Environment Defined

The word environment, in every day usage, means surroundings, circumstances, or influences. Most people understand the term to mean the physical conditions of the landscape, including the topography, drainage, climatic conditions, and the vegetation of a given area or territory.


This is the physical environment or natural surroundings made up of land, water, and air, along with all the resources including the soil, plants, animals, and minerals found in them.


The second type of tangible or material environment is the human-made environment, which is basically the natural environment that has been modified or transformed by human activities.


In addition to these two types of tangible environments, there is a third type of environment, namely the socioeconomic environment, which encompasses the political environment. Often, it is this intangible environment that plays a major role in determining what proportion of the natural resources of a territory is used for the economic development of the territory and for the economic development of the territory and for the material benefit of the inhabitants.