INSIGHT UPSC QUIZ

ANS. (B) 
A great circle, also known as an orthodrome or Riemannian circle, of a sphere is the intersection of the sphere and a plane which passes through the center point of the sphere, as opposed to a general circle of a sphere where the plane is not required to pass through the center. The equator is the circle that is equidistant from the North Pole and South Pole. It divides the Earth into the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere. Of the parallels or circles of latitude, it is the longest, and the only ‘great circle’ (in that it is a circle on the surface of the earth, centered on the center of the earth). All the other parallels are smaller and centered only on the earth’s axis.