Mar 31, 2013
American School of Thought
1. Jedidiah Morse - Father of American Geography.
2. W. Morris Davis (1850-1934 AD) - One of the founders of the ‘Association of American Geographers’ estd in 1904. Jefferson, Bowman, Huntington, Semple & Birmingham were some of his students. Coined the term ‘Ontography’ to denote the organic half of geography. He added subsequent, obsequent & resequent to Powell’s 3 types of rivers. Advocate of Darwinism
3. Mark Jefferson - Professor at the Michigan State normal college in Ypsilanti for 38 years. Never accepted the concept of determinism. Concept of ‘central place’, ‘primate city’ & ‘civilizing rails’.
4. Ellen Churchill Semple (1863-1932) - Disciple of Ratzel at Leipzig. Her first book was, ‘American history & its geographical conditions’. Her version of Ratzel’s Anthropogeographie was, ‘Influences of Geographical Environment’ Worked on Mediterranean region for about 20 years.
5. Ellsworth Huntington - Published, ‘The pulse of Asia’. Wrote, ‘Civilization & Climate’ in which he said that man’s civilization could develop only in regions of stimulating climate. His book, ‘Principles of Human Geography’ was a college textbook. Determinist in approach.
6. Isaiah Bowman - Thesis on ‘The geography of central Andes’. Pioneered boundary studies – ‘Guatemala-Honduras dispute’. Earlier determinist later possibilist.
7. Albert Parry Birmingham - Wrote ‘Geographic influences on American history’. He was critical of people making generalizations about climatic influences on humans.
8. Rollin D. Salisbury - Recognized as best teacher in the university. He published his ideas in ‘Physiography’.
9. Carl O Sauer - Activist of the possibilist ic movement . Protagonist of ‘Chorological Theme’. Published, ‘The morphology of the landscape’ in which he explained the concept of ‘Landschaft’. Did not deny
French School of Thought
1. Vidal de la Blache (1848-1918 AD) - Founder of Human Geography. ‘Pays’ as basic homogenous region to study as opposed to drainage basins. He developed the idea of ‘Terrestrial Unity’. Wrote, ‘Principles de Geographie Humaine’. Founded a journal called, ‘Annals de Geographie’.
2. Jean Brunhes - Gave the concept of “Terrestrial Harmonies’ – Man & his environment. Wrote ‘Geographie Humaine: Essai de classification positive’. He divided human geography into unproductive occupation of the soil, Plants & animal conquest & destructive exploitation.
3. Elise Reclus - Disciple of Carl Ritter & a determinist. Wrote ‘La Terra’.
4. De Martonne - Major work in physical geography. Son in law of Blache. Wrote ‘Traite de Geographique Physique’.
5. Camille Vallaux - Wrote ‘Les Sciences Geographiques’.
6. Albert Demangeon - Devoted most of the time to editing ‘Annals’. Wrote ‘Problems de Geographie Humaine”. Interested in rural settlements.
German School of Thought
1. Friedrich Ratzel (1844-1904 AD) - Worked at university of Munich & Leipzig. Application of Darwin’s concept to human species called ‘Social Darwinism’. Studied modes of life of Germans outside Germany. Published two books on N. America. ‘Anthropogeographie’ talked about the effects of different physical features on the life of people. Coined the term “Anthropogeography” Protagonist of Determinism. Wrote ‘Political Geography’ where he compared state to an organism & persuaded Germany to expand. It was his policy of ‘Lebensraum’ or living space that urged to expand-Organic
theory of State. It earned him the title of ‘founder of political geography’. He also gave the stages through which human society passes.
2. Oscar Peschel - First professor at university of Leipzig after Ritters death. Editor of ‘Das Ausland’ & wrote ‘Geschichte der Erdkunde’. Contributed very much to the development of geomorphology through a study of relief types.
3. Ferdinand Von Richthofen - First to identify “Loess” in China. His studies of China were published in
five volumes.
4. Alfred Hettner - Disciple of Ratzel & Richthofen. Revived the concept of geography as chorology. Published ‘Geography: Its history character & methods’. Supported Possibilism. Geography as “Landshatskunde” (landscape science) became popular during his period.
5. Otto Schluter - Hettner-Schluter controversy. It was Schluter who applied the term ‘Landshaftskunde’ to describe the concept of geography. He objected to chorological definition of geography.
6. Albrecht Penck - First use of the term ‘geomorphology’. Penck’s ideas inspired Koppen.
Pre-Modern Period Geographer
1. Cluvarius - German geographer of 17th century. Wrote introduction to universal geography. Emphasized & wrote on regional geog.
2. Varenius or Bernhard Varen (1622-1650) - German. Wrote Geographia Generalis. Laid down the foundation of the dichotomy of “Systematic Vs Regional Geography. Divided general or systematic geography into Absolute (terrestrial), Relative (Planetary-earth relationship with other parts) & the Comparative (location, navigation) parts. Advocated highest temperatures in tropics rather than equator. Believed in heliocentric concept of Copernicus, Kepler & Galileo.
3. J.R. Forster & J.G. Forster - Father & son in that order. Accompanied Captain Cook on his voyage. Visited Volga steppe on invitation of the Russian government. There method of working has been often named ‘comparative method’.
4. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) - German. Professor of Geography at the university of Konigsberg. Gave philosophical dimension to geography. Gave logical classification (similar origin) & physical classification (same time). Physical classification gives the basis for geography & history. Identified physical geography as including not only natural features but also man. World as perceived by inner senses is soul & by outer senses is nature. Laid down the foundation of “Exceptionalism” in Geography i.e. geography & history are methodologically distinct from other sciences. Said that generalization in the form of laws is useless in geography & regarded it as as “Idiographic”. Geography was chorological & history – chronological.
5. Alexander Von Humboldt (1769-1859 AD) - “Father of Modern Geography”. Coined the term “Cosmography” & divided it into Uranography (astronomy), geography (physical feature) & Concept of whole (visualized earth as inseparable whole). Affect of altitude, Temperature variation at same latitude with distance from sun, Map showing isotherms (invention), concept of Continentality, Coined
the term “Permafrost” Extensive studies of Ecuadorian volcanoes, Concluded that graphite, gneiss are of volcanic origin, description of vertical zones of Andes, Humboldt or Peruvian current. Exact longitude calculation for Lima, established correlation between forest & rainfall. Lake Valenica in Venezuela was shrinking due to deforestation. Explored Orinoco & established its connection with Amazon. Explored virgin lands of Siberia. In his ‘Relation Historique’ he laid down the foundation of plant geography. Divided regions of Latin America into botanical provinces. His “Kosmos” talked about universe & geographical thought since Egyptians. Believed in empirical, comparative & inductive method.
6. Carl Ritter (1779-1859 AD) - Was a teleologist. Gave the concept of “Unity in Diversity”. Stressed on land & water hemispheres, distinction between the rates of cooling of land & water. Defined geography as empirical science rather than deductive. Was a professor at university of Frankfurt & Berlin & founded the “Berlin Geographical Society”. He rejected the idea of ‘Pure Geography’(Reine
Geography) & said that history & geography must always remain inseparable. Chiefly concerned with the studies of human geography. Identified each continent with a different race. He was an armchair geographer. Wrote “Erdkunde” meaning science of the earth. Asia & Africa covered but
not Europe.
Contribution of Indian Geographers
1. The first reference to Bhogol in Indian Literature is found in Suryasiddhanta & in the Padma Puranas a distinction has been made between Bhogol (Geography), Khogol (the space science) & Jyotishastra.
2. The ancient Indian literature has a reference of seven dwipas or continents. The southern dwipa was named Jambu. The Meru (Pamir knot) lying in the center of the Jambu was heaven. River Sita (Hwang Ho) lies on the eastern side of Meru. Other dwipas were kusu dwipa (Iran, Arabia), Plaska dwipa (Mediterranean), Puskara dwipa (Russia-east of Urals), Kraunca dwipa (area above black sea), Saka dwipa (Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia) & Salmali dwipa.
3. The spherical shape of the earth was visualized by the Aitareya Brahmana who stated that the sun neither sets nor rises. Akshansa (latitudes) & Deshantara (longitude) were known.
4. Vasanta (spring), prourit (rainy season), sarad (autumn) & hemanta (severe winter). The chapters of
geography in Puranas have been called Bhuvankosh.
Contribution of Arabs
1. Ibn Haukal (943-978 AD)-Traveled extensively in last 30 years. Noted people in considerable numbers in equatorial regions. “A book of routes & realms”. Said that the Caspian is not connected to the Northern Sea by channel.
2. Al Balkhi - First climatic Atlas of the world. “Kitab-al-Ashkal”
3. Al-Masudi - Monsoon description. Described evaporation & condensation. Kitab-Miraj-al Dhahab, Kitab-al-Tanbhwal Ishraf, Kitab-Akhbar-al-Zaman & Kitab-al-Ausat. Divided the world into 7 regions based on languges.
4. Al-Maqdisi - Division of world into 14 climatic regions. Noticed that meridians also affect climate. Southern hemisphere was open ocean
5. Al- Biruni (973-1039 AD) - “Kitab-al-Hind”- Geography of India in which he described significance of rounded stone. Tides caused by moons. Towards the south pole night ceases to exist. Himalayas source of perennial river
6. Ibn Sina or Avicenna - Knowledge of Landforms – Mountain streams cutting down the valley in Central Asia. Mountains are raised & immediately exposed to erosional process. ‘Fossils’- Nature efforts to create life ending in Failure
7. Al Idrisi at Palermo - Extensive correction of erroneous ideas handed down from Ptolemy Corrects idea of enclosed Indian ocean & Caspian sea as gulf. Position of Danube, Niger-Correction of several mountain ranges
8. Ibn-Batuta - Confirmed Ibn Haukal that equatorial region was habitable. Served Mongol emperor at Delhi. Visited China, Ceylon, Sumatra, Maldives. Covered 75000 miles – a world record. Descried the
house types & building materials in deserts.
9. Ibn-Khaldun - Emphasized & wrote on man-environment relationship. Repeated the mistake of uninhabitable equatorial zone.
Roman Geographers
1. Strabo (64 BC-20 AD) - Most of the earlier scholar’s works disappeared. Defended Homer’s work & discarded Herodotus. First correct explanation of Nile’s flood. 8 books on Europe, 6 books on Asia & one on Africa. Considered earth as oblong. Interested in political geography. He divided geography into – physical, mathematical, political & historical. He was basically a regional geographer.
2. Ptolemy (90-168 AD) - Mathematical geographer & Astronomer. Earth was a sphere that remained stationery in the center while the celestial bodies moved around it (remained accepted till 17th century-Copernicus). Far ahead in map projections & map improvements. Considered India ocean to be enclosed on the south by unknown land (Terra Incognita). First to draw Bay of Bengal & Volga (Rha) on his map. Equatorial land was considered uninhabitable.
3. Pomponius Mela - Periplus of Scylax-shores of Mediterranean & Periplus of Arrian- Black Sea (guidelines to ship captains). Widely quoted in works of Pliny the elder.
4. Marcus Tarantius Varro - Compedium of geography that dealt with a theory of culture. Food form virgin earth-Pastralism-Agriculture-Contemporary culture.
5. Pliny - Wrote “Historia Naturalis”
6. Solinus - General geographical account of the world.
Contributions of Greeks
1. Homer - “Father of Geography” in Greek period. Wrote Illiad & Odyssey. Believed earth to be a circular floor surrounded by oceans on all sides. Boreas (N), Eurus(E), Notus (S), Zephyrus (W) winds
2. Thales (624-548 B.C.) - Six Geometric Theorems. Earth disc floating in water. Water essence of all matter. Reported magnetism of a loadstone.
3. Anaximander - Disciple of Thales. Introduction of ‘Gnomon’ – today called sundial. First to draw a map of the world to scale with Greece at center. Thales & Anaximander founded mathematical geography.
4. Democritus - Introduced a theory of origin of universe based on atoms in the void.
5. Pythagoras - Rotation of earth on its axis.
6. Hecataeus - Originated literary tradition in geography. First writer in Greek prose. Wrote “Ges Periodos”. Laid the foundation of regional geography.
7. Herodotus - Opposed Hecataeus. First great historian. Nile mud causes delta & winds blow from colder places to warmer places. Regarded Caspian sea as an inland sea. Considered earth as circular plate in water. First to draw a meridian on the world map. First to divide the world into three land masses- Europe, Asia & Libya
8. Plato (428-348 BC)- Master of deductive reasoning. First to announce the concept of round earth located in the centre of the universe with celestial bodies revolving around it.
9. Aristotle (384-322 BC) - Master of inductive thought. Accepted Plato’s concept of spherical earth & sought explanation for it (eclipse, pole star). Interested in mathematical geography
10. Alexander - Studied with Aristotle for only 3 years.
11. Theophrastus - Special interest was in meteorology.
12. Eratosthenes (276-194 BC) - Father of Geography & coined the term “Geography”. Calculation of
the circumference of the earth. Wrote Ekumene in which he accepted two torrid zone, two temperate & two frizid zones. He improved on Aristotle by giving mathematical boundaries to these zones.
13. Polybius - Interested mainly in physical geography.
14. Hipparachus - Succeeded Eratosthenes as chief Librarian. First to divide a circle into 360 degrees. Defined grid of latitude & longitude. Pointed equator as a great circle & longitude too. Wrested with the problem of showing curved surface area on a flat surface. Designed orthographic & stereographic projections. Invented Astrolabe to determine latitude using pole star. Discovered the precision of the equinoxes.
15. Posidonius - Refuted the idea that equator region was uninhabitable. Wrote a book ‘the Ocean’ & was considered an authority on oceanography.
Mar 30, 2013
Famous quotations
1. ‘Geography is concerned to provide accurate, orderly & rational description & interpretation of the variable character of earth suface’. - Hartshorne
2. ‘Man is the product of the earth’s surface’. - Ellen Semple
3. ‘Man is a geographical agent & not the least.’ - Lucien Febvre
4. ‘There are no necessities but everywhere possibilities’. - Lucien Febvre.
5. ‘Mutually coordinated & not subordinated in space’ – on Possibilism - Hettner
6. Climatic influences are persistent, often obdurate in their control - Semple
7. Routes through which people have migrated have impressed upon their social characteristics - - Demolins.
8. Supreme achievements of civilization were bounded by climate - Huntington.
9. Everywhere man contributes in inverting the physiognomy of earth - Brunhes
10. Geography is the mirror & reveals essence of human existence & striving - Yi Fu Tuan
11. Humanism is a conviction that men & women can best improve their lives by thinking & acting for themselves & especially by excercising their capacity for reason. - Ralph
12. We should study the earth as if we were sitting in a balloon & looking down upon it. - Brunhes
Important Works of Geographers
1. Illiad, Odyssey- Homer
2. “Ges-Periodos” – Description of the earth -Hecataeus
3. Ekumene- Eratosthenes.
4. Geographica -Strabo
5. Almagest or Syntaxis (on astronomy) The outline of geography (consisted of Graticule for place location) - Ptolemy
6. Historia Naturalis -Pliny
7. De Chorographica -Pomponius Mela
8. A book of routes & realms- Ibn Huakal
9. Kitab-al-Ashkal -Al Balkhi
10. “Kitab-Miraj-al Dhahab”, “Kitab-al-Tanbhwal Ishraf”, “Kitab-Akhbaral- Zaman” & “Kitab-al-Ausat”
-Al-Masudi
11. “Kitab-al-Hind”, “Al-Qanum-al-Masudi”, “Tarik-ul-Hind”, “Kitab-al- Jamakhir”, “Ahal-al-Bagiya”, “Kitab-al-Saydna”, “Rashikat-al-Hind”-Al-Biruni
12. Amusement for Him who desires to travel around the world Roger’s Book-Al-Idrisi
13. Rihlah -Ibn Batuta
14. “Muqaddimah” – Introduction to world history -Ibn-Khaldun
15. Panch Siddhantika -Varahmihira
16. Siddhant Tatwavivek- Kamlakar
17. Introduction to Universal Geography- Cluvarius
18. Geography delineated forth in two bookes -Nathaneal Carpenter
19. Histoire naturelle (compendium about earth & living things) -Comte de Buffon
20. Geographia Generalis -Varenius
21. “Description regni Lapaniate et Siam” Varenius
22. “Critique of Pure Reason”, “Critique of Judgment” & “Anthropology from pragmatic point of view”
from pragmatic point of view” Immanuel Kant
23. Ankundingung Immanuel Kant
24. General Natural history & theory of Heavens- Immanuel Kant
25. “Kosmos” & “Relation Historique” -Humboldt
26. ‘Erdkunde’, 6 maps of Europe, Essays on Methodology Europe: A Geographical, Historical & Statistical Painting-Carl Ritter
27. ‘Anthropogeographie’, ‘Political Geography’- Friedrich Ratzel
28. ‘Das Ausland’ (editor) & ‘Geschichte der Erdkunde’.- Oscar Peschel
29. ‘Travel in the Columbian Andes’, ‘Geography: Its history character & methods’ , ‘A geography of man’ , ‘Transport geography’, ‘Economic Geography’-Alfred Hettner
30. Foundations of Regional Geography -Hettner
31. ‘Principles de Geographie Humaine’- Vidal Blache
32. Geographie Humaine: Essai de classification positive -Jean Brunhes
33. La Terra- Elisee Reclus
34. Les Sciences Geographiques- Camille Vallaux
35. Problems de Geographie Humaine- Albert Demangeon
36. ‘American history & its geographical conditions’, ‘Influences of Geographical Environment’.
-Ellen C. Semple
37. The pulse of Asia’, ‘Civilization & Climate’, ‘Principles of Human Geography’.-Huntington.
38. The geography of the central Andes -Isaiah Bowman
39. Morphology of the landscape -Carl O’ Sauer.
40. Physiography -Rollin D. Salisbury
41. Heartland Theory ’,‘ Britain & the British Seas’ & ‘Democratic Ideals & Reality’ -Mackinder
42. The geographical pivot of history Mackinder
43. Americas strategy in world’s politics Geography of the peace. -Nicholas Spykman
44. Geographic perspective on Urban systems- B.J.L. Berry
45. The quantitative revolution & theoretical geography -Ian Burton
46. The makers of modern geography- R.E. Dickinson
47. ‘Models in human geography’, ‘Locational Analysis in Human Geography’ & ‘Frontiers of geographical teaching’.-Hagget & Chorley
48. Geography: A modern synthesis- Hagget
49. Handbook of commercial geography- Chisholm
50. Cities in Evolution- Partrick Geddes
51. History of Civilization of England -Buckle
52. Geographical introduction to history -Lucien Febvre
53. Tableau de la geographie de la France- Blache
54. A Handbook of Physical Geography, Guiding principles of General Political Geography -A. Supan (German)
55. ‘Traite de Geographique Physique’.- De Martonne
56. Atlas de France -Margarie & De Martonne
57. “Geography made easy”, “American Universal Geography” “The American Geography” -Jedidiah Morse
58. Nature of Geography- Hartshorne
59. Perspectives on the nature of geography -Hartshorne
60. The decision process in spatial context -Julian Wolpert
61. Regional geography of India- R.L. Singh
62. The geography of Puranas- S. M. Ali
63. The nature of Cities- Harris & Ullman
64. Explanations in Geography (b) Social justice & the city- David Harvey
65. All possible worlds -Preston .E James
66. The structure of scientific revolution -Thomas Kuhn
67. The economics of location -August Losch
68. Limits to growth -Dennis Meadows
69. The city in history -Lewis Mumford
70. Spatial Organization of society-R. Morill
71. (A) Some aspects of Medical Geography (B) Asia- L.D. Stamp
72. The development of social physics -John Q. Stewart
73. Intervening Oppurtunities -S. Stouffer
74. The isolated state -Von Thunen
75. Space & Place in human geography -Yi-Fu Tuan
76. The spirit & purpose of geography -S. Woolridge
Physiography Facts
1. India is the seventh largest country in the world. The north south extent is 3214km & E-W 2933Km. The mainland coastline is 6100 km long & including islands it is 7516 km long. Its geographical area is around 33 lakh sq km (or 328.72 million hectares). The southernmost point (Indira Point) is 6 degree 30 minutes north latitude.
2. Narcondam & Barren Island are volcanic islands of India. Most of the sandalwood of India comes from Karnataka.
3. The northernmost Himalayan ranges are called central Himalayas or Himadri. Beyond this range lies the Tibetan or Tethys Himalayas beyond with lies the Indus Tsangpo suture zone. To the south of the central or the Inner Himalayas lies the lesser or lower Himalayas or Middle Himalayas & is separated from the Greater Himalayas by a structural zone called Main Central Thrust. In between the Lower Himalayas (Middle Himalayas) & the Shivaliks lies the Main Boundary Thrust.
4. The Indus Suture Zone, ISZ (or Indus-Yarlung-Tsangpo Suture Zone) defines the zone of collision
between the Indian Plate and the Ladakh Batholith to the north. Between the Pir Panjal & the Zaskar range lies the valley of kashmir. Karakoram range, Ladakh range, Zaskar range from north to south. Important peaks of the Zaskar range are Kamet (highest), Nanda Devi & Gurla Mandhata.
5. The peaks above 8000 m in the himalayas in descending order are Mt Everest, Kanchenjunga, Makalu, Dhaulagiri, Mansalu, Cho Oyu, Nanga Parbat, Annapurna. Raman Peak is situated in Arabian Sea
6. The transhimalayas include the Karakoram & the Laddakh range. Karakoram range has its highest in peak K2 (or Qagir named after Chinese occupation). The highest peak of Kailash range is Mt. Kailash & that of Ladakh range is Mt. Rakaposhi.
7. The purvanchal (NE Himalayas) are divided into Purvu-NEFA (composed of Mishmi Hills & Patkai
Bum), Naga hills (Saramati is highest peak), Manipur Hills, North Cachar hills, Mizo hills (earlier known
as Lushai hills) & the Tripura hills.
8. The Garo, Khasi, Jaintia & the outlying Mikir & Rengma hills are structurally parts of peninsular plateau separated from the Indian peninsula by the Malda gap.
9. Bhabhar (in Punjab or Duars in Assam) lies to the north of Terai & is a pebble studded region which
causes many steams to get lost underneath which re-emerge in the Terai belt. Khadar is known as bet in punjab & Bhangar comprises of Kankars. The northern part of the punjab plains adjoinin the shivaliks
have witnesses intense erosion throgh boulder clanned streams called “Chos”.
10. In the pujab plain the area between rivers is called Doab & the river bluffs are called Dhayas. The thar desert has numerous features like dhrian (shifting sand dunes), sar (saline playa lakes), rohi (fertile tracts formed by rivers west of Aravallis) & dhands (alkaline lakes).
11. The east coast (or Coromandel coast) also known as Utkal ghat in orisssa & Payant ghat in Andhra & Tamil Nadu has two lagoon lakes (Pulicat lake north of Chennai & Chilka lake). The Eastern Ghats are broader whant the western ghats. Western ghat is divided into kathiawar, konkan & Malabar coast. It consists of Kayals (lagoons & backwaters largest being Vembnad lake). In karnataka the ghats are known as Kanara plain.
12. Madhya Bharat pathar is made of ancient vindhyan sediments through which the Chambal river has
formed badland. To the further east lies Bundelkhand upland.
13. North of Mahanadi lies the Baghelkhand plateau which is drained by tributaries of Son river. The
Chotanagpur plateau composed of granites & gneisses forms Jharkhand & is drained by Damodar. It has three lava hills of the Dalma, Porahat & Rajmahal. South of Chattisgarh basin (also called Mahanadi
basin) lies a region of rugged topography called Dandakaranya plateau. Garhjat hills are also called Orissa highlands & have their highest peak in Mehendragiri.
Physiographic divisions of the Peninsular Upland
1. North Central Uplands Aravalli Range, Rajasthan Uplands, Madhya Bharat Pathar
2. South Cental Highlands Malwa plateau, Vindhyan Scarplands, Vindhyan range, Narmada valley
3. Eastern Plateau Chotanagpur Plateau, Baghelkand plateau, Mahanadi basin, Dandakaranya, Garhjat Hills
4. Western plateau Maharashtra plateau, Satpura range
5. South Deccan Karnataka plateau, Telangana plateau
6. Meghalaya Mikir Uplands Meghalaya plateau, Mikir Hills
7. Western Ghats
8. Eastern Ghats
12. Madhya Bharat pathar is made of ancient vindhyan sediments through which the Chambal river has
formed badland. To the further east lies Bundelkhand upland.
13. North of Mahanadi lies the Baghelkhand plateau which is drained by tributaries of Son river. The
Chotanagpur plateau composed of granites & gneisses forms Jharkhand & is drained by Damodar. It has three lava hills of the Dalma, Porahat & Rajmahal. South of Chattisgarh basin (also called Mahanadi
basin) lies a region of rugged topography called Dandakaranya plateau. Garhjat hills are also called Orissa highlands & have their highest peak in Mehendragiri.
14. The Satpura range has three parts: Rajpipla hills in the western part, Mahadeo hills (highest peak
Dhupgarh near Panchmarhi) in the central part & Maikala range (highest peak Amarkantak) in the eastern reaches. Dhupgarh is the highest peak in entire Satpuras.
15. The Telangana or Andhra plateau has two parts: the Telangana & Rayalseema upland.
16. The highest peak of Anaimudi is the central point from which the three ranges radiate: Cardamom hills to the south, the Anamalai to the north & the Palni to the northeast. Thalghat (Kasara to Igatpuri), Bhorghat (between kalian & lonavala) & Palghat are the gaps in Sahyadris. Western ghats are block mountains formed by the downwarping of a part of the land into the Arabian sea & are steeper towards west. Cochin is connected to interior through the Palghat gap.
17. The Eastern Ghats are also known as Mehendragiri in Orissa. The Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu are the meeting point of the Eastern Ghats, Western Ghats & southern hills. Its highest peak is Dodabeta & it also includes Ooty hill station. Southwards of Nilgiri & separated from them by the Palghat gap are the Annamalail Hills.
18. The islands & passages from north to south are Coco Channel, North, middle & south Andamans, Duncan passage, little Andamans, Ten degree Channel, Car Nicobar, & Great Nicobar. In Lakshwadeep the sequence from north to south is Amindivi Island, Nine degree channel & Minicoy. B. Drainage
19. Satluj, Ravi, Chenab, Jhelum, & Indus (Sri Ram called Jubiliant Indra) from south to north. Gomati, Ghaghara, Gandak, Kosi & Mahananda are from west to east. Chambal, Sind, Betwa, ken & Son are in that order from west to east.
20. Sanskrit names Indus (Sindu), Jhelum (Vitasta), Ravi (Parushini), Beas (Vipasa) & Satluj (Satadru).
21. In Bangladesh Tista joins Brahmaputra on the right bank from where it is known as Jamuna.
22. Subernarekha & Brahmani both arise in the Chhotanagpur plateau & lie to the north of Mahanadi. The Baitrani is another stream of this system & its source lies in the Keonjhar plateau.
23. Bharatuzha (or Ponnani) is the longest river of Kerala. Periyar is second largest & Pamba falls into the Vembanad Lake. The penner originates in Karnataka (Kolar) & flows through Andhra Pradesh. The
Vaigai rises in kerala & receives diverted waters of the Periyar & ultimately joins Palk bay.
24. The dendritic pattern is best developed in the Indo Gangetic plains. Narmada flows between vidhyas & Satupura while Tapti lies to the south of Satpura. “Dhuandhar” falls (or marble falls) near Jabalpur on Narmada is famous. Pinnate pattern is found in Narmada & Tapti valleys. Naini Tal, Bhim Tal & Khewan Tal are Lakes of Kumaon. Kolleru lake is located in east Godavari district (A.P.). Loktak lake is in Manipur. Chitrakote falls is located on river Indravati in Bastar.
25. Cauveri is the least seasonal of all the rivers of the peninsular plateau. Karewas are lacustrine deposits of Kashmir. The Cardamom hills are part of Annamalai hills.
26. Lonar lake (Crater lake) is situated in Maharashtra. It is the largest crater in basaltic rock. Adams Bridge, is a narrow ridge of sand, mostly dry, which connects Mannar Island with Pamban Island
C: Climate, Vegetation & Soil
27. Jet Steams are of two types: Westerly jet streams which blow from west to east at a height of 12 km & easterly jet steams which blow from east to west at 13 km above. The tropical easterly jet exists over India during summer & disintegrates during winter.
28. Kalbaisakhi in West Bengal, Bordoichilla in Assam & Mango Showers in Peninsula. Tropical Cyclones occur in India during monsoon period. The average annual rainfall in India is 125 cm & most of it is orographic in nature.
29. Tropic of Cancer passes through Mizoram, Tripura, W. Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh, M.P. Rajasthan & Gujarat. Gulf of Mannar lies on the east coast of Tamil Nadu.
30. Other classifications of the climate of India were given by Subramanyam & Sivaramakrishnaiah
(discomfortable to most comfortable), Kendrew & Stamp (18 C isotherm basis), BLC Johnson.
31. Jowar & Ragi are very popular on red soils.
32. Tropical Deciduous is the most widely distributed vegetation in India. Lakshwadeep has zero percent forest area & Andamans & Nicobar Islands have 87 percent. Mizoram, Arunachal & Nagaland have more than 80 percent forest cover. J & k has around one percent. Maximum Teak & Sal come from the forests of M.P & Chhattisgarh.
33. The term social forestry was first used by National Commission on Agriculture in 1976 & involves
planting trees on farms among other things.
34. Kaziranga National Park, Keoladeo National Park, Nanda Devi Biosphere reserve, Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve are identified as having outstanding universal value.
35. The biosphere reserves of India in order of their establishment from oldest to recent are Nilgiri, Nanda Devi, Nokrek (Meghalaya), Great Nicobar Islands, Gulf of Mannar, Manas, Sunderbans, Simlipal (Orissa), Dibru-Saikhowa (Assam), Dehang-Debang (Arunachal), Pachmarhi, Khangchendzonga, Agasthyamalai
36. Magnetite occurs at Daltonganj in palamau district (Jharkhand).
37. Net sown area is around 46 % of total land in area. In India net sown area is 142 million hectares & total cropped area is 187 million hectares. Ludhiana has highest yields of wheat & west Godavari is most important for rice cultivation in Andhra Pr. Pearl fishing is done at Tuticorin.
38. The contributors to petroleum production are Mumbai (65 %), Gujarat (18 %), Assam (16 %) & Tamil Nadu (1.37 %). Same trend of states is there in case of gas production with a little different %ages.
39. Petroleum Refining is done at Guwahati, Barauni, Koyali, Haldia, Mathura, Digboi, Panipat, Chennai,
Narimanam, Bongaigaon, Mumbai (HPCL, BPCL), Vishakhapatnam, Kochi, Numaligarh (Assam) & Tatipaka (ONGC-Andhra Pr). Tertiary coal is better than Gondwana coal.
40. Jharia coalfield (Dhanbad district, Jharkhand) alone accounts for 35 % of Indian production.
41. Only a few non-metallic minerals are significant in the mining economy. Limestone accounts alone for two-thirds of the total value under the group.
42. Nuclear power plants in India are at Tarapur, Rawatbhata, Kalpakkam, Narora (UP), Kaiga (Karnataka) & Kakarapara (Gujarat). Requirements for these reactors are fulfilled by the Nuclear Fuel complex located at Hyderabad & Heavy water plant at Vadodara. Eight heavy water plants are operational in India at Vadodara, Thal, Nangal, Tuticorin, Kota, Talcher, Hazira, Manuguro. A number of research reactors have been built to carry R&D in this field which include Apsara, Cirus, Zerlina, Purnima (I, II, & III), Dhruva & Kamini.
43. India is fifth in wind energy after Germany, USA, Denmark & Spain. Asia’s largest wind farm is located at Lamba in Gujarat. Tamil Nadu has highest installation of wind turbines.
44. Geothermal energy – Tattapani field (Chhattisgarh), Puga Valley (J & K), Manikaran Area (H.P.)
45. The farourable sites for ocean energy are Gulf of Cambay, Gulf of Kachchh & estuary of Hugli. India’s first tidal power plant is at Kandla. The fist solar energy plant & solar plant both are at Bhuj.
46. Hazira-Bijaipur-Jagdishpur pipeline transports liquid gas from the South Bassein offshore field off
Mumbai to Jagdishpur and Aonla, deep in the mainland in Uttar Pradesh.
47. Cropped area in a year under consideration is known as net sown area. The gross cultivated area includes the net sown area used more than once a year. Cropping intensity is given by total cropped area divided by net sown area.
48. West Bengal produces three crops of rice every year viz Aus, Aaman & Boro. Arabica coffee is grown at an altitude of around 750-1500 metres & Robusta around 300-600 metres.
49. The largest producing state for silk is Karnataka (60%), Andhra Pradesh (17%), Assam & Bihar. The fertilizer consumption is highest for Punjab (185 kg/ha), followed by Tamil Nadu & Andra Pradesh. Orissa has the lowest consumption.
50. Irrigation in India – Wells & Tubewell (56%), Canal (32%), Tank (6%) , Others (6.5%). Uttar Pradesh leads in Canal irrigation as well as Tubewell irrigation. Andhra Pradesh leads in Tank Irrigation. Tamil Nadu has developed highest proportion of its irrigation potential (95%).
51. The fish production in India during 2004-05 was around 6.4 Million Tonnes. Inland fisheries account for around 50 % of the total fish cash. Kerala leads in marine fish catch.
52. India with 18.5 crore cattle and 10 crore buffaloes ranks first in cattle and buffalo population in the world. India accounts for 15 % of world’s cattle & 57% of world’s buffalo population.
53. Mulching (ploughing in of crops), retting (fresh water treatment of Jute) & ratooning (using the same root for crop growth as in sugarcane) are some of the practices of agriculture.
54. Eutrophication is a process where water bodies receive excess nutrients that stimulate excessive plant growth choking weaker species & altering species composition.
55. The scientific name of Teak (Tectona Grandis) & Sal (Shorea Robusta). Sal is used for railway sleepers & Deodar for pencils
56. Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, is an intergovernmental treaty which provides for the conservation and wise use of wetlands
57. During the second five year plan, Iron & Steel plants were set up at Bhilai (Chhattisgarh), Rourkela
(Orisaa), & Durgapur (W. Bengal) & two aluminium plants were established at Hirakud (INDAL) &
Renukoot (Hinalco). During the fourth plan a steel plant was set up at Bokaro (Jharkhand). The
Vishakhapatnam steel project is the first on-shore steel project built during 6th plan. The Bhilai & Bokaro steel plants were built with Russian collaboration & they are the two biggest in that order.
58. M/s Jessops, Kolkata & Bharat Earth Movers Limited, Bangalore also manufacture rail coaches &
electrical multiple units.
59. India imports 40 % of its copper requirement from abroad. Most of the gold in India occurs in the form of veins in Dharwar schists.
60. Currency paper come from Hoshangabad in M.P & defense vehicles from Jabalpur. Cochin shipyard is the largest in India & built with Japanese assistance.
61. The east-west corridor extends from Silcher in Assam to Porbander in Gujarat. Kerala has the highest density of roads & J&K has the least. Goa has the highest density of surfaced roads. Maharasthra is the state with highest road length followed by Tamil Nadu, M.P & U.P.
62. Konkan railway runs from Roha in Maharashtra to Mangalore in Karnataka (760 Km long). It has Asia’s longest rail tunnel. Rail route per unit area is highest in Punjab and least for J&K. Rail route per unit population is highest for Gujarat & lowest for Tripura.
63. Buckingham Canal in Andhra Pradesh & Cumberjua Canal in Goa were once very important. Grand
Anicut canal is in Thanjuvar, Tamil Nadu. India has over two million square km of EEZ. Overall share of Indian Vessels in overseas trade is 32 % only. Maharashtra (53) has the maximum no of minor ports (184 in all), followed by Gujarat (40).
64. The ports are Kandla, Mumbai, Nhava Sheva, Mormugao, Mangalore, Kochi, Tuticorin, Chennai, Ennore (newest), Vishakhapatnam, Paradip, Haldia, Kolkata. Jawaharlal Nehru port has been developed at Nhava Sheva off the Mumbai port. Haldia decongests Kolkata & Ennore (25 Km north of Chennai & newest port) helps Chennai (Artificial shallow port) tackling its cargo. Paradip (Orissa) has the deepest harbour.
65. The New Mangalore port is used to export iron ore from Kudremukh & iron ore from Bailadila
(Chhattisgarh) is exported through Vishakhapatnam port. Marmagao port is situated at the entrance of the estuary of river Zuari in Goa. Dandakarnya is known for iron-ore deposits.
66. Prasar Bharati was created by merging Door-Darshan & All India radio in 1997. Indian postal system is the largest in the world with more than 1.5 lakh post offices. Rajdani channel (yellow boxes) for letters emanating from Delhi for state capitals. Metro Channel (light blue box). QMS was introduced in 1975 & works on the basis of PIN numbers.
67. India’s imports stand at around 36000 crores & exports at 29300 crores. Trade deficit is around 6500 crores. Exports are around 10.7 % of GDP. It is just 0.6 % of world trade. Foreign Debt is around 18% of GDP. It is 8th largest debted country in the world.
68. India produces around 90 million tonnes of milk every year (Buffalo 50%, Cow 46%, Goats 4%). M.P has the largest number of cattle followed by U.P & Bihar & West Bengal.
69. India’s Diesel power stations are located at Naharkatiya (Assam), Barauni (Bihar), Dhuvaran (Gujarat) & Trombay. The first Fertilizer-manufacturing unit was set up in 1906 at Ranipet near Chennai.
70. General Fertility ratio is the number of live births in a year per thousand of women of normal reproductive age group. Replacement or reproduction ratio is the number of female babies born per thousand of female population in the reproductive age group. The infant mortality rate is expressed as the number of deaths of children below one year per thousand of live births. Maternal mortality rate refers to the number of female deaths due to maternity causes per ten thousand of live births.
71. Primary, Secondary & Tertiary sex ratio refers to the sex ratio at conception, Birth & Enumeration
respectively. There is no doubt that more males are born than the females in case of all mammals including humans all over the world.
72. Percentage of Urban population in India is 27.78% & rural 72.22 %. Surat has the distinction of
experiencing the highest growth rate among the 35 metropolitan cities during 1991-2001. Madurai grew
with the slowest pace. Haryana experienced an increase in the population growth rate during the period
1991-2001.
73. Tamil Nadu has the highest urbanization among the top ten populous states.
74. India’s age composition is 0-15 years (36.5%), 15-59 years (56.7%) & above 60 (6.8 %). The dependency ratio is higher in rural areas than urban.
75. The sex ratio of the country is 933. Rural areas have more favourable sex ratio (946) compared to 901 of urban areas. Sex ratio registered sharpest decline during 1961-71.
76. In India the workers are: main workers (30.5 %), Marginal workers (8.7%) & non-workers (60.8%). Proportion of main workers (>183 days employment a year) is lowest in Kerala (26%) & highest in Arunachal Pradesh (38%).
77. Scheduled caste – highest population in U.P followed by West Bengal. Punjab has the highest proportion of scheduled caste. There is no scheduled caste population in Nagaland & Andamans. Among UTs highest SC population is in Delhi. Madhya Pradesh has the highest tribal population followed by Maharashtra & Orissa. Goa (376 people only) has the least ST population. Punjab, Haryana have no ST population. Mizoram (95%) & Lakshadweep (93%) have the highest percentage of tribal population.
78. The scheduled languages arranged in descending order of the number of speakers is Hindi, Bengali,
Teulgu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Oriya, Assamese, Sindhi, Nepali, Konkani, Manipuri, Kashmiri & Sanskrit.
79. North Indian languages including Gujrati, Marathi, Oriya, Bengali, & Assamese belong to Aryan group. Dravidian group includes Tamil, Kannada, Telugu & Malayalam. Austric languages are spoken by tribal groups of Meghalaya, Jharkhand & Western Satpura. Sino Tibetan languages prevalent in North eastern states: Tibeto Himalayan (Bhutia, Kinnauri), Arunachal (Aka, Dafla, Miri & Abor) & Naga-Myanmari (Bodo, Naga & Kuku group).
80. According to 2001 census: Hindu (80.5%), Muslim (13.4%), Christian (2.3%) & Sikh (1.8%). Hindu population proportion is highest in Himachal, Muslim in J&K, Christians in Kerala, Buddhist & Jain in Maharashtra
81. Overall literacy of India is 65.38 %. Male literacy is 75.85 % & Female 54.16 %. Lowest literacy levels are 47.53 % in Bihar to 90.92 % in Kerala. The proportion of children of eligible age group enrolled in primary schools is lowest in Uttar Pradesh & highest in Sikkim. Literacy is 80 % in Urban areas & 60 % in rural areas.
82. Environmental Imact I = PAT (population * Affluence * Harmful technology used in production). Poverty is higher in rural areas.
83. For whole India, the average distance among villages is 2.52 km. Average density of villages is highest in West Bengal, Bihar & U.P in that order. The maximum proportion of no of villages fall in the 500-999 category (25%), followed by 200-499 (24.3%) & less than 200 (18%). However the maximum population percentage is in 2000-5000 (30%) & 1000-2000 (26%).
84. The 35 million cities of India support more around 38 % of the total urban population. Chhattisgarh & Orissa do not have million cities.
85. The proportion of slums population to total population is highest in Meghalaya (41%) & lowest in Kerala (1.8%). Among the million plus cities highest proportion of slum population is in Mumbai & least in Patna. Maharashtra has highest slum population.
86. India grew at a rate of 1.93 % during the period 1991-2001. The population of the country rose by 21.34 % during 1991 - 2001.
87. Human activities are allowed in Sanctuary but not in National parks. Moreover sanctuaries are species specific while National parks are habitat oriented.
88. Badrinath is situated on the banks of river Alaknanda.
89. Rabaris are pastoralists in Gujarat. The highest Christian population is in Nagaland. Largest number of villages is in U.P.
Industries of India
1. Iron & Steel -IISCO has 3 plants at Kulti, Hirapur & Burnpur. Visvesvaraya Iron & Steel Co is located on the bank of Bhadravati river in Karnataka. Hindustan Steel Limited (HSL) at Bhilai, Durgapur & Bokaro.
2. Cotton Textile- 4% of GDP. 3.5 Crore population employed.
3. Sugar Industry
4. Aluminum Industry- HINDALCO (Renukoot), INDAL (Alupuram, Hirakud, Belgaum), Madras
Aluminium Company (MALCO, Mettur), BALCO (Korba), NALCO
(Koraput)
5. Copper Smelting -HCL is the main player & operates Khetri copper complex, Indian copper complex (Ghatsila, Jharkhand), Malanjkhand copper project (Balghat, M.P.), Taloja copper project (Raigad, Maharashtra).
6. Jute Textile -Centers are Titagarh, budge-budge, Haora, Rishra, Serampore, Bhadreshware, Shyamnagar.
7. Silk Textile -Its varieties are Mulberry (88%), Eri (9%), Tassar (2%), Muga (1%)
8. Woolen Textile -Punjab, Maharashtra & U.P account for 75% production. Dhariwal is most important centre. Others are Amritsar, Ludhiana, Kharar.
9. Heavy Industry Heavy Engineering Corp Ltd (Ranchi), Tungabhadra Steel Products Ltd
(Karnataka), Bharat heavy plates & Vessels (Vishakhapatnam)
Mining & allied machinery corporation (Durgapur).
10. Machine Tools- HMT (Bangalore, Pinjore in Haryana, Kalamassery in Kerala, Hyderabad, Ajmer & Sri Nagar), Heavy Machine Tools (Ranchi), Machine Tools Corp of India (Ajmer), National Instruments Factory at Kolkata.
11. Automobiles -TELCO in Mumbai, Ashok Leyland in Chennai, Bajaj Tempo (Pune). Defense vehicles are produced at Jabalpur.
12. Pesticides Hindustan Insecticides Ltd -(Delhi, Kerala & Rasayani, Maharashtra) Hindustan Organic Chemicals Ltd (Rasayani, Raigad & Kochi)
13. Cement Industry -Top manufacturing states are M.P, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pr & Raj. Jamul is largest plant of M.P. & Sawai Madhopur leads in Rajasthan
14. Leather Industry India is 3rd largest player after Italy & U.S.
15. Glass Industry- Bahjoi & Naini (Both in U.P.) are famous for glass sheets & Firozabad bangles . Industries of India
16. Paper Industry -Rajmundhry (Andhra Pr), Ballarpur (Maharshtra), Titagarh (Bengal) Bhadravati, Dandeli (Karnataka), Hoshangabad (M.P)
17. Liquor Industry U.P. has more than 50% installed capacity. Maharashtra, A.P are others.
18. Aircraft industry -Important centres are HAL-Bangalore, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Others are Koraput (Orissa) & Nasik.
19. Railway Equipments - Chittaranjan Locomotive works (Electric engines) – West Bengal
Diesel Locomotive works – Varanasi
Integral Coach Factory – Perambur, Tamil Nadu
Rail Coach Factory – Kapurthala, Punjab.
Diesel Componets Works - Patiala
Railway wheels & Axels - Yalahanka (Banalore) & Durgapur.
20. Ship Building Hindustan Shipyard (Vishakhapatnam), Garden-Reach Shipbuilders (Kolkata), Mazagaon Dock (Mumbai), Goa Shipyard (Vasco).
21. Pharmaceuticals IDPL – Rhishikesh, Hyderabad, Gurgaon, Chennai, Muzzafarpur Hindustan Antibiotics Ltd – Pimpri, Pune – first public sector undertaking in this industry
Mar 28, 2013
India Pipelines
1. Naharkatiya Oilfield in Assam to Barauni refinery in Bihar via Noonmati – First pipeline
2. Barauni-Kanpur pipeline for transport of refined petroleum
3. Haldia-Maurgram-Rajbandh pipeline
4. Ankleshwar oilfield to Koyali refinery in Gujarat
5. Mumbai High Koyali pipeline
6. Hajira-Bijapur-Jagdishpur (HBJ) pipeline (1750 km). Extended from Bijapur to Dadri in U.P.
7. Kandla to Luni in U.P via Delhi for LPG transport (1250 Km)
Indian Railways, Headquarters
1. Nothern Raiway- Delhi
2. Southern Railway -Chennai
3. Eastern Raiway- Kolkata
4. Western Railway -Mumbai (Churchgate)
5. North-Western Railway -Jaipur
6. North-Central Railway- Allahabad
7. North-Eastern Railway -Gorakhpur
8. North-East Frontier Railway- Guwahati
9. East Coast Railway- Bhubaneshwar
10. East Central Railway- Hazipur
11. West Central Railway -Jabalpur
12. Central Railway- Mumbai (V.T)
13. South-Central Railway- Secundarabad
14. South Eastern Railway -Kolkata
15. South-Western Railway -Bangalore
16. South-East Central Railway- Bilaspur
Breeds of Cattle - High Yielding Varieties of Seed
1. Cow - Gir, Sahiwal, Red Sindhi, Deoni (Andhra Pr.), Nagori, Rathi, Siri, Malvi, Tharparkar.
Exotic breeds – Holstein, Friesian, Jersey, Brown Swiss.
2. Buffalo- Murrah, Bhadawari, Nagpuri, Mehsana, Jaffrabadi, Surti, Nali-Ravi.
3. Sheep -Jaisalmeri, Pugal, Bikaneri, Marwari, Kathiawari.
4. Goats -Jamnapuri, Barbari
1. Wheat -Kalyan Sona, Sonalika, Arjun, Lerma, Sharbati Sonora, WL series.
2. Rice -Padma, Jaya, IR-8, Hamsa, Krishna, Cauvery, Annapurna
3. Maize -Ganga-101, Deccan Hybrid
4. Jowar- CSV-1 to CSV-7
5. Ragi -Sharda
6. Cotton -V-797, Hybrid 4,5, Digvijay, Varalaxmi, Sanjay, Deviraj, Virnar.
Types of Crops
Kharif Crops - Rice, Maize, Jowar, Ragi, Bajra, Tur, Moong, Urad, Cotton, Jute, Seasum, Groundnut, Soyabeen,
Rabi Crops - Wheat, Barley, Jowar, Rapeseed, Mustard, Linseed, Lentil, Gram, Peas
Zaid Crops - Sown during march to June. E.g. Water Melon, Melon, Cucumber, Vegetables, Moong, Urad.
Jowar is both a Kharif & Rabi Crop.
1. Black Pepper- Kerala (97 %)
2. Chillies -Andhra Pradesh (37%)
3. Turmeric -Andhra Pradesh (56%)
4. Ginger -Kerala (22), Meghalaya (20%)
5. Cardamom -Karnataka (57%)
6. Arecanut -Karnataka (41%), Kerala (30%)
Spices - Horticultural Crops
1. Mango -UP (32), Bihar (13) Andhra Pradesh. Accounts for 40 percent of all fruits
2. Banana- Maharashtra (28%), Gujarat (10%), Andhra Pradesh. Jalgaon district alone supplies more than 80 % of Maharashtra’s Banana
3. Cashew -Kerala (31%), Maharashtra (18%), Andhra Pradesh (14%). Cashew is a genus of Brazil. Largest foreign exchange earner
4. Orange -Maharashtra, M.P, Karnataka. Genus from China
5. Grapes- Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra. Native plant of Armenia. Grapes are imported in India.
6. Guava- U.P., Bihar. Native plant of Tropical America
7. Apple -J & K, Himachal Pr, Uttaranchal
8. Potato -U.P (35%), West Bengal (33%)
9. Onion- Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh
Oilseeds
1. Ground Nut -Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu
2. Rapeseed & Mustard -Rajasthan (45%), U.P, M.P.
3. Seasum -Gujarat (28 %), W. Bengal
4. Linseed -U.P, Maharashtra
5. Castorseed -Gujarat (82%)
6. Soyabeen- Madhya Pradesh (75%), Maharashtra, Rajasthan
7. Sunflower -Karnataka (47%), Maharashtra (23%), Andhra Pradesh (17%)
8. Coconut- Kerala (45%), Tamil Nadu (28 %)
Thermal Power Projects in India
1. Kothagundam Project -Singareni Coalfields Andhra Pradesh
2. Dhuraran Project- Kheda district Gujarat
3. Satpura Power Station -M.P.
4. Korba Project -Chhattisgarh
5. Talcher Power Station -Talcher Orissa
6. Obra Power Station -Obra U.P.
7. Bhusawal Power Station -Maharashtra
8. Hardauganj Power Station- U.P.
9. Bandel Power Station -West Bengal
10. Chandrapura Power Station -Bihar
11. Kolaghat Power Station West- Bengal
12. Bakreshwar (Birbhum) Station -West Bengal
Multipurpose Projects & Hydro-Electric Projects in India
Damodar Valley Project- Damodar -West Bengal & Jharkhand. It includes Maithon & Tilaiya Dam on Barakar river in Bihar, Konar Dam (Konar river) & Panchet Dam (Damodar).
Rihand Dam -Rihand- Uttar Pradesh
Nagarjunasagar Project -Krishna -Andhra Pradesh. Consists of two canals – Lal Bahadur Canal (Left) & Jawahar canal (Right).
Tungabhadra Project -Tungabhadra -JV of Andhra Pr & Karnataka.
Gandak Project- Gandak -JV between UP, Bihar & Nepal
Kosi Project- Kosi -JV of Bihar & Nepal
Beas Project- Beas -Includes Pong Dam
Mayurkashi Project -Mayurkashi -Mayurkashi is a tributary of Hugli.
Indira Gandhi Canal- It consists of Rajastan Feeder Canal (taking off from Harike Barrage, 204 km long, fully lined masonry canal) & Rajasthan main canal (445 Km)
Narmada Valley Project- Involves Sardar Sarovar dam in Gujarat & Narmada sagar (or Indira Sagar) dam in M.P.
Pochampad Project -Godavari- Andhra Pradesh.
Tehri Dam -Bhagirathi -Uttaranchal. Implemented with Soviet Aid. Highest rock fall dam in the country.
Parambikulam Project -JV between Tamil Nadu & Kerala.
Mata Tella Dam -Betwa -Near Jhansi in U.P.
Kangsbati Project -West Bengal
Rajasthan Canal Project -Sutlej, Beas -JV of Punjab & Rajastan. Ravi water is also used.
Kadana Project- Mahi- Gujarat
Tata Hydroelectric Scheme- Indravati -Maharashtra. Called Bhivpuri dam.
Koyna Hydroelectic Dam- Koyna -Maharashtra
Sivasamudram -Cauvery Falls- Karnataka
Pykara Hydro Elec Project- Pykara -Tamil Nadu (along Nilgiris)
Mettur Project- Cauvery -Tamil Nadu
Papansam Scheme -Tambraparni- Tamil Nadu
Sabargiri Hydel Project -Pampa- Kerala
Idukki Project -Periyar -Kerala
Sholayar Project -Sholayar- Kerala. JV between Kerala & Tamil Nadu
Machkund Power Project -Machkund -Orissa. JV between A.P & Orissa
Srisailam Power Project- Krishna -Andhra Pradesh
Balimela Hydro Project- Sileru river -JV between A.P & Orissa
Umiam Project- Umiam- Meghalaya
Salal Hydro Project -Chenab -J & K
Thein Dam Project- Ravi -Punjab
Banasagar Project- Son- JV between MP, UP & Bihar
Jayakwadi Project- Godavari- Maharashtra
Kakrapara Project- Tapi- Gujarat
Mahi Project- Mahi -Gujarat
Malprabha Project- Malprabha- Karnataka
Pallivasal project- Mudirapujha- Kerala
Poochampad- Godavari- Andhra Pradesh
Rajghat Dam Project -Betwa
Sarda Sahayak- Ghagara- Uttar Pradesh
Hansdev Bango Project- Hansdev -M.P.
Tawa Project -Tawa- M.P. Tawa is tributary of Narmada
Ukai Project -Tapi -Gujarat
Purna Project- Purna -Maharashtra
Rana Pratap Sagar- Chambal- Rajasthan (Rawatbhata)
Jawahar Sagar Dam- Chambal -Rajasthan (Kota)
Gandhi Sagar Dam- Chambal -Churasigarh Fort at MP-Rajasthan border
Chibro -Tons -Uttar Pradesh
Dool Hasti- Chenab- J & K.
Nathpa Jhakri- Satluj- Himachal Pr. Biggest hydel power project in India
Panchet Dam -Damodar -West Bengal
Airways-International Airports
1. Mumbai -Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (Sahar)
2. Delhi- Indira Gandhi International Airport
3. Chennai -Anna International Airport (Meenambakam)
4. Kolkata- Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport
5. Ahmedabad -Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel International Airport
6. Amritsar- Raja Sansi Airport
7. Bangalore International Airport
8. Goa -Dabolim International Airport
9. Guwahati- Lokapriya Gopinat Bardoli International Airport
10. Hyderabad- Rajiv Gandhi International Airport
11. Thiruvananthapuram -Trivandrum International Airport
12. Kochi -Nedumbassery International Airport.
Mar 27, 2013
Energy Resources of India
Coal
Jharkhand -Jharia, Bokaro, Giridh, karanpura, Ramgarh, Daltonganj, Aurangabad, Hutar, Deogarh, Rajmahal
Orissa -Talcher, Rampur
M.P (Former)- Central Indian Coalfields -Singrauli, Sohagpur, Johilla, Umaria Satupura Coalfields - Pench, Kanhan, Pathkhera North Chhattisgarh - Chirmiri-Kaurasia, Bisrampur, Jhillmili, Sonhat, Lakhanpur, Sendurgarh, lakhanpur-Ramkola South Chhattisgarh-Hasdo-Arand, Korba, Mand-Raigarh
West Bengal- Raniganj, Darjeeling
Andhra Pr.- Singareni, Kothgundam, Tandur
Maharashtra -Chanda-Wardha, Kamptee, Bander
Tertiary coal
Meghalaya -Daranggiri, Cherpunji, Laitryngew, Mawlong, Langrin, Pendengru, Longoi, Waimong
Assam -Makum, Jaipur, Nazira
Arunachal Pr -Namchuk-Namphuk
J & K -Kalakot, Mohogala, Metka
Rajasthan- Palana (lignite) & Khari
Petroleum
North-East -Digboi, Naharkatiya, Moran, Rudrasagar, Galeki, Hugrijan, Nigru, Borholla
Gujarat -Ankeleshwar, Kalol, Nawagam, Kosamba, Kathana, Barkol,Mehsana, Sanand, Lunej, Aliabet island
Mumbai High- Bombay high, Bassein
East Coast- Narimanam, Kovillapal, Amlapur, Rawa
Other -Jaiselmer, Jwalamukhi Area (Punjab)
Natural Gas
Mumbai- Bombay high, Bassein
Gujarat -Jagatia, Gogha
Assam- Nahorkatiya & Moran
Tamil Nadu- Neypaltur, Mangamadam, Avadi, Virugambakam
Tripura -Baranura, Atharnure
Rajasthan- Barmer, Charaswala
Arunachal Pr -Non Chick, Mia-Pung, Laptan pung
Himachal Pr -Jwalamukhi, Kangra
West Bengal -Medinipur
Uranium
Jaduguda (Jharkhand), Bhatin, Narwapahar under Uranium Corportation in India are the only mines worked at present
Thorium
Beach Sands (Kerala), Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pr, Orissa
Mineral Resources of India
Iron Ore
Chhattisgarh 24 % Dalli, Rajhra (Durg), Bailadila, Raoghat, Aridongri
Goa (21%) Sanquelim, Sanguem, Quepem, Satari, Ponda, Bicholim
Karnataka (20%) Bellary, Hospet, Sandur
Jharkhand (17 %) Noamund, Gua
Orissa (15 %) Gurumahisani, Sulaipat, Badampahar (Mayurbhanj),
Kiriburu, Meghahataburu, Bonai (Sundargarh).
Maharashtra Chandrapur, Ratnagiri, Bhandara
Andhra Pr. Karimnagar, Warangal, Kurnod, Cuddapah, Anantpur district
Tamil Nadu Tirthmalai, Yadapalli, Killimalai, kanjamalai, & Gondumalai
Copper
M. P (46%) Balghat (Malanjkhand)
Rajasthan (33%) Khetri (Jhunjhunu & Alwar)
Jharkhand (21%) Singhbum
Manganese Karnataka (38%) Bellary, North Kanara, Shimoga
Orissa (17%) Kendujhar, Sundargarh, Koraput, Kalahandi, Bolangir
M.P. (10 %) Balghat
Maharashtra (8%) Nagpur & Bhandara
Bauxite
Orissa (44 %) Koraput, Kalahandi, Sundargarh
Jharkhand (18 %) Gumla, Lohardaga, Ranchi, Palamau
Maharashtra (13%) Kolhapur, Ratnagir
Chhattisgarh (11%) Bastar, Bilaspur, Surguja district
M.P. (11 %) Mandla, Satna, Jabalpur, Shahdol
Gujarat (8 %) Jamnagar, Kachchh, Junagarh
Tamil Nadu (4 %) Salem, Nilgiri
Chromite
Orissa (97 %) Sukinda, Kendujhar, Dhenkanal ditricts
Karnataka (2.3 %) Hassan
Maharashtra (%) Chandrapur
Jharkhand (%) Purbi & Paschmi Singhbum district
Andhra Pr (%) Khammam
Lead
Rajasthan (80 %) Zawar region (Udaipur), Dariba, Rajura
Orissa (11%)
Andhra Pr (8 %)
Zinc
Rajasthan (99 %) Zawar –a. Pipli khan to Barla khan b. Mochia, Magra, Balaria
Sikkim
Gold
Karnataka (67 %) Kolar, Hutti gold fields (Raichur), Gulbarga
Jharkhand (26 %) Subarnarekha, Sona, Sanjai, South koel, Garra rivers
Andhra Pr (7 %) Ramgiri Gold Fields (Anantapur district)
Silver
Andhra Pr (42 %)
Bihar Jharkhand32
Rajashtan (25 %) Zawar
Karnataka
Nickel
Orissa Cuttack, Kyonjhar, & Maiyurbhanj
Non Metallic Minerals
Limestone -M.P, Chattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan
Dolomite -Orissa (Birmitrapur in Sundergarh District-largest in India), M.P & Chattisgarh
Phosphate -Rajasthan (Udaipur) Uttaranchal (Dehradun), M.P. (Jhabua), U.P. (Lalitpur)
Kaolin -Kerala is largest producer.
Mica -Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand (Kodarma-Large) & Rajasthan
Gypsum -Rajasthan & J & K.
Steatite- Rajasthan. It is also called soapstone/ Potstone.
Magnesite -Tamil Nadu
Pyrite- Bihar is sole producer
Graphite- Orissa, Rajasthan
Diamond -M.P. (Panna)
Beryllium -Rajathan, Jharkhand
Salt (NaCl)- Gujarat (60%), Tamil Nadu & Maharashtra
Marble- Rajasthan
Zircon -Beach Sand of Kerala
Kyanite -Singhbum distict in Jharkhand-largest. Used as refractory material
Antimony- Punjab
Asbestos -Karnataka & Rajasthan
Beryllium -Rajasthan
Sulphur -Tamil Nadu
Tin- Bihar, Jharkhand
Soils & Their Properties
1. Alluvial Soils - Most fertile, Sandy loam in texture, Rich in Potash, Phosphoric Acid, Lime & Organic matter Deficient in Nitrogen & Humus
2. Regur/Black Soils - Also classified as Chernozem. Clay content 50% Rich in iron, lime & Aluminium Poor in Nitrogen, Phosphorus & organic content
3. Red & Yellow Soils - Known as omnibus group. Rich in oxides of iron Poor in Nitrogen, Phosphorus & Humus
4. Laterite Soils - Not very fertile. Typical of tropical region with heavy rainfall Rich in iron oxide & potash Poor in nitrogen, phosphate & calcium
5. Arid Soils - Rich in phosphate Poor in Nitrogen & humus
6. Saline Soils - Known as Usara, Reh or Kallar Contain a large proportion of Sodium, Potassium & Magnesium Poor in Nitrogen & Calcium
7. Peaty & Organic - Normally heavy & black in colour. Highly acidic. Rich in organic matter Poor in phosphate & potash
8. Forest Soils - Acidic with low humus content Poor in potash, phosphorus & lime.
National Parks of India
1. Wandur National Park- Andaman & Nicobar
2. Kaziranga National Park -Assam
3. Manas National Park- Assam
4. Palamau National Park- Jharkhand
5. Hazaribagh National Park -Jharkhand (Rhinoceros)
6. Dachigam National Park- J & K – Kashmir Stag (Hangul)
7. Hemis National Park -J & K
8. Kishtwar National Park -J & K
9. Silent Valley National Park -Kerala
10. Eravikulam National Park -Kerala
11. Bandhavgarh National Park- M.P.
12. Kanha National Park- M.P.
13. Madhav National Park- M.P.
14. Pench National Park- M.P.
15. Shivpuri National Park -M.P. - Birds
16. Indravati National Park- Chhattisgarh
17. Keoladeo National Park -Rajasthan
18. Ranthambore National Park -Rajasthan
19. Desert National Park -Rajasthan
20. Sariska National Park- Rajasthan
21. Namdapha National Park -Arunachal Pradesh
22. Marine National Park- Gujarat
23. Pin Valley National Park -Himachal Pradesh
24. Bandipur National Park- Karnataka
25. Nagarhole National Park -Karnataka
26. Bannerghatta National Park -Karnataka
27. Tadoba National Park- Maharashtra
28. Boriveli National Park- Maharashtra (or Sanjay Gandhi National Park)
29. Balpakram National Park -Meghalaya
30. Nokrek National Park- Meghalaya
31. Nandan Kanan National Park- Orissa
32. Chandka Elephant Reserve- Orissa
33. Simlipal Tiger Reserve- Orissa
34. Corbett National Park -Uttaranchal
35. Rajaji National Park- Uttaranchal
36. Valley of Flower N. Park -Uttaranchal
37. Nandadevi National Park -Uttaranchal
38. Dudhwa National Park- U.P.
39. Govind National Park- U.P.
Wildlife Sanctuaries of India
1. Pakhal Wildlife Sanctuary -Andhra Pradesh
2. Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary -Tamil Nadu
3. Srisailam Wildlife Sanctuary -Andhra Pradesh
4. Garampani Wildlife Sanctuary- Assam
5. Kaimur wildlife Sanctuary -Bihar (largest)
6. Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary -Karnataka
7. Periyar Wildlife sanctuary- Kerala
8. National Chambal Wildlife Sanctuary -M.P., U.P & Rajasthan
9. Great Indian Bustard Sanctuary- Maharashtra (Ahmednagar)
10. Gomardha Wildlife Sanctuary- Chhattisgarh
11. Harike Headworks- Punjab
12. Jaldapara Wildlife sanctuary- West Bengal
13. Sultanpur Bird Sanctuary- Haryana
14. Raganathittu Wildlife Sanctuary -Karnataka
15. Madumalai Sanctuary -Tamil Nadu
16. Pulicat Sanctuary -Andhra Pradesh
17. Chandraprabha Wildlife Sanctuary- U.P (Varanasi)
18. Ranganthitoo Bird Sanctury -Karnataka
19. Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary -Tamil Nadu
Various Central Institutes in India
1. Wildlife Institute of India- Dehradun
2. Salim Ali centre for Ornithology & Natural History -Coimbatore
3. Central Sheep Breeding Farm- Haryana
4. Central Tobacco Research Institute -Rajamundhry, A.P.
5. National Ship Design & Research Centre -Vishakhapatnam
6. Civil Aviation Training College -Hyderabad
7. National Institute of Aviation Management & Research- Delhi
8. Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udan Academy- Fursatgunj (U.P.)
9. National Remote Sensing Agency -Hyderabad
10. Postal Staff College of India -Ghaziabad
11. Central Poultry Training Institute- Hessarghatta, Karnataka
12. Central Institute of Coastal Engineering for fisheries- Bangalore.
13. Central Institute of Fisheries education- Mumbai
14. Lal Bahadur shastri college of advanced maritime studies & research -Mumbai
15. Hindustan Photo films- Ooty.
16. Survey of India- Dehradun
Rivers: Origin & Length
River - Kms - Origin - Characteristics
1. Indus- 2900 -Mansarovar -Shyok, Dras, Gartang, Nubra, Hunza, Zanskar, Shigar. Kabul, Kurram, Tochi, Viboa, Sangar.
2. Jhelum -400- Verinag -Flows through Wular lake & along Indo Pak border.
3. Chenab -1180- Bara-Lacha -Largest Indus tributary. Formed by Chandra & Bhaga.
4. Ravi -725 -Rohtang Pass -Flows through Chamba valley.
5. Beas -470 -Beas Kund -Flows through Kullu valley & joins Satluj near Harike
6. Sutlej -1050 -Rakas Lake -Passes through Ship kila. Govind Sagar lake at Bhakra
7. Ganga -2525 Gangotri -Bhagirathi meets Alaknanda at Devprayag. It splits into Bhagirathi-Hugli & Padma below Farrakha in Malda distt.
8. Yamuna -1300 Yamunotri -Tons, Giri, Asan, Hindan, Rind, Sengar, Enters Ganga plain at Paonta Sahib.
9. Chambal- 960 -Mhow -Gandhisagar dam at Kota. Banas (left), Kali & Sind (right)
10. Gandak- Everest & Dhulagiri -Joins Ganga at Sonpur near Patna
11. Kosi -730- Everest & Kanchenjunga- Its main stream is Arun. Joined by Sun kosi from the west & Tamur Kosi from the east
12. Ramganga- 600- Kumaon Hills Joins Ganga near Kanauj
13. Sarda (Saryu) -Milam Glacier -Along Indo Nepal border it is called Kali. Joins Ghaghara.
14. Mahananda -Darjeeliing Hills- It is the last left bank tributary of the Ganga
15. Son- Amarkantak -Joins Ganga at Patna
16. Damodar -540 -Barakar is main tributary. Joins Hugli
17. Ghaghara -1180 -Mapchachungo glacier -Meets Ganga at Chapra.
18. Gomti -Pilibhit Distt -Lucknow situated on its bank. Kathna & Sarayan tributaries.
19. Brahmaputra -2900 -Near Mansarovar- Receives Dibang & Lohit on left bank & then known as Brahmaputra. Burhi Dihing, Dhansari & Kalang (left) & Subansari, Kamang, Manas & Sankosh.
20. Tista- Chitamu lake (Tibet)- Forms Sivok Gola Pass in Darjeeling.
21. Surma -900 -Meghna is the name of Brahmaputra after its confluence with Surma. Surma is distributary of river Barak.
22. Mahanadi -850 -Sihawa (near Raipur)- Tel, Ib, Seonath, Hasdeo, Mand, Jonking
23. Godavari- 1465- Nashik- Penganga, Wardha, Wainganga, Sabari, Idravati, Manjra & Pranhita.
24. Krishna- 1400 -Mahabaleshwar- Koyna, Yerla, Verna, Panchganga, Dudhgana, Musi, Tungabhadra, Bhima
25. Cauveri -800- Brahmagiri Hills (Coorg) -Amravati, Hemavati, Akravati, Herangi, Shimsa, Lakshmantirtha, Lokpavani, Kabbani.
26. Narmada -1300- Amarkantak- Burhner, Banjar, Shar, Shakkar, Dudhi, Tawa, Hiran, Baran
27. Tapti -724- Betul Distt -Parna, Veghar, Girna, Bori, Panhara, Betul
28. Sabarmati -320- Mewar Hills
29. Brahmani -800 -Formed by confluence of Koel & Sankh. Baitrani joins later
30. Subarnarekha -400 -S-W of Ranchi
31. Luni -320- Arawallis Ends in Sahni marshes.- Sarsuti, Bundi, Sukri joins it
Various Revolutions in Indian Economy
1. Yellow Revolution- Oil Seeds
2. White Revolution- Milk
3. Blue Revolution -Fish
4. Pink Revolution -Shrimp
5. Brown Revolution -Masaaley
6. Grey Revolution -Wool
7. Golden Revolution -Horticulture
8. Silver Revolution - Egg
Forests & Their Species
1. Tropical Evergreen -Teak, Rosewood, Ebony, Ironwood, Bamboo, Canes, Champa, Sal, Mahua, Sandal & Sheesham
2. Tropical Dry Evergreen- Khirni, Jamun, Khokko, Ritha, Tamarind, Neem, Toddy Palm, Cane.
3. Tropical Dry Deciduous -Teak, Tendu, Sal, Amaltas, Palas, Rose-wood, Axlewood, Bijsal, Khair, Satinwood, Ghant, Pepal & Semal
4. Swamp Forests- Sundari tree, Nipa Friticans (a Palm), Epiphytes.
5. Himalaya Temperate- Oak, Deodar, Celtis, Maple, Chestnut.
6. Alpine -Rhododendron, Birch, Fir, Spruce, Plum
Tribal Groups of India
1. Gonds- Largest tribe found in M.P., Jharkhand, A.P., Orissa & Maharashtra.
2. Bhils -M.P, Gujarat, Rajasthan, A.P., Karnataka, Tripura
3. Santhals- West Bengal, Bihar-Jharkhand & Orissa
4. Minas- Rajasthan & MP. Account for 50% tribal population of Rajasthan
5. Oraons- Bihar-Jharkhand, M.P.-Chattisgarh, Orissa, West Bengal & Maharashtra. Speak Kurukh Language
6. Mundas -Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Orissa, West Bengal & Tripura
7. Khonds -Orissa is mainland. Also found in Bihar, AP, MP, West Bengal.
8. Tharu -Uttaranchal & MP
9. Chenchu- Andhra Pradesh
10. Todas -Nilgiri Hills. Classic example of polyandry.
11. Lahaula -Himachal Pradesh
12. Adivasis- Bastar district, Chattisgarh
13. Badagas- Nilgiri region, Tamil Nadu
14. Baiga- M.P.
15. Bakkarwals -J & K
16. Bhotias- Uttaranchal, Sikkim & West Bengal
17. Bhuia -M.P.
18. Birhors -M.P., Chattisgarh, Jharkhand & Orissa
19. Gaddis -Himachal Pradesh
20. Gujjars -J&K & Himachal Pradesh
21. Irula -Tamil Nadu
22. Kanikar -Tamil Nadu
23. Katkari- M.P.
24. Kharia -M.P.
25. Khasa -Jaunsar region, Uttaranchal
26. Lahualas- Lahual region, Himachal Pradesh
27. Moplahs- Muslims of Malabar district, Kerala
28. Sabra -M.P.
29. Kol- M.P. & Maharashtra
30. Kolam -Andhra Pradesh
31. Kotas -Nilgiri Hills
32. Murias -Bastar District, Chattisgarh
33. Uralis -Kerala
34. Varlis -Maharashtra, Gujarat, Dadra & Nagar Haveli
35. Yurva -Tamil Nadu
36. Khasis -Meghalaya & Tripura
37. Mikirs- Assam
38. Kukis -Manipur, Assam, Nagaland & Tripura
39. Angami -Nagaland
40. Ao- Nagaland
41. Apatani- Arunachal Pradesh
42. Chutra- Assam
43. Garos- Meghalaya & Assam
44. Jaintia -Meghalaya & Assam
45. Sema -Nagaland
46. Lushai -Mizoram & Tripura
47. Lepchas -Original Tribals of Sikkim
48. Abors- Arunachal Pradesh
49. Chakma- Tripura
50. Chang- A Naga tribe
51. Gallong -Tribe of Arunachal Pradesh
52. Jarawas -Andaman & Nicobar. Negrito
53. Onges -Andaman & Nicobar. Negritos racial stock.
54. Shompens -Andaman & Nicobar. Belong to mongoloid stock like nicobarese & inhabit Great Nicobar.
55. Sentinelese -Andaman & Nicobar. Inhabit sentinel island. Negrito
Analysis of Rocks
1. Cuestas or Homoclinal Ridge, physical feature that has a steep cliff or escarpment on one side and a
gentle dip or back slope on the other. This landform occurs in areas of tilted strata and is caused by the
differential weathering and erosion of the hard capping layer and the soft underlying cliff maker, which
erodes more rapidly. Cuestas with dip slopes of 40°–45° are usually called hogback ridges. A mesa is an elevated area of land with a flat top and sides that are usually steep cliffs.
2. A sandur (plural sandar) is a plain formed by meltwater from glaciers. Sandar are usually wider than their length, and consist of soft sediments, which are criss-crossed by braided streams of meltwater.
3. Regolith is a layer of loose, heterogeneous material covering solid rock. Peridotite, igneous rock
composed of pyroxene, olivine, and hornblende. It is the rock that makes up the earth's mantle. Very
sudden cooling of volcanic magma results in formation of volcanic glass called obsidian. The extrusive
equivalent of granite is rhyolite & gabbro is the intrusive equivalent of basalt.
4. Entrenched & intrenched meanders are one & the same & it is ingrown meanders which grow on
assymetric valley.
5. Tephra & pyroclastic material are the same & refer collectively to volcanic materials.
6. A glacier with a negative budget is a receding glacier & that with positive budget is advancing.
7. Rectangular inselbergs are called koppie or kopje.
8. Gloup is a blow hole, where a chimney has developed behind the cliff face, often above a cave, and spray is blasted out during high seas.
9. In a braided stream, the main channel divides into a number of smaller, interlocking or braided channels. Streams with high sediment loads that encounter a sudden reduction in flow velocity generally have a braided channel type.
10. Rise of land or fall of sea level is called negative movement & is connected with rejuvenation.
11. Jura mountains were formed during Mesozoic period.
12. Researchers now recognize five glaciations in the Quaternary period: Donau, Gunz, Mindel, Riss and Wurm (in that order from old to new). Their names derive from water courses in the North Slope of the Alps. These glaciations are included in the first period of the Quaternary: the Pleistocene. The second period of the Quaternary, the Holocene, starts at the end of the last glaciation (Wurm), about 10 thousand years ago. Mindel falls under middle Pleistocene.
13. Solifluction is the slow downslope flow of soil and sediment that is saturated with water
14. Both P waves & S waves (shear, transverse) are collectively called body waves. While Surface waves include Rayleigh waves (vertical and longitudinal) & Love waves (transverse horizontal).
15. A strike slip fault is also known as wrench fault. The scientific study of rivers is called Potamology. Colluvium is the loose deposits of rock, usually located at the foot of a slope or cliff, having been brought there under the influence of gravity (mass wasting). Talus includes angular fragments of rock below cliffs and steep slopes. Colluvium includes slope wash.
16. Evidences of earliest known life have been found to archaeozoic period.
17. Victoria fall is due to faulting. Livingstone fall is at the edge of a plateau. Yosemite fall is a hanging
valley & Niagara fall is due to alternate bands of resistant & soft rocks.
18. Reg is a surface covering of coarse gravel, pebbles from which all sand and dust have been removed by wind and water.
19. Billow clouds are created when different layers of wind flow at different velocities resulting in unstable turbulence between the layers. The common name for this instability is Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. Billow clouds provide a visible signal to pilots of potentially dangerous turbulence.
Biogeography
1. Field capacity refers to 50 % water & 50 % air. Leaching produces increasingly acidic & mineral deficient soil. Laterization (now called Ferralization) occurs in humid tropics where heavy rain & uninterrupted warmth give rise to a deeply weathered layer. Melanization refers to darkening of soil profile while Leuciniation refers to lightening of the colour both in A horizon. Induration refers to hardening of soil & Audification refers to the accumulation of H ions mainly in surface horizons.
2. The surface horizon is usually referred to as the O layer; it consists of loose organic matter such as fallen leaves and other biomass. O horizon is further divided into 3 sub horizons. The layer of plant material on the soil surface is classified as: the L horizon (fresh litter); the F horizon (decomposing litter); the H horizon (well decomposed litter)
3. Below that is the A horizon, containing a mixture of inorganic mineral materials and organic matter.
Next is the E horizon, a layer from which clay, iron, and aluminum oxides have been lost by a process
known as leaching (when water carries materials in solution down from one soil level to another). Removal of materials in this manner is known as eluviation, the process that gives the E horizon its name. Below E horizon is the B horizon, in which most of the iron, clays, and other leached materials have accumulated. The influx of such materials is called illuviation. Under that layer is the C horizon, consisting of partially weather bedrock, and last, the R horizon of hard bedrock. Hence the horizons are
L, F, H, A, E, B, C & R from top to bottom.
4. Aridisols (23 %), Inceptisols (16 %), Alfisols (13.5 %) & Entisols (11 %) – Coverage.
5. Epiphytes are abundant in tropical rainforest (Selva) which have little undergrowth.
6. Gross primary productivity less that is used in respiration is net primary productivity. Only 1 % of the sun’s energy reaching the earth is used by plants through photosynthesis. The mean productivity
of the world is around 300 gm/sq.m/year.
7. 15 lakh species of animals & 2.5 lakh plant species on earth. Out of which 75 thousand animal & 15
thousand plant species are found in India.
8. The most commonly used Freon is Freon-12, or dichlorodifluoromethane (CCl2F2). Freon-11 is
Trichlorofluoromethane (CCl3F).
9. Solonchak soils are defined by high soluble salt accumulation & formed from saline parent material under conditions of high evaporation. Pedocals are soils of arid regions and are characterized by calcite (CaCO3) cementation due to upward movement of water (evaporation). Pedalfers are soils of humid regions and are characterized by highly leached clays due to downward movement of water. Extreme pedalfers are called laterites.
10. Ferrous group includes iron, chromite, manganese, & nickel. Non-Ferrous group has copper, lead, zinc, tungsten, aluminium, vanadium etc.
11. The largest number of sheeps & goats are both in China.
12. Coal, Petroleum & electricity are respectively known as black, liquid & white gold.
13. Czechoslovakia separated into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Yugoslavia was created by joining
various regions (Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro), and then
split again
14. Intercropping refers to the growing of more than one crop on the same field while mixed cropping refers to the growing of a variety of crops on different fields.
15. Weir canal connects Lake Erie & Ontario. Worldwide jet stream that occurs in winter is the sub-tropical jet stream.
16. Port Said lies towards the red sea side on Suez Canal. Purus, Sao Francisco & Madeira are all large rivers of Brazil.
17. Oder Niesse line is the boundary between Poland & Germany. 38th Parallel between North & South Korea. 49th Parallel between USA & Canada. Maginot line between France & Germany.
18. Micronesia includes the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, Guam, the Republic of Palau, the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, and the Federated States of Micronesia. Micronesia lies to the north of Melanesia & to the North-West of Polynesia.
19. Melanesia’s westernmost island is New Guinea. Stretching east and south of New Guinea are the countries of Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, the French territory of New Caledonia and Dependencies, and the nation of Fiji Islands (commonly known as Fiji).
20. Polynesia consists of American Samoa, the Cook Islands, Easter Island, French Polynesia, Hawaii, New Zealand, Niue, the Pitcairn Islands, Samoa (formerly Western Samoa), Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, and the Wallis and Futuna Islands.
21. Apiculture refers to rearing of honey bees. Silviculture refers to growing & tending of trees as a branch of forestry. Connate water (also called fossil water) refers to water trapped in the interstices of rocks during their formation. Phenology is the study of seasonal changes upon animal & plant life.
22. Hall Herault process is used in the extraction of Aluminium from its ore.
23. South China sea is the largest sea.
Oceanography:
1. The Peru-Chile trench is the longest in the world. The only difference between ridge & rises is that ridges are steep sided while rises are gently sloped.
2. Juan de Fuca Strait, is the arm of the Pacific Ocean between Washington & Vancouver.
3. Thermocline is the transition layer between the mixed layer at the surface and the deep water. The various salts in the sea in order of decreasing quantity are NaCl, MgCl, MgSO4, CaSO4.
4. Danube, Dneiper, & Dneister all fall into black sea reducing it salinity.
5. Water moves from areas over which there is a low pressure to areas over which there is a high pressure.
6. The pelagic zone includes those waters further from the land, basically the open ocean. It is divided into neritic zone (having a depth of 200metres) & the oceanic province (separated from the neritic province by the edge of the continental shelf). The benthic zone refers to the sea bottom itself & is divided into littoral zone & deep sea zone. The two zones have their frontier at a depth of 200 meters. Benthos (plants such as kelp, sponges) are organisms that live on the ocean floor while nektons are swimming animals such as fishes & whales.
7. The east pacific rise is known as albatross plateau extending from north of New Zealand to the Californian coast.
8. Oozes are pelagic deposit in the form of liquid mud. There are divided on the basis of content into
calcareous ooze (lime) & siliceous ooze (silica). Calcareous ooze is further divided into pteropod ooze & globigerina (most widespread) ooze. Siliceous ooze is divided into radiolarian (formed of shells of
foraminifera) & diatom ooze.
9. Red clay is the most widely spread pelagic deposit & consists mainly of hydrated silicate of Aluminium & oxides of iron. Neritic deposits consists of dead shells of plants & animals.
10. Atlantic Ocean: The warm North Atlantic Drift (NAD) gives rise to the Irminger Current south of Iceland which travels along western and northwestern coasts of Iceland until it meets East Greenland Current. Another branch of NAD flows along Norway coast forming Norwegian current. Falkland current brings the cold waters of the Antarctic sea northward up to Argentina.
11. Pacific Ocean :Kuroshio (or Kuro Siwo) Current of Pacific is similar to the gulf stream of Atlantic. One branch separates from Kuroshio current & enters the sea of Japan as Tsushima current. The Cold Oyashio (or Oya Siwo) Current (similar to Labrador current) is also known as Kurile current & it flows through the Bering Strait in a southerly direction. The cold Okhotsk current flows past Sakhalin to merge with Oya Siwo current near Hokkaido Island & later mergers with the warm Kuro Siwo current producing dense fogs. The north pacific drift continues later as Aleutian current which divides into two parts – the northern branch becomes Alaska current while the southern branch becomes California cold current (similar to Canary cold current of Atlantic). Cromwell current also called pacific equatorial undercurrent is a submarine river & flows towards east. Mindanao current is a southward flowing boundary current along the Philippine coast.
12. Indian Ocean: One branch of the south equatorial current moves southward through the Mozambique Channel to form the Mozambique Current. This current joins the Agulhas Current & moves to the southern tip of Africa. During the northeast monsoon season the Somali Current flows southward & During the southwest monsoon the current develops into an intense northward jet
13. La Nina is opposite of El Nino & intensifies the Humboldt Current. El Nino causes drought conditions in India, Southern Africa, Australia & heavy rains in Chile, Colorado. The El Nino events of 1982 & 1997 were severe. The Southern Oscillation, a more recent discovery, refers to an oscillation in the surface pressure (atmospheric mass) between the southeastern tropical Pacific and the Australian-Indonesian regions
14. Tahiti is the largest and most important of the Society Islands, in the southern Pacific Ocean. The chief town on the island is Papeete which is also the capital of French Polynesia.
15. In gravity waves (large waves) the restoring force is gravity while in capillary waves (ripples caused by winds) the restoring force is surface tension. Swell refers to long crested waves with longer periods which have traveled out of their source areas. Surf refers to a belt of nearly continuously breaking waves. Internal waves are caused due to density differences. Seiches are standing waves (e.g. Lake Geneva).
Climatology
1. ‘Mother of pearl’ or ‘nacreous’ clouds are found in stratosphere. Noctiluent clouds are found in Mesosphere.
Division of Ionosphere (60-640 Km)
1. D layer- 60-. Km -Reflects signals of low frequency radio waves only. Disappears with sunset.
2. E layer -99-130 km- Called Kenley- Heaviside layer. Reflects medium & high frequency radio waves. Produced by ultraviolet photons reacting with nitrogen. Disappears with sunset.
3. Sporadic E Layer -110 km- Associated with very high velocity winds & created under special circumstances. Reflects VHF waves
4. E2 layer- 150 km- Produced by reaction of UV photons with O2. Disappears with night.
5. F Layer -1550-380 km- Consists of F1 & F2 layers collectively called Appleton layer. Reflects medium & high frequency radio waves.
6. G layer 400 km & above Persists day & night but not detectable as F layer reflects all the waves reflected by this layer. Interaction of UV photon with nitrogen produces free electrons here.
2. The auroras are maximum when the sun is very active. Hence they are opposite of sun spot cycle. Inside the magnetosphere are the Van Allen radiation belts concentrated in two bands at about 3000 km & 16000 km.
3. According to Wein’s displacement law, hotter the object smaller the wavelength. According to
Stefan Boltzman law influx of radiation is proportional to the fourth power of absolute temperature
of the radiating body.
4. Heat Budget: Out of the 100 units of incoming solar radiation, 35 units (27-clouds, 2-snow, 6 atmosphere top) are reflected back as albedo. Out of the remaining 65 units, 14 units are absorbed by atmosphere & 51 units by earth surface. The earth radiates back 17 units directly into space & remaining 34 units are absorbed by atmosphere. The atmosphere than radiates back the 48 units absorbed by it.
5. Green house gases include CFCs, Nitrous oxide, water vapour & ozone. CFCs account for 25 % of
green house effect & methane for 15 %. Carbon dioxide leads with 55 %.
6. The greatest range of temperature occurs at latitude 60 N.
7. The major types of inversion are: radiation, air drainage, frontal, advection, subsidence. Advection inversion generally occurs when a warm air passes over cold water surface.
8. Highs are Siberian, Hawaiian & Siberian. Lows are Aleutian & Icelandic.
9. Anemometer is used for measuring the speed of wind. Beaufort scale deals with the wind speed & ranges from calm wind to hurricane.
10. Jet streams are fastest during winter season. They blow from west to east.
11. A mist becomes a fog when visibility is reduced to less than a km. Dry adiabatic rate is 10 C per 1000m & moist adiabatic rate is 6 C per 1000m. Stability occurs when the dry adiabatic rate is higher than the normal lapse rate & instability occurs when normal lapse rate is greater than the dry adiabatic lapse rate. If normal lapse rate is lower than wet adiabatic rate it leads to absolute stability & vice versa.
12. Sleet is partially melted snowflakes while hail refers to small balls of ice. Rime refers to very small super cooled droplets which strike ground & tend to freeze immediately on impact.
13. Four principal forms of airmasses are continental polar (cP), maritime polar (mP), continental tropical (cT), and maritime tropical (mT). Thermodynamic modification results in airmasses becoming warm represented by W or cold (K). Mechanical or dynamic modification causes it to become stable (s) or unstable (u).
14. Baroclinic zone is where distinct air mass regions exist & where Fronts separate warmer from colder air. Barotropic is region of uniform temperature distribution with lack of fronts. Temperate cyclones are formed under baroclinic condition & tropical under barotropic condition.
15. Anticyclones are larger than cyclones. Airflow converges aloft in anticyclones & diverges in case of cyclones. Katabatic wind blows from mountains to valley & anabatic vice versa.
WORLD GEOGRAPHY FACTS - II
1. Davisian cycle ends in peneplain, Penck’s in endrumpf & kings in pediplain. Kings cycle basically deals with the evolution of landforms in arid & savanna regions.
2. Penck cycle has three stages. Aufsteigende Entwickelung means a phase of waxing (accelerating) rate of landform development where the slopes of the valley sides are convex in plan. Gleichformige Entwickelung means uniform development of landforms. Absteigende Entwickelung means wanning development & parallel retreat of slope continues
3. Boschungen is the upper steep part & haldenhang is the lower part with lesser inclination. Thus the
intersection of boschungen & haldenhang produce a sharp knick. Ultimately the boschungen are reduced to inselbergs.
4. Monadnocks are also known as unakas & mosores.
5. Sinkholes < Swallow Holes < Dolines
hills analogous to monadnocks in fully developed karst topography. Lappies are bare terra rosa having
crevasse like pinnacle structure formed where relief is considerable.
6. Speleothems is the term collectively used for all types of deposits in caverns. Dripstones growing
sidewards from stalactites & stalagmites are called helectites & helegmites. Helectites of globular structure are called globulites & banded calcareous deposits are called tavernites.
7. Longshore Drift is movement of sand parallel to the shoreline, in the “along-the-shore” direction. The
process arises when waves approach the shore obliquely. The swash moves the sediment particles up the beach at this angle, while the backwash brings them away fom the beach. This has the net effect of gradual movement of the particles along the shore.
8. Notch is formed as a depression at the base of a cliff due to wave attack. Blowholes formed at roof tops sometimes enlarge & cause the roof top to fall forming Geos or inlets.
9. Big sand bars usually parallel to the beach are called offshore or longshore bar. If the bars are formed such that there one end is attached to the beach & the other end is projecting into the sea, they are called spits. Hooks are curved spits & a bar connecting two land masses is a Tombolo.
10. Old man of Hoy is the most famous wave cut stack located in Orkney Islands, North Scotland.
11. Rias (ria coast) is form when sea levels rise or plate tectonics cause coastal levels to fall. When this
happens valleys which were previously at sea level become submerged. The result is often a very large
estuary at the mouth of a relatively insignificant river.
12. Dalmatian coast are found in Italy & Dalmatian area of Croatia where ranges are parallel to coast
13. Gulf of Aqaba, northeastern arm of the Red Sea, separating the Sinai and Arabian peninsulas.
14. Negev Desert is in Israel.
15. Pedestal or Mushroom rock is also known as Gour in Sahara & pilzfelsen in Germany.
16. Inselbergs or Bornhardts are isolated hills rising abruptly from virtually level plain. Demoiselles have
resistant rock cap at the top. Zeugens have horizontal rock strata & yardangs have vertical. Ventifact with a single face is called einkanter, zweikanter (2 faces) & driekanter (3 faces).
17. Areas of shifting sand-dunes is called erg. Barchans are also known as transverse dunes.
18. Glacial loess of N. America is called adobe & that of Europe is called limon
19. When a basin is more or less rimmed by mountain (inter-montane basin), it is called a bolson. The basin is characterized by centripetal drainage which leads to formation of salty lakes called playas in N. America, “Shatts” in Sahara, ‘Mamlaha’ & ‘Khabari’ in the Arabian desert.
20. The whole slope between the mountains to the playas is called pediment.
21. When two cirques converge cutting back it is called col. A cirque lake is called tarn. Paternoster lakes are formed at the foot of glacial stairways. A nunatak is a mountain top that is not covered by land ice, and protrudes out of a surrounding glacier. Roches moutonnees is a residual rock hummock whose upstream is smoothened by abrasion & downstream is roughened by plucking. Riegel marks the outcrop of a highly resistant rock layer. They have plucked downside.
22. Eskers or Osser or Oss is a stratified deposit. If the ice front halts at regular intervals, beaded eskers are formed. Kames are small hills which are deposited by meltwater near or at the edge of the retreating ice sheets.
23. Kettles are depressions in the outwash plain. Large kettles are clotted with numerous low mounds called hummocks. Drumlins are elongated hummocks of boulder clay (basket of egg).
24. Protalus rampart is the accumulation of debris formed due to rockfall from the cliff.
25. Varve is the yearly deposit of sediment forming distinctive layers. It is most frequently used to refer to deposits formed in lakes on the margins of glaciers.
26. Pingos are ice mounds formed due freeze thaw action in periglacial environment. Palsas are low
permafrost mounds with cores of layered segregated ice and peat, similar to a pingo. Talik refers to an
unfrozen section of ground found above, below, or within a layer of discontinuous permafrost. Tors
are piles of rock on the top & clitters on the sides formed due to congelifraction
27. Borneo is the 3rd largest island in the world after Greenland & New Guinea.
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