Human Geography Nature and Scope — NCERT Solutions

Some sub-fields of human geography mentioned in the chapter are social geography, behavioural geography, geography of social well-being, cultural geography, gender geography, historical geography, medical geography, urban geography, political geography, population geography, settlement geography, and several branches of economic geography such as geography of agriculture, industries, marketing, tourism, and international trade.

Human geography is closely related to other social sciences because it studies human life and the spaces in which human activities occur. The chapter shows its interface with sociology, psychology, economics, anthropology, history, epidemiology, political science, demography, urban/rural planning, military science, and business studies/commerce. In this way, human geography borrows concepts and methods from these disciplines to explain social, cultural, political, economic, and population-related patterns on the earth's surface.

Naturalisation of humans means the early stage of human-environment interaction when human beings were greatly influenced by nature and adapted to its dictates. In this stage, technology was very low and society was primitive, so nature acted as a powerful force. People depended directly on nature for survival, worshipped and revered it, and lived in close harmony with it. The chapter gives the example of Benda and his community, whose life is closely tied to forests, shifting cultivation, and forest spirits. Thus, humans become almost part of nature and are described as naturalised humans.

The scope of human geography is very wide. It studies the relationship between human societies and the earth's surface and the interaction between the physical environment and the socio-cultural environment created by humans. It includes how people modify nature and how nature influences human life. Because of this, human geography has many sub-fields such as social, behavioural, cultural, gender, historical, medical, urban, political, population, settlement, economic, agricultural, industrial, marketing, tourism, and trade geography. It is also interdisciplinary, drawing on social sciences like sociology, economics, anthropology, history, political science, psychology, demography, and planning. Its scope therefore extends to almost all aspects of human life in space.