THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY―II

Physiographic Divisions of India

 India is normally divided into four physiographical divisions:
1. Great Northern Mountains
2. Great Northern Plains
3. Great Indian Plateau
4. Coastal Plains and Islands

Great Northern Mountains

This division is further divided into three divisions:
The Himalayas proper: Himalayas are made up of three parallel range of Mountains. These ranges are:
(a) Himadri
(b) Himachal
(c) Siwalik
• Himalaya is the highest mountain range in the word.
• It is approximately 2500 km long from west to east.
• Breadth of Himalayas range is between 150 km and 400 km.
• This range forms the northern boundary of India.
The Trans-Himalayas:
• These are the mountain ranges located in the north of Himadri mountain range in Jammu and Kashmir.
• Zaskar range runs parallel to the Himadri range.
• Ladhak is situated in the north of Zaskar range.
Purvachal or the hills of the North-East:
• Purvachal hills are located in the North East India.
• The average height of these hills is between 500 and 3000 meters.

Great Northern Plains

 This region covers an area of more than seven lakh square kilometres.
 This region is located between Himalayas in the North and the Great Indian Plateau in the South.
 This region is located between Rajasthan in the West and the Brahmaputra valley in the East.
 This is the most fertile region of India and as such home to a significant part of Indian population.
 The great Northern Plain are further divided into four parts:
(i) Western plains
(ii) North Central plains
(iii) Eastern plains, and
(iv) Brahmaputra plains.

Great Indian Plateau

 This region of India is located to the South of the Great Northern Plains.
 This region is the largest physiographic division of India covering an area in excess of 16 lakh square
kilometres. For putting things into prospective; this region covers almost half of the total area of India.
 This region is made of plateaus, hill ranges and river valley. These plateaus normally slope towards east.
 These plateaus are surrounded by plains on all sides.
 The boundaries of this regions are as follow
o North Western Boundary: Aravalli Hills.
o Northern Boundary: Bundelkhand Plateau, Kaimur and Rajmahal Hills.
o Western Boundary: Western Ghats
o Eastern Boundary: Eastern Ghats
 These plateaus have an average height in excess of 400 meters. Anaimudi peak at 2,965 meters is the highest
point of the region.
 The topography consists of a series of plateaus and hill ranges interspersed with river valleys. Aravalli hills
mark the north-western boundary of the plateau region. Its northern and north-eastern boundary is marked by
the northern edge of the Bundelkhand Plateau,Kaimur and Rajmahal Hills.
 The Western Ghats (Sahyadry) and the Eastern Ghats mark the western and eastern boundaries respectively
of this Great Plateau. Most of the area of the plateau has a height of more than 400 metres above sea level.
 The highest point of plateau region is the Anaimudi peak (2965 m). The general slope of this plateau is
towards east.

Coastal Plains and Islands

 Costal Plains are located towards the south, along the east and west of the Great Indian Plateau.
 The costal strips and island groups are ideal for deep and shallow water fisheries.
 Costal Plans (east side) are known for rice farming due to their fertility.
 Coconuts, rubber, tobacco and spices are the major agriculture crops of the region.
 This region is also home to offshore oil and natural gas fields.
 Lakshadweep islands are coral islands.
 Andaman and Nicobar Islands are the peaks of submerged mountain ranges.
 Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands have significant strategic importance for Indian Defence.
 India share maritime boundary with seven nations of Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore,
Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
 Indian costal island groups are famous for fishing, forestry and tourism.

Rivers of India
 Indian rivers are normally classified into four river systems: The Himalayan river system, the Peninsular river
system, the Coastal river system and the Inland drainage system.
 Himalayan river system is made up of perennial rivers i.e. the rivers that have water flow throughout the year.
 Himalayan rivers are snow-fed rivers. Difference between Himalayan
 Himalayan rivers are further divided into three basins: and Peninsular rivers
o Indus basin The rivers which have their origin in
o Ganga basin the Himalayas are perennial. These
o Brahmaputra basin rivers are fed by the melting of ice
 Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej are the major rivers of and snow lying near the tongue of
the Indus basin. glaciers of the Great Himalayan
 This system originates from Mount Kailas in Tibet and drain into the Range (Himadri).
Arabian Sea. In the rivers of South India, the flow
 Indus river is 2,900 km long. of water is highly fluctuating. While
 Ramganga, Ghaghra, Gomti, Gandak, Kosi, Yamuna, Son and the rivers are in spate during the
Damodar are the main rivers of the Ganga basin. monsoons, they are almost dry
 This system originates from Gangotri Glacier and drain into Bay of during the long rainless months.
Bengal. Some of these rivers at many places
 Ganges is 2,640 kilometre long. become totally dry.
 Dibang, Lohit, Tista and Meghna are main rivers of the Brahmaputra
basin.
 This system originates from Mansarover Lake in Western Tibet and drain into the Bay of Bengal.
 Brahmaputra is 2,688 kilometre long.
 Himalayan rivers frequently flood during monsoon season.
 Rivers of the Peninsular system are non-perennial in nature i.e. they do not have water flow throughout the
year.
 Narmada, Tapi, Mahanadi, Damodar, Godavari, Krishna, Pennar, Kaveri and Vaigai are the major peninsular
rivers.
 Godavari, Krishna, Cauvery are 1,450 km, 1.290 km and 760 km long respectively. All of these rivers
originate in Western Ghats and drain into Bay of Bengal.
 Mahanadi and Damodar have their origin in Deccan Plateau and their drainage in bay of Bengal.
 Narmada and Tapi are originate in Deccan Plateau and drain into the Arabian Sea. These two are the only
rivers of the Peninsular system that flow towards east.
 The rivers of the Coastal system are short in length and they have limited catchment area.
 Most of the Coastal rivers are non-perennial and flashy in nature.
 Most of the rivers of the Coastal system are ephemeral in character.

Climate
 Shape, size, location etc. of India have led to diverse climatic conditions in different part of the country.
 Climatic diversity in India is visible in regional variations in temperature (areas with 12 months snow covers
to deserts), rainfall (rarity of rain in arid areas to places with highest rainfall on Earth), dates on which seasons
and start and the duration of these seasons.
 As a whole Indian climate is classified as tropical monsoon type climate.
 The climate of different areas in India are influenced by multitude of factors which include:
o Location and Latitudinal Extent;
o Distance from the Sea;
o The Northern Mountain Ranges;
o Physiography;
o Monsoon Winds;
o Upper Air Circulation;
o Western Disturbances and Tropical Cyclones;
o El-Nino Effect; and,
o Southern Oscillation and its Effect.
 India broadly experience four seasons. Each of these seasons have different weather conditions:
(i) Winter season (Generally from January to February),
(ii) Summer season (Generally from March to May);
(iii) South-western monsoon season (Generally from June to September); and
(iv) Post-monsoon or north-east monsoon season (Generally from October to December).

 The winters in India are characterised by:

o Extremally low temperatures in extreme north of India.
o Gradual increase in temperature from north to south.
o Dry weather conditions in most of the India.
o Rainfall in the Coromandel Coast, light rain in northern plain and snowfall in Himalayas.
 Summers in India are characterised by:
 Blowing of hot dry winds in northern plains (loo).
 Dust storms in afternoon.
o Mild showers in Kerala, West Bengal and Assam
 Indian Climate is significantly influenced by two seasonal winds known as the north-east monsoon and the
south-west monsoon.
Characteristics of North East Monsoons
 North-east or winter monsoon blow from sea to land. This monsoon crosses Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea and
the Bay of Bengal.
 Generally north east monsoon wind is dry and cold in nature; they do not bring rain with them but they help
in lowering the temperature in different parts of India.
 North east monsoon wind pick water while passing over the Bay of Bengal and cause rain in the Coromandel
coast.
Characteristics of Southwest Monsoons
 South-west or summer monsoon are sea bearing winds that cross warm water bodies before reaching land.
 South west monsoon winds are moisture laden and bring rainfall in most parts of India.
 Some parts of India like Kutch, West Rajasthan, Southern Haryana, Southeast Punjab and Ladakh receive
annual rainfall of 50 cm or less.
 Some parts of India like Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim, northern parts of West Bengal, the
Western Ghats and the Himalayan slopes, receive annual rainfall in excess of 200 cm.
 South west monsoon winds normally enter into India from the coast in first week of June
 Some times south west monsoon skips different regions for reasons that are not apparent,
 Amount of rainfall and duration between wet and dry spells of monsoon vary greatly from year to year.
 South west monsoon does not bring even rainfall. The spatial distribution of rainfall is uneven i.e. some
regions receive heavy rainfall while others have scanty rains.

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