Mnemonics for UPSC – Trick to Remember, Important Mnemonics PDF
By Balaji
Updated on: May 27th, 2023
Mnemonics for UPSC would surely aid the aspirants in preparing for the exam. All those preparing for the UPSC exam know that various factors decide one’s selection. And among them, one of the most important factors is a good memory. In that case, Mnemonics for UPSC can play a huge role because it is impossible to mug up everything in the vast IAS syllabus.
In this article, we have provided some useful tricks to remember important names, countries, organizations, lakes, etc., for life in no time. With the help of these useful Mnemonics for UPSC, candidates can save time in UPSC preparation and make the most out of their efforts.
Table of content
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1.
Trick to Remember ASEAN Countries
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2.
Trick to Remember G7 Countries
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3.
Trick to Remember SAARC Countries
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4.
Black Sea Countries Trick
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5.
Caspian Sea Bordering Countries Trick
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6.
Trick to Learn Neighbouring Countries of India
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7.
Trick to Remember NATO Countries
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8.
Red Sea Bordering Countries Trick
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9.
Baltic Sea Countries Trick
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10.
Trick to Remember G-20 Countries
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11.
Trick to Remember Countries Surrounding the Mediterranean Sea
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12.
Trick to Remember Mekong-Ganga Cooperation Countries
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13.
Important Mnemonics for UPSC Exam
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14.
How to Memorise for UPSC?
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15.
Mnemonics for UPSC PDF Download
Trick to Remember ASEAN Countries
ASEAN country is a group of South East Asian countries. The full form of ASEAN is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The trick to remembering ASEAN countries is-
BPL TV MIMCS
Where each letter represents the countries in the following order:
Trick to Remember ASEAN Countries | |
Letter in the Mnemonics | Country |
B | Brunei Darussalam |
P | Philippines |
L | Laos |
T | Thailand |
V | Vietnam |
M | Malaysia |
I | Indonesia |
M | Myanmar |
C | Cambodia |
S | Singapore |
Trick to Remember G7 Countries
G7 is a political forum that is intergovernmental of 7 world leaders in advanced economies. The 7 countries that mark their presence in an informal group are Germany, France, Japan, the USA, Italy, Canada, and England. The trick to remembering these G7 countries for upcoming UPSC-conducted exams is:
G7 countries’ Favorite is JUICE.
Where names of the countries in the same order of appearance are:
Germany, France, Japan, USA, Italy, Canada, and England.
Trick to Remember SAARC Countries
The full form of SAARC is South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. It was founded to promote the welfare of South Asian countries and was formed in December 1985. One of the famous tricks to remember SAARC countries is:
MBBS PAIN
Where each alphabet in the mnemonics is used from the first letter of the names of countries in the order shown below:
M – Maldives
B – Bangladesh
B – Bhutan
S – Sri Lanka
P – Pakistan
A – Afghanistan
I – India
N – Nepal
Black Sea Countries Trick
The Black Sea, a famous inland sea, exists between Western Asia and Eastern Europe. The Black Sea is surrounded by the following countries given below with respective coastlines in Km:
Country | Coastline Length |
Turkey | 1329 |
Georgia | 310 |
Romania | 225 |
Russia | 800 |
Ukraine | 2782 |
Bulgaria | 354 |
Total | 5800 |
The tricks to remember countries bordering the Black Sea is:
Tea & BURGeR
Where the name is the order of appearance in the trick are:
- T – Turkey
- B – Bulgaria
- U – Ukraine
- R – Russia
- G – Georgia
- R – Romania
Caspian Sea Bordering Countries Trick
The Caspian Sea is the world’s largest lake or inland body of water. Russia surrounds it to the northwest, Kazakhstan to the northeast, Iran to the south, Azerbaijan to the southwest, and Turkmenistan to the southeast. The trick to remembering countries bordering the Caspian Sea is:
TARIK
Where;
- T – Turkmenistan
- A – Azerbaijan
- R – Russia
- I – Iran
- K – Kazakhstan
Trick to Learn Neighbouring Countries of India
A total of 7 different countries share the boundary with India which are Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Pakistan, Bhutan, China, and Afghanistan. The trick to learning about neighboring countries of India is:
BaChPaNMBA
Trick to Learn Neighbouring Countries of India | ||
Ba | Bangladesh | Capital – Dhaka,
Currency – Bangladeshi Taka |
Ch | China | Capital: Beijing
Currency: Renminbi |
Pa | Pakistan | Capital: Islamabad
Currency: Pakistani Rupee |
N | Nepal | Capital: Kathmandu
Currency: Nepalese Rupee |
M | Myanmar | Capital: Naypyitaw
Currency: Myanmar Khat |
B | Bhutan | Capital: Thimpu
Currency: Bhutanese Ngultrum |
A | Afghanistan | Capital: Kabul
Currency: Afghan Afghani |
Trick to Remember NATO Countries
NATO countries are a group of 30 countries. It is a military alliance for defensive measures. The full form of NATO is North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The complete list of the NATO countries is provided here:
NATO Countries | ||
Albania | Greece | Norway |
Belgium | Hungary | Poland |
Bulgaria | Iceland | Portugal |
Canada | Italy | Romania |
Croatia | Latvia | Slovakia |
Czechia | Lithuania | Slovenia |
Denmark | Luxembourg | Spain |
Estonia | Montenegro | Türkiye |
France | Netherlands | United Kingdom |
Germany | North Macedonia | United States |
Red Sea Bordering Countries Trick
The Red Sea lies between Asia and Africa and is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean. A total of 6 countries surround the Red Sea. The 438,000 km sq. is the area of the Red Sea. The trick to remembering countries bordering the Red Sea is-
Y SEEDS
Which stands for
- Y: Yemen,
- S: Saudi Arabia,
- E: Eritrea,
- E: Egypt,
- D: Djibouti,
- S: Sudan.
Baltic Sea Countries Trick
The Baltic Sea is called the arm of the Atlantic Ocean. White Sea-Baltic Canal connects the Baltic Sea and the White Sea. A total of 9 countries surround the Baltic Sea: Russia, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, and Poland. The trick to remembering countries bordering the Baltic Sea is-
RuDe Germany SELL Finland and Poland
- Ru – Russia
- De – Denmark
- Germany
- S – Sweden
- E – Estonia
- L – Latvia
- L – Lithuania
- Finland
- Poland
Trick to Remember G-20 Countries
One of the easiest ways to remember the G-20 countries is the following mnemonics which consist of the first letter of the names of all 20 countries in this group. The G-20 countries are collective of the world’s largest economies to resolve economic issues.
The mnemonics to remember the G-20 countries is:
“GURU JI SITA AB SSC FCI ME job krti hai”
The name of the countries in the same order are:
- G – Germany
- U – USA
- R – Russia
- U – UK
- J – Japan
- I – Italy
- S – Saudi Arabia
- I – Indonesia
- T – Turkey
- A – Argentina
- A – Australia
- B – Brazil
- S – South Africa
- S – South Korea
- C – Canada
- F – France
- C – China
- I – India
- M – Mexico
- E – European Union.
Trick to Remember Countries Surrounding the Mediterranean Sea
The area of the Mediterranean Sea is 2,500,000 km sq. It is surrounded by various countries. The Suez Canal (163km) connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea. The trick to remembering countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea is:
Sci-Fi GM4 CASTLE BLAST
Countries Surrounding Mediterranean Sea UPSC Tricks | |||
S | Spain | A | Algeria |
C | Cyprus | S | Slovenia |
I | Israel | T | Turkey |
F | France | L | Lebanon |
I | Italy | E | Egypt |
G | Greece | B | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
M | Morocco | L | Libya |
M | Monaco | A | Albania |
M | Montenegro | S | Syria |
M | Malta | T | Tunisia |
C | Croatia |
Trick to Remember Mekong-Ganga Cooperation Countries
There are 6 members of the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation. This is forced on the development of education, transportation, tourism, and culture. The trick to remembering the MGC(Mekong-Ganga Cooperation) countries is-
LIMCA TV
- L – Laos
- I – India
- M – Myanmar
- Ca – Cambodia
- T – Thailand
- V – Vietnam
Important Mnemonics for UPSC Exam
Mnemonic is an effective memorizing tool that helps candidates to remember vast information shortly and crisply. Aspirants can create their own Mnemonics for UPSC according to their creativity and convenience, and it will help them to recall words during the exam. Facts and figures must be remembered as they play a vital role in clearing the first hurdle, the UPSC Prelims.
Even in the UPSC Mains Exam, quoting facts and figures adds to the answer’s qualitative aspect, which helps fetch higher marks. So, it is highly important to understand that clearing such exams, boosting one’s memory, and improving the retention power to remember the facts and figures become important. Below we have provided a few tricks and techniques to boost your memory and retain facts effectively.
Mnemonics for History in UPSC
History subject is often considered tough by the candidates. The mnemonics for History can make it easy for the candidates to remember the chronology of the events and other essential details pertaining to the subject.
KFC (Kentucky fried chicken) stands for the Triratna given under Jainism–
- Right knowledge
- Right faith and
- Right conduct
BHAJSAB is a mnemonic to remember the Mughal rulers in a chronological order
- B for Babur
- H for Humayun
- A for Akbar
- J for Jahangir
- S for Shah Jahan
- A for Aurangzeb and
- B for Bahadur Shah Zafar
MEN vs Hyder Ali is a mnemonic to remember who fought 1st Anglo-Mysore war.
- M-Maratha
- E-English
- N- Nizams
Mnemonics for Geography in UPSC
Remembering the names of the oceans, and lakes can be tricky and challenging especially for candidates who do not have in-depth knowledge of Geography and the subject as their educational background. Check the list of mnemonics provided here for making the learning process easier and more interesting.
PAISA to remember the oceans
- P for Pacific
- A for the Arctic
- I for Indian
- S for the Southern Ocean(Antarctic Ocean)
- A for Atlantic
Tricks to Remember the Great Lakes of North America
HOMES stand for great lakes of North America
- H for Huron
- O for Ontario
- M for Michigan
- E for Erie and
- S for Superior
Mnemonics for Science & Technology in UPSC
Mnemonics for Science and Technology can aid the candidates in remembering the process and the events. To remember the name of the planets in their order: ‘My Very Energetic Mother Just Served Us Noodles.
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
Missiles under Integrated Program:
PATNA to remember the missiles under the integrated guided missile development programme-
- P for Prithvi
- A for Agni
- T for Trishul
- N for Nag and
- A for Akash
Gulf Cooperation Council UPSC
BUS to Qatar and Kuwait
- B- Bahrain
- U- UAE
- S- Saudi Arabia
- Qatar
- Kuwait
Arctic Council IPSC
Russian CD IS FUN
- Russian – Russia
- C – Canada
- D – Denmark
- I – Iceland
- S – Sweden
- F – Finland
- U – United States
- N – Norway
TEARS OF OLD PM Trick
The TEARS OF OLD PM trick is mnemonics generated to remember the Schedules of the Constitution. Each letter in the tricks consists of the following schedules:
TEARS OF OLD PM
12 Schedules Of The Indian Constitution are:
- T- Territory (I)
- E- Emoluments (II)
- A- Affirmations and Oaths (III)
- R- Rajya Sabha (IV)
- S- Scheduled areas (V)
- O- Other Scheduled areas (VI)
- F- Federal provisions, 3 lists (VII)
- O- Official languages (VIII)
- L- Land reforms (IX)
- D- Defection (X)
- P- Panchayats (XI)
- M- Municipalities (XII)
Official Languages of the UN
The trick to remembering the official languages of the UN is FACERS.
- F- French
- A- Arabic
- C- Chinese
- E- English
- R-Russian
- S- Spanish
The Trick to Remember Countries called the Horn of Africa
The Horn of Africa is the extension of Africa and lies in the easternmost region. The trick to remembering the countries is: SEEDS
Where S: Sudan, E: Eritrea, E: Ethiopia, D: Djibouti, and S: Somalia
How to Memorise for UPSC?
It is often seen that aspirants feel, and some even believe, that they do not have a good retention ability and cannot remember the facts and figures, but that is not correct. The solution lies in emotionally connecting oneself with whatever one reads and studies. Knowing facts and figures is important, but conceptual understanding is also important in exams like UPSC. Below are some tips that would help you get maximum retention power.
Learn Visually
The human mind absorbs and keeps more information and data presented in a visual format as compared to plain text content. Simply put, it means that a person is more likely to remember a diagram explaining the components of a missile rather than reading a paragraph about it. Therefore, to remember the facts and figures of the extensive civil services exam syllabus, aspirants are recommended to use more graphs, audiovisual content, flow charts, diagrams, etc., compared to just plain text notes.
Creating a Hypothetical Story
You can create your own Mnemonics for UPSC with the help of a hypothetical story. The human brain grasps stories and retains them for a long period as compared to just reading random things, more so in the case of facts for exam preparation. Aspirants need to create their own story-based Mnemonics, which are very helpful.
Revise Frequently
It goes without saying that revision is the best way to learn any concept that you want to memorize for a long period of time. While most candidates follow this technique and include it in their daily schedule, many others take it quite casually.
Teach and Discuss with Others
Another rarely used techniques are to discuss or teach a particular topic to others in your peer group. As one has to put in extra effort to put forward an argument, it helps to consolidate the facts in your mind.
Also, while teaching others, the information you share with others gets reinforced in your mind. Another advantage of this is that it would help you build confidence when presenting information to others. This teaching technique would be highly beneficial when it comes to preparing for the personality test stage of the civil services examination.
Keeping Short Study Sessions
The human brain, at its peak, can concentrate only for about 1 to 1.5 hours. Therefore, an IAS aspirant should plan his or her study sessions keeping in mind this timeline.
Therefore plan out a shorter study session with frequent breaks, but in the breaks, try to recall the study material you just studied and see how much of it you can recollect; this would help you to reinforce and revise the topics more effectively.
Sleep Well and Eat Well
Like any other part of our body, our brain is also prone to fatigue and tiredness; the more we use it, the more rest it requires to recover. Therefore we should always rest our brains after an exhaustive day of study. Activities such as exercising or going for a walk help to refresh our brains. 7-8 hours of the sound sleep cycle is a must for an aspirant to keep the mind fresh and remember the facts effectively and under pressure conditions while taking the exam.
Mnemonics for UPSC PDF Download
Candidates can take a printout of the Mnemonics for UPSC that we have mentioned above. Having a PDF saved on your device will help you in revisiting the mnemonics and memorize them for the exam.
Mnemonics for UPSC PDF
Keeping a copy of the Mnemonics would help the candidates prepare the UPSC Prelims Syllabus and the Mains Syllabus. Candidates can download the Mnemonics for UPSC from the below-given link.