Biodiversity Hotspots and World Heritage Sites
India's four biodiversity hotspots and its natural World Heritage Sites, with the criteria questions decoded.
Asked in exams
Actual questions from UPSC and state PCS papers that this map answers. The key detail column carries the correct fact behind each question.
| Exam | Question | Key detail |
|---|---|---|
| UPSC 2010 | India’s four = Eastern Himalaya, Western Himalaya, Western Ghats, A&N: statement 2 alone is CORRECT per the UPSC key | the false statement was that hotspots occur only in the tropics |
| UPSC 2010 | Eastern Himalaya is a hotspot ✓ | with the Eastern Mediterranean; NW Australia ✗ |
| UPSC 2011 | Criteria behind Western Ghats-Sri Lanka and Indo-Burma: richness, endemism, threat | the standard CI hotspot criteria |
| UPSC 2011 | Same criteria question | — |
| UPPCS | Which is a hotspot in India?: Western Ghats | — |
| UPPCS | Not a hotspot of India: Vindhyas | — |
| UPPCS | Which region of India is a hotspot?: Andaman and Nicobar | — |
| UPPCS | Which is a World Heritage Site: Nanda Devi BR, Corbett, Rajaji, Gir?: Nanda Devi | inscribed in 1988 |
| UPPCS | National park declared a World Heritage Site in July 2016: Khangchendzonga | India’s first mixed natural-plus-cultural WHS |
| UPSC | First three natural WHS of India, all inscribed in 1985: Kaziranga, Manas, Keoladeo | — |
| UPSC | Sundarbans NP: WHS 1987; Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers: WHS 1988 | — |
| UPPCS | Western Ghats: WHS 2012 with 39 serial sites; Great Himalayan NP: WHS 2014, Himachal Pradesh | — |
| UPSC | Hotspot concept coined by Norman Myers in 1988; hotspots are designated by Conservation International | — |
| UPSC | Hotspot criteria: 1,500+ endemic vascular plant species and 70% original habitat lost | — |
About this map
India's four biodiversity hotspots and all eight natural and mixed World Heritage Sites. Each marker explains why the site qualified: the hotspot criteria or the UNESCO inscription.
Hotspot questions test the boundary logic: the Western Ghats and Himalaya are fully in, Indo-Burma and Sundaland only partly. The "which of these is NOT a hotspot" format is standard.
World Heritage natural sites (Kaziranga, Keoladeo, the Western Ghats serial site, the Himalayan parks) overlap heavily with the parks map. Inscription years are asked as records.