Why Geography is the most popular optional subject for IAS Aspirants?

There are 25 Optional subjects for the IAS Mains Exam. As per the official data of UPSC, about 25 to 30 percent of aspirants who appeared in the Civil Services Main Exam in last few years have opted for Geography. So Geography is the most popular subject among the IAS Aspirants. Lets us find out the reasons, for its high popularity and why it is considered as a safe and scoring optional subject.

#1
Geography is highly scoring subject because unlike other subjects like History, Sociology and Political science there is not much scope for interpretation in Geography. Scientific approach is used in Geography which makes the subject straightforward and conceptual. Any aspirant who has understood the concepts can score high in Geography and there is no scope for subjectivity or interpretation.

#2
There is no need to mug up the facts and figures in Geography. The most important aspect of the Geography as a subject is conceptual clarity. Aspirants with average writing skills can also write beautiful answers to impress the examiner if they have crystal clear concepts. All you need to do is explain the concepts in your language in a lucid manner. The map-based questions are also very scoring

#3
Geography is one subject in which aspirants can extensively use diagrams and maps to impress the examiner and get exceptionally good marks. So apart from writing skills, the aspirants can use their creativity also to get the advantage in the cut throat competition. There is hardly any scope for such diagrams in other subjects like History, Political Science, Public Administration and Sociology

#4
Geography as a subject is highly relatable to your day-to-day life which makes it very interesting and practical. Temperature, rainfall, climate, soil, vegetation, agriculture, population etc. are the topics that you study in detail in Geography. You can easily relate with these topics as they influence your day-today life.

#5
It has tremendous overlap with General Studies both in prelims and the mains. Every year about 20 to 25 questions in Civil Services Prelims examination are from Geography and Environment. Aspirants with Geography Optional have an edge in these questions. Even in the UPSC personality test, Geography will be useful as the board can ask questions on the local geography of a candidate’s home town like soil, vegetation, minerals, etc.