Consider the following deserts and arrange them in increasing order of their size (from smallest to largest) -
(I) Great Sandy desert
(II) Arabian desert
(III) Sahara desert
(IV) Gobi desert
Select th

Question

Consider the following deserts and arrange them in increasing order of their size (from smallest to largest) -
(I) Great Sandy desert
(II) Arabian desert
(III) Sahara desert
(IV) Gobi desert
Select the correct answer using the code given below -

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — A, "I, IV, II, III". Ranked by area from smallest to largest the sequence is: Great Sandy Desert of Australia (~267,000 km²) < Gobi Desert of Mongolia and China (~1,295,000 km²) < Arabian Desert (~2,330,000 km²) < Sahara (~9,200,000 km², the world's largest hot desert). So smallest to largest = I (Great Sandy), IV (Gobi), II (Arabian), III (Sahara), which is option (a).

Why the other options are wrong — (b) It makes the Arabian Desert the smallest, but the Arabian (~2.33 million km²) is actually the second-largest of the four. It also ends with the Gobi as the largest, whereas the Gobi (~1.3 million km²) is in fact the second-smallest — two positions are inverted.  (c) Again wrongly places the Arabian Desert first (smallest). The Arabian is far larger than both the Great Sandy and the Gobi, so it cannot begin an increasing-size sequence, even though the tail (Gobi then Sahara) is otherwise fine.  (d) Correctly identifies the Great Sandy as smallest and the Sahara as largest, but swaps the middle two: it puts the Arabian (II) before the Gobi (IV). The Gobi (~1.3 million km²) is smaller than the Arabian (~2.33 million km²), so the Gobi must come first.

Concept: These are four of the world's major deserts. The Sahara is the largest hot desert on Earth (~9.2 million km², roughly the size of the United States); the Arabian Desert (~2.33 million km²) is the largest in south-west Asia; the Gobi (~1.3 million km²) is a cold, rain-shadow desert across southern Mongolia and northern China; and the Great Sandy Desert (~267,000 km²) is Australia's second-largest desert.

State PCS 2023 Q26 — Geography PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2023 Q26 — Geography PYQ with Answer