Instant Geography Notes by Disha Publications in English
Instant Geography Notes by Disha Publications in English
Instant Geography Notes by Disha Publications in English
Indian Geography
ISBN : 9789386323002
INFORMATION BULLETIN
1. Official name: Republic of India The Himalayan Mountains
2. Capital: New Delhi The Himalayas are the youngest mountains
3. Nationality: Indian in the world. They are structurally folded
4. Continent: Asia mountains, form an arc of about 2,400
5. Region: South Asia Indian subcontinent km long from west to east. The width
6. Area: Ranked 7th varies from 400 km in Kashmir to 150
•• Total 3,287,263 km2 (1,269,219 sq mi) km in Arunachal Pradesh. The altitudinal
•• Land 90.08% variations are greater in the eastern part
•• Water 9.92% than in the western part. There are four
7. Borders : Total land borders : 15,106.70 parallel ranges in its longitudinal extent.
km (9,386.87 mi) Zaskar range lies west of Himalayas and
•• Bangladesh: 4,096.70 km (2,545.57 mi) Indus gorge is beyond it.
Bordering States - West Bengal, Assam, The Great or Inner Himalayas
Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram It is known as ‘Himadri, it is the most
•• C hina (PRC) : 3,488 km (2,167 mi) continuous range with loftiest peaks.
Bordering States - Jammu & Kashmir, Average height of peaks here is 6,000
Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, meters. Asymmetrical folds having granite
and Arunachal Pradesh) in the core are snow covered throughout
•• Pakistan: 2,910 km (1,808 mi) the year.
Bordering States- Jammu and Kashmir, The Lesser Himalayas or Himachal
Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan This lies south of the Great Himalayas and
and Gujarat north of Shiwalik with altitude varying from
•• Nepal: 1,751 km (1,088 mi) 3,700 m to 4,500 m. Average width of this
Bordering States – Bihar, Uttarakhand, range is 60-80 km. This range is mainly
Uttar Pradesh, Sikkim, and West Bengal composed of highly compressed and altered
•• Myanmar: 1,643 km (1,021 mi) rocks. Pir Panjal, Dhaula Dhar, Mahabharat
Bordering States – Manipur and and Mussorie ranges are found as we move
Nagaland west to east.
•• Bhutan: 699 km (434 mi) The Shiwaliks or the Outer Himalayas
Bordering States: West Bengal, Sikkim, It is an outermost range and is also known
Arunachal Pradesh, Assam as lesser Himalayas. The altitude varies
8. Highest point: K2 or Godwin Austin between 900 - 1100 km and the width
(claimed) 8,611 m (28,251.3 ft) varies between 10 -50 km in this range.
Kangchenjunga (administered) 8,598 m The longitudinal valleys lying between the
(28,208.7 ft) Himachal and Shiwaliks are called ‘Dun’ and
9. Lowest point: Kuttanad; –2.2 m (–7.2 ft) are composed of unconsolidated sediments.
10. Longest river: Ganges, Brahmaputra Trans Himalayas
11. Largest lake: Chilka Lake (Odisha) It includes Karakoram and Ladakh Ranges.
Karakoram Range (Krishnagiri) lies north
Major Physiographic Divisons
of Indus. Extended from Pamir crossing
The landmass of India can be divided into Gilgit river reaches Ladakh. Elevation
following major physiographic divisions. is above 5500 m and width is 120-140
The Himalayan Mountain, Northern plain, Km. Ladakh Range is situated in Kashmir
Peninsular plateau, Indian desert, Coastal between Indus and its tributary Shyok.
plains, the islands. Highest peak is Mt. Rakaposhi (7880).
Valleys in India
The Highest peak is Andaman and Nicobar Island is the Saddle Peak.
Quartz is the chief rock that has formed the Aravalli Ranges.
The highest range of the western ghats is called the Sahyadri Range.
NATURAL VEGETATION
Natural Vegetations or the forest type of India vary from place to place depending upon
several factors such as climate, soil, rainfall, temperature as well as their seasonal variation
along with varied edaphic and biotic conditions. Various botanist and ecologist have given
different classification on the basis of climatic and adaptive factors. On the basis of such
suggestion a generalised classification can be done with 5 main types and 16 sub types of
vegetation.
Nubra Valley lies in the Ladakh Valley is a high altitude cold desert.
LANGUAGES
According to the schedule eight of our constitution, there are 22 officially recognized
languages in India; among all, Hindi dominates the scene as it is spoken by 41.03% of people
followed by Bengali (8.11 %), Telugu (7.19 %), Marathi (6.99), Tamil (5.91 %) and Urdu
(5.01%). Sanskrit, Bodo, Manipur, Dogri and Konkani are the languages which have least
speakers in India. Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santhali were added to the Eighth Schedule
with the passing of the 100th Amendment to the Constitution of India in 2003, taking the
The little Andaman and the South Andaman is separated by the Duncan Passage.
AGRICULTURE IN INDIA
A wide range of crops can be grown in (iii)Lower Gangetic Plain Region
India as the land is supported by element Located in West Bengal (except the
essential for crop growth such as relief,
hilly areas), eastern Bihar and the
soil, climate, abundant sunshine and long
growing seasons. Brahmaputra valley lie in this region
with the rainfall of 100 cm-200 cm. Rice
Kinds of Crops is the main crop which at times yields
The major Indian crop can be divided into three successive crops (Aman, Aus and
following categories: Boro) in a year. Jute, maize, potato, and
Food crops pulses are other important crops.
Rice, Wheat, Maize, Millet, Jower, Bajra, (iv) Middle Gangetic Plain Region
Ragi, and pulses like Gram, Tur (Arhar) Large parts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar
Cash crops are covered and receive 100 cm and
Cotton, Jute, Sugarcane, Tobacco, Oilseeds, 200 cm of rainfall. Rice, maize, millets
Ground Nut, Linseed, Sesame, Castor seed, grow in kharif; wheat, gram, barley,
Rapeseed, Mustard peas, mustard and potato in rabi are
Plantation crops important crops.
Tea, Coffee, Spices, Cardamom, Ginger, Turmeric, (v) Upper Gangetic Plains Region
Coconut, Areca nut and Rubber Central and western parts of Uttar
Horticulture Pradesh and Haridwar and Udham Nagar
Apple, Peach, Pear, Apricot, Almond, districts of Uttarakhand fall into it. Rainfall
Strawberry, Walnut, Mango, Banana, Citrus is between 75 cm-150 cm. Wheat, rice,
Fruit, Vegetables. sugarcane, millets, maize, gram, barley,
oilseeds, pulses and cotton are the main
Agro-climatic Regions
crops.
(i) Western Himalayan Region (vi) Trans-Ganga Plains Region
Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh
Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi
and the hill region of Uttarakhand fall
into it. Valley floors grow rice, while and the Ganganagar district of
the hilly tracts grow maize in the kharif Rajasthan come under it. Rainfall
season. Winter crops are barley, oats, varies between 65 cm and 125 cm.
and wheat. Apple orchards and other The main crops are wheat, sugarcane,
temperate fruitls such as peaches, cotton, rice, gram, maize, millets,
apricot, pears, cherry, almond, litchis, pulses and oilseeds etc. The region
walnut, etc. Saffron is grown in this faces the threat of water logging,
region. salinity, alkalinity, soil erosion and fall
(ii) Eastern Himalayan Region of water table.
Arunachal Pradesh, hills of Assam, (vii) Eastern Plateau and Hills
Sikkim, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur,
Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and
Mizoram, Tripura, and the Darjeeling
district of West Bengal come into this Dandakaranya come under it. 80 cm-
region. Annual rainfall is 200-400 cm. 150 cm of annual rainfall is received.
The main crops are rice, maize, potato, Rice, millets, maize, oilseeds, ragi, gram,
tea. Orchards of pineapple, litchi, potato, tur, groundnut and soyabean
oranges and lime are also found. grow on rainfed areas.
The largest reserves of Kyanite are found in the Lapsa Buru area in Jharkhand.
AGRO-CLIMATIC
ZONES OF INDIA
Mining and Smelting of copper in India are managed by Hindustan Copper Ltd (HCL).
MINERALS IN INDIA
Minerals are the natural resources which are materials, cement materials, clay, chromite,
used in many industries as raw materials. Iron lime, dolomite, and gold, but deficient in
ore, manganese, bauxite, copper, etc. are such copper, lead, mercury, zinc, tin, nickel,
minerals. petroleum products, rock phosphate,
Minerals are of two types: metallic and non- sulphur, and tungsten.
metallic. Iron ore and copper are metallic Mineral resources like potassium are totally
minerals while limestone and dolomite are absent and have to be imported. Minerals
non-metallic minerals. like crude petroleum (which accounts
Metallic minerals are further sub-divided into
for about 80% of the total value of Indian
ferrous and non-ferrous minerals. Those
metallic minerals which have iron content imports), diamonds (uncut), sulphur, and rock
belong to ferrous group. The metallic minerals phosphorus are imported.
belonging to non-ferrous group do not have The state with the highest mineral output is
iron content. Jharkhand. India is rich in ferrrous metals
India is rich in iron, mica, manganese, but its reserves of non-ferrous metals are
bauxite; self sufficient in antimony, building poor.
Mineral Resources
Aluminium - Kerala.
Antimony - Antimony deposits are found in Punjab and Karnataka.
Asbestos - Karnataka and Rajasthan.
Barytes (Barium - Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Manbhum and Singhbhum districts of
Sulphate) Jharkhand.
Bauxite - Ranchi and Palamau districts of Jharkhand, Belgaum, Jharia and Thana
districts of Maharashtra, Balaghat, Jabalpur, Mandya and Bilaspur
districts of Chhattisgarh.
Beryllium Sands - Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Kashmir and Bihar.
Cement - Katni (M.P.), Lakheri (Rajasthan), Jabalpur (M.P.), Guntur (Andhra
Pradesh), Jhinikapani (Singhbhum district of Jharkhand), Surajpur
(Haryana).
China Clay - Rajmahal Hills, Singhbhum (district of Jharkhand), Kerala.
Chromite - Singhbhum and Bhagalpur (Jharkhand), Ratnagiri, Salem (Tamil Nadu),
Karnataka, Keonjhar (Odisha), Ladakh (Kashmir).
Coal - Raniganj (West Bengal), Jharia, Bokaro (Jharkhand), Giridih, Karanpur,
Panch Valley and Chanda (M.P.), Singareni (Andhra Pradesh) and Mukum
(Assam).
Cobalt - Rajasthan and Kerala.
Copper - Jharkhand (Singhbhum and Barajamda), Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan (Khetri).
Diamond - Diamond mines are found in Panna district of Madhya Pradesh, Raipur
district of Chhattisgarh.
Feldspar - Burdwan (West Bengal), Rewa (M.P.), Tiruchirapalli (Tamil Nadu), Alwar
and Ajmer.
Gold - Kolar gold-fields (Karnataka).
Graphite - Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka,
Odisha and Kerala.
Gypsum - Bikaner and Jodhpur (Rajasthan), Tiruchirapalli (Tamil Nadu), Gujarat
and Himachal Pradesh.
Cuttack and Keonjhar district have the largest amount of chromite reserves.
CENSUS 2011
The 15th Indian National census was According to the provisional reports
conducted in two phases, houselisting and released on March 31, 2011, the Indian
population enumeration. Information for population increased to 1.21 billion with a
National Population Register was also decadal growth of 17.64%. Adult literacy
rate increased to 70.04% with a decadal
collected in the first phase, which will be
growth of 9.21%.
used to issue a 12-digit unique identification Information on castes was included in the
number to all registered Indians by Unique census following demands from several
Identification Authority of India. ruling coalition and opposition parties.
Census Data
Population Statistics
Total Population 1,21,01,93,422 (persons)
Males 62,37,24,248
Females 58,64,69,174
Ratio 940 Females/1000 Males
The chief producer of kyanite in India is the Indian Copper Corporation Ltd.
Highest/Lowest Population
State with Highest Population Uttar Pradesh 166,197,921
State with Lowest Population Sikkim 540,851
UT with Highest Population Delhi 13,850,507
UT with Lowest Population Lakshadweep 60,650
District with Highest Population Medinipur (West Bengal) 9,610,788
District with Lowest Population Yanam (Pondicherry) 31,394
Population Density Persons/Sq. Km.
India 325
State with highest Population Density West Bengal 903
State with lowest Poxpulation Density Arunachal Pradesh 13
UT with Highest Population Density Delhi 9,340
UT with Lowest Population Density Andaman & Nicobar Islands 43
District with Highest Population Density North East (Delhi) 29,468
District with Lowest Population Density Lahul & Spiti (Himachal Pradesh) 2
Sex Ratio (Females per Thousand Males)
India 940
Rural 946
Urban 900
State with Highest Female Sex Ratio Kerala 1,058
State with Lowest Female Sex Ratio Haryana 861
UT with Highest Female Sex Ratio Pondicherry 1,001
UT with Lowest Female Sex Ratio Daman & Diu 710
District with Highest Female Sex Ratio Mahe (Pondicherry) 1,147
District with Lowest Female Sex Ratio Daman (Daman & Diu) 591
Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes Population
Population Percentage
Scheduled Castes 166,635,700 16.2%
Scheduled Tribes 84,326,240 8.2%
Scheduled Castes
State with highest proportion of Scheduled Castes Punjab (28.9%)
State with lowest proportion of Scheduled Castes Mizoram (0.03%)
UT with highest proportion of Scheduled Castes Chandigarh (17.5%)
UT with lowest proportion of Scheduled Castes D&N Haveli (1.9%)
District with highest proportion of Scheduled Castes Koch-Bihar (50.1%)
District with lowest proportion of Scheduled Castes Mizoram (0.01%)