Consider the following pairs:
| Sea | Bordering country | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Adriatic Sea | Albania |
| 2. | Black Sea | Croatia |
| 3. | Caspian Sea | Kazakhstan |
| 4. | Mediterranean Sea | Morocco |
| 5. | Red Sea | Syria |
Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (b) 1, 3 and 4 only
Albania touches the Adriatic, Kazakhstan the Caspian and Morocco the Mediterranean, so pairs 1, 3 and 4 are right. Croatia has no Black Sea coast (it is on the Adriatic), and Syria's coast is on the Mediterranean, not the Red Sea.
- ✓ 1. Albania lies on the southeastern Adriatic, where the Strait of Otranto separates it from Italy.
- ✗ 2. The Black Sea's coastal states are Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. Croatia is on the Adriatic.
- ✓ 3. Kazakhstan is one of the five Caspian littoral states, with Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia and Turkmenistan.
- ✓ 4. Morocco has a Mediterranean coast, and is a Contracting Party to the Barcelona Convention for the Mediterranean.
- ✗ 5. Syria borders the Mediterranean. The Red Sea states in the regional body PERSGA are Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen; Syria is not among them.
Remember · Caspian littoral states: Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan. Black Sea: Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine. Syria is on the Mediterranean, not the Red Sea.
Sources
- Tehran Convention (Caspian Sea) Secretariat: About the Convention (Internet Archive copy) ↗ · reference work “signed by all five Caspian littoral States (Republic of Azerbaijan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Republic of Kazakhstan, Russian Federation and Turkmenistan)”
- Black Sea Commission (Bucharest Convention), 2022 archived copy of the Commission's website ↗ · reference work “the Black Sea coastal states Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, The Russsian Federation, Turkey and Ukraine”
- UNEP Mediterranean Action Plan: Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention ↗ “The 22 Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention are: Albania , Algeria , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Croatia , Cyprus , Egypt , France , Greece , Israel , Italy , Lebanon , Libya , Malta , Monaco , Montenegro , Morocco , Slovenia , Spain , Syrian Arab Republic , Tunisia , Türkiye , and the European Union .”
- PERSGA (Regional Organization for the Conservation of the Environment of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden) ↗ · reference work “PERSGA is an IGO have seven member states, including Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.”
- FAO: Inland fisheries of Europe, Albania (country description) ↗ “and the Mediterranean Ocean (Adriatic and lonian Seas) on the west for 472 km.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·