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Indian Geography PYQs (previous year questions) for UPSC Prelims: Indian Geography (Geography) had 42 questions across the 11 official UPSC Prelims papers we tagged (2016–2026), and appeared in 10 of them. Asked in 10 of 11 years. The concepts asked in the most papers: Rivers of India, Rivers, Lakes.
Year-wise question count
Asked in 10 of 11 years.
Most-asked concepts
Sorted by the number of papers a concept appeared in.
| Concept | Questions | Papers | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rivers of India | 4 | 4 | 2024, 2022, 2017, 2016 |
| Rivers | 4 | 3 | 2026, 2021, 2019 |
| Lakes | 3 | 3 | 2023, 2021, 2018 |
| Minerals | 3 | 3 | 2023, 2022, 2020 |
| Mineral Resources | 2 | 2 | 2018, 2016 |
| Reservoirs | 2 | 2 | 2022, 2019 |
| Airports | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Climate of India | 1 | 1 | 2026 |
| Coastal Features | 1 | 1 | 2017 |
| Coastal Landforms | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Drainage System | 1 | 1 | 2026 |
| Forest Cover | 1 | 1 | 2019 |
| Glaciers | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Glaciers and Rivers | 1 | 1 | 2019 |
| Groundwater | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Hills and Ranges | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Himalayan Peaks | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Inland Waterways | 1 | 1 | 2016 |
| Location of Places | 1 | 1 | 2018 |
| Physiography | 1 | 1 | 2026 |
| Physiography of India | 1 | 1 | 2017 |
| Ports | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Regions of India | 1 | 1 | 2016 |
| River Linking | 1 | 1 | 2016 |
| Soils | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| States and Boundaries | 1 | 1 | 2026 |
| States of India | 1 | 1 | 2017 |
| Volcanoes | 1 | 1 | 2018 |
| Waterfalls | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Wetlands | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
How to practise Indian Geography PYQs
- Start with the concepts at the top of the table. They have come back the most.
- Solve one year’s Indian Geography questions from the official PDF against the clock, then check the answer listed below.
- Log every miss as a concept gap, a calculation slip or a misread. Each needs a different fix.
- Once a concept is clean in two papers, move to the next. Then sit a full paper from the year pages.
Questions by year
Each line gives the question number, type, concept, our one-line summary and the official answer, with a link to the official PDF.
UPSC Prelims2026
- Q.11 · MCQ · Drainage System: Basis for the view that Yamuna or Sutlej shifted between systems PDF
- Q.25 · MCQ · Rivers: Identify an antecedent river flowing through three countries PDF
- Q.26 · MCQ · States and Boundaries: Incorrect statements on borders of UP, Rajasthan and Sikkim PDF
- Q.33 · MCQ · Climate of India: Climate and rainfall pattern of Andaman and Nicobar Islands PDF
- Q.34 · MCQ · Physiography: Features associated with the Peninsular Block PDF
UPSC Prelims2024
UPSC Prelims2023
- Q.1 · MCQ · Lakes: Rivers associated with Wular, Kolleru and Kanwar lakes (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.2 · MCQ · Ports: Matching Indian ports with their distinctions (official answer: B) PDF
- Q.5 · MCQ · Coastal Landforms: Marshland formed by repeated falls in sea level (official answer: D) PDF
- Q.6 · MCQ · Minerals: What ilmenite and rutile are rich sources of (official answer: D) PDF
- Q.9 · MCQ · Hills and Ranges: Location of Amarkantak, Biligirirangan and Seshachalam hills (official answer: D) PDF
UPSC Prelims2022
- Q.24 · MCQ · Rivers of India: River that carved the Gandikota canyon (official answer: C) PDF
- Q.25 · MCQ · Himalayan Peaks: Matching Himalayan peaks with their ranges (official answer: B) PDF
- Q.28 · MCQ · Minerals: Statements on monazite, thorium and its regulation in India (official answer: B) PDF
- Q.30 · MCQ · Wetlands: Matching wetlands and lakes with their states (official answer: B) PDF
- Q.70 · MCQ · Reservoirs: Matching reservoirs with their states (official answer: C) PDF
UPSC Prelims2021
- Q.53 · MCQ · Rivers: Indus tributary that joins the Indus directly (official answer: D) PDF
- Q.54 · MCQ · Lakes: What Didwana, Kuchaman, Sargol and Khatu are (official answer: D) PDF
- Q.55 · MCQ · Rivers: Rivers that rise from the Eastern Ghats (official answer: B) PDF
- Q.64 · MCQ · Soils: Rock whose weathering formed black cotton soil (official answer: B) PDF
UPSC Prelims2020
UPSC Prelims2019
- Q.23 · MCQ · Rivers: Match pilgrimage places with rivers they stand on (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.33 · MCQ · Forest Cover: Order States by percentage of forest cover (official answer: C) PDF
- Q.38 · MCQ · Glaciers and Rivers: Match glaciers with rivers (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.42 · MCQ · Reservoirs: What Aliyar, Isapur and Kangsabati have in common (official answer: D) PDF
UPSC Prelims2018
- Q.27 · MCQ · Mineral Resources: State auction powers and location of gold and iron ore mines (official answer: D) PDF
- Q.29 · MCQ · Location of Places: City on a longitude closest to Delhi's (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.77 · MCQ · Lakes: Which lake is artificial (official answer: A) PDF
- Q.85 · MCQ · Volcanoes: Statements on the Barren Island volcano (official answer: A) PDF
UPSC Prelims2017
- Q.19 · MCQ · Coastal Features: Place where the sea recedes kilometres twice a day (official answer: C) PDF
- Q.30 · MCQ · Rivers of India: Statements on the source and course of river Teesta (official answer: B) PDF
- Q.49 · MCQ · States of India: Minimum States crossed by road from Kohima to Kottayam (official answer: B) PDF
- Q.58 · MCQ · Physiography of India: Spread of the Himalayas, Western Ghats and Pulicat Lake across States (official answer: B) PDF
UPSC Prelims2016
- Q.28 · MCQ · Rivers of India: Tributaries of the Brahmaputra (official answer: D) PDF
- Q.74 · MCQ · Mineral Resources: Indian basins with shale gas resources (official answer: D) PDF
- Q.85 · MCQ · River Linking: Rivers recently linked in India (official answer: B) PDF
- Q.94 · MCQ · Regions of India: Matching famous places with their regions (official answer: C) PDF
- Q.96 · MCQ · Inland Waterways: State exploring an artificial inland port with a sea channel (official answer: D) PDF
Other Geography topics
FAQ
How many Indian Geography questions come in UPSC Prelims?
In the official papers we tagged: 5 in 2026, 3 in 2024, 5 in 2023, 5 in 2022, 4 in 2021, 3 in 2020, 4 in 2019, 4 in 2018, 4 in 2017 and 5 in 2016. Not asked in the other year. That is 42 questions in all, about 42% of Geography.
Which Indian Geography topics repeat in UPSC Prelims?
Asked in the most papers: Rivers of India, Rivers, Lakes. The concept table lists every one with its count.
Are these official UPSC Prelims questions?
Yes. Every question is from an official UPSC Prelims paper hosted on our year pages. The one-line summaries are ours; open the PDF linked beside each question for the full text.