NDA (National Defence Academy) Exam Geography (GAT Paper II, Part F) Syllabus

Name the three main planetary (prevailing) wind belts.

The trade winds (blowing toward the equator), the westerlies (mid-latitudes), and the polar easterlies.

What are the four major ocean currents of the North Atlantic, and is the Gulf Stream warm or cold?

North Equatorial Current, Gulf Stream, North Atlantic Drift, and Canary Current; the Gulf Stream is a warm current.

What is salinity of ocean water, and what is the average ocean salinity?

Salinity is the amount of dissolved salts in seawater, measured in parts per thousand (ppt); the ocean average is about 35 ppt.

What causes ocean tides, and what are spring and neap tides?

Tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun; spring tides (highest) occur at new and full moon when Sun, Earth, Moon align; neap tides (lowest) occur at the quarter moons.

What is the northernmost mountain range of India and its highest peak within India?

The Himalayas; the highest peak within India is Kanchenjunga (8,586 m), the world's third-highest peak.

Name the three parallel ranges of the Himalayas from north to south.

The Greater Himalayas (Himadri), the Lesser Himalayas (Himachal), and the Outer Himalayas (Shiwaliks).

What are the four major physiographic divisions of India?

The Northern Mountains (Himalayas), the Northern Plains (Indo-Gangetic plain), the Peninsular Plateau, and the Coastal Plains with Islands.

What is the Deccan Plateau bounded by, and what rocks dominate it?

It is bounded by the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats; it is dominated by black volcanic basalt rock (Deccan Traps), giving black cotton soil (regur).

Differentiate the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats in continuity and height.

The Western Ghats are continuous, higher (average about 1,000-1,300 m) and run parallel to the west coast; the Eastern Ghats are discontinuous, lower, and dissected by rivers.

Which is the highest peak in Peninsular India?

Anai Mudi (Anamudi) in the Western Ghats of Kerala, at about 2,695 m.

Name three major Himalayan (perennial) rivers and three peninsular (rain-fed) rivers of India.

Himalayan: Ganga, Yamuna, Brahmaputra. Peninsular: Godavari, Krishna, Cauvery (also Narmada and Tapi which flow west).

What are the main types of soil found in India? Name four.

Alluvial soil, black (regur) soil, red soil, and laterite soil (also desert, mountain, and saline soils).

Which two rivers of Peninsular India flow westward into the Arabian Sea through rift valleys?

The Narmada and the Tapi (Tapti) rivers flow westward through rift valleys.

What are renewable and non-renewable resources? Give an example of each.

Renewable resources can be replenished naturally (e.g., solar energy, water, forests); non-renewable resources are finite and deplete with use (e.g., coal, petroleum).

Name India's principal mineral fuels and the leading state for coal production.

Coal, petroleum, and natural gas are the principal mineral fuels; Jharkhand (with Chhattisgarh and Odisha) leads in coal production.

What is the difference between Kharif and Rabi crops in India, with examples?

Kharif crops are sown in the monsoon (June-July) and harvested in autumn (rice, maize, cotton); Rabi crops are sown in winter (October-November) and harvested in spring (wheat, gram, mustard).

What climatic conditions does rice cultivation require?

Rice requires high temperature (above 25 degrees C), high humidity, and heavy rainfall (over 100 cm) or assured irrigation, with level land for water retention.

What was the Green Revolution in India?

The Green Revolution (from the 1960s) was the sharp increase in food grain output, especially wheat and rice, through high-yielding variety seeds, irrigation, fertilizers, and mechanization.

What are the main types of agriculture practised in India?

Subsistence farming, intensive farming, commercial/plantation agriculture, and shifting cultivation (jhum).

Which are the four main means of land and water transport in India?

Roadways, railways, waterways (inland and coastal/oceanic), and pipelines (with airways as the fastest mode).

What is the Golden Quadrilateral?

A network of national highways (express highways) connecting India's four major metros — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata.

What is the difference between visible and invisible trade?

Visible trade is the import and export of tangible goods; invisible trade is the exchange of services such as banking, tourism, insurance, and shipping.

What is the balance of trade?

The difference in value between a country's total exports and total imports of goods; a surplus (favourable) means exports exceed imports, a deficit (unfavourable) means imports exceed exports.

Define map scale and name its three methods of representation.

Scale is the ratio between distance on a map and the corresponding distance on the ground; it is shown as a statement scale, a representative fraction (RF), and a graphical/linear scale.

What is a Representative Fraction (RF)? Give an example.

RF expresses scale as a ratio of map distance to ground distance in the same units, e.g., 1:50,000 means 1 unit on the map equals 50,000 units on the ground.

On a map of scale 1:50,000, what ground distance does 4 cm represent?

4 cm x 50,000 = 200,000 cm = 2,000 m = 2 km.

What do contour lines represent, and what does close spacing of contours indicate?

Contour lines join points of equal elevation above sea level; closely spaced contours indicate a steep slope, while widely spaced contours indicate a gentle slope.

Into how many climatic regions is India broadly classified by the monsoon, and what is the dominant climate type?

India has a tropical monsoon climate; it is broadly divided into four seasons — winter, summer (pre-monsoon), the southwest monsoon (rainy), and the retreating monsoon (post-monsoon).

Which instrument measures atmospheric pressure, and which measures temperature?

Atmospheric pressure is measured by a barometer; temperature is measured by a thermometer.

Name the instruments used to measure wind speed, wind direction, rainfall, and humidity.

Anemometer measures wind speed, wind vane shows wind direction, rain gauge measures rainfall, and hygrometer measures humidity.