Class 7 Geography Chapter 9 Life in the Deserts Important Questions and Answers

CBSE Class 7 Geography Chapter 9 Life in the Deserts Important Questions and answers cover all the major concepts of the chapter. Solving answers of these important questions help students to revise the Chapter most competently. We prepared these questions as per the latest NCERT book and CBSE syllabus. Practising class 7 important questions before the exam will ensure excellent marks in the exam.

Life in the Deserts Class 7 Geography Important Questions

Very Short Answer Type Question

1: Where are depression formed?
Answer: Depression are formed when wind blow away the sands.

2: Laddakh is also known as kahpachau (T/F)
Answer: True

3: Name the two major hot desert in Africa.
Answer: Kalahari and Sahara

4: The famous Atacama desert is in Africa (T/F)
Answer: False

5: Ganga glaciers are found in Laddakh. (T/F)
Answer: True

6: How many countries touches the Sahara desert?
Answer: Eleven

7. How many countries are touched by the Sahara desert? Name them.
Answer: The Sahara desert touches eleven countries—Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia and Western Sahara.

8. What are the two characteristic features of a desert?  [V. Imp.]
Answer:  The climate of a desert is either very hot and dry or very cold and dry.
The vegetation is sparse.

9. Mention the day and night temperatures of the Sahara desert.
Answer: The day temperature—It may soar as high as 50°C.
The night temperature—Nearing zero degrees

10. What vegetation is found in the Sahara desert?
Answer: Vegetation in the Sahara desert is comprised of cactus, date, palms and acacia.
Green islands with date palms can be seen near the oases.

11. Name the two nomadic tribes living in the Sahara desert.
Answer: The Bedouins and Tuaregs.

12. Name the animals reared by the Bedouins and Tuaregs.
Answer: Goats, Sheep, Camels and horses.

13. What do these animals provide them?
Answer: These animals provide them with milk and hides.

14. Name the countries associated with the discovery of oil
Answer: Algeria, Libya and Egypt.

15. Ladakh is made up of two words. Mention these words with their meaning.
Answer: The two words with which Ladakh is made up of are La meaning mountain pass and Dak meaning country.

16. Where is Ladakh located?
Answer: Ladakh is located in the Great Himalayas, on the eastern side of Jammu and Kashmir.

17. Name an important river that flows through Ladakh.
Answer: Indus.

18. Why is there little rainfall in the Ladakh desert?  [Imp.]
Answer: It is because the Ladakh desert lies in the rain shadow of the Himalayas.

19. Name the birds which are common in the Ladakh desert.
Answer: Robias, redstarts, Tibetan snow cock, raven and hoopoe.

20. What is the use of the hair of the sheep and goat in the cold desert of Ladak?
Answer: The hair of the sheep and goat is used to make woollens.

21. Why do people hunt Chiru or the Tibetan antelope?
Answer: People hunt the Chiru or the Tibetan antelope for its wool known as Shahtoosh

22. Name some famous monasteries of Ladakh
Answer: Hemis, Thiksey, Shey and Lamayuru.

23. Which National Highway connects Leh to Kashmir valley and through which pass?
Answer: The National Highway A connects Leh to Kashmir valley through the Zojila pass.

24. Name the four passes which Manali-Leh highway crosses.
Answer: Rohtang La, Lungalacha La, Baralacha La and Tanglang La.

Short Answer Type Questions

1: Define desert.

Answer: It is an arid region characterized by extremely high or low temperatures and has less vegetation.

2: Where are the hot desert found?

Answer: The hot desert are found mainly on the western margins of the continent between latitudes 15 to 30 degree both north and south of the equator.

3: Name the countries which touch the Sahara desert.

Answer: Countries are- Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Sudan, Tunisia and Western Sahara.

4: Describe the type of animals and plants found in hot Sahara desert region.

Answer: Vegetation in Sahara desert includes cactus, date, palms and acacia. In some place there are oasis, green islands with date palms surrounding them. Camels, hyenas, jackal, foxes, scorpions, Snakes and lizards are the prominent species.

5: What is desertification?

Answer: Every year about 1, 22,000 sq.kms of agricultural land is made worthless. This process is called desertification.

6: What is the location of Laddakh desert?

Answer: Ladakh is cold desert lying in the great Himalayas on the eastern side of Jammu and Kashmir. The Karakoram Range in the north and the Zaskar Mountain in the south enclose it.

7: Describe the climatic condition of the Laddakh desert?

Answer: Due to high altitude the climate is extremely cold and dry. The day temperature in summer is just above zero degree and night temperature well below – 30 degree.

8: What mainly attracts tourist to Laddakh?

Answer: Meadows and glacier mainly attracts tourist to Laddakh.

9: What type of vegetation of cold desert Laddakh found?

Answer: In Laddakh, due to high aridity the vegetation is sparse. There are scanty patches of grasses and shrubs for animals to graze. Grove of willows and poplars are seen in the valleys.

10: Name the famous monasteries of Laddakh.

Answer: The famous monasteries of the Laddakh are Hemis, Thiksey, Shey and Lamayuru.

11. Describe the Climate of the Sahara desert. [V. Imp.]

Answer: The Sahara desert experience scorching hot and parch dry climate. The rainy season occurs for the short time. The sky is cloudless and clear. Days are extremely hot. The temperatures during the day may rise as high as 50°C. The nights may be freezing cold with temperatures nearing zero degrees.

12. Describe the flora and fauna found in the Sahara desert.

Answer: Flora. The Sahara desert has vegetation such as cactus, date palms and acacia. In same places there are oases where one can see green islands with date palms. Fauna. The animals found in the Sahara desert are camels, hyenas, jackals, foxes, scorpions, several varieties of snakes and lizards.

Long Answer Type Questions

1. Mention the summer and winter activities of the people of the Ladakh desert. [V. Imp.]

Answer: In the summer season the people of the Ladakh desert are busy in cultivation work. They grow crops such as barley, potatoes, peas, beans and turnip. The climate during winters is very harsh and people keep themselves engaged in festivities and ceremonies. The women manage the house and fields with great efficiency. They also manage small business and shops.

2: Name the hot desert of the world.

Answer: In Africa-there are two desert areas; the Sahara and the Kalahari Desert In Asia- the hot desert includes the whole of Arabian Peninsula, southern Israel, Jordan, Syria, southern parts of Iraq and Iran. The desert area extends up to Thar Desert of India and Pakistan North America- it includes Lower California the Arizona and Naveda states of USA. South America- here Atacama Desert stretches in a narrow belt fringing the Andes mountain.

3. Describe the flora and fauna found in the Ladakh desert.    [V. Imp.]

Answer: Flora—Vegetation is scanty in the Ladakh desert. There are scanty patches of grasses and shrubs. Groves of willows and poplars are seen in the valleys. During the summers, fruit trees such as apples, apricots and walnuts grow.

Fauna. Several species of birds are found in the Ladakh desert. Robins, redstarts, Tibetan snowcock, raven and hoopoe are common. The animals found in this region are wild goats, wild sheep, yak and special kinds of dogs.

4. Describe the people of the Sahara desert Also write about their activities.  [V. Imp.]

Answer: The Sahara desert experiences harsh climate. Despite that various groups of people such as the Bedouins and Juaregs live here. These are nomadic tribes who pursue different activities. They rear animals such as goats, sheep, camels and horses. They get jnilk and hides from these animals. They prepare leather from hides. This leather is used in making belts, slippers, water bottles. They use the hair of these animals in making mats, carpets, clothes and blankets. The people of the Sahara desert wear heavy robes to protect themselves from the dust storms and hot winds.

The oasis in the Sahara desert and the Nile valley in Egypt support settled population. Since water is available, people grow date palms. They also grow rice, wheat, barley and beans.

The Sahara is undergoing change with fast speed. Tuaregs, the nomadic tribe, are now acting as guides to foreign tourists. More and more nomadic herdsmen are migrating to cities in search of jobs in oil and gas operations.