Firefox https://byjus.

com/free-ias-prep/syllabus-geography-ias-exam/

UPSC Prelims Geography Syllabus

Indian and World Geography – Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.

As you can see, the syllabus mentions only 1 line. Let us look at the details now.

Indian Geography

1. Basics of India
1. Location, latitude, longitude, time zone, etc.
2. Neighbours
3. Important straits
4. States and their position
5. States with international boundaries
2. Physical features
1. The Himalayas – geological formation, climate, vegetation, soil, biodiversity, physiographic
divisions, major passes, signi�cance
2. The Great North Indian Plains – geological formation, physiographic divisions, climate, vegetation,
soil, biodiversity, signi�cance
3. Peninsular Plateau – geological formation, Central Highlands, Deccan Plateau, Western Ghats,
Eastern Ghats
4. Indian Desert
5. Coastal plains and islands
3. River systems
1. Himalayan rivers
2. Peninsular rivers
3. River basins
4. Regional development and planning
5. Hydropower projects, major dams
�. West-�owing and east-�owing rivers
7. Interlinking of rivers (https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/interlinking-of-river/)
4. Climate
1. Monsoons – driving mechanism, El Nino, La Nina
2. Seasons
3. Cyclones (https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/cyclones/)

1 of 12 17-12-2021, 13:12
Firefox https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/syllabus-geography-ias-exam/

5. Minerals and industries – mineral distribution, industrial policies, location

�. Agriculture
1. Land utilisation
2. Types of agricultural practices
3. Green revolution (https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/green-revolution/)
4. Soils and crops
5. Irrigation
�. Land reforms
7. Animal husbandry
�. Government schemes
7. Natural vegetation and fauna
1. Classi�cation of natural vegetation
2. Rainfall distribution in India (https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/rainfall-distribution-in-india/)
3. Biosphere reserves, national parks, etc.
4. Red-listed species
�. Economic infrastructure
1. Transportation (highways, inland waterways, etc.)
2. Power and energy sector
3. Conventional and non-conventional sources of energy
4. Energy conservation
9. Human Geography
1. Demographics
2. Recent census

World Geography

1. Major natural regions

2. Regional geography of developed countries
3. Regional geography of developing countries
4. Regional geography of South Asia

Physical Geography

1. Geomorphology
1. Origin of the earth
2. Interior of the earth
3. Types and characteristics of rocks
4. Folding and Faulting

2 of 12 17-12-2021, 13:12
Firefox https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/syllabus-geography-ias-exam/

5. Volcanoes, earthquakes
�. Interior of the earth
7. Weathering
�. Landforms formed by �uvial, aeolian and glacial actions
2. Climatology
1. Atmosphere – structure and composition
2. Temperature
3. Pressure belts of the Earth (https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/pressure-belts-of-the-earth/)
4. Wind systems
5. Clouds and types of rainfall
�. Cyclones and anti-cyclones
7. Major climatic types
3. Oceanography
1. Ocean relief
2. Temperature, salinity
3. Ocean deposits
4. Ocean currents
5. El Nino and La Nina
�. Waves and tides
4. Biogeography
1. Soil – origin and types
2. Major biomes of the world
3. Ecosystem, food chain
4. Environmental degradation and conservation

Human Geography

1. Man & environment; relationship, growth and development of human geography; determinism and
possibilism
2. Population, tribes, migration
3. Economic activities – agriculture, manufacturing, industries, tertiary activities
4. Settlements, urbanisation, functional classi�cation of towns, million-cities and megacities

Location-based questions pertaining to India and the world are also asked in the prelims.

The UPSC Noti�cation (https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/upsc-noti�cations/) contains the syllabus of the

Geography optional along with other subjects.

3 of 12 17-12-2021, 13:12
Firefox https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/syllabus-geography-ias-exam/

UPSC Mains Geography Syllabus

Geography is part of the GS paper I in the IAS mains exam. The syllabus for GS Geography is given below:

• Distribution of key natural resources across the world including South Asia and the Indian sub-continent;
factors responsible for the location of primary, secondary, and tertiary sector industries in various parts of
the world including India
• Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclones etc.,
geographical features and their location- changes in critical geographical features (including water-bodies
and ice-caps) and in �ora and fauna and the effects of such changes
• Salient features of the world’s physical geography (geomorphology, climatology, oceanography,
biogeography and environmental geography)
• Geomorphology – the interior of the earth, tectonics, physical phenomenon, mountain building,
volcanoes, earthquakes, weathering & erosion, rocks, landforms
• Climatology – atmosphere, temperature distribution, jet streams, pressure & wind systems,
airmasses, fronts, cyclones, humidity, precipitation, geographical phenomenon, climatic regions of
the world
• Oceanography – ocean relief, temperature distribution, ocean currents, salinity, coral bleaching,
marine pollution, sea level change, UN laws, etc.
• Biography – soil pro�le, degradation, conservation), biotic regions, deforestation and conservation
of forests, changes in critical geographical features, environmental pollution

There is a good overlap of the environment in some of the topics in geography. The Geography UPSC syllabus is
quite comprehensive, as you can see from above. It is an important subject as far as the UPSC exam
(https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/upsc-exam/) is concerned and every year, many questions are asked from
the syllabus of geography for UPSC.

Geography Optional Syllabus for UPSC Mains

UPSC Geography Optional Syllabus PDF:- Download Syllabus PDF

The UPSC optional subject list contains 48 subjects in total, one of which is Geography. The optional syllabus for
this subject has a huge overlap with General Studies. It is one of the most popular optional subjects in the Mains
exam. The topics included in this subject are related to physical and human geography, economic geography
and geography of India.

4 of 12 17-12-2021, 13:12
Firefox https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/syllabus-geography-ias-exam/

Candidates who choose Geography as an optional subject in UPSC often �nd the syllabus to be vast.
Notwithstanding the large number of topics included in the syllabus, the subject is relatively easy to prepare due
to the wide availability of study material and its popularity in the Mains exam. Apart from this, a large portion of
the geography syllabus can be covered while preparing for General Studies.

In this article, we provide you with the detailed UPSC CSE syllabus (https://byjus.com/ias/upsc-syllabus/) for
Geography optional and also the UPSC Geography Optional Syllabus PDF.

Geography Optional has 2 papers (paper I and paper II) in UPSC Mains. Each paper is of 250 marks with a total
of 500 marks. Find below the IAS Geography syllabus:

UPSC Syllabus Geography Optional Paper I:

5 of 12 17-12-2021, 13:12
Firefox https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/syllabus-geography-ias-exam/

6 of 12 17-12-2021, 13:12
Firefox https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/syllabus-geography-ias-exam/

7 of 12 17-12-2021, 13:12
Firefox https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/syllabus-geography-ias-exam/

UPSC Syllabus Geography Optional Paper II:

8 of 12 17-12-2021, 13:12
Firefox https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/syllabus-geography-ias-exam/

9 of 12 17-12-2021, 13:12
Firefox https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/syllabus-geography-ias-exam/

10 of 12 17-12-2021, 13:12
Firefox https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/syllabus-geography-ias-exam/

11 of 12 17-12-2021, 13:12
Firefox https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/syllabus-geography-ias-exam/

12 of 12 17-12-2021, 13:12