Question.1. What is the subject-matter of the study of Human Geography? Explain any three facts.
Answer.

1. To establish relationship between the physical world and the human world.
2. To study the spatial distribution of human phenomena.
3. To study the social and economic differences between different parts of the world.
4. To understand the Earth as home of human beings and to study all those elements that has sustained them.
5. Nature and human are inseparable elements and should be seen holistically.

Question.2. What do you mean by ‘Dualism in Geography? OR
“There is mutual interaction between the elements of Physical Geography and Human Geography”. Support the statement with suitable examples.
Answer. The literal meaning of ‘Dualism’ is two opposite views/aspects of the same subject. Dualism leads to ‘dichotomy’ which means the bifurcation of any subject into branches of knowledge. The teaching and learning of Geography has been a matter of debate amongst geographers which divide the subject into two main branches:-

1. The Physical Geography:- The physical Geography school of thought emphasized the study of Geography as a separate entity where the influence of man is neglected. Under Physical Geography, we study the physical features of the Earth. Study of landform, climate, vegetation, mountain building, etc. comes under physical Geography.
2. The Human Geography:- The Human Geography school of thought emphasized the role of humans, culture, language, society, etc., in Geography. Under this more importance is given to man and environment relations as man is active agent and physical environment has been greatly modified by human beings. In this, we study cultural Geography, language, demographics, economic growth and development, model theory related to industry and economic development, social study.

Question.3. State some examples of metaphors used to describe the physical and human phenomena. OR
“Nature and humans are inseparable elements”. Justify the statement with suitable examples. OR
“The nature and human beings are so intricately intertwined that they can’t be separated”. Substantiate the statement.
Answer. It is true that nature and human are inseparable.

1. The Earth is the home of mankind. It may be in different forms.
2. Humans are directly depends on nature as all types of life supports are provided by nature.
3. In the physical environment, man has created social-cultural environment.
4. Social-cultural environment created by human beings through mutual interaction with each other.
5. Physical features are described in metaphors using symbols from the human anatomy.

Metaphors used to describe the physical and human phenomena are as follows: –

1. “Face’ of the Earth.
2. ‘Eye’ of the storm.
3. “Mouth’ of the river.
4. ‘Snout’ (nose) of the glacier.
5. “Neck’ of the isthmus.
6. “Profile’ of the soil.
7. Regions, villages, towns have been described as ‘organisms’.
8. ‘State/Country’ as a ‘living organism’.
9. Networks of roads, railways and waterways are described as “arteries of circulation”.

Question.4. Write a note on the scope of Human Geography. OR
Human Geography assumes a highly inter-disciplinary nature.
Answer. Human Geography has a wide scope. But there is a lot of difference in views of different scholars.

1. According to Vidal de la Blache Human Geography studies the inter-relationship between the physical environment and
   sociocultural environment created by human beings through mutual interaction with each other.
2. The process of adaptation, adjustment with and modification of the environment started with the appearance of human beings over the surface of the earth in different ecological spheres.
3. Man creates many elements like houses, villages, cities, farms, ports and items of our daily use etc. by using the resources provided by physical environment with the help of technology.
4. Human Geography aims to study the regional variations of human life on the Earth influenced by physical environment.
5. American geographers, Finch and Triwartha divided the subject matter of Human Geography into two broad sections: (a) Physical or Natural Environment, and (b) Cultural or Man-made Environment.
6. In this, Human Geography studies the functional relationship between population, natural resources and cultural landscape.
7. Human Geography attempts to explain the relationship between all elements of human life and the space they occur over. Thus, Human Geography assumes a highly inter -disciplinary nature.

Question.5. Explain naturalization of humans. OR
‘The primitive communities lived in complete harmony with their natural environment and as such the humans were naturalised.” Support the statement.
Answer.

1. Human beings interact with their physical environment with help of technology. Technology indicates the level of social and cultural development of society. They move from a state of necessity to a state of freedom. They create possibilities with the resources obtained from the environment.
2. In the early stages of their interaction with environment, human beings interacted with environment with help of primitive technology; hence nature played a dominant role over humans.
3. Human beings were greatly influenced by nature and adapted to dictates of the nature. This was so because the level of technology was very low. This type of interaction between human society the nature, is called naturalization of human’s also known as environmental determinism.
4. At this stage, humans listen to nature and were afraid of nature’s fury and worship it. All the actions of human beings are guided by the nature, especially by climate, wild animals and availability of water and edible plants.
5. Due to lack of technological advancement and understanding of nature, human beings are not able to loosen the shackles of nature and so follow it and all their actions are guided by nature.
6. This type of interaction can still be seen in tribal societies where tribal lives’ revolve around nature and their daily routine is well knit with the natural processes.

Question.6. How did man develop and expand proper technology? OR
How does technology loosen the shackles of environment on human beings? Explain with examples. OR
How is the knowledge of nature important to develop technology? Explain with suitable examples. OR
“The knowledge of nature is extremely important to develop technology.” Support the statement by giving three examples.
Answer. Human beings were able to develop proper technology using his knowledge and intelligence. It has taken man a long time to reach at the present level of technology. In primitive age when the level of technology was very low man was bound to follow the dictates of nature. In those times man was a slave of nature, scared of its powerful force and used to worship nature to make it happy. But gradually human developed technology and was able to develop technology after they develop better understanding of natural laws.
Examples: –

1. The understanding of concepts of friction and heat helped us discover fire.
2. Understanding of the secrets of DNA and genetics enabled us to conquer many diseases.
3. The laws of aerodynamics are used to develop faster planes.
4. The human activities create a cultural landscape such as health resorts pastures, ports, oceanic routes and satellites in the space.
5. Knowledge about nature is extremely important to develop technology. Technology loosens the shackles of environment on human beings.

Conclusion:- Today the level of technology is touching the heights of sky through which man seems to get free from the natural forces. Earthquake, cyclones, landslides, volcanoes and other natural disasters keep reminding man that he is still a slave to nature. It implies that man can’t be completely free from natural forces but with the development of technology man has become free from nature and this freedom can be expanded further. Man needs to follow Stop and Go approach. It means possibilities can be created within the limits which do not damage the environment and there is no free run without accidents.

Question.7. Explain with examples, how nature gets humanised. OR
“Nature provides opportunities and humans make use of these and slowly nature gets humanised and starts bearing the imprints of human endeavor.” Justify the statement. OR
How do human activities help to create cultural landscape?
Answer.

1. Cultural landscape is a term used in the fields of Geography, ecology, and heritage studies, to describe interaction of human activity and environment.
2. With social and cultural development, humans develop better and more efficient technology. They create new possibilities with the environment.
3. Nature provides opportunities and humans avail of these opportunities. It is called ‘Possibilism’. In this way, gradually humanisation of nature takes place and imprints of human activities become visible.
4. The people begin to understand their environment and the forces of nature with the passage of time.
5. The human activities create a cultural landscape such as health resorts pastures, ports, oceanic routes and satellites in the space.

Question.8. Differentiate between Determinism and Possibilism. OR
Which approach was followed by Lucian Febrre and Vidal De La Blache in the study of Human Geography? Mention major characteristics of this approach. OR
Explain the concept of ‘Determinism’ with suitable examples. OR
Explain the concept of Possibilism with suitable examples.
Answer.