Fundamentals of Human Geography

Unit I: Human Geography: Nature and Scope

Unit II: People

• Population of the world - distribution, density, and growth;
• Population change-spatial patterns and structure; determinants of population change;
• Age-sex ratio; rural-urban composition;
• Human development - concept; selected indicators, international comparisons.

Unit III: Human Activities

• Primary activities - concept and changing trends; gathering, pastoral, mining, subsistence agriculture, modern agriculture; people engaged in agriculture and allied activities - some examples from selected countries;
• Secondary activities - concept; manufacturing: agro-processing, household, small scale, large scale; people engaged in secondary activities - some examples from selected countries;
• Tertiary activities - concept; trade, transport, and communication; services; people engaged in tertiary activities - some examples from selected countries;
• Quaternary activities - concept; knowledge-based industries; people engaged in quaternary activities - some examples from selected countries.

Unit IV: Transport, Communication and Trade

• Land transport - roads, railways - rail network; trans-continental railways;
• Water transport- inland waterways; major ocean routes;
• Air transport - Intercontinental air routes;
• Oil and gas pipelines;
• Satellite communication and cyberspace;
• International trade - Basis and changing patterns; ports as gateways of international trade, the roleof WTO in International trade.

Unit V: Human Settlements

• Settlement types - rural and urban; morphology of cities (case study); distribution of megacities; problems of human settlements in developing countries.

India: People and Economy

Unit I: People

• Population: distribution, density and growth; composition of population-linguistic, religious; sex, ruralurban and occupational-regional variations in growth of population;
• Migration: international, national - causes and consequences;
• Human development - selected indicators and regional patterns;
• Population, environment, and development.

Unit II: Human Settlements

• Rural settlements - types and distribution;
• Urban settlements - types, distribution, and functional classification.

Unit III: Resources and Development

• Land resources - general land use; agricultural land use - major crops; agricultural development and problems, common property resources;
• Water resources - availability and utilization - irrigation, domestic, industrial, and other uses; scarcity of water and conservation methods - rainwater harvesting and watershed management (one case study related to participatory watershed management to be introduced) ;
• Mineral and energy resources - metallic and non-metallic minerals and their distribution; conventional and non-conventional energy sources;
• Industries - types and distribution; industrial location and clustering; changing pattern of selected industries - iron and steel, cotton textiles, sugar, petrochemicals, and knowledge-based industries; timpact of liberalization, privatization, and globalization on industrial location;
• Planning in India - target area planning (case study); idea of sustainable development (case study).

Unit IV: Transport, Communication and International Trade

• Transport and communication — roads, railways, waterways, and airways; oil and gas pipelines; national electric grids; communication networkings - radio, television, satellite, and internet;
• International trade - changing pattern of India’s foreign trade; seaports and their hinterland and airports.

Unit V: Geographical Perspective on Selected Issues and Problems

• Environmental pollution; urban-waste disposal;
• Urbanisation-rural-urban migration; problem of slums;
• Land Degradation.