Geography of India

• Label the geographic features of India on your map (#1-10)
• Answer the questions on the back of your map
(highlighted in red)

India is located in Southern Asia

1- Indian Subcontinent
• Label the Indian
Subcontinent on your map
• Scientists believe that
Pangea broke apart into separate continents millions of years ago
• About 10 million years ago, the Indian Subcontinent and Asia collided

• The Himalayan Mountains were created by the collision of tectonic plates
– The plates are still running into each other and the
Mountain Range continues to rise
• It is the tallest mountain range in the world
– The top 98 out of 100 tallest mountains in the world

• The tallest mountain in the world
– 29,029 Feet tall
(Almost 6 miles high)
– That’s 20 Empire State
Buildings stacked on top of each other
• It is still growing at a rate of 1 inch every 5 years http://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=_dcL-PJUFRI

Climbing Mt. Everest…
Over 200 people have died trying to climb the mountain.
A base camp on Mt. Everest
DEATH ZONE - Above
26,000 feet, climbers must use oxygen tanks because the air is so thin.
Edmund Hillary and Tenzing
Norgay became the first people to reach the summit in 1953.

• As the snow and ice in the Himalayas melts, small streams form
• Slowly, streams start to meet and combine, forming rivers
• These rivers move downhill and gather more force as more streams empty into the river

• Located in modern-day
Pakistan
• Starts in the Himalayas and empties into the
Arabian Sea
• This is where the Indus
Valley Civilization originated

6- Ganges River
• Located in modern-day India and Bangladesh
• The most populated river in the world
– 400 million people live along the Ganges
• Empties into the Bay of
Bengal

• Combines with the Ganges
River and empties into the
Bay of Bengal
– The two rivers create a river delta that is very fertile in
Bangladesh

9- Deccan
Plateau
• Large plateau in southern India.
• Plateau- A large raised area of mostly flat, level land

• 3 rd largest ocean
• Covers 20% of the world’s water surface
• Borders Africa, Asia, and Australia

• An island country off the southeastern coast of India
• One of the world’s largest tea and coffee producers

• Please keep this handout in the social studies section of your binder!
• Vocabulary Flash Cards are due on
Wednesday 12/11