Human Geography may be said to have originated since man has started interacting with his environment. It has its roots deep in history. Therefore, the concerns of human geography have a long temporal continuum though approaches to articulate them have changed over time. This dynamism and changes in articulation are indicator of vibrant nature of the discipline.

In the beginning, the interaction between various societies was negligible. Therefore knowledge about each other was also limited. Travelers and explorers used to gather information before a journey and navigational skills were underdeveloped. In late 15th century, Europe witnessed attempts of explorations and the myths and mysteries about countries and people started to open up.

In the colonial period, these attempts increased with an objective of getting access to resources and to obtain inventorised information. Through all this we get to know the sequential information about the development of human geography and to understand that the development of this discipline has been a steady process.

Question - 22 : -
Make a list of elements that human beings have created through their activities on the stage provided by physical environment.

Answer - 22 : -

Man creates many elements through his activities on the stage provided by physical environment with the help of technology. Houses, villages, cities, farms, ports, items of our daily use and all others So elements of material culture have been created by man using the resources provided by physical environment.

Question - 23 : -
Describe the fields and sub-fields of Geography and its inter-relationship with other fields.

Answer - 23 : -

Nature of Human Geography is inter-disciplinary. In order to understand and describe the human elements found on the earth, human geography has established strong bond with other social sciences and their helping subjects. With the expansion of knowledge, new subjects keep on developing. These are studied with humanistic approach but because they are not free from geographical and environmental effects, they become subject matter of human geography. Fields under Human Geography include: Social Geography, Urban Geography, Political Geography, Population Geography, Settlement Geography and Economic Geography.

Sub-fields of Social Geography are: Behavioral Geography, Geography of Social Well-being, Geography of Leisure, Cultural Geography, Gender Geography, Historical Geography and Medical Geography.

Sub-fields of Political Geography are Electoral Geography and Military Geography. Sub-fields of Economic Geography are: Geography of Resources, Geography of Agriculture, Geography of Tourism, Geography of Industries, Geography of Marketing and Geography of International Trade.

Other than this, Sociology, Psychology, Welfare Economics, Demographic Studies, History, Epidemiology, Anthropology, Urban Studies and Planning, Political Science, Psephology, Military Science, Demography, Urban or Rural Planning, Agricultural Sciences, Industrial Economics, Business Studies, Commerce, Tourism 6s Travel Management and International Trade are such disciplines which study human activities and behavior. As the scope of these disciplines is expanding, it is also leading to increase in the scope of Human Geography.

Question - 24 : -
How did man develop and expand proper technology?

Answer - 24 : -

Human beings were able to develop proper technology using his knowledge and intelligence. It has taken man a long time to reach at the present level of technology. In primitive age when the level of technology was very low man was bound to follow the dictates of nature. In those times man was a slave of nature, scared of its powerful force and used to worship nature to make it happy. In these conditions the state of cultural development was also primitive.

However, the process was gradual but man developed technology and it is also to be noted that man has been able to utilize this technology only after understanding the various laws of nature. For example; understanding of laws of friction gave birth to many inventions. Similarly after understanding secrets of DNA and laws of genetics, man has overcome many diseases and aeroplanes could be invented only after understanding the laws of aerodynamics. Today the level of technology is touching the heights of sky through which man seems to get free from the natural forces. Earthquake, cyclones, landslides, volcanoes and other natural disasters keep reminding man that he is still a slave to nature.

It implies that man can’t be completely free from natural forces but with the development of technology man has become free from nature and this freedom can be expanded further. Man needs to follow Stop and Go approach. It means possibilities can be created within the limits which do not damage the environment and there is no free run without accidents.

Question - 25 : -
Explain the concept of Possibilism with suitable examples.

Answer - 25 : -

With social and cultural development, humans develop better and more efficient technology. The movement from state of necessity to a state of freedom creating possibilities with resources obtained from environment. Example; Nature provides opportunities and human beings make use of this opportunities by creating their imprints everywhere.

Question - 26 : -
Explain the concept of ‘Determinism’ with suitable examples.

Answer - 26 : -

(i) In the beginning humans are hugely influenced by nature.

(ii) They were afraid of it’s fury and worshipped nature.

(iii) Societies were largely influenced by nature. Nature determines their attitudes, decisions and lifestyles. Humans were passive agents and nature dictates their lives as per determinism.

Question - 27 : -
How does technology loosen the shackles of environment on human beings? Explain with examples.

Answer - 27 : -

The understanding of concepts of friction and heat helped us discover fire.

The understanding of the secrets of DNA and genetics enabled us to conquer many diseases.
We use the laws of aerodynamics to develop faster planes.
Human beings interact with their physical environment with the help of technology.
Technology indicates the level of cultural development of society.
The human activities create a cultural landscape such as health resorts pastures, ports, oceanic routes and satellites in the space.

Question - 28 : -
“There is mutual interaction between the elements of Physical Geography and Human Geography”. Support the statement with suitable examples.

Answer - 28 : -

Human geography studies the interrelationship between the physical environment and socio cultural environment. Land forms, soils, climate, water, natural vegetation and diverse flora and fauna are the elements of Physical Geography. They affect houses, villages, cities road-rail networks industries, farms, ports etc. They are the parts of Human Geography. They are created by human beings using the natural resources. While physical environment has been greatly modified by human beings. It has also, in turn impacted human lives.

Question - 29 : -
Explain with examples, how nature gets humanised.

Answer - 29 : -

With social and cultural development, humans develop better and more efficient technology. They create new possibilities with the environment. Nature provides opportunities and humans avail of these opportunities. It is called ‘Possibilism’. Nature gives an opportunity and man sustains it. In this way, gradually humanisation of nature takes place and imprints of human activities become visible.

Example; health resorts on highlands, huge urban sprawls, fields, orchards, etc.

Question - 30 : -
What is the subject-matter of the study of human geography? Explain any three facts. (CBSE 2015)

Answer - 30 : -

To establish relationship between the physical world and the human world.
To study the spatial distribution of human phenomena.
To study the social and economic differences between different parts of the world.
To understand the earth as home of human beings and to study all those elements which have substained them.
Nature and human are inseparable elements and should be seen holistically.

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