Massive Physical Features Of India

Table of Contents

Let’s Know about Physical Features of India

Some Basic information about physical features of India India is given below to remember:-

India is divided into 6 physiographic Zones they are:-

Himalayan Mountains
Northern Plains
Peninsular plateau.
Indian Desert.
Coastal plains.
Islands.

Himalayan Mountains

Formation of Himalayan Mountains

The large landmass is known as Pangea. It is divided into two parts northern part is called Laurasia and the Southern part is called Gondwana. One part of Gondwana land broken and proceed towards Northward drift resulted in the collision of the plate with the much larger Eurasian plate. Due to this collision, the sediment of Thesis sea folded to form the Himalayan Mountains.

Some important facts of Himalaya for competitive point of View.

Himalaya is Young and folded mountain.
The length of Himalaya is 2500 km
The Width of Himalaya is 150 km in the east and 400 km in the west.
Himalayan mountains are divided into 5 categories they are:- Trans Himalaya, Himadri, Himachal, Shiwaliks and Purvanchal.
The northern part of Trans Himalaya is situated in Tibet.
Trans Himalaya is also known as Tibetan Himalaya.
The length of the Trans Himalaya is 1000 Km.
Kailash, Ladakh, Karakoram lies in the Trans Himalya.
Himadri lies in the south of Trans Himalaya.
The highest peak of the world i.e Mt Everest(8848 m) lies in Himadri in Nepal.
The highest peak of India i.e Kanchanjangha (8598 m) also lies in Himadri.
South of Himadri is known as Himachal or middle Himalaya.
Most of the hills stations lie in this Himalaya like Kashmir, Kullu, Kangra.
The average altitude of Shiwalik Himalaya is 900-1100 metres.
It is composed of unconsolidated sediments.
The famous Hill station Dehradun is located in Shiwalik Himalaya.
Eastern Himalaya is also known as Purvanchal Himalaya.
The main hills of this Himalaya are Patkai, Naga, Manipur and Mizo hills.
The Brahmaputra is the easternmost boundary of the eastern Himalaya.

Northern Plain

Formation of Northern plain:-

After the collision of Eurasian and Indian part of Gondwana plate a large basin formed in the foothills of Himalayas. This large basin is gradually filled with deposition of sediments by the Indian rivers like The Ganges, Indus, and the Brahmaputra which following from the Himalaya to the peninsular plateau. Due to this sedimentation a flat land of alluvial deposits led to the formation of the large Northern Plains of India.

Some important facts of Northern Plains for competitive point of View.

It is formed by the deposition of alluvial soil by the rivers Indus in the west the Ganges in the central and Brahmaputra in the east.
It spreads over 7 lack sq.km of the northern part of India.
The length of this plain is 2400 km and breadth lies between 320 to 240 km.
The north-western part of this plain is formed by Indus and its tributaries.
The central part of this plain is formed by the Ganges and its tributaries.
Eastern part of this plain is formed by Brahmaputra river and its tributaries.
The Northern plains of India are divided into 4 categories they are:- Bhabar, Terai, Bhangar and Khadar.
Bhabar part of the northern plain is located on just after the end of Himalaya. It is 8-16 km wide.
The south part of the Bhabar region is known as the Terai part. It is generally marshy region with thick forest and wildlife.
Bhangar is the largest part of the northern plain and it is composed of the oldest alluvial soil. The soil of this region is known as Kankar.
Khadar is the most fertile part of the northern plain. It is renewed almost every year due to floods of the rivers.

Peninsular Plateau

Formation of Peninsular Plateau:-

It is generally composed of old Crystalline metamorphic rocks by the breaking and drifting of Gondwana Land.

Some important facts of Peninsular Plateau for competitive point of View.

It is the oldest landmass.
It is in a triangular shape.
It is bounded by Aravali in the north-west, the Western Ghats in the West and the Eastern Ghats in the east.
It is divided into two parts:- Malwa Plateau and Deccan Plateau.
These two parts are separated by Vindhyachal and Satpura ranges.
Malwa plateau lie on the north of Narmada river.
It slopes
Chota Nagpur Plateau in the eastern part of Malwa. Damodar River originates from Chota Nagpur Plateau.
Deccan plateau lies south of Narmada River.
The main hill ranges of this plateau are Garo, Khasi and Jyantia.
The highest peak of Western Ghat is Anai Mudi (2695 m) is located in Kerela.
Lonavala, Khandala & Panchgani are the famous hills station of the western part of Deccan plateau.
The highest peak of the eastern part of Deccan plateau is Mahendragiri(1501 m).

Indian Desert or Thar Desert

Formation of Indian desert or Thar Desert

The low rainfall and heavy soil erosion in the western part of Rajasthan resulted in the formation of the Thar desert in India.

Some important facts of Indian Desert for competitive point of View.

Thar desert is approx 5% of the total geographic area of India.
Approx 85% of this desert is located in India rest 15% in Pakistan.
Approx 60% of this desert is located in Rajasthan.
Thar desert extends to the are of 500 kilometres.
Yearly rainfall of this area is below 150 mm.
It is the 17th largest desert.
Tal Chapar sanctuary located in this desert in Churu district is an important bird area.
Luni River is the only river of this desert.
Famous saltwater lake named Sambhar lake is located here.
The longest canal of India Indira Gandhi canal which length is 649 km is located here.

Coastal Plains

Some important facts of Coastal Plains for competitive point of View.

Coastal plains of India is divided into two parts Western and eastern coastal plains.
Western Coastal plain is located between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea.
The wide of the Western Coastal plain is 10-15 km.
It forms the natural condition for harbours and ports as it is submerged plains.
The estuary of the western plains is very useful for Pisciculture.
Western coastal plains are divided into 4 part they are:- Kachh and Kathiwar Coast in Gujrat, Konkan coast in Maharashtra, Kannad Coast in Karnataka, and Malabar coast in Kerela.
Eastern Coastal Plains of India is located between Eastern Ghats and Bay of Bengal.
The famous saltwater lake of India Chilka Lake is located in Eastern Coastal plains in Odisha.
Eastern coastal plains is divided into three parts they are:- Utkal Coast, Northern Circar, and Coromandal Coast.

Islands of India

Some important facts of Indian Islands for competitive point of View.

India has two groups of Islands Andaman & Nicobar Island in Bay of Bengal, and Lakshadweep island in the Arabian Sea.
Andaman & Nicobar island is separated by 10-degree channel.
Barren Island is the only active volcano of India is located in the Nicobar island.
There are 572 islands are there in Andaman & Nicobar.
Lakshadweep Island is built by the coral deposits.
It is consists of 36 Islands.
Minicoy Island is the largest island of Lakshadweep group located in the south.

Some important facts of the physical features of India for a competitive point of view.

Father of Indian Geography is known as- James Renell (1742-1830).
India is the 7th largest country in the world.
It has 3.28 million sq km area which is 2.4% of the whole world.
The Length of India from North to South i.e from Kashmir to Kanya kumari is 3200 km.
The length of India from west to east i.e from Kachh to Arunachal Pardesh is 2900 Kms.
There are 7 neighbouring countries and 2 neighbouring Islands of India.
Indian Standard Meridian which time is taken as Indian Standard time is ${82}^o$ 30′ E.
Indian standard meridian crosses 5 states of India they are UP, MP, Chattisgarh, Odhisa and Andhra Pradesh from North to South.
Tropic of Cancer which is lie in ${23}^o$ 30′ N passes through almost the centre of India.
From east to west Tropic of Cancer passes through8 states of India they are Gujrat, Rajasthan, M.P, Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram.
The Srinagar City of J&K which lie north of the Tropic of Cancer never get vertical Sunlight.
Aravali is the oldest folded mountain of India.
Guru Sikhar(1722m) is the highest peak of the Aravali mountains.

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