Studying geography includes understanding the relationship between the existence of humans and conducive and non-conducive elements for the existence of life.
Geography is included in both general studies papers of UPSC Prelims and Mains examinations. Therefore studying geography forms an integral part of UPSC preparation. The syllabus of geography can be divided into several micro topics and it is important to have a detailed syllabus to score good marks on your geography paper.
Stick to the end of the article as we share some quick tips to ease your study process for the geography of the world.
Syllabus
- Salient Features of World's Physical Geography
- Geomorphology
- Distribution of Earthquakes & Volcanoes
- Rocks & Rock Cycle
- Geomorphic Processes – Endogenic & Exogenic
- Landforms & their Evolution
- Origin & Evolution of Earth
- Interior of the Earth
- Distribution of Continents & Oceans
- Plate Tectonic Theory
- Oceanography
- Ocean Floor Configuration
- Temperature & Salinity of Oceans
- Movement of Oceans – Waves, Tides, Currents
- Hydrological Cycle
- Seafloor Spreading
- Climatology
- Atmospheric Circulation & Weather Systems
- World Climate (examples)
- Earth’s Atmosphere –Composition & Structure
- Solar Radiation, Heat Budget & Temperature
- Soil Geography
- Soil & Soil Contents
- Process of Soil Formation
- Soil Forming Factors
- Types of Soils (examples)
- Soil Erosion & Conservation
- Distribution of Key Natural Resources Across the World
- Types of Resources ( Basis of origin, ownership, exhaustibility)
- Land Resources (Land utilization, land use pattern and degradation & conservation)
- Forest Resources (types & distribution, causes of depletion and conservation of forests)
- Water Resources ( marine & freshwater, water scarcity & need for conservation, integrated water resources management)
- Agricultural Resources ( types of farming, cropping patterns, contribution to economy, employment & output, food security)
- Mineral & Energy Resources (classification of minerals, occurrence of minerals, conservation of minerals, classification of energy resources, occurrence of energy resources, conservation of energy resources)
- Factors Responsible for the Location of Industries
- Classification of Industries
- Location and distribution of the industries
- Distribution of major industries
- Agglomeration and footloose industries
- Important Geophysical Phenomena
- Earthquake
- Tsunami
- Volcanoes
- Cyclones
- Geographical Features and their Location
Preparation
- It is important to build a strong foundation. You can start your preparation by studying NCERT books from Class VII to Class XII. Once the basics of geography are covered, you can now move to the recommended books for UPSC geography preparation. You can check our other articles where we have listed the names of essential books for geography to ease your preparation process.
- Solving mock papers and previous year's question papers will help in providing a quick assessment of your preparation and as well show the important topics for you to cover.
- Make it a habit of reading newspapers and monthly magazines like The Hindu, Yojana and Kurukshetra to remain updated with current affairs.
- A lot of questions come from the Map portion therefore it is important to possess a strategic understanding of the maps. You should remember the location of important seas, mountains, lakes and cities across the globe. Understand the physical composition and features of continents and the arrangement of important places from west to east or north to south.
- You can prepare mnemonics to remember important facts in the geography chapters.
It is essential to have clear concepts to score good marks in geography papers. Hope our article was able to provide a concise snippet of the required studying strategy to ace the geography papers.
To encapsulate, it is essential to understand the syllabus for the geography paper and surf through previous year's papers and mock papers to understand the important concepts for the subject. You can then go through your study materials and prepare accordingly.