One of the conundrums of UPSC Mains Examination is choosing the right OPTIONAL SUBJECT. In fact, sometimes the OPTIONAL SUBJECTS are the Game Changer. The candidates are required to choose one of the optional subjects from the list of subjects offered. The optional paper will be of total 500 marks and there will be 2 papers (each paper 250 marks). Hence to choose the right optional subject and a thorough preparation of the same is …!!

When one is considering for choosing optional subject some things should be taken into account such as resource availability, time required to prepare the optional geography subject, relevance for the essay and GS papers, whether it’s a scoring subject, are there any previous year’s toppers from this subject, popularity among aspirants etc. If we talk about GEOGRAPHY as an optional and considering the above parameters, it is a very popular choice among IAS (UPSC CSE) Aspirants-specifically among those who are from a science or engineering background. As the syllabus for geography optional, prelims, and the mains coincide, thus making it easier to plan study schedule.

So……If you are also planning to opt Geography as an optional subject and little confused about the syllabus and whether to choose it or not? Then, no need to worry…😊 You are the at the right place. Here you will get to know how is geography, as an optional subject…. just bear with us till the last line…😊

WHY GEOGRAPHY IS A GOOD CHOICE?

                                          

There are many reasons why one should choose Geography as an optional subject in UPSC.

      1. Overlapping with General Studies:

 

• There is a lot of similarities in the portion of Geography prelims as well as Mains. Other than that, syllabus of optional overlaps with several topics from other General Studies too.

 

• GS1: An entire geography section which carries weight somewhere in between 80–100 marks. Some topics like state re-organizations, tribal issues, are also covered in optional.

 

• GS2: Not much is directly related to geography. But several topics from IR overlaps with geography syllabus. It includes India and its neighbours, Geopolitics of Indian Ocean Region, SAARC, BIMSTEC and so on.

 

• GS3: The topics covered by geography includes, agriculture, planning and development, cross border crimes, infrastructure, industries, resources, transportation, demographic dividend and so on.

 

     2. Nature of the Subject

 

• There is talk in the town that, it needs lots of mugging up which is not true. Once the concepts are clear and you have a good understanding of the subject then it is very easy to remember. That is why this subject is preferred by the candidates from any science or technical background and they find this subject very scorning too.

 

• Unlike subjects like Humanities, there is not any sort of interpretation needed to study this Subject. Drawing diagrams and flow in your answers will make you fetch more marks.

 

• During the time of the interview, many candidates were asked to draw the regional map or thematic maps of areas. Therefore, a decent knowledge of Geography can help you improve your overall score in the exam.

 

Let’s have a look of the syllabus ……

GEOGRAPHY PAPER I

 

Physical Geography :

1. Geomorphology	Factors controlling landform development; Endogenetic and Exogenetic forces; Origin and evolution of the earth’s crusts; Fundamentals of geomagnetism; Physical conditions of the earth’s interior; Geosynclines; Continental drift; Isostasy; Plate tectonics; Recent views on mountain building; Volcanicity; Earthquakes and Tsunamis; Concepts of geomorphic cycles and Land scape development; Denudation chronology; Channel morphology; Erosion surfaces; Slope development; Applied Geomorphology; Geomorphology, economic geology and environment.
2. Climatology	Temperature and pressure belts of the world; Heat budget of the earth; Atmospheric circulation; Atmospheric stability and instability. Planetary and local winds; Monsoons and jet streams; Air masses and frontogenesis; Temperate and tropical cyclones; Types and distribution of precipitation; Weather and Climate; Koppen’s Thornthwaite’s and Trewar Tha’s classification of world climate; Hydrological cycle; Global climatic change, and role and response of man in climatic changes Applied climatology and Urban climate.
3. Oceanography	Bottom topography of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans; Temperature and salinity of the oceans; Heat and salt budgets, Ocean deposits;  Waves, currents and tides; Marine resources; Biotic, mineral and energy resources; Coral reefs coral bleaching; Sea-level changes; Law of the sea and marine pollution.
4. Biogeography	Genesis of soils; Classification and distribution of soils; Soil profile; Soil erosion, Degradation and conservation; Factors influencing world distribution of plants and animals; Problems of deforestation and conservation measures; Social forestry, Agro-forestry; Wild life; Major gene pool centers.
5.Environmental Geography	Principle ecology; Human ecological adaptations; Influence of man on ecology and environment; Global and regional ecological changes and imbalances; Ecosystem their management and conservation; Environmental degradation, management and conservation; Biodiversity and sustainable development; Environmental policy; Environmental hazards and remedial measures; Environmental education and legislation.

 

Human Geography :

1. Perspectives in Human Geography:	Areal differentiation; Regional synthesis; Dichotomy and dualism; Environmentalism; Quantitative revolution and locational analysis; Radical, behavioral, human and welfare approaches; Languages, religions and secularization; Cultural regions of the world; Human development index.
2. Economic Geography:	World economic development: measurement and problems; World resources and their distribution; Energy crisis; the limits to growth; World agriculture: typology of agricultural regions; Agricultural inputs and productivity; Food and nutrition problems; Food security; Famine: causes, effects and remedies; World industries: location patterns and problems; Patterns of world trade.
3. Population and Settlement Geography:	Growth and distribution of world population; Demographic attributes; Causes and consequences of migration; Concepts of over-under-and optimum population; Population theories, world population problems and policies, Social well-being and quality of life; Population as social capital; Types and patterns of rural settlements; Environmental issues in rural settlements; Hierarchy of urban settlements; Urban morphology; Concept of primate city and rank-size rule; Functional classification of towns; Sphere of urban influence; Rural-urban fringe; Satellite towns; Problems and remedies of urbanization; Sustainable development of cities.
4. Regional Planning:	Concept of a region; Types of regions and methods of regionalization; Growth centers and growth poles; Regional imbalances; Regional development strategies; Environmental issues in regional planning; Planning for sustainable development.
5. Models, Theories and Laws in Human Geography:	System analysis in Human geography; Malthusian, Marxian and demographic transition models; Central Place theories of Christaller and Losch; Perroux and Boudeville; Von Thunen’s model of agricultural location; Weber’s model of industrial location; Ostov’s model of stages of growth. Heart-land and Rimland theories; Laws of international boundaries and frontiers.

 

PAPER II:    GEOGRAPHY OF INDIA

1. Physical Setting:	Space relationship of India with neighboring countries; Structure and relief; Drainage system and watersheds; Physiographic regions; Mechanism of Indian monsoons and rainfall patterns; Tropical cyclones and western disturbances; Floods and droughts; Climatic regions; Natural vegetation, Soil types and their distributions.
2. Resources:	Land, surface and ground water, energy, minerals, biotic and marine resources, Forest and wild life resources and their conservation; Energy crisis.
3. Agriculture:	Infrastructure: irrigation, seeds, fertilizers, power; Institutional factors; Land holdings, land tenure and land reforms; Cropping pattern, agricultural productivity, agricultural intensity, crop combination, land capability; Agro and social-forestry; Green revolution and its socio-economic and ecological implications; Significance of dry farming; Livestock resources and white revolution; Aqua-culture; Sericulture, Agriculture and poultry; Agricultural regionalization; Agro-climatic zones; Agro-ecological regions.
4. Industry:	Evolution of industries; Locational factors of cotton, jute, textile, iron and steel, aluminum, fertilizer, paper, chemical and pharmaceutical, automobile, cottage and ago-based industries; Industrial houses and complexes including public sector undertakings; Industrial regionalization; New industrial policy; Multinationals and liberalization; Special Economic Zones; Tourism including ecotourism.
5. Transport, Communication and Trade:	Road, railway, waterway, airway and pipeline net-works and their complementary roles in regional development; Growing importance of ports on national and foreign trade; Trade balance; Trade Policy; Export processing zones; Developments in communication and information technology and their impacts on Economy and society; Indian space programme.
6. Cultural Setting:	Historical Perspective of Indian Society; Racial linguistic and ethnic diversities; religious minorities; Major tribes, tribal areas and their problems; Cultural regions; Growth, distribution and density of population; Demographic attributes: sex-ratio, age structure, literacy rate, work-force, dependency ratio, longevity; migration (inter-regional, interaregional and international) and associated problems; Population problems and policies; Health indicators.
7. Settlements:	Types, patterns and morphology of rural settlements; Urban developments; Morphology of Indian cities; Functional classification of Indian cities; Conurbations and metropolitan regions; Urban sprawl; Slums and associated problems; Town planning; Problems of urbanization and remedies.
8. Regional Development and Planning:	Experience of regional planning in India; Five Year Plans; Integrated rural development programmes;  Panchayati Raj and decentralized planning; Command area development; Watershed management; Planning for backward area, desert, drought-prone, hill tribal area development; Multi-level planning; Regional planning and development of island territories.
9. Political Aspects:	Geographical basis of Indian federalism; State reorganization; Emergence of new states; Regional consciousness and inter-state issues; International boundary of India and related issues; Cross-border terrorism; India’s role in world affairs; Geopolitics of South Asia and Indian Ocean realm.
10. Contemporary Issues:	Ecological issues: Environmental hazards: landslides, earthquakes, Tsunamis, floods and droughts, epidemics; Issues related to environmental pollution; Changes in patterns of land use; Principles of environmental impact assessment and environmental management; Population explosion and food security; Environmental degradation; Deforestation, desertification and soil erosion; Problems of agrarian and industrial unrest; Regional disparities in economic development; Concept of sustainable growth and development; Environmental awareness; Linkage of rivers; Globalization and Indian economy.

 

NOTE: Candidates will be required to answer one compulsory map question pertinent to subjects covered by this paper.

 

SUGGESTED READINGS AND RESOURCES

 

Though the list is not exhaustive and you can refer to more books as far as a particular topic is concerned but the following list is more than enough to help you in your entire preparation process. Reading a book is an art and thus one must inculcate it. Some topics are covered in more than one book, our aim should be to refer it from the book where it is conceptually most vibrant and the information provided is sufficient to write a good comprehensive answer. In this way some books are actually references and hence be used as such.

 

                                                   (PRINCIPLES OF GEOGRAPHY)

Basic NCERTs for Physical and Human Geography [11th and 12th std]

Physical Geography-Made Simple [Rupa Publications].

A Textbook of Geomorphology by P Dayal.

Physical Geography by Savindra Singh.

Modern Physical Geography by Strahler and Strahler.

Principles of Geomorphology by W.D. Thornbury.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Climatology by Dr. D.S Lal.

Oceanography by R C Sharma & M Vatal

Certificate in Physical and Human Geography-G.C. Leong.

Environmental Geography by Savindra Singh.

Urbanization & Urban Systems in India by R Ramachandran.

Dictionary of Physical Geography-Penguin.

Human and Economic Geography-by G.C. Leong and Gillian C. Morgan

Geography of Populations by R.C Chandana.

Economic and Social Geography-Made Simple (Rupa)

Evolution and Geographical Thought-Majid Hussain.

Models in Geography-Majid Hussain.

Geographical Thought: A Contextual History of Ideas by R D Dikshit.

Regional Planning by Mahesh Chand and V.K Puri.

Political Geography by Sudeepta Adhikari.

Indian Economy by Dutt & Sundharam (Useful for Regional Planning).

Dictionary in Human Geography-Penguin.

Orient Blackswan Atlas

 

                                PAPER-II: INDIAN GEOGRAPHY

Indian Geography NCERTs.

India-A Comprehensive Geography- D R Khullar

Geography of India by R C Tiwari.

Geography of India by Majid Hussain

Urbanization and Urban Systems in India-Ramachandran

India Year Book-Publication Division

Yojana and Kurukshetra Magazines.

Reports Published by ICAR.

Indian Economy by Dutt and Sundharam.

Human Geography Majid Hussain.

Environmental Geography by HM Saxena.

Regional Planning in Indian by Mahesh Chand.

NBT Geology of India.

The Hindu, the Indian Express.

Geography and You- A development and environment magazine.

Oxford Indian Atlas.

Economic survey

 

 HAPPY READING………..GOOD LUCK…. !!!!!!😊

 

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