Geography GK Questions with Answers – Page 56

The Thal Ghat, also called the Kasara Ghat, is the climb by which the road and railway from Mumbai reach Nashik and continue towards central India, while the Bhor Ghat is the climb by which the Mumbai to Pune road and railway cross the Sahyadri, passing Khandala and Lonavala.

Matheran, in the Raigad district of Maharashtra, is an eco-sensitive hill station where motor vehicles are not allowed within the town; visitors walk, ride horses or use hand-pulled carts, and the Matheran Hill Railway, a narrow gauge line from Neral, is the classic way to reach it.

The Karakoram Pass crosses the Karakoram range north of the Nubra valley and was the crucial crossing on the centuries-old caravan route that carried pashmina wool, silk and tea between Leh and Yarkand in Xinjiang.

The Lipulekh Pass lies in the Pithoragarh district of the Kumaon division and has long been the traditional Indian route for the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage, as well as an old trade crossing into Tibet.

Shimla, in Himachal Pradesh, was made the summer capital of British India in 1864, and the Government of India moved there from Calcutta and later Delhi every hot season; the narrow gauge Kalka to Shimla Railway that serves it was added to the Mountain Railways of India World Heritage site…

Khardung La lies on the Ladakh range just north of Leh and carries the road from Leh into the Nubra valley and on towards the Siachen area, which makes it one of the most strategically used high passes in the country.

The Mountain Railways of India World Heritage site is made up of three lines added in stages: the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway in West Bengal, inscribed in 1999, the Nilgiri Mountain Railway in Tamil Nadu, added in 2005, and the Kalka to Shimla Railway in Himachal Pradesh, added in 2008.

Mount Abu is the only hill station of Rajasthan and stands on an isolated block of the Aravalli range in the Sirohi district; Guru Shikhar, at about 1,722 metres, is the highest peak of the Aravalli and lies here, and the Dilwara Jain temples are nearby.

The Banihal Pass crosses the Pir Panjal range and is the historic gateway from Jammu into the Kashmir valley. Because the pass closes with snow, the Jawahar Tunnel was driven beneath it and opened in 1956, giving Jammu an all-weather road link with Srinagar.

Nathu La lies on the Sikkim border and crosses into the Chumbi valley of Tibet; it was an important wool and trade route, was closed after the 1962 conflict and was reopened for border trade in 2006.

The Palakkad Gap, also called the Palghat Gap, is about thirty kilometres wide and lies between the Nilgiris to its north and the Anaimalai hills to its south.

The Rohtang Pass lies on the Pir Panjal range in Himachal Pradesh and connects the Kullu valley with the Lahaul and Spiti district.

Silica, or silicon dioxide, is one of the chief mineral constituents of the continental crust of the earth. The continental crust is made largely of granitic rock, which geologists call sial because silica and alumina dominate it.

These monsoon forests cover the largest part of India, so they are the most widespread forest type in the country.

On the east, India has a land boundary with Myanmar and Bangladesh. India shares land borders with seven countries.

The Garo, Khasi and Jaintia hills lie in Meghalaya and together form the Meghalaya plateau. This plateau is a detached block of the peninsular plateau, separated from the main Chota Nagpur plateau by the Malda gap.

Four Indian states touch Bhutan: Sikkim, West Bengal, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. The India-Bhutan boundary is about 699 kilometres long.

The Khetri copper belt lies in the Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan, in the north-eastern part of the state. Khetri is the best known copper field of India and is worked by Hindustan Copper Limited.

The Nine Degree Channel runs along the ninth parallel of north latitude and separates Minicoy, the southernmost island of Lakshadweep, from the Laccadive and Amindivi islands to its north.

Majuli lies in the Brahmaputra in Assam, is the largest river island of India, and is the historic centre of the Vaishnavite satras founded in the tradition of Srimanta Sankardeva; it has also been constituted as a district of Assam.