Places in News 1st June 2025

Maldives

Context: Maldivian Foreign Minister is on a 3-day respectable visit to India, accompanied by a high-level delegation, marking his third visit to India in 2025.

• • Capital: Male
  • Official language: Dhivehi (an Indo-European language); Arabic, Hindi, and English are also spoken.
  • Religion: Islam is the state religion and performs a central function in national governance.
  • Economy: Heavily depending on tourism, along with fisheries and overseas aid.
  • Constitution: The 2008 Constitution defines a presidential system with direct elections for a maximum of  5-yr terms.

• The Maldives has a tropical hot and humid climate, affected by:

• • • Northeast monsoon (dry season: November to March), and
    • Southwest monsoon (rainy season: June to August).

• Geographical Features

• • It is home to the 7th largest coral reef system in the world, contributing 14% of worldwide reef space.
  • The country has no rivers or streams and the common elevation is below 2 meters, making it incredibly susceptible to sea-level rise.

Mt. Makalu

Context: The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) effectively scaled Mt. Makalu, the 5th maximum height in the world. 

• Mt. Makalu: Resides inside the Mahalangur range of the Nepal Himalayas, straddling the border between Nepal and Tibet, and is 8,485 meters above sea level.  
• Located southeast of Mount Everest, Makalu is famous for its putting pyramid shape with four sharp ridges.  
• Mt. Makalu, placed in Makalu Barun National Park, overlooks the scenic Barun Valley.  
• Makalu also functions as prominent subsidiary peaks, Makalu I and II, placed approximately 3 km from the primary summit.
• The Mt. Makalu was first ascended in 1955 by a French excursion led by Jean Franco.

North Sea

Context: Chad has concluded a military campaign, Operation Haskanite, against Boko Haram.

• Location: A shallow, northeastern arm of the Atlantic Ocean between the British Isles and mainland northwestern Europe. 
• It is connected to the Atlantic by the Strait of Dover and the English Channel and to the Baltic Sea through the Skagerrak and Kattegat. 
• The deepest point in the North Sea is the Norwegian Trench (725 meters). 
• Borders: Surrounded by the United Kingdom, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. 
• Economic Importance: Major trade direction for Europe, linking key ports inside the UK, Scandinavia, and mainland Europe. 
• The 1958 Geneva Convention on the Continental Shelf hooked up nations’ rights over adjacent shelves, permitting North Sea exploration, which is rich in oil and gasoline with extensive offshore drilling.

Lake Chad

Context: The US President Donald Trump plans to formally rename the ‘Persian Gulf’ as the ‘Arabian Gulf’ in the course of a visit to Saudi Arabia, aligning with the alternatives of Arab Gulf countries.

• Situated in north-west Africa, the Lake Chad vicinity spans Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, and Chad. It is a dynamic freshwater frame with human presence dating back to the Paleolithic generation (2.6 million years ago to 10,000 years ago). 
• The Sao Civilization (fifth century) left wealthy archaeological remains, showcasing knowledge in fishing, looking and farming.  
• Lake Chad faces a humanitarian disaster, with over 10 million in want due to poverty, weather alternate, and warfare. Boko Haram exploits the instability, worsening the region’s demanding situations.

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