World Geography Questions and Answers

Answer: A

The river is the Zaire (Congo).

The Congo, formerly called the Zaire, rises south of the equator, flows north across it, curves west and then turns south-west, crossing the equator a second time before it reaches the Atlantic Ocean.

The Nile flows north from the region of Lake Victoria and crosses the equator only once. The Amazon flows eastwards just south of the equator, and the Mississippi lies wholly in the northern hemisphere.

Answer: B

The descending order is Superior, Victoria, Michigan, Chilka.

Approximate surface areas: Lake Superior about 82,000 km², Lake Victoria about 69,000 km², Lake Michigan about 58,000 km², and Chilika lagoon in Odisha about 1,100 km² at its largest.

Superior, the largest freshwater lake by area, must come first, and Chilika, far smaller than the other three, must come last; only option (b) does both with Victoria ahead of Michigan.

Answer: D

The Grand Canyon was cut by the Colorado river.

Over some millions of years the Colorado, aided by the uplift of the Colorado Plateau, has carved the canyon in Arizona, about 446 km long and up to 1.8 km deep.

The St. Lawrence drains the Great Lakes to the Atlantic, the Missouri is the long tributary of the Mississippi, and the Ohio is the Mississippi's eastern tributary; none flows through Arizona.

Answer: A

The leading gold producer in 2023 was China.

China mined about 370 tonnes of gold in 2023, the most of any country, ahead of Australia and Russia.

Canada and the U.S.A. produced about 200 and 170 tonnes respectively, and South Africa, once the world leader, has fallen to around 100 tonnes a year.

Australia and Russia were close behind China, each producing about 310 tonnes.

Answer: A

The Jordan rises near Mount Hermon, flows south through the Sea of Galilee and empties into the Dead Sea.

The Dead Sea has no outlet, so the water the Jordan delivers can leave only by evaporation - which is why the lake is so intensely saline and its level continues to fall as the river is drawn off for irrigation.

Answer: A

The Atlas Mountains run about 2,500 km through Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, in north-west Africa.

They separate the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts from the Sahara, and their highest point, Toubkal in Morocco, reaches 4,167 m.

Answer: A

Crude oil bought directly from the national oil companies of producing countries that have a surplus for export is purchased under term contracts - long-standing agreements covering fixed quantities over a fixed period, at prices tied to an agreed formula.

Tenders, whether term or monthly, are competitive bids used mainly for spot purchases from traders, not for government-to-government supply.

Answer: D

Humidity depends on all of these: temperature governs how much vapour the air can hold, location determines proximity to water bodies, and the weather system in place brings moist or dry air masses.

Answer: B

Correct answer: A rapid mass movement of snow and ice down a slope

An avalanche is the rapid downslope movement of a mass of snow, often carrying ice, rock and debris with it. It is a form of mass wasting, driven by gravity once the strength holding the snowpack in place is exceeded. The commonest and most dangerous type is the slab avalanche, in which a cohesive layer of snow releases across a weak layer beneath it - typically buried surface hoar or faceted crystals formed during a cold clear spell. Slopes between about 30 and 45 degrees are the most prone: gentler ones do not release, steeper ones shed snow continuously. Triggers include fresh heavy snowfall, rapid warming, rain on snow, and the weight of a person crossing the slope, which accounts for most fatal avalanches. They are a serious hazard in the Himalaya, particularly for troops posted at high altitude and along routes such as the road to Siachen, and in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir.

Answer: A

The initial phase of a magnetic storm is preceded by a storm sudden commencement - the abrupt jump in the horizontal field, lasting a few minutes, as the shock front of a solar wind gust compresses the magnetosphere.

The field then stays slightly elevated through the initial phase, before the main phase drives it sharply downward.