World Geography Part 3 Sunya Prelims2024Notes KING R QUEEN P

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WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
OCEANOGRAPHY
"Oceanography is the description of marine environment, say marine phenomena”.
 About 71 % of the earth’s surface is covered by water.
 Blue Planet: The earth, fortunately has an abundant supply of water on its surface. Hence, our
planet is called the ‘Blue Planet’.
 Watery Planet: Our earth is the only planet in the solar system which has water in abundance,
hence, it is often called a ‘Watery Planet’.
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CHAPTER-26
OCEAN BASINS
Oceans form a single, large, continuous body of water encircling all the landmass of the earth.
 They account for four- fifth of the Southern Hemisphere and three fifth of the Northern
Hemisphere.
 They contain 97.2 percent of the world’s total water.
 Principal Oceans: The Pacific Ocean, the Indian ocean, the Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic
Ocean.
The Relief Of The Ocean Basins

There are relief features found on the ocean floor like mountains, basins, plateaus, ridges, canyons and
trenches beneath the ocean water.
The ocean floors can be divided into

Major Relief Features Minor Relief Features
Continental Shelf Ridges, Hills, Sea Mounts, Guyots,
Continental Slope Trenches, Canyons, etc
Deep Sea Plain
Oceanic Deeps.
Continental Shelf
The shallow submerged extension of continent is called the continental shelf.
 Gradient: It is the shallowest part of the ocean showing an average gradient of 1° or even
less.
 Shelf Break: The shelf typically ends at a very steep slope, called the shelf break.

 Depth: The depth of this shallow sea water over the

continental shelf ranges between 120 to 370 metres.
 Width: The width of the continental shelf varies greatly
ranging between a few kilometres to more than 100
kilometres. Example
 In India: The continental shelf off the eastern coast of
India is much wider than that of the western coast.
 In Europe: Off the coast of West Europe, it extends to
320 kilometres from the Cape of Land’s End.
 Off the coast of Florida the shelf is 240 kilometres
wide.
Formation
 Eustatic Change: Most of the continental shelves
represent land which has been inundated by a rise in sea
level.
 Erosional Work: Many regard their formation due to the
erosional work of waves or due to the extension of land by
the deposition of river borne material on the off-shore
terraces.
 Glacial Deposits: Off the coast regions which were once
covered by ice sheets, they may have developed due to
glacial deposits.
Submarine Canyon:
One of the striking features of the
continental shelf is the presence of
submarine canyons which extend to
the continental slope.
 Canyons are ‘steep-sided valleys’
cut into the floor of the seas.
 They are very similar to the
gorges found on the continents.
 Example: Godavari Canyon in
front of the Godavari river mouth is
502 metres deep.
 Reasons for Submarine Canyon
Formation:
 One of the reasons for the formation of submarine canyon is underwater landslide.
 The sediments collected on the continental shelves get dislodged by a storm or an
earthquake. The force of these moving sediments erode the slopes as they come down and
as a result submarine canyons are carved out.

The continental shelves are of great importance to man

 Have Food Sources For Fishes: The shallow water over the shelf enables sunlight to penetrate
through the water to the bottom and encourages growth of microscopic plants and animals
called planktons. These planktons are the food for fishes.
 Sources of Minerals: Continental shelves are the source of fishes, mineral including sand and
gravel.
 Petroleum/Natural Gas: A large quantity of the world’s petroleum and natural gas is obtained
from these shelves.
 Example-The Bombay High and the recent discovery of petroleum in the Godavari basin
are examples of on shore drilling on the continental shelf.
 Coral Reefs And Lipoclastic Materials: are also common on continental shelves.
Continental Slope
The continuously sloping portion of the continental margin, seaward of the continental shelf and
extending down to the deep sea floor of the abyssal plain, is known as continental slope.
 Gradient: It is characterised by gradients of 2.5 degrees.
 Extent: It extends between the depth of 180 to 3600 metres.
 For example, off the shore of Philippines, the continental slope extends to a great depth.
Continental Rise
Along the base of the continental slope is a deposit of sediments. This belt of sedimentary deposits
form the continental rise.
 Extent: In some regions the rise is very narrow but in others it may extend up to 600 km in
width.
Abyssal Plain
Abyssal plains are extremely flat and featureless plains of the deep ocean floor and are likely the most
level areas on the earth.
 Extent: Abyssal plains covering a major portion of ocean floor between the depth of 3000m
to 6000m.
 Relief Features: They have extensive submarine plateaus, hills, guyots and seamounts. The
floor of the abyssal plain is covered by sediments.
 Ooze: Those seas which favour, an abundant growth of organisms have a thick layer of
sediments, formed from the remains of living things. These sediments are called oozes.
 Red Clay: Some of the open seas do not support enough life to produce ooze on the floor.
They are covered with a type of sediment called red clay which is of volcanic origin or made
up of tiny particles brought by wind and rivers.

Submarine Ridges (Mid-Oceanic Ridges):

The lofty mountain systems which exist on the continents is also represented beneath the ocean
waters in the form of submarine ridges.
 Occurrence: The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is the largest continuous submerged mountain ridge
which runs from north to south in the Atlantic-Ocean.
 Shape: It is in the shape of S. At some places, the peaks, rise above the surface of water in the
form of islands.
 Extent: All the mid oceanic ridges constitute a world-wide system which is interconnected
from ocean to ocean and are intersected by faults.
 Example: The East Pacific Ridge and Carlsberg Ridge are some of the important submarine
ridges.
Seamounts and Guyots

 Seamounts:
Submerged volcanoes
with sharp tops called
seamounts.
 Sometimes they rise
above the sea as
isolated Islands.
 Example: Hawaii
and Tahiti Islands
are the exposed tops
of volcanoes.
 Guyots: Volcano rising above the ocean floor whose top has been flattened by erosion and is
covered by water is called guyot.

The Ocean Deeps (Trenches)

They are long, narrow, steep sided and flat-floored depressions on the ocean floor.
 Orientation: Trenches are situated very close or parallel to the continents bordered by fold
mountains.
 They are usually found adjacent to the areas of volcanic and earthquake activity. Great
earthquakes and tsunamis are born in them.
 Occurrence: They occur in all the major oceans. The Pacific Ocean has the largest number of
trenches.
 The Mariana Trench in ‘the Pacific Ocean is the deepest known part of the oceans.
o This trench is so deep that if we place the highest mountain of the world - the Mt.
Everest in it, even this shall have a few kilometres of water above its summit.
WATER BODIES
Bays
Bay is a water body surrounded on three sides by land
with the fourth side (mouth) wide open towards
oceans. (In Gulfs, the mouth is narrow).
 A bay is usually smaller and less enclosed
than a gulf.
 Example: The Bay of Pigs (Cuba), Hudson
Bay (Canada), Bay of Bengal etc.
 An example of a bay at a river's mouth is New
York Bay, at the mouth of the Hudson River
(Hudson Estuary).

Gulfs
A gulf is a large body of water, sometimes with a narrow mouth, that is almost completely surrounded
by land. The world's largest gulf is the Gulf of Mexico.
 Examples of other gulfs include the Gulf of California, Gulf of Aden (between the Red Sea
and the Arabian Sea), and the Persian Gulf (between Saudi Arabia and Iran).
 The Persian Gulf is important with respect to world energy because petroleum is transported
through its waters in oil tankers.
Straits
A strait is a narrow passageway of water, usually between continents or islands, or between two larger
bodies of water.
 The Strait of Gibraltar is probably the world's most famous strait. It connects the Atlantic
Ocean on its west with the Mediterranean Sea on its east.
 The Strait of Bosporus connects the Black Sea (from the north) and the Sea of Marmara (from
the south) and splits north-western Turkey.
 The Strait of Hormuz is located at the south-eastern end of the Persian Gulf. It is a narrow
waterway that can be (and has been) controlled to prevent ships from sailing through the gulf.

Choke Point
When a body of water such as a strait is capable of being blocked or even closed in order to control
transportation routes, the body is called a "choke point."
 Historically, the Strait of Gibraltar has been one of the world's most important choke points.
 However, the Strait of Hormuz has become an important choke point in recent years because
of increasing Middle East tensions.
Isthmus
Isthmus is the land-equivalent of a strait. i.e., a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land masses.
 Example: Isthmus of Panama and Isthmus of Suez.
*******

CHAPTER-27
PROPERTIES OF OCEAN WATERS
Two crucial characteristics of the ocean waters that influence their flow are temperature and salinity.
As a result, while studying ocean water circulation, the temperature, salinity, and density of the
water have unique significance.
TEMPERATURE OF OCEAN WATERS

 General Decrease of Temperature towards Pole: The mean annual temperatures of about
27°C or higher, are common in tropical seas but there is a general decrease towards the
poles where the mean temperature of around 1.8°C are found.
 However, the decrease of temperature of surface water towards the poles or increase towards the
equator is not uniform because drifting warm water from the tropical seas may move into higher
latitudes or vice versa and gives a local increase or decrease of temperature.
 The main process of heating the ocean waters are
 by absorption of heat from the sun
 by convection of heat through the ocean bottom from the interior of the earth.
 The Cooling Processes:
 by loss of heat to the atmosphere
 by evaporation
Factors Affecting Temperature Distribution

The factors which affect the distribution of temperature of ocean water are :
 Latitude: The temperature of surface water decreases from the equator towards the poles
because the amount of insolation decreases poleward.
 Unequal Distribution of Land And Water: The oceans in the northern hemisphere receive more
heat due to their contact with larger extent of land than the oceans in the southern hemisphere.
 Prevailing Wind: The winds blowing from the land towards the oceans drive warm surface
water away from the coast resulting in the upwelling of cold water from below. It results into
the longitudinal variation in the temperature. Contrary to this, the onshore winds pile up warm
water near the coast and this raises the temperature.
 Ocean Currents: Warm ocean currents raise the temperature in cold areas while the cold
currents decrease the temperature in warm ocean areas.
 Example: Gulf stream (warm current) raises the temperature near the eastern coast of
North America and the West Coast of Europe while the Labrador current (cold current)
lowers the temperature near the north-east coast of North America.
All these factors influence the temperature of the ocean currents locally. The enclosed seas in the low
latitudes record relatively higher temperature than the open seas; whereas the enclosed seas in the high
latitudes have lower temperature than the open seas.

Horizontal and Vertical Distribution of Temperature

The Temperature-Depth Profile
The temperature depth profile for the ocean water shows how the temperature decreases with the
increasing depth.
 Boundary Region: The boundary usually begins around 100 - 400 m below the sea surface
and extends several hundred of metres downward.
 Thermocline: Boundary region, from where there is a rapid decrease of temperature.
 Deep Region: About 90 per cent of the total volume of water is found below the thermocline
in the deep ocean. In this zone, temperatures approach 0° C.
OCEAN LAYERS:
 The first layer represents the top layer of warm oceanic water and it is about 500m thick with
temperatures ranging between 20° and 25° C. This layer, within the tropical region, is present
throughout the year but in mid latitudes it develops only during summer.
 The second layer called the thermocline layer lies below the first layer and is characterised by
rapid decrease in temperature with increasing depth. The thermocline is 500 -1,000 m thick.
 The third layer is very cold and extends up to the deep ocean floor.
Note- Since the surface water temperatures in the Arctic and Antarctic circles are about zero degrees Celsius, there
is relatively little temperature variation with depth. Only one layer of cold water is present here, and it stretches from
the surface to the deep ocean floor.
Horizontal Distribution of Ocean Temperature

 The average temperature of surface water of the oceans is about 27°C and it gradually
decreases from the equator towards the poles.

Spatial Pattern of surface temperature (°C) of the oceans

 The rate of decrease of temperature with increasing latitude is generally 0.5°C per latitude.
 The average temperature is around 22°C at 20° latitudes, 14° C at 40° latitudes and 0° C near
poles.
 The oceans in the northern hemisphere record relatively higher temperature than in the
southern hemisphere.
 The highest temperature is not recorded at the equator but slightly towards north of it.
 The average annual temperatures for the northern and southern hemisphere are around 19° C
and 16° C respectively. This variation is due to the unequal distribution of land and water in
the northern and southern hemispheres.
SALINITY OF THE OCEAN WATERS

 The salinity of the ocean water is produced by a large number of dissolved chemical
compounds.
 Salinity is defined as the weight in grammes of solid material left after the evaporation of
1000 grammes of sea water.
 The dominant salts in the Ocean water are sodium chloride & Magnesium Chloride with
77.7% & 10.9% respectively.
 Proportion of Salts: Due to the free movement of ocean water, the proportion of different
salts remain remarkably constant in all oceans and even to great depth. But the degree of
concentration of the salt solution in oceans does vary appreciably in different seas.

 Representation: If the weight of solid

material is 35 grammes (and it is usually very
near this figure), the salinity would be shown
35/00 (35 per thousands). Salinity is
expressed in this way rather than as
percentage.
 Example: In the Baltic Sea, fresh water
enters it from the surrounding land and
reduce the salinity to 7/00 and it may fall
in this sea as low as 20/00. But great
evaporation combined with a very dry climate in the Red Sea region gives the water of this
sea a high salinity of 41/00 to 42/00.
 In Enclose Sea, which are areas of inland drainage such as the Caspian Sea, the salinity is
very high, 18/00 in the Dead Sea of Jordan. The salinity may be as high as 25/00.
Salts Concentration in %0 Percent
Sodium Chloride 27.213 77.8
Magnesium Chloride 3.8 10.9
Magnesium Sulphate 1.658 4.7
Calcium Sulphate 1.260 3.6
Potassium Sulphate 0.863 2.5
Calcium Carbonate 0.123 0.3
Magnesium Bromide 0.0.76 0.2
Total 35%0 100%
Sources Of Ocean Salinity

Ocean salinity is derived from the following three sources and processes :
 Chemical weathering: The continental rocks are subjected to chemical weathering and
weathered materials containing different dissolved substances are carried by surface runoff and
overland flow and are brought to the rivers which finally dump these dissolved materials into
the oceans
 Degassing: The undersea volcanic eruptions spew chloride and sulphate which are added to
the ocean water.
Factors Affecting Ocean Salinity:

 Evaporation: There is direct positive relationship between the rate of evaporation and salinity
e.g. greater the evaporation, higher the salinity and vice versa.
 Precipitation: Precipitation is inversely related to salinity e.g. higher the precipitation, lower
the salinity and vice versa.
 This is why the regions of high rainfall (equatorial zone) record comparatively lower
salinity than the regions of low rainfall (sub-tropical high pressure belts).

 Influx of River Water: Though the rivers bring salt from the land to the oceans but big and
voluminous rivers pour down immense volume of water into the oceans and thus salinity is
reduced at their mouths.
 For example, comparatively low salinity is found near the mouths of the Ganga, the
Congo, the Niger, the Amazon, the St. Lawrence etc.
 Atmospheric Pressure: Anticyclonic conditions with stable air and high temperature increase
salinity of the surface water of the oceans.
 Example: Sub-tropical high pressure belts represent such conditions to cause high salinity.
 Winds Direction: Winds drive away more saline water to fewer saline areas resulting into
decrease of salinity in the former and increase in the latter.
 For example, trade winds drive away saline waters from the western coasts of the
continents (or eastern margins of the oceans) and pile them up near the eastern coasts (or
western margins of the oceans) causing low salinity in the former area and high salinity in
the latter.
o This is why the Gulf of Mexico records 36%o to 37%o salinity whereas it is only 34%o
in the Gulf of California.
o Westerlies increase the salinity along the western coasts of the continents whereas they
lower the salinity along the eastern coast.
 Ice Formation: Formation of ice in the high latitudes areas of the oceans increases sea water
salinity.
 For example, if the salinity of seawater of a part of an ocean is 33%o, and if the sea-water
freezes and is changed to sea ice, it contains only 30 percent of seawater salinity of 33%o,
i.e. about 10%o only.
 Circulation of Ocean Water: Equatorial warm currents drive away salts from the western
coastal areas of the continents and accumulate them along the eastern coastal areas. Example:
 The high salinity of the Mexican Gulf is partly due to this factor.
 The North Atlantic Drift, the extension of the Gulf Stream increases salinity, along the
north-western coasts of Europe. Similarly, salinity is reduced along the north -eastern
coasts of N. America due to cool Labrador current.
 Enclosed Sea: Ocean currents have least in fluence on salinity in the enclosed seas but
those marginal seas which have communication with open seas through wide openings are
certainly affected by currents in terms of salinity.
o For example, the North Atlantic Drift raises the salinity of the Norwegian and the
North Seas.
Salinity, temperature and density of water are interrelated. Hence, any change in the temperature or
density influences the salinity of water in an area.
Horizontal Distribution Of Salinity:

 Open Ocean: The salinity for normal open ocean ranges between 33/oo and 37/oo.
 Landlocked Sea: In the land locked Red Sea, it is as high as 41/oo,

 In Estuaries and Arctic: The salinity fluctuates from 0-35/oo, seasonally.

 In Hot and Dry regions, where evaporation is
high, the salinity sometimes reaches to 70/oo.
 Pacific Ocean: The salinity variation in the
Pacific Ocean is mainly due to its shape and larger
areal extent.
 Salinity decreases from 35/oo - 31/oo on the
western parts of the northern hemisphere
because of the influx of melted water from the
Arctic region.
 In the same way, after 15° - 20° south, it
decreases to 33/oo .
 Atlantic Ocean: The average salinity of the Atlantic Ocean is around 36/oo.
 The Highest Salinity is recorded between 15° and 20° latitudes.
Spatial pattern of surface temperature (°C) of the oceans

 Maximum Salinity (37/oo) is observed between 20°N and 30°N and 20°W-60°W. It
gradually decreases towards the north.
 The North Sea, in spite of its location in higher latitudes, records higher salinity due to more
saline water brought by the North Atlantic Drift.
 Baltic Sea records low salinity due to influx of river waters in large quantity.
 The Mediterranean Sea records higher salinity due to high evaporation.
 Black Sea: Salinity is, however, very low in Black Sea due to enormous fresh water influx by
rivers.

 Indian Ocean: The average salinity of the Indian Ocean is 35/oo.

 Bay of Bengal: The low salinity trend is observed in the Bay of Bengal due to influx of river
water.
 Arabian Sea: On the contrary to Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea shows higher salinity due
to high evaporation and low influx of fresh water.
Surface salinity of the World’s Oceans
Vertical Distribution of Salinity:

 Surface Salinity: Salinity at the surface increases
by the loss of water to ice or evaporation, or
decreased by the input of fresh waters, such as
from the rivers.
 Halocline: The lower salinity water rests above
the higher salinity dense water. Salinity,
generally, increases with depth and there is a
distinct zone called the halocline, where salinity
increases sharply.
 Stratification: High salinity seawater, generally,
sinks below the lower salinity water. This leads to
stratification by salinity.
Highest Salinity In Water Bodies
• Lake Van in Turkey (330 ppt)
• Dead Sea (238 ppt)
• Great Salt Lake, Utah (220 ppt)

Significance Salinity
 The freezing and boiling points are greatly affected and controlled by addition or subtraction
of salts in sea water.
 Pure water freezes at the temperature of 0°C freezing point and if the salinity of seawater
becomes 35%o then it would freeze at the temperature o f - 1.91°C.
 On the other hand, the boiling point of saline water (seawater)1 is higher than freshwater.
 Salinity and density of seawater are positively correlated i.e. the salinity of seawater
increases its density because solutes (here salts) in water have greater atomic weight than the
molecule so fresh water. This is why man is seldom drowned in the seawater with very high
salinity.
 Evaporation is controlled by salinity of the oceans. In fact, solutes (salts) in water lowers the
rate of evaporation in the oceans. Thus more saline water is less evaporated than less saline
water.
 It may be mentioned that evaporation also controls salinity of seawater. More evaporation
reduces the volume of seawater and hence the concentration of salts increases (i.e. seawater
salinity increases).
 Ocean Current: Spatial variation in seawater salinity becomes potent factor in the origin of
ocean currents.
 Marine Organism: The ocean salinity affects the marine organisms and plant community.
DENSITY OF OCEANS
The density determines the dynamics of ocean water i.e.
whether the seawater will sink (subsidence and hence
downward vertical movement of seawater), or will float
(expansion and hence horizontal movement) depends upon its
density.
 As per rule, relatively lighter seawater (less dense
seawater) floats and moves horizontally, whereas
heavier seawater (more dense water) sinks
(downward movement). This is the reason that a
person floats over seawater having high salinity
because salinity increases density of seawater.
Controlling Factors of Density of Seawater

 Temperature: Temperature and density of seawater
are, on an average, inversely related i.e. higher the
temperature, lower the density, and lower the
temperature, higher the density.
 Salinity: is directly positively related to seawater density i.e. on an average, seawater density
increases with increasing salinity and decreases with decrease in salinity.
 Pressure: is directly positively related to ocean water density through its compressive effects,
seawater density increases with increasing pressure, and decreases with decrease in pressure
of seawater.

CHAPTER-28
MOVEMENTS OF OCEAN WATERS
The waters of oceans are never still. The oceans

The movement of the waves is just like the wind
actually exhibit three major types of movements - blowing across a wheat field and causing wave like
waves, tides and currents. ripples to roll across its surface. The wheat stalk
returns to its original position after the passage of
WAVES
each wave of wind. Similarly water also returns to its
Waves are oscillatory movements that result in the original position after transmitting a wave
rise and fall of water surface. In fact, the movement
of each water particle in a wave is circular.
Characteristics of waves
The size and force of a sea wave depends on three factors

(i) Velocity of the wind,
(ii) The length of time the wind blows and
(iii) Distance that the wind has travelled across the open sea. This is called a fetch.
General Characteristics:
 A wave’s size and shape reveal its origin.
 Steep waves are fairly young ones and are
probably formed by local wind.
 Slow and steady waves originate from far-away
places, possibly from another hemisphere.
 Waves travel because wind pushes the water body in
its course while gravity pulls the crests of the waves downward.
 The falling water pushes the former troughs upward, and the wave moves to a new position
 The actual motion of the water beneath the waves is circular. It indicates that things are carried
up and forward as the wave approaches, and down and back as it passes.

Characteristics of Waves
 Wave crest and trough: The highest and lowest points of a wave are called the crest and trough
respectively.
 Wave height: It is the vertical distance from the bottom of a trough to the top of a crest of a wave.
 Wave amplitude: It is one-half of the wave height.
 Wave period: It is merely the time interval between two successive wave crests or troughs as they pass
a fixed point.
 Wavelength: It is the horizontal distance between two successive crests.
 Wave speed: It is the rate at which the wave moves through the water, and is measured in knots.
 Wave frequency: It is the number of waves passing a given point during a one second time interval.
TIDES
The periodical rise and fall of the sea level, once or twice a day, mainly due to the attraction of the sun
and the moon, is called a tide.
 Flow/Flood Tide: At the time of a rising sea level, the incoming tide towards the land is spoken
of as a flow tide or a flood tide.
 Ebb Tide: At the time of a falling sea level after a few hours, we speak of the tide water going
out or withdrawn, is an ebb tide (low tide).
 Note: The flood tide is a high tide and the ebb tide is a low tide. Tides are really the largest
waves keeping the ocean water restless.
Reason for two tidal bulges
The moon’s gravitational pull to a great extent and to a lesser extent the sun’s gravitational pull, are the major
causes for the occurrence of tides. Another factor is centrifugal force, which is the force that acts to counter
balance the gravity. Together, the gravitational pull and the centrifugal force are responsible for creating the
two major tidal bulges on the earth.
 Tidal Bulge: On the side of the earth facing the moon, a tidal bulge occurs while on the
opposite side though the gravitational attraction of the moon is less as it is farther away, the
centrifugal force causes tidal bulge on the other side
(Figure)
 The ‘Tide-Generating’ Force: is the difference
between two forces; i.e. the gravitational attraction of
the moon and the centrifugal force.
 Bulge Towards Moon: On the surface of the earth,
nearest the moon, pull or the attractive force of the
moon is greater than the centrifugal force, and so there
is a net force causing a bulge towards the moon.
 Bulge Away From The Moon: On the opposite side of
the earth, the attractive force is less, as it is farther away
from the moon, the centrifugal force is dominant.
Hence, there is a net force away from the moon. It
creates the second bulge away from the moon.

Types of Tide:
Tides Based On Frequency
Semi-Diurnal Tide Diurnal Tide
 The most common tidal pattern, featuring two  There is only one high tide and one low tide
high tides and two low tides each day. during each day.
 The successive high or low tides are  The successive high and low tides are
approximately of the same height approximately of the same height.
Mixed tide
 Tides having variations in height are known as mixed tides.
 These tides generally occur along the west coast of North America and on many islands of the Pacific
Ocean.
Tides based on the Sun, Moon and the Earth Positions

The height of rising water (high tide) varies appreciably depending upon the position of sun and moon
with respect to the earth.
Spring Tide Neap Tide
 When the sun, the moon and the earth are in  At this time the sun and moon are at right
a straight line, the height of the tide will be angles to each other and the forces of the sun
higher. These are called spring tides. and moon tend to counteract one another.
 Time of Occurrence: and they occur twice a  Normally, there is a seven day interval
month, one on full moon period and another between the spring tides and neap tides
during new moon period.

 Tides at Time of Perigee: The Moon’s attraction, though more than twice as strong as the
sun’s, is diminished by the counteracting force of the sun’s gravitational pull. Once in a month,
when the moon’s orbit is closest to the earth (perigee), unusually high and low tides occur.
During this time the tidal range is greater than normal.
 Tides at the time of Apogee: Two weeks later, when the moon is farthest from earth (apogee),
the moon’s gravitational force is limited and the tidal ranges are less than their average heights.
 Tides at the time of Perihelion: When the earth is closest to the sun (perihelion), around 3rd
January each year, tidal ranges are also much greater, with unusually high and unusually low
tides.
 Tides at the time of Aphelion: When the earth is farthest from the sun (aphelion), around 4th
July each year, tidal ranges are much less than average.
Note:
 Ebb: The time between the high tide and low tide, when the water level is falling, is called the
ebb.
 Flow/Flood: The time between the low tide and high tide, when the tide is rising, is called the
flow or flood.
However the regular interval between two high tides or between two low tides is 12 hours and 25
minutes and not exactly 12 hours. Each day (in 24 hours) the high tide arrives about 51 minutes later
than on the previous day. It is so because each day the rising and setting of the moon also falls behind
by 51 minutes. It takes 24 hours and 50 minutes for the rotating earth to bring the same meridian
vertically below the moon every day. The timings of the tides at a place on a coast will be clear to you
from the following examples.

Effect of Tides
 Tides act as link between the port and the open sea: Example, Some of the major ports of
the world, such as London port on the river Thames and Kolkata port on river Hugli are
located on the rivers away from the sea coast.
 On Delta: The tidal current clear away the river sediments and slows down the growth of delta.
 It increases the depth of water which help ships to move safely to the ports.
 It also acts as a source for producing electricity.
CURRENTS
The ocean current are horizontal flow of a mass of waters in a fairly defined direction over great
distances. They are like stream of water flowing through the main body of the ocean in a regular
pattern.
 The average speed of current is between 3.2 km to 10 kms per hour.
 Stream/Drift: Ocean currents with higher speed are called stream and currents with lower
speed are called drift.
Current in the pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans

Types of Ocean Currents
The ocean currents may be classified based on their depth as surface currents and deep water currents
 Surface Currents: Constitute about 10 per cent of all the water in the ocean, these waters are
the upper 400 m of the ocean;
 Deep Water Currents: Make up the other 90 per cent of the ocean water. These waters move
around the ocean basins due to variations in the density and gravity. Deep waters sink into the
deep ocean basins at high latitudes, where the temperatures are cold enough to cause the density
to increase.

Warm Current Cold Current

 Those currents which flow from equatorial  Those currents which flow from polar regions
regions towards poles have a higher surface towards equator have a lower surface
temperature and are called warm current. temperature and are called cold currents.
Ocean currents are influenced by two types of forces namely:

1. Primary Forces That Initiate The Movement Of Water:
 Heating by solar energy: Heating by solar energy causes the water to expand. That is why,
near the equator the ocean water is about 8 cm higher in level than in the middle latitudes. This
causes a very slight gradient and water tends to flow down the slope.
 Wind: Wind blowing on the surface of the ocean pushes the water to move. Friction between
the wind and the water surface affects the movement of the water body in its course.
 Gravity: Gravity tends to pull the water down the pile and create gradient variation.
 The Coriolis Force: The Coriolis force intervenes and causes the water to move to the right
in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere. These large
accumulations of water and the flow around them are called Gyres. These produce large
circular currents in all the ocean basins.
2. Secondary Forces that Influence the Currents to Flow:
 Differences in water density affect vertical mobility of ocean currents. Water with high
salinity is denser than water with low salinity and in the same way cold water is denser than
warm water. Denser water tends to sink, while relatively lighter water tends to rise.
 Example: The currents caused by difference in salinity are found between the Atlantic
ocean with lower salinity and the Mediterranean Sea with higher salinity.
 Cold-water ocean currents occur when the cold water at the poles sinks and slowly moves
towards the equator.
 Warm-water currents travel out from the equator along the surface, flowing towards the
poles to replace the sinking cold water.
3. Currents Of The Atlantic Ocean

 Westward Moving Currents: To the north and south of equator there are two westward
moving currents i.e., the north and south equatorial currents.
 Counter Equatorial Current(Eastward Moving Currents): Between above two equatorial
currents is the Counter Equatorial Current which flows from west to east.
 This counter current replaces the water removed from the eastern side of the oceans by
North and South Equatorial Currents.
 The South Equatorial Current: It bifurcates into two branches near the Cape De Sao Roque
in Brazil.
 Its northern branch joins the North Equatorial Current. This combined current enters the
Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, while the remaining current passes along the eastern
side of the West Indies as the Antilles Current.

 The part of the current which enters the Gulf of Mexico, comes out from the Florida strait
and joins the Antilles Current. This combined current moves along the south eastern coast
of U.S.A.. It is known as Florida Current up to cape of Hatteras.
 Gulf Stream: Beyond the Cape Hatteras, up to the Grand Banks, off New Foundland, it is
called the Gulf Stream.
 From the Grand Banks, the Gulf Stream is deflected eastwards under the combined
influence of the westerlies and the rotation of the earth. It crosses the Atlantic Ocean as
North Atlantic Drift.
 The North Atlantic Drift: Bifurcates into two branches on reaching the eastern part of the
ocean.
 The northern branch continues as North Atlantic Drift; reaches the British Isles from
where it flows along the coast of Norway as the Norwegian Current and enters the Arctic
Ocean.
 The southern branch flows between Spain and Azores Island as the cold Canaries
Current. The Canaries Current finally joins the North Equatorial Current and completes
the circuit in the North Atlantic Ocean.
 Within this circuit lies the Sargasso Sea which is full of large quantities of seaweeds
called sargassum, a brown algae.
Apart from the clockwise circulation of the currents in the North Atlantic Ocean, there are also two
cold currents - the East Greenland Current and the Labrador Current which flow from the Arctic
Ocean into the Atlantic Ocean.
 The Labrador Current flows along the eastern coast of Canada and meets the warm Gulf
Stream.
 The confluence of these two currents, one cold and the other hot, produces fog around
Newfoundland and makes it the most important fishing ground of the world.
 East Greenland current: flows between Iceland and Greenland and cools the North Atlantic
Drift at the point of their confluence.
South Equatorial Current splits into two branches near Cape De Sao Roque (Brazil).
 The northern branch joins the North Equatorial Current, whereas the southern branch turns
south and flows along the eastern coast of South America as Brazil Current.
 At about 35° south latitude the influence of the westerlies and the rotation of the earth propel
the current eastward to merge with the West Wind Drift.
 Benguela Current: Near the Cape of Good Hope, the South Atlantic Current is diverted
northward as the cold Benguela Current. It finally joins the South Equatorial Currents thus
completing the circuit.
 Falkland Current: Another cold current, known as the Falkland Current, flows along the
South eastern coast of south America from south to north.
Currents of the Pacific Ocean

It may be observed that the same broad circulatory systems, clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere
and anti-clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere, are present in the Pacific ocean also.

The current of the Pacific Ocean

 Kuro-Shio Current: The North Equatorial Current turns northwards and flows along the
Philippines Islands, Taiwan and Japan to form the warm Kuro Shio or Kuro Siwo current.
 North Pacific Current: From the southeast coast of Japan, the N.E. current comes under the
influence of westerlies and flows right across the ocean as North Pacific Current.
 After reaching the west coast of North America, it bifurcates into two branches.
 Alaska Current: The northern branch flows anti clockwise along the coast of British
Columbia and Alaska and is known as the Alaska Current. The warm waters of this current
help to keep the Alaska coast ice free in winter.
 California Current: The other branch of the North Pacific Current moves southward
along the coast of California as the Cold Californian Current. It eventually joins the North
Equatorial Current to complete its circuit.
In the northern part of the Pacific Ocean two cold currents also flow.
 Oya Siwo Current: Flows along the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula.
 Okhotsk Current: Flows past Sakhalin to merge with the Oya Siwo Current near Hokkaido
Island. It later merges with Kuro Siwo Current and sinks beneath the warm waters of the North
Pacific Currents.
In the South Pacific Ocean

 East Australian Current: The South Equatorial Current flows towards west and turns
southwards as the East Australian Current. It then meets near Tasmania the cold South Pacific
Current which flows from west to east.

 Peru Current: On reaching the South Western Coasts of South America, East Australian
Current turns north wards as the cold Peru Current. It then meets the South Equatorial Current
and completes the circuit.
Currents of the Indian Ocean

The pattern of circulation of currents in the Indian Ocean differs from the general pattern of
circulation in the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean because Indian Ocean is blocked by the
continental masses in the north.
 The general pattern of circulation in the southern section of the Indian Ocean is anti-clockwise
as that of other oceans. But in the northern section there is a clear reversal of currents in winter
and summer.
 These are completely under the influence of the seasonal changes of the monsoon winds. So
there is a clear reversal of currents in the winter and summer season i.e./south westwards during
the north-east Monsoon, north-eastwards during the southwest Monsoon and variable during
transition season.
During Winters
Sri Lanka divides the currents of the Arabian sea from those of the Bay of Bengal.
The Currents of the Indian Ocean (Winter)

 The North Equatorial Current flows westward just south of Sri Lanka with distinct counter
equatorial current flows between it and the South Equatorial Current.
 At this time in the northern section, the whole of Bay of Bengal and Arabian sea is under
the influence of North East Monsoon.
 The North East Monsoon drives the water of Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea west wards
to circulate in an anti-clockwise direction. This current is known as North East Monsoon
Drift.

In summers
 The northern section comes under the influences of South West Monsoon. There is an easterly
movement of water in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea and produces a clockwise circulation.
This current is known as South West Monsoon Drift.
 In general the summers currents are more regular than those of winter.
 In the southern Indian Ocean, the South Equatorial Current, strengthened by its corresponding
current of the Pacific Ocean, flows from east to west. It turns south-wards along the Coast of
Mozambique in Africa.
 A part of this current which flows between the mainland and the Madagascar Island is known
as warm Mozambique Current.
 After the confluence of these two currents, it is called Aghulas Current. It then turn eastwards
and merges with the West Wind Drift.
 The West Wind Drift flows across the ocean in west east direction in the higher latitudes to reach
the southern tip of Australia. A branch of this stream turns north to flow along the western coast
of Australia as cold West Australian Current. West Australian Current later joins the South
Equatorial Current to complete the circuit.
EFFECTS OF OCEAN CURRENTS

1. Influence on climate
Some of the important effects of oceans currents are as follows:
 The ocean current that moves from the equatorial region to the colder latitudes raises the
temperature of the air in the areas into which it moves.
 For example, warm North Atlantic Drift which flows northwards to West European
coast helps to keep the coast of Great Britain and Norway free of ice in winter too. The
effect of the ocean current becomes clearer if you compare the winter conditions of the
British Isles with that of the North East Coast of Canada situated on the same latitudes.
Since the North East Coast of Canada comes under the influence of cold Labrador
current, it remains ice bound during the winter time.

 When cold and warm currents meet they produce mist and fog.
 For example, near New Foundland warm Gulf Stream meets Labrador Current and
produces fog.
 They also create conditions for storms.
 Hurricanes in New Found land and Typhoons in Japan are perhaps the result of the
meeting of warm and cold currents.
2. Influence on marine Life
Temperature has a great influence on marine life. It determines the type of flora and fauna.
 Fishing: The areas where warm and cold currents meet are among the most important
fishing grounds of the world.
 The oceanic movement in the form of currents helps in the dispersal of marine life.
3. Influence on Trade
 The ports and harbours of higher latitudes which are affected by warm currents are ice
free and open for trade all the year round.
 For example, the ports of North Western Europe remain open throughout the year
while port of Quebec in Canada gets frozen in winters.
Importance of Ocean for Humans

1. Ocean as modifiers of climate
 Saving Bank for the solar energy: The ocean stores a large quantity of heat, hence it is
often called “the saving bank for the solar energy, receiving deposits in season of excessive
insolation and paying them back in seasons of want”.
 Source of Precipitation: The oceans supply water vapour to the atmosphere and thus are
the basic source of all precipitation on earth. They are also the vital source of fresh water
on earth.
 Regulator of Temperature: Ocean currents are important regulators of temperature on
the earth’s surface. They help in exchange of heat between low and high latitudes and are
essential in sustaining the global energy balance.
 On the local scale, the warm ocean currents bring a moderating influence to coasts in higher
latitudes; cool currents reduce the heat of tropical deserts along narrow coastal belts.
 Centre of Pressures: The ocean’s surface has six or more permanent centres of high pressure.
These high pressure areas give birth to the planetary wind system over the earth. These planetary
winds determine the amount of rainfall and its distribution over the earth’s surface.
 The westerlies give rainfall on the West European Coast after collecting moisture from the
warm North Atlantic Drift.
Oceans and Resources

 Great source of food: The animals and plants of the sea constitute a vast resource from which
man can derive food, fertilizers for agriculture and raw material for industry.
 Fish and other marine animals form a rich source of food and nutrition for man. Fishes now
make up more than 10 per cent of the total animal protein that human consume.

 Oceans and Mineral Resources: Oceans are the store house of a large number of useful
metallic and non-metallic minerals.
 Petroleum Deposits: Vast deposits of petroleum have been found in many places such as
in the North Sea, off the coast of South California and Texas, in the Mediterranean Sea,
Persian Gulf, Bombay High in the Arabian Sea.
 The common salt or sodium chloride is extracted from sea water. Apart from salt,
magnesium and bromine have long been extracted from sea water.
 Metals: Waters and sediments of ocean are heavily saturated with such metals as zinc,
copper, lead, silver and gold, especially in the volcanic region of the oceanic ridge. The
most significant are mineral nodules found on the deep sea floor. The important ones are
phosphorites and manganese nodules.
 Ocean and Energy: The energy resources of the oceans are of various types - tidal power,
geothermal energy and energy from the ocean temperature.
 Ocean Transportation and Trade: They provide natural highways at low cost for
international trade. They facilitate movement of bulky goods.
******

CHAPTER-29
CORAL REEFS
Coral reefs and atolls are significant submarine features that are formed due to accumulation and
compaction of skeletons of lime secreting organisms known as coral polyps. Coral polyps thrive in the
tropical oceans confined between 25°N -25 °S latitudes and live on lime.
Conditions for the Growth of Coral Polyps

 Stable climatic conditions: Corals are highly Note: Coral reefs are absent on west
susceptible to quick changes. They grow in regions coast of tropical continents because of
where climate is significantly stable for a long period Cold Ocean Currents.
(Equatorial oceans with warm ocean currents).
 Perpetually warm waters: Corals thrive in tropical waters (30°N and 30°S latitudes, the
temperature of water is around 20°C) where diurnal and annual temperature ranges are very
narrow.
 Shallow water: Coral require fairly good amount of sunlight to survive. The ideal depths for
coral growth are 45 m to 55 m below sea surface, where there is enough sunlight available.
 Clear salt water: Clear salt water is suitable for coral growth, while both freshwater and highly
saline water are harmful.
 Abundant Plankton: Adequate supply of oxygen and microscopic marine food, called
plankton (phytoplankton), is essential for growth. As the plankton is more abundant on the
seaward side, corals grow rapidly on the seaward side.
 Little or no pollution: Corals are highly fragile and are vulnerable to climate change and
pollution and even a minute increase in marine pollution can be catastrophic.
Distribution Of Coral Reefs

 Corals are found in certain pockets and patches in the tropical seas and oceans because coral animals
(polyps) can thrive in certain conditions determined by temperature of seawater, water depth, salinity
of ocean water, turbidity of seawater, flux of fresh water by big continental rivers, availability of
extensive submarine platforms, level of energy of ocean currents and waves etc.

 Fig. depicts concentration of corals in the tropical seas and oceans, the poleward boundary of
which is determined by 20°C isotherm of temperature of surface water of the oceans.
 The coral reefs are abundantly found in the tropical Indo- Pacific Oceans between 30°S
latitudes and 20°N latitudes.
 The largest concentration of coral reefs is found in the tropical western Pacific Ocean. In all,
the Pacific Ocean accounts for more than 55 percent of world corals, whereas there are more
than 30 percent of world corals in the Indian Ocean.
 It is interesting to note that corals abound in the western tropical regions of the oceans, i.e.
along the east coasts of the continents because warm equatorial currents bring high energy and
sufficient nutrients needed by symbiotic zooxanthellae algae.
The major concentration of coral reefs are found in the following locations in the Indian Ocean:
 Indian Ocean: Eastern coasts of-Kenya, around Madagascar, eastern coasts of South Africa,
western coasts of Australia, Red Sea, Maldives, Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar etc..
 Pacific Ocean: Around Philippines, off the southern coasts of Japan, Polynesia and
Micronesia, off the coasts of the Northern Territory of Australia, east coasts of Queensland of
Australia (Great Barrier Reef) etc.
 Atlantic Ocean: Continental coasts bordering the Caribbean sea, around islands of the
Caribbean Sea, of Brazil etc.
Types of Coral Reefs
1. Fringing Reefs (Shore Reefs)

 The fringing reef is by far the
most common of the three major
types of coral reefs.
 Fringing reefs are reefs that grow
directly from a shore.
 They are very narrow (1-2 km
wide) and are located very close
to the land.
 A shallow lagoon exists between
the beach and the main body of
the reef.
 Fringing reef grows from the deep sea bottom with the seaward side sloping steeply into the
deep sea.
 Coral polyps do not extend outwards because of sudden and large increase in depth.
 Fringing reefs can be seen at the New Hebrides Society islands off Australia and off the
southern coast of Florida.

2. Barrier Reefs
 Barrier reefs are extensive linear reefs that
run parallel to the shore and are separated
from it by a lagoon.
 This is the largest (in size, not distribution)
of the three reefs, runs for hundreds of
kilometres and is several kilometres wide.
 It extends as a broken, irregular ring around
the coast or an island, running almost
parallel to it.
 Barrier reefs are far less common than fringing reefs or atolls.
 The 1200-mile long Great Barrier Reef off the NE coast of Australia is the world's largest
barrier reef.
 The GBR is not a single reef, but rather a very large complex consisting of many reefs.
3. Atolls
 An atoll is a roughly
circular oceanic reef
system surrounding a
large central lagoon.
 The lagoon has a depth
of 80-150 metres and
may be joined with sea
water through a number
of channels cutting
across the reef.
 Atolls are located at great distances from deep sea platforms.
 They form on submarine features such as a submerged island or a volcanic cone which reaches
a level suitable for coral growth.
 Atolls are far more common in the Pacific than any other ocean.
 The Fiji atoll is a well-known example of atolls.
 In the South Pacific, most atolls occur in mid-ocean.
o Examples of this reef type are common in French Polynesia, the Caroline and Marshall
Islands, Micronesia, and the Cook Islands.
 A large number of atolls occur in the Lakshadweep Islands.
 Others are found in the Maldives and Chagos island groups, the Seychelles, and in the Cocos.
CORAL BLEACHING OR CORAL REEF BLEACHING

Coral bleaching means decolouration of coral animals (coral polyps) due to a host of factors and their
death.

Ecological Causes of Coral Bleaching

Temperature
 Coral species live within a relatively narrow temperature margin, and anomalously low,
and high sea temperatures can induce coral bleaching.
 Bleaching events occur during sudden temperature drops accompanying intense upwelling
episodes (El-Nino), seasonal cold-air outbreaks.
 While the rising temperatures have increased the frequency and intensity of bleaching,
acidification has reduced corals calcifying ability.
 Small temperature increases over many weeks or large increase (3-4 °C) over a few days
will result in coral dysfunction.
Subaerial exposure
 Sudden exposure of corals to the atmosphere during events such as extreme low tides,
ENSO-related sea level drops or tectonic uplift can potentially induce bleaching.
 The consequent exposure to high or low temperatures, increased solar radiation,
desiccation, and seawater dilution by heavy rains could all play a role in zooxanthellae loss.
Fresh Water Dilution
 Rapid dilution of reef waters from storm-generated precipitation and runoff has been
demonstrated to cause coral reef bleaching.
 Generally, such bleaching events are rare and confined to relatively small, near shore areas.

Inorganic Nutrients
 Rather than causing coral reef bleaching, an increase in ambient elemental nutrient
concentrations (e.g. ammonia and nitrate) actually increases zooxanthellae densities 2-3 times.
 Although eutrophication (excessive nutrients that results in harmful algal blooms) is not
directly involved in zooxanthellae loss, it could cause secondary adverse effects such as
lowering of coral resistance and greater susceptibility to diseases.
Xenobiotics
 When corals are exposed to high concentrations of chemical contaminants like copper,
herbicides and oil, coral bleaching happens.
Epizootics
 Pathogen induced bleaching is different from other sorts of bleaching.
 Most coral diseases cause patchy or whole colony death and sloughing of soft tissues,
resulting in a white skeleton (not to be confused with bleached corals).
******

BIOGEOGRAPHY

CHAPTER-30
SOIL
Soil is the thin top layer on the earth’s crust comprising rock particles mixed with organic matter.
 Pedogenesis: is the natural process of soil formation that includes a variety of processes such
as weathering, leaching, calcification etc..
 Pedology: is the study of soils in their natural environment.
General Classification
The soil is classified on the basis of the proportion of particles of various sizes.
 Sandy Soil: If soil contains greater proportion of big
particles it is called sandy soil.
 Water can drain quickly through the spaces between the
sand particles. So, sandy soils tend to be light, well
aerated and dry.
 Clayey Soil: If the proportion of fine particles is relatively
higher, then it is called clayey soil.
 Clay particles, being much smaller, pack tightly together, leaving little space for air. Unlike
sandy soil, water can be held in the tiny gaps between the particles of clay. So clay soils
have little air. But they are heavy as they hold more water than the sandy soils.
 Loamy Soil: The best topsoil for growing plants is Loamy soil.
 The loamy soil also has humus in it. It has the right water holding capacity for the growth
of plants.
 It is a mixture of sand, clay and another type of soil particle known as silt.
 Silt occurs as a deposit in river beds. The size of the silt particles is between those of sand
and clay.

Soil and Crops:

 Clayey and loamy soils are both suitable for growing cereals like wheat, and gram. Such soils
are good at retaining water.
 For paddy, soils rich in clay and organic matter and having a good capacity to retain water are
ideal.
 For lentils (masoor) and other pulses, loamy soils, which drain water easily, are required.
 For cotton, sandy loam or loam, which drain water easily and can hold plenty of air, are more
suitable.
SOIL PROFILE:
A vertical section through different layers of the soil is called the soil profile. Each layer differs in feel
(texture), colour, depth and chemical composition.
Soil Horizon: A soil horizon is a layer generally parallel to the soil surface, whose physical
characteristics differ from the layers above and beneath.
 Horizons are defined in most cases by obvious physical features, chiefly colour and texture.
 The uppermost horizon is generally dark in colour as it is rich in humus and minerals. The
humus makes the soil fertile and provides nutrients to growing plants.
Layers of Soil
O Horizon A Horizon or Surface soil

 Layers dominated by organic material.  It is the part of top soil.
 Some O layers consist of undecomposed or  In this layer, organic matter is mixed with mineral
partially decomposed litter (such as leaves, matter.
needles, twigs, moss, and lichens).  It is the layer of mineral soil with the most organic
 They may be on top of either mineral or matter accumulation and soil life.
organic soils.

 This layer is depleted of (eluviated of) iron, clay,

aluminum, organic compounds, and other soluble
constituents.
 When depletion is pronounced, a lighter colored “E”
subsurface soil horizon is apparent at the base of the
“A” horizon.
E horizon B Horizon or Subsoil
 “E” stands for eluviated layer.  It is subsurface layer reflecting chemical or physical
 It is the horizon that has been significantly alteration of parent material.
leached of clay, iron, and aluminum oxides,  This layer accumulates all the leached minerals from
which leaves a concentration of resistant A and E horizon.
minerals, such as quartz, in the sand and silt  Thus iron, clay, aluminium and organic compounds
sizes. accumulate in this horizon [illuviation (opposite of
 These are present only in older, well- eluviation)]
developed soils, and generally occur between
the A and B horizons.
C Horizon or Parent rock R Horizon or Bedrock
 Weathered parent material accumulates in  This layer denotes the layer of partially weathered
this layer, i.e. the parent material in bedrock at the base of the soil profile.
sedimentary deposits.  Unlike the above layers, R horizons largely comprise
 It is a layer of large unbroken rocks. continuous masses of hard rock.
 This layer may accumulate the more soluble  Soils formed in situ will exhibit strong similarities to
compounds (inorganic material) this bedrock layer.
 These areas of bedrock are under 50 feet of the other
profiles.
Factors that influence soil formation in Indian Conditions

 Parent Material
 Relief
 Climate
 Natural Vegetation

1. Parent Material
 The rocks from which soils are formed are called parent materials.
 In most of the cases, the parent material determines the colouration, mineral composition
and texture of the soil.
 In some cases, the soil formed may or may not have the same physical properties of the parent
rock.
 Climatic factors induce chemical changes which also affect physical properties of the soil.
In Indian Conditions, parent material is generally categorized into:
Ancient Crystalline And Metamorphic Cuddapah and Vindhyan rocks

Rocks
 They are the Oldest rocks [(pre-Cambrian  They are ancient sedimentary rocks (4000 m
era)(formed due to solidification of molten thick).
magma about 4-billion years ago)].  On weathering they
 They form the ‘Basement Complex’ of give calcareous [containing calcium
peninsular India. carbonate; chalky]
 They are basically granites, gniesses and and argillaceous [consisting of or containing
schists. clay] soils.
 These rocks are rich in ferromagnetic  The soil is mostly devoid of metalliferous
materials and give rise to red soils on minerals.
weathering.
Gondwana Rocks Deccan Basalts
 These rocks are also sedimentary in nature  Volcanic outburst over a vast area of the
and they are much younger. Peninsular India many hundred million years
 On weathering they give rise to ago gave rise to Deccan Traps.
comparatively less mature soils.  Basaltic lava flowed out of fissures covering a
 The soil is more or less of uniform vast area of about ten lakh sq. km.
character but of low fertility.

 Basalts are rich in titanium, magnetite,

aluminium and magnesium.
 Consequently the weathering of these rocks has
given rise to soils of darker colour.
 The is fertile with high moisture holding
capacity and is popularly known as ‘regur’ or
black cotton soil
Tertiary And Mesozoic Sedimentary Rocks
 Rocks of extra peninsular (plains and Himalayas) India have given rise to soils with high
porosity.
 These soils are generally immature recent and sub recent rocks, result in alluvial soils on
weathering.
 Alluvial fertile soils consist of fine silts and clay. These soils have little relation with the
original rocks.
 On the other hand, the soils of peninsular plateau are generally coarse-grained and are closely
related to the parent rocks. The peninsular soils are generally less fertile.
2. Relief
The relief is the most important factor for soil formation in places with steep slopes like the
hilly regions, edges of plateaus etc.
 Soil-erosion on barren slopes is rampant and it hinders soil formation. Example: Chambal
ravines, higher reaches of Himalayas where there is minimal or no forest cover (most on
the steep southern slopes) etc.
 The areas of low relief or gentle slope generally experience deposition and have deep soils.
Example: Indo-Gangetic plain.
 The exceptions in the plateau are river basins where the soil layers are sufficiently deep.
3. Climate
Temperature and rainfall are the most important factors in soil formation. They determine the
effectiveness of weathering of the parent material, the quantity of water seeping through the soil
and the type of micro-organisms present therein.
 Two different parent materials may develop the same soil in the same type of climate.
Similarly, the same parent material may produce two different types of soils in two different
types of climates.
 The crystalline granites produce laterite soil in relatively moist parts of the monsoonal
region and non-laterite soil in drier areas.
 Hot summer and low rainfall develops black soil as is found in some parts of Tamil Nadu
irrespective of the parent rock.
 Example-In Rajasthan, both granite and sandstone give birth to sandy soil under arid
climate.

 In arid and semi-arid regions, evaporation always exceeds precipitation. There is little
vegetation and the soils badly lack humus content. Hence the soils are invariably of light
colour.
 In Rajasthan and the adjoining arid and semi-arid regions, excess of evaporation makes soils
lime accumulating. Hence the soil is pedocal in nature [Pedocal is a subdivision of the zonal
soil order. It is a class of soil which forms in semiarid and arid regions. It is rich in calcium
carbonate and has low soil organic matter].
 In cold climates of the Himalayan region, the process of vegetation decay is very slow and the
soils are acidic in nature.
In areas of heavy rainfall and high temperature, the soils are red or lateritic. Why?
 Torrential rainfall during the rainy season washes the upper soil and leaches the materials into
deeper horizon.
 During the dry summer season the evaporation exceeds precipitation and through capillary
action iron and aluminium oxides are transported to the surface making the soil red.
 In areas of alternate wet and dry climate, the leached material which goes deep down in the
horizon is brought up and the blazing sun bakes the top soil so hard that it resembles a brick.
Therefore, this soil is called lateritic which literally means brick.
4. Natural Vegetation
 Natural vegetation reflects the combined effects of relief and climate.
 The formation and development of soil is very much influenced by the growth of vegetation.
 The decayed leaf material adds much needed humus to soil thereby increasing its fertility.
 The densely forested areas contain some of the best soils in India. There is a close relationship
between the vegetation types and soil types in India.
MAJOR SOIL TYPES OF INDIA

Geologically, Indian soils can broadly be divided into soils of peninsular India and soils of extra-
peninsular India.
 The soils of Peninsular India are formed by the decomposition of rocks in situ, i.e. directly
from the underlying rocks.
 Soils of Peninsular India are transported and re-deposited to a limited extent and are known
as sedentary soils.
 The soils of the Extra-Peninsula are formed due to the depositional work of rivers and wind.
They are very deep. They are often referred to as transported or azonal soils.
Major groups:
 Alluvial soils,
 Black soils,
 Red soils,

 Laterite and Lateritic soils,

 Forest and Mountain soils,
 Arid and Desert soils,
 Saline and Alkaline soils and
 Peaty and Marshy soils.

Alluvial Soil
Characteristics of Alluvial Soils
 Alluvial soils are formed mainly due to silt deposited  They are immature and have weak
by Indo-Gangetic-Brahmaputra rivers. profiles due to their recent origin.
 In coastal regions some alluvial deposits are formed  Most of the soil is Sandy and clayey soils are
due to wave action. not uncommon.
 Parent Material: Rocks of the Himalayas form the  The soil is porous because of its loamy
parent material. Thus the parent material of these (equal proportion of sand and clay) nature.
soils is of transported origin.  Porosity and texture provide good drainage
 They are the largest soil group covering about 15 and other conditions favourable for
lakh sq. km or about 46 per cent of the total area. agriculture.
 They support more than 40% of the India’s  These soils are constantly replenished by the
population by providing the most productive recurrent floods.
agricultural lands.
Chemical properties of Alluvial Soils Distribution of Alluvial Soils in India
 The proportion of nitrogen is generally low.  They occur all along the Indo Gangetic-
 The proportion of Potash, phosphoric acid and alkalis Brahmaputra plains except in few places
are adequate where the top layer is covered by desert sand.
 The proportion of Iron oxide and lime vary within a  They also occur in deltas of the Mahanadi,
wide range. the Godavari, the Krishna and the Cauvery,
where they are called deltaic alluvium
(coastal alluvium)
 Some alluvial soils are found in the Narmada,
Tapi valleys and Northern parts of Gujarat.
Crops in Alluvial Soils
 They are mostly flat and regular soils and are best suited for agriculture.
 They are best suited to irrigation and respond well to canal and well/tube-well irrigation.
 They yield splendid crops of rice, wheat, sugarcane, tobacco, cotton, jute, maize, oilseeds, vegetables and
fruits.
Geological Divisions Of Alluvial Soils
Bhabar Terai
 The bhabar belt is about 8-16 km wide running  Terai is an ill-drained, damp (marshy) and
along the Shivalik foothills. thickly forested narrow tract (15-30 km wide) to
 It is a porous, northern most stretch of Indo- the south of Bhabar running parallel to it.
Gangetic plain.  The underground streams of the Bhabar belt re-
 Rivers descending from the Himalayas deposit emerge in this belt. It is a swampy lowland with
their load along the foothills in the form silty soils.
of alluvial fans.  The terai soils are rich in nitrogen and organic
 The porosity of bhabar is the most unique matter but are deficient in phosphate.
feature. The porosity is due to deposition of  These soils are generally covered by tall grasses
huge number of pebbles and rock debris across and forests but are suitable for a number of crops
the alluvial fans. such as wheat, rice, sugarcane, jute etc..

 The streams disappear once they reach the  This thickly forested region provides shelter to
bhabar region because of this porosity. a variety of wild life.
Therefore, the area is marked by dry river
courses except in the rainy season.
 The area is not suitable for agriculture and
only big trees with large roots thrive in this
belt.
Bhangar Khadar
 The Bhangar is the older alluvium along the  The Khadar is composed of newer alluvium and
river beds forming terraces higher than the forms the flood plains along the river banks.
flood plain (about 30 metres above the flood  The banks are flooded almost every year and a new
level). layer of alluvium is deposited with every flood.
 It is of a more clayey composition and is This makes them the most fertile soils of Ganges.
generally dark colored.  They are sandy clays and loams, drier and more
 A few metres below the terrace of the bhangar leached, less calcareous and carbonaceous (less
are beds of lime nodules known as “Kankar”. kankar). A new layer of alluvium is deposited by
river flood almost every year.
Alluvial Soils
Black Soils
Characteristics
 The parent material for most of the black soil  A typical black soil is highly argillaceous with a
are the volcanic rocks that were formed in the large clay factor, 62 per cent or more.
Deccan Plateau (Deccan and the Raajmahal  Fertility: In general, black soils of uplands are of
trap). low fertility while those in the valleys are very
 In Tamil Nadu, gneisses and schists form the fertile.
parent material. The former are sufficiently  The black soil is highly retentive of moisture. It
deep while the later are generally shallow. swells greatly on accumulating moisture.
 These are the region of high temperature and  In summer, the moisture evaporates, the soil
low rainfall. It is, therefore, a soil group typical shrinks and is seamed with broad and deep cracks.
to the dry and hot regions of the Peninsula. The lower layers can still retain moisture. The
cracks permits oxygenation of the soil to sufficient
depths and the soil has extraordinary fertility.

Colour of Black Soils Chemical Composition of Black Soils

 The black colour is due to the presence of a  10 per cent of alumina,
small proportion of titaniferous magnetite or  9-10 per cent of iron oxide,
iron and black constituents of the parent
 6-8 per cent of lime and magnesium carbonates,
rock.
 Potash is variable (less than 0.5 per cent) and
 In Tamil Nadu and parts of Andhra Pradesh,
the black colour is derived from crystalline  phosphates, nitrogen and humus are low.
schists and basic gneisses.
Distribution of Black Soils Crops in Black Soils
 Spread over 46 lakh sq. km (16.6 per cent of  These soils are best suited for cotton crop. Hence
the total area) across Maharashtra, Madhya these soils are called as regur and black cotton
Pradesh, parts of Karnataka, Telangana, soils.
Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.  Other major crops grown on the black soils include
wheat, jowar, linseed, Virginia tobacco, castor,
sunflower and millets.
 Rice and sugarcane are equally important where
irrigation facilities are available.
 Large varieties of vegetables and fruits are also
successfully grown on the black soils.
Red Soils
Characteristics of Red Soils
 Red soils along with its minor groups form  The texture of these soils can vary from sand to
the largest soil group of India. clay, the majority being loams.
 The main parent rocks are crystalline  On the uplands, the red soils are poor, gravelly, and
and metamorphic rocks like acid granites, porous. But in the lower areas they are rich, deep
gneisses and quartzites. dark and fertile.

Chemical Composition of Red Soils Colour of Red Soils

 They are acidic mainly due to the nature of the  The red colour is due to the presence of iron oxide.
parent rocks. The alkali content is fair.  When limestone, granites, gneisses and quartzites
 They are poor in lime, magnesia, phosphates, are eroded the clay enclosed within the rocks
nitrogen and humus. remains intact with other forms of non-soluble
 They are fairly rich in potash and potassium. materials.
 The colour is more due to the wide diffusion rather
than high percentage of iron oxide content.
Distribution of Red Soils Crops in Red Soils
 These soils mostly occur in the regions of low  The red soils are mostly loamy and hence cannot
rainfall. retain water like the black soils.
 They occupy about 3.5 lakh sq. km (10.6 per  The red soils, with the proper use of fertilizers and
cent) of the total area of the country. irrigation techniques, give good yield of cotton,
 These soils are spread on almost the whole wheat, rice, pulses, millets, tobacco, oil seeds,
of Tamil Nadu. potatoes and fruits.
 Other regions with red soil include parts of
Karnataka, south-east of Maharashtra,
Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Chhota Nagpur plateau;
parts of south Bihar, West Bengal, Uttar
Pradesh; Aravallis and the eastern half of
Rajasthan (Mewar or Marwar Plateau), parts of
North-Eastern states.
Lateritic Soils
Characteristics
 Laterite soils are mostly the end products of weathering.
 They are formed under conditions of high temperature and heavy rainfall with alternate wet and dry
periods.
 Heavy rainfall promotes leaching (nutrients gets washed away by water) of soil whereby lime and
silica are leached away and a soil rich in oxides of iron and aluminium compounds is left behind.
 ‘Laterite’ means brick in Latin. They harden greatly on loosing moisture.
 Laterite soils are red in colour due to little clay and more gravel of red sand-stones.
Chemical composition Distribution
 Laterite soils are rich in bauxite or ferric  Laterite soils cover an area of 2.48 lakh sq. km.
oxides.  Continuous stretch of laterite soil is found on the
 They are very poor in lime, magnesia, potash summits of Western Ghats at 1000 to 1500 m above
and nitrogen. mean sea level, Eastern Ghats, the Raajmahal Hills,
 Sometimes, the phosphate content may Vindhyan, Satpura and Malwa Plateau.
be high in the form of iron phosphate.  They also occur at lower levels and in valleys in
 In wetter places, there may be higher content of several other parts of the country.
humus.  They are well developed in south Maharashtra,
parts of Karnataka etc. and are widely scattered in
other regions.

Crops in Laterite – Lateritic Soils

 Laterite soils lack fertility due to intensive leaching.
 When manured and irrigated, some laterites are suitable for growing plantation crops like tea, coffee,
rubber, cinchona, coconut, arecanut etc.
 In some areas, these soils support grazing grounds and scrub forests.
Forest – Mountain Soils
Characteristics Distribution
 These soils occupy about 2.85 lakh sq. km or  In the Himalayan region, such soils are mainly
8.67% of the total land area of India. found in valleys, less steep and north facing slopes.
 They are mainly heterogeneous soils found on the  The south facing slopes are very steep and
hill slopes covered by forests. exposed to denudation and hence do not support
 The formation of these soils is mainly governed soil formation.
by the characteristic deposition of organic  Forest soils occur in Western and Eastern Ghats
matter derived from forests and their character also.
changes with parent rocks, ground-
configuration and climate.
 Consequently, they differ greatly even if they
occur in close proximity to one another.
Chemical properties Crops in Forest
 The forest soils are very rich in humus.  They are suitable for plantations of tea, coffee,
 They are deficient in potash, phosphorus and spices and tropical fruits in peninsular forest
lime. region.
 They require good deal of fertilizers for high  Wheat, maize, barley and temperate fruits are
yields. grown in the Himalayan forest region.
Arid – Desert Soils

 The desert soils consist of Aeolian sand (90 to  Occur in arid and semi-arid regions of Rajasthan,
95 per cent) and clay (5 to 10 per cent). Punjab and Haryana.
 They cover a total area of 1.42 lakh sq. km  The sand here is blown from the Indus basin and
(4.32%). the coast by the prevailing south-west monsoon
 The presence of sand inhibits soil growth. winds.
 Desertification of neighboring soils is common  Sandy soils without clay factor are also common in
due to intrusion of desert sand under the coastal regions of Odisha, Tamil Nadu and
influence of wind. Kerala.
Chemical Properties Crops of Arid-Desert Soil
 They are usually poor in organic matter.  Phosphates and nitrates make these soil fertile
 Some desert soils are alkaline with varying wherever moisture is available.
degree of soluble salts like calcium carbonate.  There is a possibility of reclaiming these soils if
 Calcium content increases downwards and the proper irrigation facilities are available.
subsoil has ten times more calcium.

 The phosphate content of these soils is  In large areas, only the drought resistant and salt
as high as in normal alluvial soils. tolerant crops such as barley, cotton, millets, maize
 Nitrogen is originally low but some of it is and pulses are grown.
available in the form of nitrates.
Saline – Alkaline Soils
Characteristics Distribution of Saline – Alkaline Soils
 In Saline and Alkaline Soils, the top soil  Saline and Alkaline Soils occupy 68,000 sq. km of area.
is impregnated (soak or saturate with a  These soils are found in canal irrigated areas and in
substance) with saline and alkaline areas of high sub-soil water table.
efflorescence’s.
 Parts of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Bihar,
 Undecomposed rock fragments, on Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab (side effects of
weathering, give rise to sodium, improper or excess irrigation), Rajasthan and
magnesium and calcium salts and Maharashtra have this kind of soils.
sulphurous acid.
 The accumulation of these salts makes the soil infertile
 In regions with low water table, the salts and renders it unfit for agriculture.
percolate into sub soil and in regions with
 In Gujarat, the areas around the Gulf of Khambhat are
good drainage, the salts are wasted away by
affected by the sea tides carrying salt-laden deposits.
flowing water.
 Vast areas comprising the estuaries of the Narmada, the
 But in places where the drainage system is
Tapi, the Mahi and the Sabarmati have thus become
poor, the water with high salt concentration
infertile.
becomes stagnant and deposits all the salts
in the top soil once the water evaporates.
Peaty – Marshy Soils
Characteristics Distribution of Peaty – Marshy Soils
 These are soils with large amount of organic  Kottayam and Alappuzha districts of Kerala where
matter and considerable amount of soluble it is called Kari.
salts.  Also occur in the coastal areas of Odisha and Tamil
 The most humid regions have this type of soil. Nadu, Sundarbans of West Bengal, in Bihar and
 They are black, heavy and highly acidic. Almora district of Uttarakhand.
Chemical Properties Crops of Peaty – Marshy Soils
 They are deficient in potash and phosphate.  Most of the peaty soils are under water during the
rainy season but as soon the rains cease, they are
put under paddy cultivation.
Characteristics of Indian Soils

 Most soils are old and mature. Soils of the peninsular plateau are much older than the soils of the great
northern plain.
 Indian soils are largely deficient in nitrogen, mineral salts, humus and other organic materials.
 Plains and valleys have thick layers of soils while hilly and plateau areas depict thin soil cover.
 Some soils like alluvial and black soils are fertile while some other soils such as laterite, desert and
alkaline soils lack in fertility and do not yield good harvest.
 Indian soils have been used for cultivation for hundreds of years and have lost much of their fertility.

CHAPTER-31
PROBLEMS OF INDIAN SOILS
The main problems of the Indian soils are
(i) Soil Erosion,
(ii) Declining Fertility Of Soil,
(iii) Salinity And Alkalinity,
(iv) Water-Logging, And
(v) Desertification.
SOIL EROSION
 Refers to the removal of top soil. A growing menace in many parts of India. When the top soil is
removed, it is known as sheet erosion, and when the runoff makes gullies, it is known as gully
erosion.
Fig. India: Soil Erosion

In India, soil erosion is a universal problem.
 In the areas where rainfall is heavy water is the main agent of soil erosion, while in the arid
and semi-arid areas wind is responsible for soil erosion.
 According to one estimate about 180 million hectares (about 60 per cent of the total area of
the country) is adversely affected by soil erosion.
 The main agents of soil erosion are water, wind, sea-waves, glaciers, and shifting cultivation.

Agents of Soil Erosion:

Water erosion may be classified under three categories:
 Surface erosion or the uniform removal of soil from the surface,
 Rill erosion in which the running water makes finger-shaped grooves in the land, and
 Gully formations, in which the rills are enlarged, making the land bad and unsuitable for
cultivation.
 A typical example of gully erosion is provided in the Chambal valley in Madhya Pradesh.
Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh also provide typical examples of gully erosion.
 Gully erosion is also significant in the Shivalik tracts of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal
Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and along the southern slopes
of Himalayas, and the Western and Eastern Ghats.
Wind erosion
 is significant in the arid and semi-arid areas of Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, western Madhya
Pradesh and Gujarat. Wind erodes soil along the coastal plains of Peninsular India.
 Thousands of hectares of fertile lands of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, and western
Madhya Pradesh have been adversely affected by this process.
The tidal waters
 The Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal cause considerable damage to the soils along the
coastal areas.
 Severe erosion of beaches along the Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, and Gujarat
coasts is the example of sea-wave erosion.
The largest area affected by soil erosion is in the state of Rajasthan, followed by Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
The worst affected areas of soil erosion include:

1. Chambal and Yamuna rivers
2. The southern slopes of Shivalik’s, Lesser and Greater Himalayas,
3. The Western and Eastern Ghats,
4. The Chotanagpur Plateau, and
5. The arid and semi-arid areas of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, and Punjab.
Consequences of Soil Erosion

Soil erosion is responsible for the removal of productive nutrients from the soils and causes
ecological imbalances. Some of the adverse consequences from soil erosion are:
 Loss of fertile top soil from the top layer leading to gradual loss of soil-fertility and agricultural
productivity.
 Loss of important nutrients from soil through leaching and water-logging.
 Lowering of the underground water-table and decrease in soil moisture.
 Drying of vegetation and extension of arid lands.
 Increase in the frequency of droughts and floods.
 Silting of rivers and canal beds.
 Recurrence of landslides.
 Adverse effect on economy which retards cultural development.

 Increase in crimes and anti-social activities through the formation of natural hideouts for
criminals and dacoits.
 Burden on the exchequer to reclaim the bad lands.
 There is no uniform strategy to reclaim all the wasteland and degraded soils of different
types.
Some strategies that might help in the reclamation of wasteland are given below:
(i) All the degraded forest lands should be planted with trees.
(ii) Marginal lands which are not suitable for agriculture should be brought under social
forestry and agro-forestry.
(iii) (Degraded soils and degraded lands can be reclaimed with the help of watershed
programmes.
(iv) Rainwater harvesting and conservation should be the focus of development planning.
(v) A series of small projects of water harvesting in the watershed area should be undertaken
to maximise benefits from watershed projects.
(vi) Soil conservation practices should be adopted which have been briefly described in the
following pages.
Soil Conservation
Some of the important steps which can go a long way in the conservation of soils are as under:
 Afforestation
 Restriction on the Felling of Trees
 Contour Ploughing and Strip Cultivation
 Control of Floods
 Reclamation of Ravine and Badlands
 Restriction on Shifting Cultivation
 Restoration of Long Fallow
 Reclamation of Saline and Alkaline (usar) Soil
 Other Measures of Soil Conservation
The government of India has been attempting to check the soil erosion throughout the planning
period.
 India essentially forms a separate geo-hydrological and climatic unit due to its isolation from
the rest of the Eurasian landmass.
 Thus, the problems of floods and droughts in India form a distinct unit of study while studying
global climatic and water regimes. However, in the age of humans, the anthropological factor
has come to dominate discussions on disasters.
 In the last two years, there have been devastating floods in the Kosi-Ganga plains in Bihar,
Brahmaputra plains in Assam and West Bengal, urban flooding in Chennai and erratic flooding
during monsoons in central India.
 On the other hand, drought to has persevered even in the absence of an El-Nino.

CHAPTER-32
FORESTS – NATURAL VEGETATION OF INDIA
Climate, soil and topography are the major factors that influence Natural Vegetation of a place.
 The main climatic factors are rainfall and temperature. The amount of annual rainfall has a
great bearing on the type of vegetation.
Annual Rainfall Type of Vegetation
200 cm or more Evergreen Rain Forests
100 to 200 cm Monsoon Deciduous Forests
50 to 100 cm Drier Deciduous or Tropical Savanna
25 to 50 cm Dry Thorny Scrub (Semi-arid)
Below 25 cm Desert (Arid)
 Temperature is the major factor in Himalayas and other hilly regions with an elevation of more
than 900 metres.
 As the temperature falls with altitude in the Himalayan region the vegetal cover changes with
altitude from tropical to sub-tropical, temperate and finally alpine.
 Soil is an equally determining factor in few regions.
 Mangrove forests, swamp forests are some of the examples where soil is the major factor.
 Topography is responsible for certain minor types e.g. alpine flora, tidal forests, etc.
CLASSIFICATION OF NATURAL VEGETATION OF INDIA

 Classification of Natural Vegetation of India is primarily based on spatial and annual variations
in rainfall. Temperature, soil and topography are also considered.
India’s vegetation can be divided into 5 main types and 16 sub-types as given below:
Moist Tropical Forests Dry Tropical Forests
 Tropical Wet Evergreen  Tropical Dry Evergreen
 Tropical Semi-Evergreen  Tropical Dry Deciduous
 Tropical Moist Deciduous  Tropical Thorn
 Littoral and Swamp
Montane Sub-tropical Forests Montane Temperate Forests
 Sub-tropical broad leaved hill  Montane Wet Temperate
 Sub-tropical moist hill (pine)  Himalayan Moist Temperate
 Sub-tropical dry evergreen  Himalayan Dry Temperate
Alpine Forests
 Sub-Alpine
 Moist Alpine scrub
 Dry Alpine scrub

Forest Type in India % of Total Area

Tropical Moist Deciduous 37
Tropical Dry Deciduous 28
Tropical Wet Evergreen 08
Sub-Tropical Moist Hill 06
Tropical Semi-Evergreen 04
Rest below 4 %
MOIST TROPICAL FORESTS

Tropical Wet Evergreen Forests or Rain Forests

Climatic Conditions Characteristics

 Annual rainfall exceeds 250 cm  Evergreen: Due to high heat and high
 The annual temperature is about 25°-27°C humidity, the trees of these forests do not
 The average annual humidity exceeds 77 per shed their leaves together.
cent and  Mesos phytic: Plants adopted to neither
 The dry season is distinctly short. too dry nor too wet type climate.
 Lofty: The trees often reach 45 – 60 metres in height.

 Thick Canopy: From the air, the tropical rain forest
appears like a thick canopy of foliage, broken only
where it is crossed by large rivers or cleared for
cultivation.
 All plants struggle upwards (most epiphytes) for
sunlight resulting in a peculiar layer arrangement. The
entire morphology looks like a green carpet when
viewed from above.
Epiphytes
Less undergrowth: The sun light cannot reach the ground due to thick canopy. The undergrowth is
formed mainly of bamboos, ferns, climbers, orchids, etc.
Distribution Timber
 Western side of the Western Ghats  Hardwood: The timber of these forests is fine-grained,
(500 to 1370 metres above sea hard and durable.
level).  It has high commercial value but it is highly challenging
 Some regions in the Poorvanchal to exploit due to dense undergrowth, absence of pure
hills. stands and lack of transport
 In the Andaman and Nicobar  The important species of these forests are mahogany,
Islands. mesua, white cedar, jamun, canes, bamboo etc.
Tropical Semi-Evergreen Forests

 They are transitional forests between tropical wet evergreen forests and tropical deciduous
forests.
 They are comparatively drier areas compared to tropical wet evergreen forests.
Climatic Conditions Distribution
 Annual rainfall is 200-250 cm  Western coast
 Mean annual temperature varies from  Assam
24°C to 27°C  Lower slopes of the Eastern Himalayas
 The relative humidity is about 75 per cent  Odisha and
 The dry season is not short like in tropical  Andamans.
evergreen forests.

Characteristics Timber
 The semi-evergreen forests are less  Hardwood: Similar to that in tropical evergreen
dense. forests except that these forests are less dense
 They are more gregarious [living in with more pure stands (timber industry here is
flocks or colonies – more pure better than in evergreen forests).
stands] than the wet evergreen forests.
 These forests are characterized by many
species.
 Trees usually have buttressed trunks
with abundant epiphytes
Buttressed Trunks
 The important species are laurel,
rosewood, mesua, thorny bamboo –
Western Ghats, white cedar, Indian
chestnut, champa, mango, etc. –
Himalayan region.
Tropical Moist Deciduous Forests

 Annual rainfall 100 to  The trees drop their leaves during the spring and early summer when
200 cm. sufficient moisture is not available.
 Mean annual  The general appearance is bare in extreme summers (April-May).
temperature of about  Tropical moist deciduous forests present irregular top storey [25 to
27°C 60 m].
 The average annual  Heavily buttressed trees and fairly complete undergrowth.
relative humidity of 60  These forests occupy a much larger area than the evergreen forests
to 75 per cent. but large tracts under these forests have been cleared for cultivation.
Distribution Timber
 Belt running along the Western Ghats  These provide valuable timer like Teak.
surrounding the belt of evergreen forests.  The main species found in these forests are
 A strip along the Shivalik range including teak, sal, laurel, rosewood, amla, jamun,
terai and bhabar from 77° E to 88° E. bamboo, etc.
 Manipur and Mizoram.  It is comparatively easy to exploit these
 Hills of eastern Madhya Pradesh and forests due to their high degree of
Chhattisgarh. gregariousness.
 Chhota Nagpur Plateau.
 Most of Odisha.
 Parts of West Bengal and
 Andaman and Nicobar islands.

Littoral and Swamp Forests

 They can survive and grow both in fresh as well as brackish water.
 Occur in and around the deltas, estuaries and creeks prone to tidal influences (delta or tidal
forests).
 Littoral (relating to or on the shore of the sea or a lake) forests occur at several places along
the coast.
 Distribution: Swamp forests are confined to the deltas of the Ganga, the Mahanadi, the
Godavari, the Krishna and the Cauvery.
 Dense mangroves occur all along the coastline in sheltered estuaries, tidal creeks, backwaters,
salt marshes and mudflats. It provides useful fuel wood.
 The most pronounced and the densest is the Sunderban in the Ganga delta where the
predominant species is Sundri (Heriteera).
Timber
 It provides hard and durable timber which is used for construction, building purposes and
making boats.
 The important species found in these forests are Sundri, agar, rhizophora, screw pines, canes
and palms, etc.
DRY TROPICAL FORESTS
Tropical Dry Evergreen Forests

 Annual rainfall of 100 cm [mostly from the  Short statured trees, up to 12 m high, with
north-east monsoon winds in October – complete canopy.
December].  Bamboos and grasses not conspicuous.
 Mean annual temperature is about 28°C.  The important species are jamun, tamarind,
 The mean humidity is about 75 per cent. neem, etc.
 The growth of evergreen forests in areas of  Most of the land under these forests has
such low rainfall is a bit strange. been cleared for agriculture or casuarina
plantations.
Tropical Dry Deciduous Forests
 These are similar to moist deciduous  They occur in an irregular wide strip running
forests and shed their leaves in dry season. from the foot of the Himalayas to Kanniyakumari
 The major difference is that they can grow except in Rajasthan, Western Ghats and West
in areas of comparatively less rainfall. Bengal.
 They represent a transitional type – moist  The important species are teak, axlewood,
deciduous on the wetter side and thorn rosewood, common bamboo, red sanders, laurel,
forests on the drier side. satinwood, etc.

 They have closed but uneven canopy.  Large tracts of this forest have been cleared for
 The forests are composed of a mixture of agricultural purposes.
a few species of deciduous trees rising up  These forests have suffered from over grazing,
to a height of 20 metres. fire, etc.
 Undergrowth: Enough light reaches the
ground to permit the growth of grass and
climbers.
Climatic Conditions
 Annual rainfall is 100-150 cm.
Tropical Thorn Forests

 Annual rainfall less than 75 cm.  The trees are low (6 to 10 metres maximum)
 Humidity is less than 50 per cent. and widely scattered.
 Mean temperature is 25°-30°C.  Acacias and Euphorbias are very
prominent.
Distribution
 Rajasthan, south-western Punjab, western Haryana, Kachchh and neighbouring parts of
Saurashtra. Here they degenerate into desert type in the Thar desert.
 Such forests also grow on the leeside of the Western Ghats covering large areas of Maharashtra,
Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
 The important species are neem, babul, cacti, etc.
MONTANE SUB-TROPICAL FORESTS
Sub-tropical Broad-leaved Hill Forests

Climatic conditions Characteristics
 Mean annual rainfall is 75 cm to 125 cm.  Forests of evergreen species.
 Average annual temperature is 18°-21°C.  Commonly found species are evergreen
 Humidity is 80 per cent. oaks, chestnuts, ash, beech, sals and pines.
 Climbers and epiphytes [a plant that grows
non-parasitically on a tree or other plant] are
common.
 These forests are not so distinct in the
southern parts of the country. They occur
only in the Nilgiri and Palni hills at 1070-
1525 metres above sea level.
 It is a “stunted rain-forest” and is not so
luxuriant as the true tropical evergreen.

Distribution
 Eastern Himalayas to the east of 88°E longitude at altitudes varying from 1000 to 2000 m.
 The higher parts of the Western Ghats such as Mahabaleshwar, the summits of the Satpura and
the Maikal Range, highlands of Bastar and Mt. Abu in the Aravalli Range carry sub-types of
these forests.
Sub-tropical Moist Pine Forests

Distribution Timber
 Western Himalayas between 73°E and 88°E  Chirr or Chill is the most dominant tree
longitudes at elevations between 1000 to which forms pure stands.
2000 metres above sea level.  It provides valuable timber for furniture,
 Some hilly regions of Arunachal Pradesh, boxes and buildings.
Manipur, Naga Hills and Khasi Hills.  It is also used for producing resin and
turpentine.
Sub-tropical Dry Evergreen Forests

Distribution Climatic Conditions
 Found in the Bhabar, the Shivalik’s and the  Annual rainfall is 50-100 cm (15 to 25 cm in
western Himalayas up to about 1000 metres December-March).
above sea level.  The summers are sufficiently hot and
winters are very cold.
Characteristics
 Low scrub forest with small evergreen stunted trees and shrubs.
 Olive, acacia modesta and pistacia are the most predominant species.
MONTANE TEMPERATE FORESTS

Montane Wet Temperate Forests
 Grows at a height of 1800 to 3000 m above  These are closed evergreen forests. Trunks
sea level have large girth.
 Mean annual rainfall is 150 cm to 300 cm  Branches are clothed with mosses, ferns and
 Mean annual temperature is about 11°C to other epiphytes.
14°C and the  The trees rarely achieve a height of more
 Average relative humidity is over 80 per than 6 metres.
cent.  Deodar, Chilauni, Indian chestnut, birch,
plum, machilus, cinnamomum, litsea,
magnolia, blue pine, oak, hemlock, etc. are
important species.

Distribution
 Higher hills of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, in the Eastern Himalayan region.
Himalayan Moist Temperate Forests

Climatic Conditions Timber
 Annual rainfall varies from 150  It provides fine wood which is of much use for construction,
cm to 250 cm timber and railway sleepers.
Distribution Characteristics
 Occurs in the temperate zone of  Mainly composed of coniferous species.
the Himalayas between 1500 and  Species occur in mostly pure strands.
3300 metres.
 Trees are 30 to 50 m high.
 Cover the entire length of this
mountain range in Kashmir,  Pines, cedars, silver firs, spruce, etc. are most important trees.
Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand,  They form high but fairly open forest with shrubby undergrowth
Darjeeling and Sikkim. including oaks, rhododendrons and some bamboos.
Himalayan Dry Temperate Forests

 Coniferous forests with xerophytic shrubs in  Such forests are found in the inner dry ranges
which deodar, oak, ash, olive, etc are the of the Himalayas where south-west monsoon
main trees. is very feeble.
 Such areas are in Ladakh, Lahul, Chamba,
Kinnaur, Garhwal and Sikkim.
ALPINE FORESTS
 Altitudes ranging between 2,900 to 3,500.
 These forests can be divided into:
(1) Sub-Alpine: The sub-alpine forests occur lower alpine scrub and grasslands.
(2) Moist Alpine Scrub and
(3) Dry Alpine Scrub.
 It is a mixture of coniferous and broad-leaved trees in which the coniferous trees attain a
height of about 30 m while the broad leaved trees reach only 10 m.
 Fir, spruce, rhododendron, etc. are important species.
 The moist alpine scrub is a low evergreen dense growth of rhododendron, birch etc. which
occurs from 3,000 metres and extends upto snowline.
 The dry alpine scrub is the uppermost limit of scrub xerophytic, dwarf shrubs, over 3,500
metres above sea level and found in dry zone.
 Juniper, honeysuckle, artemisia etc. are important species.

MANGROVE FORESTS:
 Found in the areas of coasts
influenced by tides.
 Mud and silt get accumulated on
such coasts.
 Dense mangroves are the common
varieties with roots of the plants
submerged under water.
 The deltas of the Ganga, the
Mahanadi, the Krishana, the
Godavari and the Kaveri are
covered by such vegetation.
 In the Ganga Brahmaputra delta,
sundari trees are found, which
provide durable hard timber.
 Palm, coconut, keora, agar, also grow in some parts of the delta.
 Royal Bengal Tiger is the famous animal in these forests.
 Turtles, crocodiles, gharials and snakes are also found in these forests.
******

WORLD HUMAN
AND
ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY

CHAPTER - 1
INTRODUCTION
Human geography studies the inter-relationship between the physical environment and socio-cultural
environment created by human beings through mutual interaction with each other.
NATURE AND SCOPE

Determinism
According to Determinism, man is a passive agent, and nature "Human geography is the
is active agent, which controls and determines the action and synthetic study of relationship
decision-making processes of man. between human societies and
Philosophy of Determinism is based upon the interaction earth's surface". -Ratzel
between primitive human society and strong forces of nature.
This is an older philosophy which persisted till World War II.
 It says that the strong forces of environment control the course of human action. This implies
that the history, culture, mode of life, and the level of development of the societal groups and
countries are exclusively or largely controlled by the physical environment.
Environmental Determinism
This philosophy says that aspects of physical geography, particularly climate, influenced the
psychological mind-set of individuals, which in turn defined the behaviour and culture of the society
that those individuals formed.
 For example, tropical climates were said to cause laziness, relaxed attitudes and promiscuity,
while the frequent variability in the weather of the middle latitudes led to more determined and
driven work ethics.
Possibilism
Possibilism is reaction to determinism and environmental determinism. It is based upon the
assumption that environment sets certain constraints or limitations, but culture is otherwise determined
by social conditions. This theory says that the true and only geographical problem is that to utilisation
of possibilities.
Essence of Possibilism is that:
 Nature provides possibilities and man utilises them according to his culture, traditions, and
levels of socioeconomic development.
 People are not just the products of their environment or just pawn of natural environment.
Criticism: This approach has been criticised on several accounts.
 For example, despite numerous possibilities, man, has not been able to get rid of the obstacles
set by the physical forces. The possibilities may be many in the temperate regions but they are
very limited in the deserts, equatorial, tundra, and high mountainous regions.

Neo-Determinism/Stop and Go Determinism:

A geographer, Griffith Taylor introduced another concept which reflects a middle path (Madhya
Marg) between the two ideas of environmental determinism and possibilism.
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 cross-roads.
 Red light means ‘stop’, amber light provides a gap between red and green lights ‘to get set’
and green light means ‘go’.
 The concept shows that neither is there a situation of absolute necessity (environmental
determinism) nor is there a condition of absolute freedom (possibilism).
 It means that human beings can conquer nature by obeying it. They have to respond to the red
signals and can proceed in their pursuits of development when nature 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.
SCHOOL OF THOUGHTS:
 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.
 Behavioral 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.
Period Approaches Broad Features
Imperial and trade interests prompted the discovery
Early Colonial Exploration and and exploration of new areas. An encyclopaedic
period description description of the area formed an important aspect of
the geographer’s account.
Elaborate description of all aspects of a region were
undertaken. The idea was that all the regions were
Later Colonial
Regional analysis part of a whole, i.e. (the earth); so, understanding the
period
parts in totality would lead to an understanding of
the whole.
1930s through The focus was on identifying the uniqueness of any
the inter-War Areal differentiation region and understanding how and why it was
period different from others.
Marked by the use of computers and sophisticated
Late 1950s to
Spatial organisation statistical tools. Laws of physics were often applied
the late 1960s
to map and analyse human phenomena. This phase

was called the quantitative revolution. The main

objective was to identify mappable patterns for
different human activities.
Discontentment with the quantitative revolution and
its dehumanised manner of doing geography led to
Emergence of the emergence of three new schools of thought of
humanistic, radical human geography in the 1970s. Human geography
1970s
and behavioural was made more relevant to the socio-political reality
schools by the emergence of these schools of thought.
Consult the box below to know a little bit more about
these schools of thought.
The grand generalisations and the applicability of
Post-modernism in universal theories to explain the human conditions
1990s
geography were questioned. The importance of understanding
each local context in its own right was emphasised.
******

CHAPTER - 2
THE WORLD POPULATION
PATTERN OF POPULATION DISTRIBUTION IN THE WORLD

The term population distribution refers to the way people are spaced over the earth’s surface.
 Broadly, 90 per cent of 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.
DENSITY OF POPULATION
The ratio between the numbers of people to the size of land is the density of population.
It is usually measured in persons per sq. km
 Density=Population/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:
Density=1,50,000/100 = 1,500 person/sq. km

REGION WISE DENSITY POPULATION

Factors affecting the distribution of population
Geographical Factors
(i) Availability of water: 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 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. So, these areas tend
to be less populated.
 Example-The Ganga plains are among the most densely populated areas of the world
while the mountains zones in the Himalayas are scarcely populated.
(iii) Climate
 An extreme climate such as very hot or cold deserts are uncomfortable for human
habitation.
 Areas with a comfortable climate, where there is not much seasonal variation attract
more people.
 Areas with very heavy rainfall or extreme and harsh climates have low population.
 Example- Mediterranean regions were inhabited from early periods in history due to
their pleasant climate.
(iv) Soils: Areas which have fertile loamy soils have more people living on them as these can
support intensive agriculture.
Economic Factors
(i) Minerals: Mining and industrial activities generate employment. So, skilled and semi–
skilled workers move to these areas and make them densely populated.
 Example: Katanga Zambia copper belt in Africa.
(ii) Urbanisation: Good civic amenities, better employment opportunities, educational and
medical facilities, better means of transport and communication and the attraction of city life
draw people to the cities.
(iii) Industrialisation: Industrial belts provide job opportunities and attract large numbers of
people.
 Example-The Kobe-Osaka region of Japan is thickly populated because of the presence
of a number of industries.
Social and Cultural Factors

 Cultural significance: Some places attract more people because they have religious or cultural
significance.

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.
Components of Population Change

There are three components of population change – Growth of Population: Change of population in
births, deaths and migration. particular area between two points of time is
A. The crude birth rate (CBR) is expressed as known as growth of population.
Growth Rate of Population: This is the change
number of live births in a year per thousand of of population expressed in percentage.
population. It is calculated as: CBR=Bi/P*1000 (a) Natural Growth of Population. This is
 Here, CBR = Crude Birth Rate; Bi = live births the population increased by difference
between
during the year; P=Midyear population of the births and deaths in a particular region
area. between two points of time.
B. Crude Death Rate (CDR): A simple method of Natural Growth = Births — Deaths
(b) Actual Growth Of Population: This is
measuring mortality of any area.
Births — Deaths + In Migration — Out
 CDR is expressed in terms of number of deaths (c) Positive Growth of Population: This
in a particular year per thousand of population happens when the birth rate is more than
in a particular region. the death rate between two points Of time
or when people from Other countries
 CDR is calculated as: CDR=D/P* 1000 Here, migrate permanently to a region.
CDR=Crude Death Rate; D= Number of deaths; (d) Negative Growth of Population: If the
P=Estimated mid-year population of that year. population decreases between two points
of time it is known as negative growth of
C. Migration population. It occurs when the birth rate
 Place of origin: When people move from one falls below the death rate or people
migrate to other countries.
place to another, the place they move from is
called the Place of Origin
 Place of destination: The place where people move to is called the Place of Destination.
 Immigration: Migrants who move into a new place are called Immigrants.
 Emigration: Migrants who move out of a place are called Emigrants.
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 of origin
for reasons like better job opportunities and living conditions, peace and stability, security of
life and property and pleasant climate.
Trends In Population Growth

After the evolution and introduction of agriculture about 12,000 to 8,000 years ago, the size of
population was small – roughly 8 million.

 In the first century A.D. it was below 300 million. The expanding world trade during the
sixteenth and seventeenth century, set the stage for rapid population growth.
 Around 1750, at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, the world population was 550 million.
 Explosion of the Population: World population exploded in the eighteenth century after the
Industrial Revolution.
 Technological advancement achieved so far helped in the reduction of death rate and
provided a stage for accelerated population growth.
Resource, Technology and Population Growth

Doubling time of world population
It took more than a million years for the human population to attain the one billion mark. But it took
only 12 years for it to rise from 5 billion to 6 billion.
Variation among regions in doubling their population.
 Developed countries take more time to double their population as compared to developing
countries.
 Developing world: Population is exploding in most of the developing world.

Spatial pattern of population change

In Developed Countries: The growth of population is low in
developed countries as compared to developing countries.
 Correlation between economy and population growth:
There is negative correlation between economic
development and population growth. Although the annual
rate of population change (1.4 per cent) seems to be
low(see in table)it is actually not so. This is because:
 When a small annual rate is applied to a very large
population, it will lead to a large population change.
 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.
DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION
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 known as the
demographic cycle.
Figure below explains the three-staged model of 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 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.
 Second 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 conditions lead to decline in mortality. Because of
this gap the net addition to population is high.
 Last Stage: In the last stage, both fertility and mortality decline considerably.
 The population is either stable or grows slowly.
 The population becomes urbanised, literate and has high technical know-how and
deliberately controls the family size.

POPULATION COMPOSITION
SEX RATIO:
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:
 Male Population / Female Population × 1000 or the number of males per thousand females.
In India, the sex ratio is worked out using the formula:
 Female Population/ Male Population × 1000 or the number of females per thousand males.
Variation In Sex Ratio

 World Average: On an average, the world population reflects a sex ratio of 102 males per 100
females.
 Highest: The highest sex ratio in the world has been recorded in Latvia where there are 85
males per 100 females.
 In contrast, in Qatar there are 311 males per 100 females.
 Asian Region: In general, Asia has a low sex ratio. Example-Countries like China, India,
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan have a lower sex ratio.
 On the other extreme is greater part of Europe (including Russia) where males are in
minority.
AGE STRUCTURE
Age structure represents the number of people of different age groups.
 A greater proportion of population above 60 years represents an ageing population which requires
more expenditure on health care facilities.
 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 population and the shape of the
population pyramid reflects the characteristics of the population.
 The left side shows the percentage of males while the right side shows the percentage of women
in each age group.
Expanding Populations
 The age-sex pyramid of Nigeria is a triangular shaped pyramid with a wide base and is typical
of less developed countries.
 These have larger populations in lower age groups due to high birth rates.
 If you construct the pyramids for Bangladesh and Mexico, it would look the same.

Constant Population
 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.
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.

RURAL-URBAN COMPOSITION
Rural Areas: In general terms rural areas are those where people are engaged in primary activities.
Urban Areas: Urban areas are those when majority of the working population is engaged in non-
primary activities.
Figure below shows rural urban sex composition of selected countries.
 The rural and urban differences in sex ratio in Canada and West 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.
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.
OCCUPATIONAL STRUCTURE In India – literacy rate denotes the

The working population (i.e. women and men of the age group – percentage of population above 7
15 to 59) take part in various occupations ranging from years of age, who is able to read,
agriculture, forestry, fishing, manufacturing construction, write and have the ability to do
commercial transport, services, communication and other arithmetic calculations with
understanding.
unclassified services.
 The proportion of working population engaged in different sectors is a good indicator of the levels
of economic development of a nation. This is because only a developed economy with industries
and infrastructure can accommodate more workers in the secondary, tertiary and quaternary sector.

CHAPTER-3
HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
A human settlement is defined as a place inhabited more or less permanently. The houses may be
designed or redesigned, buildings may be altered, functions may change but settlement continues in
time and space.
CLASSIFICATION OF SETTLEMENT
Rural Urban Dichotomy
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.
Types and Pattern of Settlement

Settlements may also be classified by their shape,
patterns types. The major types 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.
(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.

RURAL SETTLEMENTS
Rural settlements are most closely and directly related to land. They are dominated by primary
activities such as agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing etc. The settlements size is relatively small.
Some factors affecting the location of rural
settlements are : Sub Urbanization: It is a new trend of people
Water Supply: Usually rural settlements are moving away from congested urban areas to cleaner
located near water bodies such as rivers, lakes, areas outside the city in search of a better quality of
and springs where water can be easily obtained living. Important suburbs develop around major
cities and everyday thousands of people commute
for different purposes like drinking, cooking and from their homes in the sub urbs to their work places
washing, irrigate farm land, fish etc. in the city.
Land: People choose to settle near fertile lands
suitable for agriculture.
 Example-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.
Upland: Upland which is not prone to flooding was chosen to prevent damage to houses and loss of
life. Thus, in low lying river basins people chose to settle on terraces and levees which are “dry points”.
 Example-In tropical countries people build their houses on stilts near marshy lands to protect
themselves from flood, insects and animal pests.
Building Material: The availability of building materials- wood, stone near settlements is another
advantage. Early villages were built in forest clearings where wood was plentiful.
 Example-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.
 Example-In Nigeria, upstanding inselbergs formed good defensive sites.
 Indian Forts: In India most of the forts are located on higher grounds or hills.
Planned Settlements
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.
 Example-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.
(c) Circular pattern: Circular villages develop around lakes, tanks and sometimes the village
is planned in such a way that the central part remains open and is used for keeping the animals
to protect them from wild animals.
(d) Star like pattern: Where several roads converge, star shaped settlements develop by the
houses built along the roads.
(e) T-shaped, Y-shaped, Cross-shaped or cruciform settlements: T-shaped settlements
develop at tri-junctions of the roads, while Y-shaped settlements emerge as the places where
two roads converge on the third one and houses are built along these roads.
(f) Cruciform settlements: develop on the cross-roads and houses extend in all the four
direction.
(g) Double village: These settlements extend on both sides of a river where there is a bridge or
a ferry.
URBAN SETTLEMENTS
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.
 Presently 54 per cent of the world’s population lives in urban settlements compared to only 3
per cent in the year 1800.

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.
1. Population Size
 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.
 Example: In Denmark, Sweden and Finland, all places with a population size of 250
persons are called urban. The minimum population for a city is 300 in Iceland, whereas in
Canada and Venezuela, it is 1,000 persons.
2. 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.
3. Administration
 For example, in India, a settlement of any size is classified as urban, if it has a
municipality, Cantonment Board or Notified Area Council.
 Similarly, in Latin American countries, such as Brazil and Bolivia, any administrative
centre is considered urban irrespective of its population size.
4. Location
 Location of urban centres is examined with 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.
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 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..
 For example, we think of Sheffield as an industrial city, London as a port city, Chandigarh
as an administrative city and so on.

Towns and cities are classified into the following categories.

1. 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).
2. Trading and Commercial Towns: Agricultural market towns, such as, Winnipeg and
Kansas city; banking and financial centres like Frankfurt and Amsterdam; large inland
centres like Manchester and St Louis; and transport nodes such as, Lahore, Baghdad and
Agra have been important trading centres.
3. Cultural Towns: Places of pilgrimage, such as Jerusalem, Mecca, Jagannath Puri and Varanasi
etc. are considered cultural towns. These urban centres are of great religious importance.
Note: Additional functions which the cities perform are health and recreation (Miami and
Panaji), industrial (Pittsburgh and Jamshedpur), mining and quarrying (Broken Hill and
Dhanbad) and transport (Singapore and Mughal Sarai).
Classification of Towns On the Basis Of Forms

An urban settlement may be linear, square, star or crescent shaped. 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 urban sprawls.
TYPES OF URBAN SETTLEMENTS

Depending on the size and the services available and functions rendered, urban centres are designated
as town, city, million city, conurbation, megalopolis.
Town
 The concept of ‘town’ can best be understood with reference to ‘village’. Functional contrasts
between towns and villages may not always be clearcut, 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.
 Example- Greater London, Manchester, Chicago and Tokyo.
Million City
 London reached the million mark in 1800, followed by Paris in 1850, New York in 1860, and by 1950
there were around 80 such cities.
 In 2016, there were 512 cities with at least 1 million inhabitants globally. By 2030, a projected 662
cities will have at least 1 million residents.
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 landscape stretching from Boston in the north to south of Washington in U.S.A. is the
best known example of a megalopolis.
Distribution of Mega Cities

A mega city or megalopolis is a general term 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 of about 12.5
million.
 The number of mega cities has increased in the developing countries during the last 50 years vis-à-vis
the developed countries.
Megacities of the world in 2018 and 2030
HEALTH CITY:
World Health Organisation (WHO) suggests that, among other things, a ‘healthy city’ must have: A
’Clean’ and ‘Safe’ environment. Meets the ‘Basic Needs’ of ‘All’ its inhabitants. Involves the
‘Community’ in local government. Provides easily accessible ‘Health’ service

CHAPTER-4
ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
Human activities which generate income are known as economic activities.
 Economic activities are broadly grouped into primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary
activities.
PRIMARY 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 activities, fishing, forestry, agriculture, and mining and quarrying.
Hunting And Gathering

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.
Hunting:
 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
 The early hunters used primitive tools made of
stones, twigs or arrows so the number of
animals killed was limited.
Gathering:
 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:

 High latitude zones which include northern Canada, northern Eurasia and southern Chile;
 Low latitude zones such as the Amazon Basin, tropical Africa, Northern fringe of Australia
and the interior parts of Southeast Asia
In modern times some gathering is market oriented and has become commercial. Gatherers collect
valuable plants such as leaves, barks of trees and medicinal plants and after simple processing sell the
products in the market.
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.
Nomadic Herding
Nomadic herding or pastoral nomadism is a primitive subsistence activity, in which the herders rely
on animals for food, clothing, shelter, tools and transport.
 Herders move from one place to another along with their livestock, depending on the amount
and quality of pastures and water.
 Each nomadic community occupies a well-identified territory as a matter of tradition
 In tropical Africa, cattle are the most important livestock, while in Sahara 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.

1. The core region extends from the Atlantic shores of North Africa eastwards across the
Arabian peninsula into Mongolia and Central China.
2. The second region extends over the tundra region of Eurasia.
3. In the southern hemisphere there are small areas in South-west Africa and on the island of
Madagascar.
Transhumance: 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.
 In the tundra regions, the nomadic herders move from south to north in summers and from
north to south in winters.
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.

Areas of Commercial Livestock Rearing

 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.
 New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, Uruguay and United States of America are important
countries where commercial livestock rearing is practised.
AGRICULTURE
Based on methods of farming, different types of crops are grown and livestock raised. The following
are the main agricultural systems.
1. Subsistence Agriculture: Subsistence agriculture is one in which the farming areas consume
all, or nearly so, of the products locally grown. It can be grouped in two categories — Primitive
Subsistence Agriculture and Intensive Subsistence Agriculture.

(a) Primitive Subsistence Agriculture: Primitive subsistence agriculture or shifting cultivation

is widely practised by many tribes in the tropics, especially in Africa, south and central
America and south east Asia.
 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 loses its fertility and the farmer shifts to another parts
and clears other patch of the forest for cultivation.
Areas of Primitive Subsistence Agriculture

 Prevalent Area: It is prevalent in tropical region in different names, e.g.
Jhuming North Eastern states of India
Milpa Central America and Mexico
Ladang Malaysia and Indonesia
(b) Intensive Subsistence Agriculture

This type of agriculture is largely found in densely populated regions of monsoon Asia.
Basically, there are two types of intensive subsistence agriculture.
(i) Intensive subsistence agriculture dominated by wet paddy cultivation:
 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 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.

Note: 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 parts of the Indo-Gangetic plains and millets are grown in
dry parts of western and southern India.
 Most of the characteristics of this type of agriculture are similar to those dominated by wet
paddy except that irrigation is often used.
Areas of intensive Subsistence Farming
PLANTATION AGRICULTURE
Plantation agriculture was introduced by the Europeans in colonies situated in the tropics.
 Some of the important plantation crops are tea, coffee, cocoa, rubber, cotton, oil palm,
sugarcane, bananas and pineapples.
 The characteristic features:
 Large estates or plantations, large capital investment, managerial and technical support,
scientific methods of cultivation, single crop specialisation, cheap labour, and a good
system of transportation which links the estates to the factories and markets for the export
of the products.
 Distribution:
 The French established cocoa and coffee plantations in west Africa.
 The British set up large tea gardens in India and Sri Lanka, rubber plantations in
Malaysia and sugarcane and banana plantations in West Indies.

 Spanish and Americans invested heavily in 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.
Note: Today, ownership of the majority of plantations has passed into the hands of the government
or the nationals of the countries concerned.
Extensive Commercial Grain Cultivation

Commercial grain cultivation is practised in the interior parts of semi-arid lands of the midlatitudes.
Areas of Extensive Commercial Grain Farming

 Crops: Wheat is the principal crop, though other crops like corn, barley, oats and rye are also
grown.
 Farm Size: The size of the farm is very large, therefore entire operations of cultivation from
ploughing to harvesting are mechanised.
Note: There is low yield per acre but high yield per person.

 Distribution: This type of agriculture is best developed in Eurasian steppes, the Canadian
and American Prairies, the Pampas of Argentina, the Velds of South Africa, the
Australian Downs and the Canterbury Plains of New Zealand.
MIXED FARMING
 Distribution: This form of agriculture is found in the highly developed parts of the world, e.g.
North-western Europe, Eastern North America, parts of Eurasia and the temperate
latitudes of Southern continents.
 Size/Crops: 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 mixed farming.
 Characteristics:
 Crop rotation and intercropping play an important role in maintaining soil fertility.
 Equal emphasis is laid on crop cultivation and animal husbandry.
 Animals like cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry provide the main income along with crops.
 Mixed farming is characterised by high capital expenditure on farm machinery and
building, extensive use of chemical fertilisers and green manures and also by the skill
and expertise of the farmers.
DAIRY FARMING
Dairy is the most advanced and efficient type of rearing of milch animals.
Characteristics:
 It is highly capital intensive.
 Animal sheds, storage facilities for fodder, feeding and milching machines add to the cost of
dairy farming.

 Special emphasis is laid on cattle breeding, health care and veterinary services.
 It is highly labour intensive as it involves rigorous care in feeding and milching.
 There is no off season during the year as in the case of crop raising.
 It is practised mainly near urban and industrial centres which provide neighbourhood market
for fresh milk and dairy products.
 The development of transportation, refrigeration, pasteurisation and other preservation processes
have increased the duration of storage of various dairy products.
Areas of Dairy Farming

Distribution: There are three main regions of commercial dairy farming.

 The largest is North Western Europe.
 the second is Canada and
 The third belt includes South Eastern Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania.
MEDITERRANEAN AGRICULTURE
Mediterranean agriculture is highly specialised commercial agriculture.
 Distribution: It is practised in the countries on either side of the Mediterranean sea in Europe
and in north Africa from Tunisia to Atlantic coast, southern California, central Chile,
south western parts of South Africa and 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.
Note: 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
markets.
MARKET GARDENING AND HORTICULTURE

Market gardening and horticulture specialise in the cultivation of high value crops such as vegetables,
fruits and flowers, solely for the urban markets.
 Pre-requisite Conditions:
 Farms are small and are located where there are good transportation 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.

Distribution:
 This type of agriculture is well developed in densely populated industrial districts of north
west Europe, north eastern United States of
Truck Farming:
America and the Mediterranean regions. The regions where farmers specialise in vegetables
 The Netherlands specialises in growing only, the farming is known as truck farming. The
flowers and horticultural crops especially distance of truck farms from the market is
tulips, which are flown to all major cities of governed by the distance that a truck can cover
overnight, hence the name truck farming.
Europe.
 Livestock, particularly poultry and cattle
rearing, is done in stalls and pens, fed on
manufactured feedstuff and carefully Factory Farming:
supervised against diseases. In addition to market gardening, a modern
 This requires heavy capital investment in terms development in the industrial regions of
of building, machinery for various operations, Western Europe and North America is
veterinary services and heating and lighting. factory farming.
Types of farming can also be categorised
according to the farming organisation.
CO-OPERATIVE FARMING
A group of farmers form a co-operative society by pooling in their resources voluntarily for more
efficient and profitable farming.
 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.
 Example-Co-operative movement originated over a century ago and has been successful
in many western European countries like Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden,
Italy etc.
o In Denmark, the movement has been so successful that practically every farmer is a
member of a co-operative.
COLLECTIVE FARMING
The basic principle behind this types of farming 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.
 Pooling of resources: 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.

INING
The actual development of mining began with the industrial revolution and its importance is
continuously increasing.
Factors Affecting Mining Activity

(i) Physical factors: The size, grade and 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 as safety precautions and
equipment is relatively low in this method. The
output is both large and rapid.
 Time of use: 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.
 Several countries of Africa and few of south America and Asia have over fifty per cent of the
earnings from minerals alone.
******

CHAPTER-5
SECONDARY ACTIVITIES
Secondary activities add value to natural resources by transforming raw materials into valuable products.
Example:
 Cotton ball → Yarn: Cotton in the boll has limited use but after it is transformed into yarn,
becomes more valuable and can be used for making clothes.
 Iron Ore→ Steel: 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.
Secondary activities, therefore, are concerned with manufacturing, processing and construction
(infrastructure) industries.
MANUFACTURING
Manufacturing involves a full array of production from handicrafts to moulding iron and steel and
stamping out plastic toys to assembling delicate computer components or space vehicles.
Characteristics of Modern Large Scale Manufacturing:

Specialisation of Skills/Methods of Production:
 Craft Method: Under the ‘craft’ method, factories produce only a few pieces which are
made-to-order. So the costs are high.
 Mass Production: On the other hand, mass production involves production of large
quantities of standardised parts by each worker performing only one task repeatedly.
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 closedloop computer control systems where
machines are developed to ‘think’, have sprung up all over the world.
Technological Innovation: Technological innovations through research and development strategy
are an important aspect of modern manufacturing for quality control, eliminating waste and
inefficiency, and combating pollution.
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.

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.
Some of the factors influencing industrial locations are as under:

a) Access to Market: ‘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.
 Products having global market:
Some industries, such as aircraft manufacturing and arms industry have global markets.
b) Access to Raw Material: Raw material used by industries should be cheap and easy to transport.
 Weight Dependent: Industries based on cheap, bulky and weight-losing material (ores) are located
close to the sources of raw material.
 Example-Steel, sugar, and cement industries.
 Nature Dependent: Perishability is a vital factor for the industry to be located closer to the
source of the raw material.
 Example-Agro-processing and dairy products are processed close to the sources of farm
produce or milk supply respectively.
c) Access to Labour Supply: Some types of manufacturing still require skilled labour. However,
increasing mechanisation, automation and flexibility of industrial processes have reduced the
dependence of industry upon the labours.
d) Access to Sources of Energy: Industries which use more power are located 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.
e) 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.

 Western Europe and eastern North America have a highly developed transport system
which has always induced the concentration of industries in these areas.
 Help in Regionalization of Industries: Improvements in transportation led to integrated
economic development and regional specialisation of manufacturing.
f) Communication: Communication is also an
Foot Loose Industries:
important need for industries for the exchange and Foot loose industries can be located in a wide
management of information. variety of places and are
g) Government Policy: Governments adopt not dependent on any specific raw material.
‘regional policies’ to promote ‘balanced’
economic development and hence set up industries in particular areas.
h) 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:
Classification of Manufacturing Industries

Manufacturing industries are classified on the basis of their size, inputs/raw materials, output/products
and ownership.
 Industries based on Size:
The amount of capital invested, number of workers employed and volume of production determine
the size of industry.
 Example-household or cottage, small-scale and large-scale.
Classification of Industries

a) Household industries or cottage manufacturing:

 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 parttime labour.
 Finished products may be for consumption
in the same household or, for sale in local
(village) markets, or, for barter.
 Capital and transportation do not wield
much influence as this type of
manufacturing has low commercial
significance and most of the tools are
devised locally.
 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. Small Scale Manufacturing
b) Small scale manufacturing is distinguished from household industries by its production
techniques and place of manufacture (a workshop outside the home/cottage of the producer).
 This type of manufacturing uses local raw material, simple power -driven machines and
semi-skilled labour.
 Countries like India, China, Indonesia and Brazil, etc. have developed labour-intensive
small scale manufacturing in order to provide employment to their population.
c) Large Scale Manufacturing: Large scale manufacturing involves a large market, various raw
materials, enormous energy, specialised workers, advanced technology, assembly-line mass
production and large capital.
 This kind of manufacturing developed in the last 200 years, in the United Kingdom,
north-eastern U.S.A. and Europe. Now it has diffused to almost all over the world.
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.
 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.
(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.
 Mineral based Industries
These industries use minerals as a raw material. Agri-Business:
Metallic  Agri-business is commercial farming on
an industrial scale often financed by
a) Ferrous metallic minerals which contain
business whose main interests lie outside
ferrous (iron), such as iron and steel industries. agriculture, for example, large
b) Non-ferrous metallic minerals, such as corporations in tea plantation business.
aluminium, copper and jewellery industries.  Agri-business farms are mechanized,
large in size, highly structured, reliant on
Non-Metallic: Many industries use non-metallic chemicals, and may be described as 'agro-
minerals such as cement and pottery industries. factories'
 Chemical based Industries
Such industries use natural chemical minerals, e.g. mineral-oil (petroleum) is used in
petrochemical industry.
 Salts, sulphur and potash industries also use natural minerals. Chemical industries are also
based on raw materials obtained from wood and coal.
 Example-Synthetic fibre, plastic, etc. are other examples of chemical based industries.
 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.
 Animal based Industries
 Leather for leather industry and wool for woollen textiles are obtained from animals. Besides,
ivory is also obtained from elephant’s tusks.
 Industries Based On Output/Product
The industry whose products are used to make other goods by using them as raw materials are
basic industries.
 The consumer goods industries produced goods which are consumed by consumers 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
(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 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.
 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.
Example-
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.
BASIC INDUSTRY
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. Iron is extracted from iron ore by smelting in a blast furnace
with carbon (coke) and limestone.
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. T
 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

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.
 The power loom sector introduces machines and becomes less labour intensive 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.
 Cotton Production: 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.
Notes: With the scientific advancement and technological improvements the structure of industries
changes. For example, Germany recorded constant growth in cotton textile industry since

CHAPTER-6
TERTIARY AND QUATERNARY ACTIVITIES
Tertiary activities are related to the service sector. Tertiary activities include both production and
exchange.
 Common examples are the work of a plumber, electrician, technician, launderer, barber,
shopkeeper, driver, cashier, teacher, doctor, lawyer and publisher etc.
Difference between secondary and tertiary activities

 The main difference between secondary activities and tertiary activities is that the expertise
provided by services relies more heavily on specialised skills, experience and knowledge of the
workers rather than on the production techniques, machinery and factory processes.
TYPES OF TERTIARY ACTIVITIES

Trade and Commerce

 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 known us trading centres.
 Trading centres may be divided into rural and urban
marketing centres.
 Rural marketing centres cater to nearby
settlements.
 Quasi-urban centres: Serve as trading centres of
the most rudimentary type. Here personal and
professional services are not well-developed.
o These form local collecting and distributing
centres.
o Most of these have mandis (wholesale
markets) and also retailing areas.
o 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.
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, biweekly 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, remain busy on all the days
while a large area is served by them.
Urban Marketing Centres:

Urban Marketing Centres have more widely specialised urban
services.
 They provide ordinary goods and services as well as
many of the specialised goods and services required by people.
 Offer manufactured goods as well as many specialised markets develop, e.g. markets for
labour, housing, semi or finished products.
 Services of educational institutions and professionals such as teachers, lawyers, consultants,
physicians, dentists and veterinary doctors are available

Retail Trading:
This is the business activity concerned with the sale of goods directly to the consumers.
 Store Retail Trading: Most of the retail trading takes place in fixed establishments or stores
solely devoted to selling.
 Non Store Retail Trading: Street peddling, handcarts, trucks, door-to-door, mail-order,
telephone, automatic vending machines and internet are examples of non-store retail trading.
Wholesale Trading:
Wholesale trading constitutes bulk business through numerous
intermediary merchants and supply houses and not through retail
stores.
 Some large stores including chain stores 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 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
transportation.
 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.
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.
Network and Accessibility
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.
Link: Every road that joins two nodes is called a link. A developed network has many links, which means that places
are well-connected.

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.
Telecommunications
The use of telecommunications is linked to the development of modern technology. It has
revolutionised communications because of the 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.
 The telegraph, morse code and telex have almost become things of the past. Newspapers are
able to cover events in all corners of the world.
 Satellite communication relays information of the earth and from space. The internet has
truly revolutionised the global communication system.
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 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 mental labour.

 Many services have now been regulated.

 For Example-Making and maintaining highways and bridges, maintaining firefighting
departments and supplying or supervising education and customer-care are among the
important services most often supervised or performed by governments or companies.
 State and union 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 (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.
 They are employed in domestic services as housekeepers, cooks, and gardeners.
 This segment of workers is generally unorganised.
o Example- One such example in India is Mumbai’s dabbawala (Tiffin) service provided
to about 1,75,000 customers all over the city.
People Engaged In Tertiary Activities

Today most people are service workers. Services are provided in all societies. But in more developed
countries a higher percentage of workers is employed in providing services as compared to less
developed countries.
 The trend in employment in this sector has been 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).
 Local Benefits: Many local persons, are employed to provide services like accommodation,
meals, transport, entertainment and special shops serving the tourists.
 Tourism fosters the growth of infrastructure industries, retail trading, and craft industries
(souvenirs).
 Nature: In some regions, tourism is seasonal because the vacation period is dependent on
favourable weather conditions, but many regions attract visitors all the year round.
 Tourist Regions
 The warmer places around the Mediterranean Coast and the West Coast of India are
some of 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 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 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
flyingtime from their homes.
 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.
o 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.
o 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.
o 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.
o Example-Home-stay has emerged as a profitable business such as heritage homes in
Goa, Madikere and Coorg in Karnataka.
QUATERNARY ACTIVITIES
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 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.

QUINARY ACTIVITIES
The highest level of decision makers or policy makers
Quinary Activities:
perform quinary activities. Quinary activities are services that focus on the
creation, re-arrangement and interpretation of new
Outsourcing and existing ideas; data interpretation and the use
and evaluation of new technologies.
Outsourcing or contracting out is giving work to an
Often referred to as 'gold collar' professions,
outside agency to improve efficiency and to reduce costs.
 Off-Shoring: 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.
 Distribution:
 Data processing is an IT related service easily be carried Out in Asian, East European and
African countries.
 Reason:
o In these countries IT skilled staff with good English language skills are available at lower
wages than those in the developed countries.
o 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.
 Outsourcing has resulted in the opening up of a large number of call centres in India, China,
Eastern Europe, Israel, Philippines and Costa Rica.
 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.
o Ex of KPOs include research and development (R and D) activities, e-learning, business
research, intellectual property (IP) research, legal profession and the banking sector.
THE DIGITAL DIVIDE:

The digital divide is the gap that exists between individuals who have access to modern information
and communication technology and those who lack access.
Types of Digital Divide

1. Gender Divide
 Though mobile connectivity is spreading drastically, it is not spreading equally. Women
are still lagging.
 Men in low-income countries are 90% more likely to own a mobile phone than women.
This translates to 184 million women who lack access to mobile connectivity. Even among
women owning mobile phones, 1.2 billion women in low and mid-income countries have
no access to the internet.

2. Social Divide
 Internet access creates relationships and social circles among people with shared interests.
Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook create online peer groups based on
similar interests.
 More than ever internet usage has influenced social stratification which is evident in
societies among those that are connected to the internet and those that are not. Non-
connected groups are side-lined since they don’t share in the internet benefits of the
connected groups.
3. Universal Access Divide
 Individuals living with physical disabilities are often disadvantaged when it comes to
accessing the internet. They may have the necessary skills but cannot exploit the available
hardware and software.
 Some parts of the world will remain segregated from the internet and its vast potential due
to lack of digital literacy skills, low education levels, and inadequate broadband
infrastructure.
******

CHAPTER-7
TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATION
Natural resources, economic activities and markets are rarely found in one place. Transport,
communication and trade establish links between producing centres and consuming centres.
 Each region produces the items for which it is best suited. Trade or the exchange of such
commodities relies on transportation and 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 have
acquired distinct and specialised forms.
Modes of Transport
TRANSPORT
Transport is a service or facility for the carriage of persons and goods from one place to the other using
humans, animals and different kinds of vehicles. Such movements take place over land, water and air.
 Roads and railways form part of land transport; while shipping and waterways and airways
are the other two modes. Pipelines carry materials like petroleum, natural gas, and ores in
liquidified form.
Modes of Transportation
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 door services.
 Railways are most suited for large volumes of bulky materials over long distances within
a country.
 High-value, light and perishable goods are best moved by airways.
Note: In a well-managed transport system, these various modes complement each other.

LAND TRANSPORT
Most of the movement of goods and services takes place over land.
 In early days, humans themselves were carriers.
 Example-Earlier a bride being carried on a palanquin (palki/doli) by four persons (Kahars
in north India) and later animals were used as beasts of burden.
 With the invention of the wheel, the use of carts and wagons became important.
 The revolution in transport came about only after the invention of the steam engine in the
eighteenth century.
 Perhaps the first public railway line was opened in 1825 between Stockton and
Darlington in northern England and then onwards, railways became the most popular
and fastest form of transport in the nineteenth century.
o It opened up continental interiors for commercial grain farming, mining and
manufacturing in U.S.A.
Among the newer developments in land
transportation are pipelines, ropeways and cableways.
 Pipeline: Liquids like mineral oil, water,
sludge and sewers are transported by
pipelines.
 The great freight carriers are the railways,
ocean vessels, barges, boats and motor trucks
and pipelines.
 Expensive mode: In general, the old and
elementary forms like the human porter, pack
animal, cart or wagon are the most expensive
means of transportation. They are important in
supplementing modern channels and carriers
which penetrate the interiors in large countries.
 In the densely populated districts of India and China, overland transport still takes place by
human porters or carts drawn or pushed by humans.
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 ones are
seriously handicapped during heavy rains and floods.
 In such conditions, the high embankment of rail-tracks and the efficient maintenance of
railway transport service, is an effective solution.
 The quality of the roads varies greatly between developed and developing countries because
road construction and maintenance require heavy expenditure.

 In developed countries good quality roads are universal and provide long-distance links in the
form of motorways, autobahns (Germany), and inter– state highways for speedy movement.
o Lorries, of increasing size and power to carry heavy loads, are common.
Note: The world’s total motorable road length is only about 15 million km, of which North
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.
Traffic Flows: Traffic on roads has increased dramatically in recent years. When 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.
Highways
Highways are metalled roads connecting distant places. They are constructed in a manner for
unobstructed vehicular movement.
In developed countries, every city and port town is linked through highways.
 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 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 connect
the countries of South America, Central America and U.S.A.-Canada.
 The Trans Continental Stuart Highway connects Darwin (north coast) and Melbourne
via Tennant Creek and Alice Springs in Australia.
 In Russia, a dense highway network is developed in the industrialised region west of the
Urals with Moscow as the hub.
 The important Moscow-Vladivostok Highway serves 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). A new highway links Chengdu with Lhasa in Tibet.
 In India, there are many highways linking the major towns and cities. For example,
National Highway No. 7 (NH 7), connecting Varanasi with Kanya Kumari, is the longest
in the country. The Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) or Super Expressway is underway to
connect the four metropolitan cities — New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata
and Hyderabad.
 In Africa, a highway joins Algiers in the north to Conakry in Guinea. Similarly, Cairo is
also connected to Cape Town.

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
Railways are a mode of land transport for bulky goods and passengers over long distances.
 Railway Gauge: The railway gauges vary in different countries and are roughly classified as
broad (more than 1.5 m), standard (1.44 m), metre gauge (1 m) and smaller gauges.
 The standard gauge is used in the U.K.
 Commuter trains are very popular in U.K., U.S.A, Japan and India.
 These carry millions of passengers daily to and fro in the city.
 There are about 13 lakh km of railways open for traffic in the world.
Note:
 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.
 Important Rail Heads: The important rail heads are London, Paris, Brussels, Milan, Berlin
and Warsaw.
 Underground Railways: Underground railways are important in London and Paris.
 Channel Tunnel, operated by Euro Tunnel Group through England, connects London with
Paris.
 In Russia, railways account for about 90 per cent of the country’s total transport with a very
dense network west of the Urals.
 Moscow is the most important rail head with major lines radiating to different parts of the
country’s vast geographical area.
 Underground railways and commuter trains are also important in Moscow.
 North America has one of the most extensive rail networks accounting for nearly 40 per cent
of the world’s total.
 The most dense rail network is found in the highly industrialised and 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 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 most dense in two regions, namely, the Pampas of
Argentina and the coffee growing region of Brazil which together account for 40 per cent 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 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 routes.
 West Asia is the least developed in rail facilities because of vast deserts and sparsely
populated regions.
 Africa continent, despite being the 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 landlocked states to the
South African network; and
iv. the Blue Train from Cape Town to Pretoria in the Republic of South Africa
Note: Algeria, Senegal, Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia, railway lines connect port cities to
interior centres but do not form a good network with other countries
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:
1. Trans–Siberian Railway
 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 important route in Asia and the longest (9,332 km) double-tracked and
electrified trans– continental railway in the world.
 It has helped in opening up its Asian region to West European markets.
 It runs across the Ural Mountains Ob and Yenisei rivers Chita is an important agrocentre
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 Siberian Railway

2. Trans–Canadian Railways
 This 7,050 km long rail-line in Canada runs from Halifax in the east to Vancouver on the
Pacific Coast passing through Montreal, Ottawa, Winnipeg and Calgary.
 It was constructed in 1886, initially as part of an agreemnt to make British Columbia on the
west coast join the Federation of States.
 Later on, it gained economic significance because it connected the Quebec-Montreal
Industrial Region with the wheat belt of the Prairie Region and the Coniferous Forest
region in the north. Thus each of these regions became complementary to the other.
 A loop line from Winnipeg to Thunder Bay (Lake Superior) connects this rail-line with one
of the important waterways of the world.
 This line is the economic artery of Canada. Wheat and meat are the important exports on
this route.
Trans Canadian Railway

3. 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.
4. The Australian Trans–Continental Railway
 This rail-line runs west-east across the southern part of the continent from Perth on the west
coast, to Sydney on the east coast. passing through Kalgoorlie, Broken Hill and Port Augusta.
 Another major north-south line connects Adelaide and Alice Spring and to be joined further to
the Darwin–Birdum line.
5. The Orient Express

 This line runs from Paris to Istanbul passing 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 Iran,
Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

WATER TRANSPORT
One of the great advantages of water transportation is that it does not require route construction. The
oceans are linked with each other and are negotiable with ships of various sizes.
 It is much cheaper because the friction of water is far less than that of land.
 The energy cost of water transportation is lower.
Water transport is divided into sea routes and inland waterways.
SEA ROUTES
 The oceans offer a smooth highway traversable in all directions with no maintenance costs.
 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.
Major Sea routes and Sea Ports
Important Sea Routes

1. The Northern Atlantic Sea Route

 This links North-eastern U.S.A. and Northwestern 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 trade moves on this route. It is, therefore, the busiest in the
world and otherwise, called the Big Trunk Route.
2. The Mediterranean–Indian Ocean Sea Route
 This sea route passes through the heart of the Old World and serves more countries and
people than any other route.
 Port Said, Aden, Mumbai, Colombo and Singapore are some of the important ports on
this route.
 The construction of Suez Canal has greatly reduced the distance and time as compared to
the earlier route through the Cape of Good Hope, which was longer than the route through
Suez Canal.
3. The Cape of Good Hope Sea Route
 This trade route connects the highly industrialised Western European region with
West Africa, South Africa, South-east Asia and the commercial agriculture and livestock
economies of Australia and New Zealand.
 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.
4. The Southern Atlantic Sea Route
 This sea route is another important one across the Atlantic Ocean which connects West
European and West African countries with Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay in South
America.
 The traffic is far less on this route because of the limited development and population in
South America and Africa.
 Only south eastern Brazil and Plata estuary and parts of South Africa have large-scale
industries.
 There is also little traffic on the route between Rio de Janeiro and Cape Town because both
South America and Africa have similar products and resources.
5. The North Pacific Sea Route
 Trade across the vast North Pacific Ocean moves by several routes which converge at
Honolulu.
 The direct route on the Great Circle links Vancouver and Yokohama and reduces the
travelling distance (2,480 km) by half.
 This sea route links the ports on the westcoast of North America with those of Asia.
 These are Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles on the
American side and Yokohama, Kobe, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Manila and Singapore on
the Asian side.

6. The South Pacific Sea Route

 This sea route connects Western Europe and North America with Australia, New
Zealand and the scattered Pacific islands via the Panama Canal.
 This route is also used for reaching Hong 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 the other.
SHIPPING CANALS
The Suez and the Panama Canals are two vital man-made navigation canals or waterways which
serve as gateways of commerce for both the eastern and western worlds.
The Suez Canal

This canal had been constructed in 1869 in Egypt
between Port Said in the north and Port Suez
in the south linking the Mediterranean Sea and
the Red Sea.
 It gives Europe a new gateway to the Indian
Ocean and reduces direct sea-route distance
between Liverpool and Colombo compared to
the Cape of Good Hope route.
 It is a sea-level canal without locks which is
about 160 km and 11 to 15 m deep.
 About 100 ships travel daily and each ship
takes 10-12 hours to cross this canal.
 The tolls are so heavy that some find it cheaper
to go by the longer Cape Route whenever the
consequent delay is not important.
 A railway follows the canal to Suez, and from
Ismailia there is a branch line to Cairo.
 A navigable fresh-water canal from the Nile
also joins the Suez Canal in Ismailia to supply
fresh-water to Port Said and Suez.

The Panama Canal

This canal connects the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the
Pacific Ocean in the west.
 It has been 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 across the different
levels (26 m up and down) through these locks
before entering the Gulf of Panama.
 It shortens the distance between New York 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 this Canal is relatively less than that of the Suez. However, it is
vital to the economies of Latin America.
INLAND WATERWAYS
Rivers, canals, lakes and coastal areas have been important waterways since time immemorial.
 Boats and steamers are used as means of transport for cargo and passengers.
 The development of inland waterways is 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.
 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.
 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.
1. 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 Basel in
Switzerland.

 The Ruhr river joins the Rhine from the east. It flows through a rich coalfield and the whole
basin has become a prosperous manufacturing area.
 Dusseldorf is the Rhine port for this region. Huge tonnage moves along the stretch south
of the Ruhr. This waterway is the world’s most heavily used.
 Each year more than 20,000 ocean-going ships and 2,00,000 inland vessels exchange their
cargoes.
 Connects: It connects the industrial areas of Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium
and the Netherlands with the North Atlantic Sea Route.
2. The Danube Waterway

This important inland waterway serves Eastern Europe.
 The Danube river rises in the Black Forest and flows eastwards through many countries.
 It is navigable up to Taurna Severin.
 The chief export items are wheat, maize, timber, and machinery.

3. The Volga Waterway

 Russia has a large number of developed waterways, of which the Volga is one of the most
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.
4. 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 North America.
 The ports on this route like Duluth and Buffalo are equipped with all facilities of ocean
ports.
 As such large oceangoing vessels are able to navigate up the river deep inside the continent
to Montreal. But here goods have to be trans-shipped to smaller vessels due to the presence
of rapids. Canals have been constructed up to 3.5 m deep to avoid these.
5. 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 brought about a connectivity revolution in the world. The frictions created by
mountainous snow fields or inhospitable desert terrains have been overcome.
 The accessibility has increased.
 The airplane brings varied articles to the Eskimos in Northern Canada unhindered by the
frozen ground.
 In the Himalayan region, the 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.
 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. The manufacturing of aircrafts and their
operations require elaborate infrastructure like hangars, landing, fuelling, and maintenance
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.
 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 civil
aviation.
 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.

 Nodal Points: 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.
Note: 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 consuming
areas.
 Big Inch is one such famous pipeline, which carries petroleum from the oil wells of the
Gulf of Mexico to the North-eastern States.
Note: About 17 per cent of all freight per tonne-km. is carried through pipelines in U.S.A.
 In Europe, Russia, West Asia and India pipelines are used to connect oil wells to refineries,
and to ports or domestic markets.
 Turkmenistan in central Asia has extended pipelines to Iran and also to parts of China.
 The proposed Iran-India via Pakistan international oil and natural gas pipeline will be the
longest in the world.
COMMUNICATION
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 in
smaller towns. Even today, the telephone is the most commonly used mode.
 In developing countries, the use of cell phones, made possible by satellites, is important for
rural connectivity.
Today there is a phenomenal pace of development.
 The first major breakthrough is the use of optic fibre cables (OFC).
 Faced with mounting competition, telephone companies all over the world soon upgraded
their copper cable systems to include optic fibre cables.
o These allow large quantities of data to be transmitted rapidly, securely, and are virtually
error-free.

SATELLITE COMMUNICATION
Today Internet is the largest electronic network on the Internet:
planet connecting about 1,000 million people in more than With the digitisation of information in
100 countries. the 1990s, telecommunication
 Communication through satellites emerged as a slowly merged with computers to
new area in communication technology since the form integrated networks termed
1970s after U.S.A. and former U.S.S.R. pioneered
space research.
 Artificial satellites, now, are successfully deployed in the earth’s orbit to connect even the
remote corners of the globe with limited onsite 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 Challenger and INSAT I-B have made long distance communication, television
and radio very effective.
CYBER SPACE – INTERNET

Cyberspace is the world of electronic computerised As billions use the Internet each year, cyberspace
space. It is encompassed by the Internet such as the will expand the contemporary economic and social
World Wide Web (www). space of humans through e-mail, e-commerce, e-
 In simple words, it is the electronic digital learning and e-governance.
Internet together with fax, television and radio will
world for communicating or accessing be accessible to more and more people cutting
information over computer networks without across place and time. It is these modern
physical movement of the sender and the communication systems, more than transportation,
receiver. It is also referred to as the Internet. that has made the concept of global village a
reality.
 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.

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 cargo.
 The quantity of cargo handled by a port is an indicator of the level of development of its
hinterland.
Types of Port
A. Types of port according to cargo handled:
i. Industrial Ports: These ports specialise in bulk cargo-like grain, sugar, ore, oil, chemicals
and similar materials.
ii. Commercial Ports: These ports handle general cargo-packaged products and manufactured
good. These ports also handle passenger traffic.
iii. Comprehensive Ports: Such ports handle bulk and general cargo in large volumes.
B. 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.
ii. Out Ports: These are deep water ports built away from the actual ports.
 These serve the parent ports by receiving those ships which are unable to approach them
due to their large size.
 Classic combination, for example, is Athens and its out port Piraeus in Greece.
C. Types of port on the basis of specialised functions:
i. Oil Ports
 These ports deal in the processing and shipping of oil.
 Some of these are tanker ports and some are refinery ports.
 Example-Maracaibo in Venezuela, Esskhira in Tunisia, Tripoli in Lebanon are 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.
 Example-Aden, Honolulu and Singapore.

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.
 Example-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.
 Example-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.
 Example-Kochi and Karwar are examples of such ports in India.
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WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

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WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

The Relief Of The Ocean Basins

The ocean floors can be divided into

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WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

 Depth: The depth of this shallow sea water over the

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WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

The continental shelves are of great importance to man

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WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Submarine Ridges (Mid-Oceanic Ridges):

Seamounts and Guyots

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WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

The Ocean Deeps (Trenches)

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WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

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WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

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WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

TEMPERATURE OF OCEAN WATERS

Factors Affecting Temperature Distribution

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WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Horizontal and Vertical Distribution of Temperature

Horizontal Distribution of Ocean Temperature

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Spatial Pattern of surface temperature (°C) of the oceans

SALINITY OF THE OCEAN WATERS

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WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

 Representation: If the weight of solid

Sources Of Ocean Salinity

Factors Affecting Ocean Salinity:

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WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Horizontal Distribution Of Salinity:

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 In Estuaries and Arctic: The salinity fluctuates from 0-35/oo, seasonally.

Spatial pattern of surface temperature (°C) of the oceans

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 Indian Ocean: The average salinity of the Indian Ocean is 35/oo.

Surface salinity of the World’s Oceans

Vertical Distribution of Salinity:

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WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Controlling Factors of Density of Seawater

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WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

The waters of oceans are never still. The oceans

The size and force of a sea wave depends on three factors