SSC
In Nepal, Mount Everest is known as:
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Answer: Option D — Sagarmatha
Detailed Solution
In Nepal, Mount Everest is called "Sagarmatha".
About the name Sagarmatha:
- It means "Head (or Forehead) of the Sky" in Nepali (from Sanskrit "sagar" = sky or ocean and "matha" = head).
- The name was officially adopted by the Government of Nepal in the 1960s; it was popularised by the Nepali historian Baburam Acharya.
- In Tibetan, the mountain is called "Chomolungma" (or "Qomolangma"), meaning "Goddess Mother of the World" or "Holy Mother".
- In Chinese, it is called "Zhumulangma Feng", from the Tibetan name.
Sagarmatha National Park:
- It was established in 1976 and covers the area around Everest in the Solukhumbu district of north-eastern Nepal.
- It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.
- It is home to the Sherpa people, and includes other high peaks such as Lhotse, Cho Oyu and Ama Dablam.
- Its wildlife includes the snow leopard, red panda and Himalayan tahr.
- The town of Namche Bazaar is the gateway to the Everest region.
Everest climbing routes:
The South-East Ridge route from Nepal (via the Khumbu Icefall and the South Col) is the most popular. It was used by Hillary and Tenzing in 1953.
The North-East Ridge route from Tibet (China).
Concerns:
Overcrowding, waste and pollution on the mountain have become major problems. Nepal requires climbers to bring back their waste, and in 2024 it made the use of "poop bags" mandatory.
Climate change is causing glaciers in the region, such as the Khumbu Glacier, to melt.
Other high peaks of Nepal:
- Nepal has eight of the world's fourteen peaks above 8,000 metres, including Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu, Manaslu and Annapurna, and shares Kangchenjunga with India.
- Annapurna (8,091 m) was the first 8,000-metre peak to be climbed (1950, by a French team).
Other names for Himalayan peaks:
Kangchenjunga: "Five Treasures of the Snow"; worshipped in Sikkim.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Chomolungma is the Tibetan name of Everest.
- ✗Annapurna is a separate mountain massif in Nepal.
- ✗Dhaulagiri is a separate 8,000-metre peak.
Quick tip
Remember: Everest = Sagarmatha in Nepal ("Head of the Sky"), Chomolungma in Tibet ("Goddess Mother of the World"); Sagarmatha National Park = UNESCO 1979; Nepal has 8 of the 14 peaks above 8,000 m.
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Physical Features of India — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Physical Features of India, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers India's location and extent, its neighbours and boundary lines, and its physiographic divisions: the Himalayas, the Northern Plains, the Peninsular Plateau, the Indian Desert, the coastal plains and the islands, along with important mountain passes, peaks and hill ranges. Questions often ask which states the Tropic of Cancer passes through, the southernmost point of India (Indira Point), the highest peak in India (Kangchenjunga), and which pass connects which regions. India shares its longest land border with Bangladesh. Learning the Himalayan ranges from north to south (Himadri, Himachal and Shiwaliks) is also useful. Practise the physical features of India questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.