SSC CGL Geography · World and Human Geography
World Geography
India's neighbours with their languages and symbols, the world's oceans, great lakes, river basins and straits, and two farming terms.
Why this matters
Sixteen questions in the bank: eight from the 2023 shifts, five from the 2024 shifts and three from the 2025 shifts, 14 of them EASY. Each asks one record or one match: the largest ocean, the deepest lake, a neighbour's language. Learn the lists as orders and pairs.
Concept 1 of 3: Neighbours and countries
Definition
Languages:
- Sri Lanka: Sinhala (and Tamil). Bhutan: Dzongkha. Myanmar: Burmese. Pakistan: Urdu. Afghanistan: Dari and Pashto.
Symbols and names:
- Bhutan is the Land of the Thunder Dragon (Druk Yul).
- The national fruit of Bangladesh is the jackfruit (India's is the mango).
- Of the BRICS countries, Russia has the longest coastline.
Animals and their homes: kangaroos in Australia, ostriches in savannas and deserts, lemurs in Madagascar, orangutans in Borneo and Sumatra.
Practise this conceptself-check · 3 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
Example 1 · World and Human Geography · World Geography
Orangutans are Asian
Concept 2 of 3: Oceans, lakes, basins and straits
Definition
Oceans by size: Pacific > Atlantic > Indian > Southern (Antarctic) > Arctic. The Southern Ocean circles Antarctica and reaches north to 60 degrees S.
Lakes:
- By depth: Baikal (deepest) > Tanganyika > Caspian Sea > Vostok.
- Lake Victoria, Africa's largest, is shared by Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.
- The Dead Sea is a landlocked salt lake between Israel and Jordan.
The Amazon basin (about 7 million sq km) is the world's largest river basin.
The Bering Strait joins the Pacific and Arctic oceans, between Russia and Alaska.
Practise this conceptself-check · 3 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
Example 2 · World and Human Geography · World Geography
The Atlantic is second, not the Indian
Concept 3 of 3: Two farming terms
Definition
The terms:
- Intensive agriculture: more labour and capital (fertiliser, irrigation) on the same land, to raise output per acre. Bringing more land under the plough is extensive farming.
- Permaculture (permanent agriculture): designing sustainable farms that copy natural ecosystems and need few outside inputs.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Intensive agriculture | More inputs on the same landQ |
| Extensive agriculture | More land, few inputs per acre |
| Permaculture | Sustainable farms that copy nature |
Practise this conceptself-check · 2 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
Example 3 · World and Human Geography · World Geography
Permaculture is not about permafrost
Summary — formulas & gotchas at a glance
A revision cheat-sheet for the formulas and gotchas above. Click any concept name to jump back to its full explanation.
Reference tables (3)
Neighbours and countries5 rows
Two farming terms3 rows
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Intensive agriculture | More inputs on the same landQ |
| Extensive agriculture | More land, few inputs per acre |
| Permaculture | Sustainable farms that copy nature |
Watch out for (3)
- Orangutans are Asian→ Neighbours and countries
- The Atlantic is second, not the Indian→ Oceans, lakes, basins and straits
- Permaculture is not about permafrost→ Two farming terms
Test yourself on World and Human Geography
10 past SSC CGL questions from this chapter, timed at 6 minutes and marked the way the exam marks it. You see your score and every answer the moment you finish. Free to start.