The term 'land' generally refers to the surface of the earth. But in economics it includes all that, which is available free of cost from 'nature' as a gift to human being. Land stands for all nature, living and nonliving which is used by man in production.
Importance of land as a factor of production - In every kind of production, we have to use land. Therefore, land is a basic factor of production.
(i) In industries, it helps to provide raw material.
(ii) It provide space/surface for setting up the sites for industrial infrastructure.
(iii) In agriculture, land is considered as the main factor of production as crops are produced on land.
(iv) All sources of power i.e. hydro-electricity, thermal power, diesel, coal, oil, etc, emanate from land.
Fundamentally speaking, 'land' is the original source of all material wealth and it is of immense rise to mankind. In spite of being a passive factor, it is an important factor of production. An overall economic prosperity of a country is directly related to the richness of its natural resources.