World: places, rivers & mapping

Answer: (b) Lake Faguibine

Lake Faguibine, near Timbuktu in northern Mali, was fed by overflow from the Niger. Droughts in the 1970s dried it, and sand then choked the channels from the river, so even when rains returned the water could not reach it; the lake bed has largely turned to desert.

• ✓ (b) UNEP reports that Lake Faguibine has been dry since the 1970s: droughts emptied the lake system and sand-filled channels cut it off from the Niger's floods.
• ✗ (a) Lake Victoria is in East Africa (shared by Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania), not West Africa, and it has not dried up.
• ✗ (d) Lake Volta in Ghana is a large artificial reservoir behind the Akosombo Dam and still holds water for hydropower; Lake Oguta in Nigeria is also a living lake.

Remember · Lake Faguibine (Mali, near Timbuktu): Niger-fed lake system dried since the 1970s droughts — a Sahel symbol of desertification; UNEP has worked on reviving it.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

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).

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). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 3, 4 and 5 only

Afghanistan's northern neighbours are three Central Asian republics — Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan — along with Iran to the west, Pakistan to the east and south, and China at the tip of the Wakhan Corridor. Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan do not touch it.

• ✗ 1. Azerbaijan lies in the South Caucasus on the western shore of the Caspian Sea, with Iran and Turkmenistan's sea front between it and Afghanistan.
• ✗ 2. Kyrgyzstan lies north of Tajikistan; the narrow Wakhan Corridor keeps Afghanistan from reaching it.
• ✓ 3. Tajikistan shares Afghanistan's long north-eastern border, much of it along the Amu Darya (Panj) river.
• ✓ 4. Turkmenistan borders Afghanistan in the north-west.
• ✓ 5. Uzbekistan has a short border with Afghanistan along the Amu Darya, near Termez.

Remember · Afghanistan's six neighbours: Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and China (via the Wakhan Corridor). India also claims a border through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 1, 3 and 4

Statements 1, 3 and 4 are correct. Vietnam's growth has been rapid and export-led, but it is a one-party state led by the Communist Party, not a multi-party system, and its strength lies in manufacturing rather than services.

• ✓ 1. The World Bank describes four decades of rapid growth in Viet Nam since the Doi Moi reforms of 1986.
• ✗ 2. Article 4 of Vietnam's Constitution makes the Communist Party of Vietnam the force leading the State and society; it is a one-party system.
• ✓ 3. Growth was amplified by strategic integration into global trade and investment flows, as the World Bank notes.
• ✓ 4. The OECD lists competitive labour costs (with proximity, trade agreements and infrastructure) among the reasons manufacturers relocate to Viet Nam. UPSC's official key counts the statement as correct; we could not confirm the exchange-rate detail from an official source, so we do not explain it here.
• ✗ 5. UPSC's key treats this as incorrect. Vietnam's growth story is built on manufacturing exports; nothing in the sources supports a claim of regional leadership in e-services.

Remember · Vietnam: Doi Moi (1986), export-led growth in global supply chains, one-party Communist state.

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). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 2 and 3

Bidibidi is in Uganda, not Kenya, so statement 1 is wrong. Statements 2 and 3 are right: Bidibidi shelters refugees from South Sudan's conflict, and Kenya's Dadaab complex was set up for refugees escaping the civil war in Somalia.

• ✗ 1. Bidibidi settlement lies in Uganda's Yumbe district, in the north of that country. It was opened in August 2016 and was described as the largest refugee settlement in the world by December 2016.
• ✓ 2. It was opened to house part of the flow of South Sudanese refugees who crossed into northern Uganda after the conflict spread to South Sudan's Equatoria region.
• ✓ 3. Dadaab, in Kenya, was established in 1991 when refugees fleeing the civil war in Somalia began crossing the border, with a large second influx in 2011.

Remember · Bidibidi = northern Uganda (South Sudanese refugees). Dadaab = Kenya (refugees from Somalia's civil war). Do not swap the countries.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) China and Japan engage in maritime disputes over these islands in East China Sea.

The Senkaku Islands are a group of small uninhabited islands in the East China Sea that Japan administers and China (and Taiwan) also claim, so China and Japan are in a maritime dispute over them. The other options describe things that have no basis: they are natural islands, not in the South China Sea, and no US base or ICJ ruling is involved.

• ✓ (b) Japan administers the islands, which it places under Ishigaki City, Okinawa. China and Taiwan press their own claims, which they began asserting around 1970-71 after a UN-linked survey pointed to possible oil under the seabed.
• ✗ (a) They are natural islands and rocks in the East China Sea, not artificial islands and not in the South China Sea.
• ✗ (c) The islands are uninhabited and no permanent American base has been set up on them to help Taiwan.
• ✗ (d) The International Court of Justice has not ruled on them, and the claimants are Japan, China and Taiwan, not South-East Asian countries.

Remember · Senkaku (Japanese name) or Diaoyu (Chinese name) islands: East China Sea, administered by Japan, claimed by China and Taiwan.

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). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) Only three pairs

Pairs 2, 3 and 4 are correct and pair 1 is wrong, so three pairs match. Guinea's army seized power in September 2021, Lebanon is in its worst economic collapse, and Tunisia's President suspended Parliament in July 2021. China's overseas base is in Djibouti, not Chad.

• ✗ 1. China's overseas military base is in Djibouti. A 2021 US Defense Department report says China was only pursuing further facilities and does not name Chad among the countries it likely considered.
• ✓ 2. After the army's takeover of 5 September 2021, the junta suspended Guinea's constitution and dissolved the institutions of government.
• ✓ 3. Since 2019 Lebanon has faced the most severe economic and financial collapse in its history, with a banking system left insolvent.
• ✓ 4. The UN human rights office records that on 25 July 2021 the Tunisian President suspended Parliament and assumed all executive functions, so the pair matches.

Remember · 2021 in the news: Guinea military coup (Sept), Tunisia's President suspends Parliament (July), Lebanon's economic collapse. China's overseas military base: Djibouti.

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). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) Only two pairs

Only pairs 1 and 2 are correct: Anatolia is the region of modern-day Turkey and Amhara is a region of Ethiopia. Cabo Delgado is a province of Mozambique and Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain.

• ✓ 1. Anatolia is the region that forms modern-day Turkey; NCERT places the Hittite empire in 'Anatolia (modern-day Turkey)'.
• ✓ 2. Amhara is one of Ethiopia's regions, listed by the UN among those hit by conflict and displacement.
• ✗ 3. Cabo Delgado is a northern province of Mozambique, where conflict has displaced many people. It is not in Spain.
• ✗ 4. Catalonia is an autonomous community within Spain: its Statute of Autonomy speaks of a State that respects 'the peoples of Spain'. It is not part of Italy.

Remember · Anatolia = Turkey; Amhara = Ethiopia; Cabo Delgado = northern Mozambique; Catalonia = Spain.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 9 Understanding Society: India and Beyond, Ch 4 (practise this chapter)

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). Permalink · Report an error