UPSC 2025 Geography Questions with Answers

Explanation

United Kingdom: The UK (including its overseas territories) has a substantial number of time zones. Sources indicate the UK has 9 time zones, ranging from UTC-8 (Pitcairn Islands) to UTC+6 (British Indian Ocean Territory), plus its own GMT/BST. Denmark: Denmark, primarily due to Greenland and the Faroe Islands, has multiple time zones. Sources indicate Denmark (including its constituent countries) has 5 time zones, ranging from UTC-4 (parts of Greenland) to UTC+1 (mainland Denmark). New Zealand: New Zealand’s main islands use one time zone (NZST/NZDT), but its associated states and dependencies spread across different longitudes. Sources indicate New Zealand (including its territories like the Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau, and Chatham Islands) has 5 time zones, ranging from UTC-11 (Niue) to UTC+13 (Tokelau, main islands with DST). Australia: Australia, a large continent, has several time zones on its mainland an d additional ones for its external territories. Sources indicate Australia (including its mainland and external territories like Heard and McDonald Islands, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Christmas Island, Norfolk Island, Lord Howe Island) has 9 time zones, ranging from UTC+5 to UTC+11 or UTC+12 with DST. Brazil: Brazil is a large country but has fewer time zones than the others on this list with significant overseas territories. Brazil has 4 time zones, ranging from UTC-5 (Acre Time) to UTC-2 (Fernando de Noronha Time). This is not more than four.

Explanation

Statement 1 is correct: Anadyr in Siberia (Russia) and Nome in Alaska are geographically close, separated by the Bering Strait and the International Date Line (IDL). Because of the IDL, even though the two cities are near each other, they fall on different calendar days. So, when people are waking up for breakfast in these cities, it would indeed be different days.

Statement 2 is incorrect: When it is Monday in Anadyr, it is actually Sunday in Nome, not Tuesday. Anadyr is ahead of Nome by about 21 hours due to its position relative to the International Date Line. So the claim that it would be Tuesday in Nome when it’s Monday in Anadyr is wrong -- it’s still the previous day in Nome.

Explanation

Pair 1 is Correct: Botswana is one of the world’s largest producers of diamonds. The diamond industry is a major contributor to the country’s GDP and has played a central role in its economic growth since the 1970s.

Pair 2 is Correct: Chile is one of the top producers of lithium globally, particularly from its salt flats (like Salar de Atacama). It’s part of the famous "Lithium Triangle" along with Argentina and Bolivia.

Pair 3 is Correct: Indonesia is the world’s largest producer of nickel, a key metal for stainless steel production and increasingly important for electric vehicle battery manufacturing. The country has significant reserves and has implemented policies to control and benefit from its nickel resources.

Explanation

Pair I is Incorrect: Mallorca (also spelled Majorca) is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are an autonomous community of Spain located in the western Mediterranean Sea. Despite its Mediterranean location, it is not part of Italy.

Pair II is Incorrect: Normandy is a historic and cultural region in northern France, famous for the D-Day landings during World War II. It lies along the English Channel and has no association with Spain.

Pair III is Incorrect: Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily) and is an autonomous region of Italy. Though it is located relatively close to French territory (like Corsica), it is not part of France. v v v