Chapter 1 Human Geography Nature and Scope Part A NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Geography

NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Geography Part A – Fundamentals of Human Geography Chapter 1 Human Geography Nature and Scope – Free PDF download

CBSE Class 12 Geography
NCERT Solutions
Part A – Fundamentals of Human Geography
Chapter 1 Human Geography Nature and Scope

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

(i) Which one of the following statements does not describe geography?

1. An integrative discipline
2. Study of the inter-relationship between humans and environment
3. Subjected to dualism
4. Not relevant in the present time due to the development of technology

Ans. (4) Not relevant in the present time due to the development of technology

(ii) Which of the following is not a source of geographical information?

1. Travelers’ accounts
2. Old maps
3. Samples of rock materials from the moon
4. Ancient epics

Ans. (3) Samples of rock materials from the moon

(iii) Which one of the following is the most important factor in the interaction between people and environment?

1. Human intelligence
2. People’s perception
3. Technology
4. Human brotherhood

Ans. (3) Technology

(iv) Which one of the following is not an approach in human geography?

1. Areal differentiation
2. Spatial organisation
3. Technology
4. Human brotherhood

Ans. (2) Spatial organisation

2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.

(i) Define human geography.

Ans. Human geography is the branch of geography that deals with the study of people and their communities, cultures, economies, and interaction with the environment by studying their relations with and across space and place. It attends to human pattern of social interaction as well as spatial level interdependencies , and how they influence or affect the earth’s environment. Human Geography has been defined differently by different geographers. Some of the definitions are given below:

• According to Ratzel, “Human geography is the synthetic study of relationship between human societies and earth’s surface”.
• According to Ellen C. Semple, “Human geography is the study of the changing relationship between the unresting man and the unstable earth”.
• According to Paul Vidal de la Blache, “Conception resulting from a more synthetic knowledge of the physical laws governing our earth and of the relations between the living beings which inhabit it”.

(ii) Name some sub-fields of human geography.

Ans. Various fields and sub-fields of human geography are as follows:

1. Social Geography: Under this, Behavioral Geography, Geography of Social Well-being, Geography of Leisure, Cultural Geography, Gender Geography, Historical Geography and Medical Geography are studied.
2. Political Geography: Under this, Electoral Geography and Military Geography studied.
3. Urban Geography: Under this, we study the planning of towns.
4. Settlement Geography: Under this, we study the planning of towns and villages both.
5. Population Geography: Under this, demography is studied.
6. Economic Geography: Under this, geography of resources, agriculture, tourism, industries, marketing and international trade, etc. are studied.

(iii) How is human geography related to other social sciences?

Ans. Human geography attempts to explain the relationship between all elements of human life and the space they occur over. In this way human geography assumes a highly interdisciplinary nature.

It develops close interface with other sister disciplines in social sciences in order to understand and explain human elements on the surface of the earth. Therefore it has deep relationship with many other social sciences like Sociology, Psychology, Welfare Economics, Demographic Studies, History, Epidemiology, Anthropology, Urban Studies and Planning, Political Science, Psephology, Military Science, Demography, Urban or Rural Planning, Agriculture Sciences, Industrial Economics, Business Studies, Commerce, Tourism & Travel Management and International Trade.

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

(i) Explain naturalisation of humans.

Ans. In the primitive age, when technology was not developed, the man was bound to live in complete harmony with their natural environment. It was so because the level of technology was very low and the stage of human society development was also primitive. This type of interaction between primitive human society and strong forces of nature was called environmental determinism. Natural was a powerful force in these societies and was worshipped, revered and conserved. Human being was directly dependent on nature for his survival and called it “mother nature”.

On the basis of attained knowledge, technology and industries, man has been able to develop cultural landscape. The imprints of human activities are available everywhere. For example, Health resorts on highlands have been used as recreation places, huge urban sprawls, fields, orchards and pastures in plains and rolling hills have added to beauty, ports on the coasts, oceanic routes on the oceanic surface and satellites in the space have enabled man to touch the heights of the sky. This is how humanisation of nature takes place.

(ii) Write a note on the scope of human geography.

Ans. In human geography , the major thrust is on the study of human societies in their relation to the habitat or environment. Dealing with the spatial distribution of societies, human geography covers a very wide field or its scope is enormous.

It embraces the study of human races; the growth, distribution and density of popula­tions of the various parts of the world, their demographic attributes and migration patterns; and physical and cultural differences between human groups and economic activities.

It also covers the relationship between man and his natural environment, and the way in which his activities are distributed.

Human geography also takes into account the mosaic of culture, language, religion, customs and traditions; types and patterns of rural settlements, the site, size, growth and functions of urban settle­ments, and the functional classification of towns.

The study of spatial distribution of economic activities, industries, trade, and modes of transportations and communications as influenced by the physical environment are also the important topics of human geography.

Human geography deals with the world as it is and with the world as it might be made to be. Its emphasis is on people: where they are, what they are like, how they interact over space and time, and what kinds of landscapes of human use they erect upon the natural landscapes they occupy.It encompasses all those interests and topics of geography that are not directly concerned with the physical environment like cartography.

Human geography’s content provides integration for all the social sciences, for it gives to those sciences the necessary spatial, temporal and systems viewpoint that they otherwise lack.At the same time, human geography draws on other social sciences in the analyses identified with its sub-fields, such as behavioral, political, economic, or social geography.

Its models and explanations of spatial interaction allow us to better comprehend the economic, social, and political systems within which we all, singly and collectively, live and operate.

Its analyses of spatial systems make us more aware of the realities and the prospects of our own society in an increasingly troubled and competitive world.