Physical Features of India
India is a land with major physical features such as mountains, plains, deserts, plateaus, and
islands. The Peninsular Plateau is one of the ancient land masses on the earth's surface, while
the Himalayas and Northern Plains are the most recent landforms. The northern plains are
formed of alluvial deposits.
The Himalayan Mountains are stretched over the northern borders of India, running in a west-
east direction from the Indus to the Brahmaputra. They consist of three parallel ranges: the
Great or Inner Himalayas (the Himadri), Himachal or lesser Himalaya, Pir Panjal range,
Shiwaliks, and Duns. The Himalayas have also been divided into regions from west to east,
with the Punjab Himalaya lying between Indus and Satluj, Kumaon Himalayas between
Satluj and Kali rivers, Kali and Teesta rivers dividing the Nepal Himalayas, and Assam
Himalayas between Teesta and Dihang rivers.
The Northern Plain is formed by the interplay of the three major river systems - the Indus, the
Ganga, and the Brahmaputra along with their tributaries. It spreads over an area of 7 lakh sq.
km. The Western part of the Northern Plain is referred to as the Punjab Plains, formed by the
Indus and its tributaries. The Ganga plain extends between Ghaggar and Teesta rivers and is
spread over the states of North India, Haryana, Delhi, U.P., Bihar, partly Jharkhand, and West
Bengal.
According to elevation points, the Northern Plains can be divided into four regions: bhabar,
which is a narrow belt of pebbles after descending from the mountains, terai, which is a wet,
swampy, and marshy region created by streams and rivers, and bhangar, which is formed of
older alluvium above the floodplains of the rivers. The soil in the bhangar region contains
calcareous deposits called kankar, while the younger deposits of the floodplains are called
khadar.
In summary, India has a diverse landscape with major physical features such as mountains,
plains, deserts, plateaus, and islands. The Peninsular Plateau, the Indian Desert, coastal
plains, and islands provide valuable insights into the country's geography and geography.
The Peninsular Plateau is a tableland formed by the breaking and drifting of Gondwana land,
consisting of old crystalline, igneous, and metamorphic rocks. It is divided into two divisions:
the Central Highlands and the Deccan Plateau. The Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats mark
the western and eastern edges of the Deccan Plateau respectively.
The Eastern Ghats lie parallel to the western coast, stretching from the Mahanadi Valley to
the Nigiris in the South. They are discontinuous and irregular, with an average elevation of
600 meters. The highest peak in the Eastern Ghats is Amamudi, while Mahendragiri (1,501
meters) is the highest peak in the Eastern Ghats.
The Indian Desert lies towards the western margins of the Aravali Hills, a sandy plain
covered with sand dunes. It receives very low rainfall and has a dry climate with low
vegetation cover. The coastal plains are flat, low-lying pieces of land next to the ocean, with
two narrow strips called Eastern Coastal Plain and Western Coastal Plain. The Eastern
Coastal Plain is a wide stretch of land between the Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal, with
large rivers such as the Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, and Kaveri forming extensive deltas on
this coast. Lake Chilika is an important feature along the eastern coast.
The Western Coastal Plain is sandwiched between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea and
consists of three sections: the Konkan (Mumbai – Goa), the Kannad Plain, and the Malabar
coast. Islands are sub-continental land surrounded by water, with the Lakshadweep Islands
group consisting of small coral islands. These islands lie close to the equator and experience
an equatorial climate and thick forest cover.
India's diverse physical features have immense future possibilities for development due to its
mountains as major sources of water and forest wealth, northern plains as granaries for early
civilizations, the plateau as a storehouse of minerals, and coastal regions and island groups
providing sites for fishing and port activities.
