State of Assam shares borders with how many other countries and Indian states respectively?
- (a)2 countries and 6 Indian states respectively
- (b)2 countries and 7 Indian states respectively
- (c)3 countries and 7 Indian states respectively
- (d)3 countries and 6 Indian states respectively
Correct — B, two countries and seven Indian states. Assam sits at the heart of the north-east and touches two foreign neighbours, Bhutan along its northern edge and Bangladesh along its south-western edge. Within India it adjoins seven states — Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya and West Bengal — a spread that reflects how the state wraps around most of the region and links it to the rest of India through the narrow corridor near West Bengal.
- (a)2 countries and 6 Indian states respectively — The count of two countries is right, but Assam borders seven states, not six — this option leaves one neighbour out.
- (c)3 countries and 7 Indian states respectively — The seven-state figure is right, but Assam borders only two countries; it does not touch a third foreign country such as Myanmar or China.
- (d)3 countries and 6 Indian states respectively — Both figures are wrong — Assam borders two countries, not three, and seven states, not six.
Assam is the largest state of India's north-east by population and forms the geographical pivot of the region, connected to the rest of the country by the slender Siliguri (Chicken's Neck) corridor. Because it is centrally placed, it shares boundaries with more units than any other north-eastern state, touching two countries and seven Indian states.
The safe way to count is to list the neighbours rather than guess. Foreign neighbours are Bhutan (north) and Bangladesh (south-west) — two countries. State neighbours run round the compass: Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya and West Bengal — seven states. Traps offer three countries by wrongly adding Myanmar (which borders Arunachal, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram, but not Assam) or six states by dropping one.
- Assam's two international neighbours are Bhutan to the north and Bangladesh to the south-west.
- Assam borders seven Indian states: Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya and West Bengal.
- Assam does not share a border with Myanmar or China, so its international neighbour count is two, not three.
- West Bengal is the link through which Assam and the north-east connect to the rest of India via the Siliguri corridor.
Two countries and seven states give option B; the third-country traps come from wrongly adding Myanmar or China.
- Adding Myanmar as a third country — Myanmar borders Arunachal, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram, but not Assam.
- Miscounting the states by forgetting the small neighbours such as Tripura or Manipur.
Asked as the number of countries and states a border state touches, or as a match/statement about which state adjoins Bhutan and Bangladesh.
Consider the following statements: 1. Assam shares a border with Bhutan and Bangladesh. 2. West Bengal shares a border with Bhutan and Nepal. 3. Mizoram shares a border with Bangladesh and Myanmar. Which of the statements given above are correct?
- (a) 1, 2 and 3
- (b) 1 and 2, only
- (c) 2 and 3, only
- (d) 1 and 3, only
Answer(a) 1, 2 and 3 — all three statements are correct.
Statement 1 is the exact fact this NDA item rests on — that Assam's two international neighbours are Bhutan and Bangladesh.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following pairs of countries shares a border with Assam?
- (a)Bhutan and Myanmar
- (b)Bhutan and Bangladesh
- (c)China and Bangladesh
- (d)Nepal and Bhutan
Answer(b) Bhutan and Bangladesh — Assam's only two international neighbours.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following states does NOT share a border with Assam?
- (a)Meghalaya
- (b)Nagaland
- (c)Sikkim
- (d)West Bengal
Answer(c) Sikkim — it lies west of Bhutan and does not touch Assam, unlike the other three.