Human Settlements Class 12 Notes Geography Chapter 4 - CBSE

Chapter : 4

What Are Human Settlements ?

Rural Settlements

They are mainly smaller in size and poorly spaced. The people of these settlements are mainly engaged in primary activities like, agriculture, fishing, mining, etc, e.g. people surviving in hamlets and villages.

Factors Determining The Rural Settlements

Various factors and conditions are responsible for having different types of rural settlements in India. These are:

Physical Features: These include nature of terrain, altitude, climate and availability of water.
Cultural and Ethnic Factors: These include social structure, caste and religion.
Security Factors: These include defence against thefts and robberies.

Types Of Rural Settlements

In India, Rural settlements can broadly be divided into four types:

Clustered, agglomerated or nucleated
Semi-dustered or fragmented
Hamleted
Dispersed or isolated

Urban Settlements

Urban settlements, in contrast to rural settlements, are often more dense, compact, and greater in size.
People here are largely involved in non-agricultural activities, such as industry, services, and administrative jobs.
Cities and towns are linked to villages and each other, either directly or indirectly, and exchange products, services, and commute.

Urbanisation In India

Urbanisation is the transition of the rural population into the urban population.
It is calculated as the proportion of urban residents to the overall population. In India, the rate of urbanisation is extremely low, reaching only 28% in 2001.
The level of urbanisation in developed nations is higher than in India.
Although India’s urbanisation is rapidly rising, with a growth of 11 times in the twentieth century, this pace has been relatively modest in the last two decades.

Classification Of Towns On The Basis Of Population Size

The Census of India is responsible for defining and classifying urban areas in India. Cities and urban areas are classified into six classes by the census of India. According to a census of India, an urban agglomeration may have to fulfil anyone of the following conditions:

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