Geography Syllabus for UPSC Prelims and Mains: Insight into Geography IAS Optional

Indian geography

1. Basics of India

• Location, latitude, longitude, time zone, etc.
• Neighbours
• Important straits
• States and their position
• States with international boundaries

2.Physical features

• The Himalayas – geological formation, climate, vegetation, soil, biodiversity, physiographic divisions, major passes, significance
• The Great North Indian Plains – geological formation, physiographic divisions, climate, vegetation, soil, biodiversity, significance
• Peninsular Plateau – geological formation, Central Highlands, Deccan Plateau, Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats
• Indian Desert
• Coastal plains and islands.

3. River systems

• Himalayan rivers
• Peninsular rivers
• River basins
• Regional development and planning
• Hydropower projects, major dams
• West-flowing and east-flowing rivers
• Interlinking of rivers

4. Climate

• Monsoons – driving mechanism, El Nino, La Nina
• Seasons
• Cyclones

5. Minerals and industries – mineral distribution, industrial policies, location

6. Agriculture

• Land utilisation
• Types of agricultural practices
• Green revolution
• Soils and crops
• Irrigation
• Land reforms
• Animal husbandry
• Government schemes

7. Natural vegetation and fauna

• Classification of natural vegetation
• Rainfall distribution
• Biosphere reserves, national parks, etc.
• Red-listed species

8. Economic infrastructure

• Transportation (highways, inland waterways, etc.)
• Power and energy sector
• Conventional and non-conventional sources of energy
• Energy conservation

9. Human Geography

• Demographics

• Recent census

World Geography

1. Major natural regions

2. Regional geography of developed countries

3. Regional geography of developing countries

4. Regional geography of South Asia

Physical Geography

1. Geomorphology

• Origin of the earth
• Interior of the earth
• Types and characteristics of rocks
• Folding and Faulting
• Volcanoes, earthquakes
• Interior of the earth
• Weathering
• Landforms formed by fluvial, aeolian and glacial actions

2. Climatology

• Atmosphere – structure and composition
• Temperature
• Pressure belts
• Wind systems
• Clouds and types of rainfall
• Cyclones and anticyclones
• Major climatic types

3. Oceanography

• Ocean relief
• Temperature, salinity
• Ocean deposits
• Ocean currents
• El Nino and La Nina
• Waves and tides

4. Biogeography

• Soil – origin and types
• Major biomes of the world
• Ecosystem, food chain
• Environmental degradation and conservation

Human Geography

• Man & environment; relationship, growth and development of human geography; determinism and possibilism
• Population, tribes, migration
• Economic activities – agriculture, manufacturing, industries, tertiary activities
• Settlements, urbanisation, functional classification of towns, million-cities and megacities

Geomorphology

• Origin and evolution of the earth’s crust

• Physical conditions of the earth’s interior

• Continental drift

• Plate tectonics and endogenetic and exogenetic forces.Recent views on mountain building

• Channel morphology

• Fundamentals of geomagnetism

• Factors controlling landform development

• Earthquakes and Tsunamis

• Slope development

• Concepts of geomorphic cycles and Landscape development

• Isostasy

• Erosion surfaces

• Geosynclines Denudation chronology

• Vulcanicityand Applied Geomorphology: Geohydrology, economic geology and environment.

Climatology

• Heat budget of the earth

• atmospheric stability and instability

• Planetary and local winds

• Monsoons and jet streams

• Air masses and frontogenesis

• Temperate and tropical cyclones

• Weather and Climate; Atmospheric circulation

• Koppen’s, Thornthwaite’s and Trewartha’s classification of world climates

• Temperature and pressure belts of the world

• Hydrological cycle

• Types and distribution of precipitation

• Global climatic change and role and response of man in climatic changes

• Applied climatology and Urban climate.

Oceanography

• Temperature and salinity of the oceans

• Marine resources: biotic, mineral and energy resources

• Coral reefs, Waves, currents and tides

• Bottom topography of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans

• Heat and salt budgets, Ocean deposits

• Coral bleaching

• Sea-level changes

• Law of the sea and marine pollution.

Biogeography

• Soil profile

• Soil erosion, Genesis of soils

• Problems of deforestation and conservation measures

• Social forestry

• Wildlife

• Classification and distribution of soils

• Agroforestry

• Factors influencing world distribution of plants and animals

• Major gene pool centres and Degradation and conservation.

Environmental Geography

• Global and regional ecological changes and imbalances

• Ecosystem their management and conservation

• Human ecological adaptations

• Influence of man on ecology and environment

• Environmental degradation, management and conservation

• Principle of ecology

• Environmental policy

• Biodiversity and sustainable development

• Environmental hazards and remedial measures

• Environmental education and legislation.

Perspectives in Human Geography

• Dichotomy and dualism

• Environmentalism

• Quantitative revolution and locational analysis

• Regional synthesis

• Areal differentiation

• Radical, behavioural, human and welfare approaches

• Religions and secularisation

• Languages, human development index and cultural regions of the world.

Economic Geography

• World resources and their distribution

• Energy crisis; the limits to growth

• World agriculture: a typology of agricultural regions; agricultural inputs and productivity

• World economic development: measurement and problems

• Food and nutrition problems; famine: causes, effects and remedies

• Food security

• World industries: locational patterns and problems; patterns of world trade.

Population and Settlement Geography

• Causes and consequences of migration; concepts of over-under-and optimum population

• Growth and distribution of world population

• Population theories, world population problems and policies, demographic attributes

• Social well-being and quality of life

• The population as social capital

• Types and patterns of rural settlements

• Hierarchy of urban settlements

• Urban morphology: Concepts of primate city and rank-size rule

• Environmental issues in rural settlements

• Functional classification of towns

• Sphere of urban influence

• Rural-urban fringe

• Satellite towns

• Problems and remedies of urbanization

• Sustainable development of cities.

Regional Planning

• Concept of a region

• Types of regions and methods of regionalisation

• Growth centres and growth poles

• Regional imbalances; regional development strategies; environmental issues in regional planning

• Planning for sustainable development

Models, Theories and Laws in Human Geography

• Systems analysis in Human geography

• Malthusian, Marxian and demographic transition models

• Central Place theories of Christaller and Losch

• Perroux and Boudeville

• Von Thunen’s model of agricultural location

• Weber’s model of industrial location

• Ostov’s model of stages of growth

• Heartland and Rimland theories

• Laws of international boundaries and frontiers.

Resources

• Energy, minerals, biotic and marine resources

• Land, surface and groundwater, Forest and wildlife resources and their conservation

• Energy crisis.

Agriculture

• Infrastructure: irrigation, seeds, fertilizers, power

• Institutional factors: landholdings, land tenure and land reforms

• Cropping pattern, agricultural productivity, agricultural intensity, crop combination, land capability

• Agro and social-forestry

• Green revolution and its socio-economic and ecological implications

• Significance of dry farming

• Livestock resources and white revolution; aquaculture; sericulture, apiculture and poultry; agricultural regionalisation; agro-climatic zones; agro-ecological regions.

Industry

• Evolution of industries

• Locational factors of cotton, jute, textile, iron and steel, aluminium, fertilizer, paper, chemical and pharmaceutical, automobile, cottage and agro-based industries

• Industrial houses and complexes including public sector undertakings

• Industrial regionalisation

• New industrial policies

• Multinationals and liberalization

• Special Economic Zones

• Tourism including eco-tourism.

Physical Setting

• Space relationship of India with neighbouring countries

• Physiographic regions

• Structure and relief

• The drainage system and watersheds

• Mechanism of Indian monsoons and rainfall patterns, Tropical cyclones and western disturbances

• Floods and droughts

• Climatic regions

• Natural vegetation

• Soil types and their distributions.

Transport, Communication and Trade

• Road, railway, waterway, airway and pipeline networks and their complementary roles in regional development

• The growing importance of ports on national and foreign trade

• Trade balance

• Trade Policy

• Export processing zones

• Developments in communication and information technology and their impacts on the economy and society

• Indian space programme.

Cultural Setting

• Historical Perspective of Indian Society

• Racial, linguistic and ethnic diversities; religious minorities; major tribes, tribal areas and their problems; cultural regions

• Growth, distribution and density of population

• Demographic attributes: sex-ratio, age structure, literacy rate, work-force, dependency ratio, longevity; migration (inter-regional, intraregional and international) and associated problems

• Population problems and policies

• Health indicators.

Settlements

• Types, patterns and morphology of rural settlements

• Urban developments

• Morphology of Indian cities

• Functional classification of Indian cities

• Conurbations and metropolitan regions; urban sprawl

• Slums and associated problems; town planning

• Problems of urbanization and remedies.

Regional Development and Planning

• Experience of regional planning in India

• Five Year Plans

• Integrated rural development programmes

• Panchayati Raj and decentralised planning

• Command area development

• Watershed management

• Planning for the backward area, desert, drought-prone, hill, tribal area development; multi-level planning

• Regional planning and development of island territories.

Political Aspects

• Geographical basis of Indian federalism

• State reorganisation

• The emergence of new states

• Regional consciousness and interstate issues; international boundary of India and related issues

• Cross border terrorism

• India’s role in world affairs

• Geopolitics of South Asia and Indian Ocean realm.

Contemporary Issues: Ecological issues

• Environmental hazards: landslides, earthquakes, Tsunamis, floods and droughts, epidemics

• Issues relating to environmental pollution

• Changes in patterns of land use

• Principles of environmental impact assessment and environmental management

• Population explosion and food security

• Environmental degradation

• Deforestation, desertification and soil erosion

• Problems of agrarian and industrial unrest

• Regional disparities in economic development

• Concept of sustainable growth and development

• Environmental awareness

• Linkage of rivers

• Globalization and the Indian economy.