UPSC Prelims Geography Syllabus

Indian and World Geography – Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.

As you can see, the syllabus mentions only 1 line. Let us look at the details now.

Indian Geography

1. Basics of India
   1. Location, latitude, longitude, time zone, etc.
   2. Neighbours
   3. Important straits
   4. States and their position
   5. States with international boundaries
2. Physical features
   1. The Himalayas – geological formation, climate, vegetation, soil, biodiversity, physiographic divisions, major passes, significance
   2. The Great North Indian Plains – geological formation, physiographic divisions, climate, vegetation, soil, biodiversity, significance
   3. Peninsular Plateau – geological formation, Central Highlands, Deccan Plateau, Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats
   4. Indian Desert
   5. Coastal plains and islands
3. River systems
   1. Himalayan rivers
   2. Peninsular rivers
   3. River basins
   4. Regional development and planning
   5. Hydropower projects, major dams
   6. West-flowing and east-flowing rivers
   7. Interlinking of rivers
4. Climate
   1. Monsoons – driving mechanism, El Nino, La Nina
   2. Seasons
   3. Cyclones
5. Minerals and industries – mineral distribution, industrial policies, location
6. Agriculture
   1. Land utilisation
   2. Types of agricultural practices
   3. Green revolution
   4. Soils and crops
   5. Irrigation
   6. Land reforms
   7. Animal husbandry
   8. Government schemes
7. Natural vegetation and fauna
   1. Classification of natural vegetation
   2. Rainfall distribution
   3. Biosphere reserves, national parks, etc.
   4. Red-listed species
8. Economic infrastructure
   1. Transportation (highways, inland waterways, etc.)
   2. Power and energy sector
   3. Conventional and non-conventional sources of energy
   4. Energy conservation
9. Human Geography
   1. Demographics
   2. Recent census

World Geography

1. Major natural regions
2. Regional geography of developed countries
3. Regional geography of developing countries
4. Regional geography of South Asia

Physical Geography

1. Geomorphology
   1. Origin of the earth
   2. Interior of the earth
   3. Types and characteristics of rocks
   4. Folding and Faulting
   5. Volcanoes, earthquakes
   6. Interior of the earth
   7. Weathering
   8. Landforms formed by fluvial, aeolian and glacial actions
2. Climatology
   1. Atmosphere – structure and composition
   2. Temperature
   3. Pressure belts
   4. Wind systems
   5. Clouds and types of rainfall
   6. Cyclones and anti-cyclones
   7. Major climatic types
3. Oceanography
   1. Ocean relief
   2. Temperature, salinity
   3. Ocean deposits
   4. Ocean currents
   5. El Nino and La Nina
   6. Waves and tides
4. Biogeography
   1. Soil – origin and types
   2. Major biomes of the world
   3. Ecosystem, food chain
   4. Environmental degradation and conservation

Human Geography

1. Man & environment; relationship, growth and development of human geography; determinism and possibilism
2. Population, tribes, migration
3. Economic activities – agriculture, manufacturing, industries, tertiary activities
4. Settlements, urbanisation, functional classification of towns, million-cities and megacities

Location-based questions pertaining to India and the world are also asked in the prelims.

UPSC Mains Geography Syllabus

Geography is part of the GS paper I in the IAS mains exam. The syllabus for GS Geography is given below:

• Distribution of key natural resources across the world including South Asia and the Indian sub-continent; factors responsible for the location of primary, secondary, and tertiary sector industries in various parts of the world including India
• Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc., geographical features and their location- changes in critical geographical features (including water-bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes
• Salient features of the world’s physical geography (geomorphology, climatology, oceanography, biogeography and environmental geography)
  • Geomorphology – the interior of the earth, tectonics, physical phenomenon, mountain building, volcanoes, earthquakes, weathering & erosion, rocks, landforms
  • Climatology – atmosphere, temperature distribution, jet streams, pressure & wind systems, airmasses, fronts, cyclones, humidity, precipitation, geographical phenomenon, climatic regions of the world
  • Oceanography – ocean relief, temperature distribution, ocean currents, salinity, coral bleaching, marine pollution, sea level change, UN laws, etc.
  • Biography – soil profile, degradation, conservation), biotic regions, deforestation and conservation of forests, changes in critical geographical features, environmental pollution

There is a good overlap of environment in some of the topics in geography. The Geography UPSC syllabus is quite comprehensive, as you can see from above. It is an important subject as far as UPSC is concerned and every year, many questions are asked from the syllabus of geography for UPSC.

Paper-I

Principles of Geography Physical Geography:

1. Geomorphology: Factors controlling landform development; endogenetic and exogenetic forces; Origin and evolution of the earth’s crust; Fundamentals of geomagnetism; Physical conditions of the earth’s interior; Geosynclines; Continental drift; Isostasy; Plate tectonics; Recent views on mountain building; Vulcanicity; Earthquakes and Tsunamis; Concepts of geomorphic cycles and Landscape development ; Denudation chronology; Channel morphology; Erosion surfaces; Slope development ; Applied Geomorphology : Geohydrology, economic geology and environment.

2. Climatology: Temperature and pressure belts of the world; Heat budget of the earth; Atmospheric circulation; atmospheric stability and instability. Planetary and local winds; Monsoons and jet streams; Air masses and fronto genesis, Temperate and tropical cyclones; Types and distribution of precipitation; Weather and Climate; Koppen’s, Thornthwaite’s and Trewartha’s classification of world climates; Hydrological cycle; Global climatic change and role and response of man in climatic changes, Applied climatology and Urban climate.

3. Oceanography: Bottom topography of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans; Temperature and salinity of the oceans; Heat and salt budgets, Ocean deposits; Waves, currents and tides; Marine resources: biotic, mineral and energy resources; Coral reefs, coral bleaching; sea level changes; law of the sea and marine pollution.

4. Biogeography: Genesis of soils; Classification and distribution of soils; Soil profile; Soil erosion, Degradation and conservation; Factors influencing world distribution of plants and animals; Problems of deforestation and conservation measures; Social forestry; agro-forestry; Wild life; Major gene pool centres.

5. Environmental Geography: Principle of ecology; Human ecological adaptations; Influence of man on ecology and environment; Global and regional ecological changes and imbalances; Ecosystem their management and conservation; Environmental degradation, management and conservation; Biodiversity and sustainable development; Environmental policy; Environmental hazards and remedial measures; Environmental education and legislation.

Human Geography

1. Perspectives in Human Geography: Areal differentiation; regional synthesis; Dichotomy and dualism; Environmentalism; Quantitative revolution and locational analysis; radical, behavioural, human and welfare approaches; Languages, religions and secularization; Cultural regions of the world; Human development index.

2. Economic Geography:World economic development: measurement and problems; World resources and their distribution; Energy crisis; the limits to growth; World agriculture: typology of agricultural regions; agricultural inputs and productivity; Food and nutrition problems; Food security; famine: causes, effects and remedies; World industries:locational patterns and problems; patterns of world trade.

3. Population and Settlement Geography: Growth and distribution of world population; demographic attributes; Causes and consequences of migration; concepts of over-under-and optimum population; Population theories, world population problems and policies, Social well-being and quality of life; Population as social capital. Types and patterns of rural settlements; Environmental issues in rural settlements; Hierarchy of urban settlements; Urban morphology: Concepts of primate city and rank-size rule; Functional classification of towns; Sphere of urban influence; Rural – urban fringe; Satellite towns; Problems and remedies of urbanization; Sustainable development of cities.

4. Regional Planning:Concept of a region; Types of regions and methods of regionalisation; Growth centres and growth poles; Regional imbalances; regional development strategies; environmental issues in regional planning; Planning for sustainable development.

5. Models, Theories and Laws in Human Geography: Systems analysis in Human geography; Malthusian, Marxian and demographic transition models; Central Place theories of Christaller and Losch;Perroux and Boudeville; Von Thunen’s model of agricultural location; Weber’s model of industrial location; Ostov’s model of stages of growth.

PART II

Geography Of India

1. Physical Setting: Space relationship of India with neighboring countries; Structure and relief; Drainage system and watersheds; Physiographic regions; Mechanism of Indian monsoons and rainfall patterns, Tropical cyclones and western disturbances; Floods and droughts; Climatic regions; Natural vegetation; Soil types and their distributions.

2. Resources: Land, surface and ground water, energy, minerals, biotic and marine resources; Forest and wild life resources and their conservation; Energy crisis.

3. Agriculture: Infrastructure: irrigation, seeds, fertilizers, power; Institutional factors: land holdings, land tenure and land reforms; Cropping pattern, agricultural productivity, agricultural intensity, crop combination, land capability; Agro and social-forestry; Green revolution and its socio- economic and ecological implications; Significance of dry farming; Livestock resources and white revolution; aqua – culture; sericulture, apiculture and poultry; agricultural regionalisation; agro-climatic zones; agroecological regions.

4. Industry: Evolution of industries: Locational factors of cotton, jute, textile, iron and steel, aluminium, fertilizer, paper, chemical and pharmaceutical, automobile, cottage and agro-based industries; Industrial houses and complexes including public sector undertakings; Industrial regionali-sation; New industrial policies; Multinationals and liberalization; Special Economic Zones; Tourism including eco – tourism.

5. Transport, Communication and Trade: Road, railway, waterway, airway and pipeline networks and their complementary roles in regional development; Growing importance of ports on national and foreign trade; Trade balance; Trade Policy; Export processing zones; Developments in communication and information technology and their impacts on economy and society; Indian space programme.

6. Cultural Setting: Historical Perspective of Indian Society:Racial, linguistic and ethnic diversities; religious minorities; major tribes, tribal areas and their problems; cultural regions; Growth, distribution and density of population; Demographic attributes: sex-ratio, age structure, literacy rate, work-force, dependency ratio, longevity; migration (inter-regional, intra- regional and international) and associated problems; Population problems and policies; Health indicators.

7. Settlements:Types, patterns and morphology of rural settlements; Urban developments; Morphology of Indian cities; Functional classification of Indian cities; Conurbations and metropolitan regions; urban sprawl; Slums and associated problems; town planning; Problems of urbanization and remedies.

8. Regional Development and Planning:Experience of regional planning in India; Five Year Plans; Integrated rural development programmes; Panchayati Raj and decentralised planning; Command area development; Watershed management; Planning for backward area, desert, drought prone, hill, tribal area development; multi-level planning; Regional planning and development of island territories.

9. Political Aspects:Geographical basis of Indian federalism; State reorganisation; Emergence of new states; Regional consciousness and inter state issues; international boundary of India and related issues; Cross border terrorism; India’s role in world affairs; Geopolitics of South Asia and Indian Ocean realm.

10. Contemporary Issues: Ecological issues: Environmental hazards: landslides, earthquakes, Tsunamis, floods and droughts, epidemics; Issues relating to environmental pollution; Changes in patterns of land use; Principles of environmental impact assessment and environmental management; Population explosion and food security; Environmental degradation; Deforestation, desertification and soil erosion; Problems of agrarian and industrial unrest; Regional disparities in economic development; Concept of sustainable growth and development; Environmental awareness; Linkage of rivers; Globalisation and Indian economy.