UPSC Prelims 2014 · Question 15 of 100

UPSC Prelims 2014 question on Arctic Council Members

Consider the following countries:

1. Denmark
2. Japan
3. Russian Federation
4. United Kingdom
5. United States of America

Which of the above are the members of the 'Arctic Council'?

  1. 1, 2 and 3
  2. 2, 3 and 4
  3. 1, 4 and 5
  4. 1, 3 and 5
Show answer

Answer: D. 1, 3 and 5

Verdict

The answer is 1, 3 and 5, that is Denmark, the Russian Federation and the United States of America. The Arctic Council's members are the eight states with territory inside the Arctic.

Analysis

Denmark qualifies through Greenland, Russia through its long Arctic coastline and the United States through Alaska, so all three are full members. Japan and the United Kingdom are not Arctic littoral states and cannot be members; Japan holds observer status. The eight members are Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States, and India is an observer. Every option here mixes an Arctic state with a non Arctic one except the key, which is what makes the geography test decisive.

Source

The Hindu and current affairs coverage of the Arctic Council.

How to crack it

Membership of a regional body is decided by geography before it is decided by diplomacy. Before recalling any list, ask which of the named countries physically touches the region. Japan and the United Kingdom obviously do not touch the Arctic, and eliminating them kills three of the four options outright. Keep the observer versus member distinction sharp too, because India's observer status in the Arctic Council is itself a repeat question.

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