The Western and Eastern Ghats are the backbone of Peninsular India’s physical geography, impacting climate, rivers, biodiversity and agriculture across the subcontinent. Understanding these enormous mountain ranges’ concept is key for any aspirant of a competitive exam – be it UPSC, SSC, Banking, Railways or State PSCs. The following Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) will cover the key points of the Ghats – geological formation, highest peaks, biodiversity, mountain passes, influence on monsoon rainfall, river systems, and more. Each question has a simple and clear explanation to strengthen your fundamentals of Indian Geography, and be able to confidently mark your answer in the examination.
Q1. The Western Ghats are famous for their steep, unbroken chain on the western edge. What is the geological term that is often used to describe this sudden rise from the coast?
Fold Mountains.
Volcanic Plateau.
Escarpment.
Residual Hills.
Answer: Escarpment
Simple Talk Explanation: An escarpment is a long, steep slope or cliff which separates two relatively level areas. The Western Ghats appear like a huge step or steep wall rising up from the narrow Konkan coastal plain.
Q2. What river has its source in the Western Ghats, south of Nashik, Maharashtra, and flows eastward to empty into the Bay of Bengal?
Mahanadi.
Krishna.
Godavari.
Cauvery.
Answer: Godavari
Simple Talk Explanation: The Godavari is one of the longest rivers in India. It flows eastward over the Deccan Plateau before it reaches the eastern coast.
Q3. The highest peak in the Western Ghats and in all of South India is:
Doda Betta.
Anai Mudi.
Mahendragiri.
Kalsubai.
Answer: Anai Mudi
Simple Talk Explanation: Anai Mudi is the height of peninsular India and it is in the state of Kerala. Its literal meaning is “Elephant Forehead”, and it is a huge landmark in the Western Ghats.
Q4. What mountain pass connects Kochi (Kerala) to Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) and is the most important gap in the Western Ghats?
Thal Ghat.
Bhor Ghat.
Pal Ghat (Palakkad Gap).
Shenkotta Gap.
Answer: Pal Ghat (Palakkad Gap)
Simple Talk Explanation: The Gap is a prominent break in the continuous chain of the Western Ghats. It’s a major transport and communications corridor for the transport of goods between the Kerala coast to Tamil Nadu.
Q5. In contrast to the Western Ghats, the Eastern Ghats are an uneven and fractured chain of hills. What is the underlying geographical process that has given rise to this broken topography?
Strong tectonic and fault related processes.
Ancient glacial processes.
Erosional influence of major east-draining peninsular rivers.
Coastal submergence and flooding.
Answer: Erosional influence of major east-draining peninsular rivers
Simple Talk Explanation: Large major rivers like the Godavari, Krishna, Mahanadi, and Cauvery flow from west to east. In doing so, they must cut across the Eastern Ghats to reach the Bay of Bengal, and in doing so, have cut deep valleys into the hills – thus breaking them into separate blocks.
Q6. The Western Ghats are one of the world’s most significant ‘Hotspots’ of biodiversity. This means:
That they are characterized by consistently very high temperature throughout the year.
Have low rainfall, but dense forest vegetation.
Have rich species diversity and high levels of endemism, but at risk.
Have abundant minerals such as coal and iron ore.
Answer: Have rich species diversity and high levels of endemism, but at risk
Simple Talk Explanation: A biodiversity hotspot is an area recognized for its extreme number of unique species of plants and animals which are not found anywhere else, referred to as “endemic”. More importantly, these areas are also threatened by human activity.
Q7. Which mountain range is generally of lower average elevation?
The Eastern Ghats.
The Western Ghats.
The Nilgiri Hills (where the two come together).
The Cardamom Hills.
Answer: The Eastern Ghats
Simple Talk Explanation: The average height of the Eastern Ghats is generally much lower in height than that of the Western Ghats. The average height of the Western Ghats is approximately 1,200 m, and the Eastern Ghats are close to 600 m.
Q8. The well-known ‘Shola’ forests, composed of unique stunted vegetation, occur primarily in the high-altitude grasslands of:
The Satpura Range.
The Aravalli Range.
The Western Ghats.
The Eastern Ghats (northern part).
Answer: The Western Ghats
Simple Talk Explanation: Shola forests are dense, evergreen patches that can occur in the valleys and depressions between grasslands in the uplands of the Western Ghats, especially in the Nilgiris and Anamalai areas.
Q9. The Eastern Ghats are generally alongside the east coast, from the Mahanadi valley in the north, to the Nilgiri Hills in the south. Throughout which states do these hills mainly flow from north to south?
Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala.
Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu.
Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh.
West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar.
Answer: Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu
Simple Talk Explanation: The Eastern Ghats is a mountain range that mainly runs through states on the east coast, beginning in Odisha, then through Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and then connects to the Western Ghats all the way in Tamil Nadu.
Q10. The Western Ghats are important for the monsoon climate in India because they cause the heavy rainfall that occurs on the western slopes. This rainfall is scientifically described as:
Convectional rainfall.
Cyclonic rainfall.
Orographic rainfall.
Frontal rainfall.
Answer: Orographic rainfall
Simple Talk Explanation: Orographic rain occurs when winds carrying moisture hit a mountain barrier such as the Western Ghats. As the wind rises, the air cools, condenses, and drops all of its moisture on the windward (western) side.
Q11. What peak is conventionally considered the tallest peak within the Eastern Ghats?
Jindhagada Peak.
Mahendragiri Peak, in Odisha.
Aarma Konda, in Andhra Pradesh.
Kalsubai.
Answer: Aarma Konda, in Andhra Pradesh
Simple Talk Explanation: While Mahendragiri was considered the tallest peak for some time, fairly recent more accurate surveys have also determined that Aarma Konda (spelled as Jondaga or Sitamma Konda) in Andhra Pradesh is the tallest peak in the Eastern Ghats.
Q12. The Western Ghats form a rain-shadow area on their eastern side (the leeward side). This area typically receives:
Very heavy rainfall, year-round.
Very little rainfall and is drought prone.
Rainfall only during retreating monsoons.
Rainfall only during winter.
Answer: Very little rainfall and is drought prone
Simple Talk Explanation: Because the Western Ghats block the moisture-laden winds of the monsoons, as the air descends on the eastern side of the mountain, it warms up and is dryer and less likely to rain. Because of this, the Deccan Plateau region is relatively dry.
Q13. In what location do both Ghats merge and connect as a continuous hill range?
The Cardamom Hills.
The Satmala Hills.
The Palani Hills.
The Nilgiri Hills.
Answer: The Nilgiri Hills
Simple Talk Explanation: The Nilgiri Hills, “Blue Mountains,” are located at the meeting point of the two major Ghat ranges. Here is the point where the once continuous Western Ghats meet the broken Eastern Ghats.
Q14. The Eastern Ghats are older than the Western Ghats and are called Residual Mountains. What does “Residual Mountains” mean?
They were formed recently by tectonic folding.
They are made entirely of ancient sedimentary rocks.
They are the remains of ancient mountains that were larger but have been eroded and reduced in size.
They were formed by volcanic activity.
Answer: They are the remains of ancient mountains that were larger but have been eroded and reduced in size
Simple Talk Explanation: Residual mountains are essentially what remains after thousands of years of erosion of a massive, old mountain system. The mountains have not grown in height over the days, months, and years they have been around, but rather have eroded down to much smaller, less prominent forms due to weathering and erosion from wind, water, and ice.
Q15. The famous hill station of Ooty (Udhagamandalam) is located in which specific group of hills at the junction of the two Ghats?
Anaimalai Hills.
Cardamom Hills.
Nilgiri Hills.
Shevaroy Hills.
Answer: Nilgiri Hills
Simple Talk Explanation: Ooty is one of the most famous and beautiful hill stations in South India. It is situated high on the slopes of the Nilgiri Hills at the junction of the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats.
Q16. Which of the following crops is NOT usually grown in regions with high rainfall and laterite soils in the Western Ghats?
Coffee.
Tea.
Rubber.
Wheat.
Answer: Wheat
Simple Talk Explanation: The Western Ghats are suitable for plantation crops like coffee, tea, rubber and spices because of the high rainfall and tropical climate, wheat is a Rabi crop which is grown mostly in the plains of North India.
Q17. The Shenkotta Gap, another significant break in the Western Ghats located close to the southern tip, connects which two regions/cities?
Mumbai and Pune.
Chennai and Bengaluru.
Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) and Madurai (Tamil Nadu).
Mangalore and Mysuru.
Answer: Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) and Madurai (Tamil Nadu)
Simple Talk Explanation: The Shenkotta Gap is a low mountain pass connecting the southern region of Kerala with the plains of Tamil Nadu and provides scope for easier communication and trade between these two states in the extreme south.
Q18. The Shevaroy Hills and the Javadi Hills are notable parts of which mountain system?
Aravalli Range.
Satpura Range.
Eastern Ghats.
Western Ghats.
Answer: Eastern Ghats
Simple Talk Explanation: The Shevaroy Hills and the Javadi Hills are significant, recognizable hills within the broken chain of the Eastern Ghats in the state of Tamil Nadu. These two hills are proclaimed as meaningful hill systems, with characteristics that set them apart from the other broken chain of hills.
Q19. The Western Ghats are older than the Himalayan mountains. Geographically, they are the faulted and eroded edge of the:
Indo-Gangetic Plain.
The Great Indian Desert.
Deccan Plateau.
Chota Nagpur Plateau.
Answer: Deccan Plateau
Simple Talk Explanation: The Western Ghats are basically the steep (high) western edge of the sheer size of the ancient Deccan Plateau. The Deccan Plateau, which tilted eastward, leaving the western edge high and steep.
Q20. Which well-known wildlife sanctuary, a natural habitat for the Bengal Tiger and Nilgiri Tahr, is situated at the junction of Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu in the Western Ghats?
Kanha NP.
Sunderbans NP.
Mudumalai NP/Tiger Reserve.
Gir NP.
Answer: Mudumalai NP/Tiger Reserve
Simple Talk Explanation: Mudumalai is an important component of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve and is of great conservation significance, located at the confluence of the three southern Indian states in the Western Ghats.
