TOPIC

GEOGRAPHY OF THE INDO-GANGETIC PLAIN

PRESENTER

NAZIFI UMARRegistration Number 11212533

TABLE OF CONTENTTITLE

PAGETOPIC

1PRESENTER

2CONTENT

3 AIM

4 INTRODUCTION

5DEFINITION OF SOME TERMS 8

EVOLUTION OF INDO-GANGETIC PLAIN 16DIVITIONS OF ENDO-GANGETIC PLAIN 18REGIONS OF ENDO-GANGETIC PLAIN 23

POPULATION 28

ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE 30MAJOR CITIES

36STATES OF THE REGION

37CONCLUSION

39 REFERENCE

40

AIM

The central aim to this research is to explore the major Geographical concepts associated with the Great plain of Northern India(Indo-gangetic )

INTRODUCTION

According to Geography of world affairs ‘Geography is the study of what happen, at where, why it happen and where somewhere is in relation to somewhere else’. From this concise definition we found that spatial distribution of natural phenomena, reasons of their occurrence and general concepts related to their existence is termed Geography. In the attempt of discovering the distribution of various phenomena Geographers develop Regional geography.

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There are hard-to-count number of regions among which is Physiographic regions. Among physiographic regions we have Fluvial regions. Fluvial region is a region that is dominated by the action of rivers from head to mouth with respect to their Erosion, Transportation, Deposition And the resultant features.

This presentation focus on the study of Indo-gangetic plain region of India, as a Fluvial region.

DEFINITION OF SOME TERMS

INDUSIndus is a word that originate from Sanskrit language ‘Sindhu’ the name with which they call the river sind ‘Urdu’.The name is now a proper noun given to the River that flow from south-western Tibet in elevation of about 5500m to Arabian Sea in south-south east of Karachi in Pakistan with length of 2900km.

GANGA

Ganga or Ganges is a Hindi word that nominate the River which flow from Southern Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand at an elevation of about 3892m to the bay of Bengal in Bangladesh covering the length of about 2525km.

PLAIN

Plain is a word that is attributed to the end product of planation which in some sense called planation surface. The termplanation surface or plain has been used in a generalsense to describe all extensive erosionalsurfaces, whether they be PENEPLAINS, PEDIPLAINS,PANPLAINS, ETCH PLAINS or the product ofmarine planation. In a more concise, plain can be defined ‘’as any relatively level area of the Earth's surface exhibiting gentle slopes and small local relief’’. Plains vary widely in size. The smallest occupy only a few hectares, whereas the largest cover hundreds of thousands of square kilometres—as, for example, the Great Plains of north India.

INDO-GANGETIC PLAIN

Indo-gangetic plain is a name given to the great plain that lies to the south of the shuwalik and north of the Himalayas in the Indian peninsular. It is an Aggradational plain formed by the Alluvial deposits of Indus river, Ganges river and as well Brahmaputra river together with their tributaries.It has the length of about 2400km from West to East and average width of 90km where it is narrower to 500km where it is broadest.

EVOLUTION OF INDO-GANGETIC PLAIN

Scientists view with regard to the formation of Indo-gangetic plain varied, and they can be classified into two:

(1)Ancients seas remnant view: To these formation of Indo gangetic plain is related to the ancient seas that exist in geologic time. There are two opinions under this class;

(a)Rivers from the Himalayas filled up the remaining trough of the Tethys sea with sediments and form the Indo-gangetic plain.

(b) Before the formation of the Himalayas two rivers exist; one from

Assam valley to the Irrawaddy river and the other from Iran to Ladakh. During the rise of the Himalayas the seas start receding for the sediments always deposited onto them by the developing rivers of the Himalayas and It was the sedimentation of these rivers that form the Northern plain of India.

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(2) After collision view: To these, formation of Indo-gangetic plain is related to the formation and fill-up of ravine that form due to collision of Indian sub-continent with Eurasian plate. They are as well sub-divided into three;

(a) A foredeep formed in front of the Himalayas as they are checked from their southward advance by the rigid Indian peninsular, later rivers from the Himalayas deposit alluvium and fill the foredeep to form Indo-gangetic plain.

(b) A rift valley formed between the two parallel faults i.e Southern boundary of the Shuwalik and Northern boundary of the peninsular during the formation of the Himalayas, this valley was filled later by materials from the Himalayas and form the Indo-gangetic plain.

(c) A sag was formed during the formation of the Himalayas as Tethys sea was crumpled due to the Northward drifting of the Peninsular. It is this sag that was later filled by the sediments to form Indo-gagetic plain.

DIVISIONS OF INDO-GANGATIC PLAIN

The Indo-Gangetic plain stretches from the Indus River system in Pakistan to the Punjab Plain (in both Pakistan and India) and the Haryana Plain to the delta of the Ganga in Bangladesh. The area of 1095863sqkmThe Indo – Gangetic Plains can be classified into 4 categories as Bhabar Belt, Terai Belt, Bangar Belt and Khaddar Belt

CONTINUE•    Bhabar Belt Bhabar Belt is adjoining to the foothills of the Himalayas and comprises of boulders and pebbles which have been carried down by the river streams. The streams flow underground due to high porosity and have narrow width ranging from 7 to 15 km.

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Terai Belt

Terai Belt is present next to Bhabar Belt and covers the northern boundary of Indo – Gangetic Plain. The region is rich in new alluvial soil content so thickly forested and densely populated by different species of wild animals. The region gets heavy rainfall through out the year.

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•    Bangar Belt

Bangar belt is a low upland covered by laterite deposits and consists of older alluvium forming the alluvial terrace of the flood plains.

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•    Khadar Belt

Khadar Belt lies downward to Bangar Belt and comprises new alluvium soil which is deposited by the rivers flowing down the plain.

REGIONS OF INDO-GANGETIC PLAINOn the basis of climate and topography the indo-gangatic plain can also sub-divide into:

(1) Plain of Rajasthan

Area: 175000sqkm

Height: 20mams{in luni river}

Location: From Aravallis to ghaggar.

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(ii) Punjab Haryana plain

Area: 1.75 lakh sqkm

Height: 300-200mamsl

Location: Around Stluj and yamuna rivers in Punjab and Haryana

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(iii) Ganga plain

Area: 357000sqkm

Height: 276-6mamsl

Location: From Yamuna catchment to Bangladesh border.

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(iv) Brahmaputra Plain

Area: 56275sqkm

Height: 130-30mamsl

Location: Eastern Great plain to Bangladesh.

POPULATION

The plains support one of the most populous areas on Earth, being home to nearly half billion(one fourteenth of the world total) on 700,000 km². The recent population data of India give the region 484,077,368 (Fourty percent of Indian population).

ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE

Northern plains form the repository of cultural and ancient heritage of India. The birth place of the green revolution, these are one of the most densely populated regions in the whole world(40% of Indian population lives here). Its economy can be highlighted by the following factors:

CONTINUE1. This plain gets sufficient rainfall. There are many rivers, streams and lakes. There is also rich vegetation. These factors affect the climate and make it tolerable. The climate of the Northern Plain is very cold in winter and very hot in summer.

2. Further it has well developed roads ,railways and navigable waterways which promotes trade and commerce in the region. With the 11th plan aiming a 4% agricultural growth by 2012, the importance of this region can not be overemphasized.

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3. This region is also important from the point view of tourism and pilgrimage. It is the abode of many ancient holy places, temples and monuments such as the Golden Temple, Ayodhya, Patliputra, Tajmahal, Mathura, etc. These places not only have a religious significance to the natives but also are important from the tourism point of view, which forms the invisible portion of our Balance of trade.

IMPORTANCE

1. It forms one of the most fertile regions in the country. The nutrients deposited by the Himalayan rivers make the soil rich and fertile for growing a variety of crops such as wheat, rice, maize, pulses, oilseeds, sugarcane etc.

2. This is one of the most thickly populated plain of the world. The most thickly populated States of India — Uttar Pradesh and Bihar — lie in this plain.

3. This plain is very important for the economic development of India. The land being even, the transportation and communication is easy. This plain has a network of railways and roads. Some important industries like iron and steel, jute, cement, sugar and textile are spread evenly over the whole region.

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4. The sedimentary rock of the plain have petroleum and natural gas deposit.

5. The gentleness of the plain in the region makes it navigable for long distances.

6. The lain provides the birth place to many religions of the world like Sikhism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.

MAJOR CITIES OF THE REGION

Among the largest and famous cities of the Indo-Gangetic plain are Ahmedabad, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Delhi, Dibrugarh, Guwahati, Jorhat, Kanpur, Lakhimpur, Lucknow, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna,in India, Dhaka in Bangladesh, Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi-Islamabad, Multan, Hyderabad and Karachi in Pakistan. In this region, it is hard to define where one megalopolis begins and one ends.

STATES OF THE REGION

The great plain stretch over several Indian States and regions. The states are as follow: Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar khand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur, Delhi, Jharkhand and Orissa.

CONCLUSION

It is found that Indo-gangetic plain of India is a vast area of land that is important to India and Humanity.

REFERENCE

Modern Dictionary of Geography 5th Edition.

M. Husain Geography of India 3rd edition 2008.

S . Singh Geomorphology revised edition 2012

The world Geographical Encyclopaedia 3rd edition.

www.google.com

Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Encarta world Encyclopaedia.