RAS question
The Siachen Glacier is located in:
Correct answer: (C) Eastern Karakoram Range, Ladakh.
The Siachen Glacier is located in the eastern Karakoram Range in Ladakh.
Explanation
Siachen Glacier is in the eastern Karakoram Range, within Ladakh, not on India's Nepal-facing or eastern Himalayan margins. Its exam-relevant identifiers are that it is 76 km long, lies at extreme altitude, and has been associated with India's military presence since Operation Meghdoot in 1984. The District Leh page places Siachen on the eastern Karakoram Range and describes it as lying high up in the Nubra Valley. It also reinforces why the place is often asked in exams: Siachen is described as the highest battlefield and among the most inhospitable terrains on Earth, making its location a standard India-physical-geography and strategic-geography fact.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) The Nepal border is not in the eastern Karakoram Range, whereas Siachen is located in Ladakh's Karakoram sector.
- (B) Arunachal Pradesh belongs to India's eastern Himalayan frontier, but the Siachen Glacier is identified with Ladakh and the eastern Karakoram Range.
- (D) Himachal Pradesh has Himalayan glaciers, but Siachen is specifically placed in Ladakh, high in the Nubra Valley of the eastern Karakoram Range.
Concept
This tests the map-based location of major Himalayan and trans-Himalayan features. RAS repeats such facts because glaciers, passes and frontier regions connect physical geography with strategic geography.