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India the seventh
largest country in the world , is well marked with off from
the rest of Asia by mountains and the sea, which gives the country
a distinct geographical entity.It covers an area of 32,87,2631
sq.km. Bounded by the great Himalayas to the north , it stretches
southwards and at the tropic of cancer,tapers off in the Indian
ocean between the bay of bengal on the east and the Arabian sea
to the west.
Lying entirely in
the northern hemisphere the mainland extends measures 3214 km from
north south between extreme latitudes and about 2933 km from east
to west between extreme longitudes.It has a land frontier of about
15200 km.The total length of the coastline of the mainland, Lakshwadeep
group of islands and Andaman and Nicobar group of islands is 7,516.5
km.
The Himalayas and
the other mountain ranges -Mustagh Ata , Aghil Kunlun mountains
to the north of Kashmir and to south eastern portion of Zaskar mountains
to the east of Himachal Pradesh- form indian northern boundry except
in Nepal region. She is adjoined to the north by China Nepal and
Bhutan.A series of mountain ranges separate India from Burma. Also
, in the east lies the Bangladesh.In the north west Afganisthan
and Pakistan border India.The Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Straits
separate India from Sri lanka. The Andaman and Nicobar island in
the Bay of Bengal and Lakshwadeep in the Arabian sea are parts of
the territory of India.
The Indian sub-continent
is characterised by great diversity in its physical features
.It may be divided into three broadly defined physical units:
The
Himalayas and the associated mountain ranges
The
Indus Ganga-Bramha-putra plain
The
Peninsular Plateau.
Himalayan Mountain
complex:The Himalayas and the associated mountains arcs gridling
the sub continent on the stretch in a consistent north west- south
east direction for about 2400 km between the gorges of the indus
and the Tsango-Bhramaputra.The section between the Indus and the
Sutlej and the Kali is termed as Kumaon Himalayas. The other two
sections between the Kali and the Tista and between the latter river
and the Dihangare described as the Nepal and the Assam Himalayas.The
Greater Himalayas which have an average altitude of 6000 m have
within them almost all the prominent peaks such the Everest (8848m)
, Kanchenjunga (8598m) Nanga Parbat (8126m) ,Nanda devi (7817m)
and Namcha parbat (7756m).
The Indus-Ganga-Brahmaputra
Plain:The great plain of india is formed by the Indus, ganga
and the Brahmaputra rivers. the plain extends for 3200 km between
the mouths of the Ganga and the indus, all along the foot of the
mountain rim, with a width varying from 150 to 300 km. The longitudinal
extent from the banks of the Ravi and the Sutlej to the ganga delta
alone is of 2400km. The plain is narrowest in Assam and broadens
towards the west . It is 160 km wide near the Rajmahal Hills and
280 km near Allahabad. The plains are alluvial in nature.
Peninsular
plateau: Rising from the alluvial plains of uttar pradesh
and Bihar, south of the Yamuna Ganga line, the great indian plateau
extends towards the south to encompass the whole of Peninsula.
With a general elevation of 600-900m,the plateau makes an irregular
tringale with its concave base lying between Delhi ridge and Rajmahal
hills and the Apex formed by Kanya Kumari . The outlying projections
of the peninsular plateau presented by the Aravallis,Rajmahal
and Shillong hills convey some idea of its original northerly
limits.
The location of
another fragment of the peninsular block in the Shillong plateau
gives the indication of the possible connection. The Shillong
Plateau a highly dissected and jungly tract, descends in a deep
slope towards the Surma valley.The northern outliers are represented
by the Mikir and the Rengma hills.
Western ghats:The
topography of the Deccan and the Karnataka Plateau is dominated
by the Western Ghats, which stretch uninterruptedly to the southern
tip of Peninsula.They have a general altitude of 900-1100 m but
occassionally rise upto 1600 m or even more.Near Goa the highly
dissected relief of the lava rocks is replaced by smoothly rounded
hills of Granite and Gnesis.In this stretch the ghats dip but
rise once again in the Nilgiris.Further south the continuity of
the ghats is distributed by the palghat gap and the Shencottah
gap.The Cardamom Hills may be regarded as the continuation of
the Western ghats.
The east of Nagpur
,the Deccan lava rergion is flanked by the plateau surfaced containing
the Wainganga valley and the upper Mahandi basin in Chhatiagrah,
a region interposed between the Mikir andthe Orissa hills.
Eastern Ghats:The
eastern Ghats are generally less impressive than theWestern Ghats
and form a discontinous crest on the eastern peripheryof the plateau.They
are repesented by an irregular line of hills, such as the Nallamalais,
Velikondas,Palkondas and the Pachaimalais. This hills are often
referred to as the northern hills in the northern sector,Cuddapah
ranges in the middle and the Tamil nadu hills in the south.
The
Coastal Plains and the Islands:The plateau is flanked by coastal
plains of varid width extending from Kutch to Orissa. There are
striking difference between the eastern and the western coastal
plains; with notable exception of Gujarat the west coast has narrow
alluvial margin interspersed by hillty terrain .It has indentation
except in the south where the beautiful Lagoons introduce an element
of diversity.
The eastern coast
on the other hand has a wide plain with well developed deltas
of the major rivers. The climatic transition between the south
west monsoon regime of the north and the north -east monsoon regime
of the south has given rise to interesting differences in the
alluvial features in the two different stretches of the east coastal
plain.
The Indian
islands in the Bay of Bengal consist of the Andamans
and the Nicobar group,some of which are of volcanic origin.There
are as many as 200 islands in Andaman alone, extending for 350km.There
are 19 island in Nicobar group.
The Arabian
sea consist of the Lakshadweep group. They are formed
on a coral deposit off the Kerala coast .The southern most of
this lies just to the north of the Maldive island which is an
independent territory.
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