UPSC geography optional syllabus, Paper 1 and Paper 2

Where the geography optional fits in the mains

Of the nine mains papers, the two language papers are pass or fail. Your merit total comes from seven papers: one essay, GS 1 through GS 4, and the optional pair, which here means geography in Papers VI and VII. Both are three hour descriptive papers, and you may write them in English or any other language permitted for the mains.

Each recent geography paper has been printed in two halves, A and B, holding four questions apiece. Five answers are required: question 1 and question 5 cannot be skipped, and the other three are picked from the remaining six so that both sections are represented. In Paper 2 the first question has usually been a mapping question on places in India.

Paper 1, physical geography

• Geomorphology: forces behind landform development, the origin and evolution of the earth's crust, earth's interior, geomagnetism, continental drift, isostasy, plate tectonics, mountain building, volcanism, earthquakes and tsunamis, the cycle of erosion, slope development, applied geomorphology and channel morphology
• Climatology: world temperature and pressure belts, the heat budget of the earth, general circulation of the atmosphere, monsoons and jet streams, air masses and fronts, temperate and tropical cyclones, types of precipitation, Koppen, Thornthwaite and Trewartha classifications, the hydrological cycle, global climatic change
• Oceanography: bottom relief of the oceans, temperature and salinity, deposits on the ocean floor, waves, currents and tides, marine resources, coral reefs and bleaching, sea level change, law of the sea and marine pollution
• Biogeography: genesis and classification of soils, soil erosion and conservation, distribution of plants and animals, deforestation, social forestry, agro forestry, wildlife and gene pool centres
• Environmental geography: principles of ecology, human ecological adaptation, global and regional ecological change, ecosystem management, environmental degradation, biodiversity, environmental hazards and policy

Paper 1, human geography

• Perspectives: areal differentiation, regional synthesis, dichotomy and dualism, environmentalism, the quantitative revolution, radical, behavioural, human and welfare approaches, cultural regions of the world, human development indicators
• Economic geography: world economic development and its measurement, world resources, energy crisis, limits to growth, agriculture and agricultural regions, food and nutrition problems, famine, world industries and their location patterns, world trade
• Population and settlement: growth and distribution of world population, migration, demographic attributes, concepts of over, under and optimum population, population theories, rural settlement types and urban hierarchy, primate cities, rank size rule, functional classification of towns, urban sphere of influence and problems of urbanisation
• Regional planning: the concept of a region, types of regions and methods of regionalisation, growth centres and growth poles, regional imbalances, planning for sustainable development
• Models, theories and laws: systems analysis, Malthusian and Marxian demographic models and the demographic transition, central place theories of Christaller and Losch, the von Thunen model, Weber's model, Ostrov's model, heartland and rimland theories, laws of international boundaries and frontiers

Paper 2, geography of India

• Physical setting: India's space relationship with neighbours, structure and relief, drainage and watersheds, the Indian monsoon and rainfall, tropical cyclones and western disturbances, floods and droughts, climatic regions, natural vegetation, soil types
• Resources: land, surface and ground water, energy, mineral, biotic and marine resources, forest and wildlife conservation, energy crisis
• Agriculture: irrigation, seeds, fertilisers and power, institutional factors such as land holdings and land reforms, cropping patterns and intensity, dry farming, the green revolution, agro climatic regions, livestock, aquaculture and social forestry
• Industry: evolution of industries, location factors for major industries, industrial houses and complexes, industrial policy, multinationals and liberalisation, special economic zones, tourism including eco tourism
• Transport, communication and trade: road, rail, waterway and air networks, ports, trade policy and export processing zones, communication networks, IT and the space programme of India
• Cultural setting: racial, linguistic and ethnic diversity, religious minorities, tribal areas, population growth and distribution, migration, health indicators
• Settlements: rural settlement types, urban development, morphology of cities, conurbations and metropolitan regions, slums, town planning
• Regional development and planning: regional planning experience in India, the Five Year Plans, integrated rural development, Panchayati Raj and decentralised planning, command area and watershed management, planning for backward areas and islands
• Political aspects: geographical basis of the federation, reorganisation of states, regional consciousness, inter state issues, international boundary issues, cross border terrorism, India's place in world affairs and the geopolitics of South Asia and the Indian Ocean
• Contemporary issues: ecological issues and hazards, environmental pollution, land use change, environmental impact assessment, population explosion and food security, deforestation and desertification, agrarian and industrial unrest, regional disparities, sustainable growth, linking of rivers, globalisation and the Indian economy

This is a summary of the official topic list; read the notification itself for the Commission's precise wording.

Geography in prelims and GS: what carries over

Anyone looking for a separate geography syllabus for UPSC prelims will be surprised: the notification gives it a single line, naming Indian and world geography with its physical, social and economic angles. In practice prelims questions draw on the same climatology, soils, rivers, resources and mapping skills that the optional covers. In the mains, GS Paper 1 asks about world physical geography, distribution of resources, industrial location and geophysical events such as earthquakes and cyclones, and GS Paper 3 covers environment and disaster management.

So the optional is not a separate world. If you build strong notes on Paper 2 India topics, you are also preparing for a large part of prelims and GS. For the GS topics in full, open our prelims syllabus page and the mains syllabus page.

A study order for the two papers

1. To build the syllabus of geography for UPSC from the ground up, start with NCERT geography books from class 6 to 12, especially the class 11 and 12 books on physical geography, India and human geography. They give the base vocabulary.
2. Move to Paper 1 physical geography, since climatology and geomorphology also explain Indian monsoon and drainage topics in Paper 2.
3. Study Paper 2 next, linking every topic to a map. Practise plotting rivers, mountain passes, ports, tiger reserves and towns that made headlines.
4. Take Paper 1 human geography and models last; they are conceptual and benefit from the examples you collected earlier.
5. Write answers from week one, with neat diagrams and sketch maps. Geography answers lose marks without them.

To judge how deep answers must go, read the actual optional question papers of recent years; see UPSC previous papers.

UPSC geography optional syllabus in Hindi

भूगोल को वैकल्पिक विषय चुनने पर आपको 250 अंक वाले दो पेपर लिखने होते हैं, हर पेपर तीन घंटे का। पहला प्रश्नपत्र भूगोल के सिद्धांत पर है: भौतिक भूगोल में भू आकृति विज्ञान, जलवायु विज्ञान, समुद्र विज्ञान, जैव भूगोल और पर्यावरण भूगोल आते हैं, जबकि मानव भूगोल में आर्थिक भूगोल, जनसंख्या, बस्तियाँ, प्रादेशिक नियोजन और मॉडल व सिद्धांत शामिल हैं। दूसरा प्रश्नपत्र भारत का भूगोल है, जिसमें भौतिक स्वरूप, संसाधन, कृषि, उद्योग, परिवहन, सांस्कृतिक स्वरूप, बस्तियाँ, राजनीतिक पहलू और समकालीन मुद्दे पढ़ने होते हैं। मानचित्र अभ्यास ज़रूर करें।

Is geography the right optional for you

Geography suits you if you enjoy maps, diagrams and cause and effect reasoning, and if you studied it at graduation or have a science background that makes climatology and geomorphology easier. It is less forgiving if you dislike drawing or memorising locations, because both papers reward sketches and Paper 2 opens with a mapping question.

The syllabus is long, so give it at least five to six months of steady work before the mains. Weigh it against a non map subject like sociology as an optional first, and see the UPSC syllabus overview for how the optional fits the whole exam.