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USS · Paper I

Geography

Maps, landforms, climate, rivers, resources — India and Kerala.

8 of the 50 questionsWrite this topic →
What the paper asks

Eight questions. Maps and lines, India's physical features, soils and monsoon, and a steady share on Kerala itself. Superlatives — longest, highest, largest — come up almost every year, and the paper likes the ones where two different answers are both nearly right.

Lines on the globe
  • Latitude lines run east–west and are called parallels; they never meet. The Equator is 0°.
  • Longitude lines run north–south and are called meridians; they all meet at the poles. The Prime Meridian is 0°.
  • The Equator divides north from south. The Prime Meridian divides east from west.
  • Tropic of Cancer is 23½° N and crosses eight Indian states — but not Kerala, Tamil Nadu or Karnataka.
  • India's standard meridian is 82°30′ E, near Mirzapur. IST is GMT + 5:30 because of it.
India — the superlatives that get asked
QuestionAnswerThe near-miss
Longest river in IndiaGangaGodavari — longest in peninsular India
Largest state by areaRajasthanUttar Pradesh — largest by population
Largest freshwater lakeWular (J&K)Chilika — largest brackish lagoon
Longest lakeVembanad (Kerala)—
Only large desertThar, in Rajasthan—
Soils and what grows in them
SoilWhereBest for
AlluvialNorthern plains, river deltasRice, wheat — the most fertile
Black (regur)Deccan plateauCotton — it holds moisture
LateriteKerala, heavy-rain areasCashew, rubber, tea
RedEastern and southern peninsulaMillets, groundnut
DesertRajasthanVery little without irrigation
The monsoon
  • South-west monsoon — arrives in Kerala around 1 June, and Kerala is where it enters India. It is the main rain.
  • North-east monsoon — October and November, the retreating monsoon; called thulavarsham in Kerala.
  • The Western Ghats force the moist air upward, which is why the windward Kerala coast is so wet and the Palakkad side drier.
Kerala — the facts worth having ready
  • 14 districts. Kasaragod, formed in 1984, is the newest.
  • Highest peak: Anamudi, about 2,695 m, in Idukki — the highest in India south of the Himalayas.
  • Longest river: Periyar. Second: Bharathappuzha.
  • Three rivers flow east, not west: Kabani, Bhavani, Pambar.
  • Coastline about 580 km. Largest producer of natural rubber in India.
  • Palakkad Gap — a break in the Ghats carrying road, rail and wind.
  • Silent Valley National Park is in Palakkad; the campaign that saved it is a landmark in Indian environmental history.
Worked through

Does the Tropic of Cancer pass through Kerala?

  1. The Tropic of Cancer is at 23½° N.
  2. Kerala lies roughly between 8° N and 12½° N.
  3. So Kerala is well south of it — as are Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Which is the longest river in India, and which in peninsular India?

  1. The Ganga is the longest river within India overall.
  2. The Godavari is the longest of the peninsular rivers.
  3. Read whether the question says 'India' or 'peninsular India'.
Where the marks go

These are the mistakes, not the rules — each one is something a student who knows the topic still does under time pressure.

  1. Answering Godavari for 'longest river in India'. It is the longest in peninsular India, which is a different question.
  2. Giving Uttar Pradesh for 'largest state'. Largest by area is Rajasthan; UP is largest by population.
  3. Confusing Wular, Chilika and Vembanad. Largest freshwater, largest brackish lagoon and longest lake are three different superlatives.
  4. Assuming the Tropic of Cancer crosses Kerala. It does not come close.
  5. Mixing rotation and revolution. Rotation gives day and night; revolution gives the year.
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Fifty questions in ninety minutes, drawn to the real subject mix. The scorecard will tell you what to revise next.

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