Journal of Global Resources
Volume 5July 2017
ISSN: 2395-3160 (Print), 2455-2445 (Online)

Page 28-33

05
SPACING OF RURAL SETTLEMENTS IN NAGAUR DISTRICT, RAJASTHAN:
A SPATIAL ANALYSIS
Varun Binda
Assistant Professor (Geography)
St. Wilfred’s P.G. College, Jaipur (Raj.) India
Abstract: The study of settlement has been one of the most significant themes of humangeography. Settlement Geography describes and explains the settlements location, size andshape, form and structure. The main objective of this study is to identify the regional patternsof size and spacing of rural settlements in Nagaur district and to explain the pattern throughareal co-variance of characteristic determinants or associated areal attributes, and final toevaluate the manner in, and the extent to which the spatial pattern of spacing contributes tothe character of areas. The formulae for determining the spacing of rural settlements isbased on the density of rural settlements referred to the rural area. The significance ofspacing of rural settlements to theoretical geography through its important contribution to thecharacter of areas, and to applied geography through the problems of socio-economic
development cannot be over-emphasized.
Key words: Regional patterns, Spacing, Inhabited, Areal attributes.
Introduction
The term settlement refers to manmade habitats on the earth surface. In other words,
settlement is organized colony of human beings consisting of buildings in which they live orwork or store various things and street on which their movements take place. The study ofsettlement has been one of the most significant themes of human geography. The term
“settlement geography” is derived from the German” siedlunge geographic” (R. L. Singh1978) which involves the study of visual imprints made by man upon cultural landscape in
the process of occupation. Settlement Geography describes and explains the settlements
location, size and shape, form and structure. There are many factors like physical, social,economic and cultural which affects distribution, size, spacing and morphology of differentsettlements. According to Mukerjee, the covariance of spacing of rural settlements depends
on such fundamental factors as fertility of land, productivity of agriculture, nature of crops,distribution and availability of water, density and size of rural population, mode of living,
relative strengths of tribal population and several other factors. Research on this topic havebeen done by many scholars special reference to Rajasthan like Bose, A.B. (1962),
Mukherjee, A.B. (1963), Misra, V.C. (1967), Sen, A.K. (191967), Sharma, R.C. (1972),
Mishra, R.N. & Sharma, P. K. (2003) and Sharma P.K. (2015).
Objective and Scope
1. The main objective of this study is to identify the regional patterns of size andspacing of rural settlements in Nagaur district.
2. Explain the pattern through areal co-variance of characteristic determinants orassociated areal attributes and final to evaluate the manner in, and the extent towhich the spatial pattern of spacing contributes to the character of areas.
28Location of Study Area
Nagaur district is located in the heart of Rajasthan State (24°37’ to 26°00’ North latitudes
and 63°05’ to 75°22’ Eastern longitudes) has an area of 17,718 sq. km. with a population
density of 157/km² (2011). The district is administratively divided into ten tehsils viz. Degana,Didwana, Jayal, Ladnun, Merta, Nawa, Nagaur, Khivnsar, Makarana and Parbatsar (Fig 1).

Methodology
The formula for determining the spacing of rural settlements is based on the density of rural
settlements referred to the rural area. The formula used for the computation of spacing ofrural settlements in a tehsil is as follows:
S=A/N
Where A is rural area in square Kilometers, and N is the number of inhabited villages.
This formula is useful for both the rural area and the number of the inhabited villages in thecomputation of spacing. This is also used for calculating the spacing of settlements inRajasthan on basis of Census data of 2011 and derived under mentioned spacing value ofeach district of Rajasthan.

29Table 1: Spacing of Rural Settlements in Nagaur as Compared to that of otherDistricts of Rajasthan (2011)#Districts
Area (sq. km.)
Villages
Spacing (km.)
Rajasthan State342239
44962
7.61
1
Ajmer
8481
1123
7.55
2
Alwar
8380
2072
4.04
3
Banswara
5037
1517
3.32
4
Baran
6955
1229
5.66
5
Barmer
28387
2464
11.52
6
Bharatpur
5066
1534
3.3
7
Bhilwara
10455
1843
5.67
8
Bikaner
28466
925
30.77
9
Bundi5550
883
6.23
10
Chittaurgarh
10856
1737
6.25
11Churu
16830
909
18.51
12
Dausa
3432
1114
3.08
13
Dhaulpur
3033
825
3.68
14
Dungarpur
3770
980
3.85
15
Ganganagar
7984
3034
2.63
16
Hanumangarh
12645
1913
6.61
17
Jaipur
14068
2199
6.40
18
Jaisalmer
38401
801
47.94
19
Jalor
10640
805
13.22
20
Jhalawar
6219
1615
3.85
21
Jhunjhunun
5928
945
6.27
22
Jodhpur
22850
1846
12.38
23
Karauli
5530
892
6.20
24
Kota
5446
885
6.15
25
Nagaur
17718
1589
11.15
26
Pali
12387
1041
11.90
27
Pratapgarh
4117
1006
4.09
28
Rajsamand
4768
1059
4.50
29
Sawai Madhopur
10527
818
12.87
30
Sikar
7732
1184
6.53
31
Sirohi
5136
487
11.55
32
Tonk
7194
1192
6.04
33
Udaipur
13883
2496
5.56
Source: Computed by author.
Spacing of Rural Settlement
It is obvious that a state as vast and varied in its spatial character as Rajasthan would
display an equally striking variation in spacing of rural settlements. This is effectively
revealed in the range of variation from a minimum of 2.63 km in Shri Ganganagar to amaximum of 47.94 km. in Jaisalmer, and in which the maximum is more than eighteen times
the value of minimum (Table 1). For Rajasthan as a whole the spacing of rural settlements
comes to about 7.61 km, Compared to the Rajasthan average, Nagaur has a spacing of30

11.15 km, which is almost one and a half times that of the former. The value in Rajasthan isfairly similar to those of Barmer (11.52), Pali (11.90), and Sirohi (11.55).
Gross Pattern in Nagaur
As a higher level of generalization based on the interpretation of district data a gross patternof spacing of rural settlements can be easily identify. The district data of 2011 are given inTable 2.
Table 2: Spacing of Rural Settlements in Nagaur District of Rajasthan (2011)#Tehsils
Area (sq. km.)
Villages
Spacing (km.)
1
Didwana
1647.31
190
8.67
2
Ladnu
1257.50
100
12.58
3
Makrana1115.18134
8.32
4
Parbatsar
1108.98
117
9.48
5
Degana1907.32
205
9.30
6
Jayal
2081.16
140
14.87
7
Merta
2297.28
201
11.43
8
Nagaur3060.14
193
15.86
9Nawa
1559.86217
7.18
10
Kheenvsar
1684.7992
18.31
Source: Data computed by the authorThe table reveals the following features of the gross pattern of spacing:(I) Of the 10 tehsils in the district of Nagaur as many as 5 have spacing values larger thanthe district average of 11.15 km. Of these 5, 4 are located in the western part of Aravalli, inthe desert or semi-desert environment. The values of spacing range from a minimum of 7.18
km. in Nawa in the eastern part of district to a maximum of 18.31 km in Kheenvsar in thewestern part of the district. Most of the tehsils having smaller spacing values than the state
averages are located within or east of the Aravallis.
(II) In all the five tehsils comprising the physiographic division of Nagaur dry area andextending west of the Aravallis the spacing of rural settlements is wider to much wider than
the average for the district. The values of spacing range from a minimum of 7.18 km in Nawa
to a maximum of 18.31 km in Kheenvsar. The spacing in the extensive area located west of
the Aravallis is the largest in the district.
Detailed Spatial Pattern in Nagaur
The detailed spatial pattern emerges from Fig. 2 in which the data of spacing for tehsils havebeen plotted using the choropleth method. Three categories or type of area were identify inthe series of data of spacing. For purpose of discussion the three categories of areas, thosewith high and very high values (more than 15 km), moderate values (10 to 15 km) and lowand very low values (less than 10 km).
(i) Area of High and Very High Spacing Values
In Nagaur and Kheenvsar tehsils, extending mostly on the western pediments of theAravallis is an area of high and very high values of spacing. This area lies in the desert orsemi-desert environment. In this area water scarcity is also found and ground water is very
low. All settlements are located near the source of water. Due to desert condition transport31and communication facilities are not well developed. The general trend of the belts of varying
spacing values is north-east south-west following the classic regional grain of the Aravallis.
The region is sufficiently distinctive in the attributes of agriculture and mode of living as to beconstituted into an agrarian region.

(ii) Areas of Medium Values of Spacing
The medium values of spacing are found in the middle part of district. Almost everywhere
spacing is associated with moderate rural density. Baring a few tehsils most of these havemoderate to small-sized villages. Depending upon the physical and cultural controls there
are local variations in the value of spacing. This area is extended from North to south in thecentral part of district, Ladnun, Jayal and Merta tehsils. There are many pockets in thesetehsils, which have rich aquifer.
(iii) Areas of Low and very Low Values of Spacing
The Eastern part of district lies in this category. Where, ground water is found near uppersurface, in good quality and quantity. These tehsils are Didwana, Nawa, Makrana, Degana
and Parbatsar. The other factors which are also responsible for the low spacing of thesettlements in these tehsils are mining of marbles and salt production. This area is locatednear the State Capital of Rajasthan so the means of transports and communication facilities
are highly developed.
Conclusion
Rural density is inversely correlated with spacing of rural settlements. This is supported bythe observation that the rural density decreases and spacing of rural settlements increase
from east to west in Nagaur. In the area of low rural density the threshold rural populationneeded to support aggregation and a maximum spatial, economy of utilization of32

environmental resources has to be spread over a large area and concentrated at fewer
points resulting in an increase in the spacing of rural settlements. Size spacing direct related
to the geographical and atmospheric conditions of the particular area. Nagaur district ismainly part of “Thar Desert” and semi desert or desert type climate are found. Some others
factors are also responsible for uneven spacing of Nagaur district are source of livelihood,ground water, mean of transport and other basic facilities which is useful for mankind.
References
1. A.B. Bose, (1962) A short Note on the Human Profile of the Arid Zone of Rajasthan, Nat.
Geo. Journal of India, Vol.8, Part 2, pp. 157-163.
2. Census of India, (2011) District Census Handbook, Nagaur, Directorate of Census
Operation, Rajasthan, Jaipur.
3. District Statistical Outline: (2013) District Nagaur, Directorate of Economics and Statistic,
Govt. of Rajasthan, Jaipur.
4. R.N. Mishra, & Pawan Kumar Sharma, (2003) Study of Rural Growth Centers for in
Marusthali Region, Journal ANNALS, Vol. XXIII, NAGI, New Delhi.
5. Mukerji, A.B. (1956) Jat Settlements and Habitations, Ind. Geog. Jour., Vol. 31, Nos. 3 &4, pp 102-116.
6. A.K. Sen, (1966) Settlement Patterns in Rajasthan, Man in India, Vol. 3, pp.215-225.
7. R.C. Sharma, (1972) Settlements Geography of the Indian Desert, Kumar Brothers, NewDelhi.
8. P.K. Sharma, (2015) Micro-Level Appraisal of Spatial Dimensions of Rural Settlements,
International Journal of Research in Geography (IJRG) Volume 1, Issue 2, 2015, PP 1821.

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