GEOGRAPICAL FACTS FOR UPSC 2007

GEOGRAPICAL FACTS FOR UPSC
1. Madagaskar –4th largest island,actually a huge blocks of Africa, that seperated from mainland about 80 million years ago.first settlers were Malayas.the former name Malagasy is attribute to malayas.
2…Acid Rain term was coined by Robert Angus Smith in 1852.in 1881 ,Norwegian scientist observed polluted snowfall resulting in death of fishes in ponds and lakes.they failed to give the exact cause.in 1950 link with acid rain established.Sweden , Norway, Canada and U.S.A started experiencing acid rain. SO2 main culprit for acid rain..
3…According to the tutus bode rule—distance of each planet from the sun is approximately twice the that of the next planet close to the sun.
4.Atacama—arid desert in the northen chile,960 km from peru border, almost no vegetation, considered world,s driest desert, town of calama recorded 400 years drought up to 1971.it is rich in nitrates,iodine and borax.
5..Selvas---equatorial rain forest in amazon basin.
Granchaco—warm temperate forest south of selvas
Llanos----savana grass lands in north west
Campos—savana grasslands in east
Pampas ---temperate grasslands in Arentina
Montana----forest in the eastern slopes of Andes.
6.Kalahari desert—actually not a desert, rather than semi desert region of Botswana lies east of Namib desert between orange river and zambizi river .it is bushy scrub region .a inland basin with annual rainfall less than 50 cm.it is house of one of the Afcia,s oldest race ,the Bushmen.
7..Suez Canal—one of the steadiest source of income .canal is completed in 1869.length 160 km. connects Miditerrenean and Red Sea.it was vital life line between European and their coloniesin Asia.in 1956 Egypt nationalised the Suez canal, at that time canal was mostly owned by British and French stockholders.
8..Various instruments are used for inlargement and reduction of maps.they are---proportional compasses, pantograph, ediograph,camera lucida, Photostat and other photographic equipment . the formula used for enlargement or reduction is -------new scale/old scale=no. of times enlargement and reduction.
9..England ,Scotland, Wales are geographicaly united on Great Braitian, but each has its own language ,culture and outlook.the United Kingdom includes thse three region as well as Northern Ireland.
10..With the exception of London, most large British cities are located on or near coal fields.
11.Great Barrier Reef—situated east coast of Australia , largest reef, located between 9 degree and 22 degree south latitude, length 1920 km, covers 2/3 Queensland,s ,broken at places and frequent openings in the form of tidal inlets,which enable the lagon to maintain contact with open sea.