Lesson Y9-U06-L03

Y9-U06-L03 Water Security and a Shared River Quiz: KS3 Geography, Unit 18

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson Y9-U06-L03, Water Security and a Shared River: 20 multiple choice questions for the KS3 Geography (National Curriculum), Unit 18: Year 9: Contested Worlds: Resources, Conflict and Geopolitics, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. Define water security in one sentence.

    • When everyone can reliably get enough safe, clean water
    • When a country sells its water to every neighbouring country
    • When a country builds the largest dam in the world
    • When a country has more rivers than it could ever use

  2. What is a transboundary river?

    • A river that is used to cross a single bridge on a road
    • A river that has been artificially covered with concrete
    • A river that flows across the borders of two or more countries
    • A river that flows only inside one single country

  3. What is a river basin?

    • The deepest pool at the bottom of a river's course
    • The bridge that carries a road across the river
    • All the land drained by a river and the streams that join it
    • The flat plain where a river meets the sea at its mouth and the town on the coast

  4. Which part of a river is nearer its source?

    • Downstream
    • Upstream
    • Mouth
    • Estuary

  5. Which African river is shared by 11 countries?

    • The Nile
    • The Amazon
    • The Thames
    • The Rhine

  6. Which upstream country built the GERD dam on the Nile?

    • Sudan, which lies in the middle of the Nile
    • Ethiopia
    • Sudan
    • Egypt

  7. Which downstream country was worried about the GERD dam?

    • Uganda, which is near the source of the river
    • Ethiopia, which built the dam on the river
    • Egypt, which farms using Nile water
    • Sudan, which lies between the two countries

  8. Why might an upstream country build a dam?

    • To move the river to a new course across the desert
    • To store water and make hydroelectric power for development
    • To stop all water from ever reaching the sea downstream and the farms along the banks
    • To make the river flow uphill towards its source

  9. What is one fear a downstream country has about an upstream dam?

    • Less water may reach it, hurting farming and drinking supply
    • The river will flow faster and cause a flood in the sea
    • The river will become too clean for fish to survive in it at every single site
    • The dam will stop all ships from sailing on the river

  10. Egypt gets about 90 percent of its fresh water from one river. Why does this put Egypt at risk?

    • Its water is always too salty to be used for drinking or farming
    • Its water is only used for tourism and never for farming
    • Its water supply is fully controlled by its own rainfall each year and by its own dams
    • Its water supply depends on what happens in other countries upstream

  11. Why is a shared river described as 'contested'?

    • No country lives near it, so it is not used at all
    • Several countries depend on it, but no single country owns all of it
    • Only one country has a legal right to fish in it
    • Every country agrees exactly how to split it with no argument

  12. Which statement best describes an upstream country's control over a river?

    • It controls the rainfall that falls on the lands downstream
    • It controls the shape of the river's banks in other countries
    • It controls the sea that the river flows into at its mouth
    • It controls the flow that reaches the countries further down the river

  13. Which is a fair use of the word 'downstream' on a map?

    • Egypt, which lies near the mouth of the Nile
    • Ethiopia, which lies near the source of the Nile
    • Sudan, which lies at the start of the river itself
    • Uganda, which lies at the top of the Nile basin

  14. Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt all share the Nile. Which is in the middle of the course?

    • The Mediterranean Sea
    • Egypt
    • Sudan
    • Ethiopia

  15. Why must an upstream country's dam be considered a shared-water issue?

    • Because the water it stores affects countries further along the river
    • Because dams can only be built on rivers that are not shared
    • Because dams stop all rain from falling on the land below
    • Because dams are always built with money from the downstream countries

  16. Which is a reason water security is a geopolitical issue?

    • Water is only ever a concern for people living in deserts
    • Water security affects tourism but has no link to power
    • Countries always agree on water use without any discussion
    • Countries compete for control of shared water supplies

  17. Evaluate in one sentence: can a fair sharing treaty for a shared river be possible?

    • Yes, if countries agree rules that balance their needs, though it is difficult
    • No, because treaties are only useful for land, not for rivers
    • Yes, because one country can always simply take the water it wants
    • No, because shared rivers can never be divided by any agreement

  18. Why must a country's water supply be secure to protect its people?

    • Water is only needed by people who live near the coast
    • Water is only needed for sporting events and holiday resorts in the summer
    • Water is only needed for watering gardens and public parks
    • Water is needed for drinking, farming, industry and electricity

  19. A desert country relies on one shared river. Which conclusion about its water security is most sensible?

    • It is secure, because one river is always enough for everyone
    • It is secure, because desert countries never use any water at all and have many lakes
    • It is insecure, because its supply can be cut off by upstream decisions
    • It is secure, because deserts always have plenty of groundwater

  20. What is the main reason the Nile basin is described as transboundary?

    • It crosses the borders of eleven countries that all depend on it
    • It has been covered over with concrete along its whole length to stop flooding
    • It is only used for tourist boat trips along a short stretch
    • It flows only through one country before it reaches the sea

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