Maps notes for prelims

Neighbours:

Read all the India's neighbouring countries. Make a note of various Indian states which share their boundaries with such neighbouring countries. Give relatively more importance to countries of Indian Subcontinent.
Study thoroughly India map for oceanic region around the peninsular part of India and the islands in the Indian Ocean. For example: Extent of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Countries closest to Lakshadweep Islands, Various channels – 10 degree, 9 degree, as UPSC have the habit of asking 1 question every year directly and 3-4 Qns indirectly.
 

Lines:

Read important latitude and longitude lines on the India map. For example, you must learn the states through which Tropic of Cancer

Passes.

Make notes of different states and places through which Indian Standard Meridian (i.e the longitude of Indian Standard Time) passes.
Also, you must study ‘concept based’ lines, nature of coastlines, etc. For example: Division of India on the basis of 10°C isotherm.

States:

You should know  political map (an outline) of India by hand (Very important for Mains Paper GS I and GS II). Learn about which states share boundaries with which other and how many states.


You should be able to identify the eastern/western/northern/southern extents of the states and UTs. Whenever a new state is carved out from the existing territory of India, the subsequent changes in the state boundaries must be duly noted.

Rivers:

Note down - Origin, Sources, Flow routes and tributaries of all the rivers in India. For example, question asked in Prelims on River Teesta needed such information to correctly arrive at an answer.
Identify left bank and right bank tributaries of major rivers. You should draw rough diagram on a blank paper for each important river drainage basin.

Lakes:

You should be able to point out lakes on political map and also identify which states share any particular lake.
Also, many lakes have certain unique features. Make a separate list of such lakes. For Example: Wular Lake (Jammu & Kashmir) is one of the largest fresh water lakes in Asia.

Mountains/Glaciers:

Note the extent and important peaks of all the mountain ranges i.e. both - Himalayan and Peninsular. You should be able to draw the full mountain range on a India political map and show the highest peak for it.
Study locations of various glaciers which are to the north of the Vindhyas. Also, various rivers originating in these mountain rangers/ glaciers should be noted.
Study various gaps/passes, national parks, flora, fauna, states etc. lying within the geographical spread of such mountain ranges.
Adopt a comparative approach for the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats mapping.

Natural Vegetation:

The great diversity in the Indian natural vegetation should be studied in context of variation in the climate across India.
Make a note of spatial distribution of a particular type of forest across India. For example: Rainfall deficient areas of Rajasthan – Thorny Shrubs and no forest.

National Parks:

You should be able to locate all the important national parks, tiger reserves, wild life sanctuary, biosphere reserves, etc. and also their extent across states.

Important Places:

You should be able to identify all the important places in India, including pilgrimages, world heritage sites, nuclear power stations, ports, plateaus, wetlands, mineral rich locations, etc and also other important physiographic features nearby.