Physiographic Divisions of India - UPSC

Sikkim shares international boundaries with Bhutan, China, and Nepal. Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, and Mizoram share an international boundary with Myanmar.

• The latitude approximately 23°27′ N of the terrestrial equator is called tropic of cancer.
• There are 17 countries(Including Taiwan) through which the tropic of cancer passes.
• The tropic of cancer is the only latitude pass through India.
• The tropic of cancer passes through 8 Indian states.
• The 8 Indian states through which tropic of cancer passes through are:
  1. Gujarat
  2. Rajasthan.
  3. Madhya Pradesh.
  4. Chhatisgarh.
  5. Jharkhand.
  6. West Bengal.
  7. Tripura.
  8. Mizoram.

Important Points

• Mahi River is the only river in India that cuts the Tropic of Cancer twice.
• "Bhopal (capital of Madhya Pradesh)” and “Gandhinagar (capital of Gujarat)” is also located fairly close to the “Tropic of Cancer”.  
• Tropic of Cancer passes through 17 countries, 3 Continents, 6 water bodies.

Zoji La Pass

• It is in the Zaskar range in the Indian union territory of Ladakh.
• The road route from Srinagar to Leh goes through this pass.
• It has been created by the Indus River.

• Over 8 Indian states do the Deccan Plateau extend.
• The Deccan Plateau covers the majority of the southern part of the country.
• It is located between three mountain ranges and extends over eight Indian states. 
  1. Telangana
  2. Maharashtra
  3. Karnataka
  4. Andhra Pradesh
  5. Kerala 
  6. Tamil Nadu
  7. It also covers some parts of Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh.
• These mountain ranges rise from their respective nearby coastal plains and nearly meet at the southern tip of India.
• The plateau is very big and there are many habitats:
  • different Ecosystems with different sorts of vegetation, climate, geology, and animals.
• The plateau covers 422,000 square kilometers (163,000 sq mi), 43 percent of India's landmass.

• Lakshadweep is the smallest union territory of India.
• It consists of 36 islands with an area of 32 sq km.
• It's made up of 12 atolls, 3 reefs, and 5 submerged banks out of which ten Islands are inhabited.
• Lakshadweep is formerly known as Laccadive Islands.
• The name Lakshadweep in Malayalam and Sanskrit means ‘a hundred thousand islands’.
• Kavaratti is the capital of Lakshadweep.
• Minicoy is the second-largest and southernmost island and Andrott Island is the largest of the group.
• Minicoy is separated from the rest of the Lakshadweep by a Nine-degree channel.
• The eight-degree channel separates the Lakshadweep group from the Maldives.

Hence the correct answer is North of Nubra Valley

• Satpura Range is a part of the Deccan plateau in India.
  • Satpura is a series of seven mountains.
  • It is located in western India.
  • Satpura Range passes through the Indian states of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
  • It is located parallel to the Vindhya range.
  • The Satpura region includes the Barwani hills to the west, Mahadeo Hills to the north, and the Maikal Range to the east.
  • The Maikal range joins Vindhya and Satpura ranges.
  • Pachmarhi hill station is located in the Satpura range.
  • Dhupgarh(1,350 m) is the highest peak in the Satpura range.

India shares its border with seven countries

• Afghanistan and Pakistan to the North-West
• China, Bhutan, and Nepal to the North
• Myanmar to the far East and Bangladesh to the East.

• India has a coastline of 7516.6 Km [6100 km of mainland coastline + coastline of 1197 Indian islands] touching 13 States and Union Territories (UTs).
• On the basis of the location and active geomorphological processes, it can be broadly divided into two:
  1. the western coastal plains;
  2. the eastern coastal plains.
• Extending from the Gujarat coast in the north to the Kerala coast in the south, the western coast may be divided into following divisions – the Kachchh and Kathiawar coast in Gujarat,
  1. Konkan coast in Maharashtra,
  2. Goan coast and in Karnataka,
  3. Malabar coast  Kerala.
  4. The western coastal plains are narrow in the middle and get broader towards north and south.
  5. The rivers flowing through this coastal plain do not form any delta.
  6. The Malabar coast has got certain distinguishing features in the form of ‘Kayals’ (backwaters), which are used for fishing, inland navigation and also due to its special attraction for tourists.
  7. Every year the famous Nehru Trophy Vallamkali (boat race) is held in Punnamada Kayal in Kerala.
• Eastern coast extends from the Subarnarekha river along the West Bengal-Odisha border to Kanyakumari.
  1. This plain is known as the Northern Circars between the Mahanadi and the Krishna rivers and Carnatic/Coromandel between the Krishna and the Cauvery rivers.
  2. As compared to the western coastal plain, the eastern coastal plain is broader and is an example of an emergent coast.
  3. There are well developed deltas here, formed by the rivers flowing eastward in to the Bay of Bengal.
  4. These include the deltas of the Mahanadi, the Godavari, the Krishna and the Kaveri.
  5. Because of its emergent nature, it has less number of ports and harbours.

• The Minicoy Island is the southern-most island of Lakshadweep.
• It is situated at a distance of 398 km (215 nautical miles) south-west of Kochi between 8° 15′ and 8° 20′ N latitude and 73° 01′ and 73° OS’ E longitude.
• It has an area of 4.80 sq km.
• This island lies near the 9⁰ Channel.

India International Boundaries

• India has 15,106.7 km of land border and a coastline of 7,516.6 Km including island territories.
• In total, India shares land borders with 7 sovereign countries and Bangladesh is one of those.
• Indian states that share borders with Bangladesh are Assam, West Bengal, Mizoram, Meghalaya, and Tripura.
• Seven countries share the boundaries with India. In Northwest there lies Afghanistan and Pakistan, In the North, India, is bound with China, Bhutan and Nepal, to far east India, is surrounded by Myanmar and Bangladesh to the east. Among all these the longest border is shared by Bangladesh.
• Border Line share between India and Bangladesh is 4096.7 Km.
• It is the fifth-longest land border in the world.
• India and Bangladesh share one of the longest borders in the world and it covers an area of 1,43,998 sq km and along with a coastline of 580 km. Hence, Option 2 is correct.
• The two countries share 54 common rivers.
• Bangladesh is a vital trading partner for India.
• Cultural and linguistic exchanges are key factors for the bond of friendship between the people of two countries.
• Rajshahi, Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Rangpur, and Sylhet are the Bangladeshi states that share their borders with India.
• India- Afghanistan border shares a length of 106 km.

• Gipmochi mountain is also known as Gyemo Chen.
• Gyemo Chen is called The Great Queen in the local language.
• It is a part of the Greater Himalayas.
• The mountain is located at the tri-junction of China, Bhutan and Indian.

• Lakshadweep is India’s smallest Union Territory. Our country, Indian consists of 28 states and 8 union territories.
• The union territory is not an independent unit but is run by the administrators appointed by the President of India.
• About Lakshadweep:
  1. The Kavaratti is the capital of the Union Territory Lakshadweep in India.
  2. India’s smallest Union Territory Lakshadweep is an archipelago consisting of 36 islands with an area of 36 sq km.² only Hence option 4 is correct.
  3. The population on this island is approximately 65,000.

Marina Beach is the longest beach in India.

• Marina beach is located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
• It lies along the Bay of Bengal.
• Marina Beach is also the world’s second-longest beach.
• The beach was renovated by Governor Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff in the 1880s. 
• Two prominent statues of Mahatma Gandhi is situated on the Marina beach.
• Marina Beach is one of the most crowded beaches in India.

• Minicoy Island is separated from the Lakshadweep by Nine degrees Channel. 
• The Union Territory of Lakshadweep is formed by islands like Kalpeni and Suheli Par, and Maliku Atoll and Amindivi.
•  It is so named because it lies on the 9-degree line of Latitude to the north of the equator.

• The Eastern Ghats run almost parallel to the east coast of India leaving broad plains between their base and the coast.
• It is a chain of highly broken and detached hills starting from the Mahanadi in Odisha to the Vagai in Tamil Nadu.
• They almost disappear between the Godavari and the Krishna.
• The Eastern Ghats reappear as more or less a continuous hill range in Cuddapah and Kurnool districts of Andhra Pradesh where they are called as Nallamala Range with a general elevation of 600-850 m.
  1. Located south of the Krishna River, the hills run north to south, parallel to the Coromandel Coast on the Bay of Bengal.
  2. The rugged, sparsely populated hills are composed for the most part of jumbled quartzites and slates and exemplify the mountain scenery of the Eastern Ghats.
• The southern part of this range is called the Palkonda range.
  1. The hills trend northwest to southeast and form the central part of the Eastern Ghats.
  2. Geologically, they are relicts of ancient mountains formed during the Cambrian Period that were subsequently eroded by the Penneru River and its tributaries.
• Javadi Hills, range of hills, one of the larger of the Eastern Ghats, in northern Tamil Nadu state, southeastern India.
  1. Their steep southeastern flanks are forested with sandalwood.
  2. The hills are sparsely populated.
  3. Grains, legumes, and oilseeds are the chief crops.
• Shevaroy Hills, an outlying range of the Eastern Ghats, north-central Tamil Nadu state, southern India.
• Coffee is extensively grown on the plateau.

The correct option is Mahoba.

• Mahoba district belongs to the Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh.
• Sonbhadra is not a district under the Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh.
• Sonbhadra or Sonebhadra is the 2nd largest district of Uttar Pradesh.
• Sonbhadra is the only district in India which borders four states namely Madhya Pradesh, Chhattishgarh Jharkhand, and Bihar.
• Sonbhadra district is an industrial zone and it has lots of minerals like bauxite.
• The Bundelkhand region has an area of around 70,000 sq km.
• Bundelkhand comprises seven districts of southern Uttar Pradesh and six districts of northern Madhya Pradesh.

Vindhya Range: 

• The elevation of the Vindhyan Range is 300 to 650 m.
• Vindhya Range is mostly composed of horizontally bedded sedimentary rocks of ancient age.
• It acts as a watershed between the Ganga system and the river systems of South India.
• Rivers like Chambal, Betwa, and Ken rise from Vindhya Range.
• The Betwa river is a tributary of Yamuna.
• Betwa river flows in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

• Arunachal Pradesh is the easternmost state of India.
• The easternmost point in India is Kibithu.
  • Kibithu is a town in the Anjaw district of Arunachal Pradesh state.
  • It is located on the LAC (line of actual control).
• Gujarat is the westernmost state of India.
  • Ghuar Mota in the Kutch region of Gujarat is the westernmost point in India.
• Tamilnadu is the southernmost state of India.
  • Indira Point is the Southernmost point of land in the territory of India.
• Indira Col is the northernmost point of land in the territory of India. 
• Kanyakumari is the southernmost town in mainland India.

• The northern part of the Western Coastal Plain of India is known as the Konkan coast.
• It extends from Daman to Goa.
• Rice and cashew are mostly grown here.