ABSTRACT
One of the signs of man’s increasing control over natural environment is his conquest of the soil, which is the cause, and, in comparatively primitive times, also the effect, of a high density of population. In the tropical countries of the east the conquest of the soil and the consequent expansion of cultivation have since very early times stimulated the growth of population. This chapter presents a descriptive survey of the growth of population in relation to the extension of cultivation in the Upper Gangetic Plain. Sub-Himalaya, East, has been one of those agriculturally undeveloped regions in which the density of population has increased in comparatively recent times as a result of extension of cultivation. The most significant factor governing the balance of rural economy in these regions is scarcity of cultivable land, which is a fundamental limiting factor of the growth of population.
