Secondary Activities Class 12 Geography Chapter 5 CBSE Notes 2025-26

Secondary activities focus on adding value to raw materials extracted from nature by transforming them into more useful and valuable products. For example, cotton must first be made into yarn to be useful for clothing, and iron ore becomes much more useful after being converted into steel. 

In other words, secondary activities include manufacturing, processing, and construction industries that shape the basic materials of the earth into products and infrastructure required for daily life and further development.

  

Manufacturing and Its Diversity 

Manufacturing covers a wide spectrum of activities – from handmade crafts and simple tools in small workshops to massive factories that produce vehicles or electronic equipment using advanced technology. Even now, some countries continue to have a large number of small, traditional manufacturing units with simple technology. In contrast, modern manufacturing is marked by power-driven machines and a high degree of specialisation and organisation.

Key Features of Modern Large Scale Manufacturing 

Modern manufacturing is shaped by a few distinct characteristics:

• Specialisation of skills and production methods, moving from custom-made items to mass production with workers repeating specific tasks.
• Use of machines and power, including automation where machines function with little human input.
• Continuous technological innovation to improve quality, reduce waste, and control pollution.
• Large scale organisation requiring significant capital, workforce, and specialised management structures.
• Uneven distribution across the world, with major industries located in very limited areas, making these regions economically and politically powerful.

Factors Affecting Location of Industries 

Industrial units are located in places where costs of production and distribution are lowest, allowing the highest profits. The most important factors leading to this are:

• Access to markets where people can purchase goods.
• Availability and transportability of raw materials, especially if materials are bulky, heavy, or perishable.
• Supply of labour, both skilled and unskilled, important for different types of industries.
• Availability of power or energy sources, like coal, petroleum, or electricity.
• Transport and communication networks for moving goods and exchanging information.
• Government policies that encourage or support industries in specific regions for balanced development.
• Benefits from being close to related industries, sharing facilities and reducing costs (agglomeration economies).

These factors do not work alone but together, shaping the location and success of large-scale industries.

  

Footloose Industries 

Some industries, called footloose industries, are not tied to any particular location or raw material. They can operate with small quantities of ready-to-use, easily available components and do not create much pollution. Their main requirement is easy road access rather than proximity to resources or markets.

Classification of Manufacturing Industries 

Manufacturing industries can be grouped in different ways, such as by size, type of input/raw material, output/product, and ownership.

Classification by Size 

Industries based on size include:

• Household or cottage industries: The smallest units, often run by family members at home, using simple tools and local raw materials to create daily use articles like mats, pots, and baskets. Many such industries can be found in rural India, such as bamboo crafts or pottery.
• Small-scale industries: Use workshops and local power-driven machines outside the home, providing employment to local people and supporting local economies. India, China, and other populous countries have promoted these to create jobs.
• Large-scale industries: Involve big investments, larger markets, advanced technology, and mass production, such as in steel plants, car factories, and electronics assembly lines. Found in developed as well as developing countries.

Large-scale manufacturing systems have led to the rise of two main types of industrial regions: traditional industrial clusters in developed countries and newer high-technology hubs in various parts of the world.

Classification by Inputs/Raw Materials 

Industries based on the sources of inputs include:

• Agro-based: Use materials from agriculture such as cotton, fruits, or sugarcane. Examples include food processing, textile, beverages, and other related industries.
• Mineral-based: Use minerals like iron, copper, or non-metallic minerals (cement, pottery).
• Chemical-based: Use chemicals and minerals such as petroleum, coal, salts, sulphur, or synthetic materials for industries like plastics or synthetic fibres.
• Forest-based: Use resources from forests—paper, furniture, lac, and related products.
• Animal-based: Use materials from animals, such as leather, wool, or ivory.

Classification by Ownership 

Ownership patterns also classify industries as:

• Public sector: Owned and operated by government agencies, especially in socialist or mixed economy countries like India, where Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) are common.
• Private sector: Owned by individuals or companies in capitalist economies.
• Joint sector: Jointly managed by government and private parties, or by several companies working together.

High Technology Industries (High-Tech) 

High-tech industries represent the most modern segment of manufacturing, relying heavily on research and development. They produce advanced products—computers, pharmaceuticals, electronic equipment—using robotics, CAD (computer-aided design), and highly skilled white-collar workers. 

Instead of large, congested factories, these industries work out of neat, planned business parks or “technopolies” that are clean, modern, and often located near large cities.

Examples of high-tech clusters around the world include Silicon Valley in the USA, famous for its technology companies, and Silicon Forest, near Seattle. In India, similar hubs are developing in cities such as Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

Classification by Output/Product 

Industries are also classified by their output:

• Basic industries: Create products used as raw materials for other industries, such as iron and steel used to make machinery.
• Consumer goods industries: Produce goods for direct use by people like food, soaps, paper, and electronics.

Role of Manufacturing in the World 

Manufacturing activities contribute greatly to the world’s economy by providing jobs, developing technology, and creating goods for both local consumption and global trade. 

The main manufacturing industries worldwide include iron and steel, automobiles, electronics, textiles, and various chemicals. The location, type, and success of these industries depend on the factors discussed, as well as on continuous innovation and the capacity to respond to market needs.

Practice Questions and Activities 

At the end of the chapter, students are encouraged to try exercises such as choosing correct options for conceptual questions, writing short notes on core terms (like 'Manufacturing', 'Footloose Industries', 'High-Tech Industry'), answering analytical questions comparing economic activities, or explaining trends. 

There are also hands-on activities—surveying the use of factory goods in schools, exploring eco-friendly materials, or investigating global brands.

Class 12 Geography Chapter 5 Notes – Fundamentals of Human Geography: Secondary Activities Revision Overview

These CBSE Class 12 Geography Chapter 5 notes cover all major points on secondary activities, making it easy to revise topics like manufacturing types, industry location, and high-tech zones. Simple explanations help you spot the differences between primary, secondary, and other activities quickly. Use these revision notes to strengthen your understanding before exams.

With concise bullet points and examples from the NCERT book, these secondary activities notes are ideal for last-minute preparation. Each topic, from types of industries to influencing factors, is presented clearly for better recall in your Geography Board exams.