Geography of India

What the official syllabus says

UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination, General Studies Paper I:

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

This page covers the physical, social and economic geography of India. The world and general physical geography are on World Geography.

Topics in detail

Location and physiography

• Location and extent: about 8°4'N to 37°6'N and 68°7'E to 97°25'E; the Tropic of Cancer and the eight States it crosses; Indian Standard Time on 82°30'E
• Neighbouring countries and boundary lines
• The Himalaya: Himadri, Himachal and Shiwalik ranges, regional divisions, passes (Zoji La, Shipki La, Nathu La, Bomdi La)
• The northern plains: bhabar, terai, bhangar and khadar; doabs
• The peninsular plateau: Malwa, Chota Nagpur and Deccan plateaus; Aravalli, Vindhya, Satpura ranges; Western and Eastern Ghats
• Indian desert, coastal plains and islands (Andaman and Nicobar; Lakshadweep; the Ten, Nine and Eight Degree Channels)

Drainage

• Himalayan river systems: Indus (and the Indus Waters Treaty, 1960), Ganga and Brahmaputra with their tributaries
• Peninsular rivers: east-flowing (Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri) and west-flowing (Narmada and Tapi through rift valleys)
• River basins, deltas and estuaries; lakes and wetlands
• Major dams and multipurpose projects; interlinking of rivers

Climate

• Factors of India's climate; mechanism of the monsoon: differential heating, the ITCZ, jet streams, El Niño and the Indian Ocean Dipole
• Seasons: cold weather, hot weather, south-west monsoon, retreating monsoon
• Distribution of rainfall and temperature; western disturbances; tropical cyclones; climatic regions

Soils and natural vegetation

• Soil types: alluvial, black (regur), red and yellow, laterite, arid, saline, peaty and forest soils, with their regions and crops
• Soil erosion, degradation and conservation
• Forest types: tropical evergreen, tropical deciduous, thorn, montane, littoral and swamp (mangroves of the Sundarbans)

Resources

• Water resources, irrigation, groundwater and watershed management
• Minerals: iron ore, manganese, bauxite, copper, mica; the main mining belts
• Energy: coal (Gondwana coalfields), petroleum and natural gas, hydro, nuclear, solar and wind

Agriculture

• Cropping seasons: kharif, rabi and zaid; cropping patterns
• Major food and cash crops and their growing regions (rice, wheat, pulses, millets, sugarcane, cotton, jute, tea, coffee, rubber)
• Green Revolution and its regional effects; horticulture, livestock and fisheries

Industry, transport and trade

• Factors of industrial location; iron and steel, cotton textile, cement, petrochemical and IT industries; industrial regions
• Transport: roads, railways, national waterways, major ports, airports and pipelines

Human geography

• Population distribution, density and growth; Census 2011 figures (about 121 crore people, sex ratio 943, literacy 74.04%)
• Rural and urban settlements, urbanisation and migration
• Tribes and their regions; language families of India

Geology and natural hazards

• Geological history of India: Archaean, Dharwar, Cuddapah, Vindhyan and Gondwana systems and the minerals they hold
• Seismic zones of India; earthquake-prone regions
• Flood-prone and drought-prone areas; landslides in the Himalaya and the Western Ghats
• Cyclone-prone coasts; tsunamis and coastal erosion

Map practice

• States, Union Territories and their capitals; neighbouring countries sharing a border with each State
• Rivers and their tributaries in order; dams on them
• Mountain ranges, peaks and passes; plateaus and hills
• National parks, tiger reserves and Ramsar sites (with the environment page)

Overlaps

Indian geography continues in Mains General Studies I (resources, industry location, geophysical phenomena) and links to agriculture and infrastructure in Mains General Studies III.