Palk Strait is located between
- (a)India and Pakistan
- (b)India and Bangladesh
- (c)India and Sri Lanka
- (d)India and Maldives
Correct — C, India and Sri Lanka. The Palk Strait is the sea channel that separates the south-eastern coast of India (Tamil Nadu) from the northern coast of Sri Lanka. It links Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar area in the south-west to the Bay of Bengal in the north-east, and is named after Robert Palk, a Governor of Madras.
- (a)India and Pakistan — India and Pakistan share a land border and meet the sea in the north-west (the Sir Creek / Arabian Sea area) — no channel named Palk Strait lies between them.
- (b)India and Bangladesh — India and Bangladesh are separated mainly by a land border and the Sundarbans coast on the Bay of Bengal, not by the Palk Strait.
- (d)India and Maldives — The Maldives lie far to the south-west in the Laccadive/Arabian Sea, separated from India by open sea channels — not by the Palk Strait.
A strait is a narrow sea passage joining two larger water bodies. The Palk Strait sits between India and Sri Lanka; just south of it, the shallow chain of shoals called Adam's Bridge (Ram Setu) partly separates Palk Bay from the Gulf of Mannar. Because the strait and the bridge are so shallow, large ships cannot pass — the basis of the long-debated Sethusamudram shipping-canal idea.
All four options begin with 'India', so you must fix the second country by geography. Tie the Palk Strait firmly to Sri Lanka (with the Gulf of Mannar and Adam's Bridge nearby), and the other three pairings fall away.
- Palk Strait separates Tamil Nadu (India) from northern Sri Lanka.
- It connects Palk Bay / Gulf of Mannar to the Bay of Bengal.
- Adam's Bridge (Ram Setu) lies just to the south, between Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar.
- Named after Robert Palk, an 18th-century Governor of Madras.
The Palk Strait is the sea channel between India and Sri Lanka — so the answer is India and Sri Lanka.
- Confusing the Palk Strait (India–Sri Lanka) with channels near the Andaman & Nicobar or Lakshadweep islands
- Mixing up Palk Strait, Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar — they are neighbouring but distinct
Asked as 'X strait/channel lies between …' or by matching straits to the countries/islands they separate. Anchor: Palk Strait = India ↔ Sri Lanka.
The Palk Bay lies between
- (a) Gulf of Kachchh and Gulf of Khambhat
- (b) Gulf of Mannar and Bay of Bengal
- (c) Lakshadweep and Maldives’ Islands
- (d) Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Answer(b) Gulf of Mannar and Bay of Bengal
Same feature — the Palk Bay/Strait region between India and Sri Lanka, here tested by the water bodies it connects.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Gulf of Mannar lies between India and which neighbouring country?
- (a)Maldives
- (b)Sri Lanka
- (c)Indonesia
- (d)Myanmar
Answer(b) Sri Lanka — like the Palk Strait, it lies between India and Sri Lanka.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Adam's Bridge (Ram Setu) separates which two water bodies?
- (a)Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal
- (b)Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar
- (c)Gulf of Kachchh and Gulf of Khambhat
- (d)Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal
Answer(b) Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar.