Map Based questions

Four Northeast Indian states share the border with Myanmar: Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Manipur.

Indus Tsangpo suture is a tectonic suture in southern Tibet and across the north margin of the Himalayas which resulted from the collision between the Indian plate and the Eurasian plate.
Himalayas are known to be made up of north dipping thrusts like the Main Central Thrust (MCT), the Main Boundary Thrust (MBT), and the Main Frontal Thrust (MFT). As per the established models, all of these thrusts except MFT are locked, and overall deformation in Himalaya is being accommodated only along with the MFT.
Recently, a group of Scientists from Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), Dehradun have observed that suture zone of the Himalayas or the Indus Suture Zone (ISZ) in the Ladakh region where Indian and Asian Plates are joined has been found to be tectonically active, as against current understanding that it is a locked zone.

Option 1 is correct. Rezang La is a mountain pass on the south-eastern approach to Chushul Valley in the union territory of Ladakh. A major battle was fought between Indian and Chinese forces in 1962 at Rezang La.
Option 2 is incorrect. Nathu La is a mountain pass in the Himalayas in East Sikkim district. It connects the Indian state of Sikkim with China’s Tibet Autonomous Region.
Option 3 is correct. Khardung La is a mountain pass in the Leh district of the union territory of Ladakh. The pass on the Ladakh Range is north of Leh and is the gateway to the Shyok and Nubra valleys.

Option 1 is correct. The Kangla Fort is situated along the banks of the Imphal River in the city of Imphal, Manipur and is also called the Palace of Kangla. The word Kangla belongs to an ancient language Meitei, which means ‘dry land’.
In ancient times, this fort was the royal palace of King Pakhangba and is a structure of political and religious significance.
In 2004 the Assam Rifles moved out of Imphal’s Kangla Fort, from where Manipuri kings ruled for 2,000 years. The para military force had occupied the fort for 113 years.
Option 2 is correct. Moirang, which is one of the largest towns in Manipur, has a rich history. It had served as the headquarters of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s Azad Hind Fauj. Moirang also has a museum of the Indian National Army
Option 3 is incorrect. Pakke Tiger Reserve, also known as Pakhui Tiger Reserve, is a Project Tiger reserve in Arunachal Pradesh.

The Spanggur Tso, also called Maindung Co is a saltwater lake south of Pangong Tso on India China border (East of LAC) between Ladakh UT and Tibet Autonomous Region, China.

All of the above locations are around the Line of Actual Control that separates the Indian and Chinese controlled regions in Ladakh UT.

The Macartney–MacDonald Line is a proposed boundary in the area of Aksai Chin. It was proposed by British Indian Government to China in 1899 via its envoy to China, Sir Claude MacDonald.
This survey was officially sent by the British to China in 1899, was not followed up, and the border remained ‘undefined’.
The Johnson-Ardagh Line surveyed in 1865, ran along the Kunlun Mountain, included Aksai Chin in Kashmir and was not communicated to China.

The Macartney–MacDonald Line was a proposed boundary in the disputed area of Aksai Chin. It was proposed by British Indian Government to China in 1899 via its envoy to China, Sir Claude MacDonald.
This survey was officially sent by the British to China in 1899, was not followed up, and the border remained ‘undefined’.
The Ardagh–Johnson Line was another proposed boundary between China and India in Jammu & Kashmir region. It was formally proposed to the British Indian government by Major General John Ardagh, chief of military intelligence in London, in 1897, based on the surveys conducted by William Johnson in 1865.
McMahon Line is the frontier between Tibet and British India in north east, negotiated between Tibet and Great Britain at the end of the Shimla Conference (October 1913–July 1914) and named for the chief British negotiator, Sir Henry McMahon.

# Upon independence in 1947, the government of India fixed its official boundary in the west, which included the Aksai Chin, in a manner that resembled the Ardagh–Johnson Line.

Option 1 is incorrectly matched. Sherathang is a town in Sikkim near the Nathula Pass in India. The location is the site for excise, customs and checking for trade between India and China. Rinqingang is the corresponding location in China.
Option 2 is correctly matched. Lipulekh is a Himalayan pass on the border between Uttarakhand state and the Tibet region of China, near their trijunction with Nepal.
Option 3 is correctly matched. Nathu La is a mountain pass in the Himalayas in East Sikkim district. It connects the Indian state of Sikkim with China’s Tibet Autonomous Region.
# Ministry of External Affairs organizes Kailash Mansarovar Yatra during June to September through two different routes – Lipulekh Pass (Uttarakhand) and Nathu La Pass (Sikkim).

Option 1 is incorrectly matched. Kibithu or Kibithoo is a town in Arunachal Pradesh in Anjaw district. It is one of the easternmost permanently populated towns of India.
Option 2 is incorrectly matched. Sumdorong Chu is a tributary of the Nyamjang Chu River that flows along the India-China border between the Tibet and the Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh.
Option 3 is correctly matched. Pasighat is in the East Siang district in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.

Islands in the South China Sea includes Spratly Islands, Pratas Islands, Paracel Islands and Macclesfield Bank; islands on the China coast, on the Vietnam coast, on the Borneo coast, and the peripheral islands of Taiwan, the Philippines, etc.

The Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands is a territorial dispute over a group of uninhabited islands among Japan, People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Republic of China (ROC or Taiwan).

Khartoum is the capital of Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile, flowing west from Lake Tana in Ethiopia.
Oaxaca is in Mexico; it was in news recently as the Khadi Oaxaca collective was mentioned by the Prime Minister in Mann Ki Baat.
Baku, the capital and commercial hub of Azerbaijan, is a low-lying city with coastline along the Caspian Sea.

Mansar Lake is situated 37 km from Jammu, Mansar is a lake fringed by forest-covered hills, over a mile in length by half-a-mile in width.
Surinsar-Mansar Lakes are designated as Ramsar Convention in November 2005.
# Comprehensive Mansar Lake Rejuvenation/Development Plan was launched recently to increase the tourism potential of the historic lake.

Both statements are correct.
Kaziranga national park is located fairly in the Golaghat and Nagaon regions of Assam in India. It is also placed beside the Brahmaputra River on the North and the Karbi Anglong mounts on the South.
It is famous for the Great Indian one horned rhinoceros; the landscape of Kaziranga is of sheer forest, tall elephant grass, rugged reeds, marshes & shallow pools. It has been declared as National Park in 1974.
The Kaziranga National Park was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1985.

Great Lakes, chain of deep freshwater lakes in east-central North America comprising Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario.
Situated on the northern edge of Wisconsin, Lake Superior extends from the upper peninsula of Michigan north to Ontario, Canada, and reaches west to the eastern edge of Minnesota. The name Superior refers to its size and also designates the lake’s position as the northernmost of all the Great Lakes.

Option 1 is correctly matched. Located in the French Riviera, on the south east coast of France on the Mediterranean Sea, at the foot of the Alps, Nice is the second-largest French city on the Mediterranean coast.
Option 2 is correctly matched. Vienna is the national capital, largest city, and one of nine states of Austria.
Option 3 is incorrectly matched. Herat city is the capital of Herat Province, situated in the fertile valley of the Hari River in the western part of Afghanistan.

Mediterranean Sea, an intercontinental sea that stretches from the Atlantic Ocean on the west to Asia on the east and separates Europe from Africa.

Shaksgam Valley lies to the north-west of Siachen glacier, north of Baltistan, much north-west of Pangong Tso, east of Gilgit and south of Chinese province of Xinjiang.

Option 1 is incorrectly matched. The Kunlun Mountains constitute one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending for more than 3,000 km. The chain forms the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau south of the Tarim Basin.
Option 2 is incorrectly matched. The Pamirs are the most famous mountain convergence zone in the world. It is the largest mountain convergence zone that was formed by the convergence of the Tianshan Mountains, the Kunlun Mountains, the Himalayas, the Hindu Kush Mountains and the Jierter-Sulaiman Mountains.
Most of the Pamirs lie within Tajikistan, but the fringes penetrate Afghanistan, China, and Kyrgyzstan.
Option 3 is correctly matched. The Taklamakan Desert is a desert in Southwest Xinjiang in Northwest China. It is bounded by the Kunlun Mountains to the south, the Pamir Mountains and Tian Shan to the west and north and the Gobi Desert to the east.

The Bohai Sea is a marginal sea in area on the east coast of mainland China. It is the northwestern and innermost extension of the Yellow Sea, to which it connects to the east via the Bohai Strait.

Horn of Africa refers to region of eastern Africa. It is the easternmost extension of African land and is mostly defined as the region comprising the countries of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia.

The Chandipur beach in Odisha is one of the unique sea beaches in the country. The water of the sea recedes off shore and proceeds rhythmically after a regular interval twice a day.
Chandipur is also the location of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) where various missile development tests of DRDO take place.

Stepanakert is the de facto capital and the largest city of the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), though the city is within internationally recognised borders of Azerbaijan.

The Saltoro Mountains are a subrange of the Karakoram Range. They are located in the southeast Karakoram on the southwest side of the Siachen Glacier.
The Indian Army dominates the glaciers, occupying the high ground on the Saltoro ridge on the western edge of the glacier, restricting Pakistani forces to lower positions.

Ardennes Forest is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges located primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching as well into Germany and France.
# PM held India – Luxembourg Virtual Summit with Prime Minister of Grand Duchy of Luxembourg recently. Luxembourg is a small country landlocked by Belgium, France and Germany, and a prominent financial centre.

Tristan da Cunha, island and group of islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, about midway between southern Africa and South America. The island group is a constituent part of the British overseas territory of St. Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha.
It is creating a marine protection zone to safeguard endangered rockhopper penguins, yellow-nosed albatross and other wildlife in an area of the South Atlantic three times the size of the United Kingdom.
The protection zone will become part of the U.K.’s Blue Belt Program, which is providing 27 million pounds ($35.5 million) to promote marine conservation in the country’s overseas territories.

The Askot Wildlife Sanctuary, with altitude range from 600m to 6,905m is located in the Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand. The term ‘Askot’ is derived from ‘Assi Kot’ or Eighty Forts, many of which are located in Nepal.
The River Kali forms the international boundary and separates it from Nepal in the east and to the west it is bounded by West Almora Forest Division, to the north by Tibet and the south by Pithoragarh Forest Division.

The New Caledonia is a French overseas territory in South Pacific Ocean. It is rich in resources and accounts for around 10% of the world’s nickel reserve.
New Caledonia enjoys a large degree of autonomy but depends heavily on France for matters like defence and education.

Option 1 is correctly matched. The Strait of Hormuz is a strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. It provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean.
Option 2 is correctly matched. Since the 1967 Six-Day War, the western two-thirds of the Golan Heights has been occupied and administered by Israel, whereas the eastern third remains under control of the Syrian Arab Republic.
Option 3 is correctly matched. Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia.

Pangda Village is news for being recently populated by Chinese settlements on disputed territory on China-Bhutan border.
The area is east of the India-Bhutan-China trijunction on the Doklam plateau, which was the site of a 72-day stand-off in 2017.
Authorities in Yadong county of Southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region have confirmed that 27 households with 124 people voluntarily moved from Shangdui village of Duina prefecture of Yadong county to Pangda village in September 2020.

Option 1 is correctly matched. Baku, the capital and commercial hub of Azerbaijan, is a low-lying city with coastline along the Caspian Sea.
Option 2 is incorrectly matched. Neom is a planned cross-border city in the Tabuk Province of northwestern Saudi Arabia. It is planned to incorporate smart city technologies and also function as a tourist destination. The site is near the Red Sea, and Strait of Tiran and the borders of Egypt, Israel and Jordan.
Option 3 is correctly matched. Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia, and one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country.

All of the above are correctly matched.
The Galápagos Islands is a volcanic archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, a province of Ecuador and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Minsk is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislac and the Nyamiha Rivers.
Da Nang is a coastal city in central Vietnam, a former French colonial port.

All of the above are in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep.
Agatti Island is a 7.6 km long island, situated on a coral Agatti atoll in Lakshadweep.
Bangaram is a teardrop shaped island close to Agatti and Kavaratti in Lakshadweep.
Kadmat Island, also known as Cardamom Island, is a coral island belonging to the Amindivi subgroup of islands of the Lakshadweep.

Minicoy Island lying south of nine-degree channel, not shown in the image, is part of the UT of Lakshadweep.

All of the above capital cities are correctly matched.
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon.
The capital Tripoli is located in western Libya.
Khartoum or Khartum is the capital of Sudan.

Option 1 is correctly matched. Chang Chenmo River, a tributary of the Shyok River, which flows into the Indus River forms the valley near the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh UT.
Option 2 is incorrectly matched. The Siachen Glacier is a located in the eastern Karakoram range in the Himalayas in Ladakh UT. India’s successfully took cotrol of the Siachen Glacier as part of Operation Meghdoot in 1984.
Option 3 is correctly matched. Sir Creek is a tidal estuary in the uninhabited marshlands of the Indus River Delta on the border between India and Pakistan. The creek flows into the Arabian Sea near the Gujarat state in India from Sindh province in Pakistan.

Option 1 is correctly matched. Falkland Islands is the internally self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom in the South Atlantic Ocean. Its sovereignty status is part of an ongoing dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom.

Option 2 is correctly matched. Jaffna is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. During the civil war, the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) occupied Jaffna in 1986.

Option 3 is incorrectly matched. Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is governed as part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha.

Mount Sinabung volcano is in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. It had been inactive for centuries until it erupted suddenly in 2010 and twice in recent week. It is a Pleistocene-to-Holocene stratovolcano with many lava flows on its flanks.
Indonesia has around 147 volcanoes and 76 of them are active volcanoes and spread along the islands of Java, Lesser Sunda, Sumatra, and Celebes.
Most active volcanos of Indonesia are: Merapi, Kaba, Kerinci, Anak Krakatau, Papandayan, Slamet, Bromo, Semeru, Batur, Rinjani, Sangeang Api, Rokatenda, Egon, Soputan, Lokon, Gamalama, Dukono, Karangetang, Ibu, and Talang.

All of the above islands/reef are in the South China Sea.
Mischief Reef is a reef/atoll surrounding a large lagoon in the SE of Dangerous Ground in the east of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. It has been occupied and controlled by the PRC since 1995, and is also claimed by the Republic of China (Taiwan), the Philippines and Vietnam.
The Natuna Islands are a 272-island archipelago of Indonesia, located in southern part of South China Sea. Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the coast of Natuna is slightly overlapped by China’s disputed South China Sea claim.
The Paracel Islands, also known as Xisha Islands are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea. It is claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Option 1 is incorrectly matched. Tonga is a Polynesian kingdom of more than 170 South Pacific islands, many uninhabited, most lined in white beaches and coral reefs and covered with tropical rainforest.

Option 2 is correctly matched. Villingili is an island of Addu Atoll in Maldives. India has announced a USD 500 million-package to the Maldives for the connectivity project in the island nation to connect Male with three neighbouring islands- Villingili, Gulhifahu and Thilafushi.

Option 3 is correctly matched. Palm Islands are three artificial islands, Palm Jumeirah, Deira Island and Palm Jebel Ali, on the coast of Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

All of the above are in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands Union Territory.
The Ross Island was renamed Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep, the Neil Island as Shaheed Dweep and the Havelock Island as Swaraj Dweep in December 2018.

The Milne Ice Shelf (Canada), a fragment of the former Ellesmere Ice Shelf, is the second largest ice shelf in the Arctic Ocean.
It’s the last fully intact ice shelf in the Canadian Arctic and has been reported to have collapsed losing more than 40% of its area.

Option 1 is incorrectly matched. Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, USA.
In July 1913, observers in Furnace Creek, California—Death Valley—watched the thermometer reach 56.7°C (134°F) and declared it to be the highest temperature ever recorded on Earth. It recently hit a high of hits 54.4C.

Option 2 is correctly matched. The Taklamakan Desert is a desert in Southwest Xinjiang in Northwest China. The surface of the mountain is said to reach temperatures of 50 to 80°C (122 to 175°F) in the summer

Option 3 is correctly matched. The Lut Desert, widely referred to as Dasht-e Lut, is a large salt desert located in the provinces of Kerman and Sistan and Baluchestan, Iran.

Nord Stream is a system of offshore natural gas pipelines from Russia to Germany. It includes two lines running from Vyborg to Greifswald forming original Nord Stream (Nord Stream 1), and two lines running from Ust-Luga to Greifswald termed Nord Stream 2.
Russia currently supplies about 40% of the EU’s gas supplies – just ahead of Norway, which is not in the EU but takes part in its single market. The new pipeline will increase the amount of gas going under the Baltic to 55 billion cubic meters per year.

Statement 1 is incorrect. Nagaland became the full-fledged 16th state of India on 1 Dec 1963.

This state borders with Assam in the northwest, Arunachal Pradesh in north and Manipur in the south. It also shares an international boundary with Myanmar.

Statement 2 is correct. The Purvanchal Range, or Eastern Mountains, is a sub-mountain range of the Himalayas in northeast India.

Saramati is a peak rising above the surrounding peaks at the mountainous border of Nagaland state and the Sagaing Region, Burma. It is located near Thanamir Village in the Kiphire District of Nagaland. It is the highest peak in the state of Nagaland.

The Tuareg people are about 2 million nomadic people who live across the Sahara Desert, including in the North African countries of Mali, Niger, Libya, Algeria and Chad.
The Tuaregs are part of the Berber group of people, and they are largely Muslim. Their political organizations extend across national boundaries.

Option 1 is correctly matched. Naifaru is an island in the Maldives 141 km north of the capital, Malé. It is the capital and most populous island of Lhaviyani Atoll.
Option 2 is correctly matched. Great Blasket is the principal island of the Blaskets, County Kerry, Ireland.
Option 3 is correctly matched. El Azizia is a small town known for its record high temperatures is located southwest of the Libya capital Tripoli. In 1918-22, it was the capital of the Tripolitanian Republic, the first formal republic in the Arab world.

Option 1 is correctly matched. Ouagadougou is the capital of Burkina Faso and the administrative, communications, cultural, and economic center of the nation.
Option 2 is correctly matched. Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. The Battle of Aleppo (2012–2016) occurred in the city during the Syrian Civil War, and many parts of the city suffered massive destruction.
Option 3 is correctly matched. Bamako, located on the Niger River, is the capital and largest city of Mali.

Surinsar and Mansar Lakes are considered as twin lakes, located at a distance of 9 km (5.6 mi) away from each other near Jammu. The Surinsar Mansar Wildlife Sanctuary is located in the midst of both lakes.
Surinsar-Mansar Lakes are listed in Wetlands of International Importance under Ramsar Convention.
The Surinsar Lake is rain-fed without permanent discharge and Mansar Lake is primarily fed by surface run-off and partially by mineralized water through paddy fields, with inflow increasing in rainy season.

All of the above countries mentioned border the Mediterranean Sea.

Option 1 is incorrectly matched. Al-Aqsa Mosque located in the Old City of Jerusalem, Israel and is among the holiest site in Islam.
The mosque is located in close proximity to historical sites significant in Judaism and Christianity, most notably the site of the Second Temple, the holiest site in Judaism. As a result, the area is highly sensitive, and has been a flashpoint in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
Option 2 is correctly matched. Idlib is a city in northwestern Syria, southwest of Aleppo, which is the capital of the Idlib Governorate.
The province – along with parts of Hama, Latakia and Aleppo – is the last stronghold of the rebel and jihadist groups that have been trying to overthrow President Assad since 2011.
Option 3 incorrectly matched. Minsk is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislač and the Nyamiha Rivers.
Recently Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko won a sixth term in office in a disputed election, prompting protesters to take to the streets in cities across the country.

Baltic States, the northeastern region of Europe, includes the countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea.
• Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu concluded his 5-day tour to the three Baltic nations Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in August 2019.
• The visit was aimed at strengthening the bilateral engagements with the three nations, besides giving the relationships a fresh impetus in the context of a changing global order.
• Besides considering the strategic interests, the focus of the visit was also on improving cooperation in the fields of security, especially countering terrorism.

: Four Northeast Indian states share the border with Myanmar: Arunachal

Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Manipur.

Natanz is Iran’s primary nuclear enrichment facility and houses both the

commercial Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP) and the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (PFEP).

The Barakah nuclear power plant is the United Arab Emirates’s first nuclear power

station, the first nuclear power station in the Arabian Peninsula.

The Aral Sea was an endorheic lake lying between Kazakhstan and

Uzbekistan which began shrinking in the 1960s and had largely dried up by the 2010s.

In the 1960s, the Soviet Union undertook a major water diversion project on the arid plains

of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan.

The region’s two major rivers, fed by snowmelt and precipitation in faraway mountains,

were used to transform the desert into farms for cotton and other crops. Before the project the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya rivers flowed down from the mountains, cut northwest

through the Kyzylkum Desert, and finally pooled together in the lowest part of the basin.

The lake they made, the Aral Sea, was once the fourth largest in the world. Although

irrigation made the desert bloom, it devastated the Aral Sea.

Aegean Sea, an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, located between the Greek

peninsula on the west and Asia Minor on the east.

A strong earthquake in the Aegean Sea has shaken Turkey and Greece on 30th October 2020.

The United Kingdom is a state made up of the historic countries of England,

Wales and Scotland, as well as Northern Ireland.

# The Internal Market Bill of UK government seeks to create a single uniform market across

the four nations of the U.K. It is being disputed by many in UK as well as EU for it breaking

the international law by going back on the Withdrawal Agreement Bill signed by the Boris

Johnson government in January 2020.

Varosha is an abandoned southern quarter of the Cypriot city of Famagusta. Its inhabitants fled during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, after years of inter-ethnic violence culminating in a coup inspired by Greece’s ruling military junta, Turkey invaded Cyprus and occupied the northern third of the island.
As its troops approached Varosha, a Greek-Cypriot community, the inhabitants fled, intending to return when the situation calmed down. However, the resort was fenced off by the Turkish military and has been a ghost town ever since.
A UN resolution of 1984 calls for the handover of Varosha to UN control and prohibits any attempt to resettle it by anyone other than those who were forced out.

Northern Cyprus said  it will reopen the beach area of an abandoned resort in no man’s land, a move condemned by Greek Cypriots. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed concern over Turkey’s decision to reopen the beach of Varosha in Cyprus.

Statement 1 is correct. The region is internationally recognised as part of
Azerbaijan but controlled by ethnic Armenians
After the end of World War I and the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, the new Soviet rulers established the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region, with an ethnic Armenian majority, within the Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan in the early 1920s.

In 1988, towards the end of Soviet rule, Azerbaijani troops and Armenian secessionists began a violent war which left the de facto independent state in the hands of ethnic Armenians when a truce was signed in 1994.

Negotiations have so far failed to produce a permanent peace agreement.

Statement 2 is incorrect. It is a landlocked mountainous region.

Belarus is a landlocked country bordered by Russia – its former imperial
master – to the east and Ukraine to the south. To the north and west lie EU and NATO
members Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.

# President Lukashenko, an ally of Russia, nicknamed “Europe’s last dictator”, has been in power for 26 years.

# Recently, there has been an opposition movement, demanding new, democratic leadership and economic reform. They say Lukashenko rigged the 9 August election – officially, he won by a landslide.

All of the above gas/oil fields are correctly matched.
Farzad B Gas Field is located in Persian Gulf under the control of Iran. India has plans to invest in the exploration of this oilfield.

Baghjan Oil field is in Tinsukia district of Assam. Recently a massive fire engulfed the damaged Baghjan oil well in Assam.

Ghawar Oil Field is located in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, owned and operated by state-owned Saudi Aramco. It is one of the largest conventional oil field in the world, and accounts for roughly a third of the cumulative oil production of Saudi Arabia

Manama is the capital and largest city of Bahrain. Israel and Bahrain have
formally established diplomatic relations after signing the US brokered deal.
Abuja is the capital city of Nigeria. The Nigerian Army has deployed soldiers to several
parts of Abuja to curtail the violent outcome of the EndSARS protests.
Minsk is the capital city of Belarus. Belarus, a former Soviet republic closely allied with
Russia, has been rocked by strikes and weekly street protests since authorities announced
Lukashenko, who has ruled in authoritarian fashion since 1994, had secured re-election

Mizoram is a mountainous region which became the 23rd state of the Indian
Union in February 1987. It was one of the districts of Assam till 1972 when it became a
Union Territory.

Mizoram has international borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh, and shares domestic
borders with Manipur, Assam and Tripura.

# Assam has had a boundary dispute with Mizoram for decades and several rounds of talks

have been held since 1994-95 to solve the issue.

Option 1 is correctly matched. Oktoberfest is an annual festival in Munich,
Germany, held over a two-week period and ending on the first Sunday in October. The
2020 edition has been cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Option 2 is correctly matched. The Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is a festival held
every year before Lent and considered among the biggest carnival in the world. The first
Carnival festival in Rio occurred in 1723.
Option 3 is correctly matched. Japan is known around the world for its cherry blossom
festivals known as hanami in Japanese. In modern-day Japan, hanami mostly consists of
having an outdoor party beneath the sakura (cherry) during daytime or at night.

Option 1 is correct. Lake Titicaca is located on the border between northern
Bolivia and southern Peru.
Option 2 is correct. The Andes Mountains extend over seven countries: Argentina (Mount
Aconcagua), Bolivia (Huayna Potosi), Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela,
known as Andean States.
Option 3 is incorrect. Mount Aconcagua is in western Mendoza province, west-central
Argentina, on the Chilean border.

Lines and Geoglyphs of Nasca and Palpa are located in the arid Peruvian coastal plain. This UNESCO World Heritage site is home to designs on the ground created some 2,000 years ago.

The lines are known as geoglyphs – drawings on the ground made by removing rocks and earth to create a “negative” image. The rocks which cover the desert have oxidized and weathered to a deep rust color, and when the top 12-15 inches of rock is removed, lightcolored, high contrasting sand is exposed.

Because there’s so little rain, wind and erosion, the exposed designs have stayed largely intact for 500 to 2000 years.

Recently, figure of a relaxing cat has been discovered in the Nazca desert. Scientists believe the cat, as with other Nazca animal figures, was created by making depressions in the desert floor, leaving coloured earth exposed. The cat then went unnoticed until plans were recently drawn up for a new path leading to an observation platform.

Dr. Abdul Kalam Island, formerly known as Wheeler Island, is an island off
the coast of Odisha. The Integrated Test Range missile testing facility is located on the
island.
Gahirmatha Beach is in the Indian state of Odisha. It separates the Bhitarkanika
Mangroves from the Bay of Bengal and is an important nesting beach for olive ridley sea
turtles.
In 2018, three islands of Andaman and Nicobar were renamed; the Ross Island was
renamed as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep, the Neil Island as Shaheed Dweep and the
Havelock Island as Swaraj Dweep.

Option 1 is correct. Rezang La is a mountain pass on the south-eastern
approach to Chushul Valley in the union territory of Ladakh. A major battle was fought
between Indian and Chinese forces in 1962 at Rezang La.
Option 2 is incorrect. Nathu La is a mountain pass in the Himalayas in East Sikkim
district. It connects the Indian state of Sikkim with China’s Tibet Autonomous Region.
Option 3 is correct. Khardung La is a mountain pass in the Leh district of the union
territory of Ladakh. The pass on the Ladakh Range is north of Leh and is the gateway to the
Shyok and Nubra valleys.

Option 1 is correct. The Kangla Fort is situated along the banks of the
Imphal River in the city of Imphal, Manipur and is also called the Palace of Kangla. The
word Kangla belongs to an ancient language Meitei, which means ‘dry land’.
In ancient times, this fort was the royal palace of King Pakhangba and is a structure of
political and religious significance.
In 2004 the Assam Rifles moved out of Imphal’s Kangla Fort, from where Manipuri kings
ruled for 2,000 years. The para military force had occupied the fort for 113 years.
Option 2 is correct. Moirang, which is one of the largest towns in Manipur, has a rich
history. It had served as the headquarters of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s Azad Hind
Fauj. Moirang also has a museum of the Indian National Army
Option 3 is incorrect. Pakke Tiger Reserve, also known as Pakhui Tiger Reserve, is a
Project Tiger reserve in Arunachal Pradesh.

Turkey borders both Black Sea as well as Mediterranean Sea.

The Spanggur Tso, also called Maindung Co is a saltwater lake south of
Pangong Tso on India China border (East of LAC) between Ladakh UT and Tibet
Autonomous Region, China.

Option 1 is correctly matched. Nur-Sultan, known between 1998 and 2019
as Astana, is the capital city of Kazakhstan. In March 2019, it was renamed Nur-Sultan in
honour of the departing Kazakh president, Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Option 2 is correctly matched. Tashkent is the capital city of Uzbekistan. It’s known for its
many museums and its mix of modern and Soviet-era architecture.
Indo-Pakistan War of 1965 formally ended with the Tashkent Agreement on 10 January
1966; the second Prime Minister of India Lal Bahadur Shastri died the following day, still in
Tashkent.
Option 3 is incorrectly matched. Dushanbe, on the Varzob River, is the capital of
Tajikistan. On the east bank of the river is Rudaki Park, named for the classical poet.

All of the above locations are around the Line of Actual Control that
separates the Indian and Chinese controlled regions in Ladakh UT.

The Macartney–MacDonald Line is a proposed boundary in the area of Aksai
Chin. It was proposed by British Indian Government to China in 1899 via its envoy to
China, Sir Claude MacDonald
This survey was officially sent by the British to China in 1899, was not followed up, and the
border remained ‘undefined’.
The Johnson-Ardagh Line surveyed in 1865, ran along the Kunlun Mountain, included
Aksai Chin in Kashmir and was not communicated to China.

All of the above are in Ladakh UT.
The Mintaka Pass is a mountain pass in the Karakorum Mountains, between Gilgit-
Balitistan (Pak administered) and Xinjiang in China.
The Kilik Pass, west of Mintaka Pass is a high mountain pass in the Karakorum Mountains
between Gilgit-Baltistan and Xinjiang in China. The two passes were, in ancient times, the
two main access points into the Upper Hunza Valley from the north.
The Kongka Pass or Kongka La is a high mountain pass of the Chang-Chemno Range on
the Line of Actual Control between India and China. China considers the Kongka Pass as its
boundary with India, whereas India regards Lanak Pass further east as the boundary.

Option 1 is correctly matched. The Kunlun Mountains in China constitute
one of the longest mountain chains in Asia. The chain forms the northern edge of the
Tibetan Plateau south of the Tarim Basin.
Option 2 is incorrectly matched. The Tarim River is an endorheic river in Xinjiang, China.
It is the principal river of the Tarim Basin, a desert region of Central Asia between the Tian
Shan and Kunlun Mountains.
Option 3 is incorrectly matched. Lop Nur, former saline lake in northwestern China that is
now a salt-encrusted lake bed. It lies within the Tarim Basin of the eastern Takla Makan
Desert.

The Macartney–MacDonald Line was a proposed boundary in the disputed
area of Aksai Chin. It was proposed by British Indian Government to China in 1899 via its
envoy to China, Sir Claude MacDonald.
This survey was officially sent by the British to China in 1899, was not followed up, and the
border remained ‘undefined’.
The Ardagh–Johnson Line was another proposed boundary between China and India in
Jammu & Kashmir region. It was formally proposed to the British Indian government by
Major General John Ardagh, chief of military intelligence in London, in 1897, based on the
surveys conducted by William Johnson in 1865.
McMahon Line is the frontier between Tibet and British India in north east, negotiated
between Tibet and Great Britain at the end of the Shimla Conference (October 1913–July
1914) and named for the chief British negotiator, Sir Henry McMahon.
# Upon independence in 1947, the government of India fixed its official boundary in the west,
which included the Aksai Chin, in a manner that resembled the Ardagh–Johnson Line.

Option 1 is incorrectly matched. Sherathang is a town in Sikkim near the Nathula Pass in India. The location is the site for excise, customs and checking for trade between India and China. Rinqingang is the corresponding location in China.

Option 2 is correctly matched. Lipulekh is a Himalayan pass on the border between Uttarakhand state and the Tibet region of China, near their trijunction with Nepal.

Option 3 is correctly matched. Nathu La is a mountain pass in the Himalayas in East Sikkim district. It connects the Indian state of Sikkim with China’s Tibet Autonomous Region.

# Ministry of External Affairs organizes Kailash Mansarovar Yatra during June to September through two different routes – Lipulekh Pass (Uttarakhand) and Nathu La Pass (Sikkim).

Option 1 is incorrectly matched. Kibithu or Kibithoo is a town in Arunachal Pradesh in Anjaw district. It is one of the easternmost permanently populated towns of India.

Option 2 is incorrectly matched. Sumdorong Chu is a tributary of the Nyamjang Chu River that flows along the India-China border between the Tibet and the Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh.

Option 3 is correctly matched. Pasighat is in the East Siang district in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.

Islands in the South China Sea includes Spratly Islands, Pratas Islands, Paracel Islands and Macclesfield Bank; islands on the China coast, on the Vietnam coast, on the Borneo coast, and the peripheral islands of Taiwan, the Philippines, etc.

The Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands is a territorial dispute over a group of uninhabited islands among Japan, People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Republic of China (ROC or Taiwan).

Khartoum is the capital of Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile, flowing west from Lake Tana in Ethiopia.

Oaxaca is in Mexico; it was in news recently as the Khadi Oaxaca collective was mentioned by the Prime Minister in Mann Ki Baat.

Baku, the capital and commercial hub of Azerbaijan, is a low-lying city with coastline along the Caspian Sea.

Mansar Lake is situated 37 km from Jammu, Mansar is a lake fringed by forest-covered hills, over a mile in length by half-a-mile in width.

Surinsar-Mansar Lakes are designated as Ramsar Convention in November 2005.

# Comprehensive Mansar Lake Rejuvenation/Development Plan was launched recently to increase the tourism potential of the historic lake.

The Thai Canal or Kra Isthmus Canal is a project that would connect the
Gulf of Thailand with the Andaman Sea across the Kra Isthmus in southern Thailand.
The canal would provide an alternative to transit through the Straits of Malacca and
shorten transit for shipments of oil to Japan and China.

Afghanistan, a mountainous landlocked republic in Central Asia is bordered
by Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan to the north, Iran in west, Pakistan in east
and south and it has a small stretch of border in north east with both China and India
(PoK).

Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden or 79N is roughly 80km long by 20km wide and is the
floating front end of the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream – where it flows off the land into
the ocean to become buoyant.
At its leading edge, the glacier splits in two, with a minor offshoot turning directly north. It’s
this offshoot, or tributary, called Spalte Glacier, that has now disintegrated.
The ice feature was already heavily fractured in 2019; this summer’s warmth has been its
final undoing. Spalte Glacier has become a flotilla of icebergs.

Persian Gulf is bordered on the north, northeast, and east by Iran; on the
southeast and south by part of Oman and by the United Arab Emirates; on the southwest
and west by Qatar, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia; and on the northwest by Kuwait and Iraq.

Option 1 is incorrectly matched. Kibithu or Kibithoo is a town in Arunachal
Pradesh in Anjaw district. It is one of the easternmost permanently populated towns of
India.
Option 2 is incorrectly matched. Sumdorong Chu is a tributary of the Nyamjang Chu River
that flows along the India-China border between the Tibet and the Tawang district of
Arunachal Pradesh.
Option 3 is correctly matched. Pasighat is in the East Siang district in the Indian state of
Arunachal Pradesh.

The Tagin or Ghasi Miri tribe is one of the major tribes of Arunachal
Pradesh, which is a member of the larger designation of Tani Tribes, the descendants of
Abu Tani.
Mostly Tagins are in Upper Subansiri district but are also found to be dispersed among the
adjoining districts especially in West Siang and Papum Pare.
The most important festival of the Tagins is the Si-Donyi Festival, involves the veneration
of the earth (si) and the sun (donyi).

Islands in the South China Sea includes Spratly Islands, Pratas Islands,
Paracel Islands and Macclesfield Bank; islands on the China coast, on the Vietnam coast,
on the Borneo coast, and the peripheral islands of Taiwan, the Philippines, etc.

The Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands is a territorial dispute over a group of uninhabited islands

among Japan, People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Republic of China (ROC or Taiwan).

The Maghreb is a subregion of North Africa that is effectively a western part
of the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia,
which are all member states of the Arab Maghreb Union.
The Sahel is the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition in Africa between the
Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south.

Six countries border with the Black Sea, including Ukraine to the north,
Russia and Georgia to the east, Turkey to the south, and Bulgaria and Romania to the
west.

Option 1 is correct. The Gobi Desert is a vast, arid region in northern China
and southern Mongolia.
Option 2 is correct. The Kunlun Mountains constitute the chain that forms the northern
edge of the Tibetan Plateau south of the Tarim Basin in China.
Option 3 is incorrect. Tonle Sap is a seasonally inundated freshwater lake in Cambodia,
the Tonle Sap River connects the lake to the Mekong River.

Shinku La is a mountain pass on the border between Ladakh and Himachal
Pradesh. A 13.5-km Shinku La Tunnel is proposed to connect the Union Territory of
Ladakh with tribal Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh.
Zoji La is a high mountain pass in union territory of Ladakh. Located in the Drass, it
connects the Kashmir Valley to its west with the Drass and Suru valleys to its northeast
and the Indus valley further east
Fotu La is a mountain pass on the Srinagar-Leh highway in the Zanskar Range of the
Himalayas in Ladakh. It is one of two high mountain passes between Leh and Kargil, the
other being Namika La.

The Etosha pan is a large endorheic salt pan, forming part of the Kalahari
Basin in the north of Namibia.
The Kalahari Desert is a large semi-arid sandy savannah in Southern Africa covering much
of Botswana, parts of Namibia and regions of South Africa.
The Namib is a coastal desert in southern Africa covering parts of Namibia, South Africa
and Angola.

The Palk Strait is a strait between the Tamil Nadu and the Jaffna District of
the Northern Province of Sri Lanka.
The Bab-el-Mandeb strait is located between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula, and
Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa. It connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.
The Malacca Strait is a narrow stretch of water between the Malay Peninsula and the
Indonesia (Sumatra). It is the main shipping channel between the Indian Ocean and the
Pacific Ocean.

Statement 1 is correct. Iran is situated in south-western Asia and borders Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, as well as the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkey and Iraq to the west, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman to the south and Pakistan and Afghanistan to the east.

Statement 2 is correct. Chabahar Port is a seaport in Chabahar located in southeastern Iran, on the Gulf of Oman. The Trilateral Transit Agreement (Chabahar Agreement) was signed by the three transport ministers of India, Iran and Afghanistan in 2016.

Option 1 is correctly matched. Natanz is a city and capital of Natanz County, Isfahan Province, Iran. Natanz nuclear facility in Iran is largest uranium enrichment facility.
Option 2 is correctly matched. The Tigray Region is the northernmost region of Ethiopia. The Tigray make up about 6 percent of Ethiopia’s 110 million people, and they were the arbiters of power and money in the country from 1991, when they helped dismantle a military dictatorship, until 2018, when anti-government protests catapulted Mr. Abiy to power.
An armed conflict has started recently in the region between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF); and an alliance of the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF).
Option 3 is incorrectly matched. Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant (FFEP) is Iran’s second pilot enrichment plant (the first is the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant at Natanz). The site was originally a tunnel facility associated with Iran’s paramilitary organization, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and is located buried in a mountain near the city of Qom.

The Tharus live in both India and Nepal. In the Indian terai, they live mostly in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar.
They speak various dialects of Tharu, a language of the Indo-Aryan subgroup, and variants of Hindi, Urdu, and Awadhi. In central Nepal, they speak a variant of Bhojpuri, while in eastern Nepal, they speak a variant of Maithili.
The state government is working to connect Tharu villages in the districts of Balrampur, Bahraich, Lakhimpur and Pilibhit bordering Nepal, with the home stay scheme of the UP Forest Department.

The countries that surround the Persian Gulf are: Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Western Sahara is a sparsely-populated area of mostly desert situated on the northwest coast of Africa.
A former Spanish colony, it was annexed by Morocco in 1975. Since then it has been the subject of a long-running territorial dispute between Morocco and its indigenous Saharawi people, led by the Algeria backed Polisario Front.

# Morocco has become the latest Arab League country to agree to normalize relations with Israel in a deal brokered with US help. As part of the deal, the US has agreed to recognise Morocco’s claim over the disputed Western Sahara region.

Bhasan Char, also known as Char Piya, is an island in Bay of Bengal under Hatiya Upazila of Bangladesh. Recently Bangladesh has sent the first group of more than 1,500 Rohingya refugees to an isolated Bhasan Char island.

Lebombo Mountains, long, narrow mountain range in South Africa, Eswatini/Swaziland, and Mozambique, southeastern Africa. It is about 500 miles (800 km) long and consists of volcanic rocks.

Andrott Island, also known as Androth Island, is a small inhabited island in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, a group of 36 coral islands scattered in the Arabian Sea off the western coast of India.

# A sailing expedition from Kochi to Androth Island in Lakshadweep and Minicoy group of islands and back is being undertaken by Offshore Sailing Club, Kochi under the aegis of Southern Naval Command.

Bambari is a town in the Central African Republic, lying on the Ouaka River. It was seized by rebel fighters on recently ahead of elections, is now in the hands of United Nations peacekeepers and national security forces.

Abuja is the capital city of Nigeria.

Quang Nam is a province in central Vietnam, bordering Laos to the west and the sea to the east. India – Vietnam recently announced New Development Partnership projects in heritage conservation in Vietnam (F-block of Temple at My Son; Dong Duong Buddhist Monastery in Quang Nam and Nhan Cham Tower in Phu Yen).

Option 1 is correctly matched. Nha Rong port is in Vietnam. Indian Naval Ship Kiltan, carrying humanitarian assistance, arrived at Vietnam’s Nha Rong Port, Ho Chi Minh.

The assistance is as a part of Mission Sagar-III, India’s Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) assistance to Friendly Foreign Countries during the ongoing pandemic.

Option 2 is incorrectly matched. Gwadar port is a sea port situated on the Arabian Sea at Gwadar in Balochistan province of Pakistan.

Option 3 is incorrectly matched. Bandar Abbas is a port city southern coast of Iran, on the Persian Gulf. The city occupies a strategic position on the narrow Strait of Hormuz, and it is the location of the main base of the Iranian Navy.

Important Buddhist sites in India.

National Highway 544, commonly referred to as NH 544, is a 340-kilometre-long National Highway in South India connecting Salem city in Tamil Nadu to the city of Kochi in Kerala. It is also called the Salem-Kochi Highway.

The Central Vigilance Commission has asked the Chief Vigilance Officer of the National Highway Authority of India to look into the complaint filed by Thrissur DCC general secretary Shaji J. Kodankandath about delay and corruption in the construction of Mannuthy-Wadakkanchery stretch of National Highway 544.

A landlocked country is a country which has no connection to a sea or ocean.
• There are 17 landlocked countries in Europe: Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Kosovo, Czech Republic, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Moldova, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Switzerland and Vatican City.
• Liechtenstein is unique in Europe because it is doubly-landlocked meaning it is both landlocked and surrounded by countries which are also landlocked, a situation it only shares with Uzbekistan which is the second country in the world surrounded only by landlocked countries (Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan).

Positioned in far-western Asia, just to the east of the Caspian Sea, the Aral
Sea is located in the countries of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan

Tensions between China and both the Philippines and Vietnam have recently
cooled, even as China increased its military activity in the South China Sea by conducting a
series of naval maneuvers and exercises in March and April 2018. Meanwhile, China
continues to construct military and industrial outposts on artificial islands it has built in
disputed waters.

The oldest known natural pearl in the world was discovered recently off the
coast of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) by Abu Dhabi archaeologists working at a
Neolithic site on Marawah Island (Persian Gulf).
•It has been dubbed as ‘Abu Dhabi Pearl’.
•It was discovered in soil layers that have been radiocarbon dated to 5,800-5,600
BCE, during the Neolithic period.

India has a land frontier of 15,106.7 km. The total length of the coastline of India is 7,516.6 km. India shares its border with seven countries namely Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka.

Zoji La: Zoji La is a high mountain pass located in the Kargil district of Ladakh.
• The pass links Leh and Srinagar and provides an important link between Union Territories of Ladakh and Kashmir.
• In 2018, the Zojila tunnel project was launched.
• The tunnel is Asia’s longest and strategic bi-directional tunnel, which will provide all-weather connectivity between Srinagar, Kargil and Leh.

Banihal Pass: It is in Jammu & Kashmir. The National Highway No.1A that links Srinagar to Jammu goes through it.
NOTE: Satluj River flows through Shipki La (Pass).
Nathu La: It is in Sikkim. It gives way to Tibet from Darjeeling and Chumbi Valley. The Chumbi River flows through this pass.

Finance Minister has announced to develop five archaeological sites while presenting the budget 2020-21. These places are Rakhigarhi (Haryana), Hastinapur (Uttar Pradesh), Sivasagar (Assam), Dholavira (Gujarat) and Adichanallur (Tamil Nadu).

The Black Sea is a body of water and marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean between Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Western Asia. It is supplied by a number of major rivers, including the Danube, Dnieper, Southern Bug, Dniester, Don, and the Rioni.

The Natuna Islands is located in Indonesia’s Riau Islands province, the west side of the South China Sea.
The Island overlaps with China’s nine-dash line claim under which China argues that the waters around the Natuna islands are Chinese traditional fishing grounds.

Abdul Kalam Island, formerly known as Wheeler Island, is an island off the coast of Odisha, India, approximately 150 kilometers (93 mi) from the state capital Bhubaneshwar.
• The Integrated Test Range missile testing facility is located on the island. The island was originally named after English commandant Lieutenant Wheeler.
• On 4 September 2015, the island was renamed to honour the late Indian president – Abdul kalam.
• Abdul Kalam Island is located in the Bay of Bengal approximately 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) off the eastern coast of India and about 70 kilometres (43 mi) south of Chandipur in Balasore district, Odisha.
• The island is about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) in length and 390 acres (1.6 km2) in area.

India has 15,106.7 Km of land border and a coastline of 7,516.6 Km including island territories. The length of our land borders with neighbouring countries is as under:
Name of the country Length of the border (in Km)
Bangladesh 4,096.7
China 3,488
Pakistan 3,323
Nepal 1,751
Myanmar 1,643
Bhutan 699
Afghanistan 106
Total 15,106.7