Communication
Topic: World Transport and Communication · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 6 "Tertiary and Quaternary Activities"; Class 12, Ch 7 "Transport and Communication"
Meaning
Communication means sending words, messages, facts and ideas from one person or place to another. Once, a letter had to be carried by a runner, horse or train, so a message moved only as fast as transport. That is why routes are still called "lines of communication". The telegraph, the telephone, satellites and mobile phones freed messages from transport. Even so, post offices still carry huge amounts of mail.
Example
In 2024 an undersea fibre-optic cable from Kochi, in Kerala, connected the Lakshadweep islands. Messages and internet data now reach the islands in moments. They no longer have to wait for a ship.
Don't confuse with
- Transport: it moves people and goods physically. Communication moves information, and today it can do so without anything being carried.
Related concepts
- Telephone and telegraph
- Telecommunication
- Mass media
- Optical fibre cable
- Submarine communication cable