Geography GK: Lakes, Falls & Boundaries

KEY POINT: Chilika Lake (Odisha) is the largest brackish water lake of India; Wular Lake (J&K) is the largest freshwater lake; Vembanad Lake (Kerala) is the largest lake by surface area.

• Lonar Lake was formed by a meteor impact — it is one of only four hyper-velocity impact craters in basaltic rock in the world.
• Sambhar Lake is India's largest inland saline wetland and an important flamingo habitat.

KEY POINT: Kunchikal Falls (River Varahi, Karnataka, 455 m) is the highest waterfall in India; Jog Falls (River Sharavati, Karnataka, 260 m) is the most famous plunge waterfall.

• Jog Falls (also called Gersoppa Falls) is a segmented waterfall — one of the most photographed natural sites in India.
• Chachai Falls and Kevti Falls are both located in Madhya Pradesh on the Rewa Plateau.

KEY POINT: Most peninsular rivers (Ganga, Mahanadi, Godavari, Cauvery, Brahmaputra) drain into the Bay of Bengal; the Indus system rivers (Sutlej, Indus, Ravi, Jhelum, Yamuna) drain into the Arabian Sea or join the Ganga.

• The Brahmaputra is known as *Tsangpo* in Tibet and *Jamuna* in Bangladesh.
• Yamuna is the longest tributary of the Ganga.

KEY POINT: Prayagraj sits at the confluence of Ganga + Yamuna (and the mythical Saraswati) — the *Triveni Sangam*, making it the most sacred city in India.

• Ujjain on the Shipra hosts the Kumbh Mela every 12 years.
• Kolkata is on the Hooghly, a distributary of the Ganga — not the Ganga directly.
• Badrinath is situated on the Alaknanda, which joins the Bhagirathi at Devprayag to form the Ganga.

KEY POINT: Mt. Everest (8848 m / 8849 m per 2020 survey) in Nepal is the world's highest point; Bentley Subglacial Trench in Antarctica is the world's lowest natural land point.

• Mt. Elbrus in Russia (5642 m) is the highest peak in Europe — note: some geographers use Mont Blanc for the Alps boundary definition.
• Death Valley in California, USA holds the record for the highest air temperature ever recorded.
• Caspian Sea is the lowest point in Europe at approximately −28 m.

KEY POINT: The Radcliffe Line (drawn by Sir Cyril Radcliffe in 1947) divides India and Pakistan — it is the most frequently asked boundary line in SSC CGL.

• McMahon Line was settled at the Simla Convention (1914) — China has never officially accepted it.
• 38th Parallel was the post-Korean War armistice line (1953) separating North and South Korea.
• 49th Parallel is a ~6,400 km long boundary — the longest undefended international border in the world.
• The 17th Parallel ceased to exist after the reunification of Vietnam in 1975.

KEY POINT: China leads global production in Tea, Cotton, Wheat, Rice, and Fruits & Vegetables; Brazil is the world's top Coffee producer; Indonesia leads in both Rubber and Palm Oil.

• India is the world's largest producer of Milk (dairy), Pulses, Jute, Mango, Banana, and Spices.
• Thailand leads in Rubber over traditional producer Malaysia due to higher yield varieties.
• Ghana leads in Cocoa production — it is sometimes neck-and-neck with Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) — note both names for exam.