Upload
frederica-lawrence
View
220
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
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