These physiography of India notes for OPSC/UPSC cover the six physical divisions of the country: the Himalayan mountains, the Northern Plains, the Peninsular Plateau, the Indian Desert, the coastal plains and the islands. For OAS prelims the chapter yields steady fact questions on ranges, passes, peaks, glaciers, valleys and coasts, and for mains it explains how relief shapes climate, rivers, soils and settlement, with a direct Odisha link through the Eastern Ghats, the Mahanadi delta, Chilika and Chandipur.
Physical Divisions of India: Overview
India's relief is the result of its geological history: the ancient Peninsular block of Gondwana origin, and the young Himalayan fold mountains raised by the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates in the Tertiary period.
| Division | Nature | Age |
|---|---|---|
| Himalayan Mountains | Young fold mountains | Tertiary |
| Northern Plains | Alluvial plain in a foredeep | Quaternary |
| Peninsular Plateau | Ancient stable block of gneisses and schists | Archean, oldest landform |
| Indian Desert | Arid sandy plain west of the Aravalli | Quaternary |
| Coastal Plains | Narrow western and wider eastern plains | Recent |
| Islands | Andaman-Nicobar (Bay of Bengal), Lakshadweep (Arabian Sea) | Varied |
The Himalayas arose from the collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates through compressional tectonic force, not from a three-plate convergence. The Peninsular Plateau is the oldest geographical region of India, and the Aravalli is the oldest mountain range.
IMAGE (Map): Physical divisions of India
Labels: Himalayas, Northern Plains, Peninsular Plateau, Thar Desert, Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats, Western and Eastern Coastal Plains, Andaman and Nicobar, Lakshadweep
Caption: The six physiographic divisions of India.
Find it: NCERT Class 11 India Physical Environment Chapter 2, Figure 2.1
The Himalayas: Ranges, Formation and Features
Formation and Structure
The Himalayas are young fold mountains built of geosynclinal sediments of the Tethys sea, folded by plate collision during the Tertiary period. Their southern edge is marked by the Himalayan Frontal Fault and Main Frontal Thrust, which separate them from the Ganga plain. Rivers such as the Indus, Sutlej and Brahmaputra are antecedent rivers that kept their courses while the mountains rose. The Himalaya is divided into four parallel ranges, counting the Trans-Himalaya.
| Range | Also called | Features |
|---|---|---|
| Trans-Himalaya | Tibetan Himalaya | Karakoram, Ladakh, Zanskar |
| Great Himalaya | Himadri | Oldest and highest; Everest, Kanchenjunga, Nanda Devi |
| Lesser Himalaya | Himachal | Dhauladhar, Pir Panjal, Mussoorie; hill stations |
| Outer Himalaya | Shivalik | Youngest; foothills; mammalian fossils; duns |
- The Himadri is the oldest Himalayan range and the Shivalik the youngest, which formed in the Cenozoic era.
- The Himalayan Frontal Fault separates the Himalaya from the plains, not from Tibet.
- Uttar Pradesh has no Himalayan range, since the hill districts now form Uttarakhand.
- Western Ghats spread over six states, not five.
Order of Ranges
From north to south the ranges run: Karakoram, Ladakh, Zanskar, Pir Panjal, Shivalik. Going northward the sequence is Pir Panjal, Zanskar, Ladakh, Karakoram. The Kashmir valley lies between the Pir Panjal and the Great Himalaya, and the Kullu valley lies in the Beas valley between the Dhauladhar and the Pir Panjal.
Peaks
- Kanchenjunga (8,586 m, Sikkim-Nepal border) is the highest peak in India. K2 lies in Pakistan-administered territory, and Everest lies on the Nepal-Tibet border.
- Nanda Devi (7,816 m, Uttarakhand, Garhwal-Kumaon) is the highest peak lying wholly within India.
IMAGE (Diagram): Cross-section of the Himalaya from the plains to Tibet
Labels: Ganga plain, Terai, Bhabar, Shivalik, Lesser Himalaya, Great Himalaya, Trans-Himalaya, Main Frontal Thrust, Main Boundary Thrust, Main Central Thrust
Caption: The Himalayan ranges and the thrusts that separate them.
Find it: NCERT Class 11 India Physical Environment Chapter 2; Wikimedia Commons 'Himalayan orogeny'
Regional Divisions of the Himalaya
By region, the Himalaya is divided into the Punjab Himalaya (Indus to Sutlej), the Kumaon-Garhwal Himalaya (Sutlej to Kali), the Nepal Himalaya and the Assam Himalaya (Teesta to Dihang). The Kashmir Himalaya holds the karewas, Pleistocene lake deposits known for saffron, and the Banihal Pass across the Pir Panjal. The Western Himalayan region is rich mainly in forests and hydro-power, rather than in minerals.
Himalayan Impact
If there were no Himalaya, Siberian cold waves would sweep across India, the Indo-Gangetic plain would lack its extensive alluvium, and the monsoon pattern would be quite different. The Himalayan region also has the highest concentration of seismic zones because of its thrust faults. Himalayan rivers are perennial, fed by both snow and glacier melt and by monsoon rain.
Himalayan Passes of India
| Pass | State or region | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Zoji La | Jammu and Kashmir (Ladakh) | Links Srinagar and Leh |
| Banihal | Jammu and Kashmir | Pir Panjal; links Jammu and the Kashmir valley |
| Rohtang | Himachal Pradesh | Atal Tunnel passes below it in the Pir Panjal |
| Shipki La | Himachal Pradesh | Sutlej enters India |
| Lipulekh, Mana, Neeti, Kungri Bingri, Muling La | Uttarakhand | Lipulekh route for Kailash Mansarovar |
| Nathu La, Jelep La | Sikkim | Nathu La is about 4,310 m, the highest of the common exam passes |
| Bum La, Bomdila | Arunachal Pradesh | Bum La near Tawang |
Matching questions pair passes with states. The commonest error is Nathu La, which is in Sikkim and not in Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya or Nagaland. Palakkad (Palghat) Gap in Kerala is a south Indian pass, separating the Nilgiris from the Anaimalai.
Himalayan Glaciers and Valleys
| Glacier | Location and river |
|---|---|
| Siachen | Eastern Karakoram, north of the Nubra valley; the largest glacier of the Indian region, about 70 km long; feeds the Nubra river |
| Gangotri | Uttarakhand; source of the Bhagirathi; the largest in Uttarakhand |
| Milam | Kumaon, Pithoragarh; feeds the Gori Ganga |
| Bandarpunch | Source of the Yamuna |
| Bara Shigri | Himachal Pradesh; feeds the Chenab |
| Zemu | Sikkim; feeds the Teesta |
| Chorabari | North of Kedarnath temple, Mandakini |
Notable valleys: Kashmir valley (a synclinorium), Kullu (Beas), Markha (Ladakh), Sangla (Kinnaur), Yumthang (Sikkim), Dzukou (Nagaland-Manipur), Nelang (Uttarakhand), Chumbi (wedge of Tibet between Sikkim and Bhutan), Silent Valley (Kerala, Nilgiri hills, source of the Kunthipuzha) and Araku (Eastern Ghats, near Visakhapatnam). Lake Manasarovar lies in Tibet at the foot of the Kailash range.
- Milam feeds the Gori Ganga, not the Mandakini; Zemu feeds the Teesta, not the Manas.
- Silent Valley lies in the Nilgiris of the Western Ghats, not in the Nallamala range.
Northern Plains: Bhabar, Terai, Bhangar and Khadar
The Northern Plains were built by the Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra and lie in a foredeep in front of the Himalaya. They have four belts from north to south.
- Bhabar: a pebbly piedmont belt at the foot of the Shivaliks where streams sink underground.
- Terai: a damp, marshy and forested belt south of the Bhabar where the streams re-emerge.
- Bhangar: older alluvium, forming higher terraces.
- Khadar: newer alluvium in the active floodplains.
Bhur is a raised sandy ridge of wind-blown origin in the Ganga-Yamuna doab. A doab is the land between two rivers (Punjab), and a char is a river island (Assam). The Imphal basin is a lacustrine plain. The Cauvery delta around Thanjavur is the granary of South India.
Peninsular Plateau and Hill Ranges
The Peninsular Plateau is the oldest and most stable landmass of India, made of Archean gneisses and schists. The Meghalaya plateau, with the Garo, Khasi and Jaintia hills, is a detached part of it. Cherrapunji and Shillong lie in the Khasi hills. The Mikir hills lie in Assam, and the Bhuban hills are not part of the Meghalaya plateau.
Central Highlands and Ranges
- Aravalli: oldest fold mountains of India, a Pre-Cambrian relict range; highest peak Guru Shikhar (Mount Abu).
- Satpura: Mahadeo hills with Dhupgarh (highest peak of Madhya Pradesh, near Pachmarhi), Maikal, merging into the Chota Nagpur plateau. West to east: Satpura, Mahadeo, Maikal, Chota Nagpur.
- Ajanta range: lies in Maharashtra only. Balaghat, Harishchandra and Satmala hills also lie in Maharashtra, while the Mandav hills lie in Madhya Pradesh.
- The Narmada and Tapti flow in old rift valleys, and the Tapti lies south of the Satpura.
Western Ghats
The Western Ghats, also called the Sahyadri in Maharashtra and Karnataka, are the fault-scarp edge of the plateau. They are higher in the south than in the north and run through six states. Anamudi (2,695 m, Anaimalai hills, Kerala) is the highest peak of South India, and Doddabetta is the highest in the Nilgiris. Kodaikanal lies in the Palni hills, and the Cardamom hills lie along the Kerala and Tamil Nadu border at the southern end. The Nilgiris lie at the tri-junction of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, where the Western and Eastern Ghats meet. Salher is the highest peak of the Sahyadri in Maharashtra.
Eastern Ghats
The Eastern Ghats are broken and discontinuous, cut by the Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri, and lower than the Western Ghats. Notable peaks and areas include Mahendragiri (about 1,501 m, Odisha), Deomali (about 1,672 m, Koraput, the highest peak of Odisha), Gali Konda, Sinkram Gutta and Madugula Konda in Andhra Pradesh, Shevaroy hills (Yercaud, Tamil Nadu) and the Anantagiri hills with the Borra Caves near Araku.
IMAGE (Map): Hill ranges and peaks of the Peninsular plateau
Labels: Aravalli, Guru Shikhar, Vindhya, Satpura, Mahadeo, Maikal, Chota Nagpur, Western Ghats, Anamudi, Doddabetta, Eastern Ghats, Mahendragiri, Deomali, Nilgiri, Palni, Cardamom
Caption: Major hills and peaks of Peninsular India.
Find it: NCERT Class 11 India Physical Environment Chapter 2; Survey of India physical map
Highest Peaks by State
| State | Highest peak |
|---|---|
| Kerala | Anamudi |
| Tamil Nadu | Doddabetta |
| Uttarakhand | Nanda Devi |
| Nagaland | Saramati |
| Madhya Pradesh | Dhupgarh |
| Odisha | Deomali |
Coastal Plains, Deltas and Coastline of India
India's coastline, including islands, is about 7,516 km (mainland about 6,100 km). Nine states are coastal: Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal. Gujarat has the longest coastline (about 1,600 km), followed by Andhra Pradesh. Mean sea level for height measurement is taken at Chennai.
| Coast | Extent |
|---|---|
| Konkan | Northern part of the western coastal plain (Maharashtra, Goa) |
| Malabar | Southern part of the western plain (Kerala) |
| Northern Circars / Utkal | Northern part of the eastern plain (Odisha, north Andhra) |
| Coromandel | Krishna delta to Cape Comorin (Kanyakumari) |
The Bengal delta has a moribund, mature and active part. Waves are the chief agent of coastal erosion. At Chandipur in Balasore, Odisha, the sea recedes a few kilometres twice a day, which allows people to walk on the sea floor.
Islands of India
The Andaman and Nicobar group of about 570 islands in the Bay of Bengal is separated by the Ten Degree Channel. Port Blair lies on South Andaman, Saddle Peak (about 732 m) in North Andaman is the highest point, and Great Nicobar is only about 150 km from Sumatra. Barren Island is India's only active volcano. Lakshadweep lies in the Arabian Sea.
Likely Mains Questions on Physiography
- Explain the physiographic divisions of India and how relief influences climate and drainage. (250 words)
- Why is the Himalaya called the climatic divide of the subcontinent? (150 words)
- Compare the Western and Eastern Ghats in origin, height and economic importance. (250 words)
- Discuss the formation and characteristics of the Northern Plains. (150 words)
For mains, pair every landform with its origin, one named example and its economic or climatic role. Use a map or sketch showing ranges, plateaus and coasts.
Odisha Angle: Landforms of Odisha
- Eastern Ghats highlands: Mahendragiri and Deomali (the highest peak of the state, in Koraput) lie in this discontinuous range, which is rich in bauxite.
- Central plateau and Chota Nagpur fringe: ancient Archean rocks with the iron ore belt of Keonjhar, Sundargarh and Mayurbhanj.
- Coastal plain: the Mahanadi delta and the Utkal coastal plain are built of alluvium.
- Chilika lagoon: the largest brackish-water lagoon in India, in Puri, Khordha and Ganjam districts.
- Bhitarkanika mangroves: in the Brahmani-Baitarani delta in Kendrapara, which help reduce cyclone damage.
- Beaches: Gopalpur-on-Sea in Ganjam and Chandipur in Balasore.
The Odisha coast receives many cyclones because of its position on the Bay of Bengal. Mangroves in Bhitarkanika protect the coast but do not cause the cyclones.
Physiography of India MCQ and PYQ Practice
The Himalayas are formed of parallel fold ranges, of which the oldest range is
- the Shivalik Range
- the Lesser Himalayas
- the Great Himalayas Range
- the Dhauladhar Range
Show answer
(c) - The Himadri (Great Himalaya) is the oldest. IAS (Pre) 1994
If there were no Himalayan ranges, what would be the likely impact? 1. Cold waves from Siberia over most of the country. 2. The Indo-Gangetic plain would lack extensive alluvial soils. 3. The monsoon pattern would be different.
- Only 1
- 1 and 3 only
- 2 and 3 only
- 1, 2 and 3
Show answer
(d) - All three effects would follow. IAS (Pre) 2010
Nathu La Pass is situated in which state?
- Arunachal Pradesh
- Assam
- Meghalaya
- Sikkim
Show answer
(d) - Nathu La lies in Sikkim. UPPSC (Pre) 2006
In which part of the Himalayas is the Karewa landform found?
- North-East Himalaya
- Eastern Himalaya
- Himachal-Uttarakhand Himalaya
- Kashmir Himalaya
Show answer
(d) - Karewas are lake deposits of the Kashmir valley. MPPSC (Pre) 2020
Which of the following is the oldest mountain range in India?
- Himalaya
- Aravalli
- Vindhya
- Satpura
Show answer
(b) - The Aravalli is a Pre-Cambrian relict range. RAS/RTS (Pre) 2003
Which of the following is the highest peak of South India?
- Anamudi
- Doddabetta
- Guru Shikhar
- Mahendragiri
Show answer
(a) - Anamudi in the Anaimalai hills, 2,695 m.
The number of coastal states in India is
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
Show answer
(d) - Nine coastal states. IAS (Pre) 2008
At one place in India, the sea recedes a few kilometres twice a day and one can walk on the sea floor. This is seen at
- Bhavnagar
- Bheemunipatnam
- Chandipur
- Nagapattinam
Show answer
(c) - Chandipur in Balasore, Odisha. IAS (Pre) 2017