“India: A destination for all seasons and all reasons”.

Discuss the
statement elaborating the geographical features of India.

India, country that occupies the greater part of South Asia is a constitutional republic consisting of
28 states, each with a substantial degree of control over its own affairs; 9 less fully empowered union
territories; and the Delhi national capital territory, India’s capital. With roughly one-sixth of the
world’s total population, India is the second most-populous country, after China. It is known from
archaeological evidence that a highly sophisticated urbanized culture—the Indus civilization—
dominated the northwestern part of the subcontinent from about 2600 to 2000 BCE. India remains
one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the world. Apart from its many religions and sects,
India is home to innumerable castes and tribes.
India is geographically and climatically very diverse. All across the northern frontier, we have the
Himalayas, permanently capped with ice and blocking the cold catabiotic winds from freezing the
Northern plains in the winter, and allowing most of India to enjoy a perennially warm weather
(tailormade for perennial agriculture). In the northwest, we have the Thar Desert which along with
the sweltering Northern plains in the Summer, creates a low-pressure trough, and attract the
monsoon winds, thousands of miles away from the Indian Ocean, collecting the moisture and
eventually raining as monsoon for 4 months, destroying the heat. When the monsoon retreats, it
collects moisture from the Bay of Bengal and blesses parts of South India, which is otherwise
deprived during its onset. The winter is mild in most of the country, and freezing temperatures are
almost unheard of, except for parts of Punjab, Rajasthan and the Himalayan regions (Jammu and
Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Northern Uttarakhand, Northern Arunachal Pradesh). This is the
climatic phenomenon of India. The weather in the different parts of India vary with altitude, latitude
and distance from the ocean.
The country's landmass is divided into four fairly clear regions:
Northern mountain region:
Indo-Gangetic Plain:
Desert area :
Southern peninsula
It is bordered by Pakistan the north-west, China, Bhutan and Nepal to the north, Myanmar to the east
and Bangladesh to the east of West Bengal. Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Indonesia are island nations
to the south of India. Also surrounding the country is the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Arabian Sea in
the west and the Indian Ocean in the south.
India can be organized along the compass points:
North India, shaped like a throat and two lungs, is the country's largest region. It begins with the
panhandle of Jammu and Kashmir, a dynamic area with terrain varying from arid mountains in the
far north to the lake country and forests near Sringar and Jammu. Falling south along the Indus river
valley, the North becomes flatter and more hospitable, widening into the fertile plains of Punjab to
the west and the Himalayan foothills of Uttar Pradesh and the Ganges river valley to the East.
Cramped between these two states is the capital city, Delhi. The southwestern extremity of the North
is the large state of Rajastan, whose principal features are the Thar Desert and the stunning "pink
city" of Jaipur. To the southeast is southern Uttar Pradesh and Agra, home of the famous Taj Mahal.
West India contains the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, and part of the massive, central state of
Madhya Pradesh. The west coast extends from the Gujarat peninsula down to Goa, and it is lined with
some of India's best beaches. The land along the coast is typically lush, with rainforests reaching
southward from Bombay all the way to into Goa. A long mountain chain, the Western Ghats, separates
the verdant coast from the Vindya Mountains and the dry Deccan plateau further inland.
Home of the sacred Ganges River and the majority of Himalayan foothills, East India begins with the
states of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, which comprise the westernmost part of the region. East
India also contains an area known as the eastern triangle, which is entirely distinct. This is the last
gulp of land that extends beyond Bangladesh, culminating in the Naga Hills along the Burmese border.
India reaches its peninsular tip with South India, which begins with the Deccan in the north and ends
with Cape Comorin, where Hindus believe that bathing in the waters of the three oceans will wash
away their sins. The states in South India are Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala, a
favorite leisure destination. The southeast coast, mirroring the west, also rests snugly beneath a
mountain range of the Eastern Ghats.
India, also popularly known as Bharat or Hindustan, offers big regional variations in its climate, from
cool mountain pastures beside the glaciers, through windy plateau, to warm river valleys and burning
deserts. This diversity in the climatic conditions throughout the country is also reflected in its rich
flora and fauna.
India is a land of dreams in which about a seventh of our world’s population resides. It is also a
country which has one of the richest and most vivid histories and heritage.