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Prelims 2023 paper

UPSC CSE Prelims 2023 · Question 61 · World: places, rivers & mapping

Consider the following countries:

Prelims 2023 · Q61

World: places, rivers & mapping Easy

Consider the following countries:

  1. 1.Bulgaria
  2. 2.Czech Republic
  3. 3.Hungary
  4. 4.Latvia
  5. 5.Lithuania
  6. 6.Romania

How many of the above-mentioned countries share a land border with Ukraine?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) Only two

Only two of the six, Hungary and Romania, share a land border with Ukraine. Ukraine has seven land neighbours: Russia, Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova.

  • ✗ 1. Bulgaria does not touch Ukraine; it is separated from it by Romania and the Black Sea.
  • ✗ 2. The Czech Republic has no border with Ukraine; Slovakia and Poland lie between them.
  • ✓ 3. Hungary lies on Ukraine's southwest border, so it counts.
  • ✗ 4. Latvia is a Baltic state. It borders Estonia, Lithuania, Russia and Belarus, not Ukraine.
  • ✗ 5. Lithuania borders Latvia, Belarus, Poland and Russia (Kaliningrad), not Ukraine.
  • ✓ 6. Romania also borders Ukraine to the southwest, so it counts.

Remember · Ukraine's seven land neighbours: Russia, Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova. Of the countries in this list only Hungary and Romania qualify.

Sources

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·

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