Question

Which city among the following is closest to the Equator?

• A. Hyderabad
• B. Panaji
• C. Bhubaneswar
• D. Mumbai

Hint:

For questions asking which Indian city is closest to the Equator, simply identify the southernmost city from the options. The farther south a city is in India, the closer it is to the Equator.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Step 1: Understand the concept of the Equator and latitude. The Equator is an imaginary line around the middle of the Earth at 0° latitude. It divides the Earth into the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The farther a place is from the Equator, the higher its latitude (either North or South).

Step 2: Apply the concept to India. All of India is in the Northern Hemisphere. Therefore, a city in India that is "closest to the Equator" will be the city that is located farthest to the south, as this means it will have the lowest northern latitude.

Step 3: Compare the latitudinal positions of the given cities. Let's look at the approximate latitudes of the cities:
Bhubaneswar: \(\sim\)20.3° N
Mumbai: \(\sim\)19.1° N
Hyderabad: \(\sim\)17.4° N
Panaji: \(\sim\)15.5° N

Step 4: Determine the closest city. Comparing the latitudes, Panaji (the capital of Goa) has the lowest latitude value (15.5° N). This means it is the southernmost city among the options and therefore the closest to the Equator.