UPPSC 2021 Prelims GS Paper-I · Question 130 of 150

Correct — A, Alaska – Koryak is the pair that is NOT correctly matched. The Koryak are an indigenous people of the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East (Siberia), living around the northern Kamchatka coastlands of the Bering Sea — not Alaska. Alaska's own native peoples are groups such as the Inuit/Eskimo, Aleut and Athabaskans. Since the question asks for the wrongly matched pair, this is the answer.

• (b)Borneo – Punan — Correctly matched — the Punan (Penan) are a forest-dwelling indigenous people of Borneo (Malaysia/Indonesia/Brunei), so this pair is right and cannot be the answer.
• (c)Arab Desert – Ruwala — Correctly matched — the Ruwala (Rwala) are a large Bedouin tribe of the Syrian/Arabian desert, so this pairing is correct.
• (d)Sweden and Finland – Lapps — Correctly matched — the Lapps (Sami) are the indigenous reindeer-herding people of northern Scandinavia, including Sweden and Finland; this pairing is correct.

This tests the world-tribes-to-region link — placing each indigenous group in its home environment. Punan (Borneo rainforest), Ruwala (Arabian desert Bedouin) and Lapps/Sami (Scandinavian Arctic) are correctly located; the error is Koryak, who belong to Kamchatka in Siberia, not to Alaska.

Alaska and Kamchatka face each other across the Bering Sea and share Arctic reindeer-herding cultures, which is why 'Alaska – Koryak' looks plausible — that is the trap. The Koryak are a Russian (Siberian) people; Alaska's natives are the Inuit/Eskimo, Aleut and Athabaskan groups.

• Koryak — indigenous people of the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russian Far East (Siberia), NOT Alaska.
• Punan (Penan) — forest people of Borneo.
• Ruwala (Rwala) — Bedouin tribe of the Syrian/Arabian desert.
• Lapps (Sami) — reindeer-herding people of northern Scandinavia (Sweden, Finland, Norway).

• Answering a correctly matched pair — the question asks for the NOT correctly matched one
• Confusing the Koryak (Kamchatka, Siberia) with Alaskan natives (Inuit/Aleut) because both are Bering-Sea Arctic peoples

UPSC/UPPSC pair a tribe with its place/region and ask which is not correctly matched, or match world tribes to continents/deserts/forests.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Bushmen (San) are the indigenous people of which region?

  • (a)Kalahari Desert, Southern Africa
  • (b)Amazon Basin
  • (c)Siberian tundra
  • (d)Central Australia

  Answer(a) The Kalahari Desert of Southern Africa.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Lapps (Sami) are traditionally associated with reindeer herding in which region?

  • (a)Northern Scandinavia
  • (b)Central Asian steppe
  • (c)The Andes
  • (d)The Arabian Desert

  Answer(a) Northern Scandinavia (Sweden, Finland, Norway).