The Geographers

In any study of population distribution, it is necessary identify factors which determine the way in which it is distribution within an area of a country, or in a country as well as in continent in which that country lies, or in a region, or in the world considered as a whole. These factors provide the necessary explanation for particular patterns of population distribution are generally grouped into three categories: (1) Geographical factor (2) Economic and social factors; and (3) Demographic factors. The categories, however, are in no way like water-tight compartment. Geographic Factors of Population Distribution Physical conditions, such as climate (temperature and rainfall), landforms in terms of altitudes, the quality of the soil and the availability of energy and mine resources are the important geographical determinants of population distribution. Another important factor is the relationship between the location of one place and other places of importance. Climate is

There are four areas in the world where the average density of population is more than 100 persons per sq. km. These are: 1. East Asia (China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan). 2. South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Nepal). 3. North-West Europe (UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland, Denmark, Spain, Portugal and Italy). 4. Eastern North America (North-East United States and South-East Canada). All these areas of dense population lie in the northern hemisphere and are so placed that more than 75 per cent of the world’s population is now concentrated between the Tropic of Cancer and 70° north. Of these, China and the subcontinent of India have been having large populations from the earliest times. Europe is less ancient, and the United States has become densely populated only during the last two hundred years. Except in Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan, the population of East and S

Some common reasons of deforestation are:                                                                                          To make more land available for housing and  urbanisation To harvest timber to create commercial items such as paper, furniture and homes  To create ingredients that are highly priced  consumer items, such as the oil from palm trees To create room for cattle ranching  Common methods of deforestation are burning trees and clear cutting. These tactics leave the land completely barren and are controversial practices.  Clear cutting is when large swaths of land are cut down all at once. A forestry expert quoted by the  Natural Resources Defense Council describes clear cutting as "an ecological trauma that has no precedent in nature except for a major volcanic eruption." Burning can be done quickly, in vast swaths of land, or more slowly with the slash-and-burn technique.  Slash and burn agriculture  entails cutting down a patch of t

Mining is one of the oldest activities of man. In man’s early progress mining and the use of minerals were so important that they are reflected in such terms as ‘early stone age’, ’later stone age’, ‘copper age’, ‘bronze age’, and ‘iron age’. The ancient uses of minerals were largely confined to the making of tools, weapons, utensils, the construction of buildings and aqueducts, and road building. Although the early uses of minerals were relatively widespread, the real development of mining began with the Industrial Revolution, and has continued to be of ever-increasing importance. The development of mining was basic to the Industrial Revolution. Coal and direct water power early replaced the diminishing forests as sources of fuel. Stone and clays provided the materials for factories and other buildings; iron and other materials, for the industrial machinery and transportation industry. Annual mineral output in the world during the 18 th century was very low and only moderat

Throughout the study of geography, there have been a number of different approaches to explaining the development of the world’s societies and cultures.  One of such is environmental determinism. Environmental determinism is the belief that the environment determines the pattern of human culture and societal development. It is also known as climatic determinism or geographical determinism, is the view that the physical environment, rather than social conditions, determines culture. Those who believe this view say that humans are strictly defined by stimulus-response  (environment -behavior ) and cannot deviate. The fundamental argument of the environmental determinist was that aspects of physical geography, particularly climate, influenced the psychological mind-set of individuals, which in turn defined the behavior and culture of the society that those individuals formed. For example, tropical climates were said to cause laziness, relaxed attitudes and promiscuity, while the fre

ETHNIC GROUPS Among the various tribal groups of the Mizos, the Luseis, somehow, became to be known as the dominating tribes, and from the culture and tradition of the Luseis, many of the present Mizo customs, cultures and traditions flourished. The Luseis, Raltes, Hmars, Pawis, Paites, from a larger tribal groups, while others like Khawlhring, Khiangte, Chawngthu etc. form a smaller tribal groups, although all have numerous sub tribes and sub clans. Apart from the Mizos, there are certain distinct tribal groups like Chakmas and Riangs localized in the south-wetern and western part of the state.             The Chakma tribe belongs to eastern group of the Tibeto-Burman group of people. They are Buddhists, speaking a Chakma dialect which is a corrupt form of the Bengali language written in corrupt Burmese script. Over the years, due to their cultural interaction with people of other races, they have lost much of their originality. Even then, they are very near to south eastern Ben

Sometimes abbreviated ZPG (also called the replacement level of fertility), is a condition of demographic balance where the number of people in a specified population neither grows nor declines, considered as a social aim by some. According to some, zero population growth is the ideal towards which countries and the whole world should aspire in the interests of accomplishing long-term environmental sustainability. A loosely defined goal of ZPG is to match the replacement fertility rate, which is the average number of children per woman which would hold the population constant. This replacement fertility will depend on mortality rates and the sex ratio at birth, and varies from around 2.1 in developed countries to over 3.0 in some developing countries. The American sociologist and demographer K. Davis is credited with coining the term but it was used earlier by George Stolnitz, who stated that the concept of a stationary population dated back to 1693. A mathematical description was

Population composition is the description of population defined by characteristics such as age, race , sex or marital status . Important characteristics of a population, besides its size and growth rate, are the way in which its members are distributed according to age, sex, and urban/rural status. These descriptions can be necessary for understanding the social dynamics from historical and comparative research. This data is often compared using a population pyramid . Population composition is also a very important part of historical research. Information ranging back hundreds of years is not always worthwhile, because the numbers of people for which data are available may not provide the information that is important (such as population size ). Lack of information on the original data-collection procedures may prevent accurate evaluation of data quality. 1. Age Structure: The age structure of a population refers to the number of people in different age groups. A larger

Shifting cultivation is a primitive form of agricultural practice that barely met the minimum requirements of foodgrains. It is largely confined to the hill slopes, often extending to steep gradients in all the hill districts of the region. This practice normally involves the clearing of forests and is allowed to dry up and the residue is burnt up. The fields or the clearings are prepared and wait the onset of the rains. After which, with the broadcasting methods seeds are sown and crops are cultivated. These jhum fields are frequently located near the permanent settlement sites or located within accessible distance. These fields are temporary as they are used only for one or two seasons; after this, the same process is repeated in adjacent forest areas. In other words, there is a distinct rotation of fields that averages 3 to 10 years, this is the jhum cycle. With increasing population pressure, this jhum cycle has gradually declined. As a result this practice has become an un