Maharashtra HSC Geography (MSBSHSE) flashcards

36 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Population density formula

Total population divided by total land area in square kilometres. It shows how crowded a region is but ignores distribution within it and arable land quality.

Rule of 70

Doubling time in years equals 70 divided by the annual percentage growth rate. A 2% growth rate doubles a population in about 35 years.

Dependency ratio

Number of people aged under 15 and over 60 divided by those aged 15 to 59, multiplied by 100. A high value means a large non-working burden.

Demographic transition model

Five-stage sequence from high birth and death rates to low ones. Death rates fall first, then birth rates, producing rapid growth in the middle stages.

Sex ratio

Females per 1,000 males in a population. A value below 1,000 indicates fewer women than men, often caused by migration or gender discrimination.

Primate city

A city more than twice the size of the next largest city in the country. It dominates administration, trade and culture and creates regional imbalance.

Conurbation

A continuous urban area formed when neighbouring towns expand and merge, such as Mumbai with Thane and Navi Mumbai, sharing labour and transport networks.

Site and situation

Site is the local ground on which a settlement stands, including relief, water and defence. Situation is its regional position relative to routes and resources.

Central Place Theory

Christaller's model in which settlements act as service centres spaced in a hexagonal pattern. Higher-order centres are fewer and serve larger hinterlands.

Census urban criteria

A place is urban if it is a statutory town, or has over 5,000 people, over 75% male non-farm workers, and density above 400 per square kilometre.

Rural-urban fringe

Zone at the edge of a city where agricultural and urban land uses mix. Farmland, housing colonies and industry compete for the same plots.

Weight-losing industry

An industry whose finished product weighs less than its raw material, so it locates near the raw material source to avoid transporting bulky inputs.

Von Thünen model

Rings of farming around a market town. Perishable, bulky products lie nearest; extensive grain and ranching lie farthest because transport costs rise with distance.

Industrial inertia

The tendency of an industry to remain in a place after its original advantages disappear, because of sunk capital, skilled labour and linked suppliers.

Special Economic Zone

A demarcated area with tax incentives, duty-free imports and simplified clearance, designed to attract export-oriented production and foreign investment.

Quaternary activities

Economic activities involving knowledge, information and decision-making, such as research, consultancy, software design and financial analysis, rather than physical goods.

Rock cycle

Continuous transformation among igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks through melting, weathering and deposition, and heat and pressure.

Karst topography

Landscape formed on soluble limestone by chemical weathering, producing sinkholes, caves, stalactites, stalagmites and disappearing underground streams.

Coriolis force

Deflection of moving air or water caused by Earth's rotation. It deflects to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and left in the Southern, strongest at the poles.

Monsoon mechanism

Seasonal reversal of winds caused by differential heating of land and sea, the northward shift of the ITCZ, and the Tibetan plateau heat low in summer.

Spring and neap tides

Spring tides are highest at new and full moon when Sun and Moon align. Neap tides are lowest at quarter phases when their pulls oppose each other.

Human Development Index

Composite index averaging life expectancy, education and per capita income indices. Values near 1 indicate high development; near 0, low development.

Core-periphery model

Development concentrates in core regions with capital and infrastructure, while periphery regions supply raw materials and labour, staying backward unless deliberately linked and invested in.

Growth pole theory

Perroux's idea that investment in one key industry triggers linked industries and services, generating regional growth around that focal point.

Sustainable development

Development that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs, balancing economic, social and environmental goals.

Western Ghats water divide

The Sahyadri crest separates short swift west-flowing Konkan rivers from long east-flowing rivers such as the Godavari and Krishna draining the Deccan plateau.

Konkan physiography

A narrow coastal lowland strip between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats, with heavy monsoon rainfall, laterite soils and fast-flowing short rivers.

Maharashtra rain shadow

Interior districts such as Marathwada and Vidarbha receive little monsoon rain because the Western Ghats block moisture-bearing winds from the Arabian Sea.

Black cotton soil

Dark regur soil on the Deccan plateau, formed from weathered basalt. It retains moisture well and suits cotton, jowar and pulses.

Representative fraction

A map scale written as a ratio, such as 1:50,000, meaning one unit on the map equals 50,000 of the same units on the ground.

Contour interval

The constant vertical distance between successive contour lines on a map. Closely spaced contours indicate steep slopes; widely spaced ones indicate gentle slopes.

Grid reference reading

Locate a point by reading the easting value first and the northing second, moving right along the corridor then up the stairs.

Choropleth map

A map in which administrative areas are shaded or patterned in proportion to a value such as population density or literacy rate.

Stratified sampling

A sampling method in which the population is divided into groups such as age or income, and random samples are drawn from each group separately.

Koyna earthquake zone

A seismically active belt in Maharashtra along the Koyna-Warna region, associated with reservoir-triggered earthquakes and classified as high seismic risk.

Field study hypothesis

A testable statement about a geographical relationship, framed before data collection, which the field survey then accepts or rejects.