Geography

Chapter 8
Human Resources
D. Very Short Answer Type Questions:

1) Why are people considered the most important resource of country?

Ans: People are considered to be the most important resource of a country because
they utilize and convert all the natural resources like land, water, soil, minerals and
forests into useful products.
2) Define density of population.
Ans: The number of people living on one square kilometer of land is the density of
population of that area.
3) What are the birth rate and death rate?
Ans: The number of births per thousand people in a year is called the birth rate and
the number of deaths per thousand people per year is called the death rate.
4) Define sex ratio.
Ans: The number of females per 1000 males is defined as the sex ratio.
5) What is the difference between immigration and emigration?
Ans: Immigration refers to the people entering a country or a new place whereas
emigration refers to the people leaving a country or a place.
E. Short Answer Type Questions:

1) Write a note on distribution of population.

Ans: The presence of human race around the world is known as distribution of
population which is not even. More than 90% of the world’s population lives in only
10% of the total available land surface which shows that the population of the world
is not evenly distributed. For example: Northern hemisphere is more populated
because it has more land area in comparison to the Southern hemisphere.
2) Compare thickly populated areas and sparsely populated areas.
Ans:
Thickly Populated Areas Sparsely Populated Areas
i. The density of population is very i. The density of population is very
high. low.
ii. These areas have favourable ii. These areas have extreme climate
climate. and are not easily accessible.
iii. These areas mostly involve the
iii. These areas have fertile soils and deserts, mountainous regions and
are cultivated round the year. thick forests.
 3) Discuss the factors that affect change in population.
Ans: The factors that affect change in population are:
i. Birth rate: The number of births per thousand people in a year is called the
birth rate.
ii. Death rate: The number of deaths per thousand people per year is called the
death rate.
iii. Migration: The movement of people from one place to another is called as
migration which leads to population change.

4) Migration of people leads to population change. Explain.

Ans: Migration is the movement of people from one place to another which leads to
population change. When the number of people entering a country is more than the
people leaving a country, the population of that country increases. People may
migrate within a country or from one country to another in search of better
employment opportunities and better housing, education and health facilities.
Therefore, more migration can be seen from underdeveloped countries to the
developed countries.
5) Not Required.
F. Long Answer Type Questions:

1) Examine in detail the pattern of population change.

Ans: Until the 1800s, the birth rate and the death rate were both high resulting in a
slow rate of growth in population. However, in the next 150 years, the death rate
came down but the birth rate remained high due to better medical facilities and
increased food production. Hence, from 1billion in 1820, the world’s population
increased to 3billion by 1970 and became 6billion thirty years later resulting in
population explosion. Moreover, the growth rate of population varies from country
to country and is different at different times. While the developed countries brought
down the growth rate of population by lowering the birth rate, the developing
countries still experience a high growth rate of population which creates serious
imbalances in the demographic structure.

2) What are the different factors that determine population composition?

Ans: The different factors that determine population composition are:
i. Age Composition: It refers to the composition of a country according to age
groups where the population is divided into three groups according to age:
• 0 to 15 years ➔ Children
• 15 to 65 years ➔ Adults
• 65years and above ➔ Old
ii. Sex Ratio: It is the ratio between males and females which is expressed as
number of females per one thousand males. The sex ratio gets affected by high
female mortality rate due to female foeticide and infanticide in certain
countries where the society endorses males. In many countries, men move out
in search of jobs, which disturbs the sex ratio making it favourable towards
women.

3) Not Required.