Physical Geography of India
India is a peninsula that extends into the Indian Ocean. It is bordered in the west by the Arabian Sea and Pakistan and in the east by Myanmar, Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. In the north it has a common border with Bhutan, Nepal and China.
India got its present form millions of years ago when it started to drift away from the southern continent of Gondwana. After travelling northwards it collided with the Asia . During this period the world’s tallest mountains, the Himalayas, were formed. This process is still continuing as the Himalayas are getting higher and higher.
This gigantic mountain system stretches across Asia for almost 2,200 kilometers. Several parallel ranges of mountains are divided by river valleys. 14 peaks have a height of over 8,000 meters.
South of the Himalaya Mountains lie vast plains which were created by the Indus River in the west and the Ganges River in the east. They extend across northern India for about 2000 km and are up to 300 km wide. The region is not only the heart of India’s fertile farming land but also the most densely populated region of the country. The Ganges is India’s most important river. The sacred river of Hinduism starts out in the Himalaya Mountains and winds its way to Calcutta, where it flows into the Bay of Bengal.
The southern part of India is formed mostly by the Deccan plateau. This geologically oldest part of India lies, on average, a thousand meters above sea level. The plateau is bordered by two mountain ranges: the Western Ghats rise along the Arabian Sea and the Eastern Ghats are parallel to the Bay of Bengal.
India - Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Physical Geography - Landscapes of India
- The Monsoon Dominates India's Climate
- India's Population Problems
- Caste System in India
- History of India
- India's Economy
Online Exercises
- India - Multiple Choice
- India - Geographical Names
- Vocabulary Matching Exercises 1
- Vocabulary Matching Exercises 2
- India - Population Problems - Gap Filling Exercise
- India - Crossword
Related Topics
Words:
- border = limit, end
- collide = crash into
- common = together with
- densely populated = many people live on a small area of land
- drift = float
- extend = reach
- fertile = here; land that can produce good crops
- peninsula = piece of land that has water on three sides
- plains = large area of flat land
- plateau = area of land that is higher than the land around it
- process = action, movement
- range = here: line of mountains
- sacred = holy
- sea level = the average height of the sea , used as a standard to measure other heights
- stretch = extend from one place to another
- valley = area of lower land between two mountains , usually with a river flowing through it
- winds its way = flows in curves and bends