Category Geography

Which is the lowest lying national capital in the world?

Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan is located 28 metres below sea level, making it the lowest lying national capital in the world. Baku is also the largest city in the world that is below sea level. The name Baku is supposedly a shorter version of the Persian ‘bad kube’ (‘blown upon by mountain winds’). The city’s importance lies in its oil industry and its administrative functions. Baku’s urban population was calculated to be about two million people in 2009. About 25 per cent of all inhabitants in Azerbaijan live in Baku’s city area. Baku is the one and only metropolis in the country.

Baku’s economy is mostly based on petroleum. Presence of oil in the city was known since olden days. The city is also a major cultural and educational centre. It is home to the Baku State University (founded 1919), Khazar University (1991), and Azerbaijan Technical University (1950); there are also many other institutions of higher education, including one specializing in the oil industry.

The city is famous for its harsh winds, which gave it the nick name, the “City of Winds”. Baku is the birthplace of Lev Davidovich Landau, who won the 1962 Nobel Prize for Physics.

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What is special about Neelakurinji?

Strobilanthes kunthiana cover grassland slopes and shola forests of specific regions on the Western Ghats. These purplish blue flowers bloom once in 12 years, attracting wide-eyed visitors. But did you know that different varieties of Strobilanthes have different bloom cycles? Here are interesting and concerning facts about this genus.

  1. DIFFERENT VARIETIES: The word neelakurinji refers to the shrub Strobilanthes kunthiana, which grows in the shola forests of south Indian Western Ghats. It is part of the genus Strobilanthes, belonging to the family Acanthaceae. In addition to the neelakurinji, the Strobilanthes genus includes at least 300 flowering species such as Strobilanthes sessilis and Strobilanthes callosa. As mentioned earlier, the neelakurinji usually refers to Strobilanthes kunthiana, but in several instances (including news reports), different species of Strobilanthes are referred to as neelakurinji.
  2. BLOOMING PATTERNS AND TYPES: Many of the Strobilanthes species are 2 marked by unusual flowering patterns-blooming only once every one year to 16 years. While Strobilanthes kunthiana blooms once every 12 years. some other species may bloom once in four years, or 11 years, or 16 years, etc. Such species that take a long interval to bloom are scientifically referred to as plietesials. Apart from the time it takes for the shrub to bloom, what is fascinating is also the type of flowering that happens. The shrub witnesses two types of flowering-gregarious, where the flowering covers a very large area. and sporadic or isolated, where the flowering happens over a small area.
  3. A VITAL SHRUB: After they bloom,  strobilanthes species produce fruits, seeds, and then perish-only to be born again after the set interval. When the flowers bloom, especially on a large scale, they feed different types of larvae, and insects such as honeybees, butterflies, and moths. Since many of these are also pollinators, the blooming has a crucial role to play in the ecosystem. In addition, the flowers are said to have medicinal properties, though not much information is available on this aspect.
  4. SEVERAL THREATS:  The habitats of Strobilanthes bear the brunt of being used for plantation such as tea and coffee. Apart from this, issues such as encroachment, heavy tourist footfalls, water depletion, plastic waste, pollution, invasive species, and climate change threaten the species.
  5. WHEN NEXT? Notable blooming of 5 strobilanthes kunthiana happens in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. In 2006 and 2018, its blooming was witnessed in places such as Ervaikulam National Park in Kerala and Kodaikanal in Tamil Nadu. Given that this species has a 12-year flowering cycle, the next one can be expected in 2030. This September, Strobilanthes bloomed over a large area in Chikkamagaluru of Karnataka. However, reports suggest that it was not Strobilanthes kunthiana but Strobilanthes sessilis, believed to have last bloomed in 2006, a good 16 years ago!

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Which is the highest battlefield?

Siachen Glacier is the world’s highest battlefield at an elevation of 5416 metres above sea level. At Siachen, the temperature is always freezing, and can even drop to temperatures as low as minus 60 degrees Celsius. Apart from the freezing weather, the oxygen level here is as low as 10 per cent of what we have on the grasslands.

Existing as a barrier between the Shaksgam Valley and Baltistan, it holds a significant importance for India by preventing the link-up of the Pakistani army with the Chinese army, thus protecting Ladakh – the Shaksgam valley is under the control of China and Baltistan is occupied by Pakistan. With about 3000 soldiers on duty every day, India spends around 5 to 7 crores daily to guard the glacier. Every soldier who gets to guard the glacier, serves only for about three months, as the harsh weather conditions make it very difficult to survive for longer periods.

Since the Indian army took control of Siachen in 1984, more than 1000 soldiers have died here. This number is almost twice the number of men who lost their lives in the Kargil war! A war memorial with the names of all the Indian soldiers who lost their lives for their country can be seen at the Siachen Base Camp of the Indian Army.

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Which is the highest volcano?

Nevado Ojos del Salado is the highest volcano on Earth and the highest peak in Chile. It is a dormant complex volcano in the Andes on the Argentina-Chile border. It stretches for about 70-160 square kilometres and its highest summit reaches an altitude of 6,893 metres above sea level. It is part of the Nevado de Tres Cruces National Park, which is situated 290 kilometres from the town of Copiapo of the Chilean Atacama region and 600 kilometres from Mount Aconcagua, which is the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere.

The climate of this mountain region is rather dry due to its proximity to the Atacama Desert that is situated to the west of the Andes Mountain. Ojos Del Salado is a popular hiking destination because of its easy trail, except the last stretch before the summit, which requires equipment to climb. Jan Alfred Szczepanski and Justyn Wojsznis were the first to reach the top of Ojos Del Salado in 1937.

There are no confirmed eruptions of Ojos del Salado. In 1993, there were reports of a minor gas-and-ash emission, but this could not be confirmed.

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Which is the highest waterfall in the world?

Located in the Guiana Highlands in Bolivar state of southeastern Venezuela, the Angel Falls is the world’s highest uninterrupted waterfall. It occurs on the Churun River, which is a tributary of the Caron, located 260 kilometres to the southeast of Ciudad Bolivar. This cataract drops 979 metres and is 150 metres wide at the base.

Angel Falls was not known to the outside world until 16th November, 1933 when Jimmie Angel, an American aviator, flew over them while he was searching for an ore bed, based on the directions given by the Spanish explorer Felix Cardona.

Once he located the falls, he returned on 9th October, 1937 to land his Flamingo monoplane El Rio Caroni on top of Auyantepui, a tabletop mountain. But his plane was damaged when its wheels sank into the marshy ground, leaving Angel and his three companions, including his wife Marie, stranded. They were forced to climb down the tepui, which took them 11 days. The news of this adventure spread across the world and the waterfall was named Angel Falls in his honour.

Since it is located in the Canaima National Park, the dense jungle surrounding it prevents it from being seen from the air. Angel Falls is one of Venezuela’s top tourist attractions, and its other name, “Salto del angel” was first published on a Venezuelan government map in December 1939.

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What are the specialities of the Tibetan Plateau?

Owing to its elevation, the Tibetan Plateau is known as the Roof of the World (Bam-i- Duniah). This region of Asia is known as High Asia, with an average elevation of 4511 metres above sea level, making the Tibetan Plateau the world’s highest plateau.

It was formed and is still being formed due to the collision of the Indo-Australian and Eurasian tectonic plates- these plates started colliding about 70 million years ago! The Tibetan Plateau has a number of saline and freshwater glacial lakes, that is, there are about 1,500 large and small lakes with a total area of 24,183 square kilometres as on 2008.

It is also called the Third Pole due to its ice fields, which are the world’s greatest freshwater resource other than the Polar Regions. This region gives rise to some of the most important rivers of Asia including the Brahmaputra, Indus, Ganges, Salween, Mekong, Yangtze, and Yellow river.

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