Climate is extreme, rainfall is scanty and the people used to be nomadic herders. The above statement best describes which of the following regions?

The correct answer is B. The Central Asian Steppe is a semi-arid grassland stretching from the Ukrainian plains across Kazakhstan and Mongolia. Its continental interior location, far from the moderating influence of the oceans, gives it sharp seasonal extremes, with very cold winters, hot summers and low, unreliable rainfall. Grass rather than forest dominates the vegetation, which suits livestock, and this is the classic home of pastoral nomadism, with Kazakh, Kyrgyz and Mongol herders moving sheep, goats, horses and camels between seasonal pastures.

• African Savanna: Tropical, with a clear wet and dry season and rainfall well above steppe levels. The savanna is better known for mixed farming and wildlife than for a nomadic herding culture defined by scanty rain.
• North American Prairie: Temperate grassland with fertile soils and moderate rainfall. It is famous for commercial wheat and maize farming, not nomadic herding.
• Siberian Tundra: Treeless, permafrost-bound and very cold, with low vegetation such as mosses and lichens. Reindeer herding does exist here, but the grassland-based nomadic pastoralism described in the question belongs to the steppe.

Core concept: continentality and the link between grassland climate and pastoral livelihoods. It sits in the world climate and natural vegetation section of Geography and connects to Mains questions on pastoral economies and climate-linked livelihoods.

Trap: aspirants pick Siberian Tundra because of its extreme cold and reindeer herders. Scanty rainfall combined with grassland-based herding points to the steppe.