IAS Prelims (GS) Preparation 2018
Day # 13 (April 5, 2017)
Topics of the day: Geography NCERT 6th class Chapter 7 and 8 key points
Chapter – 7
-The peninsula is a piece of land that is surrounded by water on three sides.
- India has an area of about 3.28 million sq. km.
- The north-south extent from Kashmir to Kanyakumari is about 3,200 km. And the east-west
extent from Arunachal Pradesh to Kuchchh is about 2,900 km.
- India is located in the northern hemisphere.
- The Tropic of Cancer (23°30'N) passes almost halfway through the country.
- From south to north, main land of India extends between 8°4'N and 37°6'N latitudes.
- From west to east, India extends between 68°7'E and 97°25'E longitudes.
- There are seven countries that share land boundaries with India. They are:
1.Afghanistan
2.Pakistan
3.China
4.Bangladesh
5.Bhutan
6.Myanmar
7.Nepal
- Sri Lanka does not share boundary with India. It is a neighbouring country.
- Sri Lanka is separated from India by the Palk Strait.
- Rajasthan is the largest state and Goa is the smallest state in terms of area.
- The Himalayan Mountains are divided into three main parallel ranges. The northernmost is the Great Himalaya or Himadri. The world’s highest peaks are located in this range.
- Middle Himalaya or Himachal lies to the south of Himadri. Many popular hill stations are situated here.
- The Shiwalik is the southernmost range.
- The Northern Indian plains lie to the south of the Himalayas. They are generally level and flat. These are formed by the alluvial deposits laid down by the rivers– the Indus, the Ganga,
the Brahmaputra and their tributaries. These river plains provide fertile land for cultivation.
That is the reason for high concentration of population in these plains.
- In the western part of India lies the Great Indian desert. It is a dry, hot and sandy stretch of land.
- To the south of northern plains lies the Peninsular plateau. It is triangular in shape.
–The relief is highly uneven. This is a region with numerous hill ranges and valleys.
-Aravali hills, one of the oldest ranges of the world, border it on the north-west side.
-TheVindhyas and the Satpuras are the important ranges.
-The rivers Narmada and Tapi flow through these ranges. These are west-flowing rivers that drain into the Arabian Sea.
-The Western Ghats or Sahyadris border the plateau in the west and the Eastern Ghats provide the eastern boundary.
-While the Western Ghats are almost continuous, the Eastern Ghats are broken and uneven.
-The plateau is rich in minerals like coal and iron-ore.
-To the West of the Western Ghats and the East of Eastern Ghats lie the Coastal plains.
-The western coastal plains are very narrow. The eastern Coastal plains are much broader.
-There are a number of east flowing rivers.
-The rivers Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri drain into the Bay of Bengal.
–These rivers have formed fertile deltas at their mouth.
-The Sunderban delta is formed where the Ganga and Brahmaputra flow into the Bay of Bengal.
-Two groups of islands also form part of India - Lakshadweep and Andaman & nicobar
-Lakshadweep Islands are located in the Arabian Sea. These are coral islands located off the coast of Kerala. Corals are skeletons of tiny marine animals called Polyps. When the living polyps die, their skeletons are left. Other poplyps grow on top of the hard
skeleton which grows higher and higher, thus forming the coral islands.
-The Andaman and the Nicobar Islands lie to the southeast of the Indian mainland in the Bay of Bengal.
Chapter – 8-
-Broadly, the major seasons recognised in India are:
• Cold Weather Season (Winter) December to February
• Hot Weather Season (Summer) March to May
• Southwest Monsoon Season (Rainy) June to September
• Season of Retreating Monsoon (Autumn) October and November
-Hot and dry winds called loo, blow during the summer days.
-The climate is about the average weather condition,which have been measured over many years.
-The climate of India has broadly been described as Monsoon type.
-Monsoon is taken from the Arabic word ‘mausim’, which means seasons.
-Due to India’s location in the tropical region, most of the rain is brought by monsoon winds.
-The climate of a place is affected by its location, altitude, distance from the sea, and relief.
-Vegetation of India can be divided into five types –
a.Tropical evergreen forest,
b.Tropical deciduous forest,
c.Thorny bushes,
d.Mountain vegetation and
e.Mangrove forests.
Tropical Evergreen Forest:
Tropical Rain Forests occur in the areas which receive heavy rainfall. Important trees found in
these forests are mahogany, ebony and rosewood. Andaman and Nicobar Islands, parts of
North-Eastern states and a narrow strip of the Western slope of the Western Ghats are home
of these forests.
Tropical deciduous forest:
These forests are also called monsoon forests.
They are less dense.
They shed their leaves at a particular time of the year.
Important trees of these forests are sal, teak, peepal, neem and shisham. They are found
in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and in parts of
Maharashtra.
Thorny Bushes:
The leaves are in the form of spines to reduce the loss of water.
Cactus, khair, babool, keekar are important and are found in the states of Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Eastern slopes of Western Ghats and Gujarat.
Mountain Vegetation:
At a height between 1500 metres and 2500 metres most of the trees are conical in shape. These
trees are called coniferous trees. Chir, Pine and Deodar are important trees of these forests.
Mangrove Forests
These forests can survive in saline water.
They are found mainly in Sunderbans in West Bengal and in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Sundari is a well-known species of trees in mangrove forests after which Sunderbans have been named.
-The tiger is our national animal.
-Gir forest in Gujarat is the home of Asiatic lions.
-Elephants and one-horned rhinoceroses roam in the forests of Assam.
-Elephants are also found in Kerala and Karnataka.
-Camels and wild asses are found in the Great Indian desert and the Rann of Kuchchh respectively.
-Wild goats, snow leopards, bears, etc. are found in the Himalayan region.
-The peacock is our national bird.
-The Government has also started Project Tiger and Project Elephant to protect these animals.
-Every year we observe wildlife week in the first week of October, to create awareness of conserving the habitats of the animal kingdom.
-Some birds such as the Pelican, Siberian Crane, Stork, Flamingo, Pintail Duck and Curlew migrate to our country in the winter season every year.
-Siberian Cranes migrate from Siberia. They arrive in December and stay till early March.