Gujarat: Geography

What the official syllabus says

GPSC Preliminary Examination, General Studies, under the heading Geography:

• Physical Geography in relation to World, India and Gujarat: Major physical divisions, Earthquakes, landslides, Natural drainage, Seasonal Climate Regions, Atmospheric disturbance, Cyclone, Natural Vegetation: Parks and Sanctuaries. Major Soil types, Rocks and Minerals, etc.
• Social Geography in relation to World, India and Gujarat: Distribution, Density, Growth, Sex-ratio, Literacy, Occupational Structure, SC and ST Population, Ethnic group, Linguistic group, Rural-Urban components, Urbanization and Migration, Metropolitan regions, etc.
• Economic Geography: Major sectors of economy, Agriculture, Industry and Services-their salient features. Basic Industries-Agro, Mineral, Forest, Fuel and Manpower based Industries, Transport and Trade, etc.

Topics in detail

The Gujarat side of the physical, social and economic geography lines. Learn it with a district map of Gujarat.

Location and extent

• Western India, on the Arabian Sea; the Tropic of Cancer passes through north Gujarat
• Borders: Pakistan (Sindh) to the north-west, Rajasthan to the north and north-east, Madhya Pradesh to the east, Maharashtra to the south, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (a Union Territory)
• Area of about 1.96 lakh sq km; the longest coastline of any Indian state
• Districts and their headquarters (the number has grown as new districts were formed); Gandhinagar as capital

Physical divisions

• Kachchh: the Great Rann and Little Rann (salt flats), Banni grasslands, the Kachchh hills, Bet islands; Kachchh mainland
• Saurashtra (Kathiawar) peninsula: central uplands, Girnar (highest point of Gujarat), Gir hills, Barda hills, Shetrunji hills, Chotila; coastal plains
• Mainland Gujarat: alluvial plains of north and central Gujarat (Charotar), the Bhal tract, the south Gujarat plain
• Eastern hilly belt: Aravalli outliers (Ambaji, Idar), Vindhya and Satpura spurs, the Sahyadri (Western Ghats) in the Dangs (Saputara)
• Gulfs and islands: Gulf of Kachchh, Gulf of Khambhat; Bet Dwarka, Piram, Aliabet, Pirotan

Rivers and drainage

• North Gujarat: Banas, Saraswati and Rupen (inland drainage into the Little Rann); Sabarmati (with Hathmati, Vatrak and others) into the Gulf of Khambhat
• Central Gujarat: Mahi (rises in Madhya Pradesh, crosses the Tropic of Cancer twice)
• South Gujarat: Narmada (Sardar Sarovar dam, estuary at Bharuch), Tapi (Ukai dam, Surat), and short rivers Purna, Ambika, Auranga, Par, Kolak, Damanganga
• Saurashtra: radial drainage from the central uplands; Bhadar (the longest of Saurashtra), Shetrunji, Machhu, Aji, Ozat, Hiran, Ghelo
• Kachchh: short seasonal streams
• Lakes and wetlands: Nal Sarovar, Thol, Khijadiya and Wadhvana (Ramsar sites); Narayan Sarovar and Hamirsar (Kachchh)

Climate and natural hazards

• Arid in Kachchh, semi-arid in north Gujarat and Saurashtra, sub-humid in south Gujarat
• Rainfall rises from under about 400 mm in Kachchh to over 1,500 mm in the Dangs and Valsad; south-west monsoon
• Cyclones of the Arabian Sea (the Kandla cyclone of 1998, Tauktae in 2021, Biparjoy in 2023)
• Earthquakes: Kachchh in seismic zone V; the Bhuj earthquake of 26 January 2001; Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority
• Droughts, floods (Surat 2006), heatwaves, coastal erosion

Soils, rocks and minerals

• Black (regur) soils of Saurashtra and parts of mainland Gujarat; alluvial (goradu) soils of north and central Gujarat; coastal saline and alkaline soils; desert sandy soils of Kachchh; red and hill soils of the east
• Deccan Trap basalt of Saurashtra; sedimentary basins (Cambay basin) with oil and gas
• Minerals: lignite, petroleum and natural gas, limestone, bauxite, fluorite, china clay, manganese, dolomite, agate, silica sand, marble (Ambaji)

Natural vegetation, parks and sanctuaries

• Forest types: dry deciduous, moist deciduous (the Dangs), thorn forests, mangroves; grasslands (Banni, vidis)
• National parks: Gir (Asiatic lion), Velavadar Blackbuck, Marine National Park (Gulf of Kachchh, India's first), Vansda
• Sanctuaries: Wild Ass Sanctuary (Little Rann), Kachchh Desert, Narayan Sarovar (chinkara), Kachchh Bustard (Naliya, great Indian bustard), Nal Sarovar, Thol, Jessore and Ratanmahal (sloth bear), Shoolpaneshwar, Purna, Balaram-Ambaji, Hingolgadh, Barda, Gir-area sanctuaries (Pania, Mitiyala, Girnar)
• Conservation: Asiatic lion census and its spread beyond Gir; flamingo breeding in the Great Rann

Social geography of Gujarat

• Distribution and density: dense plains of central and south Gujarat and the Ahmedabad-Vadodara-Surat belt; sparse Kachchh
• Growth, sex ratio and child sex ratio; literacy and its gaps by gender, district and community
• Occupational structure: farm, industrial and service workers
• SC population; ST population concentrated in the eastern belt (see the Adivasi page)
• Ethnic and linguistic groups: Gujarati and its dialects, Kachchhi, Sindhi, Hindi, Marathi and Urdu speakers; communities such as Maldharis, Rabaris, Charans, Siddis, Parsis
• Urbanisation: the four metropolitan cities (Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot), municipal corporations, urban development authorities
• Migration into Gujarat for industry and out of Gujarat (the Gujarati diaspora)

Economic geography of Gujarat

• Agricultural regions: cotton and groundnut of Saurashtra, tobacco and banana of Charotar, rice, sugarcane and mango of south Gujarat, cumin and fennel of north Gujarat
• Agro-based industries (cotton textiles, edible oil, sugar, dairy), mineral-based (cement, ceramics, chemicals), forest-based (paper at Songadh and Vapi), fuel-based (refineries, petrochemicals, fertilisers), manpower-based (diamond cutting, services)
• Industrial belts: the 'Golden Corridor' from Ahmedabad to Vapi; Jamnagar-Kachchh coast; Rajkot-Morbi
• Transport and trade: ports of the Gulf of Kachchh and Gulf of Khambhat, national highways, dedicated freight corridors, gas and oil pipelines, airports

Overlaps

Mains General Studies-III (B) and (C) cover forests, wildlife and disaster management in Gujarat, and its landforms, resources and demography.