I.

Introduction

Land Use, the different ways in which people use land and the study of these ways and of the processes of land-use decision-making. Traditional land uses include agriculture, mining, and forestry; a more recent one is conservation. Less than 30 per cent of the Earth's surface area of 510.1 million sq km (197 million sq mi) is land. Not all land can be utilized by humans, so that which is usable is a valuable natural resource, and one under pressure in many parts of the world. Because of this, obtaining an accurate picture of how land is being used, and whether it is being used optimally is important. In recent years, increasingly sophisticated analytical and mapping techniques have been used to study land use, while the size of land areas to be studied has increased.