THE NATURAL AND LANDSCAPE CONDITIONS ESTIMATION FOR THE LOCATION OF THE RURAL SETTLEMENTS OF GOMEL REGION: METHODS AND RESULTS
The estimation procedure of natural-landscape conditions for location of rural settlements, using three criteria: altitude, soil fertility and groundwater table with respect to sizes of settlements, landscape types and administrative areas is given. Gomel region rural settlements location greatly depends on nature-landscape conditions. As the absolute altitude, soil fertility and groundwater protection level grow, it influences on density of rural population and settlements, as well as on the number of the inhabitants of each settlement. Different types of landscape have been ranged under the convenience for rural settlements location. It’s noticed, that the best conditions for that are provided basically by middle-altitude landscapes due to their better soil fertility. Under that conditions, highlands are worse and low-altitude areas are the worst. Some great scatter in the parameters of altitude, soils and groundwater level of equal landscape types was found, which allows to apply individual approach to the research. On the investigated territory there are three compact areas for rural settlements under conditions for living: north-east with best and favorable conditions, central with moderate conditions and south-west with less favorable conditions. This gradation strictly depends on the landscape structure of the territory.