The term "Levant" often heard in the news roughly corresponds to which of the following regions?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (a) Region along the eastern Mediterranean shores
The Levant is the land along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean — today's Syria, Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan, often with Cyprus and Turkey's Hatay province. The word comes from the French for 'rising', the direction of the sunrise as seen from Europe.
- ✓ (a) The Levant covers the coastal lands of the eastern Mediterranean and their hinterland: Syria, Lebanon, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, and Jordan.
- ✗ (b) The North African coast west of Egypt — Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco — is called the Maghreb, not the Levant.
- ✗ (d) The Levant is only the eastern end of the Mediterranean; it does not include the European or North African coasts.
Remember · Levant = eastern Mediterranean coast (Syria, Lebanon, Israel–Palestine, Jordan); Maghreb = north-west Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya).
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: Levant ↗ · reference work “Levant , region along the eastern Mediterranean shores, roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel , the West Bank , the Gaza Strip , Jordan , Lebanon , Syria , and often Cyprus and Hatay il (province) of Turkey (Türkiye). … The term Levant comes from the French word lever , meaning “to rise,” as in sunrise, referring to the east.”
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: Maghrib ↗ · reference work “now comprises essentially the Atlas Mountains and the coastal plain of Morocco , Algeria , Tunisia , and Libya”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·