Indian Geography is one of the highest-scoring parts of the general knowledge paper in defence and civil service examinations. Whether you are preparing for NDA, CDS, AFCAT, the SSB written stage, UPSC Civil Services, SSC or a state PSC, you will meet direct questions on mountain passes, river origins, soils, monsoon winds, mineral belts and the extreme points of the country. Most of these questions test a single fact, and a little organised revision turns them into sure marks.
This article brings together 100 of the most important Indian Geography GK questions that are asked again and again, or that sit on the same high-frequency themes. The set is divided into three parts: Physiography of India (questions 1 to 35), Drainage, Climate, Soils and Vegetation (36 to 65), and Resources, Economy and Human Geography (66 to 100). This is the natural companion to our Indian History set, so you can revise both subjects in the same way.
Read each question, try to recall the answer, and only then check it. The short explanation under every answer adds the related fact that examiners like to twist into a second question. Keep an outline map of India open while you revise, and mark each pass, river, lake and mineral site as you go.
Physiography of India (Questions 1 to 35)
1. Through how many Indian states does the Tropic of Cancer pass?
Answer: Eight. The Tropic of Cancer (23°30′N) passes through Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram, and roughly divides India into two almost equal halves.
2. The Standard Meridian of India (82°30′E) passes near which town?
Answer: Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh. Indian Standard Time is calculated from this meridian, which is 5 hours 30 minutes ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. It passes through Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
3. What is the approximate local time difference between Arunachal Pradesh and Gujarat?
Answer: About two hours. India extends across roughly 30 degrees of longitude, and each degree accounts for four minutes of time, so the sun rises about two hours earlier in Arunachal Pradesh than in western Gujarat.
4. Which is the southernmost point of India?
Answer: Indira Point. Indira Point lies on Great Nicobar Island in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The southernmost point of the Indian mainland is Kanyakumari (Cape Comorin) in Tamil Nadu.
5. What is India’s rank in the world by area?
Answer: Seventh. India has an area of about 3.28 million square kilometres, which is roughly 2.4 per cent of the world’s total land area. Russia, Canada, the United States, China, Brazil and Australia are larger.
6. With which neighbouring country does India share its longest land border?
Answer: Bangladesh. The India–Bangladesh border is about 4,097 km long and touches West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. China and Pakistan have the next-longest borders with India.
7. With which country does India share its shortest land border?
Answer: Afghanistan. Officially the India–Afghanistan border is about 106 km long. It lies in the Gilgit-Baltistan area of Ladakh, which is under Pakistani occupation.
8. Which strait separates India from Sri Lanka?
Answer: Palk Strait. The Palk Strait lies between Tamil Nadu and the Jaffna area of Sri Lanka. To its south, the Gulf of Mannar and the chain of shoals called Adam’s Bridge (Ram Setu) also separate the two countries.
9. Which channel separates the Andaman Islands from the Nicobar Islands?
Answer: Ten Degree Channel. The Ten Degree Channel lies between Little Andaman and Car Nicobar. Do not confuse it with the Duncan Passage, which separates South Andaman from Little Andaman.
10. Which channel separates Minicoy Island from the Maldives?
Answer: Eight Degree Channel. The Nine Degree Channel separates Minicoy from the main group of the Lakshadweep Islands, while the Eight Degree Channel separates Minicoy from the Maldives.
11. Which is the highest mountain peak in India-administered territory and the third-highest peak in the world?
Answer: Kangchenjunga. Kangchenjunga (about 8,586 m) stands on the Sikkim–Nepal border. India officially regards K2 (Godwin Austen, 8,611 m) in Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan as the highest peak of India, so read the wording of the question carefully.
12. What is the northernmost and highest range of the Himalayas called?
Answer: Himadri (Greater or Inner Himalayas). The Himadri is the most continuous range, with an average height of about 6,000 m, and includes the loftiest Himalayan peaks, such as Mount Everest, Kangchenjunga and Nanda Devi. It has a core of granite and is perennially snow-bound.
13. What is the outermost and lowest range of the Himalayas called?
Answer: Shiwaliks (Outer Himalayas). The Shiwaliks range from about 900 to 1,100 m in height and are made of unconsolidated sediments brought down by rivers from the higher ranges.
14. What are the longitudinal valleys between the Lesser Himalayas and the Shiwaliks called?
Answer: Duns. Dehra Dun, Kotli Dun and Patli Dun are well-known examples. Dehra Dun is the largest of these valleys.
15. The Pir Panjal, Dhaula Dhar and Mahabharat ranges belong to which division of the Himalayas?
Answer: Himachal (Lesser Himalayas). The Himachal range lies south of the Himadri and is known for hill stations such as Shimla, Mussoorie, Nainital and Darjeeling, as well as the Kashmir and Kullu valleys.
16. Which is the highest peak of peninsular India?
Answer: Anamudi. Anamudi (2,695 m) lies in the Anaimalai Hills of Kerala, where the Western Ghats meet the Anaimalai and Cardamom ranges.
17. Which peak is given in NCERT textbooks as the highest peak of the Eastern Ghats?
Answer: Mahendragiri. NCERT gives Mahendragiri (1,501 m) in Odisha as the highest peak of the Eastern Ghats. The Eastern Ghats are discontinuous and lower than the Western Ghats because rivers such as the Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri cut through them.
18. Which is the highest peak of the Aravalli range?
Answer: Guru Shikhar. Guru Shikhar (1,722 m) lies on Mount Abu in Rajasthan, the only hill station in the state.
19. Which is the oldest fold mountain range of India?
Answer: Aravalli range. The Aravallis run from Gujarat through Rajasthan to Delhi in a south-west to north-east direction and are highly eroded relict mountains.
20. Zoji La pass connects which two regions?
Answer: The Kashmir Valley and Ladakh. Zoji La lies on the Srinagar–Kargil–Leh road in the Great Himalayan range. A tunnel is being built under the pass to give all-weather access to Ladakh.
21. Nathu La pass connects Sikkim with which region?
Answer: Tibet (China). Nathu La was part of an old branch of the Silk Route and is now used for border trade and as one of the routes for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra.
22. Through which pass in Himachal Pradesh does the Sutlej river enter India?
Answer: Shipki La. Shipki La lies in the Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh on the India–Tibet border, and the Sutlej enters India through a gorge near this pass.
23. Rohtang Pass connects the Kullu Valley with which region?
Answer: The Lahaul and Spiti valleys. Rohtang Pass is in Himachal Pradesh on the Manali–Leh route. The Atal Tunnel, opened in 2020 beneath the Rohtang range, provides all-weather access to Lahaul.
24. Which gap in the Western Ghats connects Kerala with Tamil Nadu?
Answer: Palghat (Palakkad) Gap. The Palghat Gap lies between the Nilgiri Hills and the Anaimalai Hills and carries the main road and rail link between Palakkad and Coimbatore.
25. Which is the highest peak of the Nilgiri Hills?
Answer: Doddabetta. Doddabetta (2,637 m) lies near Ooty (Udhagamandalam) in Tamil Nadu. The Nilgiris form the junction of the Western and Eastern Ghats.
26. What is the origin of the Deccan Trap region?
Answer: Volcanic basaltic lava flows. The Deccan Traps were formed by fissure eruptions of lava during the late Cretaceous period. The weathering of this basalt produced the black (regur) soil of Maharashtra and adjoining states.
27. Which plateau of India is known as the storehouse of minerals?
Answer: Chota Nagpur Plateau. The Chota Nagpur Plateau, mostly in Jharkhand with parts of Odisha, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh, holds rich deposits of coal, iron ore, mica, bauxite and copper, and is sometimes called the Ruhr of India.
28. In the northern plains, what is the older alluvium that lies above the flood level called?
Answer: Bhangar. Bhangar is old alluvium found on raised terraces and contains calcareous deposits called kankar. Khadar is the newer, more fertile alluvium deposited on the floodplains every year.
29. What is the wet, swampy and densely forested belt south of the Bhabar called?
Answer: Terai. The Bhabar is a narrow belt of pebbles at the foot of the Shiwaliks where streams disappear underground. They re-emerge in the Terai, a marshy belt that once had thick forests and rich wildlife.
30. Which is the largest riverine island in India?
Answer: Majuli. Majuli lies in the Brahmaputra in Assam. In 2016 it became the first island district of India, and it is known for its Vaishnavite satras.
31. What is the stretch of the western coast between Mumbai and Goa called?
Answer: Konkan coast. The western coastal plain is divided into the Konkan (Mumbai to Goa), the Kannad plain (Goa to Mangaluru) and the Malabar coast (Kerala), which has lagoons and backwaters.
32. What is the southern part of the eastern coastal plain, mainly along Tamil Nadu, called?
Answer: Coromandel Coast. The northern part of the eastern coastal plain, between the Mahanadi and the Krishna, is called the Northern Circars. The eastern plain is wider than the western plain and has large deltas.
33. Which is the largest brackish-water lagoon in India?
Answer: Chilika Lake. Chilika lies in Odisha, south of the Mahanadi delta. It is a Ramsar wetland and an important wintering ground for migratory birds.
34. Which is the only active volcano in India?
Answer: Barren Island. Barren Island lies in the Andaman Sea in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Narcondam, also in the Andaman Sea, is a dormant volcano.
35. The Lakshadweep Islands are mainly of which origin?
Answer: Coral (atolls). Lakshadweep, in the Arabian Sea, is made up of small coral islands and atolls. Kavaratti is its administrative headquarters, while the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are mostly the elevated parts of submarine mountains.
Drainage, Climate, Soils and Vegetation (Questions 36 to 65)
36. At which place do the Bhagirathi and the Alaknanda meet to form the Ganga?
Answer: Devprayag. Devprayag is in Uttarakhand. The Alaknanda itself is formed by the Dhauliganga and the Vishnuganga, which meet at Vishnuprayag (Joshimath).
37. From which glacier does the Bhagirathi originate?
Answer: Gangotri Glacier (at Gaumukh). The Bhagirathi emerges from the snout of the Gangotri Glacier at Gaumukh in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand.
38. Which river is the longest tributary of the Ganga, joining it at Prayagraj?
Answer: Yamuna. The Yamuna rises at the Yamunotri Glacier in Uttarakhand and meets the Ganga at Prayagraj (Allahabad). Its own tributaries include the Chambal, Sind, Betwa and Ken.
39. By what name is the Brahmaputra known in Tibet?
Answer: Tsangpo. The Brahmaputra rises from the Chemayungdung Glacier near Mansarovar Lake, enters India in Arunachal Pradesh as the Siang or Dihang, and is called the Jamuna in Bangladesh.
40. Which tributary of the Indus rises from the Verinag spring and flows through Srinagar?
Answer: Jhelum. The Jhelum flows through the Kashmir Valley and Wular Lake before entering Pakistan. The other main Indus tributaries in India are the Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej.
41. Which river is called the Dakshin Ganga or the Ganga of the South?
Answer: Godavari. The Godavari is the largest peninsular river. It rises at Trimbakeshwar in the Nashik district of Maharashtra and flows into the Bay of Bengal.
42. Which two major peninsular rivers flow westward through rift valleys into the Arabian Sea?
Answer: Narmada and Tapi. The Narmada rises at Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh and flows between the Vindhya and Satpura ranges. The Tapi rises near Multai in the Betul district of Madhya Pradesh. Both form estuaries rather than deltas.
43. On which river is the Dhuandhar waterfall near Jabalpur?
Answer: Narmada. The Dhuandhar Falls lie at Bhedaghat, where the Narmada flows through a gorge of marble rocks.
44. Where does the Krishna river originate?
Answer: Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra. The Krishna flows east through Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Its important tributaries include the Koyna, Bhima and Tungabhadra.
45. Where does the Kaveri river rise?
Answer: Talakaveri in the Brahmagiri hills (Kodagu, Karnataka). The Kaveri forms the Shivanasamudra Falls in Karnataka and a large delta in Tamil Nadu before flowing into the Bay of Bengal. It receives rain from both the south-west and the north-east monsoon.
46. The Hirakud Dam is built on which river?
Answer: Mahanadi. Hirakud Dam, near Sambalpur in Odisha, was completed in 1957 and is one of the longest earthen dams in the world.
47. Jog Falls in Karnataka is formed by which river?
Answer: Sharavathi. Jog Falls, in the Shivamogga district, is one of the highest plunge waterfalls in India. The Sharavathi is a west-flowing river of the Western Ghats.
48. The Bhakra Dam is built across which river?
Answer: Sutlej. The Bhakra Dam is in Himachal Pradesh, and its reservoir is called Gobind Sagar. The Bhakra–Nangal project serves Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh.
49. Which is generally cited as the largest freshwater lake in India?
Answer: Wular Lake. Wular Lake lies in Jammu and Kashmir and is fed by the Jhelum. Its area changes greatly with the season.
50. Keibul Lamjao, the only floating national park in the world, is located on which lake?
Answer: Loktak Lake (Manipur). Loktak is known for its floating masses of vegetation called phumdis. Keibul Lamjao National Park is the last natural home of the sangai, or brow-antlered deer.
51. Which is the largest inland saltwater lake in India?
Answer: Sambhar Lake. Sambhar Lake lies in Rajasthan, near Jaipur, and is an important source of salt. It is also a Ramsar site.
52. Which river is the main river of the Thar region and ends in the Rann of Kutch?
Answer: Luni. The Luni rises in the Aravallis near Ajmer and flows south-west. Its water becomes saline downstream, and it has no outlet to the sea.
53. Around which date does the south-west monsoon normally reach the Kerala coast?
Answer: 1 June. The monsoon usually arrives at the southern tip of the peninsula in the first week of June and covers the whole country by about mid-July.
54. Which place in Meghalaya is generally given as the place with the highest average annual rainfall in the world?
Answer: Mawsynram. Mawsynram, near Cherrapunji (Sohra) in the Khasi Hills, receives very heavy rainfall because the funnel-shaped hills trap the moisture-laden Bay of Bengal branch of the monsoon.
55. Which state receives most of its rainfall during October to December from the north-east (retreating) monsoon?
Answer: Tamil Nadu. The Coromandel coast lies parallel to the south-west monsoon winds and is in the rain shadow of the Western Ghats, so most of its rain comes from the north-east monsoon and from cyclones in winter.
56. What are the violent pre-monsoon thunderstorms of West Bengal called?
Answer: Kalbaisakhi (Nor’westers). Kalbaisakhi means the calamity of the month of Baisakh. In Assam these storms help the tea crop and are called tea showers, while in Kerala and Karnataka pre-monsoon showers are called mango showers.
57. Which weather systems bring winter rain to north-western India?
Answer: Western disturbances. Western disturbances originate over the Mediterranean Sea and are carried by the westerly jet stream. Their winter rain is very useful for the rabi crops, especially wheat.
58. Which was the first biosphere reserve set up in India?
Answer: Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve was established in 1986 and spreads across Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.
59. Which is the most widespread soil in India?
Answer: Alluvial soil. Alluvial soil covers about 40 per cent of the area of India, mainly the northern plains and the river deltas of the east coast, and is very fertile for rice, wheat and sugarcane.
60. Which soil, also called regur, is best suited to growing cotton?
Answer: Black soil. Black soil is formed from the weathering of Deccan Trap basalt. It holds moisture well and develops deep cracks in the dry season.
61. Which soil forms as a result of intense leaching in areas of high temperature and heavy rainfall?
Answer: Laterite soil. The name comes from the Latin word later, meaning brick. Laterite soil is found in Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and the hills of the north-east, and is suitable for cashew, tea and coffee.
62. Which type of forest is the most widespread in India?
Answer: Tropical deciduous (monsoon) forests. These forests shed their leaves in the dry season and include valuable trees such as teak and sal. They grow in areas with roughly 70 to 200 cm of rainfall.
63. The Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world, lie in which delta?
Answer: The Ganga–Brahmaputra delta. The Sundarbans are shared by West Bengal and Bangladesh. They are named after the sundari tree and are known for the Royal Bengal tiger.
64. Which national park is the only natural home of the Asiatic lion?
Answer: Gir National Park (Gujarat). Gir lies in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. Kaziranga in Assam, by contrast, is famous for the one-horned rhinoceros.
65. Which was the first national park of India?
Answer: Jim Corbett National Park. It was set up in 1936 as Hailey National Park in present-day Uttarakhand. Project Tiger was launched there in 1973.
Resources, Economy and Human Geography (Questions 66 to 100)
66. Wheat is grown in which cropping season in India?
Answer: Rabi. Rabi crops are sown in winter (October to December) and harvested in summer (April to June). Kharif crops such as rice, maize and cotton are sown with the onset of the monsoon and harvested in September and October.
67. In which short cropping season between rabi and kharif are watermelon, muskmelon and cucumber grown?
Answer: Zaid. The zaid season falls in the summer months, and crops in this season usually depend on irrigation.
68. What is shifting cultivation called in north-east India?
Answer: Jhum (jhumming). In this slash-and-burn system, a patch of forest is cleared and burnt, cultivated for a few years and then left to recover while farmers move to a new patch.
69. Who is known as the father of the Green Revolution in India?
Answer: Dr M.S. Swaminathan. The Green Revolution of the mid-1960s used high-yielding varieties of wheat, irrigation and fertilisers. It was most successful in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh. Norman Borlaug is called the father of the Green Revolution worldwide.
70. Which crop is known as the golden fibre?
Answer: Jute. Jute grows well in the hot and humid climate and the fertile soils of the Ganga–Brahmaputra delta, and West Bengal is the main producing state.
71. In which hills was coffee first grown in India?
Answer: Baba Budan Hills (Karnataka). Arabica coffee was first introduced in the Baba Budan Hills. Karnataka is the leading coffee-producing state of India.
72. The Jharia coalfield, the main source of coking coal in India, is in which state?
Answer: Jharkhand. Jharia lies near Dhanbad in the Damodar valley. Most Indian coal comes from the Gondwana rocks of Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh.
73. Which is the oldest oil field in India?
Answer: Digboi (Assam). Oil was struck at Digboi in 1889, and the Digboi refinery, started in 1901, is one of the oldest operating refineries in the world.
74. Mumbai High is known for what?
Answer: Offshore oil and natural gas. Mumbai High lies in the Arabian Sea off the Maharashtra coast. It was discovered in 1974 and is the largest oil-producing field in India.
75. The Kolar and Hutti gold fields are in which state?
Answer: Karnataka. The Kolar Gold Fields closed in 2001, but the Hutti Gold Mines in the Raichur district are still working and produce most of India’s gold.
76. Khetri in Rajasthan is famous for which mineral?
Answer: Copper. The Khetri copper belt lies in the Jhunjhunu district. Singhbhum in Jharkhand and Balaghat (Malanjkhand) in Madhya Pradesh are other major copper areas.
77. Koderma in Jharkhand is famous for which mineral?
Answer: Mica. The Koderma–Gaya–Hazaribagh belt is the leading mica belt of India. Mica is used in the electrical and electronics industries because it is a good insulator.
78. The Panchpatmali deposits in the Koraput district of Odisha are known for which mineral?
Answer: Bauxite. Bauxite is the ore from which aluminium is made. Odisha has the largest bauxite reserves in India.
79. The Bailadila iron-ore mines are in which state?
Answer: Chhattisgarh. Bailadila, in the Dantewada (Bastar) region, produces high-grade haematite ore, much of which is exported through Visakhapatnam port. Kudremukh in Karnataka is another well-known iron-ore area.
80. Jaduguda in Jharkhand is known for the mining of which mineral?
Answer: Uranium. The Jaduguda mine in the East Singhbhum district is run by the Uranium Corporation of India Limited and was the first uranium mine in India.
81. The monazite sands of the Kerala coast are an important source of which element?
Answer: Thorium. Monazite beach sands are rich in thorium, which is central to the third stage of India’s nuclear power programme.
82. Which was the first nuclear power station in India?
Answer: Tarapur Atomic Power Station (Maharashtra). Tarapur, in the Palghar district, began commercial operation in 1969 with two boiling water reactors.
83. Where was India’s first large modern iron and steel plant, TISCO, set up in 1907?
Answer: Jamshedpur (Jharkhand). The plant was set up by the Tata group near the meeting point of the Subarnarekha and Kharkai rivers, close to the iron ore and coal of the Chota Nagpur region.
84. The Bhilai Steel Plant was set up with the help of which country?
Answer: The Soviet Union (USSR). Bhilai is in the Durg district of Chhattisgarh. Rourkela was set up with West German help and Durgapur with British help, all during the Second Five-Year Plan.
85. Which city is called the Manchester of India because of its cotton textile mills?
Answer: Ahmedabad. Ahmedabad grew as a cotton textile centre because of nearby cotton-growing areas, a humid climate and good transport. Coimbatore is often called the Manchester of South India.
86. Which city is known as the Silicon Valley of India?
Answer: Bengaluru. Bengaluru is the largest information technology and software services hub of India.
87. Between which two stations did the first passenger train in India run on 16 April 1853?
Answer: Bori Bunder (Mumbai) and Thane. The train covered a distance of about 34 km. Indian Railways is now one of the largest railway networks in the world.
88. The Golden Quadrilateral highway network connects which four cities?
Answer: Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. The Golden Quadrilateral was built by the National Highways Authority of India under the National Highways Development Project.
89. National Highway 44, the longest national highway of India, runs between which two places?
Answer: Srinagar and Kanyakumari. After the renumbering of national highways in 2010, NH 44 became the longest highway of India, running north–south through Jammu, Delhi, Agra, Nagpur, Hyderabad and Bengaluru.
90. Which port is described in NCERT as the deepest landlocked and well-protected port of India?
Answer: Visakhapatnam. Visakhapatnam is in Andhra Pradesh on the east coast. It was originally developed as an outlet for iron ore exports.
91. The tidal port of Kandla in Gujarat has been renamed as what?
Answer: Deendayal Port. Kandla, on the Gulf of Kutch, was developed after Partition to replace Karachi for the trade of north-western India. It was renamed in 2017.
92. National Waterway 1 is on which river system?
Answer: The Ganga–Bhagirathi–Hooghly system. National Waterway 1 runs from Haldia to Prayagraj and is about 1,620 km long, making it the longest national waterway of India.
93. The Konkan Railway passes through which three states?
Answer: Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka. The Konkan Railway runs from Roha in Maharashtra to Thokur near Mangaluru in Karnataka along the western coast, and crosses many rivers, valleys and tunnels in the Western Ghats.
94. According to Census 2011, which is the most populous state of India?
Answer: Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh had about 19.98 crore people in 2011, about 16.5 per cent of the population of India. Maharashtra and Bihar followed.
95. According to Census 2011, which state has the highest population density?
Answer: Bihar. Bihar had 1,106 persons per square kilometre, against a national average of 382. Arunachal Pradesh had the lowest density, at 17 persons per square kilometre.
96. According to Census 2011, which state has the highest sex ratio?
Answer: Kerala. Kerala had 1,084 females per 1,000 males in 2011, compared with a national figure of 943. Kerala also had the highest literacy rate among states.
97. According to Census 2011, which is the least populous state of India?
Answer: Sikkim. Sikkim had a population of about 6.1 lakh in 2011. Among Union Territories, Lakshadweep had the smallest population.
98. Which Indian state has the longest coastline?
Answer: Gujarat. Gujarat has the longest coastline of any Indian state, including the shores of the Gulf of Kutch and the Gulf of Khambhat (Cambay).
99. How many Indian states share a border with Bangladesh?
Answer: Five. They are West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. West Bengal has the longest stretch of this border.
100. The Siliguri Corridor, which links north-east India with the rest of the country, lies in which state?
Answer: West Bengal. Often called the Chicken’s Neck, this narrow strip of land is only about 20 to 22 km wide at its narrowest point and lies between Nepal and Bangladesh, with Bhutan to the north.
Quick Revision Tips
- Revise with a blank outline map. Mark the Tropic of Cancer states, the standard meridian, the Himalayan passes, river origins, major dams, coalfields and ports. A map you have drawn yourself is far easier to recall in the exam hall than a list.
- Group rivers by direction. Narmada and Tapi flow west through rift valleys into the Arabian Sea, while Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri flow east and form deltas on the Bay of Bengal coast. Many questions are built only on this one distinction.
- Keep look-alike pairs apart: Bhangar is old alluvium and Khadar is new alluvium; the Ten Degree Channel separates the Andaman and Nicobar groups, while the Eight Degree Channel separates Minicoy from the Maldives; Anamudi is the highest peak of peninsular India, while Mahendragiri is the textbook answer for the Eastern Ghats.
- Link soils, crops and climate together: black soil with cotton, alluvial soil with wheat and rice, laterite with cashew and tea, and the north-east monsoon with winter rain in Tamil Nadu. One link often answers two or three questions.
- For population and economic figures, learn the Census 2011 values that textbooks and answer keys still use, and note the year. Avoid memorising changing records unless the question names a year.
Conclusion
Indian Geography rewards map-based, repeated revision far more than last-minute reading. If you can recall these 100 questions along with their locations, you will have covered a large share of the static geography asked in NDA, CDS, AFCAT, UPSC, SSC and state PSC papers. Combine this list with NCERT chapters and previous-year papers, keep your outline map up to date, and revisit the sections where you made mistakes.
FAQs
1. How many Indian Geography questions are asked in NDA, CDS and AFCAT?
The number varies from paper to paper, so it is better not to prepare for a fixed count. Geography is a regular part of the NDA General Ability Test, the CDS General Knowledge paper and AFCAT static GK, and Indian geography usually contributes several direct questions every year along with world and physical geography.
2. Is NCERT enough for Indian Geography GK?
NCERT geography textbooks, especially the Class 9 to 12 books on India, are the most reliable base for the facts and accepted answers used in competitive exams. Read them with an atlas, then use a list like this one and previous-year papers to turn that reading into quick recall.
3. Which topics of Indian Geography are most important for defence exams?
High-frequency areas include the Himalayan ranges and passes, river systems and their origins, the monsoon, soil types, natural vegetation, national parks, mineral and industrial locations, ports and the extreme points and neighbours of India. This article covers each of these areas.
4. How should I revise these 100 questions effectively?
Revise one section at a sitting, answer aloud before you read the answer, and mark every place on an outline map. Go through the full set at least twice, and spend extra time on the questions you got wrong the first time.
5. Are these questions useful for UPSC, SSC and state PSC exams as well?
Yes. The same static facts appear across NDA, CDS, AFCAT, UPSC Prelims, SSC and state PSC papers. UPSC may frame more analytical or statement-based questions, but these 100 items cover the core factual layer that almost every paper tests.
