RAS question
Cape of Good Hope is located at the southern tip of:
Correct answer: (D) Africa (South Africa).
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky promontory at the southern end of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa, so it is associated with the southern tip of Africa.
Explanation
The Cape of Good Hope is not in Australia, South America or India; it is a rocky headland on the Atlantic side of South Africa's Cape Peninsula. Britannica describes it as a rocky promontory at the southern end of the Cape Peninsula in Western Cape province, South Africa. The historical clue also points to Africa: Bartolomeu Dias sighted it in 1488 after establishing the southern limits of the African continent. Dias called it the Cape of Storms, and King John II of Portugal renamed it Cape of Good Hope because it suggested that India could be reached by sea from Europe. For precision, remember that Cape Agulhas, not Cape of Good Hope, is Africa's actual southernmost point.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Australia is wrong because the Cape of Good Hope is identified with the Cape Peninsula in South Africa, not with any Australian cape.
- (B) South America is wrong because the southern tip commonly associated with that continent is Cape Horn, whereas the Cape of Good Hope belongs to South Africa's Cape Peninsula.
- (C) India is wrong because India's southern tip is associated with Kanyakumari, while the Cape of Good Hope was historically significant as a marker on the sea route to India, not as part of India.
Concept
This tests the world-geography habit of matching famous capes with continents and nearby political locations. RAS repeats such map-based landmarks because they connect physical geography with the history of sea routes and exploration.