Indian Geography Questions and Answers

Answer: C

The key's answer is the Cauvery.

The Cauvery (Kaveri), which rises at Talakaveri in Karnataka and flows through Tamil Nadu to the Bay of Bengal, is revered as the Dakshina Ganga, the Ganga of the South, for its sacred standing in the south.

The epithet is not unique: the Godavari, the longest river of peninsular India, is also widely called the Dakshin Ganga, so the Godavari option is a near miss rather than a plain error. The Krishna is not given the name. The key follows the reading that gives it to the Cauvery.

Answer: B

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are separated by the 10° channel.

The Ten Degree Channel, near latitude 10° N, runs between Little Andaman to the north and Car Nicobar to the south, linking the Bay of Bengal with the Andaman Sea.

The Eleven Degree Channel is not between these groups; the Nine Degree Channel separates the Lakshadweep islands from Minicoy. The Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar lie between India and Sri Lanka.

Answer: D

The KRS Dam is built across the Kaveri.

The Krishna Raja Sagara dam stands on the Kaveri (Cauvery) near Mandya, close to Mysuru in Karnataka. It was designed under the engineer Sir M. Visvesvaraya and is known for the Brindavan Gardens below it. It supplies irrigation and drinking water to Mysuru and Bengaluru.

The name comes from the Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV, not from the Krishna river, which is the trap. The Godavari and Mahanadi are other peninsular rivers, further north.

Answer: D

The most populous district in the 2011 census was Thane.

Thane district in Maharashtra had a population of about 1.1 crore (11 million) in 2011, the highest of any district in India. It was later split, with Palghar carved out in 2014.

Lucknow is a large city but its district had far fewer people. Jaisalmer and Kachchh are the largest districts by area in Rajasthan and Gujarat, and among the most thinly populated, which makes them distractors on size rather than population.

Answer: D

The border districts are Sri Ganganagar, Bikaner, Jaisalmer and Barmer.

Rajasthan's international border with Pakistan, part of the Radcliffe Line, runs for about 1070 km along the four western districts of Sri Ganganagar, Bikaner, Jaisalmer and Barmer. Jaisalmer has the longest stretch of it.

The other options include interior districts such as Jodhpur, Pali, Sirohi, Udaipur, Churu, Dungarpur and Banswara, which do not touch the border, and Hanumangarh, which lies east of Sri Ganganagar.

Answer: B

The order is c, a, b, d.

Rajasthan's neighbours lie as follows: Haryana (and Punjab) to the north and north-east, Uttar Pradesh to the east, Madhya Pradesh to the south-east, and Gujarat to the south-west. Taking the directions in the order given:

• North-east: Haryana (c)
• South-east: Madhya Pradesh (a)
• South-west: Gujarat (b)
• East: Uttar Pradesh (d)

Every other option puts at least one state in the wrong direction, for example Gujarat in the north-east.

Answer: D

The river rising in the Bairath hills is the Banganga.

The Banganga (also called Arjun ki Ganga) rises in the Bairath hills of Jaipur district, flows east through Jaipur, Dausa and Bharatpur, and joins the Yamuna in Uttar Pradesh. The Jamwa Ramgarh dam is built on it.

The Kali Sindh and the Parvati rise in Madhya Pradesh and enter Rajasthan to join the Chambal, and the Mej rises in Bhilwara district and joins the Chambal in Bundi.

Answer: D

The south-eastern part of Rajasthan has the most humid climate.

Rajasthan's climate grows wetter from north-west to south-east. The south-eastern districts, such as Jhalawar, Banswara and parts of Kota and Udaipur, receive the most rainfall in the state, often over 100 cm, and are classed in the very humid (most humid) climatic region.

Arid and semi-arid climates belong to the west and north-west, while the sub-humid and humid regions lie in the centre and east, between those extremes.

Answer: C

The keyed answer is Red and Black soil.

In the classification of Rajasthan's soils, mixed red and black soils occur in the south-eastern and eastern parts of the Aravallis, in districts such as Udaipur, Chittorgarh, Dungarpur, Banswara and Bhilwara. They develop from the ancient (Archaean, pre-Cambrian) crystalline rocks of the region and are used mainly for maize, millets, pulses and oilseeds.

Alluvial soil is found in the eastern plains along the rivers, desert soil in the west, and the deep black (regur) soil of basaltic origin in the south-eastern Hadoti plateau.

Answer: B

The northern and eastern slopes of the Aravallis carry tropical dry deciduous forest.

With moderate rainfall, the Aravalli slopes support forests that shed their leaves in the dry season, with trees such as dhokra, salar, khair and teak in the wetter south. These dry deciduous forests cover most of Rajasthan's forest area.

Tropical thorn forest belongs to the arid west, sub-tropical mountain (evergreen) forest is found only around Mount Abu, the highest part of the range, and temperate forest does not occur in Rajasthan.