In this guide
World geography questions in CDS are nearly always matching questions: grassland to continent, city to river, strait to the waters it joins, boundary line to countries. That makes them the easiest geography marks to secure, provided you learn with a map rather than from a list. A strait is much easier to remember once you have seen that Hormuz sits at the mouth of the Persian Gulf and Bab-el-Mandeb at the mouth of the Red Sea.
Strategic waterways also matter to a defence officer. The Strait of Hormuz, Bab-el-Mandeb and the Strait of Malacca are the chokepoints through which much of India's trade and energy imports pass.
Continents, peaks and superlatives
| Continent | Highest peak |
|---|---|
| Asia | Mount Everest (8,849 m, per the 2020 China–Nepal measurement), Nepal–China |
| South America | Aconcagua (Argentina, in the Andes) |
| North America | Denali (Alaska, USA) |
| Africa | Kilimanjaro (Tanzania; a volcanic mountain) |
| Europe | Elbrus (Russia, in the Caucasus); Mont Blanc is the highest in the Alps |
| Antarctica | Vinson Massif |
| Australia (mainland) | Mount Kosciuszko |
| Superlative | Answer |
|---|---|
| Largest ocean, and deepest | Pacific; the Mariana Trench is about 11 km deep |
| Largest continent / smallest | Asia / Australia |
| Largest country by area | Russia (Canada second) |
| Most populous country | India, which passed China in 2023 by UN estimates |
| Largest island | Greenland |
| Longest river | The Nile is usually listed; the Amazon carries by far the most water |
| Longest mountain range on land | Andes |
| Largest lake by area | Caspian Sea (saline) |
| Largest freshwater lake by area | Lake Superior |
| Deepest lake | Lake Baikal, Siberia |
| Lowest point on land | Shore of the Dead Sea |
| Highest waterfall | Angel Falls, Venezuela |
| Largest hot desert | Sahara (Antarctica is the largest desert overall) |
Grasslands
| Name | Region | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Prairies | North America | Temperate |
| Pampas | Argentina, Uruguay | Temperate |
| Steppes | Eurasia (Ukraine to Central Asia) | Temperate |
| Veld | South Africa | Temperate |
| Downs | Australia | Temperate |
| Canterbury | New Zealand | Temperate |
| Puszta | Hungary | Temperate |
| Savanna | Africa | Tropical |
| Llanos | Venezuela, Colombia (Orinoco basin) | Tropical |
| Campos | Brazil | Tropical |
Deserts
| Desert | Where | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Sahara | North Africa | Largest hot desert |
| Arabian | Arabian Peninsula | Includes the Rub' al Khali (Empty Quarter) |
| Kalahari | Botswana and neighbours | Interior; home of the San people |
| Namib | Coast of Namibia | Coastal desert beside the cold Benguela current |
| Atacama | Northern Chile | Among the driest places on earth; cold Humboldt current |
| Gobi | Mongolia and China | Cold desert |
| Taklamakan | Xinjiang, China | Cold desert |
| Thar | India and Pakistan | Also called the Great Indian Desert |
| Great Victoria | Australia | Largest of Australia's deserts |
| Patagonian | Argentina | Rain-shadow desert east of the Andes |
The pattern behind most hot deserts: they lie around 20–30° latitude under the subtropical high-pressure belt, often on the western sides of continents beside cold currents. Rain-shadow deserts, like Patagonia, sit behind high mountains.
Rivers and cities
| City | River |
|---|---|
| London | Thames |
| Paris | Seine |
| Rome | Tiber |
| Berlin | Spree |
| Warsaw | Vistula |
| Moscow | Moskva |
| Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade | Danube |
| Cairo | Nile |
| Khartoum | Where the Blue Nile and White Nile meet |
| Baghdad | Tigris |
| Bangkok | Chao Phraya |
| Shanghai | Near the mouth of the Yangtze |
| New York | Hudson |
| Washington, D.C. | Potomac |
| Montreal | St Lawrence |
Straits and canals
| Strait | Between (land) | Joins (water) |
|---|---|---|
| Palk | India and Sri Lanka | Palk Bay and the Bay of Bengal |
| Malacca | Malay Peninsula and Sumatra | Andaman Sea and South China Sea |
| Sunda | Java and Sumatra | Java Sea and Indian Ocean |
| Hormuz | Iran and Oman | Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman |
| Bab-el-Mandeb | Yemen and Djibouti | Red Sea and Gulf of Aden |
| Bosphorus | European and Asian Turkey (Istanbul) | Black Sea and Sea of Marmara |
| Dardanelles | European and Asian Turkey | Sea of Marmara and Aegean Sea |
| Gibraltar | Spain and Morocco | Atlantic and Mediterranean |
| Dover | England and France | English Channel and North Sea |
| Bering | Russia and Alaska | Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea (Pacific) |
| Bass | Mainland Australia and Tasmania | Tasman Sea and Indian Ocean |
| Mozambique Channel | Mozambique and Madagascar | Within the Indian Ocean |
| Canal | Country | Joins | Opened |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suez | Egypt | Mediterranean and Red Sea | 1869 |
| Panama | Panama | Atlantic and Pacific | 1914 |
| Kiel | Germany | North Sea and Baltic Sea | 1895 |
Boundary lines
| Line | Between | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Durand Line | Afghanistan and Pakistan | 1893, British India and Afghanistan |
| McMahon Line | India and China (eastern sector) | Simla Convention, 1914; China does not accept it |
| Radcliffe Line | India and Pakistan (and then East Pakistan) | 1947 |
| 38th parallel | North and South Korea | 1945 division; today's line follows the 1953 armistice |
| 49th parallel | USA and Canada | Western part of the border |
| 17th parallel | North and South Vietnam | 1954, until reunification in 1975 |
| Oder–Neisse Line | Germany and Poland | After World War II |
The Maginot Line and the Siegfried Line were defensive fortifications of France and Germany respectively, not boundaries. Options sometimes slip them in among boundary lines.
Peoples of the world
| People | Region |
|---|---|
| Inuit | Arctic: Canada, Greenland, Alaska |
| Sami | Northern Scandinavia |
| Bedouin | Deserts of Arabia and North Africa |
| San (Bushmen) | Kalahari |
| Maasai | Kenya and Tanzania |
| Pygmy peoples | Congo basin rainforest |
| Maori | New Zealand |
| Aboriginal peoples | Australia |
Practice MCQs
- The Pampas are the grasslands of (a) Australia (b) South Africa (c) Argentina (d) Hungary
- Which desert lies on a coast beside the Benguela current? (a) Kalahari (b) Gobi (c) Sahara (d) Namib
- Baghdad stands on the (a) Tigris (b) Euphrates (c) Jordan (d) Nile
- Which strait joins the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman? (a) Bab-el-Mandeb (b) Hormuz (c) Malacca (d) Bosphorus
- The Kiel Canal joins the North Sea to the (a) Baltic Sea (b) Mediterranean (c) Black Sea (d) Caspian Sea
- The Durand Line separates (a) India and China (b) Pakistan and Iran (c) India and Pakistan (d) Afghanistan and Pakistan
- Victoria Falls is on the (a) Nile (b) Congo (c) Zambezi (d) Limpopo
- The deepest lake in the world is (a) Caspian Sea (b) Baikal (c) Superior (d) Victoria
- The Llanos are tropical grasslands of (a) Brazil (b) Australia (c) Kenya (d) Venezuela and Colombia
- The Maasai people live mainly in (a) Botswana (b) Congo (c) Kenya and Tanzania (d) Ethiopia
Answers:
- (c) Argentina (and Uruguay).
- (d) The Namib; the Kalahari is inland.
- (a) The Tigris.
- (b) Hormuz, between Iran and Oman.
- (a) The Baltic, across northern Germany.
- (d) Drawn in 1893.
- (c) The Zambezi, on the Zambia–Zimbabwe border.
- (b) Lake Baikal in Siberia.
- (d) In the Orinoco basin; Brazil's are the Campos.
- (c) Kenya and Tanzania.
Revise this
The reasons behind deserts, currents and winds are in physical geography. For quick facts across all GK blocks, use the static GK sheet.
- I can name the highest peak of each continent.
- I can recite the superlatives table without looking.
- I can match ten grasslands to regions and tell tropical from temperate.
- I can place ten deserts and explain why the Namib and Atacama are dry.
- I can match fifteen cities to their rivers.
- I can place twelve straits and three canals on a blank world map.
- I know seven boundary lines and which "lines" are not boundaries.
A note on dates and numbers. Exam patterns, vacancies and schedules change from year to year. Always confirm the current details in the latest notification on the Union Public Service Commission website .
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