
How has the settlement pattern of the United States changed?
SETTLEMENT PATTERNS, UNITED STATES. As the twentieth century progressed, depression and dust bowl conditions modified the settlement pattern, initiating significant changes that continue to the present. Rural free mail delivery led to the discontinuance of many of the open-country post offices.
Who developed the concept of settlement pattern?
Settlement pattern as a concept was developed by social geographers in the late 19th century.
What do patterns of rural settlement indicate about rural settlement?
Patterns of rural settlement indicate much about the history, economy, society, and minds of those who created them as well as about the land itself.
How have families changed from 1900s to today?
Family traditions, recipes, and heirlooms can be passed from generation to generation relatively unchanged. But families themselves have undergone many changes due to advancements in technology, economic factors, and societal shifts. Here's how families have changed from the 1900s to today. The divorce rate is decreasing.

Why do settlement patterns change?
Settlement patterns are partly influenced by population pressure. In urban areas, there is a tendency for the slums to develop in areas which have been designated as flood-prone zones.
Why have population settlements changed over time?
Human populations have tended to increase over time. As more people were born, small groups of individuals found reasons to come together to form groups and, with the advent of agriculture, small sedentary communities. A small number of these settlements grew into what we now call cities.
How did settlements develop over a period of time?
The settlements grew near the river valleys due to availability of water and fertile soil. With the growth of trade and industries these settlements became larger leading to development of civilization. With the growth in technology these settlements further grew.
Why has Australia's settlement pattern changed?
The underlying geography and the location of natural resources had an obvious impact on settlement patterns. Most often this impact had already played out in earlier times and was evident in the settlement patterns of 1911. The climate, soils and distance were key factors in the early development of Australia.
How the distribution of the worlds largest cities has changed since 1900?
Figure 2 shows the dramatic changes in the regional distribution of the world's largest 100 cities; in 1900, Europe and Northern America had 69 of the world's 100 largest cities; by 2020 this had shrunk to 17. By 2020, Asia alone has 58 of the world's 100 largest cities, compared to 22 in 1900.
What are the factors that affect settlement?
In order to better categorize which factors ultimately affect settlement, geographers have generally accepted four umbrella terms to describe these elements: climatic, economic, physical, and traditional.
What are the examples of settlements changed over time?
Many settlements around the world have found that their functions have had to change over time. One such example is that of small farming villages finding that their residents are moving out to find jobs in the cities. This leaves the village empty, apart from the older population.
What factors caused the human settlements to expand?
Early human beings lived on trees and in caves. When they started to grow crops it became necessary to have a permanent home. The settlements grew near the river valleys as water was available and land was fertile. With the development of trade, commerce and manufacturing, human settlements became larger.
What is settlement short answer?
Answer: A settlement is a place where people live and interact with each other. It has the following features: i) It is a place where humans carry out various forms of livelihood through a variety of activities. ii) Settlements are of different types, ranging from villages and towns to cities and bustling metropolises.
How did an Australian colony develop over time and why?
European settlement had slowly been expanding to coastal parts of northern Australia from the 1820s. In 1847 the colony of North Australia was created with its main settlement at Port Curtis. This settlement failed after six months and the new colony was officially reincorporated into New South Wales in 1849.
What types of settlement are in Australia?
Since the early 19th century, the terms Outback, Interior, and Coastal (also Fringe, or Fertile Crescent) have been popular titles for the three broad regions of settlement. The term bush is applied indiscriminately to most rural or isolated districts regardless of their stage or type of development.
How many settlements are there in Australia?
At the time of the 2016 Census, 2.3 million people were living in small towns, or 9.7% of the Australian population. Australia-wide, there were just over 1,700 small towns. Of these: 88 towns had populations of 5,000 to 9,999, and were home to 613,500 people.
How has the human population changed throughout history?
After 1800 this changed fundamentally: the world population was around 1 billion in the year 1800 and has increased 7-fold since then. Around 108 billion people have ever lived on our planet. This means that today's population size makes up 6.5% of the total number of people ever born.
How did the population change during the Industrial Revolution?
It was in western Europe, with the Industrial Revolution, that the second population revolution began. Europe's population doubled during the 18th century, from roughly 100 million to almost 200 million, and doubled again during the 19th century, to about 400 million.
Why did the population increase in the 1800s?
18th-century Between 1750 and 1800, the populations of major countries increased between 50 and 100 percent, chiefly as a result of the use of new food crops (such as the potato) and…
Why did population increase in the 19th century?
In conclusion, the rapid population growth in Britain in the nineteenth century was caused by several different reasons such as: fertility rate, mortality rate, healthcare, emigration, migration, occupation, and other economical aspects.
How did pre-European settlements affect the United States?
Although the land that now constitutes the United States was occupied and much affected by diverse Indian cultures over many millennia, these pre-European settlement patterns have had virtually no impact upon the contemporary nation—except locally, as in parts of New Mexico. A benign habitat permitted a huge contiguous tract of settled land to materialize across nearly all the eastern half of the United States and within substantial patches of the West. The vastness of the land, the scarcity of labour, and the abundance of migratory opportunities in a land replete with raw physical resources contributed to exceptional human mobility and a quick succession of ephemeral forms of land use and settlement. Human endeavours have greatly transformed the landscape, but such efforts have been largely destructive. Most of the pre-European landscape in the United States was so swiftly and radically altered that it is difficult to conjecture intelligently about its earlier appearance.
What are the patterns of rural settlement?
Patterns of rural settlement indicate much about the history, economy, society, and minds of those who created them as well as about the land itself. The essential design of rural activity in the United States bears a strong family resemblance to that of other neo-European lands, such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, or tsarist Siberia —places that have undergone rapid occupation and exploitation by immigrants intent upon short-term development and enrichment. In all such areas, under novel social and political conditions and with a relative abundance of territory and physical resources, ideas and institutions derived from a relatively stable medieval or early modern Europe have undergone major transformation. Further, these are nonpeasant countrysides, alike in having failed to achieve the intimate symbiosis of people and habitat, the humanized rural landscapes characteristic of many relatively dense, stable, earthbound communities in parts of Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America.
How were townships laid out?
Townships were laid out as blocks, each six by six miles in size, oriented with the compass directions . Thirty-six sections, each one square mile, or 640 acres (260 hectares), in size, were designated within each township; and public roads were established along section lines and, where needed, along half-section lines. At irregular intervals, offsets in survey lines and roads were introduced to allow for the Earth’s curvature. Individual property lines were coincident with, or parallel to, survey lines, and this pervasive rectangularity generally carried over into the geometry of fields and fences or into the townsites later superimposed upon the basic rural survey.
How were farms connected to towns?
Successions of such farms were connected with one another and with the towns by means of a dense, usually rectangular lattice of roads, largely unimproved at the time. The hamlets, villages, and smaller cities were arrayed at relatively regular intervals, with size and affluence determined in large part by the presence and quality of rail service or status as the county seat. But, among people who have been historically rural, individualistic, and antiurban in bias, many services normally located in urban places might be found in rustic settings. Thus, much retail business was transacted by means of itinerant peddlers, while small shops for the fabrication, distribution, or repair of various items were often located in isolated farmsteads, as were many post offices.
How much land did farms have in the 1980s?
By the late 1980s, for example, when the average farm size had surpassed 460 acres, farms containing 2,000 or more acres accounted for almost half of all farmland and 20 percent of the cropland harvested, even though they comprised less than 3 percent of all farms.
What are the characteristics of American settlement?
Another special characteristic of American settlement, one that became obvious only by the mid-20th century, is the convergence of rural and urban modes of life. The farmsteads—and rural folk in general—have become increasingly urbanized, and agricultural operations have become more automated, while the metropolis grows more gelatinous, unfocused, and pseudo-bucolic along its margins.
How many states surrendered to the new government?
With the coming of independence and after complex negotiations, the original 13 states surrendered to the new national government nearly all their claims to the unsettled western lands beyond their boundaries. Some tracts, however, were reserved for disposal to particular groups.
What were the changes in the settlement pattern?
As the twentieth century progressed, depression and dust bowl conditions modified the settlement pattern, initiating significant changes that continue to the present. Rural free mail delivery led to the discontinuance of many of the open-country post offices. Farm consolidation led to the abandonment of many section-line roads, and operations that were originally farms became ranches. Removal of much of the rural population led to the consolidation of rural schools and churches. The advent of larger railroad steam engines, and then of diesel engines, decreased the need for water-tower villages–only the grain elevator survives in many diminished places. Additionally, improved highways and the use of trucks doomed many of the branch railroads and the villages they served.
What are the settlement patterns of the Great Plains?
The settlement patterns of the Great Plains reflect the sum total of the effects of these ongoing processes. Native Americans, who only 150 years ago were the region's sole inhabitants, have been relegated to relatively small areas. Throughout the region a pattern of large-scale farms is interspersed with abundant artifacts ...
How many acres were homesteaders in the nineteenth century?
In most areas, homesteaders in the nineteenth century located on dispersed farms of a quarter-section (160 acres). There were occasional interspersed rural schools, churches, and post offices. Initial building construction often utilized native sod, since lumber was not available.
How did the pioneers divide the grasslands of North America?
The pioneer settlement process divided the grasslands of North America into a vast checkerboard where squares were separated by section lines, which became roads, field divisions, county lines, and even state lines. The artificially imposed matrix of the U.S. Public Land Survey System, originating with the Ordinance of 1785, obliterated the natural landscapes known to the Native Americans. Six-mile-square townships were divided into thirty-six one-mile-square sections of 640 acres. European-style strassendorf villages or earlier New England–style village commons were virtually unknown, since the Homestead Law of 1862 required that homesteaders live on the land they claimed.
What are the Plains people?
The original Plains peoples, the Native Americans, remain an important and rapidly growing component of the region's population, especially on the Northern Plains and in Oklahoma. On the reservations, residential villages of Native American s are interspersed with farms, often occupied by European Americans, which were homesteaded as "surplus" lands or purchased as allotments in the decades following the Dawes Act of 1887. On some reservations, for example the Devils Lake Sioux Reservation in North Dakota, more than three-quarters of the land is owned by non-Natives.
What ethnicity did the Oklahoma land rush reflect?
In Oklahoma, the land rush produced an ethnic pattern that reflected Native American, Confederate refugee, and European origin s. On the Texas Plains the pattern was initially dominated by people of southern U.S. and Mexican origin: in the Texas Panhandle in 1880, for example, about two-thirds of the population had origins in ...
What is the dominant pattern of settlement in the Great Plains?
The dominant settlement patterns of the Great Plains of the United States reflect both an initial 1800s pioneer landscape and subsequent changes: the evolution of the region's landscape is a continuing process. The pioneer settlement process divided the grasslands of North America into a vast checkerboard where squares were separated by section ...
How many children did women have in the 1970s?
The Pew Research Center reports that in the late 1970s, women gave birth to more than three children on average by the end of their childbearing years. Family size has been steadily decreasing since then, with the average number of children remaining 2.4 for the past 20 years, prompting speculation that the middle child could be " going extinct ."
What does the letter P look like?
The letter "P" styled to look like a thumbtack pin. Pinterest
What does the'select' button mean?
It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options.
Why do men pitch in?
Men are pitching in more to help with housework and parenting responsibilities , but women still do most of it.
Why was the American dream of having a backyard and picket fence?
As car ownership became more popular , it allowed families to move farther from urban areas and commute to work , and having a home with a backyard and picket fence became the " American dream ."
How old was the mother when she had her first child?
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control, in 1980, it was 22.7. In 2013, it was 26.
What does an envelope mean in email?
An envelope. It indicates the ability to send an email.
What are some examples of towns in Moldavia?
Examples of such “double towns” include Suceava and Bistrița, Făgăraș and Câmpulung, Sibiu and Râmnicu Vâlcea, Alba Iulia and Arad, and Cluj Napoca and Oradea. In contrast to Transylvania, which experienced considerable urban development during the Dacian and Roman periods, Moldavia did not begin to develop towns until the Middle Ages, when the old Moldavian capitals of Iași and Suceava had close commercial connections with the towns of Transylvania and derived benefit from trade passing between the Baltic and Black Sea ports.
How did socialism affect the economy?
Socialist development transformed the economy. Industry’s contribution to national income rose from 35.2 percent in 1938 to 68.3 percent in 1986. Unemployment was avoided despite a substantial growth of population, and services were able to expand to meet demand. The transport system was modernized, and increasing numbers of families took vacations on the Black Sea coast and at mountain resorts. Nevertheless, incomes remained low and living conditions poor (with high housing densities and low welfare standards). Much of industry was inefficient, with overmanned factories achieving only low productivity and producing goods of inferior quality that could be sold only within the communist bloc (or in world markets at low prices that did not always reflect the actual costs of production). After large development loans were secured from Western creditors in the 1960s and ’70s, dependence on foreign capital was minimized by the settlement of all foreign debts during the 1980s. This left many sectors of industry starved of investment in new technology, and the persistence of a primitive command structure left people with little capacity to innovate and take initiatives. Moreover, serious pollution problems arose, especially in the chemical industry.
What did the Germans do to defend Transylvania?
They built fortified villages and churches (many of which were designated UNESCO World Heritage sites in 1993) to defend Transylvania against invading Tatars and Turks.
How did Romania change its social composition?
The substantial changes in the social composition of the population that took place in Romania as a result of increasing industrialization and urbanization were reflected in the rise of the working-class population. Similarly, the collectivization of agriculture transformed the rural population. Since World War II there has been a sharp rise in the proportion of the population that has received some kind of higher education. Differing rates of economic development in different parts of Romania have produced a movement toward towns and cities, largely for daily and seasonal work, so that less than half of the population lives in rural areas. The communist government sought to reduce migration across county boundaries by trying to ensure that each area had its share of development and that the benefits of modernization were spread throughout the country. They were only partially successful, and sharp regional contrasts persist.
What happened to Romania after 1989?
Moreover, many Romanians, especially young adults, emigrated from Romania after 1989, searching for economic opportunities in western Europe and North America.
What happened to the population of Romania in the 1990s?
Since the 1990s the population of Romania itself has declined. Several factors have contributed to this downturn. Primarily, abortions and birth control were restricted under communist rule; after the revolution the restrictions were lifted, causing a plunge in the birth rate.
What did the Habsburgs do to help the Germans?
The Habsburgs hoped that these Germans would help to fortify the region against invasion, revive destroyed farmland, and promote Roman Catholicism in eastern Europe.

Anthropological Underpinnings
Patterns Versus Systems
- Archaeologists refer to both settlement pattern studies and settlement system studies, sometimes interchangeably. If there is a difference, and you could argue about that, it might be that pattern studies look at the observable distribution of sites, while system studies look at how the people living at those sites interacted: modern archaeology can't really do one with the other.
History of Settlement Pattern Studies
- Settlement pattern studies were first conducted using regional survey, in which archaeologists systematically walked over hectares and hectares of land, typically within a given river valley. But the analysis only truly became feasible after remote sensing was developed, beginning with photographic methods such as those used by Pierre Paris at Oc Eobut now, of course, using sat…
New Technologies
- Although systematic settlement patterns and landscape studies are practiced in many diverse environments, before modern imaging systems, archaeologists attempting to study heavily vegetated areas were not as successful as they might have been. A variety of means to penetrate the gloom have been identified, including the use of high definition aerial photography, subsurfa…
Selected Sources
- Curley, Daniel, John Flynn, and Kevin Barton. "Bouncing Beams Reveal Hidden Archaeology." Archaeology Ireland32.2 (2018): 24–29.
- Feinman, Gary M. "Settlement and Landscape Archaeology." International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences(Second Edition). Ed. Wright, James D. Oxford: Elsevier, 2015. 654–58, doi:10....
- Curley, Daniel, John Flynn, and Kevin Barton. "Bouncing Beams Reveal Hidden Archaeology." Archaeology Ireland32.2 (2018): 24–29.
- Feinman, Gary M. "Settlement and Landscape Archaeology." International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences(Second Edition). Ed. Wright, James D. Oxford: Elsevier, 2015. 654–58, doi:10....
- Golden, Charles, et al. "Reanalyzing Environmental Lidar Data for Archaeology: Mesoamerican Applications and Implications." Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports9 (2016): 293–308, doi:10.1016/...
- Grosman, Leore. "Reaching the Point of No Return: The Computational Revolution in Archaeology." Annual Review of Anthropology45.1 (2016): 129–45, doi:10.1146/annurev-anth…