Plateau lands are special places on Earth. They are like flat areas but on a raised platform. The surface of a plateau is not smooth like a plain. It has rough and uneven slopes. That's why some people also call plateaus "Table Lands" because they look like giant tables.
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In India, there are flat lands called plateaus located to the south of the northern plains. On the sides of these plateaus, there are hilly areas known as the Ghats.
Southern Plateau shown on the map
The Central Highlands are in the middle of the southern plateaus. They have two important plateaus. One is called the Malwa Plateau in the northwest, and the other is the Chotanagpur Plateau in the northeast.
The Deccan Plateau stretches from the Narmada River down to the bottom of India.
A number of rivers flow through the Plateau region.
Nagarjuna Sagar Dam
The climate is neither very hot nor very cold. The temperatures do not show much difference over the years. Rainfall is low except in the western parts.
A number of minerals are found, including mica, coal, iron and manganese.
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Chapter Notes: The Southern Plateaus
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In between the Narmada and Krishna rivers lies the Central Plateau. The region is rich in black soil. The soil is very fertile and suited for the cultivation of cotton.
Cotton Cultivation in India
The southern plateaus cover many states like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Maharashtra. These areas have a lot of valuable minerals like coal, iron, copper, and manganese, so mining is a big deal. People also do farming, growing crops like wheat, rice, millets, groundnuts, cotton, and sugarcane.
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- Plateau lands are flat but on a raised platform.
- Plateau lands lie to the south of the northern plains. The southern Plateaus form the triangular south with Kanyakumari as the southernmost point.
- Rivers in the plateau region are rainfed and dry up in summer. Most rivers in the Plateau region flow eastwards.
- Tank irrigation is most common in the Plateau region.
- A number of dams have been built on the rivers to store water and run Hydel plants.
- The Plateau region is rich in minerals.
- The black soil of the valleys is most suited for the cultivation of cotton. Rice is also cultivated in the fertile river valleys.
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1. What are the Southern Plateaus? | ![]() |
2. Which rivers flow through the Plateau region? | ![]() |
3. What is the climate like in the Plateau region? | ![]() |
4. What minerals are found in the Plateau region? | ![]() |
5. What is the cultural and economic significance of the Southern Plateaus? | ![]() |