UPSC Prelims 2022 Geography questions: topic-wise weightage
UPSC Prelims 2022 asked 13 geography questions in GS Paper I, spread over 4 topics. See the geography weightage for 2022 below, then attempt each question with the official answer and an explanation.
Geography 2022: questions by topic
- Climate and oceans2
- India: relief, rivers, lakes and monsoon3
- India: soils, vegetation, agriculture, minerals, energy, industry, population3
- World geography and places in the news (mapping)5
Counted from the 13 questions on this page, tagged by topic in the Battle IAS PYQ bank.
Seeing 13 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 2
In the northern hemisphere, the longest day of the year normally occurs in the :
Answer (b) & explanation
The longest day is in the second half of June (b). The summer solstice falls on 20–21 June, when the sun is overhead at the Tropic of Cancer (23.5° N). That gives the northern hemisphere its longest day and shortest night. North of the Arctic Circle, the sun does not set at all. So option (b), the second half of June, is right. Options (a), (c) and (d) miss the solstice date.
Notice the other key dates: the winter solstice (shortest day) on 21–22 December, when the sun is over the Tropic of Capricorn, and the equinoxes on about 21 March and 23 September, when day and night are nearly equal. The seasons happen because Earth's axis is tilted by about 23.5°.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following statements :
- 1. High clouds primarily reflect solar radiation and cool the surface of the Earth.
- 2. Low clouds have a high absorption of infrared radiation emanating from the Earth’s surface and thus cause warming effect.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
Answer (d) & explanation
Neither statement is correct (d). The roles are reversed. Statement 1 is wrong: thin, icy high clouds such as cirrus let most sunlight pass through but trap the outgoing infrared heat from the Earth, so on balance they warm the surface. Statement 2 is wrong: thick, bright low clouds such as stratocumulus reflect a lot of incoming sunlight back to space, so on balance they cool the surface. Low clouds are warm, close to the ground, and give off almost as much heat as the surface does, so their trapping effect is small.
Notice why this matters for climate: cloud changes are the biggest uncertainty in climate models. This is also why cloudy nights stay warmer than clear nights, when heat escapes freely.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
India: relief, rivers, lakes and monsoon 3
Gandikota canyon of South India was created by which one of the following rivers ?
Answer (c) & explanation
The Pennar created the Gandikota canyon (c). Gandikota, in Kadapa (YSR) district of Andhra Pradesh, is a deep gorge cut by the Pennar (Penna) river through the Erramala hills. It is called the "Grand Canyon of India", and a medieval fort stands on its rim. The Cauvery (a) flows through Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The Manjira (b) is a tributary of the Godavari. The Tungabhadra (d) is a tributary of the Krishna, flowing past Hampi.
Notice that the Pennar rises in the Nandi Hills of Karnataka and enters the Bay of Bengal near Nellore. India's other canyons include the Marble Rocks gorge of the Narmada at Bhedaghat.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following pairs :
| Peak | Mountains
| 1. Namcha Barwa | Garhwal Himalaya
| 2. Nanda Devi | Kumaon Himalaya
| 3. Nokrek | Sikkim Himalaya
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched ?
Answer (b) & explanation
Only pair 2 is correct (b). Pair 1 is wrong: Namcha Barwa is the eastern anchor of the Himalaya, in Tibet, where the Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) makes its great bend around it; it is not in the Garhwal Himalaya. Pair 2 is right: Nanda Devi, India's second-highest peak, is in the Kumaon Himalaya of Uttarakhand. Pair 3 is wrong: Nokrek is the highest peak of the Garo Hills in Meghalaya, not in the Sikkim Himalaya, and it is a biosphere reserve.
Notice the divisions of the Himalaya by rivers: Punjab (Indus–Sutlej), Kumaon (Sutlej–Kali), Nepal (Kali–Teesta) and Assam (Teesta–Dihang). Nanga Parbat anchors the west. China plans a huge dam on the Tsangpo near Namcha Barwa.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following pairs :
| Reservoirs | States
| 1. Ghataprabha | Telangana
| 2. Gandhi Sagar | Madhya Pradesh
| 3. Indira Sagar | Andhra Pradesh
| 4. Maithon | Chhattisgarh
How many pairs given above are not correctly matched ?
Answer (c) & explanation
Three pairs are wrongly matched (c). Pair 2 is the only correct one: Gandhi Sagar dam on the Chambal is in Madhya Pradesh. Pair 1 is wrong: Ghataprabha reservoir (Hidkal dam) on the Ghataprabha river, a tributary of the Krishna, is in Karnataka, not Telangana. Pair 3 is wrong: Indira Sagar on the Narmada is also in Madhya Pradesh; it has India's largest reservoir by storage. Pair 4 is wrong: Maithon, a Damodar Valley Corporation dam on the Barakar river, is in Jharkhand, near the West Bengal border, not Chhattisgarh.
Notice that the Chambal has three dams in a row: Gandhi Sagar (MP), Rana Pratap Sagar and Jawahar Sagar (Rajasthan). Together with the Kota barrage, they form one scheme.
The question asks how many are not correctly matched. Count the wrong pairs.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
India: soils, vegetation, agriculture, minerals, energy, industry, population 3
With reference to India, consider the following statements :
- 1. Monazite is a source of rare earths.
- 2. Monazite contains thorium.
- 3. Monazite occurs naturally in the entire Indian coastal sands in India.
- 4. In India, Government bodies only can process or export monazite.
Which of the statements given above are correct ?
Answer (b) & explanation
Statements 1, 2 and 4 are correct (b). Monazite is a reddish-brown phosphate mineral. Statement 1 is right: it is a major source of rare earth elements such as cerium and neodymium. Statement 2 is right: it contains thorium, a fuel for the third stage of India's nuclear programme. Statement 4 is right: it is a "prescribed substance" under the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, so only government bodies such as IREL (India) Ltd may process or export it. Statement 3 is wrong: it is found in the beach sands of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, not along the entire coast.
Notice that India has among the world's largest thorium reserves. China dominates global rare earth processing, which India wants to reduce through the National Critical Mineral Mission (2025).
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following States :
- 1. Andhra Pradesh
- 2. Kerala
- 3. Himachal Pradesh
- 4. Tripura
How many of the above are generally known as tea-producing States ?
Answer (d) & explanation
All four are tea-producing states (d). Beyond the big three, Assam, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, the Tea Board lists many smaller tea states. Kerala grows tea around Munnar and Wayanad. Himachal Pradesh has Kangra tea, which has a GI tag. Tripura has old tea gardens linked to the Barak valley belt. Andhra Pradesh grows tea in the tribal Araku and Paderu hills. So options (a), (b) and (c) all undercount.
Notice the geography: tea needs warm, wet weather, well-drained slopes and acidic soil, which is why it grows on hill slopes, not flat plains where water collects. India is the world's second-largest tea producer after China, and the largest consumer.
Small growers count too: Kangra and Araku are small producers, but they are still tea states.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following statements :
- 1. Gujarat has the largest solar park in India.
- 2. Kerala has a fully solar powered International Airport.
- 3. Goa has the largest floating solar photovoltaic project in India.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
Answer (b) & explanation
Only statement 2 is correct (b). Statement 2 is right: Cochin International Airport in Kerala became the world's first fully solar-powered airport in 2015. Statement 1 was wrong when asked: the largest commissioned solar park was Bhadla in Rajasthan, at about 2,245 MW. Gujarat's giant Khavda renewable park is now being built to reach 30 GW, but that came later. Statement 3 is wrong: large floating solar plants are at Ramagundam (Telangana) and Omkareshwar (Madhya Pradesh), not in Goa.
Notice India's target of 500 GW of non-fossil power capacity by 2030. Floating solar saves land and cuts evaporation from reservoirs. The PM Surya Ghar scheme (2024) pushes rooftop solar in homes.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
World geography and places in the news (mapping) 5
Which one of the following lakes of West Africa has become dry and turned into a desert ?
Answer (b) & explanation
Lake Faguibine has dried into desert (b). Lake Faguibine, near Timbuktu in Mali, was once one of West Africa's largest lakes, fed by the floodwaters of the Niger river. Droughts from the 1970s and weaker Niger floods have turned it into a dry, sandy basin. UNEP has used it as an example of climate-driven desertification. Lake Victoria (a) is in East Africa and is the continent's largest lake. Lake Oguta (c) in Nigeria still holds water. Lake Volta (d) in Ghana is one of the world's largest man-made reservoirs.
Notice Lake Chad, which has also shrunk by about 90% since the 1960s. The Great Green Wall initiative tries to halt the spread of the Sahara across the Sahel.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The term “Levant” often heard in the news roughly corresponds to which of the following regions ?
Answer (a) & explanation
The Levant is the eastern Mediterranean shore (a). The word Levant comes from the French for "rising", meaning the lands where the sun rises, seen from Europe. It covers the eastern Mediterranean coast: Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine and Jordan, sometimes with Cyprus and southern Turkey. Option (b) describes the Maghreb plus Egypt, the North African coast. Option (c) describes the Gulf and the Horn of Africa, which are far to the south-east. Option (d) is too wide: the whole Mediterranean coast includes Europe and North Africa.
Notice that ISIS was also called ISIL, the "L" standing for the Levant. The region is in the news for the Gaza war since October 2023, and for India's proposed IMEC corridor through it.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following countries :
- 1. Azerbaijan
- 2. Kyrgyzstan
- 3. Tajikistan
- 4. Turkmenistan
- 5. Uzbekistan
Which of the above have borders with Afghanistan ?
Answer (c) & explanation
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan border Afghanistan (c). Afghanistan's northern neighbours are Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, with much of the border along the Amu Darya river. Afghanistan also borders Iran (west), Pakistan (east and south) and China, through the narrow Wakhan Corridor. Item 2 is wrong: Kyrgyzstan is cut off from Afghanistan by Tajikistan. Item 1 is wrong: Azerbaijan lies across the Caspian Sea, in the Caucasus.
Notice that the Wakhan Corridor separates Tajikistan from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. India's land route to Afghanistan is blocked by Pakistan, so India uses Chabahar port in Iran. The Taliban returned to power in August 2021.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following statements :
- 1. Bidibidi is a large refugee settlement in north-western Kenya.
- 2. Some people who fled from South Sudan civil war live in Bidibidi.
- 3. Some people who fled from civil war in Somalia live in Dadaab refugee complex in Kenya.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
Answer (c) & explanation
Statements 2 and 3 are correct (c). Statement 2 is right: Bidibidi, one of the world's largest refugee settlements, shelters people who fled the South Sudan civil war that began in 2013. Statement 3 is right: the Dadaab complex in eastern Kenya, near the border, has sheltered Somali refugees fleeing civil war since 1991. Statement 1 is wrong: Bidibidi is in north-western Uganda, in Yumbe district, not in Kenya.
Notice Kenya's other huge camp, Kakuma, in the north-west, which hosts many South Sudanese. Uganda is praised for its open policy: refugees get land to farm and can move and work freely. UPSC uses such places to test both map sense and current affairs.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following pairs :
| Region often mentioned in the news | Country
| 1. Anatolia | Turkey
| 2. Amhara | Ethiopia
| 3. Cabo Delgado | Spain
| 4. Catalonia | Italy
How many pairs given above are correctly matched?
Answer (b) & explanation
Two pairs are correctly matched (b). Pair 1 is right: Anatolia, or Asia Minor, is the large Asian part of Turkey. Pair 2 is right: Amhara is a region of Ethiopia that was drawn into the Tigray war (2020–22) and later saw its own fighting. Pair 3 is wrong: Cabo Delgado is a province of Mozambique, rich in natural gas and hit by an Islamist insurgency since 2017. Pair 4 is wrong: Catalonia, capital Barcelona, is in Spain, not Italy; its independence vote of 2017 caused a crisis.
Notice the method: such pairs test news geography. Place each region on a map with its country and the reason it was in the news, and you can answer even when the wording changes.
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.