The Tarai forms the northern extension of the Gangetic Plain and varies in width

from less than 16 to more than 20 miles, narrowing considerably in several places.
A 10-mile-wide belt of rich agricultural land stretches along the southern part of
the Tarai; the northern section, adjoining the foothills, is a marshy region in
which wild animals abound and malaria is endemic.

The Churia Range, which is sparsely populated, rises in almost perpendicular

escarpments to an altitude of more than 4,000 feet. Between the Churia Range to the
south and the Mahābhārat Range to the north, there are broad basins from 2,000 to
3,000 feet high, about 10 miles wide, and 20 to 40 miles long; these basins are
often referred to as the Inner Tarai. In many places they have been cleared of the
forests and savanna grass to provide timber and areas for cultivation.