Prelims Map Based Questions - 1 - UPSC MCQ

Option 1 and 4 are correctly matched. Option 2 and 3 are reversed.

Major lakes of Asia

• Lake Baikal is situated in Russia;
• Lake Akanis situated in Japan;
• Qinghai Lake or Lake Khanka are situated in China;
• Dal Lake, Chilka, Vembanada, Pullicat and Sukhnaare situated inIndia;
• Lake Matano is situated in Indonesia.

Option (b) is correct:Socotra (Yemen)-Phuket (Thailand)-Sumatra (Indonesia)-Borneo(Indonesia)

Option (d) is the correct answer: The above description describes Mangolian Plateau

Option (b) is the correct answer: It lies mainly in southeastern Saudi Arabia, with lesser portions in Yemen, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates.

Rubʿ al-Khali Desert

• Rubʿ al-Khali is a vast desert region in the southern Arabian Peninsula, constituting the largest portion of the Arabian Desert. 
• It covers an area of about 250,000 square miles (650,000 square km) in a structural basin lying mainly in southeastern Saudi Arabia, with lesser portions in Yemen, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates.
• The Rubʿ al-Khali is the largest area of continuous sand in the world. It occupies more than one-fourth of Saudi Arabia’s total area.

• Gulf of Thailand: Located in Southeast Asia, it is the easternmost of the gulfs listed.
• Gulf of Oman: Situated to the west of the Gulf of Thailand, it opens into the Arabian Sea.
• Persian Gulf: Found to the west of the Gulf of Oman, it lies between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.
• Gulf of Aden: The westernmost gulf listed, it is located between Yemen and Somalia.

• Sinai Peninsula located in the Asian part of Egypt between the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the south. The Sinai Peninsula is defi ned by the Suez Canal and the Gulf of Suez in west and the Gulf of Aqaba in south east.
• Countries with international borders to Sinai are Palestinian territories (Gaza Strip) and Israel, Egypt shares maritime borders in the Sinai with Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Manchurian Plain: Situated along the Amur River, the Manchurian Plain spans approximately 135,000 square miles, all below an elevation of 1000 feet above sea level. Notable cities within the Mukden Triangle, including Anshan, Shenyang, and Fushun, are strategically located in the northern part of China. The Sungari River, along with its northern tributary, the Nen River, and the southern Liao River, drain the plain.

Turanian Plain: The Turanian Plain, formed by the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers, extends across Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan. This basin plain encompasses the Karakum and Kyzylkum deserts, separated by the Amu Darya valley. Vegetation in this arid plain is limited to xerophytic shrubs and short grasses. The region features hills reaching elevations of up to 3300 feet and depressions below sea level.

Aral Sea: Positioned between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the Aral Sea, once the world's fourth-largest inland water body, is now a shallow, semi-arid depression. The Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers flow through this region, contributing to the formation of the Aral Sea. The depression of the Aral Sea originated during the Neogene Period.

Aral Sea is enclosed between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

Aral Sea

• Once the fourth-largest freshwater lake in the world, the Aral Sea today is a tenth of its original size.
• The North Aral Sea – the top half of the body of water – lies in Kazakhstan. The South Aral Sea, which consist of a strip of water in the west and a dried-out basin in the east, sits in Uzbekistan.

Ankara (Turkey)-Damascus (Syria)-Riyad (Saudi Arabia)-Kuwait City (Kuwait)-Tehran (Iran).

Makassar Strait 

Option (d) is correct: Kara and Laptev Sea are a part of Arctic Ocean.

Option (c) is correct: Sea of Okhotsk-Yellow Sea-East China Sea-Philippines Sea

Option (a) is the correct answer: Formosa Strait connects East China Sea with South China Sea.

Taiwan Strait

Option (d) is the correct answer: Zagros Mountains and Kirthar Mountains are not one of them
The Pamir Knot is the junction of five mountain ranges they are the Tien Shan, the Hindu Kush, the Kunlun, the Karakoram, and the Himalayan ranges.

Pamirs Knot

• The Pamirs are the most famous mountain convergence zone in the world. It is the largest mountain convergence zone.
• It lies in the hinterland of Eurasia and extends across China, Tajikistan and Afghanistan with an area of more than 100,000 km2. The Pamir Mountains were created by crustal tectonics.
• They spread from the south to the north of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and converged on the Pamirs.
• Pamir Mountains are known as ‘The Roof of the World’. There are suture lines resulting from the collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates, which occurred at the closure of the Paleo-Tethys period.

All of the above statements are correct.

KunmingMandalay-Dhaka-Kolkata

Bullet train between India and China

• China is planning a bullet train from Kolkata to its Kunming City.
• The service is also expected to give a thrust to trade and commerce in the Bangladesh-ChinaIndia-Myanmar (BCIM) Economic Corridor.
• The BCIM project, initiated by China, is projected to run through Mandalay in Myanmar, Chittagong and Dhaka in Bangladesh, terminating in Kolkata.

Sequential Order of Islands from South China Sea to East China Sea:
To determine the sequential order of the islands from the South China Sea to the East China Sea, let's consider the given options and analyze the location of each island.
A: 3-1-2-4
B: 4-2-1-3
C: 4-1-3-2
D: 3-2-4-1
To find the correct option, we need to understand the geographical positioning of these islands.
1. Paracel Islands: The Paracel Islands are located in the South China Sea, east of Vietnam and south of China's Hainan Island.
2. Pratas Islands: The Pratas Islands (also known as Dongsha Islands) are situated in the northern part of the South China Sea, approximately 340 kilometers southeast of Hong Kong.
3. Spratly Islands: The Spratly Islands are a group of islands, reefs, and shoals located in the South China Sea. They are spread across an area of approximately 425,000 square kilometers and are claimed by multiple countries, including China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
4. Senkaku Islands: The Senkaku Islands (also known as Diaoyu Islands) are a group of uninhabited islands located in the East China Sea. They are currently under the administration of Japan but are also claimed by China and Taiwan.
Therefore, the correct option is A: 3-1-2-4.

Option (d) is correct: Iraq, Uzbekistan and Armenia does not touch the boundary of either the Black Sea or the Caspian Sea.

The Caspian Sea and Black Sea

• The Caspian Sea: The Caspian Sea is the Earth’s largest inland body of water. It lies at the junction of Europe and Asia, with the Caucasus Mountains to the west and the steppes of Central Asia to the east. It is bordered by Russia to the northwest, Azerbaijan to the west, Iran to the south, Turkmenistan to the southeast and Kazakhstan to the northeast.
• Black Sea: The world’s most isolated sea, the Black Sea, is connected to the oceans via the Mediterranean through the Bosphorus, and linked with the Sea of Azov in the northeast through the Kerch Strait. Its catchment area covers an area six times larger than its surface. The Danube discharges into the Black Sea at the Danube Delta, thus Danube water quality is directly connected with the Black Sea’s status. The Black Sea Protection Commission is responsible for the sea’s sustainable management. The countries share a border with the Black Sea includes Romania, Turkey, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Russia, and Georgia. This body of water is also surrounded by the Pontic, Caucasus, and Crimean Mountains in the south, east and north respectively. It is also constrained by Strandzha mountains to the southwest and Dobrogea Plateau to the northwest.

It touches the boundary of Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Israel.