🔆Sudan
📍In news?
✅The fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has severely impacted Sudan’s economy and led to shortages of essential resources.
✅It is located in northeastern Africa.
✅It is the third largest nation in all of Africa occupying an area of 1,886,068 sq. km.
✅Sudan shares a border with its seven neighbors: South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Egypt, Libya, Chad, and the Central African Republic.
✅Sudan also has a significant coastline along the Red Sea.
📍 Darfur region:
✅It is a region in western Sudan that has been plagued by violent conflict and humanitarian crises.
✅ The area has experienced ethnic tensions between Arab and African communities, leading to widespread violence and human rights abuses.
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📍In news?
✅The fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has severely impacted Sudan’s economy and led to shortages of essential resources.
✅It is located in northeastern Africa.
✅It is the third largest nation in all of Africa occupying an area of 1,886,068 sq. km.
✅Sudan shares a border with its seven neighbors: South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Egypt, Libya, Chad, and the Central African Republic.
✅Sudan also has a significant coastline along the Red Sea.
📍 Darfur region:
✅It is a region in western Sudan that has been plagued by violent conflict and humanitarian crises.
✅ The area has experienced ethnic tensions between Arab and African communities, leading to widespread violence and human rights abuses.
#gs2
#mapping
#Places_in_news
Rann of Kutch
✅The Rann of Kutch is a vast salt marsh region straddling the India-Pakistan border, primarily located in Gujarat, India, with a smaller portion extending into Pakistan’s Sindh province. It started forming about 150-200 million years ago.
✅It is divided into two parts: the Great Rann of Kutch to the north and the Little Rann of Kutch to the southeast.
✅The Rann of Kutch is a unique ecosystem, bordered by the Thar Desert to the north and the Arabian Sea to the south.
✅Originally, waters from the Arabian Sea entered this region. Later, geological shifts led to the formation of a landmass that separated the Kutch basin from the sea.
✅During monsoons, the Little Rann turns into a shallow wetland. About 75 elevated pieces of land turn into islands, called bets by the local Agariya and Maldhari communities.
✅Historically, the region has been inhabited since the Neolithic period, with influences from the Indus Valley Civilization and various Indian empires like the Maurya and Gupta dynasties.
✅Human activity
✅Salt Production: The region is significant for salt production, providing 30% of India’s total salt output.
✅Threat: Large-scale cattle grazing harms the delicate balance of the ecosystem.
Further, irrigation canals that bring water to the southern rim of the Little Rann add salinity to the soil.
✅The Rann of Kutch is a vast salt marsh region straddling the India-Pakistan border, primarily located in Gujarat, India, with a smaller portion extending into Pakistan’s Sindh province. It started forming about 150-200 million years ago.
✅It is divided into two parts: the Great Rann of Kutch to the north and the Little Rann of Kutch to the southeast.
✅The Rann of Kutch is a unique ecosystem, bordered by the Thar Desert to the north and the Arabian Sea to the south.
✅Originally, waters from the Arabian Sea entered this region. Later, geological shifts led to the formation of a landmass that separated the Kutch basin from the sea.
✅During monsoons, the Little Rann turns into a shallow wetland. About 75 elevated pieces of land turn into islands, called bets by the local Agariya and Maldhari communities.
✅Historically, the region has been inhabited since the Neolithic period, with influences from the Indus Valley Civilization and various Indian empires like the Maurya and Gupta dynasties.
✅Human activity
✅Salt Production: The region is significant for salt production, providing 30% of India’s total salt output.
✅Threat: Large-scale cattle grazing harms the delicate balance of the ecosystem.
Further, irrigation canals that bring water to the southern rim of the Little Rann add salinity to the soil.
🔆Godavari River:
✅It is India's second-longest river after the Ganga and the third-largest in India drains about 10% of India's total geographical area.
✅It is also called Dakshina Ganga, which translates into the South Ganges River.
📍Course:
✅The origin of the Godavari River is in Brahmagiri Mountain at Trimbakeshwar in the Nashik district of Maharashtra.
✅It runs for a length of about 1,465 kilometers.
✅It finally empties itself into the Bay of Bengal at Narasapuram in West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh.
✅The river mainstem travels through three states: Maharashtra, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh, while its basin includes Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, parts of Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
✅Tributaries: The principal tributaries of the river are the Pravara, the Purna, the Manjra, the Penganga, the Wardha, the Wainganga, the Pranhita (combined flow of Wainganga, Penganga, Wardha), the Indravati, the Maner, and the Sabri.
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#mapping
✅It is India's second-longest river after the Ganga and the third-largest in India drains about 10% of India's total geographical area.
✅It is also called Dakshina Ganga, which translates into the South Ganges River.
📍Course:
✅The origin of the Godavari River is in Brahmagiri Mountain at Trimbakeshwar in the Nashik district of Maharashtra.
✅It runs for a length of about 1,465 kilometers.
✅It finally empties itself into the Bay of Bengal at Narasapuram in West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh.
✅The river mainstem travels through three states: Maharashtra, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh, while its basin includes Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, parts of Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
✅Tributaries: The principal tributaries of the river are the Pravara, the Purna, the Manjra, the Penganga, the Wardha, the Wainganga, the Pranhita (combined flow of Wainganga, Penganga, Wardha), the Indravati, the Maner, and the Sabri.
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#prelims
#geography
#mapping
🔆Bushveld Igneous Complex
✅Researchers recently discovered pockets of living microbes in a 2-billion-year-old rock from the Bushveld Igneous Complex in South Africa, providing insights into early life on Earth and potentially aiding the search for life on Mars.
📍Bushveld Igneous Complex
✅It is the largest layered igneous intrusion within the Earth's crust.
✅It is located in northern South Africa, exposed at the edge of the Transvaal Basin.
✅It covers a pear-shaped area of over 66,000 sq. Km
✅The complex varies in thickness, sometimes reaching 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) thick.
✅It is renowned for containing some of the richest ore deposits.
✅The complex contains the world's largest reserves of platinum-group metals (PGMs), i.e., platinum, palladium, osmium, iridium, rhodium, and ruthenium, along with vast quantities of iron, tin, chromium, titanium, and vanadium.
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✅Researchers recently discovered pockets of living microbes in a 2-billion-year-old rock from the Bushveld Igneous Complex in South Africa, providing insights into early life on Earth and potentially aiding the search for life on Mars.
📍Bushveld Igneous Complex
✅It is the largest layered igneous intrusion within the Earth's crust.
✅It is located in northern South Africa, exposed at the edge of the Transvaal Basin.
✅It covers a pear-shaped area of over 66,000 sq. Km
✅The complex varies in thickness, sometimes reaching 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) thick.
✅It is renowned for containing some of the richest ore deposits.
✅The complex contains the world's largest reserves of platinum-group metals (PGMs), i.e., platinum, palladium, osmium, iridium, rhodium, and ruthenium, along with vast quantities of iron, tin, chromium, titanium, and vanadium.
#geography
Join @Mapping_prelims_mains
🔆Chaukhamba Peak:
✅It is a four-pillar-shaped enormous peak located in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, west of the Hindu holy town of Badrinath.
✅It is a mountain massif that has four summits, along a northeast-southwest trending ridge situated in the Gangotri group of the Garhwal Himalayas.
✅Being named as Chaukhamba Peak I, II, III, and IV, all of them have different elevations that lie between 7,138 m and 6,854 m.
✅Chaukhamba Peak I remain the tallest of all the four summits, i.e., 7,138 m above sea level.
✅It towers above the Gangotri glacier, forming the eastern anchor of the group.
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✅It is a four-pillar-shaped enormous peak located in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, west of the Hindu holy town of Badrinath.
✅It is a mountain massif that has four summits, along a northeast-southwest trending ridge situated in the Gangotri group of the Garhwal Himalayas.
✅Being named as Chaukhamba Peak I, II, III, and IV, all of them have different elevations that lie between 7,138 m and 6,854 m.
✅Chaukhamba Peak I remain the tallest of all the four summits, i.e., 7,138 m above sea level.
✅It towers above the Gangotri glacier, forming the eastern anchor of the group.
#mapping
#Places_in_news
🔆Roopkund Lake
✅Climate change is affecting Roopkund Lake in Uttarakhand, causing it to shrink annually.
📍Roopkund Lake:
✅Roopkund, also known as the " lake of skeletons” is a glacial lake in Uttarakhand.
✅It is situated at 16,500 feet above sea level at the base of Mt. Trishul in the Garhwal Himalayas.
✅Measuring a mere 130 feet in width, the lake is encased in ice for the majority of the year.
✅It is surrounded by snow-capped peaks and lush green meadows.
📍Mystery:
✅It is called the "lake of skeletons" as the glacial body conceals numbers of human skeletons, some with preserved flesh. These skeletons become visible when snow melts in the region.
✅These skeletal remains, dating back to around the 9th century AD, have led to various theories about the cause of death.
✅A 2019 study by scientists from India, the US, and Germany challenged the belief that the skeletons belonged to a single group that perished in a single event, instead suggesting they were genetically diverse individuals who died over a span of up to 1,000 years.
#geography
#mapping
✅Climate change is affecting Roopkund Lake in Uttarakhand, causing it to shrink annually.
📍Roopkund Lake:
✅Roopkund, also known as the " lake of skeletons” is a glacial lake in Uttarakhand.
✅It is situated at 16,500 feet above sea level at the base of Mt. Trishul in the Garhwal Himalayas.
✅Measuring a mere 130 feet in width, the lake is encased in ice for the majority of the year.
✅It is surrounded by snow-capped peaks and lush green meadows.
📍Mystery:
✅It is called the "lake of skeletons" as the glacial body conceals numbers of human skeletons, some with preserved flesh. These skeletons become visible when snow melts in the region.
✅These skeletal remains, dating back to around the 9th century AD, have led to various theories about the cause of death.
✅A 2019 study by scientists from India, the US, and Germany challenged the belief that the skeletons belonged to a single group that perished in a single event, instead suggesting they were genetically diverse individuals who died over a span of up to 1,000 years.
#geography
#mapping
🔆Chagos Islands
✅The Chagos Islands, a remote archipelago in the Indian Ocean, hold a rich history of cultural connections, colonial struggles, and significant ecological importance.
✅The islands, comprising seven atolls, are geographically close to the Maldives and share deep historical ties with the region.
✅It is imperative to explore the historical claims of the Maldives over the Chagos Islands, the cultural and navigational connections between the regions, and the contemporary issue of marine conservation.
#geography
#mapping
✅The Chagos Islands, a remote archipelago in the Indian Ocean, hold a rich history of cultural connections, colonial struggles, and significant ecological importance.
✅The islands, comprising seven atolls, are geographically close to the Maldives and share deep historical ties with the region.
✅It is imperative to explore the historical claims of the Maldives over the Chagos Islands, the cultural and navigational connections between the regions, and the contemporary issue of marine conservation.
#geography
#mapping
🔆Caspian Sea
📍In news?
✅The Caspian Sea has been shrinking since the mid-1990s, but the rate at which it's disappearing has sped up since 2005.
✅It is the world’s largest inland body of water, covering a total surface area of about 386,400 sq km .
✅It is located between Asia and Europe.
✅It lies to the east of the Caucasus Mountains and to the west of the vast steppe of Central Asia.
✅Bordering countries: It is bordered by Russia and Azerbaijan on the west, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan on the north and east, and Iran on the south.
✅The sea was named for the Kaspi, ancient peoples who once lived on its western shores.
✅Three major rivers—the Volga, the Ural, and the Terek—empty into the Caspian from the north.
✅Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, is the largest city on the Caspian. Another important city along the Caspian is Iran’s Nowshahr.
✅It is the source of most of the world’s caviar.
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#Sea_series
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📍In news?
✅The Caspian Sea has been shrinking since the mid-1990s, but the rate at which it's disappearing has sped up since 2005.
✅It is the world’s largest inland body of water, covering a total surface area of about 386,400 sq km .
✅It is located between Asia and Europe.
✅It lies to the east of the Caucasus Mountains and to the west of the vast steppe of Central Asia.
✅Bordering countries: It is bordered by Russia and Azerbaijan on the west, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan on the north and east, and Iran on the south.
✅The sea was named for the Kaspi, ancient peoples who once lived on its western shores.
✅Three major rivers—the Volga, the Ural, and the Terek—empty into the Caspian from the north.
✅Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, is the largest city on the Caspian. Another important city along the Caspian is Iran’s Nowshahr.
✅It is the source of most of the world’s caviar.
#mapping
#Places_in_news
#Sea_series
Join @Mapping_prelims_mains
🔆Taiwan Strait:
✅The Taiwan Strait, or Formosa Strait is a 180 km-wide strait between mainland China and the island of Taiwan.
✅It runs between the coast of Fujian (Fukien) Province, China, and the island of Taiwan.
✅The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north.
✅The strait’s seafloor is mostly a continental shelf extending out from the Asian continent, with Taiwan on the outer edge.
✅It is relatively shallow. It has an average depth of about 490 feet, and a minimum depth of 82 feet.
📍Islands:
✅The biggest islands along the Taiwan side include Penghu (or Pescadores), Xiamen, and Pingtan.
✅The Xiamen and Pingtan Islands are administered by the People’s Republic of China, while the other three islands: Penghu (or Pescadores), Kinmen and Matsu are under the administration of the Republic of China (Taiwan).
✅The Taiwan Strait, or Formosa Strait is a 180 km-wide strait between mainland China and the island of Taiwan.
✅It runs between the coast of Fujian (Fukien) Province, China, and the island of Taiwan.
✅The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north.
✅The strait’s seafloor is mostly a continental shelf extending out from the Asian continent, with Taiwan on the outer edge.
✅It is relatively shallow. It has an average depth of about 490 feet, and a minimum depth of 82 feet.
📍Islands:
✅The biggest islands along the Taiwan side include Penghu (or Pescadores), Xiamen, and Pingtan.
✅The Xiamen and Pingtan Islands are administered by the People’s Republic of China, while the other three islands: Penghu (or Pescadores), Kinmen and Matsu are under the administration of the Republic of China (Taiwan).
🔆Mount Fuji:
✅Mount Fuji, also known as Fuji-san, is the highest mountain in Japan, standing at 3,776 meters.
✅It is situated close to the Pacific coast in the Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures in the heart of the large island of Honshu, about 100km to the southwest of the Tokyo-Yokohama metropolitan area.
✅Unlike other famous high-elevation mountains in the world, Mt. Fuji is not part of a large mountain range.
✅It is a stratovolcanothat has been dormant since its last eruption in 1707 but is still generally classified as active by geologists.
✅It has a prominent summit craterand is constructed from innumerable basaltic lava flows, each a few meters thick.
✅It has a smooth slope and a wide, spreading base, creating a beautiful skyline as it narrows to a magnificent peak.
#prelims
#mapping
✅Mount Fuji, also known as Fuji-san, is the highest mountain in Japan, standing at 3,776 meters.
✅It is situated close to the Pacific coast in the Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures in the heart of the large island of Honshu, about 100km to the southwest of the Tokyo-Yokohama metropolitan area.
✅Unlike other famous high-elevation mountains in the world, Mt. Fuji is not part of a large mountain range.
✅It is a stratovolcanothat has been dormant since its last eruption in 1707 but is still generally classified as active by geologists.
✅It has a prominent summit craterand is constructed from innumerable basaltic lava flows, each a few meters thick.
✅It has a smooth slope and a wide, spreading base, creating a beautiful skyline as it narrows to a magnificent peak.
#prelims
#mapping
🔆Triton Island
✅Location: Triton Island is the southernmost island in the Paracel Islands chain in the South China Sea, situated closer to Vietnam than to other parts of China.
✅Strategic Importance: Triton Island is of strategic importance due to its proximity to vital shipping lanes, fisheries, and potential underwater energy reserves.
✅Conflicting Claims: The Paracel Islands, including Triton Island, are claimed by China, Vietnam, and Taiwan.
✅China asserts its claim based on the Nine-Dash Line, a demarcation on maps covering most of the South China Sea.
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✅Location: Triton Island is the southernmost island in the Paracel Islands chain in the South China Sea, situated closer to Vietnam than to other parts of China.
✅Strategic Importance: Triton Island is of strategic importance due to its proximity to vital shipping lanes, fisheries, and potential underwater energy reserves.
✅Conflicting Claims: The Paracel Islands, including Triton Island, are claimed by China, Vietnam, and Taiwan.
✅China asserts its claim based on the Nine-Dash Line, a demarcation on maps covering most of the South China Sea.
#Places_in_news
Join @Mapping_prelims_mains
🔆Cloud Chamber:
✅A cloud chamber is a scientific apparatus that mimics the conditions required for cloud formation.
✅It resembles a closed cylindrical or tubular drum, inside which water vapour, aerosols, etc. are injected.
✅Under the desired humidity and temperature inside this chamber, a cloud can develop.
✅India is building a cloud chamber with convection properties, as required to study Indian monsoon clouds. Globally, there are only a handful of convective cloud chambers.
✅Objective: The objective of establishing a convective cloud chamber is to gain a better understanding of cloud physics under conditions commonly affecting Indian weather systems. Thereafter, this knowledge can be used for strategic planning of weather modification.
✅Significance: Scientists will have the flexibility to tailor physical and atmospheric parameters to suit environmental requirements that influence the Indian weather and climate.
✅A cloud chamber is a scientific apparatus that mimics the conditions required for cloud formation.
✅It resembles a closed cylindrical or tubular drum, inside which water vapour, aerosols, etc. are injected.
✅Under the desired humidity and temperature inside this chamber, a cloud can develop.
✅India is building a cloud chamber with convection properties, as required to study Indian monsoon clouds. Globally, there are only a handful of convective cloud chambers.
✅Objective: The objective of establishing a convective cloud chamber is to gain a better understanding of cloud physics under conditions commonly affecting Indian weather systems. Thereafter, this knowledge can be used for strategic planning of weather modification.
✅Significance: Scientists will have the flexibility to tailor physical and atmospheric parameters to suit environmental requirements that influence the Indian weather and climate.
🔆Papua New Guinea:
✅It is an island country that lies in the south-western Pacific.
✅It includes the eastern half of New Guinea (the world’s second-largest island) and many small offshore islands.
✅Neighbors: Indonesia to the west, Australia to the south, and the Solomon Islands to the southeast.
✅Terrain: It is mainly mountainous but has low-lying plains in southern New Guinea.
✅The islands that constitute Papua New Guinea were settled over a period of 40,000 years by a mixture of peoples who are generally referred to as Melanesians.
✅Language: English is the main language of government and commerce. In most everyday contexts, the most widely spoken language is Tok Pisin.
Government:
✅The country is a constitutional monarchy and a member of the Commonwealth.
✅The British monarch, represented by a governor-general, is the head of state, and the Prime Minister is the head of government.
✅Papua New Guinea’s rainforests are rich in biodiversity, housing rare species such as birds of paradise, tree kangaroos, and the Queen Alexandra’s birdwing butterfly.
✅These forests represent only one per cent of Earth’s land but play a vital role in absorbing carbon and supporting the lives and traditions of Papua New Guinea’s indigenous peoples.
✅Capital: Port Moresby
✅It is an island country that lies in the south-western Pacific.
✅It includes the eastern half of New Guinea (the world’s second-largest island) and many small offshore islands.
✅Neighbors: Indonesia to the west, Australia to the south, and the Solomon Islands to the southeast.
✅Terrain: It is mainly mountainous but has low-lying plains in southern New Guinea.
✅The islands that constitute Papua New Guinea were settled over a period of 40,000 years by a mixture of peoples who are generally referred to as Melanesians.
✅Language: English is the main language of government and commerce. In most everyday contexts, the most widely spoken language is Tok Pisin.
Government:
✅The country is a constitutional monarchy and a member of the Commonwealth.
✅The British monarch, represented by a governor-general, is the head of state, and the Prime Minister is the head of government.
✅Papua New Guinea’s rainforests are rich in biodiversity, housing rare species such as birds of paradise, tree kangaroos, and the Queen Alexandra’s birdwing butterfly.
✅These forests represent only one per cent of Earth’s land but play a vital role in absorbing carbon and supporting the lives and traditions of Papua New Guinea’s indigenous peoples.
✅Capital: Port Moresby
#Places_in_news
🔆Depsang Plains
✅The Depsang Plains along with Pangong Tso are the two major areas of concern in the standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.
✅Despite the strategic importance of the Depsang Plains, the series of military talks held so far have focussed on the standoff areas at Galwan, Gogra Hotsprings and Finger area of Pangong Tso.
✅ Depsang is one of the few places on the LAC where tank manoeuvres are possible.
✅During the 1962 war, Chinese troops occupied the Plains. In 2013, Chinese troops came 19 km inside and pitched tents resulting in a 21-day standoff.
🔆Depsang Plains
✅The Depsang Plains along with Pangong Tso are the two major areas of concern in the standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.
✅Despite the strategic importance of the Depsang Plains, the series of military talks held so far have focussed on the standoff areas at Galwan, Gogra Hotsprings and Finger area of Pangong Tso.
✅ Depsang is one of the few places on the LAC where tank manoeuvres are possible.
✅During the 1962 war, Chinese troops occupied the Plains. In 2013, Chinese troops came 19 km inside and pitched tents resulting in a 21-day standoff.
🔆Malawi:
✅It is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa.
✅It shares borders with Tanzania, Mozambique, and Zambia.
✅Capital: Lilongwe
Major languages: English and Chichewa (both official)
✅Currency: Malawi kwacha (MWK)
✅Endowed with spectacular highlands and extensive lakes, it occupies a narrow, curving strip of land along the East African Rift Valley.
✅Lake Nyasa (one of the deepest lakes in the world), known in Malawi as Lake Malawi, accounts for more than one-fifth of the country’s total area.
✅Malawi remains one of the poorest countries in the world. The economy is heavily dependent on agriculture, which employs over 80% of the population.
✅It is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa.
✅It shares borders with Tanzania, Mozambique, and Zambia.
✅Capital: Lilongwe
Major languages: English and Chichewa (both official)
✅Currency: Malawi kwacha (MWK)
✅Endowed with spectacular highlands and extensive lakes, it occupies a narrow, curving strip of land along the East African Rift Valley.
✅Lake Nyasa (one of the deepest lakes in the world), known in Malawi as Lake Malawi, accounts for more than one-fifth of the country’s total area.
✅Malawi remains one of the poorest countries in the world. The economy is heavily dependent on agriculture, which employs over 80% of the population.