
Definition of Human Settlement
- Human settlements are complex social and economic phenomena that exist along an urban-rural continuum.
- No commonly agreed definition of urban and rural and clearly defined physical & social boundaries between urban and rural areas.
- Urban and rural areas are economically, socially, and environmentally interdependent.
Full Answer
What is a human settlement in geography?
Settlements. A human settlement is an organized grouping of human habitation. Settlements can involve lots of people, like the city Andy lives in, or just a few, like the area out in the country where Jerome lives. Let's look closer at human settlements, including the types and functions of settlements.
What are the benefits of human settlements?
Socioemotional connections are a big benefit to settlements. For example, even though he lives in the country and is far from his neighbors, Jerome still knows a lot of people in his town. He can meet up with them and connect at a restaurant, a person's home, or in church or temple. Human settlements are organized groupings of human habitation.
Where did humans first settle in the world?
Humans built the first permanent settlements by rivers. Mohenjo-daro was located near the Indus River (in what is now Pakistan), Mesopotamia was between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (in Iraq), and ancient Egypt was on the Nile. Rivers lend themselves to human settlement for a number of reasons.
What are the three types of settlements in the US?
United States. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has a Geographic Names Information System that defines three classes of human settlement: Populated place − place or area with clustered or scattered buildings and a permanent human population (city, settlement, town, village).

What are human settlements?
Humans historically have built their homes in what is known as human settlements. The definition of a human settlement is an organized group of human inhabitations in a specific location.
What is human settlements in India?
The six hundred million people of today's India live in some 600,000 settlements of varying types and sizes. Some 450 millions live in villages of between 100 and 10,000 people, while the remaining 150 millions live in cities and towns of sizes varying from 20,000 to 10 million people.
What is human settlement and its types?
Human settlements can broadly be divided into two types – rural and urban. Rural settlements: Rural settlements are most closely and directly related to land. They are dominated by primary activities such as agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing etc.
What is human settlement geography?
The study of human settlements is basic to human geography because the form of settlement in any particular region reflects human relationship with the environment. A human settlement is defined as a place inhabited more or less permanently.
What are the 4 types of settlements?
The four main types of settlements are urban, rural, compact, and dispersed.
What are the 3 settlement types?
There are generally three types of settlements: compact, semi-compact, and dispersed.
What is the definition of settlement '?
1 : a formal agreement that ends an argument or dispute. 2 : final payment (as of a bill) 3 : the act or fact of establishing colonies the settlement of New England. 4 : a place or region newly settled. 5 : a small village.
What are the functions of human settlement?
Its functions are to determine, finance, promote, communicate and monitor the implementation of housing and sanitation programmes. In 2012, the Estate Agency Affairs Board, which used to fall under the Department of Trade and Industry, was also transferred to the Department of Human Settlements.
What are the benefits of human settlements?
Human settlements reduce evaporation from 40% to 30%, reduce infiltration of water to underground aquifers from 50% to 15%, and increase run-off from 10% to 55%.
When was the first human settlement?
Abstract. The first settlement of Europe by modern humans is thought to have occurred between 50,000 and 40,000 calendar years ago (cal B.P.).
What does human settlement Class 7 mean?
Settlements are places where people build their homes. Settlements can be permanent or temporary. The four major means of transport are roadways, railways, waterways and airways. Communication is the process of conveying messages to others.
Why is it important to study human settlement?
The Sciences of Human Settlements researches human habitat and discusses the relationship between people and environment. The purpose of it is to meet the requirements of human settlement and construct sustainable development pleasant good life environment.
What types of settlements are in India?
Four Types of Rural Settlement in India are (i) compact, settlements (ii) semi-compact settlements, (iii) hamleted and (iv) dispersed or scattered type settlements!
What is human settlement Class 12?
Answer: A human settlement is defined as a place inhabited more or less permanently. It may include temporary camps of hunters or herders and also the permanent settlements called villages, towns, cities, large agglomeration.
What is the meaning of human settlement class 12?
Human settlement means clusters of dwelling of any type or size where human beings live.It refers to an organised colony of human beings together with buildings in which they live or use and the paths and streets over which they travel. Modern towns have developed in India after independence.
What are settlements in history?
Settlements may include hamlets, villages, towns and cities. A settlement may have known historical properties such as the date or era in which it was first settled, or first settled by particular people.
What is the Global Human Settlement Layer?
The Global Human Settlement Layer ( GHSL) framework produces global spatial information about the human presence on the planet over time. This in the form of built up maps, population density maps and settlement maps. This information is generated with evidence-based analytics and knowledge using new spatial data mining technologies. The framework uses heterogeneous data including global archives of fine-scale satellite imagery, census data, and volunteered geographic information. The data is processed fully automatically and generates analytics and knowledge reporting objectively and systematically about the presence of population and built-up infrastructures. The GHSL operates in an open and free data and methods access policy (open input, open method, open output).
What is a settlement in geography?
In geography, statistics and archaeology, a settlement, locality or populated place is a community in which people live. The complexity of a settlement can range from a small number of dwellings grouped together to the largest of cities with surrounding urbanized areas.
What is a settlement in geospatial modeling?
In the field of geospatial predictive modeling, settlements are "a city, town, village, or other agglomeration of buildings where people live and work". The Global Human Settlement Layer ( GHSL) framework produces global spatial information about the human presence on the planet over time.
What is abandoned populated place?
The term "Abandoned populated places" is a Feature Designation Name in databases sourced by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and GeoNames.
What are the three classes of human settlement?
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has a Geographic Names Information System that defines three classes of human settlement: Populated place − place or geographic area with clustered or scattered buildings and a permanent human population (city , settlement , town, village).
What is an urban settlement?
The UK Department for Communities and Local Government uses the term "urban settlement" to denote an urban area when analysing census information. The Registrar General for Scotland defines settlements as groups of one or more contiguous localities, which are determined according to population density and postcode areas. The Scottish settlements are used as one of several factors defining urban areas.
What is landscape history?
Landscape history studies the form (morphology) of settlements – for example whether they are dispersed or nucleated. Urban morphology can thus be considered a special type of cultural-historical landscape studies. Settlements can be ordered by size, centrality or other factors to define a settlement hierarchy. A settlement hierarchy can be used for classifying settlement all over the world, although a settlement called a 'town' in one country might be a 'village' in other countries; or a 'large town' in some countries might be a 'city' in others.
What are the needs of human settlement?
Human settlement has always been directed by the needs of individuals and societies, such as the need for food, water, defense, and access to commerce . Almost without exception, increased natural hazard risk has been assumed in favor of these needs, often as result of a confidence that hazard risk can be accepted as “part of life” or can be effectively managed. Evidence of such behavior is apparent in almost any example of previous human settlement: communities along rivers build levees; those located along the sea coasts construct sea walls and jetties; farmers place their houses and sow their crops upon the fertile slopes of active volcanoes.
What is settlement pattern?
Settlement pattern and landscape approaches are central to the mission of contemporary archaeology. Through archaeological surveys, they provide a regional perspective on behavioral change that has been key to the transition from normative to populational perspectives on the past. Although these studies have had the greatest impact on our understanding of arid and semiarid areas, they have been employed under a range of conditions. There is no correct way to survey; however, methodological procedures and analytical strategies must be guided by environmental conditions, available resources, and research goals. The most successful studies to date have been those in which significant and sustained time and labor investments have been made.
How long has the Solomon Islands been inhabited?
All areas outside of Australia, Papua New Guinea, and parts of the Solomon Islands (so-called ‘near-Oceania’) have been habited for <3500 years ( see Australia ).
Why is settlement pattern important?
The settlement pattern makes clear why good stratigraphy was obtained in what is normally a difficult context, that of a stratified series of villages. The reason is that, once abandoned, structures were never disturbed . Burials within the structures were also never drastically disturbed; abandoned houses were abandoned household cemeteries.
How did the islands of the Holocene affect biodiversity?
Hence, biodiversity on these islands was poor, along with difficult water supply, lower soil fertility, and a greater isolation relative to the volcanic islands. By contrast, volcanic islands were particularly fertile, with good water supplies, although there may have been an issue of malaria present in inland mountainous areas. The overall comforts of the volcanic islands may have been a reason for an apparent later settlement of more easterly lying coral islands compared to the western, mainly volcanic, islands.
Why are harbors important for human settlement?
Harbors. The calm waters of a natural harbor offer another attractive place for human settlement. All kinds of water vessels can be sailed into a harbor, where they are sheltered from high waves and strong currents. Harbors are good for trade because they are easy places to load and unload boats with goods and people.
Why did the first humans move from place to place?
The earliest humans moved from place to place to find food. Eventually, some people stopped roaming and began to settle in one place. They built homes and grew their own crops on the land around them.
Why is it important to settle in a volcano?
Human settlements can often be found around volcanoes. There is a risk to living near a volcano because it could erupt. However, volcanic land is very fertile . This means the soil close to volcanoes is excellent for growing different kinds of crops. Volcanic areas also offer easy access to geothermal energy (heat that comes from inside Earth). People have used geothermal energy for thousands of years for cooking, bathing, and as a heat source.
What were the barriers that stopped humans from moving?
As they migrated, they were sometimes stopped by natural barriers. The barriers included such features as deserts and mountains.
Do difficult terrains support large settlements?
Most areas with difficult terrain do not support large settlements. Large cities have grown up where people have access to natural resources as well as good transportation routes.
What is human settlement?
Human settlement refers to an organised permanent or temporary inhabitation of humans on a small or large area of land including all the requisite infrastructural facilities. Submitted by anonymous on March 16, 2020. Human settlement.
What is the meaning of "human settlement"?
Human settlement. The place of permanent or temporary habitations created by human being for his/her living. Excessive human settlements and man-made dwellings are one of the main reasons for the depleting forests and ground water. Submitted by anonymous on January 6, 2019.
What is a settlement in geography?
Settlement, locality or populated place are general terms used in geography, statistics, archaeology, landscape history and other subjects for a permanent or temporary community in which people live or have lived, without being specific as to size, population or importance. A settlement can therefore range in size from a small number ...
What is the numerical value of human settlement in Chaldean numerology?
The numerical value of HUMAN SETTLEMENT in Chaldean Numerology is: 9
Urban Settlements
Urban settlements, or urbanized areas, are the most populated of the settlement types and usually consist of the largest land area. Urban areas are the most developed of the different types, with advanced infrastructure and many buildings. Urbanized areas are densely populated, mostly non-agricultural areas.
Rural Settlements
The designation of rural settlement status depends on the nation and government that a settlement is in. Rural settlements are smaller populated areas outside of urban areas that have a large amount of agriculture involved in the settlement.
Compact Settlements
Settlements that are close together are called compact settlements, and they can be rural or urban settlements based on how the settlement was designed. Compact settlements consist of structures that were closely built together with residential and commercial areas being zoned away from the agriculture or the environment.
Dispersed Settlements
Dispersed settlements are also known as isolated settlements or scattered settlements. Dispersed settlements are the least populated of the types of settlements and are located in regions of a country that are remote or far away from other settlements of any type.
Where was the first human settlement?
Available fossil evidence from Sri Lanka has been dated to 34 kya. Mijares and Piper (2010) found bones in a cave near Peñablanca, Cagayan , dated ca. 67 kya, the oldest known modern human fossil from the Asia-Pacific region.
Where was the first settlement in the world?
1770. Ste. Anne Island. Although visited earlier by Maldivians, Malays and Arabs, the first known settlement was a spice plantation established by the French, first on Ste. Anne Island, then moved to Mahé. It is the sovereign state with the shortest history of human settlement (followed by Mauritius).
How old are human remains?
Anatomically modern human remains of eight individuals dated 300,000 years old, making them the oldest known remains categorized as "modern" (as of 2018. [update] ).
When did humans arrive in Japan?
Genetic research indicates arrival of humans in Japan by 37,000 BP. Archeological remains at the Tategahana Paleolithic Site at Lake Nojiri have been dated as early as 47,000 BP. The earliest known remains of Cro-Magnon-like humans are radiocarbon dated to 43,000–46,000 BP, found in Bulgaria, Italy, and Great Britain.
Where were the first human remains found?
A tooth and six bone fragments are the earliest modern human remains yet found in Europe. Two baby teeth discovered in Apulia in 1964. Three Paleolithic flutes belonging to the early Aurignacian, which is associated with the assumed earliest presence of Homo sapiens in Europe ( Cro-Magnon ).
Where are human bones found?
The oldest human skeletal remains are the 40ky old Lake Mungo remains in New South Wales, but human ornaments discovered at Devil's Lair in Western Australia have been dated to 48 kya and artifacts at Madjedbebe in Northern Territory are dated to at least 50 kya, and to 62.1 ± 2.9 ka ( 95% CI) in one 2017 study.
When did Homo sapiens migrate to Africa?
Early Homo sapiens migrated out of Africa from as early as 270,000 years ago, although these early migrations may have died out and permanent Homo sapiens presence outside of Africa may not have been established until about 70-50,000 years ago.

Overview
In geography, statistics and archaeology, a settlement, locality or populated place is a community in which people live. The complexity of a settlement can range from a small number of dwellings grouped together to the largest of cities with surrounding urbanized areas. Settlements may include hamlets, villages, towns and cities. A settlement may have known historical properties such as the date …
History
The geographical evidence of a human settlement was Jebel Irhoud, whose early modern human remains of eight individuals date back to the Middle Paleolithic around 300,000 years ago.
The oldest remains that have been found of constructed dwellings are remains of huts that were made of mud and branches around 17,000 BC at the Ohalo sit…
Statistics
Geoscience Australia defines a populated place as "a named settlement with a population of 200 or more persons".
The Committee for Geographical Names in Australasia used the term localities for rural areas, while the Australian Bureau of Statistics uses the term "urban centres/localities" for urban areas.
Geospatial modeling
In the field of geospatial predictive modeling, settlements are "a city, town, village, or other agglomeration of buildings where people live and work".
The Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) framework produces global spatial information about the human presence on the planet over time. This in the form of built up maps, population density maps and settlement maps. This information is generated with evidence-based analytics and kn…
Abandonment
The term "Abandoned populated places" is a Feature Designation Name in databases sourced by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and GeoNames.
Sometimes the structures are still easily accessible, such as in a ghost town, and these may become tourist attractions. Some places that have the appeara…
See also
• Administrative division
• Colony
• Human outpost
• Informal settlement
• List of Neolithic settlements
External links
• The Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) framework
◉ 1. Rural Settlements
- They are primarily more modest in size and inadequately separated. Individuals of these settlements are mostly occupied with essential exercises like farming, fishing, mining, and so on, for example, individuals making due in villas and towns.
◉ 2. Urban Settlements
- Not at all like rural settlements, urban settlements are typically more thick, minimal, and bigger.
- Here, individuals are generally occupied with non-horticultural exercises for example enterprises, administrations, authoritative capacities, and so on
- Urban communities and towns both are associated straightforwardly or by implication with towns and with one another and trade products, administrations, and drive.
► Problems of Human Settlement in Developing Countries
- Impractical grouping of the populace
- Clogged lodging and roads
- Absence of drinking water
- Absence of power, sewage removal wellbeing, and instruction offices
► Difference Between Rural & Urban
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