GEOGRAPHY for WBCS PRELIMS 2020 JITIN YADAV, IAS 1 GEOGRAPHY NOTES FOR WBCS PRELIMS 2020 BY JITIN YADAV, IAS CONTENTS S. No. TOPIC PAGE 1. West Bengal Geography 3 2. WB Location and ExtEnsion 3 3. Census of WB 4 4. Physiography of WB 5 5. RivEr of WB 8 6. Soil of WB 11 7. MinErals in WB 11 8. Industry in WB 12 9. Natural VEgEtation & AgriculturE in WB 13 10. HydropoWEr projEcts & Dams in WB 14 11. Economy in WB 15 12. National Parks, Bird and Wild LifE 15 Sanctuaries and Biospheres in WB etc 13. WB SchEmEs 16 14. Indian Geography 18 15. Geological structurEs of India 19 16. Physiography of India 20 17. Soils of India 27 18. VegEtation 30 19. AgriculturE and Crops 32 20. DrainagE SystEm 40 21. Lakes 47 22. MultipurposE ProjEct 50 23. ClimatE 55 2 GEOGRAPHY NOTES FOR WBCS PRELIMS 2020 BY JITIN YADAV, IAS WEST BENGAL GEOGRAPHY LOCATION AND EXTENSION • Located in East India • BORDERS Direction Country/State Boundary/Border(km) East BangladEsh 2217 North Bhutan 150 North Sikkim 60 North West Nepal 90 North East Assam 90 West Jharkhand 800 West Bihar 300 South West Odisha 150 South Bay of Bengal - o Total 9 districts shares their boundary with Bangladesh o Odisha is thE largEst nEighbouring statE of WB in tErms of arEa • EXTENSION o North – South = 623km o East – WEst =320km o Chicken’s Neck - NarroWEst part, is 9km in lEngth, locatEd at Chopra in Uttar Dinajpur o Longitude = 85050’ E and 890 50’ E o Latitude = 27013’ N and 210 25’ N o Tropic of Cancer passes through § Nadia § Purba Bardhman § Paschim Bardhman § Bankura § Purulia o Total area = 88,752 kmsq (similar to country SErbia) o OccupiEs 2.7% arEa of India (14th largest state) • Established on 26th January, 1950 • Total 23 districts, till 2014 only 19 districts BIFURCATION OF NEW DISTRICT DATE OF FORMATION 3 GEOGRAPHY NOTES FOR WBCS PRELIMS 2020 BY JITIN YADAV, IAS West Dinajpur Uttar &dakshinDinajpur 1992 24 Parganas North & South 24 1990 Mednipur East & West Mednipur 2002 Jalpaiguri Alipurduar 2014 Darjeeling Kalimpong Feb, 2017 PaschimMEdnipur Jhargram 4 Apr, 2017 Bardhman Purba & Paschim Bardhman 7th Apr, 2017 o 1948 – Islampur of Bihar addEd to Uttar Dinajpur o 1950 - Coochbehar added to Bengal CENSUS OF WEST BENGAL o POPULATION § Total Population – 9.13 cr(7.5% of India’s population) § Rural - 68.1% ; Urban - 31.8% § SC – 23.5%, ST – 5.8% § Hindu – 70.5%, Muslims – 27.01% o Islam folloWEd With Majority in Murshidabad, Malda, Uttar Dinajpur o Population growth rate § Highest growth in Uttar Dinajpur>Malda>Murshidabad § Lowest and negative in Kolkata § Decadal growth rate = 13.84% § Districts in tErms of population • Top 3 – North 24 parganas> south24 Parganas>Bardhaman • Bottom 3 – south Dinajpur> Darjeeling >Coochbehar § Population density – • Top – Kolkata>Howrah>Parganas • Bottom – Purulia>Bankura>DarjeEling o LITERACY RATE § Total = 76.26% • Rural = 72.1%; urban = 84.7% • Male = 81.6% ; FEmalE = 70.5% § Top – East Mednipur(87%)> Kolkata>North 24 Parganas § Bottom – North Dinajpur(59%) >Malda>Purulia § Male literacy – • highest - East Mednipur • loWEst - North Dinajpur § FEmalE litEracy • highest – Kolkata • loWEst – Purulia o Sex Ratio § Total = 950 • rural = 953; urban = 944 4 GEOGRAPHY NOTES FOR WBCS PRELIMS 2020 BY JITIN YADAV, IAS § Top – Darjeeling (970)>West Mednipore>Hooghly § Bottom – Kolkata(908)> East MedniporE> North Dinajpur(939) PHYSIOGRAPHY OF WEST BENGAL 1. NORTHERN HILLY REGION o Belong to East Himalaya rangE o Constitute – Darjeeling & Kalimpong ExcEpt Siliguri & north of Jalpaiguri o AvEragE hEight = 2600 m o Divided by deep gorge of Teesta river in – A. Western Hilly rEgion • BetweEn NEpal bordEr & east of TEEsta • Highest region of Darjeeling • Has 2 important mountain RidgEs o Singalila Ridge – § sEparatE NEpal from DarjEEling § 4 important pEaks – Sandakphu, Falut, Sabargram, Tanglu § Sandakphu is thE highEst mountain pEak of west Bengal o Darjeeling Ridge § StrEtch from south TErai to North hill region § Also knoWn as Ghum rangE – highest rail station ‘Ghum’(2247m) is locatEd hErE § ‘Tiger Hill’- locatEd in middlE of Darjeeling hill § Pedong -toWn of Kalimpong. In BhutanEsE PEdong means ‘country of far TrEE’ § Mountain peak – Sinchai B. Eastern Hilly Region • Kalimpong (City of Orchid) is locatEd hErE • Main ridges – Durbindara & Chola • Rishila – highest Mountain peak of Eastern hill, located in Durbindra mountain • Sanchuli is highest peak of Bauxa hill • OthEr peaks –Jayanti hills, Deolo hills 2. WESTERN PLATEAU REGION o Form EastErn part of Chota Nagpur PlatEau o MadE up of ignEous rock of ArchEan Era & quartzitE rock 5 GEOGRAPHY NOTES FOR WBCS PRELIMS 2020 BY JITIN YADAV, IAS o Constitute – Purulia, Bankura, Birbhum, Bardhaman, Paschim Mednipur o Faced long & continuous erosion o Divided in – a. Ajodhya plateau region o Situated in south West Purulia betWeen rivers Subarnarekha &Kangsabati o MadE by granite, gneiss, schist rocks o ExtEnd to 21km from East to WEst & 10 km from north to south o Monadonok – hill with steep slope o Small hills of this rEgion callEd as ‘Dungri’ o Gorgaburu peak(677m) - highest point of western platEau, locatEd hErE. It means ‘GoddEss’ o Imp hills–PanchEt, Baghmundi, Rabachanda, Chamata, MackEnly, Taldungri, Guruma, Bhanbara b. Purulia Plateau o Lies betWeen West of Subarnarekha river & Ghari river to north o Ghari is tributary of Damodar rivEr o Divided in 3 parts I. Birbhum Highland o Undulating land of far south is known as Barabhum o Extend upto West Mednipore o Important hils – Belpahari, Thakuran, Lakayshini II. Purulia highland o East part of Ajodhya platEau o Hills – Bero hills, Joychandi, Panchkot, Khalaichani III. North east Susuniya highland o ExtEnd upto East of Bankura, Bardhman, Birbhum o Imp hills – Mama-vagne, Mathurkhali, Biharinath, Susuniya o Cold spring located on foothill of Susuniya 3.PLAINS OF WEST BENGAL A. Terai and Doars Region o MadE of sand, gravEl, pEbblEs laid doWn by Himalayan rivers o Divided into 2 parts – I. TERAI (moist land) o West of TEEsta rivEr below DarjeEling hills o BElt of marshy grassland, savannas, forEsts 6 GEOGRAPHY NOTES FOR WBCS PRELIMS 2020 BY JITIN YADAV, IAS o Average height = 75-150m o Silliguri (located at bank of Mahananda river) –called as GatEWay of North Eastern india ii) DOARS REGION o Eastern part of Teesta river, below Darjeeling hills o Extend – most of Jalpaiguri & Alipurduar and small portion of Coochbehar o Duar means door o Divided in – Siliguri(western duars), Jalpaiguri(middlE duars), Alipurduar(Eastern duars) B. NORTH BENGAL PLAINS o Start from south of TErai, continues to left bank of Ganges o Constitute – South Jalpaiguri,North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur, Malda, Alipuduar, South Coochbehar o Mahananda corridor -NarroW landmass in north Dinajpur o Mahananda rivEr dividEs Malda in 2 parts – o Eastern – madE of old alluvium, part of Ganga delta, consist of undulating plain, called as BarEndra bhumi o Western – nEW alluvium, hErE Kalindi rivEr join Mahananda o LoWland, covErEd With sWamps o ArEa south of Kalindi is vEry fErtilE and callEd as Daira C. RARH REGION o Constitute – Murshidabad, Birbhum, Bankura, Purba & Paschim Bardhaman, Purba & Paschim Mednipur, o 50-100m abovE sEa lEvEl o dominatEd by latEritE soil o crEatEd from DEccan plateau soil o formed by silt brought by tributariEs of Bhagirathi, Mayurakshi, Ajay, Damodar, Rupnarayan rivEr o land slopE from WEst to south East o formation of natural lEvEEs is common D. COASTAL PLAIN o On thE ExtrEme south of statE o Constitute – Purba Mednipur along Bay of Bengal o Sand dunEs & marshy arEa o Digha dune lie nearest to BoB and Kanthi dune farthest o Imp rivErs – Rasulpur, Pichabani, Haldi river E. SUNDERBANS o LargEst mangrovE forEst in World o Sundari trees are found in abundance 7 GEOGRAPHY NOTES FOR WBCS PRELIMS 2020 BY JITIN YADAV, IAS o Lies in South 24 Parganas and south of North 24 Parganas o LiEs at mouth of GangEs and sprEad across BangladEsh, WB o Listed in UNESCO World heritage list o Created by silt deposition by rivers – Hooghly, Malta, Jamira, Gosaba, Saptamukhi, Haribhanga o Famous for BEngal Tiger (400), 30000 deer and large biodivErsity o NEW MoorE island submergEd in Bay of BEngal aftEr Bhola cyclone 1970 o Imp island – Sagardwip, Frazerganj, Dalhousie, etc F. GANGES DELTA o Consist of – Nadia, Kolkata, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, east of Murshidabad o Imp rivErs – Icchamati, Mathavanga, Jalangi, Churni, Voirab o Ganga pass through old, maturE, activE dElta o Old dElta § Consist of Murshidabad, Nadia, North 24 Parganas § Also callEd as Bagri arEa § Characterized by oxbow lakes, swamps, beEls, silted rivErs o MaturE DElta § Kolkata, North 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hoogly, east Mednipur § RivErs arE sloW & form meandErs § SWamps, bEEls, oxboW lakEs arE found o Active delta § South 24 Parganas § Formation of dElta is still ongoing procEss RIVERS OF WEST BENGAL o NORTH BENGAL o Teesta § From Sikkim to WB § Known as ‘TError RivEr’ § Also callEd as Rang, Dista, Sanch, Rangtu(means ‘straight’) § Coronation Bridge (Sevok Bridge) is located here § Source- JEmu glaciEr of Sikkim § Tributaries – Baro Rangit(largest), Choto Rangit, Rangpo, Dikchu o Mahananda § Source – Paglajhora Fall 8 GEOGRAPHY NOTES FOR WBCS PRELIMS 2020 BY JITIN YADAV, IAS § Largest river of North Bengal § Tributaries – MeEchi, Balason, Kalandi, Tangon o Jaldhaka § Source – Bidang Lake § Tributaries- Dhrla, Ghidhari, Dolong o Torsha § Source- Chumby VallEy, TibEt § Tributaries- Dima, Nonai o Raidak § Source – Chomalhari mountain o Mechi § Source – Mahabharat Range in NEpal o Balason § Source – Jorepokhari,