Mountains and Plateaus MCQs — World Ranges, Peaks, Plateaus & Passes

The Tibetan Plateau, with an average elevation of about 4,500 m, is the highest and largest plateau on Earth and is famously called the ‘Roof of the World’.

The Pamir Plateau in Tajikistan/Afghanistan is the ‘pamir knot’ where the Himalayas, Karakoram, Hindu Kush, Kunlun and Tien Shan meet — also called the Roof of the World.

The Deccan Plateau covers most of peninsular India south of the Vindhyas, formed by massive volcanic eruptions ~66 million years ago that produced the Deccan Traps basalt.

The Balochistan Plateau covers most of Balochistan province in Pakistan. It is rich in coal, chromite, copper and natural gas — Pakistan’s main mineral reserve.

The Loess Plateau in north-central China is famous for its yellow wind-blown silt (loess) — among the world’s most fertile soils, but also highly erodible.

The Anatolian Plateau forms the central highland of Turkey, ringed by the Pontic Mountains in the north and the Taurus Mountains in the south.

The Iranian Plateau spans Iran, Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan and contains Iran’s two great deserts — Dasht-e-Kavir (salt) and Dasht-e-Lut (sand & lava).

The Mongolian Plateau spans Mongolia and Inner Mongolia (China). It is covered with steppe grasslands and experiences one of Earth’s most extreme continental climates.

The Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau in southwestern China is famous for its karst topography — including the Stone Forest and limestone pinnacles.

The Shan Plateau in eastern Myanmar is known for its tea gardens, hill stations and its ethnically diverse population.

The Columbia-Snake Plateau in the US Pacific Northwest was formed by massive flood-basalt eruptions about 17 million years ago — among the largest volcanic events in geological history.

The Colorado Plateau in the southwestern US (Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico) is home to the Grand Canyon and many other iconic national parks.

The Laurentian Plateau is the Canadian Shield — an ancient Precambrian craton covering most of eastern and central Canada, rich in minerals.

The Ozark Plateau spans Missouri, Arkansas and parts of Oklahoma and Kansas in the USA, famous for karst caves, springs and the Ozark Mountains.

The Mexican Plateau (Mesa Central) hosts the rich Chihuahua silver mines — Mexico is the world’s largest silver producer.

The Altiplano spans Bolivia, Peru, Chile and Argentina at ~3,750 m. It is the world’s second-highest plateau after the Tibetan Plateau, and Lake Titicaca lies on it.

The Brazilian Highlands occupy most of central and eastern Brazil — an ancient cratonic shield with savanna, hill country and major mineral wealth.

The Mato Grosso (Matto Grosso) Plateau covers central-west Brazil and parts of Bolivia — vast savanna grasslands ideal for cattle ranching.

The Guiana (Guyana) Plateau in Venezuela is home to Angel Falls (979 m / 3,212 ft) — the world’s highest uninterrupted waterfall, on Auyán-tepui.

The Patagonian Plateau covers southern Argentina east of the Andes. It is a cold, dry rain-shadow desert and the world’s largest sheep-rearing region.

The Jos Plateau in central Nigeria is the centre of Nigerian tin mining and has a cool climate that made it a colonial-era hill station.

The Ethiopian Plateau (Highlands) — often called the ‘Roof of Africa’ — is the source of the Blue Nile, which contributes ~80% of the Nile’s water during flood season.

The Katanga Plateau in southern DR Congo is the heart of the Central African Copperbelt and was the source of uranium used in the first atomic bombs.

The Ahaggar (Hoggar) Plateau is a volcanic highland in southern Algeria within the Sahara Desert. Its highest peak is Mount Tahat (~2,908 m).

The Meseta Central forms most of the Iberian Peninsula in Spain — a high, dry tableland averaging 600–700 m, divided by the Central System mountains.

The Kimberley Plateau in northwestern Australia contains the Argyle diamond mine — once the world’s largest producer of diamonds, especially rare pink diamonds.

The Antarctic Plateau (~3,000+ m) at the heart of East Antarctica is the world’s highest and coldest plateau, with surface temperatures recorded below -89°C.

The Pothohar Plateau in northern Punjab (Pakistan) is famous for its oil fields and the Khewra Salt Mine — the second-largest salt mine in the world.

The Himalayas — formed by the India-Eurasia collision ~50 million years ago — are the world’s highest and youngest fold-mountain system, with 10 of the 14 ‘eight-thousanders’.

K2 (8,611 m) is located in the Karakoram Range on the Pakistan–China border. The Karakoram contains 4 of the world’s 14 ‘eight-thousanders’.

Tirich Mir (7,708 m) in Chitral, Pakistan, is the highest peak of the Hindu Kush range. The Hindu Kush stretches across Afghanistan and northern Pakistan.

The Kunlun Mountains form the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau and are one of the longest mountain chains in Asia (~3,000 km).

Tien Shan (literally ‘Celestial Mountains’ in Chinese) stretches across Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and China — a major Central Asian range.

The Arakan Yoma (Rakhine Range) in western Myanmar is the southern extension of the Himalayas, separating Myanmar from Bangladesh.

Anai Mudi (2,695 m) in Kerala is the highest peak of the Western Ghats and the highest point in peninsular India.

The Zagros Mountains stretch ~1,600 km through Iran and northern Iraq. They sit atop some of the world’s largest oil and gas reserves.

The Caucasus Mountains divide Europe and Asia between the Black and Caspian seas. Mount Elbrus (5,642 m) in Russia is the highest peak in Europe.

The Ural Mountains form the conventional boundary between Europe and Asia. Mount Narodnaya (1,895 m) is their highest peak.

Mont Blanc (4,810 m) on the France–Italy border is the highest peak of the Alps and the highest in Western Europe.

The Pyrenees stretch ~491 km across the France–Spain border, also bordering Andorra. Highest peak: Aneto (3,404 m).

The Carpathians form a 1,500 km crescent across Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Hungary and Serbia. Europe’s largest virgin forests and brown-bear populations live here.

The Apennines run nearly the full length of Italy — the ‘Spine of Italy’ — from Liguria to Calabria, with the Mount Etna and Vesuvius volcanic systems nearby.

Galdhøpiggen (2,469 m) in Norway is the highest peak of the Scandinavian Mountains — the range that forms the spine of the Scandinavian Peninsula.

The Balkan Mountains (Stara Planina) cross northern Bulgaria and give the Balkan Peninsula its name.

The Great Dividing Range stretches ~3,500 km along Australia’s east coast — the country’s longest range and the 5th-longest land-based range in the world.

Aoraki/Mount Cook (3,724 m) is New Zealand’s highest peak and lies in the Southern Alps on the South Island.

The Andes (~7,000 km) along South America’s western coast are the longest continental mountain range in the world, passing through 7 countries.

Mount Whitney (4,421 m) in California is the highest peak of the Sierra Nevada and the highest peak in the contiguous (lower-48) United States.

The Rocky Mountains stretch ~4,800 km from Canada to New Mexico and form the Continental Divide of North America — separating Pacific-bound and Atlantic-bound rivers.

The Appalachian Mountains — among the oldest ranges on Earth (~480 million years) — run along the eastern USA and Canada and hold vast coal reserves.

Mount Everest’s official height was updated to 8,848.86 m (~8,849 m) by a joint Nepal-China survey in 2020. It is the world’s highest peak.

K2 is also called Mount Godwin-Austen (after the British surveyor Henry Godwin-Austen) and locally as Chogori — second-highest peak in the world.

Kangchenjunga (8,586 m) on the Nepal-India border is the third-highest mountain in the world. Its name means ‘Five Treasures of the Great Snow’.

Makalu (8,485 m) on the Nepal-Tibet border is the world’s fifth-highest peak, known for its distinctive four-sided pyramid shape.

Cho Oyu (8,188 m) is widely considered the easiest of the 14 eight-thousanders due to its gentler slopes and accessibility — the 6th-highest peak.

Dhaulagiri (8,167 m) means ‘White Mountain’ in Sanskrit (dhavala = dazzling white, giri = mountain). It is the 7th-highest peak.

Manaslu (8,163 m) in Nepal’s Mansiri Himal is the eighth-highest peak in the world. The name comes from Sanskrit ‘Manasa’ (intellect or soul).

Nanga Parbat (8,126 m) in Pakistan is called the ‘Killer Mountain’ due to its high climbing-death rate, especially during early 20th-century expeditions.

Annapurna I (8,091 m) was first climbed by Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal of France in June 1950 — making it the first ‘eight-thousander’ to be summited.

Mount Elbrus (5,642 m) in the Caucasus Mountains of Russia is the highest peak in Europe. Mont Blanc (4,810 m) is the highest in Western Europe.

The Matterhorn (4,478 m) on the Switzerland-Italy border is one of the most photographed mountains in the world — a near-perfect pyramid in the Alps.

Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895 m) in Tanzania is the highest peak in Africa and the world’s tallest free-standing mountain — a dormant stratovolcano.

Mount Aconcagua (6,961 m) in Argentina is the highest peak in South America and the highest mountain outside Asia.

Ojos del Salado (6,893 m) on the Chile-Argentina border is the world’s highest active volcano and the second-highest peak in the Western Hemisphere.

Denali (6,190 m) in Alaska was officially named Mount McKinley from 1917 until 2015, when it was renamed Denali (its indigenous Athabaskan name).

Pico de Orizaba (5,636 m) is the highest peak in Mexico and the third-highest peak in North America — a dormant stratovolcano.

Mount Vinson (4,892 m) in the Ellsworth Mountains is the highest peak in Antarctica and one of the Seven Summits.

Mount Fuji (3,776 m) is Japan’s highest peak and an iconic national symbol — an active stratovolcano on Honshu island.

Mount Ararat (5,137 m) in eastern Turkey is traditionally identified in Abrahamic religions as the resting place of Noah’s Ark after the Great Flood.

Mount Vesuvius near Naples, Italy, erupted catastrophically in 79 AD and buried the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in ash and pumice.

The Karakoram Pass (5,540 m) on the India-China border was a historic branch of the Silk Route connecting Ladakh to Yarkand in Xinjiang.

Khardung La (~5,359 m) north of Leh is one of the world’s highest motorable roads — a major Ladakh tourist route.

Zoji La (~3,528 m) in Ladakh/J&K connects Srinagar with Leh — vital for military and civil supply, often closed in winter snow.

Nathu La (~4,310 m) in Sikkim connects India with Tibet (China) — reopened in 2006 as a key trade route, closed during the 1962 Indo-China war.

Thorong La (5,416 m) is a famous pass on the Annapurna Circuit trek in Nepal — among the most popular high passes in the trekking world.

The Salang Pass (~3,878 m) and its Soviet-built tunnel link Kabul with northern Afghanistan — the country’s most strategic transport route.

The Gotthard Pass (2,106 m) is a historic north-south corridor through the Swiss Alps — vital for centuries of Italy-to-Northern-Europe traffic.

Stelvio Pass (2,758 m) in the Italian Alps is famous for its 48 hairpin bends on the northern side — among the most spectacular paved roads on Earth.

The Brenner Pass (1,370 m) is the lowest and busiest Alpine pass linking Italy with Austria — a key European trade and rail corridor.

Paso de los Libertadores (Cristo Redentor Pass) is the main road link between Chile and Argentina through the Andes — near Mount Aconcagua.