For a UPSC CSE aspirant, the optional subject is also an important subject. In the UPSC mains exam, optional marks have two papers, Paper 1 and Paper 2. Each paper is of 250 marks which makes a total of 500 marks. The UPSC optional subject list contains 48 subjects in total, one of which is Geography.
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SYLLABUS FOR PAPER I
- Physical Geography:
- Geomorphology:
- Factors controlling landform development
- Exogenetic and Endogenetic forces
- Origin and evolution of the earth’s crust
- Physical conditions of the earth’s interior
- Fundamentals of geomagnetism
- Continental drift
- Geosynclines
- Isostasy
- Plate tectonics
- Earthquakes, Tsunamis, and Vulcanicity
- Recent views on mountain building
- Concepts of geomorphic cycles and Landscape development
- Channel morphology
- Denudation chronology
- Erosion surfaces
- Slope development
- Applied Geomorphology: Geohydrology, economic geology, and environment.
- Climatology:
- Temperature and pressure belts of the world
- Heat budget of the earth
- Atmospheric stability, instability, and circulation
- Monsoons and jet streams
- Planetary and local winds
- Air masses and front
- Types and distribution of precipitation
- Tropical and temperate cyclones
- Weather and Climate
- Koppen’s, Thornthwaite’s and Trewartha’s classification of world climates
- Hydrological cycle
- Global climatic change and role and the response of man in climatic changes
- Applied climatology, and Urban climate.
- Oceanography:
- Bottom topography of the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans
- Temperature and salinity of the oceans
- Waves, currents, and tides
- Heat and salt budgets, Ocean deposits
- Marine resources: mineral, biotic, and energy resources
- Coral reefs, coral bleaching
- Sea-level changes
- Law of the sea and marine pollution
- Biogeography:
- SOIL: Genesis, classification, distribution, soil profile, and soil erosion, degradation, and conservation
- Factors influencing world distribution of animals, and plants
- Problems of deforestation and conservation measures
- FORESTRY: Social, Agro, Wildlife
- Major gene pool centers
- Environmental Geography:
- Principle of ecology and 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, conservation, policy, hazards, and remedial measures, education, and legislation.
- Biodiversity and sustainable development
2. Human Geography
- Perspectives in Human Geography:
- Areal differentiation
- Dichotomy and dualism
- Regional synthesis
- Quantitative revolution and locational analysis
- Environmentalism
- Radical, behavioral, human, and welfare approaches
- Cultural regions of the world
- Languages, religions, and secularization
- Human development index
- Economic Geography:
- World economic development: measurement and problems
- World resources and their distribution
- The limits to growth
- Energy crisis
- World agriculture: a typology of agricultural regions, agricultural inputs, and productivity
- Food and nutrition problems
- Food security
- famine: causes, effects, and remedies
- World industries: locational patterns and problems
- Patterns of world trade
- Population and Settlement Geography:
- Growth and distribution of world population
- Causes and consequences of migration
- Demographic attributes
- Concept of the over-under-and optimum population
- Population: theories, world population problems, and policies, Social well-being, the population as social capital, and quality of life.
- Types and patterns, environmental issues of rural settlements
- Hierarchy of urban settlements
- Urban morphology: Concepts of primate city and rank-size rule
- Sphere of urban influence
- Rural-urban fringe
- Functional classification of towns
- Satellite towns
- Problems and remedies of urbanization
- Sustainable development of cities
- Regional Planning:
- Concept of a region; Types of regions and methods of regionalization
- Growth centers and growth poles
- Regional imbalances, and development strategies, environmental issues in regional planning
- Planning for sustainable development.
- Models, Theories, and Laws in Human Geography:
- Systems 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
SYLLABUS FOR PAPER II
NOTE: Candidates will be required to answer one compulsory map question pertinent to subjects covered by this paper.
- Physical Setting:
- Space relationship of India with neighboring countries
- Structure and relief
- Physiographic regions
- The drainage system and watersheds
- Mechanism of Indian monsoons and rainfall patterns, Tropical cyclones, and western disturbances
- Climatic regions
- Floods and droughts
- Natural vegetation
- Soil types and their distributions
- Resources:
- Forest and wildlife resources and their conservation
- Land, surface and groundwater, energy, minerals, biotic and marine resources
- Energy crisis
- Agriculture:
- Institutional factors: landholdings, land tenure, and land reforms
- Infrastructure: irrigation, seeds, fertilizers, power
- Cropping pattern, agricultural intensity, agricultural productivity, 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
- Sericulture, Aquaculture, Apiculture, and Poultry
- Agricultural regionalization
- Agro-climatic zones
- Agroecological regions
- Industry:
- Evolution of industries: Locational factors of cotton, textile, jute, iron and steel, aluminum, paper, fertilizers, chemical and pharmaceutical, automobile, cottage, and agro-based industries
- Industrial houses and complexes including public sector undertakings
- New industrial policies
- Industrial regionalization
- Multinationals and liberalization
- Special Economic Zones
- Tourism including eco-tourism
- Transport, Communication, and Trade:
- Road, railway, airway, waterways, and pipeline networks and their complementary roles in regional development
- The growing importance of ports on national and foreign trade
- Developments in communication and information technology and their impacts on the economy and society
- Trade: balance and policy
- Export processing zones
- Indian space program
- 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, problem, policy, and density of population
- Demographic attributes: sex-ratio, age structure, work-force, literacy rate, dependency ratio, longevity
- Migration (inter-regional, intraregional and international) and associated problems
- Health indicators
- Settlements:
- Types, patterns, and morphology of rural settlements
- Urban developments, sprawls, problems, and remedies.
- Functional classification of Indian cities
- Morphology of Indian cities
- Conurbations and metropolitan regions
- Slums and associated problems
- Town planning
- Regional Development and Planning:
- Experience in regional planning in India
- Integrated rural development programs
- Panchayati Raj and decentralized planning
- Five Year Plans
- Command area development
- Planning for the backward area, desert, drought-prone, hill, tribal area development
- Watershed management
- Multi-level planning
- Regional planning and development of island territories
- Political Aspects:
- Geographical basis of Indian federalism
- The emergence of new states
- State reorganization
- Regional consciousness and interstate issues
- The international boundary of India and related issues
- India’s role in world affairs
- Cross border terrorism
- Geopolitics of South Asia and Indian Ocean realm
- Contemporary Issues:
- Ecological issues: landslides, earthquakes, Tsunamis, floods and droughts, epidemics
- Changes in patterns of land use
- Issues relating to environmental pollution
- Principles of environmental impact assessment and environmental management
- Environmental degradation
- Environmental awareness
- Deforestation, desertification, and soil erosion
- Population explosion and food security
- Problems of agrarian and industrial unrest
- Regional disparities in economic development
- Concept of sustainable growth and development
- Linkage of rivers
- Globalization and the Indian economy
