World: places, rivers & mapping

Answer: (c) the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo dominates cobalt mining, supplying roughly 70 per cent or more of the world's mined cobalt, most of it from its copper-cobalt belt in the south-east. Much of this is refined in China and used in rechargeable batteries.

• ✓ (c) The US Geological Survey reported that Congo (Kinshasa) remained the world's leading source of mined cobalt in 2022, with about 70% of world mine production.
• ✗ (a) Argentina is known for lithium brines, another battery mineral, not cobalt.
• ✗ (d) Kazakhstan is the world's largest uranium producer; it is not a major cobalt source.

Remember · Cobalt: DR Congo mines about 70–75% of world output, mostly as a by-product of copper; China leads in refining and battery use.

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). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) Cameroon

South-eastern Cameroon lies in the Congo Basin rainforest: its Dja Faunal Reserve and Lobéké National Park are part of the basin's dense forests. Nigeria drains mainly to the Niger, while South Sudan and Uganda lie in the Nile basin.

• ✓ (a) Cameroon shares the north-western Congo Basin with the Central African Republic and the Republic of Congo; UNESCO sites such as Sangha Trinational and the Dja Faunal Reserve lie in its forests.
• ✗ (b) Nigeria's main river system is the Niger and its tributary the Benue, which flow to the Gulf of Guinea, not the Congo.
• ✗ (d) Uganda, like South Sudan, drains into the White Nile system through Lake Victoria and Lake Albert, so it belongs to the Nile basin.

Remember · Congo Basin countries: DR Congo, Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea. Uganda and South Sudan: Nile basin; Nigeria: Niger basin.

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). Permalink · Report an error

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.

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). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) Somalia

Somalia, in the Horn of Africa, is the country that fits: years of conflict plus a prolonged drought pushed it to the edge of famine in 2022, and UN agencies issued repeated famine warnings.

• ✓ (d) In April 2022 the UN agencies FAO, OCHA, UNICEF and WFP warned that millions of Somalis were at risk of sliding into famine because of prolonged drought, and WFP describes the country as facing protracted conflict, drought and displacement.
• ✗ (a) Angola is in southern Africa. It was not the subject of the UN famine warnings that made Somalia the news in 2022.
• ✗ (b) Costa Rica (Central America) and Ecuador (South America) had no comparable civil strife or famine warning, so options (b) and (c) are easily ruled out.

Remember · Somalia (Horn of Africa): protracted conflict plus a prolonged drought led UN agencies to warn of famine in 2022.

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). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) None

None of the pairs is correct; each region has been paired with the wrong conflict. North Kivu and Ituri are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nagorno-Karabakh is at the centre of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia are regions of Ukraine occupied by Russia.

• ✗ 1. North Kivu and Ituri are provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where armed attacks and clashes between armed groups (including M23) and the army have displaced millions. The Armenia-Azerbaijan war is a different conflict.
• ✗ 2. Nagorno-Karabakh is the region at the heart of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict; the UN Security Council has discussed the Lachin Corridor linking it with Armenia. The Mozambique insurgency is unrelated.
• ✗ 3. Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, with Donetsk and Luhansk, are Ukrainian regions that the UN General Assembly said are temporarily occupied by Russia. They have nothing to do with an Israel-Lebanon dispute.

Remember · North Kivu and Ituri: DR Congo. Nagorno-Karabakh: Armenia-Azerbaijan. Kherson and Zaporizhzhia: Ukraine, occupied by Russia.

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). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) None

None of the pairs is correct: Donbas is in Ukraine, Kachin is in Myanmar and Tigray is in Ethiopia. Each conflict zone has been attached to the wrong country.

• ✗ 1. Donbas is the coal-and-industry region of eastern Ukraine made up of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where fighting has displaced people since 2014. It has nothing to do with Syria.
• ✗ 2. Kachin is a state in northern Myanmar, on the border with China. Fighting between government troops and Kachin rebels (the Kachin Independence Organization) has displaced tens of thousands there. It is not in Ethiopia.
• ✗ 3. Tigray is a region in northern Ethiopia, the centre of the northern Ethiopia conflict that began in November 2020. It has no link with North Yemen.

Remember · Donbas: Ukraine. Kachin: Myanmar. Tigray: Ethiopia. Place every conflict zone in its own country before matching.

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). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) Successful coups

All four countries saw armed forces seize power in 2020-21: Mali in 2020 and again in May 2021, Chad in April 2021, Guinea in September 2021 and Sudan in October 2021. The UN itself described these as a wave of takeovers across the Sahel and West Africa.

• ✓ (d) Military takeovers happened in Mali, Chad, Guinea and Sudan between 2020 and 2021. This is the one feature common to all four; the UN linked them together while reacting to another coup in Burkina Faso in January 2022.
• ✗ (a) None of these events was about a rare-earth discovery. The four countries are in the news for political instability, not for a shared mineral find.
• ✗ (b) No shared story of Chinese military bases links the four countries.
• ✗ (c) Desertification of the Sahel is a regional concern, but it does not apply to all four: Guinea is a humid Atlantic-coast country, far from the Sahara, and the option does not describe why they were in the news.

Remember · Mali (2020, 2021), Chad (2021), Guinea (2021), Sudan (2021) and later Burkina Faso (2022) all saw military seizures of power; the common thread is coups.

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). Permalink · Report an error