Liberia Fastest growth of population
Sierra Leone Least educated country Mali Poorest country by GDP East Timor Lowest rank in HDI
Yamalia Autonomous area in northwestern Siberia, Russia, south of Kara Sea. Sao Paulo Is not a coastal city. Santos (main port) is very close.
Green Bay An extension of Lake Michingan. Dallas City in Texas (8th largest in US) Austin Capital of Texas
San Diego City in South west corner of California (7th largest). Harbor & Ship building Houston Petroleum Hub of USA. City in southeastern Texas (4th largest city)
Texas Highest producer of oil & natural gas in USA Minnesota Largest supplier of iron-ore in USA
James Bay Southern extension of Hudson bay. Waikiki Beach Honolulu, Hawaii
Badwater Death Valley, lowest point in western hemisphere Seville Hottest place of Europe (Spain).
Khyber Pass Located in the Safed Koh range.
Bolan Pass Located in Brahui range (which lies between Sulaiman (N) & Kirthar range (S) Golden Triangle Area where Burma, Laos & Thailand meet. 2/3rd of world’s heroin production Socotra Island, southeastern Yemen (belongs to Yemen)
Adana City in Turkey on Mediterranean Coast
Aceh Special region of Indonesia, located on the northwestern tip of the island of Sumatra. Capital is Banda Aceh.
Kharg Island Small island of southwestern Iran, in the Persian Gulf (Petroleum reserves) Kalimantan Region of the Republic of Indonesia, occupying the southern portion of the
island of Borneo Rich in oil & Gas.
Mt. Cotopaxi Ecuador (one of the highest active volcanoes) Mt. Chimborazo Ecaudor (Inactive Volcano)
River Thames Makes London a port.
Ordos desert Eastern extension of Gobi desert in China through which Hwang Ho flows. Mt. Goldsworthy Iron ore mine in NW Australia in Pilbara region (near Hamersley ranges) Sudd Swampy lands of river White Nile in Sudan.
Siciliy Largest Island in Mediterranean Sea. Flanders Plains of western Belgium
Uluru Or Ayers rock is an inselberg & a sacred place of Aboriginals
state of New South Wales, Australia
Mount St. Helens Active volcano, southwestern Washington, in the Cascade Range Cairo Largest city in Africa & capital of Egypt.
Koum Term for sandy desert in Turkmenistan.
Teff A highly nutritious crop of Ethiopian Highlands Pearl Harbour Located in Honolulu, the capital of Hawaii. Kwajalein Largest atoll in the world (Marshall Island) Bikni Atoll Major atoll in Marshall Island.
Funafuti atoll In Ellice Island (Tuvalu)
Quebracho Axe-breaker. Found in Gran Chaco. It yields tannin Balata Produces latex. Abundant in Amazon forest
Naval Stores Trade name of turpentine & rosin.
Chickle Yields gum. Abundant in Central American forest. Carnuaba Palm Yeilds wax.
Douglas Fir Leading timber of North America. Sucre Legal Capital of Bolivia
Yerba Mate Tea like beverage extensively used in South America esp. in Brazil Madeira Largest tributary of Amazon
Kjolen Mountains Run along the Norway Atlantic Coast.
Brooks Range Northern Boundary of Alaska (Continuation of Rockies) Alaska Range Southern Boundary of Alaska (Mt. McKinley lies here)
Favela Slums in Brazil
Ranchos Slums in Venezuela Kavettits Slums in Myanmar.
Tahiti Largest island of French Polynesia.
Gold Coast City City in southeastern Queensland. Second largest in Queensland after Brisbane Brest One of the major fishing port of France
Bergen City & Seaport in Norway
Anchorage City & Seaport in Southern Alaska
Arnhem Land Historical region and Aboriginal reserve in Australia, in the northeastern part of the Northern Territory
Lagos dos Patos Largest Lagoon in the world in South-East Brazil Pico da Neblina Highest peak of Brazil in Guiana Highlands Mount Kinabalu Highest peak of Malaysia.
Puerto Montt One of the principal ports in Chile.
Easter Islands Lie in Pacific & is the farthest South American (Chile) possession (3700 km) Ogaden Arid Upland desert region in South eastern Ethiopia.
Oporto A leading port of Portugal & a chief economic centre Betsiboka river Major river of Madagascar.
Tanezroufts Very dry areas in Sahara where no form of life is possible. Regional Terms for Shifting Cultivation
Konuko Shifting cultivation in Venezuela
Ladang Malaysia
Caingin Philippines
Chena Sri Lanka
Milpa Central America & Mexico
Taungya Myanmar Masole Congo Roka Brazil Podu Orissa Penda Chhattisgarh Deppa M.P.
Ray Laos, Vietnam
Mining Centers
Butte Copper mining centre in Montana (USA). Itabira Iron ore region of Brazil
Potosi Mining Centre of Bolivia (Tin – major, copper & lead) Mina-el-Ahmadi Petrochemical complex in Kuwait
Burgan Oil filed of Kuwait
Dhahran Oil filed of Saudi Arabia Tampico & Tuxpam Oil filed of Mexico Masjid-e-Sulaiman Oil filed of Iran
Maikop Oil field of Russia
Hassi R’Mel World’s largest natural gas field in Algeria
Groote Eylandt Mineral rich Island near Arnhem Land in Australia’s Northern territory. Supplies 20 percent of the world's high-grade manganese ore.
Cerro Bolivar Iron ore region in Venezuela
Bor Copper mining region of Yugoslavia
Cerro de Pasco Copper mining region of Peru Morococha Copper ore area of Peru
Miscellaneous Industrial Centres Fort Worth Aircraft & Aerospace Industry (Texas)
Hamilton Canada’s Largest producer of steel. Known as ‘Birmingham of Canada’. Toledo Centre of Glass Industry in USA (Ohio)
Saar Imporant Industrial centre of Germany on Saar river.
Coventry Automobile centre of England. First automobile manufactured here. Limoges Pottery centre in France
Leipzig Musical & precision Instruments in Germany Munich Optical Instruments & Lenses (Germany)
Arkangelsk Timber centre & seaport near white sea & Lake Onega in Russia Important Canals in the Great Lakes Region, USA
Welland Canal Connects Erie & Ontario
Soo Canal Connect Lake Superior & Lake Huron. Also called Sault Sainte Marie Canal Trent Canal Links Lake Huron with Ontario lake.
Rideau Canal Links lake Ontario with river Ottawa
Ludwig Canal Connects the Danube and Main rivers in Germany Mittelland Canal Joins Ems, Wiser & Elbe
Monosyllabic Words have various meanings depending on the position in sentence Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai & Tibetan
Agglutinative Words altered by prefixes & suffixes
Malay, Japanese, Swahili & most of the African languages. Inflexional Flexible, modified to give required meaning
English, French, Hindi, Arabic, Urdu Bengali & other Indo-European language
Top 25 Cities of USA 1. New York City New York
2. Los Angeles California
3. Chicago Illinois
4. Houston Texas
5. Philadelphia Pennsylvania
6. Phoenix Arizona*
7. San Diego California
8. Dallas Texas
9. San Antonio Texas
10. Detroit Michigan
11. San Jose California
12. Indianapolis Indiana*
13. San Francisco California
14. Jacksonville Florida 15. Columbus Ohio* 16. Austin Texas* 17. Baltimore Maryland 18. Memphis Tennesse 19. Milwaukee Wisconsin 20. Boston Massachusetts* 21. Washington Washington DC 22. Nashville Tennesse* 23. El Paso Texas 24. Seattle Washington 25. Denver Colorado*
* - Captial cities of respective states
Some Important Land Locked Countries (Not Exhaustive) Africa Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Malawi, Swaziland
Asia Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Laos, Armenia, Azerbaijan
Europe Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Hungary, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, Moldova.
South America Bolivia & Paraguay.
Andorra, parliamentary principality, southwestern Europe, situated in the eastern Pyrenees Mountains, bordered on the north and east by France, and on the south and west by Spain.
Georgia is not landlocked because it lies on the Black Sea side. Important Breeds of Cattle Holstein Friesian Netherlands Ayrshire/Ireshire Scotland
Jersey Channel Island
Brown Swiss Switzerland
Guernsey Channel Island
Principal Languages of the World
Language Branch Mandarin Chinese English Germanic Russian Slavic Hindi Indic Spanish Romance Arabic Semitic Bengali Indic Portuguese Romance/Latino Malay-Indonesian Austro Japanese Japanese-Korean German Germanic French Romance Tribes
Tutsi Burundi & Rwanda. Killed in masses by Hutu a rival group Hutu Rwanda & Burundi
Creole A descendant of European settlers or of Black slaves, in the W. Indies or Central or S. America
Yoruba Nigeria & Benin Dinka Native people of Sudan
Twa Original Inhabitants of Burundi
Hazara Central Agfhanistan (Main). Also in Pakistan & Iran Tehuelche Collective name for the tribe of Patagonia
Aka Another name for Pygmies (Congo)
Pueblo Southwest USA. Known for Adobe buildings Minhasa Indigenous people of Sulawesi (Celebes) Filipinos are originally Malay people.
The Great Lakes & Important Cites Around
Lake Superior Duluth
Lake Michigan Milwaukee, Chicago & Gary Lake Erie Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland, Buffalo Lake Ontario Toronto, Hamilton
Major Airports of the World
Dulles International Airport Washington D.C.
George Bush International Airport Houston
Hartsfield International Airport Atlanta
John F. Kennedy International Airport New York
O’ Hare International Airport Chicago
Roissy – Charles de Gaulle International Airport France
McCarran International Airport Las Vegas
Gatwick International Airport London
Haneda International Airport Japan
Kimpo International Airport Seoul
Tribal Shelters
Bedouins Khaimas
Masai Kraals
Bushman Scheoms (thatched hut)
Kirghiz Kstau
Lapps Sijda (Sida)
Changed Geographical Names
Peltoratsk Ashkabad (Turkmenistan)
Hashemite Kingdom Jordan
Konigsberg Kaliningrad
Lanxang Laos
Andalas Sumatra
Trucial States UAE
Scientific Names of Common Plants
Rice Oriza Sativa Jute Corchorus capsularis
Wheat Triticum Aestivum Mustard Brassica nigra
Maize or Corn Zea Diploperennis Silk Worm Bombyx Mori Oats Avena Sativa Abaca (Menila Hemp) Musa Textilis
Rubber Hevea Brasiliensis Banana Musa Sapientum
Barley Hordeum Vulgare Oil Palm Elaeis Guineesis
Tea Camellia Sinensis Teak Tectona Grandis
Grapes Vitis vinifera Sal Shorea Robusta
Soyabeans Glycine Max
Important Dams
Oroville Dam Feather river U.S.A.
Grand Coulee Dam Columbia river U.S.A.
Hoover & Boulder Dam Colorado river U.S.A.
Rogun Dam Tajikistan
Owen Falls Dam White Nile Uganda
Itaipu Dam Parana river Brazil/Paraguay
Guri Dam Caroni river* Venezuela (Country’s major)
Inga Dam Zaire/Congo river Dem. Republic of Congo
Boyoma/Stanley Falls Zaire Congo
Dnepropetrovsk Dam Dneiper Ukraine
Kitimat Scheme Nechako River British Columbia, Canada
St. Anthony Falls Mississippi USA
Snowy Mountain Scheme Snowy & Eucumbene rivers New South Wales, Australia
Ord River Scheme Ord river Western Australia
* - Angel Falls is located on Rio Churún (Caroni) river.
Extemities
Cape Horn Southernmost tip of S. America
Cape Agulhas Southermost tip of Africa
Ellesmere Island Northernmost part of Canada
Pelee Island Southernmost part of Canada
Key West Southermost town of USA
Cape of Good Hope is erroneously regarded as the extremity of Africa. Types of Fishes
Salt Water Fish Other Fishes
Pelagic Demersal Fresh Water Fishes Anadromous Fish
Sardines Cod Sturgeon Salmon
Herring Halibut Trout Chinook
Swordfish Hake Perch
Anchovies Haddock Carp
Tuna Pollock
Mackerel Flounder
Pilchards
• Pelagic Fish live near the surface of water & demersal fish near the ocean bottom • Anadromous fish live in Saline water but return in fresh water to spawn.
• Catadromous fish live in fresh water but breed in Saline water • Ichthyology is the study of fish
• Anchovies, Capelin & Menhaden are known as trash fish – used for non human consumption Areas & Largest fish Catch
Coast of Peru Anchovies
Caspian Sea Sturgeon
USA’s East Coast Menhaden
West Coast of Canada Salmon
Key west, Florida Sponges
Chesapeake Bay Oyster
Miscellaneous Facts:
1. Continents in descending order of area are Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe and Australia.
2. Calgary is the largest city in the province of Alberta & is also known as the energy capital of the country. Tar Sands deposits are found in Alberta & Venezuela. Uranium City is on the northern shores of Lake Athabasca. Canada has the longest coastline (~60,000 miles) of any country in the world.
3. The Grand Canyon of the Colorado river is in northwest Arizona. Allegheny Mountains is a complex of ranges and uplands of the Appalachian system. The name is usually applied to the ranges west of the Blue Ridge in Pennsylvania & neighboring states. In the eastern United States a fall line forms the border between the Piedmont Plateau and the Atlantic Coastal Plain.
4. The mountain ranges of USA from west to East is Coast Mountains, Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada & The Rockies.
5. The term ‘Antilles’ applies to the whole of West Indies except the ‘Bahamas’. The Greater Antilles includes Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.
6. Australian provinces & their capitals are Northern Territory (Darwin), Queensland (Brisbane), New South Wales (Sydney), Victoria (Melbourne), South Australia (Adelaide), Tasmania (Hobart), West Australia (Perth).
7. The bottled trees (related to Baobab trees) are found in NW Australia especially in the Kimberley plateau region. Murrumbidgee, river is the longest tributary of Murray Darling. Freemantle is the outport of Perth. The most populated province of Australia is New South Wales.
8. The transcontinental Stuart Highway of Australia runs between Adelaide and Alice Springs near Macdonnell ranges in Northern Territory. Between 1980-90 corals on large scale in the Great Barrier reef were destroyed by the Crown of Thorns starfish.
9. Taranaki plains of New Zealand is famous for dairy industry. The biggest city of New Zealand is Auckland.
10. The Trans Amazon highway connects Rio Branco to Sao Louis
11. The Orentes river rises in Northern Lebanon, flows in a northerly direction parallel to Mediterranean in Syria & enters Turkey & finally Mediterranean. Zaire is the only river to cross the equator twice.
12. The Grand Canal (Da Yunhe) of China is the world’s largest canal system & connects Yangtze Kiang & Hwang Ho.
13. European countries in descending order of density are Netherlands, Belgium, U.K., Germany & Italy. In ascending order the countries are Iceland, Russian Federation, Norway & Finland.
14. The evolution order of humans is Apes – Dyropithecus – Ramapithecus – Australopithecus (Pliocene age) – Hamo Habilis – Homo Erectus (Fossils of Java Man & Peking man belong to Homo Erectus – appeared during Pleistocene) – Neanderthal Man – Cro Magnon Man – Homo Sapiens.
15. A progressive age structure is one in which both birth & death rates are high. A regressive age structure is one in which birth rates are low & declining.
16. A Mega city according to UNO is any city with a population of over 8 millions. In India the population criteria for mega city is 5 million. A perforated state is one whose territory is completely surrounded by another. Eg. Lesotho, Swaziland.
17. Trans Arabian Pipeline links the oil fields of Persian Gulf to Saida Lebanon.
18. According to Malthus Preventive (or negative) checks are celibacy and abstinence. Positive checks included famine, war, disease etc. Zelinsky in his Mobility Transition theory basically incorporated impact of migration on the Demographic transition theory.
19. Currently 50 % of the world’s fish comes from Pacific Ocean & 25 % are from North Pacific alone. Horticulture includes pomology (growing of fruits), Olericulture (production of vegetable crops), floriculture & Ornamental Horticulture (Landscape gardening).
20. In Brazil ‘Sertao’ refers to semi-arid regions. It consists mainly of low uplands that from Brazilian highlands. Coffee is indigenous to Ethiopia. Potato is native to Andean Highlands.
21. Forward Capital: When a state relocates its capital to a sensitive area, perhaps near a zone of dispute with an unfriendly neighbour in part to confirm its determination to sustain its position in that zone.
22. Von Thunen model has the following zones central city, market gardening & milk production, Firewood & lumber production, crop farming without fallow, crop farming – fallow & pasture, three field system & livestock farming. The margin between two zones of landuse is called margin of transference.
23. The five stages of Rostow’s Model of Development are the Traditional Society, Preconditions for Take off, Take off, Drive to Maturity & The Stage of Mass Consumption.
24. The Gatun lake, Panama forms the key to Panama canal system. Mittelland Canal joins the three major rivers Ems, Weser & Elbe & continues eastwords to Berlin & into Poland. The Ludwig canal links a main tributary of Rhine to the Danube & allows waterborne traffic from the Black sea to reach Atlantic via the Rhine.
25. Lardarello, Italy was the first to produce geothermal energy. U.S.A is the largest producer of geothermal energy. Iceland has highest percentage contribution of geothermal energy.
26. Tidal energy is produced at Rance river in Northwest France & Bay of Fundy in Canada. Bay of Fundy is a large tidal inlet separating the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
27. The top countries in solar energy production are Japan, USA, Germany & India.
28. Kharkov is the second largest city in Ukraine & Duluth is in N.E Minnesota. Entreport is a port where goods are stored & deposited for further distribution.
29. The first five zones in Concentric zone, Sector & Multiple Nuclei model are all same:- Zone I – CBD, Zone II – wholesale (or Transition), Zone III – low income houses, Zone IV – Medium class houses, Zone V – high class housing (See Models).
30. In Christallers model K=3 (Marketing Principle), K=4 (Transport Principle) & K=7 (Administration). The rank size rule was first noticed by F. Auerbach in 1913 but developed by G.K. Zipf in 1949 in his book ‘Human Behaviour & Principle of Least Effort’.
31. The age of town scheme in the form of infantile, juvenile, adolescent, early mature & mature was given by Griffith Taylor. A dynamic explanation of urban development based on centrifugal & centripetal forces is known as Colby’s Hypothesis.
32. Kibbutz (cooperative farming in Israel), Kung-She (China), Sovkhoz (state owned farms in Russia), Kolkhoz (collective farms in Russia), Ejido (Communal farm in Mexico) & Volksguter (Germany)
33. Many of Israel’s rural Jews live in two types of cooperative communities, the kibbutz and the moshav. In a kibbutz, residents own all property collectively and contribute work in exchange for basic necessities. In a moshav, families own separate farms but cooperate in some aspects.
34. Lewis Mumford classified cities on the basis of technology into Eotechnic, Palaeotechnic, Neotechnic & Biotechnic. He also divided cities on the basis of cultural rise & fall into Eopolis, Polis, Metropolis, Megalopolis, Megalopolis, Tyrannopolis & Necropolis (City of the dead).
35. Weight loosing industry (Mineral Smelting), Weight Gaining industry (Bread Manufacturing), Bulk loosing industry (Cotton Textile), Bulk Gaining Industry (glassware).
36. The correct sequence of European river from North to South is Elbe, Weser (End in Germany’s Atlantic region) Rhine, Meuse (Netherlands) Seine, Loire, Dordogne (France) Ebro, Duero, Tagus & Guadiana & Guadalquivir (Spain).
37. Hebrides or Western Isles is an archipelago of about 500 islands, western Scotland, in the Atlantic Ocean. New Hebrides is Vanuatu.
38. The correct chronological order of the arrival of various racial groups in India is as follows Negroids, Palaeomediterraneans, Mediterranean’s & Nordics.
39. In Malaysia & Indonesia an irrigated rice field is known as ‘Sawah’. Rubber plantation is concentrated on the western coast of Malaysian peninsula. The underground channels slightly inclined used to bring water for irrigation from aquifers near the base of a mountain to neighbouring lowland areas esp. in Sahara are called Foggra. Population per unit of cultivable land is known as physiological density. Mongolia is the least densely populated country & Monaco the most.
40. Hispaniola is the second largest island in West Indies & is divided into the separate countries of Haiti, which occupies the western third of the island, and the Dominican Republic. Patagonia is a cold desert. 41. The rivers arranged in descending order of discharge volume are Amazon, Congo, Mississippi-Missouri,
Rio de la Plata-Parana, Congo & Ganga. The Parana river is formed by the confluence of Rio Grande and Paranaíba River. Andes is the longest mountain chain in the world.
42. Norway has virtually no illiteracy. India has longer railway network than Australia & Germany. The countries in descending order of road networks are U.S.A, India, Brazil & China.
43. The largest islands are Greenland, New Guinea, Borneo, Madagascar, Baffin & Sumatra. The following four lakes are arranged in descending order Superior, Victoria, Huron & Michigan. The Yangtze river is the third largest in the world & is longer than Mississippi-Missouri combined. Yenisey-Angara, Ob-Irtysh & Lena are all longer than Volga. Volga is the longest in Europe.
44. South America has the highest percentage forest area in the world. Large mammals are rare in Brazil as the dense Amazon forest does not support free movement.
45. Asal lake, a salt lake located in Djibouti is the lowest point in Africa & Valdes peninsula is the lowest