Geography (chap-7) Human Environment: Settlement, Transport & Communication

Geography (Chap-7)      Human Environment: Settlement, Transport & Communication

Ø  Early human beings were dependent entirely on nature for food, clothing and shelter but with the passage of time they learnt  the new skills to grow agriculture, build homes and develop better means of transport and communication.

Ø  Settlements are places where people build their homes. Early human beings lived on the trees and in caves. When they started to grow corps it became necessary to have permanent home.

Ø  The settlements grew near the river valleys because of fertile land and availability of water.

Ø  With the development of trade, commerce and manufacturing, human settlements became larger.

Ø  Flourished settlements known as Civilizations took place along the banks of river Indus, Tigris, Euphrates, Nile, Hwang-Ho etc.

Ø  Settlements can be of two types : Permanent or Temporary

Ø  Settlements which are occupied for a short time are called temporary settlements.

Ø  The people living in deep forests, hot and cold deserts and mountains often dwell in such temporary settlements. The people of these settlements practice hunting, gathering, shifting cultivation and transhumance(seasonal pasture).

Ø  Transhumance: it is a seasonal movement of people who rear animals, move in search of new pastures according to changes in seasons.

Ø  More and more settlements of today are permanent settlements where people build homes to live in.

Ø   The place where a building or a settlement develops is called its site.

Ø  The natural conditions for selection of an ideal site are;

(i) Favourable climate  (ii)Availability of water    (iii)Suitable land    (iv) Fertile soil

Ø  Rural Settlements: the villages are rural settlements where people are engaged in activities like agriculture, fishing, forestry, crafts work, trading etc.

Ø  Rural Settlements can be of Compact or Scattered.

Ø  A compact settlement is a closely built area of dwellings, wherever flat land is available.

Ø   In a scattered settlement dwellings are spaced over an extensive area. This type of settlements are mostly found in hilly tracts, thick forests and the regions of extreme climate.

Ø  In rural areas, people build their houses to suit the environment. In areas of heavy rainfall, slanting roofs are made and the places where water accumulates in the rainy season, the houses are constructed on a raised platforms or stilts.

Ø  Thick mud walled houses with thatched roofs are very common in rural belt specially in hot areas. Local materials like stones, mud, clay, straw etc. are used to construct houses.

Ø  The towns are small and cities are larger urban settlements. In urban areas the people are engaged In trading, manufacturing and services.

Ø  Dwellings made of ice in winter  are called ‘Igloo’ meant for the Eskimos of Arctic region.

Ø  In summer, Eskimos live in animal-skin tents known as ‘Tiupik’.

·         Transport

Ø  Transport is the means by which people and goods move. In ancient days people had to walk and used animals to carry the goods.

Ø   With the passage of time different means of transport developed but even today people use animals for transport. Animals like Donkeys, Mules, Bullocks and Camels in India, Llamas in the Andes mountains of South America and Yaks in Tibet are used for transportation.

Ø  Modern means of transport like train, aeroplanes etc. saves time and energy.

Ø  The four major means of transport are roadways, railways, waterways and airways.

·         Roadways:

Ø  The most commonly used means of transport especially for short distances are roads which can be metalled (pucca) and unmetalled (kutcha).

Ø  The plains have a dense network of roads. Roads also been built in terrains like deserts, forests and even in high mountains.

Ø  There are several National and State high ways in India the latest development in India is the construction of Express ways. The Golden Quadrilateral connects Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

Ø  Manali- Leh Highway in the Himalayan Mountains is one of the highest roadways in the world.

Ø  Roads built underground are called subways/ under paths. Fly overs are built over raised structures.

·         Railways

Ø  The railways carry heavy goods and people over long distances quickly and cheaply.

Ø  The invention of the steam engine and the Industrial Revolution helped in speedy development of rail transport. Diesel and electric engines replaced steam engine trains. Introduction of super fast trains  now-a-days made the journey more faster in many places.

Ø  The railway network is well developed over the plain areas. Advanced technological skills have enabled laying of railway lines in difficult mountain terrains also.

Ø  The train from Xining to Lhasa runs at an altitude of 4,000m above the sea level and the highest point is 5,072m.

Ø  The Trans-Siberian Railway is the longest railway system connecting St. Petersburg in Western Russia to Vladivostok on the Pacific coast.

Ø  Indian Railway network is well developed, it is the largest in Asia.

Ø  The largest employer in the world is the Indian railway system employing over a million people.

·         Waterways

Ø  Waterways are the cheapest for carrying heavy and bulky goods over long distances since early days.

Ø  There are mainly two types of waterways: Inland waterways and Sea routes

Ø  Navigable rivers and lakes are used as Inland waterways. Some of the inland waterways are the Ganga-Brahmaputra river system, the Great Lakes in North America and the river Nile in Africa.

Ø  Sea routes and oceanic routes are mostly used for transporting merchandise and goods from one country to another.

Ø   Sea routes are connected with the Ports. Some of the important ports in the world are Singapore and Mumbai in Asia, New York, Los Angeles in North America, Durban and Cape Town in Africa, Sydney in Australia, London,  Rotterdam in Europe etc.

·         Airways

Ø  Airways are the fastest means of transport and the only mode of transport to reach the most remote and distant areas especially where there is no roads and railways.

Ø  Airways transport is the most expensive than the other  because of its high cost of fuels.

Ø  Air traffic is adversely affected by bad weather like fog and storms.

Ø  Helicopters are extremely useful in most inaccessible ares and in times of calamities for rescuing people and distributing materials.

Ø  Some of the important airports in the world are Delhi, Mumbai,New York, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Cairo etc.

·         Communications

Ø  Communication is the process of conveying messages to others. The advancement in the field of communication has brought about an Information Revolution in the world.

Ø  Through newspapers, radio and television one can communicate with a large number of people. So, these are called mass media.

Ø  The satellites have made communication faster which helped in oil exploration, survey of forests, underground water, mineral wealth, weather forecast, disaster warning etc.

Ø  We can send electronic mails or messages through internet. It gives us world wide information.

Ø  Wireless telephonic communications through cellular phones became popular during these  days  not only because of worldwide information and interaction  but also for making our lives more comfortable.