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Straits of the World: asked and not asked.

UPSC has asked 13 of these 31. 4 came more than once. 18 have not come yet. Lock the repeated ones first, then read the rest.

First, the concept

A strait is a narrow sea passage between two land masses that joins two seas. An isthmus is the opposite: a narrow land strip between two seas (Suez, Panama).

Many straits are 'chokepoints' of world trade: Hormuz (oil from the Gulf), Malacca (India–China sea route), Bab-el-Mandeb (Red Sea entry).

UPPCS asks a strait with the two lands it separates or the two seas it joins.

🔁 Asked again and again (4)

Tap a year to open that solved question.

Asia

  • Malacca · Malay Peninsula ↔ Sumatra; Andaman Sea ↔ South China Sea 2 times:20102008
  • Sunda · Java ↔ Sumatra 2 times:20001999
  • Hormuz · Iran ↔ Oman; Persian Gulf ↔ Gulf of Oman 2 times:20262026

Europe and the Mediterranean

  • Gibraltar · Spain ↔ Morocco; Mediterranean ↔ Atlantic 2 times:20082007

✅ Asked once (9)

Asia

  • Palk Strait · India ↔ Sri Lanka
  • La Perouse (Soya) · Hokkaido ↔ Sakhalin (Russia) 2014
  • Bering · Russia (Asia) ↔ Alaska (North America) 2008
  • Taiwan Strait · China ↔ Taiwan

Europe and the Mediterranean

  • Dover · England ↔ France; narrowest part of the English Channel 2007

Americas, Africa and Oceania

  • Magellan · South American mainland ↔ Tierra del Fuego
  • Davis and Hudson Straits · Greenland ↔ Baffin Island; into Hudson Bay 2007
  • Torres Strait · Australia ↔ New Guinea
  • Florida Strait · Florida (USA) ↔ Cuba 2008

❌ Not asked by UPSC yet (18)

Items marked 'asked in UPPCS' have already come in the UP state exam, so examiners do use them.

Asia

  • Lombok and Makassar · Bali ↔ Lombok; Borneo ↔ Sulawesi asked in UPPCS
  • Bab-el-Mandeb · Yemen ↔ Djibouti; Red Sea ↔ Gulf of Aden asked in UPPCS
  • Korea (Tsushima) Strait · South Korea ↔ Japan
  • Tsugaru · Honshu ↔ Hokkaido (Japan)
  • Tatar Strait · Sakhalin ↔ Russian mainland

Europe and the Mediterranean

  • Bosphorus · Istanbul; Black Sea ↔ Sea of Marmara asked in UPPCS
  • Dardanelles · Sea of Marmara ↔ Aegean Sea
  • Messina · Sicily ↔ Italy
  • Bonifacio · Corsica ↔ Sardinia
  • Otranto · Italy ↔ Albania; Adriatic ↔ Ionian Sea
  • Kerch · Crimea ↔ Russia; Black Sea ↔ Sea of Azov
  • Skagerrak and Kattegat · Denmark ↔ Norway and Sweden; North Sea ↔ Baltic

Americas, Africa and Oceania

  • Drake Passage · South America ↔ Antarctica asked in UPPCS
  • Mozambique Channel · Mozambique ↔ Madagascar asked in UPPCS
  • Yucatan Channel · Mexico ↔ Cuba
  • Bass Strait · Australia ↔ Tasmania
  • Cook Strait · North Island ↔ South Island (New Zealand)
  • Foveaux Strait · South Island ↔ Stewart Island (New Zealand)

⚠️ Bosphorus joins the Black Sea to Marmara; Dardanelles joins Marmara to the Aegean. Bass Strait is Australia–Tasmania, Cook Strait is inside New Zealand. Sunda is Java–Sumatra, Malacca is Malaysia–Sumatra.

'Asked' is checked against the solved UPSC questions on this site. 'Not asked yet' does not mean it will surely come.

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