UPSC Prelims 2018 Question:

Consider the following pairs:

Sl. No.	Regions sometimes mentioned in the news		Country
1	Catalonia	:	Spain
2	Crimea	:	Hungary
3	Mindanao	:	Phillipines
4	Oromia	:	Nigeria

Which of the pair given above are correctly matched?

Explanation:

• The Catalonia region,  in northeastern Spain, is known for the beaches of Costa Brava as well as the Pyrenees Mountains. So, pair 1 is correctly matched.
  • The 2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, also known as the Catalan crisis, was a political conflict between the Government of Spain and the government of the autonomous community of Catalonia over the issue of Catalan independence.
    
    
• Crimea is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. So, pair 2 is not correctly matched.
  
  
• Mindanao encompasses the large island of Mindanao plus smaller islands in the southern Philippines. So, pair 3 is correctly matched.
  • In May 2017, its President had declared martial law on the entire island group of Mindanao following the Marawi siege by the Maute terrorist group.
    
    
• Oromia is a regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. The capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa. So, pair 4 is not correctly matched.
  
  

Therefore, option (3) is the correct answer.

Subject: Geography | Mapping