India – Location, Political

divisions and Physical

Features
Grade 8 - Geography
LOCATION Second most
populous
Seventh Total coastline
country in
largest of India =
the world
country in 7,517 km
the world

Southernmost tip of Indian Southernmost tip of whole

mainland - Kanniyakumari India Indian territory – Indira Point

Lakshadweep
Lies entirely and Andaman-
in the Tropic of Cancer Nicobar are the
northern passes through two islands
hemisphere middle of the
country
 West Pakistan
Neighbours of India
Bangladesh
East
Myanmar

China
Neighbours
of India North &
Nepal
North East

Bhutan

North West Afghanistan

South Sri Lanka

 8 Union
28 states territories

Rajasthan is
Goa is the
the largest
smallest state
state
Physical Divisions of India

The Northern Mountains

The Northern Plains

The Thar Desert

The Plateau of Peninsular India

The Coastal Plains

The Islands
The Northern Mountains

The Trans-
Young fold mountains Himalayan
that stretches in a wide Ranges
sweeping arc across
northern and
northeastern India, Northern The Himalayan
effectively isolating the Mountains Ranges
country from rest of
Asia.
The Purvanchal
Hills
 LADAKH RANGE
ZANSKAR RANGE

INDUS RIVER
KARAKORAM RANGE

Flows between
Zanskar & Ladakh
ranges
 Highest Stretch across
mountain North India
ranges in the for almost
world 2,500 km

THE HIMALAYAN RANGES

Southernmost HIMADRI
range HIMACHAL
originating from SIWALIK
Pamir Knot
Himadri or the Greater Himalayas

Highest and northern-

most range of the
Himalayas

Extends from the

Northwest to
Northeastern India

Total length of the

range = 2,300 km

Average height of the

range is 6,100 m
MT EVEREST (8,850 m) KANCHENJUNGA (8,586 m) DHAULAGIRI (8,167 m)

ANNAPURNA (8,091 m) NANDADEVI (7,816 m) GANGOTRI GLACIER

River Ganga
originates here
Himachal or the Lesser Himalayas

Lies to the south of

Himadri

Average height =
4,500 m

Extend across Jammu &

Kashmir, Himachal
Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh
and Uttarakhand
PIR PANJAL RANGE KASHMIR VALLEY KANGRA VALLEY

DHAULADHAR RANGE KULLU VALLEY

SHIMLA MUSSOORIE

MANALI DARJEELING
The Siwaliks or the Outer Himalayas
Extends northwestward from Sikkim,
through Nepal, Uttar Pradesh and
Uttarakhand, up to Pakistan

Covers a distance of
1,600 km

Height ranges from

900 – 1,200 m

Not a continuous range and broken in

many places by open valleys called duns.
Eg: Dehradun

Foothills of Siwaliks, lies the terai region –

flat land with swamps, tall grasses & dense
sal forests
DEHRADUN TERAI REGION
 Himalayas bend Garo, Khasi &
and run Jaintia Hills lies on
southwards in the Meghalaya
Arunachal plateau Patkai Bum
Pradesh as Naga Hills
Purvanchal hills
Manipur Hills
Mizo/Lushai Hills
THE PURVANCHAL HILLS Tripura Range
Barail Range
Arakan Yoma
Arakan Yoma, Bago Bago
and Lushai hills form
the boundary
Garo
between India and Khasi
Myanmar
Jaintia
PATKAI-BUM NAGA HILLS MANIPUR HILLS

LUSHAI HILLS TRIPURA HILLS BARAIL RANGES

ARAKAN YOMA MOUNTAINS BAGO, MYANMAR

GARO HILLS KHASI HILLS

JAINTIA HILLS
 Enable people ‘La’ means Pass
to travel and
carry on trade.
Only means of
communication 1. Zoji La (Srinagar to Leh in
Ladakh)
2. Shipki La (Tibet to Himachal
PASSES
Pradesh)
3. Nathu La (Tibet to Sikkim)
4. Bomdi La (Arunachal Pradesh
Located in high
altitudes and to Bhutan and Tibet)
remain snow-
covered
 ZOJI LA

SHIPKI LA
BOMDI LA
NATHU LA
Importance of Northern Mountains
1. Acts as a natural boundary separating India from Central Asia.

2. Blocks the moisture-laden Southwest Monsoon Winds and force the winds to rise.
This brings heavy rainfall to the Himalayan foothills and to the Northern Plains of
India.

3. Prevents cold winds of Central Asia from entering India.

4. Melting snow in the mountains gives rise to perennial rivers.

5. Forested slopes of these mountains are storehouses of timber, medicinal herbs and
wild animals.

6. They attract tourists from all over the world.

The Northern Plains
Vast plains that lie
between Northern
Built from the rich alluvium
Mountains and
brought down by the
Peninsular Plateau
Himalayan and peninsular Punjab-
rivers. New alluvium
deposited by the river near Haryana Plain
the banks is called khadar.
They are rich in minerals and
nutrients. Northern
Ganga Plain
Plains
Old alluvium soil found
above the floodplains is Brahmaputra
bhangar. They are
alkaline in nature and can
Plain
be infertile sometimes.
 West of the
Delhi-ridge

Drained by the
BEAS, RAVI &
THE PUNJAB- SATLUJ rivers
HARYANA PLAIN

Covers the states

Punjab &
Haryana
 Drained by GANGA and
its tributaries – Yamuna,
Gomti, Ghagra, Gandak,
Kosi, Son & Damodar

THE GANGA PLAIN

Covers the states of

Uttar Pradesh,
Uttarakhand, parts of
Madhya Pradesh,
Bihar & West Bengal
 Brahmaputra Lies to the East and
originates from Tibet, drained by the
where it is known as BRAHMAPUTRA and its
Yarlung Tsangpo tributaries – Subansiri,
Jiabharali, Dhansiri,
Manas, Torsa and
Teesta

THE BRAHMAPUTRA
PLAIN

Covers the states

of Arunachal
Pradesh and
Assam
Importance of Northern Plains
1. Fertile region and easy availability of water from rivers make
this an important agricultural and industrial region.

2. Rivers are navigable over long distances.

3. Flat nature of terrain made it easy to develop roads and

railways.

4. Most densely populated regions of India and the world.

The Plateau of
Peninsular India
 Chambal and Betwa are the two
• Subarnarekha and
main rivers that originate in
Damodar rivers
Vindhyas. Narmada & Tapti are
• Has rich mineral reserves
two other rivers.
Guru Shikhar (1,722m)
in Mount Abu is the
highest peak of Aravalli
Range Chota Nagpur
Malwa Plateau
Plateau
Western Ghats:
• Average height 1,200m
• Palakkad Gap
PENINSULAR • Nilgiri Hills to north
PLATEAU • Anaimalai Hills to south
• Anamudi is the highest peak
Oozed lava forms a
thick layer called
Deccan Traps Deccan Plateau
Eastern Ghats:
• Merges with Western Ghats
at Nilgiris
• Average height of 600m
 WESTERN GHATS EASTERN GHATS

DECCAN PLATEAU ARAVALLI RANGES

Thar Desert/Great
Indian Desert
 Presence of low
hills called bhakars

Lakes – Sambhar,
Low-lying plain
Pachpadra, Tal
covering a sea of sand
Chhapar, Phalodi,
Lunkaransar
Thar Desert

Crescent shaped sand

dunes/barchans as
Dhand/Playas –
high as 150m
saline lake beds
 Aravalli ranges
Irregular rainfall parallel to S.W
Why Thar Desert monsoon winds
was formed?
Descending No perennial
winds causing river in this
aridity region
The Coastal Plains
Konkan Gujarat,
Coast Maharashtra, Goa

Western Kanara Karnataka

Coastal Plain Coast

Malabar Kerala
Coastal Coast
Plains
Northern Odisha, Andhra
Circars Pradesh
Eastern
Coastal Plain
Coromandel Tamilnadu
Coast
Kanara Coast
WESTERN COASTAL PLAIN: EASTERN COASTAL PLAIN:

• Lies between Western Ghats and Arabian • Lies between the Eastern Ghats and Bay of
sea, extending from the Gulf of Kachchh to Bengal, extending from Ganga to
Kanniyakumari. Kanniyakumari.

• Short, swift streams fed by the heavy • Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri rivers form fertile
monsoon rain flow into the sea forming deltas and brings a lot of silt.
estuaries.
• Important ports – Paradip, Visakhapatnam,
• Important ports of the west coast – Kandla, Chennai and Thoothukudi.
Mumbai, Goa, Karwar, Mangalore and
Kochi. • The island of Sriharikota is used by ISRO to
launch satellites.
The Islands
Islands

Lakshadweep Andaman &

Islands Nicobar Islands
More
than 300
islands

Archipelago made Total area

up of 36 islands, = 32 sq Andaman Islands They are largely
coral in origin and km separated from the uninhabited, except
fringing reefs Nicobar Islands by the few tribal groups
145 km-wide Ten Degree such as Jarawa and
Channel Onge
BARREN ISLAND

JARAWA TRIBE

LAKSHADWEEP ISLANDS
The Rivers of India
Ganga, Brahmaputra,
North Indian rivers are Mahanadi, Godavari and
perennial. They have water Krishna flow into the Bay
throughout the year of Bengal

Narmada and
Rivers of India Tapi flow into the
Arabian Sea

South Indian rivers are

seasonal. They have more Short swift rivers
water during the rainy season like Sharavati and
and run dry in long summer Periyar flow into
months the Arabian Sea
 GANGA

BRAHMAPUTRA

MAHANADI GODAVARI KRISHNA

NARMADA TAPI

PERIYAR SHARAVATI
Rivers of North India Rivers of South India

• Perennial • Seasonal

• Flow in the deep valleys

• Flow between levees
• Floods only delta regions
• Cause disastrous floods
• Easily used for hydroelectric power
• Easily used for irrigation generation

• Navigable for great distances • Navigable for short distances

• Eg: Narmada, Tapi, Mahanadi, Godavari,

• Eg: Indus, Ganga, Brahmaputra
Krishna, Kaveri