UPSC Prelims 2018 Geography questions: topic-wise weightage
UPSC Prelims 2018 asked 7 geography questions in GS Paper I, spread over 4 topics. See the geography weightage for 2018 below, then attempt each question with the official answer and an explanation.
Geography 2018: questions by topic
- Climate and oceans1
- India: relief, rivers, lakes and monsoon3
- India: soils, vegetation, agriculture, minerals, energy, industry, population1
- World geography and places in the news (mapping)2
Counted from the 7 questions on this page, tagged by topic in the Battle IAS PYQ bank.
Seeing 7 Geography questions spread over 4 topics can feel overwhelming. That's exactly why the Battle IAS PYQ Book maps every question topic by topic, so you know what to study first. Download free sample
Climate and oceans 1
Consider the following statements :
- 1. The Earth’s magnetic field has reversed every few hundred thousand years.
- 2. When the Earth was created more than 4000 million years ago, there was 54% oxygen and no carbon dioxide.
- 3. When living organisms originated, they modified the early atmosphere of the Earth.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
Answer (c) & explanation
Statements 1 and 3 are correct (c). Statement 1 is right because magnetic stripes in ocean-floor basalt show the Earth's field has reversed many times, roughly every few hundred thousand years. The last full reversal, Brunhes–Matuyama, was about 780,000 years ago. Statement 2 is wrong because the early atmosphere had almost no free oxygen. It was full of carbon dioxide, water vapour, nitrogen and other gases from volcanoes. Statement 3 is right because life changed the air: cyanobacteria began photosynthesis, releasing oxygen in the Great Oxidation Event about 2.4 billion years ago, which later allowed the ozone layer to form.
Notice the link: today's air is about 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen, the result of billions of years of life at work.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
India: relief, rivers, lakes and monsoon 3
Among the following cities, which one lies on a longitude closest to that of Delhi?
Answer (a) & explanation
Bengaluru lies closest to Delhi's longitude (a). Delhi is at about 77.2° E. Bengaluru is at about 77.6° E, almost directly south of Delhi, a gap of only about 0.4°. Hyderabad (b) is at about 78.5° E, Nagpur (c) at about 79.1° E, and Pune (d) at about 73.9° E, all farther away. So the gap is smallest for Bengaluru.
A quick map trick: India's west coast slants towards the southeast, so cities in the south lie east of where you might expect. Notice the reference line too: IST is based on 82.5° E, which passes near Mirzapur (Prayagraj region), UP. That puts India 5:30 hours ahead of GMT. India stretches about 30° of longitude, from Gujarat to Arunachal, about two hours of solar time.
Nagpur is India's geographic centre, but its longitude is about 2° east of Delhi's.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which one of the following is an artificial lake ?
Answer (a) & explanation
Kodaikanal Lake is artificial (a). This star-shaped lake in the Palani Hills, Tamil Nadu, was created in 1863 by Sir Vere Henry Levinge, then Collector of Madurai, by damming streams. Kolleru (b) is a large natural freshwater lake between the Godavari and Krishna deltas in Andhra Pradesh, a Ramsar site and bird sanctuary. Nainital (c) is a natural lake in Kumaon, generally thought to be tectonic in origin. Renuka (d) in Sirmaur, Himachal, is a natural lake, the largest in the state, and a Ramsar site.
Notice other well-known man-made lakes: Hussain Sagar (Hyderabad), Sukhna (Chandigarh), Govind Ballabh Pant Sagar (Rihand, UP), and Ooty Lake. India now has over 90 Ramsar sites.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following statements :
- 1. The Barren Island volcano is an active volcano located in the Indian territory.
- 2. Barren Island lies about 140 km east of Great Nicobar.
- 3. The last time the Barren Island volcano erupted was in 1991 and it has remained inactive since then.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
Answer (a) & explanation
Only statement 1 is correct (a). Barren Island, in the Andaman Sea, is India's only confirmed active volcano, and the only one in South Asia. Statement 2 is wrong because it lies about 140 km north-east of Port Blair, not east of Great Nicobar. Statement 3 is wrong because, after waking in 1991 following about 200 years of rest, it erupted again in 1994–95, 2005–07, 2017 and later. It sits where the Indian Plate slides under the Burma microplate.
Do not confuse it with Narcondam, a dormant volcano to its north and home of the Narcondam hornbill. Notice the link to the 2004 tsunami, caused by the same subduction zone off Sumatra.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
India: soils, vegetation, agriculture, minerals, energy, industry, population 1
As per the NSSO 70th Round “Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households”, consider the following statements :
- 1. Rajasthan has the highest percentage share of agricultural households among its rural households.
- 2. Out of the total agricultural households in the country, a little over 60 percent belong to OBCs.
- 3. In Kerala, a little over 60 percent of agricultural households reported to have received maximum income from sources other than agricultural activities.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
Answer (c) & explanation
Statements 1 and 3 are correct (c). In the NSSO 70th Round survey (2013), Rajasthan had the highest share of rural households that were agricultural, about 78% (1). In Kerala, about 61% of agricultural households earned most of their income from non-farm sources, such as wages, business and remittances (3). Statement 2 is wrong because about 45% of agricultural households were OBC, not over 60%. The national average income of a farm household was about ₹6,426 a month.
The 77th Round (2019) later found ₹10,218 a month, with wages now the largest income source. Notice how this links to the idea of doubling farmers' income (the Dalwai Committee) and to rural income diversification.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
World geography and places in the news (mapping) 2
Consider the following pairs :
| Towns sometimes mentioned in news | Country
| 1. Aleppo | Syria
| 2. Kirkuk | Yemen
| 3. Mosul | Palestine
| 4. Mazar-i-sharif | Afghanistan
Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched ?
Answer (b) & explanation
Pairs 1 and 4 are correct (b). Aleppo is in Syria (1). It was a major battleground in the civil war and was retaken by government forces in 2016. Mazar-i-Sharif is in northern Afghanistan (4), near Uzbekistan, and is famous for its Blue Mosque. Pair 2 is wrong because Kirkuk, the oil city disputed between Baghdad and the Kurds, is in Iraq, not Yemen. Pair 3 is wrong because Mosul, the ISIS stronghold retaken in 2017, is also in Iraq, not Palestine.
The Assad regime fell in December 2024, and Ahmed al-Sharaa leads Syria. Notice India's links: India rescued nurses from Mosul in 2014, and 39 Indian workers were killed there by ISIS.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following pairs :
| Regions sometimes mentioned in news | Country
| 1. Catalonia | Spain
| 2. Crimea | Hungary
| 3. Mindanao | Philippines
| 4. Oromia | Nigeria
Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched ?
Answer (c) & explanation
Pairs 1 and 3 are correct (c). Catalonia is in north-east Spain, with Barcelona as its capital. It held an illegal independence referendum in 2017. Mindanao is the big southern island of the Philippines, where ISIS-linked fighters held Marawi in 2017. The Bangsamoro autonomous region was created there in 2019. Pair 2 is wrong because Crimea is a peninsula of Ukraine, annexed by Russia in 2014, not part of Hungary. Pair 4 is wrong because Oromia is the largest region of Ethiopia, home to the Oromo people, not Nigeria.
Crimea is central to the Russia–Ukraine war (since 2022). Notice the Philippines' links to India: it bought BrahMos missiles (delivered from 2024).
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
All years by topic
Every question from 2011 to 2026, grouped by syllabus topic, with year-wise trends.