Places in News

30 places in the news — war zones, disputed islands, India vs China ports and the border PYQs (Sep 2026).

On this map (30)

Gaza · Palestine (Hamas-run) | borders Israel, Egypt (Rafah) — Conflict zone. Israel–Hamas war since October 2023; Rafah crossing to Egypt
West Bank · Palestine | Israel, Jordan — Occupied territory. West of the Jordan river; Israeli settlements are the core dispute
Golan Heights · Syria | Israel — Disputed plateau. Syrian plateau held by Israel since 1967; overlooks the Sea of Galilee
Lebanon (south) · Lebanon | Israel — Conflict zone. Hezbollah–Israel fighting; UNIFIL peacekeepers (Indian troops serve here)
Yemen (Houthis) · Yemen | Saudi Arabia, Oman — Conflict zone. Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping (2023–) near Bab-el-Mandeb
Chabahar · Iran — Port (India-run). India runs the Shahid Beheshti terminal (10-year deal, 2024); India’s route to Afghanistan and Central Asia (INSTC)
Gwadar · Pakistan (Balochistan) — Port (China-built). Deep-sea port at the end of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)
Afghanistan · Borders: Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, China, and India (Gilgit-Baltistan, on India’s map) — Country in news. Taliban rule since 2021
Ukraine (Donbas) · Ukraine | Russia — War zone. Russia–Ukraine war since Feb 2022; Donetsk and Luhansk (Donbas) front line
Crimea · Ukraine (annexed by Russia 2014) — Annexed peninsula. Sevastopol: Russia’s Black Sea Fleet; Kerch bridge to Russia
Zaporizhzhia NPP · Ukraine (Russian-held) — Nuclear plant in a war zone. Europe’s largest nuclear plant, held by Russia; IAEA monitors it
Kaliningrad · Russia | Poland, Lithuania — Russian exclave. Russian exclave on the Baltic, cut off from Russia; the Suwałki gap links Poland and Lithuania
Transnistria · Moldova (Russian-backed) — Breakaway region. Russian-backed breakaway strip of Moldova on the Ukraine border
Nagorno-Karabakh · Azerbaijan (Armenian enclave until 2023) — Former enclave. Azerbaijan took full control in Sept 2023; most Armenians left
Greenland · Denmark (autonomous) — Strategic island. World’s largest island; US interest in buying it (2019, 2025); rare earths, Arctic routes
Svalbard · Norway — Arctic archipelago. India’s Arctic station Himadri is at Ny-Ålesund; global seed vault
Sudan (Darfur) · Sudan — Civil war. Army vs RSF civil war since April 2023; famine and El Fasher siege
Sahel coup belt · Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger — Region. Military juntas since 2020–23 left ECOWAS and formed the Alliance of Sahel States
Tigray · Ethiopia — Conflict region. 2020–22 war; Pretoria peace deal (2022)
DR Congo (east) · DR Congo | Rwanda — Conflict zone. M23 rebels took Goma (2025); cobalt and coltan — Congo has ~¾ of world cobalt (UPSC 2023)
Chagos (Diego Garcia) · UK → Mauritius (deal 2025), US base stays — Disputed islands. UK agreed to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, keeping the Diego Garcia base on lease
Taiwan · Taiwan | China — Flashpoint. China claims it; chip-making giant (TSMC); Taiwan Strait tensions
Spratly Islands · China, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan — Disputed islands. Reefs turned into Chinese bases; 2016 tribunal ruled against China’s claims
Senkaku · Japan | China (Diaoyu) — Disputed islands. China–Japan dispute in the East China Sea ✓ (UPSC 2022)
Hambantota · Sri Lanka — Port (debt lease). Leased to a Chinese firm for 99 years (2017) — the “debt trap” debate
Kyaukphyu · Myanmar — Port (China-built). Chinese port + oil/gas pipelines to Yunnan — bypassing Malacca
Sittwe · Myanmar — Port (India-built). Built by India under the Kaladan project, linking Mizoram to the sea
Essequibo · Guyana | Venezuela claims — Border dispute. Venezuela claims two-thirds of Guyana; oil finds offshore raised tension (2023)
Haiti · Haiti — Crisis. Gang violence; a Kenya-led multinational security mission (2024)
Canada–USA border · Canada | USA — Border record. Longest border between any two countries (~8,900 km) ✓ (UPSC 2024)

Asked in exams

UPSC 2022Afghanistan borders → Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
UPSC 2023Land border with Ukraine → only two (Hungary, Romania)
UPSC 2022Senkaku → China–Japan dispute in the East China Sea
UPSC 2024Longest border between two countries → Canada–USA

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