Linear settlement
Topic: Human Settlements and Urbanisation in India · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 5 "Topographical Maps"
Meaning
A linear settlement is one whose houses stand in a line or narrow strip. They line up along a river valley, road, embankment, canal or coast. This happens because the line offers something useful: water, transport or dry, raised land. It is easy to spot on a topographical map (a detailed survey map), because the houses form a long, thin shape.
Example
Coastal villages in Kerala stretch in long lines along the shore. Houses follow the beach and the backwaters, because that is where fishing and boat transport happen.
Don't confuse with
- Clustered settlement: houses are bunched together in one compact block, not stretched out in a line.