CBSE Board Geography Syllabus for Class 12

Class XII

One Theory Paper

A. Fundamentals of Human Geography
Unit 1: Human Geography
Unit 2: People
Unit 3: Human Activities
Unit 4: Transport, Communication & Trade
Unit 5: Human settlements
Unit 6: Map Work

B. India: People and Economy
Unit 7: People
Unit 8: Human Settlements
Unit 9: Resources and Development
Unit 10: Transport, Communication and International Trade
Unit 11: Geographical Perspective on selected issues and problems
Unit 12: Map Work

C. Practical Work
Unit 1: Processing of Data and Thematic Mapping
Unit 2: Field study or Spatial Information Technology
Unit 3: Practical Record Book and Viva Voce


A.    Fundamentals of Human Geography

Unit 1: Human Geography: Nature and Scope

Unit 2: People
1.Population — distribution, density and growth
2.Population change-spatial patterns and structure; determinants of population change;
3.Age-sex ratio; rural-urban composition;
4.Human development - concept; selected indicators, international comparisons

Unit 3: Human Activities
1. Primary activities - concept and changing trends; gathering, pastoral, mining, subsistence
agriculture, modern agriculture; people engaged in agricultural and allied activities - some examples from selected countries.
2.Secondary activities-concept; manufacturing: types – household, small scale, large scale;
agro based and mineral based industries; people engaged in secondary activities - some examples from selected countries.
3.Tertiary activities-concept; trade, transport and communication; services; people engaged in tertiary activities - some examples from selected countries
4.Quaternary activities-concept; knowledge based industries; people engaged in quaternary activities - some examples from selected countries

Unit 4: Transport, Communication and Trade

1. Land transport - roads, railways; trans-continental railways.
2. Water transport- inland waterways; major ocean routes.
3.Air transport- Intercontinental air routes.
4.Oil and gas pipelines.
5.Satellite communication and cyber space.
6.International trade-Bases and changing patterns; ports as gateways of international trade, role of WTO in International trade.

Unit 5: Human Settlements
Settlement types - rural and urban; morphology of cities (case study); distribution of mega cities; problems of human settlements in developing countries.

Unit 6: Map Work on identification of features based on above units on the outline Political map of World.

Part B. India: People and Economy

Unit 7: People
1.Population : distribution, density and growth; composition of population - linguistic, religious; sex, rural-urban and occupational– polulation change through time and regional variations;
2.Migration: international, national-causes and consequences;
3.Human development: selected indicators and regional patterns;
4.Population, environment and development.

Unit 8: Human Settlements
1.Rural settlements - types and distribution;
2.Urban settlements - types, distribution and functional classification.

Unit 9: Resources and Development

1. Land resources- general land use; agricultural land use, Geographical conditions and distribution of major crops (Wheat, Rice, Tea, Coffee, Cotton, Jute, Sugarcane and Rubber), agricultural development and problems.
2. Water resources-availability and utilization-irrigation, domestic, industrial and other uses; scarcity of water and conservation methods-rain water harvesting and watershed management (one case study related with participatory watershed management to be
introduced).
3.Mineral and energy resources- distribution of metallic (Ironore, Copper, Bauxite, Manganese) ; non-metallic (Mica, Salt) minerals; conventional (Coal, Petroleum, Natural gas and Hydro electricity) and non-conventional energy sources (solar, wind, biogas) and conservation.
4.Industries - types, factors of industrial location; distribution and changing pattern of selected industries-iron and steel, cotton textiles, sugar, petrochemicals, and knowledge based industries; impact of liberalization, privatisation and globalisation on industrial location; industrial clusters.
5.Planning in India- target area planning (case study); idea of sustainable development (case study).

Unit 10: Transport, Communication and International Trade
1.Transport and communication-roads, railways, waterways and airways: oil and gas pipelines; national electric grids; communication networkings - radio, television, satellite and internet.
2. International trade- changing pattern of India’s foreign trade; sea ports and their hinterland and airports,

Unit 11: Geographical Perspective on Selected Issues and Problems (One case study to be introduced for each topic)
1. Environmental pollution; urban-waste disposal.
2. Urbanisation, rural-urban migration; problems of slums.
3. Land Degradation.

Unit 12: Map work on locating and labelling of features based on above units on outline political map of India


C. Practical Work

Unit I : Processing of Data and Thematic Mapping
1. Sources of data.
2. Tabulating and processing of data; calculation of averages, measures of central tendency, deviation and rank correlation;
3. Representation of data- construction of diagrams: bars, circles and flowchart; thematic maps; construction of dot; choropleth and isopleth maps.
4. Use of computers in data processing and mapping.

Unit II: Field Study or Spatial Information Technology
Field visit and study: map orientation, observation and preparation of sketch; survey on any one of the local concerns; pollution, ground water changes, land use and land-use changes, poverty, energy issues, soil degradation, impact of floods and drought, catchment area of school, Market survey and Household survey (any one topic of local concern may be taken up for the study; observation and questionnaire survey may be adopted for the data collection; collected data may be tabulated and analysed with diagrams and maps).
OR
Spatial Information Technology
Introduction to GIS; hardware requirements and software modules; data formats; raster and vector data, data input, editing & topology building; data analysis; overlay & buffer.