SSC CGL 2024 Tier-I · 13 September 2024, Shift 3 · General Awareness · Question 7 of 98

Text as printed on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; answer per SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 6 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. The questions and options here are reproduced as printed on a candidate's own response sheet for this shift — the Commission's text, unchanged. Each answer is SSC's tentative key as marked on that sheet; SSC allowed challenges to it and never publishes a final key. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Where is the Gulf of Mannar located?

(a)Between the south-eastern tip of India and the southern coast of Sri Lanka
(b)Between the south-eastern tip of India and the eastern coast of Sri Lanka
(c)Between the south-eastern tip of India and the north-western coast of Sri Lanka
(d)Between the south-eastern tip of India and the western coast of Sri Lanka

Answer

Why

Correct — D. The Gulf of Mannar is the arm of the Indian Ocean lying between the south-eastern tip of India, the Tamil Nadu coast running from Rameswaram down towards Kanyakumari, and the western coast of Sri Lanka.

Its northern limit is the chain of Rameswaram Island, Adam's Bridge and Mannar Island, which cuts it off from Palk Bay. That chain is precisely why the gulf sits on Sri Lanka's western side. Option (d).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Between the south-eastern tip of India and the southern coast of Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka's southern coast faces the open Indian Ocean towards the Equator, with no enclosed gulf between it and India.
(b)
Between the south-eastern tip of India and the eastern coast of Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka's eastern coast faces the Bay of Bengal, with Trincomalee its best-known harbour — the wrong side of the island altogether.
(c)
Between the south-eastern tip of India and the north-western coast of Sri Lanka — The water off Sri Lanka's north-western side is Palk Bay, reached through Palk Strait; Adam's Bridge separates it from the Gulf of Mannar.

Concept

Three water bodies sit between India and Sri Lanka, and exam options swap them constantly.

Palk Strait is the narrow northern passage, Palk Bay the shallow water just south of it, and the Gulf of Mannar the larger southern one, opening into the Indian Ocean.

The divider between Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar is the shoal chain of Rameswaram Island, Adam's Bridge and Mannar Island — shallow enough to stop shipping, which is the whole premise of the Sethusamudram project.

The Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve on the Tamil Nadu side was India's first marine biosphere reserve, and the gulf's chain of small islands is protected as the Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park.

Key facts

The Gulf of Mannar lies between the Tamil Nadu coast and the western coast of Sri Lanka.
Adam's Bridge, also called Ram Setu, separates the Gulf of Mannar from Palk Bay.
The Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve was India's first marine biosphere reserve.
Palk Strait connects Palk Bay with the Bay of Bengal to the north.

Study next

Palk Strait, Palk Bay and the Sethusamudram Ship Canal ProjectMarine biosphere reserves and marine national parks of IndiaStraits and gulfs of the Indian Ocean rim and the coasts they separate

Common traps

Mixing the Gulf of Mannar with Palk Bay, which lies immediately to its north.
Reading the phrase about India's south-eastern tip as the deciding clue, when all four options share it and only the Sri Lankan side differs.

Water-body placement is a regular General Awareness item. 24 Sep 2024, 16:00, GA Q.13 asks for the strait between the Chukchi Peninsula and Alaska, and 25 Sep 2024, 12:30, GA Q.7 asks which country New Moore Island lies close to.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.