Answer: Option A
Answer: (a)
This statement is about the Central Asian Steppes. Central Asia is the core region of the Asian continent and stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to China in the east and from Afghanistan in the south to Russia in the north.
It is also sometimes referred to as Middle Asia, and, colloquially, “the ‘stans” (as the five countries generally considered to be within the region all have names ending with the Persian suffix “-stan”, meaning “land of”) and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent.
Central Asia has historically been closely tied to its nomadic peoples and the Silk Road. Central Asia has the following geographic extremes: world’s northernmost desert (sand dunes), at Buurug Deli in Els, Mongolia; the Northern Hemisphere’s southernmost permafrost, at Erdenetsogt sum, Mongolia; world’s shortest distance between non-frozen desert and permafrost: 770 km; and the Eurasian pole of inaccessibility.
A majority of the people earn a living by herding livestock. Industrial activity centres in the region’s cities.