UPESSC Assistant Professor Geography syllabus

1Geomorphology

• Fundamental concepts; Endogenetic and Exogenetic forces; Denudation and weathering; Geosynclines, Isostasy, Continental Drift and Plate Tectonics Theories; Mountain Building, Concept of geomorphic cycle; Landforms associated with fluvial, glacial, arid, coastal and karst cycles, Modern Geomorphologists, Applied Geomorphology.

2Climatology

• Composition and structure of the atmosphere; Heat budget of the earth, Horizontal and Vertical Distribution of Temperature; Atmospheric pressure and general circulation of winds; Monsoon, jet stream and local winds; Tropical and temperate cyclones; Classification of world climates; Koppen's and Thornthwaite's schemes and features of World Climatic Regions.

3A- Oceanography; B- Bio and Environmental Geography

• A- Oceanography: Ocean Bottom Topography, Ocean deposits; Coral reefs; Temperature and salinity of the oceans; Density of ocean water; Tides and ocean currents.Tsunami.
• B- Bio and Environmental Geography: World distribution of plants and animals; Forms and functions, Conservation and management of ecosystems;. Principle of ecology; Human ecological adaptations; Influence of man on ecology and environment; Global and regional ecological changes and imbalances; Environmental degradation, hazards Problems of pollution, ozone depletion and climate change, and their remedial measures, environmental management and conservation; Biodiversity and sustainable development; Environmental policies; Environmental education and legislation

4Geographic Thought

• General character of Geographic knowledge in India and world during the ancient and medieval period; Geographical Knowledge in Vedas, Epic Periods, Puranas and Samritis. Foundations of Modern Geography and contributions of Indian and Western scholars; Dichotomy and dualism; Determinism, possibilism and Neo determinism Man and Environment, Areal differentiation and spatial organization, Quantitative revolution. Locational analysis; radical, behavioural, human and welfare approaches.

5A- Population Geography; B- Settlement Geography

• A- Population Geography: Factors and Patterns of world population distribution; Growth and density of population; Patterns and processes of migration; Theories of population growth, Population -resources region.
• B- Settlement Geography: Site, situation, types, size, spacing and internal morphology of rural and urban settlements; Process and pattern of urbanization; City-region; Primate city; Rank-size rule; Settlement hierarchy; Spatial Pattern, Christaller's Central Place theory; August Losch's theory of market Centres; Concept of Smart City and smart village, Development of Urban Centres.

6Economic Geography

• Sectors of Economy: primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary and Quinary activities, Natural resources: renewable and non-renewable, conservation of resources. Major Crop production and producing area, Sri Ann, Measurement of agricultural productivity and efficiency, agricultural revolution, agricultural types and typology; Crop combination, Monoculture and diversification; Theories of Agricultural Location; Von Thunen's Model. Agricultural systems and regions of the world. Classification of industries: Weber's and Losch's approaches; Resource based and footloose industries. Major Energy and Mineral resources production and producing areas. Major Industries: Their production and producing areas. Models of transportation and transport cost: Accessibility and connectivity.

7A- Political Geography; B- Social Geography; C- Cultural Geography

• A- Political Geography: Heartland and Rimland theories; Boundaries and frontiers; Nature of administrative areas and Geography of public policy and finance.
• B- Social Geography: Ethnicity, tribe, dialect, language, caste and religion of India and World; Concept of social well-being. Social Groups and Organisation, social action.
• C- Cultural Geography: concept of Culture, cultural Realm Areas and Cultural Regions of the World; Human races; Habitat; Economy and Society of tribal groups; Diffusion of Cultural innovations; Human Development and their Index; Impact of Globalization on Indian Society and Culture.

8Regional Planning

• Regional concept in Geography; Concept of planning regions; Types of regions; Methods of regional delineation; Regional planning in India; Indicators of development; Regional imbalances; Evolution, nature and scope of town planning with special reference to India, and Fundamentals of Town and Country planning.

9Geography of India

• Location, Shape and Size, Physiography and Physiographic divisions; Climate: Its regional variations; Mechanism of Indian monsoons and rainfall patterns, Tropical cyclones and western disturbances; Drainage System, Floods and droughts; Vegetation types and vegetation regions, Forest and wild life resources, deforestation and their conservation. Major soil types; Irrigation and multipurpose projects. Agriculture and its regionalisation; agro-climatic zones; agro- ecological regions.; Population distribution and growth, Demographic attributes: sex-ratio, age structure, literacy rate, work-force Urbanization; Indian Society- Racial, linguistic and ethnic diversities; religious minorities; role of diaspora, major tribes, tribal areas and their problems; Land, surface and ground water, energy, minerals, rare earth elements, biotic and marine resources and their conservation. Energy crisis, major industries and industrial regions, New industrial policies; Special Economic Zones; Tourism including eco -tourism. Transport and Communication; national and foreign trade; Trade balance, Trade Policy; Export processing zones; Five Year Plans; Integrated rural development programmes; Panchayati Raj and decentralised planning.

10A- Cartography; B- Statistical Methods; C- Remote sensing and GIS

• A- Cartography: Types of maps Techniques for the study of spatial patterns of distribution; Choropleth, Isopleth and Chorochromatic maps and pie diagrams; Mapping of location specific data; Accessibility and flow maps. Topographical Maps-types and features; Map Projection-graticules, types, construction and salient features of map projections,
• B- Statistical Methods: Data sources and types of data; Frequency distribution and cumulative frequency; Measures of central, tendency; Selection of class intervals for mapping; Measures of dispersion and concentration; Standard deviation; Lorenz Curve; Methods of measuring association among different attributes; Simple and Multiple correlation; Regression. Nearest- neighbour analysis; Scaling techniques; Rank score; Weighted score; Sampling.
• C- Remote sensing and GIS- Its principles, development and application; Development of Remote Sensing of India; Features of Indian and Foreign Satellite; Computer application in mapping; Digital mapping; Geographic Information System (GIS).

General Knowledge — common to every subject

1Current Affairs

• A. Major events & Current Affairs : National/International
• B. Personalities in News
• C. Sports News
• D. Current Research in the field of Science.

2Teaching and Research Aptitude

• A. Teaching : Nature, Objectives, Need, Methods Evaluation and Factor Affecting Teaching
• B. Research : Meaning and Methods
• C. Data : Source, Collection and Analysis
• D. Role of UGC in Qualitative Development in Higher Education.

3Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

• A. ICT : Meaning, Advantages and Disadvantages
• B. Basics of Internet & E-mailing
• C. General Abbreviation and Terminology.

4People and Environment

• A. People & Environment Interaction
• B. Environmental Depredation : cause & Solution
• C. National and International affairs for better Environment
• D. Environmental Control.

5Indian History and Geography

• A. Salient Features of Indian Culture
• B. Indian National Movement (1857-1950)
• C. Origin of Universe and Solar System
• D. Indian Geography (General).

6Indian Constitution and Economy

• A. Preamble, Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles
• B. Indian political system : Legislative Executive and Judiciary
• C. Election Commission and Public Service Commission
• D. Population, Poverty, Unemployment; Planning and Development; Income Tax
• E. Agriculture, Industry, Trade; Money, Currency, Banking and Capital Market.

UPESSC Assistant Professor syllabus, Geography (Subject Code-36), Syllabus/upessc_2026/Geography_en.pdf (English pages 1-2), wording as printed.