UPSC World Geography – Chapter 6: Factors and Theories of Industrial Location (21 MCQs)

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UPSC World Geography – Chapter 6: Factors and Theories of Industrial Location (21 MCQs) – 21 questions, subject: Geography. Every question has the correct answer with a one-line explanation; tap "Show Answer". Free practice for TNPSC, UPSC, SSC, Bank and RRB exams – Shanmugam IAS Academy, Coimbatore.

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1.  

According to Weber, a material index greater than 1 pulls an industry towards:

Correct Answer: A [the source of raw materials]

Explanation:

An index above 1 means the localised materials outweigh the product, so moving them costs more and the factory goes to the source.

2.  

Hexagonal market areas are a feature of the location theory of:

Correct Answer: D [August Lösch]

Explanation:

Lösch (1940) showed that market areas packed without gaps or overlaps take the shape of hexagons.

3.  

Cutlery manufacturing surviving in Sheffield long after its original advantages faded is an example of:

Correct Answer: B [industrial inertia]

Explanation:

Sheffield cutlery stayed on through past investment, skills and reputation after its local advantages faded – the textbook case of inertia.

4.  

Which of the following is a weight-gaining industry that tends to locate near the market?

Correct Answer: D [Soft drinks]

Explanation:

water is added.

5.  

Lines joining points of equal additional transport cost in Weber's theory are called:

Correct Answer: B [isodapanes]

Explanation:

Weber's isodapanes join points of equal extra transport cost around the least-cost point; the critical isodapane decides labour-led moves.

6.  

Aluminium smelters are often located near:

Correct Answer: C [cheap hydroelectric power]

Explanation:

Smelting alumina into aluminium uses huge amounts of electricity, so smelters seek cheap hydro power, as at Kitimat and Renukut.

7.  

The idea of "spatial margins of profitability" is associated with:

Correct Answer: D [D. M. Smith]

Explanation:

D. M. Smith described a zone, bounded by spatial margins, within which a firm can operate at a profit.

8.  

Which of the following is the best example of a footloose industry?

Correct Answer: D [Software development]

Explanation:

Software uses no bulky materials or heavy power, so it can locate wherever skilled people and good connectivity exist.

9.  

In Weber's theory, materials that are available everywhere, such as water and air, are called:

Correct Answer: A [ubiquitous materials]

Explanation:

Weber called materials found everywhere, such as water and air, ubiquitous; they do not affect the choice of site.

10.  

Consider the following statements:

1. Weber's theory assumes that a factory locates at the point of least transport cost.
2. In Weber's theory, cheap labour can pull a factory away from the least-transport-cost point.
3. Weber's theory gives the main place to government policy.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Correct Answer: B [1 and 2 only]

Explanation:

Weber located industry at the least-transport-cost point and allowed cheap labour as a deviation; he ignored government policy.

11.  

Assertion (A): Sugar mills in India are located close to sugarcane fields.

Reason (R): Sugarcane loses weight and sucrose content soon after it is cut.

Correct Answer: A [Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A]

Explanation:

Because cut cane quickly loses weight and sucrose, it must be crushed soon, which ties sugar mills to cane-growing areas.

12.  

Ports and junctions where goods change from one mode of transport to another are called:

Correct Answer: C [break-of-bulk points]

Explanation:

Break-of-bulk points are places such as ports where cargo is unloaded and transferred between transport modes, attracting processing.

13.  

Shenzhen, one of China's first Special Economic Zones, was set up in:

Correct Answer: D [1980]

Explanation:

Shenzhen was approved as one of China's first Special Economic Zones in August 1980 under Deng Xiaoping's reforms.

14.  

Which of the following pairs is NOT correctly matched?

Correct Answer: C [Shenzhen – industrial inertia]

Explanation:

(c) Not matched – Shenzhen grew from policy (SEZ), not inertia.

15.  

The tendency of competing firms selling to the same market to cluster together was explained by:

Correct Answer: B [Hotelling]

Explanation:

1929.

16.  

Cotton, whose whole weight enters the finished product, is in Weber's terms a:

Correct Answer: D [pure material]

Explanation:

In Weber's terms a pure material, like cotton, passes its whole weight into the finished product.

17.  

Arrange the following in chronological order:

1. Lösch's market-area theory
2. Shenzhen Special Economic Zone
3. Weber's least-cost theory
4. Hotelling's locational interdependence

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

Correct Answer: C [3-4-1-2]

Explanation:

1909, 1929, 1940, 1980.

18.  

Garment industries in Bangladesh and Vietnam are mainly attracted by:

Correct Answer: B [cheap labour]

Explanation:

Garment making is labour-intensive with light, mobile inputs, so low wages in Bangladesh and Vietnam decide location.

19.  

India's Special Economic Zones Act was passed in:

Correct Answer: A [2005]

Explanation:

Parliament passed the Special Economic Zones Act in 2005; the SEZ Rules followed in 2006.

20.  

The theory that the best site is where profit, not just cost, is greatest is associated with:

Correct Answer: C [Lösch]

Explanation:

Lösch argued that the best site is where total revenue exceeds total cost by the greatest amount, not the least-cost point.

21.  
UPSC Prelims 2002

HINDALCO, an aluminium factory located at Renukut owes its site basically to:

Correct Answer: B [abundant supply of power]

Explanation:

cheap power from the Rihand dam and nearby coal-based plants.

➤ Full notes, maps, tables, a reason for every option and Mains PYQs – U10 · World Geography (UPSC book, ₹249): www.shanmugamiasacademy.in/study-materials/upsc-world-geography

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