Here is the notes for Class 7 NCERT Geography – Chapter 7: Human Environment- Settlement, Transport and Communication

 

Settlements

      • Settlements are places where people build their homes.
      • Early human beings lived on trees and in caves.
      • When they started to grow crops it became necessary to have a permanent home.
      • The settlements grew near the river valleys as water was available and land was fertile.
      • Types
        • Temporary settlements
          • Settlements which are occupied for a short time are called temporary settlements.
          • The people living in deep forests, hot and cold deserts and mountains often dwell in such temporary settlements.
          • They practice hunting, gathering, shifting cultivation and transhumance
        • Permanent settlements
          • People live there permanently
      • Two different pictures of settlements
        • Rural settlements
          • The villages are rural settlement where people are engaged in activities like agriculture, fishing, forestry, crafts work and trading etc.
          • In rural areas, people build houses to suit their environment.
          • Local materials like stones, mud, clay, straw etc are used to construct houses.
          • Types
            • Compact: Homes built close together (plains).
            • Scattered: Homes spaced apart (hilly, forested areas).
        • Urban settlements
          • The towns are small and the cities are larger urban settlements.
          • In urban areas the people are engaged in manufacturing, trading, and services.

TRANSPORT

  • Transport is the means by which people and goods move.
  • In the early days it took a great deal of time, to travel long distances.
  • People had to walk and used animals to carry their goods.
  • Invention of the wheel made transport easier.
  • With the passage of time different means of transport developed.
  • Four majors means of transport
  • Roadways
    • The most commonly used means of transport especially for short distances are roads.
    • The plains have a dense network of roads.
    • Roads have also been build in terrains like deserts, forests and even high mountains.
    • Roads built underground are called subways/under paths. Flyovers are built over raised structures.
    • Two types
      • Metalled (Pucca)
      • Unmetalled (Kutcha)
    • Manali-Leh highway in the Himalayan Mountains is one of the highest roadways in the world.
    • The Golden Quadrilateral connects Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.
  • Railways
    • The railways carry heavy goods and people over long distances quickly and cheaply.
    • The invention of the steam engine and the Industrial Revolution helped in speedy development of rail transport.
    • Diesel and electric engines have largely replaced the steam engines.
    • In some places superfast trains have been introduced to make the journey faster.
    • The railway network is well developed over the plain areas.
    • Advanced technological skills have enabled laying of railway lines in difficult mountain terrains also.
    • The train from Xining to Lhasa runs at an altitude of 4,000m above sea level and the highest point is 5,072 m.
    • The Trans-Siberian Railway is the longest railway system connecting St. Petersburg in Western Russia to Vladivostok on the Pacific coast.
  • Waterways
    • Waterways are the cheapest for carrying heavy and bulky goods over long distances.
    • Two types
    1. Inland waterways
      • Navigable rivers and lakes are used as inland waterways.
      • Some of the important inland waterways are the Ganga-Brahmaputra river system, the Great Lakes in North America and the river Nile in Africa.
    2. Sea routes
      • Sea routes and oceanic routes are mostly used to transport goods from one country to another.
      • Some of the important ports of the world are Singapore and Mumbai in Asia.
  • Airways
    • This is the fastest way of transport developed in the early twentieth century.
    • It is also the most expensive due to high cost of fuels.
    • It is the only mode of transport to reach the most remote and distant areas especially where there are no roads and railways.
    • Helicopters are extremely useful in most inaccessible areas and in time of calamities for rescuing people and distributing food, water, clothes and medicines.
    • Some of the important airports are Delhi, Mumbai, New York, London, Paris, Frankfurt and Cairo

COMMUNICATION

      • Communication is the process of conveying messages to others.
      • With the development of technology humans have devised new and fast modes of communication.
      • The advancement in the field of communication has brought about an information revolution in the world.
      • Different modes of communication are used to provide information, to educate as well as to entertain.
      • Through newspapers, radio and television we can communicate with a large number of people. They are therefore called mass media.
      • The satellites have made communication even faster.
      • Satellites have helped in oil exploration, survey of forest, underground water, mineral wealth, weather forecast and disaster warning.
      • Wireless telephonic communications through cellular phones have become very popular today.
      • Internet not only provides us with worldwide information and interaction but has also made our lives more comfortable.
      • Now we can reserve tickets for railways, airways and even cinemas and hotels sitting at home.

 

 

 

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