India has seven major physiographic regions:
i) Northern mountains including the Himalayas and the
mountain ranges in the
north-east.
ii) Indo-Gangetic plain
iii) Central Highlands
iv) Peninsular plateau.
v) East coast
vi) West coast
vii) Bordering seas and islands.
Mountains in India
The Himalayas: The
highest mountains on earth, run from south-east to north-west, separating India from China
and form one of the youngest mountain ranges in the world. The Himalayas are not a single mountain range but a series of ranges with
beautiful valleys wedged between them. It contains the world’s highest mountain peak
EVEREST and some ten peaks rising above 7,500 m.
Vindhya: This range traverses nearly
the whole width of peninsular India-a distance of about 1050 km with an elevation of some
300 meters.
Sahyadri: It is
part of the Western Ghats, with
an average height of 1200 metres. It is about 1600 km long and runs along the western border
of the Deccan plateau.
Climate:
India is so vast that the climatic conditions in the far north have little relation to
those of the extreme south. While the heat is building up to breaking point on the plains,
the people of Ladakh, high in the Himalayas, will still be waiting for the snow to melt on
the high passes.
India has a three-season year-the hot, the wet and the cool.
Generally the best time to visit is during winter (November to February), although there
are regional variations.
The south-west monsoon or rainy season is from June to September.
And the post-monsoon season, which is the north-east monsoon in south India is from
October-November. Summer is hot everywhere, except in the hills.
Many a hill station at
this time of the year comes to life to celebrate a gay holiday season. The winter season
is the most pleasant times of the year throughout the country. Rainfall in India tends to
be variable. The north-eastern regions, the western slopes of the
Western Ghats and parts
of Himalayas have very heavy rainfall.
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