General Knowledge — Chapter 1, Part 1

World at a Glance — Asia: India, South Asia, West Asia, China & Russia, South East Asia and Oceania

Why this chapter matters: this is the largest single chapter in the notes, and the most productive — the lecturer opens the GK series by saying that, of all countries, the most one-paper MCQs are made on India, and the same country-by-country method runs through the whole world. Our verified banks hold 385 questions matching this chapter’s Asia part alone: West, Central and East Asia (221) — above all China, Russia, Iran, Türkiye and the Gulf states — India and South Asia (80) — above all India’s states, Kashmir, Bangladesh and Afghanistan — and South East Asia and Oceania (84) — above all Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia and the Cold War pacts. Part 2 carries Africa, Europe and the Americas (549 more questions). Learn this chapter as a map, not a list: every capital, currency and nickname below hangs on its region, and the master table in Section 12 is the revision sheet for the whole part.

1. The world frame: continents, islands, landlocked states, currencies

• South Asia = the 8 SAARC countries. The lecturer’s trick for them: “MBBS PAIN” — Maldives, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Nepal.
• Of the 8, two are islands — Sri Lanka and Maldives — and three are landlocked — Afghanistan, Nepal and Bhutan.
• Currencies that stand apart: the Afghani (Afghanistan), Taka (Bangladesh), Ngultrum (Bhutan) and Rufiyaa (Maldives). The rupee family is Pakistan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
• West Asia = the Middle East with Egypt removed (Egypt is in Africa) and Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Cyprus added — if you know “Middle East”, you already know “West Asia” with that one swap.
• The world’s landlocked families to keep straight: double landlocked countries are only two — Uzbekistan and Liechtenstein (the lecturer corrects his own earlier teaching on Uzbekistan in Lecture 4 and repeats the correction in Lecture 9 — learn the pair, not the old error).

2. India — states, union territories and the map-order story

• India has 28 states and 8 Union Territories = 36 in total. If the MCQ asks “how many states”, the answer is 28.
• The 8 Union Territories: Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Delhi, Chandigarh, Puducherry, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu.
• Largest state: Rajasthan. Most populous state: Uttar Pradesh — it rivals Pakistan’s whole population.
• Pakistan touches three Indian states besides Kashmir: Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
• The lecturer’s story mnemonic (learn the states in map order): “Jab hum Punjab rehne gaye, main gaya kaam karne. Udhar har din uthna, munh dhona, chai peeni, tel lagana, and tairna. Bahar jana, aur Sikh Bengali Assamiyon mein aaram na milna, teri marzi.” — Jammu & Kashmir · Humachal Pradesh · Punjab · Rehne = Rajasthan · Gaye = Gujarat · Main = Maharashtra · Gaya = Goa · Kaam = Karnataka · Karne = Kerala · Udhar = Uttarakhand · Har = Haryana · Din = Delhi · Uthna = Uttar Pradesh · Munh dhona = Madhya Pradesh · Chai peeni = Chhattisgarh · Tel lagana = Telangana · And = Andhra Pradesh · Tairna = Tamil Nadu · Bahar = Bihar · Jana = Jharkhand (with Odisha beside it) · Sikh = Sikkim · Bengali = West Bengal · Assamiyon = Assam · Mein = Meghalaya · Aaram = Arunachal Pradesh · Na = Nagaland · Milna = Manipur · Teri marzi = Tripura and Mizoram.

3. India — Kashmir, the constitution and the Modi era

• At Partition there were 565 princely states; each had to sign an Instrument of Accession with Pakistan or India. Only 13 joined Pakistan. The rest were integrated into India by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel — the “Iron Man of India”.
• Kashmir’s division today (as taught): Pakistan ~30% (Azad Jammu & Kashmir + Gilgit-Baltistan; the AJK capital is Muzaffarabad), India ~55% (Jammu, the Valley and Ladakh), China ~15% (Aksai Chin).
• Maharaja Hari Singh, a Hindu ruling a state whose population was about 75% Muslim, wanted Kashmir to stay independent. On 26 October 1947 he signed the Instrument of Accession with India. Junagadh was the mirror case: a Muslim ruler over a mostly Hindu population whose people wanted Pakistan — India occupied it anyway.
• Nehru repeatedly promised a plebiscite in Kashmir; it was never held. India took the Kashmir case to the United Nations on 1 January 1948 (Pakistan had become a UN member on 30 September 1947). The UN ceasefire line later became the Line of Control (LoC).
• India’s constitution was enforced 26 January 1950, when India became a Republic (Republic Day: 26 January). It is the longest written constitution in the world, and India is the biggest democracy in the world.
• Article 370 gave J&K special status and Article 35A protected its domicile regime. On 5 August 2019 the Modi government ended Articles 370 and 35A; Mehbooba Mufti had been the last Chief Minister before Governor’s/President’s rule.
• Narendra Modi (from Gujarat; its Chief Minister from 2001) became PM in May 2014 and took office for a third term on 9 June 2024.
• Statue of Unity (Gujarat): Patel’s statue — 182 metres, the tallest statue in the world.

4. India — regions, rivers, anthem, parliament, leaders

• Thar desert — Pakistan’s largest desert, called the “Friendly Desert” — extends into Rajasthan. Jaipur is the Pink City.
• Operation Smiling Buddha, 1974: India’s first nuclear test, at Pokhran (Rajasthan). Operation Shakti, 1998: India tested again at Pokhran; Pakistan answered on 28 May 1998 at Chagai — Youm-e-Takbeer.
• Somnath Temple (Gujarat) — destroyed by Mahmud Ghaznavi, who invaded the subcontinent 17 times. Mumbai (Maharashtra): old name Bombay; India’s financial capital. Sindh was separated from Bombay on 1 April 1936 — Jinnah’s Fourteen Points (1929) had demanded exactly this. Goa is asked as the Portuguese colony (the European connection began with Vasco da Gama’s arrival in 1498). Bengaluru (Karnataka) is the Silicon Valley of India. Kerala is the “communist state” (as taught).
• Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) was the British summer capital. India’s capital was Kolkata before it shifted to Delhi in 1911. New Delhi stands on the Yamuna river. Uttarakhand holds the IMA (Indian Military Academy, Dehradun). Telangana’s capital is Hyderabad. Tamil Nadu’s capital is Chennai — old name Madras.
• Bihar’s capital is Patna; Jharkhand is asked for the Naxalite movement. Sikkim was not part of India until 1975 — it joined as a state only then. The whole north-east hangs on the narrow “Chicken’s Neck” corridor.
• Operation Blue Star (1984): Indira Gandhi’s operation against Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and the Khalistan movement at the Golden Temple. Amritsar is the City of the Golden Temple, and the Golden Temple’s foundation stone was laid by Hazrat Mian Mir. In revenge, Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984 by her two Sikh bodyguards, Beant Singh and Satwant Singh. Arunachal Pradesh is claimed by China.
• Rivers: the Brahmaputra rises near Lake Mansarovar; in China it is called the Tsangpo; it enters India through Arunachal Pradesh; and in Bangladesh, after joining the Ganga, it flows as the Padma. The Ganga’s delta is the Sundarbans delta. Agra is on the Yamuna — and the Taj Mahal is in Agra. The Yamuna rises at the Yamunotri glacier; the Ganga at Gangotri. Kolkata is on the Hooghly river. The Narmada river does not form a delta.
• Anthem and song: India’s national anthem “Jana Gana Mana” runs 52 seconds; written by Rabindranath Tagore (composed 1911). Tagore was the first South Asian to win a Nobel Prize — Literature, 1913, for Gitanjali. The national song “Vande Mataram” was written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, in his Bengali novel Anandamath. Bangladesh’s national anthem, “Amar Sonar Bangla,” is also by Tagore — one poet wrote two countries’ anthems. Lata Mangeshkar died on 6 February 2022. The Tarana-e-Hindi — “Sare Jahan se Achha Hindustan Hamara” — was written by Allama Iqbal. Satyendranath Tagore (Rabindranath’s elder brother) was the first Indian in the Indian Civil Service — 1863.
• Parliament: the Sansad: the Rajya Sabha (upper house) has 245 seats — 233 elected + 12 nominated by the President; the Lok Sabha (lower house) has 543.
• Indian Nobel laureates he names: Tagore (Literature 1913) · Mother Teresa (Peace Prize 1979 — born in Skopje to Albanian parents; died 5 September 1997) · Amartya Sen (1998, Economics) · Har Gobind Khorana (1968, Medicine) · Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Kailash Satyarthi and Abhijit Banerjee.
• India’s external intelligence agency is RAW — Research and Analysis Wing. Its CBI is the Central Bureau of Investigation. 26/11: the Mumbai attacks of 26 November 2008.
• McMahon Line is the India–China boundary line. Pangong Tso is the lake of the film 3 Idiots. Airports asked: Dum Dum Airport (Kolkata) and Indira Gandhi Airport (Delhi). Bharat Ratna is India’s highest civilian award; Param Vir Chakra is its highest military award. Dalal Street (Mumbai) is the street of the stock exchange, India’s Wall Street.
• Hindu scriptures he lists: the Ramayana and Mahabharata epics, the Upanishads, and the four Vedas — Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda. Buddhism was founded by Gautama Buddha (born c. 563 BC). Sikhism was founded by Baba Guru Nanak — born 1469 at Nankana Sahib (there stands Gurdwara Janam Asthan); across the corridor, Dera Baba Nanak is on the Indian side and Gurdwara Darbar Sahib (Kartarpur) on Pakistan’s. The Kumbh Mela was started by King Harshvardhan.
• Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi — born 2 October (Gandhi Jayanti); a lawyer by profession; assassinated in January 1948 by Nathuram Godse. India is the world’s largest arms importer (as taught).
• Presidents and PMs: First President: Rajendra Prasad. Before the presidency, the Governors-General were Mountbatten, then C. Rajagopalachari. Zakir Husain was the first Muslim President. Recent line: Pranab Mukherjee (2012–2017) → Ram Nath Kovind (2017–2022) → Droupadi Murmu — the second woman President (the first was Pratibha Patil). Jawaharlal Nehru is the longest-serving PM (1947–1964). Lal Bahadur Shastri followed. Indira Gandhi is India’s only woman PM — assassinated 31 October 1984. Her son Rajiv Gandhi was the youngest PM — also assassinated. BJP = Bharatiya Janata Party.
• Recent flashpoints: Uri attack, 2016. Balakot, 2019: after India’s strike, Pakistan shot down an Indian jet and captured Wing Commander Abhinandan on 27 February 2019; he was returned on 1 March 2019. Pahalgam attack, 22 April 2025 — after which India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty (as taught), leading to Operation Sindoor (7 May 2025) and Bunyan-un-Marsoos (10 May 2025).

5. South Asia’s island and mountain states

Maldives

• Capital: Malé. It is the smallest SAARC country — and the smallest Muslim country in the world by land and by population (as taught). Its population is 100% Muslim; the equator passes through the Maldives; and it has the highest literacy rate in SAARC (as taught). The Laccadive Sea washes its shores.

Sri Lanka

• Sri Lanka has two capitals: Colombo — the commercial/executive capital (trick: Colombo, Commerce, Ceylon) — and Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, the administrative/legislative capital.
• Old name: Ceylon. The country is teardrop-shaped; its emblem is a lion (on the flag). Adam’s Bridge links it toward India, and Adam’s Peak carries the footprint said to be of Hazrat Adam. The Palk Strait is named after Palk, a Governor of Madras.
• LTTE — Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam — the Tamil separatist force based around Jaffna; it was defeated in May 2009. Residences: the President sits in the President’s House, Colombo (the old Queen’s House), the Prime Minister in Temple Trees. Its economy ran on tourism; COVID emptied the hotels and Sri Lanka declared itself bankrupt in 2022.
• Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka was the world’s first woman Prime Minister; Colombo’s international airport is named after her. Sri Lanka hosted and won the Asia Cup 2022.
• Detour from the capital’s name: the Colombo Plan (1950) — it came into force on 1 July 1951 — was set up for the economic and social development of the developing countries of the Asia-Pacific.

Nepal

• Nepal is asked as the Hindu country of the region (caution: the largest number of Hindus lives in India — Nepal is the percentage/Hindu-state answer). Capital: Kathmandu — the name means “wooden temple” (kaath = wood).
• Mount Everest stands in Nepal. Height: the answer keys still run on the older 8,848 m; the re-measured figure is 8,848.86 m. Exam tip: if 8,848 is among the options, tick it — never “none of these.”
• Nepal’s flag is the world’s only non-quadrilateral (triangular) flag. The SAARC Secretariat is in Kathmandu.

Bhutan

• Capital: Thimphu; language: Dzongkha; currency: Ngultrum. Bhutan is the “Land of the Thunderbolt”, and its flag carries a dragon. Bhutan is carbon-negative — it absorbs more carbon dioxide than it emits (constitution: at least 60% of the land stays under forest cover) — the “first carbon-neutral country in South Asia” answer (PMS Screening 2026 GK Final Mock Test, Q20; mock-only bank row, no mark claimed; standard-reference check: UNDP Bhutan). Doklam is the disputed area between Bhutan and China (India supports Bhutan). Jigme Dorji Wangchuck is the Father of Modern Bhutan.

6. Bangladesh — land, rivers, 1971 and the 2024–2026 turn

• Old name: East Pakistan. Capital: Dhaka — old name Jahangirnagar — the City of Mosques. Seaport: Chittagong. Sylhet, once part of Assam, joined Pakistan through the 1947 referendum.
• The Ganga–Brahmaputra system builds the Sundarbans delta — the largest delta in the world. The Padma is Bangladesh’s national river; Bengali is spoken by 98% of the people. The Naf River forms the border with Myanmar.
• Operation Searchlight began on 25 March 1971; Bangladesh’s independence was declared on 26 March 1971 (its Independence Day), announced by Major Ziaur Rahman from the Chittagong radio station. India recognised Bangladesh on 6 December 1971; the war ended with the Fall of Dhaka, 16 December 1971. The Shimla Agreement (2 July 1972) freed the 93,000 prisoners. Pakistan recognised Bangladesh in 1974, at the second OIC Summit in Lahore (the first summit had been at Rabat, Morocco).
• National airline: Biman. Highest gallantry award: Bir Shreshtho.
• Sheikh Mujib-ur-Rehman: title Bangabandhu — “Friend of the Bengalis”; his party is the Awami League; he gave the Six Points (1966) and the Agartala Conspiracy (1968) followed. Mujib was assassinated with his family on 15 August 1975; his daughter Sheikh Hasina survived — she went on to be Prime Minister five times.
• Father of the Nation — the moving answer: Mujib held the title for decades, but after January 2025 the new textbooks removed his name and made Ziaur Rahman the Father of the Nation (as taught — watch which version your paper follows).
• Ziaur Rahman became President; his wife Khaleda Zia was Bangladesh’s first female Prime Minister; their son is Tarique Rahman; the family party is the BNP — Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
• The 2024 quota uprising: 56% of government jobs were reserved under quotas (largely for freedom-fighters’ families) against only 44% on merit; students protested from mid-2024, hundreds were killed, and on 5 August 2024 Hasina resigned and fled to India. An interim government followed under Muhammad Yunus — Nobel Peace Prize 2006 for the Grameen Bank (his microfinance concept dates to 1976). In the elections of 12 February 2026 the BNP won and Tarique Rahman became Prime Minister.

7. Afghanistan — map, empires, 9/11 and the Taliban

• Capital: Kabul. Twelve of its provinces border Pakistan (answer 12 wherever it comes). The Wakhan Corridor sits in Badakhshan. Helmand produces the most opium — Afghanistan is asked as the world’s largest opium producer (as taught).
• Balkh province holds Mazar-e-Sharif; the Salang Tunnel connects Kabul and Balkh through the Hindu Kush — a range spread across Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan and China. The Oxus River (Amu Darya) separates Afghanistan from Central Asia (Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan). The largest ethnic group is the Pashtuns; the second is the Tajiks. Its assembly is asked as the Loya Jirga; Bangladesh’s parliament, for the pair, is the Jatiya Sangsad. Nicknames: Graveyard of Empires · Buffer State of Asia · Heart of Asia.
• Independence Day: 19 August 1919 (from Britain). First king: Amanullah; last king: Zahir Shah; the sequence runs monarchy → republic → Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (its present official name).
• The USSR entered in 1979 and stayed about ten years; the Geneva Accords (1988) took it out by 1989.
• 9/11 — 11 September 2001: four planes — two into the Twin Towers (the site is Ground Zero), one into the Pentagon, one down in Pennsylvania. Mullah Omar’s Taliban sheltered Osama bin Laden, so the USA invaded in October 2001 — and stayed 20 years, leaving in 2021.
• The Taliban’s first government (1996–2001) was recognised by only three states: Pakistan, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Their political office opened in Doha in 2013. After retaking Kabul in August 2021, the Taliban announced their interim government in September 2021 (acting Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund). Doha Accord: 29 February 2020, signed in Qatar by Zalmay Khalilzad (USA) and Mullah Baradar (Taliban). The Taliban took over on 15 August 2021. Hamid Karzai (2001–2014) and Ashraf Ghani (2014–2021) were the republic’s presidents; today the Supreme Leader is Hibatullah Akhundzada and the interim PM Hassan Akhund.
• Flag facts (asked set): the Kalima is written on the flags of Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia; Allahu Akbar on the flags of Iraq and Iran; Kosovo and Cyprus carry their own maps on their flags; Mozambique’s flag carries an AK-47; the Vatican’s two keys; Mexico’s eagle and snake; Sri Lanka’s lion; Bhutan’s dragon.
• Durand Line, 1893 — drawn between Mortimer Durand and Amir Abdur Rahman Khan; about 2,640 km long (2,430 km appears in some sources — the length itself is a live debate, as taught), running from the Wakhan Corridor to the Iranian corner. Afghanistan does not accept it — it claims up to the Indus; Pakistan treats it as the international border and has fenced it.
• Ahmad Shah Abdali (Durrani) — Nadir Shah’s general, born in Multan (as taught) — is Afghanistan’s founding father. His great subcontinent battle was the Third Battle of Panipat, against the Marathas; Nadir Shah’s was Karnal (1739), against Muhammad Shah Rangeela. The Battle of Saragarhi is asked as the “last stand” battle. Daoud Khan toppled his cousin Zahir Shah and made the republic; the Saur Revolution then overthrew Daoud Khan. Afghanistan joined the WTO in 2016. Afghanistan has no railway system — India, by contrast, got railways in 1853. Afghanistan’s education policy was framed by Allama Iqbal (asked).

8. West Asia — Iran, Iraq, Türkiye, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel

Iran

• Capital: Tehran. Language: Persian (Farsi). Old name: Persia. Currency: Rial — exam-favourite (as taught: about 4,600 Rial = PKR 1). The new currency = Toman (asked directly). Airline: Mahan Air. News agency: IRNA.
• Borders: Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Türkiye, Iraq — plus the Caspian Sea. Strait of Hormuz. Port: Bandar Abbas. Famous cities: Shiraz, Mashhad, Tabriz (Shams Tabrizi is from Tabriz), Zahedan (railway from Quetta goes to Zahedan). The Iranian province bordering Pakistan = Sistan-Baluchestan.
• Islamic Revolution = 1979. Before it: Reza Shah Pahlavi. UN sanctions on Iran = 2006 (over the nuclear program). RCD (Regional Cooperation for Development) = 1964 — Pakistan + Iran + Türkiye, HQ in Tehran; became dysfunctional in 1979. ECO (Economic Cooperation Organization) = 1985 — the same 3 countries + 7 more = 10 members total.
• Abadan = city on the Shatt al-Arab river; has Iran’s largest oil refinery, fully Iranian from 1955. Dasht-e Lut = the hottest desert of the world. Persepolis Palace was destroyed by Alexander the Great in 331 BC. The Persian Empire was built by Cyrus the Great.
• Chabahar Port is only about 70–72 km from Gwadar. India took control of Chabahar for 10 years (as taught). Surena = a robot made by an Iranian university. JCPOA = Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (2015) — between Iran and the P5+1 (the 5 veto powers — trick CURFEU: China, USA, Russia, France, UK — + Germany). Iran sent a monkey into space in 2013. President Ebrahim Raisi died in the plane/helicopter crash in May 2024; acting president = Mohammad Mokhber; current president = Masoud Pezeshkian (as taught). Iran joined BRICS on 1 January 2024. Pakistan’s first female ambassador to Iran = Riffat Masood; first ambassador = Raja Ghazanfar Ali. Iran attacked Pakistan on 16 January 2024 (targeting Jaish al-Adl); Pakistan responded on 18 January 2024. US Operation Midnight Hammer — June 2025.

Iraq

• Mesopotamia = the land between the Tigris (Dajla) and Euphrates (Furat) rivers. Both rivers start in Türkiye, flow through Syria, then Iraq. The Mesopotamians invented the first wheel. Mosul Dam = the most dangerous dam of the world.
• Capital: Baghdad. Currency: Dinar. Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990 and made it its 19th province. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon are in Iraq — one of the Seven Wonders.
• Saddam Hussain: Ba’ath Party, a Sunni, president until 2003; hanged on Eid al-Adha 2006 for the Dujail massacre of 1982. Nebuchadnezzar’s palace is in Iraq. Abu Ghraib prison is in Iraq. The Shatt al-Arab is formed by the Tigris + Euphrates joining. Basra is also on the Shatt al-Arab. Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) was born in Iraq (asked). The Mutazila sect came from Iraq — founder Wasil ibn Ata; belief: the Quran is a creation of Allah. Bayt al-Hikmah (House of Wisdom) was in Baghdad, Iraq, in the Abbasid era.

Türkiye

• Name changed Turkey → Türkiye in June 2022. Capital: Ankara. Language: Turkish. Currency: Lira. 97% in Asia, 3% in Europe — a transcontinental country. Istanbul = the part on the European side; its old name = Constantinople.
• Batman Dam is in Türkiye. Mount Ararat is in Türkiye. Taksim Square is in Türkiye. The Blue Mosque = Sultan Ahmed Mosque. Hagia Sophia: built by the Romans as a church → became a mosque after 1453 → museum in 1935 → mosque again in 2020. Mount Judi (Koh-e-Judi) is in Türkiye — where Hazrat Nuh’s (AS) Ark landed. The largest Kurdish population = Türkiye. US anger with Türkiye: for buying S-400 missiles from Russia.
• The Caliphate (Ottoman) ended in 1924 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (Atatürk = Father of Turks); the last Caliph = Abdulmejid II (1922–1924). The Khilafat Movement in the subcontinent was 1919. President: Tayyip Recep Erdogan; his party: Justice and Development Party. Türkiye converted from a parliamentary to a presidential system in 2018.
• Sykes-Picot Agreement = 1916 — British (Sykes) + French (Picot); decided how to divide the Ottoman Empire. Türkiye exited the FATF grey list in 2024. Balkan Wars (1912–1913): Türkiye lost; large parts went to Europe. Sea-route chain: Black Sea → Bosphorus Strait → Sea of Marmara → Dardanelles Strait → Aegean Sea → Mediterranean Sea. Izmir = a city of Türkiye. Türkiye’s title: “Sick Man of Europe”.

Syria

• Capital: Damascus (Urdu: Damishq) — the oldest inhabited capital of the world (asked). ISIS / Da’ish = Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (sometimes “…of Iraq and the Levant”). It is a Syria-based organization. Latakia = Syria’s sea port (don’t confuse with Lebanon’s Litani river).
• Hafez al-Assad: ruled 1970–2000 = 30 years. After his death, power passed to his younger son — Bashar al-Assad, an ophthalmologist (eye doctor) — who became president in 2000 and ruled till 2024 = 24 years. Assad family total rule = 54 years (asked). Legion of Honour = France’s highest award — given to Bashar al-Assad in 2001; he returned it in 2018.
• In December 2024 the Assad government fell: HTS moved down (Hama → Homs → Damascus by 7 December), and Bashar al-Assad fled to Moscow on 8 December 2024. HTS = Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham — a faction that split from ISIS in 2017; leader: Ahmed al-Sharaa (earlier known as Mohammed al-Jolani); president from January 2025 (as taught). SDF = Syrian Democratic Forces — the Kurdish areas. The Assads belong to the Alawite sect (a Shia branch). Aleppo = Halb. Saudi Arabia and Qatar paid Syria’s $15.5 million debt after Ahmed al-Sharaa’s arrival (as taught).
• Golan Heights: captured by Israel in 1967. Operation Hawkeye Strike: 3–12 February 2026 — US struck ISIS positions in Syria (as taught).

Jordan, Lebanon

• Jordan: Capital: Amman (A-M-M-A-N). Borders: Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Israel. The Jordan River forms the border between Jordan and Israel; it is mentioned most in the Bible (asked); it flows into the Dead Sea. News agency = Petra. Sea port = Aqaba, in the Gulf of Aqaba. Jordan was founded as a separate country by Abdullah I. Jordan is called the Hashemite Kingdom.
• Lebanon: Capital: Beirut (the lecture’s “Tripoli” is a slip — Tripoli is a Lebanese city, not the capital). Borders: Syria on one side, Israel below. Largest river = Litani (don’t confuse with Syria’s Latakia port). Called the “Land of Milk and Honey”. Israel–Lebanon war = 2006. The Doha Lebanese Accord = 2008 — Lebanon’s political crisis was resolved in Doha, with Qatar as mediator. Khalil Gibran — poet, writer, philosopher; wrote “Al-Nabi” (The Prophet) — belongs to Lebanon.

Israel and Palestine

• Israel’s shape: like a dagger — called the dagger in the heart of the Muslim Ummah (asked). UN plan 1947: Muslim-populated areas → Palestine, the rest → Israel. Capital: Tel Aviv (old/commonly-examined capital); the proclaimed capital taught = Jerusalem (Israel’s part = West Jerusalem; East Jerusalem = Palestinian side). Currency: New Shekel. Intelligence agencies: Mossad, Shin Bet (+ a third). Parliament = Knesset. Sea port = Haifa. The Dome of Rock is in Israel (as taught). The Iron Dome = Israel’s missile-defence shield system. The West Bank Barrier = the concrete walls Israel built to keep Palestinians out.
• Palestine: Capital: East Jerusalem. Palestine is the Gaza Strip plus the West Bank. Ramallah is the headquarters of the PLO — the Palestine Liberation Organization, founded in 1964. Ariha (Jericho) is its ancient town — the oldest inhabited town (asked); Bethlehem is the birthplace of Hazrat Isa. The Dead Sea makes the border with Jordan. The Jordan River flows out of the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret) and falls into the Dead Sea. The 1949 Armistice Line is called the Green Line. Palestine’s news agency is WAFA.
• Hamas vs Hezbollah (asked set): Hamas — 1987, Palestine, Sunni (founded by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin) · Hezbollah — 1982, Lebanon, Shia. Yasser Arafat led the Palestinian movement through the PLO — he died in November 2004. The 2024 chain: Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran (July 2024) → succeeded by Yahya Sinwar (killed October 2024) → then Khaled Mashal. Intifada means “uprising”: First Intifada 1987–1993 · Second Intifada 2000–2005. Nakba Day = 15 May (observed since 1948).
• Balfour Declaration = 2 November 1917 — a letter to the Jewish community promising a Jewish state. 30+ countries don’t recognize Israel. Israel joined the UN in 1949. WWI = 1914–1918 → then the League of Nations was made in 1919.
• Five Arab–Israel wars: 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973, 1982. 1967 = the Six-Day War. The 1982 one was only against Lebanon. Egypt’s part adjoining Israel = Sinai Peninsula. Three accords with Israel: Camp David Accord — with Egypt, 17 September 1978, concluded 1979 (Nobel Peace Prize 1978, joint, to Anwar Sadat and his Israeli counterpart); Oslo Accord — with Palestine, 1993; Abraham Accord — with UAE and Bahrain, 2020. 10 May 2021: attack on Masjid al-Aqsa. October 2023: Hamas attacked Israel during its Torah holiday celebrations. The “Deal of the Century” was given by Trump.

9. The Gulf and the smaller Arab states

Saudi Arabia

• Holy cities Mecca and Medina; Tabuk of Ghazwa-e-Tabuk; port Jeddah; capital Riyadh. Deserts of the Arabian Peninsula: Rub’ al Khali and Al-Nufud; the Hejaz mountains run down its west. The land was Najd and Hejaz, a province of the Ottoman Empire. It went to Saud, who named the country after himself — Saudi Arabia, renamed in 1932.
• IMCTC — Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition: formed December 2015 by Saudi Arabia, 43 member countries, headed by Pakistan’s ex-Army Chief Raheel Sharif. Saudi Arabia is the Persian Gulf region’s largest oil producer and holds the largest proven oil reserves among the Gulf countries (PMS Screening 2026 GK High Yield Mock 14, Q90; practice-set row agrees — CSS-MPT set keys Saudi Arabia for the Middle East’s largest reserves; no exam-paper row, no mark claimed). King Fahd International Airport (Dammam) is the largest airport in the world (by area).
• Burj Khalifa (Dubai) — 828 metres, opened January 2010 — is the world’s tallest building; before it, Taipei 101 (Taiwan) held the title 2004–2009. The Jeddah Tower, under construction at 1,000+ metres, will take the crown. NEOM city is in Tabuk province; its linear project is The Line.
• Reforms under Muhammad bin Salman (asked set): alcohol had been banned since 1952 — the first alcohol store opened in January 2024 (for foreign diplomats); women driving — decreed September 2017, implemented June 2018; women in the military — allowed from February 2018. Qatar blockade: Saudi–Qatar relations were restored in 2021 after about three years. Saudi Arabia is the largest electricity-producing Muslim country (as taught). Vision 2030: end the dependence on oil; promote health, education, tourism and the economy (asked once — the answer was “all of these”).

UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Yemen, Oman

• UAE — seven emirates (trick “ADASURF”): Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al-Quwain, Ras Al-Khaimah, Fujairah. Capital: Abu Dhabi. Emirates airline is based in Dubai (PMS Screening 2026 GK Grand Mock 15, Q44; mock-only bank rows, no mark claimed). Abraham Accord, 2020: the UAE and Bahrain recognised Israel. Airlines: Etihad and Emirates (both UAE). Dubai has the world’s first Camel Hospital. Abu Musa island is disputed between the UAE and Iran (with the Greater and Lesser Tunbs). Al Amal (“Hope”) is the UAE’s Emirates Mars Mission. In 2024 a Hindu temple in the UAE was inaugurated by India’s PM Modi (as taught).
• Qatar: capital Doha; Al Jazeera is Qatar’s channel (HQ Doha); Qatar Airways is headquartered in Doha (PMS Screening 2026 GK Grand Mock 15, Q43; mock-only bank rows, no mark claimed); the Taliban office opened here in 2013; Qatar held elections in 2021; the Lebanese Doha Agreement is of 2008; FIFA World Cup 2022 was in Qatar.
• Bahrain: the name means “two seas”; capital Manama; the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain; Bahrain is called the Island of Pearls.
• Kuwait: capital Kuwait City (the same-name trick); a tax-free country (asked); news agency KUNA — Kuwait News Agency; the Amir’s residence is Dasman Palace.
• News-agency trap: SANA is Syria’s agency — Sana’a is Yemen’s capital; MENA is Egypt’s Middle East News Agency.
• Yemen: capital Sana’a; the Yemen crisis dates to 2011; the Houthis’ other name is Ansarullah — they fight the Yemeni government and are supported by Iran (asked).
• Oman: capital Muscat; Sultan Qaboos belonged to Oman (asked).

10. The Caucasus — Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cyprus

• Georgia: the Greater Caucasus separates it from Russia; it has direct access to the Black Sea. Its dispute is Abkhazia — Georgia claims it; Abkhazia claims independence; the UN does not recognise it.
• Azerbaijan: capital Baku — also its port on the Caspian Sea. Nagorno-Karabakh is its Kashmir-like dispute with Armenia; since 2023 the whole region is under Azerbaijan. Pakistan does not recognise Armenia because of Karabakh.
• Cyprus: capital Nicosia; the north is backed by Turkey, the south by Greece; the island split in 1974. Mount Olympus is in Cyprus (Cyprus’s own Olympus, in the Troodos range). The University of Nicosia was the first to use/teach Bitcoin (asked).

11. Central Asia and Mongolia

• Kazakhstan — the largest Central Asian country: its capital’s name changed four times — Akmola → Astana → Nur-Sultan (renamed for President Nursultan) → Astana again. It is the 9th largest country in the world by area and the largest Muslim country by area. The Aral Sea is shared with Uzbekistan; Lake Balkhash has fresh water on one side and salt on the other; Kazakhstan is the largest uranium producer; the Baikonur space centre stands in Kazakhstan and is leased to Russia. Currency: Tenge. Largest city: Almaty.
• Uzbekistan: capital Tashkent; it is a double landlocked country — the lecturer corrects his own earlier teaching here and tells students to fix their notes. Samarkand and Bukhara are in Uzbekistan. The Kyzylkum desert lies here; and the handwritten Quran copy of Hazrat Usman’s era is kept in Uzbekistan.
• Turkmenistan: currency Manat. Kyrgyzstan: capital Bishkek; currency Som; Lake Issyk-Kul. Its revolution is the Tulip Revolution — against Ukraine’s Orange Revolution (trick: Ukraine-Orange are vowels; Kyrgyzstan-Tulip are consonants). Tajikistan: only the Wakhan Corridor (about 16 km at its narrowest) separates it from Pakistan. Capital Dushanbe; currency Somoni.
• Mongolia: capital: Ulaanbaatar — where 40–45% of the whole population lives. The Gobi desert is a cold desert (a desert = under 10 inches / 25 cm of rain a year). The largest desert in the world is Antarctica — if Antarctica is among the options choose it, otherwise Sahara (his exam tip). Hulagu Khan destroyed Baghdad in 1258; Timur’s slaughter was 1398. Inner Mongolia is today part of China.

12. East Asia — Taiwan, the two Koreas, Japan

Taiwan

• China claims it as a province. Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, visited in 2022 and China warned the USA sharply. Taiwan’s old name is Formosa. Taiwan calls itself the Republic of China; the mainland is the People’s Republic of China. Taiwan held China’s UN seat until it was expelled in 1971; the split dates to 1949. Capital: Taipei (Taipei 101 held the tallest-building title 2004–2009).

The two Koreas

• North Korea calls itself the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea — the trap is that “Democratic” sits in the North’s name; it was backed by the USSR. South Korea is the Republic of Korea, backed by the USA. Capitals: Pyongyang (N) · Seoul (S). The North’s supreme leader is Kim Jong Un; it tested its atomic bomb in 2006.
• South Korea questions: Samsung and Daewoo are South Korean companies; Taekwondo originated in South Korea; the president’s residence is the Blue House. The Bridge of No Return stands between the Koreas (the prisoner-exchange bridge of the 1950s; if a paper forces North-or-South, answer South Korea, as taught). North Korea ended diplomatic relations with Malaysia (as taught).

Japan

• Four main islands: Honshu (the largest), Kyushu, Shikoku and Hokkaido. Capital Tokyo — the most populous city in the world (its metropolitan area runs to about 3 crore, ahead of Shanghai and New Delhi, as taught).
• Mount Fujiyama (Fuji) is Japan’s sacred, dormant volcano. The United Nations University is in Japan; the Great Buddha of Kamakura is a bronze statue of the 13th–14th century; Ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement.
• Japan’s parliament is the Diet; Japan’s is the oldest national anthem in the world (asked). Its wartime Prime Minister was Hideki Tojo; the present emperor is Naruhito.
• The atomic bombings (asked set): Hiroshima, 6 August 1945 — “Little Boy” · Nagasaki, 9 August 1945 — “Fat Man” — dropped by the USA under Truman; the bomber was a B-29 (asked in a recent paper).
• Russo-Japanese War, 1905: Japan defeated Russia. The islands disputed between Russia and Japan are the Kuril Islands.

13. China

• The flag carries five stars — one big, four small. National Day: 1 October 1949. Capital: Beijing. Do not slip: Shanghai is the famous city, not the capital.
• China’s units (standard set): 23 provinces (China counts Taiwan among them), 4 municipalities (Beijing and Shanghai among them), 5 autonomous regions, 2 Special Administrative Regions — 34 in all. Parliament: the National People’s Congress — the largest parliament in the world by number of members. Full name of the state: People’s Republic of China. Currency: the Yuan (Renminbi). The Yen is Japan’s — the classic trap; if a paper offers both Yuan and Renminbi, the answer is “both.”
• SCO = Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, formed June 2001 — before it, the same grouping existed as the Shanghai Five (1996). It now has 10 members. The trap: despite the name, its headquarters is in BEIJING, not Shanghai. Its two official languages are Chinese and Russian.
• 1912: China became a Republic; its first President was Dr Sun Yat-sen (died 1925). 1949: the Communist Revolution — Mao Zedong (also written Mao Tse-tung; one man, two spellings) brought Karl Marx’s communism to China.
• Population: China was number one; India has now overtaken it — China is 2nd. The One Child Policy was enforced with punishments, then ended in 2015 (two children allowed), and relaxed further from 2021 as births kept falling.
• China touches 14 countries — the most of any country (tied with Russia); exam tip: tick whichever of the two appears in the options. Its longest border is with Mongolia (the Gobi side). LAC = Line of Actual Control (China–India) — do not mix it with the LoC (Pakistan–India). The India–China boundary is named the McMahon Line. Doklam Plateau: disputed between China and Bhutan — and India backs Bhutan.
• Pakistan–China: no border dispute — Zulfikar Ali Bhutto visited China in 1963 and the Pak–China Border Agreement was settled the same year. Ayub Khan visited in 1965. The first Pakistani Prime Minister to visit China was Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy.
• Island disputes: Paracel Islands — China × Vietnam · Spratly Islands — claimed by China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan · Senkaku Islands — China × Japan. Cathay Pacific is Hong Kong’s airline (asked repeatedly).
• Yangtze — the longest river of Asia; Shanghai stands on it. Hwang Ho (the Yellow River) is called the Sorrow of China — it carries yellow silt down from the Loess Plateau. The Brahmaputra (Tsangpo in Tibet) rises near Lake Mansarovar, turns through China and enters India via Arunachal Pradesh. The Mekong is asked as the “Mother of Rivers” (kept as the papers mark it).
• Tibet was annexed and made an autonomous region; the Dalai Lama is the Buddhists’ spiritual head (his palace: the Potala — do not confuse it with Beijing’s Forbidden City, the emperors’ palace-city of some 500 years, barred to commoners). Tiananmen Square, Beijing — where the People’s Republic was proclaimed in 1949. The Porcelain Tower of Nanjing (built of porcelain bricks). The Democracy Wall (1978–79): reform voices criticised the government there until it was shut and Wei Jingsheng jailed, as taught. The Grand Canal runs from Beijing south (begun in the 5th century BC; some 1,794 km).
• The Great Wall of China: built against attacks from the north, started in the 7th century BC. Length, his exam rule: Google says ~21,000 km, but one-paper books carry ~5,000 km — if 21,000 is not among the options, tick 5,000. The autonomous regions that sit on Pakistan’s side: Xinjiang (borders Pakistan), Tibet, and Inner Mongolia.
• Both are Special Administrative Regions. Hong Kong was a British colony — handed back in 1997; Macau was Portuguese — handed back in 1999. The Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge is the longest oversea bridge in the world. Hong Kong’s is the freest economy (as taught).
• OBOR = One Belt One Road, now the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) — a question on it came in a 2024 paper. Launched in 2013: Xi Jinping proposed the Silk Road Economic Belt at Nazarbayev University, Astana, in September 2013, and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road in Jakarta in October 2013 (PMS Screening 2026 Tough GK Mock, Q18; the 2013 launch year itself is a mock-only bank row, no mark claimed). BRI has two arms: the land route (Belt) and the sea route (Maritime Silk Road). CPEC is one small corridor of BRI. CPEC runs from Kashgar (Xinjiang) to Gwadar. Xinjiang’s capital is Urumqi; its Muslims are the Uyghurs.
• CPEC timeline: talks in 2013 (President Zardari’s Pakistan; China’s Premier Li Keqiang, with Xi Jinping the powerful president); the CPEC agreements were signed in April 2015 — 51 MoUs (asked; his association: Shah Waliullah also wrote 51 books). The package grew from $46 billion to $62 billion; its earnings split, as taught, runs 91% to China and 9% to Pakistan for 40 years. Iran’s Chabahar port is CPEC’s rival/competitor.
• China joined the WTO on 11 December 2001 (the full date is asked). It entered the UN in 1971, when Taiwan’s Republic of China was expelled.
• Largest producer of cotton, silk, coal, wheat, tea, tin and gold (as listed); largest number of internet users; largest fish catch and fish production; the largest bicycle manufacturer; and the largest emitter of CO₂ (asked).
• Dams: the Three Gorges Dam is the biggest/largest concrete dam in the world (Tarbela, by contrast, is earth-and-rock filled); the highest dam, Jinping-I, is also China’s; Tajikistan’s Nurek Dam long held the height title.
• Language: Mandarin (Chinese) is the most spoken language in the world by native speakers (English leads only as a second language). The asked oldest-written-language answer is Chinese (written on oracle bones), as the papers frame it.
• Chinese firsts: black powder (gunpowder), tea (first produced here), the civil service examinations, paper money, the use of paper, and the Silk Road (~4,000 years old, as taught). Acupuncture also began in China. The Opium War ran 1839–42. Sost is the last village on the Pakistan–China route (asked). China’s Foreign Minister is Wang Yi. The first Chinese woman to walk in space: Wang Yaping. The Falun Gong movement and the Boxer Rebellion (anti-foreign rising) are China’s. Its Mars mission is Tianwen-1; its navigation system is BeiDou. The WHO declared China malaria-free in 2021. The Taklamakan is its home desert; the Long March was history’s longest march.

14. Russia

• Capital: Moscow; the old capital is St Petersburg (asked). Currency: Rouble. Parliament: the Duma. Russia is the largest country in the world — about one-eighth of the world’s land (as taught) — and the only country lying in both Asia and Europe. News agencies: ITAR-TASS and Interfax — both are Russia’s. Its famous secret agency: the KGB. Airline: Aeroflot.
• Lake Baikal (Siberia) — the deepest lake in the world and the largest freshwater lake by volume; called the Blue Eye of Siberia. The Volga River rises in the Valdai Hills. The Kremlin, Moscow — the fortress housing the government offices, official residences and cathedrals. Beside it, St Basil’s Cathedral with its coloured domes. The Shukhov Tower (1922) was built to catch radio signals. The Tsar Bell (Tsar Kolokol) — the heaviest bell ever cast — cracked and was never rung. The Trans-Siberian Railway is the world’s longest railway — Moscow to Russia’s far east, about 9,800 km as taught, a journey of 6–7 days — and it passes Lake Baikal.
• Karl Marx was from Germany (asked often). His theory produced the Russian Revolution of 1917 — risings in February and October; the October (Bolshevik) Revolution is the decisive one. Communism vs democracy, his one-line test: in communism you cannot hold private property; the state carries the responsibilities. The state that followed: the USSR — Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Stalin led it. When the USSR broke, 15 states emerged. Pakistan’s own Communist Party was banned in 1954.
• George Orwell’s Animal Farm and 1984 were written on communist rule. Geneva Accords, 1988: the USSR had entered Afghanistan in 1979; under the accords it withdrew, completing by February 1989.
• Chechnya is a Muslim republic inside Russia — not a separate country; Russia fought there in 1994 and again in 1999 (as taught). Crimea was annexed in 2014; Donbas is disputed; Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Sputnik was the first artificial satellite. The Baikonur cosmodrome stands in Kazakhstan, leased to Russia. Laika the dog was the first animal in space. Foreign Minister: Sergey Lavrov. President Vladimir Putin took his fifth term in 2024 with some 88% of the vote, running to 2030 (as taught). Gazprom is Russia’s giant gas company; TurkStream runs between Russia and Turkey; Druzhba is the Pakistan–Russia military exercise. The Lenin Prize: Pakistanis who received it include Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Abdul Sattar Edhi (as taught).

15. South East Asia

Myanmar and the Buddhism block

• Myanmar: capital: Naypyidaw; currency: Kyat; old name: Burma; old capital Yangon (Rangoon) — where the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar was exiled. Rakhine State is where Myanmar’s Muslims (the Rohingya) suffered persecution; the refugees flee into Bangladesh. The Gambia took Myanmar to the International Court of Justice over it. Aung San Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize (1991) for raising her voice for democracy against decades of military rule; she later held office as State Counsellor, and was jailed again when the military returned.
• Buddhism was founded by Gautam Buddha, born at Lumbini in Nepal; he lived 80 years. His conclusion: all life is suffering, and desire is its cause — end desire and you reach Nirvana, the state where the cycle of rebirth finally stops. His scripture is the Tripitaka — three books (pitakas). The two sects: Mahayana — the “big vehicle,” salvation for everyone (China, Japan side); Hinayana — salvation of the individual (the South East Asian belt: Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka). Sister faiths named for recognition: Shintoism belongs to Japan; Confucianism (Confucius) and Taoism to China; Jainism to India. Two China cross-links: The Art of War was written by Sun Tzu — and the Fasting Buddha statue (the emaciated Buddha of the Gandhara civilisation) stands in the Lahore Museum. Calendar explainer: BC = Before Christ; AD = Anno Domini, “the Year of the Lord” — BC counts backwards, AD forwards.

Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines

• Thailand: capital Bangkok; currency Baht; Pattaya is its resort city; old name: Siam. Nicknames: Land of Smiles · Land of White Elephants · Land of the Free — Thailand was never made a colony. Phuket is its island; Maya Bay is here too. Thailand is the largest producer of rubber and stands second in rice (as taught).
• Colony map: Malaysia was a British colony; Indonesia was a Dutch (Netherlands) colony — the “Dutch East Indies.” Thailand was never colonised.
• Laos: capital Vientiane. In the asked format (“which of Vietnam, Malaysia, Laos is landlocked?”) the answer is Laos — the region’s landlocked country. Laos runs a communist system (his list: China, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos) — and the communist flag is red, with the sickle and hammer.
• Vietnam: capital: Hanoi. The Vietnam War ran 1955–1975 — America fought here and in the end withdrew. In 1954 Vietnam was split: North (backed by the USSR) and South (backed by the USA), divided by the 17th Parallel. His parallels set, drilled together: 17th — North/South Vietnam · 38th — North/South Korea · 49th — USA/Canada. Ho Chi Minh led its communist revolution; the southern capital Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City after him.
• Cambodia: Old name: Kampuchea; capital Phnom Penh; the Mekong river passes through it. The Khmer language has the largest alphabet of any language — 74 letters (asked). Angkor Wat is a temple in Cambodia — and its picture stands on Cambodia’s flag. The Kaavan story: the elephant gifted by Sri Lanka to Pakistan, kept at Islamabad Zoo, called the loneliest elephant in the world after his mate Saheli died; a rights campaign freed him and he was sent to Cambodia.
• Philippines: capital: Manila — also the headquarters of the ADB, the Asian Development Bank, founded in 1966. Typhoon Goni struck the Philippines (asked). Ferdinand Marcos belonged to the Philippines. Mindanao is its Muslim region, home of the Moro Liberation organisation(s) (asked — answer: the Philippines). Mayon Volcano and the Moro Gulf are here; its southern city is Davao, as taught. Leftover from a 2019 paper: Chechnya’s capital is Grozny.

Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia

• Brunei’s full name is Brunei Darussalam — do not confuse it with Dar es Salaam, a city of Tanzania. Capital: Bandar Seri Begawan; the Sultan’s palace is Istana Nurul Iman.
• Malaysia sits in two parts — the Malay Peninsula and the Borneo side — with the Strait of Malacca between it and Indonesia’s Sumatra. Capital Kuala Lumpur; administrative capital Putrajaya; currency Ringgit; old name: Malaya. The Petronas Twin Towers (Kuala Lumpur) were once the world’s tallest buildings — tallest-building chain: Petronas → Taipei 101 → Burj Khalifa (828 m, 2010) → Jeddah Tower (1,000 m, coming).
• First Prime Minister: Tunku Abdul Rahman — he negotiated independence from Britain in 1957; he was also the first Secretary-General of the OIC. Mahathir Mohamad is its longest-serving PM (its 4th and 7th), a doctor by training, author of A New Deal for Asia. The 10th PM is Anwar Ibrahim (asked). The star on Malaysia’s flag has 14 points — 13 states plus the federal government (asked). Mount Kinabalu is Malaysia’s asked mountain.
• Singapore: the most expensive country (as taught); its airline is Singapore Airlines (founded 1972) (PMS Screening 2026 GK Grand Mock 15, Q52; mock-only bank rows, no mark claimed); its founding Prime Minister is Lee Kuan Yew.
• Indonesia: great islands: Sumatra, Java, Borneo (the largest — shared with Malaysia and Brunei), Papua. Capital Jakarta stands on Java. The new capital, Nusantara, is being built on Borneo — because Jakarta is sinking and Java is overdeveloped. Currency: Rupiah. The Sunda Strait lies between Sumatra and Java. The G20 summit of 2022 was held in Bali. The Bandung Conference was held in 1955 at Bandung, on Java.
• Sukarno is the Father of Indonesia; its independence year is 1945 — two years before Pakistan’s, also in August. Its airline is Garuda. Indonesia is an archipelago — the “Land of Thousand Islands” (keep it apart from Finland, the Land of Thousand Lakes; hook: I for Islands, I for Indonesia). Indonesia was the first country to leave the United Nations — in 1965 (over Malaysia taking a Security Council seat, as taught) — and rejoined in 1966. The Sudirman Range is Indonesia’s (asked); Homo erectus skulls were found in Java. The pair to lock together: largest Muslim country by population = Indonesia; by area = Kazakhstan. The largest number of Hajj pilgrims also comes from Indonesia, as taught.

The Cold War pacts — Truman to NAM

• WWII ended in 1945; Truman answered communism’s spread with the Truman Doctrine — 12 March 1947 and the Marshall Plan (1947): money and arms to war-wrecked Europe so it would not fall to communism.
• NATO — the North Atlantic Treaty Organization — was formed in 1949 against the USSR; it has 32 members today. The Soviet answer was the Warsaw Pact (1955).
• The two treaty organisations built on Pakistan’s side of the map: SEATO (1954) — the Manila Pact (Manila = the Philippines’ capital; members included Australia, Thailand and Pakistan) and CENTO (1955) — the Baghdad Pact (the “Central” one; Iran and Pakistan among them). Both existed to block communism; both failed Pakistan in its wars — SEATO dissolved in 1977 (Pakistan had left in 1973); CENTO ended in 1979 when Iran’s Islamic Revolution removed its key member.
• The third camp refused both blocs: the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), founded at Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in 1961. Its five founders, drilled by name: Tito, Nehru, Sukarno, Gamal Abdel Nasser and Kwame Nkrumah. East Timor closes the Indonesia file: long part of Indonesia, it became independent in 2002.

16. Oceania — Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea

• Australia: lowest point Lake Eyre; highest mountain Mount Kosciuszko; deserts Great Sandy, Simpson and Gibson; Lake Hillier is the Pink Lake; Whitehaven Beach is in Queensland. Its airline Qantas unpacks as Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services. Captain James Cook reached it in 1770; Sydney is its largest city (the Opera House city); the Blue Mountains, Adelaide and the Darling River are all Australian.
• AUKUS (asked): formed September 2021 — Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, a three-country pact.
• New Zealand: capital Wellington; it carries Abel Tasman’s name (the Tasman Sea); Sutherland Falls is among the world’s highest waterfalls, as taught. Jacinda Ardern, its Prime Minister, gave birth in office in 2018 — the second elected leader to do so after Benazir Bhutto (1990, Bilawal); the comparison has been asked.
• Papua New Guinea: capital Port Moresby — the country of the most languages (as taught).

17. Master table — Asia’s capitals and currencies (the revision sheet)

18. Rapid-fire one-liners (Asia part)

• South Asia’s 8: MBBS PAIN. Islands: Sri Lanka, Maldives. Landlocked: Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan. Non-rupee currencies: Afghani, Taka, Ngultrum, Rufiyaa.
• India: 28 + 8 = 36; largest state Rajasthan; most populous UP; accession 26 Oct 1947; UN 1 Jan 1948; constitution 26 Jan 1950; 370/35A ended 5 Aug 2019; Statue of Unity 182 m; Smiling Buddha 1974 Pokhran; Shakti 1998 → Chagai 28 May 1998.
• India parliament: Rajya Sabha 245 (233 + 12) · Lok Sabha 543. Anthem 52 seconds, Tagore; Tagore Nobel 1913 Gitanjali; Vande Mataram — Bankim, Anandamath; Amar Sonar Bangla — Tagore.
• Maldives: Malé; smallest SAARC; 100% Muslim; equator; highest SAARC literacy. Sri Lanka: Colombo + Kotte; Ceylon; LTTE defeated May 2009; bankrupt 2022; Sirimavo — first woman PM.
• Nepal: Kathmandu = wooden temple; Everest 8,848 (key); only triangular flag; SAARC Secretariat. Bhutan: Thimphu; Dzongkha; Ngultrum; Thunderbolt; dragon flag; Doklam.
• Bangladesh: Dhaka = Jahangirnagar, City of Mosques; Chittagong; Sundarbans largest delta; Padma; Searchlight 25 Mar 1971; independence 26 Mar 1971; Fall of Dhaka 16 Dec 1971; Pakistan recognised 1974; Mujib = Bangabandhu, killed 15 Aug 1975; Hasina fled 5 Aug 2024; Yunus Nobel Peace 2006; BNP won 12 Feb 2026 — Tarique Rahman PM.
• Afghanistan: Kabul; 12 provinces border Pakistan; Wakhan; Helmand opium; Salang Tunnel; Hindu Kush (4 countries); Oxus/Amu Darya; Pashtun largest, Tajik second; independence 19 Aug 1919; USSR 1979–89; 9/11 → US in Oct 2001, out 2021; Doha Accord 29 Feb 2020; takeover 15 Aug 2021; Durand 1893, ~2,640 km; Abdali = founding father; Panipat III vs Marathas; Karnal 1739.
• Iran: Tehran; Persian; Persia; Rial → Toman; Mahan Air; IRNA; Sistan-Baluchestan; Revolution 1979; RCD 1964; ECO 1985 (10); Dasht-e Lut hottest; Persepolis destroyed 331 BC by Alexander; Chabahar ~70–72 km from Gwadar; JCPOA 2015 P5+1; monkey 2013; Raisi died May 2024; BRICS 1 Jan 2024.
• Iraq: Baghdad; Dinar; Tigris + Euphrates; first wheel; Mosul most dangerous dam; Kuwait 19th province Aug 1990; Hanging Gardens; Saddam hanged Eid al-Adha 2006 (Dujail 1982); Bayt al-Hikmah Baghdad.
• Türkiye: Ankara; Lira; 97/3; Constantinople = Istanbul; Hagia Sophia 1453/1935/2020; Mount Judi = Nuh’s Ark; Caliphate ended 1924 (Atatürk); last Caliph Abdulmejid II; Sykes-Picot 1916; parliamentary → presidential 2018; Sick Man of Europe.
• Syria: Damascus oldest inhabited capital; Latakia; Hafez 1970–2000 (30) + Bashar 2000–2024 (24) = 54; Legion of Honour returned 2018; HTS Damascus 7 Dec 2024; Bashar fled Moscow 8 Dec 2024; Alawite; Golan 1967.
• Jordan: Amman; Hashemite; Petra; Aqaba; Jordan River → Dead Sea. Lebanon: Beirut; Litani; Land of Milk and Honey; Doha Accord 2008; Gibran, Al-Nabi.
• Israel/Palestine: Tel Aviv; New Shekel; Knesset; Mossad; Haifa; East Jerusalem (Palestine); PLO 1964 Ramallah; WAFA; Green Line 1949; Hamas 1987 Sunni / Hezbollah 1982 Shia; Arafat died Nov 2004; Intifadas 1987–93, 2000–05; Balfour 2 Nov 1917; Nakba 15 May; Israel UN 1949; five wars 1948/56/67/73/82; Six-Day 1967; Camp David 17 Sep 1978 (Sadat Nobel); Oslo 1993; Abraham 2020.
• Saudi: Riyadh; 1932; IMCTC Dec 2015 (43, Raheel Sharif); King Fahd Airport largest; Burj Khalifa 828 m Jan 2010; NEOM Tabuk; women driving decree Sep 2017 / implemented Jun 2018; Vision 2030.
• Gulf: UAE ADASURF, Abu Dhabi; Abraham 2020; Al Amal Mars; Qatar Doha, Al Jazeera, WC 2022; Bahrain Manama, Fifth Fleet, Pearls; Kuwait Kuwait City, tax-free, KUNA, Dasman; Yemen Sana’a, Ansarullah; Oman Muscat, Qaboos; SANA = Syria ≠ Sana’a; MENA = Egypt.
• Caucasus: Georgia Black Sea, Abkhazia; Baku, Karabakh Azerbaijan’s since 2023; Nicosia, split 1974.
• Central Asia: Kazakhstan Astana ×4 names, 9th largest, largest Muslim by area, Tenge, Baikonur leased to Russia; Uzbekistan Tashkent, DOUBLE landlocked, Samarkand + Bukhara; Turkmenistan Manat; Kyrgyzstan Bishkek, Som, Tulip; Tajikistan Dushanbe, Somoni, Wakhan ~16 km; Mongolia Ulaanbaatar, Gobi cold, Antarctica largest desert.
• Taiwan: Taipei; Formosa; Republic of China; UN seat lost 1971; split 1949. Koreas: North = DPRK (USSR) Pyongyang; South = ROK (USA) Seoul; Kim Jong Un; test 2006; Samsung/Daewoo; Taekwondo; Blue House; Bridge of No Return. Japan: Tokyo; Honshu largest; Fuji; Diet; oldest anthem; Tojo; Naruhito; Hiroshima 6 Aug Little Boy / Nagasaki 9 Aug Fat Man; B-29; Japan beat Russia 1905; Kurils.
• China: Beijing (not Shanghai); 5 stars; 1 Oct 1949; 23+4+5+2 = 34; NPC largest; Yuan ≠ Yen; SCO Jun 2001, HQ BEIJING, 10 members; Sun Yat-sen 1912; Mao 1949; India now 1st, China 2nd; One Child ended 2015; 14 borders (tied Russia); LAC ≠ LoC; McMahon; Doklam; Bhutto 1963; Paracel/Spratly/Senkaku; Yangtze longest in Asia; Hwang Ho = Sorrow; Potala vs Forbidden City; Grand Canal 1,794 km; Great Wall exam length 5,000 km; HK 1997 / Macau 1999; BRI 2024 paper; CPEC Kashgar → Gwadar, Apr 2015, 51 MoUs, $46bn → $62bn; WTO 11 Dec 2001; UN 1971; Three Gorges biggest; Jinping-I highest; Mandarin most spoken; gunpowder/tea/paper/paper money/civil exams; Opium War 1839–42; Sost last village; Wang Yi; Wang Yaping; Tianwen-1; BeiDou; malaria-free 2021.
• Russia: Moscow; old capital St Petersburg; Rouble; Duma; largest country; Asia + Europe; ITAR-TASS + Interfax; KGB; Aeroflot; Baikal deepest (Blue Eye); Volga from Valdai; Kremlin; Tsar Bell never rung; Trans-Siberian longest (~9,800 km, 6–7 days); Marx from Germany; 1917 Feb + October; USSR; 15 states; Orwell; Geneva 1988, out Feb 1989; Chechnya inside Russia (1994, 1999); Crimea 2014; Ukraine invaded Feb 2022; Sputnik first satellite; Laika; Lavrov; Putin 5th term 2024; Gazprom; Lenin Prize — Faiz + Edhi.
• SE Asia: Myanmar Naypyidaw, Kyat, Burma, Yangon, Zafar exiled, Rakhine, Gambia → ICJ, Suu Kyi Nobel Peace 1991; Buddha Lumbini, 80 years, Tripitaka, Mahayana (all) vs Hinayana (individual); Thailand Bangkok, Baht, Siam, Smiles/White Elephants/Free, never colonised, rubber #1; Laos Vientiane, landlocked, communist; Vietnam Hanoi, war 1955–75, split 1954, 17th Parallel, Ho Chi Minh; Cambodia Kampuchea, Phnom Penh, Khmer 74 letters, Angkor Wat on flag, Kaavan → Cambodia; Philippines Manila, ADB 1966, Goni, Marcos, Mindanao + Moro, Mayon.
• Brunei/Malaysia/Singapore/Indonesia: Brunei Darussalam ≠ Dar es Salaam; Bandar Seri Begawan; Istana Nurul Iman; Malaysia KL + Putrajaya, Ringgit, Malaya, Petronas, Tunku 1957 + first OIC SG, Mahathir longest, Anwar 10th, 14-point star, Kinabalu, Malacca Strait; Singapore most expensive, Lee Kuan Yew; Indonesia Jakarta → Nusantara, Rupiah, Sunda, Bali G20 2022, Bandung 1955, Sukarno 1945, Garuda, Thousand Islands, left UN 1965 back 1966, largest Muslim population (Kazakhstan largest by area).
• Pacts: Truman Doctrine 12 Mar 1947; Marshall Plan 1947; NATO 1949 (32); Warsaw Pact 1955; SEATO 1954 Manila Pact (dissolved 1977; Pakistan left 1973); CENTO 1955 Baghdad Pact (ended 1979); NAM Belgrade 1961 — Tito, Nehru, Sukarno, Nasser, Nkrumah; East Timor 2002.
• Oceania: Australia Lake Eyre lowest, Kosciuszko highest, Great Sandy/Simpson/Gibson, Lake Hillier pink, Qantas full form, Cook 1770, Sydney largest; AUKUS Sep 2021; NZ Wellington, Tasman, Sutherland Falls, Ardern 2018 vs Benazir 1990; PNG Port Moresby, most languages.

19. Most-asked facts (from our verified past-paper banks)

• The capital questions dominate this chapter’s bank set — “Capital of South Korea is”, “Capital of Bhutan is”, “Capital of New Zealand is”, “Capital of Argentina is”, “Capital of Brazil is” recur across papers in identical wording. The master table in Section 17 is built for exactly this: if you learn nothing else, learn the capitals column.
• The China block is the heaviest single-country block in the Asia set: first president (Sun Yat-sen), SCO headquarters (Beijing, not Shanghai), the Yuan/Yen trap, the Great Wall exam length, and the CPEC signing facts (April 2015, 51 MoUs) all recur.
• The Kashmir–Bangladesh–Afghanistan trio runs through the South Asia set: the Fall of Dhaka (16 December 1971), the Durand Line (1893), and Afghanistan’s presidents (Karzai, Ghani) are asked as dates and names, not as essays.
• The Gulf agency set — SANA (Syria), KUNA (Kuwait), MENA (Egypt), IRNA (Iran), Petra (Jordan), WAFA (Palestine) — is asked as a confusion set: the papers set the agencies against each other and against the similar-sounding capitals (Sana’a).
• The Cold War pacts (SEATO 1954, CENTO 1955, NATO 1949, Warsaw 1955, NAM 1961 with its five founders) are asked as a year-and-name set, and the tallest-building chain (Petronas → Taipei 101 → Burj Khalifa 828 m → Jeddah Tower) as a sequence set.

20. Traps & confusions

• SCO headquarters — Beijing, not Shanghai: the name says Shanghai, the headquarters sits in Beijing. The papers ask this precisely because the name misleads.
• China’s capital — Beijing, not Shanghai: Shanghai is the famous city; Beijing is the capital. Same trap, same answer discipline.
• Yuan vs Yen: Yuan (Renminbi) = China; Yen = Japan. If a paper offers both Yuan and Renminbi, the answer is “both.”
• Great Wall length: Google says ~21,000 km, but one-paper books carry ~5,000 km — if 21,000 is not among the options, tick 5,000.
• Everest height: the re-measured figure is 8,848.86 m, but the answer keys still run on 8,848 m — if 8,848 is among the options, tick it, never “none of these.”
• Uzbekistan — double landlocked, not single: the lecturer explicitly corrects his own earlier teaching — Uzbekistan and Liechtenstein are the only two doubly landlocked countries. Old notes saying otherwise are wrong.
• SANA vs Sana’a: SANA is Syria’s news agency; Sana’a is Yemen’s capital. The lecturer confesses he once fell into this trap himself.
• Brunei Darussalam vs Dar es Salaam: Brunei’s full name ends in Darussalam; Dar es Salaam is a city of Tanzania.
• Latakia vs Litani: Latakia is Syria’s sea port; Litani is Lebanon’s largest river.
• Lebanon’s capital — Beirut, not Tripoli: the lecture says Tripoli once (a slip); Tripoli is a Lebanese city, not the capital.
• Hamas’s founder — Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, not Arafat: Arafat led the PLO; Hamas was founded by Yassin in 1987.
• Kuril Islands, not Sakhalin: Sakhalin has been wholly Russian since 1945; the live Russia–Japan dispute is the Kuril Islands.
• North Korea’s name trap: “Democratic” sits in the North’s name (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea); the South is the Republic of Korea.
• Largest desert — Antarctica first: if Antarctica is among the options choose it, otherwise Sahara (his exam tip). The Gobi is a cold desert, not the largest.
• Largest Muslim country — two answers: by population = Indonesia; by area = Kazakhstan. The question’s word decides.
• Indonesia’s islands vs Finland’s lakes: Indonesia = Land of Thousand Islands; Finland = Land of Thousand Lakes. The initial letter is the hook (I for Islands, I for Indonesia).
• Father of the Nation (Bangladesh) — the moving answer: Mujib held the title for decades, but after January 2025 the new textbooks made Ziaur Rahman the Father of the Nation — watch which version your paper follows.
• Alaska’s price — $7.2 MILLION, not billion (the lecturer says “billion” on air in the Americas lecture; the standard figure is million — see Part 2).
• Doha Accord vs Doha Agreement: the Doha Accord (29 February 2020) is the US–Taliban deal; the Doha Agreement (2008) is the Lebanese political settlement. Same city, different deals.
• Durand length: 2,640 km is the taught figure; 2,430 km appears in some sources — the length itself is a live debate, and Afghanistan does not accept the line at all.

21. Memory tricks (the lecturer’s own, first)

• The states story: “Jab hum Punjab rehne gaye, main gaya kaam karne…” — the whole Indian map in one sentence (Section 2). Learn it aloud once and the state order sticks.
• MBBS PAIN: the 8 SAARC countries — Maldives, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Nepal.
• ADASURF: the 7 UAE emirates — Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al-Quwain, Ras Al-Khaimah, Fujairah.
• Colombo, Commerce, Ceylon: Sri Lanka’s commercial capital and old name share the letter C; Kotte is the administrative one.
• Kathmandu = kaath + mandir: “wooden temple” — the capital’s name is its own meaning.
• CURFEU: the P5+1 for the JCPOA — China, USA, Russia, France, EU (UK in the lecturer’s telling) + Germany. (Standard form: the five veto powers + Germany.)
• Ukraine-Orange are vowels; Kyrgyzstan-Tulip are consonants: the two colour revolutions, kept apart by their first letters.
• Tallest-building chain: Petronas → Taipei 101 → Burj Khalifa (828 m, 2010) → Jeddah Tower (1,000 m, coming) — four buildings, one ascending line.
• Hamas/Sunni, Hezbollah/Lebanon: the “seen” of Hamas = Sunni; the “lam” of Hezbollah = Lebanon.
• A-M-M-A-N: Jordan’s capital spelled out loud — the lecturer drills the spelling because papers test it.
• T-E-L A-V-I-V: Israel’s old capital spelled out the same way.
• 51 MoUs = 51 books: CPEC’s April 2015 signing (51 MoUs) hooks to Shah Waliullah’s 51 books.
• I for Islands, I for Indonesia: Indonesia’s thousand islands against Finland’s thousand lakes.
• SCO’s Shanghai trick: the organisation is named for Shanghai but headquartered in Beijing — remember the trick, not the name.

22. Visuals (site build specs)

• MAP — Asia with the lecture’s regions: one political map coloured by the chapter’s regions (India, South Asia, West Asia, Central Asia, East Asia, South East Asia, Oceania) with every capital from the Section 17 table pinned — placed at the top of the chapter as the orientation graphic students return to.
• MAP — India in story order: the states mnemonic rendered as a numbered path down the west coast and across the north and east (Section 2’s story sentence as the path labels) — placed in Section 2.
• MAP — The disputed lines: Kashmir’s division (30/55/15), the Durand Line (1893), the McMahon Line, the LAC vs LoC pair, and Doklam — one map, five lines, each labelled with its year — placed across Sections 3, 7 and 13.
• INFOGRAPHIC — The tallest-building chain: Petronas → Taipei 101 → Burj Khalifa (828 m) → Jeddah Tower (1,000 m+) as four ascending bars with years — placed in Section 9.
• TABLE-GRID — Capitals and currencies: the Section 17 master table rendered as a filterable grid (by region, with the “asked extra” column as the card back) — placed in Section 17 as the chapter’s revision graphic.
• TIMELINE — China and the Gulf in dates: 1839 Opium War → 1912 Republic → 1949 Revolution → 1971 UN entry → 1997 Hong Kong → 2001 WTO → 2015 CPEC signing, alongside the Gulf line 1932 Saudi renaming → 2015 IMCTC → 2020 Abraham Accord → 2022 World Cup — placed in Sections 13 and 9.

23. Practice this topic

• Practice set: 385 verified past-paper questions in the PPSC + FPSC banks are tagged to this topic’s Asia part (India & South Asia 80; West, Central & East Asia 221; South East Asia & Oceania 84) — the site serves them as this chapter’s practice set, with the IBES General Knowledge capsule questions behind them. Note for the build: the practice set is filtered by the topic’s subject+topic tags at serve time, so Pakistan Studies questions that merely mention Delhi, Kashmir or Afghanistan (Delhi Sultanate, Kashmir Day, the Durand Line in its Pakistan Studies framing) and English-vocabulary questions that merely contain a country word are excluded from this set by design; the Europe bucket’s Nobel and UK-literature questions taught in Lecture 8 belong to Part 2’s set, not this one.
• Book mode: ← Previous: Energy & Environment (Everyday Science) · Next: World at a Glance, Part 2 — Africa, Europe and the Americas (General Knowledge) →

Goldmine Notes · General Knowledge · Chapter 1, Part 1 · Sources: TBT GK Lectures 1–6 (files/notes/40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 07) — the taught content, already rechecked, standard answers locked; verified PPSC/FPSC past-paper banks (385 Asia-part questions, script-counted, hidden_files/goldmine-notes-count-gk01.py); IBES General Knowledge capsule bank (~1,959 MCQs) behind them. The Section 17 master table’s capital/currency column follows standard reference lists (world atlas / standard country lists) where a lecture teaches the country but not its capital or currency — e.g. Tbilisi, Yerevan, and the currency column for the smaller states. Standard answers only; lecture-vs-standard standardisations (Hamas founder Yassin, Kurils not Sakhalin, Lebanon’s capital Beirut, Uzbekistan double landlocked, Yunus Nobel Peace not Economics, Cook 1770, Truman Doctrine 1947) are locked in the notes and flagged in the run log, not in the student text. PMS Screening 2026 Grand Mock 13 residue added 2026-11-03 (Taliban interim government September 2021, Saudi Gulf oil-producer line; no marks claimed). PMS Screening 2026 GK High Yield Mock 14 residue added 2026-11-03 (Saudi Gulf-reserves line; no mark claimed).