PSEB SS Geography cheat sheet

Human geography studies the relationship between human societies and the earth's surface; its core subfields are population, settlement, economic, cultural, political and social geography.

Population growth rate = (births − deaths) + (immigration − emigration), expressed per 1,000 people; natural increase excludes migration.

Doubling time is approximated by the Rule of 70: 70 ÷ annual growth rate in percent gives years needed for a population to double.

Demographic transition has four/five stages: high stationary (high birth and death rates), early expanding (death rate falls), late expanding (birth rate falls), low stationary (both low), and a possible declining stage.

Dependency ratio = (population aged 0–14 plus 65+) ÷ population aged 15–64 × 100; a high ratio means a large non-working share.

Push factors drive migration away (unemployment, poverty, war, disaster); pull factors attract (jobs, better services, safety, land). Ravenstein's laws note most migrants move short distances and rural-to-urban flows dominate.

Settlements divide into rural (dispersed or nucleated, tied to farming) and urban (compact, non-farm functions); site factors include water, defence, fertile land and route junctions.

Economic activities classify as primary (extraction), secondary (manufacturing), tertiary (services), quaternary (knowledge/information) and quinary (top decision-making).

Von Thünen's model places perishable and bulky products (dairy, vegetables) near the market and grain/ranching farther out because transport cost rises with distance.

India's 2011 Census recorded about 1.21 billion people; decadal growth 2001–2011 was 17.7 percent, and density was 382 persons per sq km.

Kerala had the lowest decadal growth (4.9 percent) and the highest literacy rate (94.0 percent) in 2011; Bihar had the highest density and lowest literacy among major states.

Sex ratio in the 2011 Census was 943 females per 1,000 males; Kerala (1,084) was highest and Haryana (879) lowest among states.

India's population pyramid is broad-based but narrowing at the base, showing falling fertility; the working-age (15–59) share is rising, giving a demographic dividend.

Agriculture employs the largest share of workers, but its contribution to GDP is far smaller; the Green Revolution raised wheat and rice output in Punjab, Haryana and western UP.

Cropping seasons: kharif (monsoon-sown, e.g. rice, cotton), rabi (winter-sown, e.g. wheat, gram) and zaid (short summer crops such as watermelon, fodder).

Industries are classified by ownership (public, private, joint, cooperative) and by raw material (agro-based, mineral-based, forest-based, chemical-based); iron and steel is a basic or key industry.

Transport modes: railways suit bulk long-haul freight, roads provide door-to-door links, pipelines carry crude oil, petroleum and gas, and inland waterways are cheapest for heavy goods.

Urbanisation is measured by the share of population living in urban areas; Census towns are settlements that meet population, density and non-farm worker criteria without a municipal body.