Chapter 1: Geographical Diversity of India
From space, an astronaut once said India looked "better than the whole world". In this chapter we take a bird's-eye flight over India's five great zones (the Himalayas and the cold desert, the Gangetic Plains, the Thar and the Aravallis, the Peninsular Plateau, and the coasts and islands) and see how each shapes the lives of the people who live there.
In this chapter you will
- name and locate India's major physical regions
- explain how the Himalayas formed and why they matter
- compare life in the plains, desert, plateau and coasts
- describe India's island groups, deltas and the Northeast
Topics
- The Himalayas and the Cold Desert NCERT 1.1
The Himalayas formed when India collided with Eurasia; their snow feeds Asia's great rivers.
- The Gangetic Plains NCERT 1.2
The Gangetic Plains are flat and fertile, watered by Himalayan rivers.
- The Thar Desert and the Aravalli Hills NCERT 1.3
The Thar is a hot, dry desert; people save water with taankas and kunds.
- The Peninsular Plateau NCERT 1.4
The peninsular plateau is old, raised land between the Western and Eastern Ghats.
- Coasts, Islands and the Northeast NCERT 1.5
India's long coast: a narrow west coast with estuaries and a wide east coast with deltas.
Key words
- Subcontinent
- a large, distinct part of a continent
- Plateau
- raised land with a flattish top
- Peninsula
- land with water on three sides
- Delta
- fan-shaped land built by river sediment at its mouth
- Cold desert
- a dry region with very cold winters, like Ladakh
- Archipelago
- a group of islands
- Sand dune
- a hill of sand shaped by wind
Summary
- India has five broad zones: mountains, northern plains, desert, peninsular plateau and islands.
- The young Himalayas feed great rivers; the Gangetic Plains are fertile and crowded.
- The Thar is dry, the ancient Aravallis hold it back, and the old plateau tilts east.
- Long coasts, coral and volcanic islands, the Sundarbans and the rainy Northeast complete the picture.