Geography: syllabus hub.
Syllabus: UPSC Pre GS1: Indian & World Geography; Mains GS1
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Questions per year and the most repeated subtopics.
Mission Mausam for UPSC: how weather is forecast, IMD and MoES bodies, ₹2,000 crore mission, radars, Bharat Forecast System, supercomputers, challenges.
Jal Jeevan Mission for UPSC: aims, FHTC norms, funding, Paani Samitis, water quality testing, progress to 15.7 crore taps, challenges and way…
Critical minerals for UPSC: meaning, India's 30 critical minerals, National Critical Mineral Mission, rare earths, China dependence, KABIL, challenges.
Indus Waters Treaty for UPSC: Indus system, eastern and western rivers, India's rights, Indus Commission, Kishenganga and Ratle, and the 2025 abeyance.
Renewable energy for UPSC: solar, wind, hydro and bioenergy potential, the 500 GW target, PM-KUSUM, PM Surya Ghar, solar parks, storage, grid…
Western Ghats for UPSC: six States, formation, passes, rivers, endemic species, UNESCO and hotspot status, Gadgil vs Kasturirangan reports and landslides.
Attempt them here.
Which of the following with reference to Indian States is/are not correct ?
Select the answer using the code given below :
Statements 2 and 3 are not correct (c). Statement 1 is correct: Uttar Pradesh touches eight States, plus Delhi, the most of any State. Statement 2 is wrong: the longest international border belongs to West Bengal, with Bangladesh, not Rajasthan. Statement 3 is wrong: Sikkim touches only West Bengal, but Meghalaya also touches only one State, Assam, so the word "only" fails. So options (a), (b) and (d) fail.
Notice the trap: the question asks which are not correct. UP's neighbours are Uttarakhand, Himachal, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar. Rajasthan has the longest border with Pakistan, about 1,070 km. Words like "only", "all" and "never" often hide the error.
The question asks for statements that are not correct. Statement 3 is half right; the word "only" breaks it.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Ships from which of the following countries have to cross the Strait of Hormuz to reach out to the Indian Ocean ?
Select the answer using the code given below :
Bahrain and Qatar must cross the Strait of Hormuz (b). The Strait of Hormuz, between Iran and Oman, is the only sea exit from the Persian Gulf. Items 1 and 3 are right: Bahrain and Qatar lie wholly inside the Gulf, so their ships must pass it. Item 2 is wrong: Syria is on the Mediterranean. Item 4 is wrong: Egypt reaches the Indian Ocean through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea. So options (a), (c) and (d) fail.
Notice its importance: about a fifth of the world's oil passes through Hormuz, and much of India's crude and LNG (Qatar is a top LNG supplier). Iran's threats to close it raise prices. The UAE's pipeline to Fujairah and Saudi pipelines to the Red Sea help bypass it.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Tungurahua Volcano, which was declared a Global Geopark by UNESCO in 2025, is situated in which one among the following countries ?
Tungurahua is in Ecuador (a). Tungurahua, meaning "throat of fire", is an active stratovolcano in the Andes of central Ecuador, above the town of Baños. UNESCO named the area around it a Global Geopark in 2025. Options (b), (c) and (d), Peru, Bolivia and Colombia, are wrong, though the Andes pass through all of them too.
Notice Ecuador's other famous volcanoes: Cotopaxi, one of the highest active volcanoes, and Chimborazo, whose summit is the point farthest from Earth's centre, because of the equatorial bulge. Ecuador also owns the Galápagos Islands. A Global Geopark honours geological heritage; India has none yet, though sites like Lonar have been proposed.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the climate of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which of the following statements is/are correct ?
Select the answer using the code given below :
Statements 1 and 2 are correct (b). Statement 1 is right: the islands lie close to the equator in the Bay of Bengal, so they are hot and humid all year, a tropical coastal climate. Statement 2 is right: they get rain from both the south-west and north-east monsoons, from about May to December. Statement 3 is wrong: January to April is the driest part of the year, so maximum rain is not between December and May. So options (a), (c) and (d) fail.
Notice the islands' features: Barren Island, India's only active volcano; Saddle Peak, the highest point; and Indira Point, India's southernmost tip. Rich tropical evergreen forests cover them, and cyclones often form nearby.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which of the following geographical features or phenomena is/are associated with the Peninsular Block of India ?
Select the answer using the code given below :
Features 1 and 2 belong to the Peninsular Block (b). The Peninsula is an old, stable block. Item 1 is right: faulting submerged parts of the west coast. Item 2 is right: long erosion left residual hills such as the Veliconda and Mahendragiri. Item 3 is wrong: Peninsular rivers are mature, with broad, shallow valleys; deep V-shaped valleys belong to the young Himalayan rivers. So options (a), (c) and (d) fail.
Notice other Peninsular traits: Gondwana coal, Deccan Traps basalt, rift valleys of the Narmada and Tapi, which flow west into the Arabian Sea, and old block mountains like the Aravallis, among the world's oldest. Rivers here are rain-fed, not snow-fed.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which of the following statements with reference to Lake Turkana is/are correct ?
Select the answer using the code given below :
Statements 1 and 3 are correct (b). Statement 1 is right: Lake Turkana is the world's largest permanent desert lake and its largest alkaline lake. Statement 3 is right: its national parks are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its green colour gives it the name "Jade Sea". Statement 2 is wrong: it lies in the Rift Valley of northern Kenya, with its northern tip in Ethiopia, not in South Sudan at the Sahara's edge. So options (a), (c) and (d) fail.
Notice its fame for human origins: Turkana Boy, a nearly complete Homo erectus skeleton about 1.5 million years old, was found here. Ethiopia's Gibe III dam on the Omo River, the lake's main feeder, threatens its water level.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following statements about river bridges connecting India with neighbouring countries :
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
Only statement 3 is correct (d). Statement 3 is right: the Mechi bridge links Panitanki in West Bengal with Kakarvitta in Nepal. Statement 1 is wrong: Maitri Setu over the Feni river links Sabroom in Tripura with Ramgarh in Bangladesh; the statement swaps the towns. Statement 2 is wrong: the Jhulaghat suspension bridge crosses the Kali river between Pithoragarh (Uttarakhand) and Nepal, not Myanmar. So options (a), (b) and (c) fail.
Notice why Maitri Setu matters: it gives Tripura access to Chittagong port, only about 80 km away, easing the North-East's dependence on the narrow Siliguri Corridor. It was inaugurated in 2021. The Kali river also forms the India–Nepal border in the Kalapani dispute.
Statement 1 has the right river and the right towns, but each town is in the other country.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which of the following statements about Rare Earth Elements (REEs) and Critical Minerals is/are correct ?
Select the answer using the code given below :
Statements 1 and 3 are correct (a). Statement 1 is right: REEs are used in magnets, chips, batteries and satellites for AI, robotics and space. Statement 3 is right: the National Critical Mineral Mission was approved in January 2025 for self-reliance. Statement 2 is wrong: China leads mining by far, but the next producers are the USA, Myanmar and Australia, not India. Statement 4 is wrong: there are 17 rare earths, the 15 lanthanides plus scandium and yttrium. So options (b), (c) and (d) fail.
Notice India's position: it has about 6% of world REE reserves, mainly in monazite beach sands of Kerala, Odisha and Tamil Nadu, mined by IREL. China also controls most REE processing.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Reliance’s Jamnagar refinery complex in Gujarat on 21 October 2026, a day after calling India a ‘refining superpower’. He wants India to buy more US oil and refine more Venezuelan crude. In Mumbai on 20 October, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar also held an unannounced India–US–UAE meeting on energy and connectivity, with the Strait of Hormuz blocked.
UPSC angle: Prelims: Jamnagar, Hormuz, I2U2, IMEC, SPR sites. · Mains GS-II/III: energy security vs strategic autonomy; India–US–UAE.
21 Oct 2026
A PIB backgrounder of 19 October 2026 explains how pumped storage projects (PSPs) will store solar and wind power for India’s grid. India runs 7.43 GW of pumped storage today, is building 15.87 GW more and has an assessed potential of 345.38 GW. A roadmap aims to add about 100 GW between 2025-26 and 2035-36.
UPSC angle: Prelims: PSP types, CEA, ISTS waiver, IRENA ranking. · Mains GS-III: storage and the clean energy transition.
19 Oct 2026
On 17 October 2026 Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan reviewed preparations for the Khet Bachao Abhiyan with agriculture ministers of 11 States and UTs. The campaign runs from 22 October to 30 November 2026. About 4,150 teams of Krishi Vigyan Kendra and ATMA staff, with over 12,000 scientists and officials, plan around 1.5 lakh meetings with farmers on soil health, crop residue, balanced fertiliser use and key schemes.
UPSC angle: Prelims: Khet Bachao Abhiyan dates, KVK, ATMA, Soil Health Card. · Mains GS-III: agricultural extension and sustainable farming.
17 Oct 2026
Scientists at the University of Kerala, using a laser Raman spectrometer funded under DST-FIST, have identified two minerals that make some places on Earth useful ‘Martian analogue’ sites, DST said on 16 October 2026. Melanterite was found in the lignite of Neyveli, Tamil Nadu. Gypsum was found in the Atacama Desert of Chile and in the Tiruchirappalli Badlands. Both are hydrous sulphates that record how water and rock interacted.
UPSC angle: Prelims: minerals, Raman effect, Atacama. · Mains GS-III: space science and research capacity.
16 Oct 2026
On 14 October 2026 the Centre approved India's accession to the Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement. India, a Cooperating Non-Contracting Party since 2022, will become a full Contracting Party. Indian vessels can then fish squids, toothfish, alfonsino and other non-migratory stocks in the SIOFA area and join its scientific and compliance bodies.
UPSC angle: Prelims: SIOFA vs IOTC, India's status, species, UNCLOS references. · Mains GS-III: blue economy and fisheries; GS-II: international agreements.
14 Oct 2026
On 12 October 2026 the India Meteorological Department dedicated a Cyclone Warning and Marine Weather Services Decision Support System to the nation. The WebGIS platform shows cyclone track, intensity, winds, rainfall, storm surge and district-wise warnings on one map for disaster managers and the public.
UPSC angle: Prelims: IMD, cone of uncertainty, storm surge. · Mains GS-III: early warning and disaster preparedness.
13 Oct 2026