Chapter 5. Human Geography and Geographical Skills

Population. Distribution, density, growth, birth and death rates, migration and the demographic transition model, in which societies move from high birth and death rates to low ones [8].

Settlement and urbanization. Rural and urban settlement patterns; the growth of cities; urban problems of housing, transport, pollution and informal settlements. Central place theory explains the hierarchy of settlements [8].

Economic geography. Primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary activities; agriculture systems; industrial location; trade and globalization [8].

Cultural and political geography. Language, religion, ethnicity, identity, boundaries, states and geopolitics [8].

Development and resources. Indicators such as GDP per capita and the Human Development Index; renewable and non-renewable resources; sustainable development.

Map skills

Grid references and coordinates: latitude and longitude; Sri Lanka lies roughly between 5°55′ N and 9°50′ N, 79°41′ E and 81°53′ E [10].

Scale: a ratio such as 1 : 50,000 means 1 cm on the map is 50,000 cm (500 m) on the ground.

Contours and relief: contour lines join places of equal height; closely spaced lines mean steep slopes.

Direction, distance and area measurement on topographic maps [10].

Geographic information. GIS stores, analyses and maps layers of spatial data; remote sensing uses satellites and aircraft; GPS provides location [9].

Fieldwork and statistics. Plan fieldwork, collect data, present graphs and maps, and interpret patterns.

Review: On a 1 : 50,000 map, 4 cm represents what real distance? (Answer: 4 × 50,000 = 200,000 cm = 2 km.)