MAPS

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GEOGRAPHICAL EPITHETS-WORLD

America’s Motor City Detroit
Britain of the South New Zealand
China’s Sorrow River Hwang Ho
City of Dreaming Spires Oxford (England)
City of Eternal Springs Quito (S.America)
City of Flowers Cape Town (S.Africa)
City of Golden Gate San Francisco (USA)
City of Magnificient Buildings Washington (USA)
City of Quiet thoroughfares Venice
City of Seven Hills Rome (Italy)
City of Skyscrapers New York (USA)
Cockpit of Europe Belgium
Dark Continent Africa
Emerald Isle Ireland
Empire City New York
Eternal City of Hopes Rome, Italy
Forbidden City Lhasa (Tibet)
Garden City Chicago
Garden in the desert Ethiopia
Garden of England Kent (England)
Gate of tears Strait of bab-el-Mandeb
Golden City Johannesburg
Gibraltar of Indian Ocean Aden
Gift of Nile Egypt
Granite City Aberdeen
Hanging Valleys Valley of Switzerland
Hermit Kingdom Korea
Herring Pond Atlantic Ocean
Holy Land Palestine
Human Equator of the Earth Himalayas
Island Continent Australia
Island of Cloves Zanzibar
Island of Pearls Bahrain (Persian Gulf)
Islands of Sunshine West Indies
Kashmir of Europe Switzerland
Key to Mediterranean Gibraltar
Land of Five Seas South West Asia
Land of Lakes Scotland
Land of Golden Pagoda Myanmar
Land of Kangaroo Australia
Land of Golden Fleece Australia
Land of Lilies Canada
Land of Maple Canada
Land of Midnight Sun Norway
Land of Morning Calm Korea
Land of Rising Sun Japan
Land of Setting Sun United Kingdom
Land of Thousand Elephants Laos
Land of Thousand Lakes Finland
Land of Thunderbolt Bhutan
Land of White Elephant Thailand
Loneliest Island Tristan De Gumha
(Mid. Atlantic)
Manchester of Japan Osaka (Japan)
Pillars of Hercules Straits of Gibraltar
Play Ground of Europe Switzerland
Quaker City Philadelphia
Queen of the Adriatic Venice
Roof of the World The pamirs (Tibet)
River in the Sea Gulf Stream
Sickman of Europe Turkey
Sugar Bowl of the world Cuba
Venice of the East Bangkok
Venice of the North Stockholm
White City Belgrade
Windy City Chicago
Workshop of Europe Belgium
World’s Loneliest Island Tristan Da Cunha
Yellow River River Hwang Ho
(China)

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SEVEN WONDERS

SEVEN WONDERS
OF THE ANCIENT WORLD
1. The Pyramids of Khufu
2. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
3. The Temple of Artem is at Ephesus
4. The Statue of Zeus at Olympia
5. The Mausolus at Halicarnassus
6. The Colossus of Rhodes
7. The Pharos (Lighthouse) at Alexandria
SEVEN WONDERS
OF THE MEDIEVAL WORLD
1. The Colosseum of Rome
2. The Great Wall of China
3. The Porcelain Tower of Nanking, Cahina
4. The Mosque at St.Sophia (Constantinople)
5. The Stonehenge of England
6. The Catacombs of Alexandria
7. The Leaning Tower of Pisa


SEVEN NATURAL WONDERS
OF THE WORLD
1. Mount Everest, on the border of Tibet and Nepal.
2. The Nile River, Egypt.
3. Rio de Janeiro Harbour.
4. Iguassu Falls, Argentina.
5. Yosemite Valley and the Giant Sequioas of California.
6. The Grand Canyon, Colorado River, Arizona.
7. The Northern Lights, especially from Northern
Canada and Alaska.
SEVEN WONDERS OF TODAY
1. The Taj Mahal of Agra, India.
2. The Great Pyramid of Egypt and the adjacent Great
Sphinx of Gizeh.
3. Hagia Sophia, 6th Century, in present day Istanbul.
4. Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy.
5. The Eiffel Tower, Paris.
6. The Washington Monument, Washington.
7. The Empire State Building, New York City.

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THE WORLD

The seasons are due to the change of the Earth’s

position in the course of its revolution about the Sun,

and to the inclination of its axis. The Equator is an

imaginary line drawn round the Earth midway between

the Poles. There are two other lines, namely, Tropic of

Cancer (23½ 'N) and the Tropic of Capricon (23½' S).

The word tropic means, ‘turning place’. The inclination

of the Earth’s axis together with its revolution round the

Sun is the cause of the varying length of day and night in

different parts of the world. On March 21 (Vernal Equinox)

and September 23 (Autumnal Equinox) the Sun is overhead

at the Equator. On these dates, except at the Poles,

(a) days and nights are equal all over the world; and (b)

the Sun rises exactly due east and set exactly due west at

all places on the Earth’s surface. At the Equator itself

days and nights are equal throughout the year. Between

March 21 and September 23, when the North Pole is tilted

towards the Sun, the days are longer than the nights

throughout the Northern Hemisphere and there is

continuous daylight at the North Pole. Similar conditions

are experienced in the Southern Hemisphere and the

South Pole between September 25 and March 21.

Latitude and Longitude:

Latitude is distance, measured in degrees, north or

south of the Equator. Longitude is distance, measured in

degrees, east or west of any fixed meridian. The meridian

passing through Greenwich is numbered 0'. On a globe

the meridians are numbered from 0' to 180'E (East) or W

(West). At the equator the degrees are 69 to 70 miles

apart (25000÷360). Since earth completes one rotation on

its axis in 24 hours, 360 meridians pass under the Sun in

that time. Therefore, 1 degree passes under the Sun every

4 minutes.

International Date Line:

If we travelled westward to a place X on longitude

180o W, the time there would be 12 hours behind

Greenwich time (180 x 4 minutes = 720 minutes = 12 hours).

If we journeyed eastward to a place Y on longitude 180o

E, the time there would be 12 hours ahead of Greenwich

time. Thus X and Y both on 180o have the same time but

The Earth and the Solar System :

The Earth is a member of the Solar System. It is one

of nine major planets revolving round the Sun. Of these,

Mercury and Venus are nearer, and Mars, Jupiter, Saturn,

Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are farther away from the

Sun than the Earth.

The planets radiate no light of their own, but shine

with that reflected from the Sun. The Sun has a diameter

of 864,000 miles (1,390,000 Kms) and it is 93,000,000 miles

(150,000,000 Kms) from the Earth. The Sun is a star. The

stars, unlike the planets, are self-luminous bodies. The

other stars appear small because they are so far away;

the nearest star, Proxima Centauri, is 200,000 times more

distant from us than the Sun.

The Moon is a dead planet. It is about 240,000 miles

(386,000 Kms) from the Earth. The Moon revolves round

the Earth taking approximately 29 days to complete one

round. The phases of the Moon are the result of its

position in relation to the Earth and the Sun.

The Moon’s orbit is ecliptical and inclined at an

angle of 5o to the plane of the Earth’s orbit. This explains

why we do not have a total eclipse of the Sun every time

there is a new moon.

The Earth:

The Earth is a sphere but it is not a perfect sphere.

It is slightly flattened at the poles and bulges at the

equator. The circumference of the earth is approximately

25,000 miles (40,000 Kms).

It rotates on its axis once in every 24 hours, spinning

from west to east. Besides spinning on its axis, it also

moves round the Sun, called the revolution.

Its orbit round the Sun is oval or ecliptical. The

time taken to complete one revolution is approximately

365¼ days or one year. For convenience, one year is

taken as 365 days and the shortfall of ¼ day each

year is made good in the Leap Year which consists of

366 days. The Earth’s axis inclined to the plane of its

orbit at an angle of 66½'.

differ in date by a day (12 hours + 12 hours = 24 hours).

To overcome the confusion that would otherwise arise,

the International Date Line has been established. It runs

along 180o E or W. Westward-bound vessels crossing

the Date Line drop a day from the calendar, while those

going eastward add a day by giving the same date to two

consecutive days. Instead of changing the time exactly

according to change in degrees at the rate of 4 minutes

per degree, certain time zones have been established. All

places in the same area or time zone or time belt, use

what is called Standard Time. Thus we have the

Greenwich Mean Time (G.M.T) and the Indian Standard

Time (I.S.T). There are five time-belts in Canada and four

in United States.

The Lithosphere:

The mass of the Earth is generally divided into three

layers, namely, Crust, Mantle and Core. The Lithosphere

is the name given to the outer Crust which is not more

than 10 miles thick. It is made up of a great variety of

rocks, soils, etc.

Rocks:

1. Sedimentary Rocks:These rocks are made up of

deposits laid down on the floor of river beds, lakes

and seas.

Examples:Sand and sandstone, clay, lime stone,

chalk and carbonaceous rocks, such as lignite, coal

and anthracite.

2. Igneous Rocks:These are primary rocks which are

formed by cooling and solidification of molten lava.

When such rocks are poured out on the surface

they are known as Volcanic rocks, e.g. basalt. When

the molten material solidifies at considerable depth,

plutonic rocks are formed, e.g. granite.

3. Metamorphic Rocks:These rocks are formed as a

result of alteration by extreme heat and or pressure

of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Example, slate,

gneiss, schist etc.

Soil:

The upper layers of rocks weather to form the soil.

There are three distinct layers of soil. The uppermost

layer forms the top soil. The second layer is called the

subsoil. The third layer is made up of decomposing and

much-broken rock, known as mantle- rock. The type of

soil depends on a number of factors, namely, climatic

conditions, the nature of the parent rock, relief, vegetation

and the period over which it has been worked by man.

Soils may by broadly classified as (a) Forest, (b) Grassland

and (c) Desert types.

Mountains:

In past geological ages disturbances in the Earth’s

interior have caused crumpling and cracking of the crust.

This has resulted in great upholds forming Fold-

Mountains which are mainly made up of folded strata of

sedimentary rocks, e.g. the Alps, the Rockies, the Andes,

and the Himalayas. The mountain structures worn down

by prolonged denudation are known as Residual

Mountains, e.g. Highlands of Scotland and Scandinavia.

Denudation:

The process known as denudation or the wearing

away of the land is continually going on. The chief causes

of such erosion are (a) changes in temperature; (b) frost;

(c) winds; (d) water, including rivers; (e) ice; and (f) the

action of the sea. Steps to combat soil erosion include (i)

terracing; (ii) contour ploughing; (iii) strip cropping (iv)

planting shelter belts of trees; and (v) plugging the gullies

by building small dams etc.

The Atmosphere:

The air is composed mainly of nitrogen (78%) and

oxygen (21%) with small proportions of carbon dioxide,

water vapour and rarer gases like argon and neon.

Atmosphere is 200 miles thick, but nine-tenths of the air

composing it is found within 12 miles, and half within 3½

miles of the earth’s surface. We are concerned mainly

with the lower layer of troposphere. The upper layers in

the ascending order are Stratosphere, Mesosphere and

Ionosphere. Troposphere extends to a distance of about

ten kilometres. Stratosphere is a region extending from

an altitude of about 11 Km to 50 Km above the earth. The

upper part of stratosphere has plenty of ozone which

protects us from the fatal effects of Sun’s ultraviolet

radiation. Mesosphere is the next layer extending from 50

to 80 Kms above the earth. It is a very cold region.

Ionosphere extends from about 60 Kms upwards. It

includes Thermosphere and Exosphere which marks the

outer limits of the earth’s atmosphere.

Wind is air in motion:

The chief cause of wind is difference in atmosphere

pressure. One of the main reasons for differences in

pressure is unequal heating of the air. From the high

pressure belts the air flows outwards to the regions of

low pressure. Owing to the rotation of the earth, the winds

do not blow due north and south, but are deflected. In

this deflection they obey Ferrel’s Law which states, “Any

moving body on the earth surface including a current of

air, tends to be deflected, the deflection being to the right

in the northern hemisphere and to the left in southern

hemisphere.” Land and seabreezed are local winds caused

by the unequal heating of land and water. During the day

the land becomes very much hotter than the sea, with the

result that there is marked low pressure over the land.

Thus the air over the sea flows rapidly loses heat, but the

sea remains warm for a longer time. Thus at night, heavy

cool air blows from the land to take the place of warm air

rising over the sea. The monsoon or seasonal winds may

be regarded as land and sea breezes on a large scale, in

which the time-frame is a year instead of a day. This

phenomenon is to be found in south-east Asia, but is

especially marked in the subcontinent of India. A cyclone

is a portion of the atmosphere in which the pressure is

lowest in the centre. The winds blow inwards in anticlockwise

direction in the Northern Hemisphere. In the

Southern Hemisphere cyclonic winds blow in a clockwise
direction in accordance with Ferrel’s Law. An anticyclone
is a portion of the atmosphere in which the pressure is
highest in the centre. The winds blow outwards in a
clockwise direction in the Northern Hemisphere and in
an anti-clockwise direction in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Oceans:
It is estimated that 72% of the surface of the globe
is covered with water. The Pacific, which is the greatest
of all oceans, covers a third of the earth’s surface, its
total area being greater than that of all the dry land.
Atlantic is slightly less than half the size of the Pacific,
yet so many great rivers flow into it that it receives half
the drainage of the world. The other oceans are Indian,
Mediterranean, Antarctic and Arctic. The average depth
of the ocean is 12,500 feet, compared with the average
height of the land which is about 2,500 feet. The greatest
known depth is that of the Marianas Trench in the Pacific,
where a depth of 35,800 feet has been recorded.
Tides:
Tides are caused by the gravitational attraction -
the ‘pull’ of the moon on the earth, sometimes assisted
by and sometimes hindered by the Sun.At new and full
moon, when the Sun, Moon and Earth are practically in a
straight line the attractive force of the Sun increases that
of the Moon. Such high tides are called spring tides.
Weather and Climates:
Weather may be defined as the condition of the
atmosphere at any place at a particular time. The average
weather conditions determine the climate. Humidity,
temperature, elevation, distance from the sea, ocean
currents, atmosphere pressure and prevailing winds
combine to affect the climate of a region.
Humidity:
Humidity, the term used to express the dampness
of the atmosphere, is due to the pressure of water vapour.
Evaporation is the mean by which water is drawn off as
invisible water vapour from oceans, lakes, rivers, etc.,
when the air contains as much water vapour as it can
hold is said to be saturated. When saturated air is cooled,
condensation takes place and some of the water which
form the clouds grow larger, they precipitate i.e., fall to
the earth as rain. The proportion of water vapour in the
air, compared with the maximum it can hold at the same
temperature, is known as Relative Humidity. Dew is
caused by the condensation of water vapour on the cold
ground during the night. The temperature at which such
condensation takes place is called the Dew Point. When
condensation takes place near the surface (and not on
the ground) the result is usually mist or fog. When
condensation takes place at some distance from the
ground, clouds are formed. When water vapour is
condensed at a temperature below freezing point it forms
snow. There are various kinds of clouds. The layer like
clouds often seen on the horizon at sunrise and sunset
are called stratus clouds. The light wispy clouds formed
high in the sky are called cirrus clouds. The heaped up
clouds, looking rather like masses of cotton wool are called
cumulus clouds. The black rain clouds are known as
nimbus.
Temperature:
Of all climatic factors, temperature is the most
important. It affects man’s food, crops, dress and the
type of dwelling he builds. Temperature decreases 1oF
for every 300 feet above the sea-level. This decrease
is largely due to the fact that the rarified air, found
in elevated regions, absorbs less heat than the denser
air at lower levels.

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THE EARTH DATA

Surface Area : 510,100,500 Sq.Kms.
Land Surface : 148,950,800 Sq.Kms.
(29.08%)
Water Surface : 361,149,700 Sq.Kms.
(70.92%)
Equatorial circumference : 40,075 Kms.
Polar circumference : 40,008 Kms
Equatorial radius : 6,377 Kms.
Equatorial Diameter : 1,22,756 Kms.
Polar radius : 6,357 Kms.
Polar Diameter : 12,714 Kms.
Mean distance from the
Sun : 14,95,97,900 Kms.
Period of revolution : 365 days 5 hours 48 mts.
45.51 Sec.
Period of rotation : 23 hrs. 56 mts. 4.091 Sec.
Escape Velocity from
the earth : 11 Km per Sec. (minimum)

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SOLAR SYSTEM - STATISTICS

The solar system consists of the Sun and 9 planets
revolving around it in different orbits. The statistics of
the sun and the planets are given below :
SUN
Age : About 5 Billion years
Distance : 149.8 Million Kms
Diameter : 1,38,400 Kms.
Photosphere temperature : 5,770 K
Core temperature : 150,000,000 K
Absolute visual magnitude : 4.75
Rotation (as seen from the
earth at the equator) : 25.38 days
Rotation (near the poles) : 33 days
The sun consists of 71% of Hydrogen, 26.5% Helium and
2.5% of other elements.
The rays of the Sun take about 8 minutes to reach the
earth.


PLANETS
(1) MERCURY : It is the planet nearest to
the earth.
Average distance
to the Sun : 57.6 Million Kms.
Diameter : 4,849.6 Kms.
Period of revolution : 88 days
Period of rotation : 58 days 15 hrs 30 mts. 34
sec.
(2) VENUS : It is also known as the
Morning Star or the
Evening Star. It is the
brightest of all the
planets.
Diameter : 12,032 Kms.
Period of revolution : 225 days
Period of rotation : 243 days 14mts.
(3) EARTH
Equatorial diameter : 12,756 Kms.
Polar diameter : 12,714 Kms.
Distance from the Sun : 149,597,900 Kms.
Period of revolution : 365 days 5 hrs, 48 mts,
45.51 sec.
Period of rotation : 23 hrs 56 mts. 4.09 sec.
LATEST STUDY MATERIALS WITH KEY POINTS
GENERAL KNOWLEDGE
(4) MARS
Diameter : 6,755.2 Kms.
Distance from the Sun : 225.6 Million Kms.
Period of revolution : 687 days
Period of rotation : 24 hrs 37 mts. 22.663 sec.
(5) JUPITER : This is the largest planet
in the solar system.
Diameter : 141,968 Kms.
Distance from the Sun : 772.8 Million Kms.
Period of revolution : 11.9 years
Period of rotation : 9 hrs 50 mts. 30 sec.
(6) SATURN : It was discovered by
Galileo.
Diameter : 119,296 Kms.
Distance from the Sun : 1,417.6 Million Kms.
Period of revolution : 29.5 years
Period of rotation : 10 hrs 14 mts.
(7) URANUS
Diameter : 52,096 Kms.
Distance from the Sun : 2,852.8 Million Kms.
Period of revolution : 84 years
Period of rotation : 16 hrs 10 mts.
(8) NEPTUNE
Diameter : 49,000 Kms.
Distance from the Sun : 4,497 Million Kms.
Period of revolution : 165 years
Period of rotation : 18 hrs 26 mts.
(9) PLUTO : This is the coldest and
smallest of all planets. It
is also the most distant
one.
Diameter : 3,040 Kms.
Distance from the Sun : 5,865.6 Million Kms.
Period of revolution : 248 years
Period of rotation : 6 days 9 hrs and 18 mts.
MOON : Moon is earth's satellite.
Its period of rotation and
Period of Revolution are
the same. i.e.29.5
days.

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human geography question

1. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.
(i) Which one of the following statements does not describe geography?
(a) an integrative discipline
(b) study of the inter-relationship between humans and environment

(c) subjected to dualism
(d) not relevant in the present time due to the development of technology.
(ii) Which one of the following is not a source of geographical information?
(a) traveller’s accounts
(b) old maps
(c) samples of rock materials from the moon
(d) ancient epics
(iii) Which one of the following is the most important factor in the interaction
between people and environment?
(a) human intelligence (c) technology
(b) people’s perception (d) human brotherhood
(iv) Which one of the following is not an approach in human geography?
(a) Areal differentiation (c) Quantitative revolution
(b) Spatial organisation (d) Exploration and description
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) Define human geography.
(ii) Name some sub-fields of human geography.
(iii) How is human geography related to other social sciences?
3. Answer the following questions in not more than 150 words.
(i) Explain naturalisation of humans.
(ii) Write a note on the scope of human geography.

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macroeconomic decision

who are the macroeconomic decision makers (or ‘players’)?
Macroeconomic policies are pursued by the State itself or statutory bodies like
the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
and similar institutions. Typically, each such body will have one or more public
goals to pursue as defined by law or the Constitution of India itself.

These goals are not those of individual economic agents maximising their private profit or welfare. Thus the macroeconomic agents are basically different from the
individual decision-makers.
Secondly, what do the macroeconomic decision-makers try to do? Obviously
they often have to go beyond economic objectives and try to direct the deployment
of economic resources for such public needs as we have listed above. Such
activities are not aimed at serving individual self-interests. They are pursued for
the welfare of the country and its people as a whole.

Macroeconomics deals with the aggregate economic variables of an economy.
It also takes into account various interlinkages which may exist between the
different sectors of an economy. This is what distinguishes it from
microeconomics; which mostly examines the functioning of the particular sectors
of the economy, assuming that the rest of the economy remains the same.
Macroeconomics emerged as a separate subject in the 1930s due to Keynes.
The Great Depression, which dealt a blow to the economies of developed
countries, had provided Keynes with the inspiration for his writings. In this
book we shall mostly deal with the working of a capitalist economy. Hence it
may not be entirely able to capture the functioning of a developing country.
Macroeconomics sees an economy as a combination of four sectors, namely
households, firms, government and external sector


Trade with the external sector can
be of two kinds
1. The domestic country may sell goods to the rest of the world. These are
called exports.
2. The economy may also buy goods from the rest of the world. These are called
imports. Besides exports and imports, the rest of the world affects the
domestic economy in other ways as well.
3. Capital from foreign countries may flow into the domestic country, or the
domestic country may be exporting capital to foreign countries.

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questions

a. The Soviet political system was based on ___________________
ideology.
b. _________________ was the military alliance started by the USSR.
c. ____________________ party dominated the Soviet Union’s
political system.
d. ______________________ initiated the reforms in the USSR in 1985.
e. The fall of the ____________________ symbolised the end of the
Cold War.



Which among the following is NOT an outcome of the disintegration
of the USSR?
a. End of the ideological war between the US and USSR
b. Birth of CIS
c. Change in the balance of power in the world order
d. Crises in the Middle East


Arrange the following in chronological order:
a. Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
b. Fall of the Berlin Wall
c. Disintegration of the Soviet Union
d. Russian Revolution

Which among the following statements that describe the nature
of Soviet economy is wrong?
a. Socialism was the dominant ideology
b. State ownership/control existed over the factors of production
c. People enjoyed economic freedom
d. Every aspect of the economy was planned and controlled by
the State

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