6 Recommended Geography Books for IAS Exam
Geography is a very popular optional subject opted by IAS aspirants in Civil Services Mains exam. The reasons for Geography being a popular optional are the well defined syllabus, its semi-scientific nature, map based questions that are easy to score off. No wonder Geography fetches good marks in the IAS Mains exam.
But to score well you need to study the recommended books as well. So which Geography books for IAS are highly recommended by successful IAS aspirants? Find out below.
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The Best Geography Books for IAS Exam
1. Oxford Student Atlas
If you’re a student of Geography, then a good atlas should be your constant companion since it is required throughout the preparation of the two papers. The Oxford Student Atlas is highly recommended since it contains highly accurate details of India and the World and contains up-to-date information. The information is also presented in easy to understand; Oxford Student Atlas is the primary reference book for Geography optional.
2. Physical Geography by Savindra Singh
Physical Geography is a highly recommended book for physical geography by successful candidates who opted for Geography optional. Physical Geography by Savindra Singh covers all relevant topics relating to physical geography like Earth’s origin, age, its structure, movements and physical features like rocks, plateaus, plains. Apart from this it covers all the topics relating to Atmosphere and Hydrosphere.
If you take a look at the Geography syllabus, you will realize Physical Geography covers a good part of Geomorphology, Climatalogy, and Oceanography. A must read book for Geography paper 1.
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3. Human Geography by Majid Hussain
The first paper focuses on geography in relation to the human aspects of population, urbanization, planning, economy and so on. Human Geography looks into these aspects very lucidly. The book contains detailed maps and diagrams to aid your learning and contains references from the developed and developing parts of the world. Human Geography is recommended for getting a basic understanding of the concepts related to human development, population, economic geography and other issues.
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4. Geography of Population by M Hassan
As the title suggests this book dwells on the Population aspects of the first paper and is a specialized book for this purpose. Population Geography explains all the relevant topics like migration, demographic attributes, patterns of settlements, etc in easy to understand manner.
The latest edition of this book takes the 2001 census as its base to explore population aspects in detail. Population Geography is recommended to study this important topic of paper 1 in detail.
5. Geography of India by Majid Hussain
Paper 2 of geography focusses on Indian Geography and Majid Hussain has written a comprehensive book by the name Geography of India which covers the paper 2 syllabus in its entirety. This includes physical geography, agriculture, industry, transport, cultural setting, regional development and planning. Geography of India is a good book to cover Geography paper 2 syllabus.
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6. Certificate Physical and Human Geography by Goh Cheng Leong
Although this book is a veteran as far as civil services is concerned and is a must read book for Prelims, you should also go through Physical and Human Geography for Geography optional preparation since it covers the fundamentals of Geography paper 1. Also since you will be referring the book for Prelims, you might as well refer it for Mains as well.
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This wraps up the Geography books for IAS mains exam. If you have some more suggestions or doubts you can leave your valued comments below. Happy reading 🙂