question_answer 12)

(i) Find out the longitudinal and latitudinal extent of your state.   (ii) Collect information about the 'Silk Route'. Also find out the new developments which are improving communication routes in the regions of the high altitude.  

Answer:

(i) Do it yourself. Sample answer is given below My state is Uttar Pradesh longitudinally it extends from 77°4'E to 84°39'E. Latitudinal it extends from about 30°20'N to about 23°53'N. (ii)  Do it yourself. It is given in your History book. Some information is given below  (a) The Silk Road or Silk Route refers to a historical network of interlinking trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass that connected East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean and European world, as well as parts of North and East Africa. The land routes were supplemented by sea routes, which (extended from the Red Sea to coastal India, China and South-East Asia.  Extending 4,000 miles (6,500 km), the Silk Road gets its, name from the lucrative Chinese silk trade along it, which began during the Han Dynasty (206 BCE - 220 CE). The central Asian sections of the trade routes were expanded around 114 BCE by the Han dynasty largely through the missions and explorations of Zhang Qian, but earlier trade routes across the continents already existed. In the late Middle Ages, transcontinental trade over the land routes of the Silk Road declined as sea trade increased. In recent years, both the maritime and overland Silk Routes are again being used, often closely following the ancient routes. (b) Communication routes in regions of high altitude are now-a-days through helicopter (for closer distances) and through high altitude railways like the Qinghai railway in China linking Lhasa (capital of Tibet) with the rest of the world. More information can be found on this railway from the internet.