A Must Read for Civil Services Geography Optional of UPSC

For the civil services mains examination, UPSC provides 41 optional subjects. Each aspirant should select one optional paper of their choice and appear in two papers (Paper-I and Paper-II). Among these options, for a long time, Geography has been one of the most popular optional subjects among civil services aspirants. Though the syllabus is vast, it is equally preferred by engineering, science, art, and humanities graduates.

The first step to prepare for the Geography Optional is thoroughly reading and understanding the NCERT Geography Books. Even before that understanding the contents of each of the 10 NCERT Geography Books. With that in mind, the key topics covered in each of these books are given below for a high-level understanding before you dive deep into the option.

CHAPTER 1 – INDIA – SIZE AND LOCATION

LOCATION – SIZE - INDIA AND THE WORLD - INDIA’S NEIGHBOURS

CHAPTER 2 – PHYSICAL FEATURES OF INDIA

MAJOR PHYSIOGRAPHIC DIVISIONS – The Himalayan Mountains; Shiwaliks; The Northern Plain; The Peninsular Plateau; Western Ghats; Eastern Ghats; The Indian Desert; The Coastal Plains; The Islands.

CHAPTER 3 – DRAINAGE

DRAINAGE SYSTEMS IN INDIA - Drainage; Drainage Basin; Water Divide; Perennial;

THE HIMALAYAN RIVERS - River System.

THE PENINSULAR RIVERS

LAKES – Cut-Offs; 0x-Bow.

ROLE OF RIVERS IN THE ECONOMY - RIVER POLLUTION

CHAPTER 4 – CLIMATE

Climate; Weather; Monsoon.

CLIMATIC CONTROLS - Latitude; Altitude; Pressure and Wind System; Distance from the Sea; Ocean Currents and Relief Features; Pressure and Wind; Distance from the Sea; Ocean Currents; Relief.

FACTORS AFFECTING INDIA’S CLIMATE - Pressure and Surface Winds; Upper Air Circulation; Western Cyclonic Disturbances and Tropical Cyclones; Jet Stream.

THE INDIAN MONSOON – The Differential Heating and Cooling of Land and Water; The Shift of the Position of Inter Tropical Convergence Zone; High Pressure Area; East of Madagascar; Tibetan Plateu

Gets Intensely Heated; Movement of the Westerly Jet Stream to the North of the Himalayas; Tropical Easterly Jet Stream Over the Indian Peninsula; Southern Oscillation; EI Nino; ENSO.

THE ONSET OF THE MONSOON AND WITHDRAWAL – Burst.

THE SEASONS – The Cold Weather Season; The Hot Weather Season; Advancing Monsoon; Retreating/Post Monsoons.

DISTRIBUTION OF RAINFALL - MONSOON AS A UNIFYING BOND.

CHAPTER 5 – NATURAL VEGETATION AND WILDLIFE

Virgin Vegetation; Flora; Fauna.

RELIEF – Land; Soil.

CLIMATE – Temperature; Photoperiod; Precipitation; Tropical Evergreen Forests; Tropical Deciduous Forests; The Thorn Forests and Scrubs; Montane Forests; Mangrove Forests.

CHAPTER 6 – POPULATION

Population Size and Distribution; Population Growth and Processes of Populations Change; Characteristics or Qualities of the Population.

POPULATION SIZE AND DISTRIBUTION – India’s Population Size and Distribution by Numbers; India’s Population Distribution by Density.

POPULATION GROWTH AND PROCESSES OF POPULATION CHANGE – Population Growth; Annual Growth Rate; Processes of Population Change/Growth; Birth Rate; Death Rate; Migration; Internal; International; Age Compositions; Sex Ratio; Literacy Rates; Literate; Occupational Structure; Primary; Secondary; Tertiary; Health; Adolescent Population; National Population Policy; NPP 2000 and Adolescents.