Source: VII NCERT Geography Chapter 7
- Settlements are places where people build their homes.
- The place where a building or a settlement develops is called its site.
- The natural conditions for selection of an ideal site are- 1. favourable climate 2. availability of water 3. suitable land 4. fertile soil.
- Settlements can be permanent or temporary.
- Settlements which are occupied for a short time are called temporary settlements. The people living in deep forests, hot and cold deserts and mountains often dwell in such temporary settlements.
- They practice hunting, gathering, shifting cultivation and transhumance.
- However more and more settlements today are permanent settlements. In these settlements, people build homes to live in.
- Transhumance: It is a seasonal movement of people. People who rear animals move in search of new pastures according to changes in seasons.
- Manali-Leh highway in the Himlayan Mountains is one of the highest roadways in the world.
- The Trans-Siberian Railway is the longest railway system connecting St. Petersburg in Western Russia to Vladivostok on the Pacific coast.