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Previous Year Questions : Geography
Syllabus
• Salient features of world’s physical geography.
• Distribution of key natural resources across the world (including South Asia and the Indian
sub-continent); factors responsible for the location of primary, secondary, and tertiary sector
industries in various parts of the world (including India).
• Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone
etc., geographical features and their location-changes in critical geographical features (including
water-bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.

1. Salient features of World Geography

a) Continental drift theories & Plte tectonics
Q1. What do you understand by the theory of continental drift ? Discuss the prominent evidence in
its support. (250 Words) (2013)
Q2. Define mantle plume and explain its role in plate tectinucs (150 Words) (2018)

b) Land forms and their evolution

Q3. Explain the formation of thousands of islands in Indonesian and Philippines archipelagos.
(200 Words) (2014)
Q4. There is no formation of deltas by rivers of the Western Ghats. Why ? (150 Words) (2013)
Q5. Describe the characteristics and types of primary rocks. (150 words) (2022)
Q6. Mention the significance of straits and isthmus in international trade. ( 250 words) (2022)

c) Oceanic features and Oceanography

Q7. Explain the factors responsible for the origin of ocean currents. How do they influence regional
climates, fishing and navigation? (200 Words) (2015)
Q8. Account for variations in oceanic salinity and discuss its multi-dimensional effects.
(250 Words) (2017)
Q9. How far do you agree that the behaviour of the Indian monsoon has been changing due to
humanizing landscapes? Discuss. (200 Words) (2015)
Q10. What characteristics can be assigned to the monsoon climate that succeeds in feeding more
than 50 percent of the world population residing in Monsoon Asia? (250 Words) (2017)
Q11. How does the cryosphere affect global climate? (150 Words) (2017)
Q12. Why is India taking keen in resources of Arctic region? (150 Words) (2018)
Q13. South China Sea has assumed great geopolitical significance in the present context. Comment.
(200 Words) (2016)
Q14. What are the forces that influence ocean currents? Describe their role in fishing industry of the
world. (250 words) (2022)
d) Climatology
Q15. The recent cyclone on the east coast of India was called “Phailin”. How are the tropical cyclones
named across the world? (150 Words) (2013)
Q16. Most of the unusual climatic happenings are explained as an outcome of the El-Nino effect. Do
you agree? (200 Words) (2014)
Q17. Tropical cyclones are largely confined to South China Sea, Bay of Bengal and Gulf of Mexico.
Why?(200 Words) (2014)
Q18. Discuss the concept of air mass and explain its role in macro-climatic changes.(200 Words)
(2016)
Q19. What do you understand by the phenomenon of temperature inversion in meteorology? How
does it affect the weather and the habitants of the place? (150 Words) (2013)
Q20. Discuss the meaning of colour-coded weather warnings for cyclone prone areas given by India
Meteorological department. (150 words) (2022)
Q21. Troposphere is a very significant atmospheric layer that determines weather processes. How?
(250 words) (2022)

2. Distribution of Natural Resources

a) Distribution of Minerals
Q22. 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. (200 Words) (2013)
Q23. How does India see its place in the economic space of rising natural resource rich Africa? .
(200 Words) (2014)
Q24. 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 (150 Words) (2021)
Q25. Discuss the natural resource potentials of ‘Deccan trap’. (150 words) (2022)
Q26. Examine the potential of wind energy in India and explain the reasons for their limited spatial
spread. ( 150 words) (2022)
Q27. Elucidate the relationship between globalization and new technology in a world of scarce re-
sources, with special reference to India. (250 words) (2022)

b) Distribution of Crops
Q28. 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. (200 Words) (2014)
Q29. Why did the Green Revolution in India virtually by-pass the eastern region despite fertile soil
and good availability of water? (200 Words) (2014)
Q30. Mention the advantages of the cultivation of pulses because of which the year 2016 was declared
as the International Year of Pulses by the United Nations (150 Words) (2017)
c) Distributions of Energy Resources
Q31. It is said the India has substantial reserves of shale oil and gas, which can feed the needs of
country for quarter century. However, tapping of the resources doesn t appear to be high on
the agenda. Discuss critically the availability and issues involved (200 Words) (2013)
Q32. What are the economic significances of discovery of oil in Arctic Sea and its possible
environmental consequences? (200 Words) (2015)
Q33. India has immense potential for solar energy though there are regional variations in its
developments. Elaborate. (250 Words) (2020)

3. Location of Industries and Factors responsible for it

a) Location of Primary Industries
Q34. Discuss the factors for the localisation of agro-based food processing industries of North-West
India.(150 Words) (2019)
Q35. Defining blue resources, explain the problems and strategies for pisci culture development in
India. (250 Words) (2018)
b) Location of Secondary Industries
Q36. Account for the change in the spatial pattern of the Iron and Steel industry in the world. (200
Words) (2014)
Q37. Account for the present location of iron and steel industries away from the source of raw
material, by giving examples. (2020)
Q38. Do you agree that there is a growing trend of opening new sugar mills in the Southern states of
India? Discuss with justification. (150 Words) (2013)
Q39. Analyze the factors for highly decentralized cotton textile industry in India.
(150 Words) (2013)
Q40. Petroleum refineries are not necessarily located nearer to crude oil producing areas, particularly
in many of the developing countries. Explain its implications. (250 Words) (2017)
Q41. Can the strategy of regional resource-based manufacturing help in promoting employment in
India?(150 Words) (2019)
Q42. Account for the change in the spatial pattern of the Iron and Steel industry in the world. (200
Words) (2014)

c) Issues in Industrial Development

Q43. Enumerate the problems and prospects of inland water transport in India. (200 Words)(2016)
Q44. “In spite of adverse environmental impact, coal mining is still inevitable for development”.
Discuss. (150 Words) (2017)
Q45. How can the mountain ecosystem be restored from the negative impact of development
initiatives and tourism? (250 Words) (2019)

4. Important Geophysical Phenomena

Q46. Mention the global occurrence of volcanic eruptions in 2021 and their impact on regional
environment. (150 Words) (2021)
Q47. Bring out the causes for more frequent landslides in the Himalayas than in Western Ghats.
(150 Words) (2013)
Q48. “The Himalayas are highly prone to landslides.” Discuss the causes and suggest suitable
measures of mitigation. (200 Words) (2016)
Q49. Differentiate the causes of landslides in the Himalayan region and Western Ghats (150 Words)
(2021)

5. Important Geographic Features and Location

Q50. Major hot deserts in the northern hemisphere are located between 20-30 degree north and
on the western side of the continents. Why? (200 Words) (2013)
Q51. 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 (200 Words) (2014)
Q52. How do ocean currents and water masses differ in their impacts on marine life and the coastal
environment? Give suitable examples. (200 Words) (2019)
Q53. Discuss the geophysical characteristics of Circum- Pacific Zone. (150 Words) (2020)
Q54. Briefly mention the alignment of major mountain ranges of the world and explain their impact
on local weather conditions, with examples. (250 Words) (2021)
6. Changes in Critical Geographical Features (Includes anthropogenic induced changes)

a) Climate Change
Q55. Bring out the causes for the formation of heat islands in the urban habitat of the world. (150
Words) (2013)
Q56. The states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand arc reaching the limits
of their ecological carrying capacity due to tourism. Critically evaluate. (200 Words) (2015)
Q57. 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. (250 Words) (2021)
Q58. Bring out the relationship between the shrinking Himalayan glaciers and the symptoms of
climate change in the Indian subcontinent. (200 Words) (2014)
Q59. Major cities of India are becoming more vulnerable to flood conditions. Discuss.(200 Words)
(2016)
Q60. In what way can floods be converted into a sustainable source of irrigation and all-weather
inland navigation in India? (250 Words) (2017)
Q61. What are the consequences of spreading of “Dead Zones on Marine Ecosystem? (150 Words)
(2018)
Q62. How will the melting of Himalayan glaciers have a far-reaching impact on the water resources
of India?(250 Words) (2020)
Q63. 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? (200
Words) (2015)
Q64. Assess the impact of global warming on the coral life system with examples.(150 Words)
(2019)
Q65. Describing the distribution of rubber producing countries, indicate the major environmental
issues faced by them. (250 words) (2022)
b) Water Depletion
Q66. The ideal solution of depleting ground water resources in India is water harvesting system.” How
can it be made effective in urban areas ? (150 Words) (2018)
Q67. India is well endowed with fresh water resources. Critically examine why it still suffers from water
scarcity.(250 Words) (2015)

c) Deforestation
Q68. Discuss the causes of depletion of mangroves and explain their importance in maintaining coastal
ecology.(150 Words) (2019)
Q69. The interlinking of rivers can provide viable solutions to the multi-dimensional inter-related
problems of droughts, floods, and interrupting navigation. Critically examine. (250 Words)
(2020)

d) Desertification
Q70. The process of desertification does not have climate boundaries. Justify with examples.(150 Words)
(2020)

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