Preparation strategy for Geography for UPSC

Geography as a subject has a direct linkage with other subjects in UPSC syllabus like Environment and Ecology, Disaster & Management, Agriculture etc.Geography is an interesting subject for both students from the Science and Arts background. However, many aspirants especially students from engineering background feel it difficult because one needs to read and remember a lot of figures and concepts, etc.

In this article, we will be discussing the preparation strategy for geography as to how to better cover the syllabus thoroughly for both IAS Prelims and Main Exams. It is important to have a clear understanding regarding complete Geography syllabus so that we can prepare notes for each and every topic. Let us see the syllabus first as under:

World Geography

World Geography syllabus can be divided into Physical Geography, Economic Geography and Human Geography.

1. Physical geography: it is further divided into:

Geomorphology

Origin of the earth and the interior of the earth
Types and characteristics of rocks
Folding and Faulting
Volcanoes, earthquakes
Weather and its changes
Landforms

Climatology

The atmosphere and its structure and composition
Temperature and Pressure belts
Wind systems, Clouds formation and Types of Rainfall
Cyclones and Anti-Cyclones
Major Climatic Types and Characteristics

Oceanography

Ocean Relief, Temperature and Salinity
Ocean Deposits
Ocean Currents
Waves and Tides
El Nino and La Nina and ENSO

Biogeography

Soils – Origin and Types
Vegetation
Major Biomes of the world
Ecosystem and Food chain
Biodiversity
Environmental degradation and Conservation

2. Economic geography:

Distribution of natural resources
Industries and their locations

3. Human geography:

Man & Environment interrelationship and the Growth and Development
Population, Tribes, Migration
Economic activities – Agriculture, Manufacturing, Industries, Tertiary activities
Settlements Patterns
Urbanisation

The detailed Geography syllabus for UPSC IAS Prelims and Mains is mentioned in the table below:

Exam	Syllabus	Reference Books
Prelims	Indian and World Geography- Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.	Map Pointing: Atlas by Oxford University press or Orient Longman. Cover below mentioned references mentioned for Mains.
Mains	Salient features of the world’s physical geography.	Certificate Physical and Human Geography by Goh Cheng Leong; NCERT Class-XI – Fundamentals of Physical Geography; NCERT Class XI -- Indian Physical Environment
	Distribution of key natural resources across the world (including South Asia and the Indian subcontinent); factors responsible for the location of primary, secondary, and tertiary sector industries in various parts of the world (including India)	NCERT Class XII – Human Geography; NCERT Class-XII – India-People and Economy;
	Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc., geographical features and their location- changes in critical geographical features (including water bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.	Certificate Physical and Human Geography by Goh Cheng Leong; National Disaster Management Authority Website; Indian Geography by D.R. Khullar

Indian Geography

Indian geography is relatively easier to understand because it contains simple factual information devoid of difficult theoretical concepts.

The following list contains major topics in Indian geography-

1. Physical geography-

Climate of India - Monsoons, Cyclones etc.
Physiography of India
Drainage systems in India
Soils and various Types
Natural Vegetation
Natural Disasters

2. Economic geography:

Mines and Mineral resources
Energy resources of India
Major industries and industrial regions
Agriculture - patterns, types, etc.

3. Human geography

Demographics: Population composition and structure, Tribes, Migration and Sex ratio etc.
Settlements
Urbanisation- classification of town, Urban sprawl etc.
Human Development
Latest census

Map Pointing

Geography is all about locations, latitude, longitude, time zone of India and its neighbours, some important straits, the states and their position, as well as the states with international boundaries, and their importance. Hence map pointing is very important, especially for prelims exam.

For map-pointing, aspirants shall keenly follow current affairs related to National and International Page in newspapers like The Hindu.

For World Map pointing, aspirants should focus more on news related to the following regions:

Eurasia
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA)/West Asia
South Asia
South East Asia.

Let us see a previous Prelims question from this section:

Which one of the following countries of South-West Asia does not open out to the Mediterranean Sea?

Syria
Jordan
Lebanon
Israel

Focus areas for map pointing as follows:

Places in news India and the world: for example, Golan Heights in Israel was asked in prelims previous year
Rivers and their tributaries - right and left bank, major cities, dams, national parks on these rivers, glaciers, states that rivers flow through, etc. For example, a newspaper image related to River Feni is illustrated below:
Channels: Straits, Bays and Creeks etc.
Natural vegetation and Minerals - types of vegetation, soil, rainfall, etc
Mountain ranges and Passes - the Himalayas, Western ghats, eastern ghats, Northeast rang, etc
Islands - Andaman and Nicobar etc.
Boundaries - countries with which we share a border in order of length, areas of border disputes, like Lipulekh, Galwan valley, etc
States and Lines like Tropic of Cancer - know which states shares border with which states
Conflict Areas: Like Line of Actual Control, the Spratly Islands etc.

Now a day, the interest over Geography has grown among students that more number of students opting Geography Optional in Mains.

How to study Geography for UPSC IAS exam?

Concepts: UPSC tests aspirant’s conceptual understanding of the subject. Hence the strong focus on basics or fundamentals of the subject is essential.
Refer above-mentioned books and prepare short notes and remember revising a number of times.
Map Pointing: Map pointing is an interesting task because the visual appearance of maps grabs the focus of the aspirant. Hence, it is suggestible to do map pointing whenever you have felt bored or uninterested or monotonous with studying
Apart from solving UPSC previous year papers, aspirants can also attempt previous year questions of other exams like CDS, CAPF and NDA It is more than enough than taking outside test series.
Take a few mock tests to monitor your level of preparation and to know the paper pattern and the weak areas to focus more upon.
Practice Answer writing: Answer writing is the most challenging task of the entire preparation process. Because what you know does not matter (you may have a wide knowledge of geography), what you write and how you present the answer is what UPSC evaluates. Hence practice solving Geography Mains previous year questions and analyse the trend of question papers and prepare accordingly.