Indian Physical Geography — UPSC Prelims Geography previous year questions

The question asks for the statements that are not correct.
Statement 1 is correct. Uttar Pradesh has borders with the most other states.
Statement 2 is not correct. West Bengal has the longest international border, with Bangladesh. Rajasthan's border with Pakistan is shorter.
Statement 3 is not correct. Sikkim touches only West Bengal, but Meghalaya also touches only one state, Assam. So Sikkim is not the only one.
So statements 2 and 3 are the incorrect ones.
Remember: Sikkim has international borders with China, Nepal and Bhutan.

Source: NCERT Class XI India: Physical Environment (Ch. 1); Ministry of Home Affairs border data

The Peninsular Block is the old, hard, stable landmass of south India.
Feature 1 is correct. Parts of the western coast are believed to have sunk because of tectonic movement.
Feature 2 is correct. Veliconda and Mahendragiri are residual hills. They are the worn-down remains of older mountains.
Feature 3 is wrong. Deep, V-shaped valleys belong to young, fast Himalayan rivers. Peninsular rivers are old and have shallow valleys.
So 1 and 2.
Remember: Aravalli is among the oldest fold mountains and is a residual range.

Source: NCERT Class XI India: Physical Environment (Ch. 2 Structure and Physiography)

Statement 1 is incorrect. Amarkantak lies where the Vindhya and Satpura ranges meet. The Sahyadri is the Western Ghats.
Statement 2 is incorrect. The Biligirirangan Hills lie where the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats meet in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. They are not part of the Satpura.
Statement 3 is incorrect. The Seshachalam Hills are part of the Eastern Ghats in Andhra Pradesh.
So none is correct.
Remember: Amarkantak is the source of the Narmada and the Son.

Source: NCERT Class XI, India: Physical Environment, Ch. 2 (Structure and Physiography)

Pair 1 is incorrect. Namcha Barwa is in the eastern end of the Himalaya in Tibet, near the Brahmaputra gorge. It is not in Garhwal.
Pair 2 is correct. Nanda Devi is in the Kumaon Himalaya in Uttarakhand.
Pair 3 is incorrect. Nokrek is in the Garo Hills of Meghalaya.
Remember: Nokrek is a Biosphere Reserve in Meghalaya.

Source: NCERT Class XI, India: Physical Environment, Ch. 2

Siachen Glacier lies in the Karakoram range. It is the source of the Nubra river.
It lies north of the Nubra Valley in Ladakh.
Aksai Chin is north-east of Ladakh and the glacier is not east of it. Leh is south-west of Siachen. Gilgit lies to the west.
Remember: Siachen feeds the Nubra river, a tributary of the Shyok.

Source: UPSC CSE Prelims 2020(key: d)

Statement 1 is incorrect. The Himalayas spread over many more states and union territories, such as J&K, Ladakh, Himachal, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal and others.
Statement 2 is incorrect. The Western Ghats spread over six states: Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Statement 3 is correct. Pulicat Lake lies in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Remember: Pulicat is the second largest brackish water lagoon in India.

Source: NCERT Class XI, India: Physical Environment, Ch. 2 / Standard Geography reference

Arunachal Pradesh lies at the extreme east of India. Its Kibithu area is the easternmost point of the country.
Gujarat lies at the extreme west. Ghuar Moti in Kutch is the westernmost point.
Assam is not the easternmost State, because Arunachal Pradesh lies further east. Rajasthan is not the westernmost State, because Gujarat extends further west.
Remember: India's easternmost State is Arunachal Pradesh and its westernmost State is Gujarat.

Source: NCERT Class XI, India: Physical Environment, Ch. 1

Pair 1 is incorrect. The Cardamom Hills are in the southern Western Ghats, in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. They are not on the Coromandel Coast.
Pair 2 is incorrect. The Kaimur Hills are the eastern part of the Vindhya range, in Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. They are not on the Konkan Coast.
Pair 3 is correct. The Mahadeo Hills lie in the Satpura range of central India.
Pair 4 is correct. The Mikir (Karbi) Hills are in Assam, in North-East India.

Source: NCERT Class XI, India: Physical Environment, Ch. 2

The Ten Degree Channel lies along the 10 degree N parallel of latitude. It separates Little Andaman from Car Nicobar. So it divides the Andaman group from the Nicobar group.
The Nicobar Islands and Sumatra are separated by the Great Channel. The Maldives and Lakshadweep are separated by the Eight Degree Channel. Sumatra and Java are separated by the Sunda Strait.
Remember: Ten Degree Channel divides Andaman from Nicobar.

Source: NCERT Class XI, India: Physical Environment, Ch. 2

Under the old numbering, NH 4 ran from Thane (near Mumbai) to Chennai via Pune and Bengaluru. It did not link Chennai and Hyderabad.
NH 6 ran from Hazira (Surat) to Kolkata via Nagpur and Raipur. It did not start at Mumbai.
NH 15 ran from Pathankot in Punjab to Samakhiali in Gujarat. Ahmedabad-Jodhpur is not its description.
So no pair is correct.
Remember: National highways were later renumbered.

Source: Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, old NH numbering

Arunachal Pradesh lies at about 27-29 degree N, the same latitude as northern Rajasthan. At the time of the exam, nearly 80 per cent of its area was under forest. A good share of this forest is in national parks and sanctuaries.
Assam has much less forest cover. Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand lie at similar latitudes, but their forest cover is far below 80 per cent.
Remember: Arunachal Pradesh is among the most forested States of India.

Source: India State of Forest Report (Forest Survey of India)

The Gondwana system consists of coal-bearing sedimentary rocks laid down from the Carboniferous to the Jurassic period.
These rocks hold more than 90% of India's coal reserves, mainly in the Damodar, Mahanadi, Son and Godavari valleys.
This is why they are called the most important rock system.
Limestone is found mostly in the Vindhyan and Cuddapah systems, so option 1 is wrong.
Black cotton soil forms on Deccan Trap basalt, not on Gondwana rocks, so option 3 is wrong.
Remember: Gondwana rocks give about 98% of India's coal, mostly bituminous.

Source: NCERT Class XI, India: Physical Environment, Ch. 2 Structure and Physiography; Geological Survey of India

Statement 1 is correct. Assam borders Bhutan in the north and Bangladesh in the south-west.
Statement 2 is correct. West Bengal borders Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. So it does border Bhutan and Nepal.
Statement 3 is correct. Mizoram borders Bangladesh in the west and Myanmar in the east and south.
Remember: five Indian States share a border with Bangladesh: West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.

Source: NCERT Class XI, India: Physical Environment, Ch. 1; Ministry of Home Affairs

Markha Valley is in Ladakh, then part of Jammu and Kashmir. It is a trekking route in Hemis National Park.
Dzukou Valley is on the Nagaland-Manipur border and is known for its flowers.
Sangla Valley is in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh.
Yumthang Valley, the Valley of Flowers, is in North Sikkim.
So the match is A-3, B-4, C-2, D-1.
Update (2026): Ladakh has been a separate Union Territory since 2019.

Source: Survey of India; State tourism departments (Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Nagaland)

Statement 1 is correct. Karewas are lake (lacustrine) deposits of clay, sand and silt laid down in the Pleistocene.
Statement 2 is correct. They lie on the lower slopes of the Pir Panjal range in the Kashmir valley.
Statement 3 is correct. The fertile Karewa terraces grow saffron, almond, walnut and apple.
The question asks how many statements are correct. All three are correct, so the answer is 3.
Remember: Pampore Karewas are famous for saffron.

Source: NCERT Class XI, India: Physical Environment, Ch. 2 (Structure and Physiography)

Anamudi is the highest peak of South India and lies in the Anamalai (Annamalai) hills.
Doddabetta is the highest peak of the Nilgiri hills.
Dhupgarh near Pachmarhi is the highest point of the Satpura range.
Guru Shikhar on Mount Abu is the highest peak of the Aravalli range.
The correct code is A-4, B-1, C-2, D-3.

Source: NCERT Class XI, India: Physical Environment, Ch. 2 (Structure and Physiography)

Zoji La connects Srinagar and Leh, in Jammu and Kashmir (now also Ladakh region).
Shipki La is on the Sutlej in Himachal Pradesh.
Lipulekh is in Uttarakhand on the Tibet-Nepal border.
Nathu La is in Sikkim.
So the code is A-3, B-1, C-2, D-4.
Remember: Kailash Mansarovar yatra uses Lipulekh and Nathu La.

Source: NCERT Class XI, India: Physical Environment, Ch. 2

Statement 1 is correct. The old rocks of the Peninsula hold most Gondwana coal and iron, manganese and chromite.
The Chotanagpur plateau and Odisha are rich belts.
Statement 2 is correct. The Peninsula was part of Gondwanaland. This landmass also had Africa, South America, Australia and Antarctica.
So both statements are correct.
Remember: Gondwana coal gives about 98 per cent of India's coal production.

Source: NCERT Class XI, India: Physical Environment, Ch. 2 and Ch. 1

Assertion A is true. The Himalayan arc has the high-risk seismic zones IV and V.
Reason R is true. The Himalayas have thrust faults such as the Main Central Thrust and Main Boundary Thrust.
The Indian plate keeps pushing under the Eurasian plate, and stress is released along these thrusts as earthquakes.
So R explains A.
Remember: Zone V is the most seismically active zone.

Source: NCERT Class XI, India: Physical Environment, Ch. 2; NDMA seismic zoning map

Assertion (A) is true. Gondwana rocks give about 95 to 98% of India's coal.
Reason (R) is true. The Dharwar system is the home of iron ore, manganese, copper, gold and other metals.
But the Dharwar rocks have no connection with coal formation. So (R) does not explain (A).
Options 1 is wrong for this reason. Options 3 and 4 wrongly call one statement false.
Remember: Coal is in Gondwana rocks; metallic minerals are in Dharwar rocks.

Source: NCERT Class XI, India: Physical Environment, Ch. 2 Structure and Physiography