Ramana Vidyalaya (CBSE), Sholinganallur

Worksheet.No. 19 (January 2023)

Chapter:6 Human Resources

Name: Date:
Grade & Section: VIII Answer Key Subject:S.SC/Geography:
____________________________________________________________________________________

Section A
Objective

1. Population density refer to______________________________

(a) The number of skilled people in a country

(b) The number of people living per square unit of area.

(c) The number of unskilled people in a country

(d) The way in which people are spread across the earth’s surface

2. Using resources carefully, judiciously & giving them time to get renewed is called _________

(a) Resource Development (b) Sustainable Conservation

(c) Sustainable Development (d) Resource Conservation

3. Which is NOT the factor on which the productivity of a nation depends on?

(a) Health (b) Census (c) Literacy (d) Possession of technical skills

4. Which of the following is a densely populated region?

(a) High altitudes areas (b) Plains (c) High mountains (d) Equatorial forest area

5. Pick out the apt definition for population distribution.

(a) The way in which people live in the villages

(b) The way in which people live in urban areas

(c) The way in which the skilled human resources are utilized in a country

(d) The way in which people are spread across the earth surface

6. Which one from the following refers to Census?

(a) The process of counting the number of states in a country

(b) The process of taking a count of total number of people in a country

(c) The process of counting the land area in a country

(d) The process of counting the mountains and hilly terrains in a country

7. In India, censuses have been undertaken once every ___________ years.

(a) 25 (b) 15 (c) 20 (d) 10

8. Cite an example where religious or cultural activities tend to attract more people

(a) Mumbai (b) Sahara (c) Osaka (d) Jerusalem

9. Which of the following statements are FALSE with respect to thinly populated areas?

(a) Usually the high altitude areas and extremely cold zones are sparsely populated.

(b) Climate here is inhospitable

(c) Very few people live in the equatorial forests.

(d) These regions enjoy an equable climate where there is adequate rainfall.

10. Pick out the definition for natural growth rate.

(a) The difference between the birth rate and the death rate of a country

(b) The age- sex composition of a country.

(c) The way in which people are spread across the earth’s surface.

(d) The number of people living per square unit of area.

Section B
Subjective
 1. a) Describe how the population of the world has grown in history. (2)
b) What has caused the population explosion? (1)
Answer
a) The world population grew steadily initially. It reached a billion in the year 1820. But the next two
billion were added in just a hundred and fifty years. By 1970 the population was 3 billion. In the next 29
years, i.e. by the year 1999, the population had doubled to 6 billion.
b) The population explosion has been mainly caused by the growth in medical facilities, which has
decreased the death rate by a large extent.

2. How do the topography and climate of a place affect the distribution of population? (3)
Answer
Ø Both topography and climate are the factors that immediately affect the distribution of population.
Ø People prefer favorable conditions for farming, manufacturing and service activities. For example, the
Ganga plains are the most densely populated areas of the world.
Ø On the other hand, mountains and plateaus do not provide these. For example, the Himalayas where
people do not like to live and therefore these areas are sparsely populated.
Ø Thus, the topography of a place matters a lot in human settlement. So far the climate of a place is
concerned people usually avoid extreme climates, i.e. very hot or very cold.
Ø For example, the Sahara desert, Polar Regions of Russia, Canada and Antarctica are thinly populated.

3.Describe how various factors affect population distribution. (5)

Answer: Factors affecting 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 the 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, and 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 spare populations.

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, Cultural and Economic Factors

Social: Areas of better housing, education and health facilities are more densely populated e.g., Pune.
Cultural: Places with religion or cultural significance attract people. Varanasi, Jerusalem and Vatican City
are some examples.

Economic: Industrial areas provide employment opportunities. Large number of people are attracted to
these areas. Osaka in Japan and Mumbai in India are two densely populated areas.
4. Why was the total increase in the world's population very slow till the 1800s?
Answer
Ø For a very long period of human history, until the 1800s, the population of the world grew steadily but
slowly.
Ø This was because the birth rate and death rate were almost the same.
Ø A large number of babies were born, but they died earlier too. This happened as a result of poor health
facilities.
Ø Sufficient food was also not available for all the people.
Ø Farmers were not able to produce enough to meet the food requirements of all the people.
Ø Thus, non-availability of medical facilities and sufficient food kept the world’s population steady till the
1800s.

5. a) What is the general trend of migration? (2)

b) Mention the factors that cause population change. (3)
Answer
Ø The general trend of migrations is from the less developed nations to the more developed nations in
search of better employment opportunities.
Ø Within countries a large number of people move from the rural to urban areas in search of employment,
education and health facilities.
b) Factors that cause population change are: births, deaths and migrations.
Ø Births are usually measured using the birth rate, i.e. the number of live birth per 1,000 people.
Ø Deaths are usually measured using the death rate, i.e., the number of deaths per 1,000 people. Births
and deaths are natural causes of population change.

Ø Migration is another way by which population size changes. People may move within a country or
between countries. Countries like the USA and Australia have gained in numbers by immigration.
Sudan is a country that has experienced a loss of population numbers due to emigration.
6. What are population pyramids? How do they help in understanding the population of a country? (5)
Answer:
Ø Population pyramid is a graphical representation of population composition of a country.
Ø The shape of the population pyramid tells the story of the people living in that particular country.
Ø The numbers of children (below 15 years) are shown at the bottom and reflect the level of births.
Ø The size of the top shows the numbers of aged people (above 65 years) and reflects the number of
deaths.
Ø 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).
Ø Those of the working age are economically active.
Ø 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.
7. Why is the population pyramid of Kenya broad at the base and narrow at the top? (2)
Answer:
➢ 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.
➢ This is 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
represented by the pyramid shown for Kenya.
8. Describe the population pyramid of India. (2)
Answer:
➢ 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 labour force.

Hots:

9) Why do you think people are the nation’s greatest resources and human resources are the ultimate
resource? Justify this statement with valid reasons.

● Human beings are considered as an important resource because they make the use of nature to
create more resources. They can do this as they have the knowledge, skill and the technology to
do so.
● This ability is acquired by people on the basis of education received by them.
● Human resource refers to human capital which can make use of land & capital.
● Population becomes a human resource when there's investment made in the form of
education, health & training.
● On the other hand, land is a natural resource and physical capital includes tools, machines,
buildings, raw materials, etc.
● If human beings are not there the development of the region is not possible. Without man, no
country/city can prosper. So, Human beings are an important resource in nature.

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