There are optional subjects. Then there are Popular optional subjects. And then there is GEOGRAPHY!

One of the most ‘loved’ subject WRT number of Aspirants opting for it and perhaps the most ‘hated’ subject because of inconsistent scores & selections.

This write-up gives an account of pros-cons of geography, Paper-1 & Paper-2 topic wise strategies, how and from where to make notes, notes’ links and answer writing strategy-links.

Positives of Geography as optional:

• Help in Prelims.
• Help in GS-1.
• Help in GS-3.
• Help in Essay.
• Current based Paper-2.

Negatives of Geography as optional:

• Too many Aspirants opt it. It leads to inconsistency in marking.
• Too many Engineers opting it blindly in name of semi-technical subject and ‘lack of other options’.
• Open ended syllabus.
• Too many ‘out of syllabus’ questions .
• Odd-Even alternate year butchering. 

This is the strategy I used for Geography:

• Notes for each and every term mentioned in syllabus.
• I made own notes by merging notes of 2 faculties.
• For the topics that were still not covered, I took to Internet.
• Multiple revisions.
• Answer writing practice with proper structure.
• Followed test series religiously.
• Used concepts of Paper-1 in Paper-2.
• Integrate current affairs in answers.

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Paper-I Recommended Books:

• Physical Geography – Majid Hussain
• Physical Geography – Savindra Singh
• Goh Cheng Leong
• Physical Geography – Made Simple
• Dictionary of Physical Geography – Penguin
• Climatology: DS Lal.
• Environmental Geography: Savindra Singh.
• Geographical Thought: R D Dixit.
• Geographical Thought: Sudeepta Adhikari.
• Evolution of Geographical Thought – Majid Hussain
• Economic and Social Geography Made Simple – Rupa Publication
• Models and Theories in Geography
• Dictionary of Human Geography – Penguin
• Oxford Atlas

Paper-II Recommended Books:

• India – A Comprehensive Geography – Khullar
• Case Studies from magazines such as Yojana, Kurukshetra, Geography and You.

Paper-1 Strategy and Notes:

• I didn’t read books for Paper-1. I relied on Coaching + NCERT + Internet. 
• Made Geomorpho-Climate-Ocean-Biogeo notes from 2 faculties’ notes. These are uploaded at
  • Geomorphology Notes
  • Climatology Notes
  • Oceanography Notes
  • Biogeography Notes
• Environment Geography is more keywords than anything else and is current driven. I didn’t make separate notes. Environment Keywords.
• For Perspective/Thoughts, I made notes from NCERT + Coaching + Internet + Current. These are uploaded at Perspective/Thoughts Notes.
• Economic Geography is current oriented. I used Internet & made notes for every term. These are uploaded at Economic Geography Notes.
• Population-Settlements, Regional Geography and Models-Theories are both static & current oriented. Hence, for these topics it is very important to substantiate Static Coaching notes with Current.
  • Population Notes
  • Settlements-Regional Planning-Models & Theories Notes

Paper-2 Strategy and Notes:

• For Physical settings, Resources and Agriculture; I mainly relied on Shabbir Sir’s class notes.
• These topics also needed to be updated with current + newspaper + net.
• For Industries and Transport, I used Vajiram’s old website. It had a soft-copy book. I don’t know the name of the same.
• Cultural setting is only Census and nothing more! Notes are uploaded at Census Notes.
• Settlements has to be integrated with Paper-1. I relied on NCERT + Coaching + Internet. Find in Settlement Notes.
• Regional Development and Planning has to be studied completely from Internet. Google is the best source for same.
• Political aspects and contemporary issues are simply current. Newspaper reading is enough for these.

Answer Writing Strategy:

• Geography Answer Writing.
• Follow Answer Structure which includes:
  • Introduction is must.
  • Keywords definitions.
  • Answer body in paragraphs-bullets-points with headings.
  • Write examples-places-theories-geographers‘ names. These should be world based for Paper-1 and India based for Paper-2.
  • Make points/headings directly from syllabus modules.
  • Diagrams are must. Practice Map drawings.
  • Integrate with current.
  • Conclusion is must.
• Use Paper-1 concepts in Paper-2. How to use Paper-1 concepts in Paper-2.
• Tip: Avoid perspective/thought based question. These are not scoring.
• Practice answer writing extensively. This can be via test series or daily practice at home.

My answers uploaded at Geography Answer Copies.

Rank-5 Pratham Kaushik Geography Strategy (327 marks)

Last but not the least, I prayed God/UPSC that Geography does not get butchered!!! Prayers were heard twice 😀

If You feel that I have missed out on something then you can reach me at Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Telegram.

ATB!!!