Chapter 1: Human Geography: Nature and Scope
Nature of Human Geography
• Human geography studies the inter-relationship between the
physical environment and socio- cultural environment created by
human beings through mutual interaction with each other.
• The elements like houses, villages, cities, road-rail networks,
industries etc and all other elements of material culture have been
created by human beings using the resources provided by the
physical environment.
While physical environment has been greatly modified by human
beings, it has also, in turn, impacted human lives.
Naturalisation of Humans
• Human beings interact with their physical environment with the
help of technology. Technology indicates the level of cultural
development of society.
• Human beings were able to develop technology after they
developed better understanding of natural laws. For example, the
understanding of concepts of friction and heat helped us discover
fire.
In the early stages of human adapted to the dictates of Nature
because the level of technology was very low and the stage of
human social development was also primitive. The type of
interaction between primitive human society and strong forces of
nature was termed as environmental determinism.
Humanisation of Nature
• With social and cultural development, humans develop better and
more efficient technology.
• Humans create possibilities with the resources obtained from the
environment. They create cultural landscape. The earlier scholars
termed this as possibilism.
• Nature provides opportunities and human being make use of these
and slowly nature gets humanised.
• A geographer, Griffith Taylor introduced the concept of Neo
Determinism or Stop and Go determinism which is mid way path.
The concept states that there is neither a situation of absolute
necessity (environmental determinism) nor there is condition of
absolute freedom (possibilism). It means that human beings can
conquer nature by obeying it.
Human Geography through the Corridors of Time
• The Human Geography is concerned with the process of
adaptation, adjustment with and modification of the environment
started with the appearance of human beings over the surface of the
earth in different ecological niches.
• Earlier there was little interaction between different societies and
the knowledge about each other was limited.
• The late fifteenth century witnessed attempts of explorations in
Europe and slowly the myths and mysteries about countries and
people started to open up.
Fields and Sub-fields of Human Geography
• Human geography is highly inter-disciplinary in nature. It
develops close interface with other sister disciplines in social
sciences in order to understand and explain human elements on the
surface of the earth.
Fields of Interface with Sister
Human Disciplines of Social
Geography Sub-Fields Sciences
- Sociology
Behavioural
Geography Psychology
Social Geography of
Geography Social Well-being Welfare Economics
Fields of Interface with Sister
Human Disciplines of Social
Geography Sub-Fields Sciences
Geography of
Leisure Sociology
Cultural
Geography Anthropology
Gender Sociology, Anthropology,
Geography Women’s Studies
Historical
Geography History
Medical
Geography Epidemiology
Urban Urban Studies and
Geography - Planning
- Political Science
Electoral
Geography Psephology
Political Military
Geography Geography Military Science
Fields of Interface with Sister
Human Disciplines of Social
Geography Sub-Fields Sciences
Population
Geography - Demography
Settlement
Geography - Urban/Rural Planning
Economic
Geography - Economics
Geography of
Resources Resource Economics
Geography of
Agriculture Agricultural Sciences
Geography of
Industries Industrial Economics
Geography of Business Studies,
Marketing Economics, Commerce
Geography of Tourism and Travel
Tourism Management
Geography of
International International Trade
Fields of Interface with Sister
Human Disciplines of Social
Geography Sub-Fields Sciences
Trade
Chapter 2: The World Population Distribution,
Density and Growth
Patterns of Population Distribution in the World
• The population of the world is unevenly distributed.
• The term population distribution refers to the way people are
spaced over the earth’s surface.
• Broadly, 90 per cent of the world population lives in about 10
percent of its land area.
• The 10 most populous countries of the world contribute about 60
per cent of the world’s population. Of these 10 countries, 6 are
located in Asia.
Density of Population
• The ratio between the numbers of people to the size of land is
called the density of population. It is usually measured in persons
per sq. km
• Density of Population = Population/Area
Factors Influencing the Distribution Of Population
Geographical Factors
• Availability of water: People prefer to live in areas where fresh
water is easily available. Water is used for drinking, bathing and
cooking – and also for cattle, crops, industries and navigation.
• Landforms: People prefer living on flat plains and gentle slopes
because such areas are favourable for the production of crops and to
build roads and industries.
• Climate: An extreme climate such as very hot or cold deserts are
uncomfortable for human habitation. Areas with a comfortable
climate, where there is not much seasonal variation attract more
people.
• Soils: Fertile soils are important for agricultural and allied
activities. Therefore, areas which have fertile loamy soils have more
people living on them.
Economic Factors
• Minerals: Areas with mineral deposits attract industries. Mining
and industrial activities generate employment therefore these areas
are densely populated.
• Urbanisation: Cities offer better employment opportunities,
educational and medical facilities, better means of transport and
communication.
• Industrialisation: Industrial belts provide job opportunities and
attract large numbers of people.
Social and Cultural Factors
• Some places attract more people because they have religious or
cultural significance. People tend to move away from places where
there is social and political unrest.
• Many a times governments offer incentives to people to live in
sparsely populated areas or move away from overcrowded places.
Population Growth
• The population growth or population change refers to the change
in number of inhabitants of a territory during a specific period of
time.
• Population change in an area is an important indicator of economic
development, social upliftment and historical and cultural
background of the region.
Basic Concepts of Population Geography
• Growth of Population: Change of population in particular area
between two points of time is known as growth of population.
• Growth Rate of Population: This is the change of population
expressed in percentage.
• Natural Growth of Population: This is the population increased
by difference between births and deaths in a particular region
between two points of time.
Natural Growth = Births – Deaths
Actual Growth of Population: Births – Deaths + In Migration –
Out Migration
• Positive Growth of Population: When the birth rate is more than
the death rate between two points of time or when people from other
countries migrate permanently to a region.
• Negative Growth of Population: If the population decreases
between two points of time it is known as negative growth of
population. It occurs when the birth rate falls below the death rate or
people migrate to other countries.
Components of Population Change
• There are three components of population change – births, deaths
and migration.
• The crude birth rate (CBR) is expressed as number of live births in
a year per thousand of population. It is calculated as:
CBR = Bi/P × 1000
Here, CBR = Crude Birth Rate; Bi = live births during the year;
P=Mid year population of the area.
• Crude Death Rate (CDR) is a simple method of measuring
mortality of any area. CDR is expressed in terms of number of
deaths in a particular year per thousand of population in a particular
region.
CDR = D/P × 1000
Here, CDR=Crude Death Rate; D= Number of deaths; P=Estimated
mid-year population of that year.
Migration
• When people move from one place to another, the place they move
from is called the Place of Origin and the place they move to is
called the Place of Destination.
• Migration may be permanent, temporary or seasonal. It may take
place from rural to rural areas, rural to urban areas, urban to urban
areas and urban to rural areas.
• People migrate for a better economic and social life. There are two
sets of factors that influence migration:
→ The Push factors make the place of origin seem less attractive for
reasons like unemployment, poor living conditions, political
turmoil, unpleasant climate, natural disasters, epidemics and socio-
economic backwardness.
→ The Pull factors make the place of destination seem more
attractive than the place of origin for reasons like better job
opportunities and living conditions, peace and stability, security of
life and property and pleasant climate.
Trends in Population Growth
• The population on the earth is more than seven billion.
• In the first century A.D. it was below 300 million.
• Around 1750, at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, the world
population was 550 million.
• World population exploded in the eighteenth century after the
Industrial Revolution.
Doubling Time of World Population
• It took only 12 years for it to rise from 5 billion to 6 billion.
• Developed countries take more time to double their population as
compared to developing countries. Most of the population growth is
taking place in the developing world, where population is
exploding.
Spatial Pattern Of Population Change
• The growth of population is low in developed countries as
compared to developing countries.
• There is negative correlation between economic development and
population growth.
• The world population growth rate is 1.4%, it is highest in Africa
i.e. 2.6% and lowest in Europe i.e. 0.1% means neither grow nor
decline.
Impact of Population Change
• Population growth beyond a certain level leads to problems in
which depletion of resources is the most serious.
• Population decline is also a matter of concern. It indicates that
resources that had supported a population earlier are now
insufficient to maintain the population.
Demographic Transition
• Demographic Transition theory tells us that population of any
region changes from high births and high deaths to low births and
low deaths as society progresses from rural agrarian and illiterate to
urban industrial and literate society.
• These changes occur in stages which are collectively known as the
demographic cycle.
• The first stage has high fertility and high mortality because people
reproduce more to compensate for the deaths due to epidemics and
variable food supply. Two hundred years ago all the countries of the
world were in this stage.
• Fertility remains high in the beginning of second stage but it
declines with time. Improvements in sanitation and health
conditions lead to decline in mortality. Because of this gap the net
addition to population is high.
• In the last stage, both fertility and mortality decline considerably.
The population is either stable or grows slowly.
• In the present day, different countries are at different stages of
demographic transition.
Population Control Measures
• Family planning means the spacing or preventing the birth of
children.
• Access to family planning services is a significant factor in
limiting population growth and improving women’s health.
• Propaganda, free availability of contraceptives and tax
disincentives for large families are some of the measures which can
help population control.
• For the sustainability of our resources, the world will have to
control the rapid population increase.
Chapter 3: Human Development
Growth and Development
• Both growth and development refer to changes over a period of
time.
• The difference is that growth is quantitative and value neutral
while Development means a qualitative change which is always
value positive.
• Growth means that the change may be either positive or negative
while Development occurs when positive growth takes place.
• The concept of human development was introduced by Dr
Mahbub-ul-Haq. Dr Haq has described human development as
development that enlarges people’s choices and improves their lives.
• Access to resources, health and education are the key areas in
human development.
• Building people’s capabilities in the areas of health, education and
access to resources is therefore, important in enlarging their choices.
The Fourth Pillars of Human Development
• The four main components of human development are:
→ Equity
→ Sustainability
→ Productivity
→ Empowerment
• 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 in the Indian case,
caste.
• Sustainability means continuity in the availability of opportunities.
To have sustainable human development, each generation must have
the same opportunities. All environmental, financial and human
resources must be used keeping in mind the future. Misuse of any of
these resources will lead to fewer opportunities for future
generations.
• Productivity means human labour productivity or productivity in
terms of human work. Such productivity must be constantly
enriched by building capabilities in people.
• Empowerment means to have the power to make choices. Such
power comes from increasing freedom and capability. The
empowerment of socially and economically disadvantaged groups is
of special importance.
Approaches to Human Development
• The important approaches to Human Development are:
→ The income approach: This approach states, 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.
→ The welfare approach: This approach states the government is
responsible for providing basic facilities like health, education and
amenities to people.
→ Minimum needs approach: In this approach, emphasis is on
providing six basic needs i.e. health, education, food, water supply,
” sanitation and housing.
→ 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.
Measuring Human Development
• The human development index (HDI) ranks the countries based on
their performance in the key areas of health, education and access to
resources.
• These rankings are based on a score between 0 to 1 that a country
earns from its record in the key areas of human development.
• The indicator chosen to assess health is the life expectancy at birth.
• The adult literacy rate and the gross enrolment ratio represent
access to knowledge.
• Access to resources is measured in terms of purchasing power (in
U.S. dollars).
• The human development index is a sum total of the weights
assigned to all these dimensions. The closer a score is to one, the
greater is the level of human development.
• The human poverty index is related to the human development
index. This index measures the shortfall in human development.
• The probability of not surviving till the age of 40, the adult
illiteracy rate, the number of people who do not have access to clean
water, and the number of small children who are underweight are all
taken into account to show the shortfall in human development in
any region.
• Since 1990, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
has been publishing the Human Development Report every year.
The Human Development index and the Human Poverty index are
two important indices to measure human development used by the
UNDP.
• Bhutan is the only country in the world to officially proclaim the
Gross National Happiness (GNH) as the measure of the country’s
progress. GNH encourages us to think of the spiritual, non-material
and qualitative aspects of development.
International Comparisons
• Size of the territory and per capita income are not directly related
to human development.
• Countries can be classified into four groups on the basis of the
human development scores earned by them.
Level of Human Score in Number of
Development Development Index Countries
Very High above 0.800 66
between 0.701 up to
High 0.799 53
between 0.550 up to
Medium 0.700 37
Level of Human Score in Number of
Development Development Index Countries
Low below 0.549 33
• According to the Human Development Report of 2018, very high
human development index group includes 66 countries.
• High level of human development group has 53 countries.
Countries with higher human development are those where a lot of
investment in the social sector has taken place.
• There are 37 countries in the medium level of human development.
Most of these are countries which have emerged in the period after
the Second World War. Many of these countries have been rapidly
improving their human development score by adopting more
people-oriented policies and reducing social discrimination.
• 33 countries record low levels of human development. A large
proportion of these are small countries which have been going
through political turmoil and social instability in the form of civil
war, famine or a high incidence of diseases.
2020 Human Development Report by UNDP
HDI
Country/Territory Value
Rank
1 Norway 0.957
2 Ireland 0.955
2 Switzerland 0.955
4 Hong Kong, China (SAR) 0.949
4 Iceland 0.949
6 Germany 0.947
7 Sweden 0.945
8 Australia 0.944
8 Netherlands 0.944
10 Denmark 0.940
131 India 0.645
