The document summarizes the physiographic divisions of India. It discusses the Himalayan Mountains, which consist of the Greater Himalayas, Lesser Himalayas, and Shiwalik Ranges. The Himalayas are an important natural barrier and influence weather patterns. The Northern Plains are formed by the Indus, Ganga, and Brahmaputra river systems. The Peninsular Plateau includes the Central Highlands and Deccan Plateau. The Indian Desert is also briefly described.

2. The physical features of India can be
grouped
under the following physiographic
divisions:
(i) The Himalayan Mountains
(ii) The Northern Plains
(iii) The Peninsular Plateau
(iv) The Indian Desert
(v) The Coastal Plains
(vi) The Islands

3. (i) THE HIMALAYAN MOUNTAIN:-
• The Himalayan ranges contain several high peaks.
Mount Everest is the highest peak in the world.
• The Himalayan Mountains stretch in a long curve
from Jammu and Kashmir in the west to
Arunachal Pradesh in the east.
• Their length is about 2000 kilometers and width
between 230 and 400 kilometers.

4. The Himalayas are quite useful to us. The
advantages are as follows:-
 High mountain ranges and peaks act as a barrier for enemies and so
play a great role in the Defence of India.
 The Himalayas protect the country against the cold winds blowing
from Siberia through Central Asia.
 The Himalayas check rain bearing wind and cause heavy rainfall.
The eastern part of the mountain prevents the monsoon clouds from
escaping northwards out of India. This causes rain in the whole of
northern India.
 There are dense forests up to an altitude of 1500 meters. Different
types of trees, bushes and wild animals are found in these forests.

5. Images of HimalayasImages of Himalayas

6. THREE MAIN RANGES
OF HIMALAYA

7. The Himalayas have three
main ranges That are:
(i) The greater Himalayas
(ii) The lesser Himalayas
(iii) The Shiwalik hill ranges

8. The Greater Himalayas:-
 The highest range of the Himalayas is known as the greater Himalayas. It
is also called the Nimadi.
 The great Himalayas, the highest mountain range in the world, extend
along the northern frontiers of Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Burma.
They were formed geologically as a result of the collision of the Indian
subcontinent with Asia.
 The Greater Himalayas, or northern range, average approximately 6,000
meters in height and contain the three highest mountains on earth:
Mount Everest (8,796 meters) on the China-Nepal border; K2 (8,611
meters, also known as Mount Godwin-Austen, and in China as Qogir Feng
in an area claimed by India, Pakistan, and China; and Kanchenjunga (8,598
meters) on the India-Nepal border.
 Many major mountains are located entirely within India, such as Nanda
Devi (7,817 meters) in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

9. Importance of Greater Himalayas:-
 The wetlands of the greater Himalayan region such as lakes,
marshes, peat lands and rivers provide important ecological
functions and services to sustain livelihoods.
 River flow regimes and quality of ten major rivers of Asia
namely Amu Darya , Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy,
Salween, Mekong, Yellow and Yangtze are to a large extent
determined by these wetlands, in turn affecting water
resources in more populous and agriculturally/industrially
valuable areas downstream.
 Furthermore climate change and variability will dramatically
affect these wetlands and the provision of their services as it
will change the water cycle on which these wetlands depend.
This will in many cases magnify the effects of other threats.

10. ImagesImages
ofof
Greater HimalayaGreater Himalaya
The Peak of Greater
Himalayas
The View of
Greater Himalayas

11. (ii) The Lesser Himalayas
• The Lower Himalayan Range (also known as the Lesser
Himalayan Range) lies north of the Sub-Himalayan
Range or Siwalik Range and south of the Great
Himalayas.
• The Lesser Himalayas is a prominent range 2,000 to
3,000 meters (6,600 to 9,800 ft) high formed along the
Main Boundary .

12. Importance of Lesser HimalayaImportance of Lesser Himalaya
• They provide a physical screen withinThey provide a physical screen within
which the monsoon system operates and arewhich the monsoon system operates and are
the source of the great river systems thatthe source of the great river systems that
water the alluvial plains below.water the alluvial plains below.
• As a result of erosion, the rivers comingAs a result of erosion, the rivers coming
from the mountains carry vast quantitiesfrom the mountains carry vast quantities
of silt that enrich the plains.of silt that enrich the plains.

13. Images of Lesser Himalayas
Darjeeling - Tea field in Lesser
Himalaya.
A view of Lesser Himalayas.

14. (iii) The Shivalik ranges
• The Shivalik Hills or Range are the southernmost and geologically
youngest east-west mountain chain of the Himalayas.
• The Shivalik form a belt, which runs continuously from Jammu,
Kangra valley, Sirmur district to Dehradun and finally ending up in the
Bhabbar tracts of Garhwal and Kumaon. The Sivalik extends about
1,689 km from southwest Kashmir through northern India into
southern Nepal. The hills consists of 6000 meters of layered rocks
• The Shivaliks crest at 600 to 1,200 metres and have many sub-ranges.
They extend 1,600 km from the Teesta River in Sikkim, westward
through Nepal and Uttarkhand, continuing into Kashmir and
Northern Pakistan, and are cut through at wide intervals by large
rivers flowing south from the Himalayas.

15. Importance of Shivalik hills
•The physical features and the climatic conditions of
this region have played an important role in shaping
and making it an important part from the rest of the
country.
•The physical features and the climatic conditions of
this region have played an important role in shaping
and making it an important part from the rest of the
country.

16. Images of Shivalik Ranges
Shivalik Hills
Kedarnath (Shivalik)
A view of Shivalik Range

18.  It has been made by the three major river systems:-
 The Indus
 The Ganga
 The Brahmaputra
 It plain is formed by alluvial soil.
 The area covered by this plain is 7 lakh kilometers.
 The plain is about 2400 km long and 240 to 320 km
broad is a densely physiographic division.

19.  THE PUNJAB PLAIN
 THE GANGA PLAIN
 THE BRAHMAPUTRA PLAIN

20.  The Western Part of the northern plain is called the
Punjab Plain.
 It is formed by Indus and its tributaries. The large part
of this plain lies in Pakistan.
 The Indus and its tributaries :-the Ravi, the Chenab ,etc.
 The section of the plain is dominated by Doabs.

21.  It extends between Ghaggar and teesta
river at Sikkim.

22.  It spreads over the states of North India ,
Haryana, Delhi , Bihar, U.P. , Jharkhand
,and West Bengal, particularly in Assam lies
the Brahmaputra

23.  The narrow belt of about 8 to 16 km in width lying
parallel to the slopes of shiwalik are called bhabar.
 The streams and rivers re-emerge and create a wet
,swampy and marshy region known as terai.
 The flood plains of the rivers and present a terrace like
feature is known as bhangar.
 The soil in this region contains calcareous deposits
known as kankar.

24. The Peninsular Plateau

25. The Peninsular Plateau
 The peninsular plateau is a tableland
composed of the old crystalline, igneous
and metamorphic rocks.
 It is formed due to the breaking and
drifting of the gondwana land.
 It has a broad and shallow valleys and
rounded hills

26. This plateau consists of two
broad divisions are:
Central highlands
Deccan plateau

27. Central Highlands
 The part of peninsular plateau lying to
the north of the narmada river covering
a major area of the malwa plateau is
known as the central highlands.
 The extend of central highlands is from
vindhya to aravalli hills.
 The slope of central highlands is from
south-west to north-east

28.  The rivers chambal,sind,betwa and ken
flow are according to the slope of the
plateau.
 The central highlands are wider in the
west and are narrower in the east.
 The chotanagpur plateau is the eastward
extension of central highlands.
 The chotanagpur plateau is drained from
damodar river.

31. Deccan Plateau
 The deccan plateau is a triangular
landmass that lies to the south of the
river narmada.
 The deccan plateau is higher in the west
and slopes gently eastwards.
 It is separated by fault from the
chotanagpur plateau.

32. Three prominent hills
ranges from the west to east are:
 Garo hills
 Khasi hills
 Jaintia hills

35. Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats
The western ghats and the eastern ghats
mark the western and the eastern edges of
the deccan plateau respectively.
Three passes from western ghats are:
1.Thal ghats
2.Bhor ghats
3. Pal ghats

36.  The western ghats are higher than the
eastern ghats.
 Their average elevation is 900 to 1600m
as against 600m of the eastern ghats.
 The eastern ghats stretches mahanadi
valley to the nilgiri hills in the south.
 The eastern ghats are discontinuous and
are cut by the rivers.

37. 1) The western Ghats cause pornographic rain
by facing the rain bearing winds to rise along
the western slopes of the Ghats.
2)The heights of western Ghats increases
gradually.
3)The highest peaks include:
i) Anai mudi (2,695m)
ii) Doda betta(2,637m)
4) Mahendragiri (1,501m) is the highest peak
in eastern Ghats.

38. Western Ghats

39. Eastern Ghats

41. A place that receives less than 10 inches (25
centimeters) of rain per year is considered a desert.
Deserts cover more than one fifth of the Earth's land,
and they are found on every continent.
Deserts are. part of a wider classification of regions
called "dry lands .
These areas exist under a moisture deficit, which
means they can frequently lose more moisture
through evaporation than they receive from annual
precipitation.

44. The largest hot desert in the world, northern Africa's Sahara,
reaches temperatures of up to 122 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees
Celsius) during the day. covering 9 million square kilometers and 12
countries.
Hot deserts usually have a large diurnal and seasonal temperature
range, with high daytime temperatures, and low nighttime
temperatures (due to extremely low humidity).
In hot deserts the temperature in the daytime can reach 45 °C/113
°F or higher in the summer, and dip to 0 °C/32 °F or lower at
nighttime in the winter.
Urban areas in deserts lack large (more than 14 °C/25 °F) daily
temperature variations, partially due to the urban heat island effect.
Many deserts are formed by rain shadows; mountains blocking the
path of precipitation to the desert (on the lee side of the mountain).

46. The common conceptions of deserts as dry and hot, there
are cold deserts as well.
Desert animals have adapted ways to help them keep cool
and use less water.
FOR EXAMPLE, camel can go for days without food and
water. Many desert animals are nocturnal, coming out only
when the brutal sun has descended to hunt. Some animals,
like the desert tortoise in the southwestern United States,
spend much of their time underground. Most desert birds are
nomadic, crisscrossing the skies in search of food. Because
of their very special adaptations, desert animals are
extremely vulnerable to introduced predators and changes to
their habitat.

49. The Costal Plains

51. Coastal plains are a geologic feature found around the
world and on both the eastern and western coasts of India.
Coastal plains are characterized by an area of flat low lying
land that is situated adjacent to a water body often a sea or
ocean. It is also of note that coastal plains are separated from
the interior of the larger land mass by other unique features.
Coastal plains have limited vegetation; however grasses and
trees are not uncommon. The coastal plains of India are
relatively expansive regions which contribute significantly to
the geography of the region.
The Costal Plain

52. The eastern coastal plains are located on a wide stretch of land between
the Eastern Ghats of India and the Bay of Bengal. This stretch of land
stretches to 120 km in width at parts. The eastern coastal plains extend
from Tamil Nadu in the south to West Bengal in the north. The eastern
deltas also occupy the valleys. The region of the eastern coastal plains is
an expansive area and is divided into six regions. The six regions of the
eastern coastal
plains of India are the Mahanadi Delta, the Southern Andhra Pradesh
Plain, the Krishna Godavari deltas, the Kanyakumari Coast, the
Coromandel and the Sandy Coastal regions.
The eastern coastal plains are characterized by a temperature that exceeds
30 degrees Celsius and also experiences high levels of humidity. The
rainfall of the region is also abundant in the region with rainfall amounts
in excess of 1000mm annually with the amount usually approaching
3000mm. It is also of note that this region of the eastern coastal plains is
subject to both northeast and southwest monsoon rains when these
storms are in season.
Eastern Coastal Plains

53. The western coastal plain of India in contrast to the eastern coastal
plain is located on a narrow strip of land. The western coastal plains
are located in the west of India between the Western Ghats and the
Arabian Sea. They extend from Gujarat in the north down 50 km to
the south in Kerala and are characterized by numerous backwaters
and rivers that flow into the region. These rivers that flow into the
region lead to the forming of estuaries that are found in the western
coastal plains of India. The storm activity here is considerably less
than on the eastern coastal plains. The maximum storm activity on
the western coastal plains occurs in the month of March. The
western coastal plains are smaller than their eastern counterpart
and the region is divided into three parts. The western coastal plains
are divided into the regions of Konkan, Kanara, and the Malabar
Coast.

56. The Island

57. Wake Island is a volcanic island that
has become an atoll.

58. • An island is any piece of sub-continental land that is
surrounded by water. Very small islands such as
emergent land features on atolls can be called islets,
cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an
eyot , or holm. A grouping of geographically or
geologically related islands is called an archipelago.
• An island may still be described as such despite the
presence of an artificial land bridge, for example
Singapore and its causeway, or the various Dutch delta
islands, such as Ijssel monde. Some places may even
retain "island" in their names for historical reasons after
being connected to a larger landmass by a wide land
bridge, such as Coney Island. Conversely, when a piece of
land is separated from the mainland by a man-made
canal, for example thePeloponnese by the Corinth Canal,
it is generally not considered an island.

60. Lakshadweep
• Lakshadweep, also known as the Laccadive Islands,
is a group of islands in the Laccadive Sea, 200 to
440 km off the coast of the South West Indian state
of Kerala. The islands form the smallest Union
Territory of India. The total land area is 11 sq mi or
32 km². Ten of the islands are inhabited.
Lakshadweep is the northern part of the
erstwhile Lakshadweep. The islands are the
northernmost among the Lakshadweep-Maldives-
Chagos group of islands, which are actually the tops
of a vast undersea mountain range, in the Indian
Ocean and the Arabian Sea.
• land area is 32 km2; the lagoon area is about
4200 km2, the territorial waters area is
20,000 km2 and the economic zone area is
4,00,000 km2

61. • Sardar Patel is the man behind the integration of
Lakshadweep Islands with the Republic of India. The
inhabitants of these islands were cut off from the
mainstream of the country and learnt about Indian
Independence days after 15 August 1947. It was Patel
who realised that Pakistan could lay claim to these
islands on the grounds of Muslim majority, though the
islands were nowhere near the new state of Pakistan. An
Indian Navy ship was sent to Lakshadweep to hoist the
national flag by Patel to thwart any attempt by
Pakistan to grab the islands. Hours later, vessels
belonging to the Pakistan Navy were spotted near the
islands. These vessels however retreated to Karachi after
seeing the Indian flag flying over the Lakshadweep.

62. • The word island comes from Middle
English iland, from Old English igland
(from ig, similarly meaning 'island' when
used independently, and -land carrying
its contemporary meaning; cf. Dutch
eiland ("island"), German Eiland ("small
island")). However, the spelling of the
word was modified in the 15th century
due to an incorrect association with the
etymologically unrelated Old French
loanword isle, which itself comes from
the Latin word insula. Old English ig is
actually a cognate of Latin aqua

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