rural connectivity.
no

pipelines are used to connect oil wells to Today there is a phenomenal pace of
refineries, and to ports or domestic markets. development. The first major breakthrough is
Turkmenistan is central Asia has extended the use of optic fiber cables (OFC). Faced with
pipelines to Iran and also to parts of China. mounting competition, telephone companies all

78 Fundamentals of Human Geography

over the world soon upgraded their copper cable
systems to include optic fiber cables. These
allow large quantities of data to be transmitted
rapidly, securely, and are virtually error-free.
With the digitisation of information in the 1990s,
telecommunication slowly merged with
computers to form integrated networks termed
as Internet.
Satellite Communication
Today Internet is the largest electronic network
on the planet connecting about 1,000 million
people in more than 100 countries.
h
pu T
Satellites touch human lives in many
is
ways. Every time you use a cell phone to
call a friend, send an SMS or watch a
re R
popular programme on cable television. You
are using satellite communication.
bl
E
Communication through satellites
emerged as a new area in communication
technology since the 1970s after U.S.A. and
be C
former U.S.S.R. pioneered space research.
Artificial satellites, now, are successfully
deployed in the earth’s orbit to connect even
o N
the remote corners of the globe with limited on-
site verification. These have rendered the unit
cost and time of communication invariant in
terms of distance. This means it costs the same
©
to communicate over 500 km as it does over
5,000 km via satellite
India has also made great strides in
satellite development. Aryabhatt was launched
on 19 April 1979, Bhaskar-I in 1979 and
Rohini in 1980. On 18 June 1981, APPLE
(Arian Passenger Payload Experiment) was
launched through Arian rocket. Bhaskar,
tt
no
Challenger and INSAT I-B have made long-
distance communication, television and radio
very effective. Today weather forecasting
through television is a boon.
Cyber Space – Internet
Cyberspace is the world of electronic
computerised space. It is encompassed by the
Internet such as the World Wide Web (www).
ed
In simple words, it is the electronic digital
world for communicating or accessing
information over computer networks without
physical movement of the sender and the
receiver... It is also referred to as the Internet.
Cyberspace exists everywhere. It may be in
an office, sailing boat, flying plane and virtually
anywhere.
The speed at which this electronic network
has spread is unprecedented in human
history. There were less than 50 million
Internet users in 1995, about 400 million in
2000 A.D. and over two billion in 2010. In the
last few years there has been a shift among
global users from U.S.A. to the developing
countries. The percentage share of U.S.A. has
dropped from 66 in 1995 to only 25 in 2005.
Now the majority of the world’s users are
in U.S.A., U.K., Germany, Japan, China
and India.
As billions use the Internet each year,
cyberspace will expand the contemporary
economic and social space of humans through
e-mail, e-commerce, e-learning and
e-governance. Internet together with fax,
television and radio will be accessible to more
and more people cutting across place and time.
It is these modern communication systems,
more than transportation, that has made the
concept of global village a reality.
Transport and Communication 79
 EXERCISES
1. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.

ed
(i) The Trans–Continental Stuart Highway runs between
(a) Darwin and Melbourne
(b) Edmonton and Anchorage
(c) Vancouver and St. John’s City

h
(d) Chengdu and Lhasa
(ii) Which country has the highest density of railway network?

pu T
(a) Brazil (c) Canada

is
(b) U.S.A (d) Russia
re R (iii) The Big Trunk Route runs through

bl
(a) The Mediterranean – Indian ocean
(b) The North Atlantic Ocean
E
(c) The South Atlantic Ocean
(d) The North Pacific Ocean
be C

(iv) The Big Inch pipeline transports

(a) Milk (c) Water
(b) Liquid petroleum gas (LGP) (d) Petroleum
o N

(v) Which one pair of the following places is linked by Channel Tunnel?
(a) London – Berlin (c) Berlin – Paris
(b) Paris – London (d) Barcelona – Berlin
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
©

(i) What are the problems of road transport in mountainous, desert and
flood prone regions?
(ii) What is a trans–continental railway?
(iii) What are the advantages of water transport?
3. Answer the following questions in not more than 150 words.
(i) Elucidate the statement– “In a well managed transport system, various
modes complement each other”.
(ii) Which are the major regions of the world having a dense network of
airways.
tt

(iii) What are the modes by which cyber space will expand the contemporary
economic and social space of humans.
no

80 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 We use many items in our daily life. From tooth
Unit IV paste to our bed tea, milk, clothes, soaps, food
Chapter 10 items, etc. are required every day. All these can
be purchased from the market. Have you ever
thought as to how these items are brought from
the site of production? All the production is
meant for consumption. From the fields and
factory, the produce is brought to the place from
where consumers purchase it. It is the
transportation of these items from the site of
their production to the market which make
them available to the consumer.
We not only use material things like fruits,
vegetables, books, clothes, etc. but also use
TRANSPORT AND ideas, views and messages in our daily life. Do
you know we exchange our views, ideas and
COMMUNICATION messages from one place to another or one
individual to another while communicating with
the help of various means?
The use of transport and communication
depends upon our need to move things from
place of their availability to the place of their
use. Human-beings use various methods to
move goods, commodities, ideas from one place
to another.
The following diagram shows the major
means of transportation.

Land T
Trranspor
ansportt
The pathways and unmetalled roads have been
used for transportation in India since ancient
times. With the economic and technological
development, metalled roads and railways were
developed to move large volume of goods and

2015-16
people from one place to another. Ropeways,
cableways and pipelines were devised to cater
to the demands of transporting specific goods
under special circumstances.
Road Transport
India has one of the largest road networks in
the world with a total length of 42.3 lakh km
(2008-09). About 85 per cent of passenger and
Rain-soaked : Nomads go about their routine during an early morning
downpour in Srinagar. Traffic on the 300-km Srinagar-Jammu and 434-
km Srinagar-Leh National Highways is suspended as upper reaches of
J&K saw heavy snowfall while rain lashed the plains.
Fig. 10.1
70 per cent of freight traffic are carried by roads
every year. Road transport is relatively suitable
for shorter distance travel.
Sher Shah Suri built the Shahi (Royal) road
to strengthen and consolidate his empire
from the Indus Valley to the Sonar Valley
in Bengal. This road was renamed the
Grand Trunk (GT) road during the British
period, connecting Calcutta and Peshawar.
At present, it extends from Amritsar to
Kolkata. It is bifurcated into 2 segments :
(a) National Highway(NH)-1 from Delhi to
Amritsar, and (b) NH- 2 from Delhi to Kolkata.
Road transport in modern sense was very
limited in India before World War-II. The first
serious attempt was made in 1943 when
‘Nagpur Plan’ was drawn. This plan could not
be implemented due to lack of coordination
among the princely states and British India.
After Independence, twenty-year road plan
114 India : People and Economy
(1961) was introduced to improve the
conditions of roads in India. However, roads
continue to concentrate in and around urban
centres. Rural and remote areas had the least
connectivity by road.
For the purpose of construction and
maintenance, roads are classified as National
Highways (NH), State Highways(SH), Major
District Roads and Rural Roads.
A view of traffic flow in Delhi
National Highways
The main roads which are constructed and
maintained by the Central Government are
known as the National Highways. These roads
are meant for inter-state transport and
movement of defence men and material in
strategic areas. These also connect the state
capitals, major cities, important ports, railway
junctions, etc. The length of the National
Highways has increased from 19,700 km in
1951 to 70,934 km in 2008-09. The National
Highways constitute only 1.67 per cent of the
total road length but carry 40 per cent of the
road traffic. (Table 10.1)
The National Highways Authority of India
(NHAI) was operationalised in 1995. It is an
autonomous body under the Ministry of
Surface Transport. It is entrusted with the
responsibility of development, maintenance
and operation of National Highways. This is also
the apex body to improve the quality of the roads
designated as National Highways.
2015-16
 Table 10.1 : Indian Road Network 2008-09
Serial No. Road Category Length in Km % of total road length

1. National Highways 70,934 1.67

2. State Highways 154522 3.64
3. Major District Roads 2577396 60.83
4. Rural Roads 1433577 33.86
Total 4236429 100
Source: Ministry of Road Transport Annual Report 2010-11.

Rural Roads
National Highways These roads are vital for providing links in the
Development Projects rural areas. About 80 per cent of the total road
length in India are categorised as rural roads.
NHAI has taken up some major projects in There is regional variation in the density of rural
the country under different phases : road because these are influenced by the nature
Golden Quadrilateral : It comprises of the terrain?
construction of 5,846 km long 4/6 lane, high
density traffic corridor, to connect India’s four
big metro cities of Delhi-Mumbai-Chennai-
Kolkata. With the construction of Golden
Quadrilateral, the time- distance and cost
of movement among the mega cities of India
will be considerably minimised.
North-South and East-West Corridors :
North-South corridor aims at connecting
Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir with
Kaniyakumari in Tamil Nadu (including
Kochchi-Salem Spur) with 4,076 km long
road. The East-West Corridor has been planned
to connect Silchar inAssam with the port town Fig. 10.2 : Road constructed under the Pradhan
Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna
of Porbandar in Gujarat with 3,640 km of
road length.
Why are the rural roads’ density very low
State Highways in hilly, plateau and forested areas? Why
does the quality of rural roads deteriorate
These are constructed and maintained by state away from the urban centres?
governments. They join the state capitals with
district headquarters and other important
Other Roads
towns. These roads are connected to the
National Highways. These constitute 4 per cent Other roads include Border Roads and
of total road length in the country. International Highways. The Border Road
Organisation (BRO) was established in May
District Roads 1960 for accelerating economic development
These roads are the connecting link between and strengthening defence preparedness
District Headquarters and the other important through rapid and coordinated improvement
nodes in the district. They account for 14 per of strategically important roads along the
cent of the total road length of the country. northern and north-eastern boundary of the

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 Fig. 10.3 : India – Density of Roads, 2001

116 India : People and Economy

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country. It is a premier multifaceted construction
agency. It has constructed roads in high altitude
mountainous terrain joining Chandigarh with
Manali (Himachal Pradesh) and Leh (Ladakh).
This road runs at an average altitude of 4,270
metres above the mean sea level.
Fig. 10.4 : Khardung La Pass in Jammu & Kashmir
Delhi-Lahore Bus
Fig. 10.5 : A Bus from Lahore to Delhi at Wagah Border
Apart from the construction and
maintenance of roads in strategically sensitive
areas, the BRO also undertakes snow
clearance in high altitude areas. The
international highways are meant to promote
the harmonious relationship with the
neighbouring countries by providing effective
links with India. (Fig. 10.5 and 10.6)
The distribution of roads is not uniform in
the country. Density of roads (length of roads
per 100 square km of area) varies from only
12.14 km in Jammu and Kashmir to 517.77
km in Kerala with a national average of 142.68
km in 2011. The density of road is high in most
of the northern states and major southern
states. It is low in the Himalayan region, north-
eastern region, Madhya Pradesh and
Rajasthan. Why does this variation occur?
Nature of terrain and the level of economic
development are the main determinants of
density of roads. Construction of roads is easy
and cheaper in the plain areas while it is difficult
and costly in hilly and plateau areas. Therefore,
not only the density but also the quality of roads
is relatively better in plains as compared to
roads in high altitude areas, rainy and forested
regions.
List the names of 10 important towns along NH-1 and
NH-2.
Fig. 10.6 : Aman Setu between Srinagar and
Muzaffarabad
Transport and Communication 117
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Which one is the longest National Highway in India? Table 10.2 : Trends of Freight (in million
tonnes) and Passengers (in millions)
Why have Bengaluru and Hyderabad in the South and Handled by the Indian Railways
Delhi, Kanpur and Patna in north India have emerged Commodities 1970-71 2010-11
as important nodes? Provisional

Coal 47.9 268.3

Rail Transport Raw Material for

Indian railways network is one of the longest in Steel Plants 16.1 9.8
the world. It facilitates the movement of both Pig Iron and
freight and passengers and contributes to the Finished Steel 6.2 32.2
growth of economy. Mahatma Gandhi said, the Iron ore 9.8 46.4
Indian railways “brought people of diverse Cement 11 57.0
cultures together to contribute to India’s Food grains 15.1 52.0
freedom struggle.” Fertilisers 4.7 40.7
Indian Railway was introduced in 1853, Petroleum 8.9 26.1
when a line was constructed from Bombay to Other Goods 48.2 52.3
Thane covering a distance of 34 km. Total Traffic 167.9 584.7
Indian Railways is the largest government Passengers Originating 2431 7651.1
undertaking in the country. The length of Indian
Source : Economic Survey, Govt. of India, 2005-06,
Railways network is 64460 km. as on 31 March and 2011-12
2011. Its very large size puts lots of pressure
on a centralised railway management system. divided into sixteen zones. Table 10.3 shows
Thus, in India, the railway system has been the zone-wise performance of Indian Railways.

Table 10.3 : Indian Railways

Zone-wise income from passengers and goods (Rupees in lakhs)

Railway Zone Headquarters Earnings from Earnings from % of

Passengers % goods % Total earnings

Central Mumbai CST 13.62 8.36 10.07

Eastern Kolkata 6.18 3.3 4.24
East Central Hajipur 5.19 7.84 6.98
East Coast Bhubaneswar 2.27 9.69 7.27
Northern New Delhi 15.38 8.94 11.04
North Central Allahabad 6.71 8.76 8.09
North Eastern Gorakhpur 3.44 1.55 2.17
North East Frontier Maligaon (Guwahati) 2.34 2.59 2.51
North Western Jaipur 3.44 3.04 3.17
Southern Chennai 8.74 3.78 5.4
South Central Secunderabad 8.45 8.88 8.74
South Eastern Kolkata 3.23 7.86 6.36
South East Central Bilaspur 1.7 8.91 6.56
South Western Hubli 3.5 2.27 2.67
Western Mumbai (Church Gate) 12.16 7.32 8.9
West Central Jabalpur 3.62 6.91 5.83
Total 100 100 100

Source : Statistical Abstract of India, 2004 pg. 243

118 India : People and Economy

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 Areas around towns, raw material
producing areas and of plantations and other
On the basis of width of the track of Indian commercial crops, hill stations and cantonment
Railways, three categories have been made: towns were well-connected by railways from the
British colonial era. These were mostly
Broad gauge: The distance between rails in
developed for the exploitation of resources. After
broad gauge is 1.676 metre. The total length
the Independence of the country, railway routes
of broad gauge lines was 55188 km in 2011.
have been extended to other areas too. The most
Metre gauge: The distance between rails
significant development has been the
is one metre. Its total length was 6809 km
development of Konkan Railway along the
in 2011.
western coast providing a direct link between
Narrow gauge: The distance between the rails Mumbai and Mangaluru.
in this case is 0.762 metre or 0.610 metre. Railway continues to remain the main means
The total length of narrow guage was 2463 km of transport for the masses. Railway network is
in 2011. It is generally confined to hilly areas.
relatively less dense in the hill states, north eastern
states, central parts of India and Rajasthan.
Indian Railways has launched extensive
programme to convert the metre and narrow Water Transport
gauges to broad gauge. Moreover, steam
engines have been replaced by diesel and Waterways is an important mode of transport
electric engines. This step has increased the for both passenger and cargo traffic in India. It
speed as well as the haulage capacity. is the cheapest means of transport and is most
The replacement of steam engines run by suitable for carrying heavy and bulky material.
coal has also improved the environment of the It is a fuel-efficient and eco-friendly mode of
stations. transport. The water transport is of two types–
Metro rail has revolutionlised the urban (a) inland waterways, and (b) oceanic waterways.
transport system in Kolkata and Delhi.
replacement of diesel buses by CNG run Inland Waterways
vehicles along with introduction of metro is a It was the chief mode of transport before the
welcome step towards controlling the air advent of railways. It, however, faced tough
pollution in urban centres.
competition from road and railway transport.
Moreover, diversion of river water for irrigation
Konkan Railway
One of the important achievements of
Indian Railways has been the
construction of Konkan Railway in 1998.
It is 760 km long rail route connecting
Roha in Maharashtra to Mangalore in
Karnataka. It is considered an
engineering marvel. It crosses 146
rivers, streams, nearly 2000 bridges and
91 tunnels. Asia’s largest tunnel which
is nearly 6.5 km long, also lies on this
route. The states of Maharashtra, Goa
and Karnataka are partners in this
undertaking.
Fig. 10.7 : River navigation in the North-east

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purposes made them non navigable in large
parts of their courses. India has 14,500 km of
navigable waterways, contributing about 1% to
the country’s transportation. It comprises rivers,
canals, backwaters, creeks, etc. At present,
5,685 km of major rivers are navigable by
mechanised flat bottom vessels.
For the development, maintenance and
regulation of national waterways in the country,
the Inland Waterways Authority was set up in
1986. The following waterways have been
declared as the National Waterways by the
Government (Table 10.4).

Fig. 10.8 : Natinal Waterway No.3

Table 10.4 ; National Waterways of India

Waterways Stretch Specification

NW 1 Allahabad-Haldia It is one of the most important waterways in

stretch (1,620 km) India, which is navigable by mechanical boats
up to Patna and by ordinary boats up to
Haridwar. It is divided into three parts for
developmental purposes– (i) Haldia-Farakka (560
km), (ii) Farakka-Patna (460 km), (iii) Patna-
Allahabad (600 km).
NW 2 Sadiya-Dhubri stretch Brahmaputra is navigable by steamers up to
(891 km) Dibrugarh (1,384 km) which is shared by India
and Bangladesh
NW 3 Kottapuram-Kollam It includes 168 km of west coast canal along
stretch (205 km) with Champakara canal (23 km) and
Udyogmandal canal (14 km).
NW 4 Specified streches of Godavari and Krishna rivers along with Kakinada
Puducherry stretch of canals (1078 km)
NW 5 Specified stretches of river Brahmani along with Matai river, delta channels
of Mahanadi and Brahmani rivers and East Coast canals (588km).

120 India : People and Economy

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 Inland Waterways Authority has also
identified ten other inland waterways, which
could be upgraded. The backwaters (Kadal) of
Kerala has special significance in Inland
Waterway. Apart from providing cheap means
of transport, they are also attracting large
number of tourists in Kerala. The famous Nehru
Trophy Boat Race (VALLAMKALI) is also held
in the backwaters.
Oceanic Routes
India has a vast coastline of approximate 7,517
km, including islands. Twelve major and 185
minor ports provide infrastructural support to
these routes. Oceanic routes play an important
role in the transport sector of India’s economy.
Approximately 95 per cent of India’s foreign
trade by volume and 70 per cent by value moves
through ocean routes. Apart from international
trade, these are also used for the purpose of
transportation between the islands and the rest
of the country.
Air Transportation
Air transport is the fastest means of movement
History of Indian Airlines
1911 – Air transport in India was launched between Allahabad and Naini.
1947 – Air transport was provided by four major companies namely Indian National Airways, Tata
Sons Limited, Air Services of India and Deccan Airways.
1951 – Four more companies
joined the services, Bharat
Airways, Himalayan Aviation
Limited, Airways India and Kalinga
Airlines.
1953 – Air transport was
nationalised and two Corporations,
Air India International and Indian
Airlines were formed. Now Indian
Airlines is known as ‘Indian’.
from one place to the other. It has reduced
distances by minimising the travel time. It is
very essential for a vast country like India,
where distances are large and the terrain and
climatic conditions are diverse.
Air transport in India made a beginning
in 1911 when airmail operation commenced
over a little distance of 10 km between
Allahabad and Naini. But its real development
took place in post-Independent period. The
Airport Authority of India is responsible for
providing safe, efficient air traffic and
aeronautical communication services in the
Indian Air Space. The authority manages 125
airports.
The air transport in India is managed by
two corporations, Air India and Indian Airlines
after nationalisation. Now many private
companies have also started passenger services.
Air India
Air India provides International Air Services for
both passengers and cargo traffic. It connects
all the continents of the world through its
services.
Transport and Communication 121
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The country’s largest state-owned domestic
carrier, Indian Airlines dropped the word
‘Airlines’ from its name and is known as
‘Indian’ w.e.f. December 8, 2005. The new
brand name ‘Indian’ now appears on both
sides of the fuselage. The logo on the
orange tail depicting ‘IA’ has also been
changed. It has been replaced by a new
logo which is a partly visible blue wheel and
is inspired by the Sun Temple at Konark
(Odisha), symbolising timeless motion,
convergence and divergence. It also
embodies strength as well as trust that has
stood the test of time.
In 2010, domestic movement involved
520.21 lakh passengers and about 23 lakh
metric tonnes of cargo.
Pawan Hans is the helicopter service
operating in hilly areas and is widely used by
tourists in north-eastern sector.
In addition, Pawan Hans Limited mainly
provides helicopter services to petroleum sector
and for tourism.
Open Sky Policy
To help the Indian exporters and make their
export more competitive, the government had
introduced an Open Sky Policy for cargo in
April 1992. Under this policy, foreign airlines
or association of exporters can bring any
freighters to the country.
Oil and Gas Pipelines
Pipelines are the most convenient and efficient
mode of transporting liquids and gases over
long distances. Even solids can also be
transported by pipelines after converting them
into slurry. Oil India Limited (OIL) under the
administrative set up of the Ministry of
Petroleum and Natural Gas is engaged in the
exploration, production and transportation of
crude oil and natural gas. It was incorporated
in 1959 as a company. Asia’s first cross country
pipeline covering a distance of 1,157 km was
122 India : People and Economy
constructed by OIL from Naharkatiya oilfield
in Assam to Barauni refinery in Bihar. It was
further extended up to Kanpur in 1966.
Another extensive network of pipelines has been
constructed in the western region of India of
which Ankleshwar-Koyali, Mumbai High-
Koyali and Hazira-Vijaipur-Jagdishpur (HVJ)
are most important. Recently, a 1256 km long
pipeline connecting Salaya (Gujarat) with
Mathura (U.P.) has been constructed. It supplies
crude oil from Gujarat to Punjab (Jalandhar)
via Mathura. OIL is in the process of
constructing of 660 km long pipeline from
Numaligarh to Siliguri.
Communication Networks
Human beings have evolved different methods
of communication over time. In earlier times,
the messages were delivered by beating the
drum or hollow tree trunks, giving indications
through smoke or fire or with the help of fast
runners. Horses, camels, dogs, birds and other
animals were also used to send messages.
Initially, the means of communication were also
the means of transportation. Invention of post-
office, telegraph, printing press, telephone,
satellite, etc has made the communication much
faster and easier. Development in the field of
science and technology has significantly
contributed in bringing about revolution in the
field of communication.
People use different modes of
communication to convey the messages. On the
basis of scale and quality, the mode of
communication can be divided into following
categories :
2015-16
Personal Communication System
Among all the personal communication system
internet is the most effective and advanced one. It
is widely used in urban areas. It enables the user
to establish direct contact through e-mail to get
access to the world of knowledge and information.
It is increasingly used for e-commerce and
carrying out money transactions. The internet is
like a huge central warehouse of data, with
detailed information on various items. The
network through internet and e-mail provides an
efficient access to information at a comparatively
low cost. It enables us with the basic facilities of
direct communication. You might have noticed
the proliferation of cyber cafes in urban areas.
Mass Communication System
Radio
Radio broadcasting started in India in 1923 by
the Radio Club of Bombay. Since then, it gained
immense popularity and changed the socio-
cultural life of people. Within no time, it made a
place in every household of the country.
Government took this opportunity and brought
this popular mode of communication under its
control in 1930 under the Indian Broadcasting
System. It was changed to All India Radio in
1936 and to Akashwani in 1957.
All India Radio broadcasts a variety of
programmes related to information, education
and entertainment. Special news bulletins are
also broadcast at specific occasions like session
of parliament and state legislatures.
Television (T.V.)
Television broadcasting has emerged as the
most effective audio-visual medium for
disseminating information and educating
masses. Initially, the T.V. services were limited
only to the National Capital where it began in
1959. After 1972, several other centres became
operational. In 1976, TV was delinked from All
India Radio (AIR) and got a separate identity
as Doordarshan (DD). After INSAT-IA (National
Television-DD1) became operational, Common
National Programmes (CNP) were started for the
entire network and its services were extended
to the backward and remote rural areas.
Satellite Communication
Satellites are mode of communication in
themselves as well as they regulate the use of other
means of communication. However, use of satellite
in getting a continuous and synoptic view of
larger area has made satellite communication very
vital for the country due to the economic and
strategic reasons. Satellite images can be used
for the weather forecast, monitoring of natural
calamities, surveillance of border areas, etc.
On the basis of configuration and purposes,
satellite system in India can be grouped into two:
Indian National Satellite System (INSAT) and
Indian Remote Sensing Satellite System (IRS). The
INSAT, which was established in 1983,is a multi-
purpose satellite system for telecommunication,
meteorological observation and for various other
data and programmes.
The IRS satellite system became
operational with the launching of IRS-IA in
March 1988 from Vaikanour in Russia. India
has also developed her own Launching Vehicle
PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle). These
satellites collect data in several spectral bands
and transmit them to the ground stations for
various uses. The National Remote Sensing
Centre (NRSC) at Hyderabad provides facilities
for acquisition of data and its processing. These
are very useful in the management of natural
resources.
Transport and Communication 123
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 EXERCISES
1. Choose the right answers of the following from the given options.
(i) In how many zones has the Indian Railways system been divided?
(a) 9 (c) 16
(b) 12 (d) 14
(ii) Which one of the following is the longest highway of India?
(a) N.H.-1 (c) N.H.-7
(b) N.H.-6 (d) N.H.-8
(iii) On which river and between which two places does the National Water
Way No. 1 lie?
(a) The Brahmaputra, Sadiya-Dhubri
(b) The Ganga, Haldia-Allahabad
(c) West Coast Canal, Kottapuram to Kollam
(iv) In which of the following year, the first radio programme was broadcast?
(a) 1911 (c) 1927
(b) 1936 (d) 1923
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) Which activity does transportation convey? Name three major modes of
transportation.
(ii) Discuss advantages and disadvantages of pipeline transportation.
(iii) What do you mean by ‘communication’?
(iv) Discuss the contribution of Air India and Indian in the air transport of
India.
3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.
(i) Which are the chief means of transportation in India? Discuss the factors
affecting their development.
(ii) Give a detailed account of the development of railways in India and
highlight their importance.
(iii) Describe the role of roads in the economic development of India.

Project
Find out the facilities that Indian Railways provide to the passengers.

124 India : People and Economy

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 You have already studied about the various
Unit IV aspects of International trade in the book
Chapter 11 Fundamentals of Human Geography.
International Trade is mutually beneficial as
no country is self-sufficient. India’s
International trade has undergone a sea change
in recent years in terms of volume, composition
as well as direction. Although India’s
contribution in the world trade is as low as one
per cent of the total volume, yet it plays a
significant role in the world economy.
Let us examine the changing pattern of
India’s International trade. In 1950-51, India’s
external trade was worth Rs.1,214 crore, which
INTERNATIONAL rose to Rs. 22,09,270 crore in 2009-10. Can
you calculate the percentage growth in 2009-10
over 1950-51? There are numerous reasons for
TRADE this sharp rise in overseas trade, such as, the
momentum picked up by the manufacturing
sectors, the liberal policies of the government and
the diversification of markets.
The nature of India’s foreign trade has
changed over the years (Table 11.1). Though
there has been an increase in the total volume
of import and export, the value of import
continued to be higher than that of exports.
There has also been an increase in trade deficit
over the last couple of years. This increase in
deficit is attributed to the price rise of crude
petroleum which forms a major component of
India’s import list.

Changing P
Paattern of the
Composition of India’ s Expor
India’s Exportt s

Source : Economic Survey, 2011-12

Fig. 11.1

2015-16
 Table 11.1 India’s Foreign Trade
Value in Rs. Crores
Year Exports Imports Total Trade Deficit

2000-01 203,571 230,873 434444 -27302

2004-05 375,340 501,065 876405 -125,725
2007-08 655,864 1,012,312 1668176 -356,448
2009-10 845,534 1,363,736 2209270 -518,202

Source : http://commerce.nic.in/publications/annual-report - 2010-11

The decline in traditional items is largely due

Study the data in table 11.2 and answer the following
questions :
Why is the export of agricultural and allied products
declining continuously after 1997-98?
After attaining a peak in 1999-2000, why has the export
of manufacturing goods started decreasing?
Draw bar diagram to show the trends of exports of all
items given in the table. Use pen/pencil of different
colours.
to the tough international competition. Amongst
the agricultural products, there is a great decline
in the exports of traditional items such as coffee,
spices, tea, pulses, etc. though an increase has
been registered in floricultural products, fresh
fruits, marine products and sugar, etc.
Manufacturing sector alone accounted for
68.0 per cent of India’s total value of export in
2010-11. Engineering goods have shown a
significant growth in the export list. China and
other East Asian countries are our major
competitors. Gems and jewellery contributes a
larger share of India’s foreign trade.

Table 11.2 : Composition of India’s Export, 1997-2011

(Percentage share in Exports)
Commodities 1997-98 2003-04 2009-2010 2010-11

Agriculture and allied products 18.93 11.8 10.0 9.9

Ore and Minerals 3.03 3.71 4.9 4.0
Manufactured goods 75.83 75.96 67.4 68.0
Crude and petroleum products 1.01 5.59 16.2 16.8
Other commodities 1.2 2.94 1.5 1.2

Source : Economic Survey 2011-12

As has already been mentioned, the

composition of commodities in India’s
international trade has been undergoing a
change over the years. The share of agriculture
and allied products has declined whereas
shares of petroleum and crude products and
other commodities have increased. The shares
of ore minerals and manufactured goods have
largely remained constant over the years from
1997-98 to 2003-04. The increase in the share
of petroleum products is due to a rise in
petroleum prices as well as increase in India’s
refining capacity.
Study table 11.3 and select major commodities
exported in 2010-11 and draw bar diagram.
Changing Patterns of the Composition of
India’s Import
India faced serious food shortage during 1950s
and 1960s. The major item of import at that
time was foodgrain, capital goods, machinery
and equipments. The balance of payment was

126 India : People and Economy

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Table 11.3 : Export of Principal Commodities demand in the export-oriented industrial and
Rs. Crores domestic sectors. Non-electrical machinery,

Commodities 2010-11
Agriculture and allied products 113116
Ores and Minerals 46152
Manufactured goods 777424
Mineral fuels and Lubricants 192282
Source : Economic Survey 2011-12.
adverse as imports were more than export in
spite of all the efforts of import substitution.
After 1970s, foodgrain import was discontinued
due to the success of green revolution but the
energy crisis of 1973 pushed the prices of
petroleum, and import budget was also pushed
up. Foodgrain import was replaced by fertilisers
and petroleum. Machine and equipment,
special steel, edible oil and chemicals largely
make the import basket. Examine the changing
pattern of imports in Table 11.4 and try to
comprehend the shifts.
Table 11.4 shows that there is a steep rise
in imports of petroleum products. It is used not
only as a fuel but also as an industrial raw
material. It indicates the tempo of rising
industrialisation and better standard of living.
Sporadic price rise in the international market
is another reason for the same. Import of capital
goods maintained a steady increase due to rising
transport equipment, manufacturers of metals
and machine tools were the main items of
capital goods. Import of food and allied
products declined with a fall in imports of
edible oils. Other major items of India’s import
include pearls and semi precious stones, gold
and silver, metalliferrous ores and metal scrap,
non-ferrous metals, electronic goods, etc. The
details of Indian imports of principal
commodities during 2010-11 have been given
in table 11.5.
Based on table 11.5, few activities may be
undertaken:
Arrange the items in ascending or
descending order and write the names of
the first five major items of India’s import
list of 2010-11.
Why does India import edible oil in spite of
being an agriculturally rich country?
Select five most important and five least
important items and represent them by bar
diagram.
Can you identify some items of imports for
which substitutes can be developed in
India?

Table 11.4 : India Composition of Import 2009-11

(In percentage)
Commodity Group 2009-10 2010-11

Food and allied products 3.7 2.9

Fuel (Coal, POL) 33.2 31.3
Fertilisers 2.3 1.9
Paper board manufacturing and news print 0.5 0.6
Capital goods 15.0 13.1
Others of which 42.6 47.7
Chemicals (5.2) (5.2)
Pearls precious and semi precious stones (5.6) (9.4)
Gold and silver (10.3) (11.5)

Source : Economic Survey 2011-12

International Trade 127

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 Table 11.5 : Import of Principal India is a success story in terms of
Commodities diversification of export and import markets.
(in Crore rupees) The share of Asia and ASEAN in total trade
Commodities 2010-11 increased from 33.3 per cent in 2000-01 to 57.3
per cent in the first half of 2011-12, while that
Fertilisers and fertilizer manufacturing 31533 of Europe and America fell from 42.5 per cent
Edible oils 29860 to 30.8 per cent respectively. This has helped
Pulp and waste paper 5208 India weather the global crisis emanating from
Paper board and manufactures 9614 Europe and America.
Non-ferrous metals 212153 (Source : Economic Survey 2011-12)
Iron and steel 47275 An interesting development in the direction
Petroleum crude and products 482282 of India’s trade is that the USA which was in
Pearls, precious and semi 1575596 first position in 2003-04 has been relegated to
precious stones third position in 2010-11, with the UAE
Medicinal and Pharma products 11114 becoming India’s largest trading partner,
Chemical products 13278 followed by China. This position continued from
2008-09 to 2010-11.
Source : Economic Survey 2011-12

Direction of Trade
Draw a multiple bar diagram to represent the major
India has trade relations with most of the
trading partners.
countries and major trading blocks of the
world.
Most of India’s foreign trade is carried
Region-wise and sub-region-wise trade
through sea and air routes. However, a small
during the period 2010-11 has been given in
portion is also carried through land route to
table 11.6.
neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bhutan,
Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Table 11.6 Direction of India’s Import trade
(in crore rupees) Table 11.7 India’s Major Trading
Region Imports Partners’ Percentage share in total
2009-10 2010-11 trade (Export + Import)

Europe 263471 323857 Country 2003-04 Country 2010-11

(a) EU countries (27) 181937 202779
U.S.A. 10.3 U.A.E. 10.81
Africa 97871 118612
North America 139480 100602 U.K. 3.7 China 10.16

Latin America 48942 64576 Belgium 3.7 U.S.A. 7.35

Germany 3.5 Saudi Arabia 4.13
Asia and ASEAN 829224 1029881
Japan 2.7 Switzerland 4.10

Source : Department of Commerce based on DCCI&S Switzerland 3.3 Hong Kong 3.18
provisional data, Economic Survey 2011-12. Hong Kong 2.8 Germany 3.00
U.A.E. 6.2 Singapore 2.81
India aims to double its share in the China 6.4 Indonesia 2.60
international trade within the next five years. It Singapore 3.4 Belgium 2.40
has already started adopting suitable measures Malaysia 1.7 Korea 2.35
such as import liberalisation, reduction in Total 47.7 Total 52.89
import duties, de-licensing and change from
process to product patents. Source : Economic Survey 2005-06 and 2011-12

128 India : People and Economy

2015-16
Sea P or
Por ts as Ga
orts Gatete wa y s of
tew
Interna tional T
International Trr ade
India is surrounded by sea from three sides and
is bestowed with a long coastline. Water
provides a smooth surface for very cheap
transport provided there is no turbulence. India
Fig. 11.3 : Unloading of goods on port
has a long tradition of sea faring and developed
many ports with place name suffixed with
pattan meaning port. An interesting fact about
ports in India is that its west coast has more
seaports than its east coast.
Can you find out the reasons for the
variations in the location of ports along the
two coasts?
Though ports have been in use since
ancient times, the emergence of ports as
gateways of international trade became
important after the coming of the European
traders and colonisation of the country by the
British. This led to the variation in the size and
quality of ports. There are some ports which
have very vast area of influence and some have
limited area of influence. At present, India has
12 major ports and 185 minor or intermediate
ports. In case of the major ports, central
government decides the policy and plays
regulatory functions. The minor ports are there
whose policy and functions are regulated by
state governments. The major ports handle
larger share of the total traffic. The 12 major
ports handled about 71 per cent of the country’s
oceanic traffic in 2008-09.
The British used the ports as suction
points of the resources from their hinterlands.
The extension of railways towards the interior
facilitated the linking of the local markets to
regional markets, regional markets to national
markets and national markets to the
international markets. This trend continued till
1947. It was expected that the country’s
independence will reverse the process, but the
partition of the country snatched away two very
important ports i.e. Karachi port went to
Pakistan and Chittagong port to the erstwhile
east-Pakistan and now Bangladesh. To
compensate the losses, many new ports like the
Kandla in the west and the Diamond Harbour
near Kolkata on river Hugli in the east were
developed.
Despite this major setback, Indian ports
continued to grow after the Independence.
Today Indian ports are handling large volumes
of domestic as well as overseas trade. Most of
the ports are equipped with modern
infrastructure. Previously the development and
modernisation was the responsibility of the
government agencies, but considering the
increase in function and need to bring these
ports at par with the international ports, private
entrepreneurs have been invited for the
modernisation of ports in India.
The capacity of Indian ports increased from
20 million tonnes of cargo handling in 1951 to
more than 586 million tonnes in 2008-09.
International Trade 129
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 Fig. 11.4 : India – Major Ports and Sea Routes

130 India : People and Economy

2015-16
 Some of the Indian ports along with their
hinterlands are as follows :
Kandla Port situated at the head of Gulf of
Kuchchh has been developed as a major port to
cater to the needs of western and north western
parts of the country and also to reduce the
pressure at Mumbai port. The port is specially
designed to receive large quantities of petroleum
and petroleum products and fertiliser. The
offshore terminal at Vadinar has been developed
to reduce the pressure at Kandla port.
Demarcation of the boundary of the
hinterland would be difficult as it is not fixed
over space. In most of the cases, hinterland of
one port may overlap with that of the other.
Mumbai is a natural harbour and the
biggest port of the country. The port is situated
closer to the general routes from the countries
of Middle East, Mediterranean countries, North
Africa, North America and Europe where the
major share of country’s overseas trade is
carried out. The port is 20 km long and 6-10
km wide with 54 berths and has the country’s
largest oil terminal. M.P., Maharashtra, Gujarat,
U.P. and parts of Rajasthan constitute the main
hinterlands of Mumbai ports.
Jawaharlal Nehru Port at Nhava Sheva
was developed as a satellite port to relieve the
pressure at the Mumbai port. It is the largest
container port in India.
Marmagao Port, situated at the entrance
of the Zuari estuary, is a natural harbour in
Goa. It gained significance after its remodelling
in 1961 to handle iron-ore exports to Japan.
Construction of Konkan railway has
considerably extended the hinterland of this
port. Karnataka, Goa, Southern Maharashtra
constitute its hinterland.
New Mangalore Port is located in the state
of Karnataka and caters to the needs of the
export of iron-ore and iron-concentrates. It also
handles fertilisers, petroleum products, edible
oils, coffee, tea, wood pulp, yarn, granite stone,
molasses, etc. Karnataka is the major
hinterland for this port.
Kochchi Port, situated at the head of
Vembanad Kayal, popularly known as the
“Queen of the Arabian Sea,” is also a natural
harbour. This port has an advantageous
location being close to the Suez-Colombo route.
It caters to the needs of Kerala, southern-
Karnataka and south western Tamil Nadu.
Kolkata Port is located on the Hugli river,
128 km inland from the Bay of Bengal. Like the
Mumbai port, this port was also developed by
the British. Kolkata had the initial advantage
of being the capital of British India. The port
has lost its significance considerably on account
of the diversion of exports to the other ports
such as Vishakhapatnam, Paradwip and its
satellite port, Haldia.
Kolkata port is also confronted with the
problem of silt accumulation in the Hugli river
which provides a link to the sea. Its hinterland
covers U.P., Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal,
Sikkim and the north-eastern states. Apart from
this, it also extends ports facilities to our
neighbouring land-locked countries such as
Nepal and Bhutan.
Haldia Port is located 105 km
downstream from Kolkata. It has been
constructed to reduce the congestion at Kolkata
port. It handles bulk cargo like iron ore, coal,
petroleum, petroleum products and fertilisers,
jute, jute products, cotton and cotton yarn, etc.
Paradwip Port is situated in the Mahanadi
delta, about 100 km from Cuttack. It has the
deepest harbour specially suited to handle very
large vessels. It has been developed mainly to
handle large-scale export of iron-ore. Orissa,
Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand are the parts of
its hinterland.
Visakhapatnam Port in Andhra Pradesh
is a land-locked harbour, connected to the sea
by a channel cut through solid rock and sand.
An outer harbour has been developed for
handling iron-ore, petroleum and general
cargo. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are the
main hinterland for this port.
Chennai Port is one of the oldest ports on
the eastern coast. It is an artificial harbour built
International Trade 131
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 Fig. 11.5 : India – Air Routes

132 India : People and Economy

2015-16
in 1859. It is not much suitable for large ships
because of the shallow waters near the coast.
Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry are its hinterland.
Ennore, a newly developed port in Tamil
Nadu, has been constructed 25 km north of
Chennai to relieve the pressure at Chennai port.
Tuticorin Port was also developed to
relieve the pressure of Chennai port. It deals
with a variety of cargo including coal, salt, food
grains, edible oils, sugar, chemicals and
petroleum products.
There were 19 international airports
functioning in the country (February 2013).
They are Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bengaluru,
Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad,
Kochchi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram,
Srinagar, Jaipur, Calicut, Port Blair, Nagpur,
Tiruchirapalli and Coimbatore.
You have already studied about the air
transport in the previous chapter. You consult
the chapter on transport to find out the main
features of air transport in India.

Airports
Air transport plays an important role in the
international trade. It has the advantage of Name the nearest domestic and international airports
taking the least time for carriage and handling from your place. Identify the state with maximum number
high value or perishable goods over long of domestic airports.
distances. It is very costly and unsuitable for
carrying heavy and bulky commodities. This Identify four cities where maximum number of air routes
ultimately reduces the participation of this converge and also give reasons for this.
sector in the international trade as compared
to the oceanic routes.

EXERCISES
1. Choose the right answers of the following from the given options.
(i) Trade between two countries is termed as
(a) Internal trade (c) International trade
(b) External trade (d) Local trade
(ii) Which one of the following is a land locked harbour?
(a) Vishakhapatnam (c) Ennor
(b) Mumbai (d) Haldia
(iii) Most of India’s foreign trade is carried through
(a) Land and sea (c) Sea and air
(b) Land and air (d) Sea
(iv) Which one of the following is India’s largest trading partner (2010-11)
(a) U.A.E. (c) Germany
(b) China (d) U.S.A.

International Trade 133

2015-16
 2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) Mention the characteristics of India’s foreign trade.
(ii) Distinguish between port and harbour.
(iii) Explain the meaning of hinterland.
(iv) Name important items which India imports from different countries.
(v) Name the ports of India located on the east coast.
3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.
(i) Describe the composition of export and import trade of India.
(ii) Write a note on the changing nature of the international trade of India.

134 India : People and Economy

2015-16
 You are already familiar with the term “trade”
Unit-III as a tertiary activity which you have studied in
Chapter-9 Chapter 7 of this book. You know that trade
means the voluntary exchange of goods and
services. Two parties are required to trade. One
person sells and the other purchases. In certain
places, people barter their goods. For both the
parties trade is mutually beneficial.
Trade may be conducted at two levels:

ed
international and national. International trade
is the exchange of goods and services among
countries across national boundaries.
Countries need to trade to obtain commodities,
they cannot produce themselves or they can

h
purchase elsewhere at a lower price.
International Trade The initial form of trade in primitive

pu T
societies was the barter system, where direct

is
re R exchange of goods took place. In this system if
you were a potter and were in need of a plumber,
you would have to look for a plumber who

bl
would be in need of pots and you could
exchange your pots for his plumbing service.
E
be C
o N
©

Fig. 9.1: Two women practising barter system in

Jon Beel Mela

Every January after the harvest season Jon Beel Mela

takes place in Jagiroad, 35 km away from Guwahati
and it is possibly the only fair In India, where barter
tt

system is still alive. A big market is organised during

this fair and people from various tribes and communi-
ties exchange their products.
no

The difficulties of barter system were

overcome by the introduction of money. In the
olden times, before paper and coin currency
came into being, rare objects with very high
intrinsic value served as money, like,
flintstones, obsidian, cowrie shells, tiger’s
paws, whale’s teeth, dogs teeth, skins, furs,
cattle, rice, peppercorns, salt, small tools,
copper, silver and gold.

ed
The word salary comes from the Latin word Salarium
which means payment by salt. As in those times
producing salt from sea water was unknown and could
only be made from rock salt which was rare and
expensive. That is why it became a mode of payment.

h
pu T
HISTOR
HISTOR Y
ORY OF INTERN
INTERNAATION AL
TIONAL

is
TRADEre R
In ancient times, transporting goods over long
Britain in 1807 and United States in 1808.
distances was risky, hence trade was restricted

bl
to local markets. People then spent most of their Figure 9.2 : Advertisement for Slave Auction, 1829
E
resources on basic necessities – food and This American slave auction advertised slaves for sale
clothes. Only the rich people bought jewellery, or temporary hire by their owners. Buyers often paid as
costly dresses and this resulted in trade of much as $2,000 for a skilled, healthy slave. Such auc-
be C

luxury items. tions often separated family members from one another,
The Silk Route is an early example of long many of whom never saw their loved ones again.
distance trade connecting Rome to China – After the Industrial Revolution the demand
o N

along the 6,000 km route. The traders
transported Chinese silk, Roman wool and
precious metals and many other high value
commodities from intermediate points in India,
Persia and Central Asia.
©
for raw materials like grains, meat, wool also
expanded, but their monetary value declined
in relation to the manufactured goods.
The industrialised nations imported

primary products as raw materials and

After the disintegration of the Roman
Empire, European commerce grew during
twelfth and thirteenth century with the
development of ocean going warships trade
between Europe and Asia grew and the
Americas were discovered.
Fifteenth century onwards, the European
colonialism began and along with trade of exotic
commodities, a new form of trade emerged
tt
exported the value added finished products
back to the non-industrialised nations.
In the later half of the nineteenth century,
regions producing primary goods were no more
important, and industrial nations became each
other’s principle customers.
During the World Wars I and II, countries
imposed trade taxes and quantitative
restrictions for the first time. During the post-

which was called slave trade. The Portuguese,
Dutch, Spaniards, and British captured African
natives and forcefully transported them to the
newly discovered Americas for their labour in
no
war period, organisations like General
Agreement for Tariffs and Trade (which later
became the World Trade Organisation), helped
in reducing tariff.

the plantations. Slave trade was a lucrative

business for more than two hundred years till Why Does International Trade Exist?
it was abolished in Denmark in 1792, Great International trade is the result of specialisation

82 Fundamentals of Human Geography

in production. It benefits the world economy if
different countries practise specialisation and
division of labour in the production of
commodities or provision of services. Each kind
of specialisation can give rise to trade. Thus,
international trade is based on the principle of
comparative advantage, complimentarity and
transferability of goods and services and in
principle, should be mutually beneficial to the
trading partners.
In modern times, trade is the basis of the
world’s economic organisation and is related
to the foreign policy of nations. With well-
developed transportation and communication
h
systems, no country is willing to forego the
benefits derived from participation in
pu T
international trade.
is
re R
Basis of International Trade
(iii) Stage of economic development: At
bl
(i) Difference in national resources: The
world’s national resources are unevenly
E
distributed because of differences in their
physical make up i.e. geology, relief soil
and climate.
be C
(a) Geological structure: It determines
the mineral resource base and
topographical differences ensure
o N
diversity of crops and animals
raised. Lowlands have greater
(iv) Extent of foreign investment: Foreign
agricultural potential. Mountains
attract tourists and promote
©
tourism.
(b) Mineral resources: They are
unevenly distributed the world over.
The availability of mineral resources
provides the basis for industrial
development.
(c) Climate: It influences the type of flora
and fauna that can survive in a given
region. It also ensures diversity in
the range of various products, e.g.
(v) T ransport: In olden times, lack of
tt
wool production can take place in
cold regions, bananas, rubber and
cocoa can grow in tropical regions.
(ii) Population factors: The size, distribution
no
and diversity of people between countries
affect the type and volume of goods
traded.
(a) Cultural factors: Distinctive forms of
art and craft develop in certain
cultures which are valued the world
over, e.g. China produces the finest
porcelains and brocades. Carpets of
Iran are famous while North African
leather work and Indonesian batik
cloth are prized handicrafts.
(b) Size of population: Densely
populated countries have large
ed
volume of internal trade but little
external trade because most of the
agricultural and industrial
production is consumed in the local
markets. Standard of living of the
population determines the demand
for better quality imported products
because with low standard of living
only a few people can afford to buy
costly imported goods.
different stages of economic development
of countries, the nature of items traded
undergo changes. In agriculturally
important countries, agro products are
exchanged for manufactured goods
whereas industrialised nations export
machinery and finished products and
import food grains and other raw
materials.
investment can boost trade in developing
countries which lack in capital required
for the development of mining, oil drilling,
heavy engineering, lumbering and
plantation agriculture. By developing
such capital intensive industries in
developing countries, the industrial
nations ensure import of food stuffs,
minerals and create markets for their
finished products. This entire cycle steps
up the volume of trade between nations.
adequate and efficient means of transport
restricted trade to local areas. Only high
value items, e.g. gems, silk and spices
were traded over long distances. With
expansions of rail, ocean and air
transport, better means of refrigeration
and preservation, trade has experienced
spatial expansion.
International Trade 83
Important Aspects of International Composition of Trade
Trade The nature of goods and services imported and
exported by countries have undergone changes
International trade has three very important
during the last century.
aspects. These are volume, sectoral composition
Trade of primary products was dominant
and direction of trade.
in the beginning of the last century. Later
Volume of Trade manufactured goods gained prominence and
currently, though the manufacturing sector
The actual tonnage of goods traded makes up
commands the bulk of the global trade, service
the volume. However, services traded cannot be

ed
sector which includes travel, transportation and
measured in tonnage. Therefore, the total value
other commercial services have been showing
of goods and services traded is considered to
an upward trend. Table 9.1 shows that the
be the volume of trade. Table 9.1 shows that
volume of imports and exports of the world
the total volume of world trade has been steadily
merchandise has been growing consistently
rising over the past decades.

h
over the years.

pu T
Looking at the Table 9.2, we find that
agricultural products, fuels and mining

is
Why do you think that the volume of trade has increased products, fuels, manufactures, iron and steel,
re R
over the decades? Can these figures be compared? chemicals, office and telecom equipment,
automotive products, textiles and clothing are

bl
What has been the growth in the year 2010 over the
year 1955? major merchandise which are traded over the
E
world. Trade in the service sector is quite

Table 9.1: World Imports and Exports (in millions of U.S. $)

be C

1955 1965 1975 1985 1995 2005 2010

Exports 95000 190000 877000 1954000 5162000 10393000 14850565

o N

Total Merchandise

Imports 99000 199000 912000 2015000 5292000 10753000 15076522

Total Merchandise
©

Source: www.wto.org (May 2012)

Table 9.2: World Merchandise Exports by Major Product Group, 2010

(Billion dollars and percentage)

Value Share Annual Percentage Change

In World 1980- 1985- 1990- 1995- 2000- 2005- 2008 2009 2010
Merchandise 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
Trade

Agricultural Products 1362 9.2 -2 9 7 -1 9 10 19 -12 15

tt

Fuels and Mining 3026 20.4 -5 3 2 10 16 11 33 -36 33

Products

Fuels 2348 15.8 -5 0 1 12 17 10 41 -37 30

no

Manufactures 9962 67.1 2 15 9 5 9 6 10 -20 20

Iron and Steel 421 2.8 -2 9 8 -2 17 6 22 -45 29

Chemicals 1705 11.5 1 14 10 4 13 9 13 -14 18

84 Fundamentals of Human Geography

Office and Telecom 1603 10.8 9 18
Equipment
Automotive Products 1092 7.4 5 14
Textiles 251 1.7 -1
Clothing 351 2.4 4 18
Source: www.wto.org
different from trade in the products of primary
and manufacturing sectors as the services can
be expanded infinitely, consumed by many, are
weightless and once produced, can be easily
replicated and thus, are capable of generating
more profit than producing goods.
h
pu T
Direction of Trade
is
Historically, the developing countries of the
present used to export valuable goods and
re R
artefacts, etc., which were exported to European
bl
countries. During the nineteenth century there
was a reversal in the direction of trade.
E
European countries started exporting
manufactured goods for exchange of foodstuffs
and raw materials from their colonies. Europe
be C
and U.S.A. emerged as major trade partners in
the world and were leaders in the trade of
manufactured goods. Japan at that time was
o N
also the third important trading country. The
world trade pattern underwent a drastic change
during the second half of the twentieth century.
Europe lost its colonies while India, China and
©
other developing countries started competing
with developed countries. The nature of the
goods traded has also changed.
Balance of Trade
Balance of trade records the volume of goods
and services imported as well as exported by a
country to other countries. If the value of
imports is more than the value of a country’s
exports, the country has negative or
tt
unfavourable balance of trade. If the value of
exports is more than the value of imports, then
the country has a positive or favourable balance
no
of trade.
Balance of trade and balance of payments
have serious implications for a country’s
economy. A negative balance would mean that
the country spends more on buying goods than
15 10 6 5 3 -15 21
8 5 10 3 3 -31 29
15 8 0 5 4 5 -16 19
8 5 7 5 5 -13 11
it can earn by selling its goods. This would
ed
ultimately lead to exhaustion of its financial
reserves.
Types of International Trade
International trade may be categorised into two
types:
(a) Bilateral trade: Bilateral trade is done
by two countries with each other. They
enter into agreement to trade specified
commodities amongst them. For
example, country A may agree to trade
some raw material with agreement to
purchase some other specified item to
country B or vice versa.
(b) Multi-lateral trade: As the term suggests
multi-lateral trade is conducted with
many trading countries. The same
country can trade with a number of
other countries. The country may also
grant the status of the “Most Favoured
Nation” (MFN) on some of the trading
partners.
Case for Free Trade
The act of opening up economies for trading is
known as free trade or trade liberalisation. This
is done by bringing down trade barriers like
tariffs. Trade liberalisation allows goods and
services from everywhere to compete with
domestic products and services.
Globalisation along with free trade can
adversely affect the economies of developing
countries by not giving equal playing field by
imposing conditions which are unfavourable.
With the development of transport and
communication systems goods and services can
travel faster and farther than ever before. But
free trade should not only let rich countries
enter the markets, but allow the developed
International Trade 85
countries to keep their own markets protected
from foreign products.
Countries also need to be cautious about
dumped goods; as along with free trade
dumped goods of cheaper prices can harm the
domestic producers.
Dumping
countries to set up a permanent institution for
looking after the promotion of free and fair trade
amongst nation and the GATT was transformed
into the World Trade Organisation from 1st
January 1995.
WTO is the only international organisation
dealing with the global rules of trade between
nations. It sets the rules for the global trading
system and resolves disputes between its
member nations. WTO also covers trade in

The practice of selling a commodity in two
countries at a price that differs for reasons
not related to costs is called dumping.
ed
services, such as telecommunication and
banking, and others issues such as intellectual
rights.
The WTO has however been criticised and
opposed by those who are worried about the

h
effects of free trade and economic globalisation.

pu T
It is argued that free trade does not make

is
ordinary people’s lives more prosperous. It is
actually widening the gulf between rich and
re R poor by making rich countries more rich. This

bl
is because the influential nations in the WTO
focus on their own commercial interests.
E
Moreover, many developed countries have not
fully opened their markets to products from
developing countries. It is also argued that
be C

issues of health, worker’s rights, child labour

and environment are ignored.
o N

WTO Headquarters are located in Geneva, Switzerland.

©

149 countries were members of WTO as on December

2005.

India has been one of the founder member of WTO.

Regional Trade Blocs

Regional Trade Blocs have come up in order to
Think of some reasons why dumping is becoming a encourage trade between countries with
serious concern among trading nations? geographical proximity, similarity and
tt

complementarities in trading items and to curb

restrictions on trade of the developing world.
World Trade Organisation
Today, 120 regional trade blocs generate 52 per
In1948, to liberalise the world from high cent of the world trade. These trading blocs
no

customs tariffs and various other types of developed as a response to the failure of the global
restrictions, General Agreement for Tariffs and organisations to speed up intra-regional trade.
Trade (GATT) was formed by some countries. Though, these regional blocs remove trade
In 1994, it was decided by the member tariffs within the member nations and

86 Fundamentals of Human Geography

encourage free trade, in the future it could get between different trading blocs. Some major
increasingly difficult for free trade to take place regional trade blocs have been listed in Table 9.3.

Table 9.3: Major Regional Trade

Regional Head Member Origin Commodities Other Areas

Blocs Quarter nations of
Cooperation

ASEAN Jakarta, Brunei, Aug, 1967 Agro products, Accelerate

(Association of Indonesia Indonesia, rubber, palm oil, economic

ed
South East Asian Malaysia, rice, copra, growth,
Nations) Singapore, coffee, minerals – cultural
Thailand, copper, coal, development,
Vietnam nickel and peace and
tungsten. Energy regional
– petroleum and stability
natural gas and

h
Software
products

pu T
is
CIS Minsk, Armenia, — Crude oil, natural Integration
(Commonwealth
re R Belarus Azerbaijan, gas, gold, cotton, and
of Independent Belarus, Georgia, fibre, aluminium cooperation on
States) Kazakhstan, matters of
Kyrgyzstan, economics,

bl
Moldova, Russia, defence and
Tajikistan, foreign policy
E
Turkmenistan,
Ukraine and
Uzbekistan.
be C

EU Brussels, Austria, Belgium, EEC- Agro products, Single market

(European Union) Belgium Denmark, March 1957 minerals, with single
France, Finland, EU - Feb. 1992 chemicals, wood, currency
Ireland, Italy, the paper, transport
o N

Netherlands, vehicles, optical

Luxemburg, instruments,
Portugal, Spain, clocks - works of
Sweden and U.K. art, antiques

LAIA Montevideo, Argentina, Bolivia, 1960 — —

©

(Latin American Uruguay Brazil, Columbia,

Integration Ecuador, Mexico,
Association) Paraguay, Peru,
Uruguay and
Venezuela

NAFTA U.S.A., Canada 1994 Agro products, —

(North American and Mexico motor vehicles,
Free Trade automotive parts,
Association) computers,
textiles

OPEC Vienna, Algeria, 1949 Crude petroleum Coordinate

(Organisation of Austria Indonesia, Iran, and unify
tt

Petroleum Iraq, Kuwait, petroleum

Exporting Libya, Nigeria, policies.
Countries) Qatar, Saudi
Arabia, U.A.E.
and Venezuela
no

SAFTA Bangladesh, Jan-2006 — Reduce tariffs

(South Asian Maldives, Bhutan, on inter -
Free Trade Nepal, India, regional trade
Agreement) Pakistan and Sri
Lanka

International Trade 87
Concerns Related to International
Trade
Undertaking international trade is mutually
beneficial to nations if it leads to regional
specialisation, higher level of production, better
standard of living, worldwide availability of
goods and services, equalisation of prices and
wages and diffusion of knowledge and culture.
International trade can prove to be

ed
detrimental to nations of it leads to dependence
on other countries, uneven levels of
development, exploitation, and commercial
rivalry leading to wars. Global trade affects
many aspects of life; it can impact everything

h
from the environment to health and well-being Fig. 9.5: San Francisco, the largest land-locked

pu T
harbour in the world
of the people around the world. As countries

is
compete to trade more, production and the use
of natural resources spiral up, resources get
re R
used up faster than they can be replenished. Types of Port

bl
As a result, marine life is also depleting fast,
forests are being cut down and river basins sold
E
off to private drinking water companies. Multi-
national corporations trading in oil, gas mining,
pharmaceuticals and agri-business keep
be C
Generally, ports are classified according to the
types of traffic which they handle.
Types of port according to cargo handled:
(i) Industrial Ports: These ports specialise in
bulk cargo-like grain, sugar, ore, oil,

expanding their operations at all costs creating chemicals and similar materials.
more pollution – their mode of work does not (ii) Commercial Ports: These ports handle
follow the norms of sustainable development. general cargo-packaged products and
o N

If organisations are geared only towards profit manufactured good. These ports also
making, and environmental and health handle passenger traffic.
concerns are not addressed, then it could lead
to serious implications in the future.
©

GATEWAYS OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Ports
The chief gateways of the world of international
trade are the harbours and ports. Cargoes and
travellers pass from one part of the world to
another through these ports.
The ports provide facilities of docking,
loading, unloading and the storage facilities for
tt

cargo. In order to provide these facilities, the

port authorities make arrangements for
maintaining navigable channels, arranging tugs
no

and barges, and providing labour and

Fig. 9.6: Leningrad Commercial Port
managerial services. The importance of a port
is judged by the size of cargo and the number
(iii) Comprehensive Ports: Such ports handle
of ships handled. The quantity of cargo handled
bulk and general cargo in large volumes.
by a port is an indicator of the level of
development of its hinterland.
88 Fundamentals of Human Geography
 Most of the world’s great ports are
classified as comprehensive ports.
Types of port on the basis of location:
(i) Inland Ports: These ports are located away
from the sea coast. They are linked to the
sea through a river or a canal. Such ports
are accessible to flat bottom ships or
barges. For example, Manchester is linked
with a canal; Memphis is located on the
river Mississippi; Rhine has several ports
like Mannheim and Duisburg; and
Kolkata is located on the river Hoogli, a
branch of the river Ganga.
h
(ii) Out Ports: These are deep water ports built
away from the actual ports. These serve
pu T
the parent ports by receiving those ships
is
which are unable to approach them due
re R
to their large size. Classic combination,
for example, is Athens and its out port
bl
Piraeus in Greece.
E
Types of port on the basis of specialised
functions:
be C
(i) Oil Ports: These ports deal in the
processing and shipping of oil. Some of
these are tanker ports and some are
refinery ports. Maracaibo in Venezuela,
o N
Esskhira in Tunisia, Tripoli in Lebanon are
©
EXERCISES
1. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.
(i) Most of the world’s great ports are classified as:
tt
(a) Naval Ports
(b) Oil Ports
(ii) Which one of the following continents has the maximum flow of global
trade?
no
(a) Asia
(b) North America
tanker ports. Abadan on the Gulf of Persia
is a refinery port.
(ii) Ports of Call: These are the ports which
originally developed as calling points on
main sea routes where ships used to
anchor for refuelling, watering and taking
food items. Later on, they developed into
commercial ports. Aden, Honolulu and
Singapore are good examples.
ed
(iii) Packet Station: These are also known as
ferry ports. These packet stations are
exclusively concerned with the
transportation of passengers and mail
across water bodies covering short
distances. These stations occur in pairs
located in such a way that they face each
other across the water body, e.g. Dover in
England and Calais in France across the
English Channel.
(iv) Entrepot Ports: These are collection centres
where the goods are brought from different
countries for export. Singapore is an
entrepot for Asia. Rotterdam for Europe,
and Copenhagen for the Baltic region.
(v) Naval Ports: These are ports which have
only strategic importance. These ports
serve warships and have repair workshops
for them. Kochi and Karwar are examples
of such ports in India.
(c) Comprehensive Ports
(d) Industrial Ports
(c) Europe
(d) Africa
International Trade 89
 (iii) Which one of the following South American nation, is a part of OPEC?
(a) Brazil (c) Venezuela
(b) Chile (d) Peru
(iv) In which of the following trade blocs, is India an associate member?
(a) SAFTA (c) ASEAN
(b) OECD (d) OPEC
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words:
(i) What is the basic function of the World Trade Organisation?
(ii) Why is it detrimental for a nation to have negative balance of payments?

ed
(iii) What benefits do nations get by forming trading blocs?
3. Answer the following questions in not more than 150 words:
(i) How are ports helpful for trade? Give a classification of ports on the basis
of their location.

h
(ii) How do nations gain from International Trade?

pu T
is
re R
bl
E
be C
o N
©
tt
no

90 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 We all live in clusters of houses. You may call it
Unit-IV a village, a town or a city, all are examples of
Chapter-10 human settlements. The study of human
settlements is basic to human geography
because the form of settlement in any particular
region reflects human relationship with the
environment. A human settlement is defined as
a place inhabited more or less permanently. The
houses may be designed or redesigned,

ed
buildings may be altered, functions may change
but settlement continues in time and space.
There may be some settlements which are
temporary and are occupied for short periods,
may be a season.

h
Human Settlements CL ASSIFICA
CLASSIFICA TION OF SETTLEMENTS
ASSIFICATION

pu T
RURAL URB AN DICHO
URBAN TOMY
DICHOT

is
It is widely accepted that settlements can be
re R differentiated in terms of rural and urban, but

bl
there is no consensus on what exactly defines
a village or a town. Although population size is
E
an important criterion, it is not a universal
criterion since many villages in densely
populated countries of India and China have
be C

population exceeding that of some towns of

Western Europe and United States.
At one time, people living in villages
o N

pursued agriculture or other primary activities,

but presently in developed countries, large
sections of urban populations prefer to live in
villages even though they work in the city. The
©

basic difference between towns and villages is

that in towns the main occupation of the people
is related to secondary and tertiary sectors,
while in the villages most of the people are
engaged in primary occupations such as
agriculture, fishing, lumbering, mining, animal
husbandry, etc.

Sub Urbanisation
tt

It is a new trend of people moving away from

congested urban areas to cleaner areas
outside the city in search of a better quality
of living. Important suburbs develop around
no

major cities and everyday thousands of

people commute from their homes in the
sub urbs to their work places in the city.
 Differentiations between rural and urban
on the basis of functions are more meaningful
even though there is no uniformity in the
hierarchy of the functions provided by rural and
urban settlements. Petrol pumps are considered
as a lower order function in the United States
while it is an urban function in India. Even
within a country, rating of functions may vary
according to the regional economy. Facilities
(ii) Dispersed Settlements: In these
settlements, houses are spaced far
apart and often interspersed with fields.
A cultural feature such as a place of
worship or a market, binds the
settlement together.

ed
available in the villages of developed countries
may be considered rare in villages of developing
and less developed countries.

The census of India, 1991 defines urban

h
settlements as “All places which have

pu T
municipality, corporation, cantonment board

is
or notified town area committee and have a
minimum population of 5000 persons, at
re R
least 75 per cent of male workers are
engaged in non-agricultural pursuits and a
Fig. 10.2: Dispersed Settlements

bl
density of population of at least 400 persons Rural Settlements
E
per square kilometers are urban. Rural settlements are most closely and directly
related to land. They are dominated by primary
activities such as agriculture, animal
TYPES AND PATTERNS OF SETTLEMENTS
PATTERNS
be C

husbandary, fishing etc. The settlements size

Settlements may also be classified by their is relatively small. Some factors affecting the
location of rural settlements are :
shape, patterns types. The major types
o N

classified by shape are:

(i) Compact or Nucleated settlements:
These settlements are those in which
large number of houses are built very
©

close to each other. Such settlements

develop along river valleys and in fertile
plains. Communities are closely knit
and share common occupations.

Fig. 10.3 : Siting near water

Water Supply
tt

Usually rural settlements are located near water

bodies such as rivers, lakes, and springs where
water can be easily obtained. Sometimes the
need for water drives people to settle in otherwise
no

disadvantaged sites such as islands

surrounded by swamps or low lying river
banks. Most water based ‘wet point’ settlements
Fig.10.1 : Compact Settlements have many advantages such as water for

92 Fundamentals of Human Geography

drinking, cooking and washing. Rivers and
lakes can be used to irrigate farm land. Water
bodies also have fish which can be caught for
diet and navigable rivers and lakes can be used
for transportation.
Land
People choose to settle near fertile lands suitable
for agriculture. In Europe villages grew up near
rolling country avoiding swampy, low lying
land while people in south east Asia chose to
live near low lying river valleys and coastal
plains suited for wet rice cultivation. Early
settlers chose plain areas with fertile soils.
h
pu T
Upland
is
Upland which is not prone to flooding was
chosen to prevent damage to houses and loss
re R
of life. Thus, in low lying river basins people
bl
chose to settle on terraces and levees which are
“dry points”. In tropical countries people build
E
their houses on stilts near marshy lands to
protect themselves from flood, insects and
animal pests.
be C
Building Material
o N
The availability of building materials- wood,
stone near settlements is another advantage.
Early villages were built in forest clearings where
wood was plentiful.
©
tt
Fig. 10.4 : House on stilts
no
In loess areas of China, cave dwellings were
important and African Savanna’s building
materials were mud bricks and the Eskimos, in
polar regions, use ice blocks to construct igloos.
Defence
During the times of political instability, war,
hostility of neighbouring groups villages were
built on defensive hills and islands. In Nigeria,
upstanding inselbergs formed good defensive
sites. In India most of the forts are located on
higher grounds or hills.
Planned Settlements
ed
Sites that are not spontaneously chosen by
villagers themselves, planned settlements are
constructed by governments by providing
shelter, water and other infrastructures on
acquired lands. The scheme of villagisation in
Ethiopia and the canal colonies in Indira
Gandhi canal command area in India are some
good examples.
Rural Settlement Patterns
Patterns of rural settlements reflect the way the
houses are sited in relation to each other. The
site of the village, the surrounding topography
and terrain influence the shape and size of a
village.
Rural settlements may be classified on the
basis of a number of criteria:
(i) On the basis of setting: The main types
are plain villages, plateau villages,
coastal villages, forest villages and
desert villages.
(ii) On the basis of functions: There may
be farming villages, fishermen’s villages,
lumberjack villages, pastoral villages etc.
(iii) On the basis of forms or shapes of the
settlements: These may be a number
of geometrical forms and shapes such
as Linear, rectangular, circular star
like, T-shaped village, double village,
cross-shaped village etc.
(a) Linear pattern: In such settlements
houses are located along a road,
railway line, river, canal edge of a valley
or along a levee.
(b) Rectangular pattern: Such patterns of
rural settlements are found in plain
areas or wide inter montane valleys.
The roads are rectangular and cut each
other at right angles.
Human Settlements 93
 Linear Pattern Cross-shape Pattern Star-like Pattern

h ed
pu T
is
T-Shape Pattern Circular Pattern Double Pattern
re R
bl
Railway Road River Canal Well

Bridge Temple Village Pond Tree

E
Fig. 10.5: Rural Settlement Patterns
be C

(c) Circular pattern: Circular villages settlements develop at tri-junctions of

develop around lakes, tanks and the roads ( ) while -shaped
o N

sometimes the village is planned in such

settlements emerge as the places where
a way that the central part remains open
two roads converge on the third one
and is used for keeping the animals to
and houses are built along these roads.
protect them from wild animals.
Cruciform settlements develop on the
©

(d) Star like pattern: Where several roads

cross-roads and houses extend in all
converge, star shaped settlements develop
the four direction.
by the houses built along the roads.
(e) T-shaped, Y-shaped, Cross-shaped or
crucifor m settlements: T -shaped
tt
no

Fig.10.6 : Linear pattern settlement Fig.10.7 : Y shape settlement

94 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 (f) Double village: These settlements
extend on both sides of a river where
there is a bridge or a ferry.
Identify these patterns on any topographical sheet which
you have studied in Practical Work in Geography, Part
I (NCERT, 2006) in Class XI
Problems of Rural Settlements
Rural settlements in the developing countries
are large in number and poorly equipped with
h
infrastructure. They represent a great challenge
and opportunity for planners.
pu T
Supply of water to rural settlements in
is
developing countries is not adequate. People
re R
in villages, particularly in mountainous and
arid areas have to walk long distances to fetch
bl
drinking water. Water borne diseases such as
cholera and jaundice tend to be a common
E
problem. The countries of South Asia face
conditions of drought and flood very often. Crop
be C
cultivation sequences, in the absence of
irrigation, also suffer.
The general absence of toilet and garbage
disposal facilities cause health related problems.
o N
The design and use of building materials
of houses vary from one ecological region to
another. The houses made up of mud, wood
and thatch, remain susceptible to damage
©
during heavy rains and floods, and require
proper maintenance every year. Most house
designs are typically deficient in proper
ventilation. Besides, the design of a house
includes the animal shed along with its fodder-
store within it. This is purposely done to keep
the domestic animals and their food properly
protected from wild animals.
Unmetalled roads and lack of modern
communication network creates a unique
tt
problem. During rainy season, the settlements
remain cut off and pose serious difficulties in
providing emergency services. It is also difficult
to provide adequate health and educational
no
infrastructure for their large rural population.
The problem is particularly serious where
proper villagisation has not taken place and
houses are scattered over a large area.
Urban Settlements
Rapid urban growth is a recent phenomenon.
Until recent times, few settlements reached the
population size of more than a few thousand
inhabitants. The first urban settlement to reach
a population of one million was the city of
London by around. A.D. 1810 By 1982
approximately 175 cities in the world had
crossed the one million population mark.
ed
Presently 48 per cent of the world’s population
lives in urban settlements compared to only 3
per cent in the year 1800 (Table 10.1).
Table 10.1: Percentage of World’s Population Living
in Urban Areas
Year Percentage
1800 3
1850 6
1900 14
1950 30
1982 37
2001 48
Classification of Urban Settlements
The definition of urban areas varies from one
country to another. Some of the common basis
of classification are size of population,
occupational structure and administrative
setup.
Population Size
It is an important criteria used by most countries
to define urban areas. The lower limit of the
population size for a settlement to be designated
as urban is 1,500 in Colombia, 2,000 in
Argentina and Portugal, 2,500 in U.S.A. and
Thailand, 5,000 in India and 30,000 in Japan.
Besides the size of population, density of 400
persons per sq km and share of non-agricultural
workers are taken into consideration in India.
Countries with low density of population may
choose a lower number as the cut-off figure
compared to densely populated countries. In
Denmark, Sweden and Finland, all places with
a population size of 250 persons are called
urban. The minimum population for a city is
Human Settlements 95
300 in Iceland, whereas in Canada and
Venezuela, it is 1,000 persons.
Occupational Structure
In some countries, such as India, the major
economic activities in addition to the size of the
population in designating a settlement as urban
are also taken as a criterion. Similarly, in Italy, a
settlement is called urban, if more than 50 per
cent of its economically productive population
is engaged in non-agricultural pursuits. India
has set this criterion at 75 per cent.
Administration
h
The administrative setup is a criterion for
pu T
classifying a settlement as urban in some
is
countries. For example, in India, a settlement
of any size is classified as urban, if it has a
re R
municipality, Cantonment Board or Notified
bl
Area Council. Similarly, in Latin American
countries, such as Brazil and Bolivia, any
E
administrative centre is considered urban
irrespective of its population size.
be C
Location
Location of urban centres is examined with
o N
reference to their function. For example, the
sitting requirements of a holiday resort are quite
different from that of an industrial town, a
military centre or a seaport. Strategic towns
require sites offering natural defence; mining
©
towns require the presence of economically
valuable minerals; industrial towns generally
need local energy supplies or raw materials;
tourist centres require attractive scenery, or a
marine beach, a spring with medicinal water
or historical relics, ports require a harbour etc.
Locations of the earliest urban settlements
were based on the availability of water, building
materials and fertile land. Today, while these
tt
considerations still remain valid, modern
technology plays a significant role in locating
urban settlements far away from the source of
these materials. Piped water can be supplied
no
to a distant settlement, building material can
be transported from long distances.
Apart from site, the situation plays an
important role in the expansion of towns. The
96 Fundamentals of Human Geography
urban centres which are located close to an
important trade route have experienced rapid
development.
Functions of Urban Centres
The earliest towns were centres of
administration, trade, industry, defence and
religious importance. The significance of defence
and religion as differentiating functions has
ed
declined in general, but other functions have
entered the list. Today, several new functions,
such as, recreational, residential, transport,
mining, manufacturing and most recently
activities related to information technology are
carried on in specialised towns. Some of these
functions do not necessarily require the urban
centre to have any fundamental relationship
with their neighbouring rural areas.
What would be the effects of Information
and Communication Technology (ICT) as
a function on the development of existing
and new settlements?
Prepare a list of cities where earlier functions have been
replaced by newer ones.
In spite of towns performing multiple
functions we refer to their dominant function.
For example, we think of Sheffield as an
industrial city, London as a port city,
Chandigarh as an administrative city and so
on. Large cities have a rather greater diversity
of functions. Besides, all cities are dynamic and
over a period of time may develop new functions.
Most of the early nineteenth-century fishing
ports in England have now developed tourism.
Many of the old market towns are now known
for manufacturing activities. Towns and cities
are classified into the following categories.
Administrative Towns
National capitals, which house the administrative
offices of central governments, such as New Delhi,
Canberra, Beijing, Addis Ababa, Washington
D.C., and London etc. are called administrative
towns. Provincial (sub-national) towns can also
have administrative functions, for example,
Victoria (British Columbia), Albany (New York),
Chennai (Tamil Nadu).
Trading and Commercial Towns
Agricultural market towns, such as, Winnipeg
and Kansas city; banking and financial centres
like Frankfurt and Amsterdam; large inland
Towns and cities of developed and
developing countries reflect marked differences
in planning and development. While most cities
in developed countries are planned, most
urban settlements of developing countries have
evolved historically with irregular shapes. For
example, Chandigarh and Canberra are
planned cities, while smaller town in India have
evolved historically from walled cities to large

ed
centres like Manchester and St Louis; and urban sprawls.
transport nodes such as, Lahore, Baghdad and
Addis Ababa (The New Flower)
Agra have been important trading centres.
The name of Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, as
Cultural Towns the name indicates (Addis-New, Ababa-Flower)

h
is a ‘new’ city which was established in 1878.
Places of pilgrimage, such as Jerusalem, Mecca,

pu T
Jagannath Puri and Varanasi etc. are The whole city is located on a hill-valley

is
considered cultural towns. These urban topography. The road pattern bears the influence
centres are of great religious importance.
re R
Additional functions which the cities

bl
perform are health and recreation (Miami and
Panaji), industrial (Pittsburgh and
E
Jamshedpur), mining and quarrying (Broken
Hill and Dhanbad) and transport (Singapore
and Mughal Sarai).
be C
o N

Urbanisation means the increase in the proportion

population of a country who live in urban areas.

The most important cause of urbanisation is rural-urban

migration. During the late 1990s some 20 to 30 million
©

people were leaving the countryside every year and

moving into towns and cities.

Developed countries experienced rapid urbanisation Fig. 10.8: Morphology of Addis Ababa
during the nineteenth century.

Developing counties experienced rapid urbanisation

during the second half of the twentieth century.

CLASSIFICA
CLASSIFICA TION OF TO
ASSIFICATION WNS ON THE
TOWNS
tt

BASIS OF FORMS
An urban settlement may be linear, square, star
no

or crescent shaped. In fact, the form of the

settlement, architecture and style of buildings
and other structures are an outcome of its
historical and cultural traditions.
Fig. 10.9: Skyline of Addis Ababa

Human Settlements 97
of the local topography. The roads radiate from
the govt headquarters Piazza, Arat and Amist
Kilo roundabouts. Mercato has markets which
grew with time and is supposed to be the largest
market between Cairo and Johannesburg. A
multi-faculty university, a medical college, a
number of good schools make Addis Ababa an
educational centre. It is also the terminal station
for the Djibouti-Addis Ababa rail route. Bole
airport is a relatively new airport. The city has
witnessed rapid growth because of its multi-
functional nature and being a large nodal centre
located in the centre of Ethiopia.
h
Canberra
pu T
Canberra was planned as the capital of
is
Australia in 1912 by American landscape
architect, Walter Burley Griffin. He had
re R
envisaged a garden city for about 25,000 people
bl
taking into account the natural features of the
landscape. There were to be five main centres,
E
be C
o N
©
tt
no
Fig. 10.10 : Morphology of a planned city – Canberra
98 Fundamentals of Human Geography
each with separate city functions. During the
last few decades, the city has expanded to
accommodate several satellite towns, which
have their own centres. The city has wide-open
spaces and many parks and gardens.
Types of Urban Settlements
Depending on the size and the services available
and functions rendered, urban centres are
ed
designated as town, city, million city,
conurbation, megalopolis.
Town
The concept of ‘town’ can best be understood
with reference to ‘village’. Population size is not
the only criterion. Functional contrasts between
towns and villages may not always be clear-
cut, but specific functions such as,
manufacturing, retail and wholesale trade, and
professional services exist in towns.
City
A city may be regarded as a leading town, which
has outstripped its local or regional rivals. In
the words of Lewis Mumford, “ the city is in fact
the physical form of the highest and most
complex type of associative life”. Cities are
much larger than towns and have a greater
number of economic functions. They tend to
have transport terminals, major financial
institutions and regional administrative offices.
When the population crosses the one million
mark it is designated as a million city.
Conurbation
The term conurbation was coined by Patrick
Geddes in 1915 and applied to a large area of
urban development that resulted from the
merging of originally separate towns or cities.
Greater London, Manchester, Chicago and
Tokyo are examples. Can you find out an
example from India?
Megalopolis
This Greek word meaning “great city”, was
popularised by Jean Gottman (1957) and
signifies ‘super- metropolitan’ region extending,
as union of conurbations. The urban Table 10.3: Mega Cities of the World
(as on 01. 04. 2012)
landscape stretching from Boston in the north
to south of Washington in U.S.A. is the best Rank English Country Population Population
known example of a megalopolis. (in millions)
1 Tokyo Japan 34,500,000 34.5
Million City 2 Canton China 25,800,000 25.8
3 Jakarta Indonesia 25,300,000 25.3
The number of million cities in the world has 4 Seoul Korea (South) 25,300,000 25.3
5 Shanghai China 25,300,000 25.3
been increasing as never before. London 6 Mexico City Mexico 23,200,000 23.2
reached the million mark in 1800, followed by 7 Delhi India 23,000,000 23.0

ed
Paris in 1850, New York in 1860, and by 1950 8 New York United States 21,500,000 21.5
of America
there were around 80 such cities. The rate of 9 São Paulo Brazil 21,100,000 21.1
increase in the number of million cities has been 10 Bombay India 20,800,000 20.8
three-fold in every three decades – around 160 11 Manila Philippines 20,700,000 20.7
12 Karachi Pakistan 17,400,000 17.4
in 1975 to around 438 in 2005.

h
13 Los Angeles United States 17,000,000 17.0
of America
Table 10.2: Continent–wise Distribution

pu T
14 Osaka Japan 16,800,000 16.8
of Million Cities
15 Beijing China 16,400,000 16.4

is
Continent Early Mid Mid 16 Moscow Russia 16,200,000 16.2
1950 1970s 2000 17 Cairo Egypt 15,700,000 15.7
re R 18
19
Calcutta
Buenos
India
Argentina Aires
15,700,000
14,300,000
15.7
14.3

bl
Europe 23 30 58
20 Dacca Bangladesh 14,000,000 14.0
Asia 32 69 206 21 Bangkok Thailand 13,800,000 13.8
E
North and Central America 16 36 79 22 Tehran Iran 13,500,000 13.5
South America 8 17 43 23 Istanbul Turkey 13,400,000 13.4
24 Lagos Nigeria 12,700,000 12.7
Africa 3 8 46
be C

25 Rio de Brazil 12,700,000 12.7

Australia 2 2 6 Janeiro
World Total 84 162 438 26 London Great Britain 12,600,000 12.6
27 Paris France 10,600,000 10.6
Source: www.citypopulation.de/World.html
o N

Source: www.citypopulation.de/World.html

Distribution of Mega Cities They also lack infrastructure such as,

electricity, sewage disposal, health and
A mega city or megalopolis is a general term education facilities.
for cities together with their suburbs with a
©

population of more than 10 million people.

New York was the first to attain the status of
a mega city by 1950 with a total population Rural/Urban Problems
of about 12.5 million. The number of mega
cities is now 25. The number of mega cities Can you identify the problems faced by your city/town/
has increased in the developing countries village in terms of any one of the following?
during the last 50 years vis-à-vis the Availability of potable water.
developed countries.
Electricity supply.
tt

Problems of Human Settlements

in Developing Countries Sewerage system.

The settlements in developing countries, suffer Transportation and communication facilities.

no

from various problems, such as unsustainable

Health and educational infrastructure.
concentration of population, congested housing
and streets, lack of drinking water facilities. Water and air pollution.

Can you think of solutions to these problems?

Human Settlements 99
Problems of Urban Settlements
People flock to cities to avail of employment
opportunities and civic amenities. Since most
cities in developing countries are unplanned,
it creates severe congestion. Shortage of
housing, vertical expansion and growth of
slums are characteristic features of modern
cities of developing countries. In many cities
an increasing proportion of the population
lives in substandard housing, e.g. slums and
squatter settlements. In most million plus
cities in India, one in four inhabitants lives in
illegal settlements, which are growing twice as
fast as the rest of the cities. Even in the Asia
h
Pacific countries, around 60 per cent of the
pu T
urban population lives in squatter settlements.
is
re R
bl
E
be C
o N
©
Fig. 10.11: Slums
What is a Healthy City?
World Health Organisation (WHO) suggests
that, among other things, a ‘healthy city’
must have:
tt
A ’Clean’ and ‘Safe’ environment.
Meets the ‘Basic Needs’ of ‘All’ its
inhabitants.
Involves the ‘Community’ in local
no
government.
Provides easily accessible ‘Health’ service.
100 Fundamentals of Human Geography
Economic Problems
The decreasing employment opportunities in
the rural as well as smaller urban areas of the
developing countries consistently push the
population to the urban areas. The enormous
migrant population generates a pool of un-
skilled and semi-skilled labour force, which is
already saturated in urban areas.
ed
Socio-cultural Problems
Cities in the developing countries suffer from
several social ills. Insufficient financial resources
fail to create adequate social infrastructure
catering to the basic needs of the huge
population. The available educational and
health facilities remain beyond the reach of the
urban poor. Health indices also, present a
gloomy picture in cities of developing countries.
Lack of employment and education tends to
aggravate the crime rates. Male selective
migration to the urban areas distorts the sex
ratio in these cities.
Environmental Problems
The large urban population in developing
countries not only uses but also disposes off a
huge quantity of water and all types of waste
materials. Many cities of the developing
countries even find it extremely difficult to
provide the minimum required quantity of
potable water and water for domestic and
industrial uses. An improper sewerage system
creates unhealthy conditions. Massive use of
traditional fuel in the domestic as well as the
industrial sector severely pollutes the air. The
domestic and industrial wastes are either let
into the general sewerages or dumped without
treatment at unspecified locations. Huge
concrete structures erected to accommodate
the population and economic play a very
conducive role to create heat islands.
Urban Strategy
The United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) has outlined these
priorities as part of its ‘Urban Strategy’.
 Increasing ‘Shelter’ for the urban poor.
Provision of basic urban services such as
‘Education’, ‘Primary Health care’, ‘Clean
Water and Sanitation’.
Improving women’s access to ‘Basic
Services’ and government facilities.
Upgrading ‘Energy’ use and alternative
‘Transport’ systems.
Reducing ‘Air Pollution’.
settlements. As the growth of rural population
has outpaced the generation of employment and
economic opportunities, rural-to-urban migration
has steadily increased, particularly in the
developing countries, which has put an enormous
pressure on urban infrastructure and services
that are already under serious stress. It is urgent
to eradicate rural poverty and to improve the
quality of living conditions, as well as to create

Cities, towns and rural settlements are linked
through the movements of goods, resources and
people. Urban-rural linkages are of crucial
ed
employment and educational opportunities in
rural settlements. Full advantage must be taken
of the complementary contributions and linkages
of rural and urban areas by balancing their
different economic, social and environmental

h
importance for the sustainability of human requirements.

pu T
is
re R
bl
E
EXERCISES
be C

1. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.
(i) Which one of the following forms of settlement develops along either side of
o N

roads, rivers or canals?

(a) circular (c) cross-shaped
(b) linear (d) square
(ii) Which one of the following types of economic activities dominates in all rural
©

settlement?
(a) primary (c) secondary
(b) tertiary (d) quaternary
(iii) In which of the following regions has the oldest well-documented urban
settlement found?
(a) Huang He Valley (c) Nile Valley
(b) Indus Valley (d) Mesopotamia
(iv) How many of the following cities in India have attained the million status at the
beginning of 2006?
tt

(a) 40 (c) 41
(b) 42 (d) 43
(v) Sufficiency of which type of resources can help to create adequate social
infrastructure catering to the needs of the large population in the developing
no

countries?
(a) financial (c) natural
(b) human (d) social

Human Settlements 101

 2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) How would you define a settlement?
(ii) Distinguish between site and situation.
(iii)
What are the bases of classifying settlements?
(iv)
How would you justify the study of human settlements in human
geography?
3. Answer the following questions in not more than 150 words.
(i) What are rural and urban settlements? Mention their
characteristics.

ed
(ii) Discuss the problems associated with urban settlements in
developing countries.

Project/Activity

h
(i) Do you live in a city? If not, do you live nearby? Is your life
somehow linked to a city?

pu T
(a) What is its name?

is
(b) When was it first settled?
(c) Why was the site chosen?
re R (d) What is its population?

bl
(e) What are the functions it performs?
(f) On a sketch of the city, try to identify the areas where
E
these functions are performed.
Each student should make a list of five things associated with the selected city;
things that cannot be found elsewhere. This is a mini definition of the city as each
be C

student sees it. The lists should be shared with the class. How much agreement is
there between the lists?
(ii) Can you think of some ways by which you can single
o N

handedly help reduce pollution levels of your settlement

Hints :
(a) Proper garbage disposal
(b) Using public transport
(c) Better management of domestic water consumption
©

(d) Planting trees in the neighbourhood

tt
no

102 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 Human Settlement means cluster of dwellings
Unit II of any type or size where human beings live.
Chapter 4 For this purpose, people may erect houses and
other structures and command some area or
territory as their economic support-base. Thus,
the process of settlement inherently involves
grouping of people and apportioning of territory
as their resource base.
Settlements vary in size and type. They
range from a hamlet to metropolitan cities. With
size, the economic character and social structure
of settlements changes and so do its ecology and
technology. Settlements could be small and
sparsely spaced; they may also be large and
HUMAN closely spaced. The sparsely located small
settlements are called villages, specialising in
SETTLEMENTS agriculture or other primary activities. On the
other hand, there are fewer but larger settlements
which are termed as urban settlements
specialising in secondary and tertiary activities.
The basic differences between rural and urban
settlements are as follows :
• The rural settlements derive their life
support or basic economic needs from
land based primary economic activities,
whereas, urban settlements, depend on
processing of raw materials and
manufacturing of finished goods on the
one hand and a variety of services on the
other.
• Cities act as nodes of economic growth,
provide goods and services not only to
urban dwellers but also to the people of
the rural settlements in their hinterlands
in return for food and raw materials. This
functional relationship between the urban
and rural settlements takes place through
transport and communication network.
• Rural and urban settlements differ in
terms of social relationship, attitude and
outlook. Rural people are less mobile and
therefore, social relations among them are
intimate. In urban areas, on the other
hand, way of life is complex and fast, and
social relations are formal.

Types of Rur
Rural Settlement
ural
Types of the settlement are determined by the
extent of the built-up area and inter-house

2015-16
distance. In India compact or clustered village Semi-Clustered Settlements
of a few hundred houses is a rather universal
Semi-clustered or fragmented settlements may
feature, particularly in the northern plains.
result from tendency of clustering in a
However, there are several areas, which have
restricted area of dispersed settlement. More
other forms of rural settlements. There are
often such a pattern may also result from
various factors and conditions responsible for
segregation or fragmentation of a large compact
having different types of rural settlements in
village. In this case, one or more sections of
India. These include: (i) physical features –
the village society choose or is forced to live a
nature of terrain, altitude, climate and
little away from the main cluster or village. In
availability of water (ii) cultural and ethenic
such cases, generally, the land-owning and
factors – social structure, caste and religion
dominant community occupies the central part
(iii) security factors – defence against thefts and
of the main village, whereas people of lower
robberies. Rural settlements in India can
strata of society and menial workers settle on
broadly be put into four types:
the outer flanks of the village. Such settlements
• Clustered, agglomerated or nucleated,
are widespread in the Gujarat plain and some
• Semi-clustered or fragmented,
parts of Rajasthan.
• Hamleted, and
• Dispersed or isolated.

Clustered Settlements
The clustered rural settlement is a compact or
closely built up area of houses. In this type of
village the general living area is distinct and
separated from the surrounding farms, barns
and pastures. The closely built-up area and its

Fig. 4.2 : Semi-clustered settlements

Fig. 4.1 : Clustered Settlements in the North-eastern states
intervening streets present some recognisable
pattern or geometric shape, such as
rectangular, radial, linear, etc. Such settlements
are generally found in fertile alluvial plains and
in the northeastern states. Sometimes, people
live in compact village for security or defence
reasons, such as in the Bundelkhand region of
central India and in Nagaland. In Rajasthan,
scarcity of water has necessitated compact
settlement for maximum utilisation of available
water resources.
Hamleted Settlements
Sometimes settlement is fragmented into several
units physically separated from each other
bearing a common name. These units are locally
called panna, para, palli, nagla, dhani, etc. in
various parts of the country. This segmentation
of a large village is often motivated by social
and ethnic factors. Such villages are more
frequently found in the middle and lower Ganga
plain, Chhattisgarh and lower valleys of the
Himalayas.
Dispersed Settlements
Dispersed or isolated settlement pattern in India
appears in the form of isolated huts or hamlets
of few huts in remote jungles, or on small hills

Human Settlements 33

2015-16
 Ancient Towns
There are number of towns in India having
historical background spanning over 2000
years. Most of them developed as religious and
cultural centres. Varanasi is one of the important
towns among these. Prayag (Allahabad),
Pataliputra (Patna), Madurai are some other
examples of ancient towns in the country.

Fig. 4.3 : Dispersed settlements in Nagaland
with farms or pasture on the slopes. Extreme
dispersion of settlement is often caused by
extremely fragmented nature of the terrain and
land resource base of habitable areas. Many
areas of Meghalaya, Uttaranchal, Himachal
Pradesh and Kerala have this type of settlement.
Medieval Towns
About 100 of the existing towns have their roots
in the medieval period. Most of them developed
as headquarters of principalities and kingdoms.
These are fort towns which came up on the
ruins of ancient towns. Important among them
are Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Agra
and Nagpur.

Modern Towns
Urban Settlements
The British and other Europeans have
Unlike rural settlements, urban settlements
developed a number of towns in India.
are generally compact and larger in size. Starting their foothold on coastal locations,
They are engaged in a variety of non-
they first developed some trading ports such
agricultural, economic and administrative as Surat, Daman, Goa, Pondicherry, etc. The
functions. As mentioned earlier, cities are
British later consolidated their hold around
functionally linked to rural areas around
three principal nodes – Mumbai (Bombay),
them. Thus, exchange of goods and services Chennai (Madras), and Kolkata (Calcutta) –
is performed sometimes directly and
and built them in the British style. Rapidly
sometimes through a series of market towns
and cities. Thus, cities are connected directly
as well as indirectly with the villages and also
with each other. You can see the definition
of towns in Chapter 10 of the book,
“Fundamentals of Human Geography.”

Evolution of Towns in India

Towns flourished since prehistoric times in
India. Even at the time of Indus valley
civilisation, towns like Harappa and
Mohanjodaro were in existence. The following
period has witnessed evolution of towns. It
continued with periodic ups and downs until
the arrival of Europeans in India in the
eighteenth century. On the basis of their Fig. 4.4 : A view of the modern city

evolution in different periods, Indian towns may
be classified as:
• Ancient towns, • Medieval towns, and
• Modern towns.
extending their domination either directly or
through control over the princely states, they
established their administrative centres, hill-
towns as summer resorts, and added new civil,

34 India : People and Economy

2015-16
Fig. 4.5 : India – Metropolitan Cities, 2001

Human Settlements 35

2015-16
 Table 4.1 : India – Trends of Urbanisation 1901-2011
Year Number of Urban Population % of Total Decennial
Towns/UAs (in Thousands) Population Growth (%)

1901 1,827 25,851.9 10.84 —-

1911 1,815 25,941.6 10.29 0.35
1921 1,949 28,086.2 11.18 8.27
1931 2,072 33,456.0 11.99 19.12
1941 2,250 44,153.3 13.86 31.97
1951 2,843 62,443.7 17.29 41.42
1961 2,365 78,936.6 17.97 26.41
1971 2,590 1,09,114 19.91 38.23
1981 3,378 1,59,463 23.34 46.14
1991 4,689 2,17,611 25.71 36.47
2001 5,161 2,85,355 27.78 31.13
2011* 7,935 3,77,000 31.16 31.08

*Source: Census of India, 2011 http.//www.censusindia.gov.in (Provisional)

administrative and military areas to them. Classification of Towns on the basis of

Towns based on modern industries also Population Size
evolved after 1850. Jamshedpur can be cited
as an example. Census of India classifies urban centres into
After independence, a large number of six classes as presented in Table 4.2. Urban
towns have been developed as administrative centre with population of more than one lakh
headquarters, e.g. Chandigarh, Bhubaneswar, is called a city or class I town. Cities
Gandhinagar, Dispur, etc. and industrial accommodating population size between one
centres such as Durgapur, Bhilai, Sindri, to five million are called metropolitan cities and
Barauni. Some old towns also developed more than five million are mega cities. Majority
as satellite towns around metropolitan of metropolitan and mega cities are urban
cities such as Ghaziabad, Rohtak, Gurgaon agglomerations. An urban agglomeration may
around Delhi. With increasing investment consist of any one of the following three
in rural areas, a large number of medium
Fig. 4.6 : India : Distribution of urban
and small towns have developed all over
population (%), according to size class of
the country. urban centre — 2001
Urbanisation in India
The level of urbanisation is measured in
terms of percentage of urban population to
total population. The level of urbanisation in
India in 2001 was 28 per cent, which is quite
low in comparison to developed countries.
Total urban population has increased eleven
fold during twentieth century. Enlargement
of urban centres and emergence of new towns
have played a significant role in the growth
of urban population and urbanisation in the
country. (Table 4.1). But the growth rate of
urbanisation has slowed down during last
two decades.

36 India : People and Economy

2015-16
 Table 4.2 : India – Class-wise number of towns and cities
and their population, 2001

Class Population Size Number Population % of total % Growth

(Million) Urban 1991-2001
Population

All classes
Total 5161 285.35 100 31.13
I 1,00,000 and more 423 172.04 61.48 23.12
II 50,000 – 99,999 498 34.43 12.3 43.45
III 20,000 – 49,999 1386 41.97 15.0 46.19
IV 10,000 – 9,999 1560 22.6 8.08 32.94
V 5,000 – 9,999 1057 7.98 2.85 41.49
VI Less than 5,000 227 0.8 0.29 21.21

combinations: (i) a town and its adjoining
urban outgrowths, (ii) two or more
contiguous towns with or without their
outgrowths, and (iii) a city and one or more
adjoining towns with their outgrowths
together forming a contiguous spread.
Examples of urban outgrowth are railway
colonies, university campus, port area,
military cantonment, etc. located within the
revenue limits of a village or villages
contiguous to the town or city.
It is evident from Table 4.2 that more than
60 per cent of urban population in India lives
in Class I towns. Out of 423 cities, 35 cities/
urban agglomerations are metropolitan cities
(Fig.4.6). Six of them are mega cities with
population over five million each. More than
one-fifth (21.0%) of urban population lives in
these mega cities.
Among them, Greater Mumbai is the
largest agglomeration with 16.4 million
people. Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore
and Hyderabad are other mega cities in the
country.
Functional Classification of Towns
Apart from their role as central or nodal places,
many towns and cities perform specialised
services. Some towns and cities specialise in
certain functions and they are known for
some specific activities, products or services.
However, each town performs a number of
functions. On the basis of dominant or
specialised functions, Indian cities and towns
can be broadly classified as follows:
Administrative towns and cities
Towns supporting administrative headquarters
of higher order are administrative towns, such
as Chandigarh, New Delhi, Bhopal, Shillong,
Guwahati, Imphal, Srinagar, Gandhinagar,
Jaipur Chennai, etc.
Industrial towns
Industries constitute prime motive force of these
cities such as Mumbai, Salem, Coimbatore,
Modinagar, Jamshedpur, Hugli, Bhilai, etc.
Transport Cities
They may be ports primarily engaged in export
and import activities such as Kandla, Kochchi,
Kozhikode, Vishakhapatnam, etc. or hubs of
inland transport such as Agra, Dhulia, Mughal
Sarai, Itarsi, Katni, etc.
Commercial towns
Towns and cities specialising in trade and
commerce are kept in this class. Kolkata,
Saharanpur, Satna, etc. are some examples.
Mining towns
These towns have developed in mineral rich
areas such as Raniganj, Jharia, Digboi,
Ankaleshwar, Singrauli, etc.
Garrisson Cantonment towns
These towns emerged as garrisson towns such
as Ambala, Jalandhar, Mhow, Babina,
Udhampur, etc.

Human Settlements 37

2015-16
 Table 4.3 : India – Population of Million
plus Cities/Urban Agglomeration, 2001
Rank Name of Urban Population List the urban agglomerations/cities state-
Agglomeration/ (in million) wise and see the state-wise population
Cities under this category of cities.
1 Greater Mumbai 16.37
2 Kolkata 13.22
3 Delhi 12.79
4 Chennai 6.42
Educational towns
5 Bangalore 5.69
6 Hyderabad 5.53 Starting as centres of education, some of the
7 Ahmedabad 4.52 towns have grown into major campus towns
8 Pune 3.76 such as Roorki, Varanasi, Aligarh, Pilani,
9 Surat 2.81
10 Kanpur 2.69
Allahabad etc.
11 Jaipur 2.32
12 Lucknow 2.27 Religious and cultural towns
13 Nagpur 2.12
14 Patna 1.71 Varanasi, Mathura, Amritsar, Madurai, Puri,
15 Indore 1.64 Ajmer, Pushkar, Tirupati, Kurukshetra,
16 Vadodara 1.49
17 Bhopal 1.45 Haridwar, Ujjain came to prominence due to
18 Coimbatore 1.45 their religious/cultural significance.
19 Ludhiana 1.39
20 Kochchi 1.36 Tourist towns
21 Vishakhapatnam 1.33
22 Agra 1.32
23 Varanasi 1.21
Nainital, Mussoorie, Shimla, Pachmarhi,
24 Madurai 1.19 Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Udagamandalam (Ooty),
25 Meerut 1.17 Mount Abu are some of the tourist destinations.
26 Nashik 1.15 The cities are not static in their function. The
27 Jabalpur 1.12 functions change due to their dynamic nature.
28 Jamshedpur 1.10
Even specialised cities, as they grow into
29 Asansol 1.09
30 Dhanbad 1.06 metropolises become multifunctional wherein
31 Faridabad 1.05 industry, business, administration, transport,
32 Allahabad 1.05 etc. become important. The functions get so
33 Amritsar 1.01 intertwined that the city can not be categorised
34 Vijayawada 1.01
35 Rajkot 1.00
in a particular functional class.
Total 107.88
For Census of India 2011 see appendix on Page No. 161

EXERCISES

1. Choose the right answers of the following from the given options.
(i) Which one of the following towns is NOT located on a river bank?
(a) Agra (c) Patna
(b) Bhopal (d) Kolkata

38 India : People and Economy

2015-16
 (ii) Which one of the following is NOT the part of the definition of a town as
per the census of India?
(a) Population density of 400 persons per sq km.
(b) Presence of municipality, corporation, etc.
(c) More than 75% of the population engaged in primary sector.
(d) Population size of more than 5,000 persons.
(iii) In which one of the following environments does one expect the presence
of dispersed rural settlements?
(a) Alluvial plains of Ganga
(b) Arid and semi-arid regions of Rajasthan
(c) Lower valleys of Himalayas
(d) Forests and hills in north-east
(iv) Which one of the following group of cities have been arranged in the
sequence of their ranks i.e. 1, 2, 3 and 4 in size?
(a) Greater Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai
(b) Delhi, Greater Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata
(c) Kolkata, Greater Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata
(d) Greater Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) What are garrisson towns? What is their function?
(ii)How can one identify an urban agglomeration?
(iii)What are the main factors for the location of villages in desert regions?
(iv) What are metropolitan cities? How are they different from urban
agglomerations?
3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.
(i) Discuss the features of different types of rural settlements. What are the
factors responsible for the settlement patterns in different physical
environments?
(ii) Can one imagine the presence of only one-function town? Why do the
cities become multi-functional?

Human Settlements 39

2015-16
Appendix I
World Population : Selected Data, 2010

Total Males Females Estimate Area

Continent/Country
Population 2005 2010 (Sq. Km)

AFRICA

Algeria *34 452 759 *17 428 500 *17 024 259 32 906 *35 978 2 381 741

Angola 5 646 166 2 943 974 2 702 192 ... ... 1 246 700

ed
1 1
Benin 6 769 914 3 284 119 3 485 795 *7 447 *8 779 114 763

Botswana 1 680 863 813 625 867 238 1 708 1 823 582 000

Burkina 14 196 259 6 842 560 7 353 699 13 374 15 7311 272 967

Burundi 7 877 728 3 838 045 4 039 683 ... ... 27 834

h
Cameroon 17 052 134 8 408 495 8 643 639 ... *19 4061 475 650

pu T
Cape Verd *491 575 *243 315 *248 260 475 518 4 033

is
Central African Republic 3 151 072 1 569 446 1 581 626 ... ... 622 984

Chad re R 6 158 992 2 950 415 3 208 577 ... ... 1 284 000

bl
2
Comoros 575 660 ... ... ... ... 2 235
E
1
Congo *3 697 487 ... ... 3 488 ... 342 000
1
Côte d’Ivoire 15 366 672 7 844 621 7 522 050 *19 097 ... 322 463
be C
Democratic Republic of the 29 916 800 14 543 800 15 373 000 ... ... 2 344 858
Congo

Djibouti *818 159 ... ... ... ... 23 200

o N

Egypt 72 798 031 37 219 056 35 578 975 70 653 *78 728 1 002 000

Equatorial Guinea 1 014 999 501 387 513 612 ... ... 28 051

Eritrea 2 748 304 1 374 452 1 373 852 ... ... 117 600
3
Ethiopia 73 750 932 37 217 130 36 533 802 73 044 ... 1 104 300
©

Gabon *1 269 000 ... ... 1 3134 ... 267 668

Gambia *1 364 507 *676 726 *687 781 1 436 ... 11 295

Ghana *24 223 431 *11 801 661 *12 421 770 21 367 ... 238 533

Guinea 7 156 406 3 497 979 3 658 427 ... 10 5371 245 857
1
Guinea-Bissau 1 520 830 737 634 783 196 1 326 ... 36 125
5 5
Kenya *38 610 097 *19 192 458 *19 417 639 35 267 *40 400 581 313
1
Lesotho 1 741 406 818 379 923 027 1 892 ... 30 355
tt

Liberia 3 476 608 1 739 945 1 736 663 ... ... 111 369
6 6
Libya *5 657 692 *2 934 4526 *2 723 240 ... ... 1 759 540

Madagascar 12 238 914 6 088 116 6 150 798 17 730 ... 587 041
no

Malawi 13 077 160 6 358 933 6 718 227 12 3411 ... 118 484

Mali *14 517 176 *7 202 744 *7 314 432 11 7327 ... 1 240 192

Mauritania 2 508 159 1 241 712 1 266 447 2 9061 ... 1 030 700
 Total Males Females Estimate Area
Continent/Country
Population 2005 2010 (Sq. Km)

Mauritius 1 178 848 583 756 595 092 1 243 1 2819 1 969

Mayotte 186 387 91 405 94 982 ... ... ...

Morocco 29 680 069 14 640 662 15 039 407 30 17210 31 85110 446 550

Mozambique 20 252 223 9 746 690 10 505 533 19 4201 21 8541 801 590
11 11 1 1
Namibia 1 830 330 887 721 942 572 1 957 2 143 824 268

ed
1 1
Niger 11 060 291 5 516 588 5 543 703 12 628 15 204 1 267 000
1
Nigeria 140 431 790 71 345 488 69 086 302 133 767 ... 923 768

Réunion 781 962 379 176 402 786 777 ... 2 513

Rwanda 8 128 553 3 879 448 4 249 105 ... 10 413 26 338

h
Saint Helena ex. dep. *4 255 *2 166 *2 089 ... 4 122

pu T
Saint Helena: Ascension 712 458 254 ... ... 88

is
Saint Helena: Tristan da 296 139 157 ... ... 98

re R
Cunha

bl
Sao Tome and Principe 136 554 67 422 69 132 149 *164 964

Senegal 9 555 346 4 672 015 4 883 331 10 90112 12 50912 196 71213
E
Seychelles 81 75514 40 75114 41 00414 83 87 452

Sierra Leone 4 976 871 2 420 218 2 556 653 5 095 5 747 72 300
be C

Somalia 7 114 431 3 741 664 3 372 767 ... ... 637 657
15 15
South Africa 44 819 778 21 434 041 23 385 737 47 335 49 991 1 221 037
o N

Sudan *39 154 490 *20 073 977 *19 080 513 35 397 ... 2 505 813

Swaziland 844 223 405 868 438 355 1 126 ... 17 364

Togo 2 719 567 1 325 641 1 393 926 5 212 ... 56 785

Tunisia 9 910 872 4 965 435 4 945 437 10 029 10 549 163 610
©

Uganda 24 442 084 11 929 803 12 512 281 26 741 ... 241 550

United Republic of Tanzania *34 443 603 *16 829 861 *17 613 742 37 379 ... 945 087

Western Sahara 76 425 43 981 32 444 ... ... 266 000

1
Zambia *13 046 508 *6 394 455 *6 652 053 11 441 ... 752 612
17
Zimbabwe 11 631 657 5 634 180 5 997 477 11 830 ... 390 757

AMERICA, NORTH

Anguilla 11 43018 5 62818 5 80218 14 ... 91

tt

Antigua and Barbuda 76 886 36 107 40 779 83 ... 442

Aruba 90 506 43 434 47 072 101 108 180

Bahamas 353 658 ... ... 325 1 347 1 13 943

no

Barbados 250 010 119 926 130 084 273 276 19 430

Belize 240 204 121 278 118 926 292 ... 966
20 20 20
Bermuda 62 059 29 802 32 257 64 65 53

104 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 Total Males Females Estimate Area
Continent/Country
Population 2005 2010 (Sq. Km)

British Virgin Islands 20 647 10 627 10 020 ... ... 151

Canada 31 612 89521 15 475 97021 16 136 93021 32 24522 *34 10923 9 984 670

Cayman Islands *54 39724 *26 89924 *27 49824 48 *55 264
25
Costa Rica 3 810 179 1 902 614 1 907 565 4 266 4 562 51 100

Cuba 11 177 743 5 597 233 5 580 510 11 243 11 242 109 88626

ed
Dominica 69 62524 35 07324 34 55224 71 ... 751
27 27 27 1 1
Dominican Republic *9 378 819 *4 707 921 *4 670 898 9 226 9 884 48 671

El Salvador 5 744 113 2 719 371 3 024 742 6 04928 6 18328 21 04129

Greenland 56 46230 29 88530 26 57730 57 30 57 30 2 166 086

h
Grenada 102 632 50 481 52 151 ... ... 344

pu T
Guadeloupe 400 73631 188 72031 212 01631 446 404 32 1 705

is
33 33
Guatemala 11 237 196 5 496 839 5 740 357 12 701 14 362 108 889

Haiti re R 8 373 750 4 039 272 4 334 478 9 292 34

10 085 34
27 750

bl
35 35
Honduras 6 071 200 3 000 530 3 070 670 7 197 8 046 112 492
E
36 36 36
Jamaica 2 607 632 1 283 548 1 324 084 2 650 *2 702 10 991

Martinique 397 732 185 604 212 128 396 7 400 7 1 128

Mexico 112 336 53837 54 855 23137 57 481 30737 103 9471 ... 1 964 375
be C

Montserrat 4 491 2 418 2 073 5 ... 102

Netherlands Antilles 175 653 82 521 93 132 184 7 19838 800

o N

Nicaragua 5 142 098 2 534 491 2 607 607 5 450 5 816 130 373
39 39
Panama 3 405 813 1 712 584 1 693 229 3 228 3 504 75 417
40 40
Puerto Rico *3 725 789 ... ... 3 912 3 979 8 870
©

Saint Kitts and Nevis 45 841 22 784 23 057 *39 ... 261

Saint Lucia *173 720 ... ... 164 ... 53941

Saint Pierre and Miquelon 6 125 3 034 3 091 ... ... 242

Saint Vincent and the 109 02224 55 45624 53 56624 104 ... 389
Grenadines

Trinidad and Tobago 1 262 36642 633 05142 629 31542 1 29442 1 31842 5 130

Turks and Caicos Islands 19 886 9 897 9 989 31 40 948 43

United States of America *308 745 538 ... ... 295 75344 *309 05144 9 629 091
tt

40 40 40 40 40
United States Virgin Islands 108 612 51 864 56 748 110 *110 347

AMERICA, SOUTH

Argentina 40 117 096 19 523 766 20 593 330 38 592 40 51945 2 780 400
no

Bolivia (Plurinational State of) 8 274 325 4 123 850 4 150 475 9 427 10 426 1 098 581

Brazil *190 755 79946 *93 406 99046 *97 348 80946 183 38346 193 25346 8 514 877

Chile 15 116 435 7 447 695 7 668 740 16 267 17 094 756 102

Appendix I 105
 Total Males Females Estimate Area
Continent/Country
Population 2005 2010 (Sq. Km)

Colombia 41 468 384 20 336 117 21 132 267 42 88947 45 50847 1 141 748

Ecuador *14 306 876 ... ... 13 21548 14 20548 256 369

Falkland Islands (Malvinas) 2 95550 1 56950 1 38650 ... ... 12 173

French Guiana 205 954 101 930 104 023 199 7 232 7 83 534

Guyana 751 223 376 034 375 189 758 *778 214 969

ed
17 17
Paraguay 5 163 198 2 603 242 2 559 956 5 899 *6 451 406 752

Peru 27 412 157 13 622 640 13 789 517 27 811 29 462 1 285 216
51 52 52
Suriname 492 829 247 846 244 618 499 ... 163 820
53 53 53 1
Uruguay 3 241 003 1 565 533 1 675 470 3 306 *3 3571 176 215

h
54 54 54
Bolivarian Republic of 23 054 210 11 402 869 11 651 341 26 577 28 834 912 050

pu T
Venezuela

is
ASIA

Afghanistan 13 051 35855 6 712 37755 6 338 98155 22 09856 24 48657 652 864
re R
Armenia 3 002 594 58
1 407 220 58
1 595 374 58
3 218 3 256 29 743

bl
59
Azerbaijan *8 922 300 ... ... 8 500 9 047 86 600
E
Bahrain 650 604 373 649 276 955 889 ... 758
60 60 60
Bangladesh 124 355 263 64 091 508 60 263 755 138 600 ... 143 998
be C
Bhutan 634 982 333 595 301 387 696 61 ... 38 394

Brunei Darussalam *332 844 *168 974 *163 870 370 ... 5 765

Cambodia 13 395 68262 6 516 05462 6 879 62862 *13 66163 14 30364 181 035
o N

China 1 242 612 22665 640 275 96965 602 336 25765 1 307 56066 ... 9 596 961

China, Hong Kong SAR 6 752 674 ... ... 6 813 7 068 1 104

China, Macao SAR 502 113 245 167 256 946 473 545 30
©

67 67 67
Cyprus 689 565 338 497 351 068 75868 *80468 9 251

Democratic People's 24 052 231 11 721 838 12 330 393 ... ... 120 538
Republic of Korea

Georgia 4 355 673 2 049 786 2 305 887 4 361 ... 69 700

India *1 210 193 42269 *623 724 24870 *586 469 17469 1 101 31871 *1 182 10571 3 287 263
72
Indonesia 237 641 326 119 630 913 118 010 413 220 926 ... 1 910 931
73 73
Islamic Republic of Iran 70 495 782 35 866 362 34 629 420 69 390 74 340 1 628 75074

Iraq 19 184 54375 9 536 57075 9 647 97375 27 963 ... 435 244
tt

76 76 76 77 77
Israel 7 412 180 3 663 910 3 748 270 6 930 *7 625 22 072
78 78 78 78 78
Japan 127 767 994 62 348 977 65 419 017 127 773 127 450 377 93079

Jordan 5 103 63980 2 626 28780 2 477 35280 5 47381 6 11381 89 342
no

Kazakhstan 14 955 106 7 202 954 7 752 152 15 147 ... 2 724 900

Kuwait *2 213 403 *1 310 067 *903 336 2 245 ... 17 818

Kyrgyzstan *5 107 700 *2 489 200 *2 618 500 5 00782 5 193 199 951

106 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 Total Males Females Estimate Area
Continent/Country

Lao People's Democratic 5 621 982 2 800 551 2 821 431 5 67983 *6 31083 236 800
Republic

Lebanon 3 759 13484 1 857 65984 1 901 47584 ... ... 10 452
85 85 85 86 86
Malaysia 23 274 690 11 853 432 11 421 258 26 477 28 250 330 803

Maldives 298 968 151 459 147 509 294 320 300

Mongolia 2 373 493 1 177 981 1 195 512 2 548 ... 1 564 100

ed
Myanmar 35 307 913 17 518 255 17 789 658 55 396 ... 676 578

Nepal 23 151 42387 11 563 92187 11 587 50287 25 343 ... 147 181

Occupied Palestinian *3 761 64688 *1 908 43288 *1 853 21488 3 508 4 048 6 020
Territory

h
Oman *2 694 09489 ... ... 2 509 ... 309 500

pu T
90 90 90 91
Pakistan 130 579 571 67 840 137 62 739 434 144 367 ... 796 095

is
92 92
Philippines *88 574 614 ... ... 85 261 *94 013 300 000

Qatar re R 1 699 435 1 284 739 414 696 906 1 714 11 607

bl
Republic of Korea 47 278 95193 23 623 95493 23 654 99793 48 138 48 875 99 897
E
Saudi Arabia 22 678 262 12 557 240 10 121 022 23 119 ... 2 149 690

Singapore 5 076 700 ... ... 4 266 5 077 712

Sri Lanka 16 929 68994 8 425 60794 8 504 08294 19 644 *20 653 65 610
be C

95 95 95 95
Syrian Arab Republic *17 921 000 *9 161 000 *8 760 000 18 138 ... 185 180

Tajikistan 6 127 493 3 069 100 3 058 393 6 850 ... 143 100
o N

96 96 96
Thailand 60 916 441 30 015 233 30 901 208 64 8391 67 3121 513 120

Timor *1 066 582 *541 147 *525 435 ... ... 14 919
97 97 97 97 97
Turkey 71 517 100 35 901 154 35 615 946 68 582 72 698 783 562
©

Turkmenistan 4 483 251 2 225 331 2 257 920 ... ... 488 100

United Arab Emirates 4 106 427 2 806 141 1 300 286 4 041 ... 83 600

Uzbekistan 19 810 077 9 784 156 10 025 921 ... ... 447 400

Viet Nam 85 846 997 42 413 143 43 433 854 82 39498 *86 928 349 340
19 1
Yemen 19 685 161 10 036 953 9 648 208 20 283 23 154 527 968

EUROPE

Åland Islands 25 77630 12 70030 13 07630 27 30 28 30 1 580

Albania 3 069 275 1 530 443 1 538 832 3 142 ... 28 748
tt

Andorra 65 84430 34 26830 31 57630 79 30 85 30 468

Austria 8 032 926 3 889 189 4 143 737 8 225 8 390 83 871

Belarus 10 045 237 4 717 621 5 327 616 9 775 9 491 207 600
no

Belgium 10 296 350 5 035 446 5 260 904 10 473 *10 879 30 528

Bosnia and Herzegovina 4 377 033 2 183 795 2 193 238 3 843 *3 844 51 209
Bulgaria 7 928 901 3 862 465 4 066 436 7 740 7 534 110 879

Appendix I 107
 Total Males Females Estimate Area
Continent/Country
Population 2005 2010 (Sq. Km)
Croatia 4 437 460 2 135 900 2 301 560 4 442 4 4267 56 594

Czech Republic 10 230 060 4 982 071 5 247 989 10 234 10 520 78 865
30 30 30 30 30
Denmark 5 349 212 2 644 319 2 704 893 5 416 5 545 43 094
Estonia 1 370 052 631 851 738 201 1 346 1 340 45 227
30 30 30
Faeroe Islands 48 433 25 174 23 259 48 ... 1 393

ed
30 30 30 30 100
Finland 5 181 115 2 529 341 2 651 774 5 246 5 335 336 861101
France 61 399 541102 29 714 539102 31 685 002102 61 181102 *62 968102 551 500
103 103 103
Germany 82 491 000 40 330 000 42 161 000 82 464 *81 776 357 114
104 104 104 105
Gibraltar 27 495 13 644 13 851 29 ... 6

h
106 106 106 107
Greece 10 964 020 5 427 682 5 536 338 11 104 ... 131 957

pu T
108
Guernsey 59 807 29 138 30 669 62 78 800

is
Holy See *460 ... ... ... ... 0110

re R
Hungary

Iceland
10 198 315

281 154 30
4 850 650

140 718 30
5 347 665

140 436 30
10 087

296 30
*10 000

318 30
93 027

103 000

bl
111
Ireland 4 239 848 2 121 171 2 118 677 4 131 *4 474 70 273
E
Isle of Man 76 657 ... ... 79112 ... 572

Italy 57 110 144 27 617 335 29 492 809 58 607 *60 483 301 336
be C
Jersey 87 186 42 484 44 702 88 ... 116
Latvia 2 377 383 1 094 964 1 282 419 2 301 2 239 64 559

Liechtenstein 33 307 16 420 16 887 35 *36 160

o N

Lithuania 3 483 972 1 629 148 1 854 824 3 414 3 287 65 300
Luxembourg 439 539 216 541 222 998 465 507 2 586
113 113
Malta 404 962 200 819 204 143 404 *416 1316
©

114 114
Monaco 31 109 15 076 15 914 ... ... 2
7
Montenegro 620 145 305 225 314 920 623 *633 13 812
115 115 115
Netherlands 16 105 285 7 971 967 8 133 318 16 320 *16 615 37 354
117 117 117 118 118
Norway 4 520 947 2 240 281 2 280 666 4 623 4 889 323 782
119 119 119 119 119
Poland 38 230 080 18 516 403 19 713 677 38 161 38 184 312 679

Portugal 10 356 117 5 000 141 5 355 976 10 549 *10 637 92 207
120 120 120 120 120
Republic of Moldova 3 386 673 1 629 689 1 756 984 3 595 3 562 33 846
Romania 21 680 974 10 568 741 11 112 233 21 624 *21 438 238 391
tt

Russian Federation 145 166 731 67 605 133 77 561 598 143 114 *142 938 17 098 242
30 30 30 30
San Marino 26 941 13 185 13 756 31 33 30 61
121 121 121 121 121
Serbia 7 498 001 3 645 930 3 852 071 7 441 *7 428 88 361
no

Slovakia 5 193 376 2 502 721 2 690 655 5 387 5 430 49 037
118 118 118
Slovenia 1 987 971 971 203 1 016 768 2 001 2 049 20 273
122 122 122
Spain 40 847 371 20 012 882 20 834 489 43 398 46 071 505 992

108 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 Total Males Females Estimate Area
Continent/Country
Population 2005 2010 (Sq. Km)

Svalbard and Jan Mayen 3 431123 2 545123 886 123 2124 ... 62 422
Islands
Sweden 8 975 67030 4 446 65630 4 529 01430 9 03030 9 37830 450 295
Switzerland 7 288 010 3 567 567 3 720 443 7 437 *7 826 41 285
TFYR of Macedonia 2 022 547 1 015 377 1 007 170 2 037 2 0537 25 713
Ukraine 48 240 902 22 316 317 25 924 585 47 105 45 9637 603 500

ed
126 126 126
United Kingdom of Great 58 789 187 28 579 867 30 209 320 60 238 *62 222 242 900
Britain and Northern Ireland
OCEANIA
American Samoa 57 29140 29 26440 28 02740 66 40 ... 199

h
Australia 20 061 646 9 896 500 10 165 146 20 395127 *22 342127 7 692 024

pu T
Cook Islands *19 569 *9 932 *9 637 22 *23 236

is
Fiji 837 271 427 176 410 095 825 ... 18 272

Guam
re R
French Polynesia *259 596
154 805 40
79 181
...
40
75 624
...
40
253
*169 40
*181
...
40
4 000
549

bl
129
Kiribati 92 533 45 612 46 921 ... ... 726 ...
E
1
Marshall Islands 50 848 26 034 24 814 ... 54 181
1 1
Micronesia 107 008 54 191 52 817 108 108 702
be C
Nauru 10 065 5 136 4 929 ... ... 21
New Caledonia 230 789 116 485 114 304 234 ... 18 575
130 130 130 131 132
New Zealand 4 143 282 2 021 277 2 122 005 4 134 4 368 270 467
o N

Niue 1 625 802 823 2 1 260

Norfolk Island 2 523 1 218 1 305 2 ... 36
Northern Mariana Islands 69 221 31 984 37 237 71 48 457
©

Palau 19 907 10 699 9 208 ... ... 459

Papua New Guinea 5 190 786 2 691 744 2 499 042 ... ... 462 840
Pitcairn 66 ... ... ... ... 5
Samoa 180 741 93 677 87 064 183 184 0.1 2 842
1
Solomon Islands 409 042 211 381 197 661 471 5421 28 896
Tokelau 1 151 583 568 ... ... 12
133
Tonga 101 991 51 772 50 219 102 ... 747
Tuvalu 9 561 4 729 4 832 10 ... 26
tt

Vanuatu 186 678 95 682 90 996 ... ... 12 189

Wallis and Futuna Islands 13 445 6 669 6 776 ... ... 142
Source : Demographic Year Book, 2009-10
no

Appendix I 109
 Appendix II
Human Development Index, 2012

HDI Country (HDI) Value HDI Country (HDI) Value

Rank Rank
1 Norway 0.955 41 Lithuania 0.818
2 Australia 0.938 41 United Arab Emirates 0.818
3 United States 0.937 43 Portugal 0.816

ed
4 Netherlands 0.921 44 Latvia 0.814
5 Germany 0.92 45 Argentina 0.811
6 New Zealand 0.919 46 Seychelles 0.806
7 Ireland 0.916 47 Croatia 0.805
7 Sweden 0.916

h
9 Switzerland 0.913 High Human Development

pu T
10 Japan 0.912 48 Bahrain 0.796

is
11 Canada 0.911 49 Bahamas 0.794
12 Korea (Republic of) 0.909 50 Belarus 0.793
13 re RHong Kong, China (SAR) 0.906 51 Uruguay 0.792

bl
13 Iceland 0.906 52 Montenegro 0.791
15 Denmark 0.901 52 Palau 0.791
E
16 Israel 0.9 54 Kuwait 0.79
17 Belgium 0.897 55 Russian Federation 0.788
18 Austria 0.895
be C
56 Romania 0.786
18 Singapore 0.895
57 Bulgaria 0.782
20 France 0.893
57 Saudi Arabia 0.782
21 Finland 0.892
o N

59 Cuba 0.78
21 Slovenia 0.892
59 Panama 0.78
23 Spain 0.885
61 Mexico 0.775
24 Liechtenstein 0.883
62 Costa Rica 0.773
25 Italy 0.881
©

63 Grenada 0.77
26 Luxembourg 0.875
26 United Kingdom 0.875 64 Libya 0.769
28 Czech Republic 0.873 64 Malaysia 0.769
29 Greece 0.86 64 Serbia 0.769
30 Brunei Darussalam 0.855 67 Antigua and Barbuda 0.76
31 Cyprus 0.848 67 Trinidad and Tobago 0.76
32 Malta 0.847 69 Kazakhstan 0.754
33 Andorra 0.846 70 Albania 0.749
33 Estonia 0.846 71 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 0.748
tt

35 Slovakia 0.84 72 Dominica 0.745

36 Qatar 0.834 72 Georgia 0.745
37 Hungary 0.831 72 Lebanon 0.745
38 Barbados 0.825
no

72 Saint Kitts and Nevis 0.745

39 Poland 0.821 76 Iran (Islamic Republic of) 0.742
40 Chile 0.819 77 Peru 0.741
HDI Country (HDI) Value HDI Country (HDI) Value
Rank Rank
78 The former Yugoslav Republic 0.74 118 Guyana 0.636
of Macedonia 119 Botswana 0.634
78 Ukraine 0.74 120 Honduras 0.632
80 Mauritius 0.737 121 Indonesia 0.629
81 Bosnia and Herzegovina 0.735 121 Kiribati 0.629
82 Azerbaijan 0.734 121 South Africa 0.629
83 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 0.733

ed
124 Vanuatu 0.626
84 Oman 0.731 125 Kyrgyzstan 0.622
85 Brazil 0.73 125 Tajikistan 0.622
85 Jamaica 0.73 127 Viet Nam 0.617
87 Armenia 0.729 128 Namibia 0.608

h
88 Saint Lucia 0.725 129 Nicaragua 0.599

pu T
89 Ecuador 0.724 130 Morocco 0.591

is
90 Turkey 0.722 131 Iraq 0.59
91 Colombia 0.719 132 Cape Verde 0.586
92 re R
Sri Lanka 0.715 133 Guatemala 0.581

bl
93 Algeria 0.713 134 Timor-Leste 0.576
94 Tunisia 0.712 135 Ghana 0.558
E
136 Equatorial Guinea 0.554
Medium Human Development 136 India 0.554
be C
95 Tonga 0.71 138 Cambodia 0.543
96 Belize 0.702 138 Lao People's Democratic Republic 0.543
96 Dominican Republic 0.702 140 Bhutan 0.538
o N

96 Fiji 0.702 141 Swaziland 0.536

96 Samoa 0.702
100 Jordan 0.7 Low Human Development
101 China 0.699 142 Congo 0.534
©

102 Turkmenistan 0.698 143 Solomon Islands 0.53

103 Thailand 0.69 144 Sao Tome and Principe 0.525
104 Maldives 0.688 145 Kenya 0.519
105 Suriname 0.684 146 Bangladesh 0.515
106 Gabon 0.683 146 Pakistan 0.515
107 El Salvador 0.68 148 Angola 0.508
108 Bolivia (Plurinational State of) 0.675 149 Myanmar 0.498
108 Mongolia 0.675 150 Cameroon 0.495
110 Occupied Palestinian Territory 0.67 151 Madagascar 0.483
111 152 Tanzania (United Republic of) 0.476
tt

Paraguay 0.669
112 Egypt 0.662 153 Nigeria 0.471
113 Moldova (Republic of) 0.66 154 Senegal 0.47
114 Philippines 0.654 155 Mauritania 0.467
no

114 Uzbekistan 0.654 156 Papua New Guinea 0.466

116 Syrian Arab Republic 0.648 157 Nepal 0.463
117 Micronesia (Federated States of) 0.645 158 Lesotho 0.461

Appendix II 111
 HDI Country (HDI) Value HDI Country (HDI) Value
Rank Rank
159 Togo 0.459 174 Liberia 0.388
160 Yemen 0.458 175 Afghanistan 0.374
161 Haiti 0.456 176 Guinea-Bissau 0.364
161 Uganda 0.456 177 Sierra Leone 0.359
163 Zambia 0.448 178 Burundi 0.355
164 Djibouti 0.445 178 Guinea 0.355

ed
165 Gambia 0.439 180 Central African Republic 0.352
166 Benin 0.436 181 Eritrea 0.351
167 Rwanda 0.434 182 Mali 0.344
168 Côte d'Ivoire 0.432 183 Burkina Faso 0.343
169 Comoros 0.429 184 Chad 0.34

h
170 Malawi 0.418 185 Mozambique 0.327

pu T
171 Sudan 0.414 186 Congo 0.304
(Democratic Republic of the)

is
172 Zimbabwe 0.397
173 Ethiopia 0.396 186 Niger 0.304
re R
Source : Human Development Report 2013

bl
E
be C
o N
©
tt
no

112 Fundamentals of Human Geography

Appendix II
Human Development Index, 2003

HDI Country (HDI) Value HDI Country (HDI) Value

Rank Rank
1.000 Norway 0.963 46.000 Uruguay 0.840
2.000 Iceland 0.956 47.000 Costa Rica 0.838
3.000 Australia 0.955 48.000 Latvia 0.836
4.000 Luxembourg 0.949 49.000 Saint Kitts and Nevis 0.834
5.000 Canada 0.949 50.000 Bahamas 0.832

d
6.000 Sweden 0.949 51.000 Seychelles 0.821
7.000 Switzerland 0.947 52.000 Cuba 0.817

e
8.000 Ireland 0.946 53.000 Mexico 0.814
9.000 Belgium 0.945 54.000 Tonga 0.810
10.000 United States 0.944 55.000 Bulgaria 0.808

h
11.000 Japan 0.943 56.000 Panama 0.804

T s
12.000 Netherlands 0.943 57.000 Trinidad and Tobago 0.801

i
13.000 Finland 0.941 58.000 Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 0.799

R l
14.000 Denmark 0.941 59.000 Macedonia, TFYR 0.797
15.000 United Kingdom 0.939 60.000 Antigua and Barbuda 0.797

E b
16.000 France 0.938 61.000 Malaysia 0.796
17.000 Austria 0.936 62.000 Russian Federation 0.795

u
18.000 Italy 0.934 63.000 Brazil 0.792

C
19.000 New Zealand 0.933 64.000 Romania 0.792

p
20.000 Germany 0.930 65.000 Mauritius 0.791

N re
21.000 Spain 0.928 66.000 Grenada 0.787
22.000 Hong Kong, China (SAR) 0.916 67.000 Belarus 0.786
23.000 Israel 0.915 68.000 Bosnia and Herzegovina 0.786
24.000 Greece 0.912 69.000 Colombia 0.785

© e
25.000 Singapore 0.907 70.000 Dominica 0.783

26.000 Slovenia 0.904 71.000 Oman 0.781

b
27.000 Portugal 0.904 72.000 Albania 0.780
28.000 Republic of Korea 0.901 73.000 Thailand 0.778
29.000 Cyprus 0.891 74.000 Samoa (Western) 0.776
30.000 Barbados 0.878 75.000 Venezuela 0.772

t o
31.000 Czech Republic 0.874 76.000 Saint Lucia 0.772
32.000 Malta 0.867 77.000 Saudi Arabia 0.772
33.000 Brunei Darussalam 0.866 78.000 Ukraine 0.766

t
34.000 Argentina 0.863 79.000 Peru 0.762
35.000 Hungary 0.862 80.000 Kazakhstan 0.761

o
36.000 Poland 0.858 81.000 Lebanon 0.759

n
37.000 Chile 0.854 82.000 Ecuador 0.759
38.000 Estonia 0.853 83.000 Armenia 0.759
39.000 Lithuania 0.852 84.000 Philippines 0.758
40.000 Qatar 0.849 85.000 China 0.755

41.000 United Arab Emirates 0.849 86.000 Suriname 0.755

42.000 Slovakia 0.849 87.000 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 0.755
43.000 Bahrain 0.846 88.000 Paraguay 0.755
44.000 Kuwait 0.844 89.000 Tunisia 0.753
45.000 Croatia 0.841 90.000 Jordan 0.753
HDI Country (HDI) Value HDI Country (HDI) Value
Rank Rank

91.000 Belize 0.753 136.000 Nepal 0.526

92.000 Fiji 0.752 137.000 Papua New Guinea 0.523
93.000 Sri Lanka 0.751 138.000 Ghana 0.520
94.000 Turkey 0.750 139.000 Bangladesh 0.520
95.000 Dominican Republic 0.749 140.000 Timor-Leste 0.513

96.000 Maldives 0.745 141.000 Sudan 0.512

97.000 Turkmenistan 0.738 142.000 Congo 0.512
98.000 Jamaica 0.738 143.000 Togo 0.512
99.000 Islamic Republic of Iran 0.736 144.000 Uganda 0.508

d
100.000 Georgia 0.732 145.000 Zimbabwe 0.505

e
101.000 Azerbaijan 0.729 146.000 Madagascar 0.499
102.000 Occupied Palestinian Territories 0.729 147.000 Swaziland 0.498

h
103.000 Algeria 0.722 148.000 Cameroon 0.497
104.000 El Salvador 0.722 149.000 Lesotho 0.497

T s
105.000 Cape Verde 0.721 150.000 Djibouti 0.495

i
106.000 Syrian Arab Republic 0.721 151.000 Yemen 0.489

R l
107.000 Guyana 0.720 152.000 Mauritania 0.477
108.000 Viet Nam 0.704 153.000 Haiti 0.475

b
109.000 Kyrgyzstan 0.702 154.000 Kenya 0.474

E
110.000 Indonesia 0.697 155.000 Zambia 0.470

u
111.000 Uzbekistan 0.694 156.000 Guinea 0.466

C
112.000 Nicaragua 0.690 157.000 Senegal 0.458

p
113.000 Bolivia 0.687 158.000 Nigeria 0.453

N re
114.000 Mongolia 0.679 159.000 Rwanda 0.450
115.000 Republic of Moldova 0.671 160.000 Angola 0.445

116.000 Honduras 0.667 161.000 Eritrea 0.444

© e
117.000 Guatemala 0.663 162.000 Benin 0.431
118.000 Vanuatu 0.659 163.000 Côte d’Ivoire 0.420
119.000 Egypt 0.659 164.000 United Republic of Tanzania 0.418
120.000 South Africa 0.658 165.000 Malawi 0.404

b
121.000 Equatorial Guinea 0.655 166.000 Zambia 0.394
122.000 Tajikistan 0.652 167.000 Democratic Republic of Congo 0.385

o
123.000 Gabon 0.635 168.000 Mozambique 0.379
124.000 Morocco 0.631 169.000 Burundi 0.378

t
125.000 Namibia 0.627 170.000 Ethiopia 0.367

t
126.000 São Tomé and Principe 0.604 171.000 Central African Republic 0.355
127.000 India 0.602 172.000 Guinea-Bissau 0.348

o
128.000 Solomon Islands 0.594 173.000 Chad 0.341
129.000 Myanmar 0.578 174.000 Mali 0.333
130.000 Cambodia 0.571 175.000 Burkina Faso 0.317

n
131.000 Botswana 0.565 176.000 Sierra Leone 0.298
132.000 Comoros 0.547 177.000 Nigeria 0.281
133.000 Democratic Republic of Laos 0.545
134.000 Bhutan 0.536
135.000 Pakistan 0.527

108 Fundamentals of Human Geography

All developing countries 0.694
Least developed countries 0.518
Arab States 0.679
East Asia and the Pacific 0.768
Latin America and the Caribbean 0.797
South Asia 0.628
Sub-Saharan Africa 0.515
Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS 0.802
OECD 0.892
High-income OECD 0.911

High human development 0.895

Medium human development 0.718

d
Low human development 0.486

e
High income 0.910
Middle income 0.774

h
Low income 0.593

T s
World 0.741

R li
Notes :

b
Aggregates of Education Indices are based on the aggregates of gross enrolment data calculated by the UNESCO

E
Institute for Statistics and literacy data as used to calculate the HDI.

u
Source :

C p
Calculated on the basis of data in columns 6-8 of Table 1 (HDR 2005); see technical note 1 for the details.

N re
© e
b
t o
o t
n
Appendix II 109
 Appendix I
World Population : Selected Data, 2000

Region/Country Surface Area Population by Density of Growth Rate

(thousand the year 2000 Population 1990–95 1995–2000
sq km) (million) (per sq km)
World – 6,005 – 1.7 1.3
Africa – 784.4 – 2.9 2.4
Algeria 2,382 31.5 13 2.7 2.3
Angola 1,247 12.9 11 3.7 3.2

d
Benin 113 6.1 57 3.1 2.7

he
Botswana 582 1.6 3 2.9 1.9
Burkina Faso 274 11.9 41 2.8 2.7
Burundi 28 6.7 265 2.9 1.7
Cameroon 475 15.1 32 2.8 2.7

is
Central African Republic 623 3.6 6 2.6 1.9
Chad 1,284 7.7 6 2.7 2.6

bl
Democratic Republic of Congo 2,345 51.7 22 3 2.6
Republic of Congo 342 2.9 9 – 2.8
Cote d’Ivoire 322 14.8 50 3.7 1.8
pu
Egypt 1,001 68.5 64 2.2 1.9
Eritrea 118 3.9 41 – 3.8
be T

Ethiopia 1,104 62.6 64 3.1 2.5

Gabon 268 1.2 5 3.3 2.6
re
o R

Chana 239 20.2 85 3 2.7

Guinea 246 7.4 30 3 0.8
Guinea-Bissau 36 1.2 43 2.1 2.2
tt E

Kenya 580 30.1 53 3.4 2

Lesotho 30 2.2 67 2.5 2.2
C

Liberia 111 3.2 32 3.3 8.2

Libyan Arab Jamahiriya – 5.6 – 3.5 2.4
no N

Madagascar 587 15.9 27 3.3 3

Malawi 118 10.9 110 3.3 2.4
Mali 1,240 11.2 9 3.2 2.4
©

Mauritania 1,026 2.7 3 2.9 2.7

Mauritius 2 1.2 584 1 0.8
Morocco 447 28.4 64 2.4 1.8
Mozambique 802 19.7 23 2.8 2.5
Namibia 824 1.7 2 3.2 2.2
Niger 1,267 10.7 9 3.3 3.2
Nigeria 924 111.5 32.7 3.1 2.4
 Region/Country Sur face Area Population by Density of Growth Rate
(thousand the year 2000 Population 1990–95 1995–2000
sq km) (million) (per sq km)
Rwanda 26 7.7 345 3.4 7.7
Senegal 197 9.5 49 2.7 2.6
Sierra Leone 72 4.9 70 2.7 3
Somalia 638 10.1 14 3.2 4.2
South Africa 1,221 40.4 35 2.4 1.5
Sudan 2,506 29.5 13 2.8 2.1

d
Togo 57 4.6 83 3.2 2.6
Tunisia 164 9.6 62 2.1 1.4

he
Uganda 241 21.8 113 3 2.8
United Republic of Tanzania – 33.5 – 3.4 2.3
Asia – 3,682.60 – 1.8 1.4
Afghanistan 652 22.7 41 6.7 2.9

is
Bangladesh 144 129.2 1,007 2.4 1.7
Bhutan – 2.1 – 2.3 2.8

bl
Cambodia 181 11.2 68 2.5 2.3
China 9,598 1,277.60 135 1.4 0.9
Democratic People’s
pu
Republic of Korea – 24 – 1.9 1.6
Hongkong, China – 6.9 – 0.8 2.1
be T

India 3,287 1,013.70 342 1.9 1.6

re
Indonesia 1,905 212.1 116 1.8 1.4
o R

Islamic Republic of Iran 1,633 67.7 39 2.7 1.7

Iraq 438 23.1 53 3.2 2.8
tt E

Israel 21 6.2 302 4.7 2.2

Japan 378 126.7 348 0.4 0.2
Jordan 89 6.7 55 3.4 3
C

Kuwait 18 2 111 –5.8 3.1

Democratic Republic of Laos – 5.4 – 3 2.6
no N

Lebanon 10 3.3 423 2 1.7

Malaysia 330 22.2 71 2.4 2
Mongolia 1,567 2.7 2 2.6 1.7
©

Myanmar 802 45.6 23 2.1 1.2

Nepal 147 23.9 161 2.5 2.4
Oman 212 2.5 11 3.6 3.3
Pakistan 796 156.5 179 2.7 2.8
Philippines 300 76 253 2.1 2.1
Republic of Korea – 46.8 – 0.8 0.8
Saudi Arabia 2,150 21.6 10 3.4 3.4

104 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 Region/Country Surface Area Population by Density of Growth Rate
(thousand the year 2000 Population 1990–95 1995–2000
sq km) (million) (per sq km)
Singapore 1 3.6 6,587 1 1.4
Sri Lanka 66 18.8 300 1.3 1
Syrian Arab Republic 185 16.1 88 3.6 2.5
Thailand 513 61.4 119 1.3 0.9
Turkey 775 66.6 85 2 1.7
United Arab Emirates 84 2.4 35 2.3 2

d
Vietnam 332 79.8 241 2 1.6
Yemen 528 18.1 33 3.5 3.7

he
Europe – 728.9 – 0.3 0
Albania 29 3.1 124 0.8 –0.4
Austria 84 8.2 98 0.4 0.5
Belgium 30 10.2 331 0.1 0.1

is
Bosnia & Herzegovina 51 4 78 – 3
Bulgaria 111 8.2 74 –0.2 –0.7

bl
Croatia – 4.5 – – –0.1
Czech Republic 79 10.2 133 – –0.2
Denmark 43 5.3 126 0.2 0.3
pu
Estonia 45 1.4 32 –0.2 –1.2
Finland 338 5.2 17 0.3 0.3
be T

France 552 59.1 107 0.4 0.4

re
Germany 357 82.2 230 0.4 0.1
o R

Greece 132 10.6 82 0.3 0.3

Hungary 93 10 109 –0.2 –0.4
tt E

Ireland 70 3.7 55 –0.2 0.7

Italy 301 57.3 196 0.1 0
Latvia 65 2.4 38 –0.3 –1.5
C

Lithuania 65 3.7 57 0.2 –0.3

Macedonia (Former
no N

Republic of Yugoslavia) 26 2 80 – 0.6

Netherlands 42 15.8 470 0.7 0.4
Norway 324 4.5 15 0.5 0.5
©

Poland 323 38.8 127 0.3 0.1

Portugal 92 9.9 109 0 0
Romania 238 22.3 97 0.3 –0.4
Slovakia – 5.4 – – 0.1
Slovenia 20 2 99 – –0.1
Spain 506 39.6 79 0.2 0
Sweden 450 8.9 22 0.5 0.3

Appendix I 105
 Region/Country Sur face Area Population by Density of Growth Rate
(thousand the year 2000 Population 1990–95 1995–2000
sq km) (million) (per sq km)
Switzerland 41 7.4 182 0.7 0.7
United Kingdom 243 58.8 248 0.2 0.2
Yugoslavia 102 10.6 108 0.3 0.1
North America – 309.6 – 1.1 0.9
Canada 9,971 31.1 3 1.4 1
United States of America 9,629 278.4 31 1 0.8

d
Oceania – 30.4 – 1.5 1.3
Australia 7,741 18.9 2 1.4 1

he
New Caledonia – 0.2 – – 2.1
New Zealand 271 3.9 14 0.9 1
Papua New Guinea 463 4.8 11 2.3 2.2
Vanuatu – 0.2 – – 2.4

is
Latin America – 519.1 – 1.8 1.6
Argentina 2,780 37 14 1.2 1.3

bl
Belize – 0.2 – – 2.4
Bolivia 1,099 8.3 8 2.4 2.3
Brazil 8,547 170.1 20 1.6 1.3
pu
Chile 757 15.2 20 1.6 1.4
Colombia 1,139 42.3 41 1.7 1.9
be T

Costa Rica 51 4 75 2.4 2.5

re
Cuba 111 11.2 102 0.9 0.4
o R

Dominican Republic 49 8.5 173 2 1.7

Ecuador 284 12.6 46 2.3 2
tt E

EI Salvador 21 6.3 303 2.2 2

Guatemala 109 11.4 105 2.9 2.6
Haiti 28 8.2 289 2 1.7
C

Honduras 112 6.5 57 3 2.8

Jamaica 11 2.6 243 1 0.9
no N

Mexico 1,958 08.9 51 2.1 1.6

Nicaragua 130 5.1 42 3.7 2.7
Panama 76 2.1 38 1.9 1.6
©

Paraguay 407 5.5 14 2.7 2.6

Peru 1,285 25.7 20 2 1.7
Puerto Rico 9 3.9 442 0.9 0.8
Trinidad and Tobago 5 1.3 254 1.1 0.5
Uruguay 176 3.3 19 0.6 0.7
Venezuela 912 24.2 27 2.1 2

106 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 Appendix II
Human Development Index, 2003

HDI Country (HDI) Value HDI Country (HDI) Value

Rank Rank
1.000 Norway 0.963 46.000 Uruguay 0.840
2.000 Iceland 0.956 47.000 Costa Rica 0.838
3.000 Australia 0.955 48.000 Latvia 0.836
4.000 Luxembourg 0.949 49.000 Saint Kitts and Nevis 0.834
5.000 Canada 0.949 50.000 Bahamas 0.832

d
6.000 Sweden 0.949 51.000 Seychelles 0.821
7.000 Switzerland 0.947 52.000 Cuba 0.817
8.000 Ireland 0.946 53.000 Mexico 0.814

he
9.000 Belgium 0.945 54.000 Tonga 0.810
10.000 United States 0.944 55.000 Bulgaria 0.808

11.000 Japan 0.943 56.000 Panama 0.804

12.000 Netherlands 0.943 57.000 Trinidad and Tobago 0.801
13.000 Finland 0.941 58.000 Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 0.799

is
14.000 Denmark 0.941 59.000 Macedonia, TFYR 0.797
15.000 United Kingdom 0.939 60.000 Antigua and Barbuda 0.797

bl
16.000 France 0.938 61.000 Malaysia 0.796
17.000 Austria 0.936 62.000 Russian Federation 0.795
18.000 Italy 0.934 63.000 Brazil 0.792
19.000 New Zealand 0.933 64.000 Romania 0.792
20.000
pu
Germany 0.930 65.000 Mauritius 0.791

21.000 Spain 0.928 66.000 Grenada 0.787

22.000 Hong Kong, China (SAR) 0.916 67.000 Belarus 0.786
be T

23.000 Israel 0.915 68.000 Bosnia and Herzegovina 0.786

24.000 Greece 0.912 69.000 Colombia 0.785
re
25.000 Singapore 0.907 70.000 Dominica 0.783
o R

26.000 Slovenia 0.904 71.000 Oman 0.781

27.000 Portugal 0.904 72.000 Albania 0.780
28.000 Republic of Korea 0.901 73.000 Thailand 0.778
tt E

29.000 Cyprus 0.891 74.000 Samoa (Western) 0.776

30.000 Barbados 0.878 75.000 Venezuela 0.772
C

31.000 Czech Republic 0.874 76.000 Saint Lucia 0.772

32.000 Malta 0.867 77.000 Saudi Arabia 0.772
33.000 Brunei Darussalam 0.866 78.000 Ukraine 0.766
34.000 Argentina 0.863 79.000 Peru 0.762
no N

35.000 Hungary 0.862 80.000 Kazakhstan 0.761

36.000 Poland 0.858 81.000 Lebanon 0.759

37.000 Chile 0.854 82.000 Ecuador 0.759
38.000 Estonia 0.853 83.000 Armenia 0.759
©

39.000 Lithuania 0.852 84.000 Philippines 0.758

40.000 Qatar 0.849 85.000 China 0.755

41.000 United Arab Emirates 0.849 86.000 Suriname 0.755

42.000 Slovakia 0.849 87.000 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 0.755
43.000 Bahrain 0.846 88.000 Paraguay 0.755
44.000 Kuwait 0.844 89.000 Tunisia 0.753
45.000 Croatia 0.841 90.000 Jordan 0.753
 HDI Country (HDI) Value HDI Country (HDI) Value
Rank Rank

91.000 Belize 0.753 136.000 Nepal 0.526

92.000 Fiji 0.752 137.000 Papua New Guinea 0.523
93.000 Sri Lanka 0.751 138.000 Ghana 0.520
94.000 Turkey 0.750 139.000 Bangladesh 0.520
95.000 Dominican Republic 0.749 140.000 Timor -Leste 0.513

96.000 Maldives 0.745 141.000 Sudan 0.512

97.000 Turkmenistan 0.738 142.000 Congo 0.512
98.000 Jamaica 0.738 143.000 Togo 0.512
99.000 Islamic Republic of Iran 0.736 144.000 Uganda 0.508

d
100.000 Georgia 0.732 145.000 Zimbabwe 0.505

101.000 Azerbaijan 0.729 146.000 Madagascar 0.499

he
102.000 Occupied Palestinian Territories 0.729 147.000 Swaziland 0.498
103.000 Algeria 0.722 148.000 Cameroon 0.497
104.000 El Salvador 0.722 149.000 Lesotho 0.497
105.000 Cape Verde 0.721 150.000 Djibouti 0.495

is
106.000 Syrian Arab Republic 0.721 151.000 Yemen 0.489
107.000 Guyana 0.720 152.000 Mauritania 0.477
108.000 Viet Nam 0.704 153.000 Haiti 0.475
109.000 Kyrgyzstan 0.702 154.000 Kenya 0.474

bl
110.000 Indonesia 0.697 155.000 Zambia 0.470

111.000 Uzbekistan 0.694 156.000 Guinea 0.466

112.000 Nicaragua 0.690 157.000 Senegal 0.458
pu
113.000 Bolivia 0.687 158.000 Nigeria 0.453
114.000 Mongolia 0.679 159.000 Rwanda 0.450
115.000 Republic of Moldova 0.671 160.000 Angola 0.445
be T

116.000 Honduras 0.667 161.000 Eritrea 0.444

117.000 Guatemala 0.663 162.000 Benin 0.431
re
118.000 Vanuatu 0.659 163.000 Côte d’Ivoire 0.420
o R

119.000 Egypt 0.659 164.000 United Republic of Tanzania 0.418

120.000 South Africa 0.658 165.000 Malawi 0.404
tt E

121.000 Equatorial Guinea 0.655 166.000 Zambia 0.394

122.000 Tajikistan 0.652 167.000 Democratic Republic of Congo 0.385
123.000 Gabon 0.635 168.000 Mozambique 0.379
124.000 Morocco 0.631 169.000 Burundi 0.378
C

125.000 Namibia 0.627 170.000 Ethiopia 0.367

126.000 São Tomé and Principe 0.604 171.000 Central African Republic 0.355
127.000 India 0.602 172.000 Guinea-Bissau 0.348
no N

128.000 Solomon Islands 0.594 173.000 Chad 0.341

129.000 Myanmar 0.578 174.000 Mali 0.333
130.000 Cambodia 0.571 175.000 Burkina Faso 0.317

131.000 Botswana 0.565 176.000 Sierra Leone 0.298

©

132.000 Comoros 0.547 177.000 Nigeria 0.281

133.000 Democratic Republic of Laos 0.545
134.000 Bhutan 0.536
135.000 Pakistan 0.527

108 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 All developing countries 0.694
Least developed countries 0.518
Arab States 0.679
East Asia and the Pacific 0.768
Latin America and the Caribbean 0.797
South Asia 0.628
Sub-Saharan Africa 0.515
Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS 0.802
OECD 0.892
High-income OECD 0.911

High human development 0.895

d
Medium human development 0.718
Low human development 0.486

he
High income 0.910
Middle income 0.774
Low income 0.593

World 0.741

is
Notes :

Aggregates of Education Indices are based on the aggregates of gross enrolment data calculated by the UNESCO

bl
Institute for Statistics and literacy data as used to calculate the HDI.

Source :
pu
Calculated on the basis of data in columns 6-8 of Table 1 (HDR 2005); see technical note 1 for the details.
be T
re
o R
tt E
C
no N
©

Appendix II 109

Agriculture
The science and art of cultivating the soil,
raising crops and rearing livestock. It is
also called farming.
Balance of Trade
The difference between the total value of a
country’s exports and imports. An excess
of export over import makes a favourable
balance of trade, and the converse an un-
favourable balance.
Barter
A direct exchange of excess produce
between two parties to the mutual
advantages of both, without the use of
tokens, credit or money in the transaction.
Census
Official enumeration of population along with
certain economic and social statistics in a
given territory at some time interval.
Chemical Fertilisers
pu
Substance of natural or artificial origin
containing chemical elements such as
phosphorus, potassium and nitrogem that
be T
are necessary to plan life. They are added
to the soil for increasing its productivity.
re
o R
Contour Ploughing
Tilling or ploughing hillsides or sloping lands
along the contour lines, that is, around
tt E
rather than up and down a slope mainly
with a view to conserving soil and water.
C
Crop Rotation
Growing of different crops in succession
on the same field from season to season to
no N
maintain soil fertility
Dairy Farming
A kind of agriculture in which major
emphasis is on breeding and rearing milch
©
cattle. Agriculture crops are raised mainly
to feed these cattle.
Density of Population
The average number of inhabitants living
within a specified unit of area, such as a
sq km.
GLOSSARY
Dry Farming
A method of farming adopted in certain regions
of inadequate rainfall and devoid of irrigation
facilities by conserving moisture in the soil
and by raising drought-enduring crops.
Economic Geography
The aspect or branch of geography which
deals with the influences of the environment,
both physical and cultural, on the economic
activity of man, bringing out similarities and
differences from place to place in the ways
people make a living.
Environment
Surroundings or the conditions under
which a person or things exist and develop
is
his or its character. It covers both physical
and cultural elements.
bl
Exports
Goods despatched from one country to
another.
Extensive Agriculture
Farming in which the amount of capital and
labour applied to a given area is relatively
small.
Fazenda
A coffee plantation in Brazil.
Foreign Exchange
The mechanism or process by which
payments between any two places
operating under different national currency
systems are effected without passing of
actual money or gold, etc.
Freeways
The wide highways on which cross-roads
are avoided by providing overhead links
where one turns in only one direction to
ensure smooth and speedy traffic.
Harbour
An extensive stretch of deep water where
vessels can anchor securely to obtain
protection from sea and swell either through
natural features or artificial works.
Highway
Public road connecting distant places. Such
a road of national importance is called the
national highway.
Horticulture
Cultivation of vegetables and fruits; often on
small plots, involving higher intensiveness
than in field cultivation.
d
Imports
Goods brought into a country from another
he
country.
Industrial Revolution
The change in manufacturing from hand-
operated tools to power-driven machinery
began in England during the middle of the
eighteenth century.
Industry
Systematic production characterised by
division of labour and extensive use of
machinery.
Intensive Agriculture
Farming in which large amounts of capital
and labour are applied per unit area of
land, in order to obtain high yield.
Inter Cropping
It is a practice of growing two or more crops
together on the same field in the same
season
International Trade
Trade carried on between nations primarily
to exchange their surpluses and make up
their deficits.
Metropolis
A very large city or agglomeration of
population in a district or a country, and is
often the chief centre or seat of some form
of activity— administrative, commercial or
industrial. It generally serves a large
hinterland.
Mine
An excavation made in the earth for
digging out minerals such as coal, iron-ore
 and precious stones. A mine usually
denotes underground working except in
open-pit mines.
Mineral
A substance that is found in the earth’s crust,
and which generally has a definite
chemical composition unlike most rocks.
Mineral Fuel
Non-metallic minerals such as coal and
petroleum which are used as fuel.
Mineral Oil
A mixture of hydrocarbons in solid,
gaseous or liquid form found in the earth. It
is commonly known as petroleum. It became
a commercial product only in 1859.
Mineral Ore
Metals in their raw state as extracted from
the earth.
Mining
An economic activity concerned with the
extraction of commercially valuable minerals
from the bowels of the earth.
pu
Mixed Farming
A type of farming in which cultivation of crops
be T
and raising of livestock go hand in hand.
Both these activities play an important part
re
in the economy.
o R
Natural Resources
Wealth supplied by nature-mineral
deposits, soil fertility, timber, fuel, water,
tt E
potential water-power, fish and wild life, etc.
Nomadism
C
A way of life of the people who are required
to shift their dwellings frequently from place
to place in search of pastures for their
no N
animals— the mainstay of their economy.
Open-cast Mine
A place where soil and its outward cover
are first removed and a mineral or ore is
©
extracted by quarrying. In a way, it is a
quarry on a large scale. This method of
mining is known as open-cast mining.
Pastoralism
An economy that solely depends upon
animals. Whereas nomadic pastoralism is
practised mainly for subsistence, the
modern ranches present an example of
commercial pastoralism.
Plantation Agriculture
A large-scale one-crop farming resembling
factory production. It is usually
characterised by large estate, huge capital
investment, and modern and scientific
techniques of cultivation and trade.
Port
The commercial part of a harbour
containing facilities for embarking and
disembarking passengers, loading and
unloading, and some facilities for the storage
of cargo.
Primary Activity
Activities concerned with collecting or
making available materials, provided by
nature, for example, agriculture, fishing,
forestry, hunting or mining.
bl
Quarry
An open-air excavation from which stone
is obtained by cutting, blasting, etc.
Ranches
Large stock farms, usually fenced in, where
animals are bred and reared on a
commercial scale. They are found
especially in the United States.
Rotation of Crops
A systematic succession of different crops
on a given piece of land carried out in
order to avoid exhaustion of the soil.
Secondary Activity
Activities which transform the material
provided by primary activities into
commodities more directly useful to man.
Sedentary Agriculture
Farming practised more or less
permanently on the same piece of land,
the same as settled agriculture.
Shaft Mine
An underground excavation made deep
into the earth for digging minerals like coal,
precious stones and iron. Such mines
contain vertical and inclined shafts and
horizontal tunnels at various levels.
Shifting Agriculture
A method of farming in which a patch of
ground is cultivated for a period of few
years until the soil is partly exhausted or
overrun by weeds, and after which the
land is left to natural vegetation while
cultivation is carried on elsewhere. In due
course, the original patch of land is
cultivated again when the natural growth
has restored fertility.
Subsistence Agriculture
Farming in which its produce is mainly
d
consumed in the farmer’s household unlike
commercial agriculture whose products
he
enter into trade on a very large scale.
Transhumance
A seasonal movement of herdsmen with
their livestock and from and to the
is
mountains or between the regions of
differing climates.
Transport
The action of carrying persons and goods
from one place to another.
Truck Farming
Growing of vegetables around the urban
centres to meet the daily demand of the
people is known as truck farming. It is
governed by the distance a truck can cover
overnight between the farm and the market.
Urbanisation
A general movement of people from small
rural or agricultural communities or villages
to larger towns engaged in varied activities
such as government, trade, transport and
manufacture. It also indicates the
concentration of an increasing proportion
of total population in towns and cities.
Glossary 111
 ©
no N
C
tt E
o R
be T
re
Notes

pu
bl
is
he
d