Physical Geography of INDIA

    India is the seventh largest country in the world and second largest country in Asia. It is separated by the Himalayas from the rest of the continent. 

    India accounts for about 2.4 % of the total area of the world with an area of 32,87,263 sq.km. many of the India states are larger than several countries of the world. 

India’s Land and Water Frontiers: 

    India shares its 15,200 km long land frontier with Pakistan and Afghanistan in the north-west, China, Nepal and Bhutan in the north and Bangladesh and Myanmar in the east.

 

    India’s longest border is with Bangladesh (4156 km)while the shortest border is with Afghanistan.(106 km) About 6,100 km long coastline of India is washed on three sides of the country by the Indian Ocean and its two arms namely the Arabian sea in the west and the Bay of Bengal in the east. 

    The total length of the coast line of India including the islands is 7,516.6 km. India and Sri Lanka are separated by a narrow and shallow sea called Palk Strait

India and the World: 

    The Indian land mass has a central location between, the East and the West Asia and the southward extension of the Asian continent. The trans Indian ocean routes which connect the countries of Europe in the west and the countries of East Asia provide a strategic central location to India. Thus it helps India to establish close trade contact with West Asia, Africa and Europe from the western coast and with South East, east Asia from the eastern coast.

India: A Subcontinent: 

    India along with the countries of Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka is called a subcontinent. This region possesses a distinct continental characteristics in physiography, climate, natural vegetation, minerals, human resources etc. Hence India is known as ‘subcontinent’.

           

LOCATION AND EXTENT

    India extends from 8°4'N to 37°6'N latitudes and 68°7'E to 97°25'E longitudes. Hence India is located in the North and Eastern hemisphere.  

    The southern most point of the country is Pygmalion Point or Indira Point (6°45'N latitude) located in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The southern most point of main land of India is Cape Comorin (Kanyakumari). The northern point is Indira Col.

 

    The north-south extent of India is 3,214 km and it extends from Indira Col in Jammu and Kashmir in the north to Kanyakumari in the south. 

    

The east-west extension is 2933 km and it stretches from Rann of Kutch (Gujarat) in the west to Arunachal Pradesh in the east. The Tropic of Cancer (23°30’ N) passes through the middle of the country dividing it into two halves as northern temperate and southern tropical lands.

Indian Standard Time (IST) 

    The longitudinal difference between Gujarat in the west and Arunachal Pradesh in the east is about 30°. 

    Since Arunachal Pradesh is towards east, it will have sunrise about two hours earlier than the sunrise at Gujarat which is in the west. In order to avoid these differences, Indian standard time is calculated. The local time of the central meridian of India is the standard time of India. India’s central meridian is 82°30’ E longitude. It passes through Mirzapur and roughly bisects the country in terms of longitude. The IST is 5.30 hrs ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). 

     India has been politically divided into 28 states and 8 union territories for administrative convenience.

Major Physiographic Divisions of India 

    The majestic Himalayan peaks in the north, the beautiful beaches in the south, the great Indian desert in the west and the breathtaking natural heritage in the east make India a geographically vibrant, colourful and truly incredible country. 

    There is a varied nature of physiographic divisions in India. Though the country has many landforms based on the major differences, it is divided into the following five physiographic divisions: 

1. The Northern Mountains 

2. The Northern Plains 

3. The Peninsular plateau 

4. The Coastal Plains 

5. The Islands

In this topic will discuss about, Northern Mountains alone. 

The Northern Mountains 

    The Northern Mountains consist of the youngest and the loftiest mountain chains in the world. It was formed only few millions years ago and formed by the folding of the earth crust due to tectonic activity. It stretches for a distance of 2,500 km from the Indus gorge in the west to Brahmaputra gorge in the east. The width of the Northern Mountains varies from 500 km in Kashmir to 200 km in Arunachal Pradesh. The Pamir Knot, popularly known as the “Roof of the World” is the connecting link between the Himalayas and the high ranges of Central Asia. From the Pamir, Himalayas extend eastward in the form of an arc shape. The term “Himalaya” is derived from Sanskrit. It means “The Abode of Snow”. 

The Northern Mountains that function as a great wall is grouped into three divisions. 

1) The Trans-Himalayas 

2) Himalayas 

3) Eastern Himalayas or Purvanchal hills.

1. The Trans-Himalayas

    It lies to the north of the great Himalayan range. It lies in Jammu and Kashmir and Tibetian plateau. As its areal extent is more in Tibet, it is also known as Tibetean Himalayas. The Trans-Himalayas are about 40 km wide in its eastern and western extremities and about 225 km wide in its central part. They contain the Tethys sediments. The rocks of this region contain fossils bearing marine sediments which are underlain by ‘Tertiary granite’. It has partly metamorphosed sediments and constitutes the core of the Himalayan axis. The prominent ranges of Trans Himalayas are Zaskar, Ladakh, Kailash, and Karakoram.

2. The Himalayas

    It constitutes the core part of northern mountains. It is an young fold mountain. It was formed by the movement of Eurasia land mass in the north and Gondwana land mass in the south. The Tethys sea found between these two land masses was uplifted by the compression and the resultant landform was the Himalayas.It consists of many ranges. The main divisions of the Himalayas are the 

(i) The Greater Himalayas/The Himadri 

(ii) The Lesser Himalayas /The Himachal 

(iii) The Outer Himalayas/The Siwaliks 

(i) The Greater Himalayas or the Himadri 

    The Greater Himalayas rise abruptly like a wall north of the Lesser Himalayas. The Greater Himalayas are about 25 km wide. Its average height is about 6,000 m. The Greater Himalayas receive lesser rainfall as compared to the Lesser Himalayas and the Siwaliks. Physical weathering is less effective over the Greater Himalayas as compared to the other ranges. Almost all the lofty peaks of Himalayas are located in this range. The notable ones are Mt. Everest (8,848 m) and Kanchenjunga (8,598 m). Mt.Everest is located in Nepal and Kanchenjunga is located between Nepal and Sikkim. This range is the most continuous of all ranges. It is region of permanent snow cover. So, it has many glaciers. Gangothri, Yamunothri and Siachen are some of them.

(ii) The Lesser Himalayas or The Himachal 

    It is the middle range of Himalayas. Height of this range varies from 3, 700 to 4,500 m. Its width varies upto 80 km. The major rocks of this range are slate, limestone and quartzite. This region is subjected to extensive erosion due to heavy rainfall, deforestation and urbanization. Pir Panjal, Dhauladhar and Mahabharat are the mountain ranges found in this part. Major hill stations of the Himalayas are located in this range. Shimla, Mussourie, Nainital, Almora, Ranikhet and Darjeeling are the familiar ones.

(iii) The Outer Himalayas/The Siwaliks 

    The Siwaliks extend from Jammu and Kashmir to Assam. It is partly made by the debris brought by the Himalayan rivers. The altitude varying between 900-1100 metres average elevation of this range is 1000 m. The width of Siwaliks varies from 10 km in the east to 50 km in the west. It is the most discontinuous range. The longitudinal valleys found between the Siwaliks and the Lesser Himalayas are called Duns in the west and Duars in the east. These are the ideal sites for the development of settlements in this region. 

3. Purvanchal Hills 

    These are the eastern off-shoot of Himalayas. It extended in the north-eastern states of India. Most of these hills are located along the border of India and Myanmar while others are inside India. Dafla Hills, Abor Hills, Mishmi Hills, Patkai Bum Hills, Naga Hills, Manipur Hills, Mizo Hills, Tripura Hills, Mikir Hills, Garo Hills, Khasi Hills and Jaintia Hills are the hills which are collectively known as purvanchal Hills.

NOTES:

• Amaravati is the new capital of Andhra Pradesh. According to Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, Hyderabad will be the capital for both the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana till 2024 (For 10 years from the act passed).
• Aravalli range is one of the oldest fold mountain range in the World. 
• Himalaya is the home of several high peaks.  However, it holds the record of having the maximum number of highest peaks among any mountain range in world.  Out of 14 highest peaks in this world, Himalayas holds 9.

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