Every free question on States, Borders & Political Divisions (Geography (incl. West Bengal)) from past WBCS Preliminary Examination and WBCS Main Examination papers, newest first, each with its answer and a short explanation. Free to read.
Answer: (C) Meghalaya
The Khasi and Jaintia people of Meghalaya grow living root bridges by training the aerial roots of rubber fig trees across streams, as at Nongriat's double-decker bridge. Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur are not known for them.
Answer: (D) Gujarat
Gujarat has the longest coastline of any Indian state, with the Gulfs of Kachchh and Khambhat. Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu come next on the eastern coast, and Kerala's coastline is much shorter.
Answer: (C) India and Myanmar.
The Patkai Bum hills of the Purvanchal run along the border of Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland with Myanmar. The China border follows the Himalaya, and the Bangladesh and Bhutan borders lie elsewhere.
Answer: (A) Uttar Pradesh
Answer as of 2023 — this may have changed since.
Uttar Pradesh has the most districts of any state, 75. Madhya Pradesh is next with over 50, and Maharashtra and Bihar have fewer.
No option is correct as printed — this question is disputed. WBPSC awarded the mark to all candidates: question assumes 7 Union Territories; India has 8 since January 2020 and the largest by area (Ladakh) is not an option.
Answer as of 2022 — this may have changed since.
The question is out of date, so the Commission awarded the mark to all candidates. India has had 8 Union Territories since 26 January 2020: Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh were created as UTs on 31 October 2019, and Dadra & Nagar Haveli was merged with Daman & Diu. The largest Union Territory by area is now Ladakh, which is not among the options. Among the old seven, the Andaman & Nicobar Islands were the largest.
Answer: (C) Lakshadweep
Answer as of 2022 — this may have changed since.
Lakshadweep, a group of coral islands in the Arabian Sea with an area of only about 32 sq km, is the smallest Union Territory of India. Chandigarh is the shared capital of Punjab and Haryana. Daman & Diu was merged with Dadra & Nagar Haveli in January 2020 into a single Union Territory. Puducherry is made up of four separate enclaves: Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam.
Answer: (D) Bangladesh
India's longest land border is with Bangladesh, about 4,096 km, shared by West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram; West Bengal has the longest stretch of it. China comes second at about 3,488 km, which makes (A) the tempting option. The border with Pakistan is about 3,323 km, including the Radcliffe Line. The border with Myanmar is about 1,643 km, shared by Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram.
Answer: (C) Five
Answer as of 2022 — this may have changed since.
Five states have neither a coastline nor an international border: Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Haryana and Telangana. Telangana became the fifth such state when it was formed from Andhra Pradesh in 2014. Delhi is also enclosed but is a Union Territory, not a state. States such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are landlocked but share a border with Nepal, so they are excluded.
Answer: (C) 22
Answer as of 2022 — this may have changed since.
The Eighth Schedule of the Constitution now lists 22 languages. It began with 14 languages; Sindhi was added by the 21st Amendment in 1967 (15), Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali by the 71st Amendment in 1992 (18), and Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santali by the 92nd Amendment in 2003 (22). The official language of the Union under Article 343 is Hindi in Devanagari script, with English continuing for official purposes. So 20, 21 and 23 do not match the current list.
Answer: (D) Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh borders eight states (Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar), the National Capital Territory of Delhi and Nepal, more neighbours than any other state. Chhattisgarh borders seven states, which makes it the tempting option. Madhya Pradesh borders five states. Bihar borders three states and Nepal.
Answer: (A) Maharashtra
India's Standard Meridian, 82°30′E, passes near Mirzapur and runs through five states: Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. It does not pass through Maharashtra, which lies further west. Indian Standard Time, based on this meridian, is 5 hours 30 minutes ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. Because India spans about 30° of longitude, the sun rises in Arunachal Pradesh about two hours earlier than in western Gujarat.
Answer: (D) India and Pakistan
The Radcliffe Line, drawn by Sir Cyril Radcliffe and published on 17 August 1947, partitioned Punjab and Bengal between India and Pakistan; PSC's answer is therefore India and Pakistan. Since East Pakistan became Bangladesh in 1971, the eastern part of the same line is today the India-Bangladesh border. Other lines: McMahon Line (India-China, in Arunachal Pradesh), Durand Line (Pakistan-Afghanistan), and the Line of Control between India and Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir.
Answer: (C) SOI
Topographical maps (toposheets) of India are prepared and published by the Survey of India (SOI), the national mapping agency founded in 1767, headquartered at Dehradun, under the Department of Science and Technology. NATMO (National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation, Kolkata, 1956) publishes atlases and thematic maps; GSI (Geological Survey of India, 1851, Kolkata) prepares geological maps; ZSI (Zoological Survey of India, 1916, Kolkata) surveys fauna. Toposheets come in scales of 1:250,000, 1:50,000 and 1:25,000; James Rennell was the first Surveyor General of Bengal.
Answer: (B) 1 June 2014
Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh to become India's 29th state, formally coming into existence on 2 June 2014 (the answer key here cites 1 June 2014, the date closely associated with the final legal steps just before formal inauguration).
Answer: (C) Orissa
The Tropic of Cancer runs through eight Indian states — Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram — but does not pass through Odisha (Orissa), which lies entirely south of it.
Answer: (A) Amaravati
Amaravati was designated as the new capital of Andhra Pradesh after the state's bifurcation and the creation of Telangana in 2014.
Answer: (D) Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh, in India's extreme northeast, extends furthest east in longitude among Indian states.
Answer: (A) Kolkata is more than 5 hours ahead
Indian Standard Time (IST) is UTC +5:30, while London (GMT) is UTC +0 (or UTC+1 during British Summer Time). The difference between Kolkata/IST and London/GMT is 5 hours 30 minutes — which is 'more than 5 hours ahead,' making option A correct.
Answer: (A) 82°30' E passing through Allahabad
Indian Standard Time (IST = UTC+5:30) is calculated from the meridian of 82°30' East, which passes through Mirzapur (near Allahabad/Prayagraj) in Uttar Pradesh. This location was chosen as the central reference point for India's single time zone.
Answer: (C) Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh
Chhattisgarh was carved out of Madhya Pradesh on November 1, 2000, becoming the 26th state of India. By the time of the 2001 Census, it was counted separately. The new state had a population of 20,796 thousand in 2001, while Madhya Pradesh had 60,385 thousand.
