(Syllabus) Geography- Optional Preliminary Examination of Civil Services Exam

Section-A
Physical Geography i) Geomorphology Origin of the earth; Geological Time Scale; Interior of the earth; Types and characteristics of rocks; Folding and Faulting; Volcanoes; Earthquakes; Weathering; Landforms caused by fluvial, aeolian and glacial actions. ii) Climatology Structure and composition of atmosphere; Temperature; Pressure belts and Wind systems; Clouds and rainfall types; Cyclones and anti-cyclones; Major climatic types. iii) Oceanography Ocean relief; Temperature; Salinity; Ocean deposits; Ocean currents, El Nino and La Nino; Waves and tides. iv) Biogeography Origin and types of soils; Major biomes of the world; Ecosystem and food chain; Environmental degradation and conservation.

Section-B
Human Geography i) Man and Environment Relationship Growth and development of Human Geography; Concepts of Determinism and Possibilism. ii) Population Races of mankind and tribes; growth and distribution of world population; migration; population problems of developed and developing countries. iii) Economic Activities Food gathering and hunting; pastoral herding; fishing and forestry; Types of agriculture-shifting, subsistence, commercial and plantation; Mining, Power; Manufacturing -locational factors of textile, iron and steel, sugar and fertilizer industries; Tertiary activities-trade, transport, communication and services. iv) Settlements Origin, types and patterns of rural settlements; Processes of urbanisation; morphology and functional classification of towns; million-cities and mega-cities.

Section-C
Geography of the World i) Major Natural Regions : Characteristics, economic base and human adaptation. ii) Regional Geography of Developed Countries : Canada, U.S.A., Western Europe, Russia, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. iii) Regional Geography of Developing Countries : S.E. Asia, S.W. Asia, China, Southern Africa and Brazil. iv) Regional Geography of South Asia.

Section-D
Geography of India i) Physical Setting Landforms, drainage, climate, soils and natural vegetation. ii) Economic Base Minerals & energy resources, aquatic resources, forest resources; irrigation, agriculture and industries; trade and commerce. iii) Population Growth, distribution and density; demographic characteristics. iv) Environmental problems, developmental issues and regional planning.

Section-E
Geographical Thought

i) Ancient Period : Contributions of Indians, Greeks, Romans and Arabs. ii) Pre-Modern Period : Contribution of Verenius, Kant, Humboldt and Ritter. iii) Modern Period : Dichotomy of determinism and possibilism; contributions of Ratzel, Semple, Huntington and La Blache. iv) Recent Period : Quantitive Revolution; Radicalism, Behaviouralism and Humanism. Section-F Techniques of Geographical Analysis i) Maps : Scale and types, uses. ii) Diagrams : Types and uses iii) Projections : Types, characteristics and uses. iv) Remote sensing and geographical information system (GIS) : Aerial photographs and imagery, GIS.

Main Examination of Civil Services Exam

Paper-I Principles of Geography Section-A Physical Geography i) Geomorphology : Factors controlling landform development; endogenetic and exogenetic forces; origin and evolution of the earths crust; physical conditions of the earths interior; geosynclines; continental drift; isostasy; sea-floor spreading; plate tectonics; mountain building; volcanicity; earthquakes; concepts of geomorphic cycles; landforms associated with fluvial, arid, glacial, coastal and karst cycle; groundwater; Applied Geomorphology. ii) Climatology : Temperature and pressure belts of the world; heat budget of the earth; atmospheric circulation; planetary and local winds; monsoons and jet streams; air masses and fronts; temperate and tropical cyclones; types and distribution of precipitation; Koppens and Thornthwaites classification of world climate; hydrological cycle; climatic change. iii) Oceanography : Bottom topography of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans; temperature and salinity of the oceans; ocean deposits; ocean currents and tides; marine resourcesbiotic, mineral and energy resources; coral reefs; sea-level changes. iv) Biogeography : Genesis of soils; classification and distribution of soils; soil profile; soil erosion and conservation; factors influencing world distribution of plants and animals; problems of deforestation and conservation measures; social forestry, agro-forestry. v) Environmental Geography : Human ecological adaptations; transformation of nature by man; environmental degradation and conservawtin; ecosystems and their management; global ecological imbalancesproblems of pollution, global warming, reduction in bio-diversity and depletion of forests. Section-B Human Geography i) Perspectives in Human Geography : A real differentiation; regional synthesis; dichotomy and dualism; environmentalism; quantitative revolution and locational analysis; radical, behavioural, human and welfare approaches; cultural regions of the world human and welfare approaches; cultural regions of the world; human development indicators. ii) Economic Geography : World economic develpmentmeasurement and problems; world resources and their distribution; energy crisis; the limits to growth; world agriculturetypology of agricultural regions; agricultural inputs and productivity; food and nutrition problems; faminecauses, effects and remedies; world industrieslocation patterns and problems; patterns of world trade. iii) Population and Settlement Geography : Growth and distribution of world population; demographic atrributes; causes and consequencies of migration; concepts of over, under and optimum population; world population problems. Types and patterns of rural settlements; hierarchy of urban settlements; concept of primate city and rank-size rule; functional classificatipn of towns; sphere of urban influence; rural-urban fringe; satellite town; problems of urbanisation.

iv) Regional Planning : Concept of a region; types of regions and methods of regionalisation; growth centres and growth poles; regional imbalances; environmental issues in regional planning; planning for sustainable development. v) 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; Von Thunens model of agricultural location; Webers model of industrial location; Rostovs model of stages of growth. Heart-land and Rimland theories; laws of international boundaries and frontiers. Note : Candidates will be required to answer one compulsory map question pertinent to subjects covered by this paper.

Paper-II
Geography of India Section-A. i) Physical Setting : Space relationship of India with neighbouring countries; structure and relief; drainage system and watersheds; physiographic regions; mechanism of Indian monsoons; tropical cyclones and western distrubances; floods and droughts; climatic regions; natural vegetation, soil types and their distributions. ii) Resources : Land, surface and groundwater, energy, minerals, and biotic resources, their distribution, utilisation and conservation; energy crisis. iii) Agriculture : Infrastructureirrigation, seeds, fertilizers, power; institutional factorsland holdings, land tenure and land reforms; agricultural productivity, agricultural intensity, crop combination, land capability; agro-and social forestry; green revolution and its socioeconomic and ecological implications; significance of dry farming; livestock resources and white revolution; blue revolution; agricultural regionalisation; agro-climatic zones. iv) Industry : Evolution of industries; locational factors of cotton, jute, iron and steel, fertiliser, paper, drugs and pharmaceutical, automobile and cottage indusries; industrial complexes and industrial regionalisaiton; new industrial policy; multinationals and liberalisation. v) Transport, Communication and Trade : Road, railway, waterway, airway and pipeline networks and their complementary roles in regional development; growing importance of ports on national and foreign trade, trade balance; free trade and export promotion zones; developments in communication technology and its impact on economy and society. Section-B i) Cultural Setting : Racial and ethnic diversities; major tribes, tribal areas and their problems; role of langague, religion and tradition in the formation of cultural regions; growth, distribution and density of population; demographic attributessex-ratio, age structure, literacy rate, work-force, dependency ratio and longevity; migration (inter-regional, intra-regional and international) and associated problems, population problems and policies. ii) Settlements : Types, patterns and morphology of rural settlements; urban development; census definition of urban areas; morphology of Indian cities; functional classification of Indian cities; conurbations and metropolitan regions; urban sprawl; slums and associated problems; town planning; problems of urbanisaiton. iii) Regional Development and Planning: Experience of regional planning in India; Five Year Plans; integrated rural development programmes; panchayati raj and decentralised planning; command area development; watershed management; planning for backward area, desert drought-prone, hill and tribal area development; multi-level planning; geography and regional planning. iv) Political Aspects : Geographical basis of Indian federalism; state reorganisation; regional consciousness and national integration; international boundary of India and related issues; disputes on sharing of water resources; India and geopolitics of the Indian Ocean. v) Contemporary Issues : Environmental hazardslandslides, earthquakes, 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; problems of agrarian and industrial unrest; regional disparities in economic development; concept of sustainable growth and development. Note : Candidates will be required to answer one compulsory map question pertinent to subjects covered by this paper.