Pariksha SaathiGeneral Studies
Physical and World Geography: Practice Questions with Answers
239 practice questions on Physical and World Geography, with answers; most also have an explanation or a worked solution. Try each one before you open its answer.
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Q.101
The Torrid Zone, which receives the maximum heat, lies between:
- A the Equator and the Tropic of Cancer only
- B the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn
- C the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle
- D the Arctic Circle and the Antarctic Circle
Show answer
Correct answer: (B) the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn
The midday Sun is overhead at least once a year at every place between the two tropics, so this belt gets the most heat. The Temperate Zones lie between the tropics and the polar circles, and the Frigid Zones beyond the polar circles.
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Q.102
Tropical cyclones in the Australian region are locally called:
- A Hurricanes
- B Typhoons
- C Baguios
- D Willy-willies
Show answer
Correct answer: (D) Willy-willies
Hurricanes occur in the Atlantic and Caribbean, typhoons in the western Pacific (China Sea, Japan), baguios in the Philippines and willy-willies in Australia.
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Q.103
The longest mountain range on land is the:
- A Rockies
- B Himalayas
- C Andes
- D Great Dividing Range
Show answer
Correct answer: (C) Andes
The Andes run about 7,000 km along the western edge of South America; their highest peak is Aconcagua.
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Q.104
The coniferous forest belt (Taiga) across Siberia and Canada is a major source of:
- A softwood such as pine, spruce and fir
- B hardwood such as teak
- C rubber
- D mangrove timber
Show answer
Correct answer: (A) softwood such as pine, spruce and fir
Taiga has evergreen needle-leaved trees that yield softwood for paper pulp and timber. Teak comes from tropical deciduous forests.
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Q.105
In which layer of the atmosphere does the temperature fall to about minus 100 degrees C near 80 km, and where most meteors burn up?
- A Mesosphere
- B Thermosphere
- C Stratosphere
- D Exosphere
Show answer
Correct answer: (A) Mesosphere
The mesosphere lies above the stratosphere, up to about 80 km; temperature drops with height to about minus 100 degrees C at the mesopause, and meteors entering from space burn up here.
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Q.106
Which country is known as the 'Land of the Midnight Sun'?
- A Norway
- B Japan
- C Thailand
- D Bhutan
Show answer
Correct answer: (A) Norway
Much of Norway lies north of the Arctic Circle, where the Sun stays above the horizon even at midnight in summer. Japan is the Land of the Rising Sun.
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Q.107
The average atmospheric pressure at sea level is about:
- A 1,013 millibars
- B 100 millibars
- C 500 millibars
- D 10,130 millibars
Show answer
Correct answer: (A) 1,013 millibars
Mean sea-level pressure is about 1,013.2 millibars (hectopascals). In the lower atmosphere pressure falls by roughly 1 millibar for every 8 to 10 m rise in height (NCERT gives about 1 mb for each 10 m).
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Q.108
Consider the following statements about the Great Lakes of North America: 1. Lake Superior lies entirely within Canada. 2. Lake Michigan lies entirely within the USA. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- A Only 1
- B Only 2
- C Both 1 and 2
- D Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer
Correct answer: (B) Only 2
Lake Michigan is the only one of the five Great Lakes wholly inside the USA. Lake Superior is shared by the USA and Canada, as are Huron, Erie and Ontario.
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Q.109
Every fourth year February has 29 days. This is because:
- A the Earth's orbit is elliptical
- B one revolution of the Earth around the Sun takes about 365 and a quarter days
- C the Earth's axis is tilted
- D the Moon's orbit is inclined to the Earth's orbit
Show answer
Correct answer: (B) one revolution of the Earth around the Sun takes about 365 and a quarter days
A revolution takes about 365 days and 6 hours. The extra six hours add up to one full day in four years, which is added to February in a leap year of 366 days.
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Q.110
Lake Titicaca, a large high-altitude lake on the Andean Altiplano, lies on the border of:
- A Chile and Argentina
- B Peru and Bolivia
- C Ecuador and Colombia
- D Brazil and Paraguay
Show answer
Correct answer: (B) Peru and Bolivia
Titicaca, at about 3,800 m, is shared by Peru and Bolivia and is often described as the highest navigable lake in the world, meaning the highest lake navigable by large vessels.
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Q.111
The temperature at which a given sample of air becomes saturated with water vapour is called its:
- A boiling point
- B freezing point
- C dew point
- D lapse rate
Show answer
Correct answer: (C) dew point
When air cools to its dew point, relative humidity reaches 100 per cent, and further cooling makes water vapour condense into dew, fog or clouds.
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Q.112
The Inuit, traditionally hunters of seals and caribou, some of whom built winter snow houses called igloos, live in:
- A the Kalahari desert
- B the Amazon basin
- C the Arctic regions of Canada, Alaska and Greenland
- D the steppes of Central Asia
Show answer
Correct answer: (C) the Arctic regions of Canada, Alaska and Greenland
The Inuit inhabit the tundra and Arctic coasts of northern Canada, Alaska and Greenland, where they traditionally hunted seals, whales and caribou. Snow-block igloos were built mainly by the Inuit of Canada's central Arctic and north-west Greenland, often as winter or hunting shelters.
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Q.113
The imaginary circle on the globe that separates the half lit by the Sun (day) from the dark half (night) is called the:
- A circle of illumination
- B Tropic of Cancer
- C ecliptic
- D Arctic Circle
Show answer
Correct answer: (A) circle of illumination
At any moment only half of the spherical Earth faces the Sun; the line dividing day from night is the circle of illumination. The ecliptic is the apparent yearly path of the Sun across the sky.
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Q.114
The Kalahari desert covers a large part of which country?
- A Botswana
- B Ethiopia
- C Libya
- D Somalia
Show answer
Correct answer: (A) Botswana
The Kalahari is a semi-arid sandy basin of southern Africa covering much of Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa. Libya lies in the Sahara.
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Q.115
Which gas is most abundant in the Earth's atmosphere?
- A Nitrogen
- B Oxygen
- C Carbon dioxide
- D Argon
Show answer
Correct answer: (A) Nitrogen
Nitrogen is about 78 per cent, oxygen 21 per cent, argon 0.93 per cent and carbon dioxide about 0.04 per cent.
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Q.116
The Amu Darya and the Syr Darya of Central Asia are the two main rivers feeding which inland water body?
- A Caspian Sea
- B Aral Sea
- C Lake Balkhash
- D Black Sea
Show answer
Correct answer: (B) Aral Sea
Both rivers feed the Aral Sea on the Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan border; heavy withdrawal of their water for cotton irrigation has made the Aral Sea shrink drastically.
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Q.117
Which of India's neighbouring countries does NOT share a border with China?
- A Nepal
- B Bhutan
- C Myanmar
- D Bangladesh
Show answer
Correct answer: (D) Bangladesh
Bangladesh borders only India and Myanmar. Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Pakistan and Afghanistan all share a border with China.
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Q.118
Barren Island, India's only active volcano, is located in:
- A Lakshadweep
- B Andaman and Nicobar Islands
- C Gulf of Kachchh
- D Gulf of Mannar
Show answer
Correct answer: (B) Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Barren Island in the Andaman Sea is India's only active volcano; nearby Narcondam is a dormant volcano.
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Q.119
Which city replaced Lagos as the capital of Nigeria?
- A Kano
- B Abuja
- C Ibadan
- D Port Harcourt
Show answer
Correct answer: (B) Abuja
Abuja, a planned city in central Nigeria, officially became the capital in 1991; Lagos remains the main commercial city and port.
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Q.120
The Roman town of Pompeii was buried in AD 79 by the eruption of:
- A Mount Etna
- B Mount Vesuvius
- C Stromboli
- D Mount Fuji
Show answer
Correct answer: (B) Mount Vesuvius
Vesuvius, near Naples in Italy, buried Pompeii under volcanic ash in AD 79. Etna is on Sicily and Stromboli on an island north of Sicily.
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Q.121
El Nino refers to:
- A unusual cooling of the eastern Pacific
- B a warm current in the Atlantic
- C unusual warming of surface waters of the eastern and central Pacific off Peru
- D the monsoon current of the Indian Ocean
Show answer
Correct answer: (C) unusual warming of surface waters of the eastern and central Pacific off Peru
In El Nino years the sea off Peru warms abnormally, which usually weakens the Indian monsoon; La Nina is the opposite, cooling phase.
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Q.122
Which seismic waves cannot travel through the Earth's liquid outer core?
- A P-waves
- B L-waves (surface waves)
- C Both P and S waves
- D S-waves
Show answer
Correct answer: (D) S-waves
S-waves are transverse and cannot pass through liquids; their shadow zone is the evidence that the outer core is liquid. P-waves slow down but do pass through.
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Q.123
The Equator and the Prime Meridian intersect in which water body?
- A Gulf of Aden
- B Bay of Biscay
- C Mozambique Channel
- D Gulf of Guinea
Show answer
Correct answer: (D) Gulf of Guinea
The point of 0 degrees latitude and 0 degrees longitude lies in the Gulf of Guinea, off the west coast of Africa in the Atlantic Ocean.
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Q.124
Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak of Africa, is located in which country?
- A Kenya
- B Uganda
- C Tanzania
- D Ethiopia
Show answer
Correct answer: (C) Tanzania
Kilimanjaro, a dormant volcano, stands in north-eastern Tanzania close to the Kenyan border. Mount Kenya is a separate volcanic peak that lies in Kenya.
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Q.125
The layer of ocean water in which temperature falls rapidly with increasing depth is called the:
- A thermocline
- B halocline
- C photic zone
- D surface mixed layer
Show answer
Correct answer: (A) thermocline
Below a warm surface layer lies the thermocline, where temperature drops sharply; beneath it the deep water stays very cold. A halocline is a zone of rapid change in salinity.
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Q.126
The temperate grasslands of South Africa are known as:
- A Pampas
- B Llanos
- C Campos
- D Veld
Show answer
Correct answer: (D) Veld
The velds are rolling grassy plateaus of South Africa used for cattle and sheep rearing. The Llanos and Campos are tropical grasslands of South America.
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Q.127
Which is the deepest lake in the world?
- A Lake Baikal
- B Lake Superior
- C Lake Victoria
- D Caspian Sea
Show answer
Correct answer: (A) Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal in Russia is about 1,642 m deep and holds about 20 per cent of the world's unfrozen fresh water. Superior is the largest freshwater lake by area and the Caspian the largest lake overall.
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Q.128
The vast temperate grasslands stretching from Ukraine eastwards across southern Russia and Kazakhstan are called:
- A Prairies
- B Steppes
- C Savanna
- D Selvas
Show answer
Correct answer: (B) Steppes
The Eurasian steppes are treeless grasslands of the continental interior; their fertile black soil (chernozem) supports extensive wheat farming.
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Q.129
Which is the only ocean named after a country?
- A Pacific Ocean
- B Indian Ocean
- C Atlantic Ocean
- D Southern Ocean
Show answer
Correct answer: (B) Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is named after India. It is almost triangular, bounded by Asia in the north, Africa in the west and Australia in the east.
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Q.130
The McMahon Line, proposed at the Simla Convention of 1913-14, marks the boundary between:
- A India and Nepal
- B Afghanistan and Pakistan
- C India and China
- D India and Bangladesh
Show answer
Correct answer: (C) India and China
Sir Henry McMahon drew the line between British India and Tibet in the eastern Himalaya; it separates Arunachal Pradesh from Tibet, and China does not accept it.
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Q.131
The boundary between the Earth's crust and the mantle is called the:
- A Mohorovicic (Moho) discontinuity
- B Gutenberg discontinuity
- C Conrad discontinuity
- D Lehmann discontinuity
Show answer
Correct answer: (A) Mohorovicic (Moho) discontinuity
The Moho separates crust from mantle. Gutenberg lies between mantle and core, Lehmann between outer and inner core, and Conrad within the crust.
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Q.132
Almost all weather phenomena (clouds, rain, storms) occur in which layer of the atmosphere?
- A Stratosphere
- B Ionosphere
- C Exosphere
- D Troposphere
Show answer
Correct answer: (D) Troposphere
The troposphere holds about 75 per cent of the atmosphere's mass and nearly all its water vapour; temperature falls 6.5 degrees C per km in it. It is thicker at the Equator than at the poles.
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Q.133
In Wegener's theory, the vast ocean that surrounded the supercontinent Pangaea was called:
- A Tethys
- B Panthalassa
- C Gondwana
- D Laurasia
Show answer
Correct answer: (B) Panthalassa
Pangaea ('all earth') was surrounded by a single mega-ocean, Panthalassa ('all water'). The Tethys was a narrower sea that later lay between Laurasia and Gondwanaland.
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Q.134
Which statement about the general pattern of ocean currents is correct?
- A Warm currents generally flow along the west coasts of continents in low latitudes
- B Cold currents generally flow along the west coasts of continents in low and middle latitudes
- C Cold currents generally flow along the east coasts of continents in low latitudes
- D All currents of the Southern Hemisphere are cold
Show answer
Correct answer: (B) Cold currents generally flow along the west coasts of continents in low and middle latitudes
In low and middle latitudes cold currents run along western coasts (Canary, Benguela, Peru, California) and warm currents along eastern coasts (Gulf Stream, Brazil, Kuroshio). In the high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere warm currents reach the west coasts.
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Q.135
The Galapagos Islands, whose wildlife helped Charles Darwin develop his ideas on evolution, belong to:
- A Ecuador
- B Chile
- C Peru
- D Spain
Show answer
Correct answer: (A) Ecuador
The Galapagos are volcanic islands in the Pacific nearly 1,000 km off the coast of Ecuador; Darwin visited them in 1835 on HMS Beagle.
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Q.136
Which of the following pairs of grassland and region is correctly matched?
- A Canterbury - Argentina
- B Llanos - Australia
- C Steppes - South Africa
- D Puszta - Hungary
Show answer
Correct answer: (D) Puszta - Hungary
The Puszta are the temperate grasslands of the Hungarian plain. The Canterbury grasslands are in New Zealand, the Llanos in Venezuela and Colombia, and the Steppes in Eurasia.
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Q.137
Consider the following statements: 1. Cook Strait separates the North Island and the South Island of New Zealand. 2. Bass Strait separates Australia from New Guinea. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- A Only 1
- B Only 2
- C Both 1 and 2
- D Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer
Correct answer: (A) Only 1
Cook Strait lies between New Zealand's two main islands. Bass Strait separates mainland Australia from Tasmania; Australia and New Guinea are separated by the Torres Strait.
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Q.138
Which of the following is a block mountain formed by faulting?
- A Himalayas
- B Andes
- C Black Forest
- D Alps
Show answer
Correct answer: (C) Black Forest
The Black Forest (Germany) and Vosges (France) are block mountains, as are the Sierra Nevada and India's Satpura. The Himalayas, Andes and Alps are fold mountains.
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Q.139
Which of the following country-capital pairs is NOT correctly matched?
- A Mongolia - Ulaanbaatar
- B Laos - Phnom Penh
- C Bhutan - Thimphu
- D Vietnam - Hanoi
Show answer
Correct answer: (B) Laos - Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia; the capital of Laos is Vientiane, on the Mekong. The other three pairs are correct.
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Q.140
The average salinity of ocean water is about:
- A 3.5 parts per thousand
- B 350 parts per thousand
- C 0.35 parts per thousand
- D 35 parts per thousand
Show answer
Correct answer: (D) 35 parts per thousand
Average salinity is 35 per thousand, i.e. 35 g of salt in 1 kg of sea water. The Red Sea is among the saltiest seas and the Baltic the least salty.
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Q.141
The Maasai, a cattle-herding pastoral people, live mainly in:
- A Botswana and Namibia
- B Morocco and Algeria
- C Nigeria and Ghana
- D Kenya and Tanzania
Show answer
Correct answer: (D) Kenya and Tanzania
The Maasai graze cattle on the savanna grasslands of southern Kenya and northern Tanzania, around areas such as the Maasai Mara and the Serengeti.
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Q.142
The Hindenburg Line was:
- A a German defensive line on the Western Front in the First World War
- B a French line of forts built in the 1930s
- C the ceasefire line between North and South Korea
- D the boundary between Afghanistan and British India
Show answer
Correct answer: (A) a German defensive line on the Western Front in the First World War
Germany built the Hindenburg Line in northern France in 1916-17, and the Allies broke through it in 1918. Some guides wrongly call it the Germany-Poland boundary, which is the Oder-Neisse Line.
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Q.143
Around 21 June, places north of the Arctic Circle (66.5 degrees N) experience:
- A 24 hours of darkness
- B equal day and night
- C 24 hours of daylight, with the Sun not setting
- D the Sun directly overhead at noon
Show answer
Correct answer: (C) 24 hours of daylight, with the Sun not setting
At the June solstice the Northern Hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun, so the whole area within the Arctic Circle stays in the lit half for at least a full day. At the same time the Antarctic region has continuous night.
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Q.144
Why is only one side of the Moon ever visible from the Earth?
- A The Moon does not rotate on its axis
- B The Earth's shadow always hides the far side
- C The Moon takes about the same time to rotate once on its axis as to revolve once around the Earth
- D The Moon revolves faster than it rotates
Show answer
Correct answer: (C) The Moon takes about the same time to rotate once on its axis as to revolve once around the Earth
The Moon takes about 27 days both to spin once on its axis and to go once around the Earth, so the same face always points towards us. It does rotate, but at the same rate as it revolves.
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Q.145
In Koppen's climate classification the letter A stands for:
- A Dry climates
- B Tropical humid climates
- C Warm temperate climates
- D Polar climates
Show answer
Correct answer: (B) Tropical humid climates
In Koppen's scheme A is tropical humid (Af rainforest, Am monsoon, Aw savanna), B dry, C warm temperate, D cold snow-forest and E polar.
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Q.146
The capital of Australia is:
- A Sydney
- B Melbourne
- C Perth
- D Canberra
Show answer
Correct answer: (D) Canberra
Canberra, not Sydney, is Australia's capital. Similar traps: Canada is Ottawa, Turkey is Ankara, Switzerland is Bern and Brazil is Brasilia.
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Q.147
The Tropic of Capricorn lies at which latitude?
- A 23.5 degrees N
- B 66.5 degrees S
- C 23.5 degrees S
- D 0 degrees
Show answer
Correct answer: (C) 23.5 degrees S
The Tropic of Capricorn is at 23.5 degrees S and the Tropic of Cancer at 23.5 degrees N; 66.5 degrees S is the Antarctic Circle. The Sun is overhead at Capricorn on 22 December.
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Q.148
When a stream flowing from the hills reaches a gentle plain, it suddenly loses speed and drops a cone-shaped spread of coarse sediment. This is called:
- A a delta
- B a natural levee
- C an ox-bow lake
- D an alluvial fan
Show answer
Correct answer: (D) an alluvial fan
Alluvial fans form at the foot of slopes where the gradient drops sharply. A delta forms where a river enters the sea or a lake.
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Q.149
The asthenosphere, regarded as the main source of magma for volcanic eruptions, lies in the:
- A upper part of the mantle
- B outer core
- C inner core
- D upper continental crust
Show answer
Correct answer: (A) upper part of the mantle
'Astheno' means weak: the asthenosphere is a soft, partly molten zone of the upper mantle, which NCERT takes to extend to a depth of about 400 km (its lower limit is not sharply defined, and other sources give different depths). The lithospheric plates move over it.
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Q.150
On which date does the Southern Hemisphere have its longest day?
- A 21 June
- B 21 March
- C 23 September
- D 22 December
Show answer
Correct answer: (D) 22 December
On 22 December the Sun is overhead at the Tropic of Capricorn, so the Southern Hemisphere has its longest day and summer, while the Northern Hemisphere has its shortest day (winter solstice).
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How these questions were made
Authored by an AI assistant (Claude) from its own general knowledge of stable, well-established facts (no live lookup) - not reviewed by a subject-matter expert; verify against an official source before relying on any fact.