With reference to India which of the following statement(s) is/are correct ? 1. India is the sixth largest country of the world. 2. India occupies about 2.4% of the total area of the world. 3. Tropic of Cancer passes through the middle of the country dividing into two latitudinal halves. 4. India lies completely in tropic zone. Select the correct answer from the code given below : Code :
- (a)2 and 4
- (b)1 and 2
- (c)2 and 3
- (d)3 and 4
Correct — C, 2 and 3. Statement 2 holds: India's area of about 32,87,263 square kilometres works out at roughly 2.4 per cent of the world's total land area, the figure standard textbooks give. Statement 3 holds as well: the Tropic of Cancer, at 23 degrees 30 minutes north, runs across the country roughly through its middle, cutting it into a tropical southern half and a sub-tropical northern half — India's mainland stretches from about 8 degrees 4 minutes north to 37 degrees 6 minutes north, so the tropic falls close to the midpoint of that span. Statement 1 fails on a single word: India is the SEVENTH largest country in the world by area, not the sixth, coming after Russia, Canada, the United States, China, Brazil and Australia. Statement 4 fails too, and for a reason that follows directly from statement 3 — if the tropic divides the country into two halves, then roughly half of India lies north of it and therefore outside the tropical zone, in the sub-tropical belt. Statements 3 and 4 cannot both be true. Only 2 and 3 survive, which is option (c).
- (a)2 and 4 — Statement 2 is right but statement 4 is not. India's mainland reaches 37 degrees 6 minutes north, far beyond the Tropic of Cancer at 23 degrees 30 minutes, so a large part of the country — the whole Gangetic plain north of the tropic, the Thar, Punjab, the Himalaya and Kashmir — lies in the sub-tropical zone, not the tropical one.
- (b)1 and 2 — Statement 2 is right but statement 1 is off by one place. India is the seventh largest country by area, behind Russia, Canada, the United States, China, Brazil and Australia. 'Sixth' is the single most planted error in Indian physical geography, and it is planted here.
- (d)3 and 4 — Statement 3 is right but statement 4 is not, and the two contradict each other outright. If the Tropic of Cancer divides India into two latitudinal halves, the country cannot lie wholly inside the tropics. Spotting that internal contradiction is enough to kill this option even without knowing India's exact latitudes.
India's mainland lies between about 8 degrees 4 minutes and 37 degrees 6 minutes north, and between about 68 degrees 7 minutes and 97 degrees 25 minutes east; counting the island territories, the southern limit moves further down to Indira Point in the Nicobars. The area is about 32,87,263 square kilometres, roughly 2.4 per cent of the world's land surface, which makes India the seventh largest country and yet the second most populous — a mismatch that drives much of its resource and density geography. The Tropic of Cancer at 23 degrees 30 minutes north bisects the country and is conventionally taken to cross eight States: Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram. Because so much of India sits north of that line, the country is usually described as sub-tropical rather than tropical, even though the monsoon regime gives the whole of it a tropical rhythm of seasons.
Two habits solve this item without any recall of numbers. The first is to check statements against each other: 3 and 4 cannot both be true, because a line that divides the country into two halves must leave one of them outside the tropics. That alone rules out option (d) and makes any option containing 4 suspect. The second is to know exactly where the standard error sits. 'Sixth largest' versus 'seventh largest' is the single most reliable trap in this topic, and the correct answer is seventh. Once statement 1 is out and statement 4 is out, only (c) remains. On the exam more broadly, note the difference between area rank and other rankings students confuse it with: India is seventh by area, second by population, and its share of world land area (about 2.4 per cent) is far smaller than its share of world population (about 17 to 18 per cent), which is the comparison examiners like to build questions around.
- India is the SEVENTH largest country in the world by area — after Russia, Canada, the United States, China, Brazil and Australia — with about 32,87,263 square kilometres.
- That area is roughly 2.4 per cent of the world's total land area, against a share of world population of about 17 to 18 per cent.
- India's mainland extends from about 8 degrees 4 minutes north to 37 degrees 6 minutes north and from about 68 degrees 7 minutes east to 97 degrees 25 minutes east.
- The Tropic of Cancer (23 degrees 30 minutes north) runs across the middle of the country, conventionally through eight States — Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram.
- Because roughly half of India lies north of that line, the country is properly described as sub-tropical rather than lying wholly within the tropics.
Statements 2 and 3 stand and 1 and 4 fail, giving key (c). Statements 3 and 4 cannot both be true, which is enough on its own to discard two of the four options.
- 'Sixth largest' for India's area — the correct rank is seventh, and this is the standard planted error in the topic
- Accepting 'India lies completely in the tropic zone'; the mainland reaches 37 degrees 6 minutes north, so about half of it is sub-tropical
- Missing that statements 3 and 4 contradict each other — if the tropic bisects India, India cannot lie wholly within the tropics
UPPSC asks India's location as multi-statement items mixing a rank, a percentage and a latitude, where one number is quietly wrong. UPSC prefers the same knowledge in applied form — which city lies nearest the Tropic of Cancer, which latitudes get more than twelve hours of sunlight on a given date — so learn the lines as positions on the map, not just as figures.
Among the following cities, which one is nearest to the Tropic of Cancer?
- (a) Delhi
- (b) Kolkata
- (c) Jodhpur
- (d) Nagpur
Answer(b) Kolkata
The same line, tested as position on the map rather than as a statement. Kolkata sits at about 22 degrees 30 minutes north, just under a degree south of the tropic, while Nagpur, Jodhpur and Delhi are further away. Knowing where 23 degrees 30 minutes falls is what lets a candidate confirm both that the tropic bisects India and that much of the country lies north of it.
The equator does NOT pass through which of the following Countries ? 1. Gabon 2. Somalia 3. Equatorial Guinea 4. Rawanda Select the correct answer using the codes given below. Codes :
- (a) 1 and 4
- (b) 2 and 4
- (c) 2 and 3
- (d) 3 and 4
Answer(d) 3 and 4
UPPSC testing the other great line of latitude in exactly the same way — which places it crosses and which it misses. Equatorial Guinea's mainland lies north of the Equator despite its name, and Rwanda lies south of it, which is the same 'the name is not the geography' point. Fix the Equator, the two tropics and the polar circles by the territory they actually cross.
Consider the following statements with reference to cultivated area of some countries of the world : 1. In comparison to USA, China and Japan, India has highest geographical area under cultivation. 2. India’s location in tropical monsoon region helps diversified cropping all through the year. Which of the above statements is/are correct ?
- (a) Both 1 and 2
- (b) Neither 1 nor 2
- (c) Only 1
- (d) Only 2
Answer(a) Both 1 and 2
The consequence of the geography this question describes. India ranks only seventh in total area yet leads on net sown area, and the reason is the tropical-to-sub-tropical monsoon position that the Tropic of Cancer marks. UPPSC likes to pair the raw location facts with what they produce, so learn the extent and the agricultural consequence together.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Tropic of Cancer does NOT pass through which one of the following States?
- (a)Chhattisgarh
- (b)Odisha
- (c)Tripura
- (d)Rajasthan
Answer(b) Odisha — the Tropic of Cancer is conventionally taken to cross eight States: Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram. Odisha lies just south of the line.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Consider the following statements about India's size and position. Which one is correct?
- (a)India is the sixth largest country in the world and lies wholly within the tropics
- (b)India is the seventh largest country in the world, with about 2.4 per cent of the world's land area and about 17 to 18 per cent of its population
- (c)India's mainland lies entirely south of 30 degrees north latitude
- (d)India's share of world land area is larger than its share of world population
Answer(b) India is the seventh largest country in the world, with about 2.4 per cent of the world's land area and about 17 to 18 per cent of its population — the gap between the two shares is the central fact of Indian population geography.