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Deputy Collector Rank File

ASIA Occupying about one-third of

the land area of the world, it isthe largest continent.

Lake Baikal, the deepest lakeof the world is located in Sibe-ria.

Pamir Plateau is a meetingplace of several ranges whichform the Pamir knot.

Pamir plateau is also known asthe “Roof of the World” be-cause it is the highest plateauin the world.

Mt. Everest (Highest peak ofthe world) and K2 (secondhighest peak of the world) be-long to the Himalayas and theKarakoram ranges respec-tively.

Mawsynram in Meghalaya(India) is the wettest place inthe world.

Verkhoyansk in north-east Si-beria is the coldest place in theNorthern Hemisphere record-ing a mean January tempera-ture of -45°C.

China is the most populous andthird largest country of theworld lies in the east of Asia.

Shanghai, the premier port ofChina on the Yangtze Kiangriver handles bulk of foreigntrade.

Taiwan formerly known asFormosa, includes the Islandof Taiwan, two offshore Is-lands -Quemoy and Matsu.

Hong Kong is a special admin-istrative region of China.

The four main islands of Japanare Hokkaido, Honshu,Shikoku, and Kyushu.

Nagoya (Japan) is known as theDetroit of Japan.

Indonesia is the most popu-lous country of South EastAsia and the biggest Islamicnation of the World.

Indonesia is the largest archi-pelago in the world, compris-ing of the islands of Sumatra,Java, Borneo, Bali, the lesserSunda Islands group,Sulawesi, Timor and the west-ern half of the island of NewGuinea is many smaller groupof islands.

Singapore is the smallest coun-try of South East Asia.

Philippines is the only Chris-tian nation in the Asia.

Laos is the only land lockedcountry of South East Asia.

Vientiane the capital of Laos issituated on the bank ofMekong river.

Penang Island (Malaysia) isknown as Singapore of thefuture

Myanmar (Burma) is famousfor its beautiful Buddhisttemples called Pagodas.

Myanmar is known as the Landof Mountains and Rivers.

Thailand is the only South EastAsian Country, which wasnever colonized.

Thailand is known as the ricebowl of south East Asia andLand of White Elephants.

WORLD GEOGRAPHY

Asia is the world’s largest andmost populous continent, located primarily

in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers8.6% of the Earth’s total surface area (or 29.9% of its land

area) and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60%of the world’s current human population. It is bounded on theeast by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the Indian Oceanand on the north by the Arctic Ocean. In terms of nominal

GDP, Japan has the largest economy on the continent andthe second largest in the world. In purchasing power

parity terms, however, China has the largesteconomy in Asia and the second

largest in the world.

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Bangkok is situated on thebank of Chao Phraya river.

Phuket Island, the tourist re-sort of Thailand, is also knownfor tin mines.

Turkey is known as The Sickman of the Europe.

Lebanon is known as Switzer-land of Middle East.

Beirut the capital of Lebanonis known as the Paris of Leba-non, lies at the cross roads ofAsia, Europe and Africa.

Israel is the centre for diamondcutting and polishing, next toBelgium in the world.

Israel’s collective farming iscalled Kibbutizm.

Jerusalem known as the HolyCity, is a place of Pilgrimage forJews, Muslims and Christians.

Jordan is known as the Landof Seven Hills.

Jordan has the shortest coast-line in the world, only 20kms.

Tehran, the capital of Iran is the

Afghanistan ...................... KabulBahrain ......................... ManamaBangladesh ...................... DhakaBhutan ......................... ThimphuChina .............................. BeijingCyprus ........................... NicosiaIndonesia ........................ JakartaIran ................................. TehranIraq .............................. BaghdadIsrael ........................... JerusalemJapan ............................... TokyoJordan ............................ AmmanKazakhstan ..................... AstanaNorth Korea ............. PyongyangSouth Korea ...................... SeoulLaos ............................. VientianeLebanon ............................ Beirut

Malaysia .............. Kuala LumpurMaldives ............................ MaleMongolia .................UlaanbaatarNepal ....................... KathmanduOman ............................. MuscatPakistan ..................... IslamabadQatar ..................................DohaSaudi Arabia .................... RiyadhPhilippines ...................... ManilaSri Lanka ...................... ColomboSyria .......................... DamascusTaiwan .............................. TaipeiTajikistan .................... DushanbeThailand ....................... BangkokTurkey ............................ AnkaraUnited Arab Emirates . Abu DhabiUzbekistan ................... TashkentVietnam ............................. Hanoi

Asia - Capital

most populated city of WestAsia.

Largest country of West Asia :Saudi Arabia

Tibet Plateau is the largest pla-teau in the world.

Sri Lanka is separated from In-dia by the Gulf of Mannar andthe Palk Strait.

Japan is called Nippon in Japa-nese, which means land of therising sun.

Gobi desert situated to thesoutheast of Mongolians pla-teau and extends into China.

Bangladesh is known as Landof Rivers and Distributaries.

Pakistan is known as Countryof Canals.

Mangla Dam, located on theJhelum river is the largest in Pa-kistan.

Bhutan is known as the land ofThunder Dragon.

Sri Lanka is linked to India byAdam’s Bridge.

AFRICA Africa is the world’s

second-largest and secondmost-populous continent,after Asia.

At about 30.2 million km²(11.7 million sq mi)including adjacent islands,it covers 6% of the Earth’stotal surface area and20.4% of the total landarea.

With a billion people (as of2009, see table) in 61territories, it accounts forabout 14.72% of theWorld’s humanpopulation.

The continent issurrounded by theMediterranean Sea to thenorth, both the Suez Canaland the Red Sea along theSinai Peninsula to thenortheast, the IndianOcean to the southeast,and the Atlantic Ocean tothe west.

The continent has 54states, includingMadagascar, variousisland groups, and theSahrawi Arab DemocraticRepublic, a member stateof the African Unionwhose statehood isdisputed by Morocco.

Largest lake: Caspian SeaLowest Point :Dead Sea, Israel/JordanHighest point: Mt. Everest, NepalLongest river: Yangtse Kiang


African continent is separatedfrom Europe by the Mediterra-nean sea and from Asia by theRed Sea.

Africa belongs to all the fourhemispheres and bulk of thecontinent lies in tropics.

The only continent which iscrossed by Tropic of Cancer,Equator and Tropic ofCapricon.

Marrakesh, the religious capi-tal of Morocco is known as thered city because of its red claybuilding.

Khartoum, the capital of Sudanis situated at the Confluenceof Blue Nile and White Nile.

Khartoum, the administrativecentre and the largest townknown as key of Sudan.

Rwanda is known as the na-tion of a thousand hills be-cause of its mountainous na-ture.

Tsawa National Park one of thelargest Biosphere reserves lo-cated in Kisumi, Kenya.

Island of Zanzibar is alsoknown as clove island.

Zambia is separated from Zim-babwe by the river Zambezi.

Limpopo river cuts the tropicof Capricon twice.

Nigeria, a country of low landsand plateau also known asLand of Palm Oil.

Lesotho is an enclave withinthe Republic of South Africa.

South Afica is the largest pro-

ducer of gold and diamond inthe world.

Kimberly in South Africa is fa-mous for best quality dia-monds.

The largest diamond mine inKimberly is considered to bethe biggest man - made hole inthe earth.

One of the special physical fea-tures of Africa is its Great RiftValley. It is running from theSouth of lake Malawi north-ward to the Red sea and thenthrough the Gulf of Suez andthe Gulf of Aquaba to the Deadsea.

Lake Victoria, the largest lakein Africa, is also the source ofriver Nile, which is the longestriver in the world.

River Zaire carries the greatestvolume of water among all therivers of Africa.

Sahara, the largest desert in theworld is located in northernpart of Africa.

The Kariba dam on the Zambeziis the largest producer of wa-ter power in Africa.

South Africa leads the coun-tries of the world in the pro-duction of Chromium, a metalwhich does not rust.

Aswan Dam, Sennar Dam andOwen Dam are located on theNile.

Petroleum is found in manyparts of Africa such as Nige-ria, Libya and Angola.

Africa - CapitalAlgeria ............................ AlgiersAngola ........................... LuandaBotswana .................... GaboroneBurkino Faso ........ QuagadougouBurundi ..................... BujumburaCameroon ..................... YaoundeCape- Verde ........................ PraiaCentral African Republic .. BanguiChad ......................... N’DjamenaCongo ........................ BrazzavilleDijibouti ........................ DijiboutiEgypt ................................. CairoEquatorial Guinea ........... MalaboEritrea ............................ AsmaraGabon .......................... LibrevilleGambia ............................. BanjulGhana ...............................AccraGuinea ........................... ConakryGuinea Bissau.................. BissauKenya ............................. NairobiLesotho.......................... MaseruLiberia ......................... MonroviaLibya ................................ TripoliMadagascar .......... AntananarivoMalawi ......................... LilongweMali ............................... BamakoMauritius ................... Port LouisMorocco ........................... RabatMozambique.................. MaputoNiger .............................. NiameyNigeria ............................. AbujaRwanda ............................. KigaliSenegal ............................. DakarSeychelles ...................... VictoriaSomalia .................... MogadishuSouth Africa ................... PretoriaSudan ......................... KhartoumTanzania ........................ Dodoma

Highest Point : Mt. Kilimanjaro, TanzaniaLowest Point : L. Assal, DijiboutiHighest recorded temperature : Al Aziziyah, LibyaLargest Lake : VictoriaMost Southerly point : Cape Agulhas, South Africa.

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Ostrich, a large, fast runningbird is found in the Kalaharidesert.

Swahili is a local language inAfrica.

Lake Volta, the largest man-made lake in the world, extendsthrough large portions of east-ern Ghana.

Hot and dust - laden winds of-ten blow from the north eastduring dry summer seasonknown as the Harmattan.

Nigeria is the only coal produc-ing country of Western Africa.

Hot, dry and sand laden windsblow from the South in Egyptduring early summer in Apriland May, also known as Kham-sin.

Suez Canal links the Mediter-ranean sea with the Red Sea.

The opening of Suez Canal in1869 shortened the voyagefrom Mumbai to London bymore than 7,000 kilometres.

The Merino sheep of SouthAfrica are famous for their finewool.

Johannasburg is the largestcity of South Africa.

The Southernmost tip ofSouth Africa is Cape of GoodHope.

The biggest port of South Af-rica is Capetown.

EUROPE Europe ranks sixth. Its bound-

aries are the Arctic Ocean inthe west and the Mediterra-nean Sea in the South. In theeast, it is separated from Asiaby the Ural Mountains, theCaucasus mountains and theCaspian Sea.

Iceland, Norway, Sweden andDenmark are collectivelyknown as Scandinavia.

Estonia, Lithuania and Latviaare together known as the Bal-tic states.

Belgium, the Netherlands andLuxemburg are called the Lowcountries.

Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia,Croatia, Bosnia - Herzegovina,

COAST OF AFRICAGold Coast - GhanaSlave Coast - Togo, Benin &

NigeriaGrain Coast - Sierra Leone &

LiberiaIvory Coast - Cote - de - Ivore

Important Rivers of AfricaNile ................... Longest river in the world

Aswan Dam, Sennar Dam & Owen Dam located on thisriver

Zaire or Congo .. Confluence of Lualoba & Luapula riverIt cuts equator twiceStanley fall & Living stone fall are on the Zaire riverInga dam is located.

Zambezi ............. Victoria falls & Kariba dam is located in it.Coborra Bassa Dam in Mozambique is also located onthis river.Natural political boundary between Zambia & Zimba-bwe

Orange .............. Natural boundary between South Africa & Namibia.Aughrabies falls is located on this river.

Limpopo ............ It cuts the Tropic of Capricon twiceIt seperates South Africa from Botswana & Zimbabwe

Niger ................. Port Harcourt of Nigeria is located on the Niger Delta

IMPORTANT STRAITSSeparates Connects

Strait of Gibralter Europe & Africa Mediterranean Sea withAtlantic Ocean

Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb Dijibouti (Africa) & Red Sea with Gulf of AdenYemen (Asia)

South Africa............. CapitalAdministrative Capital .. : PretoriaLegislative Capital ... : Cape TownLaw Capital ........... Johannasburg

African DesertsSahara desert - (Largest singlestretch of desert), Libyan desertArabian desert, Nubian desert -(Extension of Sahara which occu-pies a third of the Sudan's territoryin the north), Namib desert,Kalahari desert - Semi desert regionof Botswana lies to the east ofNamib desert


Europe - CapitalIceland ..................... ReykjavikDenmark .............. CopenhagenNorway ........................... OsloFinland ....................... HelsinkiSweden ...................StockholmSpain ........................... MadridPortugal ....................... LisbonFrance ............................. ParisItaly ............................... RomeGermany ......................... BerlinSwitzerland ..................... BernePoland ........................ WarsawBelgium ..................... BrusselsNetherlands ........... AmsterdamUK ..............................LondonUkraine ........................... KievAlbania ......................... TiranaAustria ......................... ViennaBelarus .......................... MinskBulgaria ........................... SofiaCroatia ......................... ZagrebCzech Republic ............. PragueEstonia ......................... TallinnGreece ......................... AthensHungary ................... BudapestIreland .......................... DublinLatvia ............................... RigaLithuania ...................... VilniusMalta .......................... VallettaRomania .................. BucharestSlovenia ....................LjubljanaYugoslavia ................ BelgradeSlovekia .................. BratislavaKosovo ....................... Pristina

Northern Ireland and manysmall islands.

Russia touches fourteen othercountries and crosses eighttime zones.

Moscow is a part of five seasthe Baltic Sea, Lake Ladoga,the Arctic Ocean, the Black seaand the Caspian Sea.

St. Petersburg is the strategiclocation at the entrance of Bal-tic Sea and is the European ter-minus of Trans - Siberian Rail-way.

Vladivostok (City of East),Russia situated along the coastof sea of Japan is the last sta-tion of Trans- Siberian RailwayRoute.

Wide continental shelves ofNorth Sea, called as DoggerBank , is one of the most pro-

Macedonia, Bulgaria, Greece,Romania and Albania areknown as the Balkan states.

British Isles include the twomain islands of Ireland (com-prising Northern Ireland andthe Irish Republic) and GreatBritain (Scotland, Wales andEngland) as well as a numberof small Islands.

In the South, there is a chainof high mountains the Alpinesystem

The worlds most northerlycapital : Reykjavik, Iceland

Reykjavik is also known asThe Smoking Bay.

Denmark is the smallest coun-try of Scandinavia.

Greenland the world’s largestisland and the Faroe islandsalso belong to Denmark.

Copenhagen the capital ofDenmark is known as the keyto the Baltic.

Finland is known as the Landof Forests and Lakes.

Finland is a low lying countrycovered with forests and lakesand its finnish name, Suomimeans ‘Lakeland’.

The capital and the largest cityof Finland, Helsinki is knownas the White city of the North.

Stockholm, the capital of Swe-den is known as Beauty on theSea.

Milan (Italy) is known as theManchester of Italy.

Rome is known as City of SevenHills

Vatican city is the smallestSovereign and an independentstate of the world, which iscompletely surrounded byItaly.

Switzerland is a land lockedmountainous country of Cen-tral Europe, with 60% of landarea covered by the AlpsMountain.

Antwerp has ancientcivilisation in diamond cuttingand also the world’s biggestdiamond trading centre.

The United Kingdom consistsof the Island of Great Britain,

Highest point - Mt. Elbrus, RussiaMost Southerly point - Gavdos,GreeceLargest Lake - L. Ladoga, RussiaLargest river - Volga

Commonwealth ofIndependent States

(CIS)Countries CapitalsRussia ......................... MoscowBelarus ............................ MinskUkraine ..............................KievMoldova ..................... KishinevArmenia ....................... YerevanAzerbaijan ......................... BakuTurkmenistan .......... AshkhabadUzbekistan .................. TashkantKazakhstan .............. Alme - AtaTajikistan ................... DushanbeKyrgystan ...................... Frunze

(Georgia left CIS in 2006)

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Moscow is the largest railwayjunction.

Murmansk is the only ice-freeport along the Arctic Oceanroute to Vladivostok.

Europe is the only inhabitedcontinent situated entirelyoutside the tropics.

The most northerly city in theworld is Hammerfast (Norway).

The famous Battle of Waterloowas fought on the soil of Bel-gium.

The best known industry ofAmsterdam is diamond cut-ting.

Mt. Stromboli is known asthe light house of theMediterranean.

NORTH AMERICA Third largest continent in the

world. Tropic of Cancer passes

through Mexico, Bahamas is-lands.

North America comprisesCanada, USA, Mexico, CentralAmerica and West Indies.

Central American countries areknown as the Banana Repub-lic.

Hamilton is known as the Pitts-burgh of Canada.

Halifax, the capital of NovaScotia is an important ice freeport in Canada.

Canada has the longest shore-line in the world.

Winnipeg (Canada) is the big-gest wheat centre of the world.

Vancouver, the largest city ofBritish Columbia, Canada situ-ated near the mouth of Fraserriver.

‘Birmingham of Canada “ -Hamilton.

North America -Capital

Country Capital

Antigua & Barbuda ... St. John’sBahamas ...................... NassauBarbados ............... BridgetownBelize ........................ BelmopanCanada .......................... OttawaCuba ............................ HavanaDominica ...................... RoseauDominican Rep. Santo DomingoGuatemala ......... Guatemala CityHaiti ................... Port-au-PrinceHonduras .............. TegucigalpaJamaica ......................KingstonGrenada .................St. George’sMexico ...................Mexico CityNicaragua .................. ManaguaPanama ................. Panama CityTrinidad &Tobago Port-of SpainUSA............... Washington D.C

ductive regions for fishing inthe world.

North sea is connected to theBaltic Sea through Kiel Canal.

Strait of Gibralter is known asthe Key to the Mediterranean.

Monte Carlo, one of the big-gest gambling centres in theworld is the capital of Monaco.

Mt. Blanc is the highest peakof Alps (in France)

Important mountain ranges ofEurope include Alps, Pyrenees,the Carpathian and theCaucasus.

The highest mountain peak ofEurope, Mt. Elbrus is theCaucasus.

In the South - East part of Eu-rope, there is an extensivegrassland called the Steppes.

Rhine is the busiest inland wa-terway of Europe.

British Isles is separated fromthe mainland of Europe by theEnglish Channel.

The Pyrenees mountains sepa-rate France from Spain.

The Ruhr (Germany) is the big-gest and the richest coal pro-ducing area of Europe.

The Ural mountains, the Uralriver and the Caspian Sea di-vide Russia into European andAsiatic parts.

IMPORTANT RIVERSRiver City LocatedPo ................................ VeniceTiber ............................. RomeSeine .............................. ParisRhone ............................ LyonTagus .......................... LisbonWista (Vistula) ........... WarsawDanube ....... Vienna, Budapest

Belgrade, Brussel

Worlds largest oil refinery lo-cated on Sarnia, Canada

Smallest state of USA : RhodeIsland

Largest state of USA : Alaska Largest port in Pacific, also

known as City of Golden Gate: San Francisco, USA

Los Angeles, USA is bestknown for its film industry(Hollywood).

World’s largest aircraft assem-bly centre - Seattle, USA.

Yellow Stone National Park inUSA is famous for the world’sbest known Geyser, Old faith-ful.

Iron and steel capital of theworld - Pittsburgh, USA.

The headquarters of theUnited Nations is located inNew York.


Largest port in USA, situatedon the bank of Hudson river -New York City.

Most populated city of USAalso known as city of sky scrap-ers- New York City.

Pittsburgh of the South- Bir-mingham, USA

Mauna Kea, the highest peakin Hawai is active as a volcano.

Capital of Hawai, Honolulu isknown as the cross roads ofPacific.

Niagra falls is located betweenLake Erie and Lake Ontario.

St. Lawrence is the busiest in-land waterway in NorthAmerica.

The Grand Canyon of Colo-rado river is the largest of itskind in the world.

The Grasslands found in theinterior plains of North Americaare known as the Prairies.

Lake Superior : World’s sec-ond largest lake after CaspianSea.

Lake Michigan : Only Greatlake that is entirely within theUnited States.

Highest point - North America Mt. Mc Kinley, Alaska, USALowest PointDeath valley, CaliforniaLargest lakeL. Superior, Canada/ USA

Gold is found mainly inOntario, which has the largestgoldmine in the world.

Chicago is the world’s largestrailway junction.

Nova Scotia (Canada) is notedfor its large orchards of apples.

Canada is the largest producerof newsprint in the world.

SOUTH AMERICA Largest country (Both area &

population) : Brazil Latin America comprises all the

countries of South Americaalong with Mexico, CentralAmerica and Caribean coun-tries.

Countries (Area wise) : Brazil,Argentina, Peru, Columbia,Bolivia, Venezuela, Chile.

Land locked countries : Bolivia,Paraguay

Equator passes through Ecua-dor, Columbia and Brazil.

Tropic of Capricon passesthrough - Chile, Argentina,Paraguay and Brazil.

World’s highest capital : LaPaz, Bolivia

Rivers in USAMississippi - Missouri,St. Lawrence, ColoradoColumbia (longest in USA)Rio Grande (forms the Naturalboundary between USA & Mexico)CanadaMackenzie (longest in Canada)Yukon, Nelson, Peace

Important Rivers ofSouth America

Amazon• World's second longest river• Largest river of the World

(Volume)• Largest tributary of

Amazon:Madiera• Dense equatorial forest in the

river basin : SelvasOrinoco• Savanna like vegetation in the

river basin:Llanos• Angel falls located in this river.Parana• World's Largest waterfall (Vol-

ume) lguazo located.• Largest dam of South America,

Itaipu located.• An estuary into which Parana

& Uruguay river falls - La plata.

Fifth largest country in theworld in terms of Area andpopulation : Brazil

World’s leading coffee pro-ducer : Brazil

Largest city of South America: Sao Paulo, Brazil

Driest place in the world : Arica,Chile

World’s largest copper town :Chiquicamata, Chile

Pearl of the Pacific: Guayaquil,Ecuador

Important region known forphosphate (from bird drop-pings of Guano) : Peru

Well developed slaughterhouses in Argentina : Frig-orificos

World’s highest water fall : An-gel falls, Venezuela

Strait between South Americaand Antarctica : Drake Pas-sage

South AmericaCapital

Country ..................... Capital

Argentina .......... Buenos AiresBoliva ................ La Paz, SucreBrazil .......................... BrasiliaChile ........................ SantiagoColombia .................... BogotaEcuador ........................ QuitoGuyana ............... GeorgetownParaguay ................ AsuncionSuriname ............... ParamariboUruguay.............. MontevideoVenezuela ................... Caracas

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Important Gulfs : Guayaquil,Penas, San Jorge, San Matias.

Largest lake of South America: Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela.

Highest navigable lake in theworld : Lake Titicaca

Region known for unique spe-cies of reptiles (turtles) birds andfishes : Galapagos Islands, Ec-uador.

Highest active volcano in theworld : Mt. Ojas del Salado,Argentina

Second highest mountain sys-tems in the world next to theHimalayas : Andes

Amazon basin is the home ofthe rubber tree.

Largest bird of prey in theworld : Candor

Rhea is a flightless bird. Brazil has one of the largest

iron - ore deposits of the world.

AUSTRALIA Australia is the smallest conti-

nent. It lies entirely in the Southern

Hemisphere. Australia is the only country

in the world that covers theentire continent.

It is also known as the IslandContinent.

Tropic of Capricon passes al-most through the middle of thecontinent.

Australia was discovered bycaptain James Cook, an En-glish Seaman, in 1770. Helanded near the site of thepresent Sydney Harbour.

It is surrounded by Timor Seain the northwest, Arafura seaand Gulf of Carpentaria in thenorth, Great Barrier Reef in the

north east and Great Austra-lian Bight in the South.

Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie, thetwo cities in western Australiais one of the important centreof gold mining in the world.

The Murray and the Darling arethe major rivers of Australia.

North east coast of Australiaextends a very long ridge likefeature known as the GreatBarrier Reef in Queens landwhich is the longest reef in theworld.

Gulf of Carpentaria is the larg-est gulf of Australia.

Indigenous people of Austra-lia are known as Aborigines.

The grasslands of Australia areof two types tropical andtemperates.

Tropical grasslands are calledSavannas and the temperategrasslands found in theMurray Darling basin are calledDowns.

The Marsupials of Australia in-clude Kangaroo, Wallby andKoala

Australia is the largest pro-ducer of bauxite in the world.

Sydney is the largest city and

Highest pointMt. Kosciusko, AustraliaLowest point : Lake Eyre, AustraliaLargest Lake : Lake Eyre

Australia had eightFederal Units

Western Australia, NorthernTerritory, South Australia,

Queensland, New Southwales,Victoria, Australian Capital

Territory, Tasmania.

important sea port of Austra-lia.

Great dividing range is alsoknown as the ‘snowy moun-tains’.

Tasman sea separates Austra-lia from New Zealand.

ANTARCTICA Antarctica is Earth’s southern-

most continent, underlying theSouth Pole.

It is situated in the Antarcticaregion of the southern hemi-sphere, almost entirely southof the Antarctic Circle, and issurrounded by the SouthernOcean.

It is the fifth-largest continentin area after Asia, Africa, NorthAmerica, and South America.

About 98% of Antarctica iscovered by ice.

Only cold-adapted plants andanimals survive there, includ-ing penguins, seals, mosses,lichen, and many types of al-gae.

New Zealand is di-vided into two islands:

The Northern Island and theSouthern Island. Cook straitseperates the two islands.Wellington the Capital lies

in the Northern Island.

Highest pointVinson Massif, 4,897 mLowest pointBentley Subglacial Trench, -2,555 mLongest riverOnyx River, 25 km


THE ANTARCTIC TREATY The Antarctic Treaty was signed in 1959 by twelve countries and

officially entered into force on June 23, 1961. The twelve countries had significant interests in Antarctica at the

time: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand,Norway, South Africa, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and theUnited States.

Forty-six countries have signed the treaty. The treaty prohibits military activities and mineral mining, supports

scientific research, and protects the continent’s eco zone. Ongoing experiments are conducted by more than 4,000 scientists of

many nationalities and with different research interests..

LATIN AMERICANCOUNTRIES

Argentina BoliviaBrazil ChileColombia Costa RicaCuba EcuadorDominican RepublicEl Salvador GuatemalaHonduras MexicoNicaragua PanamaParaguay PeruUruguay Venezuela Alternatively, Puerto Rico,

Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica,Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana,Suriname, Netherlands Antilles,Belize, Saint Lucia, Antigua andBarbuda, Grenada, Dominica,Saint Kitts and Nevis, SaintVincent and the Grenadines areconsidered to be part of LatinAmerica, but it is not always thecase.

Mostly due to the fact thatthose are English-speakingcountries (Belize, Jamaica) orare colonies, territories and de-pendencies and not fully-inde-pendent countries (NetherlandsAntilles, Puerto Rico).

Latin America is a region of theAmericas where Spanish andPortuguese, and variablyFrench - are primarily spoken.

Latin America consist of 3.9%of the Earth's surface or 14.1%of its land surface area.

Its population was estimated atmore than 568 million.

Latin America can be subdi-vided into several subregionsbased on geography, politics,demographics and culture.Some geographical subregionsare North America, CentralAmerica, the Caribbean, andSouth America.

OLDEST COUNTRIESSan Marino (301 AD)France (486 AD)Bulgaria (632 AD)Denmark (950 AD)Portugal (1143 AD)Andorra (1278 AD)Switzerland (1291 AD)

Largest total area ................................. Russia, 17,098,242 km²Largest land area .................................. Russia, 17,075,200 km²Largest water area ................................... Canada, 891,163 km²Longest coastline ...................................... Canada, 243,792 kmHighest coastline to area ratio ..... Micronesia, 8,706.553 m/km²Most countries bordered: ............................. Russia and ChinaLargest forest area ................................. Russia, 8,087,900 km²Hottest,Coldest,Driest,WettestHottest Place Dalol, Denakil Depression, Ethiopia, annual averagetemperature (93.2°F, 34°C)Coldest Place Plateau Station, Antarctica, annual averagetemperature (-56.7°C)Wettest Place Mawsynram, Assam, India, annual average rainfall(11,873 mm, 467.4")Driest Place Atacama Desert, Chile, imperceptible rainfall on ayearly basis

YOUNGESTCOUNTRIES

Montenegro (July, 2006)Serbia (July, 2006)East Timor (2002)Palau (1994)Czech Republic (1993)Eritrea (1993)Slovakia (1993)Bosnia/Hertzegovina (1992)

SEVEN WONDERS OF ANCIENT WORLD Great Pyramid of Giza Hanging Gardens of Babylon Temple of Artemis at Ephesus Statue of Zeus at Olympia

Mausoleum of Halicarnassus Colossus of Rhodes Lighthouse of Alexandria

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The Great Wall of ChinaThe Great Wall of China, amemorable landmark, is the mostpopular tourist attraction in China.There were three main Chinesedynasties that contributed to theconstruction of the Great Wall:first, the Qin from 221-207 B.C.,then the Han from 206 B.C – 220A.D and the Ming from 1368-1644

A.D. Their common purpose wasto stop the “barbaric” Huns in theNorth from invading the Chineseborders. The Great Wall lengthmeasures about 6,700 km long.Height wise, it is 4.5m to 9m. Theexisting Wall today wasconstructed by the Ming Dynastyover 600 years ago. During thattime, the original wall was in ruins.PetraPetra is a site in the Arabiandesert, Jordan that wasdiscovered by a Swiss explorercalled Johann Ludwig Burckhardt

in 1812 Petra represents theancient world’s heritage culture. Itis now said to be one of theseventh wonder of the world andit belongs to the UNESCO worldheritage site. Petra mainly is

admired because of its pictureperfect architecture, its complexstructure, quality and the nonmentionable mere size.Taj Mahal in Agra

The Taj Mahal is a tomb situatedin Agra, India. The Taj Mahal wasbuilt by the Mughal emperor, ShahJahan in the memory of hisbeloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. TheTaj Mahal is one of The SevenWonders of the World and is saidto be one of the finest art of theMughal architecture. The Tajbecame a part of the UNESCO,World heritage Site.Chichen Itza in Yucatan

PeninsulaChichen was founded by theMayan civilization in 400 AD andit is located in the north central,north of Yucatan Peninsula nowcalled Mexico.Chichen has ahistory that is 1500 years old.

Colosseum of RomeColosseum is one of the greatestarchitecture ever built in the

history of Rome. The Colosseumwas originally known as theFlavian Amphitheatre and is thelargest amphitheatre to have everbeen built in the Roman Empire.Its construction began sometimebetween 70 and 72 AD and wascompleted in 80 AD when Tituswas the ruling emperor.Christ The Redeemer Statue onCorcovado MountainChrist the Redeemer is a statue ofJesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro,

Brazil. The statue is 120 ft tall andhas a weight of 635 tones. It isnow a part of the new SevenWonders of the World. It islocated in the CorcovadoMountain which is at a peak of700 meters i.e. 2,300 feet in theTujuca forest National Parkoverlooking the city.Machu Picchu in Peru

Machu Picchu is the preColumbian, Inca empire site that islocated almost 8,000 feet abovethe sea level. The site is locatedon a mountain ridge above thevalley of Urubamba in Peru. Thecity is also called the “lost city ofIncas”. Machu Picchu was built in146 AD.

Seven New Wonders of WorldSwiss Corporation New7 Wonders Foundation named the wonders


MOUNTAINSMountain day - December 21Mountain Year - 2002Land of the thousand mountains - RuwandaLand of the lakes and mountains - MazedoniaCity of the seven mountains - RomeMountain ‘Kailasam’ - ChinaOldest Mountain - AaravalliYoungest Mountain - HimalayamImportant mountain rangesAndes .......................................... South AmericaRockies ........................................ North AmericaAtlas ......................................................... AfricaKilimancharo ............................................. AfricaAppalechian ........................................... AmericaUral .......................................................... EuropeAlps ......................................................... EuropeKarpathyan .............................................. EuropeMount Eribus ....................................... AntarticaHimalayam .................................................. Asia

VOLCANOESImportant volcanoseVezuvias ....................................................... ItalyEtna ............................................................. ItalyStromboli ..................................................... ItalyBarren .......................... India (Andaman Nicobar)Kilimancharo ......................................... TanzaniaKrakathove ......................................... IndonesiaPina thubo ....................................... Philippense• Most of the volcanoes found near Pacific Ocean• Ring of fire - Pacific• Lighthouse of the Pacific - Ezalko• Lighthouse of the Mediteranian - Stromboli

DESERTSFozil desert ............................................. KalahariLittle Sahara ......................................... AustraliaDeath desert ............................ Thakkala MakkanPainted desert .............................. North AmericaColdest desert ............................................. GobiWarmest desert ........................................ SaharaDriest desert ....................................... AttakkamaGreat Indian desert ...................................... Thar

Important DesertsRoob Asavali .............................................. AsiaAttakkama .................................... South AmericaSahara ....................................................... AfricaKalahari ..................................................... AfricaNameeb ................................................ NameebiaGreat Sandy ......................................... AustraliaGreat Victoria ........................................ AustraliaThakkala Makkan .......................................ChinaSahel .......................................................... ChinaThar ............................................................ India

ISLANDSIsland of the volcanoes ........................... IcelandIsland of the tortoise ...................... GalappagoseIsland of the Sailors ................................ SamovaIsland of the inspiration ....................... TazmaniaPearl of the Antilles .................................... CubaFriendly island .......................................... TongaSpring island ........................................... JamaicaBirthplace of Napolean ............. Kozhsikka IslandBiggest island ..................................... GreenlandSmallest island nation ................................ Navru• Folkland islands, Canari islands, Kozhzikka,St. Helena, Bahamas Burmuda islands situated inAtlantic Ocean.

LAKESImportant LakesSuperior ....................................... North AmericaLadol ........................................................ EuropeCaspian ....................................................... AsiaVictoria ...................................................... AfricaAyar ..................................................... AustraliaMarakkoiba .................................. South AmericaVozthok ................................................ AntarticaAzad ........................................................... SyriaNazar ......................................................... Egypt• Land of ten thousand lakes............... Minazotta• Land of thousand lakes ........................ Finland• Oldest lake, Deepest lake ......... Baikkal (Russia)• Largest Island Lake ......................... Manitollin• Largest freshwater lake ........................Superior• Largest salt water lake ................... Caspian sea• Largest artificial lake .................... Volta (Ghana)

Important Points

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1. NegritosBelieved to be the oldest inhabitants and are nowalmost extinct. Found only in the Andaman andNicobar Islands.

2. Proto-AustraloidsThis group includes most of the tribal people ofcentral and southern India.

3. MongoloidsThey inhabit the mountainous zone in the north-eastern parts of the country.

4. MediterraneanThe Palaeo-Mediterraneans inhabit the southern

Racial Groups

parts of India including Tamil Nadu, Kerala, AndhraPradesh and Karnataka. The true Mediterraneaninhabits the northern and western parts such asPunjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. They arealso known a Dravidians.

5. Western BrachycephalsThese people inhabit West Bengal, Orissa, Gujarat,Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

6. Nordics or Indo-AryansThey inhabit regions such as Jammu and Kashmir,Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and the UpperGangetic Valley region.

1. Abhors: People of Mongoloidstock living in the north-easternparts of India.

2. Adivasis: Tribals of Bastar dis-trict, Chhattisgarh.

3. Angami: Tribals of Nagaland.4. Apatanis: Tribals of Arunachal

Pradesh.5. Badagas: Tribals of Nilgiri re-

gion in Tamil Nadu.6. Baiga: Tribals of Madhya

Pradesh.7. Bakkarwals: People of Jammu

and Kashmir who rear sheep andgoats.

8. Bhils: People of Dravidian stocknow living in central India (MP)and Rajasthan.

9. Bhotias: Tribals of Garhwal andKumaon region in Uttaranchal,Sikkim and West Bengal.

10. Birhors: A tribal group ofMadhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,Jharkhand and Orissa.

11. Chenchus: Tribals of AndhraPradesh.

12. Caddis: Tribals of HimachalPradesh who rear sheep.

13. Garos: Hill tribe of Meghalayaand Assam.

14. Gonds: Tribals inhabiting forestsin Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand,Andhra Pradesh and Orissa.

15. Gujjars: Animal rearers of Jammuand Kashmir and HimachalPradesh.

16. Jaintias: Hill tribe ofMeghalaya and Assam.

17. Jarawas: One of the oldest tribesof Andaman and Nicobar Islandsinhabiting Little Andamans.

18. Khasa: Tribals of JaunsarBhabar region in Uttaranchal.

19. Khasis: Hill tribe of Meghalayaand Tripura.

20. Khonds: Tribals inhabitingparts of Orissa.

21. Kol : Tribals of MadhyaPradesh and Maharashtra.

22. Kotas: Tribals of Nilgiri Hills inTamil Nadu.

23. Kuki: A tr ibe of Manipur,Assam, Nagaland and Tripura.

24. Lahaulas: Tribals inhabitingLahaul region in HimachalPradesh.

25. Lepchas: Original tribalinhabitants of Sikkim.

26. Lushai: Tribals of Mizoram andTripura.

27. Murias: Tribals of Bastar dis-trict of Madhya Pradesh.

28. Mikirs: A tribal group ofAssam.

29. Moplahs: Muslims of theMalabar district in Kerala.

30. Munda: A tribe of Jharkhand,West Bengal, Orissa, Tripura andChhattisgarh.

31. Nagas: Tribals of Nagaland.32. Oraon: Tribals inhabiting parts

of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh,Orissa and West Bengal.

33. Onges: One of the tribes ofAndaman and Nicobar Islands.

34. Santhals: Tribals living in WestBengal, Jharkhand and Orissa.

35. Scntinelcse: One of the smallstatured tribes of Andaman andNicobar Islands.

36. Shompens: Another tribal groupof Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

37. Todas: Tribals of the NilgiriHills.

38. Uralis: Tribals inhabiting partsof Kerala.

39. Varlis: Tribals of Maharashtra,Gujarat and Dadra & NagarHaveli.

Tribal Groups


Geographical Landmarks (World)

Highest Mountain Peaks

Name Height in metres Range Date of avoid ascent

1. Mount Everest 8,848 Himalayas May 29, 19532. K-2 (Godwin Austen) 8,610 Karakoram July 31, 19543. Kanchenjunga 8,597 Himalayas May 25, 19554. Lhotse 8,511 Himalayas May 18, 19565. Makalu I 8,481 Himalayas May 15, 1955

Highest Volcanoes

Name Height (in metres) Range or location Location

1. Ojos del Salado 6,885 Andes Argentine-Chile

2. Gullatiri 6,060 Andes Chile

3. Cotopaxi 5,897 Andes Ecuador

4. Lascar 5,641 Andes Chile

5. Tupungatito 5,640 Andes Chile

Largest Deserts

Name Approximate area in sq. km Territories1. Sahara 8,400,000 Algeria, Chad, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger,

Sudan, Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco.2. Australian 1,550,000 Australia3. Arabian Desert 1,300,000 Southern Arabia, Saudi Arabia, Yemen4. Gobi 1,040,000 Mongolia and China (Inner Mongolia)5. Kalahari Desert 520,000 Botswana

Largest Islands

Name Location and status Area in sq. km.

1. Greenland (Kalaalit Nnuaat) North Atlantic (Danish) 2,175,5972. New Guinea Southwest Pacific

(Irian Java, Indonesian, west part;Papua New Guinea, east part) 820,033

3. Madagascar Indian Ocean (Malagasy Republic) 587,0424. Baffin North Atlantic (Canadian) 476,0685. Sumatra North-east Indian Ocean (Indonesian) 473,605

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Deepest Sea Trenches

Name Length in km Deepest point Depth inmetres

1. Mariana Trench (West Pacific) 2,250 Challenger Deep 11,7762. Tonga-Kermadec Trench (South Pacific) 2,575 Vityaz 11 (Tonga) 10,8503. Kuril-Kamchatka Trench (West Pacific) 2,250 10,5424. Philippine Trench (Wet Pacific) 1,325 Galathea Deep 10,5395. Idzu Bonin Trench(sometimes included

in the Japan Trench) 9,810Largest Rivers

Name Source Outflow Length in km1. Nile Lake Victoria, Africa Mediterranean Sea 6,6902. Amazon Glacier-fed lakes, Peru Atlantic Ocean 6,2963. Mississippi-Missouri Red Rock, Montana (USA) Gulf of Mexico 6,2404. Yangtze Kiang Tibetan Plateau, China China Sea 5,7975. Ob Altai, Mts, Russia Gulf of Ob 5,567

Largest Lakes (Natural)

Name and Location Area in sq km Length in km Maximum depth inmetres

1. Caspian Sea, CIS-Iran 394,299 1,199 9462. Superior, USA-Canada 82,414 616 4063. Victoria, Tanzania-Uganda 69,485 322 824. Aral, CIS 66,457 428 685. Huron, USA-Canada 59,596 397 229

Highest Waterfalls

Waterfall Location River Height in metres1. Angel Venezuela Tributary of Carnol 9722. Tugela Natal, South Africa Tugela 9143. Cuquenan Venezuela Cuquenan 6104. Sutherland South Island, New Zealand Arthur 5805. Takkakaw British Columbia Tributary of Yoho 503

Biggest Countries (In Area)

Name Area (sq km) Location1. Russia (Yosemite) 17,075,000 Europe-Asia2. Canada 9,976,139 North America3. China 9,561,000 Asia4. USA 9,372,614 North America5. Brazil 8,511,965 South America


Smallest Countries (In Area)

Name Area (sq. Km) Location

1. Vatican City 0.44 Europe2. Monaco 1.95 Europe3. Nauru 21.10 South Pacific4. Tuvalu 26.00 South Pacific5. San Marino 61.00 Europe

Large Peninsulas

Name Area in sq km Name Area in sq kmArabia 3,250,000 Labrador 1,300,000Southern India 2,072,000 Scandinavi 800,300Alaska 1,500,000 Iberian Peninsula 584,000

Continents - Data

Name Percentage Area in Populationof earth’s area sq km (million)

Asia 29.5 43,998,000 3513.2Africa 20.0 29,800,000 748.1North America 16.3 21,510,000 295.7South America 11.8 17,598,000 325.1Europe 6.5 9,699,550 727.7Australia 5.2 7,699,000 18.3Antartica 9.6 13,600,000 18.3

Note: Australia with New Zealand, Tasmania, New Guinea and the Pacific Islands (Micronesian, Melanesianan Polynesian islands) is called Australasia by some geographers while some others call it Oceania.

Continents - Highest and Lowest Points

Continents Highest point in metres Lowest points in metres(from sea-level)

Asia Everest 8,848 Dead Sea -396.8Africa Kilimanjaro 5,894 Lake Assai -156.1North America Mckinley 6,194 Death Valley -85.9South America Aconcagua 6,960 Valdes Penin -39.9Europe Elbrus 5,663 Caspian Sea -28.0Australia Kosclusko 2,228 Lake Eyre -15.8

Antarctica Vinson Massif 5,140 - -

world geography - brilliance college · lake baikal, the deepest lake of the world is located in...

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