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Q24 (CDS-I/2008) Geography › Maps & Locations › Thematic map skills Answer Verified

Assertion (A) : The percentage of the earth's surface covered by India is 2.4%. Reason (R) : On the Mercator's map of the world, India is shown much smaller than Canada.

Result
Your answer: —  Â·  Correct: B
Explanation

Assertion (A) is true as India's landmass of 3.28 million square km accounts for approximately 2.4% of the world's total land surface area [2]. Reason (R) is also true; the Mercator projection is a cylindrical map projection that preserves angles but significantly distorts the size of landmasses as latitude increases. Consequently, high-latitude countries like Canada appear much larger than they are relative to equatorial or tropical countries like India. While both statements are factually correct, the Reason (R) describes a cartographic distortion phenomenon which does not explain the physical geographic fact of India's actual surface area percentage. Therefore, R is not the correct explanation of A. India's 2.4% share is a physical measurement of land area, whereas the Mercator map representation is a matter of mathematical projection and visual distortion.

Sources

  1. [2] NCERT. (2022). Contemporary India II: Textbook in Geography for Class X (Revised ed.). NCERT. > Chapter 1: The Rise of Nationalism in Europe > Fig. 1.4 > p. 7
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