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UPSC Prelims 2026 · Indian Geography · India’s Land and Borders
Which of the following with reference to Indian States is/are not correct?
- Uttar Pradesh shares its boundary with the highest number of other Indian States.
- Rajasthan shares the longest international border among all Indian States.
- Sikkim is the only State that shares its boundary with just one other Indian State.
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 1 and 2
- (c) 2 and 3
- (d) 3 only
Show the answer and explanation
Answer: (c) 2 and 3
Statements 2 and 3 are both false — and the question asks for what is NOT correct.
Statement by statement
1. ✓ TRUE statement — so it is not the answer UP touches 8 States — Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar — plus Delhi (a UT). No State touches more; Assam comes next with 7.
2. ✗ FALSE — West Bengal has the longest West Bengal’s border with Bangladesh alone is about 2,200 km (plus Nepal and Bhutan). Rajasthan’s border with Pakistan is about 1,070 km.
3. ✗ FALSE — Meghalaya also has just one Sikkim touches only West Bengal — but Meghalaya touches only Assam. So Sikkim is not the ONLY one.
The idea
An internal State boundary, a Union Territory boundary and an international border are different categories. Count only the category the question names. A State can have few Indian neighbours but several foreign neighbours, and an international border can include sections with more than one country.
Why the others are wrong
(a) Statement 1 is actually true — UP borders 8 States, the most.
(b) Includes the one true statement (UP) and misses the Meghalaya trap.
(d) Statement 3 is false, but so is statement 2 (West Bengal, not Rajasthan).
The trap
Two traps stacked. “Longest international border” feels like Rajasthan (the Pakistan border across the Thar), and “only one neighbour” feels like Sikkim. Meghalaya is the forgotten twin — it touches only Assam.
Elimination technique
Meghalaya touches Assam and Bangladesh, with no second Indian State neighbour. This concrete counterexample disproves the word “only” in statement 3, leaving (c) or (d); the international-border comparison then decides between them.
Also know
Sikkim has international borders with Nepal, Bhutan and China. Meghalaya has an international border with Bangladesh. West Bengal meets Nepal and Bhutan as well as Bangladesh. Telangana was formed in 2014, while Jammu and Kashmir was reorganised into two Union Territories in 2019; use the exam-year administrative map.
🔒 Most neighbours: UP (8). Longest international border: West Bengal. Only one neighbour: Sikkim (WB) AND Meghalaya (Assam).
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