India, Pakistan, Bangledesh

• Rugged mountains have isolated parts of India, while its rivers and monsoon winds have brought both benefits and catastrophic floods. Its huge population depends on the land, water, and other resources of India to meet its growing needs.
• Gangetic Plain


  The world's longest alluvial plain, an area of fertile soil deposited by river floodwaters. It is also India's most densely populated area.
• Formation of the Himalaya mountains


  1. A large piece of land broke away from the landmass that is now Africa

  2. This landmass collided with the southern edge of Asia about 50 million years ago

  3. The force of this collision thrust up the world's highest mountains, the Himalaya
• Major landforms of India

  • Himalaya mountains
  • Karakoram Range
  • Gangetic Plain
  • Thar Desert
  • Aravalli Range
  • Chota Nagpur Plateau
  • Vindhya and Satpura Ranges
  • Deccan Plateau
  • Eastern Ghats
  • Western Ghats
  • Nilgiri Hills
  • Malabar Coast
  • Ganges Delta
  • Coromandel Coast
  • Lakshadweep islands
  • Andaman and Nicobar Islands
  • Cape Comorin
• Gangetic Plain


  • Fertile soil deposited by river floodwaters
  • India's most densely populated area
• Thar Desert


  • Bordered by the mineral-rich Aravalli Range
• Chota Nagpur Plateau


  • Mineral-rich region
• Deccan Plateau


  • Relatively flat surface but rises to hundreds of feet high
  • Covered with rich, black soil
• Eastern Ghats


  • Low mountain range
• Western Ghats


  • Low mountain range
  • Nilgiri Hills are part of this range and are a fertile region for growing tea and coffee
• India's coastline


  • Includes the Malabar Coast, Ganges Delta, and Coromandel Coast
• Lakshadweep islands


  • Group of about three dozen islands in the Arabian Sea
• Andaman and Nicobar Islands

  • At the southeastern edge of the Bay of Bengal
• Cape Comorin


  • Southernmost tip of the Indian subcontinent, marks the division between the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal
• Major river systems of India

  • Ganges
  • Brahmaputra
  • Indus
• Ganges River


  • Flows throughout the year, even during the dry season
  • Causes devastating floods during the summer monsoon
  • Sacred to Hindus
  • Major cities located on its shores
• Brahmaputra River


  • Forms a broad delta as it joins the Ganges in Bangladesh and empties into the Bay of Bengal
• Indus River


  • Flows mainly through Pakistan and empties into the Arabian Sea
  • Important source of irrigation and a major transportation route
• Rivers in the Western Ghats

  • Have many rapids and gorges that make navigation impossible but make them suitable for hydropower
• India's major cities


  • Mumbai and Chennai are port cities
• Fishing in India


  • People fish all along India's coastline and on nearly all of its rivers
  • It is getting harder for small fishing families to compete with larger commercial enterprises
• Aquaculture in India


  • Both fish and shrimp
• Monsoons


  The difference in temperatures of the air over the ocean and the air over the landmass creates the monsoon winds. These winds cause rainfall and temperature to fluctuate, creating wet and dry seasons.
• Summer monsoon


  1. Heated air rises over the land, which pulls in the moist ocean air from the south and southwest

  2. Causes heavy rains and flooding across the subcontinent
• Winter monsoon


  1. Air from the Asian interior in the north is drawn across the subcontinent toward the ocean

  2. The air is dry and cool compared to the wet season
• Landforms and location


  Affect the amount of rain that monsoon winds bring to different areas
• Biomes of India


  • Rain forests in the Western Ghats
  • Dry area of scrub and deciduous forests in the rain shadow of the Western Ghats
  • Semi-arid steppe in the center of the Deccan Plateau
  • Thar Desert with desert scrub vegetation
  • Semi-arid grassland around the Thar Desert
  • Forested biome on the northeastern coast
• Agriculture in India


  • High temperatures and ample water allow farmers to produce plentiful crops, especially on the alluvial plains
  • Crops include the rice that many people in India depend on year-round
  • Extreme heat can dry the fields, and without rainfall there is drought
  • Monsoon rains water crops but can also cause devastating floods
• Floods deposit rich silt on the floodplains which renews soil fertility
• Natural disasters in India

  • Cyclones in the Bay of Bengal or Arabian Sea bring torrential rains and winds
  • Coastal regions face the threat of tsunamis triggered by underwater earthquakes
• Forests in India


  • Tropical evergreen and mixed evergreen-deciduous forests in high rainfall areas
  • Tropical deciduous forests in moderate rainfall areas
  • Dry deciduous forests in low rainfall areas
  • Tropical palms and bamboo found throughout the country
  • Mangrove forests in coastal wetlands
• Wildlife in India


  • Indian elephant
  • Indian rhinoceros
  • Several species of tiger
  • Many species of monkeys and other primates
  • Over 1,200 species of birds
  • Many species of lizards and snakes, including cobras
  • Crocodiles and turtles in rivers, swamps, and coastal regions
• Mineral resources of India

  • Iron ore
  • Copper
  • Bauxite
  • Zinc
  • Lead
  • Gold
  • Silver
  • Petroleum
  • Coal
  • Uranium
• Timber resources of India

  • Sandalwood, sal, and teak woods
  • Nearly any type of wood is used for fuel, often illegally
• More than half of India's total land area is used for growing crops. Given the population of India, however, the country does not have a large amount of high-quality crop land.
• Pakistan lies toward the northwestern edge of the Indian subcontinent, and Bangladesh lies toward the northeastern edge
• Pakistan borders Afghanistan in Central Asia to the west and China to the north. Bangladesh is almost surrounded by India, but also shares a small border with Myanmar (Burma)
• Physically, the two countries have few similarities and many differences

  • Bangladesh is almost entirely low and flat
  • Pakistan has large areas of low, flat plains, as well as high mountains
• According to the theory of continental drift, the Indian subcontinent is slowly and steadily pushing into the southern edge of Asia. This collision thrust up the Himalaya mountain ranges
• The Himalaya


  • Cover part of northern Pakistan
  • The Karakoram Mountains are farther north
  • The Hindu Kush range frames the northwest edge of Pakistan
  • These mountain systems range from about 13,000 feet (3,962 m) to more than 19,500 feet (5,944 m) high
  • A few peaks soar more than 25,000 feet (7,620 m)
  • One peak in the Karakoram, named K2, towers 28,250 feet (8,611 m) and is the second-highest mountain in the world