theGeography

of theIndian subcontinent

South Asia

TheSize ofSouthAsia

• Second Highest Population with

1.2 billion people

Satellite View of South Asia

Mountains & Peaks

Himalayas

Mt. Everest▲

Karakorum Mts.Hin

du Kush

I IKhy

ber

Pass

K2

Mountains• Northern Mountains

barriers between India subcontinent and Asia

– Himalayas– Hindu Kush (Khyber

Pass) – Karakorum

The Himalayas

“him” [snow]

“aalaya” [home]

Mt. Everest is 29,035 feet. It is the highest

mt. peak in the world.

Giant barrier between Indian subcontinent and China

The HimalayasCreated by

movement/collisionof tectonic plates

Hindu Kush

Mountain Range between

Pakistan and Afghanistan

The Khyber Pass• Passage through

Hindu Kush Mts.• Used to invade, or

pass through to enter India, trade route, spreading of culture

Central MountainsVindhya Mountains

• Separate the Deccan Plateau & the Indo Gangetic Plain

• forms a cultural barrier between Northern and Southern India

• lies across the central portion of the Indian subcontinent.

Eastern & Western Ghats

• Runs along the southern coastal regions of India

• Causes the rain shadow effect on the Deccan Plateau

HILLS

Rain Shadow

Plateaus

DeccanPlateau

The Deccan Plateau

Located between the Eastern & Western Ghats

• Semi Arid climate-dry due to rain shadow effect.

31,800 square miles in size.

Elevation range: 2,000 – 8,000 feet high.

From the Sanskrit word, “dakshina” [“the south”].

THAR DESERT

Thar

Desert

Thar Desert

The Great Indian Desert (in NW India)

200 - 1500 feet in elevation.

up to 127ºF in July.

DESERT

Rivers

Indus R

.

Ganges R.

Brahmaputra R.

River Systems• All begin in Himalayas• Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra• Create alluvial plains when they over

flow – rich soil

Indus River• Cultural hearth

(Indus River Valley)

• Fighting today over who controls the head waters of the river (where it starts)

Flooding on the Brahmaputra

Floods in Bangladesh

Ganges River

• Sacred River to Hindus• Very polluted river• Nicknamed Gangamai, which

means Mother Ganges • Population density (1000 people / sq mile)

Mother Ganges

Indo-Gangetic Plains

Indo-GangeticPlain

INDO-GANGETIC PLAINS

• Between Ganges & Indus rivers, south of the Himalayas

• Alluvial Plains• fertile soil, farming region

• High population= 3/5 of population of India lives here

PLAINS

Islands

MaldivesSri Lanka

Islands• Sri Lanka

– Tropical– Mountains in center– Small rivers– Coastal plains

Islands• Maldives

Archipelago– 1,200+ islands

(only 200 are inhabited)

– atolls• Low-lying tops of

submerged volcanoes

• Surrounded by coral reefs and lagoons

Monsoons-seasonal winds• Affect the climates of South

Asia• Summer Monsoons bring heavy

rainfall, esp in Ganges delta region

• Monsoons highly unpredictable• Crucial to life in the

subcontinent

Winter Monsoons Nov.- AprilDRY

Winds blow from the Northeast to the Southwest

SUMMER MONSOONS MAY-OCTWET, heavy with moisture (rain)

Winds blow from the SOUTHWEST to the NORTHEAST

Monsoons

CLIMATE REGIONSClimates Range

from Tropical Wet (warmest) to

Highlands (coldest)

Where is the Highland climate?

*Himalayas