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.