India: Location,

Extent, Political
and Physical
Features
 India
India is a land of diversity in all manners. From culture, economy and even the
landscape of India has diverse elements, all on one landmass. The wide range of
physical features of India makes the country a complete geographical study. In
fact, India has every possible landscape that the earth has. From cold mountains
to arid deserts, vast plains, hot and humid plateau and wide sea shores and
tropical islands, the physical features of India cover every terrain.

India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Srilanka form a ‘subcontinent’

and since India occupies the major part of the subcontinent, the entire continent
is called the ‘Indian subcontinent’
 Origin of the Indian Landscape
1. Millions of years ago, the Peninsular Plateau region (the
oldest landmass) was a part of the Gondwana Land
which covered India, Australia, South Africa, and South
America. Over hundreds of years of shifting landmass
and ocean currents broke this landmass into multiple
pieces.

2. One such piece- the Indo-Australian plate started

shifting northwards, where it collided with the Eurasian
plate (now Europe). Consequently, this collision caused
the landmass to fold and become, what we know as the
Himalayas today. Thereafter, many such geological
events led to the formation of each of the varied
physical features of India.
 Physiographic Divisions of India

India is a physically diverse country. India has six

physiographic divisions based on the country’s
diverse physiographic characteristics:
•The Northern Mountains
•The Great Northern Plains
•The Peninsular Plateau
•The Thar Desert
•The Coastal Plains
•The Islands
0
1
The Northern
Mountains
Himalayas – Abode of Snow
The Northen Mountains
The northernmost landscape of the country highlights
the fold mountains of the Himalayas. Though
geologically young, the Himalayan Mountains are the
loftiest and the most rugged of the world. Since they
stretch across 2500 KM from Kashmir in the north,
through Arunachal Pradesh in the North East, these
mountains form an arc. This helps keep the cold
arctic winds from reaching the tropical landmass.
One of the most significant of all the physical features
of India, the Himalayas vary in width between 400
Km to 150 KM.
The Northen Mountains
● Furthermore, the entire mountain belt is
divided into three main sections-
● The Greater Himalayas or the Himadri, with
average peaks reaching up to 6000 meters
above the sea-level.
● The Lesser Himalayas with average peaks
rising as high as 4000 meters
● The Outer Himalayas or the Shiwalik Range
● The Eastern Hills or the Purvanchal covering
North Bengal, and northernmost parts of the
North Eastern states.
The Northen Mountains
The Himalayas exert a significant influence on the life of the people of India in several
ways.
1. They form a natural boundary between India and China.
2. They serve as a climatic barrier by preventing the rain – bearing monsoon winds,
from leaving India.
3. They are source of perennial rivers such as the Indus, the Ganga, the Brahmaputra
and their tributaries.
4. Their rugged terrain is ideal for hydroelectric power generation.
5. The mountain slopes are forested. These forests provide different types of timber
and forest products.
6. The Himalayas have beautiful hill stations such as Shimla, Darjeeling, Mussorie etc.
02
The Great Northern
Plains
 The Great Northern
Plains
The three major river systems of
India- Indus, Ganga and the
Brahmaputra along with their
tributaries have fed the foothills of
the Himalayas. Since these river
basins had a huge amount of
alluvial deposits from these glacial
rivers, these regions grew fertile
over hundreds of years and led to
the Northern Plains.
 The Great Northern
Plains
Furthermore, the Northern Plains can again be divided into three
significant parts-

1. The Punjab Plains- The Indus River and its tributaries lead to the
formation of these vast plains, a major part of which now lies in
Pakistan
2. The Ganga Plains- This spreads across the states of North India,
Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Delhi and West
Bengal.
3. The Brahmaputra Plains- This covers major parts of Assam and
the other North Eastern States
4. The Ganga and Brahmaputra join in Bangladesh, where
they flow
as one river – the Padma which flows into Bay of Bengal. .
5. Together these rivers have built the largest delta in the
world – The Sundarbans
The Great Northen Plains
The Great Northern Plains have greatly influenced the life of the people of India in
several ways.
1. The fertile soil of the plains has helped in the development of agriculture.
2. Its soft soil had made irrigation possible.
3. Their flatness has promoted the growth and development of a dense network of
road and rail transport.
4. Their rivers and tributaries provide cheap water transport.
03
The Peninsular
Plateau
 The Peninsular Plateau
The oldest landmass of India, the Peninsular Plateau was the result of
the tectonic shifts of the Gondwana Land. This massive plateau
area is further divided as-

The Central Highlands – lying on the north of the Narmada River and
covering a large part of the Malwa Plateau.

The Deccan Plateau- a triangular landmass lying on the south of the

Narmada River. The Eastern Ghats and the Western Ghats border
the Deccan plateau on its eastern and western sides respectively.
While the Satpura mountain ranges stand on its northern part, the
Western Ghats have higher elevation with a maximum height of
1600 meters. On the other hand, the Eastern Ghats reach to a
maximum of 600 meters in height.
04
The Coastal Plains
 The Coastal Plains
Right on the outer edges of the Indian peninsula, lies the narrow
strips of the coastal plains. These sea fed regions cover the shores
of the Bay of Bengal in the East and the Arabian Sea on the West.
The western coast along the Arabian Sea can again be divided into
three sections-

• The Konkan Coast- covering coastal Maharashtra and Goa

• The Kannada Plains- covering coasts of Karnataka
• The Malabar Coast- covering Kerala

On the other hand, the Eastern coast has two broad sections-
• The Northern Circar
• The Coromandel Coast
.
05
The Thar Desert
 The Thar Desert
The Thar Desert is undoubtedly the most inhospitable ecoregion in
the Indo-Pacific region; yet still, it supports a human population
density of over 80 people per km2, making it the most densely
populated desert in the world. At the same time, the desert
supports a relatively rich biodiversity with several large mammals,
notably the blue bull, blackbuck, and Indian gazelle or chinkara.
They were once the prey for lions and cheetah, which reportedly
lived in the southern parts of the ecoregion until the turn of the
last century.-

• This ecoregion lies to the west of the Aravalli Mountain Range in

the northwestern Indian States of Gujarat, Rajasthan, extending
across the border to the Punjab and Sind regions of Pakistan. It is
considered to be the 9th largest subtropical
.
 The Thar Desert
The climate is defined by the extremes. Winter temperatures
approach freezing, while summer temperatures soar over 50°C.
Rainfall is limited to 100-500 mm from July to September but is
mostly unpredictable and erratic.
• This ecoregion lies to the west of the Aravalli Mountain Range in
the northwestern Indian States of Gujarat, Rajasthan, extending
across the border to the Punjab and Sind regions of Pakistan. It is
considered to be the 9th largest subtropical desert.
• The climate is defined by the extremes. Winter temperatures
approach freezing, while summer temperatures soar over 50°C.
Rainfall is limited to 100-500 mm from July to September but is
mostly unpredictable and erratic.
• The high temperatures experienced in the region evaporates the
moisture in the air.
.
 The Thar Desert
The region therefore lacks water resources and the river Luni is the
only significant river in this region, but it carries little water.
The Indira Gandhi Canal, which draws water from river Satluj, has
changed, to some extent, huge stretches of this desert into fertile
land. Crops such as wheat, barley, grapes and melons are now
grown here.

.
06
The Islands
 The Island
Groups
The Andaman and Nicobar
islands are present in the Bay of
Bengal and are an India
archipelago. In this group of
islands there are around 550
islands. Palm lined, white sand
beaches, mangroves and tropical
rainforests are some of the major
attractions of the Andaman and
Nicobar group of islands. There
are many popular diving and
snorkeling sites and for this
purpose the most famous are the
coral reefs which support marine
life such as sharks and rays. The
 The Island
Groups
The Lakshadweep group of islands
are located in the Arabian Sea.
The island is located around 200 to
400 km off from the southwestern
coast of India. This group of
islands is also known as the
Laccadive Islands. The word
‘lakshadweep’ means one hundred
thousand islands in Sanskrit,
Malayalam and also Marathi. The
capital of the Union Territory of
Lakshadweep is Kavaratti and the
island comes under the jurisdiction
of the Kerala High Court. The
languages spoken in the island are
Jeseri and Dhivehi and the official
languages are Malayalam and
 The North Indian rivers or Himalayan
Rivers
Rivers have been of fundamental importance throughout human history. Water from rivers is a basic
natural resource, essential for various human activities. Therefore, riverbanks have attracted settlers
from ancient times. Using rivers for irrigation, navigation and hydropower generation is of special
significance — particularly to a country like India, where agriculture is the major source of livelihood
of the majority of its population.

Two major river system

The Indian rivers are divided into two major groups:
The Himalayan rivers (North Indian rivers)
The Peninsular rivers ( South Indian rivers)
The rivers in north India are known as Himalayan rivers. The rivers in the north are mainly from the
small tributaries from Himalayan mountains hence called Himalayan rivers.
The rivers in the south are called peninsular rivers as they finally end at the peninsular region of India
that is in the Arabian sea or at the Bay of Bengal.

.
The West Flowing
Rivers
These rivers drain into the Arabian Sea. They are short,
swift-flowing rivers that rise in the Western Ghats.
Narmada
•The Narmada or Nerbudda, also called the Reva is a
river in central India. It is located in Madhya Pradesh
and Gujarat of India.
•This river is also known as ‘Life line of Madhya
Pradesh and Gujarat’, for its huge contribution to
both the states in many ways.
•This river forms the traditional boundary between
North India and South India. If we look at the length, it
is a total of 1312 km long.
•The Narmada rive originates near Amarkantak in
Madhya Pradesh. It runs through Madhya
Pradesh86%, Gujarat 14% and Maharashtra 2%.
•It is only one of three major rivers in south India that
run from east to west.
•It is the longest west flowing river of peni.
Tapti
•River Tapti (or Tapi), It is also known as
“The Handmaid” or “The Twin” of Narmada river.
•The Tapti River is in central India between the
Godavari and Narmada rivers, which flows westwards
before draining into the Arabian Sea.
•Flowing westwards through Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra and Gujarat over a length of 724km.
•This river originates from Gawilgarh hills in Satpura
range of central Deccan plateau.
•It drains into Arabian Sea through Gulf of Khambhat.
The East Flowing
Rivers
These rivers flow towards the east and south –
east and drain into the Bay of Bengal
Godavari
•Godavari River is the second longest river of
India after the Ganga River with the length of about
1,465 km long.
•This river originates in Trimbakeshwar near Nashik.
•It is also called by the other names such as Vridh
Ganga or Dakshin Ganga of India or Ganga of
South India.
•Godavari river water is brownish.
•Its source in Trimbakeshwar, Maharashtra.
•It flows through several states of India including
Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh and Odisha before emptying into the
Bay of Bengal.
Mahanadi
•Mahanadi River originates in Sihawa Range in
Raipur district of Chhattisgarh. It drains into
Bay of Bengal near False Point in Odisha.
•It has a length of about 860 km in length.
•This river flows through Madhya Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.
•Most importantly this river was also known as
‘The Ruin of Odisha.
•(Famous as devastating flood over the years
later which was resolved after the construction
of Hirakud dam.
Krishna
•Krishna river originates from Mahabaleshwar in
the Western Ghats of Maharashtra. This river
flows into the Bay of Bengal in Andhra Pradesh.
•This river flows through the states of
Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
•It is the fourth biggest river in terms of water
inflows and river basin area, after the Ganga,
Godavari and Brahmaputra.
•Krishna river joins Bay of Bengal at
Hamsaladeevi in Andhra Pradesh.
•It has a length of about 1300 km.
•In other words this river is also called as
Krishnaveni.
Kaveri–
The Kaveri river (or Cauvery River) is one of the
great rivers of India and is considered as sacred
by the Hindus.
•It is also called as Dakshin Ganga.
•Talacauvery( or Talakaveri) located about 5000 ft
above sea level is considered the source of the
Cauvery river.
•Talacauvery is located in Coorg district of
Karnataka
•This river covers a distance of about 765 km and
flows through the states of Karnataka and Tamil
Nadu.
Difference between Northern
and Southern rivers of India