Minimalist IAS
Geography

Prelims · Geography · 42 questions

World: places, rivers & mapping

Every UPSC Prelims question on this topic, 2016–2026, newest first. Tap an option to check yourself; the answer and explanation open below it.

World: places, rivers & mapping questions per year: 2016: 0, 2017: 2, 2018: 3, 2019: 1, 2020: 1, 2021: 0, 2022: 8, 2023: 4, 2024: 3, 2025: 5, 2026: 3 Asked in 9 of 11 years · most in 2022 (8)

Practising Geography? Take it as timed sets of 25 →

UPSC syllabus: “Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.” Sub-topics in the detailed syllabus →

निम्नलिखित युग्मों पर विचार कीजिए :

नदीमें जाकर मिलती है
1.मेकोंगअण्डमान सागर
2.थेम्सआयरिश सागर
3.वोल्गाकैस्पियन सागर
4.ज़म्बेज़ीहिन्द महासागर

उपर्युक्त युग्मों में से कौन-सा/से सही सुमेलित है/हैं ?

Read this question in English

Consider the following pairs:

1. Mekong — Andaman Sea

2. Thames — Irish Sea

3. Volga — Caspian Sea

4. Zambezi — Indian Ocean

Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?

(a) 1 and 2 only · (b) 3 only · (c) 3 and 4 only · (d) 1, 2 and 4 only

उत्तर और व्याख्या · explanation in English

Answer: (c) केवल 3 और 4

The Volga drains into the Caspian Sea and the Zambezi empties into the Indian Ocean, so pairs 3 and 4 are correctly matched. The Mekong ends in the South China Sea, not the Andaman Sea, and the Thames flows into the North Sea, not the Irish Sea.

  • ✗ 1. The Mekong flows through Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam and drains into the South China Sea, south of Ho Chi Minh City; it does not reach the Andaman Sea.
  • ✗ 2. The Thames's fresh water enters the North Sea. The Irish Sea is the arm of the Atlantic that separates Ireland from Great Britain, on the island's western side.
  • ✓ 3. The Volga, Russia's great waterway, drains into the Caspian Sea (NCERT).
  • ✓ 4. The Zambezi flows east across southern Africa (NCERT places Victoria Falls on it) and empties into the Indian Ocean.

Remember · Volga: Caspian Sea. Zambezi: Indian Ocean. Mekong: South China Sea. Thames: North Sea.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Fundamentals of Human Geography, Ch 7 (practise this chapter) · Class 6 Exploring Society: India and Beyond, Ch 3 (practise this chapter)

Sources

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

The Syllabus X-Ray of this topic

2 of its 6 sub-topics are Core

2 Core · 2 High · 0 Steady · 2 Rare

  • Core #4Countries, regions & conflicts in the news · 16 questions
  • Core #54Seas, straits, lakes & pipelines · 6 questions
  • HighRivers, basins, volcanoes & landforms · 4 questions
  • HighCities, time zones & routes · 3 questions

The X-Ray ranks all 928 sub-topics of the UPSC syllabus by what UPSC has asked since 2016. The 60 Prelims Core sub-topics are behind 51% of Prelims questions.

See the whole X-Ray →

The same topic in Mains