NCERT Solutions for Class 7th Social Science Chapter 1 The Delta in West Bengal and the Sundarbans — In-text Questions

Book page 22 Updated on2026-09-19

Q1.
Note: Do remember to look at the map and identify where the delta is.
Tropic of Cancer (23½° N)NGaro HillsKhasi HillsJaintia HillsK2KanchenjungaMt AbuAnai MudiH I M A L A Y A SLADAKHTHAR DESERTNORTHERN PLAINSARAVALLI HILLSVINDHYA RANGESATPURA RANGEWESTERN GHATSEASTERN GHATSDECCAN PLATEAUCHOTA NAGPURPLATEAURann of KachchhWestern Coastal PlainEastern Coastal PlainSundarbansARABIAN SEABAY OF BENGALINDIAN OCEANPAKISTANAFGHANISTANC H I N ANEPALBHUTANBANGLADESHMYANMARSRI LANKAIndusSutlejGangaYamunaChambalBrahmaputraNarmadaTapiMahanadiGodavariKrishnaKaveriLAKSHADWEEPANDAMAN ISLANDSNICOBAR ISLANDS70° E75° E80° E85° E90° E95° E10° N15° N20° N25° N30° N35° NLEGENDHeight above sea level (metres)0 – 150150 – 300300 – 600600 – 15001500 – 30003000 – 5000Above 5000River (arrow = direction of flow)International boundaryMountain peak
The physical map of India that this chapter asks you to keep beside you — redrawn here with its legend and its latitude and longitude lines.
Answer

On the physical map, find the point where the Ganga and the Brahmaputra come together in the far east and open into the Bay of Bengal. There the single thick blue line breaks into a fan of many thin channels. That fan is the Ganga–Brahmaputra delta.

  • State: the southern part of West Bengal, below Kolkata.
  • Country: about half of the delta lies in India and the rest in Bangladesh.
  • Name of the Indian part: the Sundarbans — a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the largest mangrove forest in the world.
What makes it special: this delta has, as the chapter says, a unique combination of river, sea and land. Salt water and fresh water mix twice a day with the tide, so it grows mangroves — trees that can live with their roots in salty mud. Those forests shelter the Royal Bengal Tiger and hundreds of other species, and they take the first blow of every cyclone that comes up the Bay of Bengal.
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