Q. Define human resource.
Ans: People are a nation’s greatest resource. Nature’s bounty becomes significant only when people find it useful. It is people with their demands and abilities that turn them into ‘resources’. Hence, human resource is the ultimate resource. Healthy, educated and motivated people develop resources as per their requirements.
Q. Discuss about the factors affecting the distribution of population.
Ans: (any 5)
- Topography: People always prefer to live on plains rather than mountains and plateaus. For example, The Ganga plains are the most densely populated areas of the world
- Climate: People usually avoid extreme climates that are very hot or very cold like Sahara desert, polar regions of Russia, Canada and Antarctica.
- Soil: Fertile soils provide suitable land for agriculture. Fertile plains such as Ganga and Brahmaputra in India.
- Water: People prefer to live in the areas where fresh water is easily available. The river valleys of the world are densely populated while deserts have spare population.
- Minerals: Areas with mineral deposits are more populated. Diamond mines of South Africa and discovery of oil in the Middle east lead to settling of people in
- Social factors: Areas of better housing, education and health facilities are more densely populated e.g., Pune.
- Cultural: Places with religion or cultural significance attract people. Varanasi, Jerusalem and Vatican city are some examples.
- Economic factors: Industrial areas provide employment opportunities. Large number of people are attracted to these areas. Osaka in Japan and Mumbai in India are two densely populated areas.
Q. What is population change? Explain about the main reasons of population change.
Ans: The population change refers to change in the number of people during a specific time. The world population has not been stable. For example, in 2001 India’s population was 1027 million, but in 2011 it becomes 1210 million.
- Reasons of population change: Population changes are mainly controlled by the number of births, deaths and migration factors.
- Birth rate: Depends on medical facilities, availability of foods etc. birth rate control the distribution of population – which is the significant factors of population change.
- Death rate: Death rate is an another significant reason for population change. This is also controlled by the development of medical facilities, availability of foods, technological development etc.
- Migration: Migrations is the movement of people in and out of an area. Population increase or decrease depends on this migration factors. For example, after independence large number of population added with our country – which are migrated from Bangladesh or Pakistan.
Births and deaths are the natural causes of population change. The difference between the birth rate and the death rate of a country is called the natural growth rate. The population increase in the world is mainly due to rapid increase in natural growth rate.
Q. Differentiate between immigration and emigration?
Ans: Immigration: When a person enters a new country.
Emigration: When a person leaves a country.
Countries like the United States of America and Australia have gained in-numbers by in-migration or immigration.
Sudan is an example of a country that has experienced a loss in population numbers due to out-migration or emigration.
Emigrants are people who leave a country;
Immigrants are those who arrive in a country.
Q. What do you mean by population composition?
Ans: Population composition refers to the structure of the population in terms of age, sex, literacy level, health condition, occupation and income level. It is essential to understand these characteristics of the people.
