India Geography: Peaks, Passes & Parks: questions and answers
Study every question with its correct answer and explanation.
1. Which mountain pass connects Srinagar in the Kashmir Valley with Leh in Ladakh?
- A. Nathu La
- B. Rohtang Pass
- C. Zoji La
- D. Shipki La
Answer: Zoji La
Zoji La, a high pass in the Great Himalayan range, is the key road link between Srinagar and Leh. Nathu La in Sikkim connects India with Tibet, while Shipki La in Himachal Pradesh is where the Sutlej river enters India.
2. Which of these is the oldest mountain range in India?
- A. Aravalli
- B. Vindhya
- C. Satpura
- D. Western Ghats
Answer: Aravalli
The Aravalli Range, running from Gujarat through Rajasthan and Haryana towards Delhi, is one of the oldest fold mountain systems in the world and is now heavily eroded. Its highest peak, Guru Shikhar (about 1,722 m), lies near Mount Abu in Rajasthan.
3. Which is the highest peak of the Western Ghats and of peninsular India?
- A. Doddabetta
- B. Mahendragiri
- C. Kalsubai
- D. Anamudi
Answer: Anamudi
Anamudi (about 2,695 m), in the Anaimalai Hills of Kerala's Idukki district, is the highest peak in India south of the Himalayas. Doddabetta (about 2,637 m) is the highest point of the Nilgiri Hills in Tamil Nadu.
4. Which river of the Thar Desert region ends in the marshes of the Rann of Kachchh instead of flowing into the open sea?
- A. Sabarmati
- B. Luni
- C. Mahi
- D. Chambal
Answer: Luni
The Luni rises in the Aravalli hills near Ajmer, flows south-west through Rajasthan and loses itself in the Rann of Kachchh. Its water turns salty in the lower course, which is reflected in its name (from the Sanskrit 'lavana', meaning salt).
- Advertisement
5. The Chota Nagpur Plateau, often called the 'mineral heartland of India', covers most of which state?
- A. Odisha
- B. Chhattisgarh
- C. Jharkhand
- D. Madhya Pradesh
Answer: Jharkhand
The Chota Nagpur Plateau covers most of Jharkhand and extends into neighbouring states, with rich deposits of coal, iron ore, mica and bauxite. The Damodar river flows through a rift valley on this plateau; its floods once earned it the name 'Sorrow of Bengal'.
6. India's first national park, set up in 1936 as Hailey National Park, is known today by which name?
- A. Jim Corbett National Park
- B. Kanha National Park
- C. Gir National Park
- D. Periyar National Park
Answer: Jim Corbett National Park
Established in 1936 in present-day Uttarakhand, the park was later renamed after Jim Corbett, the hunter-turned-conservationist and author. Project Tiger, India's flagship tiger conservation programme, was launched here in 1973.
7. Kaziranga National Park in Assam, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is best known for protecting which animal?
- A. Asiatic lion
- B. Greater one-horned rhinoceros
- C. Snow leopard
- D. Nilgiri tahr
Answer: Greater one-horned rhinoceros
Kaziranga, on the floodplains of the Brahmaputra, holds the world's largest population of the greater one-horned rhinoceros and was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1985. Asiatic lions, by contrast, survive in the wild only in and around Gir in Gujarat.
8. Keibul Lamjao, the only floating national park in the world, is located in which state?
- A. Assam
- B. Tripura
- C. Mizoram
- D. Manipur
Answer: Manipur
Keibul Lamjao lies on Loktak Lake in Manipur and floats on thick mats of vegetation and soil called 'phumdis'. It is the last natural home of the endangered sangai, or brow-antlered deer, Manipur's state animal.
9. Which Indian state shares the longest stretch of the India–Bangladesh border?
- A. West Bengal
- B. Assam
- C. Meghalaya
- D. Tripura
Answer: West Bengal
West Bengal accounts for more than 2,200 km of the roughly 4,096 km India–Bangladesh border, which is India's longest international land border. The other states along this border are Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
10. Which is the southernmost point of India's territory?
- A. Kanyakumari
- B. Indira Point
- C. Rameswaram
- D. Point Calimere
Answer: Indira Point
Indira Point, on Great Nicobar Island in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, is the southernmost point of India. Kanyakumari (Cape Comorin) in Tamil Nadu is the southern tip of the Indian mainland, where the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean meet.