Chapter 10 Human Settlements

Chapter 10 Human Settlements

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

Question 1.(i)
Which one of the following forms of settlement develops along either side of roads, rivers or canals?
(a) circular
(b) linear
(c) cross-shaped
(d) square
Answer:
(b) linear

Question 1.(ii)
Which one of the following types of economic activities dominates in all rural settlement?
(a) primary
(b) tertiary
(c) secondary
(d) quaternary
Answer:
(a) primary

Question 1.(iii)
In which of the following regions has the oldest well-documented urban settlement found?
(a) Huang He Valley
(b) Indus Valley
(c) Nile Valley
(d) Mesopotamia
Answer:
(b) Indus Valley

Question 1.(iv)
How many of the following cities in India have attained the million status at the beginning of 2006?
(a) 40
(b) 42
(c) 41
(d) 43
Answer:
(a) 40

Question 1.(v)
Sufficiency of which type of resources can help to create adequate social infrastructure catering to the needs of the large population in the developing countries?
(a) financial
(b) human
(c) natural
(d) social
Answer:
(c) natural

2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words:

Question 2.(i)
How would you define a settlement?
Answer:
A human settlement is defined as a place inhabited more or less permanently. It may include temporary camps of hunters or herders and also the permanent settlements called villages, towns, cities, large agglomeration.

Question 2.(ii)
Distinguish between site and situation.

Question 2.(iii)
What are the bases of classifying settlements?
Answer:
Settlements can be classified on basis of residence and main occupation into rural and urban. Settlements may also be classified on bases of their shape, pattern types into Compact or Nucleated settlements and Dispersed settlements.

Question 2.(iv)
How would you justify the study of human settlements in human geography?
Answer:
The study of human settlements is basic to human geography because the form of settlement in any particular region reflects human relationship with the environment. Human settlement in any particular area reflects human land association and is affected by physical, economic and social factors. Availability of water, type of soil, topography, availability of minerals etc. play an important role in development of any settlement. As it reflects and is deeply affected by the inter-relation between human and physical world, it becomes an important part of human geography.

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

Question 3.(i)
What are rural and urban settlements? Mention their characteristics.
Answer:
Rural settlement: These settlements are those which have population of less than 5000 people and density of less than 400 persons and more than 75% people are engaged in primary activities.
Characteristics:

Urban settlement: The census of India defines urban settlement as “All places which have municipality, corporation, cantonment board or notified town area committee and have a minimum population of 5000 persons, at least 75 per cent of male workers are engaged in non-agricultural pursuits and a density of population of at least 400 persons per square kilometers are urban.

Characteristics:

Question 3.(ii)
Discuss the problems associated with urban settlements in developing countries.
Answer:
People flock to cities to avail of employment opportunities and civic amenities. Since most cities in developing countries are unplanned, it creates severe congestion. Shortage of housing, vertical expansion and growth of slums are characteristic features of modern cities of developing countries. In many cities an increasing proportion of the population lives in substandard housing, e.g. slums and squatter settlements.

Economic Problems: The decreasing employment opportunities in the rural as well as smaller urban areas of the developing countries consistently push the population to the urban areas. The enormous migrant population generates a pool of unskilled and semi-skilled labour force, which is already saturated in urban areas. This increases the pressure on existing infrastructure of cities.

Social-cultural Problems: Cities in the developing countries suffer from several social ills. Insufficient financial resources fail to create adequate social infrastructure catering to the basic needs of the huge population. The available educational and health facilities remain beyond the reach of the urban poor. Lack of employment and education tends to aggravate the crime rates. Male selective migration to the urban areas distorts the sex ratio in these cities. Also many people flocking to these areas are unable to adjust to changed conditions, hence face social isolation, which leads them to depression and also to crimes like alcoholism and drug abuse. Male selective migration leads to imbalance in sex ratio.

Environmental Problems: The large urban population in developing countries not only uses but also disposes off a huge quantity of water and all types of waste materials. Many cities of the developing countries even find it extremely difficult to provide the minimum required quantity of potable water and water for domestic and industrial uses. Massive use of traditional fuel in the domestic as well as the industrial sector severely pollutes the air. Huge concrete structures erected to accommodate the population and economic play a very conducive role to create heat islands.

Very Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
How are the settlements of world classified based on shapes?
Answer:
The major type of settlement classified by types of shape are

Question 2.
What are the predominant activities in the rural settlements of the world?
Answer:
Rural settlements are dominated by primary activities such as agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing etc.

Question 3.
What does the pattern of rural settlements reflects?
Answer:
Patterns of rural settlements reflect the way the houses are cited in relation to each other.

Question 4.
What factors influence the shape and size of a village?
Answer:
The factors that influence the shape and size of a village are the site of the village, the surrounding topography and the terrain of the area.

Question 5.
Which urban center is the first to reach 1 million mark and when?
Answer:
London is the first million city of the world, and it reached 1 million mark by 1810.

Question 6.
How site of a place is different from its situation?
Answer:
Site of’ a place is its exact location whereas situation is the relative position of a place in relation to the surrounding areas and available facilities.

Question 7.
Which is the first mega city of the world?
Answer:
New York is the first city to become a mega city in 1950 with 12.5 million people.

Question 8.
Which continent has the largest number of million cities in the world?
Answer:
Asia has the largest number of million cities in the world.

Question 9.
How many mega cities are there in the world?
Answer:
There are 438 mega cities in the world in 2005.

Question 10.
Which architect planned the capital of Australia?
Answer:
Canberra, the capital of Australia was planned by American architect Walter Burley Griffin in 1912.

Question 11.
What does the name of the Ethiopian capital indicate?
Answer:
The name of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa indicates new city (Addis- new, Ababa-flower) and was established in 1878.

Question 12.
What is the main cause of urbanization?
Answer:
The most important cause of urbanization is rural-urban migration. During the late 1990’s some 20 to 30 million people were leaving the countryside every year and moving into towns and cities.

Question 13.
What are administrative towns?
Answer:
National capitals, which house the administrative offices of central governments are called administrative towns. For example; New Delhi, Canberra, Beijing, Addis Ababa, Washington D.C., and London etc.

Question 14.
What are trading and commercial towns?
Answer:
It includes important agricultural market towns (Winnipeg and Kansas city); banking and financial centres (Frankfurt and Amsterdam); large inland centers (Manchester and St Louis); and transport nodes (Lahore, Baghdad and Agra).

Question 15.
What is the main cause of congestion in urban areas?
Answer:
Most cities in India are unplanned which is the main cause of congestion. Migration from rural areas main cities.

Question 16.
What are cultural towns? Do they perform some other functions also? Mention.
Answer:
Places of pilgrimage are considered cultural towns. For example; Jerusalem, Mecca, Jagannath Puri and Varanasi etc. These urban centers are of great religious importance. Additional functions which the cities perform are health and recreation (Miami and Panaji), industrial (Pittsburgh and Jamshedpur), mining and quarrying (Broken Hill and Dhanbad) and transport (Singapore and Mughal Sarai).

Question 17.
Towns and cities of developed and developing countries reflect marked differences in planning and development. How?
Answer:
Towns and cities of developed and developing countries reflect marked differences in planning and development. While most cities in developed countries are planned, most urban settlements of developing countries have evolved historically with irregular shapes. For example, Chandigarh and Canberra are planned cities, while smaller towns in India have evolved historically from walled cities to large urban sprawls.

Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
Give the census definition of urban settlements in India.
Answer:
The census of India 1991 defines urban settlements as

Question 2.
What are the criteria of classifying rural settlement of the world?
Answer:
Rural settlements may be classified on a number of criteria.
On the basis of setting the main types are:

On the basis of function:

On the basis of forms or shapes of the settlements. These may be a number of geometric forms and shapes such as:

Question 3.
Compare the settlements pattern of the world on the basis of shape.
Answer:
Settlements may be classified by their shape, pattern, types. The major types classified by shape are

Question 4.
With example show the significance of location for urban center.
Answer:
Location of urban centers is examined with reference to their functions. Example; The requirements of a holiday resort are quite different from that of a military center, sea port or a mining town. Strategic towns require sites offering natural defence, mining towns require the presence of economically valuable minerals where ports require a harbour etc. Earlier urban settlements were based on the availability of water, fertile land and building material. Today, modern technology plays a significant role in locating urban settlements far away from the source of these materials
eg. piped water can be supplied to a distant settlement away from the source. Today apart from site, situation plays an important role in the expansion of the town.
eg. centers located closer to transport links have experienced rapid development.

Question 5.
What is a healthy city?
Answer:
As per the suggestions of World Health Organisation, a healthy city must have:

Question 6.
What is meant by urban strategy?
Answer:
The United Nations Development Programme has outlined the following priorities as part of it’s urban strategy.

Question 7.
“There is no consensus on what exactly defines a village or a town.” Justify the statement with examples.
Answer:
Settlement is classified into urban and rural, but there is no consensus:

Question 8.
How are urban settlements classified around the world?
Or
What are the three common bases of classifying a settlement as urban around the world?
Or
What are the criteria for classification of urban settlements of the world?
Answer:
Urban settlements are classified on the basis of its size of the population, occupational structure and administration.

Question 9.
Explain the role of site and situation in determining the location and expansion of towns.
Answer:
Location of urban centers is influenced by their functions. 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.

Question 10.
State any four important functions of urban centers.
Answer:
The important centers are:

Question 11.
Explain the town planning of Addis Ababa. –
Answer:
The name of Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa means “the new flower’. As the name indicates (Addis means New and Ababa means Flower). It is a ‘new’ city.

Question 12.
What is sub-urbanization? Mention the causes of sub-urbanization.
Answer:
It is a new trend of people moving away from congested urban areas to cleaner areas outside the city in search of a better quality of living. Causes of sub urbanization:

Question 13 .
What are cultural towns? Do they perform some other functions also? Mention.
Answer:
Places of pilgrimage are considered cultural towns. For example; Jerusalem, Mecca, Jagannath Puri and Varanasi etc. These urban centres are of great religious importance. Additional functions which the cities perform are health and recreation (Miami and Panaji), industrial (Pittsburgh and Jamshedpur), mining and quarrying (Broken Hill and Dhanbad) and transport (Singapore and Mughal Sarai).

Question 14.
Towns and cities of developed and developing countries reflect marked differences in planning and development. How?
Answer:
Towns and cities of developed and developing countries reflect marked differences in planning and development. While most cities in developed countries are planned, most urban settlements of developing countries have evolved historically with irregular shapes. For example, Chandigarh and Canberra are planned cities, while smaller towns in India have evolved historically from walled cities to large urban sprawls.

Long Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
List the factors that affect the location of rural settlements of the world.
Answer:
The rural settlements of the world are influenced by the following factors:

Water supply: usually rural settlements are located near water bodies like rivers, lakes for easy access. Since water is essential for survival, so the need for water forces people to settle people on swamps or floodplains. Water bodies provide people water for drinking, cooking, washing and as well as to irrigate farmland, fishing activity and for transportation.

Land: People settle near fertile lands like the rolling meadows in Europe and low lying areas and river valleys and coastal plains of South East Asia for rice cultivation.

Upland: Higher grounds which are not prone to flooding is another factor which influences location of rural settlements.

People generally avoid the low lying river basins and choose to settle on diy points that is terraces and levees. In tropical countries people build their houses on stills to protect themselves from flood, insects and animal pests.

Building material: The availability of building materials that is wood, stone near settlement is another advantage. Early villages were build in forest clearings where wood was easily available. In African Savanna, the building material was mud bricks and Eskimos in polar areas use ice blocks to construct igloos.

Defense: In order to avoid political instability, hostility of neighboring groups, villages were build on defensive hills and islands. Example; In Nigeria inselbergs act as good defensive site. In India forts are build on high grounds.

Planned Settlements: These are build by governments where they provide shelter, water and other infrastructures. Example; The scheme of villagisation in Ethiopia, and canal colonies in Indira Gandhi canal command area.

Question 2.
Classify the rural settlements of the world on the basis of forms or shapes of the settlements.
Or
Explain different types of rural settlement patterns on the basis of the shapes of the settlements.
Answer:
Rural settlements of the world can be classified on the basis of forms or shapes of settlements as

Question 3.
List the problem of rural settlement of the world in the developing countries.
Answer:
Rural settlements in developing countries are large in number and lack basic infrastructural facilities. Some of them are as under:

Question 4.
Classify urban settlements of the world on basis of size and the services available and functions rendered.
Answer:
Depending on the basis of the size and the services available functions rendered, urban centres of the world are classified as town, city, million city, conurbation and megalopolis.

Town: The concept of town is understood with reference to village. Population size is not the only criteria. In the towns specific functions like manufacturing, retail and wholesale trade and professional services exist.

City: A city is regarded as a leading town and are much larger than the other regional towns and have a greater number of economic functions. Cities generally have transport terminals, financial institutions and regional administrative offices.

Million Cities: When the population of a city crosses the one million mark , it is designated as a million city. The number of million cities in the world has been increasing. London first reached the million mark followed by Paris and New York.

Conurbation: The term was coined by Patrick Geddes in 1915 and apply to a large area of urban development that resulted from the merging of originally separate towns and cities. Example; Greater London, Manchester, Tokyo, Chicago, etc.

Megalopolis: It is a Greek word meaning great city, was popularized 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 South in USA is an example. Mega city or megalopolis is a general term for cities together their suburbs with a population of more than 10 million. New York was the first to attain.

Question 5.
Give the broad functional classification of towns of the world.
Answer:
Inspite of towns performing multiple functions, we refer and classify them according to their dominant function. Example; We think of London as a port city, Chandigarh as an administrative town. Large cities are multi functional and gradually develop new functions over time. Towns and cities are classified into following categories.

Question 6.
What is the basic difference between towns and villages?
Answer:

Towns

Villages

In towns the main occupation of the people is related to secondary and tertiary sectors.

In the villages most of the people are engaged in primary occupations such as agriculture, fishing, lumbering, mining, animal husbandry, etc.

Question 7.
Distinguish between rural and urban settlements
Answer:

Rural settlements

 Urban settlements

(i) These types of settlements are chiefly concerned with primary activities such as agriculture, mining, fishing, forestry etc.

(i)   These types of settlements are nodal in character and have secondary and tertiary activities.

(ii) Most of the people of rural settlements are engaged in agricultural 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 rural settlement is agriculture and each settlement specializes in various activities.

iii)The major functions of urban areas are trades and commerce, transport and communication, mining and manuf acturing, defence, administration, cultural and recreational activities.

(iv)  Population density is small and the settlement size is small.

(iv) Population density is high and the settlement size is large.

Question 8.
Differentiate between compact and dispersed settlements.
Answer:

Compact or nucleated settlements

Dispersed settlements

(i) In it, a large number of houses are built very close to each other.

(ii) Compact settlements develop along river valley and fertile plains.

(iii) Communities are closely knit and share common occupations.

(i) In it, houses are spaced far apart and often interspersed with fields.

(ii) They are normally found on hills, plain and high lanes.

(iii)Cultural feature such as a place of worship or a market, binds the settlement together.

Important Questions

Very Short Answer Type Questions:

Question 1.
What is the meaning of human settlement? (CBSE 2008)
OR
Give the meaning of human settlement? (CBSE 2012)
Answer:
Human settlement means cluster of dwellings of any type or size where human beings live.

Question 2.
What is the meaning of planned rural settlements? (Foreign 2009)
Answer:
Planned rural settlements are constructed by governments by providing shelter, water and other infrastructures on acquired lands.

Question 3.
Give any two examples of conurbation from the world. (Foreign 2009)
Answer:
Greater London and Manchester, Tokyo

Question 4.
Explain the meaning of rural settlements. (A.I. 2010) OR What are rural settlements? (CBSE 2007)
Answer:
Rural settlements are most closely and directly related to land. They are dominated by primary activities such as agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing etc. They are relatively small in size.

Question 5.
Name the rural settlement pattern that develops around lakes or ponds in the world. (Delhi 2010)
Answer:
Circular pattern.

Question 6.
Name the rural settlement pattern that develops along roads, rivers and canals in the world. (Delhi 2010)
Answer:
Linear pattern.

Question 7.
Mention any two characteristics of sub-urbanization. (A.I.; CBSE 2015)
Answer:

Question 8.
Which are the two major types of settlements according to their shape found in the world? (Delhi 2017)
Answer:
Two major types of settlements:

  1. Compact settlement
  2. Dispersed settlement

Short Answer Type Questions:

Question 1.
Classify settlements of the world on the basis of their shape in two categories. Mention any three characteristic of each. (A.I. 2011) OR
Classify human settlements of the world into two types by their shape. Explain any two features of each. (A.I. 2012)
Answer:
The following are the two major types of settlements:

Dispersed Settlements:

Question 2.
Explain with examples the ‘population size’ criteria used by most countries to define urban areas. (CBSE 2015)
Answer:
The lower limit of the population size for the settlement to be designated as urban is:

Question 3.
Study the table given below and answer the questions that follow: (A.I. 2016)
Continent-wise Distribution of Million Cities
Class 12 Geography NCERT Solutions Chapter 10 Human Settlements SAQ Q3
(i) Name the two continents which have shown the highest growth rate of million cities from 1950 to 2000.
(ii) What could have been the reason for such a growth of million cities?
(iii) Give the meaning of a ‘million city’.
Answer:

Question 4.
Study the diagram given below and answer the questions that follow:
Class 12 Geography NCERT Solutions Chapter 10 Human Settlements SAQ Q4
(i) Identify and name the given rural settlement pattern.
(ii) In which type of areas do we find such type of settlement patterns?
(iii) Give an important characteristic of this type of settlement pattern.
Answer:

Characteristics:

Question 5.
‘There is no consensus on what exactly defines a village or a town.” Analyse the statement by using different criteria.(A.i. 2017)
Answer:
It is true that there is no consensus on what exactly defines a village or town because different countries have different parameters as –

Long Answer Type Questions:

Question 1.
Identify the five geographical features shown on the given political outline map of the world as A, B, C, D and E and write their correct names on the lines marked near them with the help of the following information. (Delhi 2017)
(A) A large country of Europe in area.
(B) An area of subsistence gathering.
(C) The terminal station of a ‘trans-continental railway’.
(D) A major sea port
(E) An international airport
Answer:
Class 12 Geography NCERT Solutions Chapter 10 Human Settlements LAQ Q1
Question 2.
Identify the five geographical features shown on the given political outline map of the World as A, B, C, D and E and write their correct names on the lines marked near them with the help of the following information: (A.I. 2017)
(A) A large country of Africa in terms of area
(B) A major area of subsistence gathering.
(C) The terminal station of a Trans-Continental Railway.
(D) A major sea port
(E) An international airport.
Answer:
Class 12 Geography NCERT Solutions Chapter 10 Human Settlements LAQ Q2

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