India Geography Mixed Quiz 5: Himalayan Ranges, Passes, Rivers, Dams, Lakes and Channels (Clerkship 2024)

India's area is about 3.28 million sq km, which is about 2.4% of the world's total land area. India is the seventh largest country by area. 3.28 is the area in million sq km, not a percentage: that is where students slip.

Of the three parallel ranges of the Himalaya, the Shiwalik is the southernmost and the lowest, so it is called the Outer Himalaya. The Himadri is the northernmost and highest range, the Himachal lies in between. The Karakoram belongs to the Trans-Himalaya, north of the Himalaya.

Coming down from the hills, the rivers deposit pebbles in a belt about 8–16 km wide at the foot of the Shiwaliks; this is the Bhabar, where water sinks through the porous gravel. South of it lies the Terai, where the streams re-emerge and form marshes. Bhangar and Khadar are the older and newer alluvium of the plains.

Dhupgarh (about 1,350 m), near Pachmarhi in Madhya Pradesh, is the highest peak of the Satpura Range. The Satpura runs east–west between the Narmada and the Tapi. The Aravalli's highest peak is Guru Shikhar, and the Vindhya lies north of the Narmada.

Shipki La is in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh, on the India–Tibet (China) border; the Sutlej enters India through it. Uttarakhand's passes include Lipulekh and Mana, Sikkim's Nathu La and Jelep La, and Arunachal's Bomdi La.

The Palghat (Palakkad) Gap is the low break in the Western Ghats between the Nilgiri and Anaimalai hills; roads and railways between Kerala and Tamil Nadu run through it. Monsoon winds also pass east through this gap. Two other well-known passes of the Western Ghats, Thal Ghat and Bhor Ghat, are in Maharashtra.

The Dhuandhar Falls are at Bhedaghat near Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, on the Narmada, which flows here through a gorge of marble rocks. The name comes from the smoke-like spray the falling water throws up. The Tapi and the Son also rise in Madhya Pradesh, but these falls are not on them.

The Sutlej rises at Rakas Tal near Mansarovar in Tibet and enters India through Shipki La. The other tributaries of the Indus rise in India: the Beas near the Rohtang Pass, the Jhelum at Verinag in Kashmir, and the Chenab where the Chandra and Bhaga meet in Himachal. The Bhakra-Nangal dam is on the Sutlej.

The Chambal has cut deep gullies and ravines into soft alluvium, the badlands spread over Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The Chambal is a tributary of the Yamuna and rises on the Malwa plateau of Madhya Pradesh. The Gandak and Kosi are Himalayan tributaries of the Ganga, and the Betwa is another tributary of the Yamuna.

The Tapi rises in the Satpura hills near Multai in Betul district of Madhya Pradesh and flows west into the Gulf of Khambhat near Surat. Amarkantak is the source of the Narmada, Trimbakeshwar of the Godavari and Mahabaleshwar of the Krishna. Like the Narmada, the Tapi flows through a rift valley and forms an estuary, not a delta.

Majuli is a river island formed in the Brahmaputra in Assam, the largest in India. The Brahmaputra deposits huge loads of silt in the Assam valley and builds many sandbars and islands, of which Majuli is the biggest. The island is also known for its Vaishnava satras.

Sambhar Lake is in Rajasthan, near Jaipur; it is India's largest inland (away from the sea) salt lake, and salt is made from its water. The Rann of Kutch in Gujarat is a salt marsh, not a lake, and Chilika is a brackish coastal lagoon in Odisha.

The Farakka Barrage stands across the Ganga in Murshidabad district of West Bengal. Its feeder canal sends Ganga water into the Bhagirathi-Hooghly, flushing silt to keep Kolkata port navigable. So the Bhagirathi gets water from the project, but the barrage itself is on the Ganga.

The Nagarjuna Sagar Dam is on the Krishna, on the border of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh; it is one of the country's largest masonry dams. The Tungabhadra is a tributary of the Krishna with its own Tungabhadra Dam in Karnataka. The Godavari and Kaveri are separate rivers.

The Indira Gandhi Canal starts at the Harike Barrage in Punjab (where the Sutlej and Beas meet) and brings irrigation and drinking water to the Thar desert of Rajasthan. It is one of India's longest canals. The canal starts in Punjab, but it is Rajasthan that mainly benefits.

In winter, cyclonic systems from the Mediterranean region, the western disturbances, bring light rain to north-west India and snow to the hills; this rain is very good for the rabi wheat. The north-east monsoon brings winter rain to the Tamil Nadu coast. The loo is the hot dry summer wind, and the nor'westers are summer storms.

During the south-west monsoon the Coromandel coast of Tamil Nadu lies in the rain shadow of the Western Ghats and gets little rain. In October–December the retreating monsoon picks up moisture over the Bay of Bengal and gives this coast most of its yearly rain. Kerala, Gujarat and West Bengal get most of their rain in June–September.

Red soil forms where ancient igneous and metamorphic rocks weather under low rainfall; iron from the rocks spreads through the soil as oxide and colours it red. When hydrated, the same soil looks yellow. Red soil is usually poor in organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus.

South of Minicoy, the Eight Degree Channel separates it from the Maldives; to its north, the Nine Degree Channel separates it from the rest of Lakshadweep. The Ten Degree Channel is in the Bay of Bengal, between the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Palk Strait lies between India and Sri Lanka.