UPSC Prelims 2022 GS Paper I · Q23 of 98 Geography medium

Which one of the following lakes of West Africa has become dry and turned into a desert ?

  1. (a) Lake Victoria
  2. (b) Lake Faguibine ✓ UPSC's answer
  3. (c) Lake Oguta
  4. (d) Lake Volta

Why the answer is (b)

• Lake Faguibine in northern Mali, once one of West Africa's largest lakes fed by Niger river floods near Timbuktu, dried up progressively after the Sahel droughts of the 1970s–80s and is now largely desert, with shifting dunes covering former fishing villages — option (b).

• Its desiccation, worsened by climate change and reduced Niger floods, has displaced communities and fed the region's insecurity.

• Lake Victoria is in East Africa and very much extant; Lake Oguta in Nigeria is a small natural lake; Lake Volta in Ghana is one of the world's largest reservoirs.

• Hence option (b).

Why the other options are wrong

(a) Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is in East Africa and has not dried up.
(c) Lake Oguta
Lake Oguta in Nigeria still exists.
(d) Lake Volta
Lake Volta is a large existing reservoir in Ghana.

Asked in the GS Paper I of the UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2022, held on 5 June 2022. Question and answer key: Union Public Service Commission. Explanation: UPSC Answer Check.

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