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 – THR EARTH IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM

Full moon; New moon; celestial bodies; stars; constellations; Pole Star; planets.

THE SOLAR SYSTEM - The Sun; Planets; Orbits; The Earth; Geoid; The Moon; asteroids; meteoroids; galaxy; Universe.

CHAPTER 2 - GLOBE : LATITUDES AND LONGITUDES

Globe; axis; equator; parallels of latitudes.

IMPORTANT PARALLELS OF LATITUDES - Tropic of Cancer; Tropic of Capricorn; Arctic Circle; Antarctic Circle.

HEAT ZONES OF THE EARTH - Torrid Zone; Temperate Zones; Frigid Zones.

WHAT ARE LONGITUDES? - Prime Meridian.

LONGITUDE AND TIME – WHY DO WE HAVE STANDARD TIME? 

CHAPTER 3 - MOTIONS OF THE EARTH

Rotation; Revolution; orbital plane; Circle of illumination; revolution; leap year; elliptical orbit; Summer Solstice; Winter Solstice; equinox.

CHAPTER 4 – MAPS

Map

PHYSICAL MAPS - physical or relief maps.

POLITICAL MAPS

THEMATIC MAPS - Components of Maps

DISTANCE – Scale; small scale map; large scale map.

DIRECTION - cardinal points.

SYMBOLS - conventional symbols.

SKETCH – Plan

CHAPTER 5 - MAJOR DOMAINS OF THE EARTH

Lithosphere; Atmosphere; Hydrosphere; Biosphere.

LITHOSPHERE – continents; ocean basins; Continents; Asia; Europe; Africa; Nile; North America; South America; Australia; Antarctica; Maitri; Dakshin Gangotri.

HYDROSPHERE – Oceans.

ATMOSPHERE - BIOSPHERE – THE DOMAIN OF LIFE

CHAPTER 6 - MAJOR LANDFORMS OF THE EARTH

Internal process; external process; erosion; deposition; mountains; plateaus and plains.

MOUNTAINS – glaciers; range; Fold Mountains; Block Mountains and the Volcanic Mountains; Block Mountains; horsts; graben; volcanic activity; storehouse; glaciers; river valleys; terraces; flora; fauna.

PLATEAUS - table land.

PLAINS – LANDFORMS AND THE PEOPLE

CHAPTER 7 - OUR COUNTRY – INDIA

Himalayas; Arabian Sea; Bay of Bengal; Indian Ocean.

LOCATIONAL SETTING - Tropic of Cancer (23°30'N); 37°6'N latitudes; 97°25'E longitudes.

INDIA’S NEIGHBOURS - POLITICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS

PHYSICAL DIVISIONS - Great Himalaya; Himadri; Middle Himalaya; Himachal; Shiwalik; Northern Indian plains; Great Indian desert; Peninsular plateau; Vindhyas; Satpuras; Narmada; Tapi; Western Ghats; Sahyadris; Eastern Ghats; Coastal plains.; Mahanadi; Godavari; Krishna; Kaveri; Lakshadweep Islands; Andaman; Nicobar Islands.

CHAPTER 8 - INDIA : CLIMATE, VEGETATION AND WILDLIFE

Weather

COLD WEATHER SEASON OR WINTER

HOT WEATHER SEASON OR SUMMER – loo

SOUTH WEST MONSOON SEASON OR RAINY SEASON

SEASON OF RETREATING MONSOONS OR AUTUMN – climate; Monsoon; mausim; location; altitude; distance from the sea; relief.

NATURAL VEGETATION - WHY ARE FORESTS NECESSARY?

WILD LIFE - national animal; national bird.