APPSC Group-1 2023 Geography Previous Year Questions

Ans: (3) 1987 – 1999 (as per APPSC official final key)

World population grew very slowly for most of human history; it reached 1 billion only around 1804. After the Industrial Revolution and the fall in death rates, growth sped up: 2 billion (1927), 3 billion (1960), 4 billion (1974), 5 billion (1987), 6 billion (1999), 7 billion (2011) and 8 billion (November 2022).

The rise from 5 to 6 billion took just 12 years, from 1987 to 1999.

Note:

• 11 July (World Population Day) marks the 5 billion day in 1987.
• India overtook China as the most populous country in 2023 (UN estimate).

Ans: (2) 33 (as per APPSC official final key)

Scheduled Tribes are notified by the President under Article 342, and the list can be changed only by Parliament. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders (Amendment) Act, 1976 revised the lists and removed area restrictions for most communities.

As per the key, 33 Scheduled Tribes are notified for Andhra Pradesh. Major tribes of AP include the Sugalis (Lambadas), Koyas, Yanadis, Yerukulas, Savaras, Jatapus, Konda Doras, Gadabas, Valmikis and Chenchus (a PVTG).

Note:

• AP has 12 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs).
• The ST population of AP (2011, residual state) is about 5.5%.

Ans: Question deleted by APPSC (official final key; no option is treated as correct)

This question was deleted by APPSC in the official final key, so no option is scored as correct.

As per Census 2011, the states and UTs with no Scheduled Caste population (no SC list notified) were Nagaland, Lakshadweep and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Arunachal Pradesh also has no SC list. Mizoram has a very small SC population (about 0.1%), and Tripura and Sikkim do have SCs. Since no option matched this exactly, the question was deleted.

Note:

• Punjab has the highest share of SCs (31.9%); Uttar Pradesh the largest number.
• SCs are 16.6% of India’s population (2011).

Ans: (3) a-II, b-III, c-IV, d-I (as per APPSC official final key)

Sex ratio in India is the number of females per 1,000 males. As per Census 2011 (national average 943):

• Puducherry – 1037 (highest among UTs)
• Tamil Nadu – 996
• Lakshadweep – 946
• Andhra Pradesh – 993 (undivided state)

So a-II, b-III, c-IV, d-I.

Note:

• Kerala has the highest sex ratio (1084); Haryana the lowest among states (879); Daman and Diu the lowest overall (618).
• Child sex ratio (0–6) in 2011: 918.

Ans: (2) 50·91% (as per APPSC official final key)

Indian Railways began large-scale electrification to cut fuel costs and pollution. As per the key, about 50.91% of the total rail route length was electrified by March 2019.

Since then electrification has moved very fast under Mission 100% Electrification, and by 2025 almost the entire broad-gauge network had been electrified.

Note:

• First electric train: Bombay VT to Kurla, 3 February 1925.
• Indian Railways aims to be a net-zero carbon emitter by 2030.

Ans: (2) a-II, b-IV, c-I, d-III (as per APPSC official final key)

Major coal-based thermal power stations (mostly NTPC):

• Kudgi – Vijayapura (Bijapur) district, Karnataka.
• Kahalgaon – Bhagalpur district, Bihar.
• Sipat – Bilaspur district, Chhattisgarh.
• Dadri – Gautam Buddh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh.

So a-II, b-IV, c-I, d-III.

Note:

• NTPC Simhadri is in Visakhapatnam, AP.
• Ramagundam (NTPC) is in Telangana.

Ans: (2) a-I, b-II, c-III, d-IV (as per APPSC official final key)

Agricultural regionalisation divides an area into regions using statistical methods:

• Crop combination – J.C. Weaver (1954) and Doi (1959).
• Crop diversification – S.S. Bhatia and Jasbir Singh.
• Crop concentration – location quotient methods of Chisholm and Bhatia.
• Agricultural productivity – M.G. Kendall (ranking coefficient), and later Majid Husain and Jasbir Singh.

So a-I, b-II, c-III, d-IV.

Note:

• Rafiullah modified Weaver’s method.
• Productivity indices: Enyedi, Shafi, Bhatia.

Ans: (1) Steppe (as per APPSC official final key)

In Asia, the cold forest zone of Siberia (Taiga) and the dry deserts of Central Asia (Gobi, Kara Kum) are separated by a broad belt of temperate grasslands called the Steppes. They stretch from Ukraine to Mongolia and have a continental climate with low rainfall (25–50 cm), hot summers and very cold winters.

Taiga is coniferous forest; Tundra is treeless cold desert; Prairies are temperate grasslands of North America.

Note:

• Other temperate grasslands: Pampas (Argentina), Veld (South Africa), Downs (Australia), Canterbury (New Zealand).
• Kazakh Steppe is the largest dry steppe.

Ans: (1) Reserved Forest > Protected Forest > Village Forest (as per APPSC official final key)

The Indian Forest Act, 1927 provides three categories of forest, in decreasing order of protection:

• Reserved Forests – most protected; all activities are banned unless permitted.
• Protected Forests – activities allowed unless prohibited; rights of local people are recorded.
• Village Forests – reserved forest land assigned to a village community for its use.

So Reserved > Protected > Village.

Note:

• The first forest policy: 1894; National Forest Policy: 1952 and 1988 (33% forest cover goal).
• Forest Conservation Act, 1980 was renamed Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam in 2023.

Ans: (1) Wood stork (as per APPSC official final key)

Sri Venkateswara National Park (1989) lies in the Seshachalam and Palakonda hills of Tirupati and Annamayya districts. It is part of the Seshachalam Biosphere Reserve.

It is known for endemic and threatened species: Red Sanders (Pterocarpus santalinus), the cycad Cycas beddomei, and the slender loris, along with the golden gecko. The wood stork is a wetland bird (e.g. Kolleru, Telineelapuram) and is not an indicator species of this dry deciduous forest.

Note:

• Talakona waterfall (about 270 ft), the highest in AP, is inside the park.
• Seshachalam was declared a Biosphere Reserve in 2010.

Ans: (3) Naharkatia – Nunmati – Barauni (as per APPSC official final key)

India’s first crude oil pipeline was the Naharkatiya – Nunmati – Barauni pipeline (about 1,167 km), built by Oil India Ltd. It carried crude from the Naharkatiya oilfield in Assam to the Nunmati (Guwahati) refinery (1962) and then to Barauni in Bihar (1964).

The Hazira–Bijaipur–Jagdishpur (HBJ) pipeline (1980s) carries gas. Mumbai High–Koyali carries offshore crude to Gujarat.

Note:

• Digboi (1901) is the oldest refinery; Jamnagar (Reliance) is the largest refining complex in the world.
• Kandla–Bhatinda pipeline carries crude for Punjab.

Ans: Question deleted by APPSC (official final key; no option is treated as correct)

This question was deleted by APPSC in the official final key, so no option is scored as correct.

Andhra Pradesh is famous for barytes: the Mangampeta mine in YSR Kadapa district is one of the largest barytes deposits in the world, and AP produces over 90% of India’s barytes. It is not technically the “sole” producer, and AP also produces granite, iron ore and apatite, so no option fitted the word “sole” exactly.

Note:

• Barytes is used in drilling mud for oil wells.
• AP also has limestone (cement), beach sand minerals and mica (Nellore).

Ans: (2) I, II and III only (as per APPSC official final key)

Sugarcane is a tropical crop needing hot and humid climate (21–27°C), 75–150 cm rain, and a long growing season. The tropical belt (Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, AP) has higher yield and sugar content than the sub-tropical belt (UP, Bihar, Punjab, Haryana) because of:

• its latitudinal position – no frost and a longer crushing season;
• long hours of sunshine;
• cool nights with clear skies during ripening, which help sucrose accumulation.

High temperature disparity (very hot summers and cold winters) is a feature of the north, which lowers yield. So I, II and III.

Note:

• UP has the largest area and production of sugarcane; Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra lead in yield.
• Coastal tropical regions get sea breeze moderation.

Ans: (4) Sengupta and Sdasyuk (as per APPSC official final key)

The first attempt to divide Indian agriculture into four macro regions was made jointly by the Indian geographer P. Sengupta and the Soviet geographer Galina Sdasyuk in their work Economic Regionalization of India: Problems and Approaches (Census of India, 1968).

Later geographers like Jasbir Singh and Randhawa proposed more detailed agricultural regions.

Note:

• Planning Commission divided India into 15 agro-climatic zones (1989).
• ICAR’s NBSS&LUP identified 20 agro-ecological regions.

Ans: Question deleted by APPSC (official final key; no option is treated as correct)

This question was deleted by APPSC in the official final key, so no option is scored as correct.

India is the second largest producer of crude steel in the world after China, which produces over half of world output. In 2020, because of the COVID-19 slowdown, India’s crude steel output (about 100 million tonnes) was lower than in 2019 (about 111 MT). The figure of 51.89 MT in the question does not match annual production, so the statements and options were faulty.

Note:

• National Steel Policy 2017 targets 300 MT capacity by 2030–31.
• India’s crude steel output crossed 140 MT in 2023.

Ans: (2) a-III, b-IV, c-II, d-I (as per APPSC official final key)

The Geological Survey of India has declared several National Geological Heritage Sites:

• Lonar Lake (Buldhana, Maharashtra) – a crater lake formed by a meteorite impact in basalt; also a Ramsar site.
• Siwalik Fossil Park (Saketi, Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh) – vertebrate fossils of the Siwalik rocks.
• Akal Wood Fossil Park (Jaisalmer, Rajasthan) – fossil tree trunks about 180 million years old.
• Pillow Lava at Nomira (Keonjhar, Odisha) – lava that erupted under the sea.

So a-III, b-IV, c-II, d-I.

Note:

• AP’s geo-heritage sites include Erramatti Dibbalu (Visakhapatnam), Natural Arch at Tirumala and Volcanogenic bedded barytes at Mangampeta.
• Belum Caves (Nandyal) are the second longest caves in India.

Ans: (3) Khondalite Series (as per APPSC official final key)

The Vindhyan system is a great sequence of sedimentary rocks (sandstone, shale, limestone) of Proterozoic age stretching from Sasaram (Bihar) to Chittorgarh (Rajasthan). Its main series are the Semri (Lower Vindhyan), and in the Upper Vindhyan the Kaimur, Rewa and Bhander series. They give building stones such as red sandstone used in Mughal monuments.

The Bijawar series is an older Dharwar-age formation found near the Vindhyan rocks in Bundelkhand, though some books link it to the Vindhyan basin. The Khondalite series belongs to the Eastern Ghats (Archaean rocks of Odisha and AP) and is not related to the Vindhyan system.

Note:

• Panna diamonds come from Vindhyan conglomerates.
• Cuddapah system: AP; Gondwana: coal.

Ans: Question deleted by APPSC (official final key; no option is treated as correct)

This question was deleted by APPSC in the official final key, so no option is scored as correct.

When Himalayan rivers come down to the plains their speed falls and they drop their sediment. This deposition forms:

• Alluvial fans at the foot of the mountains (bhabar zone);
• Braided channels, where the river splits around sandbars (e.g. Brahmaputra, Kosi);
• Natural levees along the banks during floods;
• River terraces, which are partly depositional and partly formed by later erosion.

The misprint “National Levees” and the mixed nature of terraces are likely why the question was deleted.

Note:

• Bhangar = older alluvium; Khadar = newer alluvium.
• Kosi is called the ‘Sorrow of Bihar’ for its shifting course.

Ans: (2) Karnataka (as per APPSC official final key)

Karnataka shares boundaries with six states: Goa, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala – the most among southern states.

By comparison, Andhra Pradesh borders five states (Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu), Telangana borders four (Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka) and Tamil Nadu borders three (Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh).

Note:

• Uttar Pradesh borders the most states in India (8) plus Delhi.
• Yanam, a part of the UT of Puducherry, lies inside Andhra Pradesh’s East Godavari region.

Ans: (1) 8 PM (as per APPSC official final key)

The Earth rotates 360° in 24 hours, so 1° of longitude = 4 minutes of time. Places east of a meridian are ahead in time; places west are behind.

Place A is at 60° W and Place B at 90° E. The difference is 60 + 90 = 150°. Time difference = 150 × 4 = 600 minutes = 10 hours. B is east of A, so it is ahead: 10 AM + 10 hours = 8 PM.

Note:

• Indian Standard Time is based on 82°30′ E (Mirzapur), 5h 30m ahead of GMT.
• International Date Line roughly follows 180°.

Ans: (4) I, II and III (as per APPSC official final key)

Basic facts about India:

• Area 3.28 million sq km, about 2.4% of the world’s land area; the 7th largest country.
• The mainland lies between 8°4′ N and 37°6′ N latitude and 68°7′ E and 97°25′ E longitude.
• India has 28 States and 8 Union Territories (since January 2020, when Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu were merged).

So all three statements are correct.

Note:

• Southernmost point: Indira Point (6°45′ N, Great Nicobar).
• India has about 17–18% of the world population.

Ans: (2) a-IV, b-III, c-II, d-I (as per APPSC official final key)

These are irrigation/multipurpose projects:

• Parwan multipurpose project – Jhalawar/Baran, Rajasthan.
• Renukaji Dam – on the Giri river, Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh (water for Delhi).
• Lakhwar multipurpose project – on the Yamuna, Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
• Ken-Betwa Link – first river-interlinking project under the National Perspective Plan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh (Bundelkhand); foundation stone laid December 2024.

So a-IV, b-III, c-II, d-I.

Note:

• Daudhan dam on the Ken river is part of Ken-Betwa; it affects Panna Tiger Reserve.
• Polavaram is also planned as part of a Godavari-Krishna link.

Ans: (3) a-IV, b-II, c-III, d-I (as per APPSC official final key)

Tiger Reserves under Project Tiger (1973):

• Periyar – Kerala (Idukki).
• Sariska – Rajasthan (Alwar); tigers were reintroduced in 2008 after local extinction.
• Buxa – West Bengal (Alipurduar).
• Indravati – Chhattisgarh (Bijapur).

So a-IV, b-II, c-III, d-I.

Note:

• Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam (AP) is the largest tiger reserve in India.
• NTCA was set up in 2006.

Ans: (2) Mica (as per APPSC official final key)

Mica is found in pegmatite veins, coarse-grained igneous rocks. Its main varieties are muscovite (white/ruby mica, most valuable for electrical insulation) and phlogopite (amber mica) and biotite.

India is a leading producer of sheet mica. Major belts are Koderma–Hazaribagh–Gaya (Jharkhand-Bihar), Nellore (Andhra Pradesh) and Bhilwara–Ajmer (Rajasthan).

Note:

• Mica splits into thin sheets and is a good insulator.
• Andhra Pradesh is a leading producer of mica (Nellore belt).

Ans: (2) The Vindyachal Thermal Power Station, Madhya Pradesh (as per APPSC official final key)

Vindhyachal Super Thermal Power Station (NTPC) at Singrauli district, Madhya Pradesh, is India’s largest thermal power plant with an installed capacity of 4,760 MW. It uses coal from the Nigahi mines of the Singrauli coalfield.

Mundra (Adani, Gujarat) is the largest private coal plant (4,620 MW). Sasan (Reliance, MP) is an ultra mega power plant of 3,960 MW. Talcher (NTPC) is in Odisha.

Note:

• Singrauli is called the ‘energy capital of India’.
• Ultra Mega Power Projects are 4,000 MW each.

Ans: (1) Tropical Moist Forests (as per APPSC official final key)

Biodiversity is highest near the equator and falls towards the poles. Tropical moist (rain) forests cover only about 7% of the Earth’s land but hold more than half of all species, because they have high temperature and rainfall all year, a long and stable evolutionary history, and many layers (canopy, understorey, floor) that provide niches.

Temperate deciduous forests, the taiga and deserts/savannas have harsher or more seasonal climates and fewer species.

Note:

• Amazon is the largest tropical rainforest.
• India’s biodiversity hotspots: Himalaya, Western Ghats–Sri Lanka, Indo-Burma, Sundaland (Nicobar).

Ans: (1) Mid Latitudes (as per APPSC official final key)

Seasons occur because the Earth’s axis is tilted (23½°), so the angle of the Sun’s rays and day length change during the year. Near the equator (low latitudes) temperature and day length are almost the same all year. In the mid latitudes (about 30°–60°) there are four clear seasons: hot summers and cold winters, with marked changes in day length.

As per the key, seasonal differences are maximum in the mid latitudes.

Note:

• Annual range of temperature is greatest in the interiors of continents (e.g. Verkhoyansk, Siberia).
• High latitudes have long polar days and nights.

Ans: (3) Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, Sutlej (as per APPSC official final key)

The Indus river system has five eastern tributaries (the “five rivers” of Punjab). From north to south (west to east) they are:

• Jhelum – rises at Verinag, flows through Srinagar and Wular lake.
• Chenab – formed by Chandra and Bhaga; largest tributary.
• Ravi – rises near Rohtang pass.
• Beas – rises at Beas Kund near Rohtang; joins the Sutlej at Harike.
• Sutlej – rises at Rakas Tal near Mansarovar (Tibet).

Note:

• Indus Waters Treaty (1960): eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) to India; western (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) to Pakistan. India put the treaty in abeyance in April 2025.
• Bhakra Nangal dam is on the Sutlej.

Ans: (1) Srikakulam (as per APPSC official final key)

The Naupada swamp area in Srikakulam district is one of the sites chosen in Andhra Pradesh as an Important Coastal and Marine Biodiversity Area (ICMBA). It has salt marshes and mangroves and is a habitat for migratory and resident birds. Nearby is Telineelapuram, known for pelicans and painted storks.

Note:

• Other coastal AP wetlands: Kolleru (Ramsar), Coringa (mangroves, Godavari), Pulicat.
• Telukunchi and Telineelapuram are Important Bird Areas in Srikakulam.

Ans: (1) Nitrogen, Oxygen, Argon, CO₂ (as per APPSC official final key)

Dry air near the Earth’s surface is made up (by volume) of:

• Nitrogen – about 78%
• Oxygen – about 21%
• Argon – about 0.93%
• Carbon dioxide – about 0.04%

So the descending order is nitrogen, oxygen, argon, CO₂. Water vapour (0–4%) varies and is not counted in dry air.

Note:

• CO₂ is a greenhouse gas; its concentration passed 420 ppm in 2023.
• Ozone is concentrated in the stratosphere (15–35 km).