Places in News Current Affairs MCQs

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India recently welcomed the United Kingdom’s decision to return the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, including the Diego Garcia atoll, to Mauritius under a historic agreement. The Chagos Islands are located in the central Indian Ocean, about 1,600 km south of India’s southern tip. These islands have been a British Overseas Territory since November 8, 1965. Key islands in the group include Diego Garcia, Danger Island, Egmont Islands, Eagle Islands, Nelsons Island, Peros Banhos, Three Brothers, and the Solomon Islands. Diego Garcia, the largest island covering 30 square kilometers, hosts a major United States military base. The islands are flat and low-lying, with most areas not rising more than 2 meters above sea level and having no rivers or lakes. They experience a tropical marine climate with high heat and humidity, moderated by trade winds.

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The Kilauea volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island recently erupted with lava fountains reaching over 1,000 feet high. Kilauea is one of the world’s most active volcanoes. It is a shield-type volcano located in the southeastern part of the island of Hawaii in the state of Hawaii, United States. The volcano stands at 4,190 feet or 1,227 meters above sea level. Its summit caldera has a lava lake called Halemaʻumaʻu, believed to be the home of Pele, the Hawaiian volcano goddess. Its slopes join with those of Mauna Loa volcano to the west and north. Kilauea has been erupting almost continuously since 1983. Its eruptions are mostly nonexplosive and usually remain within Halemaʻumaʻu, sometimes overflowing onto the caldera floor and sides.

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Recently, the Birch Glacier in Switzerland collapsed, causing a huge landslide that partly buried Blatten village. The landslide also affected the flow of the Lonza River, increasing local risk. Birch Glacier is located in the Lötschental valley in northern Switzerland. Experts say that climate change played a key role in this disaster. Switzerland, which has the most glaciers in Europe, has lost nearly 40% of its glacial volume since 2000. This incident highlights the urgent impact of global warming on mountain ecosystems.

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Lake Natron in Tanzania is gaining global attention due to environmental threats from climate change and development projects. It is a shallow, hyper-alkaline salt lake located in the Ngorongoro District, Arusha Region, near the Kenya-Tanzania border. It is fed by the Ewaso Ng’iro River and mineral-rich hot springs. Lake Natron is listed as a Ramsar wetland site.

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Recently, Mount Lewotobi Lakilaki in Indonesia erupted, sending an ash cloud up to 11 kilometers high. It is located in East Nusa Tenggara province on Flores Island, Indonesia. The volcano lies along the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’, a zone of high volcanic activity.

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Recently, a major wildfire broke out near the main town of Chios Island in the eastern Aegean Sea, with over 100 firefighters and water-dropping aircraft working to control the flames. Chios is a Greek island located in the Aegean Sea, just 8 kilometres off the western coast of Turkey. It is the fifth-largest island in Greece. Chios is known for producing mastic gum and is often called “the Mastic Island.”

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Recently, the Wandan mud volcano in Taiwan erupted, sending bubbling mud into the air while locals set the escaping gases on fire with burning rags. A mud volcano is a small cone of mud and clay, usually less than a few meters high. It forms from hot water mixed with fine sediment, which either flows gently like lava or bursts out like a fountain due to volcanic gas and boiling water. The craters are shallow and erupt mud on and off, rebuilding cones that erode easily. Mud volcanoes, also called mud domes or sedimentary volcanoes, release gases like methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen along with often salty or acidic water.

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Recently, Japan’s Mount Shinmoedake erupted, sending a huge ash plume into the sky. Mount Shinmoedake is an active stratovolcano on Kyushu Island in Japan. It is part of the Kirishima mountain range in Kagoshima Prefecture. The volcano stands 1420.8 meters above sea level. It shows frequent eruptions and unique geological formations.

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After more than 100 years, swimmers officially returned to the River Seine in France since its closure in 1923. The River Seine is France’s second-longest river after the Loire, stretching 775 kilometers. Its drainage basin, called the Paris Basin, covers about 79,000 square kilometers in northern France. Around 62% of the basin supports agriculture, holding 25% of France’s farm activity and up to 30% of industry.

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Over 1,000 earthquakes have shaken the Tokara Islands in southern Japan in the past two weeks, creating an unprecedented seismic situation. The Tokara Islands are a small archipelago located south of Kyushu and north of the Amami Islands in Japan. They are also called the Toshima Islands, covered administratively by Toshima-mura (Toshima Village). The archipelago includes 7 inhabited islands (e.g., Kuchinoshima, Nakanoshima, Suwanosejima) and 5 uninhabited islands (e.g., Gajajima, Kogajajima).