Unit III, Part B: Geography of India

What the official syllabus says

RAS Mains Paper II, Unit III - Earth Science (Geography & Geology), Part B - India

• Physiography of India.
• Drainage pattern and important Rivers.
• Climate: Monsoon, Climatic characteristics, Distribution of rainfall and Climatic regions.
• Natural Resources: Types and uses of Water, Natural Vegetation, Soil, Minerals and Power Resources.
• Population: Growth, Distribution and Density, Sex-ratio, Literacy, Urban and Rural Population.

Topics in detail

Physiography of India

• Location and extent; geological structure (Peninsular block, Himalayas, Indo-Gangetic plain).
• The Himalayas: Trans-Himalaya, Greater Himalaya (Himadri), Lesser Himalaya (Himachal), Shiwaliks; regional divisions; Purvanchal hills.
• The Northern Plains: bhabar, terai, bhangar and khadar; Punjab, Ganga and Brahmaputra plains.
• The Peninsular Plateau: Central Highlands (Aravallis, Malwa, Bundelkhand, Vindhyas, and the Chota Nagpur plateau further east) and the Deccan Plateau (Satpura, Western and Eastern Ghats).
• The Indian (Thar) Desert.
• Coastal plains (western and eastern) and the islands (Andaman and Nicobar, Lakshadweep).

Drainage pattern and important rivers

• Drainage patterns: dendritic, trellis, rectangular, radial, centripetal; examples from India.
• Himalayan rivers (perennial, antecedent, meandering) compared with Peninsular rivers (seasonal, older, fixed courses).
• The Indus system: Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, Sutlej; the Indus Waters Treaty (1960).
• The Ganga system: Ganga, Yamuna, Chambal, Betwa, Son, Ghaghara, Gandak, Kosi.
• The Brahmaputra system.
• Peninsular rivers: east-flowing (Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri) and west-flowing (Narmada, Tapi, Mahi, Sabarmati); estuaries and deltas.
• Inland drainage; river-linking proposals; major multipurpose projects and inter-state water disputes in outline.

Climate

• Factors of India's climate: latitude, the Himalayas, distance from the sea, relief, winds.
• The monsoon: differential heating, the shift of the ITCZ, jet streams, the Tibetan plateau, El Nino and the Indian Ocean Dipole; onset, advance, breaks and retreat.
• Seasons: cold weather, hot weather, south-west monsoon, retreating monsoon; western disturbances.
• Distribution of rainfall: high-rainfall areas (Western Ghats, North-East), low-rainfall areas (western Rajasthan, Ladakh); variability of rainfall; droughts and floods.
• Climatic regions of India (Koppen's scheme): from Amw and Aw to BWhw, BShw, Cwg and the mountain climates.

Natural resources

• Water: surface and groundwater resources; uses (irrigation, drinking, industry, power); methods of irrigation; water conservation and rainwater harvesting.
• Natural vegetation: tropical evergreen, tropical deciduous (moist and dry), thorn and scrub, montane, mangrove forests; forest cover and conservation.
• Soils: alluvial, black, red and yellow, laterite, arid, saline, peaty and forest soils; soil erosion and conservation.
• Minerals: ferrous (iron ore, manganese), non-ferrous (bauxite, copper), non-metallic (mica, limestone); major mineral belts.
• Power resources: coal, petroleum and natural gas (conventional); hydro and nuclear power; solar, wind and other renewables; energy security.

Population

• Growth: phases of India's population growth since 1901; the demographic transition; Census 2011 total of about 121 crore and decadal growth of 17.7 per cent.
• Distribution and density: factors (relief, climate, soil, water, economy); dense and sparse regions; Census 2011 density of 382 persons per sq km.
• Sex-ratio: national figure of 943 females per 1,000 males (Census 2011); child sex ratio; regional variation and causes.
• Literacy: 74.04 per cent (Census 2011); male-female and rural-urban gaps.
• Urban and rural population: about 31 per cent urban (Census 2011); urbanisation trends, migration, million-plus cities.

Overlaps

The Prelims Geography of India section covers physiography, climate, rivers, agriculture, minerals and industries: see RAS Prelims. Water resources, irrigation and power reappear as economic questions in Paper I, Unit II (Economics).