Haryana: Geography

What the official syllabus says

HCS Preliminary Examination, Paper I: General Studies:

Indian and World Geography.

Haryana-Economy and people. Social, economic and culture institutions and language of Haryana.

The state's land, water and climate shape its people and economy, the subjects the Haryana line names; the state is also a region within the Indian geography part of the paper.

Topics in detail

Location and administrative units

• Location in north India; area about 44,212 sq km; a landlocked state
• Neighbours: Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh across the Yamuna to the east, Rajasthan to the south and west; Delhi bordered by Haryana on three sides; Chandigarh
• Administrative divisions and districts: the current list, the newest districts and their headquarters
• Haryana's share of the National Capital Region

Physiography

• The Shivalik hills in the north-east: Morni hills (Panchkula) with the Karoh peak, the state's highest point; Kalesar
• The Ghaggar-Yamuna plain: Khadar (newer alluvium along the Yamuna) and Bangar (older alluvium)
• The sandy semi-arid plain of the south-west (parts of Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar, Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri and Mahendragarh) and its sand dunes
• The Aravalli hills in the south (Gurugram, Faridabad, Nuh, Mahendragarh, Rewari); Tosham and Dhosi hills
• Cultural-physical regions: Nardak, Bangar, Khadar, Bagar, Ahirwal and Mewat

Rivers and lakes

• The Yamuna: the only perennial river, along the eastern border; Hathnikund barrage (Yamunanagar)
• The Ghaggar and its tributaries (Kaushalya, Markanda, Tangri); Ottu barrage (Sirsa); Kaushalya dam (Panchkula)
• The Saraswati (Sarsuti) and its revival efforts; Adi Badri
• Seasonal rivers of the south: Sahibi, Dohan, Krishnavati, Indori
• Lakes and water bodies: Brahma Sarovar and Sannihit Sarovar (Kurukshetra), Tikkar Taal (Morni), Badkhal and Surajkund (Faridabad), Damdama (Gurugram), Blue Bird lake (Hisar), Karna lake (Karnal)

Climate and soils

• Continental climate: hot summers with loo, cold winters, winter rain from western disturbances
• Monsoon rainfall decreasing from the north-east (Shivaliks) to the south-west
• Droughts, heat waves, cold waves and floods in the state
• Soils: alluvial soils of the plains, sandy soils of the south-west, hill soils
• Problems: salinity and alkalinity, waterlogging, falling groundwater tables, wind erosion

Irrigation and water resources

• Western Yamuna Canal and its branches; the Bhakra canal system in the north-west
• Lift irrigation in the south (Jawaharlal Nehru lift, Loharu lift and Sewani lift schemes)
• Tube wells and groundwater; micro-irrigation and water conservation
• Inter-state water questions: the Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal, sharing of Ravi-Beas waters, Yamuna water sharing among the basin states

Forests, wildlife and environment

• Low natural forest cover; tropical dry deciduous and thorn forests; social and agro-forestry
• National parks: Sultanpur (Gurugram) and Kalesar (Yamunanagar)
• Wildlife sanctuaries such as Bhindawas and Khaparwas (Jhajjar), Bir Shikargah (Panchkula), Chhilchhila (Kurukshetra), Abubshahar (Sirsa), Nahar (Rewari)
• Ramsar sites: Sultanpur National Park and Bhindawas Wildlife Sanctuary
• Conservation centres such as the vulture conservation breeding centre at Pinjore
• Environmental issues: air pollution and crop-residue burning, Aravalli conservation and mining, groundwater depletion

Minerals and population

• Minerals: limestone, dolomite, slate, china clay, building stone and others, mostly in the Aravalli and Shivalik belts
• Population (Census 2011): 2,53,51,462 persons; sex ratio 879; child sex ratio 834; literacy 75.55 per cent
• Distribution and density of population; urbanisation and the growth of NCR towns; migration

Overlaps

• Related issues of Haryana appear in Mains General Studies I (geography) and Mains General Studies III (agriculture, environment, disaster management).
• How the land is used is on Haryana: Economy.