From Aceh in the far north-west to Torres Strait in the east is 5000 miles, almost as far as from London to Baghdad. The Archipelago has 14,000 islands, some mere equatorial rocks, others some of the largest in the world. This description best fits

examrobotsa's picture

Submitted by examrobotsa on

Q: 45 (IAS/1997)
“From Aceh in the far north-west to Torres Strait in the east is 5000 miles, almost as far as from London to Baghdad. The Archipelago has 14,000 islands, some mere equatorial rocks, others some of the largest in the world.” This description best fits

question_subject: 

Geography

question_exam: 

IAS

stats: 

0,56,54,18,11,25,56

keywords: 

{'torres strait': [0, 1, 0, 0], 'islands': [0, 1, 1, 1], 'archipelago': [1, 0, 0, 0], 'west indies': [0, 0, 0, 1], 'indonesia': [1, 0, 1, 0], 'philippines': [2, 2, 11, 14], 'mere equatorial rocks': [0, 1, 0, 0], 'west': [11, 4, 16, 22], 'east': [0, 0, 2, 1], 'japan': [0, 0, 1, 2], 'far north': [0, 1, 0, 0], 'miles': [0, 1, 0, 1], 'aceh': [0, 1, 0, 0], 'baghdad': [1, 0, 0, 0], 'london': [7, 3, 11, 16]}

The given passage describes a sprawling archipelago stretching from Aceh in the north-west to Torres Strait in the east, a span of 5000 miles, and comprises of around 14,000 islands of various sizes. This description fits best with `Indonesia`, which is known to be made up of many thousands of islands.

Option 1, the West Indies, is incorrect as this region is located in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, not between Aceh and the Torres Strait.

Option 2, Japan, is also incorrect because although Japan is an archipelago, it does not meet the geographical markers mentioned (Aceh and Torres Strait), nor is it comprised of 14,000 islands.

Option 3, the Philippines, while being an archipelago, is still not a correct choice because it consists of about 7,641 islands which is significantly less than the mentioned 14,000 islands and it does not stretch from Aceh to Torres Strait.

Hence, the correct answer is Option 4 - Indonesia.