NewsTracker Answers for week of Nov. 02, 2009

Q: Pakistan forces are fighting Taliban extremists after terrorist bombs killed hundreds in recent weeks, including more than a hundred civilians killed last week in a busy market in the city of Peshawar. Where is Pakistan?

Circle the area on this map


Q: Government troops have targeted Taliban bases in the Waziristan region which borders Pakistan's northwestern neighbor ...

A. Afghanistan

B. India

C. China

D. Iran


A. Pakistan is bordered by Iran on the west, Afghanistan on the northwest, China on the northeast, India on the east and southeast, and the Arabian Sea on the south. Taliban Islamists are conducting civil wars in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.


Q: Which country has Pakistan fought against in three wars?

A. Afghanistan

B. India

C. China

D. Iran


B. The two nations have been rivals since they gained independence in 1947 from British colonial rule. Both India and Pakistan have developed nuclear weapons in a regional arms race.


Q: What was the major reason the separate states of Pakistan and India were created from British India?

A. Language

B. Oil

C. Communism

D. Religion


D. British India was separated into the Muslim state of Pakistan and the largely Hindu India. The division was followed by deadly religious riots and mass migrations of refugees between the new nations. Religious differences continue to spark violence in the region.


Q: What independent nation was created after a part of Pakistan rebelled against the government in 1971?

A. Afghanistan

B. Bangladesh

C. Kashmir

D. Tajikistan


B. The borders of present-day Bangladesh were established in 1947, when the Muslim region became the eastern wing of Pakistan. Political and linguistic discrimination led to a civil war against the government in western Pakistan.