Test: Human Settlements - UPSC MCQ

Compact settlements are those where spacing between houses as well as settlements is very less.

The correct answer is house. The basic unit of residence is a house, which is a building that is designed to be used as a home. This is distinct from a settlement, which is a group of dwellings in close proximity to one another, and from an infrastructure, which are the physical components of a city or town, such as roads and sewer systems.

Statutory town have local bodies like municipal corporations, municipalities, etc., irrespective of their demographic characteristics as reckoned on 31st December 2009. Examples: Vadodara (M Corp.), Shimla (MCorp.) etc.

As the pressure of population is low; thus, man land ratio is very high, people live in large houses.

Dharavi, in Mumbai (India) is the largest and highly populated slum area in Asia, with 1 million people.

Hilly topography and uneven terrain is the major reason responsible for scattered settlement in Himachal Pradesh.

In such settlements, houses are located along a road, railway line, river, canal edge of a valley or along a levee.

People are involved in primary activites.

In the rural settlements, most of the people are engaged in primary occupations such as agriculture, fishing, lumbering, mining, animal husbandry, etc.

Compact settlements are found in river valleys and plains because of the availability of water, plain surface and fertile soils.