Question

Why do we often use the term Indian peninsula?

Answer 1

A Peninsula is any landmass which is surrounded by water on three sides and land on one side. India is called as Peninsula because it is surrounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west and the Bay of Bengal on the east.

The major physiographic divisions of India are listed below:

1. The Peninsular Plateau
2. The Himalayan Mountains
3. The Indian Desert
4. The Islands
5. The Coastal Plains
6. The Northern Plains

The Peninsular Plateau

• Geologically, on the earth’s surface, one of the ancient landmass is the Peninsular Plateau.
• One of the most stable land blocks is the Peninsular Plateau, on the other hand, Himalayan mountains are an unstable zone.
• The Peninsular Plateau has wide and shallow valleys, gently rising hills.
• Due to the breaking and drifting of Gondwana land, the Peninsular Plateau was formed.
• The Peninsular Plateau consists of metamorphic rocks and igneous rocks.
• On the Western and Northwestern Margins of the Peninsular plateau lies the Aravalli hills, which extends from Gujarat to Delhi.
• Black soil area known as the Deccan Trap is one of the important features of the Peninsular Plateau.
• The Western Coast running parallel to the Arabian Sea and the Eastern Coast running parallel to the Bay of Bengal, flanks the Peninsular Plateau.

Peninsular Plateau – 2 Broad Divisions

The two broad divisions of the Peninsular plateau are given below:

1. Deccan Plateau
2. Central Highlands

Central Highlands (Peninsular Plateau)

• Baghelkhand and Bundelkhand are the Eastward extension of Central Highlands. Further Eastward extension is the Chotanagpur Plateau.
• The Central Highlands is the major area covering Malwa plateau, lying to the North of Narmada river.
• In the East, the Central Highlands are narrow.
• In the West, the Central Highlands are wide.
• The rivers in this region flow from Southwest to Northeast, the rivers flowing in this region are Ken, Betwa, Sindh and Chambal.

Deccan Plateau (Peninsular Plateau)

• A triangular landmass lying to the South of Narmada river is the Deccan Plateau.
• The Eastern extensions of Deccan plateau are Maikal range, Mahadev and Kaimur hills.
• The Deccan plateau is flanked by the Satpura range to its North.
• The Deccan Plateau slopes gently towards the East, and it is higher in the West.
• A geological fault separates Chotanagpur Plateau and Deccan Plateau.
• An extension of the Deccan plateau is also visible in the Northeast, locally known as North Cachar Hills, Karbi-Anglong Plateau and Meghalaya.