1) What is sea surface temperature rise? How does it affect the formation of tropical cyclones?
2) Why do large cities tend to attract more migrants than smaller towns? Discuss in the light of conditions in developing countries.
3) What is the phenomenon of ‘cloudbursts’? Explain.
4) What is the concept of a ‘demographic winter’? Is the world moving towards such a situation? Elaborate.
5) The groundwater potential of the Gangetic valley is on a serious decline. How may it affect the food security of India?
6) What are aurora australis and aurora borealis? How are these triggered?
7) What is a twister? Why are the majority of twisters observed in areas around the Gulf of Mexico?
UPSC Mains Geography- 2023
1) Discuss the consequences of climate change on the food
security in tropical countries.(10 Marks, 150 Words)
2) Why is the world today confronted with a crisis of
availability of and access to freshwater resources?
(10 Marks, 150 Words)
3) How are the fjords formed? Why do they constitute some
of the most picturesque areas of the world?
(10 Marks, 150 Words)
4) Why is the South-West monsoon called ‘Purvaiya’
(easterly) in Bhojpur Region? How has this directional seasonal wind system influenced the
cultural ethos of the region?
(10 Marks, 150 Words)
5) Comment on the resource potentials of the long
coastline of India and highlight the status of natural hazard preparedness in these areas.(15
Marks, 250 Words)
6) From being net food importer in 1960s, India has
emerged as a net food exporter to the world. Provide reasons.
(15 Marks, 250 Words)
UPSC Mains Geography- 2022
1) Describe the characteristics and types of primary
rocks.
(10 Marks, 150 Words)
2) Troposphere is a very significant atmospheric layer
that determines weather processes. How? (15 Marks, 250 Words)
3) Mention the significance of straits and isthmus in
international trade.
(15 Marks, 250 Words)
4) What are the forces that influence ocean currents?
Describe their role in fishing industry of the world.
(15 Marks, 250 Words)
5) Discuss the meaning of colour-coded weather warnings
for cyclone prone areas given by India Meteorological Department.(10 Marks, 150 Words)
6) Examine the potential of wind energy in India and
explain the reasons for their limited spatial spread. (10 Marks, 150 Words)
7) Discuss the natural resource potentials of ‘Deccan
Trap’(10 Marks, 150 Words)
8) Elucidate the relationship between globalization and
new technology in a world of scarce resources, with special reference to India.
(15 Marks, 250 Words)
9) Describing the distribution of rubber producing
countries, indicate the major environmental issues faced by them.
(15 Marks, 250 Words)
UPSC Mains Geography- 2021
1) Differentiate the causes of landslides in the
Himalayan region and Western Ghats.(10 Marks, 150 Words)
2) Despite India being one of the countries of the
Gondwanaland, its mining industry contributes much less to its Gross Domestic Product(GDP) in
percentage. Discuss.
(10 Marks, 150 Words)
3) What are the environmental implications of the
reclamation of the water bodies into urban land use? Explain with examples.
(10 Marks, 150 Words)
4) Mention the global occurrence of volcanic eruptions in
2021 and their impact on regional environment.
(10 Marks, 150 Words)
5) Why is India considered as a sub-continent? Elaborate
your answer.
(10 Marks, 150 Words)
6) Briefly mention the alignment of major mountain ranges
of the world and explain their impact on local weather conditions, with examples. (15 Marks, 250
Words)
7) How do the melting of the Arctic ice and glaciers of
the Antarctic differently affect the weather patterns and human activities on the Earth?
Explain. (15 Marks, 250 Words)
8) Discuss the multi-dimensional implications of uneven
distribution of mineral oil in the world. (15 Marks, 250 Words)
9) What are the main socio-economic implications arising
out of the development of IT industries in major cities of India?
(15 Marks, 250 Words)
UPSC Mains Geography- 2020
1) Discuss the geophysical characteristics of
Circum-Pacific Zone.
(10 Marks, 150 Words)
2) The process of desertification does not have climate
boundaries. Justify with examples.(10 Marks, 150 Words)
3) How will the melting of Himalayan glaciers have a
far-reaching impact on the water resources of India?
(10 Marks, 150 Words)
4) Account for the present location of iron and steel
industries away from the source of raw material, by giving examples.
(10 Marks, 150 Words)
5) The interlinking of rivers can provide viable
solutions to the multi-dimensional inter-related problems of droughts, floods and interrupted
navigation. Critically examine.
(15 Marks, 250 Words)
6) Account for the huge flooding of million cities in
India including the smart ones like Hyderabad and Pune. Suggest lasting remedial measures.(15
Marks, 250 Words)
7) India has immense potential of solar energy though
there are regional variations in its developments. Elaborate.
(15 Marks, 250 Words)
8) Examine the status of forest resources of India and
its resultant impact on climate change. (15 Marks, 250 Words)
UPSC Mains Geography- 2019
1)How can the mountain ecosystem be restored from the
negative impact of development initiatives and tourism?(15 Marks, 250 Words)
2)How is efficient and affordable urban mass transport
key to the rapid economic development of India?(15 Marks, 250 Words)
3)How do ocean currents and water masses differ in their
impacts on marine life and coastal environment?(15 Marks, 250 Words)
4)Can the strategy of regional resource-based
manufacturing help in promoting employment in India?(10 Marks, 150 Words)
5)Discuss the factors for localisation of agro-based food
processing industries of North-West India (10 Marks, 150 Words)
6)Empowering women is the key to control population
growth."
Discuss (10 Marks, 150 Words)
7)What is water stress? How and why does it differ
regionally in
India?(15 Marks, 250 Words)
8)Assess the impact of global warming on the coral life
system with examples(10 Marks, 150 Words)
9)Discuss the causes of depletion of mangroves and
explain their importance in maintaining coastal ecology.(10 Marks, 150 Words)
UPSC Mains Geography - 2018
1)“The ideal solution of depleting ground water resources
in India is water harvesting system”. How can it be made effective in urban areas?(15 Marks, 250
Words)
2)Defining blue revolution, explain the problems and
strategies for pisciculture development in India.
(15 Marks, 250 Words)
3)What is the significance of Industrial Corridors in
India? Identifying industrial corridors, explain their main
characteristics(15 Marks, 250 Words)
4)Mention core strategies for the transformation of
aspirational districts in India & explain the nature of convergence, collaboration & Competition
for its success(15 Marks, 250 Words)
5)Why is Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System
(IRNSS) needed? How does it help in navigation?(10 Marks, 150 Words)
6)Why is India taking keen interest in resources of
Arctic
region?(10 Marks, 150 Words)
7)Define mantle plume and explain its role in plate
tectonics.(10 Marks, 150 Words)
8)What are the consequences of spreading of ‘Dead Zones’
on marine
ecosystems?(10 Marks, 150 Words)
UPSC Mains Geography - 2017
1)Petroleum refineries are not necessarily located nearer
to crude oil producing areas, particularly in many of the developing countries. Explain its
implications.(15 Marks, 250 Words)
2)In what way can floods be converted into a sustainable
source of irrigation and all-weather inland navigation in India?
(15 Marks, 250 Words)
3)What characteristics can be assigned to monsoon climate
that succeeds in feeding more than 50 percent of the world population residing in Monsoon Asia?
(15 Marks, 250 Words)
4)“The growth of cities as I.T. hubs has opened up new
avenues of employment, but has also created new problems”. Substantiate this statement with
examples.(15 Marks, 250 Words)
5)Account for variations in oceanic salinity and discuss
its multidimensional effects.(15 Marks, 250 Words)
6)How does the Juno Mission of NASA help to understand
the origin and evolution of the Earth?(10 Marks, 150 Words)
7)“In spite of adverse environmental impact, coal mining
is still inevitable for development”. Discuss.(10 Marks, 150 Words)
8)Mention the advantages of the cultivation of pulses
because of which the year 2016 was declared as the International Year of Pulses by United
Nations.(10 Marks, 150 Words)
9)How does the cryosphere affect global climate?
(10 Marks, 150 Words)
UPSC Mains Geography - 2016
1)South China Sea has assumed great geopolitical
significance in the present context. Comment(12.5 Marks, 200 Words)
2)Major cities of India are becoming vulnerable to flood
conditions.
Discuss.(12.5 Marks, 200 Words)
3)Present an account of the Indus Water Treaty and
examine its ecological, economic and political implications in the context of changing bilateral
relations(12.5 Marks, 200 Words)
4)Enumerate the problems and prospects of inland water
transport in
India(12.5 Marks, 200 Words)
5)In what way micro-watershed development projects help
in water conservation in drought-prone and semi-arid regions of India?
(12.5 Marks, 200 Words)
6)With a brief background of quality of urban life in
India, introduce the objectives and strategy of the ‘Smart City Programme.’
(12.5 Marks, 200 Words)
7)Discuss the concept of air mass and explain its role in
macro-climatic changes.(12.5 Marks, 200 Words)
8)“The Himalayas are highly prone to landslides.” Discuss
the causes and suggest suitable measures of mitigation.
(12.5 Marks, 200 Words)
9)The effective management of land and water resources
will drastically reduce the human miseries.Explain.
(12.5 Marks, 200 Words)
UPSC Mains Geography - 2015
1)The states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and
Uttarakhand are reaching the limits of their ecological carrying capacity due to tourism.
Critically evaluate.
(12.5 Marks, 200 Words)
2)How far do you agree that the behaviour of the Indian
monsoon has been changing due to humanizing landscapes? Discuss.
(12.5 Marks, 200 Words)
3)Smart cities in India cannot sustain without smart
villages. Discuss this statement in the backdrop of rural
urban integration.(12.5 Marks, 200 Words)
4) What are the economic significances of discovery of
oil in Arctic Sea and its possible environmental consequences?
(12.5 Marks, 200 Words)
5)Explain the factors responsible for the origin of ocean
currents? How do they influence regional climates, fishing and
navigation?(12.5 Marks, 200 Words)
6)Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata are the three mega cities of
the country but the air pollution is much more serious problem in Delhi as compared to the other
two. Why is this so?
(12.5 Marks, 200 Words)
7)India is well endowed with fresh water resources.
Critically examine why it still suffers from water scarcity.
(12.5 Marks, 200 Words)
UPSC Mains Geography - 2014
1)Bring out the relationship between the shrinking
Himalayan glaciers and the symptoms of climate change in the Indian
sub-continent.(10 Marks, 150 Words)
2)Whereas the British planters had developed tea gardens
all along the Shivaliks and Lesser Himalayas from Assam to Himachal Pradesh, in effect they did
not succeed beyond the Darjeeling area. Explain.(10 Marks, 150 Words)
3)Why did the Green Revolution in India virtually by-pass
the eastern region despite fertile soil and good availability of water?
(10 Marks, 150 Words)
4)Account for the change in the spatial pattern of the
Iron and Steel industry in the world.(10 Marks, 150 Words)
5)Critically evaluate the various resources of the oceans
which can be harnessed to meet the resource crisis in the
world(10 Marks, 150 Words)
6)How does India see its place in the economic space of
rising natural resource rich Africa?(10 Marks, 150 Words)
7)Most of the unusual climatic happenings are explained
as an outcome of the El-Nino effect. Do you agree?(10 Marks, 150 Words)
8)Why are the world’s fold mountain systems located along
the margins of continents? Bring out the association between the global distribution of fold
mountains and the earthquakes and volcanoes(10 Marks, 150 Words)
9)Explain the formation of thousands of islands in
Indonesian and Philippines archipelagos.(10 Marks, 150 Words)
10)Tropical cyclones are largely confined to South China
Sea, Bay of Bengal and Gulf of Mexico. Why?(10 Marks, 150 Words)
UPSC Mains Geography - 2013
1)(a) Do you agree that there is a growing trend of
opening new sugar mills in southern States of India? Discuss with justification.
(b) Analyze the factors for the highly decentralized cotton textile industry in India(5 Marks,
100 Words)
2)With growing scarcity of fossil fuels, the atomic
energy is gaining more and more significance in India.Discuss the availability of raw material
required for the generation of atomic energy in India and in the world.(10 Marks, 200
Words)
3)It is said that India has substantial reserves of shale
oil and gas, which can feed the needs of the country for quarter century. However, tapping of
the resource does not appear to be high on the agenda. Discuss critically the availability and
issues involved(10 Marks, 200 Words)
4)(a) What do you understand by the theory of
‘continental drift’? Discuss t he prominent evidences in its support.
(b) The recent cyclone on east coast of India was called ‘Phailin’. How are the tropical
cyclones named across the world? Elaborate.(5 Marks, 100 Words)
5)(a) Bring out the causes for the formation of heat
islands in the urban habitat of the world.
(b) What do you understand by the phenomenon of ‘temperature inversion’ in meteorology? How does
it affect weather and the habitants of the place?(5 Marks, 100 Words)
6)Major hot deserts in northern hemisphere are located
between 20-30 deg N latitudes and on the western side of the continents.
Why?(10 Marks, 200 Words)
7)(a) Bring out the causes for more frequent occurrence
of landslides in the Himalayas than in the Western Ghats.
(b) There is no formation of deltas by rivers of the Western Ghats. Why?(5 Marks, 100
Words)
