Static routes are those which are manually added by a network administrator. Their purpose is to hardcode a route for a specific network or host. The opposite of a static route is dynamic route which is automatically created by the router.

The syntax to add a static route in Cisco IOS (router) is as follows:

certhacker(config)# ip route <IP> <netmask> <Next Hop router interface>

An example of it is given as under:

certhacker(config)# ip route 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.255 fa 0/0

Where 192.168.1.1 is the IP address, 255.255.255.255 is the netmask and fa0/0 is the next hop router interface.

If you want to know more static and default routes, read the document provided by Cisco:

Cisco guide to adding static routes