UPSC Prelims Geography Questions

UPSC Prelims 2022 Geography Questions are given below:

1. Consider the following pairs:

Region often mentioned in the news: Country

Anatolia Turkey
Amhara Ethiopia
Cabo Delgado Spain
Catalonia Italy

How many pairs given above are correctly matched?

(a) Only one pair

(b) Only two pairs

(d) All four pairs

Note -

Anatolia Region - Turkey

Amhara region Ethiopia

Cabo Delgado region Mozambique

Catalonia region Spain

2. Which one of the lakes of West Africa has become dry and turned into a desert?

Lake Victoria
Lake Faguibine
Lake Oguta
Lake Volta

Lake Faguibine

Extra Note - Lake Volta, the largest artificial reservoir in the world based on surface area, is contained behind the Akosombo Dam which generates a substantial amount of Ghana's electricity. It is completely within the country of Ghana and has a surface area of 8,502 square kilometres.

Lake Volta

3. Gandikota canyon of South India was created by which one of the following rivers ?

(a) Cauvery

(b) Manjira

(d) Tungabhadra

Note - Gandikota village, (15 km from Jammalamadugu) located in Kadapa district, Andhra Pradesh, is home to a stunning canyon, by the Pennar river.

Gandikota canyon of South India

Also called Gandikota Canyon, this natural structure is often compared to the Grand Canyon of Arizona, USA.

Over time, the Pennar River carved the pink granite rock of Erramala Hills and formed Gandikota Canyon. What we see now is a spectacular natural formation!

Gandikota Canyon, Grand Canyon of India

4. Consider the following pairs:

Peak Mountains

Namcha Barwa Garhwal Himalaya
Nanda Devi Kumaon Himalaya
Nokrek Sikkim Himalaya

Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?

(a) 1 and 2

(b) 2 only

(d) 3 only

Regional Division of Himalaya

Namcha Barwa 7756 m, Nanda Devi 7817 m

Location of Nokrek Peak in Garo Hills (Meghalaya)

5. The term “Levant” often heard in the news roughly corresponds to which of the following regions?

(a) Region along the eastern Mediterranean shores

(b) Region along North African shores stretching from Egypt to Morocco

(d) The entire coastal Mediterranean Sea of areas

Note - The Levant (लेवंट) is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia.

लेवंट (अरबी: شام‎) या बिलाद अश-शाम (अरबी: بلاد الشام‎) या शाम (अंग्रेज़ी: Levant) पश्चिमी एशिया का भूमध्य सागर के पूर्वी छोर से लगा हुआ एक ऐतिहासिक क्षेत्र है। यह सीरिया पर केन्द्रित है, परन्तु लेबनान, जॉर्डन, इज़राइल, फ़िलिस्तीन, सायप्रस और दक्षिणी तुर्की के कुछ भाग भी इसमें सम्मिलित हैं। कभी-कभी इराक़ का पश्चिमी भाग और सीनाई प्रायद्वीप भी इसके अंग माने जाते हैं।

Levant (लेवंट)

6. Consider the following countries:

Azerbaijan
Kyrgyzstan
Tajikistan
Uzbekistan
Turkmenistan

Which of the above have borders with Afghanistan?

(a) 1, 2 and 5 only

(b) 1, 2, 3 and 4 only

(d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

Note - It is bounded to the east and south by Pakistan (including those areas of Kashmir administered by Pakistan but claimed by India), to the west by Iran, and to the north by the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan.

7. With reference to India, consider the following statements:

Monazite is a source of rare earths.
Monazite contains thorium.
Monazite occurs naturally in the entire Indian coastal sands in India.
In India, Government bodies only can process or export monazite.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

(a) 1, 2 and 3 only

(b) 1, 2 and 4 only

(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

Note - Monazite is a primarily reddish-brown phosphate mineral that contains rare-earth elements. Due to variability in composition, monazite is considered a group of minerals. The most common species of the group is monazite-(Ce), that is, the cerium-dominant member of the group. It occurs usually in small isolated crystals. It has a hardness of 5.0 to 5.5 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness and is relatively dense, about 4.6 to 5.7 g/cm³. Monazite is an important ore for thorium, lanthanum, and cerium. It is often found in placer deposits. India, Madagascar, and South Africa have large deposits of monazite sands. The deposits in India are particularly rich in monazite. Monazite is radioactive due to the presence of thorium and, less commonly, uranium.

Monazite

Monazite is an atomic mineral that occurs naturally in the coastal sands of three districts: Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Kanyakumari. It yields a number of rare-earth elements, such as neodymium and praseodymium.

Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL) is the only body permitted to produce and process monazite and regulate domestic use and export.

Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL)

8. In the northern hemisphere, the longest day of the year normally occurs in the:

(a) First half of the month of June

(b) Second half of the month of June

(d) Second half of the month of July

Summer Solstice, Winter Solstice, Autumnal Equinox, Vernal Equinox

Note - The summer solstice occurs during summer. This is the (usually 20 or 21 June) in the Northern hemisphere and the (usually 21 or 22 December) in the Southern.

summer solstice the northern hemisphere, the longest day of the year

9. Consider the following States:

Andhra Pradesh
Kerala
Himachal Pradesh
Tripura

How many of the above are generally known as tea-producing States?

(a) Only one State

(b) Only two States

(d) All four States

Note - The main tea-growing regions are in the Northeast (including Assam) and in north Bengal (Darjeeling district and the Dooars region). Tea is also grown on a large scale in the Nilgiris in south India.

The major tea-producing states in India

The major tea-producing states in India are Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Sikkim, Nagaland, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Bihar, Orissa.

10. Consider the following pairs:

Reservoirs : States

Ghataprabha : Telangana
Gandhi Sagar : Madhya Pradesh
Indira Sagar : Andhra Pradesh
Maithon : Chhattisgarh

How many pairs given above are not correctly matched?

(a) Only one pair

(b) Only two pairs PAY

(d) All four pairs

Note - Ghataprabha is a tributary of Krishna that flows in Karnataka. Ghataprabha has a hydroelectric and irrigational dam at Hidkal.

Hidkal Dam is located in Belagavi district in Karnataka. The dam was completed in 1977. To make it multipurpose project a reservoir was also constructed on the dam.
Tributaries of Ghataprabha: Hiranyakeshi and Markandeya rivers.
Krishna is the second largest river in peninsular India. It rises in the Western Ghats at an altitude of 1337m. near Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra.
- Krishna flows through Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and finally drains into the Bay of Bengal.

Ghataprabha

Gandhisagar Dam is situated at a distance of 168 km from the District headquarter. The Dam is constructed on the Chambal River. The Gandhi Sagar Dam is one of the four major dams built on India's Chambal River. The dam is located in the Mandsaur, districts of the state of Madhya Pradesh.

Gandhisagar Dam

Indira Sagar Dam is a multipurpose dam project at Madhya Pradesh in Central India. It was built on Narmada river which flows from Central India to Western India. Project foundation stone was laid in year 1984 by Prime Minister of India but main-dam construction started in year 1992, many years later.

Indira Sagar Dam (Punasa Dam)

The Maithon Dam is located at Maithon, 48 km from Dhanbad, in the state of Jharkhand India. It is 15,712 ft long and 165 ft high. This dam was specially designed for flood control and generates 60,000 kW of electric power. There is an underground power station, the first of its kind in the whole of South East Asia.

The Maithon Dam

11. With reference to the “Tea Board” in India, consider the following statements:

The Tea Board is a statutory body.
It is a regulatory body attached to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
The Tea Board’s Head Office is situated in Bengaluru.
The Board has overseas offices at Dubai and Moscow.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

(a) 1 and 3

(b) 2 and 4

(d) 1 and 4

Tea Board of India

12. Consider the following statements:

High clouds primarily reflect solar radiation and cool the surface of the Earth.
Low clouds have a high absorption of infrared radiation emanating from the Earth’s surface and thus cause warming effect.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

13.“System of Rice Intensification” of cultivation, in which alternate wetting and drying of rice fields is practiced, results in:

Reduced seed requirement
Reduced methane production
Reduced electricity consumption

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Note - System of Rice Intensification (SRI)

The System of Rice Intensification involves cultivating rice with as much organic manure as possible, starting with young seedlings planted singly at wider spacing in a square pattern; and with intermittent irrigation that keeps the soil moist but not inundated, and frequent inter cultivation with weeder that actively aerates the soil.

SRI is not a standardised, fixed technological method. It is rather a set of ideas, a methodology for comprehensively managing and conserving resources by changing the way that land, seeds, water, nutrients, and human labour are used to increase productivity from a small but well-tended number of seeds. As Father de Laulanié observed, SRI is an amalgamation of multiple beneficial practices.