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Physical Features of India
Physical Features of India
CLASS 9 - CHAPTER 2
India has all major physical features of the Earth, i.e., mountains, plains, deserts, plateaus, and
islands.
India has varied physical features whose formation can be explained on the basis of the ‘Theory
of Plate Tectonics’. According to the theory of Plate Tectonics, the seven major and minor
plates that form the Earth’s crust keep moving, causing stress and thus leading to folding,
faulting and volcanic activity.
The physical features of India can be grouped under the following physiographic divisions:
The Himalayas are young-fold mountains which are the loftiest and one of the most rugged
mountain barriers of the world.
The Himalayas are 2400 km long, 400 km to 150 km wide from Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh
respectively.
The Himalayas have three parallel ranges in the longitudinal extent namely:
The Islands
The Lakshadweep Islands group in the Arabian Sea is close to Kerala.
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are the two island groups in Bay of Bengal. Andaman Island
consists of 204 small islands.
India’s only active volcano, Barren Island is situated here.
All the landforms are important for India and they play their part in India’s economy and
culture.