Geography Notes: Physical Features of India

Physical Division of India at a Glance

Special Key Notes Related to Physiographic Division: 

• Diphu Pass Connects – Arunachal Pradesh with Myanmar. 
• India’s largest inland salt lake, Sambhar lake is situated in – Rajasthan. 
• Adam’s bridge lies between – Gulf of Mannar and Palk Strait. 
• The northern part of the west coast is known as – Konkan Coast. 
• Doon and Dwar valleys are located in the Shivalik ranges. 
• Lahul and Sprit are located in – The Himachal Himalayas. 
• Middle Himalayas is located in – 80 km away of south of greater Himalayas. 
• Simla hills is situated in – Dhaula Dhar Range.
• The famous valley of Kashmir is laid between – Pir Panjal and Westerly range of the Himadri. 
• The Indian Peninsula is surrounded by water on – Southwest, south and southeast. 
• Chotanagpur Plateau is made up of – old igneous and metamorphic rocks. 

Physical features of India: 

Introduction: 

• India is a country vast geographical extent with total area of 3.28 million sq.km. and its stands as 7th largest country in the world. India accounts for about 2.4 per cent of the total land area of the world. 
• Longitudinal extent of India stretches from 68°7´E to 97°25´E and latitudinal extent from 8°4´N to 37°6´N. 
• Its north south extent from northern most point, Indira Col which lies in Kashmir to Kanyakumari is 3214 km while its east – west width from Rann of Kutch to Arunachal Pradesh is 2933 km. 
• Indira point is the southernmost point of the country, lies in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and is located at 6°45´N latitude. 
• India is endowed with most diverse physical features ranging from mightiest Himalayas to low lying Coastal points. 

The Northern Mountain Wall or the Great Himalayas:

• Himalayas stretch for a distance of 2400 km from the Indian gorge in the east. The width range between 200 km in Arunachal Pradesh to 500 km in Kashmir. 
• Geographically Himalayas are divided into Trans Himalayas, The Great Himalayas or Himadri, The Himachal or the Lesser Himalayas, The Shiwaliks and the Purvanchal Hills. 
• Trans Himalayas: Trans Himalayas which are north to the great Himalayas range are called the Tibetan Himalayas because most of range lies in Tibet. The Zaska, The Ladakh, The Karakoram, The Kailash are the main ranges of the Trans Himalayan system. 

The Great Himalayas or The Himadri:

• This range lying to the south of Trans Himalayas is the northern most of all the Himalayas most of all the Himalayas ranges and most continuous mountain in the world. 

Himachal or Lesser Himalayas:

• Himachal or Lesser Himalayas are running almost parallel to the great Himalayas in the north and Shiwaliks in the south. 

Shiwaliks:

• The Shiwaliks comprises the outermost range of the Himalayas. Overlooking the Great Plains, this chain of hills runs almost parallel to the lesser Himalayas for a distance of about 2400 km, from the Porwar Plateau to the Brahmaputra valley. 

Purvanchal or Eastern Hills:

• The Purvanchal or Eastern Hills are called so because the are located in the eastern part of India and run in the shape of a crescent with its convex side pointing towards the west. These hills extend from Arunachal Pradesh in the north to Mizoram in the south. 

The great Northern Plains:

• The great plains of north India are formed due to depositional work of the three major river systems namely the Indus, The Ganga and the Brahmaputra. 

The Peninsula Plateau: 

• The Plateau of India is roughly triangular in shape with base coinciding with the southern edge of the great plain of north India and its apex formed by Kanyakumari in the southern extremity. The boundaries of plateau are surrounded by hill ranges on all the three sides The Arrival’s, The Vindhya, The Bharmer and the Rajmahal hills mark the northern boundary where as the western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats mark the western and eastern boundaries respectively. 

The Coastal Plains:

• The narrow coastal strip between the edges of the peninsular Plateau and the coastline of India running for a distance of about 6000 km from Rann of Kutch in the west to The Ganga – Brahmaputra delta in the east is called coastal plains. 

The Islands:

• The Indian Territory includes a large number of islands among which the Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep islands are the major islands groups. 
• Andaman & Nicobar are located in the Bay of Bengal. These islands are composed of 265 big and small islands covering a cumulative area of about 8249 km. 
• Lakshadweep islands located in the Arabian Sea are basically coral islands. They are a group of 25 islands, scattered about 500 km south west of Kerala coast. 

The Great Indian Desert:

• The Thar Desert also known as the Great Indian Desert is a large arid region in the north western part of Indian sub continent.