Which one of the following is not correctly matched?
- (1)Detroit – Automobile
- (2)Gornaya Shoria – Cotton Textile
- (3)Anshan – Iron and Steel
- (4)Yokohama – Ship Building
Answer
Why
Correct — option (2), Gornaya Shoria – Cotton Textile.
Gornaya Shoria (Mountain Shoria) is a mountainous territory in southern Siberia, the southern part of Russia's Kemerovo Oblast, according to Wikipedia, which calls it rich in ores. The ore it is recorded for is iron ore, not cotton textiles.
George B. Cressey's The Basis of Soviet Strength (1945) describes the Kuznetsk Basin and writes: "Magnetite iron ore is mined in the Gornaya Shoria to the south". He adds that since 1930 sizable deposits of magnetite have been developed in the Gornaya Shoria Mountains.
That ore fed steelmaking in the region. Writing of the blast furnaces at Stalinsk (formerly Kuznets), Cressey says nearby iron ore from the Gornaya Shoria was gradually replacing ore brought from the Urals.
So pairing Gornaya Shoria with cotton textiles is the incorrect match. The other three centres are paired with industries their records support.
The idea to remember: Gornaya Shoria = iron ore for the Kuznetsk steel industry.
Why the others are wrong
- (1)Detroit – Automobile — This pair is correctly matched. Wikipedia's article on Detroit, in Michigan, says that as the city evolved into the world's automotive center, "Detroit" became a metonym for the industry itself.
One of the city's nicknames is the Motor City.
- (3)Anshan – Iron and Steel — This pair is correctly matched. Anshan, in north-east China, is home to the Anshan Iron and Steel Group, which Wikipedia describes as one of the largest steel producers in China.
Wikipedia adds that the area has been a site of iron mining and metallurgy for over 2,000 years, and a centre of modern iron and steel production from 1918 to 1945.
- (4)Yokohama – Ship Building — This pair is correctly matched. Yokohama, a Japanese port city, had shipyards on its waterfront: Wikipedia's article on its Minato Mirai 21 district says the area was once known as the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Yokohama shipyard.
Those shipyards, wharves and railyards were later redeveloped into the Minato Mirai 21 business district.
Concept
An industrial centre is often known for one leading industry, built on a local resource, a market or a port. Matching a centre to its industry means knowing what the place produces.
Steel needs iron ore and coal. In southern Siberia, the Kuznetsk Basin supplied coal, and Cressey records that iron ore from the Gornaya Shoria nearby was replacing ore brought from the Urals for the Kuznetsk furnaces.
Wikipedia describes Gornaya Shoria as rich in ores and part of the Kuznetsk Coal Basin, with other industries including logging, fur hunting, pine nut harvesting and tourism, such as a ski resort at Sheregesh.
RPSC's 2021 syllabus lists "Major Industrial Regions." under World Geography.
The four centres span four countries: the United States (Detroit), Russia (Gornaya Shoria, in Kemerovo Oblast), China (Anshan, in the north-east) and Japan (Yokohama).
Wikipedia notes that the Kuznetsk Basin was, in the Soviet era, second only to the Donets Basin in regional coal production. Cressey's account of the region's steel plants joins that coal to iron ore from the Gornaya Shoria.
Key facts
- Wikipedia: Gornaya Shoria is a mountainous territory in southern Siberia, the southern part of Kemerovo Oblast, Russia.
- Cressey (1945): magnetite iron ore is mined in the Gornaya Shoria, south of the Kuznetsk Basin.
- Wikipedia: Anshan is home to the Anshan Iron and Steel Group, one of the largest steel producers in China.
- Wikipedia: Detroit became a metonym for the automotive industry; its nicknames include the Motor City.
- Wikipedia: Yokohama's Minato Mirai 21 district stands on land once known as the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Yokohama shipyard.
Sources: George B. Cressey, The Basis of Soviet Strength (1945); Wikipedia articles on Gornaya Shoria, Detroit, Anshan and Minato Mirai 21.
Study next
Common traps
- Treating an unfamiliar name as a textile town: Gornaya Shoria is an ore-rich mountainous area of southern Siberia, where Cressey (1945) records iron ore mining.
- Placing Anshan's industry by guesswork: its Anshan Iron and Steel Group makes it an iron and steel centre.
- Linking Yokohama only to trade: its waterfront once held the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Yokohama shipyard.
A question can pair industrial centres with industries and ask which pair is not correctly matched.
A question can also name a mining area and ask which industry it supplies, or name an industry and ask for its leading centre in a country.
Related PYQs
UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2016 and 2013 here once those papers are published on this site.
Practice
- practice — not a real PYQ
According to George B. Cressey's The Basis of Soviet Strength (1945), Gornaya Shoria in Russia was a source of which mineral for the Kuznetsk region's steel industry?
- (a)Tin
- (b)Iron ore
- (c)Bauxite
- (d)Copper
Answer(2) — Cressey (1945) records magnetite iron ore mined in the Gornaya Shoria and replacing Ural ore at the Kuznetsk blast furnaces. Options (1), (3) and (4), tin, bauxite and copper, are not blast-furnace raw materials, and Cressey names none of them for the Gornaya Shoria. - practice — not a real PYQ
The Anshan Iron and Steel Group is located in which country?
- (a)Japan
- (b)South Korea
- (c)China
- (d)Russia
Answer(3) — Wikipedia describes Anshan as home to the Anshan Iron and Steel Group, one of the largest steel producers in China. Options (1), (2) and (4) are other steel-producing countries, not where Anshan lies.