Transport and Communication PDF

Natural resources, economic activities and Unit-III markets are rarely found in one place. Chapter-7 Transport, communication and trade establish links between producing ce...

Natural resources, economic activities and Unit-III markets are rarely found in one place. Chapter-7 Transport, communication and trade establish links between producing centres and consuming centres. The system of mass production and exchange is complex. Each region produces the items for which it is best suited. Trade or the exchange of such commodities relies on transportation and communication. Likewise, the high living standards and quality of life depend on efficient transportation, communications and trade. In earlier days, the means of transport and communication were the same. But today both have acquired distinct and specialised forms. Transport and Transport provides the network of links and carriers through which trade takes place. Communication TRANSPORT TRANSPORT Transport is a service or facility for the carriage of persons and goods from one place to the other using humans, animals and different kinds of vehicles. Such movements take place over land, water and air. Roads and railways form part of land transport; while shipping and waterways and airways are the other two modes. Pipelines carry materials like petroleum, natural gas, and ores in liquidified form. Moreover, transportation is an organised service industry created to satisfy the basic needs of society. It includes transport arteries, vehicles to carry people and goods, and the organisation to maintain arteries, and to handle loading, unloading and delivery. Every nation has developed various kinds of transportation for defence purposes. Assured and speedy transportation, along with efficient communication, promote cooperation and unity among scattered peoples. What is a Transport Network ? Several places (nodes) joined together by a series of routes (links) to form a pattern. MODES OF TRANSPOR TRANSPORT TATION The principal modes of world transportation, as already mentioned are land, water, air and 54 Fundamentals of Human Geography Reprint 2024-25 pipelines. These are used for inter-regional and intra-regional transport, and each one (except pipelines) carries both passengers and freight. The significance of a mode depends on the type of goods and services to be transported, costs of transport and the mode available. International movement of goods is handled by ocean freighters. Road transport is cheaper and faster over short distances and for door-to- door services. Railways are most suited for large volumes of bulky materials over long distances within a country. High-value, light and Fig. 7.1: Ropeway and Cable cars in Austria perishable goods are best moved by airways. In a well-managed transport system, these This means of transport is usually found on steep various modes complement each other. mountain slopes and mines which are not suitable for building roads. Land Transport transportation and large freighters are the cheapest. They are important in supplementing Most of the movement of goods and services modern channels and carriers which penetrate takes place over land. In early days, humans the interiors in large countries. In the densely themselves were carriers. Have you ever seen a populated districts of India and China, overland bride being carried on a palanquin (palki/doli) transport still takes place by human porters or by four persons (Kahars in north India). Later carts drawn or pushed by humans. animals were used as beasts of burden. Have you seen mules, horses and camels, carrying loads of cargo in rural areas? With the invention Pack Animals of the wheel, the use of carts and wagons Horses are used as a draught animal even became important. The revolution in transport in the Western countries. Dogs and came about only after the invention of the steam reindeer are used in North America, North engine in the eighteenth century. Perhaps the Europe and Siberia to draw sledges over first public railway line was opened in 1825 snow-covered ground. Mules are preferred between Stockton and Darlington in northern in the mountainous regions; while camels England and then onwards, railways became are used for caravan movement in deserts. the most popular and fastest form of transport In India, bullocks are used for pulling carts. in the nineteenth century. It opened up continental interiors for commercial grain farming, mining and manufacturing in U.S.A. The invention of the internal combustion engine revolutionised road transport in terms of road quality and vehicles (motor cars and trucks) plying over them. Among the newer developments in land transportation are pipelines, ropeways and cableways. Liquids like mineral oil, water, sludge and sewers are transported by pipelines. The great freight carriers are the railways, ocean vessels, barges, boats and motor trucks and pipelines. In general, the old and elementary forms Fig. 7.2: A horse cart in a village Tefki, like the human porter, pack animal, cart or in Ethiopia wagon are the most expensive means of Transport and Communication 55 Reprint 2024-25 Roads Think on these lines for a Road transport is the most economical for short better tomorrow... distances compared to railways. Freight transport by road is gaining importance URBAN TRANSPORT SOLUTIONS because it offers door-to-door service. But Higher Parking Fee unmetalled roads, though simple in construction, are not effective and serviceable Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) for all seasons. During the rainy season these Improved Public Bus Service become unmotorable and even the metalled Expressways ones are seriously handicapped during heavy rains and floods. In such conditions, the high embankment of rail-tracks and the efficient maintenance of railway transport service, is an Highways effective solution. But the rail kilometrage being small cannot serve the needs of vast and Highways are metalled roads connecting distant developing countries at a low cost. Roads, places. They are constructed in a manner for therefore, play a vital role in a nation’s trade unobstructed vehicular movement. As such and commerce and for promoting tourism. these are 80 m wide, with separate traffic lanes, bridges, flyovers and dual carriageways to The quality of the roads varies greatly facilitate uninterrupted traffic flow. In developed between developed and developing countries countries, every city and port town is linked because road construction and maintenance through highways. require heavy expenditure. In developed countries good quality roads are universal and provide long-distance links in the form of motorways, autobahns (Germany), and inter– state highways for speedy movement. Lorries, of increasing size and power to carry heavy loads, are common. But unfortunately, the world’s road system is not well developed. The world’s total motorable road length is only about 15 million km, of which North America accounts for 33 per cent. The highest road density and the highest number of vehicles are registered in this continent compared to Western Europe. Traffic Flows: Traffic on roads has increased dramatically in recent years. When the road network cannot cope with the demands Fig. 7.3 : Dharmavaram Tuni National Highway, India of traffic, congestion occurs. City roads suffer from chronic traffic congestion. Peaks (high In North America, highway density is high, points) and troughs (low points) of traffic flow about 0.65 km per sq km. Every place is within can be seen on roads at particular times of the 20 km distance from a highway. Cities located day, for example, peaks occurring during the on the Pacific coast (west) are well-connected rush hour before and after work. Most of the with those of the Atlantic Coast (east). Likewise, cities in the world have been facing the problem the cities of Canada in the north are linked with of congestion. those of Mexico in the south. The Trans- 56 Fundamentals of Human Geography Reprint 2024-25 Canadian Highway links Vancouver in British countries have such roads to transport goods Columbia(west coast) to St. John’s City in to border villages and military camps. Newfoundland (east coast) and the Alaskan Highway links Edmonton (Canada) to Railways Anchorage (Alaska). Railways are a mode of land transport for The Pan-American Highway, a large bulky goods and passengers over long portion of which has been constructed, will distances. The railway gauges vary in different connect the countries of South America, Central countries and are roughly classified as broad America and U.S.A.-Canada. The Trans- (more than 1.5 m), standard (1.44 m), metre Continental Stuart Highway connects Darwin gauge (1 m) and smaller gauges. The standard (north coast) and Melbourne via Tennant Creek gauge is used in the U.K. and Alice Springs in Australia. Commuter trains are very popular in U.K., Europe has a large number of vehicles and U.S.A, Japan and India. These carry millions a well-developed highway network. But of passengers daily to and fro in the city. There highways face a lot of competition from railways are about 13 lakh km of railways open for traffic and waterways. in the world. In Russia, a dense highway network is developed in the industrialised region west of the Urals with Moscow as the hub. The important Moscow-Vladivostok Highway serves the region to the east. Due to the vast geographical area, highways in Russia are not as important as railways. In China, highways criss-cross the country connecting all major cities such as Tsungtso (near Vietnam boundary), Shanghai (central China), Guangzhou (south) and Beijing (north). A new highway links Chengdu with Lhasa in Tibet. In India, there are many highways Fig. 7.4: Tube Train in Vienna linking the major towns and cities. The Europe has one of the most dense rail Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) or Super networks in the world. There are about Expressway is underway to connect the four 4,40,000 km of railways, most of which is metropolitan cities — New Delhi, Mumbai, double or multiple-tracked. Belgium has the Chennai and Kolkata. highest density of 1 km of railway for every 6.5 In Africa, a highway joins Algiers in the sq kms area. The industrial regions exhibit north to Conakry in Guinea. Similarly, Cairo some of the highest densities in the world. The is also connected to Cape Town. important rail heads are London, Paris, Brussels, Milan, Berlin and Warsaw. Passenger Border Roads transport is more important than freight in many of these countries. Underground railways Roads laid along international boundaries are are important in London and Paris. Channel called border roads. They play an important Tunnel, operated by Euro Tunnel Group role in integrating people in remote areas with through England, connects London with Paris. major cities and providing defence. Almost all Trans-continental railway lines have now lost Transport and Communication 57 Reprint 2024-25 their importance to quicker and more flexible facilities because of vast deserts and sparsely transport systems of airways and roadways. populated regions. In Russia, railways account for about 90 per cent of the country’s total transport with a very dense network west of the Urals. Moscow is the most important rail head with major lines radiating to different parts of the country’s vast geographical area. Underground railways and commuter trains are also important in Moscow. North America has one of the most extensive rail networks accounting for nearly 40 per cent of the world’s total? In contrast to many European countries, the railways are used more for long-distance bulky freight like ores, grains, timber and machinery than for passengers. The most dense rail network is found in the highly industrialised and Africa continent, despite being the urbanised region of East Central U.S.A. and second largest, has only 40,000 km of adjoining Canada. railways with South Africa alone accounting In Canada, railways are in the public for 18,000 km due to the concentration of sector and distributed all over the sparsely gold, diamond and copper mining activities. populated areas. The transcontinental railways The important routes of the continent are: (i) carry the bulk of wheat and coal tonnage. the Benguela Railway through Angola to Australia has about 40,000 km of Katanga-Zambia Copper Belt; (ii) the Tanzania railways, of which 25 per cent are found in New Railway from the Zambian Copper Belt to South Wales alone. The west-east Australian Dar-es-Salaam on the coast; (iii) the Railway National Railway line runs across the country through Botswana and Zimbabwe linking the from Perth to Sydney. New Zealand’s railways landlocked states to the South African are mainly in the North Island to serve the network; and (iv) the Blue Train from Cape farming areas. Town to Pretoria in the Republic of South In South America, the rail network is the Africa. Elsewhere, as in Algeria, Senegal, most dense in two regions, namely, the Pampas Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia, railway lines of Argentina and the coffee growing region of connect port cities to interior centres but do Brazil which together account for 40 per cent not form a good network with other countries. of South America’s total route length. Only Chile, among the remaining countries has a Trans–Continental Railways considerable route length linking coastal centres Trans–continental railways run across the with the mining sites in the interior. Peru, Bolivia, continent and link its two ends. They were Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela have short constructed for economic and political reasons single-track rail-lines from ports to the interior to facilitate long runs in different directions. with no inter-connecting links. The following are the most important of these: There is only one trans-continental rail route linking Buenos Aires (Argentina) with Valparaiso (Chile) across the Andes Mountains Trans–Siberian Railway through the Uspallatta Pass located at a height This is a trans–siberian Railways major rail of 3,900 m. route of Russia runs from St. Petersburg in the In Asia, rail network is the most dense in west to Vladivostok on the Pacific Coast in the the thickly populated areas of Japan, China and east passing through Moscow, Ufa, Novosibirsk, India. Other countries have relatively few rail Irkutsk, Chita and Khabarovsk. It is the most routes. West Asia is the least developed in rail important route in Asia and the longest (9,332 km) 58 Fundamentals of Human Geography Reprint 2024-25 double-tracked and electrified trans– gained economic significance because it continental railway in the world. It has helped connected the Quebec-Montreal Industrial in opening up its Asian region to West European Region with the wheat belt of the Prairie Region markets. It runs across the Ural Mountains Ob and the Coniferous Forest region in the north. and Yenisei rivers Chita is an important agro- Thus each of these regions became centre and Irkutsk, a fur centre. There are complementary to the other. A loop line from connecting links to the south, namely, to Odessa Winnipeg to Thunder Bay (Lake Superior) (Ukraine), Baku on the Caspian Coast, connects this rail-line with one of the important Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Ulan Bator (Mongolia), waterways of the world. This line is the economic and Shenyang (Mukden) and Beijing in China. artery of Canada. Wheat and meat are the important exports on this route. Trans–Canadian Railways The Union and Pacific Railway This 7,050 km long rail-line in Canada runs from Halifax in the east to Vancouver on the Pacific This rail-line connects New York on the Atlantic Coast passing through Montreal, Ottawa, Coast to San Francisco on the Pacific Coast Winnipeg and Calgary (Fig. 7.6). It was passing through Cleveland, Chicago, Omaha, constructed in 1886, initially as part of an Evans, Ogden and Sacramento. The most agreement to make British Columbia on the west valuable exports on this route are ores, grain, coast join the Federation of States. Later on, it paper, chemicals and machinery. Fig. 7.5: Trans–Siberian Railway Transport and Communication 59 Reprint 2024-25  Fig. 7.6: Trans–Canadian Railway The Australian Trans–Continental are cheese, bacon, oats, wine, fruits, and Railway machinery. This rail-line runs west-east across the southern There is a proposal to build a Trans–Asiatic part of the continent from Perth on the west Railway linking Istanbul with Bangkok via coast, to Sydney on the east coast. passing Iran, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and through Kalgoorlie, Broken Hill and Port Myanmar. Augusta (Fig. 7.7). Another major north-south line connects WATER TRANSPORT Adelaide and Alice Spring and to be joined One of the great advantages of water further to the Darwin–Birdum line. transportation is that it does not require route construction. The oceans are linked with each The Orient Express other and are negotiable with ships of various This line runs from Paris to Istanbul passing sizes. All that is needed is to provide port through Strasbourg, Munich, Vienna, facilities at the two ends. It is much cheaper Budapest and Belgrade. The journey time from because the friction of water is far less than that London to Istanbul by this Express is now of land. The energy cost of water transportation reduced to 96 hours as against 10 days by the is lower. Water transport is divided into sea sea-route. The chief exports on this rail-route routes and inland waterways. 60 Fundamentals of Human Geography Reprint 2024-25  Fig. 7.7: Australian Trans–Continental Railway adaptation to the physical environment. Compared to land and air, ocean transport is a cheaper means of haulage (carrying of load) of bulky material over long distances from one continent to another. Modern passenger liners (ships) and cargo ships are equipped with radar, wireless and other navigation aids. The development of refrigerated chambers for perishable goods, tankers and specialised ships has also improved cargo transport. The use of containers has made cargo handling at the world’s major ports easier. Fig. 7.8: The view of Seine River from the Important Sea Routes Eiffel Tower (One can see how the river has become an important Inland waterway) Major sea routes are shown in the Fig. 7.9. Some important routes have been discussed in the Sea Routes following pages. The oceans offer a smooth highway traversable in all directions with no maintenance costs. Its The Northern Atlantic Sea Route transformation into a routeway by sea-going This links North-eastern U.S.A. and North- vessels is an important development in human western Europe, the two industrially developed Transport and Communication 61 Reprint 2024-25  Fig. 7.9: Major Sea Routes and Sea Ports regions of the world. The foreign trade over this The Cape of Good Hope Sea Route route is greater than that of the rest of the world This trade route connects the highly combined. One fourth of the world’s foreign industrialised Western European region with West trade moves on this route. It is, therefore, the Africa, South Africa, South-east Asia and the busiest in the world and otherwise, called the commercial agriculture and livestock economies Big Trunk Route. Both the coasts have highly of Australia and New Zealand. The volume of advanced ports and harbour facilities. trade and traffic between both East and West Africa is on the increase due to the development of the rich natural resources such as gold, diamond, copper, tin, groundnut, oil palm, Find out some of the important ports on the coast of coffee and fruits. U.S.A. and Western Europe in your atlas. The Southern Atlantic Sea Route The Mediterranean–Indian Ocean Sea This sea route is another important one across Route the Atlantic Ocean which connects West European and West African countries with This sea route passes through the heart of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay in South the Old World and serves more countries and America. The traffic is far less on this route people than any other route. Port Said, Aden, because of the limited development and Mumbai, Colombo and Singapore are some population in South America and Africa. Only of the important ports on this route. The southeastern Brazil and Plata estuary and construction of Suez Canal has greatly parts of South Africa have large-scale industries. reduced the distance and time as compared There is also little traffic on the route between to the earlier route through the Cape of Good Rio de Janeiro and Cape Town because both Hope, which was longer than the route South America and Africa have similar through Suez Canal. products and resources. 62 Fundamentals of Human Geography Reprint 2024-25 The North Pacific Sea Route sea-route distance between Liverpool and Colombo compared to the Cape of Good Hope Trade across the vast North Pacific Ocean moves by several routes which converge at route. It is a sea-level canal without locks Honolulu. The direct route on the Great Circle which is about 160 km and 11 to 15 m deep. links Vancouver and Yokohama and reduces About 100 ships travel daily and each ship the travelling distance (2,480 km) by half. takes 10-12 hours to cross this canal. The tolls This sea route links the ports on the west- are so heavy that some find it cheaper to go by coast of North America with those of Asia. These the longer Cape Route whenever the are Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco consequent delay is not important. A railway and Los Angeles on the American side and follows the canal to Suez, and from Ismailia Yokohama, Kobe, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Manila there is a branch line to Cairo. A navigable and Singapore on the Asian side. fresh-water canal from the Nile also joins the Suez Canal in Ismailia to supply fresh-water to The South Pacific Sea Route Port Said and Suez. This sea route connects Western Europe and North America with Australia, New Zealand and the scattered Pacific islands via the Panama Canal. This route is also used for reaching Hong Kong, Philippines and Indonesia. The distance covered between Panama and Sydney is 12,000 km. Honolulu is an important port on this route. Coastal Shipping It is obvious that water transport is a cheaper mode. While oceanic routes connect different countries, coastal shipping is a convenient mode of transportation with long coastlines, e.g. U.S.A, China and India. Shenzhen States in Europe are most suitably placed for coastal shipping connecting one member’s coast with the other. If properly developed, coastal shipping can reduce the congestion on the land routes. Shipping Canals The Suez and the Panama Canals are two vital man-made navigation canals or waterways Fig. 7.10 : Suez Canal which serve as gateways of commerce for both the eastern and western worlds. The Panama Canal This canal connects the Atlantic Ocean in the The Suez Canal east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It has been This canal had been constructed in 1869 in constructed across the Panama Isthmus Egypt between Port Said in the north and Port between Panama City and Colon by the U.S. Suez in the south linking the Mediterranean government which purchased 8 km of area on Sea and the Red Sea. It gives Europe a new either side and named it the Canal Zone. The gateway to the Indian Ocean and reduces direct Canal is about 72 km. long and involves a very Transport and Communication 63 Reprint 2024-25  deep cutting for a length of 12 km. It has a six- lock system and ships cross the different levels (26 m up and down) through these locks before entering the Gulf of Panama. It shortens the distance between New York and San Francisco by 13,000 km by sea. Likewise the distance between Western Europe and the West-coast of U.S.A.; and North-eastern and Central U.S.A. and East and South-east Asia is shortened. The economic significance of this Canal is relatively less than that of the Suez. However, it is vital to the economies of Latin America. Inland Waterways Rivers, canals, lakes and coastal areas have been important waterways since time immemorial. Boats and steamers are used as means of transport for cargo and passengers. The development of inland waterways is dependent on the navigability width and depth Fig. 7.11 : The Panama Canal of the channel, continuity in the water flow, and transport technology in use. Rivers are the only means of transport in dense forests. Very heavy cargo like coal, cement, timber and metallic ores can be transported through inland waterways. In ancient times, riverways were the main highways of transportation as in the case of India. But they lost importance because of competition from railways, lack of water due to diversion for irrigation, and their poor maintenance. Fig. 7.12: Inland waterways are a major source of transport wherever the river is wide, deep and free of silt Can you think of the impact on traffic in Panama canal after the Nicaraguan canal opens up? The significance of rivers as inland waterways for domestic and international 64 Fundamentals of Human Geography Reprint 2024-25 transport and trade has been recognised throughout the developed world. Despite inherent limitations, many rivers have been modified to enhance their navigability by dredging, stabilising river banks, and building dams and barrages for regulating the flow of water. The following river waterways are some of the world’s important highways of commerce. The Rhine Waterways The Rhine flows through Germany and the Netherlands. It is navigable for 700 km from Rotterdam, at its mouth in the Netherlands to Basel in Switzerland. Ocean-going vessels can reach up to Cologne. The Ruhr river joins the Rhine from the east. It flows through a rich coalfield and the whole basin has become a prosperous manufacturing area. Dusseldorf is the Rhine port for this region. Huge tonnage moves along the stretch south of the Ruhr. This waterway is the world’s most heavily used. Each year more than 20,000 ocean-going ships and Fig. 7.14 : Rhine Waterway 2,00,000 inland vessels exchange their cargoes. It connects the industrial areas of Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands The Volga Waterway with the North Atlantic Sea Route. Russia has a large number of developed waterways, of which the Volga is one of the most important. It provides a navigable waterway of 11,200 km and drains into the Caspian Sea. The Volga-Moscow Canal connects it with the Moscow region and the Volga-Don Canal with the Black Sea. The Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Seaway The Great Lakes of North America Superior, Huron Erie and Ontario are connected by Soo Canal and Welland Canal to form an inland waterway. The estuary of St. Lawrence River, along with the Great Lakes, forms a unique Fig. 7.13: The Rhine Waterway commercial waterway in the northern part of The Danube Waterway North America. The ports on this route like Duluth and Buffalo are equipped with all This important inland waterway serves Eastern facilities of ocean ports. As such large ocean- Europe. The Danube river rises in the Black going vessels are able to navigate up the river Forest and flows eastwards through many deep inside the continent to Montreal. But here countries. It is navigable up to Taurna Severin. goods have to be trans-shipped to smaller The chief export items are wheat, maize, timber, vessels due to the presence of rapids. Canals and machinery. have been constructed up to 3.5 m deep to avoid these. Transport and Communication 65 Reprint 2024-25 The Mississippi Waterways At present no place in the world is more than 35 hours away. This startling fact has been The Mississippi-Ohio waterway connects the made possible due to people who build and fly interior part of U.S.A. with the Gulf of Mexico airplanes. Travel by air can now be measured in the south. Large steamers can go through by hours and minutes instead of years and this route up to Minneapolis. months. Frequent air services are available to many parts of the world. Although, U.K. AIR TRANSPORT pioneered the use of commercial jet transport, Air transport is the fastest means of U.S.A. developed largely post-War international transportation, but it is very costly. Being fast, civil aviation. Today, more than 250 it is preferred by passengers for long-distance commercial airlines offer regular services to travel. Valuable cargo can be moved rapidly on different parts of the world. Recent a world-wide scale. It is often the only means developments can change the future course of to reach inaccessible areas. Air transport has air transport. Supersonic aircraft, cover the brought about a connectivity revolution in the distance between London and New York within world. The frictions created by mountainous three and a half hours. snow fields or inhospitable desert terrains have been overcome. The accessibility has increased. Inter-Continental Air Routes The airplane brings varied articles to the In the Northern Hemisphere, there is a distinct Eskimos in Northern Canada unhindered by east-west belt of inter-continental air routes. the frozen ground. In the Himalayan region, the Dense network exists in Eastern U.S.A., Western routes are often obstructed due to landslides, Europe and Southeast Asia. U.S.A. alone avalanches or heavy snow fall. At such times, accounts for 60 per cent of the airways of the air travel is the only alternative to reach a place. world. New York, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Airways also have great strategic importance. Frankfurt Rome, Moscow, Karachi, New Delhi, The air strikes by U.S. and British forces in Iraq Mumbai, Bangkok, Singapore, Tokyo, San bears testimony to this fact. The airways Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago are the network is expanding very fast. nodal points where air routes converge or radiate to all continents. Africa, Asiatic part of Russia and South America lack air services. There are limited air services between 10-35 latitudes in the Southern hemisphere due to sparser population, limited landmass and economic development. PIPELINES Pipelines are used extensively to transport liquids and gases such as water, petroleum and natural gas for an uninterrupted flow. Fig. 7.15: An Aeroplane at Salsburg Airport Water supplied through pipelines is familiar The manufacturing of aircrafts and their to all. Cooking gas or LPG is supplied through operations require elaborate infrastructure like pipelines in many parts of the world. Pipelines hangars, landing, fuelling, and maintenance can also be used to transport liquidified coal. facilities for the aircrafts. The construction of In New Zealand, milk is being supplied through airports is also very expensive and has developed pipelines from farms to factories. more in highly industrialised countries where In U.S.A. there is a dense network of oil there is a large volume of traffic. pipelines from the producing areas to the 66 Fundamentals of Human Geography Reprint 2024-25  Fig. 7.16: Major Airports consuming areas. Big Inch is one such famous The proposed Iran-India via Pakistan pipeline, which carries petroleum from the oil international oil and natural gas pipeline will wells of the Gulf of Mexico to the North-eastern be the longest in the world. States. About 17 per cent of all freight per tonne-km. is carried through pipelines in U.S.A. COMMUNICATIONS Human beings have used different methods long-distance communications of which the telegraph and the telephone were important. The telegraph was instrumental in the colonisation of the American West. During the early and mid-twentieth century, the American Telegraph and Telephone Company (AT&T) enjoyed a monopoly over U.S.A.’s telephone industry. In fact, the telephone became a critical factor in the urbanisation of America. Firms centralised their functioning at city- headquarters and located their branch offices in smaller towns. Even today, the telephone is Fig. 7.17: Pipelines transporting natural gas the most commonly used mode. In developing in Ukraine countries, the use of cell phones, made possible In Europe, Russia, West Asia and India by satellites, is important for rural connectivity. pipelines are used to connect oil wells to Today there is a phenomenal pace of refineries, and to ports or domestic markets. development. The first major breakthrough is Turkmenistan is central Asia has extended the use of optic fiber cables (OFC). Faced with pipelines to Iran and also to parts of China. mounting competition, telephone companies all Transport and Communication 67 Reprint 2024-25 over the world soon upgraded their copper cable Challenger and INSAT I-B have made long- systems to include optic fiber cables. These distance communication, television and radio allow large quantities of data to be transmitted very effective. Today weather forecasting rapidly, securely, and are virtually error-free. through television is a boon. With the digitisation of information in the 1990s, telecommunication slowly merged with Cyber Space – Internet computers to form integrated networks termed Cyberspace is the world of electronic as Internet. computerised space. It is encompassed by the Internet such as the World Wide Web (www). Satellite Communication In simple words, it is the electronic digital Today Internet is the largest electronic network world for communicating or accessing on the planet connecting about 1,000 million information over computer networks without people in more than 100 countries. physical movement of the sender and the receiver... It is also referred to as the Internet. Cyberspace exists everywhere. It may be in Satellites touch human lives in many an office, sailing boat, flying plane and virtually ways. Every time you use a cell phone to anywhere. call a friend, send an SMS or watch a The speed at which this electronic network popular programme on cable television. You has spread is unprecedented in human are using satellite communication. history. There were less than 50 million Internet users in 1995, about 400 million in Communication through satellites 2000 A.D. and over two billion in 2010. In the emerged as a new area in communication last few years there has been a shift among technology since the 1970s after U.S.A. and global users from U.S.A. to the developing former U.S.S.R. pioneered space research. countries. The percentage share of U.S.A. has Artificial satellites, now, are successfully dropped from 66 in 1995 to only 25 in 2005. deployed in the earth’s orbit to connect even Now the majority of the world’s users are the remote corners of the globe with limited on- in U.S.A., U.K., Germany, Japan, China site verification. These have rendered the unit and India. cost and time of communication invariant in As billions use the Internet each year, terms of distance. This means it costs the same cyberspace will expand the contemporary to communicate over 500 km as it does over economic and social space of humans through 5,000 km via satellite. e-mail, e-commerce, e-learning and India has also made great strides in e-governance. Internet together with fax, satellite development. Aryabhatt was launched television and radio will be accessible to more on 19 April 1979, Bhaskar-I in 1979 and and more people cutting across place and time. Rohini in 1980. On 18 June 1981, APPLE It is these modern communication systems, (Arian Passenger Payload Experiment) was more than transportation, that has made the launched through Arian rocket. Bhaskar, concept of global village a reality. 68 Fundamentals of Human Geography Reprint 2024-25  EXERCISES 1. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below. (i) The Trans–Continental Stuart Highway runs between (a) Darwin and Melbourne (b) Edmonton and Anchorage (c) Vancouver and St. John’s City (d) Chengdu and Lhasa (ii) Which country has the highest density of railway network? (a) Brazil (c) Canada (b) U.S.A (d) Russia (iii) The Big Trunk Route runs through (a) The Mediterranean – Indian ocean (b) The North Atlantic Ocean (c) The South Atlantic Ocean (d) The North Pacific Ocean (iv) The Big Inch pipeline transports (a) Milk (c) Water (b) Liquid petroleum gas (LGP) (d) Petroleum (v) Which one pair of the following places is linked by Channel Tunnel? (a) London – Berlin (c) Berlin – Paris (b) Paris – London (d) Barcelona – Berlin 2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words. (i) What are the problems of road transport in mountainous, desert and flood prone regions? (ii) What is a trans–continental railway? (iii) What are the advantages of water transport? 3. Answer the following questions in not more than 150 words. (i) Elucidate the statement– “In a well managed transport system, various modes complement each other”. (ii) Which are the major regions of the world having a dense network of airways. (iii) What are the modes by which cyber space will expand the contemporary economic and social space of humans. Transport and Communication 69 Reprint 2024-25