Unit 6: South Asia Notes

Mountains & Plateaus

o [Himalayas]
o Pangaea – theory that the earth was once a giant landmass
▪ When the continents broke apart, Africa rammed into Asia causing the land to crumple up forming
the Himalayas
o Over 1000 miles long
o [Contains mount everest]
▪ [World’s highest mountain]
▪ [29,028 feet]
▪ Lies on border between Nepal & China
o [Karakoram Mountains]
o Hindu Kush Mountains
o [Vindhya Mountains]
o Separate north and south India
o Different cultures in these two regions due to the separation
o [Eastern and Western Ghats]
o [Deccan Plateau]
o Form a triangle at Southern India
o Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats are mountains along each coast
o The Deccan Plateau is in between the mountains

Rivers
● 1)[Indus] 2)[Brahmaputra] 3) [Ganges]
● The major rivers start in the [Himalayas] Mountains
● Rivers carry fertile soil washed down from the mountains
● When rivers overflow, deposit alluvial soil (fertile soil from the silt) onto the flood plain
● Indo-Gangetic Plain - [Alluvial plain that has been created by the flooding of the ganges and indus rivers]
o Largest alluvial plain in the world
o Alluvial plain - flat landform created by the deposition of sediment over a long period of time by one or
more rivers.
Deserts
● [Thar desert]
o lies in India & Pakistan -Dry monsoon winds keeps desert arid and hot

Monsoons
o Monsoons are seasonal winds that greatly affect the climate
o Between October-May- winter winds blow from the north and northeast and are dry
o Between June-September - summer winds blow from the south and southwest over the Indian Ocean and bring
warm, moist air
o Heavy rains during this time - People depend on the heavy rains for farming
o Sometimes the heavy rains can cause disastrous floods

Cyclones
o [Storm marked by high winds and heavy rain]
o Affects [Bangledash]
o storm surges – waters wash ashore like a very high tide
o cause major disasters by flooding farmland and also causing rivers to flood
o In 1991, a cyclone killed 131,000 people

Agriculture
o 56% of India is arable (fertile) - 2/3 of people in South Asia are farmers
o Farming contributes 25% of India’s GDP
o Most are subsistence farmers [Manage to produce just what they need to survive]
o Some farmers are getting better technology (tractors)
o Often have small plots of land because of traditional inheritance practices
o Most farms are less than 2.5 acres
o [Land is divided equally among sons]

1
 o As generations pass, plots become smaller
o Variety of crops
o Major food crop is rice -India is the world’s 2nd largest producer of rice
o Other crops
▪ [You answer here], [You answer here], [You answer here], and [You answer here]
▪ Jute - fiber used to make string and cloth
▪ [You answer here]- leading producer
▪ Tea – grown on plantations in Sri Lanka

o Improved Agricultural Practices

o Since population is growing rapidly, food production must increase too
▪ [You answer here]
▪ Programs to teach about irrigation, insect control, and fertilization
▪ [You answer here]
▪ Agricultural research
o Green Revolution
o [You answer here]
o Plant breeders were worried about world hunger
o Wanted to find ways to grow better crops (produced more, grew faster)
o Used [You answer here] on crops

Environment
o Deforestation
o The loss or destruction of forests due mainly to trees being cleared for logging or farming
▪ Half of India’s forests have been cut down since independence
▪ Soil erosion & overgrazing
o India
▪ [You answer here]
o Nepal
▪ [You answer here]
▪ Hikers also leave behind large amounts of trash
▪ 2010 – group of Sherpas led mission to clean up trash, oxygen tanks, and dead bodies left
behind by trekkers
o Effects of deforestation
o Mangroves- trees along the coast of the Bay of Bengal
▪ [You answer here]
▪ Mangroves are being cut down leaving Bangladesh vulnerable to floods
o Himalayas
▪ [You answer here]
▪ When forests are cut down, it causes flooding and landslides