Geography for UPSC
Geography for UPSC

World Geography

Indian Geography

  1. Physical Features of India
    1. List of state and union territory capitals in India
    2. Mountain Ranges in India
    3. Coastal Plains in India
    4. Biosphere Reserves (BRs) of India
    5. RAMSAR Sites
    6. List of Tiger Reserves in India
    7. Major Dams with River and State name
    8. List of Important Wildlife Sanctuaries of India
    9. List of Important National Parks of India
    10. Highest Mountain Peaks State-wise
    11. List of World Heritage Sites in India
  1. River Systems
    1. Rivers in India
  2. Climate
  3. Rainfall Pattern and Distribution
  4. Soils
  5. Natural Vegetation – Wildlife
    1. List of Bird sanctuaries of India
  6. Agriculture in India
  7. Irrigation
  8. Minerals
  9. Industries
  10. Transportation

Universe Indian Geography

Universe
 Evolution of universe- themes
 Galaxies
 Dark matter
 Stars
 Solar system
 The sun
 Planets
 Asteroids, asteroid belt, meteorites
 Black hole
 Miscellaneous

Earth
Earth
 Origin and evolution of earth
 Geological history of the earth
 Geological time scale
 Latitude and longitude
 Motions of the earth and their effects
 Inclination of earth’s axis and its effects
 Local and standard time
 Eclipses- solar and lunar
 Moon
 Miscellaneous

Interior of Earth and Rocks
Interior structure of the Earth
 Source of information- direct and indirect
 Crust- continental vs ocean
 Mantle
 Core
Rocks
 Rocks and landforms
 Rocks and soil
 Igneous rocks
 Sedimentary rocks
 Metamorphic rocks
 Rock cycle
 Miscellaneous

Geomorphic Process
Earthquake
 Causes
 Waves and shadow zone
 Types of earthquake
 Effects
 Measuring of earthquake
 Earthquake zones in the world and India
 Miscellaneous
Volcanoes
 Concept of volcanicity
 Mechanism and causes of volcanism
 Volcanic landform: extrusive and intrusive
 Volcanism types based on flow of lava
 Hotspot volcanism
 World distribution of volcanoes
Miscellaneous
 Exogenic vs endogenic forces
 Diastrophism- epeirogenic and orogenic
 Folding, faulting and isostasy

First Order Landforms
Continental Drift Theory (CDT)
 What is CDT?
 Evidences in support
 Limitation of the theory
Post Drift Studies
 Convectional current theory
 Seal floor spreading
 Paleomagnetism
 Mapping of the ocean floor
Plate tectonics
 Major and minor plates
 Plate boundaries- divergent, convergent and
transform
 What is plate tectonic theory?
 Rate of plate movements
 Force of plate movements
 Indian plate

Second Order Landforms
Mountains
 Fold mountains
 Block mountains
 Volcanic mountains
 Residual mountains
 Mountain vs hills
 Important mountain ranges across the world
 Significance of the mountains
Plateaus
 What is plateau?
 Intermountain plateaus
 Piedmont plateaus
 Continental plateaus
 Volcanic plateaus
 Dissected plateaus
 Significance of plateaus
Plains
 Structural plain
 Erosional plain
 Depositional plain
 Significance of plains
Miscellaneous
 Rivers and lakes
 Other

Landforms and their evolution
Landforms made by running water
 Course of river- youth, mature, old
 Erosional landform- valleys, potholes, meanders, river terraces
etc.
 Depositional landforms- alluvial fans, deltas, floodplains, oxbow
lakes etc.
Landform made by groundwater
 Karst topography
 Erosional landforms- pools, sinkholes, lapis and limestone
pavements, caves etc.
 Depositional landforms- stalactites, stalagmites and pillars
Landform made by wind
 Erosional landforms- yardages, Eugen, playas, deflation hollows
and caves, mushroom, table and pedestal rocks etc.
 Depositional landforms- ripples, loess, dunes, barchans, serif
etc.
Coastal Landforms
 Coastlines of emergence and submergence
 Erosional landforms: cliffs, terraces, caves and stacks
 Depositional landforms- beaches spit and bars etc.
 Landform made by glaciers
 Erosional landforms: cirques, horns, arêtes, glacial valleys, fiords
etc.
 Depositional landforms: moraines, drumlin, eskers, glacial tills etc.
Weathering
 Definition
 Factors
 Major process- chemical, physical and biological
 Significance of weathering

Structure of atmosphere
Composition
 Gases
 Water vapour
 Dust particles etc..
Structure
 Exosphere
 Thermosphere
 Mesosphere
 Stratosphere
 Troposphere
 Altitude vs temperature
Climate and weather
 Comparison between climate and weather
 Importance of climate and weather
 Factors affecting
 Miscellaneous

Insolation and temperature
Solar Radiation
 Insolation
 Aphelion and perihelion
 Variability of insolation at the surface of the earth
 Short wave radiation and long wave radiation
Heat balance
 Conduction, convection, advection
 Terrestrial radiation
 Heat budget
 Albedo
 Variation in the net heat budget at the earth surface
Temperature
 Factor controlling temperature distribution
 Mean annual temperature distribution
 Seasonal temperature distribution
 Inversion of temperature- types and effects in weather

Atmospheric pressure and winds
Atmospheric pressure
 Vertical distribution
 Horizontal distribution
 World distribution of sea level pressure
Pressure belts
 Equatorial low pressure belt
 Subtropical high pressure belt
 Sub-polar low pressure belt
 Polar high pressure belt
 Factors controlling pressure system
 Pressure belts in January and July
Wind system
 Factors controlling the velocity and direction of the
winds
 Permanent winds- trade winds, westerly’s, polar
easterlies
 Secondary winds- monsoon, land breeze and sea
breeze, valley breeze and mountain breeze
 Local winds

Circulation in Atmosphere
Circulation
 Jet streams and its types
 Rossby waves
 Air masses
 Fronts and its formation
 Storm surge
 Thunderstorm
 Tornadoes
 Polar vertex and ozone hole
Tropical and temperate cyclones
 Evolution and development
 Structure
 Distribution
 Naming of cyclones
 impact
 Anti-cyclones
 Comparison of tropical cyclones and temperate
cyclones
 Recent cyclones

Water in the atmosphere
Water in the atmosphere
 Water vapor
 Humidity- absolute and relative
 Condensation- dew, fog, frost, mist
 Smog- photochemical and sulfurous smog
 Miscellaneous
Precipitation
 Clouds- development
 Clouds- cirrus, cumulus, stratus, nimbus
 High, middle and low clouds
 Precipitation- rainfall, snowfall, sleet, hail and
hailstones
 Types of rainfall- convectional, orographic and
cyclonic
 World distribution of rainfall

World Climate
World Climatic Regions
 The hot, wet equatorial climate
 Tropical monsoon and tropical marine climate
 Savanna or Sudan climate
 Hot desert and mid- latitude desert climate
 Mediterranean climate
 Steppe climate
 China type climate
 British type climate
 Siberian climate
 Laurentian climate
 Polar climate
Focus on distribution, climatic condition (mainly rainfall and
temperature) and Natural vegetation

Oceanography
Parts of ocean
 Seas
 Peninsula
 Cape
 Gulf and bays
 Bights
 Straits
 Isthmus
 Miscellaneous
Relief of the ocean floor
 Delusion of ocean floor- continental shelf, continental
slope, deep sea plain and trenches
 Minor relief features- mid-oceanic ridges, sea mount,
submarine canyons, guyouts, atoll etc.

Coral reefs, temperature and salinity of ocean water,
marine resources
Temperature and salinity
 Factors affecting
 Horizontal distribution
 Vertical distribution
 Density of ocean water
 Impact
Coral reefs
 Coral reefs- introduction
 Conditions for the growth
 Types
 Coral islands
 Importance
 Distribution of coral reefs in India
 Coral bleaching
Marine resources
 What are marine resources?
 Marine resources- minerals, biotic and energy
resources
 Importance
 Challenges
 Concept of blue economy
 Miscellaneous

Movement of ocean water
Waves and tides
 Factor influencing
 Motion of waves
 Characteristics of waves
 Tidal currents
 Types of tides
 Relationship between gravitational forces and tides
 Importance of tides
Ocean currents
 Factors influencing ocean currents
 Characteristics
 Surface and deep water currents
 Cold and warm currents
 major ocean currents of the world
 Effects of ocean currents

Movement of ocean water
Waves and tides
 Factor influencing
 Motion of waves
 Characteristics of waves
 Tidal currents
 Types of tides
 Relationship between gravitational forces and tides
 Importance of tides
Ocean currents
 Factors influencing ocean currents
 Characteristics
 Surface and deep water currents
 Cold and warm currents
 major ocean currents of the world
 Effects of ocean currents

Drainage system
Classification of drainage system of India
 Himalayan rivers vs. Peninsular rivers
 Inland drainage, Bay of Bengal drainage and Arabian
Sea drainage
 Seasonal vs Perennial rivers
Drainage system in India
 Himalayan- Indus River System, Ganga River System
and Brahmaputra river system
 Peninsular- Godavari, Krishna, carvery and Mahanadi
river system
 Narmada and Tapi River System
 Small rivers flowing in particular states
Miscellaneous
 River regime
 Shifting course of rivers
 Interlinking of rivers
 River pollution
Other Water Resources of India
 Lakes- types and lakes in India
 Groundwater and its depletion
 Inland water resources
 Conservation of water resources

Climate of India
Factors affecting Indian Climate
 Latitudinal location
 Distance from the sea
 Himalayas
 Jet streams
 El Nino, La Nina, ENSO
 Physiography of India
Indian Monsoon- Factors responsible
 Tibetan plateau
 High pressure cell in South Indian Ocean
 Subtropical jet stream
 Inter Tropical convergence zone
 Somali Jet
 Walker cell
 Indian ocean dipole
Indian Monsoon
 Nature of Indian Monsoon
 Mechanism of weather in winter and summers
 Monsoon winds of Arabian sea and Bay of Bengal
 Characteristics of Monsoonal rainfall
 Retreating monsoon
 rainfall distribution
 rainfall variability
 Winter rainfall
 Economic impact of monsoon
 Miscellaneous
Classification of the climatic regions of India
 Koppens scheme
 Thornthwaite’s scheme
 Treswartna’s scheme

Human Geography & Settlement

Demography
 Population distribution
 Factors of population distribution
 Population density pattern and trends
 Determinants of population growth
 Characteristics of population
 Theories of population growth
 Over population and under population
 Population policies of developed and developing
countries
 Population pyramid
 Miscellaneous
Urbanization
 Features and patterns
 Issues of urbanization
 Way forward to tackle issues related to urbanization
 Urbana and rural settlements
 Urban planning
 Migration and its types
 Factors affecting rural settlements
 Cities classification
 Displacements
 Miscellaneous

Population and settlement- India

Population and settlement- India
Population
 Census 2011
 Migration
 Age structure
 population growth
 population problems
 population policies
 human development
 census terminology
Settlement
 Rural and urban settlement
 Urbanization problems
 Slums and associated problems
 Town planning
 smart cities
 Urban and rural poverty- comparison
 miscellaneous
Tribes in India
 What is a Tribe?
 Major tribes in India
 Issues related to tribes
 Miscellaneous