SOUTHASIA.pptVIP

SOUTH ASIA Geography 200 Dr. Stavros Constantinou INDIA The name India comes from the Sanskrit word sindhu which was used to identify the ancient civilization in the Indus Valley. This word became sinthos in Greek descriptions of the area and then sindus in Latin. Corrupted to indus (means river), it was applied to what constitutes todays Pakistan. Subsequently it was again modified to India to refer generally to the land of river basins and clusters of peoples from the Indus River in the west to the Brahmaputra River in the east. INDIA: LOCATION AND SIZE India is located between 8° N and 37° N. The Tropic of Cancer passes through northern India. Such cities as Ahmadabad, Kolkata (Calcutta), Karachi, Bhopal and Dhaka are located close to the tropic. India, the worlds seventh largest country, has an area of 3,286,170 sq km (1,269,340 sq mi) which represents 2.2 percent of the total land area of the planet (57,900,000 sq mi). INDIA: LANDFORMS There are three main landform regions in South Asia: Alpine chains, sedimentary covers, and Gondwana Shield. Alpine system: The Himalayas form a major barrier to the movements of air masses north and south and exceed 6,096 m (20,000 ft) in several locations. Mount Everest (Nepal: Sagarmatha; Tibetan: Chomolungma) is the world’s highest mountain at 8,848 m (29,035 ft). The climate ranges from tropical lowlands to Arctic conditions in the high altitudes of Mount Everest and other peaks. The Karakoram Pass provides access from north-central India through the Himalayan and Hindu Kush mountains. The Khyber Pass in the west was used by invading groups. Population in the Himalayas is limited except in the Vale of Kashmir and in Nepal (25,200,000 people). Bhutan has 900,000 and Sikkim less than one million. Sikkim has been incorporated into India and is one of its provinces. Rice and wheat are the dominant grain crops. INDIA: LANDFORMS Sedimentary covers: The riverine plains of the Indus, the Ganges (kn