Andes mountains pass through how many of the above countries?
Answer & explanation▾
Answer: (c) Only four
The Andes run along South America's western side through seven countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. From the list, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela lie on the chain; Brazil and Paraguay lie wholly to the east.
✓IBolivia is one of the countries with large portions of the Tropical Andes.
✗IIBrazil is not one of the Andean countries; it lies east of the chain, in the Amazon basin and the Brazilian Highlands.
✓IIIColombia includes large portions of the Tropical Andes; the northern Andes split into several ranges (cordilleras) there.
✓IVEcuador includes large portions of the Tropical Andes; its Andean cordilleras carry volcanoes such as Chimborazo and Cotopaxi.
✗VParaguay is a landlocked lowland country of the Paraná–Paraguay basin and the Gran Chaco, with no Andean ranges.
✓VIThe Andes hotspot extends from western Venezuela, where the northernmost Andes (the Venezuelan or Caribbean cordillera) lie.
Remember · Andes countries (7), north to south: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina. Not Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay or the Guianas.
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2025, Series A) —
paper ↗ · answer key ↗.
Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·
UPSC's key is none. Tonlé Sap, in Cambodia, lies at about 12.8°N (UNESCO). Lake Tanganyika lies along the borders of Tanzania, the DRC, Burundi and Zambia, and Burundi, one of its shore countries, lies south of the equator. Patos Lagoon is in Rio Grande do Sul, in the extreme south-east of Brazil.
✗ILake Tanganyika occupies the southern end of the Western Rift Valley, with ports at Bujumbura in Burundi, Kalemie in the DRC, Mpulungu in Zambia, and Ujiji and Kigoma in Tanzania. UPSC's official key treats the equator as not passing through it; we could not confirm its latitude from an official source, so we do not explain it here.
✗IIUNESCO gives Tonlé Sap's latitude as 12.8135 (north), in Cambodia.
✗IIIPatos Lagoon lies in Rio Grande do Sul, in the extreme south-east of Brazil; it is the largest lagoon in Brazil. UPSC's official key treats the equator as not passing through it.
Remember · Tonlé Sap ≈ 12.8°N (Cambodia). Lake Tanganyika: rift lake on the Tanzania, DRC, Burundi and Zambia borders. Patos Lagoon: Rio Grande do Sul, extreme south-east Brazil.
Encyclopaedia Britannica: Lake Tanganyika ↗ · reference work“forms the boundary between Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and part of the boundary between Burundi and the DRC as well as part of the boundary between Tanzania and Zambia . … Important ports situated along Lake Tanganyika are Bujumbura in Burundi, Kalemie in the DRC, Mpulungu in Zambia, and Ujiji and Kigoma in Tanzania.”
Encyclopaedia Britannica: Patos Lagoon ↗ · reference work“Patos Lagoon , shallow lagoon in Rio Grande do Sul estado (state), extreme southeastern Brazil . It is the largest lagoon in Brazil and the second largest in South America .”
How many of the above countries have more than four time zones?
Answer & explanation▾
Answer: (b) Only four
UPSC's official answer: (b) · the answer UPSC accepted, and the one that counts in the exam
Also defensible: (c)
Brazil is the clear exclusion: its legal time uses exactly four zones, 'UTC - 5 hours UTC - 4 hours UTC - 3 hours UTC - 2 hours', so it does not have more than four.
UPSC's (b) counts the other four with their overseas territories: the United Kingdom's Overseas Territories span 'nine time zones'; Australia has three mainland zones plus Norfolk Island (UTC+11), Christmas Island (UTC+7) and the Cocos Islands (UTC+6:30); New Zealand has its mainland, the Chatham Islands '45 minutes ahead', Tokelau, and the Cook Islands and Niue; Denmark has its mainland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland's three zones.
Counted strictly by distinct standard offsets, Denmark falls short: UTC+1 (Denmark), UTC+0 (shared by the Faroe Islands and Danmarkshavn), UTC-2 (most of Greenland since 2023) and UTC-4 (Pituffik) make four, not more. That leaves the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand: three, option (c).
New Zealand's own count depends on the Cook Islands and Niue, each 'a self-governing state in free association with New Zealand' rather than part of it; without them New Zealand has UTC+12, UTC+12:45 and Tokelau's UTC+13, and only two countries remain (d). The item turns on the counting convention.
UPSC's key is (b), on the usual tally that counts overseas territories and associated states; by distinct standard offsets Denmark has four and New Zealand three, which gives (c) or even (d). In the exam, use the common tally with territories, as UPSC does.
This box is Minimalist IAS's analysis, with its sources; it does not change UPSC's answer.
Counted with overseas territories and associated states, as the usual tally does, four of the five countries have more than four time zones: the United Kingdom (its Overseas Territories span nine zones), Australia (three mainland zones plus Norfolk, Christmas and Cocos Islands at the least), New Zealand (mainland, the Chatham Islands, Tokelau, and the associated Cook Islands and Niue) and Denmark (mainland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland's three zones). Brazil's legal time uses exactly four zones, UTC-5 to UTC-2, so it does not exceed four: (b).
✓IThe House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee notes that the British Overseas Territories are spread across nine time zones, so the United Kingdom exceeds four zones once its territories are counted.
✓IIDenmark's count is mainland Denmark (UTC+1), the Faroe Islands (Greenwich Mean Time in winter) and Greenland, which is divided into three time zones (UTC-4 at Pituffik, UTC-2 for most of the island, UTC+0 at Danmarkshavn): five zones by the usual tally.
✓IIINew Zealand's count is New Zealand Standard Time (UTC+12), Chatham Island Standard Time, 45 minutes ahead of it, the territory of Tokelau (UTC+13) and the associated states of the Cook Islands (UTC-10) and Niue (UTC-11): five by the usual tally.
✓IVThe Australian Government's own table lists three mainland zones plus Norfolk Island (UTC+11), Christmas Island (UTC+7) and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands (UTC+6:30), six in all.
✗VBrazil's official legal time uses exactly four zones, UTC-5, UTC-4, UTC-3 and UTC-2, so it does not have more than four.
Remember · Count time zones with overseas territories: UK (nine), Australia (at least six), New Zealand (five) and Denmark (five) exceed four; Brazil has exactly four (UTC-5 to UTC-2).
I.Anadyr in Siberia and Nome in Alaska are a few kilometers from each other, but when people are waking up and getting set for breakfast in these cities, it would be different days.
II.When it is Monday in Anadyr, it is Tuesday in Nome.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer & explanation▾
Answer: (a) I only
Siberia lies just west of the International Date Line and Alaska just east of it, so Anadyr and Nome are on different calendar days. Going eastward across the line you subtract a day, so Monday in Anadyr is Sunday in Nome, not Tuesday.
✓IThe two cities lie on opposite sides of the International Date Line (about 180° longitude), so at the same moment their calendar dates differ; morning in Anadyr is still the previous day in Nome.
✗IIMoving from Siberia to Alaska is a crossing towards the east, where you subtract a day (Monday becomes Sunday). Nome is therefore a day behind Anadyr, never a day ahead.
Remember · Crossing the International Date Line travelling eastward, subtract a day; travelling westward, add a day.
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2025, Series A) —
paper ↗ · answer key ↗.
Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·
In how many of the above rows is the given information correctly matched?
Answer & explanation▾
Answer: (d) None
None of the rows is correct, because each region is paired with the wrong country. Mallorca belongs to Spain, Normandy to France and Sardinia to Italy.
✗IMallorca is the largest of the Balearic Islands and belongs to Spain, not Italy; UNESCO lists its Serra de Tramuntana landscape as a Spanish site.
✗IINormandy is a region of northern France; NCERT calls it the French province whose duke conquered England in the eleventh century. It is not part of Spain.
✗IIISardinia is a large Mediterranean island belonging to Italy, not France; UNESCO lists Su Nuraxi di Barumini in Sardinia as an Italian site.
Remember · Mallorca is Spanish, Normandy is French and Sardinia is Italian.
NCERT Class 11 · Themes in World History, Chapter 4“Across a narrow channel lay the island of England–Scotland, which in the eleventh century was conquered by a duke from the French province of Normandy.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2025, Series A) —
paper ↗ · answer key ↗.
Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·