Mountains and Rivers

India can be divided into four geographical regions: the Himalayan north, the Indo-Gangetic plain, the southern peninsula - Deccan plateau, and the dry northwestern desert area.

There are three rivers that originate in the Himalayas. The Ganges, which is considered as the holiest river for Hindus, runs from the Himalayan mountain to the Bay of Bengal through Varanasi and Bengal. This region is known as the Indo-Gangetic plain. Because of the abundant water supply, this region has rich alluvial soil and is the most densely populated region in India. The Brahmaputra, flows through Eastern India into Bangladesh while the Indus river flows towards Pakistan.

The Deccan plateau is a large area of raised land bordered on the west by the Western Ghats and on the east by the Eastern Ghats. There are four major rivers that supports the wetlands of this region. They are, Cauvery, Godavari, Krishna and Mahanadi. While the rivers in the Himalayan range are snow fed, these rivers are rain fed and hence the volume of these rivers fluctuate season to season.

Though the coast line is long, there are few natural harbours such as Tamluk in the east, Kaveripatnum in the south, and Lothal in the west. Due to changes along the coastline, these harbours are landlocked today.

The Vindhya mountains and the Narmada river separate the south from the north resulting in different courses of history for these two regions.

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