Geography questions asked in previous year papers of SSC, Banking, Railway and other exams, with the exam and year, answers and explanations.
1078 previous-year questions
Which one among the following countries is not part of the Arabian Peninsula?
Jordan lies north of the peninsula in the Levant, while Kuwait, Oman and Yemen are all on the Arabian Peninsula.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following statements are correct with regard to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) ?
1. UNCLOS authorizes the UN Security Council to take a direct action in case of the disputes between States on sovereign rights over Exclusive Economic Zones
2. UNCLOS defines contiguous zones and specifies its functions
3. Both the US and India have ratified UNCLOS
4. UNCLOS grants certain rights to Landlocked States
Select the answer using the code given below:
UNCLOS defines the contiguous zone and gives landlocked states rights, but it gives the Security Council no such role, and the United States has not ratified it.
Read the full explanation →Which one among the following statements with regard to India's maritime initiative, SAGAR, is correct?
SAGAR stands for Security and Growth for All in the Region, India's vision for working with its ocean neighbours. Prime Minister Narendra Modi set out SAGAR in Mauritius in March 2015.
Read the full explanation →The lowest part of most bolsons is occupied by a landform called playa. Which category of landform formation does it represent?
A playa is the flat, shallow lake bed at the bottom of a desert basin, so it belongs to the landforms of arid regions.
Read the full explanation →Which one among the following statements with reference to Benguela current is NOT correct?
The Benguela current flows along the west coast of southern Africa, off Namibia and South Africa, not North Africa, so this statement is the incorrect one.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following countries:
1. Italy
2. Japan
3. Nigeria
4. South Korea
5. South Africa
Which of the above countries are frequently mentioned in the media for their low birth rates, or ageing population or declining population ?
Italy, Japan and South Korea all have fertility rates far below the replacement level of about 2.1 children per woman, ageing people and shrinking numbers.
Read the full explanation →Which one among the following is a landlocked water body?
The Caspian has no natural outlet to any ocean, so it is a landlocked water body, in fact the largest inland body of water on Earth.
Read the full explanation →Which one among the following local winds is NOT related to Mediterranean Sea ?
The Harmattan blows over West Africa towards the Gulf of Guinea, far from the Mediterranean. The Harmattan is a dry, dusty north-easterly trade wind that blows from the Sahara across West Africa between November and March.
Read the full explanation →Which statement is NOT correct with reference to Andaman and Nicobar Islands?
The islands get most of their rain from the south-west monsoon, from about May to September, with more from the north-east monsoon later; March and April are among the driest months.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following statements regarding 'fronts' : 1. The movement of a front causes a slow change in weather in the area over which it moves. 2. Cold fronts are associated with thunderstorms. 3. Warm front is the boundary between an advancing mass of warm air where it is overriding and rising above a mass of colder air. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Fronts bring abrupt, not slow, changes in weather, so statement 1 is wrong while 2 and 3 are right. A front is the boundary zone where two air masses of different temperature and density meet, mostly in the middle latitudes.
Read the full explanation →Any land that is left fallow for more than five years is termed as
In India's land-use classification, land left uncultivated for more than five years is recorded as culturable waste land. India's land records divide area into nine categories.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following statements regarding clouds is/are correct? 1. Clouds are classified on the basis of altitude and their form. 2. According to altitude they are classified as High, Middle and Low clouds. 3. Stratus, Nimbostratus and Stratocumulus are high clouds. Select the answer using the code given below:
Clouds are grouped by height and shape into high, middle and low families, but stratus, nimbostratus and stratocumulus are low clouds, not high ones.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following statements regarding Barchan is/are correct ?
1. It is a crescent shaped mound of sand, which is deposited by the wind blowing constantly from one direction in a desert.
2. The windward side has a convex steep slope with maximum height at the centre.
3. Two ends of Barchan are called horns and point opposite to the direction the wind blows.
Select the answer using the code given below :
A barchan is a crescent-shaped sand dune built by wind from one steady direction, but its windward slope is gentle and its horns point downwind.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following statements regarding the International Date Line :
1. It is roughly 180° meridian, which deviates slightly East and West to avoid land areas surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean.
2. The date to the East of this line is (24 hours) earlier than to the West.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
The date just east of the line is one day behind the date just west of it, but the line runs through the Pacific Ocean, not the Atlantic.
Read the full explanation →Which one among the following countries is NOT a part of the Arabian Peninsula ?
Libya lies in North Africa, west of Egypt, and is separated from the Arabian Peninsula by Egypt and the Red Sea.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following statements : 1. Black soil is considered suitable for growing rain-fed crops 2. Black soil can retain moisture for a prolonged period, aiding crops to survive even in dry seasons With regard to the statements given above which of the following is/are correct ?
Both statements are true, and black soil suits rain-fed farming precisely because it holds moisture for a long time. Black soil, or regur, formed from the weathering of Deccan basalt and is rich in clay, iron, lime and magnesium.
Read the full explanation →Which of the following processes is/are part of the Rock Cycle ? 1. Lithification 2. Metamorphism 3. Solidification Select the answer using the code given below :
Lithification, metamorphism and solidification are each a step in the rock cycle, the endless change of rocks from one type into another.
Read the full explanation →Where does podsolization take place ?
Podsolization is the soil process of cool, moist climates under coniferous forest, which lie in the high middle latitudes. In the cold, wet taiga belt, needle litter from pines and firs decays slowly and forms acidic humus.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following characteristics of a type of wind : 1. They occur at upper levels in the atmosphere 2. They are subjected to two forces, a pressure gradient force and the Coriolis force 3. When the forces balance, air moves at right angles to the pressure gradient, parallel to the isobars Identify the type of wind on the basis of the given characteristics :
A geostrophic wind blows high above the surface, where the pressure gradient force and the Coriolis force balance and the air flows parallel to the isobars.
Read the full explanation →Consider the following statements regarding the rotation of the Earth : 1. Since the Earth rotates by 15° each hour, time zones normally differ by one hour 2. At the International Date Line, the calendar day changes - advancing a day for eastward travel, dropping back a day for westward travel 3. Daylight saving time advances the clock by one hour 4. The Moon rotates and revolves about the Earth in the same direction that the Earth revolves around the Sun Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
Only statement 2 is wrong, because it reverses the date-line rule. The Earth turns 360° in 24 hours, or 15° every hour, so neighbouring standard time zones are usually one hour apart (statement 1).
Read the full explanation →