Page 161 - SST Class 06
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2. The North Indian Plain The Himalayan Mountains : These are three
3. The Peninsular Plateau and the Indian parallel ranges running a length of 2,500 km in
Desert an arc shape. At one end in the north-west is
4. The Coastal Plains Jammu and Kashmir and at the other end in the
north-east is Arunachal Pradesh. The width
5. The Island
decreases from 400 km in the west to about 150
1. The Northern Mountains
km in the east. The three parallel ranges with
The north and north-eastern India com-
narrow valleys between them are the Himadri,
prises of Himalayas that separates India
Himachal and Shiwalik. The Himadri, also called
from the Tibetan plateau and other ranges
the Greater Himalayas is the northernmost
namely Hindu Kush and Patkai at north-
range. It is called ‘greater’ because it has high
eastern border with Burma. These ranges
peaks of more than 6,000 meters above sea
include the world’s tallest mountains that
level. Mount Everest (8,848 meters high) lies in
impact the climatic conditions of India.
Nepal. Other high peaks are— Kanchanjunga
Some of the major Indian rivers originate
(8,598 m), the highest peak of Himalaya in
from these ranges and flow through the India, Nanga parbat (8,126 m), Nanda Devi
plains, joining the ocean. The Satpura and
(7,817 m). On Dhaulagiri (8,172 m), Makalu
the Aravallis are also important mountain
(8,481 m) and Annapurna (8,078 m). On the
ranges running across parts of central and
peaks are also found glaciers which are the
northern India.
source of water for many rivers.
Trans-Himalaya : The region includes
To the south of the Himadri is the Himachal or
Karakoram mountains in north of the
Middle Himalaya. The average altitude is
Himalaya. The Karakoram extends beyond
between 1,500 and 3,000 meters. Some peaks
Pamir plateau in the north. K2 also known
rise upto 5,000 m above sea level. There are
as Godwin Austin (8,811 meters high) is the
many important hill stations in this range. These
second highest peak in the world. The
include Shimla, Mussoorie, Nainital, Kullu,
Baltoro and Siachin are two big glaciers in Manali and Darjeeling. The southernmost range
this area. The western extension of the called the Shivalik is most discontinuous. It
Himalaya are the Ladakh and Zaskar constitutes the foothills of the Himalayas and also
ranges. They lie to the south of Karakoram known as the Outer Himalaya. Between the
range. The Kashmir valley, often called the
Himachal range and the Shiwalik, there are
‘Paradise on the Earth’, lies in this region.
narrow valley called Duns for example, Dehra-
dun.
The eastern extensions of the Himalaya are
known as the Purvachal Mountains. They are not
very high. The average height is less than 3,000
meters. Known by many local names these hill
ranges include the Patkai Bum and the Naga
Hills in the North and the Mizo hills in Mizoram
in the south. In Meghalaya they are known as the
Garo, Khasi and Jaintia Hilla.
Trans-Himalaya
Social Science-6 161
