This document discusses resources from a geographic perspective. It begins by defining resources as biotic and abiotic substances that satisfy human needs and desires. It then provides definitions of resources from various scholars that emphasize resources are things in the environment that are useful to humans. The document discusses how factors like culture, technology, economics influence how societies perceive, value and utilize resources. It introduces concepts like resources, resistances and neutral stuff to categorize elements of the environment. Finally, it explains how scarcity, both absolute and relative, affects the economic valuation of resources.

1. FOR DEPARTMENT OF WOMEN STUDIES
Dr. Meenakshi Prasad
Assistant Professor
P.G. Deptt. of Geography
Magadh University
Bodh Gaya
Source : google images

2. Content
• Meaning of Resource
• Some Important Definitions
• Resource, Resistance & Neutral Stuffs
• Factors affecting Cognition, Values & Use of
Resources
• Functional Theory of Resources
• Types of Resources

3. Meaning of Resource
The biotic and abiotic
substances which help
in the fulfillment of
human needs & desires
are termed as resource.
Air, water, forest, soil,
etc. are regarded as
resources as they satisfy
human needs.
Source : google images

4. Some Important Definitions
• Encyclopedia of Social Sciences defines resources
as ‘those aspects of man’s environment which
facilitate the satisfaction of human wants and the
attainment of social objectives.’
• Fisher has said that resources are ‘anything that can
be used to satisfy a need or desire’.
• Smith & Phillips define resources as merely
‘environment functioning in the service of man’.

5. • Zimmermann has defined resources as
‘features of environment which are
considered to be capable of serving man’s
needs. They are given utility by the
capabilities & wants of man’. He further
elaborates that ‘the word resource does not
refer to a thing or substance but to a function
a thing or substance may perform or to an
operation in which it may take part, namely
the function of attaining a given end such as
satisfying a want’.

6. • It may be concluded that for a substance to become a
resource it must have two attributes – functionality &
utility
• The utility of a substance reflects its functionality
• The above varies with space & time , for eg. Damodar
River was known as the sorrow of Bengal until it was
tamed by setting up of Damodar Valley Corporation
• It also varies from region to region depending upon the
cultural level & characteristics of a region. For eg.
Niagra falls in North America is a resource as they
generate hydro-electric power which is used to run the

7. mills of New England Region while the Stanley fall
on the Congo river in Africa may not be called a
resource under the present socio-economic set-
up of Congo Democratic Republic.
• Resources have both tangible & intangible
aspects. Minerals, wood, water are tangible
things which are important resources.
Simultaneously, intangible things such as
knowledge, health, social organisation, political
stability, freedom, government policies, etc. are
also resources as they help in satisfying human
needs & fulfilling his aspirations.

8. Resources, Resistances & Neutral
stuffs
• Resource – Anything that benefits man or leads to human
welfare is resource. Natural materials such as soil for growing
crops, coal for power generation, river water for irrigation are
resources. Human & Cultural aspects like high educational
level, good health, morality, optimum population,
development of machines & tools, commercial & financial
facilities, scientific management, good government, etc. are
resources
• Resistance – Anything that hinders or harms man & his
progress is called a resistance. In nature barren & unproductive
waste land, diseases, disasters are resistances. In human &
cultural field racial conflicts, illiteracy, over population, greed,
war, conservative attitude, economic depression, abortive
policies, etc. are resistances.

9. • Neutral Stuff – Substances in nature which do not
affect man either favourably or unfavourably are called
neutral stuff. For Eg. A large amount of energy is stored
in the movement of tides & sea-waves in India but until
we learn to harness them feasibly it is a neutral stuff.
• All material & non-material things of the world fall
under one of the three categories, i.e. resource,
resistance or neutral stuff
• According to Zimmermann ‘only human appraisal turns
the neutral stuff of the earth into resources’.
• In the early stages of human history there were more
resistances & neutral stuffs & less resources.

10. • With the progress in society & technical knowhow, man has
kept on turning neutral stuffs & many resistances into
resources thereby increasing the stock of resources.
• A progressive society or country has lesser resistances &
neutral stuffs & more resources. Example – France,
Germany, U.K.
• A backward society or country has less resources and more
resistances & neutral stuffs. Example – African countries
like Democratic Republic of Congo
• Resources & resistances exist together
• According to Zimmermann, ‘ the extent of human
satisfaction is a function of resources and resistances & not
of resources alone’.

11. RESOURCE RESISTANCE
NEUTRAL STUFF
Source : google images

12. Factors
Affecting
Resource
Cognition,
Value & Use
Cultural
factors
Social
Factors
Political
Factors
Technological
Factors
Economic
Factors

13. Many factors influence our cognition of
Resource, its value & uses
Cultural Factors:
• The perception of resources is a cultural one
• Different cultures exist in the world each having a
different set of values
• The value assigned to an object in one culture may be
regarded as a nuisance in another
• Whaling provides a classic example. The Inuits of North
America historically used whales as a source of food, its
fat as fuel and its bones for their arts & crafts. The usage
continues even today. Today, most Americans appreciate
the beauty & majesty of whales and value them as an
aesthetic resource and not a consumable one. They are
protesting against whaling.

14. • Culture also determines a society’s view towards
its natural environment thereby influencing the
utilisation of resources. This view may range from
technocentrism, i.e. human domination & control
of nature to ecocentrism,i.e. living in harmony
with nature.
• Another powerful aspect of culture is religion.
Religious views of a society influence the usage of
resources at hand. For example – meat industry
(beef & pork) is well developed in Argentina but
in India due to religious factors it has not
developed, though India has the largest cattle
population in the world.

15. MAN, CULTURE & NATURE (After ZIMMERMANN, 1951)
Source : google images

16. Social Factors:
• Social conditions like ethnicity, gender, education &
income influence how societies cognize resources,
assign value to them and use them
• For example, higher income households all over the
world use more energy as compared to lower income
households.
• With the passage of time the cultural make-up of
societies change thereby influencing the cognition &
use of resources. For example – during the initial
colonial period in America shrimps & lobster were fed
to servants as cheap food resources. The influx of
Southern European immigrants in the late 19th century
changed this cheap food resource into a valuable
delicacy.

17. Technological Factors:
• Technological factors relate to man’s knowledge & skills
in exploiting resources
• A waterfall becomes a resource only when a
hydroelectric power plant is set up to generate
electricity from it
• Technology develops with time, however the
technological level is not the same all over the world.
For example – in France tidal energy is used in a big
way but in India it is not yet commercially harnessed
• Technology also increases the functional capacity of a
resource which brings us to the concept of ‘phantom
pile’.

18. Phantom Pile
• The concept of phantom pile was given by
Zimmermann.
• When the physical loss of a natural resource
(shrinkage in its weight & volume) is over
compensated by the expansion of its functional
capacity it is know as the concept of ‘phantom
pile’.
• The functional capacity can be expanded with
growth & improvement in technology.

19. • Example to explain the concept of phantom pile :
Let us assume that India had a coking coal reserve of
2000 million tonnes in 1950 & at that time 2 tonnes
of coking coal was needed to smelt one tonne of
iron-ore and the coke oven plants yielded very few
by-products. With the advancement in technology at
present a tonne of coking coal can smelt two tonnes
of iron-ore & the coke oven plants are yielding a
large number of by-products. Thus, the functional
capacity of coking coal has increased four fold in
smelting of iron-ore & the yield of by-products has
doubled. On the whole its functional capacity has
increased five folds. Lets assume that during the past
half a century we have used up 500 million tonnes

20. of coking coal. Now 1500
million tonnes of the original
pile remains. Due to
improvement in technology
the functional capacity of this
1500 million tonnes pile has
expanded to an imaginary pile of 7,500 million tonnes
(1500x5). Thus, the physical loss of the coking coal
deposit is now over compensated by the expansion of
its functional capacity. This is the phanton pile.
Source : google images

21. Economic Factors :
• A resource is only exploited if it can be done with
profit.
• The best quality Anthracite coal in India is found in
Kargil in Jammu & Kashmir but it is not exploited at
present as its remote location makes doing so
unfeasible.
• The cognition & use of a resource is affected by its
pricing which is influenced by its abundance or scarcity.
• As a resource becomes scarce its value may increase.
• The scarcity may be absolute or relative

22. • Absolute scarcity occurs
when the supplies of a
particular resource are
insufficient to meet present
& future demand. For
Example – the dwindling
supply of certain land
resources such as
wilderness could lead to an
absolute scarcity. Punjab is
having an absolute scarcity
of forests as they have been
destroyed due to green
revolution
ANANTPUR DISTRICT – PUNJAB
DESERT LIKE SITUATION DUE TO
LOSS OF WILDERNESS
Source : google images

23. • Relative scarcity occurs when
there are disparities in the
distribution of a resource.
Open space was not
considered a resource until it
became relatively scarce in
urban areas.
• Relative scarcity also occurs
when one group controls the
ownership or distribution of
resources at the expense of
another group. The relative
scarcity of petroleum created
by the OPEC countries during
the 1970’s was the cause of
energy crisis
URBAN OPEN SPACES
Source : google images

24. Political Factors :
• Policies of the Government may encourage or
discourage the usage of a natural resource or may
decide upon how it should be perceived.
• For example – the Indian government has
declared the Sentinel island of Andaman &
Nicobar a reserved area for the primitive tribe
living there. Outsiders cannot go there.
• A variation in system of governance may bring
variation in resource use

25. Functional Theory of Resources
• This theory was given by Zimmermann
• Zimmermann has said, ‘Resources are not, they
become’. This statement is the basis of the
functional theory of resources
• The fuctional theory postulates that: (i)Resources
are functional & operational, (ii)They are man’s
creation (iii)They are dynamic
• The essence of this theory is that a substance
becomes a resource only when its functionability
to satisfy a human need is developed by man.
Moreover, resources are not only natural or
physical but they are cultural as well

26. TYPES OF RESOURCES
Resources can be classified into different
categories based of the following criteria :
• Origin
• Distribution & Frequency of Occurance
• On the basis of Exhaustibility
• Stage of Development
• Ownership
• Renewability

27. Based on
Origin
Natural
Biotic Abiotic
Human Knowledge Man-made
Natural Resource – These are substances which occur
naturally in nature & are capable of fulfilling human wants.
They can be further classified as biotic & abiotic resources.
Biotic resources are obtained from biosphere. They have
life, for example – plants & animals. The abiotic resources
are composed of non-living things, such as minerals like
iron-ore.

28. Human Resource – Human resource is augmented
labour. In the words of Nobel Laureate Robert Solow,
it is labour which has improved its efficiency given
the level of knowledge, skill & technology.
NATURAL RESOURCE HUMAN RSOURCE
Source : google images

29. Knowledge Resource – It is
the creation of knowledge
which is based on past
stock. Current knowledge is
created on the basis of past
knowledge. For example –
Beethoven’s symphony
Man-made Resource –
These are resources which
are manufactured by man,
for example –buildings,
computer, phone
KNOWLEDGE RESOURCE
MAN-MADE RESOURCE

30. • Man made resources are dependent upon
knowledge resource & human resource. Therefore if
we do not double count them then of the basis of
origin we can have two broad classification, i.e.
Natural Resources & Man-made Resources.
• There are two approaches of sustainability – strong
sustainability & weak sustainability
• Strong sustainability implies that there can be no
substitution or trade-off of natural resources with
man-made resources. The logic is that natural
resources cannot be recreated & therefore we do not
have the right to deplete them.

31. • Weak sustainability on the other hand implies that
man-made resources can substitute natural
resources & this is required for development because
natural resources serve as raw material for
production. Therefore for any economy to continue
production implies automatically that there would be
some substitution of natural resources with man-
made resources.

32. Zimmermann has classified the resources on the
basis of their distribution & frequency of occurance
into the above four types :
Ubiquities – Resources that are found everywhere,
for example – oxygen in the air
Based on Distribution
Ubiquities Commanalities Rarities Uniquities

33. • Commonalities – Resources that
occur in many places, for example –
tillable soil
• Rarities – Resources that occur only in
a few places, for example – tin
• Uniquities – Resources occuring only
at one place, for example –
commercial cryolite found in
Greenland
Tin
Soil
Source : all google images

34. Based on
Exhaustibility
Inexhaustible Exhaustible
Inexhaustible Resource – These
are resources that cannot be
exhausted. For Example –Air,
Solar Energy
Inexhaustible Resource : Solar EnergySource : google images

35. Exhaustible Resource – These
are those resources which will
get exhausted if their critical
mass is not maintained for
them to reproduce themselves.
For example – Eco-system of a
lake where over fishing is
practised will leave the lake
with so few fish that they will
not be able to reproduce
themselves & eventually will die
out.
Fisheries : An Exhaustible
Resource
Source : google images

36. Based on Stage
of Development
Developed Potential Stock Reserve
Developed Resource – Also known as actual resource,
there are resources which have been fully surveyed &
their quality & quantity has been fully detemined for
utilisation and they are being used by man. For example –
Coal reserves of Ranigunj & Jharia in India, petroleum
resource in Assam

37. Potential Resource – These
are those resources which
are found in a particular
region but are yet to be
put to use. There is a
possibility that they may
be used in future. For
example – Amazon river of
South America has vast
potential to be developed
as a power resource in
future. In India Gujarat has
huge potential for the
development of tidal &
wind energy Amazon River- A Potential Resource
Source : google images

38. Stock – The materials in the
environment which have
the potential to satisfy
human needs but human
beings do not have the
appropriate technology to
access them are included
among stock. Water for
example is a compound of
two inflammable gases
oxygen & hydrogen which
can be used as a source of
energy but we do not have
the technology for it.
Source : google images

39. Reserve – It is that part
of an actual/developed
resource which can be
developed profitably in
future. Example – the
deep seated coal
reserves of Damodar
Valley coal fields in
India
Source : google images

40. Based on
Ownership
Individual Community National International
Individual Resource – Such
resources are owned privately
by individuals. For Example –
plantations, ponds, wells, etc.
A Banana Plantation : Individual ResourceSource : google images

41. Community Resource –
These are resources
which are accessible to
all the members of a
community. Grazing
grounds & burial
ground in villages and
public parks & play
grounds in urban areas
are examples of such
resourcesPublic Park : A Community Resource
Source : google images

42. National Resource – These
are resources that belong to
the nation. For Example –
roads, canals, railways, land
within the political boundary
of a nation, territorial waters
& the resources within it are
national resources. The term
territorial water refers to the
oceanic area upto 12 nautical
miles (19.2 km) from the
coast. The country has legal
power to acquire even
private property for public
good. For example –
nationalisation of coal mines
in India
Indian Railways : A National Resource
Source : google images

43. International Resource – The oceanic resources
beyond 200 km of the exclusive Economic Zone of
countries belong to open ocean & are termed as
international resources. No individual or country can
utilise these resources without the consensus of
International Instituitions.
Source : google images

44. Based on
Renewability
Renewable
Non-living Living
Flow
Non-
renewable
Recyclable
Non-
recyclable

45. Renewable Resource – Renewable or replenishable
resources are those resources which can be renewed
and replenished by physical, chemical & biological
processes. These resources are divided into three sub-
categories, i.e. non-living, living & flow resources.
(a)Non-living renewable resources are those renewable
resources that come from abiotic sources, for example
– land, water, air, minerals
(b)Living renewable resources are those that come
from living or biotic sources, for example –flora &
fauna.
(c)Flow or continuous renewable resources are
resources which do not need regeneration, for example
– tides, solar energy

46. Non-renewable Resource – These are those resources
whose process of formation & replenishment is very
slow and takes a very long geological time period. They
take millions of years to be formed. For example – coal,
iron ore, etc. These Non-renewable resources are
further divided into two categories, i.e. recyclable
resources & non- recyclable resources.
(a)Recyclable resources are those which can be processed
to be used again and again. For example – copper,
aluminium, etc.
(b)Non-recyclable resources are those which once used
perish. For example – fossil fuels & uranium

47. References
• Gautam, A : ‘Geography of Resources: Exploitation,
Conservation & Management’, Sharda Pustak Bhawan,
Allahabad, 2017
• Singh, J & Singh, K : ‘Aarthik Bhugol ke Mool Tatva’,
Gyanoday Prakashan, Gorakhpur, 1999
• Harun, M: ‘Aarthik Bhugol ke Mool Tatva’, Vasundhara
Prakashan, Gorakhpur, 2004
• https://www.kcesmjcollege.in/ICT/Geography/Natural%2
0Rsources.pdf
• https://www.slideshare.net/sadiazaman522/resource-
concept-and-classificat

48. Source : google images