THE PHYSICAL DIVISIONS OF INDIA

The Physical Divisions of India

Every land has its own features and speciality.

The Physical Divisions of India

 

Every country is divided into regions on the basis of certain similar physical features. For example, a country could be divided into a region made up of mountains, another of plains, and yet another of plateaus. India is a vast land with wide range of physical features.

There are mountains, ocean, desert, in this region. The physical features of India range from the mighty mountains of the Himalayas to the fertile plains of the north India; from the plateaus of the Deccan to the eastern and western coastal plains; and from the dry deserts of Rajasthan to the wet hills of Arunachal Pradesh.

Geographers usually divide India into six major physical divisions. 

·        The Great Northern Mountains

·        The Northern Plains

·        The Peninsular Plateau

·        The Thar Desert or the Great Indian Desert

·        The Coastal Plains

·        The Islands

THE GREAT NORTHERN MOUNTAINS

The Great Northern Mountains are stretched like a wall across the north of the Indian subcontinent. The Northern Mountains consist of the Trans-Himalayan Ranges and the Himalayan Ranges. (A range is a continuous line of mountains.)

The Trans-Himalayan Ranges

The Trans-Himalayan Ranges are a series of towering mountain chains that originate from the Pamir Knot. The Pamir, a plateau, is also known as the ‘roof of the world’. These ranges lie to the north of the Himalayas and have an average height of 6000m. Of the various Trans-Himalayan Ranges that radiate out of the Pamir Knot, the ones that lie in India are the Karakoram Range, the Ladakh Range and the Zaskar Range.

The Karakoram is the northernmost mountain range of India. The highest peak of this range is Mt K2 or Godwin-Austin (8611m) (this region now lies in POK or Pakistan Occupied Kashmir). The Ladakh and Zaskar Ranges cut across Jammu and Kashmir from the north-west to the south-east.

The Himalayan Ranges

The word Himalaya means ‘the abode of snow’ in Sanskrit. The Himalayas consist of three great ranges that run parallel to each other. These ranges extend from west to east (from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh) covering 2500km in length. They are broader in the west (400 km) and narrow down to the east (150 km).

The three parallel ranges of the Himalayans are the Himadri, the Himachal and the Shiwalik.

HIMADRI

The northernmost range of the Himalayas is called Himadri. It is also known as the Greater Himalayas or the Inner Himalayas. The average altitude of this range is 6000 m. It houses some of the highest peaks of the world. Some of them are the Everest (8848 m), Kanchenjunga (8586 m), Makalu (8481 m), Dhaulagiri (8172 m), Nanga Parbat (8126 m), Annapurna (8078 m), Nanda Devi (7817 m).

Mt Everest is the highest peak in the world and is located in Nepal. Of the other peaks listed above, Kanchenjunga (bordering Nepal) and Nanda Devi are in India. The others are in Nepal. Kanchenjunga is the highest peak in India.

HIMACHAL

The range that lies to the south of Himadri and north of Shiwalik is called Himachal. It is also called the Middle Himalayas or Lesser Himalayas. Many hill stations like Shimla, Kullu, Manali, Mussoorie, Nainital and Darjeeling are in this region.

SHIWALIK

Shiwalik is the southernmost range of the Himalayas. It is also known as the Outer Himalayas. This part of the Himalayas is the youngest fold. It is made of unconsolidated (loose) deposits and is, therefore, prone to earthquakes and landslides. There are flat valleys between the Himachal and Shiwalik ranges called ‘duns’, for example, Dehra Dun, Patli Dun, etc.

As eastward extension of the Himalayas into the north-east of India forms the

Purvanchal. The Purvanchal consist of six small ranges. They are the Garo, Khasi and Jaintia Hills, Patkai Bum, the Naga Hills and the Mizo Hills.

THE NORTHERN PLAINS

The fertile Northern Plains lie between the Himalayas in the North and the peninsular plateau in the South. This is one of the most extensive plains 2500 km. It is drained by mainly three rivers systems, the Ganga, the Indus and the Brahmaputra.

The plains are built up of rich alluvial deposits. Alluvial deposits are fine sand, silt clay brought down by the rivers and deposited in the basins.

An area drained by a river system is called a drainage basin or a river basin. A river system consists of a main river and its various tributaries and distributaries. A tributary is a stream or river. A distributary is a branch of a river that flows away from the main stream and does not rejoin it.

On the basis of drainage basins, we can divide the Northern Plains into three major regions – the Indus Basin, the Ganga Basin and the Brahmaputra Basin.

The Indus Basin is drained by the river Indus and its tributaries (Jhelum, Chenab, Beas, Ravi and Satluj). The Indus originates near Lake Manasarovar and drains Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab.

The Ganga basin is drained by the river Ganga and its tributaries and distributaries. The Ganga originates in Gangotri in the Himalayas, and drains most of the Northern Plains. The northern tributaries of the Ganga are the Ghagra, Gandak, Gomti and Kosi. The Yamuna is the main southern tributary of the Ganga. The other southern tributaries are Betwa, Ken, Sindh and Son. The major distributary of the Ganga is the river Hugli.

The Brahmaputra Basin is drained by the river Brahmaputra and its tributaries. The Brahmaputra also originates near Lake Manasarovar in Tibet and flows through three countries – China, India and Bangladesh. In India it drains the states of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. This river is known as Tsangpo in China. In Bangladesh, it is joined by the Ganga (known here as Padma), and flows through Bangladesh as Jamuna.

The Ganga and Brahmaputra together form the world’s largest delta, called the Ganga Delta. The world’s largest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans, is found on the Ganga Delta. Most of the Sundarbans lies in Bangladesh.

THE PENINSULAR PLATEAU

The Peninsular Plateau is triangular plateau to the south of the Northern Plains. It is bounded by the Aravali Range in the north-west, the Vindhya and Satpura Ranges in the north and the Eastern Ghats and the Western Ghats towards the south. The surface of this region is highly uneven, consisting of mountains, valleys and plateaus.

Several rivers originate in the Deccan Plateau, most of which flow towards the east. Some major rivers like the Narmada and Tapti, however, flow west.

The Peninsular Plateau is divided into three distinctive parts – the Malwa Plateau, the Chhota Nagpur Plateau and the Deccan Plateau.

The Malwa Plateau

The Malwa Plateau is located on the west of the Peninsular Plateau. It slopes northwards and merges with the plains in the north. Some of the tributaries of the Ganga, like the Chambal and the Son, originate here.

The Chhota Nagpur Plateau

The Chhota Nagpur Plateau is located in the north eastern part of the Peninsular Plateau. It is rich in minerals like iron and coal.

The Malwa and Chhota Nagpur Plateau together form the Central Highlands.

The Deccan Plateau

The Deccan Plateau is a typical triangular plateau, located to the south of Vindhyas and Satpuras. It is flanked by the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats. These ghats are connected by the Nilgiri Mountains in the south. The plateau largely slopes towards the east. There are many east-flowing rivers that emerge from the Western Ghats and empty into the Bay of Bengal such as the Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri. There are just two major rivers that flow towards the west – the Narmada and Tapti, which flow through rift valleys and meet the Arabian Sea. The north-western part of the Deccan Plateau is one of the largest lava plateaus in the world. The Deccan Trap, as this region is called, was formed over millions of years ago by lava flows from volcanic eruptions. The black soil that was formed by the breaking down of these volcanic rocks is excellent for the cultivation of cotton. The Deccan Trap is the most important cotton-growing region in India.

THE THAR DESERT

The Thar Desert is also known as the Great Indian Desert. It is situated in the north-western part of Rajasthan. It is dry sandy stretch which merges with the desert in Pakistan. This region gets very little rainfall as it lies in the rain-shadow area of the Aravali Mountains.

THE COASTAL PLAINS

India has two strips of coastal plains. The one lying to the west of the Western Ghats is known as the Western Coastal Plains, and the one lying to the east of the Eastern Ghats is known as the Eastern Coastal Plains. They are fertile, and are used for cultivation. Several important ports like Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata lie on the coastal plains.

THE ISLANDS OF INDIA

The Lakshadweep and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are the two main island groups of India.

The Laccadive, Minicoy and Amindivi island groups in the Arabian Sea are part of the Lakshadweep. They are made of corals – the skeletons of a particular form of marine life. Many of these islands are horseshoe shaped and are called atolls.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands lie in the Bay of Bengal. They are numerous and also larger than the Lakshadweep Islands. They are of volcanic origin and are submerged hills.

Both the Lakshaweep and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are of vital importance to India, for trade, tourism and defence.