CBSE Class 12 Syllabus 2027 Geography Reading Material

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CBSE Class 12
Syllabus 2027
Question Paper ·
Geography
EXAM YEAR TYPE SUBJECT

CBSE Class 12 Syllabus 2027 Question Paper Geography
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READING MATERIAL
CLASS-XI (2026-27)
GEOGRAPHY (029)

MINERALS AND ROCKS
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The earth is composed of various kinds of elements. These elements are in solid
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form in the outer layer of the earth and

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in hot and molten form in the interior.
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About 98 per cent of the total crust of the earth is composed of eight
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elements like oxygen, silicon, aluminium, iron, calcium, sodium, potassium and
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magnesium (Table 5.1), and the rest is constituted by titanium, hydrogen,
phosphorous, manganese, sulphur, carbon, nickel and other elements.
Table 5.1 : The Major Elements of the Earth’s Crust

Sl. No. Elements By
Weight(%)
1. Oxygen 46.60

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2. Silicon 27.72

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3. Aluminium 8.13
4. Iron 5.00
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5. Calcium 3.63
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6. Sodium 2.83
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Potassium
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2.59
2.09
9. Others 1.41
The elements in the earth’s crust are rarely found exclusively but are usually
combined with other elements to make various substances. These substances
are recognised as minerals.
Thus, a mineral is a naturally occurring organic and inorganic substance,
having an orderly atomic structure and a definite chemical composition and
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physical properties. A mineral is composed of two or more elements. But,
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sometimes single element minerals like sulphur, copper, silver, gold, graphite

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etc. are found.

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a are combined in many different ways to make up many
There are at least 2,000 minerals that have been named and identified in the
earth crust; but almost all the commonly occurring ones are related to six major
mineral groups that are known as major rock forming minerals.
The basic source of all minerals is the hot magma in the interior of the earth. When
magma cools, crystals of minerals appear and a systematic series of minerals are
formed in sequence to solidify so as to form rocks. Minerals such as coal,
petroleum and natural gas are organic substances found in solid, liquid and

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gaseous forms respectively.

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Adapted from NCERT textbook of Class XI 2022-23 edition.
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A brief information about some important minerals in terms of their nature and
physical characteristics is given below:

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
(i) External crystal form — deter- mined by internal arrangement of the
molecules — cubes, octahe- drons, hexagonal prisms, etc.
(ii) Cleavage — tendency to break in given directions producing relatively
plane surfaces — result of internal arrangement of the molecules — may
cleave in one or more directions and at any angle to each other.
(iii) Fracture — internal molecular arrangement so complex there are no planes
of molecules; the crystal will break in an irregular manner, not along planes
of cleavage.
(iv) Lustre — appearance of a material without regard to colour; each
mineral has a distinctive lustre like metallic, silky, glossy etc.
(v) Colour — some minerals have characteristic colour determined by their
molecular structure — malachite, azurite, chalcopyrite etc., and some
minerals are coloured by impurities. For example, because of impurities
quartz may be white, green, red, yellow etc.
(vi) Streak — colour of the ground powder of any mineral. It may be of the same
colour as the mineral or may differ — malachite is green and gives green
streak, fluorite is purple or green but gives a white streak.
(vii) Transparency — transparent: light rays pass through so that objects can
be seen plainly; translucent — light rays pass through but will get diffused
so that objects cannot be seen; opaque — light will not pass at all.
(viii) Structure — particular arrange- ment of the individual crystals; fine,
medium or coarse grained; fibrous — separable, divergent, radiating.
(ix) Hardness — relative resistance being scratched; ten minerals are
selected to measure the degree of hardness from 1-10. They are:
1. talc; 2. gypsum; 3. calcite;
4. fluorite; 5. apatite; 6. feldspar;
7. quartz; 8. topaz; 9. corundum;
10. diamond. Compared to this for example, a fingernail is 2.5 and glass or
knife blade is 5.5.
(x) Specific gravity — the ratio between the weight of a given object and the
weight of an equal volume of water; object weighed in air and then weighed in
water and divide weight in air by the difference of the two weights.
SOME MAJOR MINERALS AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS

Feldspar
Silicon and oxygen are common elements in all types of feldspar and sodium,
potassium, calcium, aluminium etc. are found in specific feldspar variety. Half
of the earth’s crust is composed of feldspar. It has light cream to salmon pink
colour. It is used in ceramics and glass making.

Quartz
It is one of the most important components of sand and granite. It consists of
silica. It is a hard mineral virtually insoluble in water. It is white or colourless and

Adapted from NCERT textbook of Class XI 2022-23 edition.

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used in radio and radar. It is one of the most important components of granite.

Pyroxene
Pyroxene consists of calcium, aluminum, magnesium, iron and silica.
Pyroxene forms 10 per cent of the earth’s crust. It is commonly found in
meteorites. It is in green or black colour.

Amphibole
Aluminium, calcium, silica, iron, magnesium are the major elements of
amphiboles. They form 7 per cent of the earth’s crust. It is in green or black
colour and is used in asbestos industry. Hornblende is another form of
amphiboles.

Mica
It comprises of potassium, aluminium, magnesium, iron, silica etc. It forms 4
per cent of the earth’s crust. It is commonly found in igneous and metamorphic
rocks. It is used in electrical instruments.

Olivine
Magnesium, iron and silica are major elements of olivine. It is used in jewellery. It
is usually a greenish crystal, often found in basaltic rocks. Besides these main
minerals, other minerals like chlorite, calcite, magnetite, haematite, bauxite
and barite are also present in some quantities in the rocks.
Metallic Minerals
These minerals contain metal content and can be sub-divided into three types:
(i) Precious metals : gold, silver, platinum etc.
(ii) Ferrous metals : iron and other metals often mixed with iron to form various
kinds of steel.
(iii) Non-ferrous metals : include metals like copper, lead, zinc, tin, aluminium etc.

Non-Metallic Minerals
These minerals do not contain metal content. Sulphur, phosphates and nitrates
are examples of non-metallic minerals. Cement is a mixture of non-metallic
minerals.

ROCKS
The earth’s crust is composed of rocks. A rock is an aggregate of one or more
minerals. Rock may be hard or soft and in varied colours. For example, granite
is hard, soapstone is soft. Gabbro is black and quartzite can be milky white.
Rocks do not have definite composition of mineral constituents. Feldspar
and quartz are the most common minerals found in rocks.

As there is a close relation between rocks and landforms, rocks and soils, a
geographer requires basic knowledge of rocks. There are many different kinds
of rocks which are grouped under three families on the basis of their mode of
formation.

Adapted from NCERT textbook of Class XI 2022-23 edition.

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a and lava;
They are: (i) Igneous Rocks — solidified from magma
(ii) Sedimentary Rocks — the result of deposition of fragments of rocks by
exogenous processes; (iii) Metamorphic Rocks — formed out of existing rocks
undergoing recrystallisation.
Igneous Rocks
As igneous rocks form out of magma and lava from the interior of the earth, they
are known as primary rocks. The igneous rocks (Ignis – in Latin means ‘Fire’)
are formed when magma cools and solidifies. You already know what magma
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is. When magma in its upward movement cools and turns into solid form it is
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called igneous rock. The process of cooling and solidification can happen in the
earth’s crust or on the surface of the earth. Igneous rocks are classified
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based on texture. Texture depends upon size and arrangement of grains or

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other physical conditions of the materials. If molten material is cooled slowly at
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great depths, mineral grains may be very large. Sudden cooling (at the surface)
results in small and smooth grains. Intermediate conditions of cooling would result
in intermediate sizes of grains making up igneous rocks. Granite, gabbro,
pegmatite, basalt, volcanic breccia and tuff are some of the examples of igneous
rocks.

Sedimentary Rocks
The word ‘sedimentary’ is derived from the Latin word sedimentum, which means
settling. Rocks (igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic) of the earth’s surface are
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exposed to denudational agents, and are broken up into various sizes of
fragments. Such fragments are transported by different exogenous

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agencies and deposited. These deposits through compaction turn into rocks.

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This process is called lithification. In many sedimentary rocks, the layers of

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deposits retain their characteristics even after lithification. Hence, we see a
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number of layers of varying thickness in sedimentary rocks like sandstone,
shale etc.
Depending upon the mode of formation, sedimentary rocks are classified into three
major groups: (i) mechanically formed — sandstone, conglomerate, limestone,
shale, loess etc. are examples; (ii) organically formed — geyserite, chalk,
limestone, coal etc. are some examples; (iii) chemically formed — chert, limestone,
halite, potash etc. are some examples.
Metamorphic Rocks
The word metamorphic means ‘change of form’. These rocks form under the action
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of pressure, volume and temperature (PVT) changes. Metamorphism occurs

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when rocks are forced down to lower levels by tectonic processes or when

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molten magma rising through the crust comes in contact with the crustal rocks
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overlying rocks. Metamorphism is a process by which already consolidated

ag rocks undergo recrystallisation and reorganisation of materials within original
rocks.
Mechanical disruption and reorganisation
of the original minerals within rocks due to breaking and crushing without
any appreciable chemical changes is called dynamic metamorphism. The
materials of rocks chemically alter and recrystallise due to thermal
metamorphism. There are two types of thermal metamorphism — contact
meta- morphism and regional metamorphism. In contact metamorphism the
rocks come in contact with hot intruding magma and lava and the rock materials

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recrystallise under high temperatures. Quite often new materials form out of

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Adapted from NCERT textbook of Class XI 2022-23 edition.

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magma or lava are added to the rocks. In regional metamorphism, rocks
undergo recrystallisation due to deformation caused by tectonic shearing
together with high temperature or pressure or both. In the process of
metamorphism in some rocks grains or minerals get arranged in layers or lines.
Such an arrangement of minerals or grains in metamorphic rocks is called
foliation or lineation. Sometimes minerals or materials of different groups are
arranged into alternating thin to thick layers appearing in light and dark shades.
Such a structure in metamorphic rocks is called banding and rocks displaying
banding are called banded rocks. Types of metamorphic rocks depend upon
original rocks that were subjected to metamorphism. Metamorphic rocks are
classified into two major groups — foliated rocks and non-foliated rocks.
Gneissoid, granite, syenite, slate, schist, marble, quartzite etc. are some
examples of metamorphic rocks.

ROCK CYCLE
Rocks do not remain in their original form for long but may undergo
transformation. Rock cycle is a continuous process through which old rocks
are transformed into new ones.
Igneous rocks are primary rocks and other rocks (sedimentary and metamorphic)
form from these primary rocks. Igneous rocks can be changed into metamorphic
rocks. The fragments derived out of igneous and metamorphic rocks form
into sedimentary rocks. Sedimentary rocks themselves can turn into fragments
and the fragments can be a source for formation of sedimentary rocks. The crustal
rocks (igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary) once formed may be carried down
into the mantle (interior of the earth) through subduction process (parts or whole
of crustal plates going down under another plate in zones of plate convergence)
and the same melt down due to increase in temperature in the interior and
turn into molten magma, the original source for igneous rocks (Figure 5.1).

Fig 5.1: Rock Cycle
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Adapted from NCERT textbook of Class XI 2022-23 edition.

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READING MATERIAL
CLASS-XII (2026-27)
GEOGRAPHY (029)

POPULATION COMPOSITION

People of any country are diverse in many respects. Each person is unique in her/his own
way. People can be distinguished by their age, sex and their place of residence. Some
of the other distinguishing attributes of the population are occupation, education and life
expectancy.

SEX COMPOSITION
The number of women and men in a country is an important demographic characteristic.
The ratio between the number of women and men in the population is called the Sex Ratio. In
some countries it is calculated by using the formula:

Male Population
× 1000
Female Population
or the number of males per thousand females. In India, the sex ratio is worked out using the
formula:
Female Population
× 1000
Male Population
or the number of females per thousand males. The sex ratio is an important information about
the status of women in a country.

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In regions where gender discrimination is rampant, the sex ratio is bound to be
unfavourable to women. Such areas are those where the practice of female foeticide,
female infanticide and domestic violence against women are prevalent. One of the reasons
could be lower socio-economic status of women in these areas. You must remember that
more women in the population does not mean they have a better status. It could be that
the men might have migrated to other areas for employment.

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Social Disadvantage
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Females have a biological
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advantage is cancelled by the social disadvantages and discriminations that they face.
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On an average,
The highest
the world population reflects a sex ratio of 990 females per 1000 males.

1000 males. In contrast, the lowest sex ratio occurs in U.A.E. which is 468 females per 1000
males.
The world pattern of sex ratio does not exhibit variations in the developed regions of the
world. The sex ratio is favourable for females in 139 countries of the world and unfavourable
for them in the remaining 72 countries listed by the United Nations.
In general, Asia has a low sex ratio. Countries like China, India, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan,
Afghanistan have a lower sex ratio.
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On the other extreme is greater part of Europe (including Russia) where males are in
minority. A deficit of males in the populations of many European countries is attributed to

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better status of women, and an excessively male-dominated out-migration to different
parts of the world in the past.
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Age Structure
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Age structure represents the number of people of different age groups. This is an
important indicator of population composition, since a large size of population in the age
group of 15- 59 indicates a large working population. A greater proportion of population
above 60 years represents an ageing population which requires more expenditure on health
care facilities. Similarly, high proportion of young population would mean that the region
has a high birth rate and the population is youthful.

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Age-Sex Pyramid

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The age-sex structure of a population refers to the number of females and males in
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different age groups. A population pyramid is used to show the age-sex structure of the
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population.
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The shape of the population pyramid reflects the characteristics of the population.

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The left side shows the percentage of males while the right side shows the percentage of
a women in each age group. Fig. 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3 show different types of population
pyramids.

Expanding Populations
The age-sex pyramid of Nigeria as you can see is a triangular shaped pyramid with a wide
base and is typical of less developed countries. These have larger populations in lower
age groups due to high birth rates. If you construct the pyramids for Bangladesh and

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Page 7 of 34

Mexico, it would look the same.

Constant Population
Australia’s age-sex pyramid is bell shaped and tapered towards the top. This shows birth
and death rates are almost equal leading to a near constant population.

Declining Populations
The Japan pyramid has a narrow base and a tapered top showing low birth and death
rates. The population growth in developed countries is usually zero or negative.

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Draw a population pyramid of the children in your school and describe its characteristics.
Ageing Population
Population ageing is the process by which the share of the older population becomes
proportionally larger. This is a new phenomenon of the twentieth century. In most of the developed
countries of the world, population in higher age groups has increased due to increased life expectancy.
With a reduction in birth rates, the proportion of children in the population has declined.
RURAL URBAN COMPOSITION
The division of population into rural and urban is based on the residence. This division is
necessary because rural and urban life styles differ from each other in terms of their livelihood
and social conditions. The age-sex-occupational structure, density of population and level
of development vary between rural and urban areas.
The criteria for differentiating rural and urban population varies from country to country. In
general terms rural areas are those where people are engaged in primary activities and urban
areas are those when majority of the working population is engaged in non-primary
activities.

Fig. 3.4 shows rural urban sex composition of selected countries. The rural and urban
differences in sex ratio in Canada and West European countries like Finland are just the
opposite of those in African and Asian countries like Zimbabwe and Nepal respectively. In
Western countries, males outnumber females in rural areas and females outnumber the
males in urban areas. In countries like Nepal, Pakistan and India the case is reverse. The
excess of females in urban areas of U.S.A., Canada and Europe is the result of influx of
females from rural areas to avail of the vast job opportunities. Farming in these developed
countries is also highly mechanised and remains largely a male occupation. By contrast
the sex ratio in Asian urban areas remains male dominated due to the predominance of

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male migration. It is also worth noting that in countries like India, female participation in farming
activity in rural area is fairly high. Shortage of housing, high cost of living, paucity of job
opportunities and lack of security in cities, discourage women to migrate from rural to urban
areas.

Literacy

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Proportion of literate population of a country in an indicator of its socio-economic

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development as it reveals the standard of living, social status of females, availability of

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educational facilities and policies of government. Level of economic development is
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both a cause and consequence of literacy. In India – literacy rate denotes the percentage of
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population above 7 years of age, who is able to read, write and have the ability to do
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arithmetic calculations with understanding.
a Structure
Occupational
The working population (i.e. women and men of the age group – 15 to 59) take part in various
occupations ranging from agriculture, forestry,

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fishing, manufacturing construction, commercial transport, services, communication
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and other unclassified services.

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Agriculture, forestry, fishing and mining are classified as primary activities

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manufacturing as secondary, transport, communication and other services as tertiary

la and the jobs related to research and developing ideas as quaternary activities. The
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levels of economic development of a nation. This is because only a developed economy
with industries and infrastructure can accommodate more workers in the secondary,
tertiary and quaternary sector. If the economy is still in the primitive stages, then the
proportion of people engaged in primary activities world be high as it involves extraction of
natural resources.
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Page 10 of 34

HUMAN SETTLEMENTS

We all live in clusters of houses. You may call it a village, a town or a city, all are examples
of human settlements. 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. A human settlement is defined as a place inhabited more or less permanently.
The houses may be designed or redesigned, buildings may be altered, functions may
change but settlement continues in time and space. There may be some settlements
which are temporary and are occupied for short periods, may be a season.

CLASSIFICATION O F S E T T L E M E N T S
RURAL URBAN DICHOTOMY
It is widely accepted that settlements can be differentiated in terms of rural and urban, but
there is no consensus on what exactly defines a village or a town. Although population
size is an important criterion, it is not a universal criterion since many villages in densely
populated countries of India and China have population exceeding that of some towns of
Western Europe and United States.
At one time, 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. The basic difference between towns and
villages is that in towns the main occupation of the people is related to secondary and tertiary
sectors, while in the villages most of the people are engaged in primary occupations such
as agriculture, fishing, lumbering, mining, animal husbandry, etc.

Sub Urbanisation
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. Important suburbs develop around major cities and everyday
thousands of people commute from their homes in the sub urbs to their work places in the city.

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Differentiations between rural and urban on the basis of functions are more meaningful
even though there is no uniformity in the hierarchy of the functions provided by rural and
urban settlements. Petrol pumps are considered as a lower order function in the United States
while it is an urban function in India. Even within a country, rating of functions may vary
according to the regional economy. Facilities available in the villages of developed
countries may be considered rare in villages of developing and less developed countries.

The census of India, 1991 defines urban settlements 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.

TYPES AND PATTERNS OF SETTLEMENTS
Settlements may also be classified by their shape, patterns types. The major types
classified by shape are:
(i) Compact or Nucleated settlements: These settlements are those in which
large number of houses are built very close to each other. Such settlements
develop along river valleys and in fertile plains. Communities are closely knit and
share common occupations.

(ii) Dispersed Settlements: In these settlements, houses are spaced far
apart and often interspersed with fields. A cultural feature such as a place of
worship or a market, binds the settlement together.

Fig. 10.2: Dispersed Settlements

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Rural Settlements
Rural settlements are most closely and directly related to land. They are dominated by
primary activities such as agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing etc. The settlements
size is relatively small.

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Fig. 10.3 : Siting near water
Water Supply
Usually rural settlements are located near water bodies such as rivers, lakes, and springs
where water can be easily obtained. Sometimes the need for water drives people to settle
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in otherwise disadvantaged sites such as islands surrounded by swamps or low lying
river banks. Most water based ‘wet point’ settlements have many advantages such as

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water for drinking, cooking and washing. Rivers and lakes can be used to irrigate farm

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land. Water bodies also have fish which can be caught for diet and navigable rivers and
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lakes can be used for transportation.

Land
People choose to settle near fertile lands suitable for agriculture. In Europe villages grew up near
rolling country avoiding swampy, low lying land while people in south east Asia chose to
live near low lying river valleys and coastal plains suited for wet rice cultivation. Early
settlers chose plain areas with fertile soils.

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Upland

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Upland which is not prone to flooding was chosen to prevent damage to houses and loss

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of life. Thus, in low lying river basins people chose to settle on terraces and levees which

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are “dry points”. In tropical countries people build their houses on stilts near marshy lands
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to protect themselves from flood, insects and animal pests.

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Building Material
The availability of building materials- wood, stone near settlements is another advantage.
Early villages were built in forest clearings where wood was plentiful.

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Fig. 10.4 : House on stilts

In loess areas of China, cave dwellings were important and African Savanna’s building
materials were mud bricks and the Eskimos, in polar regions, use ice blocks to construct
igloos.

Defence
During the times of political instability, war, hostility of neighbouring groups villages were
built on defensive hills and islands. In Nigeria, upstanding inselbergs formed good
defensive sites. In India most of the forts are located on higher grounds or hills.

Planned Settlements
Sites that are not spontaneously chosen by villagers themselves, planned settlements
are constructed by governments by providing shelter, water and other infrastructures on
acquired lands. The scheme of villagisation in Ethiopia and the canal colonies in Indira
Gandhi canal command area in India are some good examples.

Rural Settlement Patterns
Patterns of rural settlements reflect the way the houses are sited in relation to each other.
The site of the village, the surrounding topography and terrain influence the shape and
size of a village.

Rural settlements may be classified on the basis of a number of criteria:
(i) On the basis of setting: The main types are plain villages, plateau villages, coastal
villages, forest villages and desert villages.
(ii) On the basis of functions: There may be farming villages, fishermen’s villages,
lumberjack villages, pastoral villages etc.
(iii) On the basis of forms or shapes of the settlements: These may be a number of
geometrical forms and shapes such as Linear, rectangular, circular star like, T -
shaped village, double village, cross-shaped village etc.
(a) Linear pattern: In such settlements houses are located along a road, railway line,
river, canal edge of a valley or along a levee.
(b) Rectangular pattern: Such patterns of rural settlements are found in plain areas or
wide inter montane valleys. The roads are rectangular and cut each other at right
angles.

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Railway Road River Canal Well

Bridge Temple Village Pond Tree

Fig. 10.5: Rural Settlement Patterns
(c) Circular pattern: Circular villages develop around lakes, tanks and sometimes
the village is planned in such a way that the central part remains open and is used for
keeping the animals to protect them from wild animals.
(d) Star like pattern: Where several roads converge, star shaped settlements develop
by the houses built along the roads.
(e) T-shaped, Y-shaped, Cross-shaped or cruciform settlements: T -
shaped settlements develop at tri-junctions of the roads ( ) while -
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.

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Fig.10.7 : Y shape settlement
(f) Double village: These settlements extend on both sides of a river where there
is a bridge or a ferry.

Identify these patterns on any topographical sheet which you have studied in Practical Work in

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Geography, Part I (NCERT, 2006) in Class XI
Problems of Rural Settlements
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Rural settlements in the developing countries are large in number and poorly equipped
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with infrastructure. They represent a great challenge and opportunity for planners.
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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. Water borne diseases such as cholera and jaundice tend to be a common
problem. The countries of South Asia face conditions of drought and flood very often. Crop
cultivation sequences, in the absence of irrigation, also suffer.
The general absence of toilet and garbage disposal facilities cause health related
problems.
The design and use of building materials of houses vary from one ecological region
to another. The houses made up of mud, wood and thatch, remain susceptible to damage
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during heavy rains and floods, and require proper maintenance every year. Most house

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designs are typically deficient in proper ventilation. Besides, the design of a house

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includes the animal shed along with its fodder- store within it. This is purposely done to
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keep the domestic animals and their food properly protected from wild animals.
s e Unmetalled roads and lack of modern communication network creates a unique problem.
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a providing emergency services. It is also difficult to provide adequate health and educational
infrastructure for their large rural population. The problem is particularly serious where
proper villagisation has not taken place and houses are scattered over a large area.
Urban Settlements
Rapid urban growth is a recent phenomenon. Until recent times, few settlements reached
the population size of more than a few thousand inhabitants. The first urban settlement to

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reach a population of one million was the city of London by around. A.D. 1810 By 1982
approximately 175 cities in the world had crossed the one million population mark.
Presently 48 per cent of the world’s population lives in urban settlements compared to only
3 per cent in the year 1800 (Table 10.1).

Table 10.1: Percentage of World’s Population Living in
Urban Areas

Year Percenta
ge
1800 3
1850 6
1900 14
1950 30
1982 37
2001 48

Classification of Urban Settlements
The definition of urban areas varies from one country to another. Some of the common
basis of classification are size of population, occupational structure and administrative
setup.

Population Size
It is an important criteria used by most countries to define urban areas. The lower limit of the
population size for a settlement to be designated as urban is 1,500 in Colombia, 2,000 in
Argentina and Portugal, 2,500 in U.S.A. and Thailand, 5,000 in India and 30,000 in Japan.
Besides the size of population, density of 400 persons per sq km and share of non-agricultural
workers are taken into consideration in India. Countries with low density of population may
choose a lower number as the cut-off figure compared to densely populated countries.
In Denmark, Sweden and Finland, all places with a population size of 250 persons are
called urban. The minimum population for a city is300 in Iceland, whereas in Canada
and Venezuela, it is 1,000 persons.

Occupational Structure
In some countries, such as India, the major economic activities in addition to the size of the
population in designating a settlement as urban are also taken as a criterion. Similarly, in Italy,
a settlement is called urban, if more than 50 per cent of its economically productive
population is engaged in non-agricultural pursuits. India has set this criterion at 75 per
cent.

Administration
The administrative setup is a criterion for classifying a settlement as urban in some
countries. For example, in India, a settlement of any size is classified as urban, if it has a

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municipality, Cantonment Board or Notified Area Council. Similarly, in Latin American
countries, such as Brazil and Bolivia, any administrative centre is considered urban
irrespective of its population size.

Location
Location of urban centres is examined with reference to their function. For example,
the sitting requirements of a holiday resort are quite different from that of an industrial town,
a military centre or a seaport. Strategic towns require sites offering natural defence;
mining towns require the presence of economically valuable minerals; industrial towns
generally need local energy supplies or raw materials; tourist centres require attractive
scenery, or a marine beach, a spring with medicinal water or historical relics, ports require
a harbour etc. Locations of the earliest urban settlements were based on the availability of
water, building materials and fertile land. Today, while these considerations still remain
valid, modern technology plays a significant role in locating urban settlements far away
from the source of these materials. Piped water can be supplied to a distant settlement,
building material can
be transported from long distances.
Apart from site, the situation plays an important role in the expansion of towns. The
urban centres which are located close to an important trade route have experienced rapid
development.

Functions of Urban Centres
The earliest towns were centres of administration, trade, industry, defence and
religious importance. The significance of defence and religion as differentiating functions has
declined in general, but other functions have entered the list. Today, several new
functions, such as, recreational, residential, transport, mining, manufacturing and most
recently activities related to information technology are carried on in specialised towns.
Some of these functions do not necessarily require the urban centre to have any
fundamental relationship with their neighbouring rural areas.

What would be the effects of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a
function on the development of existing and new settlements?

Prepare a list of cities where earlier functions have been replaced by newer ones.
In spite of towns performing multiple functions we refer to their dominant function. For
example, we think of Sheffield as an industrial city, London as a port city, Chandigarh
as an administrative city and so on. Large cities have a rather greater diversity of
functions. Besides, all cities are dynamic and over a period of time may develop new functions.
Most of the early nineteenth-century fishing ports in England have now developed tourism.
Many of the old market towns are now known for manufacturing activities. Towns and
cities are classified into the following categories.

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Administrative Towns
National capitals, which house the administrative offices of central governments, such as New
Delhi, Canberra, Beijing, Addis Ababa, Washington D.C., and London etc. are called
administrative towns. Provincial (sub-national) towns can also have administrative functions,
for example, Victoria (British Columbia), Albany (New York), Chennai (Tamil Nadu).

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Trading and Commercial Towns

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Agricultural market towns, such as, Winnipeg and Kansas city; banking and financial

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centres like Frankfurt and Amsterdam; large inland centres like Manchester and St Louis;
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and transport nodes such as, Lahore, Baghdad and Agra have been important trading
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centres.
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Cultural Towns
Places of pilgrimage, such as Jerusalem, Mecca, Jagannath Puri and Varanasi etc.
are considered cultural towns. These urban centres are of great religious importance.
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)

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OF TOWNS ON THE BASIS OF FORMS
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g la settlement, architecture and style of buildings and other structures
a Inarefact, the form of the
a an outcome of its
historical and cultural traditions. Towns and cities of developed and developing
countries reflect marked differences in planning and development. While most cities in
developed countries are planned, most urban settlements of developing countries have
evolved historically with irregular shapes. For example, Chandigarh and Canberra are
planned cities, while smaller town in India have evolved historically from walled cities to large
urban sprawls.

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Addis Ababa (The New Flower)
The name of Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, as the name indicates (Addis-New, Ababa-
Flower) is a ‘new’ city which was established in 1878. The whole city is located on a hill-
valley topography. The road pattern bears the influence of the local topography.

Fig. 10.8: Morphology of Addis Ababa

The roads radiate from the govt headquarters Piazza, Arat and Amist Kilo roundabouts.
Mercato has markets which grew with time and is supposed to be the largest market between
Cairo and Johannesburg. A multi-faculty university, a medical college, a number of good
schools make Addis Ababa an educational centre. It is also the terminal station for the
Djibouti-Addis Ababa rail route. Bole airport is a relatively new airport. The city has
witnessed rapid growth because of its multi- functional nature and being a large nodal centre
located in the centre of Ethiopia.

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Canberra
Canberra was planned as the capital of Australia in 1912 by American landscape
architect, Walter Burley Griffin. He had envisaged a garden city for about 25,000 people
taking into account the natural features of the landscape. There were to be five main
centres,

Fig. 10.10 : Morphology of a planned city – Canberra
each with separate city functions. During the last few decades, the city has expanded to
accommodate several satellite towns, which have their own centres. The city has wide-
open spaces and many parks and gardens.

Types of Urban Settlements
Depending on the size and the services available and functions rendered, urban centres are
designated as town, city, million city, conurbation, megalopolis.

Town
The concept of ‘town’ can best be understood with reference to ‘village’. Population size is
not the only criterion. Functional contrasts between towns and villages may not always be
clear- cut, but specific functions such as, manufacturing, retail and wholesale trade,
and professional services exist in towns.

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City
A city may be regarded as a leading town, which has outstripped its local or regional rivals.
In the words of Lewis Mumford, “ the city is in fact the physical form of the highest and most
complex type of associative life”. Cities are much larger than towns and have a greater
number of economic functions. They tend to have transport terminals, major financial
institutions and regional administrative offices. When the population crosses the one million
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mark it is designated as a million city.

Conurbation
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e that resulted from the merging of originally separate towns or cities.
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The term conurbation was coined by Patrick Geddes in 1915 and applied to a large area
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l Manchester, Chicago and Tokyo are examples. Can you find out
of urban development g
a an
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exampleafrom India?
Greater London,

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.

Million City
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The number of million cities in the world has been
reached the million mark in 1800, followed byeParis
increasing as never before. London

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there were around 80 such cities. The rateaof
New York in 1860, and by 1950

l 160 in 1975 to around 438 in 2005.
increase in the number of million cities has been

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three-fold in every three decades – around
Table 10.2: Continent–wise Distribution of Million Cities

Continent Earl Mi Mi
y d d
195 197 200
0 0s 0

Europe 23 30 58
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North and Central 16 36 79

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Africa 3 8 46
a Australia
World Total
2
84 162
2
438
6

Source: www.citypopulation.de/World.html

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Distribution of Mega Cities
A mega city or megalopolis is a general term for cities together with their suburbs with a
population of more than 10 million people. New York was the first to attain the status of a
mega city by 1950 with a total population of about 12.5 million. The number of mega cities
is now 25. The number of mega cities has increased in the developing countries during
the last 50 years vis-à-vis the developed countries.

Problems of Human Settlements in Developing Countries
The settlements in developing countries, suffer from various problems, such as
unsustainable concentration of population, congested housing and streets, lack of drinking
water facilities.
table 10.3: Mega Cities of the World (as on 28. 01. 2006)

Sl. Name of the Country Population (in
No. City millions)
1. Tokyo Japan 34.2
2. Mexico city Mexico 22.8
3. Seoul South Korea 22.3
4. New York U.S.A. 21.9
5. Sao Paulo Brazil 20.2
6. Mumbai India 19.9
7. Delhi India 19.7
8. Shanghai China 18.2
9. Los Angeles U.S.A. 18.0
10. Osaka Japan 16.8
11. Jakarta Indonesia 16.6
12. Kolkata India 15.7
13. Cairo Egypt 15.6
14. Manila Philippines 15.0
15. Karachi Pakistan 14.3
16. Moscow Russia 13.8
17. Buenos Aires Argentina 13.5
18. Dhaka Bangladesh 13.3
19. Rio de Janeiro Brazil 12.2
20. Beijing China 12.1
21. London G. Britain 12.0
22. Tehran Iran 11.9
23. Istanbul Turkey 11.5
24. Lagos Nigeria 11.1
25. Shenzhen China 10.7
Source: www.citypopulation.de/World.html

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They also lack infrastructure such as, electricity, sewage disposal, health and
education facilities.

Rural/Urban Problems

Can you identify the problems faced by your city/town/ village in terms of any one
of the following?
Availability of potable water.
Electricity supply.
Sewerage system.
Transportation and communication facilities.
Health and educational infrastructure.
Water and air pollution.
Can you think of solutions to these problems?
Problems of Urban Settlements
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. In most million plus
cities in India, one in four inhabitants lives in illegal settlements, which are growing twice
as fast as the rest of the cities. Even in the Asia Pacific countries, around 60 per cent of
the urban population lives in squatter settlements.

Fig. 10.11: Slums

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What is a Healthy City?
World Health Organisation (WHO) suggests that, among other things, a ‘healthy city’ must have:

A ’Clean’ and ‘Safe’ environment.

Meets the ‘Basic Needs’ of ‘All’ its inhabitants.
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Involves the ‘Community’ in local government. . co
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Provides easily accessible ‘Health’ service.
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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 un- skilled and semi-skilled labour
force, which is already saturated in urban areas.
Socio-cultural Problems

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Cities in the developing countries suffer from several social ills. Insufficient financial resources

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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
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urban poor. Health indices also, present a gloomy picture in cities of developing countries.
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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.
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. An improper sewerage system
creates unhealthy conditions. Massive use of traditional fuel in the domestic as well as
the industrial sector severely pollutes the air. The domestic and industrial wastes are
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either let into the general sewerages or dumped without treatment at unspecified
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locations. Huge concrete structures erected to accommodate the population and
economic play a very conducive role to create heat islands.
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Urban Strategy
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has outlined these priorities as part of its
‘Urban Strategy’.
Increasing ‘Shelter’ for the urban poor.
Provision of basic urban services such as ‘Education’, ‘Primary Health care’, ‘Clean Water and
Sanitation’.
Improving women’s access to ‘Basic Services’ and government facilities.
Upgrading ‘Energy’ use and alternative ‘Transport’ systems.
Reducing ‘Air Pollution’.

Cities, towns and rural settlements are linked through the movements of goods, resources and
people. Urban-rural linkages are of crucial importance for the sustainability of human
settlements. As the growth of rural population has outpaced the generation of employment
and economic opportunities, rural-to-urban migration has steadily increased, particularly in the
developing countries, which has put an enormous pressure on urban infrastructure and
services that are already under serious stress. It is urgent to eradicate rural poverty and to
improve the quality of living conditions, as well as to create employment and educational
opportunities in rural settlements. Full advantage must be taken of the complementary
contributions and linkages of rural and urban areas by balancing their different economic,
social and environmental requirements.
*****************************************************************************************************

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MIGRATION

Types, Causes and Consequences
Ram Babu, working as an engineer in Bhilai Steel Plant, Chhattisgarh, was born in a
small village of district Bhojpur, Bihar. At an early age of twelve he moved to a nearby
town Ara to complete his intermediate level studies. He went to Sindri, Jharkhand, for his
engineering degree and he got a job at Bhilai, where he is living for the last 31 years. His
parents were illiterate and the only source of their livelihood was meagre income from
agriculture. They spent their whole life in that village.
Ram Babu has three children who got their education up to the intermediate level at
Bhilai and then moved to different places for higher education. First one studied at
Allahabad and Mumbai and is presently working in Delhi as a scientist. The second child
got her higher education from different universities in India and is now working in USA.
The third one after finishing her education settled at Surat after marriage.
This is not a story of only Ram Babu and his children but such movements are
increasingly becoming universal trend. People have been moving from one village to
another, from villages to towns, from smaller towns to bigger towns and from one country
to another. In your Book Fundamentals of Human Geography you have already learnt
about the concept and definition of migration. Migration has been an integral part and a
very important factor in redistributing population over time and space. India has
witnessed the waves of migrants coming to the country from Central and West Asia and
also from Southeast Asia. In fact, the history of India is a history of waves of migrants
coming and settling one after another in different parts of the country. In the words of a
renowned poet Firaque Gorakhpuri;

SAR ZAMIN-E-HIND PAR AQWAM-E-ALAM KE FIRAQUE
KAFILE BASTE GAYE, HINDOSTAN BANTA GAYA
(The carvans of people from all parts of the world kept on coming and settling in India
and led to the formation of India.) Similarly, large numbers of people from India too have
been migrating to places in search of better opportunities specially to the countries of the
Middle-East, Western Europe, America, Australia and East and South East Asia.

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Indian Diaspora
During colonial period (British period) millions of the indentured labourers were sent to Mauritius,
Caribbean islands (Trinidad, Tobago and Guyana), Fiji and South Africa by British from Uttar
Pradesh and Bihar; to Reunion Island, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Surinam by French and Dutch and
by Portuguese from Goa, Daman and Diu to Angola, Mozambique to work as plantation workers. All such

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migrations were covered under the time-bound contract known as Girmit Act (Indian Emigration Act).
However, the living conditions of these indentured labourers were not better than the slaves.
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The second wave of migrants ventured out into the neighbouring countries in recent times as professionals,

emandAfrican countries, etc. and the trend still continues. There was a steady outflow a
artisans, traders and factory

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Indonesia, Brunei and
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g l of entrepreneurs, storeowners, professionals, businessmen to Western Countries.a
of India’s semi-skilled skilled labour in the wake of the oil boom in West Asia in the 1970s. There was

a
also some outflow
Third wave, of migrant was comprised professionals like doctors, engineers (1960s onwards), software
engineers, management consultants, financial experts, media persons (1980s onwards), and others
migrated to countries such as USA, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Germany, etc. These
professional enjoy the distinction of being one of highly educated, the highest earning and prospering
groups. After liberalisation, in the 90s education and knowledge–based Indian emigration has made
Indian Diaspora one of the most powerful diasporas in the world.

In all these countries, Indian diaspora has been playing an important role in the development of the
respective countries.
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Migration
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g beginning from the first Census of India
You are familiar with Census in India. It contains information about migration in the
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country. Actually migration was recorded
conducted in 1881. This data was recorded on the basis of place of birth. However,
the first major modification was introduced in 1961 Census by bringing in two
additional components viz; place of birth i.e. village or town and duration of residence
(if born elsewhere). Further in 1971, additional information on place of last residence
and duration of stay at the place of enumeration were incorporated. Information on
reasons for migration were incorporated in 1981 Census and modified in consecutive
Censuses.
In the Census the following questions are asked on migration:
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• Is the person born in this village or town? If no, then further information is taken
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on rural/urban status of the place of birth, name of district and state and if outside
India then name of the country of birth.
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questions are asked about the status (rural/urban) of previous place of residence,
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In addition, reasons for migration from the place of last residence and duration of
residence in place of enumeration are also asked.
In the Census of India migration is enumerated on two bases:
(i) place of birth, if the place of birth is different from the place of enumeration
(known as life-time migrant);
(ii) place of residence, if the place of last residence is different from the place
of enumeration (known as migrant by place of last residence). As per 2011

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census, out of 1,210 million people in the country, 455.8 million (about 37%)
were reported as migrants of place of last residence.

Conduct a survey of five households in your neighbourhood to find out their migration status.
If migrants, classify these on the basis of the two criteria mentioned in the text.
Streams of Migration
A few facts pertaining to the internal migration (within the country) and
international migration (out of the country and into the country from other
countries) are presented here. Under the internal migration, four streams are
identified: (a) rural to rural (R-R); (b) rural to urban (R-U); (c) urban to urban (U-U);
and (d) urban to rural (U-R). In India, during 2011, out of 455.0 million migrants,
enumerated on the basis of the last residence, 141.9 million had changed their place
of residence in the last ten years. Out of these, 118.7 million were intra-state
migrants. The stream was dominated by female migrants. Most of these were
migrants related to marriage.

Examine Fig. 2.1 a and 2.1 b showing intra-state and inter-state migration in India according to the
Census 2001 and find out:

(i) Why are the numbers of females migrating from rural to rural areas in both the diagrams
higher?
(ii) Why is the inter-state male migration higher from rural to urban?

The distribution of male and female migrants in different streams of intra-state and
inter-state migration is presented in Fig. 2.1 a and 2.1 b. It is clearly evident that
females predominate the streams of short distance rural to rural migration in both
types of migration. Contrary to this, men predominate the rural to urban stream of
inter-state migration due to economic reasons.

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Apart from these streams of internal migration, India also experiences immigration
from and emigration to the neighbouring countries. Table 2.1 presents the details
of migrants from neighbouring countries. Indian Census 2011 has recorded that
more than 5 million person have migrated to India from other countries. Out of
these, about 88.9 per cent came from the neighbouring countries: Bangladesh
followed by Nepal and Pakistan.

Represent the data given in Table 2.1 by pie diagrams assuming the migration from neighbouring
countries 47,66,231 persons as 100 per cent).
Spatial Variation in Migration
Some states like Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat and Haryana attract migrants from other
states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, etc. Maharashtra occupied first
place in migrants, followed by Delhi, Gujarat and Haryana. On the other hand, Uttar
Pradesh was the state, which had the largest number of net out-migrants from the
state.
Table 2.1 : Migrants classified by place of last residence
outside India, 2011

Countries No of % of total
Migrants Migrants
Total
migration 53,63,099 100
Migration from
neighbouring
countries 47,66,231 88.9
Afghanistan 6,476 0.1
Bangladesh 27,47,062 51.2
Bhutan 7,964 0.1
China 18,114 0.3
Myanmar 59,282 1.1
Nepal 8,10,158 15.1
Pakistan 9,18,982 17.1
Sri Lanka 1,98,193 3.7

Causes of Migration
People, generally are emotionally attached to their place of birth. But millions of
people leave their places of birth and residence. There could be variety of reasons.
These reasons can be put into two broad categories: (i) push factor, these cause
people to leave their place of residence or origin; and (ii) pull factors, which attract
the people from different places.

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items try to identify
the political and
economic causes of
migration.

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In India people migrate from rural to urban areas mainly due to poverty, high
population pressure on the land, lack of basic infrastructural facilities like health care,
education, etc. Apart from these factors, natural disasters such as, flood, drought,
cyclonic storms, earthquake, tsunami, wars and local conflicts also give extra push
to migrate. On the other hand, there are pull factors which attract people from rural
areas to cities. The most important pull factor for majority of the rural migrants to

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urban areas is the better opportunities, availability of regular work and relatively

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higher wages. Better opportunities for education, better health facilities and
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sources of entertainment, etc., are also quite important pull factors.

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Examine the reasons for migration for males and females separately in Fig. 2.2.
On the basis of the figures, it can be seen that reason for migration of males and
las
las females are different. For example, work and employment have remained the main
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ag cause for male migration (26 per cent) while it is only 2.3 per cent for the females.
Contrary to this, about 67 per cent of females move out from their parental houses
following their marriage. This is the most important cause in the rural areas of India
except in Meghalaya where reverse is the case.

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Why is the female marriage migration law in Meghalaya different?

In comparison to these marriage migrations of the male, is only 4 per cent in the
country.

Consequences of Migration
Migration is a response to the uneven distribution of opportunities over space.
People tend to move from place of low opportunity and low safety to the place of
higher opportunity and better safety. This, in turn, creates both benefits and

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problems for the areas, people migrate from and migrate to. Consequences can be
observed in economic, social, cultural, political and demographic terms.

Economic Consequences
A major benefit for the source region is the remittance sent by migrants.
Remittances from the international migrants are one of the major sources of foreign
exchange. In 2002, India received US$ 11 billion as remittances from
international migrants. Punjab, Kerala and Tamil Nadu receive very significant
amount from their international migrants. The amount of remittances sent by the
internal migrants is very meagre as compared to international migrants, but it
plays an important role in the growth of economy of the source area.
Remittances are mainly used for food, repayment of debts, treatment,
marriages, children’s e d u c a t i o n , a g r i c u l t u r a l i n p u t s construction of
houses, etc. For thousands of the poor villages of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha,
Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, etc. remittance works as life blood for their
economy. Migration from rural areas of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya
Pradesh and Odisha to the rural areas of Punjab, Haryana, Western Uttar
Pradesh accounted for the success of their green revolution strategy for
agricultural development. Besides this, unregulated migration to the
metropolitan cities of India has caused overcrowding. Development of slums in
industrially developed states such as Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil
Nadu and Delhi is a negative consequence of unregulated migration within the
country.

Can you name some other positive and negative consequences of migration?

Demographic Consequences
Migration leads to the redistribution of the population within a country. Rural urban
migration is one of the important factors contributing to the population growth of
cities. Age and skill selective out migration from the rural area have adverse effect
on the rural demographic structure. However, high out migration from
Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Eastern Maharashtra have
brought serious imbalances in age and sex composition in these states. Similar
imbalances are also brought in the recipients states. What is the cause of
imbalance in sex ratio in the place of origin and destination of the migrants?

Social Consequences
Migrants act as agents of social change. The new ideas related to new technologies,
family planning, girl’s education, etc. get diffused from urban to rural areas through
them.

Migration leads to intermixing of people from diverse cultures. It has positive
contribution such as evolution of composite culture and breaking through the
narrow considerations and widens up the mental horizon of the people at large.
But it also has serious negative consequences such as anonimity, which creates

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social vacuum and sense of dejection among individuals. Continued feeling of
dejection may motivate people to fall in the trap of anti-social activities like crime and
drug abuse.

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Environmental Consequences
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Overcrowding of people due to rural-urban migration has put pressure on the
existing social and physical infrastructure in the urban areas. This ultimately leads
to unplanned growth of urban settlement and formation of slums shanty colonies.
Apart from this, due to over-exploitation of natural resources, cities are facing the
acute problem of depletion of ground water, air pollution, disposal of sewage and
management of solid wastes.
Others
Migration (even excluding the marriage migration) affects the status of women
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directly or indirectly. In the rural areas, male selective out migration leaving their
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wives behind puts
extra physical as well mental pressure on the women. Migration of ‘women’ either
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las
las If remittances are the major benefits of migration from the point of view of the
source region, the loss of human resources particularly highly skilled people is
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ag the most serious cost. The market for advanced skills has become truly a global
market and the most dynamic industrial economies are admitting and
recruiting significant proportions of the highly trained professionals from poor
regions. Consequently, the existing underdevelopment in the source region gets
reinforced.

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