All Free General Knowledge MCQs with Answers

• A. Queen Maud Land
• B. The Ross Sea coast
• C. The Antarctic Peninsula
• D. Wilkes Land

Explanation: The Antarctic Peninsula extends northward toward the tip of South America.

• A. The Bellingshausen Sea and the Amundsen Sea
• B. The Davis Sea and the Cooperation Sea
• C. The Lazarev Sea and the Riiser-Larsen Sea
• D. The Weddell Sea and the Ross Sea

Explanation: The Weddell and Ross Seas are the two great embayments of Antarctica, each fringed by huge ice shelves.

• A. The Arctic Ocean
• B. The Southern Ocean
• C. The Atlantic Ocean
• D. The Indian Ocean

Explanation: The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the five oceans.

• A. Ellesmere Island
• B. Greenland
• C. Iceland
• D. Baffin Island

Explanation: Greenland is the world's largest island and a self-governing part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

• A. The Antarctic Ice Sheet
• B. The Patagonian Ice Sheet
• C. The Greenland Ice Sheet
• D. The Vatnajökull Ice Cap

Explanation: After Antarctica, the Greenland Ice Sheet is the world's second-largest body of ice.

• A. Novaya Zemlya
• B. The New Siberian Islands
• C. The Faroe Islands
• D. Svalbard

Explanation: Svalbard, in the Arctic Ocean north of Norway, is Norwegian territory.

• A. Duplicate seeds of the world's crop varieties as a backup
• B. Oil samples
• C. Gold reserves
• D. Frozen animal embryos

Explanation: The Svalbard vault safeguards duplicate seed collections as insurance against crop loss.

• A. Five
• B. Eight
• C. Six
• D. Ten

Explanation: The Arctic Council has eight member states: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the USA.

• A. France
• B. Spain
• C. Russia
• D. Britain

Explanation: The US bought Alaska from Russia in 1867 in what critics called "Seward's Folly".

• A. A strait near Greenland
• B. A road across Canada
• C. A railway in Alaska
• D. A sea route linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Canadian Arctic

Explanation: The Northwest Passage threads through Canada's Arctic islands between the Atlantic and Pacific.

• A. An Arctic shipping route along Russia's northern coast
• B. A road along Norway's coast
• C. A ferry route in the Baltic
• D. A pipeline across Siberia

Explanation: The Northern Sea Route runs along Siberia's Arctic coast, linking Europe and Asia.

• A. Ernest Shackleton
• B. Roald Amundsen
• C. Robert Peary
• D. Robert Scott

Explanation: Norwegian Roald Amundsen reached the South Pole in December 1911, beating Scott's team.

• A. Ernest Shackleton
• B. Roald Amundsen
• C. Robert Peary
• D. Fridtjof Nansen

Explanation: American Robert Peary claimed to reach the North Pole in 1909, though the claim is disputed.

• A. 1949
• B. 1969
• C. 1979
• D. 1959

Explanation: The Antarctic Treaty, signed in 1959, reserves the continent for peaceful purposes and science.

• A. That Antarctica is used only for peaceful purposes and scientific research
• B. A ban on all visits to Antarctica
• C. Mining rights for signatories
• D. Division of Antarctica among nations

Explanation: The treaty demilitarises Antarctica and promotes international scientific cooperation.

• A. The Paris Agreement
• B. The Madrid Protocol (Protocol on Environmental Protection)
• C. The Kyoto Protocol
• D. The Montreal Protocol

Explanation: The 1991 Madrid Protocol designates Antarctica a natural reserve and bans mineral exploitation.

• A. Five
• B. Nine
• C. Seven
• D. Twelve

Explanation: Seven states maintain territorial claims in Antarctica, though the treaty freezes them.

• A. France
• B. New Zealand
• C. The United Kingdom
• D. Australia

Explanation: The Australian Antarctic Territory is the largest of the seven national claims.

• A. Argentina, Chile and the United Kingdom
• B. Brazil, South Africa and India
• C. France, Norway and Australia
• D. Russia, the USA and China

Explanation: Argentina, Chile and Britain all claim parts of the Antarctic Peninsula, and their claims overlap.

• A. The Sami
• B. The Inuit
• C. The Nenets
• D. The Chukchi

Explanation: The Inuit are the indigenous people of the North American Arctic, including Greenland.