Question

How is the Indian sub-continent separated from the rest of Asia?

Answer 1

Geographically, the Indian subcontinent is removed from the rest of Asia by the Himalayan Mountain range. The Himalayan Mountains began to take shape between 40 million and 50 million years ago, when the Indian tectonic plate (then the Indo-Australian plate) began colliding with the Eurasian tectonic plate. As these two plates are forced into each other, the Indian plate slides underneath the Eurasian plate.

The Himalayan Mountains are considered a geologically active mountain range as the Indian plate continues to experience subduction today. These mountain increase in height by around 5 millimeters every year. Scientists expect that the Indian plate will move further inland by around 930 miles in the span of around 10 million years.

The Himalayan Mountain range, which is home to some of the tallest mountain peaks in the world, stretches in an arc-like shape from Bhutan in the east all the way to Pakistan in the west. The Himalayan Mountains measure around 1,500 miles in length and anywhere from 93 to 220 miles in width. The extreme terrain of this mountain range has worked to keep the Indian subcontinent and its plant, animal, and human populations isolated from the rest of Asia and Europe throughout history. Approximately 52.7 million individuals live within this mountain range.

These people primarily belong to 4 major religious groups: Buddhism, Hinduism, Animism, and Islamism. Most political, cultural, and economic exchange from the Indian subcontinent to the rest of Asia took place via valleys into Afghanistan, which provided slightly less dangerous terrain than that found in the Himalayan Mountains.