Physiographic regions of India
Elevated regions in IndiaIndia is divided into seven physiographic regions. They are :
1. The northern mountains including the Himalayas, which includes the Kuen Lun and the Karakoram ranges and the northeast mountain ranges.
2. Indo-Gangetic plains
3. Thar Desert
4. Central Highlands and Deccan Plateau
5. East Coast
6. West Coast
7. Bordering seas and islands .
Mountains
A great arc of mountains, consisting of the Himalayas, Hindu Kush, and Patkai ranges define the northern Indian subcontinent.
India has eight major mountain ranges having peaks of over 1,000 m (3,281 ft).
Indo-Gangetic plain
The Indo-Gangetic plains, also known as the Great Plains are large floodplains of the Indus and the Ganga-Brahmaputra river systems. They run parallel to the Himalaya mountains, from Jammu and Kashmir in the west to Assam in the east and draining most of northern and eastern India. The plains encompass an area of 700,000 square kilometers (270,272 sq mi). The major rivers in this region are the Ganges and the Indus along with their tributaries–Beas, Yamuna, Gomti, Ravi, Chambal, Sutlej and Chenab.
Thar Desert
The Thar Desert (also known as the Great Indian Desert) is the world's seventh largest desert;[22] it forms a significant portion of western India and covers an area of 238,700 km² (92,200 mile²).[22] The desert continues into Pakistan as the Cholistan Desert. Most of the Thar Desert is situated in Rajasthan, covering 61% of its geographic area.
Highlands
The Central Highlands comprise of three main plateaus — the Malwa Plateau in the west, the Deccan Plateau in the south (covering most of the Indian peninsula) and the Chota Nagpur Plateau in the east.
Coasts
The Eastern Coastal Plain is a wide stretch of land lying between the Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal. It stretches from Tamil Nadu in the south to West Bengal in the north. The Mahanadi, Godavari, Kaveri and Krishna rivers drain these plains and their deltas occupy most of the area.
The Western Coastal Plain is a narrow strip of land sandwiched between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea, ranging from 50 to 100 km (30 to 60 miles) in width. It extends from Gujarat in the north and extends through Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala. Numerous rivers and backwaters inundate the region.
Islands
The Lakshadweep and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are India's two major island formations which are classified as union territories. The Lakshadweep Islands lie 200 to 300 km (124 to 186 miles) off the coast of Kerala in the Arabian Sea with an area of 32 km² (11 sq mi). They consist of 12 atolls, 3 reefs and 5 submerged banks, with a total of about 36 islands and islets.
The territory consists of two island groups, the Andaman Islands and the Nicobar Islands. The Andaman Islands consists of 204 small islands. The Nicobar islands are situated south of the neighboring Andaman Islands archipelago, and are located about 189 km northwest of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Indira Point, the southernmost point of India, is located on these islands (Great Nicobar). The Nicobars include 22 islands of various sizes, the largest being Great Nicobar.
