Important Topics in Indian Geography
- General Geography
- Universe
- Earth Evolution
- Geomorphology
- Earth’s Interior
- Geology and Rock System
- Geomorphic Process
- Earthquakes and Volcanism
- Distribution of Continents and Oceans
- Landforms and their evolution
- Landforms across the world
- Oceanography
- Hydrosphere
- Submarine Relief Features
- Temperature and Salinity
- Waves, Oceans, Currents, Tides
- Marine Resources
- Ocean, Deposits and Corals
- Climatology
- Atmosphere
- Inversion of Temperature
- Insolation and Heat Budget
- Air Mass, Fronts, Cyclones and Jet Streams
- Wind and Pressure Belts
- Precipitation
- Climate Zones of the World
- Bio Geography
- Soil Characteristics
- Vegetation Resources
- Human and Economic Geography
- Demography and Census
- Human Development
- Economic Activities
- Transport and Communication
- International Trade
- Settlement
- Indian Geography
- Physiography of India
- Drainage System
- Climate
- Soils in India
- Natural Vegetation
- Population
- Settlements and Urbanization
- Land Resource
- Mineral Resource
- Energy Resource
- Agriculture and Basic Terminology
- Recent development in agriculture
- Productivity of Crops
- Industry
- Transport
- Recent developments in Industry and Transport
- World Regional Geography
- Continents, Countries, and Cities
- Location in News
- Ecology & Environment
- Origin of Life Forms
- Basic Concepts of Ecology
- Ecosystem Functions
- Population Ecology
- Adaptation of Species and Interactions
- Terrestrial Ecosystem
- Aquatic Ecosystem
- Nutrient Cycling
- Biodiversity
- Basics of Bio-Diversity
- Animal and Plant Diversity
- Threats to Biodiversity
- Biodiversity Conservation
- Estuaries
- Mangroves
- Coral Reliefs
- Wetlands
- Resource Degradation and Management
- Environmental Pollution
- Climate Change
- Environmental Governance
How to prepare geography syllabus for UPSC
Geography is one of the basic and most important subjects in UPSC CSE. Questions Geography is asked in all three stages of the examination; hence, it is essential to study it in detail. Since a lot of topics overlap in Prelims and Main, it is important to study them holistically. Here’s a time-tested strategy to kickstart your geography preparation for UPSC:
- Read NCERTs
Start out by covering Geography NCERTs from class VIII to XII. It will make your foundation strong. Moreover, questions straight from NCERTs are asked in the exam, which is why it is important to start your preparation from here. - Basic books
Next, thoroughly study the basic books of geography, which include the Certificate Physical and Human Geography by GC Leong and Geography of India by Majid Husain.
- Previous years’ papers
Next, go for solving previous years’ question papers. Solving these questions will help you in identifying important topics that need to be revised and, if needed, re-revised. - Mock tests
Mock tests will allow you to assess your preparation and identify the area(s) of weakness that you need to work on. - Current affairs
Read newspapers such as ‘The Hindu’, and monthly magazines, namely ‘Yojana’ and ‘Kurukshetra’for the current affairs portion.
Recommended booklist for Geography Syllabus For UPSC
- Physical Geography by Ravindra Singh
- India: A Comprehensive Geography by D R Khullar
- Human Geography by Majid Husain
- Models in Geography by Majid Husain
- Geographical Thought by R D Dixit
- Fundamentals of Geographical Thought by Sudeepta Adhikari
- Cities, Urbanisation & Urban Systems (Settlement Geography) by K Siddhartha
- World Geography by Majid Husain
- Certificate Physical and Human Geography by Goh cheng Leong
- Geography of India by Majjid Hussain
- Oxford School Atlas
