Question

________ is the largest mangrove forest in the world.
A)Pichavaram
B)Pitara
C)Sunderbans
D)Bhitarkanika

Answer 1

Hint : Mangroves are shrubs or small trees that grow in coastal saline or brackish waters. The term also denotes tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species; such forests occur worldwide in the tropical and subtropical regions.

Complete answer :
Sundarbans is the largest mangrove forest in the world. It covers a total area of nearly 10,000 km 2. Also, it is situated on the banks of Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna Rivers in the Bay of Bengal. The forest has been enlisted in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is the home to the Bengal Tigers.

Additional information:
Pichavaram Mangrove forest is located in the Cuddalore district, Tamil Nadu, and is famous for being one of the largest mangrove forests in the world, not the largest mangrove of the world.

Pitara is a Hindi term given to a box-like structure or collection of something. The option is irrelevant here and provided just to create confusion. Thus, this is an incorrect choice.

Bhitarkanika Mangroves, located in the state of Odisha, is India’s second-largest forest. It has been created by the deltas of two rivers Brahmani and Baitarani and one of the important wetlands, Ramsar Wetland, in India. Thus, it isn’t the correct answer.

Option C,is the correct answer.

Note :
Four protected areas in the Sundarbans- Sundarbans National Park, Sundarbans West, Sundarbans South, and Sundarbans East Wildlife Sanctuaries- have been enlisted as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. However, despite these protections, the Indian Sundarbans are considered endangered in a 2020 assessment under the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems framework.