Class 12 Geography: Chapter 1 Human Geography Nature and Scope Notes

Nature of Human Geography

• Human geography focuses on the elements of material culture, such as houses, villages, cities, road-rail networks, industries, etc., created by humans using resources from the physical environment.
• Human interaction with the physical environment is made possible by technology, which indicates the level of cultural development of a society.
• Development of technology is dependent on the understanding of natural laws, for example, concepts of friction and heat led to the discovery of fire.

Humanisation of Nature

• With social and cultural development, humans develop more efficient technology, creating possibilities with resources obtained from the environment, and generating a cultural landscape.
• The concept of Neo Determinism or Stop and Go determinism, introduced by geographer Griffith Taylor, suggests that humans can conquer nature by obeying it, finding a middle path between environmental determinism and possibilism.

Fields and Sub-fields of Human Geography

• Human geography is an inter-disciplinary field that develops close interfaces with other social sciences to understand and explain human elements on the surface of the earth.
• It involves the process of adaptation, adjustment, and modification of the environment, starting from the appearance of human beings on the earth's surface in different ecological niches.