Important locations in

news

For IAS prelims 2019

 polar silk road

• China recently announced its official Arctic policy to the

world. It self-identified as a "Near-Arctic State" and wants
to be included in economic benefits from the Arctic region.
• China wants to tie the Arctic to its Belt and Road Initiative,
encouraging joint efforts with its partners to construct a
"Polar Silk Road" or "blue economic passage" that would
link China and Europe through the Arctic Ocean.
• The Polar Silk Route seeks to make use of the Northern Sea
Route in collaboration with Russia.
Northern Sea Route:
• Northern Sea Route is a shipping route officially defined by
Russian legislation specifically running along the Russian
Arctic coast from the Kara Sea, along Siberia, to the Bering
Strait.
• It links the Atlantic and Pacific regions along Russia's coast
and lies within Russia's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)
• Northwest Passage (abbreviated as NWP) >>>is the
sea route to the Pacific Ocean through the Arctic Ocean, along
the northern coast of North America via waterways through
the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.
 Bering sea

Barent sea Laptev sea

Kara sea
East siberain sea

Sea of okhotsk
China–Pakistan Economic
Corridor
• CPEC is a joint project
between Pakistan and
China involving a
network of highways,
railways and oil and gas
pipelines and fiber optic
cables from China to
Pakistani coast.
• The CPEC is part of
China’s ‘One Belt, One
Road’ initiative’
On December 16, Mount Soputan in Indonesia
erupted twice.
Red sea
• News>RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on dec 12 ,2018 reached an
agreement to establish an entity of cooperation with six
countries bordering the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, a
strategic area vital to global shipping.
• 1>Red sea>Eastern shore: Saudi Arabia. Yemen.
• Western shore: Egypt. Sudan. Eritrea. Djibouti.
• To the north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba
and the Gulf of Suez (leading to the Red sea is connected
to Mediterranean Sea via Suez Canal.
 Red Sea's name is
that it contains a
cyanobacteria called
Trichodesmium
erythraeum, which
turns the normally
blue-green water a
reddish-brown.
strait
 Nile River
• major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa, and is the
longest river in the world.
• Drain into >mediterranean sea
• Passes through> Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea,
South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt.
• three main tributaries >are the1> White Nile<lake victoria>,
the 2>Blue Nile<ethiopia>, and the 3>Atbara<ethiopia>.
• Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is a gravity dam on the
Blue Nile River in Ethiopia which once completed will be the
largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa.
Lake Victoria
• , is the largest lake in
Africa and chief
reservoir of the Nile,
lying mainly in
Tanzania and
Uganda but
bordering on Kenya.
Media reports have speculated that the drying of the
Rhine could be due to climate change.
• Begin>Swiss Alps
• End>North Sea
• Country it flows>- Switzerland, Principality of
Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, France and the
Netherlands
• Major cities along bank>Rotterdam (Netherlands),
Bonn (Germany), Basel (Switzerland) etc
Liechtenstein
Central Asia
 astana
dushanbi

tashkent

ashgabat
bishkek
About 60 percent of the region
consists of desert land.

The principal deserts being the

Karakum, occupying most of
Turkmenistan and the Kyzylkum,
covering much of western
Uzbekistan.
• Important water bodies in the region
• Major bodies of water include the Aral Sea
(Between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan) and Lake
Balkhash (Kazakhstan).
• Both of these bodies of water have shrunk
significantly in recent decades due to diversion of
water from rivers that feed them for irrigation and
industrial purposes.
 Caspian sea

Neighbouring
countries>Azerbaijan, Ir
an, Kazakhstan, Russia,
Turkmenistan
Afghanistan- Map Study

Pakistan (longest
boundary), India (through
PoK), Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, Iran, China
(shortest border) and
Uzbekistan.
• Durand Line?> 2,430-kilometre international border
between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
• The Wakhan Corridor is a narrow strip of
territory in Afghanistan, that extends to China and
separates Tajikistan from Pakistan.

• Important provinces of Afghanistan> Kabul, Herat,

Kandahar, Helmand, Bamiyan etc
Zaranj-Delaram highway and Garland Highway

• India has financed

Zaranj-Delaram Highway
in Afghanistan, which
connects the Garland
Highway, linked to all
Afghan cities, to
Chabahar port in Iran
and provides
Afghanistan stable
access to regional
markets.
Middle east

Which Countries Border

Qatar?

only land border

with Saudi
Arabia.
Bahrain and strait of
hormuz
 ANKARA

damascus
muscut
Amman

bagdad

riyad

sana BEIRUT>LEBNON
 SOME IMPORTANT CITIES IN MIDDLE EAST
Syria>palmayra,
IRAQ>tikrit,mo aleppo,raqqah,i
sul
dbil
,bagdad,kirkuk,
fallujah
Arab coalition troops
recently stormed the airport
in Yemen’s main port
Hodeidah and captured
large areas of the compound
in battles with Iran-aligned
Houthis.
Sea of Azov
• Sea of Azov has been in news recently in the context of
tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
• Ukraine is accusing Russia of controlling the Kerch Strait
and and preventing Ukraninan ships from reaching the
Ukrainian port of Mariupol whereas Russia is alarmed by
Ukraine’s plans to build a naval base at Berdyansk on the
Sea of Azov
• linked by the narrow Strait of Kerch to the Black Sea
• Kerch strait is the waterway between mainland Russia
and Crimea
Korean Peninsula It is surrounded by the Sea of
Japan (East Sea) to the east and
the Yellow Sea (West Sea) to
the west.

Neighboring countries of North

Korea are: South Korea, China
and Russia

38th parallel, popular name given

to latitude 38°N that in East Asia
roughly demarcates North Korea
and South Korea.
 Assumption island
• India and Seychelles recently
agreed to develop a naval base at
Assumption Island.
• It is a small island in the outer
Islands of Seychelles, located north
of Madagascar.
• It has a very small population of
about 20 people
• A coast surveillance radar system
built by support from India became
operational in 2016 in the
Assumption Island
Kalapani
• territory disputed between
India and Nepal, however
administrated as part of
Pithoragarh district in the
Uttarakhand.
• Although claimed by Nepal
as part of Darchula
District, Kalapani is
controlled by India's Indo-
Tibetan border security
forces since the 1962
border war with China.
Fuego Volcano
• On 3 June 2018,
the volcano
suddenly
produced its
most powerful
eruption since
1974.
• Guatemala
(Central
America)
Barren Island, one of the
most easterly of the
Andaman Islands, is the
only confirmed active
volcano in India
India’s heaviest communication satellite GSAT-11 launched
successfully from French Guiana
• It is an overseas department
and region of France, on the
north Atlantic coast of South
America.
• It borders Brazil to the east
and south and Suriname to
the west.
• Guiana is a part of the
European Union, and its
official currency is the euro.
 Malawi
• Union Cabinet has approved
the signing and ratification
of the Extradition Treaty
between India and Malawi.

• The treaty would provide a

legal framework for seeking
extradition of terrorists,
economic offenders and
other criminals from and to
Malawi
• Malawi is a landlocked country in southeastern
Africa, bordered by Zambia to the northwest,
Tanzania to the northeast and Mozambique to the
south.
• The Great Rift Valley runs through the country from
north to south, and to the east of the valley lie Lake
Malawi.
 Mount Etna
• A new study shows that
gravity is pulling Italy's
Mount Etna into the
Mediterranean Sea, and
that could one day cause
the volcano's
southeastern flank to
collapse.
• Mount Etna is one of the
world’s most active
volcanoes
 Agalega Islands

• Indian project in
Agalega islands of
Mauritius which aims
for setting up and
upgradation of
infrastructure for
improving sea and air
connectivity faces
protests from the
inhabitants
 Sabratha
• UNESCO declared
‘Sabratha’ heritage
site to be at high
risk, mainly due to
damage caused by
armed groups.
• It lies on the
Mediterranean
coast, west of
modern Tripoli,
Libya.
Majuli Island

riverine island in
Assam, formed by
Brahmaputra

Majuli is the largest

river island in India

In 2016, Majuli
became the first
island to be made a
district in India.
• 1>Musi River >Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has
listed the Musi River as being among the most polluted rivers
in the country.
• tributary of the Krishna River
• The Musi River was the cause of frequent flood devastation of
Hyderabad city until the early decades of the 20th century.
• This prompted Osman Ali Khan (1911-1948)), the seventh and
last Nizam of the erstwhile state of Hyderabad, to construct
the Osmansagar and Himayathsagar lakes to check water
from flowing into the river.
Dal Lake
• Alarmed over the rapid
shrinking of the Dal
Lake, J&K Governor
approached Navy on
2nd August seeking help
to save the water body.
• Assessments show that
size of the water body
has come down by half.
Araku valley
• Maoists kill 2 TDP MLAs in Andhra Pradesh's Araku
Valley.
• Araku Valley is a hill station in Visakhapatnam.
• This place is often referred as ‘Ooty of Andhra’.
• It is a valley in the Eastern Ghats inhabited by
different tribes.
Andaman and Nicobar
• The Government recently announced the renaming of
three islands of Andaman and Nicobar archipelago as a
tribute to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
• lies to the south of Myanmar, west of Thailand, and north
of Indonesia.
• Ross Island was renamed as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose
Dweep
• Neil Island as Shaheed Dweep
• Havelock Island as Swaraj Dweep.
Israel-Palestine Map
Venezuela
• The country shares borders with Colombia, Brazil
and Guyana.
• It also shares boundary with Caribbean Sea of
Atlantic Ocean in the north
 Cyclone Idai
• Tropical
Cyclone Idai
was one of
the worst
tropical
cyclones on
record to
affect Africa
and the
Southern
Hemisphere
as a whole
• 1>Socotra - It is a small island, part of Yemen, located near the
Horn of Africa.
• 2>Réunion - Located East of Madagascar, it is an overseas region
of France
• 3>Comoros - An island country located near the Mozambique
coast.
• 4>Zanzibar - A semi-autonomous region of Tanzania, located off
of its coast.
• 5>Cocos (Keeling) Islands - An Australian external territory
• 6>Christmas Island - An Australian external territory
• 7>Chagos Archipelago - Group of seven atolls south of
Maldives. The sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago was
disputed between the UK and Mauritius
• 8>Diego Garcia –US naval base
 Central America Map study

• Central America consists of seven countries: Belize,

Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua,
and Panama.
• Only Panama borders South America (Colombia).
• El Salvador only has coast along the Pacific Ocean. Belize
only has coast along the Atlantic Ocean.
• Mexico share its boder>US,belize,guatemala
 Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan,
Pakistan and India
 Oceania
• Oceania is a geographic region comprising Australasia, Melanesia,
Micronesia and Polynesia
• 1>Polynesia:>1000 island.
• The Polynesian Triangle is drawn by connecting the points of Hawaii, New
Zealand, and Easter Island.
• Other main island>Samoa, Tonga, the Cook Islands, Tuvalu, Tokelau, Niue,
Wallis and Futuna, and French Polynesia.
• 2>Melanesia>extends from New Guinea island Vanuatu, Solomon Islands,
Fiji, and Papua New Guinea, and New Caledonia, and the Indonesian region
of Western New Guinea.
• 3>Micronesia:>Micronesia, Palau, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and
Nauru—as well as three U.S. territories in the northern part: Northern
Mariana Islands, Guam and Wake Island.
Gilgit-Baltistan

1>Gilgit-Baltistan is part of
Kashmir region
2>Areas of Gilgit-Baltistan and
Azad Kashmir together is
referred to by the United
Nations as ‘Pakistan
administered Kashmir (PoK)’.
 Zagros mountains
• A team of French archaeologists
has discovered the remnants of
an ancient lost city at Kunara,
close to the Zagros Mountains,
in present day Iraqi area
• Zagros Mountains are a long
mountain range in Iran,
Kurdistan and southeastern
Turkey
 Port of Duqm
• Oman has given India,
access to the Duqm
port which India can
use for military
purpose and logistical
support.
 Point Nemo
• Microplastics were
recently discovered
at Point Nemo –
the most remote
oceanic spot on
planet earth.
• It is the spot in the
ocean farthest
away from land in
any direction
• Formosa strait >Also known as Taiwan strait
• Migingo Island>in lake victoria
 Thai Canal or Kra Isthmus Canal

• It is a proposed canal that

would connect the Gulf of
Thailand with the
Andaman Sea.
• The canal would provide an
alternative to transit
through the Straits of
Malacca.
 Miyako strait?
• Miyako Strait also known
as the Kerama Gap, is a
waterway which lies
between Miyako Island
and Okinawa Island.
• It is the widest strait in the
Ryukyu Islands.
• Ryukyu Islands are a
chain of Japanese islands
that stretch southwest
from Kyushu to Taiwan
India is developing its deep-sea port in Indonesia's Sabang close to
Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

• It is located off the

northern tip of Sumatra,
astride the northern end
of the Malacca Straits.
• Mombasa port>kenya..
China has been
expanding its presence in
the Mombasa port as
part of the Belt and Road
Initiative.
 Kuril Islands
• Japan recently protested over
Russia’s plans to hold a military
exercise in the area of the
disputed Kuril Islands.
• Kuril Islands is a volcanic
archipelago that stretches from
Hokkaido, Japan, to
Kamchatka, Russia.
• It separates the Sea of Okhotsk
from the north Pacific Ocean.