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Regional Geography: Continental/Subcontinental Region: India - Coggle…
Regional Geography: Continental/Subcontinental Region: India
India
Continent Asia, subcontinental region India
Over 1.2 billion people
Densely populated
17 per cent of the world’s population
353 people per km2
Democracy
80 per cent Hindu
Underdeveloped region, low GDP and poverty
Physical processes
Climate
Monsoon climate
Mid-June to September: hot wet season, low pressure system, heavy rainfall and flooding, tropical cyclones, south-west monsoon, brings three-quarters of India’s annual rainfall
October to February: cool dry season, high pressure system, north-east winds called retreating monsoon
March to mid-June: temperatures increase up to 45 °C, humidity also increases
India dependent on rainfall for crops, too little and drought, too much and flooding
North-west India, the Thar Desert is located here
Soils
Most common tropical red soils
Heavily leached especially in Eastern and Western Ghats
Black soils are common in the Deccan Plateau, weathered volcanic rock, fertile
Alluvial soils found along floodplains of major rivers e.g. Ganges-Brahmaputra
Relief and drainage
Himalayas: alpine fold mountains, landslides and earthquakes common
Ganges Valley: low-lying fertile floodplain, deep layer of alluvial soils, densely populated
Deccan Plateau: uplifted by tectonic processes, covers most of India, steep areas called ghats, weathered volcanic rock suitable for farming
Primary economic activities
Removal of natural resources
60 per cent of people involved
Indicates a poorer region
Agriculture
Most of the land in India has agricultural potential, needs rainfall or irrigation schemes
Cereals are the most common crop
Farmed intensively but subsistence farming, small holdings less than 2 hectares
Rice grown in Ganges Valley, highest output of food per unit of land, 90 per cent of local diet, paddy fields and intensive manual labour
Wheat and millet grown in drier regions
Double cropping, rice wet season and wheat in dry season, year-round supply
Plantation farming of cash crops, e.g. cotton, sold as exports
More cattle per capita than any other country, sacred animal
Plentiful supply of water for irrigation schemes but problems with calcification and salinisation
Farming practices not properly controlled and monoculture a problem
Agriculture and the Green Revolution
To improve farming practices in developing countries, achieve self-sufficiency
Began in India in the 1970s, as population increasing at rate of 1.5 per cent per year
Introduced irrigation schemes, GMFs, education, fertilisers, pesticides, high-yielding crops
Only benefitted states that could afford it
Problems: overproduction of crops, job losses and outward migration, small-scale farmers not able to compete, pollution
1990s land reform, 25 per cent of the best farmland owned by 5 per cent of the region’s families
Forestry
Covers 22 per cent of landmass
Hardwoods, e.g. teak and rosewood
Climatic conditions encourage quicker tree growth
10 per cent used in paper and pulp production
97 per cent of forest publically owned, government policy of reafforestation to prevent soil erosion
Secondary economic activities
Raw materials are further processed, manufacturing industries
India ranked 14th in the world for industrial output
Sector employs 17 per cent of the workforce
Manufacturing activities
Gained independence from Britain 1947, only 2 per cent of population involved in industry, export lead, e.g. tea production
Today developed rapidly; Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai
Invested in more labour-intensive local craft industries, e.g. food processing
To prevent outward migration
Heavy industries: rich supply of natural resources, Kolkata Tata iron and steel company, 10th largest steel producer in the world
Energy supplies: local coal generates 60 per cent of region’s electricity, HEP from mountains and minerals, e.g. bauxite and copper
Workforce: large well-educated low-cost workforce, government invested in education, 40 per cent science or engineering degrees, salaries one-tenth of American graduates
Modern growth industries: ICT, e.g. Bangalore, Indian Silicon Valley, MNCs located here such as IBM, since 2002 30 British companies, e.g. Lloyd’s TSB, teleservices jobs, IT sector accounts for 5.8 per cent of India’s GDP
Governmental policy of industrialisation, software parks, improved infrastructure, special economic zones and tax breaks, India an NIC
Tertiary economic activities
Provision of services
In India can include letter writing and rubbish sorting as tertiary sector, underdeveloped
People barely able to meet basic needs of healthcare and education
Development of informal sector or ‘black economy’, creates unlicensed street vendors, shoeshine boys, prostitution and illegal sale and distribution of drugs
Tourism
Fastest growing economic sector, 23 per cent of workforce directly involved
2014: 7 million visitors, worth over €5 billion
Attractions: Himalayan Mountains, historic buildings, e.g. Taj Mahal, yoga meditation and beach holidays
International tourism still limited, due to poverty levels
Internal tourism growing, monsoon holidays
Medical and adventure holidays, niche tourism
Bollywood growing sector, €2 billion per year
Transport
Standard of public transport not the same across India, in rural areas underdeveloped, half of rural villages have no tarred roads
5 cars per 1,000 people, traffic jams and accidents common in cities
Ox-drawn carts commonplace, cow sacred, free roaming
Second largest rail network in the world, 14 million passengers daily
1989 Kolkata underground railway introduced
2011 Air India owned by the government, opened up the region to foreign countries
Indian Government introduced Five-Year Plan to upgrade infrastructure, part of this is the National Highway Development Programme to improve communication links between the four main cities
Human processes
Population dynamics
Population of 1.2 billion, 17 per cent of the world’s population
Second most populous country in the world
Growth rate of 1.6 per cent per year
Unevenly distributed, fertile plains 800 people per km2
In the expanding stage of the demographic transition model
1970s government introduced incentives, e.g. vasectomy earned a transistor radio, to try to reduce the region’s birth rate
Language
1,600 different languages and dialects
Hindi most widely spoken
Most people in business speak English, language of the wealthy and taught in schools
Cause of tension in the region
Religion
Major religion Hinduism
Islam is the major religion of the states of Jammu and Kashmir, over 65 per cent
Hindu caste system: form of apartheid, Brahmins, Ksatriyas, Vaisyas, Sudras and untouchables/Dalits, 15 per cent of the population (not mentioned in caste as will pollute it), born into your caste, cannot change it
Pakistan
In 1947 region split along religious lines, Muslim state of Pakistan to the North and Hindu-dominated India to the south
12 million moved, one of the largest migrations of people in history
Tensions between the two groups, 2002 rioting in Gujarat, Kashmir tensions
The sacred cow
200 million cows 20 per cent of world’s cow population, dung used as fertiliser and fuel, some think they are hindering development in India as an underused food source
Urban development
Main cities Mumbai, Kolkata, New Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore, 30 per cent of population live here
Conurbations are common
Rural-urban migration is widespread
Cities highly congested
Residential areas divided along religious lines
Bustees
New capital New Delhi established in 1911
Rural development
70 per cent of population live in rural areas, very traditional
Divided into wards depending on people’s place in caste system
Suffer from outward migration, depend heavily on remittance, worth 21 per cent of income in state of Kerala
Case Study: The growth of Mumbai
Port for the East India Trading Company
Population of 60,000, place of religious freedom, cotton and weaving industries
Today largest port in India, 25 per cent of region’s trade
Financial capital, home to Bollywood, most populous city in India, 22 million people, highest GDP
Problems: pollution, smog, overcrowding, 20,000 people per km2, bustees, poor hygiene standards, waterborne diseases
Dharavi with 1 million people largest bustee in Asia, government policy to demolish and invest €800 million to develop the region and rehouse inhabitants in apartments