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

Asked in 7 of 11 years · most in 2021 (5)

Prelims 2018 · Q18

Easy

Very recently, in which of the following countries have lakhs of people either suffered from severe famine/acute malnutrition or died due to starvation caused by war/ethnic conflicts?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (d) Yemen and South Sudan

In 2017 the UN formally declared famine in parts of South Sudan, where civil war had wrecked food supply, and warned that war-torn Yemen had more than 17 million people facing severe food insecurity. Both crises were driven by armed conflict.

✓ (d) Famine was declared in parts of South Sudan's Unity region on 20 February 2017, and in March 2017 the UN counted 2.2 million acutely malnourished children in conflict-ridden Yemen.
✗ (c) Venezuela's shortages of food and medicine at the time grew out of an economic collapse rather than a war or ethnic conflict, and neighbouring Colombia saw no famine.
✗ (a) Angola's civil war ended in 2002 and Zambia has had no recent war; neither saw conflict-driven famine around 2017.

Remember · 2017: UN declared famine in South Sudan (Leer and Mayendit, Unity region); Yemen called one of the world's worst hunger crises, 17 million food-insecure.

Sources

Famine declared in region of South Sudan – UN, United Nations Academic Impact (20 February 2017) ↗ “Famine has been formally declared in parts of South Sudan, the United Nations said today, warning that war and a collapsing economy have left some 100,000 people facing starvation there”
Yemen needs urgent assistance to prevent famine - FAO, WFP, UNICEF (UNICEF press release, 15 March 2017) ↗ “Severe food insecurity threatens more than 17 million people in conflict-ridden Yemen, according to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis released by the United Nations and humanitarian partners today.”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2018 · Q90

Easy

Consider the following pairs:

	Regions sometimes mentioned in news	Country
1.	Catalonia	Spain
2.	Crimea	Hungary
3.	Mindanao	Philippines
4.	Oromia	Nigeria

Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only

Catalonia is in Spain and Mindanao is in the Philippines, so pairs 1 and 3 are right. Crimea is a Black Sea peninsula that belongs to Ukraine, not Hungary, and Oromia is a region of Ethiopia, not Nigeria.

✓ 1. Catalonia is an autonomous community of north-eastern Spain. In October 2017 the Spanish Government announced it would suspend the region's autonomy and impose direct rule, as a UN human-rights expert's statement records; its independence movement kept it in the news.
✗ 2. Crimea, with the port of Sevastopol, is part of Ukraine. Russia took control of it in 2014, and the UN General Assembly called on states not to recognise any change in its status.
✓ 3. Mindanao is the southern island group of the Philippines. The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao was created there after a 2019 plebiscite under the Bangsamoro Organic Law.
✗ 4. Oromia is a region of Ethiopia; UN experts wrote about protests in the Oromia region of Ethiopia in 2015-16. It is not in Nigeria.

Remember · Catalonia: Spain. Crimea: Ukraine (annexed by Russia in 2014, not recognised by the UN General Assembly). Mindanao: Philippines. Oromia: Ethiopia.

Sources

UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR): UN independent expert urges Spanish Government to reverse decision on Catalan autonomy (25 October 2017) ↗ · reference work “following the announcement that the Spanish Government would suspend the region’s autonomy. On 19 October, the Spanish Government announced its intention to impose direct rule on the region”
General Assembly Adopts Resolution Calling upon States Not to Recognize Changes in Status of Crimea Region (UN Meetings Coverage, 27 March 2014; Internet Archive copy) ↗ “the Assembly adopted a resolution titled “Territorial integrity of Ukraine”, calling on States, international organizations and specialized agencies not to recognize any change in the status of Crimea or the Black Sea port city of Sevastopol”
BARMM: Three years of fulfilling the aspirations of the Bangsamoro people (Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity, Government of the Philippines) ↗ “The ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) through the plebiscite held in 2019 paved the way for the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM)”
UN experts urge Ethiopia to halt violent crackdown on Oromia protesters, ensure accountability for abuses (UN Human Rights Office, OHCHR, 21 January 2016) ↗ · reference work “The ‘Master Plan’ could reportedly lead to mass evictions and the seizure of agricultural land in the Oromia region, as well as extensive deforestation.”

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2018 · Q18

Prelims 2018 · Q90

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