NCERT Textbook: Human Resources | Social Studies (SST) Class 8 PDF Download

 Page 1


5
People are a nation’s greatest resource. Nature’s bounty 
becomes significant only when people find it useful. It 
is people with their demands and abilities that turn 
them into ‘resources’. Hence, human resource is the 
ultimate resource. Healthy, educated and motivated 
people develop resources as per their requirements.
Human resources like other resources are not 
equally distributed over the world. They differ in their 
educational levels, age and sex. Their numbers and 
characteristics also keep changing.
Do you know? 
Pradhan Mantri 
Kaushal Vikas 
Yojna (PKVY) was 
started in 2015 
aiming to train one 
crore Indian youth 
from 2016 to 2020. 
The objective of 
this scheme is to 
encourage aptitude 
towards employable 
skills by giving
quality training 
to probable and 
existing wage 
earners.
Human Resources
There are 
30 children 
in my class.
There are 500 
children in my 
school.
My village 
has 1,000
people.
How many 
people do you 
think, there are 
in the whole 
world?
Around aAa6.6 billion people.
How do you 
write that in 
numbers?
2024-25
Page 2


5
People are a nation’s greatest resource. Nature’s bounty 
becomes significant only when people find it useful. It 
is people with their demands and abilities that turn 
them into ‘resources’. Hence, human resource is the 
ultimate resource. Healthy, educated and motivated 
people develop resources as per their requirements.
Human resources like other resources are not 
equally distributed over the world. They differ in their 
educational levels, age and sex. Their numbers and 
characteristics also keep changing.
Do you know? 
Pradhan Mantri 
Kaushal Vikas 
Yojna (PKVY) was 
started in 2015 
aiming to train one 
crore Indian youth 
from 2016 to 2020. 
The objective of 
this scheme is to 
encourage aptitude 
towards employable 
skills by giving
quality training 
to probable and 
existing wage 
earners.
Human Resources
There are 
30 children 
in my class.
There are 500 
children in my 
school.
My village 
has 1,000
people.
How many 
people do you 
think, there are 
in the whole 
world?
Around aAa6.6 billion people.
How do you 
write that in 
numbers?
2024-25
Distribution of Po Pulation 
The way in which people are 
spread across the earth surface 
is known as the pattern of 
population distribution. More 
than 90 per cent of the world’s 
population lives in about 30 per 
cent of the land surface. The 
distribution of population in the 
world is extremely uneven.
Some areas are very crowded 
and some are sparely populated. 
The crowded areas are south and 
south east Asia, Europe and north 
eastern North America. Very few 
people live in high latitude areas, 
tropical deserts, high mountains 
and areas of equatorial forests.
Many more people live north 
of the Equator than south of the 
Equator. Almost three-quarters 
of the world’s people live in two 
continents Asia and Africa.
Sixty per cent of the world’s 
people stay in just 10 countries. 
All of them have more than a 100 
million people.
Activity
Study Fig. 5.1 
and find out :
of the world’s total 
population which 
continent has —
(a) only 5 per cent
(b) only 13 per cent
(c) only 1 per cent
(d) only 12 per cent
Fig. 5.2: World’s most populous countries
Fig. 5.1: World population by continents
live in Asia live in Europe live in Africa
live in Central 
and South 
America
live in Northern 
America
live in Oceania 
(Australia, New 
Zealand and the 
Pacific island)
Of every 100 people in the world...
Human Resou Rces 45
Locate and label these countries on the outline map of the world.
Source: Census of India, 2011 Provisional Population Totals, Paper 1 of 2011 India Series 1
2024-25
Page 3


5
People are a nation’s greatest resource. Nature’s bounty 
becomes significant only when people find it useful. It 
is people with their demands and abilities that turn 
them into ‘resources’. Hence, human resource is the 
ultimate resource. Healthy, educated and motivated 
people develop resources as per their requirements.
Human resources like other resources are not 
equally distributed over the world. They differ in their 
educational levels, age and sex. Their numbers and 
characteristics also keep changing.
Do you know? 
Pradhan Mantri 
Kaushal Vikas 
Yojna (PKVY) was 
started in 2015 
aiming to train one 
crore Indian youth 
from 2016 to 2020. 
The objective of 
this scheme is to 
encourage aptitude 
towards employable 
skills by giving
quality training 
to probable and 
existing wage 
earners.
Human Resources
There are 
30 children 
in my class.
There are 500 
children in my 
school.
My village 
has 1,000
people.
How many 
people do you 
think, there are 
in the whole 
world?
Around aAa6.6 billion people.
How do you 
write that in 
numbers?
2024-25
Distribution of Po Pulation 
The way in which people are 
spread across the earth surface 
is known as the pattern of 
population distribution. More 
than 90 per cent of the world’s 
population lives in about 30 per 
cent of the land surface. The 
distribution of population in the 
world is extremely uneven.
Some areas are very crowded 
and some are sparely populated. 
The crowded areas are south and 
south east Asia, Europe and north 
eastern North America. Very few 
people live in high latitude areas, 
tropical deserts, high mountains 
and areas of equatorial forests.
Many more people live north 
of the Equator than south of the 
Equator. Almost three-quarters 
of the world’s people live in two 
continents Asia and Africa.
Sixty per cent of the world’s 
people stay in just 10 countries. 
All of them have more than a 100 
million people.
Activity
Study Fig. 5.1 
and find out :
of the world’s total 
population which 
continent has —
(a) only 5 per cent
(b) only 13 per cent
(c) only 1 per cent
(d) only 12 per cent
Fig. 5.2: World’s most populous countries
Fig. 5.1: World population by continents
live in Asia live in Europe live in Africa
live in Central 
and South 
America
live in Northern 
America
live in Oceania 
(Australia, New 
Zealand and the 
Pacific island)
Of every 100 people in the world...
Human Resou Rces 45
Locate and label these countries on the outline map of the world.
Source: Census of India, 2011 Provisional Population Totals, Paper 1 of 2011 India Series 1
2024-25
46  Resou Rces and d evelopment Activity
Look at Fig 5.2 
and find out: 
of these countries 
how many are in 
Asia? Colour them 
on a world map.
Density of Po Pulation Population density is the number of people living in a 
unit area of the earth’s surface. It is normally expressed 
as per square km. The average density of population in 
the  whole world is 51 persons per square km. South 
Central Asia has the highest density of population 
followed by East and South East Asia 
Do you know?
Average density of 
population in India 
is 382 persons per 
square km.
f actors a ffecting Distribution of Po Pulation Geographical Factors
Topography: People always prefer to live on plains 
rather than mountains and plateaus because these 
areas are suitable for farming, manufacturing and 
service activities. The Ganga plains are the most densely 
populated areas of the world while mountains like 
Andes, Alps and Himalayas are sparsely populated.
Climate: People usually avoid extreme climates that are 
very hot or very cold like Sahara desert, polar regions of 
Russia, Canada and Antarctica.
Soil: Fertile soils provide  suitable land for agriculture. 
Fertile plains such as Ganga and Brahmaputra in India, 
Hwang-He, Chang Jiang in China and the Nile in Egypt 
are densely populated.
Water: People prefer to live in the areas where fresh 
water is easily available. The river valleys of the 
world are densely populated while deserts have spare 
population.
Minerals: Areas with mineral deposits are more 
populated. Diamond mines of South Africa and discovery 
of oil in the Middle east lead to settling of people in 
these areas.
Social, Cultural and Economic Factors
Social: Areas of better housing, education and health 
facilities are more densely populated e.g., Pune.
When all the 30 students are 
present, our classroom seems 
very crowded. But when the 
same class is seated in the 
school assembly hall, it seems 
so open and empty. Why?
Because the size or area of the 
hall is much larger than that of 
the classroom. However, when 
all the students of the school 
come into the hall, the hall too 
starts looking crowded.
2024-25
Page 4


5
People are a nation’s greatest resource. Nature’s bounty 
becomes significant only when people find it useful. It 
is people with their demands and abilities that turn 
them into ‘resources’. Hence, human resource is the 
ultimate resource. Healthy, educated and motivated 
people develop resources as per their requirements.
Human resources like other resources are not 
equally distributed over the world. They differ in their 
educational levels, age and sex. Their numbers and 
characteristics also keep changing.
Do you know? 
Pradhan Mantri 
Kaushal Vikas 
Yojna (PKVY) was 
started in 2015 
aiming to train one 
crore Indian youth 
from 2016 to 2020. 
The objective of 
this scheme is to 
encourage aptitude 
towards employable 
skills by giving
quality training 
to probable and 
existing wage 
earners.
Human Resources
There are 
30 children 
in my class.
There are 500 
children in my 
school.
My village 
has 1,000
people.
How many 
people do you 
think, there are 
in the whole 
world?
Around aAa6.6 billion people.
How do you 
write that in 
numbers?
2024-25
Distribution of Po Pulation 
The way in which people are 
spread across the earth surface 
is known as the pattern of 
population distribution. More 
than 90 per cent of the world’s 
population lives in about 30 per 
cent of the land surface. The 
distribution of population in the 
world is extremely uneven.
Some areas are very crowded 
and some are sparely populated. 
The crowded areas are south and 
south east Asia, Europe and north 
eastern North America. Very few 
people live in high latitude areas, 
tropical deserts, high mountains 
and areas of equatorial forests.
Many more people live north 
of the Equator than south of the 
Equator. Almost three-quarters 
of the world’s people live in two 
continents Asia and Africa.
Sixty per cent of the world’s 
people stay in just 10 countries. 
All of them have more than a 100 
million people.
Activity
Study Fig. 5.1 
and find out :
of the world’s total 
population which 
continent has —
(a) only 5 per cent
(b) only 13 per cent
(c) only 1 per cent
(d) only 12 per cent
Fig. 5.2: World’s most populous countries
Fig. 5.1: World population by continents
live in Asia live in Europe live in Africa
live in Central 
and South 
America
live in Northern 
America
live in Oceania 
(Australia, New 
Zealand and the 
Pacific island)
Of every 100 people in the world...
Human Resou Rces 45
Locate and label these countries on the outline map of the world.
Source: Census of India, 2011 Provisional Population Totals, Paper 1 of 2011 India Series 1
2024-25
46  Resou Rces and d evelopment Activity
Look at Fig 5.2 
and find out: 
of these countries 
how many are in 
Asia? Colour them 
on a world map.
Density of Po Pulation Population density is the number of people living in a 
unit area of the earth’s surface. It is normally expressed 
as per square km. The average density of population in 
the  whole world is 51 persons per square km. South 
Central Asia has the highest density of population 
followed by East and South East Asia 
Do you know?
Average density of 
population in India 
is 382 persons per 
square km.
f actors a ffecting Distribution of Po Pulation Geographical Factors
Topography: People always prefer to live on plains 
rather than mountains and plateaus because these 
areas are suitable for farming, manufacturing and 
service activities. The Ganga plains are the most densely 
populated areas of the world while mountains like 
Andes, Alps and Himalayas are sparsely populated.
Climate: People usually avoid extreme climates that are 
very hot or very cold like Sahara desert, polar regions of 
Russia, Canada and Antarctica.
Soil: Fertile soils provide  suitable land for agriculture. 
Fertile plains such as Ganga and Brahmaputra in India, 
Hwang-He, Chang Jiang in China and the Nile in Egypt 
are densely populated.
Water: People prefer to live in the areas where fresh 
water is easily available. The river valleys of the 
world are densely populated while deserts have spare 
population.
Minerals: Areas with mineral deposits are more 
populated. Diamond mines of South Africa and discovery 
of oil in the Middle east lead to settling of people in 
these areas.
Social, Cultural and Economic Factors
Social: Areas of better housing, education and health 
facilities are more densely populated e.g., Pune.
When all the 30 students are 
present, our classroom seems 
very crowded. But when the 
same class is seated in the 
school assembly hall, it seems 
so open and empty. Why?
Because the size or area of the 
hall is much larger than that of 
the classroom. However, when 
all the students of the school 
come into the hall, the hall too 
starts looking crowded.
2024-25
Human Resou Rces 47
Cultural: Places with religion or cultural significance 
attract people. Varanasi, Jerusalem and Vatican city 
are some examples.
Economic: Industrial areas provide employment 
opportunities. Large number of people are attracted to 
these areas. Osaka in Japan and Mumbai in India are 
two densely populated areas.
Po Pulation c hange The population change refers to change in the number 
of people during a specific time. The world population 
has not been stable. It has increased manifold as seen 
in the Fig 5.3. Why?  This is actually due to changes in 
the number of births and deaths.  For an extremely long 
period of human history, until the 1800s, the world’s 
population grew steadily but slowly. Large numbers of 
babies were born, but they died early too. This was as 
there were no proper health facilities. Sufficient food was 
not available for all the people. Farmers were not able 
to produce enough to meet the food requirements of all 
the people. As a result the total increase in population 
was very low.
In 1804, the world’s population reached one 
billion. A hundred and fifty five years later, in 1959, 
the world’s population reached 3 billion. This is often 
called population explosion. In 1999, 40 years later, 
the population doubled to 6 billion. The main reason 
for this growth was that with better food supplies and 
medicine, deaths were reducing, while the number of 
births still remained fairly high.
Births are usually measured using the birth rate i.e. 
the number of live births per 1,000 people. Deaths are 
usually measured using the death rate i.e. the number 
of deaths per 1,000 people. Migrations is the movement 
of people in and out of an area.
Births and deaths are the 
natural causes of population 
change. The difference between 
the birth rate and the death 
rate of a country is called the 
natural growth rate.
The population increase in 
the world is mainly due to rapid 
increase in natural growth rate.  
Glossary
Life expectancy 
It is the number 
of years that an 
average person can 
expect to live.
Fig 5.3: World Population Growth
2024-25
Page 5


5
People are a nation’s greatest resource. Nature’s bounty 
becomes significant only when people find it useful. It 
is people with their demands and abilities that turn 
them into ‘resources’. Hence, human resource is the 
ultimate resource. Healthy, educated and motivated 
people develop resources as per their requirements.
Human resources like other resources are not 
equally distributed over the world. They differ in their 
educational levels, age and sex. Their numbers and 
characteristics also keep changing.
Do you know? 
Pradhan Mantri 
Kaushal Vikas 
Yojna (PKVY) was 
started in 2015 
aiming to train one 
crore Indian youth 
from 2016 to 2020. 
The objective of 
this scheme is to 
encourage aptitude 
towards employable 
skills by giving
quality training 
to probable and 
existing wage 
earners.
Human Resources
There are 
30 children 
in my class.
There are 500 
children in my 
school.
My village 
has 1,000
people.
How many 
people do you 
think, there are 
in the whole 
world?
Around aAa6.6 billion people.
How do you 
write that in 
numbers?
2024-25
Distribution of Po Pulation 
The way in which people are 
spread across the earth surface 
is known as the pattern of 
population distribution. More 
than 90 per cent of the world’s 
population lives in about 30 per 
cent of the land surface. The 
distribution of population in the 
world is extremely uneven.
Some areas are very crowded 
and some are sparely populated. 
The crowded areas are south and 
south east Asia, Europe and north 
eastern North America. Very few 
people live in high latitude areas, 
tropical deserts, high mountains 
and areas of equatorial forests.
Many more people live north 
of the Equator than south of the 
Equator. Almost three-quarters 
of the world’s people live in two 
continents Asia and Africa.
Sixty per cent of the world’s 
people stay in just 10 countries. 
All of them have more than a 100 
million people.
Activity
Study Fig. 5.1 
and find out :
of the world’s total 
population which 
continent has —
(a) only 5 per cent
(b) only 13 per cent
(c) only 1 per cent
(d) only 12 per cent
Fig. 5.2: World’s most populous countries
Fig. 5.1: World population by continents
live in Asia live in Europe live in Africa
live in Central 
and South 
America
live in Northern 
America
live in Oceania 
(Australia, New 
Zealand and the 
Pacific island)
Of every 100 people in the world...
Human Resou Rces 45
Locate and label these countries on the outline map of the world.
Source: Census of India, 2011 Provisional Population Totals, Paper 1 of 2011 India Series 1
2024-25
46  Resou Rces and d evelopment Activity
Look at Fig 5.2 
and find out: 
of these countries 
how many are in 
Asia? Colour them 
on a world map.
Density of Po Pulation Population density is the number of people living in a 
unit area of the earth’s surface. It is normally expressed 
as per square km. The average density of population in 
the  whole world is 51 persons per square km. South 
Central Asia has the highest density of population 
followed by East and South East Asia 
Do you know?
Average density of 
population in India 
is 382 persons per 
square km.
f actors a ffecting Distribution of Po Pulation Geographical Factors
Topography: People always prefer to live on plains 
rather than mountains and plateaus because these 
areas are suitable for farming, manufacturing and 
service activities. The Ganga plains are the most densely 
populated areas of the world while mountains like 
Andes, Alps and Himalayas are sparsely populated.
Climate: People usually avoid extreme climates that are 
very hot or very cold like Sahara desert, polar regions of 
Russia, Canada and Antarctica.
Soil: Fertile soils provide  suitable land for agriculture. 
Fertile plains such as Ganga and Brahmaputra in India, 
Hwang-He, Chang Jiang in China and the Nile in Egypt 
are densely populated.
Water: People prefer to live in the areas where fresh 
water is easily available. The river valleys of the 
world are densely populated while deserts have spare 
population.
Minerals: Areas with mineral deposits are more 
populated. Diamond mines of South Africa and discovery 
of oil in the Middle east lead to settling of people in 
these areas.
Social, Cultural and Economic Factors
Social: Areas of better housing, education and health 
facilities are more densely populated e.g., Pune.
When all the 30 students are 
present, our classroom seems 
very crowded. But when the 
same class is seated in the 
school assembly hall, it seems 
so open and empty. Why?
Because the size or area of the 
hall is much larger than that of 
the classroom. However, when 
all the students of the school 
come into the hall, the hall too 
starts looking crowded.
2024-25
Human Resou Rces 47
Cultural: Places with religion or cultural significance 
attract people. Varanasi, Jerusalem and Vatican city 
are some examples.
Economic: Industrial areas provide employment 
opportunities. Large number of people are attracted to 
these areas. Osaka in Japan and Mumbai in India are 
two densely populated areas.
Po Pulation c hange The population change refers to change in the number 
of people during a specific time. The world population 
has not been stable. It has increased manifold as seen 
in the Fig 5.3. Why?  This is actually due to changes in 
the number of births and deaths.  For an extremely long 
period of human history, until the 1800s, the world’s 
population grew steadily but slowly. Large numbers of 
babies were born, but they died early too. This was as 
there were no proper health facilities. Sufficient food was 
not available for all the people. Farmers were not able 
to produce enough to meet the food requirements of all 
the people. As a result the total increase in population 
was very low.
In 1804, the world’s population reached one 
billion. A hundred and fifty five years later, in 1959, 
the world’s population reached 3 billion. This is often 
called population explosion. In 1999, 40 years later, 
the population doubled to 6 billion. The main reason 
for this growth was that with better food supplies and 
medicine, deaths were reducing, while the number of 
births still remained fairly high.
Births are usually measured using the birth rate i.e. 
the number of live births per 1,000 people. Deaths are 
usually measured using the death rate i.e. the number 
of deaths per 1,000 people. Migrations is the movement 
of people in and out of an area.
Births and deaths are the 
natural causes of population 
change. The difference between 
the birth rate and the death 
rate of a country is called the 
natural growth rate.
The population increase in 
the world is mainly due to rapid 
increase in natural growth rate.  
Glossary
Life expectancy 
It is the number 
of years that an 
average person can 
expect to live.
Fig 5.3: World Population Growth
2024-25
48  Resou Rces and d evelopment Migration is another way by which population size 
changes. People may move within a country or between 
countries. Emigrants are people who leave a country; 
Immigrants are those who arrive in a country. 
Countries like the United States of America and 
Australia have gained in-numbers by in-migration or 
immigration. Sudan is an example of a country that 
has experienced a loss in population numbers due to 
out-migration or emigration.
The general trend of international migrations is 
from the less developed nations to the more developed 
nations in search of better employment opportunities. 
Within countries large number of people may move 
from the rural to urban areas in search of employment, 
education and health facilities. 
Patterns of Po Pulation c hange Rates of population growth vary across the world 
(Fig 5.5). Although, the world’s total population is rising 
rapidly, not all countries are experiencing this growth.
Some countries like Kenya have high population growth 
rates. They had both high birth rates and death rates. 
Now, with improving health care, death rates have 
fallen, but birth rates still remain high leading to high 
growth rates.                                                              
In other countries like United Kingdom, population 
growth is slowing because of both low death and low 
birth rates.
Polpulation Increase
Polpulation steady
Polpulation decrease
Fig 5.4: Balance of Population
Birth rate more than death 
rate: population increase
Birth rate and death rate same: 
population stays the same 
Death rate more than birth 
rate:population decreases
Birth Rate
Death Rate Birth Rate
Death Rate
Death Rate
Birth Rate
Population Increase
Population Steady
Population Decrease
Glossary
Immigration
When a person 
enters a new 
country.
Emigration
When a person 
leaves a country.
2024-25