UPSSSC PET · Bite-size lessons
Political Geography (India & World)
About 6 min · Geography · English
Time worked out from the lesson's 366 words at 150 words a minute, plus a minute for each question.
Unlike dynamic current affairs, this topic is fixed knowledge — once memorised, it remains valid across exam attempts. Success here requires accurate recall of India's 28 states and 8 Union Territories (as per current constitutional status), their capitals (administrative and legislative where different), and the geographical positioning of India's seven land neighbours plus maritime boundaries. World political geography focuses on major countries, capitals, continents, and regional groupings that appear in both Geography and General Awareness sections.
Key ideas
- Indian States & UTs (Current Count): India comprises 28 states and 8 Union Territories after the 2019 reorganisation that bifurcated Jammu & Kashmir into two UTs. Students must know both the count and the complete list with capitals.
- Bifurcated States & Recent Changes: Focus on post-2000 formations — Chhattisgarh (2000), Uttarakhand (2000), Jharkhand (2000), Telangana (2014), J&K/Ladakh reorganisation (2019).
- Legislative vs Administrative Capitals: Some states have different capitals for different functions — Maharashtra (Mumbai-administrative, Nagpur-winter), Gujarat (Gandhinagar-administrative, Ahmedabad-High Court). Jammu & Kashmir historically alternated between Jammu (winter) and Srinagar (summer).
- India's Land Neighbours (7 Countries): Moving clockwise from northwest — Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Afghanistan (tiny Wakhan Corridor border). Remember the mnemonic "PC NBBMA" or note that Sri Lanka and Maldives are maritime neighbours only, not land borders.
- World Continents & Ocean Distribution: Seven continents (Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, Australia), five oceans (Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern, Arctic). Asia is the largest by both area and population.
Quick reference
- 28 States, 8 UTs — memorise the complete list with capitals; focus on post-2000 formations.
- 7 Land Neighbours — Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Afghanistan (Wakhan Corridor).
- Tropic of Cancer — passes through 8 Indian states from Gujarat to Mizoram.
- Largest/Smallest — Rajasthan largest state, Goa smallest; Russia largest country, Vatican smallest.
- Dispur = Assam — most commonly confused state-capital pair; Dispur is within Greater Guwahati.
Check yourself: 3 questions
1. Which of the following Indian states does NOT share an international border with any neighbouring country?
2. Which of the following pairs of state and capital is INCORRECT?
3. India shares its longest international land border with which of the following countries?
This lesson is cut from the topic's note, not rewritten. Fact-checked on 17 Oct 2026: an AI-assisted check of this note against cited sources; the errors it found were corrected that day. Some errors may remain. The questions are from Shishya's validated question bank.
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