The class 8 social science book Resource and Development is the NCERT Geography textbook in the Class 8 Social Science set. Its five chapters — Resources; Land, Soil, Water, Natural Vegetation and Wildlife Resources; Agriculture; Industries; and Human Resources — run across 54 printed pages, and the official PDF link for every chapter sits in the table below.
This page also measures the book in a way the PDF alone cannot show: how long each chapter runs, how many numbered figures it prints, where its activities sit, and the one place the exercises live.
A student who needs a specific topic — soil conservation, types of farming, population pyramids — can find the right chapter in one scan before opening any file.
Class 8 Social Science Book Resource and Development: official PDFs
Each link below is NCERT’s own PDF, hosted on ncert.nic.in.
| Ch. | Chapter | Pages | Official PDF |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Resources | 6 | |
| 2 | Land, Soil, Water, Natural Vegetation and Wildlife Resources | 15 | |
| 3 | Agriculture | 10 | |
| 4 | Industries | 12 | |
| 5 | Human Resources | 11 |
- Official NCERT files — published by NCERT itself, not third-party uploads; the file codes run from hess401 to hess405.
- Hosted on ncert.nic.in — the official portal where NCERT publishes its textbook PDFs, free with no login.
- One chapter per file — each PDF is a single chapter, so it opens quickly even on a phone.
If you are starting the book fresh, open the official PDF for Chapter 1, Resources (hess401.pdf) first — its six pages define what a resource is, and every later chapter builds on that idea.
The book, measured
These numbers are read from the book itself, chapter by chapter.
- 5 chapters across 54 printed pages — the shortest runs 6 pages (Chapter 1) and the longest 15 (Chapter 2).
- 49 verified numbered figures indexed from the textbook — most of them sit in Chapters 2 and 3.
- 13 activities — spread across every chapter except Agriculture, which has none.
- 5 end-of-chapter questions, 23 parts in total — all inside Chapter 3, the only chapter with exercises.
- 0 named section headings — the book prints no numbered sections, so the sections column reads 0 throughout.
- Scope: this page covers only the Geography book Resource and Development. The other Class 8 Social Science NCERT books — History and Civics — are separate volumes and are not listed here.
A “section” here means one of NCERT’s own numbered section headings, and this book prints none — its chapters move through topic headings instead.
What is inside the 5 chapters
The table below lists what each chapter actually prints — named sections, activities, numbered figures and end-of-chapter questions — so the book’s weight is visible at a glance.
| Ch. | Chapter | Sections | Activities | Figures | Questions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Resources | — | 2 | — | — |
| 2 | Land, Soil, Water, Natural Vegetation and Wildlife Resources | — | 5 | 15 | — |
| 3 | Agriculture | — | — | 16 | 5 |
| 4 | Industries | — | 4 | 9 | — |
| 5 | Human Resources | — | 2 | 9 | — |
What the columns count: a “section” is one of NCERT’s own numbered headings, and this book prints none, so that column reads 0 for every chapter. A “figure” is a numbered figure indexed from the book; a “question” is an end-of-chapter exercise.
Because there are no numbered sections, a reader citing part of this book names the chapter’s topics instead — Types of Resources, Farm System, Distribution of Population.
Chapter 1: Resources
The book’s shortest chapter at 6 pages, Resources, opens the set with one idea — anything that satisfies a need is a resource — and sorts resources into natural and human-made resources, plus plain human resources, taught entirely through text and 2 activities, so a first-time reader meeting terms like “stock of resource” should start here before the later chapters assume them.
Chapter 2: Land, Soil, Water, Natural Vegetation and Wildlife Resources
Chapter 2 is the longest chapter at 15 of the book’s 54 pages and its most visual, with land use, soil formation, water conservation and conservation of land resource as the core concepts, carried by 15 figures — including the soil profile, terrace farming, contour ploughing and shelter belts — and completed with 5 activities.
Chapter 3: Agriculture
Chapter 3, Agriculture, teaches the farm system, the contrast between subsistence farming and commercial farming, the major crops from rice and wheat to cotton, coffee and tea, and agricultural development with organic farming, through 16 figures — and it is the only chapter that prints exercises, 5 questions with 23 parts, so it is where question practice lives.
Chapter 4: Industries
Chapter 4, Industries, explains the classification of industries and the factors affecting location of industries, the industrial system and industrial regions, and then follows the iron and steel industry through 9 figures from the blast furnace to the Jamshedpur location map, with 4 activities — the chapter for a student answering “why is this industry located here” questions, where Fig. 4.6, from iron ore to steel, is the one to know.
Chapter 5: Human Resources
Chapter 5, Human Resources, closes the book by treating people as the ultimate resource, explaining distribution of population, density of population, the factors behind them, population change and population composition, and its 9 figures end with three population pyramids — for Kenya, India and Japan — which students are often asked to compare.
Chapter pages and study guides
Study guides, chapter by chapter. When you need a deeper walkthrough of a single chapter, this is where each chapter’s study guide will appear — the list below marks each chapter’s status.
| Ch. | Chapter page |
|---|---|
| 1 | Resources (coming soon) |
| 2 | Land, Soil, Water, Natural Vegetation and Wildlife Resources (coming soon) |
| 3 | Agriculture (coming soon) |
| 4 | Industries (coming soon) |
| 5 | Human Resources (coming soon) |
How to study the book in order
The five chapters are not equal in length or in load, so a fixed order helps.
- Start with Chapter 1, Resources. At 6 pages it is the book’s shortest chapter, and it builds the vocabulary — resource, natural, human-made, human — that every later chapter assumes.
- Take Chapter 2 slowly. Fifteen of the book’s 54 pages and 15 figures: the soil profile, terrace farming, contour ploughing and shelter belts carry the meaning, so read the figures, not just the text.
- Use Chapter 3, Agriculture, to test yourself. It holds the book’s only exercise questions — 5 questions with 23 parts — so it is the natural place to check whether the reading has sunk in.
- Finish with Chapters 4 and 5 as a pair. Industries moves the book into the economy; Human Resources turns to people. In Chapter 5, learn to read the three population pyramids for Kenya, India and Japan — they are the figures students are most often asked to compare.
Expect exercises only in Chapter 3 — the remaining chapters close without an exercise section, so use them to read carefully and study the figures rather than to practise questions.
If you are hunting for one topic, the lookup below is faster than scanning the file.
| If you are looking for | Open chapter |
|---|---|
| What counts as a resource; types of resources | Chapter 1, Resources |
| Soil profile, terrace farming, contour ploughing, shelter belts | Chapter 2 |
| Farm system; subsistence vs commercial farming; major crops | Chapter 3, Agriculture |
| Why an industry is located where it is; iron and steel industry | Chapter 4, Industries |
| Population pyramids; distribution and composition of population | Chapter 5, Human Resources |
Related NCERT pages
- All NCERT books by class — browse the full textbook library across every class: the NCERT books directory.
- Class 8 NCERT hub — see the rest of the Class 8 textbook set around this Geography book: the Class 8 NCERT hub.
Sources and data verification
This listing is maintained for the 2026-27 academic session using the NCERT textbook information available to us. NCERT remains the authority for confirming the latest edition.
- Edition described: the NCERT Class 8 Social Science textbook Resource and Development (Geography), official PDFs on ncert.nic.in. Figure captions and section titles are quoted from the textbook; page references, where any appear, are to the official PDF.
- Coverage: this page covers only the Geography book Resource and Development. The other Class 8 Social Science NCERT books — History and Civics — are separate volumes and are not listed here.
- Maintenance: the listing is maintained for the current academic session using the NCERT information available to us.
- Authority: NCERT settles textbooks, editions and PDFs; CBSE settles curriculum, syllabus and examinations. A textbook’s contents and the examinable syllabus are not always identical — check the current official syllabus.
Frequently asked questions about this book
How many chapters are in the Class 8 Social Science Geography book Resource and Development?
Five chapters. The book opens with Resources, then Land, Soil, Water, Natural Vegetation and Wildlife Resources, Agriculture and Industries, and closes with Human Resources — 54 printed pages in all.
Is the Resource and Development Class 8 PDF free and official?
Yes — the PDFs are NCERT’s own files, published free on ncert.nic.in with file codes hess401 to hess405. The table above links each chapter’s official file directly.
Which chapter of this book covers agriculture and types of farming?
Chapter 3, Agriculture. It covers the farm system, the difference between subsistence and commercial farming, and the major crops from rice and wheat to cotton, coffee and tea.
Which chapter explains population and population pyramids?
Chapter 5, Human Resources. It explains population distribution, density, change and composition, and its three population pyramids for Kenya, India and Japan are the figures students are most often asked to compare.
Does every chapter in this book have exercise questions?
No. Only Chapter 3, Agriculture, prints end-of-chapter exercises — 5 questions with 23 parts. The other chapters close without an exercise section, so use them for reading and revision rather than question practice.
Reference: NCERT Class 8 Social Science textbook Resource and Development, official edition on ncert.nic.in. Figure captions and section titles quoted from the textbook; page references are to the official PDF.