ASIA: LOCATION, POLITICAL DIVISIONS AND PHYSICAL FEATURES

A. Answer in a sentence or two. (one-mark questions)

1. What percentage of land on the Earth’s surface does Asia occupy?
Ans: Asia occupies 30 % of the land on the Earth’s surface.
2. What is the latitudinal and longitudinal extent of the mainland of Asia?
Ans: The mainland of Asia extends from latitudes 7743’N to 116’N. Longitudinally, it stretches
from 264’E to 16940’W.
3. What are the capitals of Afghanistan, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam?
Ans: Afghanistan—Kabul, Indonesia—Jakarta, Thailand—Bangkok, Vietnam—Hanoi
4. What are the regions that come under Northern Asia?
Ans: Northern Asia includes Siberia and the Far Eastern region of Russia.
5. Name the two deserts in the Turan Plain.
Ans: The Karakum and the Kyzylkum
6. Name the two main knots of the Central Mountain Mass
Ans: The Pamir Knot and the Armenian Knot
7. Name the rivers that have created the fertile plains of Myanmar and the plains of Indochina.
Ans: The Irrawaddy and Salween rivers have formed the fertile plains in Myanmar. The Maenam (Chao
Phraya) and Mekong rivers have formed the plains of Indochina.
8. What do you know about the islands of Indonesia?
Ans: The many islands of Indonesia lie scattered across both the Indian and the Pacific Oceans. Some of
the notable Indonesian islands are Bali, Java, Sumatra and Borneo.
 9. Name some islands of Asia that lie in the Pacific Ocean.
Ans: The Japanese Islands, Philippines, Taiwan, the Kuril Islands
10. Name the rivers of Asia that have inland drainage.
Ans: River Jordan, Amu Darya and Syr Darya

B. Answer in two-three sentences. (two-marks questions)

1. Justify that Asia has one of the coldest places as well as one of the hottest places on Earth by giving
suitable examples.
Ans: Verkhoyansk in Russia recorded the lowest temperature of minus 70C. The Iranian city of Dasht-e-
Lut is believed to have touched the hottest temperature of 54C. This proves that Asia has one of the
coldest as well as one of the hottest places on Earth.
2. Write a brief note on the West Asian region.
Ans: West Asia includes Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Yemen, United Arab Emirates,
Bahrain, Syria, Oman, Turkey, Qatar, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine. The Europeans referred to this
region as the Middle East.
3. What are the main physical regions of Asia based on relief?
Ans: Asia can be divided into five main physical regions based on relief. They are: • the Northern
Lowlands • the Central Mountain Mass • the Plateaus of the South • the River Valleys and
• the Island Groups.
4. Describe the location, shape and extent of the Siberian Plain.
Ans: The great Siberian Plain, which stretches across north Asia, is the largest continuous plain in the
world. It is roughly triangular in shape. It is bordered by the Ural Mountains in the west and the Bering
Strait in the east. The Central Mountains lie to its south.
5. Write a brief note on the highest and second-highest peaks in the world.
Ans: Mt Everest, at 8,850 m, is the highest peak in the Himalayas and also the highest peak in the world.
Mt Godwin Austen (K2), at 8,611 m, is the second highest peak in the world. It lies in the Karakoram
Range north of the Himalayas.
6. Briefly describe the location and extent of the Zagros Range.
Ans: The Zagros Range extends for 1,500 km along the borders of Iran, Iraq and southern Turkey. It borders
the Intermontane Plateau of Iran on the west and joins the Armenian Knot.
7. What do you know about the plains created by the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, the Indus and the Ganga
and the Brahmaputra?
Ans: The rivers Tigris and Euphrates have built the Mesopotamian plains of Iran. The Indus and its five
tributaries created the Indus Plain, spread over northwest India and Pakistan. The Ganga and the Brahmaputra
plains are spread over northern and eastern India and Bangladesh.
 8. Classify the rivers of Asia according to the oceans they flow into.
Ans:

Rivers flowing into the
Indian Ocean
Tigris, Euphrates, Indus, Ganga,
Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy and
Salween
Rivers flaowing into the Rivers flowing into the Arctic
Pacific Ocean Ocean
Chao Phraya, Mekong, Xi, Ob, Yenisey and Lena
Yangtze, Huang He and Amur

C. Answer the questions.

1. (a) (i) Name the wettest places of Asia. [1]
(ii) How is Asia distributed between the Northern and the Southern Hemispheres? [1]
(b) (i) Name the important lines of latitude and longitude that pass through Asia. [1]
(ii) How does the International Date Line prevent a small part of Russia from having a day's difference
in time from the rest of the country? [2]
(c) Name the capitals of the countries of South Asia. [2]
(d) Sort the given countries into the regions of West Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia and Central Asia:
Thailand, Korea, Lebanon, Georgia, Mongolia, Yemen, Myanmar, Japan, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Kuwait,
Laos [3]
Ans:
(a) (i) Mawsynram and Cherrapunji in Meghalaya, India
(ii) Asia almost entirely lies in the Northern Hemisphere, except for some islands of Indonesia that
lie in the Southern Hemisphere.
(b) (i) Important latitudes passing through Asia—The Equator, the Tropic of Cancer (23½°N), the Arctic
Circle (66½°N)
Important longitude passing through Asia—180° longitude
(ii) The International Date Line curves as it passes through the Bering Strait to prevent a small part of
Russia from having a day's difference in time from the rest of the country.
(c) Countries of South Asia and their capitals: India—New Delhi, Pakistan—Islamabad, Nepal—
Kathmandu, Bhutan—Thimphu, Bangladesh—Dhaka, Sri Lanka—Sri Jayewardenapura Kotte
(d)

West Asia East Asia Southeast Asia Central Asia

Lebanon, Yemen, Kuwait Korea, Mongolia, Japan Thailand, Myanmar, Laos Georgia, Turkmenistan
Armenia

2. (a) Briefly describe the Pamir knot and the Armenian Knot. [4]
(b) What do you know about the Kunlun Shan and Tian Shan Mountains? [3]
(c) Write a brief note on the Plateau of Indochina. [2]
(d) Why are the Deccan Plateau and the Plateau of Indochina highly dissected and rugged in appearance?
[1]
Ans:
(a) The Pamir Knot is a high altitude plateau in Tajikistan from which several massive mountain chains
radiate outwards. The important mountain ranges radiating from the Pamir Knot include the Himalayan
Range, the Karakoram Range, the Kunlun Shan, the Tian Shan, the Hindu Kush Range, the Sulaiman
Range, the Kirthar Range and the Central and Coastal Makran Ranges.
The Armenian Knot is smaller than the Pamir Knot. It lies in the western part of Asian Turkey. The
Elburz Mountains, the Zagros Mountains, the Pontic Mountains and the Taurus Mountains radiate
from this knot.
(b) The Kunlun Shan extends for more than 2,000 km along the northern edge of the Plateau of Tibet.
It is one of the major mountain chains of China. The Plateau of Tibet lies between the Kunlun
Mountains and the Himalayas. The Tian Shan Mountains lie north of the Kunlun
Mountains. They stretch out from the Pamir Knot in an eastward direction. They stretch west to east
for over 2,500 km, spanning the border between China and Kyrgyzstan.
(c) The Plateau of Indochina is made up of the plateaus of Shan (Myanmar) and Yunnan-Guizhou (China).
Many important rivers of Asia, such as the Yangtze and Huang He, originate from
this plateau. The Plateau of Indochina is also drained by the Mekong, Si Kiang, Irrawaddy and Salween
rivers.
(d) The Deccan Plateau and the Plateau of Indochina have been deeply eroded by rivers and streams
making these plateaus highly dissected and rugged in appearance.