Human Geography Notes

Edited By Ali Hameed Khan

CHAPTER CHAPTER NAME PAGE

NUMBER NUMBER
Chapter-1 Nature and scope of human 01
geography

Chapter-2 The world population 03

Distribution Density and Growth
Chapter-3 Population Composition 08
Chapter-4 Human Development 11

Chapter-5 Primary Activities 15

Chapter-6 Secondary Activities 23
Chapter-7 Tertiary and Quat. Activities 29
Chapter-8 Transport and communication 35
Chapter-9 International Trade 44

Chapter-10 Human settlements 49

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1 Chapter
DEFINITION OF HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
NATURE AND SCOPE OF HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Q.1 Define the concept of Human Geography. Mention the nature of

Human geography. [The elements of physical
environment are
Ans. Human geography studies:
landforms, soils, climate,
• “The relationship between the physical/natural and the human water, natural vegetation
worlds, and diverse flora and
• The spatial distributions of human phenomena and fauna. The elements of
• How they come about, the social and economic differences between socio-cultural
environment are Houses,
different parts of the world”. villages, cities, road-rail
networks, industries,
Q.2 What is the core concern of geography as a discipline? farms, ports and items of
Ans. The core concern of geography is to understand the earth as home of our daily use which are
created by human beings
human beings and to study all those elements which have sustained
using the resources
them. provided by the physical
environment.]
DUALISM / DIACHOTOMY in HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
Q.3 Mention the any three dualism in geography which started wide-ranging
debates in the discipline of geography.
Ans. The three dualism in geography which started wide-ranging debates in the
discipline of geography are:
a. Whether geography as a discipline should be a law making/theorising
(nomothetic) or descriptive (idiographic).
b. Whether approach of the study should be regional or systematic?
c. Whether geographical phenomena be interpreted theoretically or
through historic-institutional approach?

Q.4 State any six examples of metaphors used to describe the physical and
human phenomena.
Ans. They are:
i. ‘face’ of the earth,
ii. ‘eye’ of the storm,
iii. ‘mouth’ of the river,
iv. ‘snout’ (nose) of the glacier,
v. ‘neck’ of the isthmus
vi. ‘profile’ of the soil.
vii. regions, villages, towns have been described as ‘organisms’.
viii. Networks of road, railways and water ways are described as “arteries of
circulation”.

Naturalization of Humans or Environmental determinism

Q.5 Describe important features of the concept of Natualisation of Humans.
OR
State the important characteristics of environmental determinism approach
of study of human geography.
Ans. Environmental deterministic approach states that:
a. Environment controls human actions and activities. Humans were
directly dependent on the natural environment.

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b. Humans were not free and they adapted according to the nature. 2
c. Humans were naturalized they were afraid of natural forces.
d. It states that human history, culture, life style, and stages of
development are influenced by the physical environment like
climate, soil, relief, etc.
e. It considers human as passive agents, whose attitude, decision
making is influenced by physical environment.
f. Example: the life of nomads or tribal people living in mountains or
forests.

Humanisation of Nature or Possibilism

Q.6 Describe important features of the concept of Humanisation of Nature.
OR
State the important characteristics of possibilism approach of human
geography.
Ans. Possibilistic approach states that:
a. Humans were free to choose/decide. Nature did not control him.
b. The nature provided/offered opportunities/possibilities for humans to
exploit it for their benefits.
c. It considered humans as active agents rather than a passive one.
d. It’s the technology, attitude, habits, values of humans which influenced
its action not the nature.
e. The nature got humanized.

Neodeterminism or Stop and Go determinism.

Q.7 State the important characteristics of concept of neodeterminism approach
of human geography.
OR
Which approach in the study of human geography was followed by Griffith
Taylor? State two characteristics of this approach.
Ans. Griffith Taylor introduced the concept of neodeterminism of stop and go
determinism. It states that:
a. Neither is there a situation of absolute necessity (environmental
determinism) nor is there a condition of absolute freedom
(possibilism).
b. It states that nature has provided possibilities and scope for
development but also put limits on it.
c. It means that human beings can conquer nature by obeying it. They
can continue in their pursuit of development when nature permits.
d. The neo-determinism conceptually attempts to bring a balance
nullifying the ‘either’ ‘or’ dichotomy.

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2 CHAPTER
DISTRIBUTION, DENSITY and GROWTH
THE WORLD POPULATION:

Q. Define the terms

a) Population density.
b) Population distribution
c) Population growth or population change

Ans. (a) Population density refers to the ratio between numbers of people to
the size of land in a country. It is usually measured in persons per sq km

(b) Population distribution refers to the way people are spaced over the
earth’s surface.

(c) Population growth refers to the change in number of people of a

territory during a specific period of time. This change may be positive or
negative. It is usually expressed in terms of percentage or numbers.

DISTRIBUTION AND DENSITY OF POPULATION

Q.1 Mention four areas of High density of population in the world.

Ans. Fertile plains with favourable climate and highly industrialized and
urbanized areas are densely populated. There are four areas where
density is more than 200 persons per sq. km. they are:
1. East Asia (China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan).
2. South and Southeast Asia (India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan).
3. North-West Europe (UK, France, Germany).
4. The Northeastern Coast of North America.
+
Q.1 Mention different areas of low density of population in the world.
Ans. Areas unsuited to agriculture support relatively few people. These thinly
populated or uninhabited non-arable areas are identified as frontier
environments. They include the following:
1. The Hot and the Cold deserts: lands: areas where precipitation and
irrigational facilities are lacking are thinly populated.
2. Polar areas of North and South Pole: areas such as high latitudes
(polar) where temperature is very low and frigid, agriculture is
impossible have low population.
3. Major mountain ranges: where climate is harsh and cold and
terrain is uneven to be cultivated are thinly populated.
4. High rainfall areas near Equator: these areas receive heavy rainfall
and high temperature therefore, soils are infertile and do not
support agriculture, as well as have high incidence of harmful
diseases have thin population.
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Q.1 Describe the uneven patterns of population distribution in the world.

Ans.
1. Broadly, 90 per cent of the world population lives in about 10 per cent of
its land area.
2. The 10 most populous countries of the world contribute about 60 per cent
of the world’s population.
3. Of these 10 countries, 6 are located in Asia.

FACTORS OF POPULATION DISTRIBUTION AND DENSITY

Q.2 Explain with suitable examples any five geographical and economic or
social and cultural factors which influence the population distribution and
density in the world.
Ans. The factors are grouped into three categories:
i. Geographical factors:
(i) Availability of water:
a. people prefer to live in areas where fresh water is easily available
for drinking, and for cattle, crops, industries and navigation.
b. E.g. it is because of this that river valleys are among the most
densely populated areas of the world.
(ii) Landforms:
a. People prefer living on flat plains and gentle slopes rather than on
mountainous and hilly areas. This is because plain areas are
favourable for the production of crops and to build roads and
industries.
b. Whereas, the mountainous and hilly areas are unfavourable for the
development of transport network, agriculture and industries.
c. E.g. the Ganga plains are among the most densely populated areas
of the world while the mountains zones in the Himalayas are barely
populated.
(iii) Climate:
a. Areas with a comfortable climate, where there is not much seasonal
variation have high population.
b. Whereas, extreme climates such as very hot or cold, deserts and
heavy rainfall are uncomfortable for human living and have low
population.
c. E.g. Mediterranean regions were inhabited from early periods in
history due to their pleasant climate.
(iv) Soils:
a. Fertile soils are important for agricultural and related activities.
Therefore, areas which have fertile loamy soils have more people
living on them as these can support intensive agriculture.
b. E.g.
ii. Economic Factors
(i) Minerals:
a. Areas with rich mineral deposits attract Mining and industrial
activities therefore skilled and semi–skilled workers move to
these areas for employment and make them densely populated.
b. E.g. Katanga Zambia copper belt in Africa is one such good
example.

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(ii) Urbanisation:
a. People migrate in the cities for better employment
opportunities, educational and medical facilities, and better
means of transport and communication and good civic
amenities.
b. Mega cities of the world continue to attract large number of
migrants every year. E.g.
(iii) Industrialisation:
a. Industrial belts provide job opportunities and attract large
numbers of people. These include not just factory workers but
also transport operators, shopkeepers, bank employees,
doctors, teachers and other service providers.
b. E.g. the Kobe-Osaka region of Japan is thickly populated
because of the presence of a number of industries.
iii. Social and Cultural Factors
(i) Religious:
a. Some places attract more people because they have
religious or cultural significance.
b. E.g. in USA people of different nationalities prefer
their own regions where common culture and traditions
are present.
(ii) Political unrest and wars:
a. In the same way – people tend to move away from
places where there is social and political unrest.
b. E.g. refugees from Ethiopia, Sudan, Sri Lanka have
moved out from their own countries.
(iii) Government policies:
a. Many a times governments offer incentives to people
to live in sparsely populated areas or move away from
overcrowded places.

COMPONENTS OF POPULATION GROWTH/CHANGE

Q.3 Explain three components/factors responsible for population growth in the

world.
Ans. There are three factors responsible for population change.
1. Birth Rate: If the births exceed deaths, within a given year there
will be a net population increase.
2. Death rate: If the death exceeds births, within a given year there
will be a net population decrease.
3. Migration: The permanent or semi-permanent change of a person’s
place of residence is called migration. Immigration increases
population of a place whereas emigration decreases population of a
place. (CW)
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TRENDS IN POPULATION GROWTH

Q.3 Describe the trends in the population growth in the world.

Ans. Fig. 2.3
a. In the early stages of the development (before 1 A.D) the birth and
death rate was small therefore the size of population was also small.
The world population was below 300 million.
b. In the 16th and 17th centuries the population growth was rapid. It was
due to expanding world trade. The world population increased to 1
billion.
c. In 18th century after Industrial revolution world population
increased rapidly and by 1930 it reached 2 billion.
d. In 19th century due to scientific and technological advancements
in transportation, sanitation, medical advancements and introduction
of biotechnology the world population grew very rapidly. The world
population reached 3 billion.
e. Since last four decades the world population has increased rapidly and
it was about 6 billion in 2000.

Q.4 Mention the causes of negative growth in population in developed

countries.
Ans. The main causes are:
a. Traditional lower birth rates.
b. Economic instability has resulted in rapid rise in death rates. Infant
mortality and death during child birth has increased.
c. The resources are now insufficient to support the population.
d. The deadly HIV/AIDS epidemics in Africa and some parts of the
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Asia have pushed up
death rates.
e. Life expectancy has dropped.

Q.5 Mention the consequences of both the population growth and population
decline. 5
Ans. Population change whether negative or positive is taken seriously.
Population decline: - Results
a. Negative growth in population indicates that resources that supported
a population have become insufficient to maintain the population.
b. Under negative growth the basic structure of the society may become
unstable.
c. In developed countries government is taking steps to increase
population by tax exemption, accepting immigrants.
Population Growth: - Results
d. Positive growth shows prosperity and progress of a country.
e. Positive growth may become problem after a level when the land and
other important resources become insufficient.
f. Growing population put pressure on existing resources and problems of
environmental degradation and pollution become common.
g. Government takes steps to control the population increase.

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DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION THEORY

Q.6 Define the term Demographic cycle/Theory.

Ans. This theory describes and predicts the future population of any area. The
theory tells us that population of any region changes from high births and
high deaths to low births and low deaths as society progresses from rural
agricultural and illiterate to urban industrial and literate society. These
changes occur in stages which are collectively known as the demographic
cycle. +
Q.6 Describe the three-stage model of Demographic Transition Theory.
Ans. As a country changes from a rural society into an urban society there are
changes in its demographic trends. These changes are represented in
three stages, they are:
1. Primitive Demographic growth:
a. In this stage the birth and death rates are high because people
reproduce more to compensate for the deaths due to epidemics and
variable food supply.
b. Life expectancy is low.
c. The population growth rate is slow.
d. Most of the people are engaged in agriculture where large families
are an asset.
e. People are mostly illiterate and have low levels of technology.
f. Two hundred years ago all the countries of the world were in this
stage. It is basically found in primitive agriculture dominated
countries.
2. Expanding or youthful demographic:
a. In this stage birth rate remains high.
b. Death rate decline due to technological advancements in health and
improvements in sanitation conditions.
c. Because of this gap between death and birth rate the net addition
to population is high and the population growth is rapid.
3. Late expanding demographic:
a. In this stage the birth and death rates declines.
b. The population becomes urbanised, literate and has high technical
knowhow and deliberately controls the family size.
c. The population is either stable or grows slowly.

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3 CHAPTER POPULATION COMPOSITION

Define the terms -

1. Population composition: The term population composition refers to the
distinguishing attributes of population of a country such as occupation,
education, life expectancy, age, sex, place of residence, etc.
2. Sex ratio: The ratio between the number of women and men in the population
is called sex ratio. It is calculated by two different methods according to the
number of women or men in the country. In India it is calculated by:

In other countries it is calculated by:

3. Age structures: The number of people in different age-groups is referred to as

age structures.
4. Population pyramid is a diagram which is used to show the age-sex structure
of the population (number of females and males in different age groups). The
shape of the pyramid reflects the characteristics of a population.
5. Literacy rate is defined as the percentage of people above 7 years of age,
who is able to read and write and have the ability to do arithmetic calculations
with understanding.
6. Occupational structure: The proportional distribution of active population
under specific economic activities is known as occupational structure.
7.
SEX COMPOSITION
Q.1 What is the average sex ratio in the world? In which countries/regions the sex
ratio is favourable or unfavourable. Give any four reasons for this imbalance
in the sex ratio in the world.
Ans. The average sex ratio in the world is 990 females per 1000 males. The
highest sex ratio in the world has been recorded in Latvia which is 1187
females per 1000 males. In contrast, the lowest sex ratio occurs in U.A.E.
which is 468 females per 1000 males.
In Asian countries its low due to:
i. Gender discrimination, which is widespread.
ii. High female death during childbirth.
iii. Lower socio-economic status of women.
iv. High female infant mortality due to negligence and lack of medical
facilities.
v. Preference to male child which results in high female foeticide and
female infanticide.
vi. Domestic violence against women.
In European countries its high due to:
i. Due to better status of female in the society.
ii. Due to excessive male-dominated out-migration to different parts of
the world.

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AGE STRUCTURE
Q.2 How the age structure is considered an important indicator of population
composition?
Ans. It is an important indicator of population composition due to following:
a. If there are large numbers of young people (below 15 years) it means
that region has high birth rate and the population is said to be
youthful.
b. If there are large numbers of adults (between 15 to 59 years) it means
that country has large working population.
c. If there are large numbers of old people (above 60 years) it means
that birth rates are low and the population is said to be ageing which
require more expenditure on health care facilities.
+
Q.2 What are the three types of population pyramid?
Ans. The three kinds of shapes are:
a. Constant population pyramid: It is bell shaped pyramid which
tapers towards the top. It shows that the birth and death rates are
almost equal. Australian population shows this kind of shape.
b. Expanding population Pyramid: It is triangular shaped pyramid.
This kind of shape is found with the developing countries pyramid.
It has wide base which shows that the country has a high birth rate
and a large young population. The population of Nigeria,
Bangladesh and Mexico represents this shape.
c. Declining population pyramid: This pyramid has a narrow base
and narrow top. It shows that the birth and death rates are
declining. Japan population shows this shape.

RURAL URBAN COMPOSITION

Q.3 On the basis of place of residence, classify the population of the world into
two groups. Explain two main characteristics of each group of population.
Ans. The two groups are:
1. Rural Population.
2. Urban Population.
Characteristics of Rural Population:
a. In western countries (Canada & Finland) males outnumber females in
rural areas. Males stay in rural areas due to farming activities which is
highly mechanized.
b. In countries of Asia (like Nepal, Pakistan and India) female outnumber
males in rural areas. In rural areas the female participation in farming
activity fairly high. Shortage of housing, high cost of living, lack of job
opportunities and lack of security in cities, discourage women to
migrate from rural to urban areas.
Characteristics of Urban Population:
a. In Western countries, females outnumber the males in urban areas.
The excess of females in urban areas of Europe is the result of
migration of females from rural areas to urban areas to take
advantage of the vast job opportunities.

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b. In countries like Nepal, Pakistan and India males outnumber the

females in urban areas. Male domination is due to the male
immigration from rural areas in search of better jobs.

LITERACY
Q.4 Mention five factors which affects the literacy rate in the world.
Ans. The factors which affect the literacy rate are:
i. Levels of economic development: - low income countries have low literacy
rates.
ii. Urbanization and standard of living: - literacy rate is high in urban areas than
in rural areas. Countries with high human development have high literacy
rates.
iii. Social status of females: - countries in which females are given equal status
and role in the society have high literacy rates.
iv. Availability of educational facilities.
v. Policies of the government. Funds and expenditures on education by the
government influence literacy rates.

OCCUPATIONAL STRUCTURE
Q.5 Explain 4 groups of occupational structure.
Ans. The four major groups of occupation are:
a. Primary activities: it includes hunting, agriculture, forestry and fishing.
b. Secondary activities: it includes manufacturing and power.
c. Tertiary activities: it includes transport, communication and other services.
d. Quaternary activities: it includes more intellectual occupations, whose task is
to think, research and developed ideas.
+
Q.5 Why there are significant variations among different countries in the
occupational structure? OR
Mention the relationship between occupational structure and levels of
economic development.
Ans.
i. If the economy is less developed than the proportion of working population in
primary activities is high.
ii. If the proportion of working population is high in secondary and tertiary
activities, if the economy is more developed.
iii. As the economy develops, more and more people are seen working in tertiary
activities.

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4 CHAPTER HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Q.1 Explain three differences between the growth and development.

Ans. Both growth and development refers to changes over a period of time. But
they differ in following ways:
a. Growth is quantitative where as the development is qualitative.
b. Growth is value neutral which means that it can be either positive or negative
where as development is always positive.
c. Development occurs when positive growth takes place and when there is a
positive change in quality. However, positive growth does not always lead to
development.

Q.2 Explain the concept of Human development.

Ans. The concept of human development was introduced by Dr Mahbub-ul-Haq. He
described human development as development that enlarges people’s choices
and improves their lives.
People are central to all development under this concept. The basic goal of
human development is to create conditions where people can live meaningful
lives. A meaningful life is not just a long one. It must be a life with some
purpose. This means that people must be healthy, be able to develop their
talents, participate in society and be free to achieve their goals.

Q.3 What are the three basic areas/aspects of human development?

Ans. The three areas/aspects of human development are:
a. Access to health: Leading a long and healthy life,
b. Access to education: being able to gain knowledge and
c. Access to resources: having enough means to be able to live a decent
life.
Why are they important?
Building people’s capabilities in these areas of health, education and
resources is important in enlarging their choices. If people do not have
capabilities in these areas, their choices also get limited.
For example, an uneducated child cannot make the choice to be a doctor
because her choice has got limited by her lack of education. Similarly, very
often poor people cannot choose to take medical treatment for disease
because their choice is limited by their lack of resources (money).

Q.4 Explain the four concepts/pillars of human development.

Ans. The idea of human development is supported by the concepts of equity,
sustainability, productivity and empowerment.
a. Equity refers to making equal access to opportunities available to
everybody. The opportunities available to people must be equal
irrespective of their gender, race, income and caste.
b. Sustainability means continuity in the availability of opportunities. Each
generation must have the same opportunities. All resources must be used

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keeping in mind the future. Misuse of any of these resources will lead to
fewer opportunities for future generations.
c. Productivity means the human-labour productivity must be constantly
enriched by building capabilities in people. Efforts made to increase their
knowledge, or provide better health facilities ultimately leads to better
work efficiency.
d. Empowerment means to have the power to make choices. Such power
comes from increasing freedom and capability. Good governance and
people-oriented policies are required to empower people. The
empowerment of socially and economically disadvantaged groups is of
special importance.

Q.5 Explain four different approaches of achieving human development.

Ans. Some of the important approaches are:
a. The income approach: This is one of the oldest approaches. Human
development is linked to income. The idea is that the level of income
reflects the level of freedom an individual enjoys. Higher the level of
income, the higher is the level of human development.
b. The welfare approach: Human development is linked to government
expenditure on welfare. The idea is that the level of expenditure
reflects the level human development. Higher the level government
expenditure on welfare, the higher is the level of human development.
c. Minimum needs approach: This approach was initially proposed by
the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Six basic needs i.e.:
health, education, food, water supply, sanitation, and housing were
identified. Higher the provision on basic needs, the higher is the level
of human development.
d. Capabilities approach: This approach is associated with Prof.
Amartya Sen. Building human capabilities in the areas of health,
education and access to resources is the key to increasing human
development.

Q.6 What is human development index and explain the three indicators used to
measure the level of human development in a region?
Ans. Human development index is a key of measuring the quality of life and
human well-being. It is developed by United Nation Development Programme.
It is a composite index of the following indicators:
a. Access to health: The indicator chosen to measure health is the life
expectancy at birth. A higher life expectancy means that people have a
greater chance of living longer and healthier lives.
b. Access to education: The indicator chosen to measure education is
the adult literacy rate and the gross enrolment ratio. These two shows
how easy or difficult it is to access knowledge in a particular country.
c. Access to resources: Access to resources is measured in terms of
purchasing power (in U.S. dollars). If the people of any region has
high purchasing power it means they have enough means to be able to
live a decent life.

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Q.7 What is human poverty index? Mention the four indicators used to measure
this index.
Ans. The human poverty index is constructed by UNDP which is used to measure
the shortfall in human development. It is a non-income measure. The four
indicators used to measure it are:
a. The probability of not surviving till the age of 40,
b. The adult illiteracy rate,
c. The number of people who do not have access to clean water, and
d. The number of small children who are underweight.

Q.8 State the three differences between human development index and human
poverty index.
Ans. Both of these index measures human development in a region. Together
these indexes give an accurate picture of human development situation in a
country. But they differ on following points:
a. The human development index measures attainments in human
development whereas the human poverty index measures the
shortfall in human development.
b. Human development index (HDI) does not say anything about the
distribution whereas the human poverty index (HPI) measures the
levels of distribution of education, health and resources.
c. HDI is an income measure whereas HPI is a non-income measure.
d. The human poverty index is more revealing than the human
development index.

Q.9 Mention some other ways of measuring human development in a country.

Ans. The ways to measure human development are constantly being refined and
newer ways of capturing different elements of human development are being
researched. Some of them are:
a. Political freedom index: Democratic country gives political freedom
which in turn influences the human development.
b. Corruption index:
c. Gross national happiness.

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Q.10 How countries are classified on the basis of the human development?
Ans. The scores attained by a country is important basis of classifying countries
into different groups.
a. Countries with High index value
i. They have score of 0.8 and above.
ii. They are Norway, Iceland, Australia, Luxembourg and Canada.
iii. Countries with higher human development are those where a lot of
investment in the social sector has taken place.
iv. Government of these countries has made a higher investment in people
and provided good governance.
v. Many of these countries have been the former imperial powers.
vi. The degree of social diversity in these countries is not very high.
b. Countries with Medium Index Value
i. They have scores between 0.500 to 0.799.
ii. Most of these countries have emerged in the period after the Second
World War.
iii. Some countries from this group were former colonies while many others
have emerged after the break up of the erstwhile Soviet Union in 1990.
iv. Many of these countries have been rapidly improving their human
development score by adopting more people-oriented policies and
reducing social discrimination.
v. Most of these countries have a much higher social diversity than the
countries with higher human development scores.
vi. Many in this group have faced political instability and social uprisings at
some point of time in their recent history.
c. Countries with Low Index Value
i. As many as 32 countries record low levels of human development.
ii. A large proportion of these are small countries which have been going
through political turmoil and social instability in the form of civil war,
famine or a high incidence of diseases.

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5 CHAPTER PRIMARY ACTIVITIES

TYPES OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

Q.1 Define the term economic activities.
Ans. Human activities which generate income are known as economic activities.
Economic activities are broadly grouped into primary, secondary, tertiary
and quaternary activities.

Q.2 Described four different groups/types of economic activities.

Ans. Economic activities are broadly grouped as Primary activities, Secondary
activities, Tertiary activities and Quaternary activities.
1. Primary activities: - it refers to extraction/utilization of raw materials
from the earth’s surface. These include hunting, gathering,
pastoralism, fishing, forestry, mining and agriculture.
2. Secondary activities: - it includes industries that transform raw
materials into finish foods having higher value. For example
manufacturing cotton textiles from raw cotton, and iron and steel from
iron ore.
3. Tertiary activities: - it includes all kind of services provided the people
such as education, health, trade and transport.
4. Quaternary activities: - it represents special kind of services, which is
related to highly intellectual activities. For example research and
development service, information generation, information processing
and transmission.

HUNTING AND FOOD GATHERING

Q.3 Mention the two things on which the earliest human being depended.
Ans. The earliest human beings depended on their immediate environment for
their sustenance. They depended on:
1. Animals which they hunted
2. Edible plants which they gather from the forests.

Q.4 Describe the characteristics of hunters and food gatherers.

Ans. The characteristics of hunters and gatherers are:
1. This activity is practised in regions with harsh climatic conditions.
2. People migrate frequently in search of food.
3. People live in small groups and have no private property.
4. Simple implements are used for hunting.
5. Locally available materials are used for their clothing and shelter.
6. The yield per person is very low and little or no surplus is produced.
Q.5 Name the regions of hunting and gathering in the world.
Ans. The hunters and gatherers lives in wide variety of habitats having different
climates and biological resources. It is practised in:
1. They live in harsh climates of polar areas which include northern
Canada, northern Eurasia and southern Chile;
2. They live in tropical rain forests of Low latitude zones such as the
Amazon Basin, tropical Africa, Northern fringe of Australia and the
interior parts of Southeast Asia.

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PASTORALISM: -

Q.6 Name two types of animal rearing.

Ans. Depending on geographical factors, technological development animal
rearing is practised either as:
1. Pastoral Nomadism
2. Commercial livestock rearing.

Pastoral Nomadism or Nomadic Herding

Q.7 What is Nomadic herding/pastoral nomadism? Describe any four main

features of it.
Ans. Nomadic herding is a subsistence activity depending on animals.
1. The people depend on animals for food, clothing, shelter and transport.
2. The people do not live a settled life. They move from one place to another.
3. Each nomadic community occupies a well-defined territory.
4. Their animals depend entirely on natural vegetation.
5. These nomads migrate with their animals with change in seasons which is
called transhumance.
6. The social status of a person is measured by the number of cattle he
possesses.
Q.8 Name the animals reared in areas of nomadic herding.
Ans. A wide variety of animals is kept in different regions.
1. In tropical Africa, cattle are the most important livestock,
2. In Sahara and Asiatic deserts, sheep, goats and camel are reared.
3. In the mountainous areas of Tibet and Andes, yak and llamas.
4. In the Arctic and sub Arctic areas, reindeer are the most important
animals.

Q.9 Mention one important feature of each of the three broad regions/areas
associated with Pastoral Nomadism in the world.
Ans. Pastoral nomadic people live in areas of grasslands. They live in areas
which are either too hot or too cold. They live in three broad regions:-
1. The largest/core region extends from Sahara desert in Africa to
Mongolia and Central China. This region includes Sahara desert,
Arabian deserts, Savannas of Africa, Asian mountainous and plateau
regions. It is hot and dry region.
2. Tundra region in Eurasia. It is cold and dry region.
3. South West Africa and the island of Madagascar. It is a temperate
region.

Q.10 Define Transhumance. Also give areas associated with transhumance in

the world.
Ans. The seasonal migration of people with their animals in search of pastures
and water is known as transhumance. Examples of transhumance are:
i. In the mountainous regions such as the Himalaya, Gujjars
migrate with their animals from the plains to the mountains in
summers and from mountains to the plains in winters.
ii. In tundra region these people migrate from south to north in
summers and from north to south in winters.

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Q.11 Why the numbers and areas of pastoral nomads have been decreasing?
Ans. This is due to: -
(a) Imposition of political boundaries: - Now they can not move freely in
their regions due to formation of different countries.
(b) New settlement plans by different countries: - Many countries have
used their grazing lands for resettlement colonies and agriculture.

PASTORALISM: - Commercial Livestock Rearing

Q.12 What is commercial livestock rearing? Describe the main features of
Commercial Livestock Rearing (Ranching).
Ans. The capital intensive and organised rearing of animals on scientific lines is
called commercial livestock rearing.
The main features of Commercial Livestock rearing are:
1. It is practised in permanent ranches.
2. The rearing of animals is being undertaken scientifically.
3. Fodder crops and grasses are cultivated to feed the animals.
4. Special breeds of animals are reared to give maximum yields of milk
and meat.
5. Great emphasis is given on genetic improvement, disease control and
health care of animals.
6. Every activity is carried out mechanically.
7. It is mostly practised in developed countries such as New Zealand,
Australia, Argentina and United States of America.
Q.13 What are permanent ranches?
Ans. Ranches are large areas of pastures. These ranches are divided into a
number of parcels which are fenced. When the grass of one parcel is
grazed, animals are moved to another parcel. The number of animals in a
ranch is kept according to the carrying capacity of pasture.

AGRICULTURE
Q.14 What are agricultural systems? How are they classified?
Ans. Different types of agriculture practised under different physical and socio-
economic conditions are called agricultural systems.
They are classified on the basis of:
(a) Methods of farming,
(b) Type of crops grown
(c) Type of livestock kept.

TYPES OF AGRICULTURE
Q.15 Distinguish between subsistence agriculture and commercial agriculture.
Ans. The agriculture systems of the world are grouped into subsistence
agriculture and commercial agriculture. The differences between the two
are:
i. In the subsistence agriculture the products are consumed by
the farmers’ family whereas in the commercial agriculture
products are sold in the market.
ii. In subsistence agriculture the farms size is small whereas in
commercial agriculture it is large in size.
iii. In subsistence agriculture the yield per acre is high whereas in
commercial agriculture it is low.
iv. In subsistence agriculture large number of labour is used
whereas in commercial specialized machinery is used.
v. In the subsistence agriculture system farming is very traditional
whereas in commercial agriculture it is like the business
enterprise.

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Q.16 Explain the two types of subsistence agriculture systems in the world.
Ans. There are three traditional subsistence agriculture systems in the world:
i. Primitive subsistence or Shifting agriculture:
a. It is the most primitive form of agriculture.
b. It is mainly practiced by tribes in the tropical forest of Africa,
Asia and Central America.
c. Natural vegetations are cut and burnt to make a clearing in the
forests and the ash is used to increases the fertility of the soil.
d. Fields are small and simple tools are used for cultivation.
e. After a few years of cultivation, the soils fertility get exhausted
and then the farmer move to new land and repeat the whole
process of clearing the forest.
f. Farmers return to earlier fields after 5-6 years.
g. It is also known as slash and burn agriculture.
h. It is prevalent in tropical regions and known by different names,
e.g. Jhuming in North eastern states of India, Milpa in Central
America and Mexico and Ladang in Indonesia and Malaysia.
ii. Intensive subsistence agriculture:
a. It is of two types: intensive cultivation dominated by wet paddy
and intensive cultivation dominated by crops other than paddy.
b. It is practiced in densely populated countries of monsoon Asia
such as China and India.
c. Yield per acre is high due to high input of family labour.
d. Fields are small due to high density of population.
e. Most of the work is done by labour.
f. Farm yard manure is used to maintain fertility of the soil.
g. The rice, wheat, soyabean and barley are the important crops
grown in this agriculture.
h. Crop specialization is not possible.
i. Multiple cropping and intercropping is common in this system.

Q.17 Describe the main features of plantation agriculture.

Ans. Plantation agriculture:
i. Europeans in their colonies introduced new agriculture system known
as plantation agriculture.
ii. It is large-scale profit-oriented farming.
iii. Main crops grown are tea, coffee, cocoa, cotton, sugarcane and rubber.
iv. Large estates or plantations are made where single crop is grown.
v. Capital investment is huge due to construction of factories on the field.
vi. Cultivation is done by Scientific methods.
vii. Skilled managers and technical staff are employed.
viii. Only one specialized crop is grown.
ix. Plantations are linked with market through good transportation.
x. Crops are exported.

Q.18 Name important plantation crops introduced by European in different

countries.
Ans. Important plantation crops are:
i. Cocoa and coffee plantations in West Africa established by the French.
ii. Tea gardens in India and Sri Lanka established by British.
iii. Rubber plantation in Malaysia.
iv. Sugarcane and Banana plantations in West Indies.
v. Coconut and sugarcane in Philippines established by Americans.
vi. Sugarcane plantations in Indonesia established by the Dutch.

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Q.19 Describe the main features of extensive commercial grain cultivation.

Ans. Specialized commercial agricultural systems:
i. High agriculture production is achieved through efficient and more
specialized agricultural machines.
ii. It is practised in interior parts of semi-arid lands.
iii. Wheat is the important crop grown in this agriculture. Other crops such
as cotton, Corn, barley are also grown.
iv. The size of farm is very large therefore extensive cultivation is done.
v. The yield per acre is low but the yield per person is high due to low
population density.
vi. It is practised in temperate grasslands such as Steppes of Europe,
Prairies of America, Pampas of Argentina, Velds of South Africa, Downs
of Australia.

Q.20 Describe the main features of mixed farming.

Ans. Mixed farming is a type of farming in which cultivation of crops and raising
livestock goes hand in hand. Its main features are:
i. 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.
ii. Mixed farms are moderate in size.
iii. Equal emphasis is laid on crop cultivation and animal husbandry.
iv. Fodder crops are an important component of mixed farming.
v. Crop rotation and intercropping play an important role in maintaining
soil fertility.
vi. It is characterized by high capital expenditure on farm machinery and
building, extensive use of chemical fertilizers and green manures.
vii. The crops associated with it are wheat, barley, oats, rye, maize, fodder
and root crops.
viii. Animals like cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry provide the main income
along with crops.
Q.21 Describe the main features of dairy farming.
Ans. Dairy farming is a type of agriculture in which major emphasis is on
breeding and rearing milch cattle. Its main characteristics are:
i. It is highly capital intensive. Large investments are made on Animal
sheds, storage facilities for fodder, feeding and milching machines.
ii. Special emphasis is laid on cattle breeding, health care and veterinary
services.
iii. It is also highly labour intensive as it involves painstaking care in
feeding and milching.
iv. There is no off-season during the year.
v. It is practised mainly near urban and industrial market.
vi. Dairy farming development depends on transportation, refrigeration,
pasteurisation and other preservation processes.
vii. There are three main regions of commercial dairy farming are:
a. The largest is North Western Europe.
b. Second is Canada
c. The third belt includes South Eastern Australia, New Zealand and
Tasmania.
Q.22 Why Dairy farming is practised mainly near urban and industrial centres?
Ans. Fresh Milk and dairy products produced in the dairy farming are easily sold
in the neighbourhood urban market. Dairy products are perishable
commodities therefore they have to be sold at the earliest. Urban centres
are large market for the dairy products.

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Q.23 Why dairy farming has increased on large-scale in recent years? OR

State the factors on which the development of dairy farming depends.
Ans. Dairy products are perishable commodities therefore the factors are:
i. Transportation: Good transport system facilitates fast movement of
dairy products between farms and the market.
ii. Refrigeration, pasteurisation and other preservation processes
increased the duration of storage of various dairy products.

Q.24 Describe the main features of Mediterranean Agriculture.

Ans. Mediterranean agriculture is highly specialized commercial agriculture.
i. It is practised in the countries on either side of the Mediterranean
Sea.
ii. This region is an important supplier of citrus fruits such as grapes,
oranges, olives and figs.
iii. Viticulture or grape cultivation is a speciality of the Mediterranean
region.
iv. Best quality wines are produced from high quality grapes, grapes are
dried into raisins and currants.
v. 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.

Q.25 Describe the main features of market gardening and horticulture.

Ans. Cultivation of high value crops such as vegetables, flowers and fruits only
for the urban markets is called horticulture and market gardening.
i. It specialize in the cultivation of high value crops such as vegetable,
fruits and flowers.
ii. Crops are cultivated exclusively for the urban markets.
iii. Farms are small and are located near urban market.
iv. It is both labour and capital intensive.
v. It lays emphasis on the use of irrigation, HYV seeds, fertilisers,
insecticides, greenhouses and artificial heating in colder regions.
vi. This type of agriculture is well developed in densely populated
industrial areas of Europe, U.S.A. and the Mediterranean regions.
vii. Netherlands specializes in the cultivation of Flowers and horticultural
crops which are flown to all major cities.
viii. Factory farming and truck farming are its two types.

Q.26 What is truck farming?

Ans. The regions where farmers specialise in vegetables only, the farming is
known as truck farming. The distance of truck farms from the market is
governed by the distance that a truck can cover overnight, hence the
name truck farming.
Q.27 What is factory farming?
Ans. Raising of livestock, particularly poultry and cattle rearing, with heavy
capital and specialization is called factory farming.
i. It is done in stalls and pens.
ii. Livestock is fed on manufactured feedstuff.
iii. It is carefully supervised against diseases.
iv. This requires heavy capital investment in terms of building, machinery
for various operations, veterinary services and heating and lighting.
v. One of the important features of poultry farming and cattle rearing is
breed selection and scientific breeding.

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Q.28 Name two types of farming classified on the basis of farming organization.
Ans. On the basis of farming orgainsation farming is classified into:
• Co-operative farming
• Collective farming.

Q.29 Give differences between co-operative farming and collective farming.

Ans. the differences are:
i. Co-operative farming is initiated by a group of farmers whereas
collective farming is initiated by the government.
ii. In co-operative farming farmers poll in their resources, except land,
voluntarily whereas in collective farming farmers poll in all resources
including land.
iii. Farmers help each other voluntarily in co-operative farming whereas
in collective farming farmers are allotted work by the management.
iv. In co-operative farming farmers sell their products in open market
whereas in collective farming they sell the products to the government
at fixed prices.

Q.30 Describe important features of co-operative farming.

Ans. Co-operative farming
i. Farming is done under a cooperative society formed by a group of
farmers.
ii. All farmers of the society poll in their resources voluntarily for more
efficient and profitable farming.
iii. Individual farms remain intact and farming is a matter of cooperative
initiative.
iv. 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.
v. Co-operative is successful in many western European countries like
Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Italy etc.
vi. In Denmark, the movement has been so successful that practically
every farmer is a member of a co-operative.

Q.31 Describe important features of Collective Farming/Kolkhoz.

Ans. Collective Farming
i. Farming is based on social ownership of the means of production and
collective labour.
ii. It was introduced in erstwhile Soviet Union.
iii. It was also known as Kolkhoz in Soviet Union.
iv. The farmers pool in all their resources like land, livestock and labour.
v. Yearly targets are set by the government and the produce is also sold
to the state at fixed prices.
vi. Members are paid according to the nature of the work allotted to them
by the farm management.

Methods of MINING
Q.32 What are the two types of mining?
Ans. There are two types of mining:
i. Surface mining: it is also known as open-cast mining. Mining of
minerals lying close to the surface is called surface mining. The top
layers of earth are removed by digging, blasting or drilling. It is the
easiest type of mining. Costs are low due to less expenditure on safety
precaution and equipments. The output is large and rapid.

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ii. Underground mining: It is also known as shaft method of mining.

The extraction of minerals lying deep inside the earth is called
underground mining. It is very risky and dangerous. In this kind of
mining vertical and horizontal tunnels are made through which
minerals are transported to the surface. It requires lifts, ventilation
system, loading machines and drills.
Surface mining is a largest of all types of mining in the world.

Q.33 Why the method of underground mining very risky?

Ans. Underground mining is very risky and every year large number of miner
dies due to: -
i. Emission of poisonous gases such as methane.
ii. Accidental fires in the tunnels.
iii. Flooding due to seepage of underground water.
iv. Caving of roofs and tunnels due to water.

FACTORS INFLUENCING MINING ACTIVITIES

Q.33 Describe the factors which influenced mining activities.
Ans. The factors which influence mining activities are:
i. Physical factors: the characteristics of ores such as size, depth and
quality influence mining. If the mineral is found in sufficient quantity and
is not found very deep, it will be mined profitably.
ii. Economic factor: the cost of mining, demand in the market, availability
of technology and capital, supply of labour determines mining activities.

Q.34 Why the developed economies are retreating from mining activities?
Ans. The developed countries are withdrawing from mining activities due to:
i. High labour costs.
ii. Cheap imports from developing countries.
iii. Strict environmental laws in developed countries.

Q.35 Explain 3 reasons for the increasing use of minerals in the world.
Ans. The increasing use of minerals in the world is due to:
i. Mineral production provides large export earnings for the developing
countries.
ii. It provides employment to millions of miners.
iii. Minerals are used in various industries.
iv. Rising standard of living of the people has increased the demand for
various minrals.

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6 CHAPTER
Q.1
SECONDARY ACTIVITIES
What are secondary activities?
Ans. Activities which add value to natural resources and transform them into
valuable products is called secondary activities.

Q.2 What is manufacturing?

Ans. Manufacturing refers to mass production of all/any kinds of identical goods
with the use of power, specialised labour and a factory. It transforms raw
materials into finished goods of high value. It is done in either by hand or
power driven machinery.
Industry refers to simple processing of natural raw materials. The production
techniques are less complicated.

CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN MANUFACTURING

Q.3 Describe the characteristics of modern large-scale manufacturing.

Ans. Modern manufacturing industries have following characteristics:
i. Specialisation of skills & methods of production:
Modern manufacturing involves mass production of identical products
in large quantities. Each worker performs only one task repeatedly.
ii. Mechanisation:
Production is done with the help of gadgets and automatic machines
which are computer controlled.
iii. Technological Innovation:
New methods of production are innovated/researched and used for
quality control, reducing waste and inefficiency, and controlling
pollution.
iv. Organisational Structure and Stratification:
The Organization of business is large which consists of CEO’s,
Managers, executives, workers. Each one performs a specialized task.

DISTRIBUTION OF INDUSTRIES

Q.4 Explain the factors which influence the location of industries in the world.
Ans. Industries maximize profits by reducing costs. Therefore industries are
located where the costs are minimum. The factors influencing are:
i. Access to Market:
a. Industries are located in areas/regions which have high density of
population and high purchasing power. These areas provide large market.
For example –
i. Industries are less in remote areas inhabited by a few people.
ii. Whereas, in developed regions of Europe, North America, Japan
and Australia industries are more because they provide large global
markets and the purchasing power of the people is very high.
iii. The densely populated regions of South and South-east Asia also
provide large markets, thus industries are more.

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ii. Access to Raw Material:

a. Industries are located where the raw material is cheap and easy to
transport.
For example –
i. Steel, sugar, and cement Industries are based on cheap, bulky and
weight-losing material (ores) therefore they are located close to
the sources of raw material.
ii. Agro-processing and dairy Industries are located close to farms or
dairy because the raw material is perishable.
iii. Access to Labour Supply:
a. Some industries require skilled labour therefore they are located near
urban-educational centres where skilled labour is easily available.
iv. Access to Sources of Energy:
a. Industries which use more power are located close to the source of the
energy supply such as the aluminium industry.
v. Access to Transportation and Communication Facilities:
a. Speedy and efficient transport and communication facilities reduce the
cost of transport and management. Therefore industries are attracted in
regions having good transport and communication facilities.
For example –
i. Western Europe and eastern North America have a high numbers
of industries.
vi. Government Policy:
a. Some times industries are located under Government policy of ‘regional
balance’ & economic development.
vii. Access to Agglomeration Economies/Links between Industries:
a. 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 INDUSTRIES

Based on Size

Q.5 Explain three groups of industries classified on the basis of their size.
Ans. On the basis of capital investment, number of workers and volume of
production industries are classified as:
i. Cottage or household industries:
a. It is the smallest manufacturing unit.
b. The craftsmen with the help of their family members produce
everyday goods within their homes.
c. They use locally available raw-material and sell their products
in the local markets.
d. They use simple tools devised by them to produce goods.
e. An e.g. foodstuff, fabrics, shoes, pottery, furniture, mats, etc.
ii. Small scale industries:
a. The place of manufacturing is outside the home/cottage.
b. This type of manufacturing use simple power-driven machines
and semi-skilled labour to produce goods.

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c. Raw material is obtained from locally.

d. The industries are larger in size than the cottage industries.
e. Products are sold beyond local markets.
f. They provide employments to large number of people.
g. E.g. toys, furniture, edible oil, and leather goods.
iii. Large scale industries:
a. These are heavy and capital-intensive industries.
b. They use automatic machines and large number of people to
produce goods.
c. The products are sold in national or international markets.
d. Emphasis is given on quality control and production
specialization.
e. Raw material is obtained from large areas.
f. Production is on large scale.

Based on Output

Q.6 Explain two groups of industries classified on the basis of their product.
Ans. On the basis of output/product, industries are classified as:
i. Basic industries: industries whose products are used to produce other
goods by using them as raw materials are called basic industries. For
example, iron and steel industry produce steel which is used by other
industries as a raw material to produce machines.
ii. Consumer goods industries: industries which produce goods for direct
consumption such as tea, bread, soap and television are known as
consumer goods industries.

Based on Inputs/Raw Material

Q.7 Explain the groups of industries classified on the basis of their inputs.
Ans. On the basis of inputs/raw material, industries are classified as:
i. Agro-based industries:
a. Industries which utilize agriculture products as raw materials and
produce goods such as cotton textile, tea, sugar and vegetable oil are
called agro based industries.
b. 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.
ii. Forest based industries:
a. These industries utilize Forest products as raw material.
b. For example paper, furniture industry, lac industries.
iii. Mineral based industries:
a. These industries use minerals as raw materials.
b. There are different mineral based industries, for example ferrous (iron)
industries which uses metals which have iron content such as iron and
steel industry, nonferrous industries which uses metals which do not
have iron content such as aluminium industry, Non-metallic industries
which uses non-metals such as cement industries.

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iv. Chemical industries

a. This industry uses chemicals as raw materials.
b. For example: Mineral oil is used to produce petroleum products, Salt,
sulphur industries, Plastics industries.

Based on ownership

Q.7 Explain the groups of industries classified on the basis of their ownership.
Ans. On the basis of ownership, industries are classified as:
i. Public industries: when the ownership and management of an industry
is in the hands of the State, it is called public sector industry.
ii. Private sector industries: industries owned and managed by an
individual or a corporate body belongs to private sector. Individuals
invest their own capital and they manage these industries themselves.
iii. Joint sector industries: industries owned and managed jointly by the
State and private individuals belong to join sector industries.

TRADITIONAL LARGE SCALE INDUSTIRES

Q.8 State the characteristics of traditional large-scale industrial regions.

Ans. Traditional large-scale industrial regions have following characteristics:
i. These are based on heavy industry.
ii. These are located near coal-fields and engaged in metal smelting,
heavy engineering, chemical manufacture or textile production.
iii. These industries are now known as smokestack industries.

Q.9 Mention the problems faced by the traditional industrial regions.

Ans. Traditional industrial regions can be recognised by:
i. High proportion of employment in manufacturing industry.
ii. High-density housing, often of inferior type, and poor services.
iii. Unattractive environment, for example, pollution, waste heaps.
iv. Problems of unemployment, emigration
v. Abandoned land areas caused by closure of factories because of a
worldwide fall in demand.

HIGH TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRIES

Q.10 State any five important features of high-tech industries.

Ans. High-tech or modern industries have following important features:
i. Highly skilled specialist professional (white collar) workers make up a
large share of the total workforce.
ii. Scientific and engineering products are manufacture through intensive
research and development.
iii. Robotics, computer-aided design (CAD), electronic controls are notable
examples of a high-tech industry.
iv. The office & plant buildings are modern & neatly spaced.
v. Planned business parks for high-tech industries have been set up.

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Q.11 Compare and contrast the features of traditional large-scale industrial regions
and modern high-tech industrial parks.
Ans. Traditional large-scale industrial regions and modern high-tech industrial
parks differ from each other in following ways:
a. Traditional large-scale industrial regions are based on heavy industries
whereas the modern high-tech industrial parks are based on small
scientific industries.
b. Traditional industrial regions are located near source of raw material
whereas the modern industrial regions are located near market at the
outskirts of cities.
c. Traditional industrial regions employ large number of blue collar workers
whereas modern industrial regions employ small number of white collar
workers.
d. Traditional industrial regions are facing environmental problems such as
pollution, waste where as modern industrial regions have created green
environment around themselves.
e. Traditional industrial regions have massive assembly factories, storage
areas whereas modern industrial regions have neatly spaced, low density
of modern office-plant-lab buildings.

Q.12 What are technopolies?

Ans. High-tech industries which are regionally concentrated, self-sustained and
highly specialised are called technopolies. The Silicon Valley near San
Francisco and Silicon Forest near Seattle are examples of technopolies.

Q.13 Name five most important manufacturing industries of the world.

Ans. Iron and steel, textiles, automobiles, petrochemicals and electronics are some
of the world’s most important manufacturing industries.

IRON AND STEEL INDUSTIRES

Q.14 Why iron and steel industry is called basic and heavy industry?
Ans. The iron and steel industry forms the base of all other industries and it
provides raw material for other industries therefore it is called a basic
industry. For example it provides machine tools which are used for further
production of goods. It may also be called a heavy industry because it uses
large quantities of bulky raw materials and its products are also heavy.

Q.15 Mention the advantages of mini steel mills over large integrated steel plants.
Ans. New changes have occurred in the manufacturing of steel.
i. Mini steel mills prefer their location near markets whereas the large
integrated steel industry is located close to the sources of raw materials.
ii. Mini steel mills are less expensive to build and operate.
iii. Mini steel mills can be located near markets because of the abundance of
scrap metal, which is the main input.
iv. Mini steel mills are gaining importance over traditional large integrated
plants because in mini mills steel is made by just one-step process.

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Q.16 Describe the distribution of iron and steel industry in the world.
Ans. 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.
i. In U.S.A, most of the production comes from the north Appalachian region
(Pittsburgh), Great Lake region and the Atlantic Coast. Pittsburg area is
now losing ground. It has now become the “rust bowl” of U.S.A.
ii. In Europe, U.K., Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourgh, the
Netherlands and Russia are the leading producers.
iii. In Asia, the important centres include Nagasaki in Japan; Shanghai in
China; and Jamshedpur in India.

COTTON TEXTILE INDUSTRIES

Q.17 Describe the three sub sectors of cotton textile industry.
Ans. Cotton textile industry has three sub-sectors i.e. handloom, powerloom and
mill sectors.
i. Handloom sector is labour-intensive and provides employment to semi-
skilled workers. It requires small capital investment. This sector involves
spinning, weaving and finishing of the fabrics.
ii. The powerloom sector introduces machines and becomes less labour
intensive and the volume of production increases.
iii. Cotton textile mill sector is highly capital intensive and produces fine
clothes in bulk.

Q.18 Mention the problems faced by the cotton textile industry.

Ans. Cotton textile manufacturing requires good quality cotton as raw material.
i. The industry has to face very stiff competition with synthetic fibres hence it
has now shown a declining trend in many countries.
ii. With the scientific advancement and technological improvements the cotton
textile industries has shifted from developed countries to developing
countries. This shift is due to low labour costs in less developed countries.

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7 CHAPTER
Tertiary activities:
TERTIARY AND QUATERNARY ACTIVITIES

Q.1 What are TERTIARY ACTIVITIES?

Ans. Commercial output and exchange of services are called tertiary activities.
Tertiary activities include both production and exchange. All Services which
require special skills of theoretical knowledge and practical training and are
provided in exchange of payments is included in tertiary sector.

Q.2 Give differences between tertiary activities and secondary activities.

Ans. The main differences between them are:
i. Services rely more heavily on specialised skills, experience and knowledge of
the workers whereas secondary activities rely on the production techniques,
machinery and factory processes.
ii. Tertiary activities involve the commercial output of services whereas
secondary activities involve the production of tangible goods.
iii. Tertiary activities are not directly involved in the processing of physical raw
materials.

Q.3 Name three types of activities included in service sector.

Ans. The 3 types of activities are:
a) Tertiary activities. b) Quaternary activities. c) Quinary activities.

1. TERTIARY ACTIVITIES
Q.4 Name the four types of tertiary activities.
Ans. Tertiary activities are related to service sector. They are classified into four
types:
i. Trade and commerce
ii. Transport
iii. Communication
iv. Services

TRADE AND COMMERCE

Q.5 What are trading centres? Name two types of trading centres.
Ans. A place where trading of goods and services takes place is known as trading
centre. It can be at local level or international level, urban or rural areas.
Trading centres may be divided into rural and urban marketing centres.

Rural and Urban marketing centres

Q.6 Distinguish between rural marketing centres and urban marketing centres.
Ans. Both of the marketing centres differ from each other:
i. Rural marketing centres provide facility to nearby settlements whereas
urban marketing centres provide facility to wide services to large areas.
ii. Rural centres are mostly rudimentary type whereas urban centres offer
specialised services.
iii. Personal and professional services are undeveloped in rural centres
whereas they are highly developed in urban centres.
iv. Rural marketing centres acts as a local collecting and distributing centres
whereas urban marketing centres provide services beyond cities at
national or international levels.

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Q.7 Distinguish between wholesale and retail trading services.

Ans. Retail trading services:
i. This is the business activity concerned with the sale of goods directly
to the consumers.
ii. Retail trading is done through fixed Stores- large shops.
iii. It is also done through Non-stores- Street peddling, door-to-door,
mail-order, telephone, automatic vending machines and internet.
Wholesale trading services:
i. This is the business activity concerned with the bulk selling of goods
through merchants and supply-houses.
ii. Wholesalers acts as intermediaries between retail stores and
manufacturers.
iii. Wholesalers also give credit to retail stores.

TRANSPORT SERVICES
Q.8 Explain the significance of transport and communication services.
Ans. A Transport and communication service has helped in the development of
modern economies.
i. Transport service is used to physically carry persons, manufactured goods,
and property from one location to another.
ii. It is an organised industry which satisfies man’s basic need of mobility.
iii. Speedy and efficient transport systems assist in the production,
distribution and consumption of goods.
iv. At every stage, the value of the material is significantly enhanced by
transportation.
Factors affecting the transport services
Q.9 State three ways of measuring transport distance.
Ans. Transport distance is measured by:
i. Km distance: it is the actual distance of route length.
ii. Time distance: it is the time taken to travel on a particular route.
iii. Cost distance: it is the expense of travelling on a route.

Q.10 Explain the factors which affect the transport services.

Ans. Transport services depend on
i. In selecting the mode of transport, time and cost distance, is the
determining factor.
ii. Demand for transport is influenced by the size of population. The larger
the population size, the greater is the demand for transport.
iii. Routes depend on:
a. Location of cities, towns, villages, industrial centres and raw materials,
b. Pattern of trade between them,
c. Nature of the landscape between them,
d. Type of climate,
e. Funds available for overcoming obstacles along the length of the route.
Q.11 Why the means of transport are also referred to as lines of communication.
Ans. Means of transport helps in the transmission of words and massages, ideas
and facts. The written massages are carried out by roads, rail, and air
therefore all forms of transport are referred as lines of communication.

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COMMUNCIATION SERVICES

Q.10 What are communication services? Explain the factors on which

communication services depends.
Ans. Activities related to transmission of words and massages, ideas and facts are
termed as communication services. It depends on:
i. Communication services depend on transport network. Where the
transport network is efficient, communications are easily spread.
ii. Certain developments, such as mobile telephony and satellites, have made
communications independent of transport.
iii. Due to the cheapness of the transport systems very large volumes of mail
continue to be handled by post offices all over the world.

Q.11 Name different types of communication services.

Ans. Communication services are:
i. Means of transportation: include road, rail and air services.
ii. Telecommunication: include telephone and mobile
iii. Audio visual: include mass media such as films, radio, T.V., Newspaper
and Magazines.

SERVICES

Q.12 Describe different types of services.

Ans. Services occur at many different levels.
i. Some are provided to industry, some to people; and some to both
industry and people, e.g. the transport systems.
ii. 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.
iii. Services provided to individual consumers. For example the gardener, the
launderers and the barber do primarily physical labour. Teacher, lawyers,
physicians, musicians and others perform mental labour.
iv. Regulated or formal services such as Making and maintaining highways
and bridges, maintaining fire fighting departments and supplying
education and customer-care, transport, telecommunication, energy and
water supply.
v. Professional services are primarily health care, engineering, law and
management.
vi. Recreational and entertainment services.

Q.13 What are informal or non-formal services?

Ans. Some personal services, made available to the people to facilitate their work
in daily life, are unorganized or unregulated such as domestic services of
housekeepers, cooks, and gardeners. The workers employed in these services
are migrants from rural areas and are unskilled. One such example in India is
Mumbai’s dabbawala (Tiffin) service provided to about 1, 75, 000 customers
all over the city.

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Tourism
Q.14 Name the single largest tertiary activity in the world. Give facts in support of
your answer.
Ans. Tourism is travel undertaken for purposes of recreation rather than business.
It has become the world’s single largest tertiary activity. The facts are:
i. It provides jobs to about 250 million people.
ii. It has provided total revenue 40 per cent of the total GDP.
iii. Many local persons are employed to provide services like accommodation,
meals, transport, entertainment and special shops serving the tourists.
iv. Tourism promotes the growth of infrastructure industries, retail trading,
and craft industries.
v. In some regions tourism provide source of income all year round.

Q.15 Explain the factors which affects the development of tourism in the world.
Ans. Tourism activities depend on:
i. With the improvement in the standard of living the demand for holidays
has increased.
ii. With increased leisure time many more people go on holidays for leisure.
iii. New tourist destination has been opened up recently.
iv. Improvement in road transport facilities has made travel easier by car.
v. More significant in recent years has been the expansion in air transport.
For example, air travel allows one to travel anywhere in the world in a few
hours of flying time from their homes.
vi. The advent of package holidays has reduced the costs of travel.

Q.16 Mention some of the important tourist attractions in the world.

Ans. Tourists attract to places which have following features:
i. Climate: Most people from colder regions get attracted to 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
because it offers higher temperatures and long hours of sunshine.
ii. Landscape: Many people like to spend their holidays in mountains, lakes,
spectacular sea coasts and landscapes not completely altered by man.
iii. History and Art: People visit ancient or picturesque towns and
archaeological sites, and enjoy exploring castles, palaces and churches.
iv. Culture and Economy: These attract tourists with a liking for
experiencing ethnic and local customs.

2. QUATERNARY ACTIVITIES

Q.17 What are quaternary activities? What are its important features?
Ans. The quaternary activities refer to intellectual occupations which are
advance and specialised such as thinking, research and developing new ideas.

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Q.18 State any four important features of quaternary activities.

Ans. Its features are:
1. These services are advance and specialised economic activities.
2. These services concern mainly with information processing, research
and development.
3. These services offer high income.
4. These services are mainly concentrated in developed countries and
growing fast.
5. It involves specialized knowledge, technical skills, and administrative
competence.
6. It belongs to service sector that is knowledge oriented.
7. Important occupations belonging to quaternary activities are: mutual
fund managers, tax consultants, software developers, statisticians.
8. Like some of the tertiary functions, quaternary activities can also be
outsourced. They are not tied to resources, affected by the
environment, or necessarily localised by market.

3. QUINARY ACTIVITIES

Q.19 What are quinary activities?

Ans. Quinary activities refer to the activities performed by the highest level of
decision makers or policy makers.

Q.22 State any four important features of quinary activities.

Ans. Its features are:
i. It includes special and highly paid skills.
ii. Services of senior business executives, government officials, research
scientists, financial and legal consultants, etc. are included in it.
iii. Quinary activities are services that focus on the creation, re-arrangement and
interpretation of new and existing ideas, data and technologies.

Q.20 What is outsourcing? What are its effects on the economy of a country?
Ans. Outsourcing is giving work to an outside agency to improve efficiency and
reduce costs. Outsourcing involves transferring work to overseas locations.
Their effects on the economy of a country are:
i. Outsourcing has resulted in the opening up of a large number of call
centres in India, China, Israel, Philippines and Costa Rica.
ii. It has created new jobs in these countries.
iii. Outsourcing is coming to those countries where cheap and skilled workers
are available.
iv. With the work available though outsourcing, the migration in these
countries may come down.
v. Outsourcing countries are facing resistance from job-seeking youths in
their respective countries.
vi. There are two types of outsourcing KPO (Knowledge processing
outsourcing) and BPO (Business process outsourcing).

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Q.21 Give three differences between KPO and BPO.

Ans. KPO and BPO are the part of quaternary activities. They differ under following
points:
i. The KPO industry involves more high skilled workers.
ii. It is information driven Knowledge Outsourcing whereas BPO is
outsourcing of Business activities such as customer care.
iii. KPO enables companies to create additional business opportunities
whereas BPO enables companies to reduce cost and increase efficiency.
iv. Examples of KPOs include research and development (R and D) activities,
e-learning, business research, intellectual property (IP) research, legal
profession and the banking sector.

Q.22 What is digital divide?

Ans. There are wide differences between countries and within country in the
accessibility of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). This gap in
accessibility of ICT is called digital divide.

Q.23 Describe the four importance of service sector in modern economics

Ans. The importance of service sector is:
1. It is now largest value-added sector of the economy.
2. It is the important source of foreign exchange as it exports services to other
countries.
3. In general, the countries with developed service sector have an advantage of
attracting foreign investment.
4. In old times services were seen as a tool to help manufacturing but now it is
an independent sector of the economy.
5. The service sector has gained importance and some service centres has been
opened in global cities.

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8 CHAPTER TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATION

Importance of trade, Transport and communication
Q.1 Explain the importance of trade, Transport and communication?
Ans.
i. They link the areas of production with areas of consumption.
ii. They reduce distance between places of natural resources,
manufacturing and market.
iii. They facilitate the movement and exchange of goods and services and
people.
iv. Today’s world economy heavily depends on efficient trade, transport
and communication.
v. High living standard and quality of life depend on efficient transport,
communication and trade.
vi. It promote cooperation and unity among scattered peoples
Q.2 What is the meaning of term transport?
Ans. It is a service for the carriage of goods and passengers from one place to
other using different modes such as humans, animals and vehicles. This
movement of goods and passengers take place through land, water and air
therefore it has four modes namely roadways and railways, waterways,
pipelines and airways.
Q.3 What is the meaning of term communication?
Ans. It means conveyance of information from the place of origin to the place of
destination. Communication can be done through postal services, telephone
and fax services, internet and satellites. The information is conveyed through
a channel such as wires, radio waves and other frequencies.
Q.4 What is the meaning of trade?
Ans. Trade means exchange of goods and services through market channels
among places in response to differences in prices or demand and supply. It
refers to flow of goods and services being exchanged between places.

Factors affecting mode of TRANSPORTATION

Q.5 Explain the three factors on which the significance of a mode of transport
depends.
Ans. The three factors on which the significance of a mode of transport depends
are: -
i. Type of goods to be transported: - if the goods which are to be carried
are bulky and heavy they can be transported easily by the water ways.
If the goods are of high value and perishable they are transported by
airways. Liquids and gasses are transported easily by pipelines.
ii. Transportation cost: - road transportation is cheaper for short
distances while railways are used when the distance is long. Inter
national trade is done through waterways as it is cheaper.
iii. Means of transport available: - remote and hilly areas can be reached
by airways as no other transportation is available. For transport of
goods from ports roadways are used.

LAND TRANSPORT

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Q.6 Describe the developments which brought revolution in land transport in the
world.
Ans. In early days the humans and animals were the carriers. Revolution in land
transportation came after:
i. Invention of steam engine in the eighteenth century. It resulted in the
introduction of public railway lines which became the most popular and
fastest form of transport in the nineteenth century. It opened up
continental interiors for commercial grain farming, mining and
manufacturing.
ii. The invention of the internal combustion engine. The road quality and
vehicles (motor cars and trucks) plying over them increased many folds.
iii. Among the newer developments in land transportation are pipelines,
ropeways and cableways.
iv. Liquids like mineral oil, water, sludge and sewers are transported by
pipelines.

Q.7 What are the recent\latest developments in land transport?

Ans.
i. Ropeways and cableways have been developed in hilly and difficult terrain.
ii. Pipelines are used to transport liquids and gasses such as mineral oil,
water, sludge and sewers.
Roadways
Q.8 Explain why freight transport by road is gaining importance.
Ans.
i. Road transport is the most economical for short distances as compared to
railways.
ii. Roads are important than other modes of transport because it offers door
to door services.
iii. They provide long distance links through highways, motorways and
autobahn.
iv. Due to increase in the size of Lorries and its power, roadways can now
carry large and heavy goods.

Q.9 What are the problems/limitations of road transport?

Ans. Road transport suffers from some limitations such as:
i. Unmetalled roads are not effective and serviceable during the rainy
season. These become unmotorable.
ii. Even the metalled ones are seriously handicapped during heavy rains and
floods.
iii. The quality of roads varies greatly between countries because the
construction and maintenance is very high.
iv. Many cities suffer from traffic congestion during peak hours.

Highways
Q.10 What are highways?
Ans.
• Highways are metalled roads connecting distant places.
• Such roads are constructed in a manner that vehicles could ply in an
unobstructed manner.
• These roads are wide as much as 80 meters, smooth, and duel-carriage.

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• Several bridges and traffic lanes are constructed for the smooth flow of
traffic.
Q.11 Describe some of important highways of the world.
Ans. Important highways of the world:
1. European ports are connected with each city through highways.
2. In Russia, Moscow is connected by roads to the city of Vladivostak.
3. North American highways link cities of east coasts with that of west
coasts.
4. Trans Canadian highway links Vancouver with [Link] city.
5. Pan –American highway links cities of South America, Central America,
and the United States of America.
6. Golden Quadrangle in India links metropolitan cities.

Q.12 What are border roads? Why they are built?

Ans. Roads laid along international boundaries are called border roads.
They are built for:
• Integrating people in remote areas with major cities
• Providing defence by supplying goods to military camps in border
areas.
RAILWAYS
Q.13 State the importance of railways by giving examples.
Ans. The importances are:
1. Railways are cheaper than roadways in carrying heavy goods.
2. They carry large number of passengers over a long distance. For e.g.
in European countries railways are important mode of travel use by
the people.
3. They link areas of production with areas of consumption for example
railway network is dense in coffee growing areas of Brazil.
4. Railways link coastal ports cities to mining areas and inland cities. For
e.g. in Chile railways links coastal ports and mining areas.
5. Commuter trains have become very popular in large cities. Such as
Metro services in Delhi city.

Q.14 Explain the factors influencing the density of rail network. Also describe the
major regions of dense rail network in the world.
Ans. Major Rail network is found in following regions of the world:
i. The industrial regions have the highest densities of rail network in the world.
Europe has one of the most dense rail networks in the world. Belgium has the
highest density.
ii. In Russia, railways account for about 90 per cent of the country’s total
transport with a very dense network in European west. Moscow is the most
important station.
iii. The most dense rail network is found in the highly industrialised and
urbanised region of East Central U.S.A. and adjoining Canada. North America
has one of the most extensive rail networks accounting for nearly 40 per cent
of the world’s total.
iv. Australia has dense network in New South Wales. New Zealand’s railways are
mainly in the North Island to serve the farming areas.
v. 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

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together account for 40 per cent of South America’s total route length.
Railways link coastal centres with the mining sites in the interior.
vi. In Asia, rail network is the densest in the thickly populated areas of Japan,
China and India. West Asia is the least developed in rail facilities because of
vast deserts and sparsely populated regions.
vii. In Africa continent, South Africa has dense network due to the concentration
of gold, diamond and copper mining activities.

Trans-Continental Railways
Q.15 What are Trans-Continental Railways? Name any five important
transcontinental railways in the world. Give important features of each.
Ans. 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 line-
a. It is in Russia from St. Petersburg in the west to Vladivostak on
the Pacific Ocean in the east passing through Moscow.
b. The total length of this line is about 9332 km, longest in Asia.
c. It is double track route and electrified railway.
d. It connects Russian agro-centres, fur centres.
e. It has connecting links with many other countries. Therefore it
is regionally very important.
2. Trans-Canadian Pacific Railway-
a. It is in Canada from Halifax in the east to Vancouver on the
west on Pacific Ocean.
b. It was constructed in 1886 & its total length is about 7050 km.
c. It gained significance because it connect industrial region of
Quebec-Montreal with softwood forest region and wheat belt of
the Prairies.
d. A loop line from it connects the important waterway of Great
Lakes. This is the economic artery of Canada.
e. Wheat and meat are the important exports on this route.
3. Australian Trans-Continental Railway –
a. It connects Sydney on the east with Perth on the west coast.
b. It runs east-west through the southern part of the Australia.
c. It was constructed for the economic development of the region.
4. Trans-Asiatic Railway line – this railway line is proposed to be build
connecting Istanbul with India and Myanmar.
5. The Union and Pacific Railway:
a. This rail-line connects New York on the Atlantic Coast to San
Francisco on the Pacific Coast.
b. The most valuable exports on this route are ores, grain, paper,
chemicals and machinery.
6. The Orient Express:
a. This line runs from Paris to Istanbul.
b. The journey time from London to Istanbul by this Express is
now reduced to 96 hours as against 10 days by the sea-route.
c. The chief exports on this rail-route are cheese, bacon, oats,
wine, fruits, and machinery.
WATERWAYS
Q.16 What are the four advantages of water transport?

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1. It does not require route construction.

2. The oceans are linked with each other and are open with ships of
various sizes.
3. It is the cheapest mode of transport as the friction of water is less
than the friction of air and land.
4. It saves energy cost of transportation.
5. Heavy cargo can be easily transported by the waterways.
OCEAN TRANSPORT
Q.17 What are the four advantages of ocean transport in the world?
Ans. IMPORTANCE:
1. It is the cheaper means of transporting goods.
2. Oceans offer free highway with no maintenance cost and can be
traveled in all directions.
3. The ships are capable of carrying large loads to longer distances.
4. With improvement in its facilities such as refrigeration the efficiency of
ocean transport has improved.
5. Use of containers has made cargo handling easier.

Q.18 Which three factors has improved the efficiency of ocean transport in the
world?
Ans. The three factors are:
i. Introduction of refrigerated chambers for transporting perishable
goods such as fruits, vegetables, meat.
ii. Development of specialized ships such as tankers for moving
mineral oil and gas.
iii. Development of passenger liners equipped with radar, wireless and
navigation aids.
iv. Use of containers has made cargo handling at ports easier.

IMPORTANT ROUTES of ocean transport

Q.19 Name the busiest ocean transport in the world. Why it is the most important
and busiest route in the world?
Describe important ocean transport route in the world.
Ans. IMPORTANT ROUTES
1. North Atlantic route-
• It connects the two most developed continents of the world
namely USA and Europe.
• It is the busiest route of the world because foreign trade over
this route is greater than that of the rest of the world. Also
called Big Trunk Route.
• Important ports are New York, London, Lisbon, and Amsterdam
• Both the coasts have highly advanced ports and harbour
facilities.
2. the Mediterranean and the Indian ocean route-
a. Industrially developed countries of Europe are connected with
commercial agriculture regions of south Asian & Australia
through the route.
b. Europe exports machinery and industrial goods to Asian
countries and Asian countries export agricultural products and
raw material to Europe.
c. Important centers are Mumbai, Kochin, and Aden.

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d. 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.
3. The Cape of Good Hope-
a. It provides link between West Europe and African countries with
Brazil, Argentina in South America.
b. The rich natural resources are exported to the Europe and
industrial products are imported by African countries.
c. The traffic is far less on this route because of the limited
development and low population in South America and Africa.
4. The North Pacific Route-
a. It links the western coasts of North America such as Vancouver,
Seattle, and Portland with the ports of Asia such as Tokyo
shanghai, Hong Kong.
b. All the trade converges at Honolulu.
c. Food products and manufactured goods are exported to Asia
and Asia in turn exports textiles, rubber, raw materials.

SHIPPING CANALS
Q.20 Name two shipping canals in the world. State four features of both.
Ans. The two manmade navigation/shipping canals in the world are:
i. The Suez Canal route-
a. It is man-made waterway in Egypt which connects Port Said on
Mediterranean Sea with Port Suez on the Red Sea.
b. It is the sea level canal without locks & about 160 km long and 11 to 15 m
deep.
c. It was constructed in 1869.
d. It is a gateway to the Indian Ocean and reduces the distance between
Western Europe and South East Asian countries by 6400 km.
e. It has helped in the development of surrounding countries such as India.
f. 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
ii. The Panama Canal-
a. It is man-made waterway in Panama Isthmus.
b. It connects Colon city on Atlantic Ocean in the east with Panama city on
Pacific Ocean in the west.
c. It separates the land mass of North America from South America.
d. It provides shorter route between east and Far East Asia and Western
Europe.
e. It has six lock systems. Ships cross the canal through these locks.
f. The economic importance of this canal is less than that of Suez Canal.
However, it is vital to the economies of Latin America.
g. The Canal is about 72 km. long.
h. It shortens the distance between New York and San Francisco by 13,000
km by sea.

INLAND WATERWAYS
Q.21 Explain the three factors on which the development of inland transport
depends.

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Ans. The inland transport depends on three factors for its development. They are:
i. Width and depth of channel: silt (sand) deposited in the river/channel
bed obstructs movement of boats therefore channels having large
width and deep bed is suitable for inland transport.
ii. Continuity in the flow of water: lack of water due to divergence for
irrigation hinders the development of inland transport.
iii. Transport technology in use: poor maintenance of inland waterways
and inefficient transport restricts its development.

Q.22 Why riverways have lost its advantages in many parts of the world?
Ans. Riverways have lost its advantages due to:
1. Competition from railways.
2. Problem of silt in rivers and canals.
3. Lack of water in the river due to diversion for irrigation.
4. Poor maintenance of river channels.

Q.23 Mention three measures taken to improve the navigability of river channel.
Ans. Despite inherent limitations, many rivers have been modified to enhance their
navigability by:
a. Dredging, removing the silt by machines from the river bed.
b. Stabilising river banks by concrete.
c. Building dams and barrages for regulating the flow of water.

Important inland waterways

Q.24 Describe important inland waterways of the world.
Ans. Important inland waterways of the world are:
i. The Rhine Waterways:
a. The Rhine River flows through Germany and the Netherlands.
b. It is navigable for 700 km from Rotterdam, Netherlands to Basel in
Switzerland.
c. It flows through a rich coalfield and the whole basin has become a
prosperous manufacturing area.
d. This waterway is the world’s most heavily used.
e. It connects the industrial areas of Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium
and the Netherlands with the North Atlantic Sea Route.
ii. The Danube Waterway:
a. This important inland waterway serves Eastern Europe.
b. The Danube river rises in the Black Forest and flows eastwards through
many countries.
iii. The Volga Waterway:
a. The Volga is one of the most important waterways in Russia.
b. It provides a navigable waterway of 11,200 km up to the Caspian Sea.
iv. The Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Seaway:
a. The Great Lakes of North America Superior, Huron Erie and Ontario are
connected by Canal to form an inland waterway.
b. The estuary of St. Lawrence River, along with the Great Lakes, forms a
unique commercial waterway in the northern part of North America.

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c. The ports on this route like Duluth and Buffalo are equipped with all
facilities of ocean ports.
d. As such large oceangoing vessels are able to navigate up the river deep
inside the continent to Montreal.
e. But her 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.
f. This has helped in the industrial and economic development of this region.

AIRWAYS
Q.25 Explain the significance of air transport.
Ans. Air transport has brought about a connectivity revolution in the world in
following ways:
1. It is the fastest mode of transport.
2. Air transport is used only for high value goods and passengers.
3. Valuable goods can be moved rapidly.
4. It is preferred for long distance travel.
5. It is the easy way to reach inaccessible areas such as mountainous
snow fields or inhospitable deserts. 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.
6. Airways also have great strategic importance.

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AIR TRANSPORT

1. Airports with wide facilities have to be build.
2. The construction of airports and facilities is very costly therefore
airports are built in places where the traffic is large.
3. It requires large arrangements such as hanger, fueling, landing
facilities.

Q.26 Name the three major regions having high/dense network of airways?
Ans. The three regions are:
a. Western Europe: important airports are Rome, London, Berlin.
b. Eastern United States of America: airports are New York,
c. Southeast Asia: airports are Singapore, Bangkok.

PIPELINES
Q.27 Name the longest pipeline in the world. Give four advantages of pipelines.
Why pipelines are extensively used in the world to transport oil and gas?
Ans. PIPELINES
1. Pipelines are used to transport liquids and gasses such as water,
mineral oil and natural gas for uninterrupted flow.
2. Cooking gas or LPG and milk (in New Zealand) is supplied through it.
3. They are used to transport coal mixed with water.
4. Pipelines carry mineral oil from oil fields to refineries.
5. The world’s longest pipeline is ‘COMECON’, which is 4800 km. long. It
connects oil fields of Ural and Volga to the East Europe.
6. The famous pipeline of USA is ‘Big Inch’ which carries mineral oil from
Gulf of Mexico to eastern part of USA.

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7. The proposed Iran-India via Pakistan international oil and natural gas
pipeline will be the longest in the world.

COMMUNICATION- IMPORTANCE
Q.28 Describe the importance of communications.
Ans.
1. Telegraph has helped in the past to colonize American West.
2. Telephone has promoted urbanization of America
3. It has helped in spread of the industries in smaller towns.
4. Now due to telephone many firms have their offices and branches in
smaller towns.
5. In developing countries, the use of cell phones, made possible by
satellites, is important for rural connectivity.
6. The world has converted into a global village because of fast and
reliable means of communication.

Q.29 What is internet? State four merits of internet.

Ans. It is an electronic network of computer which connects million of people
across the world. It is the result of digitalization of information in which the
telecommunication is merged with computers.
MERITS
a. It is the largest electronic network of the world.
b. It helps in connecting to the world of knowledge from anywhere
in the world.
c. Electronic commerce is done through internet without going to
banks.
d. It gives access to personal communication through e-mail.
SATELLITE COMMUNICATION- IMPORTANCE:
a. Satellites has brought changes in the areas of communication by reducing the
time and cost of it.
b. It cost same to communicate over 500 km as it does over 5000 km. it has
made long distance communication very efficient and effect.
c. Through it information on weather, weather forecasting about storm and
news is collected effetely.
Cyber Space – Internet
Q.30 What is cyberspace?
Ans. Cyberspace is the world of electronic computerised space. In simple words, it
is the electronic digital world for communicating. It is also referred to as the
Internet. Cyberspace exists everywhere. It may be in an office, sailing boat,
flying plane and virtually anywhere.

Q.30 Describe how the modern communications has converted the world into global
village.
Ans. The modern communications such as internet has expanded. Billions of
people use the Internet each year. Cyberspace has expanded the
contemporary economic and social space of humans through e-mail, e-
commerce, e-learning and e-governance. Internet together with fax,
television and radio will be accessible to more and more people cutting across
place and time. It is these modern communication systems that have made
the concept of global village a reality.

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9 CHAPTER INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Q.1 What is international trade? Give its importance in modern economies.

Ans. International trade refers to the exchange of goods and services among
countries across national boundaries.
Importance:
i. International trade bridges the gap between surplus regions and deficit
regions through export and imports.
ii. Countries need to trade to obtain commodities, they cannot produce
themselves or they can purchase elsewhere at a lower price.
iii. It helps countries in maintaining the specialization in the production of goods
and services.
iv. It increases international cooperation and understanding.
v. In early times it played significant role in the cultural diffusion.

HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Q.2 Describe the changes that have occurred in international trade since ancient
times to present century.
Ans. The history of international trade has been outline below:
i. In ancient times, trade was restricted to local markets because transporting
goods over long distances was risky. Trading commodities were of basic
necessity – food and clothes. Only the rich people bought jewellery, costly
dresses and this resulted in trade of luxury items.
ii. During Roman Empire, trade was done through the Silk Route from Rome to
China (6,000 km route). The traders transported Chinese silk, Roman wool
and precious metals and many other high value commodities.
iii. During 12th and 13th century, European traded goods through ocean ships.
iv. 15th century onwards, a new form of trade emerged which was called slave
trade. African natives were captured and forcefully transported to the newly
discovered America for their labour in the plantations. Slave trade was a
profitable business for more than two hundred years till it was abolished.
v. After the Industrial Revolution, the industrialised nations imported primary
products as raw materials and exported the value added finished products
back to the non-industrialised nations.
vi. In the later half of the 19th century, industrial nations traded finished goods
between themselves and became each other’s principle customers.
vii. During the postwar period, organisations like the World Trade Organisation
helped in promoting international trade.

BASIS OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Q.3 Why does the international trade exists? /OR/ Explain the factors on which
the international trade depends. /OR/ Describe the three basis of
international trade.
Ans. The basis of international trade is:
1. Trade arises because of regional differences in production and
productivity.
2. It also arises because of great variations in the location and
distribution of natural resources.

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a. For e.g. countries differ in climate, mineral availability and

geological structure therefore trade arises between them as no
one country can produce everything needed by it.
3. Trade arises because some countries specialize in the production of
certain goods and services and they are known by their skills.
a. For e.g. due to cultural diversity different products are famous
such as Carpets of Iran, leather of Africa, Batik cloth of
Indonesia.
4. Trade arises when the production of certain goods and services
exceeds the local consumption levels and it is in short supply
elsewhere.
a. For e.g. country having large size of population cannot trade
goods outside the country due to high local demand.
5. Stage of economic development: In agriculturally important countries,
agro products are exchanged for manufactured goods whereas
industrialised nations export machinery and finished products and
import food grains and other raw materials.
6. Extent of foreign investment: Foreign investment can boost trade in
developing countries which lack in capital required for the development
of industries and agriculture.
7. Transport: With expansions of rail, ocean and air transport, better
means of refrigeration and preservation, trade has expanded.

COMPONENTS OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Q.4 Explain the three components/aspects of international trade and the changes
that has occurred in them.
Ans. The three components/aspects are:
1. Volume of trade-
a. Volume of trade means the total value of goods and services
traded.
b. Services traded cannot be measured in tonnage. Therefore, the
total value of goods and services traded is considered to be
the volume of trade.
c. The total volume of world trade has been steadily rising over
the past decades.
2. Composition of trade-
a. Composition of trade refers to the nature/type of goods and
services traded.
b. Trade of primary products was dominant in the beginning of the
last century. Later manufactured goods gained prominence and
currently, service sector which includes travel, transportation
and other commercial services have been showing an upward
trend.
c. Machinery and transport equipments are traded largest in the
world.
d. Other merchandise are fuel (petroleum) and mining products,
office and telecom equipment, chemicals, automobile parts,
agricultural products, iron and steel, clothing and textiles.
3. Direction of trade-
a. Direction of trade refers to the movement of goods and services
between countries.

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b. In earlier times, high value goods and artefacts were exported

from present day developing countries to the European
countries.
c. In nineteen century the direction of trade changed. European
countries started exporting the manufactured goods and high
value goods to the developing countries.
d. Europe and U.S.A. emerged as major trading partners in the
world and were leaders in the trade of manufactured goods.
e. Now, the developing countries have also started to export
manufactured goods to the developed countries.
Q.5 How is the trade of the services different from the trade of primary and
secondary goods?
Ans. The trade in the service sector is quite different from trade in the products of
primary and manufacturing sectors:
a. The trade in services can be expanded infinitely.
b. It can be consumed by many at a same time.
c. It is weightless.
d. And once produced it can be easily replicated.
e. Thus service trade is capable of generating more profit than producing
goods.
Q.6 Name four types of services trade in the world.
Ans. The four types of services are
a. Commercial services
b. Travel services
c. Construction services
d. Labour services.
TYPES OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE
Q.7 What are the two Types of international trade? Explain characteristics of each.
Ans. The two type of international trade are:
1. Bilateral trade-
a. In this type of trade the exchange of commodities is between
two countries.
b. If the two countries are complementary to each other the
bilateral trade will occur.
c. It occurs when one country exports raw material and energy
sources to the other in exchange of manufacturing goods.
2. Multilateral trade-
a. In this type of trade the commodities are exchanged between
many countries.
b. The countries may not be complementary to each other.
c. The direction of trade is diversified which means that each
country export a number of goods.
Q.8 What is balance of trade? Explain its two types.
Ans. The difference in value of imports and exports is called balance of trade.
It is of two types:
a. If the value of exports exceeds the value of imports, a country
is said to have a favorable balance of trade, while
b. If the value of imports exceeds the value of exports it has
unfavorable or adverse or negative balance of trade. A negative
balance would mean that the country spends more on buying
goods than it can earn by selling its goods. This would
ultimately lead to exhaustion of its financial reserves.

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Q.9 What is free trade? Explain its effects on economies of developing countries.
Ans. Free trade is the act of opening up economies for trading. This is done by
bringing down trade barriers like tariffs. Free trade allows goods and services
from everywhere to compete with domestic products and services.
Its effects on developing economies are:
a. It can adversely affect the economies by not giving equal
playing field.
b. Foreign products which are cheaper can destroy local
production and thus may create unemployment.
c. Imposing conditions which are unfavourable.
d. Dumped goods of cheaper prices can harm the domestic
producers.

Q.10 What are Regional trading blocs? State its objectives. Mention the three
factors on which the membership of trading blocs depends?
Ans. DEFINATION
1. Trading blocs is the groups of countries which have formal systems of
trading agreements. Most of the international trade has been taking
place within these blocs.
OBJECTIVES AND IMPORTACE OF TRADING BLOCS
• Its main objective is to reduce tariffs and quotas on imports
between the member countries.
• It regulates the trade within the bloc and with other trading
blocs of the world.
• To encourage free trade between member countries.
• It helps in increasing economic relations among member’s
countries.
MEMBERSHIP OF TRADING BLOCS DEPEND ON
• Geographical distance of the member countries.
• Historical and cultural relationships.
• Geo-political reasons such as controlling trade in a particular
commodity and retaining the power.
• Similarities and complementarities in trading items.

Q.11 Describe some of the concerns related to international trade.

Ans. International trade has many advantages but it can be damaging/harmful:
i. It leads to more and more dependence on other countries,
ii. It creates uneven levels of development between countries and regions,
iii. It leads to exploitation and commercial rivalry between nations and which
in turn leads to wars.
iv. It affects the environment, health and well being of people.

Q.12 Explain how the global trade affects many aspects of life.
Ans. Global trade affects the environment, health and well-being of the people.
i. Due to competition between countries to trade more, production and the
use of natural resources has increased.
ii. Resources are used faster than they can renew themselves. As a result,
marine life and forests are depleting fast.
iii. Multinational corporations trading in oil, gas mining, pharmaceuticals and
agri-business are exploiting local resources and creating more pollution.
iv. Health and well being of people is affected due to pollution and depletion
of resources.
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Q.13 What are sea ports?

Ans. Sea port is a place on sea coast where cargo is received from other countries
as imports and sent out as exports. Port has facilities for loading and
unloading cargo.

Q.14 Why sea ports and harbours are also known as ‘Gateways of International
Trade’?
Ans. Sea ports and harbours are the important gateways of international trade.
i. It acts as a point of exit and entry for a country.
ii. Cargoes and travellers pass from one part of the world to another
through these ports.
iii. These ports provide facilities of docking, loading, unloading and the
storage facilities for cargo.
iv. The quantity of cargo handled by a port is an indicator of the level of
development.

TYPES OF PORTS
Q.15 What are the different types of ports? Give examples of each port.
Ans. 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.
Types of ports classified on the basis of their location.
(i) Inland port: these ports are located away from the sea coast. They
are linked with the sea by river or a canal. Such ports are suitable
for only flat bottom ships. Kolkata is located on river Hugli,
Manchester.
(ii) Out ports: these are deep water ports built away from the actual
port. These act as a parent port. They receive ships which are large
in size and thus are unable to dock at the actual port. Athens and
Piraeus in Greece.

Types of ports classified on the basis of the specialized tasks:

(i) Oil ports: these ports deals in processing and shipping of oil. Some
of these are tanker ports and some refinery ports. E.g. Tripoli.
(ii) Naval ports: these ports are of strategic importance. They serve
only warships. E.g. Kochi.
(iii) Entrepot ports: these ports act as a collection centres. Imported
goods are collected and shipped to different countries as exports.
E.g. Singapore.
(iv) Packet stations: they are also known as ferry ports. They are
concerned with passengers and mail across water bodies covering
short distances. They occur in pairs across water body. E.g. Dover
and Calais.
(v) Ports of call: these ports provide facilities such as refueling,
watering, taking food items to ships on route to other countries.
E.g. Aden

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10
Q.1
CHAPTER
What is the meaning of settlement?
HUMAN SETTLEMENTS

Ans. A human settlement is defined as a place inhabited more or less permanently. It includes
buildings in which they live or use and the paths and streets over which they travel. It
also includes the temporary camps of the hunters and herders. It may consists of only a
few dwelling units called hamlets or big cluster of buildings called urban cities.
SETTLEMENT TYPES
Q.2 What are the two different types of Human settlements classified on the basis of size and
function?
Ans. Settlements are classified on the basis of size and function into URBAN and RURAL.
1. Urban settlements:
i. These types of settlement are nodal in character and have secondary and
tertiary activities.
ii. The chief occupation of the people of urban areas is non-agricultural i.e.
industry, trade and services.
iii. The major function of an urban area are trades and commerce, transport and
communication, mining and manufacturing, defence, administration, cultural
and recreational activities.
iv. Population density is high and the settlement size is large.
2. Rural settlements:
i. These settlements are chiefly concerned with primary activities such as
agriculture, mining, fishing, forestry etc.
ii. Most of the people of rural settlement are engaged in agricultural work.
iii. The major function of rural settlement is agriculture and each settlement
specializes in various activities.
iv. Population density is small and the settlement size is small.
Q.3 “There is no consensus on what exactly defines a village or a town.” Justify the statement
with examples.
Ans. Settlement is classified into urban and rural, but there is no consensus:
i. Population size is small in rural settlement than urban settlements but it is not a
universally applied because many villages of India and China have population
exceeding that of some towns of Western Europe and United States.
ii. People living in villages pursued agriculture or other primary activities, but presently in
developed countries, large sections of urban populations prefer to live in villages even
though they work in the city.
iii. Petrol pumps are considered as a rural function in the United States while it is an
urban function in India.
iv. Facilities available in the villages of developed countries may be considered rare in
villages of developing and less developed countries.
Q.4 Explain the two types of settlements classified on the basis of shape.
Ans. Settlements can also be classified on the basis of shape and pattern into:
i. Compact settlements:-
i. In these settlement houses are built very close to each other.
ii. Such settlements are found in river valleys and fertile plains.
iii. The people are closely tied and share common occupations.
ii. Dispersed settlements:-
i. In these settlements houses are built far apart from each other.
ii. These settlements consist of one or two houses and cultural
feature such as a church or a temple binds the settlement
together.

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iii. Such settlements are found over hills, plateau and highlands.
RURAL SETTLEMENTS
Q.5 What are rural settlements?
Ans. 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.
Q.6 Explain the factors which influence the location of rural settlements.
Ans. Rural settlements are influenced by following factors:
i. Water Supply: Usually rural settlements are located near water bodies such as rivers,
lakes, and springs where water can be easily obtained. The need for water drives
people to settle in islands surrounded by swamps or low lying river banks. Water
supply is main factor because water is used for drinking, cooking and washing, rivers
and lakes can be used to irrigate farm land, water bodies also have fish which can be
caught for diet and navigable rivers and lakes can be used for transportation.
ii. Land: People choose to settle near fertile lands suitable for agriculture. Early settlers
chose plain areas with fertile soils. In Europe villages are found near gently sloping
land, in south East Asia villages are near low lying river valleys and coastal plains
suited for wet rice cultivation.
iii. Upland: Villages are located on uplands which is not prone to flooding. Thus, in low
lying river basins people chose to settle on terraces and levees which are “dry points”.
In tropical countries people build their houses on stilts near marshy lands to protect
themselves from flood, insects and animal pests.
iv. Building Material: The availability of building materials- wood, stone near
settlements is another factor. Early villages were built in forests where wood was
plentiful. In African Savanna’s mud bricks are used as building materials and the
Eskimos, in Polar Regions, use ice blocks to construct igloos.
v. Defence: During the times of political instability, war, aggression of neighbouring
groups villages were built on defensive hills and islands. In Nigeria, villages are built
on upstanding rocks; in India most of the forts are located on hills.
Q.7 Describe the different types of rural settlements patterns.
Ans. Patterns of rural settlements is influenced by the site of the village, the surrounding
topography and terrain.
i. On the basis of setting: The main types are
a. Plain villages,
b. Plateau villages,
c. Coastal villages,
d. Forest villages and
e. Desert villages.
ii. On the basis of functions: There may be
a. Farming villages,
b. Fishermen’s villages,
c. Lumberjack villages,
d. 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:
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.

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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. Y–shaped settlements emerge as
the places where two roads converge on the third one and houses are built along
these roads. Cruciform settlements develop on the cross-roads and houses extend
in all the four direction.
f. Double village: These settlements extend on both sides of a river where there is a
bridge or a ferry.
Q.8 Describe the major problems of rural settlements in developing countries.
Ans. major problem of rural settlements are:
i. Rural settlements in the developing countries have poor infrastructure facilities.
ii. Supply of water to rural settlements in developing countries is not adequate. People in
villages, particularly in mountainous and arid areas have to walk long distances to
fetch drinking water.
iii. Water borne diseases such as cholera and jaundice are common problem because of
lack of safe drinking water and unhygienic conditions.
iv. Villages are adversely affected by the conditions of drought and flood. This in turn
affects the crop cultivation.
v. The absence of toilet and garbage disposal facilities cause health related problems.
vi. The houses made up of mud, wood and thatch get damaged during heavy rains and
floods.
vii. Most houses have no proper ventilation.
viii. Unmetalled roads and lack of modern communication network causes difficulties in
providing emergency services during floods.
ix. It is also difficult to provide adequate health and educational infrastructure for large
rural population. The problem is particularly serious where houses are scattered over a
large area.
URBAN SETTELEMENTS
Q.9 How are urban settlements classified around the world? OR What are the three common
bases of classifying a settlement as urban around the world?
Ans. Urban settlements are classified on the basis of its size of the population, occupational
structure and administration.
1. Population size: - in India a settlement having population more than 5000
persons is called urban. In Japan it is 30000 persons whereas in Sweden it is
250 persons. The cut off figure depends on the density of population in the
country.
2. Occupational structure: - besides population size, occupation is also taken as
the criteria. In India, if more than 75 percent of workforce is engaged in non-
agricultural activities then the settlement is called as urban. Other countries
have their own criteria for e.g. in Italy it is 50 percent.
3. Administrative structure: - in India a settlement is classified as urban if it
has a municipality, cantonment board or a notified area. In Brazil any
administrative centre is termed as urban.
Q.11 Explain the role of site and situation in determining the location and expansion of towns.
Ans. Location of urban centres is influenced by their function. Site refers to the actual piece of
ground on which the settlement is built. Situation refers to the location of the settlement
in relation to the surrounding areas.
i. Strategic towns require sites offering natural defence;
ii. Mining towns require the presence of economically valuable minerals;
iii. Industrial towns generally need local energy supplies or raw materials;
iv. Tourist centres require attractive scenery, or a marine beach, a spring with medicinal
water or historical relics,

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v. Ports require a harbour.
vi. Availability of water, building materials and fertile land also plays an important role in
locating urban settlements.
vii. The urban centres which are located close to an important trade route have
experienced rapid development.
Q.12 State any four important functions of urban centres.
Ans. Dominant functions of urban areas are:
i. The earlier functions of towns were related to administration, trade, industry, defence
and religious.
ii. Today, towns perform multiple functions such as, recreational, residential, transport,
mining, manufacturing and most recently activities related to information technology.
iii. Some towns are known for their functions for example, Sheffield as an industrial city,
London as a port city, Chandigarh as an administrative city.
iv. Large cities have a rather greater diversity of functions.
Q.10 Describe five functional classifications of towns in the world.
In what ways towns and cities of the world are functionally classified?
Ans.
1. Administrative Towns: - National capitals, which have headquarters of the
administrative offices of Central Government, are called administrative towns, such
as new Delhi, Canberra, Moscow, and Washington.
2. Defence Towns: - Centres of military activities are known as defence towns. They
are of three types: Fort towns, Garrison towns and Naval bases. Jodhpur is a fort
town; Mhow is a garrison town; and Kochi is a naval base.
3. Cultural Towns: - towns famous for religious, educational or recreational
functions are called cultural towns. Places of pilgrimage, such as Jerusalem, Mecca,
Jagannath Puri and Varanasi etc. are considered as religious towns. There are also
recreational towns such as Las Vegas in the USA.
4. Industrial Towns: - Mining and manufacturing regions. Dhanbad and Khetri are
examples of mining towns. Towns which have developed due to setting up of
industries such as Jameshdpur are called industrial towns.
5. Trading and Commercial Towns: - Many old towns were famous as trade
centres such as Lahore in Pakistan, Baghdad in Iraq and Agra in India. Some towns
have developed as transport towns such as Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Aden in
Yemen and Mumbai in India are port towns.
Q.13 Explain the four types of urban settlement on the basis of its size, service and function.
Ans. Depending on the size and the services available and functions rendered, urban centres
are designated as town, city, million city, conurbation, and megalopolis.
i. Town: Population size in town is higher than the village. Functions such as,
manufacturing, retail and wholesale trade, and professional services exist in towns.
ii. City: A city may be regarded as a leading town. 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.
iii. Conurbation: The term conurbation was coined by Patrick Geddes in 1915 and
applied to a large area of urban development that resulted from the merging of
originally separate towns or cities. Greater London, Greater Mumbai, Manchester,
Chicago and Tokyo are examples.
iv. 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.
PROBLEMS OF URBANISATION
Q.14 What is urbanization? What are the five major problems associated with urban settlements
in developing countries?

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Describe the five problems faced by developing countries due to high urbanization.
Ans. Urbanization: - is the process of change from rural to urban population. Most cities in
developing countries are unplanned.
Major problems of urban areas in developing countries are:
1. Economic Problems:
a. Over urbanization or the uncontrolled urbanization in developing countries is
due to large-scale in-migration of rural people.
b. Decreasing employment opportunities in the rural as well as smaller urban
areas has caused large scale rural to urban migration.
c. The huge migrant population in urban areas creates stagnation and
generates a pool of unskilled and semi-skilled labour force.
d. Urban areas suffer from shortage of housing, transport, health and civic
amenities.
e. A large number of people live in substandard housing i.e. slums and
squatter settlements or on the streets.
f. Illegal settlements called squatter settlement are growing as fast as the
city.
2. Socio-cultural Problems: Cities in the developing countries suffer from several
social ills.
a. Inadequate social infrastructure and basic facilities is due to lack of financial
resources and over-population in the cities.
b. The available educational and health facilities remain beyond the reach of
the urban poor.
c. Cities suffer from poor health conditions.
d. Lack of employment and education tends to aggravate the crime rates.
e. Male selective migration to the urban areas distorts the sex ratio in these
cities.
3. Environmental Problems:
a. The large urban population in developing countries uses and disposes off a
huge quantity of water and all types of waste materials.
b. Many cities of the developing countries do not provide the minimum
required quantity of drinkable water and water for domestic and industrial
uses.
c. An improper sewerage system creates unhealthy conditions.
d. Massive use of traditional fuel in the domestic as well as the industrial
sector severely pollutes the air.
e. The domestic and industrial wastes are either let into the general sewerages
or dumped without treatment at unspecified locations.
f. Huge concrete structures of buildings create heat in the city environment.
Q.15 What measures can be taken to ease the problems of urban areas in developing countries.
Ans. major problem of urban areas is the large-scale immigration of rural people. It is due to
high population growth than the generation of employment and economic opportunities in
rural areas.
i. It is urgent to eradicate rural poverty
ii. Improve the quality of living conditions as well as create employment and educational
opportunities in rural areas.
iii. Balance must be created between rural and urban areas in their different economic,
social and environmental conditions.

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