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Prelims 2017 · Q98 · Mountains, deserts & physical features

Which of the following is geographically closest to Great Nicobar ?

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Answer: A. Great Nicobar is the southernmost island of India. Its tip, Indira Point, is only about 150 km from the northern tip of Sumatra (Aceh) in Indonesia, across the Great Channel. Borneo and Java are much farther east and south, and Sri Lanka is over 1,000 km to the west. So Sumatra is closest.

Watch for: Watch for Sri Lanka; it feels close because it is a neighbour, but it is far from the Nicobars.

Why the other options are wrong
  • B. Wrong because Borneo lies far to the east beyond the Malay Peninsula.
  • C. Wrong because Java lies south-east of Sumatra, farther away.
  • D. Wrong because Sri Lanka is more than 1,000 km away.

Source to check: NCERT Class 11 India: Physical Environment, Chapter 1 'India: Location'; Survey of India political map

Answer from the official UPSC key. Written and fact-checked by AI against the official key. Spotted a mistake? Report it.