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Human resources is the 5th chapter in the social science NCERT book. It describes the components of human resources, their importance and other important concepts related to this important resource. In this blog, we will learn about the Human Resources Class 8 Chapter and the important notes related to it.
Download Social Science Class 8 Geography Chapter 5 Important Questions and Answers PDF
Important Notes in NCERT Class 8 Chapter 5
People are a nation’s greatest resource. It is people with their demands and abilities that turn nature’s bounty into ‘resources’. Hence healthy, educated and motivated people develop resources as per their requirements. Human resources like other resources are not equally distributed over the world and differ in their educational levels, age and sex. Their numbers and characteristics also keep changing. The Government of India has a Ministry of Human Resource Development which was created in 1985 with an aim to improve people’s skills. This just proves how important people are as a resource for the country.
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NCERT Class 7 Geography: Chapter 1 Environment (Free PDF)
NCERT Class 7 Geography: Chapter 2 Inside Our Earth (Free PDF)
NCERT Class 7 Geography: Chapter 3 Our Changing Earth (Free PDF)
Distribution of Population
The way in which people are spread across the earth’s surface is known as the pattern of population distribution. More than 90% of the world’s population lives in about 30% of the land surface. The distribution of population in the world is extremely uneven since some areas are very crowded and some are sparsely populated. The crowded areas are south and southEast Asia, Europe and north eastern North America. Almost three-quarters of the world’s people live in two continents: Asia and Africa. 60 % of the world’s people stay in just 10 countries and all of them have more than a 100 million people.
Density of Population – Population density is the number of people living in a unit area of the earth’s surface. It is normally expressed as per square km. The average density of population in the whole world is 51 persons per square km. South Central Asia has the highest density of population followed by East and SouthEast Asia.
Factors Affecting Distribution of Population
Here are the major factors that affect distribution of population:
Geographical Factors
Topography – People always prefer to live on plains rather than mountains and plateaus because these areas are suitable for farming, manufacturing and service activities. The Ganga plains are the most densely populated areas of the world while mountains like Andes, Alps and Himalayas are sparsely populated.
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, Hwang-He, Chang Jiang in China and the Nile in Egypt are densely populated.
Water – People prefer to live in the areas where freshwater is easily available. The river valleys of the world are densely populated while deserts have a 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 these areas.
Social – Areas of better housing, education and health facilities are more densely populated for example Pune.
Cultural – Places with religion or cultural significance attract people. Varanasi, Jerusalem and Vatican City are some examples.
Economic – Industrial areas provide employment opportunities hence a large number of people are attracted to these areas. Osaka in Japan and Mumbai in India are two densely populated areas.
Population Change
In Human Resources Class 8, the population change refers to change in the number of people during a specific time. The world population has not been stable. For an extremely long period of human history until the 1800s the world’s population grew steadily but slowly. Large numbers of babies were born but they died early too because there were no proper health facilities. Farmers were not able to produce enough to meet the food requirements of all the people. As a result the total increase in population was very low.
- In 1804 the world’s population reached one billion.
- In 1959 the world’s population reached 3 billion and this is often called population explosion.
- In 1999 40 years later the population doubled to 6 billion. The main reason for this growth was that with better food supplies and medicine, deaths were reducing while the number of births still remained fairly high.
Birth rate – Births are usually measured using the birth rate which is the number of live births per 1,000 people.
Death rate – Deaths are usually measured using the death rate which is the number of deaths per 1,000 people.
Natural growth rate – Births and deaths are the natural causes of population change and 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.
Migration – It is the movement of people in and out of an area. It is another way by which population size changes. People may move within a country or between countries. Emigrants are people who leave a country. Immigrants are those who arrive in a country. Countries like the USA 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. The general trend of international migrations is from the less developed nations to the more developed nations in search of better employment opportunities. Within countries, a large number of people may move from the rural to urban areas in search of employment, education and health facilities etc.
Patterns of Population Change
Rates of population growth vary across the world. Although the world’s total population is rising rapidly not all countries are experiencing this growth. Some countries like Kenya have high population growth rates. With improving health care death rates have fallen but birth rates still remain high leading to high growth rates. In other countries like the United Kingdom population growth is slowing because of both low death and low birth rates.
Population Composition
Population has little to do with its level of economic development. For example both Bangladesh and Japan are very densely populated but Japan is far more economically developed than Bangladesh. People vary greatly in their age, sex, literacy level, health condition, occupation and income level. It is essential to understand these characteristics of the people to understand them as resources.
Population composition refers to the structure of the population. The composition of the population helps us to know how many males or females there are, which age group they belong to, how educated they are and what type of occupations they are employed in, what their income levels and health conditions are.
Population pyramid – It is a way of studying the population composition of a country is by looking at the population pyramid also called an age-sex pyramid. A population pyramid shows
- The total population is divided into various age groups, for example 5 to 9 years, 10 to 14 years.
- The percentage of the total population subdivided into males and females in each of those groups.
The shape of the population pyramid tells the story of the people living in that particular country. The numbers of children (below 15 years) are shown at the bottom and reflect the level of births. The size of the top shows the numbers of aged people (above 65 years) and reflects the number of deaths.
The population pyramid also tells us how many dependents there are in a country. There are two groups of dependents — young dependents (aged below 15 years) and elderly dependents (aged over 65 years). Those of the working age are economically active.
Types of Population Pyramids
Some examples of types of pyramids are given below –
Kenya – The population pyramid of a country in which birth and death rates both are high is broad at the base and rapidly narrows towards the top because although many children are born a large percentage of them die in their infancy, relatively few become adults and there are very few old people. This situation is typified by the pyramid shown for Kenya.
India – In countries where death rates (especially amongst the very young) are decreasing the pyramid is broad in the younger age groups because more infants survive to adulthood. This can be seen in the pyramid for India. Such populations contain a relatively large number of young people and which means a strong and expanding labor force.
Japan – In countries like Japan low birth rates make the pyramid narrow at the base and decreased death rates allow numbers of people to reach old age. Skilled, spirited and hopeful young people endowed with a positive outlook are the future of any nation.
We in India are fortunate to have such a resource. They must be educated and provided with skills and opportunities to become able and productive.
Important Questions and Answers in NCERT Class 8 Chapter 5
1. Answer the following questions.
(i) Why are people considered a resource?
Ans: People are the greatest resource of a nation. All other resources of nature become significant only when people extract their usefulness. It is people with their demands and abilities that turn them into resources. Hence, human resources is the ultimate resource.
(ii) What are the causes for the uneven distribution of population in the world?
Ans: Population distribution in the world is uneven because of two factors, Geographical and Social.
Geographical factors include
- Topography: People prefer living on plains rather than mountains and plateaus because these areas are suitable for farming, manufacturing and service activities. The Ganga Plains are the most densely populated area in the world, while mountains like the Andes, Alps and Himalayas are sparsely populated.
- Water: People prefer living in areas where fresh water is easily available. The river valleys of the world are the densely populated regions, while deserts have a smaller population.
Social factors include
- Social: Areas of better housing, education and health facilities are more densely populated. (For example, Pune)
- Economic: Industrial areas provide employment opportunities. A large number of people are attracted to these areas. Osaka in Japan and Mumbai in India are two densely populated areas.
(iii) The world population has grown very rapidly. Why?
Ans: The world population has not been stable and has increased manifold due to advancements in science and technology. Science and technology have increased food production, and development in healthcare facilities has helped in reducing the death rate.
(iv) Discuss the role of any two factors influencing population change.
Ans: Two factors influencing the change in population are the birth rate and death rate. The birth rate is the number of births per 1,000 people, and the death rate is the number of deaths per 1,000 people. Birth and death are the natural causes of population change. When the birth rate is more than the death rate, it means that the population is increasing and vice-versa. The difference between the birth rate and the death rate of a country is called the natural growth rate.
(v) What is meant by population composition?
Ans: Population composition refers to the structure of the population. The composition of the population helps us know how many are males or females, which age group they belong to, how educated they are, what type of occupations they are employed in and what their income levels and health conditions are. An interesting way of studying the population composition of a country is by looking at the population pyramid, also called an age-sex pyramid.
(vi) What are population pyramids? How do they help in understanding the population of a country?
Ans: The graphical representation used to study the composition of a country’s population is called the population pyramid. It shows the total population divided into various age groups, the percentage of the total population subdivided into males and females and the number of dependents in a country. When the population of a country has high birth and death rates, the population pyramid is broad at the base and narrow towards the top.
2. Tick the correct answer.
(i) What does the term ‘population distribution’ refer to?
- How the population in a specified area changes over time.
- The number of people who die in relation to the number of people born in a specified area.
- The way in which people are spread across a given area. Correct
(ii) Which are the three main factors that cause population change?
(a) Births, deaths and marriage
(b) Births, deaths and migration Correct
(c) Births, deaths and life expectancy
(iii) In 1999, the world population reached
(a) 1 billion
(b) 3 billion
(c) 6 billion Correct
(iv) What is a population pyramid?
(a) A graphical presentation of the age-sex composition of a population.Correct
(b) When the population density of an area is so high that people live in tall buildings.
(c) Pattern of population distribution in large urban areas.
3. Complete the sentences below using some of the following words.
(sparsely, favourable, fallow, artificial, fertile, natural, extreme, densely)
When people are attracted to an area, it becomes densely populated. Factors that influence this include a favourable climate, good supplies of natural resources and fertile land.
Check out Class 6 Geography Notes:
FAQs
People, the size of the population of a country along with its efficiency, educational qualities, productivity, organizational abilities and farsightedness are the greatest resources of the nation and are called human resources. All other resources of nature become significant only when people are able to extract its usefulness. It is people with their demands and abilities that turn them into resources.
The Government of India has a Ministry of Human Resource Development was created in 1985 with an aim to improve people’s skills. This just proves how important people are as a resource for the country.
Population pyramid is a way of studying the population composition of a country and it is also called an age-sex pyramid. It is explained in detail above.
Emigration is known as the movement of people from one country to another.
We hope these Human Resources Class 8 notes helped you understand the chapter better and will also help you get better marks in exams. For help with other chapters and subjects like English, Maths, Science and others for class 8 please check out the blogs by Leverage Edu. If you are planning to study abroad, book your Free Consultant Call Today!
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