NATURAL TOPOGRAPHY OF PAKISTAN

NOTES PREPARED BY Madiha Imran

CLASS VIII
Q1. Define topography and also mention the topographical features of Pakistan.
TOPOGRAPHY
Topography is the study and description of the surface features of the land, which includes both natural and
artificial features.
Pakistan can be divided into six major natural topographical areas:
1. The Northern Mountains and North-western Mountains
2. The Western Mountains
3. The Balochistan Plateau
4. The Potwar Plateau and Salt range
5. The Indus Plain
6. Desert Area

Q2. Explain the difference between Northern mountains and the Western mountains.
IMPORTANCE OF MOUNTAINS
NORTHERN MOUNTAINS
1. Northern mountains connect Pakistan
and China via the Khunjerab Pass and
the Karakoram Highway.
2. They act as a natural barrier protecting
Pakistan from foreign invaders and the
cold Siberian winds.
3. These mountains are rich in minerals
promoting mining.
WESTERN MOUNTAINS
Western mountains connect Pakistan and
Afghanistan via the Khyber Pass, Gomal
Pass and Kurram Pass.
They protect the eastern part of Pakistan
from cool winds and tropical cyclones
coming from Iran.
These are mineral riched mountain ranges.

RELIEF FEATURES
NORTHERN MOUNTAINS WESTERN MOUNTAINS
1. Steep sided slopes with snow-covered Only Safed Koh ranges have snow-
peaks with a conical shape. capped peaks
2. Parallel ranges mainly in the west-east Except for Safed Koh that are located in
direction. an east-west direction, other mountains
run in North to South direction.
3.
Narrow deep valley Deep narrow valleys and gorges.
4.
These mountains ranges have bare rocks Mountains present as bare rocks, devoid
but also are a source of forests. of vegetation due to lack of rainfall.
DRAINAGE FEATURES
NORTHERN MOUNTAINS
1. They contain River Indus and its tributaries. Some tributaries have formed deep narrow valley gorges.
2. Huge glaciers
3. Snow fields in areas which are 4000 m above.
4. Waterfalls
5. Streams and springs.

WESTERN MOUNTAINS
1. Safed Koh Range: contains Kabul River which drains in the River Indus.
2. Waziristan Hills: contains River Kurram, Tochi and Gomal which drains in the River Indus.
3. Sulaiman Rage: drained by hill torrents and seasonal rivers because of rainfall like Bolan and Mulla.
4. Kirthar Range: contained River Hub which drains in the Arabian Sea.

Q3. Write a short note on the following topographical features of the land.
THE NORTHERN AND NORTH-WESTERN MOUNTAINS
This region comprises of three mountain ranges
1. The Karakoram range
2. The Himalayas
3. The Hindukush

1. KARAKORAM RANGE
● Location: The Karakoram Range is located north of the Indus river, extends from Tibet in the
east to the Hindu Kush in the west, and further north beyond Pakistan’s border.
● Height: The average altitude of the mountains is about 6000 m.
● Physical features:
They have deep narrow valleys, sharp and snow-capped peaks forming the rugged landscape.
K-2 is the second highest peak in the world (8610 m), is located here.
● Importance:
It consists of Karakoram Pass, Khunjerab Pass but they are open only in summers.
Agriculture is practised only in those areas where water is plentiful producing apples, barley and
millets.
Because of their challenging geography and scenic beauty, they have attracted mountaineers and
scientist from all over the world.

2. THE HIMALAYS
● Location: the Himalayas are located to the south of the Karakoram range.
● Height: The average altitude of the mountains is about 4000 m.
● Physical features:
The mountain ranges are divided into the following parts:
1. The sub-Himalayas or the Siwalik hills (600-1200 m)- located near Attock.
2. The Lesser Himalayas or the Pir Punjal Mountain range (1800-4500 m)- contains some
popular hill stations e.g. Murree, Nathia Gali and Ghora Gali.
3. Central Himalayas. - located mostly in Kashmir
High, steep-sided peaks, snow-capped mountains and rich natural vegetation.
It consists of Nanga Parbat (8126 m), the sixth highest peak in the world.
● Importance:
Contain hill stations for tourist attractions
3.THE HINDUKUSH
● Location: lies where the borders of Afghanistan and China meet on Pakistan’s north and north-
west border.
 ● Height: average altitude of about 5000 m
● Physical features:
Tirch Mir (7690m) is the highest peak of this region.
Snow- capped mountains.
Bare vegetation, but rich forests are found in the extreme south-east and in the hills of Swat.
● Importance;
It contains passes for trading.
In the past, many invaders used these passes to invade the area.
It contains beauty scenery thus attracts tourisms.
THE WESTERN MOUNTAINS

Q4. Describe the relief and drainage features of the following:

1. POTWAR PLATEAU
Relief Features:
i. Height of 300-600 m
ii. Steep slopes
 iii. Barren rocks
iv. Dry valleys
v. Badly dissected land.
Drainage Features
i. It contains River Soan.
ii. It contains smaller rivers flow only during the rainy season.
iii. Has alluvial plains formed by the deposition of a large amount of silt by the river.

2. SALT RANGE
Relief and Drainage Features:
i. Height of 750-900 m.
ii. Steep slopes.
iii. Contain saline lakes as Kallar Kahar and Khabeki.
iv. Contain small river like Khewra that flow only in the rainy season.
v. Parallel ranges that are badly dissected.

Q5. How Potwar plateau is different from the Balochistan Plateau?

Potwar Plateau Balochistan Plateau
1. It is located between River Indus and It is located in Balochistan near Quetta.
River Jhelum near Islamabad.
2. It ranges from 300-600 m. It ranges from 300-3010 m.
3. It is rich in non-metallic minerals like It is rich in metallic minerals like copper
limestone. and gold.
4. It has no coastal area. It has a coastal area.
5. It has more population as it has better It has a low population.
water resources.

Q6. Write the difference between upper Indus and lower Indus plain.
Ans:
UPPER INDUS PLAIN LOWER INDUS PLAIN
1. It is in the north. It is in the south.
2. It has doabs (land between two rivers). It has no doabs.
3. It has Indus river and its tributaries It has River Indus flowing there.
flowing there.
4. River Jhelum, Sutlej, Ravi and Chenab Here River Indus flows directly into the
meet at Panjnad at Upper Indus. Arabian Sea.
5. Ideal for agriculture with a network of Ideal for agriculture with irrigation.
link canal irrigation.

Q7. Explain how topography and drainage affects the lives of the people in the following area
a. Northern Mountains
1. Farming is difficult because of thin and infertile soil and frozen water, especially in winters.
2. Lack of development because of inaccessibility.
3. Transhumant herding is common throughout the year.
4. Restricted movement due to the blockage of roads due to landslides and avalanches.
5. Tourism potential is high due to the beautiful landscape.
b. Western Mountains
1. Use of machinery and irrigation is difficult due to the rugged mountainous landscape.
2. Lack of farming due to the scarcity of water.
3. Lack of metaled roads and railways thus poor communication links.
4. Most of the people in this region led a nomadic life, raising camels, sheep and goats.
5. Rich in minerals but due to rugged landscape they have not been explored.

c. Balochistan
1. Hilly, mountainous, rocky and barren area with thin and infertile soil thus do not support vegetation.
2. Lack of infrastructure facilities thus low population.
3. Karez irrigation is limited.
4. Port facilities are limited.
6. Most of the people in this region led a nomadic life, raising camels, sheep and goats.

However,
Balochistan is fortunate to have a considerable amount of mineral wealth of natural gas, coal, chromate,
lead, marble and Sulphur.
The reserves of natural gas at Sui are among the largest.
The gas is piped to Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Multan, Faisalabad, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Quetta
for industrial use.
Fishing is major occupation at Makran coast.

Q8. Why is Potwar Plateau an important area?

1. Rich in non-metallic minerals like limestone for cement industry, marble and rock salt.
2. Oil and gas fields are here. Attock oil refinery set up to refine oil from the Potwar Plateau.
3. Barani farming practised. Wheat, gram and maize are among the popular crops.
4. Easily accessible by land, rail and air transport.

Q9. Explain how the relief and drainage of the Indus plain have made it possible to carry out a variety of
economic activities in the region.

1. Flatland makes use of machinery and construction easy.

2. Fertile alluvium good for crop growth as rivers is there.
3. Well-drained soil for good agriculture.
4. Irrigation by perennial canals taken from dams and barrages.
5. Infrastructure facilities are easier to provide.

Q10. How topography and drainage affect the life of people in a desert.
1. Farming is difficult because there is no source of permanent water supply. Rainfall is scanty. Though some
areas have been converted to farmland by canal irrigation.
2. The nomadic lifestyle is observed due to lack of water.
3. No development has been observed due to unfavourable topography and climatic conditions.
Q11. Explain the importance of rivers for Pakistan.
1. Add to the scenic beauty of the area. Good picnic resorts, thus promoting tourism and helps in the
economic development of the country.

2. Rivers increase the fertility of the land by carrying alluvium and organic matter so the production of
agriculture product will be increased.

3. ´Provide water for the industrial purpose such as for diluting, fabricating etc and domestic purpose such as
bathing, washing etc so rivers fulfil the requirement of basic needs.

4. ´Rivers help to generate hydro-electricity which resolve the energy crises of Pakistan.

5. ´Provide water to even those areas where rainfall is extremely low, so large area has been reclaimed for
farming e.g southern and southeastern part.