The compilation of these Human Resources Notes makes students exam preparation simpler and organised.
Introduction to Human Resources
So when we talk about the population of India, we say that we have a labour advantage. What we mean is that we have a huge reservoir of human resources to draw from. People are always a nation’s most valuable asset. Let us study more about human resources.
Human Resources
We as human beings are social animals. We need to interact and co-operate with other people for various purposes, such as requiring their help, their assistance in our day-to-day work, and making them understand the intent and purpose of our actions. Now what we saw here is the need of other people in our day-to-day life but when you take the perspective of a whole nation, you need to understand the need of people on a macro level.
Without question, the people of a nation are its greatest asset. It is their everyday skills and abilities that turn them into a resource for the nation. Healthy, educated, and motivated people develop resources as per their requirements. These are Businesses, Organisations, Political parties, and NGOs.
To amplify the skills and significance of the people in the nation the union government in 1985 established the Ministry of Human Resources Development (HRD). Like every other resource, human resources are not equally distributed in the world.
Distribution of Population
Population means how many individuals reside in an area, state, country, continent, or the world. Now the main aspect of these individuals is that every individual differs either in age, sex, and the location of his/her residence. Now, the distribution of humans in the world is extremely uneven. The reason population changes over time is that of births, deaths, and migration of the people.
Studies help the government to plan areas such as health, education, housing, social security, and employment. In short, the distribution of the population is in which people are spread across the Earth’s surface. As it is displayed that the population of the world is extremely uneven. Areas in Asia and some parts of Europe are crowded while some are sparsely populated. 90 percent of the world’s population lives in 10 percent of the world’s area.
Features such as the topography of the region are one of the reasons for the area being highly populated or not. High mountainous areas, tropical deserts, and areas of equatorial forests are sparsely populated. Areas which are North of the equator are more populated than the areas South of the equator because the climate and topography are warmer for humans to habitat and life to grow. Three-quarters of the world’s people live in Asia and Africa. Almost 60 percent of the world’s inhabitants live in just 10 countries.
Density of Population
The number of individuals living in per square kilometer land of the area is called the Density of Population. The average density worldwide is 51 people per square kilometer. Among the areas of high concentration of people, Southcentral Asia ranks first followed by East and South East Asia.
India ranks 33rd with 324 people per square kilometer while Greenland has the lowest population density which is 0.026 people per square kilometer.
Factors Affecting the Distribution of Population
Geographical Factors
Topography: Highly dense areas where people live are in plains rather than plateau and mountains. Because plains are suitable for farming, transportation, and many other factors such as water and electricity. The Ganges plains are the most densely populated area in the world.
Climate: The reason most people live north of the equator is that of the presence of moderate climate and to avoid extreme climates. Therefore, fewer people live in the Sahara desert and in polar regions of Russia and Canada.
Soil: Fertile plains of the Ganges and Brahmaputra (India), Hwang-he, Chang Jiang (China) and the Nile (Egypt) are the areas with a high population density.
Water and Minerals: Areas with Water and Mineral pull people because of the potential of economic development. Therefore, fewer people live in the desert than in river valleys.
Social, Cultural and Economic factors
Social: Regions where there is better housing, education, and health facilities are more densely populated. For example, Pune and Bangalore in India.
Cultural: Cities with cultural and religious significance attract people. For example, Varanasi, Jerusalem, and Vatican City are densely populated.
Economic: Where there is the emergence of potential industry, people come flooding in there. Mumbai’s population is growing because of this reason alone that it is home to multiple industries.
Population Change and the Patterns of Population Change
Population change is the change in the number of people during a specific time. As we discussed, this change occurs due to the births, deaths, and migration of people. Until the 1800s, the population of the world grew at a slow pace as back then there was a very high rate of death rates. There were no proper health facilities and agriculture production was low and food availability was a major problem and hence the birth rate was very low.
In 1820, the world’s population reached 1 billion people. Within 150 years after that, it reached 3 billion in 1970. This is usually referred to as the population explosion. In 1999, the population was 6 billion which was double what was in 1970. Death rates reduced and birth rates were very high during this period. Birth rates are the number of live births per 1,000 people. Death rates are the number of deaths per 1,000 people.
Migration means the displacement of people from one area to another. The difference between the birth rate and the death rate of a country is called the natural growth rate of the country.
The rate of population growth varies across the world. Even though the world’s population is rising, not all countries are experiencing this growth.
Population Composition
The population composition means the structure of the population that includes the factors such as sex, health, literacy level, health condition, occupation, and income level. It can also be explained in a pyramid known as an age-sex pyramid. With population is divided into various groups such as 5-9years old and 10-14years old. It is divided into the male and female categories. There are two groups of dependants:
- Young dependants (aged below 15 years)
- Elderly dependants (aged above 65 years)
Those between 15 and 65 are the working age and economically active. In Japan, low birth rates make the pyramid narrows at the base. Decreased death rates allow a number of people to reach old age.
Example:
Question:
Discuss the role of two factors that influence population change.
Answer:
The birth rate and death rate are the two factors that influence the population change. Birth rates are the number of live births per 1,000 people. Death rates are the number of deaths per 1,000 people.