CHAPTER 14 : Human Settlements NCERT SOLUTION CLASS 12TH GEOGRAPHY | EDUGROWN NOTES

Short Answer Type Questions:

Q1.Give two characteristics of urban settlement in India. How are cities connected to rural centres?
Answer:
Urban settlements are generally compact and larger in size and they are engaged in variety of non agricultural, economic and administrative functions. Cities are functionally linked to rural areas around them. Exchange of goods and services with food and raw materials is either performed directly or sometimes through market towns and cities.

Q2.Write a note on evolution of towns in India.
Answer:
On the basis of their evolution in different periods, Indian towns may be classified as:

• Ancient towns
• Medieval towns and
• Modern towns.

Ancient Towns: There are number of towns in India having historical background spanning over 2000 years. Most of them developed as religious and cultural centres. Varanasi is one of the important towns among these. Prayag (Allahabad), Pataliputra (Patna), Madurai are some other examples of ancient towns in the country.

Medieval Towns: About 100 of the existing towns have their roots in the medieval period and they developed as headquarters of principalities and kingdoms. These are fort towns which came up on the ruins of ancient towns. Important among them are Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Agra and Nagpur.

Modern Towns: The British and other Europeans have developed a number of towns in India. Starting their foothold on coastal locations, they first developed some trading ports such as Surat, Daman, Goa, Pondicherry, etc. Later they developed principle nodes of Mumbai (Bombay), Chennai (Madras), and Kolkata (Calcutta). They established administrative centres, hilltowns as summer resorts, and added military areas to them. After independence, a large number of towns were developed as administrative headquarters, example; Chandigarh, Bhubaneswar, Gandhinagar, Dispur, etc. and industrial centres such as Durgapur, Bhilai, Sindri, Barauni. Some old towns also developed as satellite towns around metropolitan cities such as Ghaziabad, Rohtak, Gurgaon around Delhi.

Q3.What factors are responsible for different types of rural settlements in India?
Answer:
There are many factors and conditions responsible for different types of rural settlements in India. They are:

• Physical features – nature of terrain, altitude, climate and availability of water,
• Cultural and ethnic factors – social structure, caste and religion.
• Security factors – defence against thefts and robberies.

Q4.Where do we find clustered settlements in India? Explain their features.
Answer:
Clustered settlements are found in fertile alluvial plains and the north-eastern states. People live in compact village for security or defence reasons, such as in the Bundelkhand region of central India and in Nagaland. In Rajasthan, scarcity of water has necessitated compact settlement for maximum utilisation of available water resources.
Their features:

•  It is an area of compact or closely built up area of houses
• The general living area is distinct and separated from the surrounding farms and pastures.
• The closely built-up area and its intervening streets present some recognisable pattern or geometric shape, such as rectangular, radial, linear, etc.

Q5.Write a few features of rural settlements.
Answer:
Features of 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 and rate of growth and expansion is low.
• Usually rural settlements are located near water bodies such as rivers, lakes, and springs where water can be easily obtained.
• People living in rural areas have strong relationship among themselves because they are similar in their culture, social and religious issues.
• The houses in rural areas are similar in their construction pattern which is according to the climatic conditions.

Q6.Write a few features of urban settlements.
Answer: Features of urban settlements:

• Urban settlements have a close relationship with technology and man made things.
• Most of the people are engaged in secondary, tertiary and quaternary activities in these areas.
• The settlement size is large and there is high density of population.
• Urban settlements are located near industrial areas, ports, administrative centers, etc.
• In order to take care of urban areas, Municipality, Cantonment Board or Notified Area Council are formed. Similarly, in Latin American countries, such as Brazil and Bolivia, any administrative centre is considered urban irrespective of its population size.

Q7.Explain the classification of urban settlement on the basis of population size.
Answer:
Census of India classifies urban centres in the six following classes.

All classes	Population size
I	1,00,000 and more
II	50,000-99,999
III	20,000-49,999
IV	10,000-19,999
V	5,000-9,999
VI	Less than 5,000

• Population of more than one lakh people is called a city or class I town.
• Cities accommodating population size between one to five million are mega cities.
• 61% of population living in urban areas lives in class I town.
• Out of 423 cities, 35 urban agglomerations are metros, 6 of them are mega cities with one fifth (21.01%) of population.

Q8.What do you mean by urbanization and levels of urbanization in India?
Answer:
Urbanization refers to development of villages and rural areas into towns with high standard of living and civic amenities. The level of urbanization is measured in terms of percentage of urban population to the total population. The level of urbanization in India in 2001 was 28%.

Q9.What factors are responsible for different types of human settlements?
Answer:
There are various factors and conditions responsible for having different types of rural settlements in India. These include:

• Physical features – nature of terrain, altitude, climate and availability of water,
• Cultural and ethnic factors – social structure, caste and religion.
• Security factors – defence against thefts and robberies.

Q10.When did maximum urban growth take place in India? What were its causes?
Answer:
With increasing investment in rural areas, a large number of medium and small towns have developed all over the country. The level of urbanization in India in 2001 was 28 per cent, which is quite low in comparison to developed countries. Total urban population has increased eleven fold during twentieth century. Enlargement of urban centers and emergence of new towns have played a significant role in the growth of urban population and urbanization in the country.

Q11.What do you mean by urban agglomeration?
Answer:
An urban agglomeration may consist of any one of the following three combinations:

• A town and its adjoining urban outgrowths,
• Two or more contiguous towns with or without their outgrowths, and
• A city and one or more adjoining towns with their outgrowths together forming a contiguous spread.

Q12.What is the total urban population of India? In which type of towns does this population live?
Answer:
As per 2011 census urban population in India is 377,000,000. 60% of urban population in India lives in class I towns.

Q13.Name different types of towns on the basis of their functions.
Answer:
On the basis of their functions different types of towns are as follows:

• Administrative towns and cities
• Mining towns
• Industrial towns
• Garrisson cantonment towns
• Transport cities
• Educational towns
• Commercial towns
• Religious and cultural towns
• Tourist towns

Long Answer Type Questions:

Q1.Define Human settlement. Briefly describe the rural settlement types in India.
Answer:
Cluster of dwellings of any type or size where human beings live is called human settlement. It involves grouping of people and apportioning of territory as a resource base. Settlements vary in size and type. Types of settlements are determined by the extent of built up area, inter house distance. There are four types of rural settlements in India:

The clustered rural settlement is a compact or closely built up area of houses. Here, the general living area is distinct and separated from the surrounding farms, barns and pastures. The closely built-up area and streets form recognizable pattern or geometric shape, such as rectangular, radial, linear, etc. These are found in fertile alluvial plains and in the northeastern states. People live in compact village for security or region of central India and in Nagaland. In Rajasthan, scarcity of water has necessitated compact settlement for maximum utilisation of available water resources.

Semi-Clustered Settlements: Semi- clustered or fragmented settlements may result from tendency of clustering in a restricted area of dispersed settlement. Sometimes one or more sections of the village society choose or is forced to live a little away from the main cluster or village. Generally, the land-owning and dominant community occupies the central part of the main village.

Hamleted Settlements: Sometimes settlement is divided into several units physically separated from each other bearing a common name motivated by social and ethnic factors. These units are locally called panna, para, palli, nagla, dhani, etc. in various parts of the country.

Dispersed Settlements: Dispersed or isolated settlement pattern in India appears in the form of isolated huts or hamlets of few huts in remote jungles, or on small hills with farms or pasture on the slopes. Extreme dispersion of settlement is caused by fragmented nature of the terrain and land resource base of habitable areas.

Q2.How many classes of town are there in India based on population size? Give the size as well. Which of them has the highest percentage of people?
Answer:
6 classes of towns.
Class I — More than 1 lakh population
Class II — 50,000 – 99999
Class III — 20,000 – 49999
Class IV — 10,000 – 19999
Class V — 5000 – 9999
Class VI — Less than
Class I towns have highest percentage.

Q3.Write a note on functional classification of towns.
Answer:
Some towns and cities specialize in certain functions and they are known for some specific activities, products or services. Indian cities and towns can be broadly classified as follows:

Administrative towns and cities: Towns supporting administrative headquarters of higher order are administrative towns, such as Chandigarh ,New Delhi, Bhopal, Shillong, Guwahati, Imphal, Srinagar, Gandhinagar, Jaipur, Chennai, etc.

Industrial towns: Industries constitute prime motive force of these cities such as Mumbai, Salem, Coimbatore, Modinagar, Jamshedpur, Hugli, Bhilai, etc.

Transport Cities: They may be ports primarily engaged in export and import activities such as Kandla, Kochchi, Kozhikode, Vishakhapatnam, etc. or hubs of inland transport such as Agra, Dhulia, Mughal Sarai, Itarsi, Katni, etc.

Commercial towns: Towns and cities specialising in trade and commerce are kept in this class. Kolkata, Saharanpur, Satna, etc. are some examples.

Mining towns: These towns have developed in mineral rich areas such as Raniganj, Jharia, Digboi, Ankaleshwar, Singrauli, etc.