Meaning of Settlement
Settlement is a collection of buildings with people living in them. It is centre of human activities and it consists of houses, communication network, roads, tracks, railways etc. It could be one house, a village, a town or a city.
Favourable Conditions for Siting a Settlement
- There must be adequate and dependable water supply for man use
- The soil must be fertile to produce agricultural activities
- Such lands must be lowland and well drained for easy erection of buildings
- The presence of good roads, railways, airport etc
- The area should be well protected against invading enemies
Factors Affecting the Growth of Settlements
- People are likely to settle in areas that are easily accessible by roads, rails etc and these tend to increase the growth of settlement
- Absence of both natural and man made disasters in a place tends to attracts people to such areas, hence the growth of such settlement
- Favourable climate also tends to attract people to an area which equally leads to the growth of a settlement
- The presence of low relief or low lands favours settlement unlike rugged relief and highlands which repel settlement of people
- People also settled in places which are seats of government as social amenities and other facilities are often provided in such areas
